I have come across this by accident and I have been thoroughly thrilled by its quality.  Alhamdulillah, some very talented brothers using the name Hashem's Films have created a documentary about the end times, the arrival of Imam Mehdi, Prophet Isa (as) and Dajjal and the system that is the forerunner to the Dajjal.

I remember From The Shadows series a few years ago (they actually take portions form that series and use it) and for me, this documentary is a kind of continuation of The Shadows but the brothers explain things a little better – although there still aren't many references given to some of their claims which I found disappointing in the Shadows series.  They state, for example, that the bloodlines of the leaders of the world like Barak Obama are all related to each other but never provide anythiung to qualify it with. Nevertheless, it is still a fantastic and enjoyable series which I have benefited from.

I think I have discovered it quite late in the day as part 49 (the Dajjal) has already been released on Youtube (you can see it in my Vodpod widget if you're curious enough)

Here is the Introduction to the documentary, if you like it subscribe to their YouTube Channel

[youtube:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=le_ySMrOkFU]

What the hec is going to happen on the 21st or 22nd January 2009?  Has Colin Powell let something slip out from his tongue something that he shouldn't have?  hmmm  I wonder!  Do you remember George "W" commenting on the plane hitting the first tower confirming he had prior knowledge?

Take a peek at this interview with Colin Powell, look out for when he says

….There is going to be a crisis coming along on the 21st or 22nd January that we don't even know about right now…

[youtube:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_LDBOPcHpeo]

What a strange thing to say!  It just so happens that the Inauguration of the President of the United States takes place on the 20th January 2009…  Could this be the moment he is referring to?

Information does not necessarily equate to beneficial knowledge, especially in the field of religion. The Sacred Knowledge of Allah and His Prophet ??? ???? ???? ???? is unique among all disciplines of learning, and thus demands a distinct approach and method of study. Its correct acquisition and successful application require a vision of lofty ideals and an inculcation of noble qualities in the individual.

This intensive course, under the tutelage of an eminent and erudite scholar, aims to educate and equip the student with the necessary understanding and etiquettes to beneficially acquire and apply Sacred Islamic Knowledge.

To enrol or for further info, please contact Al Kawthar Academy on 0116 246 1011 or on info@academy.eu

SUPPORTED BY AZHAR ACADEMY

The Etiquette's of Seeking Sacred Knowledge Double Weekend Course, Azhar Academy, London by Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq

Information does not necessarily equate to beneficial knowledge, especially in the field of religion. The Sacred Knowledge of Allah and His Prophet Muhammad is unique among all disciplines of learning, and thus demands a distinct approach and method of study. Its correct acquisition and successful application require a vision of lofty ideals and an inculcation of noble qualities in the individual.

This intensive course, under the tutelage of an eminent and erudite scholar, aims to educate and equip the student with the necessary understanding and etiquette's to beneficially acquire and apply Sacred Islamic Knowledge.

Dates: 22nd-23rd and 29th-30th November 2008

[youtube:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bWbVNm7D_iM]

Having "slept on it" I have come to the conclusion that although the style that I wrote in, regarding those who insult Prophet Muhammad , was a little raw and contained some error in tone etc, I really feel that the essence was correct, the fiq was correct and the principle was correct – despite what people think.  You see, I believe my original reaction was the correct reaction, even though it was a really emotional reaction to what I found to be an abhorrent and totally ignorant and unacceptable article by Inayat Bungawala. 

The truth and undeniable fact is that the crime of intentionally insulting Prophet Muhammad is one of the most serious of all crimes, one deserving of the ultimate punishment under the Shari’a law.  This is not my opinion, it is not my suggestion I was/am merely repeating and stating the united position of all of the most respected scholars of Islam over the past 1400 years.

Lambasted, as I was; scoffed at, as I was – my own opinion regarding the ruling of such crimes never entered the arena. My opinion was evident in my personal attack upon Inyat's limp wristed and ignorant words of support for those who do commit such major crimes.

So, "shooting the messenger," (me in this case) became a good thing to do because it was wrongly viewed that I was an extremist with extreme and un-Islamic views. I did mention in the original post that I feared being labeled "extremist," and indeed I was.

Please allow me to present the opening paragraphs of the section entitled The Judgement of the Shari'a regarding someone who curses or disparages the Prophet, from the book "Messenger of Allah:  Ash-Shifa of Qadi 'Iyad" 

This book is extremely well known and is regarded by all as one of the best books ever written about the nature of Prophet Muhammad .  It was taught last year by Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi in Birmingham, UK.  The author lays out the position of the Ullema regarding those who insult Prophet Muhammad and his own personal view is not expressed.

Know that all who curse Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or blame him or attribute imperfection to him in his person, his lineage, his deen or any of his qualities, or alludes to that or its like by any means whatsoever, whether in the form of a curse or contempt or belittling him or detracting from him or finding fault with him or maligning him, the judgement regarding such a person is the same as the judgement against anyone who curses him. He is killed as we shall make clear. This judgement extends to anything which amounts to a curse or disparagement. We have no hesitation concerning this matter, be it a clear statement or allusion.

The same applies to anyone who curses him, invokes against him, desires to harm him, ascribes to him what does not befit his position or jokes about his mighty affair with foolish talk, satire, disliked words or jies, or reviles him because of any affliction or trial which happened to him or disparages him, because of any of the permissible and well-known human events which happened to him. All of this is the consensus of the 'ularna' and the imams of fatwa from the time of the Companions until today.

Abu Bakr ibn al-Mundhir said that the bulk of the people of knowledge agree that whoever curses the Prophet is killed. These include Malik ibn Anas, al-Layth, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, and it is the position of the Shafi'i school. Qadi Abu'l-Fadl said that it is based on the statement of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. His repentance is not accepted. Something similar was stated by Abu Hanifa and his people, ath-Thawri and the people of Kufa and al-Awza'i about the Muslims. However, they said that it constitutes apostasy.

At-Tabari related something similar from Abu Hanifa and his companions about anyone who disparages the Prophet, proclaims himself quit of him or calls him a liar.

Sahnun said about those who curse the Prophet, "This is apostasy in exactly the same way as heresy (zandaqa) is. Therefore there is some dispute about whether such a person should be called to repent (as a Muslim) or whether he is an unbeliever. Is he to be killed by a hadd-punishment (as a Muslim) or for disbelief?" We will make this clear in Chapter Two. We do not know of any dispute among the 'ulama' of the community and the Salaf regarding the permissibility of shedding his blood.

Several people have mentioned that the consensus is that he is to be killed and considered an unbeliever. One of the Dhahirites, Abu Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Farisi, however, indicated that there is some disagreement about whether to consider someone who belittles the Prophet as an unbeliever. The best-known position has already been stated.

Muhammad ibn Sahnun said that the 'ulama' agree that anyone who reviles the Prophet and disparages him is an unbeliever and the threat of Allah 's punishment is on him. The community's judgement on him is that he be killed. Anyone who has any doubts about such a person's disbelief and punishment is also an unbeliever. For a proof of this, Ibrahim ibn Husayn ibn Khalid, the faqih, uses the instance of Khalid ibn al-Walid killing Malik ibn Nuwayra for referring to the Prophet as "your companion."'

Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi said, "I do not know of any Muslim who disagrees about the necessity of killing such a person if he is a Muslim."

Ibn al-Qasim reports from Malik in the book of Ibn Sahnun, the Mabsut, and the 'Utibiyya and Ibn Mutarrif relates the same from Malik in the book of Ibn Habib, "Any Muslim who curses the Prophet is killed without being asked to repent."

I was not and I am not encouraging any physical retribution upon those who insult the Prophet Muhammad as it would not be right.  It would cause much damage to the individual and to the Muslim community as a whole.  I am merely reminding everyone, including myself, of the seriousness of this crime by setting out the position of the scholars.

If this is the position of the scholars regarding that person who insults our beloved Prophet Muhammad , then what of that person who assists on defending that person’s right to insult the Messenger of Allah ?  Putting to one side what the court of Queen Elizabeth says about his right to defend the slanderers, what is his position in the court of Allah ?  Does he have that right in the court of Allah ?

We are taught to have love for the Prophet Muhammad and have Taqwa (God consciousness, fear of God) what type of Muslim would not be physically hurt by the insults directed at the Messenger of Allah ?  And what type of Muslim does not think about Allah when he fights for the rights of the slanderers, the abusers, the haters of Islam, Allah and Prophet Muhammad to continue their crusade?

It is nothing short of disgraceful.

We should be very careful when we join the chorus singing freedom of speech when it comes to the Messenger of Allah , it is not a game, it is not a small issue and it is not about so called freedoms of expression or speech in the West.  It IS about what is right and wrong in the court off Allah .

People are so obsessed by saying things because they could, they don’t stop and think about whether they should.

I have deleted my posts about insulting our Prophet Muhammad because of some brotherly advice given to me.

These posts were not thought through at all and were perceived to be very extreme by many of you.  Regular readers of this blog and those who know me personally will of course know that i am not an anarchist or extremist of any kind and that the posts may have been out of character.

Having said that, i still maintain that brother Inyat was totally and utterly wrong in his Guardian article and that we should not sit on our hands when our beloved Prophet Muhammad is insulted, far from it.

I do not support or encourage any type of violence or attack on anyone and as i have learned, we need to be able to deal with this situation with wisdom and in accordance with the laws that we are bound to as British citizens.

These posts were written with blood boiling inside me and i should have taken some old advice (not sure where i heard it) where it is said that we should not send any letter written whilst enraged, rather we should sleep on it and then in the morning revisit it.

May Allah guide us all to a balanced and correct understanding of religion and life and may Allah give us all the ability to act correctly, with wisdom and in accordance to His Divine instruction. Amin.

i apologise to those who were offended by my post.

You gotta just love Jon Stewart.  What a rant!  He is totally incensed about the American financial crisis situation and how pathetic the leadership is…really funny

Take a peek at my vodpod section to view the video or click on the link below

The Daily Show: The Best Jon Stewart Clip Yet

This is a job description for the position of Imam of the Grand Mosque of Istanbul at the time of the Sultan Suleyman the Lawgiver (known in Europe as Suleyman the Magnificent) who ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566.

Interesting isn’t it?

One

To have mastered the languages of Arabic, Latin, Turkish and Persian

 Two

 To have mastered the Qur’an, the Bible and the Torah

 Three

 To be a scholar in Shari’ah and Fiqh

Four

To have mastered physics and mathematics up to teaching standard

 Five

 To be a master of chivalry, archery, duelling and the arts of Jihad

 Six

To be of a handsome countenance

 Seven

 To have a strong melodious voice

 (Courtesy of Al-Ahram Newspaper, 22/9/86, Egypt), 22/9/86, Egypt)

The following has been taken from the Waqif ul Ulama website and it concerns the sighting of the Hilal

• All efforts will be made to sight the moon locally, acting upon the clear instruction of our beloved Nabi sallallahu alaihi Wassallam ‘‘don’t fast until you see the new moon, and don’t break it until you see it. If then, there is cloud over you, count in full’ (Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 1 Page 256).

• To achieve this, help, can be taken from the experts in the field of astronomy, but the judgment will never
ever under any circumstances be dependent upon them. The Judgment will always be upon actual sighting

• If there is possibility of a sighting in U.K. (Imkan-e-Ru’yat) at the end of the 29th day after Maghrib, if the moon is on the horizon, all efforts will be made to sight the moon locally.

• If the moon is not sighted in the U.K. then we can accept the sighting of another country to the East of UK or Morocco, On the condition that the actual sighting information is correct, reliable and verified, (Muhaqqaq Ru’yat e Basari) and the Moon sighting criteria followed by that country, is accepted by our Holy Shariah.

• If at the end of the 29th day, there is no possibility of sighting the Moon in the UK. i.e. the Moon is not on the horizon, we will still follow the Sunnah and exhaust all efforts in trying to sight the Moon. However on this occasion, the testimony of one or two witnesses will not be deemed as acceptable, rather, the testimony of a large group will be necessary (Jamme Ghafir) as is the case, when the skies are clear. If this condition does not exist (i.e. if the moon is not sighted anywhere or when there was no possibility of moon being sighted and testimony of a large group is not there), or if we do not receive correct sighting report (Muhaqqaq Ru’yat e Basari) from another country to the East of UK or Morocco then thirty days will be completed for that Month.

“The criteria mentioned is correct and according to Shariah”. Mufti Muhammad Tahir. Fatwa issued by Mazahir ul Uloom Saharanpur 22/2/1428 H

“In sighting the moon locally, and to seek help from the astronomers in such a way that their word is not final, is acceptable” Mufti Ahmad Khanpuri, Darul Iftaa, Jamia Islamia Dabhel. Fatwa issued 6/4/ 1428 H

“The Local Ulamaa should guide the laymen after gathering testimony and proof of Moonsighting according to Shariah. To seek help from the Astronomers and then the Ulamaa deciding in light of the evidences present staying within the limits of the Shariah is correct, rather better”. Mufti Mahmood Balandshahri, Darul uloom Deoband. Fatwa issued 20/02/1428 H

“There is nothing wrong in seeking help from the astronomers for possibility of sighting or for finding out the age of the moon” Darul Iftaa, Jamia Farooqia, Karachi Fatwa issued 19/04/1428.

“What is decided is, that if one is not dependent on the astronomers only, rather on actual sighting, then there is no difference of opinion on using astronomy as a tool or help”. Darul Iftaa Jamia Al Rasheed. Fatwa issued 01/06/1428 H

“Help could be taken from the observatory as to whether there is the possibility of sighting or not? Although the decision will be based on actual sighting”. Aap kay Masaail awr un ka Hal. Vol 3 Pg 262. Movlana Muhammad Yusuf Ludhyanwi Shaheed R.A.

It is Wajib Alal Kifaayah to make the effort to sight the moon locally. Fat hul Qadeer Vol 2 Pg 242, Maraaqi ul Falah Pg 354

I have gone through the write-up about sighting the moon in U.K. The principles explained therein are correct. Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani. Thursday, September 27, 2007

The above are only extracts from detailed fatawa the Wifaq ul Ulama have received. These can be obtained in full from their website: www.wifaqululama.co.uk Vitesse House, Estate Way, London, E10 7JW