To Shake or Not to Shake

The Question:

“Is it allowable for me and women [who are eligible to marry] to shake hands sometimes?”

The Answer:

“The origin [of this ruling] is that a man is not allowed to shake hands with a woman [who he is eligible to marry and vice versa]. However, if she is an elderly woman then the school of Abi Hanifa [may Allah have mercy upon him] considered shaking hands with her permissible. Perhaps, the questioner will state that, “By not shaking a woman’s hand it could lead to hardship or shared ill feelings and so forth?” If not shaking hands will lead to the actuality of those fears, then it is allowable to shake hands as long as there is no evil feelings or affection for the woman [and vice versa]. And if the opposite holds true, then it is not allowed to do so.

Dr. Abdullah bin Bayyah

Note, there was some abridgment done to this answer to make it clearer to the English audience. However, the meaning and answer of Dr. Bin Bayyah was not changed.

www.altranslators.com

Source: www.suhaibwebb.com

This Ummah...


The other night at the ICOI qiyam, these verses kept running through my head:

“O’Mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you might get to know one another. Surely, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah, is he who is the most righteous. Allah is All-Knowledgeable, All-Aware.” (49: 13)

“There has come to you from Allah a new Light and a clear book, with which Allah will guide to the ways of peace all those who seek His good pleasure and bring them out of the depth of darkness into the light of His grace and guide them to the right way.” (5:14-16)

All I could say to myself as I sat there and I looked around at the diversity of our community was SubhanAllah. If you know me you most likely have heard me talk about this before…and I can’t help it. As I sat there outside in the tent, I heard around me so many different languages, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Chinese and English. And as I sat and quietly observing, I was in awe of all the different ethnicities within our community. I wondered their stories and how they were brought to Islam. SubhanAllah…it makes me happy. It is easy to forget in our very busy lives the context of what we are living in and living through. But as Suhaib Webb said, “we are the ummah of the prophet” and we really are blessed to be such a close, diverse and knit tight community. Alhamdullilah.

Radio Suhaib!

American Muslim Community Experience

An excerpt from my blog- there is a larger context, however you can appreciate the historical analysis I put forth on the American Muslim community in the US. Its a brief and short analysis, there is much more to be added, however please comment and share your thoughts:

The forwarded e-mail is a internet lynching of AEF. Pipes, in all his load of junk, does share a meaningful quote by AEF:

"among American Muslim organizations, the intellectual and moral grounding—not just in the Islamic texts but in the pluralities of the Islamic tradition—is woefully, woefully absent. There has not been a serious movement among these organizations to create educational institutions that would attempt a critical understanding of the tradition they claim to represent. There are practically no such institutions, or even attempts to preserve the knowledge of Islamic law. These organizations remain activist, with a lot of energy but without direction."

The very people who he (Pipes) is associating (AEF) with, do not see him (AEF) as anything significant. It probably is because of his (AEF's) criticism of the lack of "intellectual depth" shown by the community at large or as I mentioned in my "Dancing" post that he runs miles ahead of the community so people just don't understand him.

But that is the problem in the United States and definitely the root of this is the Muslim societies "back home". I find the colonial period in Muslim history to be a significant factor in the demise of Muslim understanding of Islam and that coming from the growth of hardcore Sufism (loss of balance in dunyia and akhira). The freed societies, post colonial era, had this mixed attachment to Islam and the West, one that was superimposed by the idea of "modernity".

Islam became a culture, and that culture was taken by the Muslim diaspora- i.e. from Pakistan to America- which became part of the identity developed by Muslims in the West, until 9/11.

Sheikh Suhaib Webb, a convert said it best, during the pre-9/11 era, Muslim in America had a landscape dotted with the intellectual battles of the schools of thought in the old world. We saw these ravages first hand in the demise of the salafi movement, the "caliphate" establishers and now the Sufi attacks on the conservatives or traditionalists.

I believe this happened because the doctors and engineers and professionals that flocked to America's shores were all culturally Muslim, with limited training in Islam. I remember as a child the conflict that arose when some one prayed using a different way- based on a different school of thought- and the ensuing battles which became personal vendetta's that went on to split the community.

These rifts were from this flawed cultural understanding of Islam. From this idea that my Islam is the only Islam. The immigrants who came to America brought a basic understanding of Islam with them, definitely a love for the religion and a desire to be American. It is no wonder that we have so many doctors and engineers who run the boards, who chair the charities, who work in social services- giving up lucrative jobs in their fields to devote themselves to assisting the Muslim community in America, out of a love to be on the Godly path. That is partly also why we have "imported" Muslim "imams" and also why there was a lack of social rooting into the American fabric beyond the idea that "yes I am (insert your nationality)-American".

The concern was always "back home"- sending money, constant trips back, marriage, burials even. Since 9/11 that has drastically changed, and I see more and more people talking about being American Muslim.

I agree with Abu El Fadl in his statement, however, I think it lacks the historical appreciation of the development of the American Muslim community. Like other immigrant communities, the diverse Muslim community is following the same path, albeit, with a huge head start.

Ramadan Kareem

Prophet Muahammad (sallahu alaiyhi wa salaam) declared Ramadan as a blessed month and that fasting during its is a compulsory act, saying: "The doors of Paradise are open and the doors of Hell are closed during the scared month of Ramadan; moreover, in this month there is one night that is better than a thousand months."

For your reading benefit and out of a selfish hope that I may get some tiny ajar for it, please find below a compilation of various resources on Ramadan.

• Everything you wanted to know about the starring role the moon gets in any Ramadan conversation can be found at the Moon Sighting site.


• An incomplete version of a Ramadan 411 can be found at: Wikipedia


• Muslim Matters: Audio of Ramadan conference call with Shaykh Yaser Birjas and Shaykh Yasir Qadhi available for download here!


• CAIR's 'Sharing Ramadan' Resource Guide


• Live Prayer Broadcast from Mecca, Saudi Arabia


• Ramadan Rulings for Women: Part One


• Dua Guide: Great resource year-round, but particularly this month!


• Take advantage of the multiplicity of blessings available this month and DONATE generously! My personal favorites:


• MSA West


• Islamic Relief


• CAIR
  
  
  

Ramadan Kareem!

“Women are the Associates of Men.”

Many of you see the students of knowledge on the web, read their works and hold them in high accord. I want to remind you all that there is someone more important behind many of these students of knowledge, Imams and teachers and that is the ladies in their lives. . . .

Read on at Ustadh Suhaib Webb's blog.

Email from Ustadh Suhaib Webb

Once, a young boy, around the age of 10 or 11 came across the sirah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). After reading for sometime, his heart was moved. Let's move from my words to his and try and benefit.

"Suddenly I felt, while reading that book, a very unique pleasure. For, indeed, it was a pleasure that differed from all other forms of happiness and delights I had known in my childhood. It was not the happiness associated with eating a nice meal after hunger, nor was it the happiness related to wearing new clothes on 'Eid day. It was not the happiness of being able to play with my friends after longing to do so, nor was it the happiness found in getting some free time for relaxation after a tiring day of studies. It was not the happiness of having succeded in winning a game [sports], nor was it the happiness of visiting an old friend or being visited by a noble guest. For, indeed, those delights and times of joy could not compare to this happiness and delight. Indeed, this joy and happiness is one whose sweetness I know [well] but I could not describe it then. And I must admit, that up until this day, I cannot explain it correctly nor express it in words."

Sh. Ali Hassan al-Nadwi (may Allah have mercy upon him) describing his first encounter with a book on the life of the Prophet (rahmat li al-'almin) at the age of 10 or 11.

Many are going to celebrate the Mawlid this year. Try, with your family, roommates or fellow masjid goers to read the sirah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) .

Suhaib

( for more from Imam Suhaib Webb check out http://thetranslators.wordpress.com/ )

American? Immigrant? Indigenous?

When I first came to the US in 2003 I was surprised to see how few the Muslims were who identified themselves as American. I was even more surprised when it was the Muslim youth born and raised in the US who hesitated to identify themselves as American.

Why? First, I thought it was because the kids had picked up their parent's opinions on American foreign policy and were ashamed to identify themselves as belonging to the world's oppressive super power. But that wasn't it. Was it that they didn't accept American culture and values? That definitely wasn't it: they dressed and talked like their favourite American sport/music/movie celebrity.

It turned out that, for the most part, they hesitated to identify themselves as American because when they did people did not believe them; they did not accept them as American. "But, where are you originally from?", or "where are your parents from?" inevitably followed their answer.

Still, I was happy to see more and more American Muslims (especially the younger generation) assert their identity. That doesn't mean waving the American flag or celebrating Thanksgiving, but viewing themselves as an integral part of the larger community they live in and realizing their responsibility of bringing a positive change, no matter where they are.

I bring up all of the above because of this post by Ustadh Suhaib Webb. He discusses a concept that is essential for our (Muslims) understanding of our role in the global community. The idea of a "land of Islam" versus a "land of war" is not applicable in our world today. Unfortunately, such outdated concepts often-time hinder our efforts to truly contribute to our society.

Moreover, this dual identity has an effect within the Muslim community. Many American Muslims see themselves as Palestinian/Persian/Pakistani first, American second, Muslim last.

As a result, many of our Muslim communities are built to serve a particular ethnicity of Muslims. Although the efforts to bridge the gap between different Muslim immigrant communities have been relatively successful; there still remains a huge gap to bridge: the one between "immigrant" and "indigenous" Muslims.

I think this New York Times article accurately portrays the current situation.

Although I am technically not an "immigrant" Muslim, my interactions have primarily been within the immigrant Muslim community. I was immediately welcomed in. However, I do know from my Chinese-American-Muslim and African-American-Muslim friends that this is not always the case.

It is up to the younger generation of American Muslims to take the initiative and bridge the existing gaps. After all, we don't have the excuse of not speaking the same language or coming from a different culture. No more excuses.

Here are just some ways I could think of,

1. Do not tolerate racism: within yourself, your friends, or your community.

2. Don't wait for the next annual Humanitarian Day: work with other Muslims and serve the needy (Muslim or non-Muslim). Make it a monthly activity for you and your friends/MSA/youth group/family.

3. Get our of your bubble: Find another local Muslim community from a different 'culture'; attend their events and invite them to yours.

Each Muslim community has so much to learn from the other. Let's take a deep look into ourselves then look around us, extend our arms, and make a change!