I've been at work for around 45hours this week so far....isn't that more than what most people work in a full week...? A bad sign....

Arab Rant

Salaam,

I don't like Arabs. That'll do.


Salaam.

Sufi Rant

Salaams,

Well hello people, how are we all...? Good.

So, another while since i've properly said anything...i'm really being put to shame by the "fake sheikh" who seems to write something in his blog every couple of days...with topics ranging from jinns, world politics, football, matters of the heart etc etc...oh well, i guess i'm just not as interesting as you sidi....lol


Anyway last wednesday (i think..all of time seems to merge into one..) i went to a talk organised by the Muslims Wharf Association entitled "The best of people are those who are the most benefit to others" which is paraphrasing a saying of the Prophet. Since the event was being held right next door to where i work i thought i would pop along.

Alhamdulilla it turned out to be a pretty good talk. Abdul Hakim Murad spoke for a bit, but the "guest" speaker was Habib Kazim from Yemen. Now for those of you who don't know (including me) the country of Yemen is supposed to hold a special place in Islam as the propet once prayed for it and its people and even till today their are pockets of Yemen which are supposed to have the "purest" form of Islam there.

So it was quite weird attending the talk because for the bulk of AHM section, all he did was big up Yemen, the people of Yemen, how he was so honoured to be with someone like Habib Kazim etc etc

Another thing often associated with Yemen is Sufism (dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun)

Yes Sufis. It seemed that every Sufi in London had turned up to the talk on Wednesday to listen to Habib Kazim. I didn't need to speak to anyone of them, i just Knew they were sufis; from the clothes they wore (predominantly from Shukr), from the style of their beards, from their mannerisms etc etc. As i've mentioned before, in my 3 months in Amman i was constantly around sufis there so i've got used to them and their ways and many of the myths about them have been blown away, alhamdulilla. But having subsequently having spent 2 months with Salafis and from my own readin i still remain partially sceptical to this "craze"

I choose the word "craze" carefully as this is what it seems to be, in the west at least at the moment. More and more people who one ends up meeting seem to have sufi leanings and talk about going and spending time in the deserts of Mauratania. For me thats all great and good, and no one, not even the salafis would deny that we all need to be partially sufis in that we need to develop a spiritual side to our worship. But i think that in the west we seem to be goin through a phase where its "cool" to be a sufi without necessarily knowing what it means and what we're getting ourselves into and also without having the basic fundamentals of Islam within us. For example a freind of mine from Burnley went to a "sufi" event held in Spain a few years back (he went more for a holiday...lol) and he came back shocked that there were all these young western muslims who seemed right up for a good sing along in the mosque and doing collective dhikr and the rest of it, but half of them didn't know how to pray or didn't seem to care about it, mixing between the sexes went on without anyone batting an eyelid etc etc. Another case in example was in Amman where the shadilis do their "Latifiya" (sit in a group and chant "ya latif" a thousand times..) and i met sufis going to this event but didn't even know what "Ya Latif" meant...! And upon questioning on some of the more "dodgier" things that the sufis did (e.g. hadras and the like) no one seemed to know anything about it


Sorry if i seem to have gone off on one - just to clarify i have no issues with sufis, i have no issues with salafis, however my personal belief is that in both groups some of their actions would not be in the "middle way". What annoys me even more is how it has become fashionable to become a sufi, when we have't even understod the basics of practising Islam. I don't think its a similar argument to say growing a beard first, and then learning how to pray etc etc, as with sufism you're trying to enter a higher realm, which if done without basic knowledge of Islam, i think can be quite dangerous...maybe its my fault for thinking bad of people, maybe everyone wants to become a sufi now because thats what they really Really want and they're not doing it, at no level, just to be cool...


Anyway, back to the talk...lol. Yeah the talk was really really good. Habib Kazim was talking away in Arabic and usually when there's an interpretor involved, the essence of the talk gets lost but the guy here was excellent mashaAllah (i can't remember the finer details - i often do this - leave a good islamic talk thinking "Wow, that was awesome" but then a day later forget the actual details..plus having not taken any notes i completely forget what was spoken about...). Anyway one bit i do remember is always trying to think good of people (note above..), that when someon seems to be doing something good for another person we should always think good of that intention and wish that we are able to do actions completely for His sake rather than some material benefit. InshaAllah i'm going to ask the organisers for an audio copy of the talk and i'll try and write it up.

In other news; work, work, work......work was ridiculously busy last week with it quietening down somewhat the last couple of days. Next week is going to be an absolute killer though as FIVE companies which i look at are reporting their 2006 numbers (profit/loss etc etc) so we'll have to analyse this, see what the repurcussions are etc etc and write a report for each. I'm getting tired just thinking about it!

Anyway, take care people.

Salaam

Sheikh Valentine

Salaams,

I came across the article below in an Islamic magazine and took it back to the flat to discuss with the guys. At the conclusion of our talk we summed up that St Valentine (or Sheikh Valentine as he he will be hence referred to in the flat) did a valiant act and died for a righteous cause (a shaheed of sort). And since he was alive before the time of the Prophet, who knows? he could well have beem a "Muslim"...so a big hooray to you Sheikh Valentine.



"According to church tradition St. Valentine was a priest nearRome in about the year 270 CE At that time the RomanEmperor Claudius-II who issued an edict forbidding marriage.

This was around when the heyday of Roman empire had almost come to an end. Lack of quality administrators led tofrequent civil strife. Learning declined, taxation increased, and trade slumped to a low, precarious level. And the Gauls,Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europeand Asia increased their pressure on the empire’s boundaries.The empire was grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Thus more capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers. When Claudius became the emperor, he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families,and thus, will not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.

Valentine, a bishop , seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this “friend of lovers,” and had him arrested. The emperor, impressed with the young priest’s dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the roman gods, to save him from certain execution. Valentine refused to recognise Roman Gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully. On February 14, 270, Valentine was executed."


What a legend.

Salaam.
Ps, yes the colour pink has been done on purpose...lol

CFA Blues

Why do chores such as cleaning your room seem so attractive when you're trying to work...?

Salaam