Our search for knowledge

"The one who seeks knowledge is like a warrior in the cause of religion for the way of Allah." (Imam Ali a.s.)

Do you have enough knowledge to call yourself a warrior for the way of Allah? No, nor do I. No doubt at one point or another we find ourselves motivated to learn, to seek knowledge by way of lectures and reading - more often then not this commonly occurs during the first 10 days of Muharrum but soon enough we find ourselves increasingly distracted and subsequently find it hard to fit in the time to make an effort to seriously learn, revise and spread our knowledge of Islam.

Our basic Islamic understanding tends to come from the education provided by our parents or perhaps the few years spent at the Saturday/Sunday madressa, but how much of that knowledge do we retain today, and how much more have we sought ourselves? The information we have learnt from a lecture or a book is only one step in increasing our knowledge. Studies have shown that knowledge can only stay fresh in the human mind for a short period of 24hrs after which it needs to be revised in order for it to be retained. After listening to lectures, ask me what I learnt the next day and the information is limited.

Either out of laziness or naivety, we don't tend to enhance what we have learnt from lectures with further revision. I often think that when the time comes, I'll be able to seek the knowledge from various books or knowledgeable friends, but rarely make the effort to search for knowledge out of choice. It is important to know about the basic Islamic beliefs. I'm sure like me you find yourself in debates with Sunni's or non-Muslims and often come unstuck when your are unable to identify a viewpoint they have as incorrect. You know it's wrong, but can't back it up. The historical fact or quranic verse or narration of that particular event is missing from your mind and you end up looking foolish. 

For us Shias it's even more important. There are several topics that are controversial for Sunnis and it's important to be able to talk about them with the correct information. I've previously touched upon temporary marriage and dissimulation and there are other topics which seem to be unique to the Shias although backed up by the Quran and Ahl-Bayt, and often cause great difficulty for us simply because we don't have the knowledge to back ourselves.

Islamic law and jurisprudence is arguably the most difficult simply because of the level of detail that is needed to have a proper understanding. However, even if we stick to the basics, how much knowledge do we have? Do we know what invalidates our prayers, what breaks our ablution, what needs to be performed after certain events? It is not good enough to simply argue that our intentions are pure and therefore God will accept our mistakes or lapses. When we have the ability to learn and clarify our practices, then there can be no excuse for being lazy - shaitan thrives on this laziness and lures us into a false sense of security.

I remember a hadith as a child (I don't have the authentic source unfortunately) where a man dreams about the shaitan. He sees him in a room lining up some equipment - a rope, a pipe, some string, a tree trunk etc. He asks him what is he doing. The shaitan replies that he's preparing his tools for distracting people during their prayers. Some people's faith and concentration is so strong that only a push with the tree trunk can distract them, for others a rope is sufficient to distract them and others, a piece of string. The man asks what he needs in order to distract the Prophet, the shaitan says that no power on Earth can distract the Prophet during his namaaz. The man confident about his namaaz having learnt it from the Prophet, asked the shaitan what he used to distract him. The shaitan put all his equipment away and said for you I don't need any of this, just a pull on my little finger is enough to distract you.

Ever since I've heard this hadith, I've always thought is shaitan using only his little finger to distract me? Sometimes it is so easy to get distracted. To strengthen our concentration we need more knowledge of what namaaz means and how important it is. We can't just say that our intention was pure, we need to constantly strive to improve our concentration levels at all times. Maybe then the shaitan will need to use something stronger to distract us - we can safely say that he won't give up - but our struggle to defy him can get stronger with more knowledge.

Having identified what we need to do, what is the best way to achieve it? Starting from scratch would be the best bet. Identifying the basics of Islam - the wajab and haram acts and then checking how much of it do we actually know. There are plentiful sources online such as Al-Islam.org and Madressa.net, both have excellent resources of knowledge, easily navigated and easy to read.

After exploring the basics, reading books which go into more depth will make more sense. Al-Islam.org has a vast amount of lectures and literature composed by a variety of scholars, our Imams and the Holy Prophet. There are also quite a few resources for watching lectures online such as ShiaTV.net and AIMIslam.org which again are a useful source of knowledge and information.

Armed with this ever increasing knowledge will not only increase our faith and beliefs and thus bring us closer to God, but also allow us to engage in debate and discussion with confidence and a certain level of authoritativeness. Obviously people will always try to catch us out, but having more and more information can only help. If you get a chance and inshallah have the motivation, check out the above sites and see what you make of it all. I particularly recommend the fact sheets of Shi'ism as a starting point, indeed many of you might recognise them from my blogs which have been based on them in the past and no doubt I'll be referring to them again in the future at some stage.

Before wrapping up, I want to congratulate Liverpool for the sumptuous thrashing of Manchester United last week and then commiserate as once again they face Chelsea in the quarter-final of the Champions League - it's going to be tense once again and I always hate the tension that surrounds these games, being a supporter is not that much fun.

Lastly, the new series of The Apprentice starts next Wednesday. It's always been entertaining for one thing - how dumb the candidates are. No matter what their background, some of the things they try in their tasks are just so inane, you wonder how Sir Alan could hire any of them. Should be entertaining.

Take care all,

Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Mind draws a _____

I've been sat staring at the screen for the last 15minutes thinking of something to blog about and my mind is completely blank. How sad. It's just been one of those typical mundane weeks where nothing much has really happened. Patients come and go, most are well and don't need my help - it has been a boring week to say the least. What follows now is some random chatter about nothing, so if you're reading then you've probably had a boring week as well.

Actually to start things off, I did have an interesting patient present last week in my surgery. A young Irish lady came complaining of multiple mouth sores/ulcers. Nothing interesting about that you may say, but then as part of my general health screening I asked about her job (as stress can be a cause for mouth ulcers) and she revealed that she was a fire-eater! I don't know how many fire-eaters you have met but she was my first one. As part of her act, she had to hold large quantities of liquid paraffin in her mouth and then spit it out on a naked flame to get a fire-eating effect. She works in the entertainment industry (unsurprisingly) and was part of an event group which organised shows and displays for corporate businesses. Her group appeared on Dragon's Den last year and were signed up by James Caan. 

As I had a bit of time to spare before my next patient, I asked her about her experiences of James Caan. You may know that Caan was actually born as Nazim Khan to muslim parents in Pakistan. He changed his name when he saw the actor James Caan in The Godfather because he liked the spelling of 'Caan', plus, no doubt, he wanted a name that wouldn't sound like a muslim! Anyway, the patient described him as a bit of sleaze, always slightly drunk and hitting on the ladies at various parties. She then went on to say that during Ramadan whilst she was fasting, he was happily eating and drinking. 

Pause for a moment and read that last sentence again. She was fasting? Immediately I interrupted her (going against all GP principles) to double check what she had just said. Indeed she was muslim, and had converted (re-verted) several years ago whilst living in Egypt. She was married to a son of a sheikh and converted after reading the Quran looking for answers about life. She spoke fluent Arabic andhad previously worn hijab but was currently reflecting on her experiences before hoping to resume the hijab once again. Rather enlightening to say the least. A fire-eating Irish muslim - surely one of a kind!

Anyway, back to the boring stuff. Liverpool's title challenge has lasted longer than most years this season and this weekend sees them face the might of Manchester United at Old Trafford. They need a win to have any chance of challenging for the title. Already 7 points behind, to fall 10 points behind with defeat would spell the end of their challenge this year and would mean that Man Utd would match the record 18 titles that Liverpool have won in their history. I started supporting Liverpool properly in 1994 and at that point Man Utd had won only 8 titles. Fast-forward 15 years and whilst Liverpool haven't budged from 18, Man Utd are about to catch up unless something can be done starting from this weekend.

It's ridiculous the amount of criticism Liverpool get on an almost daily basis for not being good enough to maintain a challenge. Everyone ignores the simple fact that Man Utd simply have far more resources because they have been able to spend a lot more money than Liverpool. At a quick glance, Man Utd have at least 5 players worth over £20 million, (not including Ronaldo) whilst Liverpool have only one (Torres). With that in mind, it's impressive that Liverpool were able to maintain a strong challenge for as long as they did this year. 

Moving on briefly to mention 24. The show continues its resurgence with Day 7 this year. It has been a true return to form and I've forgotten about the drab that was Day 6 back in 2007. The last few episodes have been especially good. If you've never watched it, I truly urge you to go out and buy Day 1 NOW! I'm not going to talk about it any further until the season finishes as I don't want to spoil anything until it has completed.

I should conclude now, as I'm sure if you've persevered and read on to this point, you'll be grateful for the finish as well. I leave you with a YouTube clip of Michael McIntyre Live at The Apollo just to cheer you up after that boring read.



Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Temporary marriage and Dissimulation

I received a rather disturbing YouTube link to a video by Watford Man. The clip is by a American born Sunni 'scholar' criticising Shia's and Shia beliefs. Normally, this would not cause any concern, there have been many before and there are sure to be many after that will criticise Shias. However, what made this video stand out was the person speaking. "Sheikh" Yasir Qadhi was born and educated in America and then completed further Islamic studies in Saudi Arabia. He is a prominent speaker on the Islam Channel and Peace TV. Rather than the usual Arab nutjobs who rant and rave against Shias, his presentations tend to be calm, reflected and researched with Shia sources - making it sound very convincing. Have a listen, see what you think and then I'll attempt to discuss some of the points he raises.



He recently visited the UK for a Global Peace and Unity event hosted by the Islam Channel and had some Labour politicians as guests. Along with his views about Shias, he has also expressed derogatory opinions about the Jews and the Holocaust - so at least we're not his only targets - and so to have him at a Peace event is rather worrying.

Dealing with the issues he raises in the above clip, he picks on the most often used topics to criticise Shias - namely Muta (Temporary Marriage) and Taqqiyah (Dissimulation). Both of these concepts, he claims, are practiced by Shias and both are against the teachings of God and the Holy Prophet. To support his claims he quotes from Usl-al-Kafi, a collection of sayings from the 6th Holy Imam.

If I get into these two topics in depth, I could be here for hours. However, what I will attempt to do is discuss the two topics using the Quran and also touch upon the history of these practices and then hopefully you can decide how accurate his claims are. As always, the best place to start is the Quran. The concept of Muta revolves around one main verse in the Quran:

"(...Except the forbidden women) the rest are lawful unto you to seek them with gifts from your property (i.e., dowry), provided that you desire protection (from sin), not fornication. So for whatever you have had of pleasure (Istamta'tum) with them by the contract, give unto them their appointed wages as a duty. And there is no sin for you in what you both agree (in extending the contract) after fulfilling the (first) duty. Lo! Allah is ever Knower, Wise." (Surah 4, Verse 24)

The word 'marriage' is specifically not mentioned in this verse, it is instead the word 'istamatatum' which translates to muta (temporary marriage). It was a practice that was allowed during the time of the Prophet and according to many Sunni books was later prohibited by the second caliph, Umar. Referring to the main Sunni book of hadith - Sahih Bukhari, we find a narration stating: "The Verse of Muta was revealed in Allah's Book, so we performed it with Allah's Apostle, and nothing was revealed in Qur'an to make it illegal, nor did the Prophet prohibit it till he died. But the man (who regarded it illegal) just expressed what his own mind suggested." (Sahih Bukhari, Book 60 - Prophetic commentary on the Quran - Hadith #43). The man mentioned was Umar the second caliph.

Furthermore, in Sahih Muslim, the claim that Umar banned the act of Muta is confirmed in the following hadith: "Abu Nadra reported: While I was in the company of Jabir b. Abdullah, a person came to him and said that Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Zubair differed on the two types of Mut'as (Tamattu' of Hajj 1846 and Tamattu' with women), whereupon Jabir said: We used to do these two during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). Umar then forbade us to do them, and so we did not revert to them." (Sahih Muslim, Book 8 - Book of Marriage - Hadith #3250) So, with the aid of Sunni sources, not mentioned by the "Sheikh", it seems as if Muta is allowed as according to the Quran, practiced during the time of the Prophet and was subsequently forbidden by the second Caliph. As a Muslim, I think it's important to follow the Prophet rather than the second Caliph, don't you?

Having tried to prove the authenticity of Muta, obviously it is a topic that raises much debate because of what it means. I don't want to get into the rights and wrongs of Muta. It was introduced at a time when fornication and prostitution was rife, it was used at a time when men went to war and would be separated from their wives for long periods. Like any other rule or act, it is open to abuse. By all means criticise those who abuse the laws of Islam, but to abuse the act when it is clearly allowed by God and his Prophet is wrong.

Moving on to Taqqiyah and the act of dissimulation - i.e. to hide one's true faith in the face of provocation and risk of life, let me begin again by referring to the Quran:

"Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful penalty." (Surah 16, Verse 106)

"A believer, a man from among the people of Pharaoh, who had concealed his faith, said: "Will ye slay a man because he says, 'My Lord is Allah'? (Surah 40, Verse 28)

"When Moses came back to his people, angry and grieved, he said: "Evil it is that ye have done in my place in my absence: did ye make haste to bring on the judgment of your Lord?" He put down the tablets, seized his brother by (the hair of) his head, and dragged him to him. Aaron said: "Son of my mother! the people did indeed reckon me as naught, and went near to slaying me! Make not the enemies rejoice over my misfortune, nor count thou me amongst the people of sin." (Surah 7, Verse 150)

The above three verses all go some way to explaining the concept of taqiyyah. The first verse states that taqiyyah is permissible only in the times of need, in the second verse a believer was forced to conceal his faith at the time of the Pharaoh for fear of prosecution and lastly even a Prophet of God had to engage in taqiyyah in order to save his own life. Infact, the Holy Prophet himself had to engage in taqiyyah during the first 3 yrs of the revelation to prevent Islam being obliterated at the very beginning.

The concept of taqiyyah is clearly supported by the Quran and one that is engaged by Muslims at times of persecution. It doesn't mean that we have become liars and cannot be trusted. Qadhi goes on to quote Usul-al-Kafi and the remark from our 6th Holy Imam: ""Nine tenths of religion is Taqiyyah (dissimulation), hence one who does not dissimulate has no religion." (Al-Kafi, Volume 9). From this he has concluded that 90% of the Shia faith is based on lies. Typical Sunni course of action, taking one quote completely out of context.

Ignoring the fact that the Qadhi himself ignores the Quran, let's discuss the above quote. This statement was first made at a time when true Muslims were under severe prosecution. The rulers of the Arab world at the time were extremely corrupt and keen to abolish Islam altogether. To prevent the risk of death and punishment, many Muslims had to engage in taqiyyah. This is supported by Sahih Bukhari: "Anas said, "I do not find (now-a-days) things as they were (practiced) at the time of the Prophet." Somebody said "The prayer (is as it was.)" Anas said, "Have you not done in the prayer what you have done? Narrated Az-Zuhri that he visited Anas bin Malik at Damascus and found him weeping and asked him why he was weeping. He replied, "I do not know anything which I used to know during the life-time of Allah's Apostle except this prayer which is being lost (not offered as it should be)." (Book 10 - Times of the prayers - Hadith#507)

The above hadith testifies that the practices of the Holy Prophet had been changed and even the namaaz was being altered. During this time, where were the true Muslims? If they weren't raising their voice, they remained in hiding to save themselves. When the 6th Holy Imam states that 90% of the religion is taqiyyah, then that is because 90% of the religion being practiced by the rulers was corrupt and not the true religion of Islam. Anyone who wasn't engaging in taqiyyah, but was instead following the rules of the caliphs at that time was not practising true Islam.

More importantly, fast-forwarding to today and post 9/11, Muslims throughout the world are being prosecuted and victimised. In the face of such aggravation what are we meant to do? In some situations people have no choice but to hide their true beliefs. To interpret taqiyyah as a form of lying and not telling the truth as Qadhi accuses Shias of is plain wrong and again extremely convenient for his style of preaching.

I've attempted to touch the surface of these two vast topics. I feel that using the Quran, as the main source would be a good starting point and also provide some clarification about the two practices. There is much more detail to go into about these topics and I finish with some links for further reading if any of you are interested about it.

Muta
Taqqiyah

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

Tiredness is killing V

Friday is not a good day to blog I have decided. I'm just too tired - man I sound like a broken record. The weeks efforts takes its toll on me so from next week I'm going to pick another day to blog instead. In the meantime, not wanting to disappoint my many readers (all five of them), I might as well type about something before the weekend.

First of all, I passed my exams! Boy, what a relief, I have never been stressed out for results before in my life (except perhaps my driving test), but there was real pressure on these results - approximately £1400 worth of pressure to be precise, so to pass was a big, big relief. I can now qualify as a GP this August inshallah - who knows, you may suffer at my hands one day in the near future.

I'm sure many, if not all of you have been following the Oscars earlier this week and the remarkable success of Slumdog Millionaire - a rag to riches story of a boy from the Mumbai slums, explaining through a series of flashbacks, how he came to know the answers to the questions in the gameshow (Who Want's To Be A Millionaire?) whilst growing up in the slums.

I watched the film last week and although entertaining, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. I've seen far better Bollywood films over the years, but because this was a British film made in India with Indians, suddenly it became this huge phenomenon. The actor, Dev Patel is from Harrow and can barely disguise his British accent and Anil Kaoor (the show's host), was the third choice behind Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan - although I bet they regret turning it down now.

Amusingly, have a look at Amitabh Bachchan's blog to see how much the films success seems to irritate him. In his latest blogs this week he's pasted several newspaper clippings all having a go at the film - jealous perhaps? He continues to argue that he is simply inviting debate, but interestingly all the views are negative. Never mind Big B.

Alongside the awards for Best Picture and Best Film was the award of two Oscars for A.R. Rahman for Best Song and Best Score. It was great to seem him perform both songs from the film in the Kodak theatre in front of all the Hollywood superstars. However, the music was not his best work, but again, because it's a British film, it got the recognition that no Bollywood film could get on the international stage. All in all a remarkable success story.

With that, I think I'll give up, I'm too tired to type further. I think I'll quit and grab a nap before my afternoon surgery which starts in one hours time.

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?

What is the point?

As always I find myself on a Friday afternoon absolutely shattered. Having a baby is not as easy as I first thought. I think my wife and I had been riding the confidence and excitement wave for the first 3 months, but now things have taken a turn for the worse. My daughter seemingly never wants to settle down. She is forever waking up in the middle of the night, demanding some attention so that she can get some sleep and it's taking its toll.

Last night, for example, she woke both of us up at 4.30am crying her head off. She would not settle until she had a feed and then would only stop crying if she lay between us in bed. At this point we were both half asleep but instead of sleeping, she decided that now would be a good time to start playing, kicking and making noise - she was wide awake! Naturally being the one who has to go to work in the morning I tried to go back to sleep but I just couldn't. The end result meant that I didn't get to sleep at least until 5.30am and I am experiencing the "thrill of feeling tired!"

Anyway, moving on. In the months I've been away from blogging, the months of Muharrum and Safar have just completed in the Islamic Calendar. I have already blogged awhile back about the importance and significance of Muharrum here, here and here, so I'm not about to repeat myself but nonetheless it will always be a very religious and spiritual time for all Shias across the globe.

During these months, as I attend majalises and continue to gain further knowledge about Islam, the Quran, the Prophet and the Imams I always try to make sure that this Muharrum is more fruitful than the last and that the motivation remains for longer after its conclusion. The basic aim is to keep the motivation going through to Safar and then extending towards Ramadan when I get the next injection of motivation.

To help, I like to employ discussion about a variety of topics with my family and friends. I'm extremely lucky in that I have a group of friends all of similar age, with kids etc who are all Shia and all motivated to explore Islam. One such discussion I had was particularly interesting and I wanted to share it on the blog (don't worry, everyone will remain anonymous).

What is your opinion on the meaning of life? Why are we here? I've often thought what is the point of it all? Why did God create us to lead the life that we do? If you think about it from a very pessimistic/negative point of view you can get caught into thinking that our existence is pretty rudimentary. God has created us on this Earth in order to judge us. Everything we do will be judged as right or wrong and then if we are deemed worthy we will be rewarded by being sent to heaven, otherwise the punishment is hell. Would it not be easier if we didn't exist at all? Why go through all this for such reward whilst at the same time running the risk of severe punishment.

These questions led one person to comment that knowing what they know about God, Day of Judgement, heaven and hell etc, they would rather not be human. Why not be an animal or a plant who doesn't have the same 'burdens of life' instead? Another person went further to say why exist at all? They felt it would be better had they not existed at all because then they wouldn't have to face any of this trail of life. An interesting thought, although incredibly flawed because the person could only have that viewpoint because they existed in the first place. However, it got me thinking that hypothetically if I had a choice, would I want to exist? If say, God had me in heaven and showed me the trials and tribulations of mankind, would I want to join it and face those trials?

As we explored this further, we came to realise that this opinion stems from our understanding on the meaning of life. Are we here simply to achieve the reward of heaven or does our reason for existence lie deeper than that? The answer is the latter. God did not create us as a hobby, he did not place us on this Earth simply to blindly follow him so that we can be rewarded and sent to heaven. Our creation serves a much more important purpose.

The one quality we possess that defines us from all of Gods' creations is 'free will.' Us (and jinns) have the ability to make our own decisions with no outside force from God, shaitan or anyone else. We have the ability to do whatever we want, we have to ability to choose to worship God. Our purpose on this Earth quite clearly is too worship God out of our own volition, God puts in clearly in the Quran: "I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me." (Surah 51, Verse 56). This ability to choose is what separates us and elevates us beyond all of God's creations, even the Angels, as they do not have this choice.

God takes our purpose further when he states: "Say: Lo! my worship and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds." (Surah 6, Verse 162). It is clear that we have been created to worship God. We're not here to achieve heaven or avoid hell, we have a greater purpose than that. If we think purely about heaven or hell then we are missing the point. Heaven or hell is our reward/punishment depending on how we go about our worship of God.

An analogy would be to compare it to our career. We study for a qualification in order to achieve a successful career. It's not the other way around. We cannot aim for a career without the relevant qualifications. Similarly, we can't just think that we're here to try to get to heaven and forget to worship God. By worshipping God properly we have a chance of achieving a place in heaven.

By worshipping God, it means we are compelled to follow his commands, his Prophets and his Imams. The worship determines our type of life. It is not good enough to just say we worship but then do nothing to qualify that worship. Every action we take as to reflect on our worship, we must constantly be striving to seek God's pleasure and that is what the trial is all about. We are here to be tested for our worship of God. Being possessed with free will ensures that we have that ability to choose and hence when we choose the right worship and follow God as prescribed by him our reward will inshallah be greater.

Thus, we should not become too preoccupied with the punishment in hell or the rewards of heaven. Instead we should focus our energies in elevating ourselves spiritually and following the legal-moral-ethical guidelines of Islam with certitude and conviction and voluntary submit to God because He is worthy of our submission.

I often feel that atheists are who they are because they're lazy. They can't bring themselves to follow God and his commands and therefore deny his existence. I'm sure that many of them know that God does exist, but purely can't be bothered to acknowledge it because it would mean too much work for them. I'm sure God will 'reward' them appropriately for there laziness.

So, to wrap things up, our purpose on this Earth, our creation on this Earth is for us to worship God. Nothing more, nothing less. If you still have doubts about the point of existing, or harbor secrets desires of being a tree or a bird, I leave you with the words of our first Holy Imam: "O God, I do not worship You out of fear of the hell-fire because this would be the worship of a slave. Nor do I worship You out of desire for the pleasures of paradise because this would be the worship of a merchant. Rather I worship You because You are worthy of worship."

Take care all,
Thoughts just flow, when do they have to make sense?