This picture was taken on 10 March 2006, it was the commemoration ceremony of the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas by the Taliban in March 2001. When i saw this image i could not help bit get a little angry.

There was so much ‘hoo haa’ about the rightful destruction of those idols at the time…and then i read 5 years later people are still weeping over it…including Muslims!

When will people learn?!

The Taliban were simply acting upn the greatest sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad and all the other Prophets (as) . The Prophets were all sent to move people away from stone worshiping and idol worshiping to worship ONE God. This mission of Prophet Muhammad was to restore Tawheed.

Allah says:

(Surah10:18) They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, “These are our intercessors at GOD!” Say, “Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?” Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.

There simply no place in this dunya for idols; let us look at the examples of our Prophets (as)

Prophet Ibrahim (as) destroyed the statues created by his father. (Surah 21: 51-60)

Prophet Musa’s (as response to the idol his people made of a golden calf (Surah 20:83-98)

The very first act of our beloved Prophet Muhammad did upon entering Makkah, was when he went to the Kaaba, he destroyed the idols inside.

Sahih Muslim, Book 3, 68: Narrated Abdullah bin Masud. The Prophet entered Mecca and (at that time) there were three hundred and sixty idols around the Ka’ba. He started stabbing the idols with a stick he had in his hand and reciting: “Truth (Islam) has come and Falsehood (disbelief) has vanished.”

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad didn’t care about public opinion; he didn’t think that this was bad Dawah to destroy the idols. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad had a mission, his mission was to destroy idols in all there forms from the dunya so people could be free to worship Allah as He should be worshipped.

I have heard many Alims and speakers say that the destruction of the Idols in Afghanistan was wrong, bad Dawah and that it should never had happened. They should ask themselves, who are you trying to please? Who, the non believers or Allah ? Because if you look at the lives of the Prophets (as) you will see a pattern of idol rejection and destruction – they were firm in their conviction that this was the right thing to so and they did not blink for one moment.

Allah says:

“Whoever seeks glory and power (‘Ezzah),- to Allah belongs all Glory and Power.”. (35:10)

Also, Khalifa Umar bin al-Khattab said in regards to seeking honour and respect in people other than Allah

“…Have you forgotten that we were a low people and it was Islam that made us honourable? If we seek honour from anything other than Islam, Allah will return us back again to that state of lowliness.”

The Taliban were well within their rights to destroy these idols, besides, there are far more pressing  matters to be concerned with in Afghanistan, wouldn’t you agree!

Alhamdulillah, The Al-Kawthar Academy has announced that we will be able to subscribe and download Bukhari Lessons in a weekly Podcast by Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq.

This is an opportunity not to be missed as the knowledge Shaykh Abu Yusuf is disseminating is unique in the western world and of great benefit to the whole ummah.

For a very cheap price you will be able to study from a master of Hadith with the money going towards the work of Deen.

‘Surely they who recite the Book of Allah and keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them secretly and openly, hope for a gain which will not perish’ [Surah al Fatir, Verse 29]

‘By no means shall you attain righteousness until you spend (benevolently) out of what you love; and whatever thing you spend, Allah surely knows it’ [Surah Al Imran, Verse 92]

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Jalaal Ibn Saeed speaks at a Janazah
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tag: islam, death, reminder, hereafter

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Maulana Ahmed Khatani – East London 2003
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Maulana Ahmed Khatani is a powerful speaker and again he proves it with this speech.

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Video: Abdullah Adhami: Our Community Our Values
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Sheikh Abdullah Adhami mentions the example of the majestic mother Eagle as it lets its baby spread its wings, and then in an act of rahma it drops the baby in the air, and swoops below it in midair and catches it before it falls SubhanAllah. Beautiful talk about the Prophet’s adab/manners and character, and how it should reflect in our lives.

Mufti Muhammad Sajaad has just released a book that explains the significance of Dawah by commenting on 40 Ahadith and provides useful practical guidance for the contemporary Muslim by detailing examples from scholars of Islam.

You can purchase it here

Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq will be addressing the subject of ‘The Timeless Guidance of the Sunnah’ and we request you to attend. Please come yourselves and invite others also for as the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, ‘Whomsoever guides towards a goodness, will get virtues equal to the one who performs that goodness.’ [Muslim]

-      Separate seating arrangements have been made available for sisters.
-      Free admission
-      There will be stalls where you can purchase Islamic audio & books, itr, clothing        and a variety of other Islamic goods.

Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq will, insha’Allah , be speaking at the Azhar Academy, London on Saturday 30th June 2007. This event is for brothers and sisters and the talk will commence after Maghrib Salah (9:25 PM).

At the Madrasa there are many courses and other activities you can be involved in, they have excellent teachers who have studied extensively in Syria and I got to know the brothers who teach there quite well.

It is such a good environment to learn and the brothers and sisters that were there to learn definitely benefited from their experience.

The imam of the Masjid there was an inspiration to me. He is a 29 year old Moroccan, alim, hafiz of Qur’an and has travelled the world in pursuit of knowledge and Tabligh. After every Asr salah he would give us all a copy of the Qur’an and together we would recite 1 para. His qirat was amazing and it was an absolute pleasure to stand behind him or sit next to him and listen.

Apart from the Arabic lessons, the Madrasa is situated on an extremely large area of land, much of which is farm land. It is quite something when you have just finished a group dhikr of Qur’an in the Masjid and then take a walk through this amazing scenery. You get a real sense of closeness to Allah (swt) and peace of heart.

There is a growing community of Muslims in Granada and especially in Puebla de Don Fadrique the town next to the Madrasa. Many people have converted and many people are planning to move there. I was told by the owners that houses are being built on land nearby which has received great interest from people all over the world. To pluck two names out, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Abdul Hakim Murad are purchasing houses there.

After the disaster of the inquisition and subsequent holocaust the Muslims are slowly returning, but overlooking the Madrasa is a beautiful but stark reminder of how things can change. A large hill/mountain dominates the skyline that was where thousands of Muslims were slaughtered whilst fleeing the Catholic armies.

tag: islam, the madrasa, spain, the retreat, holocaust, inquisition

The Madrassa has a massive library of some extremely important works and interestingly, many important works from scholars and laymen from the time of Muslim rule in Spain. It is said that when the Catholics were insanely murdering millions of Muslims in that most massive and disturbing of holocausts, the smoke from the burning of books could be seen from Morocco. The Spanish Catholics totally and utterly destroyed all things Muslim and to this very day Spanish education fails to teach the children about 800 years of Muslim life in Spain.

The madrasa has discovered and collected over the years many works that had not been destroyed and is now engaged in translating them to the benefit of the ummah and history. I have been told that some these manuscripts contain diaries of ordinary people at the time of the holocaust and inquisition and their feelings about it, it also paints a fascinating picture of how life was during this period.

tag: islam, the madrasa, spain, the retreat, holocaust, inquisition