"Do not be saddened by what people say about you. If it is false, it would
be like a good deed you have not performed. If true, it would be like an
evil deed whose punishment has been prematurely extracted" - Prophet
Jesus,peace be upon him be peace.
Monday, 25 April 2011
Menzuma from Ethiopia
Ma sha Allah,A menzuma;devotional chant in praise of prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu alehi wa salam)from Ethiopia, in Arabic and Amharic:
Brazil: islam on the rize in favelas
Brazil: Islam on the rize in favelas by France_24english
The only slight disagreement I have is with the brother who said that Muslim countries don't have significant drug problems:Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in fact, have the highest rathes of intravenous drug use(specifically heroin) in the world.
But even with such a high rate of usage,as he pointed out,the violence,territorial disputes and shoot outs are not nearly as marked as they are in the Rio Favelas, in Medellin or in the American ghettoes to the north.
It goes without saying that Islam,as properly practised does have the potential to purify society ofthe sorts of social ills seen in the favelas.
Hip Hop (of the more politically minded; socially conscious variety) has been instrumental in introducing many to Islam, to the extent that it is often referred to as the unofficial religion of Hip Hop.
May Allah bestow uponus the strength to be better Muslims.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Different Version of Qasida Burda (lyric poem in praise of The Last Prophet salla Allahu alehi wa salam)
This is a really beautiful rendition of Qasida Burda by a collective from Hydrabad, ma sha Allah! May Allah elevate their rank.
Qasida recited by Toufeequddin AbulUlai in Hyderabad
Ya Muhammad Allah Wali (O Muhammad, Allah's Chosen One)
Monday, 18 April 2011
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
An Attempt At Applying Psychological Principles To The Understanding Of The Development of Shiism, with Specific Reference to Iran
The following extract is taken from the chapter,"Persian Letter" in the book,"The Road to Mecca" by the Austrian Jewish convert to Islam, Muhammad Asad (born Leopold Weiss). This is the first part of the excerpt, more soon,in sha Allah (Allah willing):
Such extravagant laments were a far cry indeed from the true,historical picture of those early happenings that had caused a never-healed schism in the world of Islam:the division of the Muslim community into Sunnites, who form the bulk of the Muslim peoples and stand firm on the principle of an elective succession to the Caliphate, and Shiites, who maintain that the prophet designated Ali, his son-in-law, as a rightful heir and successor. In reality, however, the prophet died without nominating any successor, whereupon one of his oldest most faithful companions, Abu Bakr, was elected khalifa by the overwhelming majority of the community. Abu Bakar was succeeded by Umar and the latter by Uthman; and only after Uthman’s death was Ali elected to the caliphate. There was, as I knew well even in my Iranian days, nothing evil or wicked about Ali’s three predecessors. They were undoubtedly the noblest figures of Islamic history after the Prophet, and had for many years been among his intimate Companions; and they were certainly not‘usurpers’, having been elected by the people in the free exercise of the right accorded to them by Islam. It was unwillingness to accept wholeheartedly the results of those popular elections that led to subsequent struggles for power, to Ali’s death, and to the transformation – under the fifth Caliph, Mu’awiyya – of the original, republican form of the Islamic state into a hereditary kingship, and, ultimately, to Husayan’s death at Karbala. Yes, I had known all this before I came to Iran; but here I was struck by the boundless emotion which that old, tragic tale of thirteen centuries ago could still arouse among the Iranian people whenever the names of Ali, Hasan or Husayn were mentioned. I began to wonder; Was it the innate melancholy of the Iranians and their sense of the dramatic that had caused them to embrace the Shia doctrine?-or was it the thragic quality of the latter’s origin that had led to this intense Iranian melancholy?
By degrees, over a number of months, a startling answer took shape in my mind.
When, in the middle of the seventh century, the armies of Caliph Umar conquered the ancient Saasanian Empire, bringing Islam with them, Iran’s Zoroastrian cult had already long been reduced to rigid formalism and was thus unable to oppose effectively the dynamic new idea that had come from Arabia. But at the time when the Arab conquest burst upon it, Iran was passing through a period of social and intellectual ferment which seemed to promise a national regeneration. This hope of an inner, organic revival was shattered by the Arab invasion; and the Iranians, abandoning their own historic line of development, henceforth accommodated themselves to the cultural and ethical concepts that had been brought in from outside.
The advent of Islam represented in Iran,as in so many other countries,a tremendous social advance;it destroyed the old Iranian caste system and brought into being a new community of free,equal people;it opened new channels for cultural energies that had long lain dormant and inarticulate:but with all this, the proud descendants of Darius and Xerxes could never forget that the historical continuity of their national life,the organic connection between their Yesterday and Today, had suddenly been broken. A people whose innermost character had found its expression in the Baroque dualism of the Zand religion and its almost pantheistic worship of the four elements-air, water, fire and earth- was now faced with Islam's austere uncompromisisng monotheism and its passion for the Absolute. The transistion was too sharp and painful to allow to allow the Iranians to subordinate their deeply rooted national consciousness to the supranational concept of Islam. In spite of their speedy and apparently voluntary acceptance of the new religion,they subconciously equated the victory of the Islamic idea with Iran's national defeat; and the feeling of having been defeated and irrevocably torn out of the context of their ancient cultural heritage-a feeling desperately intense for all its vagueness-was destined to corrode their national self-confidence for centuries to come. Unlike so many other nations to whom the acceptance of Islam gave almost immediately a most positive impulse to further cultural development, the Iranians' first-and, in a way,most durable-reaction to it was on of deep humiliation and repressed resentment.
The resntment had to be repressed and smothered in the dark folds of the subconscious,for in the meantime Islam had become Iran's own faith. But in their hatred of the Arabian conquest,the Iranians instictively resorted to what psychoanalysis describes as 'overcompensation';they began to regard the faith brought to them by their Arabian conquerors as something that was exclusively their own. They did it by subtly transforming the rational, unmystical God-consciousness of the Arabs into its very opposite:mystical fanaticism and sombre emotion.
Such extravagant laments were a far cry indeed from the true,historical picture of those early happenings that had caused a never-healed schism in the world of Islam:the division of the Muslim community into Sunnites, who form the bulk of the Muslim peoples and stand firm on the principle of an elective succession to the Caliphate, and Shiites, who maintain that the prophet designated Ali, his son-in-law, as a rightful heir and successor. In reality, however, the prophet died without nominating any successor, whereupon one of his oldest most faithful companions, Abu Bakr, was elected khalifa by the overwhelming majority of the community. Abu Bakar was succeeded by Umar and the latter by Uthman; and only after Uthman’s death was Ali elected to the caliphate. There was, as I knew well even in my Iranian days, nothing evil or wicked about Ali’s three predecessors. They were undoubtedly the noblest figures of Islamic history after the Prophet, and had for many years been among his intimate Companions; and they were certainly not‘usurpers’, having been elected by the people in the free exercise of the right accorded to them by Islam. It was unwillingness to accept wholeheartedly the results of those popular elections that led to subsequent struggles for power, to Ali’s death, and to the transformation – under the fifth Caliph, Mu’awiyya – of the original, republican form of the Islamic state into a hereditary kingship, and, ultimately, to Husayan’s death at Karbala. Yes, I had known all this before I came to Iran; but here I was struck by the boundless emotion which that old, tragic tale of thirteen centuries ago could still arouse among the Iranian people whenever the names of Ali, Hasan or Husayn were mentioned. I began to wonder; Was it the innate melancholy of the Iranians and their sense of the dramatic that had caused them to embrace the Shia doctrine?-or was it the thragic quality of the latter’s origin that had led to this intense Iranian melancholy?
By degrees, over a number of months, a startling answer took shape in my mind.
When, in the middle of the seventh century, the armies of Caliph Umar conquered the ancient Saasanian Empire, bringing Islam with them, Iran’s Zoroastrian cult had already long been reduced to rigid formalism and was thus unable to oppose effectively the dynamic new idea that had come from Arabia. But at the time when the Arab conquest burst upon it, Iran was passing through a period of social and intellectual ferment which seemed to promise a national regeneration. This hope of an inner, organic revival was shattered by the Arab invasion; and the Iranians, abandoning their own historic line of development, henceforth accommodated themselves to the cultural and ethical concepts that had been brought in from outside.
The advent of Islam represented in Iran,as in so many other countries,a tremendous social advance;it destroyed the old Iranian caste system and brought into being a new community of free,equal people;it opened new channels for cultural energies that had long lain dormant and inarticulate:but with all this, the proud descendants of Darius and Xerxes could never forget that the historical continuity of their national life,the organic connection between their Yesterday and Today, had suddenly been broken. A people whose innermost character had found its expression in the Baroque dualism of the Zand religion and its almost pantheistic worship of the four elements-air, water, fire and earth- was now faced with Islam's austere uncompromisisng monotheism and its passion for the Absolute. The transistion was too sharp and painful to allow to allow the Iranians to subordinate their deeply rooted national consciousness to the supranational concept of Islam. In spite of their speedy and apparently voluntary acceptance of the new religion,they subconciously equated the victory of the Islamic idea with Iran's national defeat; and the feeling of having been defeated and irrevocably torn out of the context of their ancient cultural heritage-a feeling desperately intense for all its vagueness-was destined to corrode their national self-confidence for centuries to come. Unlike so many other nations to whom the acceptance of Islam gave almost immediately a most positive impulse to further cultural development, the Iranians' first-and, in a way,most durable-reaction to it was on of deep humiliation and repressed resentment.
The resntment had to be repressed and smothered in the dark folds of the subconscious,for in the meantime Islam had become Iran's own faith. But in their hatred of the Arabian conquest,the Iranians instictively resorted to what psychoanalysis describes as 'overcompensation';they began to regard the faith brought to them by their Arabian conquerors as something that was exclusively their own. They did it by subtly transforming the rational, unmystical God-consciousness of the Arabs into its very opposite:mystical fanaticism and sombre emotion.
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Sindidi-A qasida from Senegal
"Sindidi is the name of a particular Qasida of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba [RA] who was from what today is called the Diourbel region of Senegal at the end of 18th and beginning of 19th gregorian centuries.He fonded a tariqa known as the Muridiya."
Sindidi is entirely in Arabic. It is, however, frequently sung by Wolof speakers in the distinctive Senegalese style (which I first became familiar with via the group 'Super Etoile De Dakar' with whom a young Wolof singer by the name of Youssou N'Dour used to sing).
Sindidi
1. O God! I implore thee by the blessings of Mustapha O God! And by the blessings of thy beloved friend Abraham O God!
2. And by the blessings of thy interlocutor Moses, and Salih, Al Khidr, and by the blessings of Shu’aib, and by the blessings of Ishmael O God!
3. And by the blessings of Solomon, Noah, Jonah, Job, and by the blessings of Zakariah, John, Hud O God!
4. By the blessings of Aaron, Joshua, Elias, Adam, David, by the blessings of Dhul-kifl, Jesus, Lot. O God!
5. By the blessings of Joseph, Isaac, and others among thy apostles and messengers O God!
6. And by the blessings of the unity of the Angels, and those among them encompassed with the purest, Divine Essence such as Gabriel and Michael O God!
7. By the blessings of Israfil who is entrusted with Blowing the Trumpet, and Azrael who shall duly seize the soul of every creature O God!
8. By the blessings of the companions of the Prophet and the friends of God, as well as those who actively practice their knowledge among the people of religious Authority O God!
9. By the blessings of Abu Bakr the truthful, Omar who distinguished truth from falsehood, Uthman the possessor of two lights, and Ali, the father of the two grandsons of the Prophet O God!
10. By the blessings of Imam Malik, the highly distinguished, Imam As Shafi, Imam Abu Hanafi, and the praiseworthy, Imam Ahmad Ibn Anbal O God!
11. By the blessings of the Exalted Pen, the Preserved Tablet, thy Magnificent Throne and Exalted Chair O God!
12. By the blessings of the Quran, the Torah, The Psalms of David, and the Gospel of the Spirit of God O God!
13. Transmit my salutations of peace and blessings upon him ( the Prophet), his family, companions, and wives O God!
14. O Lord! Drop on us the curtain of well being (‘Afia) and bestow upon us our goals in this world and in the Hereafter O God!
15. Open for us all gates of graces that thou hath opened to those endowed with a complete state of piety O God!
16. Impel us to trod on the distinct path of righteousness, Preserve us from the pitfalls and from the Evils of the Jinns and Satan O God!
17. Yield to us all our ambitions, allow us to attain our objectives, bestow upon us any grace we choose O God.
18. Soften for us the hearts of any possessor of reluctance and oppression, smoothen all the hardships O God!
19. Prolong our lives, strengthen our bodies, bestow guidance upon us, and grant us felicity (tawfiq) O God!
20. Destroy any enemy whose intention is to cause harm before he gains access to us O God! O God!
21. Protect us from all kinds of ruin, deliver us from the calamities of the world, all the time O God!
22. Protect us from epidemics, illness, agony, afflictions, vehement earthquakes as well as poverty O God!
23. Protect us from blemishes, insufficiency, from the fury of a tyrant, vileness, debility, hunger and thirst O God!
24. Protect us from all forms of trials, from infectious disease from being burnt in fire, from being drowned in water, from lightning, thunder, theft and vain labor O God!
25. Protect us from excessive heat and cold, from plundering, from oppression, from hostility, from delusion, from grief, and from being paralyzed O God!
26. Protect us from anxiety, from transgression, from stumbling in error, from transmutation, and from defamation O God!
27. Protect us from lack of sustenance, from the influences of evil spirits, and from fading away due to illness O God!
28. Protect us from the evils of this world and of the next as well as their dreadful humiliations O God! O God!
29. O thou who hath power over all things, overwhelming the entire creation, being firmly established in Thine Magnificent Throne of Authority O God!
30. Verily, I beg thee for a fearing heart and a humble one, an extensive knowledge of tremendous use O God!
31. I beg thee for an accepted repentance, a lofty station, a virtuous and pious wife O God!
32. Be our fortress against the evils of the possessor of envy, against the evils of the tongue, as well as against the evils of the eye O God!
33. Be our refuge against the evils of sorcery, the evils of the creatures, men or jinns, and against the evils of venomous creatures O God!
34. O mine confident! I take Thee in this world and in the hereafter as my inaccessible fortress: the one in whom I seek shelter O God!
35. Abandon me not with my own soul (nafs), lest I go astray: be responsive whenever I beseech thee O God!
36. Cause my tongue and my heart to remember Thee and to hold a perfect belief in Thee at the crucial moment of death O God!
37. Establish permanently in mine heart the knowledge of Certainty (Yaqin); Let no fear abide therein, until I passionately love Thy Ultimate encounter O God!
38. Cause my death to be the announcement of good news, and to be a complete rest, and to be a protection against all pain, distress and fear O God!
39. Shield my body against tortures in the grave, whenever the soul is separated from me. Let it not undergo any deterioration nor hardship. O God!
40. Be my Assistant and Companion at the time my body is buried in the grave, where I may become lonely O God!
41. Join me not with that which causes terror in the grave, preserve me from anything that I fear O God!
42. Protect me, my mother and all those who bow to Thy will, Amen O God!
43. Forgive us and my mother, cover our defects, bestow benevolence upon us and her; protect us from terror O God!
44. Grant us complete forgiveness, have mercy on her. She has no one but Thee; and verily Thou art the kind One O God!
45. Be with us in the barrier and in the grave, preserve us from any distress or any kind of fear O God!
46. Do not afflict my mother with that which she can not bear and do not disappoint the hope she has in Thee O God!
47. Quench our thirst and hers in the water of Kauthar, which Thou has reserved for the one whom Thou hath chosen over the entire creation O God!
48. That was he who provided guidance to he who roamed in error, destroyed he who rejected faith and yielded aid to he who had innermost fear in Thee O God!
49. Such a one was Muhammad, the Fine Flower of the elects, who will lead us into the everlasting Paradise on the Day of Resurrection O God!
50. Upon him be Eternal peace and blessings, forever and ever, and upon any who follows him till Doomsday O God!
Another version of Sindidi with French voice-over translation:
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
'My Brother, The Islamist'-BBC iPlayer
There's been quite a bit of discussion online about a programme which was recently shown on BBC in the UK called "My Brother, the Islamist." I have watched parts of the programme on BBC iplayer and found it to be less sensationalist than I had expected.
The film is basically an account of the filmmaker's attempt to rekindle his relatinship with his stepbrother,Richard (now Salahuddin) who has coverted to Islam and who, at the time of making the film, had been Muslim for just 6 months. Salahuddin differs from the average convert in that he is involved with what, to most in the Muslim community, is a fringe political group/outfit known as Islam4UK who are headed by Anjem Chaudhury and are best known for stunts which, to many Muslims, have only served to harden attitudes to the Muslim community in the UK.
The film maker appeared to be frustrated by his inabilty to form any real connection with his stepbrother but I would caution against entirely writing off the possibilty of any type of meaningful relationship or in viewing the current modus operandi of Salahuddin(Richard)as being set in stone. It's understandable why one, particularly outside of Islam, might see the sitauation as such-Saahuddin, inspite of being a very new covert,speaks with what appears great authority on issues as they relate to Islam- but to more seasoned Muslims, and indeed any Muslim outside of the rather exclusivist Islam4UK,some of Saahuddin's assertions would provoke bemusement and possibly derision. For example, Salahauddin states that he cannot shake his stepbrother's hand as he(the stepbrother) is a non-Muslim. There is certanly no hadith or indeed any scholarly consensus recommeding that Muslims shake anyone's hand with anything but the right hand.
It was actually a sympathetic portrayal and I really found myself warming to some of the young lads, both converts and born Muslims, featured. The humour lay in their attempts to cover up their uncertainty about being at the flag burning demo with bravado and sloganeering. Although, very assured, they are, as evidenced by the pamphlets they read(all Wahabbi/Salafi published literature)at the very early stages of learning. I think that what the programme documented, perhaps unwittingly,was simply some of the psychological processes and behaviours that are the mainstay of any conversion to Islam (albeit with some additional features deriving from this particular group being part of a fringe sector of the Muslim community).
Another point of note is that, although, the Islamist group is seen as anti-Western. Traditional Muslims consider that change comes only when you change yourself. The thinking of some Islamists-that change can be brought about through protests, violence (although I don't think this group are violent)-is derived from a Western world view.
Perhaps as Salahauddin does engage with the Quran and hadith literature hi and books of Islamic jurisprudence of his accord he will be in a position to critique the readings of ahadith and Islamic literature that Anjem Chaudhury is directing his students towards. This might in turn lead to his attaching himself to the wider Muslim community and open him up to a much wider range of scholarship.
The video below details attempts, by one Luton-based Muslim group identifying with the Salafi movement,to challenge al-Muhajiroun which was, at one point, led by the same Anjem Chadhury who was featured in 'My Brother, The Islamist'
The film is basically an account of the filmmaker's attempt to rekindle his relatinship with his stepbrother,Richard (now Salahuddin) who has coverted to Islam and who, at the time of making the film, had been Muslim for just 6 months. Salahuddin differs from the average convert in that he is involved with what, to most in the Muslim community, is a fringe political group/outfit known as Islam4UK who are headed by Anjem Chaudhury and are best known for stunts which, to many Muslims, have only served to harden attitudes to the Muslim community in the UK.
The film maker appeared to be frustrated by his inabilty to form any real connection with his stepbrother but I would caution against entirely writing off the possibilty of any type of meaningful relationship or in viewing the current modus operandi of Salahuddin(Richard)as being set in stone. It's understandable why one, particularly outside of Islam, might see the sitauation as such-Saahuddin, inspite of being a very new covert,speaks with what appears great authority on issues as they relate to Islam- but to more seasoned Muslims, and indeed any Muslim outside of the rather exclusivist Islam4UK,some of Saahuddin's assertions would provoke bemusement and possibly derision. For example, Salahauddin states that he cannot shake his stepbrother's hand as he(the stepbrother) is a non-Muslim. There is certanly no hadith or indeed any scholarly consensus recommeding that Muslims shake anyone's hand with anything but the right hand.
It was actually a sympathetic portrayal and I really found myself warming to some of the young lads, both converts and born Muslims, featured. The humour lay in their attempts to cover up their uncertainty about being at the flag burning demo with bravado and sloganeering. Although, very assured, they are, as evidenced by the pamphlets they read(all Wahabbi/Salafi published literature)at the very early stages of learning. I think that what the programme documented, perhaps unwittingly,was simply some of the psychological processes and behaviours that are the mainstay of any conversion to Islam (albeit with some additional features deriving from this particular group being part of a fringe sector of the Muslim community).
Another point of note is that, although, the Islamist group is seen as anti-Western. Traditional Muslims consider that change comes only when you change yourself. The thinking of some Islamists-that change can be brought about through protests, violence (although I don't think this group are violent)-is derived from a Western world view.
Perhaps as Salahauddin does engage with the Quran and hadith literature hi and books of Islamic jurisprudence of his accord he will be in a position to critique the readings of ahadith and Islamic literature that Anjem Chaudhury is directing his students towards. This might in turn lead to his attaching himself to the wider Muslim community and open him up to a much wider range of scholarship.
The video below details attempts, by one Luton-based Muslim group identifying with the Salafi movement,to challenge al-Muhajiroun which was, at one point, led by the same Anjem Chadhury who was featured in 'My Brother, The Islamist'
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Depression, Mental illness and Possession
Sh.Abu Eesa Niamatullah
Sh. Abu Talha from Iraq
Dr.Shazad Amin, Psychiatrist
Panel Discussion, with Questions and Answers
Sh. Abu Talha from Iraq
Dr.Shazad Amin, Psychiatrist
Panel Discussion, with Questions and Answers
Monday, 4 April 2011
Hadith
Allah the Exalted said, “O Son of Adam! Busy yourself in worshiping Me, and I will fill your chest with riches and dissipate your meekness. Otherwise, I will fill your chest with distracting affairs and will not do away with your meekness.”
-At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah
-At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah
"The BNP is a Nazi party!"
A classic!
The BNP must have thought that Glasgow North East, with its economic deprivation and a recent arrival of overseas migrants was, well, 'in the bag.'How wrong could they be?
The BNP must have thought that Glasgow North East, with its economic deprivation and a recent arrival of overseas migrants was, well, 'in the bag.'How wrong could they be?
Saturday, 2 April 2011
On Prayer
Shaykh AbdalHakim Murad: "A busy life makes the Prayer harder; but the Prayer makes a busy life easier." (Contentions)
Sheikh Hamza Yusuf on Image Making
Touches on the subject of excessive use of photography which, he argues, "divorces us two times from reality"-many of us already live without any real recognition of the illusory nature of this world and so image making, especially if excessive,only increases that alienation from The Real.
Faith can enter a person's heart just through meeting a pious person, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf suggests and points to Sidi Gai Eaton (May Allah have marcy on him) who spoke of how meeting a pious person(in the real sense) made him enter Islam, a reality to which Imam Al-Ghazali (May Allah have mercy on him) also attested. Sheikh Abdal-Hakim Murad, also alluded to the power Allah has placed in the countenace of the true devotee by stating that the believer's best argument is his face.
Faith can enter a person's heart just through meeting a pious person, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf suggests and points to Sidi Gai Eaton (May Allah have marcy on him) who spoke of how meeting a pious person(in the real sense) made him enter Islam, a reality to which Imam Al-Ghazali (May Allah have mercy on him) also attested. Sheikh Abdal-Hakim Murad, also alluded to the power Allah has placed in the countenace of the true devotee by stating that the believer's best argument is his face.
Usury
In the present age, it seems that it is only within Islam, and in a few minor Christian and Jewish groups, that teachings prohibiting dealing in usury remain intact. Elsewhere such teachings have either been long abandoned or been subject to human caprice as the following excerpt shows:
"400 BC - 65 AD in Ancient Rome and Greece - The infamous philosophers who condemned Usury were Plato, Aristotle, the two Catos, Cicero, Seneca and Plutarch.
One of the first recorded History of Usury was in India, the Hindu's Vedic in 2000 - 1400 B.C. By 600 B.C, the Buddhist's Jakkata shows contempt for Usury saying “hypocritical ascetics are accused of practising it.” During this time, Vasishtha, a well known Hindu law-maker of that time, made a special law which forbade the higher castes of Brahmanas (priests) and Kshatriyas (warriors) from being usurers or lenders at interest. By 2nd century AD the concept of Usury was diluted, and today in India it is "condemned in principle, usury refers only to interest charged above the prevailing socially accepted range and is no longer prohibited or controlled in any significant way."
The Prophet Ezekiel includes usury in a list of “abominable things,” along with rape, murder, robbery and idolatry. Ezekiel 18:19-13. Jews are forbidden to lend at interest to one another. Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19-20, Leviticus 25:35-37."
From Islamicity
"400 BC - 65 AD in Ancient Rome and Greece - The infamous philosophers who condemned Usury were Plato, Aristotle, the two Catos, Cicero, Seneca and Plutarch.
One of the first recorded History of Usury was in India, the Hindu's Vedic in 2000 - 1400 B.C. By 600 B.C, the Buddhist's Jakkata shows contempt for Usury saying “hypocritical ascetics are accused of practising it.” During this time, Vasishtha, a well known Hindu law-maker of that time, made a special law which forbade the higher castes of Brahmanas (priests) and Kshatriyas (warriors) from being usurers or lenders at interest. By 2nd century AD the concept of Usury was diluted, and today in India it is "condemned in principle, usury refers only to interest charged above the prevailing socially accepted range and is no longer prohibited or controlled in any significant way."
The Prophet Ezekiel includes usury in a list of “abominable things,” along with rape, murder, robbery and idolatry. Ezekiel 18:19-13. Jews are forbidden to lend at interest to one another. Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19-20, Leviticus 25:35-37."
From Islamicity
Hadith
The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Let not respect for men prevent any of you from speaking the truth when he knows it." [Sahih Muslim]
Friday, 1 April 2011
On Paganism
"Paganism in the proper sense of the term is an idolatry applied to the natural world, but it is also, in most cases, the debris of a religion in the final stages of decay, when its adherents, like dogs sniff at the pointed finger rather than going where the finger points; idolatry, animism, fetishism and other such aberrations bear all bear witness to the fact that phenomena which were once adored as symbols of transcendent realities have come to be worshipped for their own sakes. One cannot always mark the dividing line between images which are adored for what they symbolize and those which are worshipped as gods."-Gai Eaton
Shariah
"In the thesis of Professor John A. Makdisi (published in the North Carolina Law Review, February 1999, under the title "The Islamic Origins of the Common Law") the Common Law was adopted virtually intact by King Henry II in 1150 from the Maliki fiqh as practised in either Islamic Spain or Islamic Sicily. The USA, as a Common Law Country, already has Shariah as part of its jurisprudential system."
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