Muslims going for Gold in the Olympics during Ramadan

Woroud Sawalha – Palestine

The Muslim month of Ramadan – fasting – coincided with London’s Olympics and ever since, I’ve been inundated with arguments that the Olympics are kufr and I’ve witnessed the passing of a quasi-takfeer on Muslims participating in the Olympics.

Firstly, unless you as a Muslim have replaced worshipping Allah Az’Wajjal with worshipping the rings of Mount Olympus, I fail to see where the aspect of kufr comes from.

Secondly, I recently heard a BBC documentary titled “Heart and Soul” which explored the clash between strict religious obedience and the quest for Olympic glory.

You can listen to it below:

Peter Musembi from BBC African Sport talks to top athletes, to find out how they deal with the dilemma, he hears from 10,000 metre Gold medal winner Mohammed Farah, born in Mogadishu but raised in London, he has also deferred his fast in past years.

You can read an excellent blog written by Shahad Kamal on Mohammed Farah titled “One Nation Under Gold”.

Mohammed Sbihi, the first ever Muslim rower to gain a medal for Team GB. Sbihi tells Musembi how he has faced criticism for deferring his fast until he is out of competition, and how he has donated his own money to fund meals for homeless children in his family’s home country Morocco.

He also meets an Olympian of the future, 18-year-old Ambreen Sadiq, the first British Muslim female boxer, who tells the programme how she deals with her brutal training regime, while denying herself food or drink for up to 14 hours a day.

There is a hikmah (wisdom) in whether Muslim athletes fast and compete, or do not fast and pay for thousands to be fed. It is a personal choice for the individuals concerned and it does not give any other Muslim the right to judge.

Fasting is good for you & it’s a scientific fact!

There may be wider effects of fasting beyond changes in weight, specifically on brain cells, researchers in Baltimore and the University of Manchester have discovered.

Prof Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist in Baltimore says that fasting for one or two days a week makes cells stronger and more resistant to disease.

The Prophet SAW would fast for two days in every week, that was more than 1433 years ago and sadly Western science proves the rationale why.

I say sadly, as “Muslim” countries are indentured into servitude and do nothing to scientifically prove the truth of Islam, while the West can.

That’s what happens when you are at peace and are able to excel in science, maths and the arts, that’s what a “Free Man” can do.

So don’t just sit there downing Vimto until you’re high.

If you’re a Muslim scientist, prove this hadith:

“If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.”

(Sahih Al-Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 54, Number 537)

You know “We” won’t …….. but “They” will.

Muslims overeating in Ramadan & the Vimto factor

Eat & sleep – that’s the Muslim way!

Is there a correlation between Ramadan & sales of Vimto?

Are Muslims eating so much during Ramadan that they’re falling ill?

Muslims can’t seem to get enough of Vimto

Walk into any Arab owned shop in London, and you’ll be able to find all the Vimto you want, but where’s the Ribena?

The scum covered it in typical shouty fashion:

“FASTING Muslims are guzzling cans of VIMTO to get them through Ramadan”

And though this is a couple of years old, the Telegraph’s Will Heaven (Will Hell would be more appropriate) decides that drinking vimto is a form of: “religious cheating” during “the cruel month of Ramadan”

And when they’re not plying themselves with Vimto, Muslims are stuffing themselves silly and ending up in hospital.

Ramadan is not about how much neat vimto you can guzzle to keep your blood sugar levels up, or how much kabsa & mandi you can force down your throat.

If all you’ve gained during Ramadan is hunger & thirst, then you have not gained any benefit from this holy month.

On the authority of Al-Miqdaam ibn Maadiy-Karib who said, I heard the Messenger of Allah saying:

“No human ever filled a vessel worse than the stomach. Sufficient for any son of Adam are some morsels to keep his back straight. But if it must be, then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for his breath.”

Hadith No. 47, Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasaa’I, Ibn Majah – Hadith Sahih.

No one wants to be stood next to you in Isha & Taraweh while you’re burping away letting the rest of the congregation know what you ate at Iftar.

Increase your good deeds, your Qiyam, your Ibadah, your acts of Charity and struggling Fi’Sabeel’Allah during Ramadan.

Increase your E’maan during Ramadan, not your waistline.

Muhammed Sbihi Britain’s first Muslim Olympic rower solves Ramadan dilemma

Muhammed Sbihi – Britain’s first Muslim Olympic Rower

Muhammed Sbihi, Britain’s first Muslim Olympic rower has solved the Ramadan fasting dilemma for athletes, instead of fasting during the Olympic games he’ll pay for the meals for 1,800 people in his native Morocco as recompense.

When Muhammed Sbihi was picked for the GB rowing Olympic squad he faced a dilemma, how to marry his faith and to practice the month of Ramadan, where one must abstain from food and drink during the daylight hours and the demands it would have on him as a athlete in a once in a lifetime opportunity?

Willing to find another solution, he then heard about Moroccan goalkeeper Badou Zaki, who though a Muslim never fasted during his time at Real Mallorca in Spain’s La Liga. Instead, he would go to Morocco each year to pay for thousands of meals for the poor.

A cousin in Tangiers, the home town of Muhammed’s father, consulted scholars to come up with the final answer. Muhammed would follow the example of Ezzaiki and provide 60 meals for the poor for each day he misses the fast.

So this summer, up to 1,800 people in Morocco will eat a meal thanks to a 6ft 8in rower chasing a gold medal in the UK.

Islam is a religion of ease, Allah SWT knows the limitations of his creation. Allah, in the Quran, declares that religious morality is easy and that He will make things easier for those who follow their religion:

“He has chosen you and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship”
(Surah Al Hajj: 78)

“We will ease you to the Easy Way”
(Surah A’la: 8)

So well done to brother Muhammed Sbihi, looking forward to seeing you bring home the gold medal, Insh’Allah.

Never Forget Bosnia & Alija Izetbegovic’s “The Islamic Declaration”

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Twenty years ago this week, the war against Islam in Bosnia began in earnest. In 1990 Alija Izetbegovic the first & former President of Bosnia & Hercegovina laid the intellectual foundations of what an Islamic State today should be in “The Islamic Declaration – A Programme for the Islamisation of Muslims and Muslim Peoples”.

I’ve taken the liberty to upload the actual typed document that was faxed to many a Muslim country when Bosnia declared it’s independence.

If Islam, politics, governance & statehood is something that you consider crucial to your understanding, then The Islamic Declaration is a must read.

It was the quest for an Islamic statehood that made the Serbs state:

“300,000 Muslims Will Die, They Will Disappear From The Face of This Earth”

It was Radovan Karadzic who said:

“We Fought A “Just & Holy War”

Whilst the Muslim population defending themselves were made to disarm in Srebrenica, leading to more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys being murdered in death camps and some 30,000 Bosnian Muslims were ethnically cleansed, while countless women and girls were brutally raped.

Try telling me it wasn’t Christian extremists who were carving crosses into the chests of Muslims who were in the death camps.

I want to leave you with pictures taken in Sarajevo this past weekend to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Bosnian war.

Once bullets, now pens, souvenirs for tourists

Rose marks the spot where 26 people killed in May 1992 in Sarajevo

Memorial concert for 11541 empty red chairs, one for every person killed during siege of Sarajevo

Empty chairs for all the children killed in the siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia

Like a red scar through the heart of Sarajevo. A chair each for the dead. Utterly & unbearably moving

Flowers & notes for Sarajevo dead

Red line, Sarajevo

More flowers for Sarajevo dead

red line concert for 11,541 dead in the siege of Sarajevo

For further analysis on Alija Izetbegovic’s book, The Islamic Declaration, visit the Muslim think-tank Grande Strategy.

Picture credits go to Jeremy Bowen @jfjbowen

Saudi & Orientalist Propaganda at the British Museums’ Hajj Exhibition

The Hajj Exhibition at the British Museum is viewed as a great dawah opportunity by many Muslims. As far as I’m concerned it’s a propaganda piece for the House of Saud project & it’s Orientalist backers.

After much cajoling by friends, I finally bit the bullet and decided to attend the Hajj Exhibition in London, more as an excuse to catch up with old friends and less to actually have my own religion and history explained to me.

For years I’ve avoided the British Museum, despite its new atrium and the sheer wonder of it’s architectural splendour, it’s the contents of the building that trouble me. The swag, the loot, the filthy lucre, centuries of ill gotten gain courtesy of the British Empire looting and pillaging from every known corner of the globe, for King, Queen & Country dear boy.

Putting those issues aside, I entered the exhibition and within the very few first minutes, whilst reading one of the plaques, I remarked to one of my friends:

“Harry St. John Philby? You know who he is right?”

Harry St. John Bridger Philby (1885-1960) Riyadh

Instead of talking about the importance of the Hajj or what the central role of Mecca is to Islam, why would they (the backers of the exhibition) choose to talk about Harry St. John Philby?

Harry St. John Philby, as the blurb said, was among one of the first westerners to enter Mecca (pretend to be a Muslim) to undertake the Hajj and to see what it was that drives Muslims to carry out the pilgrimage.

What it didn’t tell you, and what most people would just walk right past without noticing is that Harry St. John Philby was a spy who worked for the British Military Intelligence. His progeny would be one Kim Philby, who would work the same field as his father and end up being exposed as a double agent working for the KGB.

As we continued down the exhibition path and my disdain beginning to recede somewhat, I noticed there was an entire section on the “Arab Revolt”.

Yes.

The Arab Revolt that was created by men like Philby & Lawrence (of Arabia) of the British “Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force” to launch an armed uprising against the Caliphate.

I’ve written before about Abdul Aziz ibn Saud the bandit chieftain & his marriage of convenience with Britain to destroy the Islamic Empire.

Hijaz Railway - Remains of Exploded Train from Arab Uprising 1918

The exhibition glorified the terrorist attacks like the destruction of the Hijaz Railway, that ran from the centre of the Caliphate, Istanbul to Damascus and onto Medina.

You can see more pictures on this subject from the excellent picture blog of Jerry C Miller

The exhibition then took great lengths to show how great the Saud family was by demonstrating the railway line they built in it’s place some hundred years later.

I’ve read “The Great Theft Wrestling Islam From The Extremists” by Khaled Abou El Fadl and the following surmises what Abd’Al’Wahaab felt about the Caliphate:

So what you have is a foreign superpower (Britain) effectively aiding, abetting and installing by means of outright terrorism, a puppet regime that will favour it (sound familiar? Libya, Syria) whilst destroying the Islamic Empire at the same time.

This very same regime today preaches the message of obeying your leaders, whilst being formed on the exact opposite.

Hypocrisy?

It’s always been the Orientalists dream to understand the strength of Islam and what drives Muslims. Once they figured it out, they could subtly deconstruct that core element to drive their own agenda. For example we have London’s SOAS University , which was created with a remit to train the future leaders of the former British colonies to run them just as their past colonial masters had done so. It’s no coincidence that Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the former leader of The Qadiani’s was trained at SOAS.

Who's who? Haim Weizmann & Prince Feisal, Arabia, 1918

You can read about the Dönmeh connection to the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia in a report titled “The Emergence of Wahhabism and its Historical Roots,” dated September 2002 and released on March 13, 2008, by the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency.

You can read Said Nasir’s book, ‘The History of the Saud Family’, where it’s maintained that in 1943, the Saudi ambassador to Egypt, Abdullah bin Ibrahim al Muffadal, paid Muhammad al Tamami to forge a family tree showing that the Sauds and Wahhabs were one family that descended directly from the Prophet Mohammed SAW to strengthen their legitimacy as rulers.

You see it’s not that difficult to run counter propaganda.

The truth is that many Muslims are ignorant of their own history and religion.

For a religion that was unveiled with the words IQRA! (Read!) we as a people know little of Islam nevermind the knowledge of our history or the treachery committed by those who garb themselves in cloaks of respectability and piety.

A people who don’t read will fall for anything.

Iqra….Iqra….IQRA!!!

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UPDATE

It seems that Qaisra Khan, the project curator of the Hajj Exhibition at the British Museum has read what I’ve written and has labelled me an extremist for writing this blog.

I am willing to share a platform with Qaisra Khan or anyone from the British Museum if they wish to debate me on what I’ve written.

Get in contact.

Hisnul Muslim – Fortress of the Believer

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For the last twelve months, I’ve seen more death and illness visit my people than at any other stage in my life. Both young and old, healthy and ill, there’s been no escape from the malak al-maut (angel of death), the idiom “death is certain” has come to embed itself into my conciousness at every breathing minute, whether I’m visiting someone in hospital or watching the news on TV, all I see is death and destruction.

That’s not to say I’m riddled with angst or depression, I know that Allah will never give us a burden that we cannot carry and we will be tested, no one gets an easy pass in life.

So what gets us through the trials we face?

Emaan….Belief

That this life is but a blink of an eye and the life that awaits us is much greater than we can comprehend.

Roughly 18 months ago, a dear friend of mine and his wife were expecting to have a baby. She suffered a miscarriage and the baby was lost. The impact it had on their life was monumental. As a friend of twenty years, I did what I could to alleviate their grief, but the truth is no matter what I did, I couldn’t help them.

In three weeks from today, they are expecting their first child, not one child, but triplets, all boys.

Allah takes and Allah gives. In both there is a test for us.

Over time, I myself and many others have been unsure over what duah to make or how to act in certain situations.

A book titled “Fortress of the Muslim” (Hisnul-Muslim), which contains Duahs/Invocations from the Qur’an & Sunnah, has been of great help to me and as such I wanted to share it with you.

This life is temporary and the days of hell are eternal, instead of calling Allahs name when your faith is bare, walk straight and give Allah praise & your prayer.

All Muslims are equal during Hajj, unless you’re a Paki not staying in the 7 star Raffles hotel

All Muslims, despite of their worldly stature, colour or creed are equal when performing the Hajj, we all dress in a state of Ihram to signify our equality. However the reality is fast becoming that if you’re a ‘Paki’ chances are you’re not quite equal enough to stay in the 7 star raffles hotel.

I voiced my outrage to the Sauds commercialisation of the Haram Sharif in an earlier blog post. While many have starting to poke fun at our most holiest site (thanks again Sauds) by saying it’s ‘turning into Las Vegas’

Now I’m all for progress, but i’m not in favour of a crass, gaudy, bling approach when Mecca is concerned.

In terms of pure economics, the Sauds have a product (Mecca) that suffers from “demand elasticity”. Simply meaning at any time of they year other than Hajj & Eid, people make the Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) which doesn’t attract the numbers that the Hajj does. When Hajj comes round there’s several million people in Mecca.

So how do we cater for the extra numbers?

Increase capacity.

Increase price during busy periods.

The Sauds will destroy the buildings of any heritage around the Haram Sharif (it’s a bid’ah old chap, you know how these paki’s will start praying towards buildings the Prophet or Sahaba’s stayed in) and replace it with, your favourite hotel of choice. Obviously the Sauds did their homework and realised that when Muslims were making Tawaf around the Ka’aba they’d like to look up and know the what time it is.

Before the Sauds struck Oil, the greatest income they had was from the trade that Muslims would bring doing the Hajj. Perhaps they know that Oil is a finite resource, so it’s time to exploit a new resource.

Dumb muslims…..the best & most plentiful resource on the planet.

Because while some are lording it up in luxury (see picture above) and are having lavish meals laid on for them by their tour operators whilst in the tented city of Mina, many muslims are scrambling through the bins to eat what you have just thrown away. This is not a singular episode, I have had it recanted to me by so many people.

The locals just shrug and say “Miskeen” like that draws a blanket over matters. Perhaps if we understood where all your Kabsa & Mandi was coming from we’d think again.

Probably not.

Is this crass commercialisation killing the true meaning of the Hajj? I honestly wonder what all the Prophets who have stood on that hallowed ground would make of it all.

I’ve always told the returning Hujjaj that when I go to Mecca, I’m going with a sleeping bag and a rucksack and I’ll sleep under the stars, because for me, all these frivolous extras seem to be taking away from what the real, true meaning of Hajj is.

My family are at the Hajj this year, and if yours are, then I pray that Allah accepts their Hajj and their Duah’s and returns them safely to us all.

I’ll also take this (early) opportunity to wish you all Eid Mubarak.

Taqabbal Allahu Minna Wa Minkum

Oh Muslims, Why are you content with humiliation & subjugation?

Listen carefully to the words of Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi, as you won’t be hearing these words at your local Masajid today.

Oh brothers, friends, strugglers & heroic brothers!

Where are dignity, honour, pride, defence, heroism & manhood?

We, the people of this religion, the people of honour, how could we be content with humiliation & subjugation?

How could there be such bloodshed & attacks against our women?

Yet we remain silent in our homes saying “I want to save myself, may Allah save my family & I do not care about the rest”

Listen to the words of Allah, in its guidance & warning.

“Oh you who believe! If anyone leaves his religion, Allah will bring better people whom he loves & they love him, people who are humble with the believers strong against the unbelievers, people who struggle in the way of Allah & they do not fear blame, that is the bounty of Allah of which he gives to whoever he wills”

Are you one of these people whom Allah loves and who love Allah?

Are you one of those who, for Allah, do not fear any blame?

Is child abuse in Muslim Madrassas rampant? The BBC think so

A scathing BBC report tonight will document over 400 cases of reported child abuse in Madrassas through the UK.

I’m not sure if any of these pop-up madrassas have any rules & guidelines to abide by, in terms of structural governance & best practice guidelines, not curriculum.

Do they even bother vetting staff with background CRB checks?

It’s not just the Nazi Pope & his minions who have a problem with paedophile child abuse.

Unless we want to see the name of Islam dragged through the mud – like that’ll ever happen – then parents, demand some good governance, being hit with a stick, or being forced into the “murga” (chicken) position has to be outlawed.

There’s plenty of time for Muslims to be forced into stress positions à la Guantanamo, so leave the kids alone.

I don’t think most kids have the mental capacity after being at school all day to do an extra two hours on their Islamic study/Quran. Then again I know of plenty of parents who view it as an extra drop off facility for their kids.

Personally, I tend not to believe the propaganda that comes out of the pro zionist beeb these days, I don’t know enough about the show’s presenter Fran Abrams to make a call, but when I’ve done a bit of digging in the past, I’ve found that BBC Panorama’s Jane Corbin’s husband tuned out to be John Cradock Maples, former MP & President of the Conservative Friends of Israel.