Knowledge Prescription for The Believer

Source: http://maestrouzy.com

By: Uzman Muhajir

Upon the Creation of the Earth, the site of Al-Kaaba had been inaugurated with status and honour.  Allah Most High had designated the Holy ground of Al-Kaabah to be the centre of the universe. The Holy ground of Al-Kaabah bears testimony to the presence of the Father of Mankind, Adam (A.S.) unto the Final Prophet, Muhammad (S.A.W.) unto whom the Revelation of the Glorious Quran descended through the Angel Jibraeel. Unto this day Al-Kaabah is the beacon to which the current 2 billion Muslims worldwide turn to pray. Geographically such magnificence is characterised by harsh terrains and soaring temperatures positioned in The Holy City of Makkah.

Quotes of Leo Tolstoy about Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) & Islam

—> Prophet Muhammad: “Muhammad has always been standing higher than the Christianity. He does not consider god as a human being and never makes himself equal to God. Muslims worship nothing except God and Muhammad is his Messenger. There is no any mystery and secret in it.”

—> Humanity needs Islamic law: “The law of the Qur’an will prevail in the world because it agrees with reason and wisdom. I have come to understand that humanity needs only a Divine law to establish the truth and destroy falsehood. Islamic law will encompass the entire world because it is consistent with reason and agrees with wisdom and justice.”

—> They amazed their surroundings: “It is true that the wide spread of Islam at the hands of those (Muslims) did not appeal to the Buddhists and Christians. However, the indisputably well-established fact is that the Muslims, in the early days of Islam, were recognized for their abstinence in the false world, pure conduct, uprightness and honesty so much that they amazed their surrounding neighbors with their noble manners, mercy and kindness.”

—> The people of vision: “One of the good merits of the Islamic religion is that it enjoins good treatment to Christians and Jews in general and Christian bishops in particular. It commands to deal with them kindly and helpfully and permits its followers among men to marry Christian and Jewish women, who are allowed to remain on their religion – a teaching which implies great toleration not hidden from men of enlightened visions.”

Usury

Source: http://hadithoftheday.com/

Narrated Abu Juhaifa: The Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade the use of the price of blood and the price of a dog, the one who takes (eats) usury the one who gives usury, the woman who practices tattooing and the woman who gets herself tattooed.
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 72 Hadith 829

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Avoid the seven great destructive sins.” They (the people) asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! What are they?” He said, “To join partners in worship with Allah; to practice sorcery; to kill the life which Allah has forbidden except for a just cause (according to Islamic law); to eat up usury (Riba), to eat up the property of an orphan; to give one’s back to the enemy and fleeing from the battlefield at the time of fighting and to accuse chaste women who never even think of anything touching chastity and are good believers.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 82 Hadith 840

Narrated Abu Burda: When I came to Medina, I met Abdullah bin Salam. He said, “Will you come to me so that I may serve you with Sawiq (i.e. powdered barley) and dates, and let you enter a (blessed) house that in which The Prophet (peace be upon him) entered?” Then he added, “You are in a country where the practice of Riba (i.e. usury) is prevalent; so if somebody owes you something and he sends you a present of a load of chopped straw or a load of barley or a load of provender then do not take it, as it is Riba.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari – Book 58 Hadith 159

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Challenges ISIS

Source: patheos.com

By: Kamran Memon

On September 12, 2014, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, a prominent American Muslim scholar, gave a Friday sermon on ISIS. People are clearly interested in what Shaykh Hamza has to say regarding ISIS; the sermon has been viewed on YouTube more than 190,000 times, with more than 1,100 positive and negative comments, in the past month.

Shaykh Hamza made several interesting points in his sermon. (My follow-up questions appear in italics. Please forgive the tough questions. I don’t mean any disrespect to Shaykh Hamza. I realize that he didn’t have time to address all these issues in one sermon. But such questions have to be answered by our scholars so that laypeople like me can understand what is going on in the world around us.)

The four schools of Islamic Law

By: Shaykh Abdal-Hakim Murad

Source: ilmgate.org

The ummah’s greatest achievement over the past millennium has undoubtedly been its internal intellectual cohesion. From the fifth century of the Hijra almost to the present day, and despite the outward drama of the clash of dynasties, the Sunni Muslims have maintained an almost unfailing attitude of religious respect and brotherhood among themselves. It is a striking fact that virtually no religious wars, riots or persecutions divided them during this extended period, so difficult in other ways.

Imam Suhaib Webb: Introduction to The Philosophy of Islamic Law – Usūl al-fiqh Part 1 (Audio)

 Join Imam Suhaib has he introduces one of Islam’s most important subjects. The Ella Collins Institutes Core Subject Curriculum (CSC) contains the basic sciences of Islam needed to achieve a higher, but functional, level of Islamic literacy. Please like Imam Suhaib Webb’s YouTube page. God bless!

5 Reasons Importance of Building Strong Muslim Entrepreneurial Communities

By: Uzman Muhajir

Source: http://maestrouzy.com/

Building strong, economic communities in the Muslim world is an idea whose time has come. It is evident that the Islamic world isn’t lacking natural resources, abundance in labor, innovative talent or even historical legacy with which to draw from. What it is lacking is a vision. A vision to transform itself into a strong, cohesive community that utilizes its resources in the best possible way and establishes a foundation, where peace, prosperity and progress are the order of the day.

For the Muslim Ummah to transform itself into a community that can thrive in the 21^st century, it must focus on one thing: self-reliance and independence.

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf: A Moral Vision For The Future (Video)

 Reflections on the core values that bring us together to build the beloved community – a moral vision for the future. Hamza Yusuf is a president, cofounder, and senior faculty member of Zaytuna College. He is an advisor to Stanford University’s Program in Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. He also serves as a member of the board of advisors of George Russell’s One Nation, a national philanthropic initiative that promotes pluralism and inclusion in America. In addition, he serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, one of the top jurists and masters of Islamic sciences in the world. Recently, Hamza Yusuf was ranked as “the Western world’s most influential Islamic scholar” by The 500 Most Influential Muslims, edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin, (2009).