alhaddad.org

Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah Wymann-Landgraf
February 2000

In the 10th century C.E, Hroswitha—Saxon princess and earliest known German poetess—wrote of Cordoba, the caliphal capital of al-Andalus, that it was: “the ornament of the world.” In the Age of Hroswitha, Islam and civilization were synonymous. The Abode of Islam had a fabulous beacon in the east: Sunni Persia, and another, more spectacular, in the west: al-Andalus

Christian historians in the Middle Ages spoke of “the two Spains,” one Christian and the other Muslim. They meant by Spain, “Hispania”: the Iberian peninsula—Spain and Portugal—not the political entity called Spain today. There was no doubt which of the “two Spains” was the greater and more splendid. Europeans have called the Andalusians Moors and their culture, Moorish. Our names: Moore, Morris, Maurice, and Moritz, were medieval forms of “Moor” and “Moorish”.
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Shaykh Hamza expounds on Surah Al-Fatihah

 

 Tafseer Surah Fatiha: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

An old Cherokee is telling his granddaughter about a fight that is going on inside himself. He said it is between two wolves. One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The granddaughter thought about it for a minute and then asked her grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one I feed.”

Dalia Mogahed, author of the best book ever on Muslim opinion (”Who Speaks for Islam”), calmly dispatches Irshad into the stands for a grand-slam, see must-view video below.

While Jeffrey Goldberg, the moderator, couldn’t quite keep the discussion impartial (though he does try hard), Dalia remains calm and effectively hammers Irshad’s case for a “new” Islamic reform into the ground.

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Translated by:
Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi

This is the Creed of al-Habeeb ‘Abdullah bin ‘Alawai al-Haddad al-Hazrami al-Shaafi’i, r.a. (1044-1132 AH).

“Praise belongs to Allah alone. May Allah bless our master Muhammad, and his Family, and Companions, and grant them peace. We know, assent, believe, confess with certainty, and testify, that there is no god but Allah, Alone without partner. He is a Mighty God, a Great King. There is no lord beside Him, and we worship none than He. He is Ancient and Pre-Existent, Eternal and Everlasting. His firstness has no beginning, neither has His lastness any end. He is Solitary, Self-Subsistent, neither begetting nor begotten, matchless, without partner or peer. There is nothing that resembles Him, and He is the Hearer, the Seer. [Qur'an 42:11]
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Condensed from The Book of Assistance
Published by The Quilliam Press

You must be of good counsel to all Muslims. The highest point of this is that you conceal nothing from them which if made known would result in good or preserve from something evil. The prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said, “Religion is good counsel” Part of this is to support a Muslim in his absence as you would in his presence, and not to give him more verbal signs of affection than you have for him in your heart. It is also part of this that when a muslim asks you for advice, and you know that the correct course does not lie in that which he is inclined to do, you should tell him so.
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This was a talk given by Shaykh Ba’Bikr during the “Just Enough Religion to Hate” tour with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. It took place at Ghamkol Sharif Mosque, Golden Hillock Road, Birmingham. Images in the slideshow are from the talk.

Have you heard the story about an old woman who found an eagle’s egg and by mistake put it in the nest of a hen?

The little eagle hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.

As he grew older, the little eagle did what the chicks did & thought it was just like them.

But something just didn’t feel right…

The eagle’s heart was filled with awe every time he saw a big eagle soaring gracefully across the sky.

As he gazed at the vast space above, he felt an emptiness deep within… an emptiness he could not describe.

The little eagle also knew no words to describe the magnificent bird flying high above, in the vast blue sky.

“What is that?” little eagle asked his brothers & sisters.

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His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper and get angry, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the little boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.

Little boy discovered it was easier to hold his temper (anger) than to drive those nails into the fence…

Finally the day came when the little boy did not lose his temper (anger) at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the little boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper (anger). The day passed and the little boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his little boy by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.

The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”
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