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Qawmi (Bengali: কওমী; also variously phonetically transliterated as Quawmi, Quomi, Qaumi, Qaumee, Kawmi, or Qawmy) is an adjective describing one of the two major madrasah educational categories in Bangladesh.The Qawmi madrasahs are not regulated by the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board. As private charitable organizations, Qawmi madrasahs are supported almost exclusively by donation.

The theological curriculum of the Qawmi madrasahs predominantly follow the Islamic Deobandi model. In the past, the degrees they conferred lacked accreditation or official recognition unlike those conferred by official Alia madrasahs (also spelled "Aliya" and "Aliah"), which follow the Calcutta Alia tradition. Starting in 2006, two years after the founding of the privately run Befaqul Mudarressin education board for Qawmi madrasahs, the Bangladeshi government began to recognize some Qawmi degrees.

As of 2006, there were approximately 15,000 registered Qawmi madrasahs in Bangladesh, with 200,000 teachers educating 4 million students.Actual figures are unknown b and Qawmi madrasas do not keep enrollment records. Moreover, it has been argued that if unregistered Qawmi madrasahs were counted then it could put the total number of Bangladeshi madrasahs as high as 64,000 a—suggesting that Qawmi madrasahs outnumber their official Alia counterparts (of which 25,201 existed in 2004).

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Madrasa students ll... by SaiMon HosSain

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Abu Bakr أبو بكر الصديق by Faleh Zahrawi

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Abu Bakr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other people named Abu Bakr, see Abu Bakr (name).

Abu Bakr

Caliph Abu Bakr's Empire at its greatest extent.

Born c. 573 CE Mecca, Arabia or present-day Saudi Arabia

Died 23 August 634 Medina, Saudi Arabia

Reign 8 June 632–23 August 634

Title(s) as-Siddeeq, as-Sadiq, Sadiq al-Akbar, Khalifa-tul-Rasool (Successor of messenger of Allah)

Buried Al-Masjid al-Nabawi

Predecessor Muhammad

Successor Umar

Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Abi Quhafa As-Siddiq (Arabic: أبو بكر الصديق or عبد الله بن أبي قحافة; Transliteration: Abū Bakr as-Siddīq or 'Abdallah bin Abī Quhāfah, c. 573 CE – 23 August 634/13 AH)[1] was an early person to convert to Islam and a senior companion (Sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[2] Throughout his life, Abu Bakr remained a friend and confidante of Muhammad. Upon Muhammad's death he became the first Muslim ruler (632–634), regarded in Sunni Islam as the first of the Rashidun (righteously guided Caliphs).[3] His caliphate lasted two years and three months, during which time he consolidated the Muslim state. Upon the death of Muhammad, some tribes rebelled, and in return he fought the Ridda wars against these Arab tribes to establish Islamic rule over all of Arabia. He also conquered the lands of Syria and Iraq.[4]

Lineage

Full name 'Abd Allah ibn 'Uthman ibn Amir ibn Amru ibn Ka'ab ibn Sa'ad ibn Taim ibn Murrah ibn Ka'ab ibn Lu'ai ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr al-Quraishi at-Taimi [5][6].

Early life

Abu Bakr was born in Mecca some time in the year 573 CE, in the Banu Taym branch of the Quraysh tribe. Abu Bakr's father's name was Uthman Abu Qahafa nicknamed Abu Qahafa, and his mother was Salma Umm-ul-Khair nicknamed Umm-ul-Khair. The birth name of Abu Bakr was Abdul Kaaba (servant of Kaaba) and when he accepted Islam in 610 he was named Abdullah (servant of Allah) by Muhammad. Abu Bakr was a thin man with white skin [7]. Tabari relates (Suyuti also relates the same through Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi's report) from Aisha her description of Abu Bakr:

He was a man with fair skin, thin, emaciated, with a sparse beard, a slightly hunched frame, sunken eyes and protruding forehead, and the bases of his fingers were hairless. [8]

By most reports he was very handsome,[citation needed] and for his beauty he earned the nickname of Atiq. He was born in a rich family. He spent his early childhood like other Arab children of the time among the Bedouins who called themselves Ahl-i-Ba'eer- the people of the camel, he developed a particular fondness for camels.

Wazir Khan Mosque, in Pakistan, (16th century) sayings of the companions of Muhammad on the northern wall of the arched gateway of the central prayer chamber.In his early years he played with the camel foals and goats, and his love for camels earned him the nickname of Abu Bakr, the father of the foal of the camel.[9] It is said that he didn't worship idols since his youth. When Abu Bakr was 10 years old he went to Syria along with his father with the merchants' caravan. Muhammad who was 12 years old at the time, was also with the caravan. Like other children of the rich Meccan merchant families, he was literate and developed a fondness for poetry. He used to attend the annual fair at Ukaz, and participate in poetical symposia. He had a very good memory. In 591 at the age of 18, Abu Bakr went into trade and adopted the profession of a cloth merchant which was the family's business. In the coming years Abu Bakr traveled extensively with caravans. Business trips took him to Yemen, Syria, and elsewhere. These travels brought him wealth and added to his experience. His business flourished and he rose in the scale of social importance. Though his father Uthman Abu Qahafa was still alive, he came to be recognized as chief of his tribe. Abu Bakr was assigned the office of awarding blood money in cases of murder. His office was something like the office of an honorary magistrate.[10] Abu Bakr was an expert in genealogical lore and he knew intimately who was who in Mecca, and what his ancestry was.

During Muhammad's times

When Muhammad married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and moved to her house, he became a neighbor of Abu Bakr who lived in the same locality. That was the quarter of Meccan aristocracy. Like the house of Khadija, the house of Abu Bakr was double storied and palatial in structure.

As neighbors, Muhammad and Abu Bakr came in contact with each other. Both of them were of the same age, traders and good managers.

Acceptance of Islam

On his return from a business trip from Yemen, he was informed by some of his friends that in his absence Muhammad had declared himself as the Messenger of God, and proclaimed a new religion. Abu Bakr was the first akhir baligh (post-puberty) free male to accept Muhammad's Prophethood. Scholars, as well as other Sunnis and all Shi'a Muslims maintain that the second person (and first male) to accept Muhammed as the messenger of Allah was Ali ibn Abi Talib.[11] However, 'Ali was still a pre-pubescent child when he accepted Islam, and therefore excluded from the duties of a Muslim. Also he was the first person outside the family of Muhammad to become a Muslim.

Life after accepting Islam

Part of a series on

Sunni Islam

Beliefs

Monotheism

Prophethood & Messengership

Holy Books • Angels

Judgement Day • Predestination

Pillars

Declaration of Faith • Prayer

Charity • Fasting • Pilgrimage

Rightly Guided Caliphs

Abu Bakr • Umar ibn al-Khattab

Uthman ibn Affan • Ali ibn Abi Talib

Schools of Law (Shariah)

Hanafi • Shafi`i • Maliki • Hanbali

Schools of Theology

Maturidi • Ash'ari • Athari

Modern Movements

Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimoon • Deobandi • Barelwi • Salafi • Wahhabi • Tablighi Jamaat

Hadith Collections

Sahih Bukhari • Sahih Muslim

Al-Sunan al-Sughra

Sunan Abu Dawood

Sunan al-Tirmidhi

Sunan ibn Maja • Al-Muwatta

Sunan al-Darami

This box: view • talk • edit

His birth name Abdul Kaaba was changed to Abdullah, because the former was indicative of paganism. His wife Qutaylah bint Abd-al-Uzza did not accept Islam and he divorced her. His other wife, Um Ruman, became a Muslim at his insistence. All his children except ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr accepted Islam, and Abu Bakr separated from his son Abdur Rahman.

His conversion brought the most benefit to Islam. Abu Bakr's dawah brought many people to Islam. He persuaded his intimate friends to convert to Islam. [12][13] He presented Islam to others in such a way that many of his friends opted for Islam. Those who converted to Islam at the instance of Abu Bakr were:

Uthman Ibn Affan (who would became the 3rd Caliph)

Al-Zubayr (part of the Muslim conquest of Egypt)

Talhah

Abdur Rahman bin Awf (who would remain an important part of the Rashidun Empire)

Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas (part of the Islamic conquest of Persia)

Umar ibb Masoan

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (who remained commander in chief of the Rashidun army in Syria )

Abdullah bin Abdul Asad

Abu Salma

Khalid ibn Sa`id

Abu Hudhaifah ibn al-Mughirah

Abu Bakr's acceptance proved to be a milestone in Muhammad's mission. Slavery was common in Mecca, and many slaves accepted Islam. When an ordinary free man accepted Islam, despite opposition, he would enjoy the protection of his tribe. For slaves however, there was no such protection, and were subjected to persecution. He gave 40.000 dinar for the sake of Islam. [14][15] Abu Bakr felt for these slaves, so he purchased them and set them free. Abu Bakr purchased the freedom of eight slaves, four men and four women.

The men were:

Bilal ibn Ribah

Abu Fakih

Ammar ibn Yasir

Abu Fuhayra

The women were:

Lubaynah

Al-Nahdiah

Umm Ubays

Harithah bint al-Muammil

Most of the slaves liberated by Abu Bakr were either women or old and frail men.[16] The father of Abu Bakr asked him to for why doesn't he liberate strong and young slaves who could be a source of strength for him, Abu Bakr replied that he was freeing the slaves for the sake of Allah, and not for his own sake. According to Sunni tradition the following verses of the Qur'an were revealed due to this:

He who gives in charity and fears Allah And in all sincerity testifies to the Truth; We shall indeed make smooth for him the path of Bliss {92:5-7}.

Those who spend their wealth for increase in self-purification; And have in their minds no favor from any one For which a reward is expected in return, But only the desire to seek the Countenance, Of their Lord, Most High; And soon they shall attain complete satisfaction {92:8-21}.

Persecution by the Quraysh

Main article: Persecution of Muslims by the Meccans

For three years after the advent of Islam, Muslims kept secret their faith, and prayed in secret. In 613 Muhammad received a revelation to call people to Islam openly. The first public address inviting people to offer allegiance to Muhammad was delivered by Abu Bakr. In a fit of fury the young men of the Quraysh tribe rushed at Abu Bakr, and beat him mercilessly till he lost consciousness.[17] Following this incident Abu Bakr's mother converted to Islam. Abu Bakr was persecuted many times by the Quraysh.

Last years in Mecca

In 617, the Quraysh enforced a boycott against the Banu Hashim. Muhammad along with his supporters from Banu Hashim, were shut up in a pass away from Mecca. All social relations with the Banu Hashim were cut off and their state was that of imprisonment. Before it many Muslims migrated to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Abu Bakr, feeling distress, set out for Yemen and then to Abyssinia from there. He met a friend of his named Ad-Dughna (chief of the Qarah tribe) outside Mecca, who invited Abu Bakr to seek his protection against the Quraysh. Abu Bakr went back to Mecca, it was a relief for him, but soon due to the pressure of Quraysh, Ad-Dughna was forced to renounce his protection. Once again the Quraysh were free to persecute Abu Bakr. In the year 620 Muhammad's wife and uncle died. Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was engaged to Muhammad, however it was decided that the actual marriage ceremony would be held later. In the year 620 Abu Bakr was the first person to testify to Muhammad's Isra and Mi'raj (night Journey).[18] According to Sunni traditions, he was given title al-Siddîq, meaning "the truthful," "the upright," or "the one who counts true," due to his immediate belief of the journey. During the Roman-Persian Wars, the sympathies of the Quraysh of Mecca was with the Persians who were Zoroastrian. The Muslims on the other hand had their sympathies for the Byzantines who were Christians and were the People of the Book with a belief in the Abrahamic God. After the Persian victories over Byzantine, verses of the Qur'an revealed of Surah rum with the prophesy that Byzantine (Romans) will regain what they lost and the Persians will be defeated within few years. Over this Abu Bakr had a wager with Ubaiy bin Khalf, it was decided that one who lost the wager will pay one hundred camels. With a decisive Byzantine victory in 627 against the Persians, Abu Bakr won the wager, though Ubaiy bin Khalf was not alive but his heirs honored the agreement and gave Abu Bakr one hundred camels. Abu Bakr gave away all the camels as charity..

Migration to Medina

Main article: Hijra (Islam)

In 622 on the invitation of the Muslims of Medina, Muhammad ordered Muslims to migrate to Medina. The migration began in batches. Abu Bakr accompanied Muhammad in his migration for Medina. Due to the danger of the Quraysh, they did not take the road to Medina. They moved in the opposite direction, and took refuge in a cave in Mount Thaur some five miles south of Mecca. `Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr the son of Abu Bakr would listen to the plans and talks of the Quraysh, and at night he would carry the news to the fugitives in the cave. Asma bint Abi Bakr the daughter of Abu Bakr brought them meals every day.[19] Aamir a servant of Abu Bakr would bring a flock of goats to the mouth of the cave every night where they were milked. The Quraysh sent search parties in all directions. One party came close to the entrance to the cave, but was unable to sight them. Due to this the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed:

If ye help not (your Leader) (it is no matter): for Allah did indeed help him; when the unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion: they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion "Have no Fear, for Allah is with us": then Allah sent down His peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which ye saw not, and humbled to the depths the word of the Unbelievers. But the word of Allah is exalted to the heights: for Allah is Exalted in might, Wise. [Qur'an 9:40]

'Aa'ishah, Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri and ibn 'Abbaas in interpreting this verse said

Abu Bakr was the one who stayed with the Prophet in that cave

It is narrated from al-Barra' ibn 'Azib, he said,

Once Abu Bakr bought a ride from 'Azib for 10 Dirham, then Abu Bakr said to 'Azib, "Tell your son the Barra to deliver that beast." Then 'Azib said, "No, until you tell us how yourjourney with the Messenger of Allah when he went out of Makkah while the Mushrikeen were busy looking for you." Abu Bakr said, "We set out from Makkah, walking day and night, until it came the time of Zuhr, so I was looking for a place to so that we can rest under it, it came to be that I saw a big rock, so I came to it and there was the place, so I spread a matress for the Prophet, then I said to him, " Rest O' Prophet of Allah." So he rested, while I surveyed the area around me, are there people looking for us coming here to spy. Suddenly I saw there was a shepherd herding his sheep to the direction of the place under the rock wanting to shade himself like us, so I asked, "Who is your master O' slave?" He answered, "Slave of the fulan, someone of the Quraish." He mentioned the name of his master and I knew him, then I asked, "Does your sheep have milk?" He answered, "Yes!" So he took one of the sheep, after that I ordered him to clean the breasts of the sheep first from dirt and dust, then I ordered him to blow his hand from dust, so he pat his two hands and he started milking, while I prepared a vessel with its mouth wrapped with cloth to contain the milk, so I poured the milk that was milked to the vessel and I waited until the bottom was cold, then I brought to the Prophet and it was that he had waken up, instantly I told him him, "Drink O' Messenger of Allah." So he started to drink until I saw that he was full, then I told him, "Are we not going to continue walking O' Messenger of Allah?" He answered, "Yes!" At last we continued the journey while the mushrikeen keep looking for us, not one one that could pursue us except Suraqah ibn Malik ibn Ju'sham who rode his horse, so I said to the Messenger of Allah, "This man has succeded in pursuing us O' Messenger of Allah," but he answered, "ﻻ ﺗﺤﺰ ﻥ ﺇ ﻥ ﺍﷲ ﻣﻌﻨﺎ" (Do not worry, verily Allah is with us).

It is narrated from Anas from Abu Bakr he said,

I said to the Prophet when were in the cave, "If only they had looked under their feet we would assuredly be seen" The Messenger answered, "ﻣﺎ ﻇﻨﻚ ﻳﺎ ﺃ ﺑﺎ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﺎ ﺛﻨﻴﻦ ﺍﷲ ﺛﺎ ﻟﺘﻬﻤﺎ" (What do you think O' Abu Bakr with two people while Allah is the third)[20]

After staying at the cave for three days and three nights, Abu Bakr and Muhammad proceed to Medina, staying for some time at Quba, a suburb of Medina.

Life in Medina

In Medina, Muhammad decided to construct a mosque. A piece of land was chosen and the price of the land was paid for by Abu Bakr. Muslims constructed a mosque named Al-Masjid al-Nabawi at the site and Abu Bakr also took part in construction. Abu Bakr was paired with Khaarij ah bin Zaid Ansari as a brother in faith. Abu Bakr's relationship with his brother-in-Islam was most cordial, which was further strengthened when Abu Bakr married Habiba, a daughter of Khaarijah.

Khaarij ah bin Zaid Ansari used to live at Sukh, a suburb of Medina, and Abu Bakr also settled there. After Abu Bakr's family arrived in Medina he bought another house near Muhammad's.[21]

The climate of Mecca was dry, but the climate of Medina was damp and this adversely affected the health of the immigrants, so that on arrival most of them fell sick. Abu Bakr also suffered from fever for several days and during this time he was attended to by Khaarijah and his family. At Mecca, Abu Bakr was a trader in cloth and he started the same business in Medina. He was a wholesaler, and had his store at Sukh, and from there cloth was supplied to the market at Medina. Soon his business flourished at Medina. Early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha, who was already engaged to Muhammad, was handed over to Muhammad in a simple marriage ceremony, and this further strengthen the relation between Abu Bakr and Muhammad.

In 624 Abu Bakr participated in the first battle between the Muslims and the Quraysh of Mecca known as the Battle of Badr. In 625 he participated in the Battle of Uhud. Before the battle begun, Abu Bakr's son ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr who was still non-Muslim and was fighting from the side of the Quraysh, came forward and threw down a challenge for a duel. Abu Bakr accepted the challenge but was stopped by Muhammad. His son later converted to Islam and gained fame during the Muslim conquest of Syria as a fierce warrior. In the second phase of the battle, Khalid ibn al-Walid’s cavalry attacked the Muslims from behind, changing a Muslim victory to defeat. Many Muslim warriors were routed from the battle field but Abu Bakr remained, guarding Muhammad from the attacks of the Quraysh soldiers. During one such attack, two discs from Muhammad’s shield penetrated into Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah's cheeks. Abu Bakr went forward with the intention of extracting these discs but Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah requested he leave the matter to him, losing his two incisors during the process. Subsequently, Abu Bakr, along with other companions, led Muhammad to a place of safety. Later in the year Abu Bakr was a part of campaign again the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.

Later, in 627 he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Battle of Banu Qurayza.[22] In 628 he participated in Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and was made one of the witnesses over the pact.[22]

In the year 628 he was a part of the Muslim campaign to Khaybar. In 629 Muhammad sent 'Amr ibn al-'As to Zaat-ul-Sallasal from where he called for reinforcements and Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. Commanding an army under him were Abu Bakr and Umar and they attacked and defeated the enemy.[23]

In 630 when Muslim armies rushed for the Conquest of Mecca, Abu Bakr was a part of the army. Before the conquest of Mecca his father Uthman Abu Qahafa converted to Islam. In 630 he was part of Battle of Hunayn and Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army in the campaign of Tabuk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given all his wealth for the preparation of this expedition.

In 631, Muhammad sent from Medina a delegation of three hundred Muslims to perform the Hajj according to the new Islamic way. Abu Bakr was appointed as the leader of the delegates. Abu Bakr had thus the honor of being the first Amir-ul-Haj in the history of Islam. In the year 632 Abu Bakr followed Muhammad to Mecca for the farewell Hajj.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr

Group Of Young Boys Studying In A Bilal Mosque Madrassa, Mysore, India by Eric Lafforgue

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Coranic school in India

Islam is the second-most practiced religion in India after Hinduism, with more than 13,4% of the country's population, that is over 160 million persons in 2009, Indian Muslim is the country's largest minority group; it is also the world’s third largest Muslim community in the world and the world's largest Muslim-minority population; Muslims represent the majority in Jammu, Kashmir and Lakshadweep, and high concentrations in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala; Islam came to India with the Arab merchants and traders on the Malabar Coast in the 7th century; Sunni Islam is practised by nearly 80% of Indian Muslims; there are around 30,000 operating madrasahs, the majority of these schools follow the Hanafi school of thought, the religious establishment forms part of the mainly two large divisions within the country, namely the Deobandis and the Barelvis, government surveys show that Muslims live shorter, poorer and unhealthier lives than Hindus and are often excluded from the better jobs, that sense of injustice is at the root of Muslim identity today and lots of tensions and social unrest in India

www.ericlafforgue.com

The Gumbaz, Muslim Mausoleum of Sultan Tipu and his relatives, the Tiger of Mysore, Srinagapatna, India by Eric Lafforgue

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The Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Tipu Sultan, his father Haider Ali and mother Fatima Begum. It is built on a raised platform and is surrounded by the several other tombs of relatives and nobles.

Islam is the second-most practiced religion in India after Hinduism, with more than 13.4% of the country's population, that is over 160 million persons in 2009, Indian Muslim is the country's largest minority group; it is also the world’s third largest Muslim community in the world and the world's largest Muslim-minority population; Muslims represent the majority in Jammu, Kashmir and Lakshadweep, and high concentrations in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala; Islam came to India with the Arab merchants and traders on the Malabar Coast in the 7th century; Sunni Islam is practised by nearly 80% of Indian Muslims; there are around 30,000 operating madrasahs, the majority of these schools follow the Hanafi school of thought, the religious establishment forms part of the mainly two large divisions within the country, namely the Deobandis and the Barelvis, government surveys show that Muslims live shorter, poorer and unhealthier lives than Hindus and are often excluded from the better jobs, that sense of injustice is at the root of Muslim identity today and lots of tensions and social unrest in India

039. Hanafi Deobandi Hotel 02 by shottanneshi blog

Group Of Young Boys Studying In A Bilal Mosque Madrassa, Mysore, India by Eric Lafforgue

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www.ericlafforgue.com

1526561_870420309681649_2168684203483536652_n (1) by Abida Gohar

The Wahhabi Mind-Set: www.goharshahi.us/articles/view/the-mind-set-of-wahhabis/

What the world needs to know about 'Islamic' Terrorism.

#SaudiArabia #Wahhabism #Wahhabi #Mindset #Article #ISIS #Salafism #Salafi #philosophy #shiite #terrorism #islamicterrorism #deobandi #extremism #fanaticism #fundamentalism #puritan #ISIL #Daesh #Yemen #Hadith #Quran #ProphetMohammad #Muhammad #Mohammad #sharia #fundamental #airstrikes #alqaeda #houthi

SHIITES AND SHIAISM, Shi'aism, Shia, Shias, Shî'ah, sheee, shi ... by firoze shakir photographerno1

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Sunni Islam and Shia Islam are the two major divisions of Islam. Approximately 85% of Muslims are Sunni and 15% are Shi'a, with a small minority belonging to other sects. The historic background of the Sunni-Shia split lies in the schism that occurred when the Islamic prophet Muhammad died in the year 632, leading to a dispute over succession to Muhammad.

Over the years Sunni-Shia relations have been marked by both cooperation and conflict. Today there are differences in religious practice, traditions, and customs in addition to religious belief.

Differences in beliefs and practices

The Shia believe that Muhammad divinely ordained his cousin and son-in-law Ali (the father of his only two grandsons Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali) in accordance with the command of God to be the next caliph, making Ali and his direct descendants Muhammad's true successors. The Sunnis hold that Abu Bakr was Muhammad's rightful successor and that all caliphs should be chosen by consensus of the Ummah, Muslim community, and that this method of choosing or electing leaders (Shura) is endorsed by the Qur'an.

Sunnis follow the Rashidun (rightly-guided caliphs), which were the first four caliphs who ruled after the death of Muhammad (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman Ibn Affan, and Ali). Shias discount the legitimacy of the first three caliphs and believe that Ali is the second-most divinly inspired man (after Muhammad) and that he and his descendents by Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, the Imamah (Shia imans) are the sole legitimate Islamic leaders.

The Shias accept most of the the same hadiths used by Sunnis as part of the Sunna and to argue their case. In addition they use hadith narrated by the Ahl al-Bayt (the prophet's family through Ali), that Sunni do not consider hadith. Some Sunni-accepted hadith are less favored by Shia, for example, because of Aisha's opposition to Ali (whom they believe to have been divinely appointed by Mohammad), hadith narrated by Aisha are not given the same authority as those by other companions.

A rift also still exists between Sunnis and some small Shia branches who curse Aisha (RA) and the first three Caliphs. Sunnis strongly disagree with this practice. Mainstream Shias do not consider the cursing of the first three caliphs as a sin, but neither do they consider it helpful to the Shia cause, and hence do not endorsing it.[1]

When prostrating during ritual prayer, (Salah), Shia place their forehead onto a piece of naturally occurring material (usually clay, or sand from Kerbala, the place where Imam Hussain was martyred), instead of directly onto the prayer mat, as the majority Sunni do. (There is some question as to how different this is from Sunni practice, since the Prophet prayed on soil or earth, not synthetic materials, and since it is always preferrable to do as the Prophet did, and since most mats and carpets nowadays are made of semi or partially synthetic material.[2])

Some Shia perform prayers (Salah), back to back, sometimes worshipping two times consecutively (1+2+2), thus praying at three separate times during the day instead of five as is required by Sunni.[3]

Most Sunni and Shia believe that the Mahdi will appear at end times to bring about a perfect and just Islamic society. Twelver Shia believe the Mahdi will be Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth Imam returned from occultation where he has been hidden by God since 874 AD. Sunni do not accept this.

Some Shia permit mutah - fixed-term temporary marriage - which is not acceptable within the Sunni community. Sunnis do not allow it due to the Prophet's ban of it, but according to Shia it was banned by Umar.

[edit] History

[edit] Abbasid era

The Umayyads were overthrown in 750 by a new dynasty, the Abbasids. The first Abbasid caliph, As-Saffah recruited Shiite support in his campaign against the Umayyads by emphasizing his blood relationship to the Prophet's household through descent from his uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The Shia also believe that he promised them that the Caliphate, or at least religious authority, would be vested in the Shiite Imam. As-Saffah assumed both the temporal and religious mantle of Caliph himself. He continued the Umayyad dynastic practice of succession, and his brother al-Mansur succeeded him in 754. The sixth Shi'a Imam died during al-Mansur's reign, and there were claims that he was murdered on the orders of the caliph.[4].

However Abbasid persecution of Islamic lawyers was not restricted to the Shia. Even the Sunni scholar and founder of the biggest Sunni school of law, Abu Hanifah, was imprisoned by al-Mansur and tortured. Al-Mansur also had Ibn Hanbal, another one of the four major schools of Sunni law, flogged.[5]

Shia sources further claim that by the orders of the tenth Abassid caliph, al-Mutawakkil, the tomb of the third Shia Imam Husayn ibn Ali in Karbala was completely demolished,[6] and Shias were sometimes beheaded in groups, buried alive, or even placed alive within the walls of government buildings still under construction.[7]

The Shia believe that they thus continued to live for the most part in hiding and followed their religious life secretly without external manifestations.[8]

[edit] Shia-Sunni in Persia

Main article: Islam in Iran

Sunni was dominant form of Islam in most part of Iran from the beginning until rise of Safavids empire. According to Mortaza Motahhari the majority of Iranian scholars and masses remained Sunni till the time of the Safawids.[9]

Nizamiyyas were the medieval institutions of Islamic higher education established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century. Nizamiyyah institutes were the first well organized universities in the Muslim world. The most famous and celebrated of all the nizamiyyah schools was Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad (established 1065), where Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk appointed the distinguished philosopher and theologian, al-Ghazali, as a professor. Other nizamiyyah schools were located in Nishapur, Balkh, Herat and Isfahan.

The domination of Sunnis doesn't mean Shia was rootless in Iran. The writers of The Four Books of Shia were Iranian as well as many other great Shia scholars.

According to Mortaza Motahhari[9]:

The majority of Iranians turned to Shi'ism from the Safawid period onwards. Of course, it cannot be denied that Iran's environment was more favourable to the flourishing of the Shi'ism as compared to all other parts of the Muslim world. Shi'ism did not penetrate any land to the extent that it gradually could in Iran. With the passage of time, Iranians' readiness to practise Shi'ism grew day by day. Had Shi`ism not been deeply rooted in the Iranian spirit, the Safawids (907-1145/ 1501-1732) would not have succeeded in converting Iranians to the Shi'a creed and making them follow the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt sheerly by capturing political power.

[edit] Shiaism in Iran before Safawids

The domination of the Sunni creed during the first nine Islamic centuries characterizes the religious history of Iran during this period. There were however some exceptions to this general domination which emerged in the form of the Zaydīs of Tabaristan, the Buwayhid, the rule of Sultan Muhammad Khudabandah (r. Shawwal 703-Shawwal 716/1304-1316) and the Sarbedaran. Nevertheless, apart from this domination there existed, firstly, throughout these nine centuries, Shia inclinations among many Sunnis of this land and, secondly, original Imami Shiism as well as Zaydī Shiism had prevalence in some parts of Iran. During this period, Shia in Iran were nourished from Kufah, Baghdad and later from Najaf and Hillah. [10] Shiism were dominant sect in Tabaristan, Qom, Kashan, Avaj and Sabzevar. In many other areas the population of Shia and Sunni was mixed.

The first Zaidi state was established in Daylaman and Tabaristan (northern Iran) in 864 C.E. by the Alavids[11]; it lasted until the death of its leader at the hand of the Samanids in 928 C.E. Roughly forty years later the state was revived in Gilan (north-western Iran) and survived under Hasanid leaders until 1126 C.E. After which from the 12th-13th centuries, the Zaidis of Daylaman, Gilan and Tabaristan then acknowledge the Zaidi Imams of Yemen or rival Zaidi Imams within Iran.[12]

The Buyids, who were Shi'a and had a significant influence not only in the provinces of Persia but also in the capital of the caliphate in Baghdad, and even upon the caliph himself, provided a unique opportunity for the spread and diffusion of Shi'a thought. This spread of Shiism to the inner circles of the government enabled Shias to withstand those who opposed them by relying upon the power of the caliphate.

Twelvers came to Iran from Arab regions in the course of four stages. First, through the Asharis tribe at the end of the first(AH)/seventh(CE) and during the second(AH)/eighth(CE) century. Second through the pupils of Sabzevar, and especially those of Shaykh Mufid, who were from Ray and Sabzawar and resided in those cities. Third, through the school of Hillah under the leadership of Allama Hilli and his son Fakhr al-Muhaqqiqin. Fourth, through the scholars of Jabal Amel residing in that region, or in Iraq, during the 10th(AH)/16th(AH) and 11th(AH)/17th(AH) centuries who later migrated to Iran.[13]

On the other hand Ismailis sent Da'i (missionaries) during Fatimid caliphate to Iran as well as other Muslim lands. When Ismailis divided into two sects, Nizaris established their base in Iran. Hassan-i Sabbah conquered fortresses and captured Alamut in 1090 CE. Nizaris used this fortress until Mongol raid in 1256CE.

After the Mongol raid and fall of the Abbasids, the Sunni ulema suffered greatly. In addition to the destruction of the caliphate there was no official Sunni Madh'hab for a while. Many libraries and Madrasahs were destroyed and some of the Sunni scholars migrated to other Islamic lands like Anatolia and Egypt. In contrast Shia where unaffected as their center was not in Iran at this time. For the first time Shia could invite other Muslims openly.

Several local Shia dynasties like Sarbadars were established during this time. The kings of the Aq Qoynlu and Qara Qoynlu dynasties ruled in Tabriz with a domain extending to Fars and Kerman. In Egypt the Fatimid government ruled (al-Ka-mil of Ibn Athir, Cairo, 1348; Raudat al-safa'; and Habib al-siyar of Khwand Mir).

Shah Muhammad Khudabandah, the famous builder of Soltaniyeh, was among the first of the Mongols to convert to Shi'aism, and his descendants ruled for many years in Persia and were instrumental in spreading Shia thought.[14]

Sufism played a major role in spread of Shiism in this time. According to Hossein Nasr

After the Mongol invasion Shiims and Sufism once again formed a close association in many ways. Some of the Ismailis whose power had broken by the mongols, went underground and appeared later within Sufi orders or as new branches of already existing orders. In Twelve-Imam Shiism also from Seventh(AH)/thirteenths(CE) to the tenth(AH)/sixteenth(CE) century Sufism began to grow within official Shiite circles.[15]

Nasr insists on the role of Sufis orders on spread of Shiism.

The extremist sects of the Hurufis and Shasha'a grew directly out of a background that is both Shiite and Sufi. More important in the long run than these sects were the Sufi orders which spread in Persia at this time and aided in the preparing the ground for the Shiite movement of Safavids. Two of these orders are of particular significance in this question of the relation of Shiism and Sufism:The Nimatullahi order and Nurbakhshi order.[16]

[edit] Shiaism in Iran after Safawids

Ismail I initiated a religious policy to recognize Shi'a Islam as the official religion of the Safavid Empire, and the fact that modern Iran remains an officially Shi'ite state is a direct result of Ismail's actions. Unfortunately for Ismail, most of his subjects were Sunni. He thus had to enforce official Shi'ism violently, putting to death those who opposed him. Under this pressure, Safavid subjects either converted, or pretended to convert, but it is safe to say that the majority of the population was probably genuinely Shi'ite by the end of the Safavid period in the 18th century, and most Iranians today are Shi'ite, although there is still a Sunni minority.[17] Safavids systematically sought to establish Shiism as the religion of the state.

Immediately following the establishment of Safavid power the migration of scholars began and they were invited to Iran ... By the side of the immigration of scholars, Shi'i works and writings were also brought to Iran from Arabic-speaking lands, and they performed an important role in the religious development of Iran ... In fact, since the time of the leadership of Shaykh Mufid and Shaykh Tusi, Iraq had a central academic position for Shi'ism. This central position was transferred to Iran during the Safavid era for two-and-a-half centuries, after which it partly returned to Najaf. ... Before the Safavid era Shi'i manuscripts were mainly written in Iraq, with the establishment of the Safavid rule these manuscripts were transferred to Iran.[13]

This led to a wide gap between Iran and its Sunni neighbors until 20th century. During the early days of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini endeavored to bridge the gap between Shiites and Sunnis by declared it permissible for Shiites to pray behind Sunni imams and by forbidding criticizing the Caliphs who preceded Ali — an issue that had caused much animosity between the two sects.[18]

[edit] Shia-Sunni in Levant

Shias claim that despite these advances, many Shi'as in Syria continued to be killed during this period merely for being Shi'ah. One of these was Muhammad Ibn Makki called Shahid-i Awwal (the First Martyr), one of the great figures in Shi'a jurisprudence, who was killed in Damascus in 1384CE (al-Ka-mil of Ibn Athir, Cairo, 1348; Raudat al-safa'; and Habib al-siyar of Khwand Mir).

Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi was another eminent scholar, killed in Aleppo on charges of cultivating Batini teachings and philosophy (al-Ka-mil of Ibn Athir, Cairo, 1348; Raudat al-safa'; and Habib al-siyar of Khwand Mir).

[edit] Modern Sunni-Shia relations

Western scholars have agreed that a realistic measure of Sunni Shia numbers is 85% Sunni, 13% Shia with the remaining 2% forming other groups. [citation needed]In addition to Iran, Iraq has emerged as a major Shia government when the Shi'a achieved political dominance in 2005 under American occupation.

The two communities have often remained separate, mingling regularly only during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. In some countries like Iraq, Syria, and Bahrain, communities have mingled and intermarried. Shias have been treated harshly in some countries dominated by Sunnis, especially in Saudi Arabia, while Sunnis have been treated likewise in Shia-majority Iran.

[edit] Iraq

A heated talk show where a Sunni Iraqi member of parliament attacks a Shia journalist, while claiming that "these same people that killed Saddam are the same people that killed the Khulafa al-Rashidun".See video footage:[19]According to most sources, including The CIA World Factbook, the majority of Iraqis are Shi'ite Arab Muslims (around 65%), and Sunnis represent about 32% of the population.[20] However, Sunni are split ethnically between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. Many Sunnis hotly dispute their minority status, including ex-Iraqi Ambassador Faruq Ziada,[21] referring to American sources.[22] They claim that many reports or sources only include Arab Sunnis as 'Sunni', missing out the Kurdish and Turkmen Sunnis. Some argue that the 2003 Iraq Census shows that Sunnis were a slight majority.[23] Various monarchies, and secular regimes sourced mainly, but not exclusively, from Sunni areas, controlled the government for nearly a century until the 2003 Iraq War. The British, having put down a Shia rebellion against their rule in the 1920s, "confirmed their reliance on a corps of Sunni ex-officers of the collapsed Ottoman empire". It was when the Sunni and Shia united against colonial rule that it ended.[24]

The Shia suffered indirect and direct persecution under independent Iraqi governments since 1932, especially that of Saddam Hussein. In 1969 the son of Iraq's highest Shia Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim was arrested and allegedly tortured. Shia religious leaders were particularly targeted. "Between 1970 and 1985 the Baathist regime executed at least 41 clerics",[25] and Shia opposition to the government following the first Gulf War was reportedly suppressed.

[edit] Iraq War

Some of the worst Shia-Sunni sectarian strife ever has occurred in the Iraq War, which has built up steadily following the 2003 American invasion of that country.[26] While thousands have been killed by American and allied military collateral damage,[27] this has become overshadowed by the cycle of Sunni-Shia revenge killing -- Sunni often using suicide bombing, Shia favoring death squads. [28]

Sunni suicide bombers have targeted not only thousands of civilians, [29] but mosques, shrines, [30] wedding and funeral processions. [31] Sunni militant organizations that the US state department describes as the "terrorists" include Ansar al-Islam.[32] "Radical" groups include Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, Jeish al-Taiifa al-Mansoura, Jeish Muhammad, and Black Banner Organization. [33]

Takfir motivation for many of these killings may come from Sunni insurgent leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. Before his death Zarqawi was want to quote Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, especially his infamous statement urging followers to kill the Shi'a of Iraq,[34] and calling the Shias "snakes".[35] Wahabi suicide bombers continue to attack Iraqi Shia civilians,[36] and the Shia ulema have in response declared suicide bombing as haram:

"حتي كساني كه با انتحار مي‌‏آيند و مي‌‏زنند عده‌‏اي را مي‌‏كشند، آن هم به عنوان عمليات انتحاري، اينها در قعر جهنم هستند"

"Even those who kill people with suicide bombing, these shall meet the flames of hell."[37] Some believe the war has strengthened the takfir thinking and may spread Sunni-Shia strife elsewhere. [38]

On the Shia side, in early February 2006 militia-dominated government death squads were reportedly "tortur[ing] to death or summarily" executing "hundreds" of Sunnis "every month in Baghdad alone," many arrested at random. [39] [40] [41]

"Over the last eighteen months [2005 through early 2006] these commandos [ Badr Organization militiamen controlling the Ministry of the Interior] - who are almost exclusively Shia Muslims - have been implicated in rounding up and killing thousands of ordinary Sunni civilians"Channel 4 program Dispatches

In addition to the killing, it is reported that Shia "death squads" of the government's Interior Ministry and the Badr Organization militia, have used intimidation to drive the mainly Sunni intelligentsia from their posts, jobs and neighbourhoods, to replace them with poorer, and less educated Shias often from the poorer south. Many Sunnis register themselves as Shia for identification cards to avoid being targeted by the 'death squads'.

[edit] Pakistan

Pakistan has seen serious Shia-Sunni discord. Almost 77% of Pakistan's population is Sunni, with 20% being Shia, [40] but this Shia minority population is larger than that of the Shia majority in Iraq. In the last two decades, "as many as 4,000 people are estimated to have died in sectarian fighting in Pakistan", 300 in 2006."[42] Amongst the culprits blamed for the killing are Al Qaeda working "with local sectarian groups" to kill what they perceive as Shi'a apostates, and "foreign powers ... trying to sow discord."[43]

Anti-Shia groups in Pakistan include the Lashkar i Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, offshoots of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). The groups demand the expulsion of all Shias from Pakistan and have killed hundreds of Pakistani Shias between 1996 and 1999.[44]

[edit] Afghanistan

Shia-Sunni strife in Pakistan is strongly intertwined with that in Afghanistan. Though now deposed, the anti-Shia Afghan Taliban regime helped anti-Shia Pakistani groups and vice versa. Lashkar i Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, have sent thousands of volunteers to fight with the extreme Deobandi Taliban regime and "in return the Taliban gave sanctuary to their leaders in the Afghan capital of Kabul." [45]

"Over 80,000 Pakistani Islamic militants have trained and fought with Taliban since 1994. They form a hardcore of Islamic activists, ever ready to carry out a similar Taliban-style Islamic revolution in Pakistan." According to Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid[46]

Shia-Sunni strife inside of Afghanistan has mainly been a function of the puritanical Sunni Taliban's clashes with Shia Afghans, primarily the Hazara ethnic group.

In 1998 more than 8000 noncombatants were killed when the Taliban attacked Mazar-i-Sharif and Bamiyan where many Hazaras live.[47] Some of the slaughter was indiscriminate, but many were Shia targeted by the Taliban. Taliban commander and governor Mullah Niazi banned prayer at Shia mosques[48] and expressed takfir of the Shia in a declaration from Mazar's central mosque:

Last year you rebelled against us and killed us. From all your homes you shot at us. Now we are here to deal with you. The Hazaras are not Muslims and now have to kill Hazaras. You either accept to be Muslims or leave Afghanistan. Wherever you go we will catch you. If you go up we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below, we will pull you up by your hair. [49]

Assisting the Taliban in the murder of Iranian diplomatic and intelligence officials at the Iranian Consulate in Mazar were "several Pakistani militants of the anti-Shia, Sipah-e-Sahaba party." [50]

[edit] Iran & Shia Statehood

In this letter purporting to be from the International Islamic University Malaysia, the university is denying employment to a person based on what it claims to be government policy "against employing staff from a particular denomination, Shiite". Other sources present similar accounts of discrimination in Malaysia. [39]Iran is unique in the Muslim world not only for being overwhelmingly Shia (approximately 90% of the population), but having a theocratically Shia constitution. Sunnis there have complained of discrimination, particularly in important government positions. [51] For instance, while calling for unity with Iranian Shia Rafsanjani, Sunni Shiekh Yusuf al-Qaradawi complained that no ministers in Iran have been Sunni for a long time, that Sunni officials are scarce even in the regions with majority of Sunni population (such as Kurdistan, or Balochistan).[52] Sunnis claim to be heavily persecuted, claim they were regarded as second class citizens under the Shah of Iran, and suffered arrest, torture and execution and after the 1979 revolution. They claim that currently there is not a single Sunni mosque in the capital of Iran Tehran, despite having Christian churches, and that their mosques and schools have been demolished by the current regime, despite constituting a third of the population (not about 10% as most believe) and initially supporting the revolution of Khomeini in 1979.[53](dead link)

Soon after the 1979 revolution Sunni leaders from Kurdistan, Balouchistan, and Khorassan, set up a new party known as Shams, which is short for Shora-ye Markaz-e al Sunaat, to unite Sunnis and lobby for their rights. But six months after that, they were closed down, bank accounts suspended, and had their leaders arrested by the government on charges that they were backed by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.[54]

A UN human rights report states that

...information indicates Sunnis, along with other religious minorities, are denied by law or practice access to such government positions as cabinet minister, ambassador, provincial governor, mayor and the like, Sunni schools and mosques have been destroyed, and Sunni leaders have been imprisoned, executed and assassinated. The report notes that while some of the information received may be difficult to corroborate there is a clear impression that the right of freedom of religion is not being respected with regard to the Sunni minority.[55]

Members of the 'Balochistan Peoples Front' claim that Sunnis are systematically discriminated against educationally by denial of places at universities, politically by not allowing sunnis to be army generals, ambassadors, ministers, prime minister, or president, religiously insulting Sunnis the media, not allowing the one million Sunnis in the capital Tehran to build a mosque or pray Jumuah (Friday prayers in congregation), economic discrimination by not giving import or export licenses for Sunni businesses while the majority of Sunnis are left unemployed.[56]

There has been a low level resistance in mainly Sunni Iranian Balouchistan against the regime for several years. Official media refers to the fighting as armed clashes between the police and "bandits," "drug-smugglers," and "thugs," to disguise the true nature of the conflict. Revolutionary Guards have stationed several brigades in Balouchi cities, and have tracked down Sunni leaders and assassinated them inside Iran and in neighboring Pakistan. In 1996 a leading Sunni, Abdulmalek Mollahzadeh, was gunned down by hitmen allegedly hired by Tehran as he was leaving his house in Karachi.[57]

Members of Sunni groups in Iran however have been active in what the authorities describe as "terrorist" activities. Balochi Sunni AbdulMalek Rigi continue to declare the Shia as Kafir and Mushrik.[58] These Sunni groups have been involved in violent activities in Iran, and have waged "terrorist"[59] attacks against civilian centers, including an attack next to a girl's school[60] according to government sources. The "shadowy Sunni militant group Jundullah" has reportedly been receiving weaponry from the United States for these attacks accoridng to a think tank.[61] The United Nations[62] and many countries worldwide[63] have condemned the bombings (See 2007 Zahedan bombings for more information)

Non-Sunni Iranian opposition parties, and Shia like Ayatollah Jalal Gange’i have criticised the regimes treatment of Sunnis, and confirmed many of the things sunnis complain of.[64]

Relations between Sunni Sufis and the Shi'a establishment are also tense. In February 2006, Qom witnessed a violent standoff between the two groups in which many Sufis were arrested[65][66]

[edit] Yemen

See Human rights in Yemen article.

Muslims in Yemen including Shaf'i (Sunni) majority and Zaydi (Shi'a) minority. Zaidi are sometimes called "Fiver Shia" instead of Twelver Shia because they recognise the first four of the twelve Imams (Ithna-asharī Imams) but accept Zayd ibn Ali as their "Fifth Imām" rather than his brother Muhammad al-Baqir.

Both Shia and Sunni dissidents in Yemen have similar complains about the government -- cooperation with the American government and an alleged failure to following Sharia law[67] -- but it's the Shia who have allegedly been singled out for government crackdown.

During and after the US-led invasion of Iraq, members of the Zaidi-Shia community protested after Friday prayers every week outside mosques, particularly the Grand Mosque in Sana’a, during which they shouted anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans, and criticised the government's close ties to America.[68] These protests were led by ex-parliament member and Imam, Bader Eddine al-Houthi [69]. In response the Yemeni government has implemented a campaign to crush "the Zaidi-Shia rebellion,"[70] and harrass journalists.[71] These latest measures come as the government faces a Sunni rebellion with a similar motivation to the Zaydi discontent.[72][73][74]

[edit] Bahrain

See Bandargate scandal

The small Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain has a Shia majority but is ruled by Sunni Al-Khalifa family as a constutitional monarchy. "Al Wifaq, the largest Shi'a political society, won the largest number of seats in the elected chamber of the legislature. However, Shi'a discontent has resurfaced in recent years with street demonstrations and occasional low-level violence." [75][76]

[edit] Syria

Syria is approximately three quarters Sunni[77], but its government is predominately Alawi. The government is controled by the dictatorial secular Arab nationalist Baath Arab Socialist Party, which is dominated in Syria by the Alawi sect which makes up less than 15% of Syria's population. Alawi are often considered a form of Shia Islam that differs somewhat from the larger Twelver Shia sect. [78] Others claim that Alawis "perceive themselves as the unique and only true monotheistic faith, distinct from the rest of Islam, including the Shi’a",[79] and that both Sunni and Shia do not consider Alawis Muslims. [41][42] [43].

A very serious 20th century conflict in Syria with sectarian religious overtones was the 1982 Hama Massacre, where an estimated 10,000 to 25,000 were killed by the Alawi-dominated Syrian military following an uprising by the Islamist Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. How much of the conflict was sparked by Sunni v. Shia divisions and how much by Islamism v. secular-Arab-nationalism, is in question.

[edit] Saudi Arabia & Salafis

Main article: Sunni fatwas on Shi'as

The Wahabi or Salafi movement of Saudi Arabia, have made no secret of declaring that the Shi'a are "not Muslims",[80] or "Kafir". (Wahabis consider themselves "true Sunnis" but are considered "pseudo-Sunnis" by some other Muslims.[81]) The Shia minority in Saudia Arabia has no political power or rights,[82] and edicts by the wahabi clerics have declared "Shia blood to be halal, i.e. permissible to be shed."[83]

According to a report by the Human Rights Watch:

"Shia Muslims, who constitute about eight percent of the Saudi population, faced discrimination in employment as well as limitations on religious practices. Shia jurisprudence books were banned, the traditional annual Shia mourning procession of Ashura was discouraged, and operating independent Islamic religious establishments remained illegal. At least seven Shi'a religious leaders-Abd al-Latif Muhammad Ali, Habib al-Hamid, Abd al-Latif al-Samin, Abdallah Ramadan, Sa'id al-Bahaar, Muhammad Abd al-Khidair, and Habib Hamdah Sayid Hashim al-Sadah-reportedly remained in prison for violating these restrictions."[84]

And Amnesty International adds:

"Members of the Shi‘a Muslim community (estimated at between 7 and 10 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s population of about 19 million) suffer systematic political, social, cultural as well as religious discrimination."[85]

While Shia make up only a small percentage of Saudi Arabia's population, they form roughly one-third of the residents of the eastern province of Hasa where much of the petroleum industry is based, and make up the majority of the work force there. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Shia in Hasa ignored the ban on mourning ceremonies commemorating Ashura. When police broke them up three days of rampage ensued -- burned cars, attacked banks, looted shops -- centered around Qatif. At least 17 Shia were killed. In Feb. 1980 disturbances were "less spontaneous" and even bloodier.[86] Meanwhile broadcasts from Iran in the name of the Islamic Revolutionary Organization attacked the monarchy, telling listeners, `Kings despoil a country when they enter it and make the noblest of its people its meanest ... This is the nature of monarchy, which is rejected by Islam.`[87]

The arresting of Shias for commemorating Ashura continued as of 2006.[88] In December 2006, amidst escalating tensions in Iraq, 38 high ranking Saudi clerics called on Sunni Muslims around the world to "mobilise against Shiites".[89] In return, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi in 2007 responded:

The Wahhabis ignore the occupation of Islam's first Qiblah by Israel, and instead focus on declaring Takfiring fatwas against Shias.[90]

Saudi Arabia being an absolute monarchy generally recognizes no rights by law or plurality to any political participation outside the ruling family and its supporters. And being an absolute monarchy, the ruling elite have tried to portray a homogenous society in culture and religion. Since the religion of the rulers is Wahhabi, they have tried to create a uniform wahabi society thus leaving out Shi'as, Sufis and other Sunnis from the homogenous mainstream.

[edit] On the Internet

Many other Wahabis have waged a virtual war of information on the internet against the Shi'a, with the Salafis and Saudi Arabia as the major sponsors of this movement.[91] Examples:

Shi'ism and Islam are indeed different religions..[92]

Shiaism and Islam are indeed different religions. This sect has developed into what we now know as the Shia whose beliefs and thoughts are repugnant beyond belief.[93]

The protracted contrariety between Islam and Shi'ism is but a clear reflection of fundamental differences between the two. The only common denominator between Islam and Shi'ism is the Islamic Kalimah. The rest of Shi'ism has very little in common with mainstream Islam. The unbridgeable divide between the two is entrenched in some of the core fundamentals of this sect...[94]

In some cases, wahabis have dedicated entire websites like ansar.org with the single purpose of attacking the Shias. Shias have answered with sites like answering-ansar.org In turn SUnnis have responded with sites like ahlelbayt.com

[edit] Al Qaeda

Some wahabi groups, often labeled as extremists, linked to Al Qaeda, have even advocated the persecution of the Shi'a as heretics[95] Such groups have been responsible for violent attacks and suicide bombings at Shi'a gatherings at mosques and shrines, most notably in Iraq during the Ashura mourning ceremonies where hundreds of Shias were killed in coordinated suicide bombings,[96] but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. However Al-Qaida deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri in a video message directed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, of Al-Qaida in Iraq, not to attack Muslims but to focus on the occupation troops. His call seems to have been ignored, or swept away in the increasing tensions of Iraq under occupation.

[edit] Efforts to foster Sunni-Shia unity

[edit] International Islamic Unity Conference

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[edit] Saudi-Iran Summit

In a milestone for the two countries' relations, on March 3 2007 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia invited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Saudi Arabia and held a summit meeting to discuss among other things the rise of sectarian problems in the region. King Abdullah received Ahmadinejad personally at the airport in Riyadh. Both leaders agreed to work towards better relations, and prevent sectarianism now threatening the region. They commented that divisions between Muslims only serves the interests of foreign powers in the area

Ahmadinejad declared on his return to Tehran that

"Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are aware of the enemies' conspiracies. We decided to take measures to confront such plots. Hopefully, this will strengthen Muslim countries against oppressive pressure by the imperialist front."[44]

Saudi Arabia's official government news agency added.

"The two leaders affirmed that the greatest danger presently threatening the Islamic nation is the attempt to fuel the fire of strife between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and that efforts must concentrate on countering these attempts and closing ranks,[45]"

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said

"The two parties have agreed to stop any attempt aimed at spreading sectarian strife in the region"[46]

This could be construed as either directed at either Al Queda or at the United States, depending upon ones point of view.

This meeting ran counter to what was envisioned by many pro-Bush neo-cons in the current US administration - Shia Iran and the Sunni Saudi Arabia intensifying their rivalry to the point of funding and training sectarian militias in Iraq to engage in a debilitating Islamic civil war.[47]. The two countries have shared economic interests, and both have a history of private meetings, which came to the fore when previous Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had a meeting King Abdullah in March 1997 when he was crown-prince, and was invited to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca the following month. This led to no objection for Iran to host the OIC conference for the first time soon afterwards.[48]

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism

Sufism (Arabic: تصوّف‎) taṣawwuf,(Persian: صوفی گری) also spelled as tasavvuf and tasavvof according to the Persian pronunciation, is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam.[1][2][3] A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfī (صُوفِيّ), though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals of the Sufi tradition. Another name used for the Sufi seeker is Dervish.

Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God."[4] Alternatively, in the words of the renowned Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, "a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one’s inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits."[5]

hile all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to God and will become close to God in Paradise — after death and after the "Final Judgment" — Sufis also believe that it is possible to draw closer to God and to more fully embrace the Divine Presence in this life.[14] The chief aim of all Sufis is to seek the pleasing of God by working to restore within themselves the primordial state of fitra,[15] described in the Qur'an. In this state nothing one does defies God, and all is undertaken by the single motivation of love of God.Template:Fact=November 2009 A secondary consequence of this is that the seeker may be led to abandon all notions of dualism or multiplicity, including a conception of an individual self, and to realize the Divine Unity.Template:Fact=November 2009

Thus Sufism has been characterized[by whom?] as the science of the states of the lower self (the ego), and the way of purifying this lower self of its reprehensible traits, while adorning it instead with what is praiseworthy, whether or not this process of cleansing and purifying the heart is in time rewarded by esoteric knowledge of God. This can be conceived in terms of two basic types of law (fiqh), an outer law concerned with actions, and an inner law concerned with the human heart.[citation needed] The outer law consists of rules pertaining to worship, transactions, marriage, judicial rulings, and criminal law — what is often referred to, a bit too broadly, as shariah. The inner law of Sufism consists of rules about repentance from sin, the purging of contemptible qualities and evil traits of character, and adornment with virtues and good character.[16]

To enter the way of Sufism, the seeker begins by finding a teacher, as the connection to the teacher is considered necessary for the growth of the pupil. The teacher, to be genuine, must have received the authorization to teach (ijazah) of another Master of the Way, in an unbroken succession (silsilah) leading back to Sufism's origin with Muhammad. It is the transmission of the divine light from the teacher's heart to the heart of the student, rather than of worldly knowledge transmitted from mouth to ear, that allows the adept to progress. In addition, the genuine teacher will be utterly strict in his adherence to the Divine Law.[17]

Scholars and adherents of Sufism are unanimous in agreeing that Sufism cannot be learned through books.[dubious – discuss] To reach the highest levels of success in Sufism typically requires that the disciple live with and serve the teacher for many, many years.[citation needed] For instance, Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, considered founder of the Naqshbandi Order, served his first teacher, Sayyid Muhammad Baba As-Samasi, for 20 years, until as-Samasi died. He subsequently served several other teachers for lengthy periods of time. The extreme arduousness of his spiritual preparation is illustrated by his service, as directed by his teacher, to the weak and needy members of his community in a state of complete humility and tolerance for many years. When he believed this mission to be concluded, his teacher next directed him to care for animals, curing their sicknesses, cleaning their wounds, and assisting them in finding provision. After many years of this he was next instructed to spend many years in the care of dogs in a state of humility, and to ask them for support.[18]

As a further example, the prospective adherent of the Mevlevi Order would have been ordered to serve in the kitchens of a hospice for the poor for 1,001 days prior to being accepted for spiritual instruction, and a further 1,001 days in solitary retreat as a precondition of completing that instruction.[19]

Some teachers, especially when addressing more general audiences, or mixed groups of Muslims and non-Muslims, make extensive use of parable, allegory, and metaphor.[20] Although approaches to teaching vary among different Sufi orders, Sufism as a whole is primarily concerned with direct personal experience, and as such has sometimes been compared to other, non-Islamic forms of mysticism (e.g., as in the books of Seyyed Hossein Nasr).

Sufism, which is a general term for Muslim mysticism, sprang up largely in reaction against the worldliness which infected Islam when its leaders became the powerful and wealthy rulers of multitudes of people and were influenced by foreign cultures. Harun al-Rashid, eating off gold and silver, toying with a harem of scented beauties, surrounded by an impenetrable retinue of officials, eunuchs and slaves, was a far cry from the stern simplicity of an Umar, who lived in the modest house, wore patched clothes and could be approached by any of his followers.[21][neutrality disputed]

The typical early Sufi lived in a cell of a mosque and taught a small band of disciples. The extent to which Sufism was influenced by Buddhist and Hindu mysticism, and by the example of Christian hermits and monks, is disputed, but self-discipline and concentration on God quickly led to the belief that by quelling the self and through loving ardour for God it was possible to maintain a union with the divine in which the human self melted away.[21]

During the primary stages of Sufism, Sufis were characterised by their particular attachment to dhikr "remembrance [of God]" and asceticism. Sufism arose among a number of Muslims as a reaction against the worldliness of the early Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE[6]). The Sufi movement has spanned several continents and cultures over a millennium, at first expressed through Arabic, then through Persian, Turkish and a dozen other languages.[7] ṭuruq "Orders", which are either Sunnī or Shī‘ī in doctrine, mostly trace their origins from the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through his cousin ‘Alī, with the notable exception of the Naqshbandi who trace their origins through the first Caliph, Abu Bakr.[8]

According to Idries Shah, the Sufi philosophy is universal in nature, its roots predating the arising of Islam and the other modern-day religions; likewise, some Muslims[who?] feel that Sufism is outside the sphere of Islam,[1][9][10] although generally scholars of Islam contend that it is simply the name for the inner or esoteric dimension of Islam.[1]

The lexical root of Sufi is variously traced to صُوف ṣūf "wool", referring either to the simple cloaks the early Muslim ascetics wore, or possibly to صَفا ṣafā "purity". The two were combined by al-Rudhabari who said, "The Sufi is the one who wears wool on top of purity."[11] The wool cloaks were sometimes a designation of their initiation into the Sufi order. The early Sufi orders considered the wearing of this coat an imitation of Jesus. Sufism is known as "Islamic Mysticism," in which Muslims seek to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God.[12] Mysticism is defined as the experience of mystical union or direct communion with ultimate reality, and the belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience (as intuition or insight).[13]

Others[who?] suggest the origin of the word ṣufi is from Aṣhab aṣ-ṣuffa "Companions of the Porch", who were a group of impoverished Muslims during the time of Muhammad who spent much of their time on the veranda of Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, devoted to prayer and eager to memorize each new increment of the Qur'an as it was revealed. Yet another etymology, advanced by the 10th century Persian historian Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī is that the word is linked with Greek word sophia "wisdom".

Bayazid Tayfur al-Bistami

Bayazid is considered to be "of the six bright stars in the firmament of the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)",[22] and a link in the Golden Chain of the Naqshibandi Tariqah. Bayazid al-Bistami was the first one to spread the reality of Annihilation (Fana'), whereby the Mystic becomes fully absorbed to the point of becoming unaware of himself or the objects around him. Every existing thing seems to vanish, and he feels free of every barrier that could stand in the way of his viewing the Remembered One. In one of these states, Bayazid cried out: "Praise to Me, for My greatest Glory!" Bistami's belief in the Unity of all religions became apparent when asked the question: "How does Islam view other religions?" His reply was "All are vehicles and a path to God's Divine Presence." From a young age, he left his mother stating to her that he could not serve Allah and his mother at the same time.[23]

[edit] Ibn Arabi

Muhyiddin Muhammad b. 'Ali [Ibn 'Arabi][1] (or Ibn al-'Arabi) is considered to be one of the most important Sufi masters, although he never founded any order (tariqa). His writings, especially al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya and Fusus al-hikam, have been studied within all the Sufi orders as the clearest expression of tawhid (Divine Unity), though because of their recondite nature they were often only given to initiates. Later those who followed his teaching became known as the school of wahdat al-wujud (the Oneness of Being). He himself considered his writings to have been divinely inspired. As he expressed the Way to one of his close disciples, his legacy is that 'you should never ever abandon your servanthood ('ubudiyya), and that there may never be in your soul a longing for any existing thing'[24]. The following quotations give a flavour of his teaching: 'Whoever witnesses without ceasing what he was created for, in both this world and the next, is the Perfect Servant, the intended goal of the cosmos, the deputy of the whole cosmos'[25]. 'The self is an ocean without a shore. There is no end to the contemplation of it in this world or the next'[26]. 'God seeks from you your heart and gives to you all that you are. So purify and cleanse it [the heart] through presence, wakefulness and reverential fear'[27].

[edit] Junayd

Junayd al-Baghdadi (830-910 AD) was one of the great early Sufis and is a central figure in the golden chain of many Sufi orders. He laid the groundwork for sober mysticism in contrast to that of God-intoxicated Sufis like al-Hallaj, Bayazid Bastami and Abusaeid Abolkheir. In the process of trial* of al-Hallaj, his former disciple, Caliph of the time demanded his fatwa and he issued this fatwa: "From the outward appearance he is to die and we judge according to the outward appearance and God knows better". He is referred to by the Sufis as Sayyid-ut Taifa i.e. the leader of the group. He lived and died in the city of Baghdad.

* The utterances of Arabic: أنا الحق‎ Anā l-Ḥaqq "I am The Truth," by Mansur Al-Hallaj led to a long trial, and his subsequent imprisonment for 11 years in a Baghdad prison. He was tortured and publicly crucified on March 26, 922.

[edit] Mansur al-Hallaj

Mansur al-Hallaj is renowned for his claim "Ana-l-Haq" (I am the Truth), for which he was executed for apostasy. He is still revered by Sufis for his forthrightness. It is also said that during his prayers, he would say "O Lord! You are the guide of those who are passing through the Valley of Bewilderment. If I am a heretic, enlarge my heresy." [28]

[edit] History of Sufism

Main article: History of Sufism

[edit] Origins

In its early stages of development Sufism effectively referred to nothing more than the internalization of Islam.[29] According to one perspective, it is directly from the Qur’an, constantly recited, meditated, and experienced, that Sufism proceeded, in its origin and its development.[30] Others have held that Sufism is the strict emulation of the way of Muhammad, through which the heart's connection to the Divine is strengthened.[31]

From the traditional Sufi point of view, the esoteric teachings of Sufism were transmitted from Muhammad to those who had the capacity to acquire the direct experiential gnosis of God, which was passed on from teacher to student through the centuries. Some of this transmission is summarized in texts, but most is not. Important contributions in writing are attributed to Uwais al-Qarni, Harrm bin Hian, Hasan Basri and Sayid ibn al-Mussib, who are regarded as the first Sufis in the earliest generations of Islam. Harith al-Muhasibi was the first one to write about moral psychology. Rabia Basri was a Sufi known for her love and passion for God, expressed through her poetry. Bayazid Bastami was among the first theorists of Sufism; he concerned himself with fanā and baqā, the state of annihilating the self in the presence of the divine, accompanied by clarity concerning worldly phenomena derived from that perspective.[32]

Sufism had a long history already before the subsequent institutionalization of Sufi teachings into devotional orders (tarîqât) in the early Middle Ages.[33] Almost all extant Sufi orders trace their chains of transmission (silsila) back to Muhammad via his cousin and son-in-law Ali. The Naqshbandi order is a notable exception to this rule, as it traces the origin of its teachings from Muhammad to the first Islamic Caliph Abu Bakr.[8]

Different devotional styles and traditions developed over time, reflecting the perspectives of different masters and the accumulated cultural wisdom of the orders. Typically all of these concerned themselves with the understanding of subtle knowledge (gnosis), education of the heart to purify it of baser instincts, the love of God, and approaching God through a well-described hierarchy of enduring spiritual stations (maqâmât) and more transient spiritual states (ahwâl).

Towards the end of the first millennium CE, a number of manuals began to be written summarizing the doctrines of Sufism and describing some typical Sufi practices. Two of the most famous of these are now available in English translation: the Kashf al-Mahjûb of Hujwiri, and the Risâla of Qushayri.[34]

Two of Imam Al Ghazali's greatest treatises, the "Revival of Religious Sciences" and the "Alchemy of Happiness," argued that Sufism originated from the Qur'an and was thus compatible with mainstream Islamic thought, and did not in any way contradict Islamic Law — being instead necessary to its complete fulfillment. This became the mainstream position among Islamic scholars for centuries, challenged only recently on the basis of selective use of a limited body of texts. Ongoing efforts by both traditionally-trained Muslim scholars and Western academics are making Imam Al-Ghazali's works available in English translation for the first time,[35] allowing readers to judge for themselves the compatibility between Islamic Law and Sufi doctrine.

The spread of Sufism has been considered a definitive factor in the spread of Islam, and in the creation of integrally Islamic cultures, especially in Africa[36] and Asia. Recent academic work on these topics has focused on the role of Sufism in creating and propagating the culture of the Ottoman world,[37] and in resisting European imperialism in Africa and South Asia.[38]

Between the 13th and 16th centuries CE, Sufism produced a flourishing intellectual culture throughout the Islamic world, a sort of "Golden Age" whose physical artifacts are still present. In many places, a lodge (known variously as a zaouia, khanqah, or tekke) would be endowed through a pious foundation in perpetuity (waqf) to provide a gathering place for Sufi adepts, as well as lodging for itinerant seekers of knowledge. The same system of endowments could also be used to pay for a complex of buildings, such as that surrounding the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, including a lodge for Sufi seekers, a hospice with kitchens where these seekers could serve the poor and/or complete a period of initiation, a library, and other structures. No important domain in the civilization of Islam remained unaffected by Sufism in this period.[39]

[edit] Contemporary Sufism

Sufism suffered many setbacks in the modern era, particularly (though not exclusively) at the hands of European imperialists in the colonized nations of Asia and Africa. The life of the Algerian Sufi master Emir Abd al-Qadir is instructive in this regard.[40] Notable as well are the lives of Amadou Bamba and Hajj Umar Tall in sub-Saharan Africa, and Sheikh Mansur Ushurma and Imam Shamilin the Caucasus region. In the twentieth century some more modernist Muslims have called Sufism a superstitious religion that holds back Islamic achievement in the fields of science and technology. [41]

In spite of this recent history of official repression, there remain many places in the world with vital Sufi traditions. Sufism is popular in such African countries as Senegal, where it is seen as a mystical expression of Islam.[42] Mbacke suggests that one reason Sufism has taken hold in Senegal is because it can accommodate local beliefs and customs, which tend toward the mystical.[43]

In South Asia, four major Sufi orders persist, namely the Chishti Order, the Qadiriyyah, the Naqshbandiyya, and the Suhrawardiyya. The Barelwis and Deobandis are significant Islamic movements in this region whose followers often belong to one of these orders.[44]

For a more complete summary of currently active groups and teachers, readers are referred to links in the site of Dr. Alan Godlas of the University of Georgia.[45][46]

A number of Westerners have embarked with varying degrees of success on the path of Sufism. One of the first to return to Europe as an official representative of a Sufi path, and with the specific purpose to spread Sufism in Western Europe, was the Swedish-born wandering Sufi Abd al-Hadi Aqhili (also known as Ivan Aguéli). The ideas propagated by such spiritualists may or may not conform to the tenets of Sufism as understood by orthodox Muslims, as for instance with G. I. Gurdjieff and Shawni. On the other hand, American- and British-born teachers such as Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Hamza Yusuf, and Abdal Hakim Murad have been instrumental in spreading messages that conform fully with the normative tenets of Islam.

Other noteworthy Sufi teachers who have been active in the West in recent years include Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Nader Angha, Inayat Khan, Nazim al-Qubrusi, Javad Nurbakhsh, Bulent Rauf[2]and Muzaffer Ozak.

[edit] Theoretical perspectives in Sufism

Traditional Islamic scholars have recognized two major branches within the practice of Sufism, and use this as one key to differentiating among the approaches of different masters and devotional lineages.[47]

On the one hand there is the path from the signs to the Signifier (or from the arts to the Artisan). In this branch, the seeker begins by purifying the lower self of every corrupting influence that stands in the way of recognizing all of creation as the work of God, as God's active Self-disclosure or theophany.[48] This is the way of Imam Al-Ghazali and of the majority of the Sufi orders.

On the other hand there is the path from the Signifier to His signs, from the Artisan to His works. In this branch the seeker experiences divine attraction (jadhba), and is able to enter the path with a glimpse of its endpoint, of direct apprehension of the Divine Presence towards which all spiritual striving is directed. This does not replace the striving to purify the heart, as in the other branch; it simply stems from a different point of entry into the path. This is the way primarily of the masters of the Naqshbandi and Shadhili orders.[49]

Contemporary scholars may also recognize a third branch, attributed to the late Ottoman scholar Said Nursi and explicated in his vast Qur'ân commentary called the Risale-i Nur. This approach entails strict adherence to the way of Muhammad, in the understanding that this wont, or sunnah, proposes a complete devotional spirituality adequate to those without access to a master of the Sufi way.[50]

[edit] Contributions to other domains of scholarship

Sufism has contributed significantly to the elaboration of theoretical perspectives in many domains of intellectual endeavor. For instance, the doctrine of "subtle centers" or centers of subtle cognition (known as Lataif-e-sitta) addresses the matter of the awakening of spiritual intuition[51] in ways that some consider similar to certain models of chakra in Hinduism. In general, these subtle centers or latâ'if are thought of as faculties that are to be purified sequentially in order to bring the seeker's wayfaring to completion. A concise and useful summary of this system from a living exponent of this tradition has been published by Muhammad Emin Er.[47]

Sufi psychology has influenced many areas of thinking both within and outside of Islam, drawing primarily upon three concepts. Ja'far al-Sadiq (both an imam in the Shia tradition and a respected scholar and link in chains of Sufi transmission in all Islamic sects) held that human beings are dominated by a lower self called the nafs, a faculty of spiritual intuition called the qalb or spiritual heart, and a spirit or soul called ruh. These interact in various ways, producing the spiritual types of the tyrant (dominated by nafs), the person of faith and moderation (dominated by the spiritual heart), and the person lost in love for God (dominated by the ruh).[52]

Of note with regard to the spread of Sufi psychology in the West is Robert Frager, a Sufi teacher authorized in the Halveti Jerrahi order. Frager was a trained psychologist, born in the United States, who converted to Islam in the course of his practice of Sufism and wrote extensively on Sufism and psychology.[53]

Sufi cosmology and Sufi metaphysics are also noteworthy areas of intellectual accomplishment.

[edit] Sufi practices

The devotional practices of Sufis vary widely. This is because an acknowledged and authorized master of the Sufi path is in effect a physician of the heart, able to diagnose the seeker's impediments to knowledge and pure intention in serving God, and to prescribe to the seeker a course of treatment appropriate to his or her maladies. The consensus among Sufi scholars is that the seeker cannot self-diagnose, and that it can be extremely harmful to undertake any of these practices alone and without formal authorization.[54]

Prerequisites to practice include rigorous adherence to Islamic norms (ritual prayer in its five prescribed times each day, the fast of Ramadan, and so forth). Additionally, the seeker ought to be firmly grounded in supererogatory practices known from the life of Muhammad (such as the "sunna prayers"). This is in accordance with the words, attributed to God, of the following, a famous Hadith Qudsi:

My servant draws near to Me through nothing I love more than that which I have made obligatory for him. My servant never ceases drawing near to Me through supererogatory works until I love him. Then, when I love him, I am his hearing through which he hears, his sight through which he sees, his hand through which he grasps, and his foot through which he walks.

It is also necessary for the seeker to have a correct creed (Aqidah),[55] and to embrace with certainty its tenets.[56] The seeker must also, of necessity, turn away from sins, love of this world, the love of company and renown, obedience to satanic impulse, and the promptings of the lower self. (The way in which this purification of the heart is achieved is outlined in certain books, but must be prescribed in detail by a Sufi master.) The seeker must also be trained to prevent the corruption of those good deeds which have accrued to his or her credit by overcoming the traps of ostentation, pride, arrogance, envy, and long hopes (meaning the hope for a long life allowing us to mend our ways later, rather than immediately, here and now).

Sufi practices, while attractive to some, are not a means for gaining knowledge. The traditional scholars of Sufism hold it as absolutely axiomatic that knowledge of God is not a psychological state generated through breath control. Thus, practice of "techniques" is not the cause, but instead the occasion for such knowledge to be obtained (if at all), given proper prerequisites and proper guidance by a master of the way. Furthermore, the emphasis on practices may obscure a far more important fact: The seeker is, in a sense, to become a broken person, stripped of all habits through the practice of (in the words of Imam Al-Ghazali words) solitude, silence, sleeplessness, and hunger.[57]

[edit] Dhikr

Main article: Dhikr

Allah as having been written on the disciple's heart according to Qadiri Al-Muntahi order

Dhikr is the remembrance of God commanded in the Qur'an for all Muslims through a specific devotional act, such as the repetition of divine names, supplications and aphorisms from hadith literature and the Qur'an. More generally, dhikr is any activity in which the Muslim maintains awareness of God.. To engage in dhikr is to practice consciousness of the Divine Presence and love, or "to seek a state of godwariness". Some types of dhikr are prescribed for all Muslims, and do not require Sufi initiation or the prescription of a Sufi master because they are deemed to be good for every seeker under every circumstance.[58]

Some Sufi orders engage in ritualized dhikr ceremonies, or sema. Sema includes various forms of worship such as: recitation, singing (the most well known being the Qawwali music of the Indian sub-continent), instrumental music, dance (most famously the Sufi whirling of the Mevlevi order), incense, meditation, ecstasy, and trance.[59]

Some Sufi orders stress and place extensive reliance upon Dhikr, and likewise in Qadri Al-Muntahi Sufi tariqa, which was originated by Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi. This practice of Dhikr is called Dhikr-e-Qulb (remembrance of Allah by Heartbeats). The basic idea in this practice is to visualize the Arabic name of God, Allah, as having been written on the disciple's heart.[60]

[edit] Muraqaba

Main article: Muraqaba

The practice of muraqaba can be likened to the practices of meditation attested in many faith communities. The word muraqaba is derived from the same root (r-q-b) occurring as one of the 99 Names of God in the Qur'an, al-Raqîb, meaning "the Vigilant" and attested in verse 4: 1 of the Qur'an. Through muraqaba, a person watches over or takes care of the spiritual heart, acquires knowledge about it, and becomes attuned to the Divine Presence, which is ever vigilant.

While variation exists, one description of the practice within a Naqshbandi lineage reads as follows:

He is to collect all of his bodily senses in concentration, and to cut himself off from all preoccupation and notions that inflict themselves upon the heart. And thus he is to turn his full consciousness towards God Most High while saying three times: “Ilahî anta maqsûdî wa-ridâka matlûbî — my God, you are my Goal and Your good pleasure is what I seek.” Then he brings to his heart the Name of the Essence — Allâh — and as it courses through his heart he remains attentive to its meaning, which is “Essence without likeness.” The seeker remains aware that He is Present, Watchful, Encompassing of all, thereby exemplifying the meaning of his saying (may God bless him and grant him peace): “Worship God as though you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He sees you.” And likewise the prophetic tradition: “The most favored level of faith is to know that God is witness over you, wherever you may be.”[61]

[edit] Sufi pilgrimages

The Darbar-e-Gohar Shahi Tomb in Kotri Sharif.

In popular Sufism (i.e., devotional practices that have achieved currency in world cultures through Sufi influence), one common practice is to visit the tombs of saints, great scholars, and righteous people. This is a particularly common practice in South Asia, where famous tombs include those of Khoja Afāq, near Kashgar, in China; Sachal Sarmast, in Sindh, Pakistan; and the Darbar-e-Gohar Shahi in Kotri Sharif. Likewise, in Fez, Morocco, a popular destination for such pious visitation is the Zaouia Moulay Idriss II and the yearly visitation to see the current Sheikh of the Qadiri Boutchichi Tariqah, Sheikh Sidi Hamza al Qadiri al Boutchichi to celebrate the Mawlid (which is usually televised on Mocorran National television).

Visitors may invoke blessings upon those interred, and seek divine favor and proximity.

[edit] Islam and Sufism

[edit] Sufism and Islamic law

Tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Scholars and adherents of Sufism sometimes describe Sufism in terms of a threefold approach to God as explained by a tradition (hadîth) attributed to Muhammad,"The Shariah is my words, the tariqa is my actions, and the haqiqa is my interior states". Sufis believe the shariah, tariqa and haqiqa are mutually interdependent.[62] The tariqa, the ‘path’ on which the mystics walk, has been defined as ‘the path which comes out of the Shariah, for the main road is called shar, the path, tariq.’ No mystical experience can be realized if the binding injunctions of the Shariah are not followed faithfully first. The path, tariqa, however, is narrower and more difficult to walk. It leads the adept, called sâlik (wayfarer), in his sulûk (wayfaring), through different stations (maqâmât) until he reaches his goal, the perfect tawhîd, the existential confession that God is One.[63] Jalaluddin Ar Rumi, the initiator of the Mavlevi Tariqah, spoke of the Shariah and Sufism in such terms, " To be a real Sufi, is to be to Muhammad, salalahu alaihy wasallam, just as Abu Bakr was to him, peace be upon him." Shaykh al-Akbar Muhiuddeen Ibn Arabi mentions," When we see someone in this Community who claims to be able to guide others to Allah, but is remiss in but one rule of the Sacred Law - even if he manifests miracles that stagger the mind - asserting that his shortcoming is a special dispensation for him, we do not even turn to look at him, for such a person is not a sheikh, nor is he speaking the truth, for no one is entrusted with the secrets of Allah Most High save one in whom the ordinances of the Sacred Law are preserved. (Jami' karamat al-awliya')" [64]

[edit] Traditional Islamic thought and Sufism

The literature of Sufism emphasizes highly subjective matters that resist outside observation, such as the subtle states of the heart. Often these resist direct reference or description, with the consequence that the authors of various Sufi treatises took recourse to allegorical language. For instance, much Sufi poetry refers to intoxication, which Islam expressly forbids. This usage of indirect language and the existence of interpretations by people who had no training in Islam or Sufism led to doubts being cast over the validity of Sufism as a part of Islam. Also, some groups emerged that considered themselves above the Sharia and discussed Sufism as a method of bypassing the rules of Islam in order to attain salvation directly. This was disapproved of by traditional scholars.

For these and other reasons, the relationship between traditional Islamic scholars and Sufism is complex and a range of scholarly opinion on Sufism in Islam has been the norm. Some scholars, such as Al-Ghazali, helped its propagation while other scholars opposed it. W. Chittick explains the position of Sufism and Sufis this way:

In short, Muslim scholars who focused their energies on understanding the normative guidelines for the body came to be known as jurists, and those who held that the most important task was to train the mind in achieving correct understanding came to be divided into three main schools of thought: theology, philosophy, and Sufism. This leaves us with the third domain of human existence, the spirit. Most Muslims who devoted their major efforts to developing the spiritual dimensions of the human person came to be known as Sufis.

[edit] Traditional and non-traditional Sufi groups

The mausoleum (gongbei) of Ma Laichi in Linxia City, China.

The traditional Sufi orders, which are in majority, emphasize the role of Sufism as a spiritual discipline within Islam. Therefore, the Sharia (traditional Islamic law) and the Sunnah are seen as crucial for any Sufi aspirant. One proof traditional orders assert is that almost all the famous Sufi masters of the past Caliphates were experts in Sharia and were renowned as people with great Iman (faith) and excellent practice. Many were also Qadis (Sharia law judges) in courts. They held that Sufism was never distinct from Islam and to fully comprehend and practice Sufism one must be an observant Muslim.

There is some speculation that some Sufi orders in India might have become influenced by other traditions after the translation of Greek philosophical works into Arabic during the third Islamic century. Sharda highlights these unsurprising similarities by stating that: "After the fall of Muslim orthodoxy from power at the centre of India for about a century, due to the invasion of Timur, the Sufi became free from the control of the Muslim orthodoxy and consorted with Hindu saints, who influenced them to an amazing extent. The Sufi adopted Monism and wifely devotion from the Vaishnava Vedantic school and Bhakti and Yogic practices from the Vaishnava Vedantic school. By that time, the popularity of the Vedantic pantheism among the Sufis had reached its zenith."[65]

In recent decades there has been a growth of non-traditional Sufi movements in the West. Examples include the Universal Sufism movement, the Golden Sufi Center, the Sufi Foundation of America, the neo-sufism of Idries Shah, Sufism Reoriented and the International Association of Sufism. Rumi has become one of the most widely read poets in the United States, thanks largely to the translations published by Coleman Barks.

[edit] Islamic positions on non-Islamic Sufi groups

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The use of the title Sufi by non-traditional groups to refer to themselves, and their appropriation of traditional Sufi masters (most notably Jalaluddin Rumi) as sources of authority or inspiration, is not accepted by some Muslims who are Sufi adherents.

Many of the great Sufi masters of the present and the past instruct that: one needs the form of the religious practices and the outer dimension of the religion to fulfill the goals of the inner dimension of Sufism (Proximity to God). The exoteric practices prescribed by God contain inner meanings and provide the means for transformation with the proper spiritual guidance of a master. It is thought that through the forms of the ritual and prescribed Islamic practices (prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, charity and affirmation of Divine Unity) the soul may be purified and one may then begin to embark on the mystical quest. In fact it is considered psychologically dangerous by some Sufi masters to participate in Sufi practices, such as "dhikr", without adhering to the outer aspects of the religion which add spiritual balance and grounding to the practice.

Some traditional Sufis also object to interpretations of classical Sufis texts by writers who have no grounding in the traditional Islamic sciences and therefore no prerequisites for understanding such texts. These are considered by certain conventional Islamic scholars as beyond the pale of the religion.[66] This being said, there are Islamic Sufi groups that are open to non-Muslim participation.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Perception outside Islam

Sufi mysticism has long exercised a fascination upon the Western world, and especially its orientalist scholars.[67] Figures like Rumi have become household names in the United States, where Sufism is perceived as quietist and less political.[67]

The Islamic Institute in Mannheim, Germany, which works towards the integration of Europe and Muslims, sees Sufism as particularly suited for interreligious dialogue and intercultural harmonisation in democratic and pluralist societies; it has described Sufism as a symbol of tolerance and humanism – undogmatic, flexible and non-violent.[68]

[edit] The Influence of Sufism on Judaism

A great influence was exercised by Sufism upon the ethical writings of Jews in the Middle Ages. In the first writing of this kind, we see "Kitab al-Hidayah ila Fara'iḍ al-Ḳulub", Duties of the Heart, of Bahya ibn Pakuda. This book was translated by Judah ibn Tibbon into Hebrew under the title "Ḥovot ha-Levavot".[69]

The precepts prescribed by the Torah number 613 only; those dictated by the intellect are innumerable.

This was precisely the argument used by the Sufis against their adversaries, the Ulamas. The arrangement of the book seems to have been inspired by Sufism. Its ten sections correspond to the ten stages through which the Sufi had to pass in order to attain that true and passionate love of God which is the aim and goal of all ethical self-discipline.

It is noteworthy that in the ethical writings of the Sufis Al-Kusajri and Al-Harawi there are sections which treat of the same subjects as those treated in the "Ḥobot ha-Lebabot" and which bear the same titles: e.g., "Bab al-Tawakkul"; "Bab al-Taubah"; "Bab al-Muḥasabah"; "Bab al-Tawaḍu'"; "Bab al-Zuhd". In the ninth gate, Baḥya directly quotes sayings of the Sufis, whom he calls Perushim. However, the author of the Ḥovot ha-Levavot did not go so far as to approve of the asceticism of the Sufis, although he showed a marked predilection for their ethical principles.

The Jewish writer Abraham bar Ḥiyya teaches the asceticism of the Sufis. His distinction with regard to the observance of Jewish law by various classes of men is essentially a Sufic theory. According to it there are four principal degrees of human perfection or sanctity; namely:

(1) of "Shari'ah," i.e., of strict obedience to all ritual laws of Islam, such as prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, almsgiving, ablution, etc., which is the lowest degree of worship, and is attainable by all

(2) of Ṭariqah, which is accessible only to a higher class of men who, while strictly adhering to the outward or ceremonial injunctions of religion, rise to an inward perception of mental power and virtue necessary for the nearer approach to the Divinity

(3) of "Ḥaḳikah," the degree attained by those who, through continuous contemplation and inward devotion, have risen to the true perception of the nature of the visible and invisible; who, in fact, have recognized the Godhead, and through this knowledge have succeeded in establishing an ecstatic relation to it; and

(4) of the "Ma'arifah," in which state man communicates directly with the Deity.

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] In movies

The movie Bab´Aziz (2005) directed by Nacer Khemir tells the story of an old and blind dervish who must cross the desert with his little granddaughter during many days and nights to get to his last dervish reunion celebrated every 30 years. The movie is full of Sufi mysticism and even contain quotes of Rumi and other sufi poets and shows an ecstatic sufi dance. In Monsieur Ibrahim Omar Sherrif's character professes to be a Muslim in the sufi tradition.

[edit] In music

Madonna, on her 1994 record Bedtime Stories sings a song called "Bedtime Story" that discusses achieving a high unconsciousness level. The video for the song shows an ecstatic Sufi ritual with many dervishes dancing, Arabic calligraphy and some other Sufi elements. In her 1998 song Bittersweet, she recites Rumi´s poem by the same name. In her 2001 Drowned World Tour, Madonna sang the song Secret showing rituals from many religions, including a Sufi dance.

Singer/songwritter Loreena McKennitt, on her record The Mask And Mirror (1994), has a song called The Mystic's Dream, influenced by Sufi music and poetry. The band, MewithoutYou, has made references to Sufi parables, including the name of their upcoming album It’s all crazy! It’s all false! It’s all a dream! It’s alright (2009). Lead singer, Aaron Weiss, claims this influence comes from his parents, who are both Sufi converts.

A.R. Rahman scored a Sufi Qawwali, Khwaja Mere Khwaja, in the Bollywood film Jodhaa Akbar.

Junoon, a band from Pakistan, is famous for creating the genre of Sufi rock by combining elements of modern hard rock and traditional folk music with Sufi poetry.

2 2

photo courtesy

d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20070614/2007_06_13t184429_45...

Firkabandi ? Who is a dumb Muslim ?

I am here at Flickr since 10June 2007.

10287 photos posted till date.

I was a photo blogger but here at Flickr I regressed into a photographer and before I had completed 3 months I was

metamorphosed into a poet blog.

What gets to me and almost kills me at Flickr a porn site a site for sick demented depraved Muslims is the quality of comments that the Flick member defecates on my posts , and if I hit this mother fuckers profile

Flickr with a pimp like attitude hints that I buy this sick sister fucker a Pro membership..Now don’t blame me for being scorchingly abusive..I am at Flickr like some of you I have paid US$47 but I don’t make too many demands or throw a tantrum like the white man, I get upset when my sets disappear or when I cant upload and Flick staff sits plumb without informing me about the probem at their end

Than again I have to let a Muezzins call Think Flickr Think..

Anyway back to the Muslims who come and shit comments.Yesterday a 32 year old Shithead Muslim halfbaked knowledge of Islam pompous preacher comes and comments that hedoes not like my Shia pictures and that it would be harmful for me ,and that it is Fikabandi a word that even Google Search is searching for..I went and wrote a stinker on his photo stream, realized that this Muslim mother fucker is here on Flickr to find himself a suitable wife, I think with his fucked attitude he wont even find one at the red light area of Muslim Cages. And his pictures of candles that he can shove up his grandmothers ass…

Now who is a dumb Muslim.?

Hasibaullah the Taliban rabid motherfucking Afghan Hound or this Gulz guy Killer who talks about Firkabandi both have one thing a common thread they hate Shias.And I shall always remain a Shia.

Now as a Shia I post pictures according to my priority my picture

prerogatives, but yes if you see my photo stream it is not Rogue Mullahs abode nor is it a sectarian promoting Lal Masjid site.

I a Shia by birth but I am an Indian Muslim which even God above and Arch Angel Gabrie will not deny. But I in most of my poems question why Muslims kill Muslims..?The present birth of a new breed of Metro sexual Terrorists without skullcaps and goatees the Kafeel Ahmed s of Glasgow, its shocking to say the least, yes the Islam that they distort and promote is the worlds most hated Killing Machine..

Here I wont talk about the seeds of Terrorism sown at Karbala, Yazidiyat, Misplaced Martyrdom, or again I will be reprimanded as a

Firkabandi promoter.

I who post pictures of all Faith, naked Naga Sadhus, Sufis Shias Sunnis too and Christians too.

So just see the pictures and move on, why give me importance..why defecate your cybernetic hate on me, if you mother fucker have balls go and rid sectarianism in Iraq , Afghanistan and the rest of the Muslim World ,why flog me for the mistakes and error in judgement of your forefathers. I am indeed happy living as a Shia a much better alternative than being fatwa fucked radical Muslim, a Wahhabi a Deobandi a Jammati or a Salafi or even a Sunni for that matter.Though my fight is not with them, I am at home at the Holy Shrine of Khwajah Moinuddin Chishti as I am at an Imambara cutting my forehead in Moharam.

Another thing why do you get upset if I shed my blood, it is my body not yours..Why don’t you raise your eunuch voice when people the Muslims kill their own, or place bombs in Masjids , in trains , but than it has always been a tradition promoted by vested interests in Islam to killa person with his head bowed in Namaz, or kill a Muslim and his family for following Allah and his grandfathers teachings.

I am not a Koranic interpreting Mullah, I am a modern Muslim but fuck you I am not as dumb as you are with your so called bigotry and hate.

So stay off my photo stream..all you Shia baters and haters..and even you Shia Wahhabis ..I am a Shia Pandit and shall remain one loving the saffron in my soul through which reflects Truth as Karbala and Faith that is Ashura,,,

Firkabandi Kiss my Ass.

Trade winds from the East

Blowing away the glory of Islam

With cybernetic Hate

Wahabbi backed money powered Puritanism

That divides one Muslim from another

And a vicious bigotry reinstate

Allah ho Akbar the call of the Muezzin

With a webmasters wickedness replaced

This is not Islam of Peace and Brotherhood

A depravity of Firkabandi sectarian hate

Retraced

Talibanisation of Truth morphed doctored scriptured

Soliloquy the best of Islam by a few disgruntled elements disgraced.

Todays Muslim youth the Kafeel Ahmeds Martyrs in a Fools Paradise

Inhabitate ..

Abdul Aziz Osama and his ilk…waiting in a line

To surrender their necks at Allahs Gate

The End so called Terrorist Tyranny blackmailing of Islam

A thought replace

Shah ast Hussain Badshah ast Hussain

In my heart and the iron in my soul retrace

Maulana Noor Muhammad Shaheed Wazir South Waziristan Wana by Muhammad Noor Wazir

Maulana Noor Muhammad Shaheed Wazir South Waziristan Wana

The Speech of Hazrat Maulana Noor Muhammad Sahib

Dated: March 2, 2007

Topic No 4: The ruinous effects of sectarianism on the Muslims:

Verse: ( )

Translation:

Saying of the holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) : ( )

Translation:

Respected Brothers! I recited a verse from the holy Quran and a saying of the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) before you people. While explaining the verse and the ‘Hadith’, I want to turn your attention to an important point. Simultaneously it should be kept in mind that there are certain things which could be easily grasped during a speech but on occasion a subject matter of a speech is complicated enough that it can be understand only after paying due concentration to it. And the topic today is also a bit complicated one that is why, try to listen carefully.

The ruinous effects of sectarianism on the collective life of Muslims:

Respected fellows! It is a historical fact that like the Muslims, Non-Muslims has also suffered sectarianism from the times long ago. What the Jews and Christian did to one other by committing cruelties against each other, is a stigma on the face of humanity. The holocaust (general massacre of Jews) is even talked about on high level forums today and its various aspects are discussed. And there is also a long history of scientists, who were flayed alive as a punishment for proving facts against the established theories of the church of that time. But after excelling in knowledge and wisdom and the great industrial revolution in Europe and other Western countries, they, in order to get rid of these (historical) dissentions, have also removed the remaining teachings of Christianity from their lives and relegate it to the religious places and formal worship only. Historians held those people accountable for putting the teachings of Christianity into oblivion, which according to them were responsible for its propagation.

On the other hand they (Western countries) when looked up toward the Muslims and found them comprising about one-fourth of the world population, inhabited in about 60 free states of the world and that they (Muslims) have also a large part of natural resources in their possession. They thought that if the power of Muslims treaded the path of development, than it can never be challenged and fight out. For this reason, through a well chalked out plan efforts were made that the power should not get united and such conditions were created that misunderstanding prop up between the Muslim countries at

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the international level and internally they also confronted issues of various magnitude. And resultantly the energies that were meant to be utilized for national development were made to waste away on internal disorders. Yes, it is another question to be answered yet as to who provided the opportunity to Non-Muslims to ruin the abilities of the Muslims. If the ‘Muslim Umma’ (Muslim nation across the world) itself was conscious to the situation by not providing such an opportunity to the aliens, can anyone be successful in rendering Muslims to the sorry state of affairs? I will say, not at all.

For example if both sects of ‘Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal-Jamat’ and ‘Ahl-i-Tashie’ in Pakistan come up with seriousness of purpose and thought over it that the mutual differences have been lingering on for the last 1300 years and none of them have succeeded in changing the stand of each other, so there should be a middle way opted wherein people from every sect could follow their own way amicably and the creation of bad blood could also be averted. By such thinking they might not give an opportunity to any alien people to increase the rift between them, if any such hands were involved in their differences.

The same goes true for those people who are after creating causes of destruction of the power of the country (Pakistan) by playing upon linguistic and racial gourds either consciously or unconsciously.

Now the question arise here as to who provided the opportunity to others to scatter such a big strength of the Muslims? The answer is simple and clear. The ‘Umma’ has put into oblivion and ignored altogether the directives given by Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah and the prophet of Islam Muhammad (SAW) some 1400 years ago for the inclusive guidance of Muslims.

Apart from the point of view of basis of faith, the virility of the saying can also be proved from the perspective of scientific research. It is a common principle applied by the world today that every company provide a booklet to their customers along with the goods they buy, in which it is directed as to how the product can be utilized in a best way along with enhancing its efficiency. In the light of the same principle if a human being which is the creation of Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah, avoid the rules and regulations of life told to him in the shape of holy Quran and have the expectation that he might have a successful life both in this world and the world to come, perhaps there can be no bigger mistake than this.

If a machine can not be expected to work efficiency while ignoring the directives of its usage given in a booklet by the company, than it is also unwise to expect success while ignoring the leading principles of life told by Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah. In short, when the Muslims ignored following divine rules and regulations, they could not compete the fraud and deceit of Satan and fall into the ditch of ruins and destruction.

One thing also to be kept before that the world of today has become a global village. Muslims range in millions in Non-Muslim countries and likewise a large number of Non-

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Muslims also live in Muslim countries. These countries depend upon one another in many sectors. If the Eastern countries are in need of Western technology than the latter are depended on the former countries for men power.

If the Western countries think that the Muslims living there will not feel it by whatever they do in Muslim countries by using various names for it than it is a big mistake on their part. If they, despite knowing every thing, is ignoring it, than it still further a mistake they are committing because it will bring to an end the passions of goodwill for one another and its future spell out will also cast far fetching negative results for the whole world.

Allah knows better as to what turn it will take while watching today the dreadful picture of extremism in Muslim countries revealing itself as a reaction. What is happening today was never imagine some ten years back. A dream of peaceful life is possible only when the whole of mankind live with peace and calm. It is not possible that on one hand Western people enjoy their lives and on the other hand the lives of Muslims should be made miserable.

And the reason as to why this tendency of extremism started in Muslim countries in general and Pakistan in particular can be easily found. It is known to every one that in the wake of Russia invasion on Afghanistan in 1978, both European countries and America were so frightened that without taking into account the pros and cons of their doings they provided every kind of facility for fulfilling war requirements to the border line tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Training centers were opened for them and youths from Arab countries were send to Afghanistan and Pakistan with boosting their passions for ‘Jihad’. Piles of modern weaponry were made at the border area of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the natural warfare capacity of all the tribal youths in general and Waziristan in particular was fully availed.

But upon the defeat of Russia, the charged up Afghans were left in a lurch to kill each other and no effort was made to put the passions of these people directed toward some positive achievements.

In a nutshell whatever these Western countries harvested for their personal interests is reaping now along with their allied countries today. Why to blame the Muslim countries now. There is a need of the thing today as like the youths were charged up with passions of Afghan Jihad earlier, so like a strategy, better than the former, should be made and such environment be created by this that nobody may have the feeling of being victimized.

America and European countries should play such role with sincerity of purpose regarding the Palestine and Kashmir issues that the people of these region may become contented by watching justice has been done to them. And regarding Afghanistan such policy should be chalk out due to which the feelings of Afghan people that they are being subject to foreign occupation may not give impetus to their sense of honor to fight.

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By acting upon teachings of Quran and Hadees, Muslims can not be overcome:

It should be clear that Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah has given such rules and regulations to the Muslim nationhood that if followed by them than all the plans of their enemies would come to nothing. Either these enemies may be in shape of human beings or being in shape of a Satan.

These golden principles has been mentioned in the verse which I recited before you. Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah says:

Verse: ( )

Translation:

Muslims should bear brotherly attitude toward one another due to the religion of Islam:

The above mentioned verse has been very aptly explained by holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) through an example. The prophet Muhammad (SAW) while stressing upon brotherhood and unity among the Muslims says:

Hadith: ( )

Translation: “The example of believers in their sympathy, love and affection and kindness with one another is like a single body (of a person). If an organ of a body suffers some pain than the whole body become restless and get involved in pain and temperature (illness) with it”.

i-e it is not possible for example that an eye may suffer a pain and the rest of the parts of a body remain at ease.

The comprehensiveness of the Hadith:

Respected fellows! The above mentioned Hadith is so comprehensive that if the Muslim nationhood ponders over it they might come to a right path to a large extent in their mutual relationship and activities. It is however necessary that we should not limit our eyes to the apparent translation of the Hadith only but try to have in-depth look into it. If we keep before the real aim of a Hadith (saying of the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) than it will have benefit for us in a larger perspective and the people to come will also get benefit of it. The prophet Muhammad (SAW) has termed it understanding of the religion by developing in-depth looking into every directive of the religion of Islam.

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The holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) says:

Hadees: ( )

Translation:

Here is a subtle point to make clear that the prophet Muhammad (SAW) did not say that whenever Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah intend to do kindness to anyone than he is given the knowledge of the religion. But the prophet says like that that he is given understanding of the religion.

From the point of view of knowledge the apparent meaning of the Hadith is all clear, i-e that all the Muslims should be brotherly with one another and should come up with love and affection for one another. But in the said Hadith there is a large sea of meaning and aim present regarding the understanding of the religion which we take for understanding the religion of Islam.

It is of common observation that people in this world vary regarding their color, race and languages. Even offspring of same parents do differ in their appearances. Likewise there are also various schools of thoughts in the religion; someone follow Imam Abu Khaneefa (May Allah bless him) and the other are followers of Imam Shafi (May Allah bless him). Some people are associated with the school of thought of Ahl-Hadith, which are not even followers of any religion, and there are also a good number of people related to the Shitte school of thought and many are those having outlook of Sunni school of thought. There are also separate differences from the view point of Deobandee and Brailvee School of thoughts. The same can be said about political parties as some of these belong to the right wing while others to the left wing.

There are also differences present at regional level among the people in one shape or the other. These few of the examples give us hint as to how much differences there are. From the perspective of Islamic viewpoint it is one of the best things if there are no differences occur among the Muslim community but if it occurs than it should be kept in limitation and because of such differences the brotherhood of Muslims should not get shattered. Because despite the difference of opinion, Muslims are in need of one another for their survival like the parts of a body.

It is however lamentable that the Muslims did not contain the difference of opinion in its limits but on the contrary every one is bent upon declaring the other is wayward. Every one spent their energies on as to how to make humble a group having difference of opinion other than them.

Like parts of a body there is a status specified for every person in a given society:

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Respected fellows! The thinking of being superior has put the Muslims today in a variety of problems. Every organization, group and followers of every school of thought have the viewpoint that it is they who are doing the real work and as such the whole of the credit should go to them.

While keeping in view the example given in the Hadith, the current condition and role of Muslims can be reformed in a best way. It is in a way that there is no doubt in the minds of anybody that all the organs in a human body are precious one and if (Allah forbid) any organ become dysfunctional than along with handicapping of the body the beauty of it is also affected. For example there are many organs both internal and external in a body of human being including mouth, nose, eyes, hands and feet and each one of it has an important function to do in a body. In case of loss of eyes it not only results in apparent ugliness but the whole of the advantages of a body nearly comes to an end. If kidneys do not work properly, it might not show any apparent ugliness of a human being, but the survival and safety of the rest of the body organs are associated with it and incase of improper function of kidneys all parts of a body which are relevant to one another are fetched to extinction.

And some of the parts of a human body are taken for as a token of expression of love; for example if someone says that Mr so and so is the apple of his eyes than he is expressing his passions of liking to someone. And off course there are human organs the very name of which is taken for abusing, though it has also vital functions to perform and any hurdle in their efficiency may render a person to convulsion. For example the wastes of a human body is carried away by different system of organs and the proper functioning of these organs is as vital as any other part of a body but in social life their status is as such that mentioning their very name is considered is bad and even some of the people do tend to quarrel by taking it as an abuse to mention the name of these organs.

Despite all these different roles the various organs of human body play, if for example the heart (vital of all organs) ask stomach as to what is his role in a body as it is he (hearth) that supply blood to the whole body and kept it alive. So what is your answer as a heart is justified in saying so? Not at all, there is no doubt in it that the heart is like a ruler of the whole body and stoppage of its function results in end of life of a person and it is also true that it provide pure blood to all the organs of a body but the real thing to answer is as to who provide the pure blood to the heart. Medical sciences has proved it that stomach, small intestine, large intestine, kidneys, bladders, vital organs has a role to play in the preparation of pure blood because due to these organs waste is expelled from the body and the victuals remain within body. For further purification process lungs come to play its role and take away injurious ingredients from blood in shape of gas and hence it get prepared for utilization in a body. Now if the heart brag over provision of pure blood to rest of the organs of a body and take the whole credit for it and avoid the importance of other organs in preparation of pure blood than it is unjust and unwise to do.

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By presenting such an example here I want to make it clear that similarly there are many a departments of propagation of Islam and many of the people of Muslim community are busy according to their abilities in each of these departments of the religion. So it does not mean that people from a certain department may begin thinking that they should be accorded the whole credit of propagation of Islam.

Likewise we know it that the holy Quran revealed some 1400 years ago. But to keep the Islamic teachings in its real form during such a long span of time there is a big role of religious seminaries in it. It is these religious institutions who produced writers for the guidance of the Muslim community and provided orators, politicians as well as teachers and preachers. And it is due to these religious institutions that various schools of thought came into being but it does not meant the managers of these religious seminaries (Madrasa’s) may start denying the role of orators, writers. Preachers and politicians of the Muslim community just because to show their importance only. Because it is due to these people who in turn widened the role of these religious institutions and played a big role in sustaining the character of religious seminaries.

The stress on doing away with mutual differences and creation of solidarity is the essential message of this Hadith:

Respect brothers! In this Hadith of the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) there is big lesson for us to rectify our thoughts and deeds and there is an essential message in it for us that Muslims may either belong to whatever locality or race and tribe, speaking different languages, related to whatever department of religion and belong to whatsoever school of thought, should do away with their mutual differences and should get united for the completion of the needs of their lives and propagation of the religion like parts of a single body. Like a human body is in need of disciplined action of all the organs within it for the survival, similarly Islam is in need of united efforts of the Muslims for its survival and propagation and there is no difference of small or large status in this regard. If the smaller one will not play its due role than the bigger one will also become unable to continue its services and slowly and gradually its role will come to a halt. So like as we attribute a death of a person due to certain reasons, for example we say Mr so and so died of kidneys failure etc., similarly the downfall of Islam will also be attributed than to the inefficiency of a relevant group.

I meant hereby that none of the departments in serving Islam should either claim that the survival and propagation of Islam is solely due to their efforts and struggle and if, taken for granted, such a mistake is done by them than the person related to other departments of the religion should be lenient to forgive and ignore such mistakes. Like an organ of a body which get injured inadvertently and cause the whole body to pain, is not separated from the body but on the contrary the rest of the organs while sharing the pain and suffering of it mitigate the injury, similarly it is binding on other groups of society to take control of the situation by reforming the wrong attitude of someone of them. Yes, it is something different to say that if an organ becomes incurable than it is separated from the

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body: the like when some inhabitants of an area get involved in robbery and killings than Islam tell us that such people have become a cancer for the joint body of the Muslim community and hence there is no other way out except to cut off them from Islamic society as on the contrary of that the whole society will get destroyed due to the diffusion of such kind of intolerable habits.

Doing struggle for reformation of the society is also the essential message of this Hadith:

The explanation of this Hadith also makes it clear that if there are such people in a Muslim society that are after the destruction of it than it becomes a joint responsibility of such a society to make efforts for their reformation, otherwise the germs of such a spiritual disease will spread in the whole of the society and will push it toward havoc. If the local people do not get succeed in reformation of such people than it is one of the needful thing that people of great influence from outside may control the situation either by advising or opting some other way.

The example of it is also like an organ get ill or injured within a body and for the cure of such an illness or injury the whole of the body starts preparing anti-bodies for it and if it do not work than medicine from outside is provided. Similarly reformation of a society is responsibility of all the people. Allah forbid! If the people become never mind and started thinking in such terms that the people involved in evil doings should mind their own business and we have nothing to do with it, than it is to be remembered that all the people in such a society will come into the grasp of the negative effects of the evil doings of the few people.

From the point of view of Islamic teachings Muslims has not been created for thinking about their personal profit and losses only but on the contrary of that it is also their responsibility to think about the reformation and welfare of all the people in the society as well as to save them from any harm. Such people are respected in the court of Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah and it becomes the moral obligation of other people of a society as well to honor them.

It should also be kept in mind here that the explanation of this Hadith which can be made while keeping before the welfare of Muslims all over the world, can also be used for taking guidance from, while keeping before the situation of the country. However it is needed in the current situation that in the light of this Hadith more should be thought about the regional welfare as it is the base from where stability, brotherhood and general welfare stem and it can be presented as an example at the national and international level.

Take the sub-division of Wana for example; here we face a lot of problems but we did not lose heart and the efforts for fetching peace in the region continued by people from various walks of life and as a result that situation turned around to normalcy to a larger extent regarding law and order situation. And the occurrence of one or a few incident is

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not so worrisome because in tribal areas it often happened. But if we continued toward the welfare of the area in such a way than there is no doubt about it that it will have far fetching positive effects, the results of which will reveal soon.

At the same time if someone claim that all these positive results of considerable peace in the region is due to him and it is he who saved the region from devastation and destruction and shut his eyes to the joint efforts made by prominent people of the area in this regard than it will be a sheer violence to the fact. There will also be a danger of harm to the peaceful environment as well. No doubt that the role of some of he people in bringing peace to the region might have been very important than others but if the joint thinking did not existed in favor of peace in the area than it was difficult to achieve this aim.

Likewise those people who make efforts for the smooth functioning of day to day affairs of the society both at regional and national level are appreciable because the society is also like a single body and there is a role of every one to play in it including cultivators, blacksmith, mason, doctor, teacher and shopkeeper etc., all these characters are respectable in their own sphere of duties.

The same thinking should also exist regarding various schools of thought. Some people follow Hanafi, others Shafi, and still further some follow Deobandi, Brailvi, Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal-Jamat, and Shitte schools of thought. The wisdom from Islamic point of view envisages that no one should say that so and so is wayward and so and so is on the right path. During the long course of time, is any of the schools of thought ever made a success in bringing round considerable number of people from other school of thought to their side? If it did not happened so far, and on the contrary of that the situation is stretching toward tension, so there remains no logic in stressing upon such things.

How many people suffer due to sectarian tension and how many are made homeless in this regard is known to all. Differences between Deobandi and Brailvi schools of thought are deliberately aired across the country and it is presented in a shape as if denying one another and to humble the other sect is a big service rendered to Islam. Though both the sects are followers of Imam Abu Khanifa (May Allah bless him) school of thought and if there is any difference of opinion among them it is limited to meager points only. So it can not be justified to create hatred between such a large section of population of the Muslim community because of these pity points.

The history of differences between Shitte and Sunni schools of though spread over the last1300 years and the way it incurred losses to the Muslim community are out of measure to calculate. It is also part of the history as to what kind of destructions and havoc was done due to the Shitte and Sunni factor after the creation of Pakistan. And so like the devastation it brought on Iraq, which is still continue and no one knows as to when it will end, has shake the whole Muslim community across the world.

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The lesson for the Muslim community to learn from keeping some work in either low or high profile according to the needs of the time:

Respected fellows! One should not misunderstand the things I told you here. One should not think in such perspective that in the religion of Islam there is no importance or priority attached to various actions done in various times or done by various persons.

It is one of the basic theme of Islamic teachings that due to the changing conditions some of the actions get more importance to do and whosoever do it is accorded high stand among the people.

For example, the prophet Muhammad (SAW) was asked;

( )

Translation: “what is of the best of Islam?”

The holy prophet replied that, “the best of Islam is that no one (Muslims) is hurt by the hand or tongue of another Muslim”.

The like there is another Hadith of the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW);

Hadith: ( )

Translation: A person asked the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) as to what is the best of Islam? The prophet replied that, “the best of Islam is that you serve meal to a hungry person and pay Salam to everyone either you know him or not”.

At some other occasion Abdullah bin Masud (May Allah be pleased with him) asked the prophet Muhammad (SAW),

Hadith: ( ),

Translation: “Hazrat Abdullah bin Masud (May Allah be pleased with him) says that he asked the prophet Muhammad (SAW) a question as to what is the best of act of a person? The holy prophet replied saying, to offer in time prayers is best of worship. Then (Abdullah bin Masud) asked and what is the best of act after that? The holy prophet said, to do favor with ones parents (is best of the act). Then (Abdullah bin Masud) asked for the third time as to what is best of the act after that? The prophet Muhammad (SAW) replied, to do ‘Jihad’ (holy war) in the way of Allah with infidels”.

Now the question arise here is that the guider of the Muslim community is asked a question about best of the acts on various occasion and the prophet Muhammad (SAW) answered differently from one another. What is the lesson for the Muslim community in

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it to learn? The answer is that either it is due to the change of conditions which is why the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) answered differently or by watching the condition of the person questioning, the prophet of Islam answered differently.

Perhaps it may be so that the condition of the first person who asked the prophet of Islam as to what is best of Islam, have caused some suffering or pain for others on various occasions or there may be some people present on the occasion of the question asked by the person, which have such shortcomings, or it may be the saying of the prophet belonging to that era wherein the onslaught of the opposing people have become weak and the need was felt that there should be focus, henceforth, on creating environment of Islamic brotherhood to give internal stability to the society.

It is because if the Muslims are after hurting one another than along with rendering the Muslim society hollow from within, it also creates negative passions in the heart of Non-Muslims which in turn hurt the Islamic message of its universality.

In the second Hadith mentioned above, the stressed has been given on cooperating with poor and needy person and to offer Salam to everyone just for the sake of propagation of Islamic brotherhood. The imperative thing is that even in the presence of other obligatory worships of great importance, paying Salam to everyone that meant to pray for ones safety and also means that one announces peacefulness for someone on which he offer Salam, is of vital importance in its own place.

Likewise if in a given society people have considerations for needy and helpless person than it not only thrive passions of brotherhood but also help address various social issues as well. To leave aside paying the non-obligatory alms, if the passion for paying the obligatory alms is made alive among the people than we will never have faced the problems of poverty and helplessness that we confront today.

When we cast a look on the third Hadith, we mentioned above, than in the light of the principles of Hadith, there is probability that there may be lack of passion among the people sitting in the gathering (of holy prophet) or the person asking question himself, regarding arranging for collective prayers, serving parents or to offer physical or financial sacrifice for thwarting the aggressiveness of non-believers. Or it may also happen that the prophet of Islam has given the message to the Muslims of coming times not to let these passions become weak because in the times of the holy prophet the conditions regarding it were quite good.

Just think over it for a while as to what is the behavior of the new generation with their parents in the Muslim society of today rather in Waziristan also. As to how much we manage for offering five times prayers in a day which is an expression of faithfulness with Allah and his messenger; people consider us as the real lover of Islam but do we ever think over it as to how much consideration is found in the hearts of the youths for offering their prayers?

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Take Jihad (holy war) is another case. What was the role of our forefathers in this regard and what is our role today. During the initial times Islam give much more importance to Jihad because of the aggressiveness of non-believers and stressed on preparing for it according to the needs of the time so that by watching the preparation of Muslims in this regard the need of war may not come. But if the non-believers do not come to their senses even than, then there should be such passion of preparedness for Jihad that they (non-believers) may get a lesson from it. It is like as if Jihad is important thing to do so like preparation for it is also an important thing to do. But the Muslim community has forgotten the lesson and get involved in merry makings only. That is why in the last few centuries the Non Muslims made well preparations day in and day out against their enemies but the Muslims remained in oblivion regarding all these developments and what is going to happen to them today is the result of punishment for them for being ignorant to the teachings of Quran and the messenger.

And it happened that after ignored (jihad) by the ruling class, the reaction came from the masses and now it is proving very difficult for the ruling class to curb the same. So a tendency spread widely that it is becoming hard to guess as to what is going to happen in the future due to it.

Yes! There can be a solution that if the leaders of the Muslim countries are unable to suppress the passions of the masses than the Non-Muslims aught to bring change in their attitude. They must think over ending the causes of such reaction with a seriousness of purpose so may so the sole abode in shape of earth may be saved from devastation and destruction.

It is lamentable to say that despite the great development made by Western countries and their high stand in knowledge they never come to know as to why such things happen and if they know it than they are shutting their eyes to the fact. They must remember it that the responsibility of destruction of this Allah given beautiful world will lay with them.

Now I tell you here that the like the prophet of Islam give importance to various acts on various occasions so it is also possible that the Muslims working in various departments of the religion may deserve high stand for the time being than the others as perhaps working in such department may have get due importance because of the changing needs of the time.

The like when Englishmen get control of the Indo-Pak and shattered the whole system of religious seminaries (Madrasa’s) there arise the important need of the time to re-establish the Madrasa system which is meant for safeguarding the religion of the Muslims. Today we can see that if Hindustan survived of becoming second Spain so it is because of the great role of Madrasa’s in this regard.

Similarly whenever the unawareness among the people about the basic tenants of Islam, their lack of heed toward praying from Allah as well as the need of spreading the

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message of Islam to Non-Muslims was felt than the mission of preaching was started on some specific grounds.

Likewise once there was the increasing importance of doing Jihad in the wake of Russian occupation of Afghanistan and due to the increasing atrocities on Muslims of other countries and the Muslims did take part in it. But the passion of Jihad created among the Muslim youth as a reaction started crossing its limit with due course of time in various manifestation. That is why it is now needed in the light of the Islamic teachings that such passions may be bring to moderation.

Anyhow the above mentioned explanation of the Hadith’s of the holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) makes it clear that the prophet of Islam is like a physician and like a doctor suggest various prescriptions to patients of various nature and tell them various preventive measures for safeguard against diseases so like that the prophet of Islam has told the people various acts to do on various occasions according to their conditions.

Sectarian differences should not be allowed to cause mutual quarrel:

Respected listeners! The world of today has become like a family wherein one will have to come into relationship with followers of Imam Shafi and other time with people related to Imam Malik school of thought and off course there will be certain people following none.

Now if we allow for developing quarrel over such kind of differences among various schools of thought and it cast us into our relationship with one another, than you people are the best judges as to how much it will harm the interest of the Muslim community. And the people having bad intentions for the Muslims will certainly find an opportunity to further fuel these differences.

The best example of putting aside differences of various schools of thoughts can be found on the occasion of pilgrimage. On that occasion all the people professing various schools of thoughts get together in ‘Masjid-i-Haram’. There come Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamat, Ahl-i-Tashee, Deobandi, Brailvi and followers of the four Imams are also present on the occasion. Some one say ‘Amin’ with high pitch of voice and the other silently but no body even think on sectarian lines over there and it do not occur to the mind as well. There (on the occasion of Hajj) every body remains thoughtful that he may not commit such an act which may cause inconvenience to others that may make others unhappy.

Now the question arise here is that that whether we should express such attitude only on the occasion of performing pilgrimage and whether it is not binding on us that after learning such behavior during pilgrimage we may follow the same way in our own areas and region.

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The thing to be lamented is that we have not understood the real spirit of Islamic teachings up to this date and we do offer worship but formally and it does not bring any change in our practical lives.

When I was in London for treatment purpose, besides several other questions I was also asked as to whether there is sectarianism in Waziristan or not? They meant the differences between various schools of thought, like Deobandi and Brailvi etc. I replied to their question saying, no, with the grace of Allah our area is all clear of such things. Though when I come back here after the treatment there were considerable prints of Brailvi sect in the area but by the grace of Allah, all such things come to an end and nothing like minor impressions of the movement remained here.

The conditions of Hangu and Khyber Agency are before us today. And what is not done there on the name of being Muslims in Hangu between Shia and Sunni and in Khyber Agency between Laskhar-i-Islam and Ansar-ul-Islam.

Respected listeners! About fifty years are going to lapse that I have been remained busy in delivering speeches on religious injunctions and extending advice as per requirements of the time. From the point of view of ‘Sharia’ (Islamic law) some time the blessings of fasting are discussed and the other time the importance of pilgrimage and alms giving are highlighted. Besides that topics on cultivation of trees while keeping its proper time, cultivation of orchards, field cultivation and the rewards and blessings of labor are discussed in perspective of Sharia.

After the Friday prayers some of the people lacking understanding present these speeches in a wrong way before preaching parties and tell them that the ‘Maulana Sahib’ today spoke against the preachers as he (Maulana) maintained that the real blessing lie in growing trees, cultivating orchards and fields and in legally earned livelihood.

Some of these people resort to the ‘Mujahidin’ brethrens to instigate them by saying that the real blessing is that of doing Jihad but the Maulana Sahib spoke against jihad in his Friday sermon today because he (Maulana) said that the things of rewards are doing labor, cultivation and raising orchards.

Such questions would not have raise in minds of these poor fellows if they could know that what did our holy prophet Muhammad (SAW) said on what occasion and of what kind of actions the prophet told their blessings.

Anyhow I was talking about the understanding of the religion as whosoever is given the understanding of the religion by Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah, meant that the creator of the universe has intended blessings for him.

May Allah Subhanahu Ta’llah give us the strength to understand and act upon the injunctions of the religion! (May it be so, again may it be so).

Ends…

Switch Off Your Mobile Sign In Bilal Mosque Door, Mysore, India by Eric Lafforgue

www.ericlafforgue.com

Reading Quran Sharif, Tooba masjid, DHA, Karachi by Ameer Hamza

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Minature Jholay, Tando Allah Yar by Ameer Hamza

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Women in Pakistan, most notably those of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab regions, go to various Tombs of Muslim Holy men (also called Sufi or Aulia in Urdu and Persian) and ask for manat. They place these miniature jholas at their favourite tombs and request for the birth of a child from ALLAH via the Saint. When their wish is granted, they fulfil their promises to the Saint. That could be anything from giving charity to visiting the Tomb for consecutive months or even years. Some women even dedicate their child to the Tomb of the Saint as its keeper. Wahabis and Deobandis, both products of British rule in Saudi Arab and India respectively, reject this belief system and name it shirk (a concept within Islam which means that you place someone on the same pedestal as ALLAH or GOD).

Jihad by SERVANT OF GOD ALLAH

If want to know about Islam search for Dr. Zakir Naik's lecture in the youtube.com

And if you are a bangalee then go to furqanmedia.wordpress.com to have the speeches given by Shiekhul Hadith Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani.

Muhajababes by Sean Long

Headscarf shop, Souk al-Hamidiyya. Only about half of Syrian women seemed to wear a headdress, and it only seemed to be Iranian Shia pilgrims going for the whole chador-style cover up. Without getting into a political debate over the wearing of headscarves, I think the wearing of coverings has to be viewed through a prism of general public modesty - in Syria even most men will keep their arms and legs covered up in public.

Women are relatively emancipated in Syria, and were long ago granted broadly equal rights under the law, though I think the enforcement of such laws may be a bit patchy, particularly in more rural/conservative areas. Still, unlike the Gulf States, there are plenty of high-profile female businesswomen, politicians and other public figures.

When it comes to women's rights, Syria is certainly not comparable to, say, Scandinavia, but it is most emphatically not a pervasively misogynistic society as per Wahabbist Saudi Arabia or the Deobandi areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It struck me as being somewhat like Italy or Greece must have been like until very recently.

Old man in contemplation, Tooba masjid, Karachi by Ameer Hamza

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Jamia tur Rasheed . by Sohaib Jamil

Dariya Daulat Palace of the muslim sultan Tipu and its gardens, Srirangapatna, India by Eric Lafforgue

Srirangapatna is an island in the river Kaveri, about 14kms from Mysore. In Srirangapatna is the Dariya Daulat Palace (Summer Palace) that is set amidst beautiful gardens called Daria Daulat Bagh. Tippu Sultan popularly known as the "Tiger of Mysore", built this palace in 1784

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (3) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Mansoora - Jamat e Islami by Ameer Hamza

One of the largest religious school and boarding services are provided free of cost at Mansoora, headquarter of the Jamaat-e-Islami organization, which was previously involved, alongiwith Osama bin Laden and Taliban, in the Jihad against the infidel Soviets. And after the fall of Soviets, against the Americans. It was probably here - and at other such main centers - where the likes of Osama and Al Zahwari poured their collected funds worth millions of dollars. It was here where training to the to-be Jihadis was provided along with solid funding. People from this school went to Kashmir and Afghanistan to wage Jihad against Infidels and against fellow Muslims whom they thought weren't up to their own standards. Now Osama, their main supplier of weapons and dollars, is dead. But Jamaat goes on.

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (2) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (7) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Main entrance and pool Tooba masjid, Karachi by Ameer Hamza

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Tooba masjid is located at Korangi road, Defence Housing Society, phase 1, Karachi. It is popularly regarded as having the largest free standing dome mosque in the World, with a diameter of 236 feet. The construction was started in 1966 by Macdonald Layton and Constain construction firm and was finished in 1969. It has a capacity of around 30,000 worshipers of whom 5,000 can pack inside the dome structure.

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34--Deobandi Kalima Risala Al-imdad musalamo k kalma say juda by darulaloom Deoband

32 by Saifullah Hanfi

The prayer of Ish'a (offered at night) by Ghulam-e-Alahazrat

This is the uniqueness of the Ummah of Hazrat Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم

Barelviat Kya hai (1) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelviat Kya hai ?

A masterpiece from the writtings of Imam Ahmad Raza by Ghulam-e-Alahazrat

A sample of the prose written by Alahazrat Imam Ahmad Raza

Barelviat Kya hai (4) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelviat Kya hai ?

Barelviat Kya hai (3) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelviat Kya hai ?

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (8) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (14) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Jihad fi sabilillah by SERVANT OF GOD ALLAH

If want to know about Islam search for Dr. Zakir Naik's lecture in the youtube.com

And if you are a bangalee then go to furqanmedia.wordpress.com to have the speeches given by Shiekhul Hadith Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani.

Ulama should be more responsible than ordinary people by Ghulam-e-Alahazrat

Ulama should be more responsible than ordinary people

O' the glittering concluding couplet of the poem of prophethood by Ghulam-e-Alahazrat

O' the glittering concluding couplet of the poem of prophethood

You have made this poem af first couplet which is full of light.

It means that Hazrat Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم is the last prophet of Allah.

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (18) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

About the time of "Zawal" by Ghulam-e-Alahazrat

A common mistage about the word "Zawal"

The wisdom of the last prophet of Allah (Hazrat Muhammad صلي الله عليه وسلم) by Ghulam-e-Alahazrat

The wisdom of the whole world is nothing as compared to that of the last Messenger of Allah.

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (5) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Muhammad the last prophet by SERVANT OF GOD ALLAH

If want to know about Islam search for Dr. Zakir Naik's lecture in the youtube.com

And if you are a bangalee then go to furqanmedia.wordpress.com to have the speeches given by Shiekhul Hadith Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani.

Barelviat Kya hai (2) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelviat Kya hai ?

Husband is allowed to carry her wife's funeral by Ghulam-e-Alahazrat

Husband is allowed to carry her wife's funeral

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (10) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (6) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Sunni Tehreek K Ishthar Ka Jawab (19) by Saifullah Hanfi

Barelvi Sunni Tahreek k 5,000,00 k Challenge ka Jawab or Ahlehaq ki taraf Say 100,000,00 ka Challenge...(MUST READ)

Jhola as Man'at, Sindh by Ameer Hamza

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Such jholas are found across many of the Mazars (Tombs of Muslim Saints) in Pakistan. These are kept by the infertile women and women asking for a male child. When the child is born, the women come to the Mazar to pay their respects to the Saint along with sweets, which are then distributed among those who are present. People belonging to Wahabbi and Deobandi sects within Sunni Islam consider this as heresy and often are at loggerheads with the opposing Barelvi sect.

The Sunni Madrsa .. by firoze shakir photographerno1

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"Madrasa" (Arabic: مدرسة‎, madrasah, pl. مدارس, madāris, Turkish: Medrese) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious (of any religion). Variously transliterations appear: madrasah, madarasaa, medresa, madrassa, madraza, medrese, etc. In the West, the word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the Islamic religion, though this may not be the only subject studied. Not all students in madrasas are Muslims; there is also a modern curriculum.[1] In Bosnia it's called medresa, and it means islamic high school. In Bangladesh the term is written as "Madrasha" or "Madrasah" and it means only institutions where Muslim students only read. Except muslims, no followers of any other religions are not allowed to study here. In Bangladesh, there are two types of Madrasah namely, Kawmi Madrasah and Alia Madrasah.

ndia[edit]

In India the majority of these schools follow the Hanafi school of thought. The religious establishment forms part of the mainly two large divisions within the country, namely the Deobandis, who dominate in numbers (of whom the Darul Uloom Deoband constitutes one of the biggest madrasas) and the Barelvis, who also make up a sizeable portion (Sufi-oriented). Some notable establishments include: Al Jamiatul Ashrafia, Mubarakpur, Manzar Islam Bareilly, Jamia Nizamdina New Delhi, Jamia Nayeemia Muradabad which is one of the largest learning centres for the Barelvis. The HR[clarification needed] ministry of Government of India has recently[when?] declared that a Central Madrasa Board would be set up. This will enhance the education system of madrasas in India. Though the madrasas impart Quranic education mainly, efforts are on to include Mathematics, Computers and science in the curriculum.

Expansion

After the British occupation of India and the emergence of Darul Ulum Manazar-e Islam Bareilly Sharif, Indian Muslim Scholars left India to establish madrasas in other regions of the world. Some of the most notable of these madrasas are Darul Ulum Holocombe, which produced scholars such as Sheik Ibrahim Memon Madani, or Darul Uloom Al-Madania. These offshoot schools symbolise an emotional drive based upon both religion and patriotism that is not evident elsewhere.[citation needed]

Madrasas and Arabic Colleges in Kerala

Main article: Education in Kerala § Madrasas and Arabic Colleges

The Arabic and Islamic educational system has also become a channel for employment in the Middle East in modern times in Kerala.[76] Originating in 8th century madrasas for primary children, Arabic and Islamic schooling in Kerala was patronised and funded by the British colonial government.

Today, the system of Arabic and Islamic education has grown and further integrated with Kerala government administration. In 2005, an estimated 6,000 Muslim Arabic teachers taught in Kerala government schools, with over 500,000 Muslim students. State-appointed committees, not private mosques or religious scholars outside the government, determine the curriculum and accreditation of new schools and colleges. Primary education in Arabic and Islamic studies is available to Kerala Muslims almost entirely in after-school madrasa programs - sharply unlike full-time madrasas common in north India, which may replace formal schooling. Arabic colleges (over eleven of which exist within the state-run University of Calicut and the Kannur University) provide B.A. and Masters' level degrees. At all levels, instruction is co-educational, with many women instructors and professors.[77] Islamic education boards are independently run by the following organizations, accredited by the Kerala state government: Samastha Kerala Islamic Education Board, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.[78]

With Malayam rather than Urdu as the lingua franca of Kerala Muslims, these madrasas and colleges are relatively unknown and unlinked from Urdu-based madrasas in the rest of India, due to the linguistic barrier.[77]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrasa

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