India Coastal Andhra map

We were ushered into the home by its owner, an RMP doctor called Sai Basha. The gate pillar has an image of Ganesha embedded in it. As we walk into the home, we see pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses on almost every wall.  There is also a picture of Christian icons of Jesus and Mary. Then we are ushered into the inner most room which houses a small temple with all the material for pooja arrayed before some more pictures of Hindu gods in the center of which is an idol of Venkateshwara (the presiding deity in Tirupati). In the middle of all this profusion of those who are not worthy of worship is a picture of Al Haram Al Makki, Al Masjid An Nabawi and of the Dargah in Ajmer. The thought that came into my mind was, ‘Here is a guy who is covering all the bases.’ But then we had been told that this was a Muslim home!! So what happened??

The answer as I learnt from many conversations is that nothing happened. This is the result of sheer neglect over at least 2 generations.

These Muslims of coastal Andhra live in a place that was the boundary of the old Nizam’s State of Hyderabad and Madras Presidency which was ruled by the British. They speak only Telugu and they have almost no contact with the Ulama in either Hyderabad or in Madras (now Chennai). So gradually they took to the ways of the local leaders who are all Hindu. The interesting thing is that all this happened entirely voluntarily and almost unconsciously. Someone brought in an idol saying that it brings good luck and nobody had the knowledge or the ability to contradict this and so it remained. Then came another and another. Local festivals were celebrated together with the Hindu neighbors where the celebration included visiting the temple. So the Muslims did that, even though they were never allowed inside the temple. They accepted their lower status as most people of rural India accept almost everything that comes their way. Nobody actually converted them to Hinduism. They just started taking to the ways of Hinduism and worshipping Hindu gods.

So what about Islam? We asked Mr. Sai Basha (interestingly his name is based on Sai Baba because they see him as divine) if he prayed Salah. He said he did not know how to pray. He said that he goes to the Eid Gah once a year in Ramadan on Eid-ul-Fitr day. What does he do when he stands behind the Imaam? Nothing.

Does he know the Kalima?
What is that?
La ilaaha illAllahu Muhammadur Rasoolullahi.
No, he does not.
Is he willing to recite it now?
Yes, he is.
Does he accept that only Allah is worthy of worship because Allah created him and us and sustains us and that Muhammad is the Rasool of Allah?
Yes, he is.
Now hold your breath: Is he willing to take down all the pictures of gods and goddesses and the idol and all the pooja paraphernalia and remove them from his home?
Yes, he is.
Is he willing to learn to pray and to practice Islam?
Yes he is. “We are Muslims Saar”, he tell us.
So why did he never pray and why did he allow all these idols and pictures into his home and why did he worship them?
“Nobody told us that it is wrong”, he says. “Our parents did it and so we do it.”

Some things never change, do they? The same excuse that the people gave Rasoolullah 1400 years ago, the religion of our forefathers. But with one difference, it was a huge struggle for Rasoolullah to make them change. But with these people, all that we needed to do was to ask them once, to take out all the articles of shirk and they did it. A measure of how Allah helps the weak; people like us who would run away if we faced the smallest opposition.

So what next?

Well, we intend to build a masjid in your village, if you agree, so that there will be an Imaam who can teach you how to pray and can educate you and your children about the basics of Islam.
What do you need?
We need some land to build the masjid.

“Here is the land”, he says as he takes us to a plot by the roadside.  Hecalls the owners, two brothers, also like him with Hindu sounding names. Weexplain to them what we intend to do with the land and that we will be happy to pay them for it. They refuse to sell the land. Because they insist on giving it free of cost.

How many such Muslims in this village? 100 families; maybe more than 500 individuals. How many more like them? Many thousands. All Muslims who know nothing about Islam and who worship idols. All people who are willing to change, revert to Islam and start worshipping Allah if someone can show them how. People who simply need to be taught. People who are more than willing to learn. People in whose hearts there is not an iota of resistance. People who just simply don’t know because we were all too busy to tell them. People who left Islam simply because their brother Muslims couldn’t care less.

By now my hands and feet are cold. My heart is beating like it intends to tear itself out of my body and run away. My eyes don’t stop watering – am I crying?? I don’t know.

The question comes into my mind, “What will happen to these people if they die like this, in this state?”
The answer shatters my mind like lightning, “It is not what will happen to them, it is what will happen to you.”

What does a masjid (including the salary of an Imaam for 2 years) cost? Indian Rs. 300,000 (US $ 6000)
What does a palace in Jannah cost?
What will be the cost when Allah asks,

“What did you do?

This story wassShared by Zaid Ghansar on Dawah Tips project website of Al Huda Institute, Canada. I have reposted it here to create awareness and share it with whoever comes across it here at 1MuslimNation. Please try to do something to these forgotten Muslims and pray for them and share and spread awareness about them through emails and discussing about them with family and friends. Jazakallah.

Racism Nationalism Brotherhood and Islam

Bismillah,

We want to highlight the following comment made by brother Salah in response to the article here at 1MuslimNation about How Ataturk Destroyed Islam in Turkey. He shares with us some sad experiences he has had and witnessed with some Muslims from various countries. The following are his words;

Remember though, we cannot blame the Turkish people themselves. Yes they have been seduced and become under influence of Freemasonic Secular system. But just look at the Arab countries and the Arab people themselves.

While Turks have modernised themselves slightly, Arabs are such backward people. I also live in UK, and i live in a community with many Muslims, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Arabs consisting of Saudis, Omanis, Iraqis and Libyans.

I believe it is the very basic way Arabs lead their lives, and the way they have become which is why i believe Allah is not really helping the muslim world.

Along with Ataturk and the young Turks, the Arabs also become nationalistic, adding fuel to the Turkish/Arab divide. But its not just nationalism, its unity among Arabs themselves. The Saudis hate the Omanis, the Omanis hate the Saudis, the Iraqis hate Saudis, Libyans hate Saudis and so on. I am a friend of many of these people and they all say…”Oh the Omani, he is not Muslim, they are dirty people.” The Iraqi says, “The Saudis..they are dirty they believe they are better then evryone.” Bla bla etc.

The arabs clearly hate each other. They have gone completely against the VERY BASICS of islam. I have a Saudi man living next door to me, and he locks his wife in the house all the time. I hear arguments through the walls all the time. Next door to them an Iraqi lives, and the Iraqi who understand Arabic tells me, the woman is fed up with her life, she can never go out only with the man.

Arabs now believe they the “SUPERIOR” Muslims compared to others. I know a man who openly says: “The prophet was arab, we are arab, it makes us better then you.”
Yet hes completely forgotten the verses of the Quran, and what The prophet himself said in his last speech!

“An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.”

Now ask yourself, is this Islam? This type of Islam is also being used in Saudi Arabia. Women were allowed out…by themselves in teh days of the prophet. Women had freedom. Now the saudis themselves give them nothing. Is there any wonder why Saudis are under constant attack from the west about their lifestyle?

I also have an uncle living in the UAE. He says there is a big community of Palestinians there. He says all the world feels sorry for what is happening in Palestine, but when u meet the Palestinians in the UAE, and how they believe they are better then everyone, how they act and how they behave, you no longer feel sympathetic for the Palestinians.

Now everyone ask yourselves, why are Muslims in the state we are in today? I believe it is simple. As well as going astray, commiting shirk, not staying committed to the ways Islam teaches us to be like, i believe the problem lies in our very own homes.

As I’ve said before, for Allah to really help us, we must first change and help ourselves. Only then will Allah change the condition of a people, and in this topic, specifically the Arab nations. I pray to Allah always, asking him for there to come the time where we all unite under one banner to come swiftly. Inshallah it will be soon.

The case of Rizana Nafeek – a teenage Sri Lankan housemaid sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia after inadequate legal proceedings – has made a sensation in the island nation. This article is about her from a circulating e-mail in Sri Lanka.

Background

Rizana was born on 4 February 1988 in Muttur, a war-torn and impoverished Muslim majority village in eastern Sri Lanka which was also affected by the recent Tsunami. She was still a schoolgirl when she was compelled by poverty to go to Saudi Arabia as a maid in May 2005. Though she was only 17 years old at that time, her passport, obtained by an irresponsible employment agent under false pretenses, gave her date of birth as 2 February 1982.

A few days after her arrival in Riyadh , Rizana was transferred by her sponsor to work in his family household in Dawadami, about 390 km west of Riyadh . She was sent to the house of Mr. Naif Jiziyan Khklafal Otaibi, whose wife had a baby boy who was then four months old. Soon after she started working for this family she was assigned to bottle feed the baby – she was left alone when doing this task. Rizana Nafeek had no experience of any sort in caring for such a young infant, as she was only a child herself.

Rizana’s Family In front of their home

Mohammad Razeena, center, mother of Rizana Nafeek, with her two sisters

Rizana’s House in Muttur, Sri Lanka

The Incident

On 22 May 2005, while Rizana was feeding the child, he started choking. Panicking, she tried to soothe the child by rubbing his chest, neck and face, while shouting for help. Hearing her shouts the mother came running, but by that time the baby was either unconscious or dead. The family handed Rizana over to the police, accusing her of strangling the baby. At the police station there was no translator so she did not understand the charges brought against her. Rizana was made to sign a confession and later charges were filed in court of murder by strangulation.

The Case

On her first appearance in court she was told by the police to repeat her confession, which she did. Later, when she was finally able to talk to an interpreter, sent by the Sri Lankan embassy, she explained in her own language what actually happened. This version was also stated in court thereafter. According to reports, the judges who heard the case requested the father of the child to use his prerogative to pardon the young girl. But, the father refused to grant such pardon. On that basis the court sentenced her to death by beheading. This sentence was made on June 16, 2007.

The last date of appeal was July 16. The total cost of the appeal is 40,000 US dollars or 150,000 Saudi Riyals. 13,333 US dollars has been given to the lawyers by the Asian Human Rights Commission as the Sri Lanka government has not given money for the appeal. A Sri Lankan government delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila is hoping to travel to Saudi Arabia to press for Rizana’s release.

The question is what can be done for someone who has not received proper legal representation, and from all accounts, appears to have been wrongly convicted. There are a number of human rights organizations working on the issue, including Amnesty and the Asian Human Rights Centre. Please do visit the AHRC site as it includes a call for ordinary people to take action on this issue. The site also goes in to more detail about the background of Rizana’s situation.

What We Can Do

• Inform world-wide of the case and get them to relay pressure on the governments of the countries they live in to intervene. People in Europe and Australia could be very effective.
• Approach the British High Commission in Riyadh that a Commonwealth citizen needs assistance.
• Contact the Foreign Commonwealth Office and inform them a Commonwealth citizen needs assistance in Riyadh .
• Encourage the media, especially the international media, to give publicity to this case.
• Fax or email the Special Reporter on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to take action.
• Ask ‘civil society’ groups such as Centre for Policy Alternatives what they are doing about the case.

I sincerely pray and hope that Sri Lanka’s efforts to save Rizana bear fruits when the deputy foreign minister meets the victim’s father.

The world community can do lot of things to help save the life of this girl. There are many petitions being filed. You can find some petitions at

YOUSHOUT

AMNESTY

SAVE RIZANA

URGENT APPEALS

SUPPORT RIZANA

Please take a moment to sign these petitions in order to help her to get a pardon.

May the world unite to save this innocent girls life.

The Plight of Rizana in the News

Sri Lanka in bid to save teen facing death penalty in Saudi Arabia (Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News)

Sri Lanka ’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hussain Bhaila will fly to Saudi Arabia this week in a bid to save a Sri Lankan teenage girl who was sentenced to death, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Death Sentence Draws Near as Maid Waits for Appeal (Arab News)

JEDDAH, 9 July 2007 — Time is clearly running out to file an appeal in the case of Rizana Nazik, the 19-year-old Sri Lankan maid who — without legal representation — was found guilty by a Saudi court for the strangulation death of a four-month-old Saudi boy in May 2005.

Maid’s Family Petitions Victim’s Father for Clemency (Arab News)

RIYADH , 7 July 2007 — the father of a Sri Lankan maid facing the death penalty in the Kingdom has appealed to the victim’s father for clemency in a sensational case that has made headlines in the island’s newspapers.

Here is an interesting story I came across in an Islamic magazine. It was in Sinhala language and I’ve translated it as best as I can. Enjoy!

Happiness

“Tak, tak, tak”
The British officer in colonial Indian who was drinking tea asked loudly, “Who is that?”
“Its me sir, your cloth-washer, I came to take the cloths to wash!”
“Ah… good, how are you?”
“I am fine sir, a thousand thanks to Allah!”
“How are your children? How is the sick child now?”
“Their fine sir, alhamdulillah. One has got malaria and has a fever. But he’ll get well, inshaallah! The other child is fine. All praise to Allah, He is looking after us!”
“Hmm… how is your husband? Until now I couldn’t ask about him.”
“Oh…he died sir, it’s been six years since Allah took him back. Allah does everything according to a plan sir.”

That British official said later this conversion was the reason he embraced Islam. A Muslim reader wouldn’t see anything new here. Like many this sensitive British official was trying to understand the purpose of life, thinking of the best way to succeed in life, still not satisfied from it, a little defeated and unhappy, unable to comprehend the reasons for it, was engaged in a struggle. The contentment and thankfulness radiating from that woman’s face was unusual as well as captivating, he had later said.

Her old cloths and smudged face, her sick child and dead husband, her small income and unsure-ness of the future, yet, with all these things she lived a content life. She couldn’t finish a sentence without thanking almighty Allah. She had many things the noble, wealthy, powerful official didn’t have. He found it difficult to even comprehend this.

We all wish for happiness. But that is a rare thing. Failing to attain it man resorts to crimes, suicide and violence. Craving happiness he strives to live in upper classes of the society, ruthlessly pursuing more power, cruelly taking away others rights. Striving with great difficulty for happiness man sometimes forgets what he was searching and gets mesmerized with lust and luxury. He tries to get happiness in mistaken ways with things like money, respect, power, entertainment, beauty etc.

Someone asked a great Abbasid Caliph “who is the happy man?”. Letting out a long breath he said “A happy man…? I don’t know him. He doesn’t know me either.”

What is the secret of happiness? What is it; many in the world cannot understand, did that unnamed woman know? Feeling secure without any insurance, or feeling safe without any danger signs or locks, in short without any of these she lived happily. But she didn’t keep any secrets. It was revealed from every word she expressed. Understanding the worthlessness of creations she turned towards The Creator with the aspiration of becoming a mu’min (i.e. firm believer). Almighty Allah says

“Those who believe, and whose hearts
find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah:
for without doubt in the remembrance
off Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”
[The Quran 13:28]

Assalamu Alaikum,
These are two photos that caught my eye in a collection of Iraq war photographs. The first one shows a group of American soldiers having a rest inside a Iraq mosque. The second is a photograph of 2 British soldiers guarding a half built Iraq church.

Bismillah,
The Islamic Law blog has a post on arguing about faith. Basically what it says is to avoid religious arguments. This is a sound advice and I agree with it because faith comes by understanding and not by arguing.

But sometimes I come across Muslims who take this into the next level and altogether avoid engaging in religious discussions. Maybe this is because they don’t have the knowledge or ability to discuss and explain Islam. Or maybe they don’t have much faith! Or maybe they think that the truth about Islam and reasons for various religious rules is obvious so everyone will see it and assume that there is no need to explain it.

Be it whatever the reason this attitude among some Muslims towards discussing religion is one of the main reasons why there are so many misconceptions about Muslims and why many non-Muslims strongly believe that Muslims are intolerant and fear to talk with Muslims about religion.

So the position of a Muslim should be to avoid arguments but engage in discussing religion.

Misc: When discussing religion or aspects of it, it is important to explain them so that people understand the reasons and benefits of them too.

Bismillah,
I came across a article this post called, “Killing Animals and HALAL” in the blog called All About Buddhism. It contains several misconceptions about the Muslim way of killing animals, so I left a comment in it explaining them. I think it is good to post it here too, so I am reproducing that article below together with the comment I left in that blog. I would be happy if you joined in this disussion and share your views and any experiences you have had or heard on this topic through the comments section below. Thanks in advance.

Killing Animals and HALAL

In Buddhism, killing a living being is always considered to be a sin as we have no right to take some other living creature’s life. But as I can see in other religions there are variations for this.

Muslims do believe in animal welfare “Whoever is kind to the creatures of God is kind to himself” (Wisdom of Prophet Mohammad; Muhammad Amin; The Lion Press, Lahore, Pakistan; 1945)

They have regulations in meat. But… He hath forbidden you only carrion and blood and swine flesh and that which hath been immolated to any other than Allah.. (Quran Chapter II , Verse 173) The prophet has forbidden flesh only if it is not a sacrifice for himself. Does that mean he always expect sacrifices from men?.NO. Obviously he can’t be that much cruel to accept meat from billions of people per day!.

That sacrifice ritual is called HALAL ( correct me if i am wrong ). As I know the original ritual of killing an animal is, the killer should be on a plate which is heated to become red and kill the animal. That ritual make sense, as no one would do such a commitment to kill another. So, he meant not to kill ( in an implicit way ). But the time has changed, you wouldn’t believe how the ritual carried out now. They use a red colored plate as the seat when killing animals. You really can’t symbolize a ritual in that way. But they perform other ritual there. That is never show the weapon to the animal before being killed .

The religion should sometimes be adapted to the current society , but not in a selfish manner like this. I don’t think this post would hurt Muslims ( as I didn’t criticize holy prophet ) . This is what I see as truth. Always open for debate.

The comment I left in that blog in reply to the above article follows…

Hello,
I would like to bring to your notice some factual errors in this post.

Firstly it says, “The prophet has forbidden flesh only if it is not a sacrifice for himself. Does that mean he always expect sacrifices from men?.NO. Obviously he can’t be that much cruel to accept meat from billions of people per day!.”

Correct me if I am wrong but this statement implies that Muslims kill animals as a sacrifice for Muhammad! This gives me the feeling that the writer of this post is ignorant of Islam. FYI – prophet Muhammad is just a human being like you and me. God (‘Allah’ in Arabic) choose Muhammad as a messenger (prophet) to mankind to guide them in the correct path for our benefit in this world and the hereafter.

And this path (Islam) allows us to kill animals for our benefit in this world and hereafter. In Islam killing a animal is not a sin provided you have a good reason. We our allowed to kill animals for 1) for Food, 2) as a sacrifice to God, 3) for protection (e.g. like killing a snake) I don’t need to explain about killing animals for food or protection but I’ll expound about sacrificing animals.

You may already know that Muslims sacrifice animals on occasions like Haj festival or when a new baby is born etc. If a animal is killed as a sacrifice that should only be in the name of God not for any human being or anything else. And also God is not in need of our sacrifices like this article tries to imply. A animal sacrifice is done only as an act of worship through which the person/s sacrificing the animal intends to seek God’s pleasure and gain good deeds for them. (note: What matters here is the intention. You can eat the meat of the sacrificed animal just like you would if you had killed it for food but it is encouraged to be distributed among the poor and needy.)

And what is this rot about Halal procedure that a plate needs to be heated etc. etc. Halal means anything that is permissible for a Muslim to consume or use be it clothing, employment etc. not only meat or flesh.

In the natural state meat or animal flesh is not Halal. If a Muslim wishes to eat meat it should be made Halal (i.e. lawful) through a simple ritual. This ritual requires that you kill the animal by cutting its throat and when cutting you invoke God. (you invoke God by saying “Bismillahi Allahu Akbar”). After this ritual the meat is Halal and you can consume it.

Also you must remember that only a few animals are Halal (lawful) to eat. These include camels, cows, rabbits, some birds, goats, horses among a few more. It should also be noted that fish or any creature that lives only in the water need not be made Halal. They are suitable for consumption whatever way they are killed.

Animals that have claws, or sharp teeth and prey on other animal (e.g. cats, dogs, vultures, tigers , lion etc) and repulsive animals like snakes, lizards etc. and animals that eat dirty things (e.g. pigs etc) are not permissible to eat even if you do the Halal ritual on them.

I hope I have explained about Halal. If you have anything about it I would be glad to discuss it with you.

I remained silent

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; for I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.

Finally when they came for me, there was nobody left; nobody left to speak for me.

I recently came across this English translation of the German poem called, ‘I remained silent’. It is believed Pastor Martin-Niemoller wrote this haunting poem to highlight the complicity and cowardly behaviour of German intellectuals and the media during the rise of Nazis.

After reading this poem I asked myself, ‘Today, aren’t the Muslims repeating the same mistake the Germans did?’ The answer my mind gave me was, ‘Yes’

Today in all Muslim countries people are being killed and abducted by Muslim Governments and various agencies linked to it. This is happening everywhere be it Pakistan, Central Asia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Malaysia or Sudan. If the majority of the Muslims didn’t remain silent their governments will not do these things.

If at all Muslim don’t remain silent, just think, whom do Muslims blame for these abductions and crimes?  They blame the Americans and Israel and come up with all sorts of excuses for the state of the Muslim world. True, other countries esp. America play a huge role in the things happening in the Muslim world but it is ultimately the incompetent Muslim Governments and rulers who are responsible for these crimes. Where is the protests against the Muslim Governments? Why are Muslims silent?

“The cruelest crimes in history was not done by the tyranny of a few but the silence of the majority at the face of tyranny.”

PS. Shall I tell you a secret? Do you know who these ’silent Muslims’ are?… It is no one else but you and me…

See also
The Problem (with the Muslim World)

Bismillah,
Everyday I hear Muslims grumbling about Sunni Shia violence in Iraq. Coupled to this in the Internet almost every Muslim blog or forum I surf, I hear remarks against Sunni or Shia Muslims and occasionally come across brothers and sisters engaged in endless Sunni-Shia debates and telling everyone how bad the other is. In this kind of situation, my usual reaction has being to ignore them and hope Allah gives them better understanding to ignore such controversial subject because I believe our priority today is not the sunni/shia issue but our incompetent Muslim governments and the lack of knowledge among the Ummah.

But now I think my ignoring the Sunni-Shia issue is like the ostrich burying its head in the sand. I think I can no longer afford to ignore this bloody reality. I think I must help to reconcile the two sides. But how or what can I do? These are the questions that haunt me

Well, when I was in this state of mind, last week I heard from Abu Sinan about this great article about Shia in the ‘Eloquent Incoherence’ blog.

Click here to read the article – Myths and Misconceptions about the Shia. It explains in detail about 6 common misinformation (or misconceptions) many of us Sunni Muslims have about Shia.

This is a article I think everyone should read. Thanks to it I was able to correct several misconceptions I had about Shia Muslims like the problems I had about their Kalima (Shahadah) and their Salaath (prayers). Also I thought they believed that Allah intended for ‘Ali (rali) to be given Prophethood, but the Angel Jibril made a mistake and gave Muhammad the revelation instead and Shia pray only three times, both of which turned out to be wrong.