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Your brother in Islam...

Islamophobia in Western Media

- by Stephen Lendman on January 3, 2011

Post-9/11, Western media, especially in America and Britain, describe Muslims as fundamentalists, extremists, terrorists, and fanatics. Throughout the West, Islam is identified with violence, when, in fact it has common roots with Christianity and Judaism. Their tenets are based on love, not hate; peace, not violence; charity, not exploitation; and a just, fair society for people of all faiths. You'd never know it from Islamophobic media reports.

Islamophobia Defined

The Runnymede Trust identifies eight components, characterizing Islam as:

-- monolithic, static, and unresponsive to change;
-- having differing values from other cultures and religions;
-- being inferior to Western societies;
-- barbaric, irrational, primitive, sexist, violent, aggressive, threatening, supporting terrorism, and clashing with Western civilization;
-- an ideology used for political or military advantage;
-- irrationally criticizing Western values;
-- warranting discriminatory practices that exclude Muslims from mainstream society; and
-- believing anti-Muslim hostility is natural and normal.

A 2004 UK Commission on Muslims and Islamophobia report titled, "Islamophobia: issues, challenges and action," said 1.6 million British Muslims live "on a diet of death, hypocrisy and neglect that is traumatizing and radicalizing an entire generation. What does the future hold" it asks? How can secular Britain accommodate religious Muslims? What's been done to counter Islamophobia's debilitating effects? Why has official action been absent? "Why is the antiracist movement so reluctant to address prejudice, hate and discrimination based on religion?" Is Western Islamophobia institutionalized, and at what cost?

Its societies are led by white, mainly Christian, middle and upper class men. They're responsible for serving all their citizens. However, non-Muslim white people institutionalize Islamophobia, instead of denouncing and expunging it.

It's a new term for an old fear since eighth century Europe. Key since the 1960s is the presence of 15 million Western European Muslims, millions more in America. Resource wars is another factor, mainly for oil and gas. Others include misperceptions of Islam, wrongly associating it with violence and terror, as well as exploiting this notion for political advantage. Supportive media reports then stoke fear and hostility, portraying Muslims stereotypically as dangerous and threatening.

In America, noted academicians like Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington promote a clash of civilization thesis, Huntington saying the West's underlying problem "is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power."

On October 22, 2001, Edward Said's Nation magazine article, titled "The Clash of Ignorance," criticized both men, calling their thinking "belligerent." Citing Huntington's 1993 analysis "The Clash of Civilization?" and Lewis' 1990 "The Roots of Muslim Rage," he said both men treat Islam(ic) identity and culture in "cartoonlike" fashion, "where Popeye and Bluto bash each other mercilessly," the more "virtuous" one prevailing. They and others like them rely on stereotypes and gimmickry, not reason or informed analysis, Hollywood and the major media always in lockstep.

Huntington also said "Western ideas of individualism, liberalism, constitutionalism, human rights, equality, liberty, the rule of law, democracy, free markets, the separation of church and state, often have little resonance in Islamic societies." In fact, "Western values" are mirror opposite of what Huntington claimed.

A 2002 Paul Weyrich/William Lind essay headlined, "Why Islam is a Threat to America and the West," calling it a fifth column and religion of war. In September 2001, hatemonger Ann Coulter wrote:

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officials. We carpet bombed German cities and killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

In November 2001, Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham) told NBC Nightly News that "Islam is a very evil and wicked religion."

In February 2002, Pat Robertson said Muslims "want to coexist until they can control, dominate and then, if need be, destroy. (You) can't say that Muslim religion is a religion of peace. It's not."

Also in February 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft called Islam "a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sent his son to die for you."

From then until now, it hasn't let up, notable figures and media reports spreading hate and fear, supporting global imperial wars. Contrasting a West/East dichotomy, Edward Said wrote about colonizers v. the colonized, "the familiar (Europe, West, us) and the strange (the Orient, East, them)." The strong against the weak. The superior against the lesser. The belief that might makes right, no matter how misguided, destructive or hateful.

Professor Deepa Kumar is active in social movements for peace and global justice. She also conducts research in areas of war, imperialism, globalization, class, gender, and the media, including how it treats Islam.

Her recent essay titled, "Framing Islam: The Resurgence of Orientalism During the Bush II Era" deals with post-9/11 events relating, explaining the reemergence of "clash of civilizations" extremism. Under Bush II and Obama, it became "commonsense," a dominant political logic.

Kumar considered "five key taken-for-granted" post-9/11 myths, that:

(1) Islam is monolithic. In fact, as practiced in dozens of countries globally, it's diverse within many Sunni and Shiite branches.

(2) It's uniquely sexist. In fact, no more or less than all major religions. Christian dogma says Eve was created out of Adam's rib. European and American women once were burned at the stake as witches. It took them a 100 year struggle to be able to vote. Their rights have always been attacked, including over their own bodies, Christian fascists promoting male gender dominance.

(3) It's inherently violent and intolerant, the term "jihad' wrongfully used to connote holy war. In fact, it refers both to an internal struggle to overcome one's weaknesses, as well as a lesser one for self-preservation and defense.

(4) The "Muslim mind" is incapable of reason and science. On September 12, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI equated Catholicism with reason, saying Islam lacked it. Many others before him made the same argument, as spurious and racist then as now.

(5) "The West spreads democracy, while Islam spawns terrorism." As a result, Western civilization must modernize and tame it. America, of course, disdains democratic freedoms, preferring easily co-opted despots, not social justice and liberation.

Kumar fights myths with scholarly analysis, exposing them as hateful and bogus.

In a September 22, 2010 interview, she examined Islamophobia in America, saying fear and animosity toward Muslims prevail.

"I don't think, however that (it) comes from regular Americans. Rather, (post-9/11), the mainstream media and the political elite have helped generate an attitude toward Muslims that has been largely negative. Most recently," Tea Party extremists exploited it. Another group called "Stop Islamization of America" promotes the notion "that Muslims are conspiring to take over the US."

Films, the major media, and hate groups have manipulated ordinary Americans. "Every country that seeks to obtain the consent of its citizens for war must construct an enemy that is feared and hated." Bush officials used Islam, much like Cold War tactics vilified communists and Japanese Americans were denigrated and abused during WW II. "Today all Muslims are viewed as responsible for the events that took place on 9/11," hatemongering and fear replacing truth, Hollywood and major media reports in the lead.

Films especially depict "Arab men as barbaric, violent, gaudy, lascivious, and of Muslim majority countries as uncivilized, misogynistic, irrational, and undemocratic." Major media reports pick it up, "tak(ing) their cues from the 'primary definers of news,' that is, people who are the key political and economic leaders." They've largely "branded the Muslim community as untrustworthy and anti-American." Mainstream media reports echo the same theme.

On January 10, Kumar titled a Monthly Review article, "How to Fight Islamophobia and the Far Right, in Europe and the United States," saying:

"An alarming trend (swept) Europe." Far right parties bashed Muslims and immigrants to achieve "electoral gains in (numerous) European countries." It showed up in France, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia, hard times the driving force for change, including in America.

"What we are seeing is a right-wing populist movement beginning to manifest racism at its core." It's both electoral and grassroots "based on intimidating Muslim communities and Latino immigrants." Islamophobia incites "war on terror" hysteria and "serv(es) the domestic agenda of the far right in ways similar to what has gone on in Europe."

A weak-kneed centrist approach "only strengthens the far right," as true in America as abroad. Combating Islamophobia demands exposing it "as the scapegoating tactic of a system in crisis." To prevail, however, requires "political and economic alternative(s) to neoliberalism and war," but don't expect major media help promoting them.

Kumar's International Socialist Review March/April 2007 article titled, "Islam and Islamophobia" explained how, over the previous year, Muslim-bashing in America and Europe was relentless. It's no different today. Their common thread "is a polarized view of the world," a classic good v. evil struggle, hyperbolically portraying a democratic West against barbaric, uncivilized Islam, wanting to create "an Islamic empire stretching from Europe to South East Asia." Never mind that people of all religions and ethnicities everywhere want social justice, freedom and peace.

Orientalists, however, view the West as "dynamic, complex, and ever changing," while Islam "is static, barbaric, and despotic." It needs "Western intervention to bring about progressive change," what Islamic societies can't do for themselves.

Kumar argues that "Confronting Islamophobia and challenging American racism toward the people of the Middle East is an essential precondition for the rebirth of a strong antiwar movement." Its inability or unwillingness to challenge Islamophobia has been one of its biggest weaknesses. "Our future, quite literally, depends on building such a movement." Progressive change depends on a foundation of peace, equal justice, and democratic freedoms, achievements so far nowhere in sight.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

Why a devout Catholic decided to become a Muslim?

From www.DarulIhsan.com

Believing in God, or Allah, requires individual strength and faith in the increasingly secular society in which we live. So what could inspire somebody to change from one religion to another? As police hold Bristol Muslim convert Andrew Ibrahim for suspected terrorism involvement, reporter JACK HUNTER spoke to a Bristol student who left his devout Catholic beliefs behind to become a Muslim.

For most Christians the thought of converting to Islam is almost taboo. Children are raised on tales of Richard the Lionheart and his noble knights crusading to rid the Holy Land of unbelievers.

Then there is the widespread news coverage about Islamic terrorism at home and abroad.

But one Bristol student stunned his dyed-in-the-wool Christian family by announcing his intention to become Muslim.

Mohammed Hakeem, 28, knew it would be difficult for his family to accept his conversion.

Mr Hakeem, formerly Belizaire, is from a committed church-going family who observe Lent and other Christian holidays with devotion.

He was baptised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools in Bath.

But the death of his mother in 2003, at the age of 42, revealed cracks in his belief which ultimately led him to embrace Islam.

After years of consideration, while he worked in recruitment and sales in various firms in Bristol, Mohammed converted in September 2007.

He said: "I lost faith in school having religion and science classes back to back.

"I'm logically minded and some of the so-called miracles Jesus performed just didn't make sense to me.

"When my mum passed away, my faith was shaken.

"I always believed everything happened for a reason and couldn't understand why someone so good and so young was taken.

"When I was feeling lost and confused by my religious education, I found that Islam made sense to me.

"It gave me a concrete feeling in the existence of God and an afterlife, which helped me deal with the loss of my mother."

His brother Lewis, now Yusuf, had converted 19 months earlier, a move that had a major influence on Mohammed's decision.

He said he watched his brother, who attended the Catholic St Brendan's Sixth Form College in Brislington, grow in conviction and happiness and after some deep thinking took the leap from one faith to another.

He announced his intentions at the St Mark's Road Mosque, familiar to so many from its dome which can be seen from the M32.

Mohammed said: "I was nervous, but as soon as I went in I was openly welcomed by the imam and some young people.

"They asked about my reasons for wanting to convert.

"It's difficult to describe the feeling when you go through with it and say the Shadadah, the vow of belief in God and Mohammed as the prophet of God.

"It's a wonderful sensation.

"It's a feeling of spiritual clarity rather than feeling lost and forsaken."

If he is not praying in St Mark's Road, Mohammed worships at home or in a prayer room at the University of the West of England, where the first-year student is studying business and is a member of the university business club and Islamic association.

He said he was surprised to find how similar the Catholic and Muslim faiths were, not least the fact that Jesus is a part of Islam, which considers him an important prophet.

Both faiths worship one God, too.

Mohammed became a model Muslim, praying daily, learning Arabic, giving generously to charity and renouncing pork and alcohol.

Although he does not wear traditional dress all the time, Mohammed sometimes wears a formal kafnee suit and flat-topped crocheted topi hat for prayers.

Mohammed - who does not want his former Christian name to be known - chose his new first name out of respect for the prophet, and Hakeem because it means wise.

He said: "It's not compulsory to change names, but being around the Muslim community, when someone asks you your name and you give an English name, it doesn't feel appropriate.

"I almost feel awkward and embarrassed because it wasn't an Islamic name.

"Becoming a Muslim certainly has had an influence on my identity in that respect."

As a Muslim, he says the portrayal of Islam since the September 11 terrorist attack in New York and Washington angers him.

He said: "I despise the negative portrayal of the Muslim community in parts of the media.

"Watching the martyrdom videos of the suspects of 7/7, they explained why they were doing it.

"I condemn their actions. Taking life is against the faith.

"However, their reasons - about British foreign policy and the killing of innocent Muslims every day - has to be understood rather than people being too quick to judge the entire Muslim race based on the actions of a few individuals.

"I've heard tales of people receiving aggro because of their religion, but personally I haven't been targeted.

"I've met quite a few converts who come from different backgrounds.

"All were very peaceful and happy individuals.

"I was surprised to hear about all that has been going on in Westbury-on-Trym because these things tend to happen elsewhere."

Mohammed's brother, who is now 19, took the name Yusuf after he converted but, unlike his brother, has retained his surname.

He chose Yusuf because it is a name his family could pronounce.

Yusuf is a law student in London and said his family were shocked when he announced he would be converting to Islam.

But he said it was easy to convert and that he was warmly welcomed by the Muslim community.

He said: "My grandmother thought I was moving away from God.

"But I sent her a copy of the Koran and she read through it.

"Over Christmas, she helped me find which direction to pray.

"Because I was so worried my conversion would create a divide, I waited almost a year to make sure I wasn't being influenced or caught up in something new and interesting.

"In January 2006 I felt I'd waited as long as I could.

"The conversion was a lot simpler than I thought.

"I went to Bristol Central Mosque as people were leaving after Friday prayers and went to the front to announce my intentions.

"They were all quite shocked.

"All of a sudden half the people came and sat down in front of me and looked at me with such love on their faces.

"They asked if I had read up on it, and was I sure nobody had put me up to it.

"They wanted to be sure that I was the real deal.

"I took the Shahadah.

"I was repeating the lines of Arabic spoken to me, but I had practised as much as I could and I knew the meaning behind the words.

"Then that was it.

"They all came and gave me hugs, spoke to me and invited me to their homes for meals and one gave me a lift home.

"It was the best feeling of my life. I couldn't stop smiling.

"It was only a couple of lines, but in my heart I felt like something big had happened.

"I could then actually start my journey and become a Muslim."

Yusuf said he likes to mix new and old, wearing a hoodie and polo shirt he bought online bearing the name Allah in Arabic, rather than the more traditional dress.

He keeps a library of about 100 religious books and is planning to take a pilgrimage soon, one of the key responsibilities all Muslims must undertake at least once in their lifetime.

Yusuf said he felt complete again with his new faith, but was not prepared for the reaction it would provoke in strangers.

He said: "I've never been used to any form of prejudice and suddenly getting it put me in other people's shoes.

"A lot of times people don't know how to take it when I tell them I'm a Muslim convert.

"Terrorism is the first thing that comes into their minds.

"They are thinking 'please tell me you're not one of them'.

"You get used to it. I can totally understand where they are coming from because I was there.

"But when I get the chance to speak to them, 90 per cent want to know more about Islam.

"Islam just seemed to suit me. I never went out much, going to bars and clubs, and I wasn't a ladies' man.

"My friends would joke about me not going out, but it seemed to suit my lifestyle."

Just as it may seem strange to Christians to learn of one of their own choosing a new faith, so it surprised some Bristol Muslims, too.

Yusuf said: "I often get a few looks during prayers.

"They aren't bad looks, but intrigued 'wow, there's a white person' looks.

"I was told that the general view is that when you convert from other religions you are generally seen as more devoted because you've done it out of choice."

Yusuf said that he has not met Andrew Ibrahim, the suspect being held by police in Bristol under the Terrorism Act.

"It's a relatively close-knit society in Bristol, so you generally know everyone," he said.

"I would have thought that I'd have seen him, but I haven't heard much about him.

"In Bristol I've always been looking for any of this happening so I can tell the police about it.

"Some people sometimes say 'come to this house, there's going to be a talk' and I would wonder.

"But when I went it was a perfectly innocent meeting.

"I've never come across anything negative."

His progress impressed his mentor Mohammed Chowdhury, chairman of Bristol Central Mosque in Easton.

Mr Chowdhury said: "Yusuf is studying with my daughter in London, so he's like a child to me.

"My younger son calls him brother.

"He's a good Muslim in all sorts of ways.

"He's praying and doing his duty and integrating into society very well.

"The reaction of other Muslims is simple - they accept him as a brother.

"When he converted, people at the mosque were amazed and interested and wanted to welcome him.

"But it's not unusual for someone to convert.

"Hundreds of people are converting to Islam.

"If anyone comes to me showing their willingness, I will help them."

Wafath-e-Rasool (SAW) – The return of the Greatest Prophet

The Start of the Disease
On Monday the twenty-ninth of Safar in the eleventh year of al-Hijra, he participated in funeral rites in al-Baqee'. On the way back he had a headache, his temperature rose so high that the heat effect could be felt over his headband. He led the Muslims in prayer for eleven days though he was sick. The total number of his sick days were either thirteen of fourteen.


The Last Week
When his sickness grew severe he asked his wives: "Where shall I stay tomorrow?" "Where shall I stay?" They understood what he wanted. So they allowed him to stay wherever he wished. He moved to 'Aishah's room leaning - while he was walking - on al-Fadl bin al-'Abbas and 'Alî bin Abî Tâlib. Head banded as he was, he dragged his feet till he came into her abode. It was there that he spent the last week of his life.


During that period, 'Aishah used to recite al-Mu'awwidhat (Chapters 113 and 114 of the Qur'ân) and other supplications which he has already taught her.


Five days before death
On Wednesday, five days before he died the Prophet's temperature rose so high signalling the severness of his disease. He fainted and suffered from pain. "Pour out on me seven Qirab (water skin pots) of various water wells so that I may go out to meet people and talk to them." So they seated him in a container (usually used for washing) and poured out water on him till he said: "That is enough. That is enough."


Then he felt well enough to enter the Mosque. He entered it band-headed, sat on the pulpit and made a speech to the people who were gathering together around him. He said: "The curse of Allâh falls upon the Jews and Christians for they have made their Prophets’ tombs places of worship." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 1/62; Muatta' Imâm Malik, p.360] Then he said: "Do not make my tomb a worshipped idol." [Muatta' Imâm Malik, p.65]


Then he offered himself and invited the people to repay any injuries he might have inflicted on them, saying:


"He whom I have ever lashed his back, I offer him my back so that he may avenge himself on me. He whom I have ever blasphemed his honour, here I am offering my honour so that he may avenge himself."


Then he descended, and performed the noon prayer. Again he returned to the pulpit and sat on it. He resumed his first speech about enmity and some other things. A man then said: "You owe me three Dirhams." The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Fadl, pay him the money." He went on saying:


"I admonish you to be good to Al-Ansar (the Helpers). They are my family and with them I found shelter. They have acquitted themselves credibly of the responsibility that fell upon them and now there remains what you have to do. You should fully acknowledge and appreciate the favour that they have shown, and should overlook their faults."


In another version: "The number of believers would increase, but the number of Helpers would decrease to the extent that they would be among men as salt in the food. So he who from among you occupies a position of responsibility and is powerful enough to do harm or good to the people, he should frilly acknowledge and appreciate the favour that these benefactors have shown and overlook their faults."


And said: "Allâh, the Great, has given a slave of His the opportunity to make a choice between whatever he desires of Allâh’s provisions in this world, and what He keeps for him in the world, but he has opted for the latter."


Abû Sa’id Al-Khudri said: "Upon hearing that, Abû Bakr cried and said: ‘We sacrifice our fathers and mothers for your sake.’ We wondered why Abû Bakr said such a thing. People said: ‘Look at that old man! The Messenger of Allâh says about a slave of Allâh who was granted the right between the best fortunes of this world and the bounty of Allâh in the Hereafter, but he says: We sacrifice our fathers and mothers for your sake!’ It was later on that we realized what he had aimed at. The Messenger of Allâh was the slave informed to choose. We also acknowledged that Abû Bakr was the most learned among us." [Mishkat Al-Masabih, 2/546]


Then the Messenger of Allâh said:
"The fellow I feel most secure in his company is Abû Bakr. If I were to make friendship with any other one than Allah, I would have Abû Bakr a bosom friend of mine. For him I feel affection and brotherhood of Islam. No gate shall be kept open in the Mosque except that of Abû Bakr’s." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 1/22,429,449, 2/638; Misbkat Al-Masabih, 2/548]


Four days before his death
On Thursday, four days before the death of the Messenger of Allâh he said to people, though he was suffering from a severe pain:


"Come here. I will cause you to write something so that you will never fall into error." Upon this ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab said: "The Prophet of Allâh is suffering from acute pain and you have the Qur’an with you; the Book of Allâh is sufficient unto you." Others however wanted the writing to be made. When Muhammad heard them debating over it, he ordered them to go away and leave him alone. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 2/637]


That day he recommended three things:
1. Jews, Christians and polytheists should be expelled out of Arabia.
2. He recommended that delegations should be honoured and entertained, in a way similar to the one he used to do.
3. As for the third, the narrator said that he had forgotten it. It could have been adherence to the Holy Book and the Sunnah. It was likely to be the accomplishment and the mobilization of Osamah’s army, or it could have been performance of prayers and being attentive to slaves.


In spite of the strain of disease and suffering from pain, the Prophet used to lead all the prayers till that Thursday ��" four days before he died. On that day he led the sunset prayer and recited:


"By the winds (or angels or the Messengers of Allah) sent forth one after another." [77:1] [Misbkat Al-Masabih, 1/102]


In the evening he grew so sick that he could not overcome the strain of disease or go out to enter the Mosque. ‘Aishah said: The Prophet asked: "Have the people performed the prayer?" "No. They haven’t. They are waiting for you." "Put some water in the washing pot." Said he. We did what he ordered. So he washed and wanted to stand up, but he fainted. When he came round he asked again "Have the people prayed?" Then the sequence of events took place again and again for the second and the third times from the time he washed to the time he fainted after his attempts to stand up. Therefore he sent to Abû Bakr to lead the prayer himself. Abû Bakr then led the prayer during those days [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 1/99]. They were seventeen prayers in the lifetime of Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.


Three or four times ‘Aishah talked to the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam to exempt Abû Bakr from leadership in prayer lest people should despair of him, but he refused and said: "You (women) are like the women who tried to entice Joseph (Yusuf) into immorality. Convey my request to Abû Bakr to lead the prayer."


A Day or Two prior to Death
On Saturday or on Sunday, the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam felt that he was well enough to perform the prayer; so he went out leaning on two men in order to perform the noon prayer. Abû Bakr, who was then about to lead the prayer withdrew when he saw him coming; but the Prophet made him a gesture to stay where he was and said: "Seat me next to him." They seated him on the left hand side of Abû Bakr. The Prophet led the prayer, and Abû Bakr followed him and raised his voice at every 'Allâhu Akbar' (i.e. Allâh is the Greatest) the Prophet said, so that the people may hear clearly. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî 1/98,99]


A Day before his Death
On Sunday, a day before he died, the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam set his slaves free, paid as a charity the seven Dinars he owned and gave his weapons as a present to the Muslims. So when night fell ‘Aishah had to borrow some oil from her neighbour to light her oil-lantern. Even his armour was mortgaged as a security with a Jew for thirty Sa’ (a cubic measure) of barley.


The Last Day Alive
In a narration by Anas bin Malik, he said: "While the Muslims were performing the dawn prayer on Monday, led by Abû Bakr, they were surprised to see the Messenger of Allâh raising the curtain of ‘Aishah’s room. He looked at them while they were praying aligned properly and smiled cheerfully. Seeing him, Abû Bakr withdrew to join the lines and give way to him to lead the prayer. For he thought that the Prophet wanted to go out and pray." Anas said: "The Muslims, who were praying, were so delighted that they were almost too enraptured at their prayers. The Messenger of Allâh made them a gesture to continue their prayer, went into the room and drew down the curtain." [ibid. 21640]


The Messenger of Allâh sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam did not live for the next prayer time.
When it was daytime, the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam called Fatimah and told her something in a secret voice that made her cry. Then he whispered to her something else which made her laugh. ‘Aishah enquired from her after the Prophet’s death, as to this weeping and laughing to which Fatimah replied:


"The first time he disclosed to me that he would not recover from his illness and I wept. Then he told me that I would be the first of his family to join him, so I laughed." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 2/638]


He gave Fatimah glad tidings that she would become the lady of all women of the world [Rahmat-ul-lil’alameen, 1/282]. Fatimah witnessed the great pain that afflicted her father. So she said: "What great pain my father is in!". To these words, the Prophet remarked:
"He will not suffer any more when today is over." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 2/641]


He asked that Al-Hasan and Al-Husain be brought to him. He kissed them and recommended that they be looked after. He asked to see his wives. They were brought to him. He preached them and told them to remember Allah. Pain grew so much severe that the trace of poison he had at Khaibar came to light. It was so sore that he said to ‘Aishah: "I still feel the painful effect of that food I tasted at Khaibar. I feel as if death is approaching." [ibid, 2/637] He ordered the people to perform the prayers and be attentive to slaves. He repeated it several times. [ibid. 2/637]


The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam breathes his last
When the pangs of death started, ‘Aishah leant him against her. She used to say: One of Allah’s bounties upon me is that the Messenger of Allâh died in my house, while I am still alive. He died between my chest and neck while he was leaning against me. Allâh has mixed his saliva with mine at his death. For ‘Abdur Rahman - the son of Abû Bakr - came in with a Siwak (i.e. the root of a desert plant used for brushing teeth) in his hand, while I was leaning the Messenger of Allâh against me. I noticed that he was looking at the Siwak, so I asked him - for I knew that he wanted it, "Would you like me to take it for you?" He nodded in agreement. I took it and gave it to him. As it was too hard for him, I asked him "Shall I soften it for you?" He nodded in agreement. So I softened it with my saliva and he passed it (on his teeth).


In another version it is said: "So he brushed (Istanna) his teeth as nice as he could." There was a water container (Rakwa) available at his hand with some water in. He put his hand in it and wiped his face with it and said:


"There is no god but Allah. Death is full of agonies." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 2/640]


As soon as he had finished his Siwak, brushing, he raised his hand or finger up, looked upwards to the ceiling and moved his lips. So ‘Aishah listened to him. She heard him say: "With those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace with the Prophets and the Truthful ones (As-Siddeeqeen), the martyrs and the good doers. O Allâh, forgive me and have mercy upon me and join me to the Companionship on high." [ibid, 2/638-641] Then at intervals he uttered these words: "The most exalted Companionship on high. To Allâh we turn and to Him we turn back for help and last abode." This event took place at high morning time on Monday, the twelfth of Rabi’ al-Awwal, in the eleventh year of Al-Hijrah. He was sixty-three years and four days old when he died.


The Companions’ concern over the Prophet’s Death
The great (loss) news was soon known by everybody in Madinah. Dark grief spread on all areas and hoirizons of Madinah. Anas said: "I have never witnessed a day better or brighter than that day on which the Messenger of Allâh sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam came to us; and I have never witnessed a more awful or darker day than that one on which the Messenger of Allâh died on." [Mishkat-ul-Masabih, 2/547]


When he died, Fatimah said: "O Father, whom his Lord responded to his supplication! O Father, whose abode is Paradise. O Father, whom I announce his death to Gabriel." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 2/641]


‘Umar’s Attitude
‘Umar, who was so stunned that he almost lost consciousness and stood before people addressing them: "Some of the hypocrites claim that the Messenger of Allâh sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam died. The Messenger of Allâh did not die, but went to his Lord in the same way as Moses bin ‘Imran did. He stayed away for forty nights, but finally came back though they said he had been dead. By Allah, the Messenger of Allâh will come back and he will cut of the hands and legs of those who claim his death." [Ibn Hisham, 2/655]


Abû Bakr’s Attitude
Abû Bakr left his house at As-Sunh and came forth to the Mosque on a mare-back. At the Mosque, he dismounted and entered. He talked to nobody but went on till he entered ‘Aishah’s abode, and went directly to where the Messenger of Allâh sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam was. The Prophet was covered with a Yemeni mantle. He uncovered his face and tended down, kissed him and cried. Then he said: "I sacrifice my father and mother for your sake. Allah, verily, will not cause you to die twice. You have just experienced the death that Allâh had ordained."


Then he went out and found ‘Umar talking to people. He said: "‘Umar, be seated." ‘Umar refused to do so. People parted ‘Umar and came towards Abû Bakr, who started a speech saying:


"And now, he who worships Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, Muhammad is dead now. But he who worships Allah, He is Ever Living and He never dies. Allâh says: ‘Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is no more than a Messenger, and indeed (many) Messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you then turn back on your heels (as disbelievers)? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allâh, and Allâh will give reward to those who are grateful.’ " [3:144]


Ibn ‘Abbas said: "By Allâh it sounded as if people had never heard such a Qur’anic verse till Abû Bakr recited it as a reminder. So people started reciting it till there was no man who did not recite it."


Ibn Al-Musaiyab said that ‘Umar had said: "By Allâh as soon as I heard Abû Bakr say it, I fell down to the ground. I felt as if my legs had been unable to carry me so I collapsed when I heard him say it. Only then did I realize that Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam had really died." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 2/640,641]


Burial and Farewell Preparations to his Honourable Body

Dispute about who would succeed him broke out even before having the Messenger of Allah’s body prepared for burial. Lots of arguments, discussions, dialogues took place between the Helpers and Emigrants in the roofed passage (portico) of Barn Sa’ida. Finally they acknowledged Abû Bakr (RA) as a caliph. They spent the whole Monday there till it was night. People were so busy with their arguments that it was late night, just about dawn of Tuesday, yet his blessed body was still lying on his bed covered with an inked-garment. He was locked in the room.


On Tuesday, his body was washed with his clothes on. He was washed by Al-’Abbas, 'Alî, Al-Fadl and Qathm, the two sons of Al-’Abbas, as well as Shaqran, the Messenger’s freed slave, Osamah bin Zaid and Aws bin Khauli. Al-’Abbas, Al-Fadi and Qathm turned his body round, whereas Osamah and Shaqran poured out water. 'Alî washed him and Aws leant him against his chest.


They shrouded him in three white Sahooli cotton cloth which had neither a headcloth [Sahîh al-Bukhârî, 1/169, Sahîh Muslim, 1/306] nor a casing and inserted him in.
A sort of disagreement arose with regard to a burial place. Abû Bakr said: "I heard the Messenger of Allâh say: ‘A dead Prophet is buried where he dies.’" So Abû Talhah lifted the bed on which he died, dug underneath and cut the ground to make the tomb.
People entered the room ten by ten. They prayed for the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. The first to pray for him were people of his clan. Then the Emigrants, then the Helpers. Women prayed for him after men. The young were the last to pray.
This process took Tuesday long and Wednesday night (i.e. the night which precedes Wednesday morning). ‘Aishah said: "We did not know that the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam was being buried till we heard the sound of tools digging the ground at the depth of Wednesday night." [Mukhtasar Seerat Ar-Rasool, p.471; Ibn Hisham, 2/649-665; Talqeeh Fuhoom Ahl M-Athar, p. 38, 39; Rahmat-ul-lil'alameen 1/277-286]


By: Shaykh Safi ur-Rahman Mubarakfoori
From Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtoom

The Land of the Pure and True - Muslims in China

Muslim China boasts a population of 20 million. From the Hui to the Uyghurs, Islam in China is distinctive and diverse - intertwining authentic Chinese culture, with Islamic practice.

- By Ethar El-Katatney (Issue 73 October 2010)

Source: Email

I get into a rickshaw in Beijing and my 65 year old wrinkled driver immediately whizzes me through the hutongs - old, narrow alleyways. He looks at me and talks in Chinese. I turn to my guide. “He’s asking where you are from.” “Aygee,” I reply in my broken Chinese - Egypt. He points at my headscarf, “Are you Hindu?” “No, Muslim.” He smiles and points to himself, “Moosleeman.”

For many people it comes as a shock to learn that officially there are at least 20 million Muslims in China, that’s a third of the UK’s total population. Unofficially, the number is even higher, some saying 65.3m and even 100m Muslims in China – up to 7.5% of the population.

Regardless of the real figure, the reality is that Islam in China is almost as old as the revelation of Islam to the Prophet Muhammad. Twenty years after the Prophet’s death, diplomatic relations were established in China by the Caliph Uthman. Trade was followed by settlement, until eighty years after the hijrah pagoda style mosques appeared in China. A century later, in 755, it became common for Chinese emperors to employ Muslim soldiers in their armies and also as government officials.

Today, the population of China includes 56 ethnic groups, 10 of which are Muslim. Out of these 10 minority groups, the Hui (short for Huizhou) are the largest group at 9.8m, making up 48% of China’s Muslim population. The second largest group is the Uyghurs at 8.4m, or 41% of the Chinese Muslim population. The Hui speak Chinese, unlike the Uyghurs and five other Muslim ethnic groups which speak Turkic languages. Overwhelmingly Sunni in belief and practice, the Hui are ethnically and culturally Chinese, virtually indistinguishable from the Han, who make up China’s billion-strong community. If my rickshaw driver hadn’t told me he was Muslim, I would have never guessed.

For over a millennium, and across five major imperial dynasties the Hui have lived in China peacefully, spread in every province and contributing to every aspect of Chinese life, from the military and the economy to the arts and sciences. Thriving in a non-Muslim civilisation, the Hui managed to create an indigenous Islamic culture that is uniquely and simultaneously Chinese and Muslim. Their experience, as Dru Gladney, author of Dislocating China puts it, is a “standing refutation of Samuel Huntington’s clash of civilisations.” No identity crisis whatsoever.

 

1,400 years of History

Muslims in China began as traders and soldiers in the seventh century, therefore instilling in the early Muslim settlers a sense of belonging and legitimacy; they were not a burden on the country, but valuable contributors. It was only in the thirteenth century however, after the Mongols conquered China, that these Muslims who were classified as ‘foreign guests’ were allowed to live wherever they chose and granted citizenship. This started the development of a fully indigenous Chinese Muslim culture. The Mongols, a minority themselves, encouraged Muslim migration to China, and forcibly relocated millions of Muslim immigrants, employing them as government officials and dispersing them throughout China. In the Ming dynasty Hui became the standard title for Chinese Muslims, and they flourished.

    Centuries later, during the Manchurian (Qing) dynasty in 1780, communal violence between the Han and Hui began, and continued for 150 years. It began with the Manchurian’s discriminatory policies towards the Muslims: forbidding them from building mosques or slaughtering animals, paradoxically at a time when then Hui had become an integral part of Chinese culture. One of the worst bloodbaths took place between 1862 and 1878 in the province of Gansu, where the population of 15m was slaughtered to one million, two-thirds of which were Hui.

    The Manchurian dynasty was overthrown in 1912, although violence against the Hui continued until 1930. But then less than 20 years later, communist party Chairman Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China, a Marxist state that was antagonistic to all religions. The Hui, with other religious minorities, were prosecuted, killed, and had their places of worship destroyed. It was only after Mao’s death that things started to settle down. Realising the economic potential of the Hui, the government sought to make amends and offered them special accommodations.

    Imam Ali Noor-Elhuda, Chairman of the Islamic Association in Beijing, and Imam of the gorgeous 1,000-year-old Niujie mosque tells me, “The government is no longer repressing faith and allows everyone to practice their religion. It emphasises respect to everyone. And although in our history there was fighting with the Han, it is mostly peaceful now. And for the most part there is no ideological conflict between Muslims; we believe in one God and one Book. The differences are only in language, food and tradition.” Although Chinese Muslims are currently disfranchised from political involvement (the Chinese communist party only admits atheists, I’m told by some students), the political stability of modern China is hopefully a good omen for the future of the Hui.

Harmony

Islam began in an Arab region. On the surface, it seemed to be at complete odds with Chinese traditions and Confucianism, which at the time was the official religion of China. The ancient Chinese people saw their civilisation as the epitome of human development, and had Islam been presented as an alien faith, they would have rejected it completely and seen it as unworthy, with no place in their world. Islam in China would have become isolated, and perhaps as fleeting as Christianity was.

    “But this was unacceptable,” says the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Xian, the first mosque to be built in China almost 1,400 years ago. Sitting in front of him, trying not to gawp at the incredible architecture surrounding me, I ask him why. “Chinese Muslims love their country and its people. We are Chinese. We cannot not be part of China. There is even a hadith that says, ‘Love of your country is part of faith.’”

The Hui scholars therefore searched to find the common ground between Islam and the main faiths of China: Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism), and Buddhism. They became experts in Islamic and Chinese texts, traditions and practices, and without their efforts Chinese Muslim culture would have remained alien and foreign, isolated and far removed from the community.

    In Western discourse, Dr. Umar Abd-Allah of the Nawawi Foundation tells me, many scholars argue that in order to integrate into the country, Chinese Islam Sinicised, which means orthodox Islamic faith and practice was made Chinese. The most evident example of how Chinese Muslims created their own unique forms of cultural expressions are their mosques, of which 45,000 exist in China. Stunningly beautiful, the mosques are quintessentially both Chinese and Muslim. My first sight of a Chinese mosque literally took my breath away. On the outside, they are built in traditional Chinese style, with pagoda-like roofs, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese archways. On the inside, however the Islamic influences are crystal clear: beautiful Chinese Arabic calligraphy, an octagonal minaret, a mihrab, a Chinese Imam lecturing in Mandarin and making supplication in perfect Arabic.

Examples of the fusion of Chinese and Islamic traditions are everywhere. In Xian, where an estimated 90,000 Muslims live, whilst wandering through a noisy souvenir market I came across traditional wall hangings with Arabic hadith written in calligraphy; porcelain tea sets with Qur’anic verses inscribed on them; popular red amulets with an attribute of Allah at the center rather than the traditional Chinese zodiac animal; rosaries with a name of Allah printed on each bead in Chinese characters; Qur’ans printed in both Chinese and Arabic.

When it comes to language, rather than transliterate Arabic terms into words that might be mispronounced and misunderstood - since the Chinese writing system is not phonetic - the early Hui scholars decided to choose words that best reflected the meaning of the Arabic terms, and at the same time were meaningful in Chinese tradition. Their purpose in doing this was twofold: they showed the Chinese community that they respected, believed and honoured the Chinese tradition, and that Islamic concepts, which in Arabic might have seemed inconceivable, were not only relatable, but similar. The Qur’an, for example, was referred to as the Classic: the sacred books of China were called the Classics, and as such the Qur’an was psychologically put in the same category. Islam was translated as Qing Zhen Jiao, “The religion of the Pure and the Real”. At the great Mosque of Xian, Chinese characters proclaim, “May the religion of the Pure and the Real spread wisdom throughout the land.”

Haroun Khanmir, a 24-year-old Islamic Studies student at the Xiguian mosque in Lingxia, has studied Arabic for four years. “Being fluent in Chinese and Arabic allows me to appreciate the brilliance of the terms chosen. They have so many nuances that instantly explain the true essence of Islam using main Chinese values.”

When comparing Islamic and Chinese traditions, the Hui scholars searched for common ground, coming up with five main principles that both traditions shared. And although they were clear about where Islamic belief deviated from Chinese thought, they did not set out to reject Chinese tradition and prove why it was wrong. Instead, they showed how Islam added to it. By not painting Islamic and Chinese tradition in binary opposition where belief in the former meant rejection of the latter, they avoided distressing Muslims who were very much Chinese.

“I consider myself 100% Chinese,” says a smiling 18 year old Ahmed Dong, dressed in a white thobe and turban. “And I don’t see why, even with different politics and languages and beliefs, we can’t be so; we share the same language, customs, and culture. Our country is so diverse, and yet unity is a value we all wish to have, rather than living separately.” One of the hundreds of students at the Xiguian mosque who come from a number of different ethnic backgrounds and study Qur’an, hadith, Arabic, English, as well as computer skills, Dong hopes to continue his studies in an Arabic country, and then come back and do da’wa in China, raising awareness of Islam.

Today

Thirty four years after the Cultural Revolution, Muslims – and indeed, followers of other religions – are in a much better position. Islamic associations, schools and colleges are being created, mosques are being built, and there is a small but visible Islamic revival. After years of repression, Chinese Muslims are flourishing, organising inter-ethnic activitiesamongst themselves and international activities with Muslims abroad.

China’s one-child policy applies to the Hui, even though minority groups are allowed to have two or even three children, simply because the Hui’s numbers are so substantial. The majority of the other Chinese Muslim minority groups, however, are allowed to have two children, and Chinese Muslim numbers are increasing. “There is also a very small number of converts,” says the Imam of the Xiguian mosque after a heartfelt du’a under the shade of a 500 year old tree, the only original thing left in the mosque complex which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. “But what is more interesting is that many people who would not admit to being Muslims before out of fear of harming their livelihoods, like doctors, are now openly saying they are Muslims.”

Depending on the city you are in, the practice of Islam is different. In rural areas such as Little Mecca, where Muslims make up almost 60% of the population, Islam is evident in the number of mosques, halal restaurants and women in headscarves. It felt wonderful and yet so strange to walk and hear a dozen assalamu alaikums; to hear the adhan. In cosmopolitan cities like Beijing, however, as in every country of the world, globalisation and consumerism affects spirituality. Abdul Rahman Haroun, Imam of the 300-year old Nan Dou Mosque, one of Beijing’s 72 mosques, elaborates: “Here in the big cities Muslims have to conform to the dress code.

Women do not wear headscarves because they are inconvenient and would be incomprehensible. In the southwestern parts of China it is different.” Deea’ El Din, Imam at the 85 year old mosque in Shanghai smiles when I tell him I am from Egypt, and says that the years he spent at Al-Azhar university in Cairo were some of the best in his life. “Unfortunately, the environment here is not conducive to being religious, and most mosque-goers are older men and women.” He excuses himself to call the adhan for maghrib, and leads us in prayers; there were only half a dozen Chinese worshippers.

Muslim minorities around the world have much to learn from the experience of the Hui in China, even though many Muslim minorities today in the West have a millennium long history of contributing to their country. By delving deep into the heart of Islamic beliefs and becoming just as knowledgeable of Chinese beliefs, the Hui scholars found common ground with faiths and traditions that on the surface seemed very different to Islam - but they found the human values that bind us.

The Islamic scholars of today have to do the same with Western traditions, which are much more similar to Islam than Chinese traditions: they share the same Abrahamic values and beliefs, and the two civilisations have histories that were often intertwined.

There are 10 Muslim minority groups in China, but never in the history of the world has there ever been such an ethnically diverse group of Muslims in non-Muslim countries as there are in the world today. From the example of China we learn the importance of cross-cultural communication.

The Hui experience also demonstrates that it is very possible that Muslims can live in harmony with very different civilisations, and at the same time create a viable and unique indigenous culture. The fusion of things Chinese and Islamic is unparalleled, whether it is in thought or cultural expression. By expressing their spirituality through architecture, works of literature, calligraphy and more, the Hui demonstrate to all minority Muslim groups that creating an authentic and genuine culture that is both Muslim and indigenous is not only possible, but beautiful. My fondest memory of the entire trip is reading Qur’an in a Chinese mosque, only to have an old Chinese woman, dressed all in white sit next to me, smile hugely and point at the Qur’an. I look at her askance, and she starts pointing to the letters and at me. I start reading from surah Ya Sin and she reads with me. And for the next fifteen minutes we read together. Islam is truly a universal religion.