My Conversation with a Barelvi Brother

Assalamalaikum :)

It all began with my zeal and enthusiasm to share the light of Allah with everyone around me.

We had a visitor in our house during Ramadan. I knew he belonged to the Barelvi school of Aqaid because he had spoken about it previously.

I thought of this as a perfect opportunity to test out my skills of debating and reasoning as I was always in awe of the speakers speaking openly and proudly for the sake of Allah Subhanawataala and His deen.

He used to go to this specific mosque in Otahuhu and I used to go to Masjid at Taqwa which is 2 streets away from our house. The reason why he went there was obvious for us because of the difference in Aqaid of the Barelvis and Ahlul Hadees.

We always thought that we should find an opportunity to speak to him about what we believed to be not the correct practices in the Barelvi school of thought (according to Quran and Hadees).

One fine evening, eventually I found him alone, having returned from iftaar, watching tv.

I went up to him and politely started the conversation.

Me : Uncle, why don’t you go with me to the Masjid at Taqwa.

Uncle : We don’t pray behind the Imam in Masjid at Taqwa.

Me : Why Uncle?

Uncle : They regard the Prophet as their Brother (Woh Nabi Salallahoalaihiwassalam ko Bhai maante hain) They don’t do milaad.

Me : Really?! I don’t think that is the case. There is a lot of misinformation. They believe the Prophet to be the Prophet of Allah. Respecting loving and revering him more then any other human. There was no human better than the Prophet peace be upon him. Yes they don’t elevate His status like the Barelvis because that is exactly what he forbade us to do in the hadith where he states that ‘Don’t elevate my status like the Nasara did with Isa peace be upon him’. None of the companions did milaad.

Uncle : No. Do you know that when we send durood to the Prophet, it is absolutely guaranteed that it reaches him (implying that even our salah is not guaranteed to reach Allah but the durood is guaranteed to reach the Prophet pbuh).

Me: Uncle I believe that is totally wrong and a lot of misguidance and misinformation.

Uncle : I follow this path because my parents have told me that this is what I must follow.

Me: But Allah tells us not to follow the path of our forefathers blindly. In fact we should read, learn and investigate ourselves.

At this point, there is a bit of tension between us and he can see that I am getting on the case and I pull back as it is getting uncomfortable. We end the conversation abruptly.

It was evident that the Uncle that I conversed with was not well informed in the deen let alone Barelvi school of thought.

I myself come from the subcontinental region where it is almost a crime to go against the beliefs of the forefathers.

The lessons learnt are:

1) Gain knowledge of the deen. Knowledge of all schools of thoughts. And truth will separate itself from falsehood and Allah will guide us if we sincerely seek it.

2) Once you find the truth, accept the mistakes and accept the necessity to make a change to benefit yourself first and foremost and then looking to transform your family and then look towards the bigger purpose of a Momin and Muslim - the betterment of society.

3) The common Barelvi does not know what the Salafis/Wahabis/AhlulHadeeth believe. They are only told lies and it sticks as a dogma. Mind you noone calls himself a Wahhabi - this is a title given by the haters - and note al Wahhab is a name of Allah. The common Barelvi blindly follows his forefathers whereas Allah forbids mankind to blindly follow even your father if he has the wrong doctrine. (The Prophet pbuh was told to overthrow the false idols and gods of his forefathers. Prophet Ibrahim alaihsalam prayed for his father who was an idol worshiper who didn't want to give up his idol worship. Allah will not forgive his father according to the Quran.) 

4) Quran tafseer is very important for our Barelvi brothers and sisters and as well as for everyone of us. That will open their heart to the truth. 

I used to do some strange practices when I was a kid. I remember we used to go to mazaar(graves) and I would make the dua to the Peer Saheb himself Nauzubillah. Then I slowly got taught that I cannot make dua to the Pious Saint. I have to make it to Allah but through the actions of the piousness of the Saint as a waseela, tawassul (intercession). But when I learnt about the Quran, intercession is only mentioned twice in the whole Quran. I know now that Intercession is only for the Prophet peace be upon him on the Day of Judgement and on whom Allah bestows the right of intercession.

Lots of other practices that I used to do and will write in a separate blog and some of my family still do. 

The conversation above does not contain those exact words that we spoke but more or less contains extracts of the main core of the conversation. 

Everything bad I have said is from the evils of my own self. Everything good and beneficial is from Allah SubhanaWa Taala the Originator of Existence and Goodness.

Wassalam Brothers and Sisters. Peace be with you :) 

 

   

Bart Ehrman - Misquoting Jesus - Why not the original greek of the bible?

Bart Ehrman writes below in his book - Misquoting Jesus - Page 19 in his Introduction
 


" If the full meaning of the words of scripture
can be grasped only by studying them in Greek (and Hebrew),
doesn't this mean that most Christians, who don't read ancient languages,
will never have complete access to what God wants them to
know? And doesn't this make the doctrine of inspiration a doctrine
only for the scholarly elite, who have the intellectual skills and leisure
to learn the languages and study the texts by reading them in the original?
What good does it do to say that the words are inspired by God
if most people have absolutely no access to these words, but only to
more or less clumsy renderings of these words into a language, such as
English, that has nothing to do with the original words?...........

I kept reverting to my basic question: how does it help us to say that the Bible is the inerrant word of God if in fact we don't have the words that God inerrantly inspired,
but only the words copied by the scribes—sometimes correctly but
sometimes (many times!) incorrectly? What good is it to say that the
autographs (i.e., the originals) were inspired? We don't have the originals!
We have only errorridden copies, and the vast majority of these are centuries removed from the originals and different from them, evidently, in thousands of ways. "
First of all I would like to clarify that being a Muslim, I am more then 100 percent certain in my conviction of the Quran being 100% the word of God Almighty.

I just find it interesting reading the views of learned men of Christianity which has linkage to the Quran being 'that' word of God some Christians are searching for.

If you seek for a Quran in the world today, it most certainly has the Arabic text in original form as revealed by God together with the English Translation or Transileration. Even if majority of the Muslim population are not Arabic, they still only believe the Arabic part of the Quran to be revealed in it's original pure and prestine form to mankind. 

What Bart Ehrman has suggested above - is basically why the Greek words of the bible and why it is not imprinted in the bibles today for the common man to access it? read it? understand it? Why is the English 'translation' of the bible being told as the inerrant word of God?

On a sidenote - we all know Jesus was not Greek either. He did not speak Greek. He spoke Aramaic. But what Bart Ehrman suggested is the original text (of the copies of the manuscripts) that they have is in Greek.

This is a thought provoking question for the learned men of Christianity to answer.

What we are saying is that we have the absolute true words from God - The Quran - The Recital. And it is readily available for any person to have in his possession to understand - to explore - to expound on it. Muslims in turn are inspired to learn the Arabic to further understand the word of God. 

And furthermore the author of this Book - God Almighty Himself says:

[4. Surah Nisaa: Ayah 82]

"Do they not then meditate on the Quran? And if it were from any other than Allah, they would have found in it many a discrepancy."

[41. Surah Fussilat : Ayah 3]

"A Book of which the verses are made plain, an Arabic Quran for a people who know."

[12. Surah Yusuf : Ayah 2]

"We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an, in order that ye may learn wisdom."

[17. Surah Bani Israel : Ayah 106,9]

"And it is a Quran which We have revealed in portions so that you may read it to the people by slow degrees, and We have revealed it, revealing in portions."

"Surely this Quran guides to that which is most upright and gives good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a great reward."

Thank you brothers and sisters for taking time to read this. Aim is to gain knowledge and spread knowledge.  As Jesus peace be upon him said (He was a Jew).

Shalom Aleichim.

We say Assalamalaikum.

Peace be with all of you :)

Khushu and Concentration in Salah

Assalamalaikum Warehmatullah i Wabarakatuhu

Khushu and Concentration in Salah

Khushu and concentration is Salah is mentioned by Allah Subhana wa Taala in the Quran. In Surah AlMuminum (23:1-2) Allah says,

"Indeed successful are those believers, who are humble in their Salah (prayers)"

Khushu is something that I have had to build over time. Initially when the faith had not fully entered my heart, I had no real connection to Allah in my prayer (salah). 

Never really understood why we needed to pray. I used to just follow my grandfather and father to the mosque and did not understand the true meaning of salah. I mean I knew that Allah existed and I knew that we asked Him for anything and everything. Just did not have the full faith flow into my heart to truly understand what connection to Allah through salah is.

I used to pray was in the real sense of the word disconnected from Allah Almighty.

But as I got back to my original state of being a slave and servant of Allah, I slowly got back some elements of the concentration in salah that I was trying to achieve. These are my personal opinions and thoughts and I am by no means a scholar. 

I found one portion of a lecture I heard recently of Nouman Ali Khan in which he touched on the topic of khush in salah. It was interesting to note his thoughts and ideas which I feel were in conformity with the age we live in. 

He basically said that when entering salah, prepare your mind for it. Prepare yourself in a way that you flush out whatever else that you had in your mind. E.g if you are a software programmer and you are going for your Zuhr salah in the middle of your work time. Then forget that zone, forget the codes that you were writing, forget the world that you exist in for that period of time. Imagine yourself in one of those scifi movies, where a person enters another world another dimension. Or imagine yourself in a glass ball and forget anything outside of it for that time period in which you are going to perform your salah. Remember Allah as how you imagine Him to be. Think of Allah and His Majesty. Think of Allah's magnificience. If you think of Allah, then it will be helpful in fulfilling your objective. Think of it as a small meeting between yourself and the Lord of the Worlds, in which you are going to communicating with Him and Him communicating with you.

As we see from the following hadith, that Allah responds to the Surah al Fatihah in the manner described.
Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah Razi Allah Taala Anhu said that the Prophet said, (Whoever performs any prayer in which he did not read Umm Al-Qur'an, then his prayer is incomplete.) He said it thrice.
Abu Hurayrah Razi Allah Taala Anhu was asked, "﴿When﴾ we stand behind the Imam''
He said, "Read it to yourself, for I heard the Messenger of Allah say, (Allah, the Exalted, said, `I have divided the prayer (Al-Fatihah) into two halves between Myself and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for.' If he says,
(All praise and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of existence.)
Allah says, `My servant has praised Me.' When the servant says,
(The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.)
Allah says, `My servant has glorified Me.' When he says,
(The Owner of the Day of Recompense.) Allah says, `My servant has
glorified Me,' or `My servant has related all matters to Me.' When he
says, (You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help.)
Allah says, `This is between Me and My servant, and My servant
shall acquire what he sought.' When he says,
(Guide us to the straight path. The way of those on whom You have
granted Your grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your anger,
nor of those who went astray), Allah says, `This is for My servant,
and My servant shall acquire what he asked for.').''
These are the words of An-Nasa'i, while both Muslim and An-Nasa'i collected the following wording, "A half of it is for Me and a half for My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he asked for.''

For kids of today who play video games, understand the concept of different zones, different worlds, scifi concepts. Imagining ourselves disconnected from this dunia for a while and connected to a zone where we are standing in front of Allah will help us attaining khushu in our salah.

Another point is when we do ruko and sujood. In olden days or in some movies, you can see in the kingdom of a king of ruler, people bowed down or prostrated even to that king.
We Muslims bow down or prostrate to no man or king except the Lord of the Worlds, Allah subhana wa Taala the Mighty the All Powerful and the all worthy of Worship and Praise. Allah who is free from imperfection.
So during rukoo and sujood imagine yourself humbling yourself in front of the King of Kings the Ruler of the universe.

Another very important point that Nouman Ali Khan stressed of is learning Arabic and at least memorizing those little phrases and ayat that we say in our everyday salah so that we know what we are saying to Allah subhana wa Taala. Or in case of Quran recital, what Allah is saying to us. Because in every ayah there is guidance from Allah, we wouldn't be able to grasp that guidance and build that connection if we don't know what we are saying.

Simple phrases we can remember can be found in this link:

http://www.muslims.studentorgs.umich.edu/downloads/prayer%20times/Meaning%20of%20the%20Prayers.pdf
  
Slowly InshaAllah as we memorize these small phrases we can move on to bigger things and memorizing ayah of the Quran InshaAllah be iznillah.

Thank you for reading. 

Anything that I have said right is from Allah Subhanawa Taa'la's guidance and help and anything I've said wrong is from the evils of my own self. Please correct me brothers and sisters if you find anything wrong with what I have written.

Wassalam.

Linguistic Miracle - Quran Gems - Surah Al Layl (92) - Pronunciation

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Guidance is by Allah SubhanawaTaala the Most High!
And inspiration is by Bro Nouman Ali Khan!

The Quran is unique and unparalleled in it's literary style and content.

I was just reading Surah Al-Layl (The Night).

Something struck me when I was reciting verses 92:7 and 92:10

92:7 Fasanu-Yassiruhu-Lil-Yusraa (And we will ease him toward ease)

92:10 Fasanu-Yassiruhu-Lil-Usraa (And we will ease him toward difficulty)

If you recite these ayah, you will realise that when we recite lil yusraa, it is very easy on the tongue. There is no stress on the mouth or throat during recital.

But when you recite Lil -Usraa, it is an Ain in Arabic. There is extra stress on the throat while reciting the Usraa part.

Allah in these ayah is telling us on the state of man and how Allah puts him towards ease or difficulty depending on the path the person choses.

And SubhanAllah, all Praise is for Allah, on how beautifully the ease and difficulty in pronunciation also coincides with what Allah is saying in these words.

These are my thoughts alone and I have not read it from any scholar or any book.

Any evil from this is from my own self and anything good that I have said is from Allah.

May Allah guide us all. Ameen.

Inspired by the powerful Quranic verse:

اَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُوۡنَ الۡقُرۡاٰنَ‌ؕ وَلَوۡ كَانَ مِنۡ عِنۡدِ غَيۡرِ اللّٰهِ لَوَجَدُوۡا فِيۡهِ

اخۡتِلَافًا كَثِيۡرًا

Surah 4:82

 Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much incongruity.

Importance of Surah al Asr 103

Surah number 103. Surah Al-Asr (The Time)

1) In it is highlighted the importance of time. Allah swears by the time which is dripping away or melting away from our lives.

2) Every human being is in a state of loss. Every human being even though no matter how much wealth or possessions he has is in a state of loss. He is a loser at this very minute. We may own the best of houses, have the best of bank balances, have the most beautiful wives, have the most beautiful children and many more possessions in this world but in the sight of our Creator, we are still losers. Unless if we fulfill the 4 criteria set out in verse 3, only then will we have any chance of not being losers in the sight of Allah.

3) Unless if he believes, does righteous deeds(fulfills prayers, fasting, hajj and all of the duties required by Allah) and invites or exhorts others to the truth and if he invites and exhorts others to patience. Notice that there is a 'wau' in this verse. In simple terms there is an 'and' in between these 4 criterian laid out by Allah. Hence we have to complete all 4 and not pick and choose what we feel easy and comfortable with. The Road to Jannah is not easy. There are hardships along the way but the best amongst us will be the person who tries his very best and attains taqwa and piety.

This Surah is very profound. 3 verses only but it took about 4-5 hours of tafseer on this Surah by Brother Nouman Ali Khan. 

In one hadith, Hazrat Umar RadhiAllahuanhu mentioned that if Allah had just revealed this Surah alone, it would have been sufficient for man to understand what Allah requires from us.

Halal Food in Auckland

Food that we have tried and Halal

Kebab at Queens almost everywhere in town

Country Fried Chicken  - Outlets
Mangere -747 Massey Road, Mangere 2022
Papatoetoe, Manukau - 566 Great South Road (GAS Petrol Station)
Manurewa, Takanini - 325 Great South Road (Opposite Caltex) There are 2 in Manurewa. This one is Halal.

Milano's Pizza & Grilled Chicken
190 Kirkbride Rd, Mangere, Manukau

Pizza shop at Reeves Road in Pakuranga. Make very good pizza and you can request for halal as they use separate knives and meat for halal requests.
Branch in Takanini as well (29b Manuroa Road - Before Princess Street on the right)

Chicken Express - Fried Chicken and fastfood
16 Lambie Drive Manukau

Singapore and Malaysia style food in Cavendish Drive Manukau - Food court on main road
Tastes of Malaysia - Halal Certificate visible
611 Cavendish Drive 
09 2622063 (They do Takeaways)

Also all Oporto restaurants are halal

Indian Palace -
194 Great South Road  Papatoetoe 2025

Khyber Pass Halal Pakistani Restaurant -
19 Khyber Pass Rd Grafton Auckland

Auckland Fish Market near harbour in City. Lots of seafood

Flame burger Otahuhu (Big burger and cheap)

Flame Burger Ormiston Road (Also dosa vegetarian place just beside)
15 125 Ormiston Road  Flat Bush 2016

09-277 0842

Pakwan Halal Restaurant Otahuhu (Pakistani and North Indian)


Wardani Indonesian Food
15c Mercari Way, Albany, North Shore

Top in Town Briyani (Awesome Briyani - Sandringham)
586 Sandringham Road

Lazeez Indian and Pakistani Food - Manurewa 

185 Great South Rd
(South Mall)
Manurewa Manukau City

09 267 6404 

City

Istanbul Kebabs & Pizza (Great kebab in Turkish bread)

96 Queen Street, Auckland Central, Auckland 

Kebab iMax Food Court Queen Street

Pita shop iMax Food Court Queen Street

Dosa and vegetarian Indian shop iMax Food Court Queen Street

Meditteranian Food iMax Food Court Queen Street

Auckland Fish Market near harbour in City. Lots of seafood

Nickie's Thai Food at 34 Broadway 

Mamak Malaysian Restaurant - Halal Certificate visible -

50 Kitchener St
(Chancery Square)
Auckland Central
Auckland City

09 948 6479