Softest of Tongues

Julaybib (R) – A Short Story sent by Sr. A. Khan, on from Sr. A Dost

His name was unusual and incomplete. Julaybib (R) means “small grown”. It is the diminutive form of the word “Jalbab”. The name is an indication that Julaybib (R) was small and short. More than that, he is described as being “damam” which means ugly, deformed, or of repulsive appearance.

Even more disturbing, for the society in which he lived, Julaybib’s lineage was not known. There is no record of who his mother and father were, or to what tribe he belonged. This was considered a serious disability in his society. Julaybib (R) could not expect any compassion, protection, or  support from a society that placed a great deal of importance on family and tribal connections.

In this regard, all that was known of him was that he was an Arab and that, as far as the new community of Islam was concerned, he was one of the Ansar.

He was shunned in his society. As an example, Abu Barzah, of the Aslam tribe, prohibited him from entering his home, and he told his wife: “Do not let Julaybib (R) enter among you. If he does, I shall certainly do something terrible to him.”

Was there any hope for Julaybib (R) to be treated with respect and consideration? Was there any hope for him to find emotional satisfaction as an individual and as a man? Was there any hope for him to enjoy the relationships which others take for granted? And in the new society emerging under the guidance of the Prophet, was he so insignificant as to be overlooked in the preoccupation with the great affairs of state and in the supreme issues of life and survival which constantly engaged the attention of the Prophet (saw)?

Just as he was aware of the great issues of life and destiny, the Prophet (saw), who is mercy for all humanity, was also aware of the needs and  feelings of his most humble companions. With Julaybib (R) in mind, the Prophet (saw) went to one of the Ansar and said: I want to have your daughter married. “How wonderful and blessed, O Messenger of Allah, and what a delight to the eye (this would be),” replied the Ansari man with obvious joy and happiness. I do not want her for myself, added the Prophet (saw) “Then for whom, O Messenger of Allah?” asked the man, obviously somewhat let down. For Julaybib , said the Prophet (saw).

The Ansari must have been too shocked to give his own reaction so he replied: “I will consult with her mother.” And off he went to his wife.  “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah (T) bestow peace and blessings upon him, wants to have your daughter married”, he told his wife. She was thrilled. “What a wonderful idea and what a delight to the eye (this would be),”she said.” He does not want to marry her himself, but he wants to marry her to Julaybib (R),” he added. She was flabbergasted! “To Julaybib? No, never to Julaybib! No, by the Living Allah, we shall not marry (her) to him.” she protested.

As the Ansari was about to return to the Prophet (saw) to inform him of what his wife had said, the daughter, who had heard her mother’s protestations, asked: “Who has asked to marry me?” Her mother told her of the Prophet’s request to marry her to Julaybib (R). When she heard that the request had come from the Prophet (saw), and that her mother was absolutely opposed to the idea, she was greatly perturbed and said: “Do you refuse the request of the Messenger of Allah? Send me to him, for he shall certainly not bring ruin to me.”

This was the reply of a truly great person who had a clear understanding of what was required of her as a Muslim. What greater satisfaction and fulfilment can a Muslim find than in responding willingly to the requests and commands of the Messenger of Allah! Truly, this companion of the Prophet (saw), even though we do not know her name, set an example for all of us to obey the Quranic command:

Whenever Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, it is not for a believing man or woman to claim freedom of choice in so far as this matter is concerned. And he who disobeys Allah and His Messenger (saw) has, most obviously, gone astray. [Al-Ahzab 33:36]

It is said that the Ansari girl read the verse to her parents and said: “I am satisfied, and submit myself to whatever Allah’s Messenger (saw) deems good for me.”

The Prophet (saw) heard of her reaction and prayed for her: `O Lord, bestow good on her in abundance and make not her life one of toil and trouble.’

It is said that among the Ansar, there was not a more eligible bride than her. She was married by the Prophet (saw) to Julaybib (R), and they lived together until he was killed.

He went on an expedition with the Prophet (saw), and an encounter with some mushrikin ensued. When the battle was over, the Prophet (saw) asked his companions: Have you lost anyone? They named their relatives or close friends who were killed. Another group answered that they had lost no close relative whereupon the Prophet (saw) said: But I have lost Julaybib. Search for him in the battlefield.

They searched and found him beside seven mushrikin whom he had struck before meeting his end. The Prophet (saw) stood up and went to the spot where Julaybib (R), his short and deformed companion, lay. The Prophet of Allah stood over him and said: He killed seven and then was killed? This man is of me and I am of him.

He repeated this two or three times. The Prophet (saw) then took him in his arms and it is said that he had no better bed besides the forearms of the Messenger of Allah. The Prophet (saw) then dug for him a grave, and himself placed him in it. The Prophet of Allah did not wash him, for the one slain in the Way of Allah is not washed before burial.

Julaybib (R) and his wife are not among the companions of the Prophet (saw) whose deeds of obedience and valour are well known. The little that is known about them demonstrates how the meek and the humble were given hope and dignity by the Prophet (saw) – where once there was only despair and self-debasement.

The attitude of the unknown and unnamed Ansari girl, who readily agreed to be the wife of a physically unattractive man, reflected a profound understanding of Islam. It reflected the effacement of personal desires and preferences, even when she could have counted on the support of her parents. It reflected a total disregard for social norms and pressures. It reflected, above all, a ready and unshakable confidence in the wisdom and authority of the Prophet (saw) in submitting herself to whatever he deemed good. This is indeed the attitude of the true believer.

In Julaybib (R), there is the example of a person who was regarded as a social outcast because of his mere appearance. Given confidence by his faith in Allah, the Glorious, and encouragement by the noble Prophet (saw), he was able to perform great acts of courage and was blessed by the most virtuous death a believer could ever hope for – death fighting in the Way of Allah, the Supreme. This led to the commendation which should be the esire of every believer: the commendation of the Prophet (saw) of Allah: He is of me, and I am of him.”

We really need to improve our translation and publishing services (not to mention khutbas) both at home and (especially) abroad.

 ahem, to wit (courtesy of the fatwa archives of Sunnipath) -

 How to Offer the Salah Correctly, by Maulana Thanvi,

translates hadath (lit. ‘an occurrence’, and often translated as ‘minor impurity’ which denotes in Islamic jurisprudence the act of losing one’s ritual purity as a result of passing wind or going washroom) as “farting“

and janaba (lit. ‘prohibited’  meaning here ‘major impurity’) as “the great farting.”

e.g. 1: pg. 63

“In order to get pure from the great farting a bath is essential.  It is caused due to four reasons.”

e.g. 2: pg. 74

“If a disbeliever embraces Islam and while in the state of disbelief, a great farting occurred to him.”

The ulema of Halab (Aleppo) frequently mention, “Choose a fatwa that saves you, not a fatwa that merely pleases you.”

(Ikhtar al fatwa alli yunjeek, mush bas alli yurdeek) – ‘aamiyya.

1. Fr. Comment is Free – Naomi Klein

‘Thomas Friedman recently offered his theory in the New York Times. Israel “nurtures and rewards individual imagination”, and so its people are constantly spawning ingenious hi-tech start-ups, no matter what messes their politicians are making. After perusing class projects by students in engineering and computer science at Ben-Gurion University, Friedman made one of his famous fake-sense pronouncements. Israel “had discovered oil”. This oil, apparently, is located in the minds of Israel’s “young innovators and venture capitalists”, who are too busy making megadeals with Google to be held back by politics.

Here’s another theory. Israel’s economy isn’t booming despite the political chaos that devours the headlines but because of it. This phase of development dates back to the mid-90s, when the country was in the vanguard of the information revolution – the most tech-dependent economy in the world. After the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, Israel’s economy was devastated, facing its worst year since 1953. Then came 9/11, and suddenly new profit vistas opened up for any company that claimed it could spot terrorists in crowds, seal borders from attack, and extract confessions from closed-mouthed prisoners.’

The Rest.

 2. Way of the Ninjabi – Guardian.com

 In a grim part of east London a powerful Somalian teen is giving me a beating while a friend eggs her on – they are both clearly enjoying themselves. As the blows rain down, I curse myself for responding to the advert for this unusual self-defence class at a Newham sports centre. “From the mean streets of London,” it had read, “where Islamophobic attacks from chavs, hoodies and pervy so-called Muslim men have become increasingly common … it’s time our sisters stood up and defended their honour! Enter the Ninjabi.”

 3. George Galloway on Comment is Free – The Threat to Al-Jazeera

When al-Jazeera was launched in 1996, it was hailed by the US as a brave step towards liberalisation of the Middle Eastern media. But that all changed after September 2001 and the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The US administration could not tolerate a TV station that was popular and trusted in the Arab and Muslim world broadcasting about the reality of western and Israeli policies on the ground – and giving airtime to their enemies. Although US and Israeli viewpoints have always been given plenty of airtime, the freedom enjoyed by al-Jazeera’s editorial staff has clearly been too liberal and democratic for the world’s “leading democracy”. Meanwhile, dictatorial regimes in the region pressed Washington to do something about this “turbulent priest” they believed was stirring their peoples against their despotic rule.

I really love Sh. Yassir, and after reading the following article you should too. One of the most important qualities of Islam is that the deen does not stipulate how conditions or people SHOULD be, but rather addresses the situation as it is currently, and then changes the current situation into an ideal one. Sh Yassir adheres to the same ethos – rather than telling a person that their situation is flawed, or things shouldn’t be this way because of x y and z, he’ll say okay, lets deal with things as they are, and think about how to rectify the situation (or one’s perception of the situation) to bring about a solution.

 *** 

June 1, 2007
A Growing Demand for the Rare American Imam
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — Sheik Yassir Fazaga regularly uses a standard American calendar to provide inspiration for his weekly Friday sermon.

Around Valentine’s Day this year, he talked about how the Koran endorses romantic love within certain ethical parameters. (As opposed to say, clerics in Saudi Arabia, who denounce the banned saint’s day as a Satanic ritual.)

On World AIDS Day, he criticized Muslims for making moral judgments about the disease rather than helping the afflicted, and on International Women’s Day he focused on domestic abuse.

“My main objective is to make Islam relevant,” said Sheik Fazaga, 34, who went to high school in Orange County, which includes Mission Viejo, and brings a certain American flair to his role as imam in the mosque here.

Prayer leaders, or imams, in the United States have long arrived from overseas, forced to negotiate a foreign culture along with their congregation. Older immigrants usually overlook the fact that it is an uneasy fit, particularly since imported sheiks rarely speak English. They welcome a flavor of home.

But as the first generation of American-born Muslims begins graduating from college in significant numbers, with a swelling tide behind them, some congregations are beginning to seek native imams who can talk about religious and social issues that seem relevant to young people, like dating and drugs. On an even more practical level, they want an imam who can advise them on day-to-day American matters like how to set up a 401(k) plan to funnel the charitable donations known as zakat, which Islam mandates.

“The problem is that you have a young generation whose own experience has nothing to do with where its parents came from,” said Hatem Bazian, a lecturer in the Near Eastern studies department at the University of California, Berkeley, who surveys Muslim communities.

But the underlying quandary is that American imams are hard to find, though there are a few nascent training programs. These days, many of the men leading prayers across the United States on any given Friday are volunteers, doctors or engineers who know a bit more about the Koran than everyone else. Scholars point out that one of the great strengths of Islam, particularly the Sunni version, is that there is no official hierarchy.

But this situation is fueling a debate about just how thoroughly an imam has to be schooled in Islamic jurisprudence and other religious matters before running a mosque.

The downside for Islam in America, some critics argue, is that those interpreting Islamic law often lack a command of the full scope of the traditions carried in the Koran and the hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad considered sacred.

“I call it ‘hadith slinging,’ ” said Prof. Khaled Abou el Fadl, a specialist in Islamic law at the University of California, Los Angeles. “I throw a couple of hadiths at you, and you throw a couple of hadiths at me, and that is the way we do Islamic law,” he added. “It’s like any moron can do that.”

Experts say the problem is exacerbated because few immigrant parents want their children to become imams.

“Immigrant parents want their children to become doctors, engineers, computer scientists,” Dr. Bazian said. “If you suggested that they might want their kid to study to become an imam, they would hold a funeral procession.” Ultimately, in the absence of trained sheiks, good religion in many American mosques has come to be defined through rigid adherence to rituals, Professor Abou el Fadl said, adding, “It’s ritual that defines piety.”

The few imams born or at least raised in the United States who win over their congregations tend to be younger men who can play pickup basketball with the teenagers, but also have enough training in classical Arabic and Islamic jurisprudence that the older members accept their religious credentials.

Imam Ronald Smith Jr., 29, who runs the Islamic Center of Daytona Beach, Fla., converted to Islam at 14 to escape the violence in his African-American community in Atlantic City. As part of his training, he spent six years studying at the Islamic University in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

“Foreign imams, because of the culture in their countries, kind of stick to the mosque and the duties of the mosque without involving themselves much in the general community,” Imam Smith said. “The hip-hop culture is difficult to understand if you have never lived it.”

The foreign imams’ idea of mosque outreach, Imam Smith said, is sponsoring an evening lecture series where everyone sits around for an hour and listens to a speech about being devout or maybe world politics, which teenagers find less than compelling.

Mosque leaders say the risk is that younger Muslims, already feeling under assault in the United States because of the faith’s checkered reputation, might choose one of two extremes. They either drift away from the faith entirely if they cannot find answers, or leave the mosque for a more radical fringe.

Here in Mission Viejo, Sheik Fazaga wears street clothes much of the time, but dons traditional robes to deliver the Friday sermon at the mosque, a building distinguishable from the surrounding strip malls and low-slung office buildings mostly by its airy exterior dome of metal filigree painted sea green. It was a practice he started 10 years ago when he first returned home and kind of fell into the imam’s job around age 24, because some members considered him too young for the position.

Born in the East African nation of Eritrea, he moved to the Arab world before coming to Mission Viejo at age 15. Drawn toward Islam by college students, he enrolled in the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, a Virginia campus of al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The United States government expelled much of the faculty in 2004 as part of the crackdown on extremist Islamic rhetoric.

The school was accused of being an American outpost of the puritanical Wahhabi sect, a label Sheik Fazaga rejects. But that might be one reason he has been stopped for questioning some 20 times — every time he returns home from abroad.

“ ‘How come you don’t dress like an imam?’— that’s their favorite question,” he said with a wry grin.

Younger Muslims seek him out for guidance, he said, and the fact that he is studying for a master’s degree in psychological therapy helps. Teenagers have requested advice about being addicted to Internet pornography, he said, and about sexual orientation. He counsels adolescents — gay and straight — that sexual attraction is natural, but to act on it is wrong and that any addiction should be treated.

Previous imams would simply admonish the youths that something was a forbidden abomination, subject closed.

Gihan Zahran, 43, an Egyptian immigrant, remembers a previous Arab imam who even told a much perplexed teenager that wearing Nike shoes was “haram,” or forbidden in Arabic, without explaining why. Some Muslims consider this aloofness particularly ineffective in America, given that they are a minority faced by majority practices like drinking alcohol that clash with their faith and that teenagers confront daily.

Ms. Zahran’s sister Nermeen Zahran, 42, recently went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. She is a real estate agent, and has not veiled her hair at least partly because it might affect her livelihood in a conservative place like Orange County.

When she went on the hajj, as it is called in Arabic, a fellow pilgrim asked the Egyptian imam who accompanied them from Southern California his opinion of her not wearing the scarf afterward.

“He was so mad, so offended and said he couldn’t believe it could happen,” Nermeen Zahran recalled over a glass of orange juice in the neat condominium she shares with her sister. His basic reaction, she said, was that there was no point in seeking forgiveness for previous sins if one did not take the veil afterward.

Ms. Zahran has also consulted religious figures about periodic bouts of depression, but the usual response was that her faith lacked vigor.

Now she talks to Sheik Fazaga about it, she said. “He tries to solve the problems and doesn’t tell you that you have to accept that this is your life, this is what Allah gave you, and if you don’t then you are not a good Muslim.”

She wonders, in the end, whether a purer form of Islam will develop in the United States, with prayer leaders focused on the concerns of the community, rather than not treading on the toes of the government that supports them, as in much of the Arab world.

Mosques will probably continue to address the wishes of the immigrant population for another decade, but after that the tide will shift away from them, experts suggest.

“Islam in America is trying to create a new cultural matrix that can survive in the broader context of America,” said Prof. Sherman Jackson, who teaches Arabic and Islamic law at the University of Michigan. “It has to change for the religion to survive.”

fr. an article posted on Murtada’s blog – the situation of Iraqi refugees is desperate, and many turn to illicit means to secure any sort of income… subhanAllah. The area the article mentions – Masaken Barzeh – is where we live (or rather, where my aunt & uncle’s house is… btw, it is NOT on the outskirts of Damascus… its quite central actually), and it has absorbed one of the highest numbers of refugees in the city. Some work in trade – making bread, food, etc – but many work as ‘nawar’, or gypsies, and are despised by the locals as corruptors of the city.

***

 ’She said the convent had surveyed Iraqi refugees living in Masaken Barzeh, on the outskirts of Damascus, and found 119 female-headed households in one small neighborhood. Some of the women, seeking work outside the home for the first time and living in a country with high unemployment, find that their only marketable asset is their bodies.’