All posts by tabsir

The Wives (make that Wife) of the Prophet

Muhammad, Qur'an, Traditions (hadith literature)

[Webshaykh’s Note: Revisionism is found in all religions. I recently came across a blog posting that seeks to restore the marital status of Muhammad to one wife at a time, although it appears to be more an attack on at-Tabari, Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham. I post the commentary not because I agree with it, but as an example of the variety of views held by Muslims in representing the Prophet Muhammad.]

THE PROPHET (S) HAD ONLY ONE WIFE AT A TIME by Dr. Shabbir Ahmed, The Quran as it Explains Itself, August 30th, 2009

THE PROPHET (S) HAD ONLY ONE WIFE AT A TIME

MARRIAGE WITH HAZRAT AYESHA 622 CE:
Contrary to the Imamist propaganda, the exalted Prophet had no more than one wife at a time. And Hazrat Ayesha was a sister, not daughter of Hazrat Abu Bakr. The Prophet (S) did not marry for three years after Hazrat Khadijah’s demise in Makkah three years before Hijrah. Hazrat Ayesha was the widow of a martyr, Saleh bin Saleh Al-’Ataib. She was 48 years old at the time of marriage to the exalted Prophet. Sahaba Kiraam including Hazrat Abu Bakr strongly recommended that the Prophet (S) and she got into the solemn union of marriage. The blessed wedding took place in 622 CE when Muhammad (S) was 52 years old. Kitab-e-Dalail-e-Nabawwut Syedna Muhammad (S), by Abdul Jabbar Fatimi, written 150 years before Tabari, the first ever ‘canonized’ historian. Azwaaj-in-Nabi wal-Ashaab, by Sheikh Hammad bin Hakam. The rest is nothing but slanderous imagination of the Zoroastrian “Imam” Tabari and the Jewish biographer Ibn Ishaq and his Parsi follower Ibn Hisham. Continue reading The Wives (make that Wife) of the Prophet →

Ramadan Around the Globe

Islamic Rituals, Photography


A vendor of headscarfs waits for customers in the 4th day of Ramadan at a market in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 25, 2009. (Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images)

The Boston Globe published a series of excellent photographs of Muslims around the world as they prepared for Ramadan this year. There is a total of 39 photographs and these are well worth looking at. Click here to go to the website.

Muslims after 9/11

Islam in America, Islamophobia 101, Osama Bin Laden

Muslims Widely Seen As Facing Discrimination

Views of Religious Similarities and Differences

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, September 9, 2009

Overview

Eight years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Americans see Muslims as facing more discrimination inside the U.S. than other major religious groups. Nearly six-in-ten adults (58%) say that Muslims are subject to a lot of discrimination, far more than say the same about Jews, evangelical Christians, atheists or Mormons. In fact, of all the groups asked about, only gays and lesbians are seen as facing more discrimination than Muslims, with nearly two-thirds (64%) of the public saying there is a lot of discrimination against homosexuals.

The poll also finds that two-thirds of non-Muslims (65%) say that Islam and their own faith are either very different or somewhat different, while just 17% take the view that Islam and their own religion are somewhat or very similar. But Islam is not the only religion that Americans see as mostly different from their own. When asked about faiths other than their own, six-in-ten adults say Buddhism is mostly different, with similar numbers saying the same about Mormonism (59%) and Hinduism (57%). Continue reading Muslims after 9/11 →

Saudiana Jones vs the “Days of Ignorance”

Archaeology and Antiquities, Islam and Christianity, Saudi Arabia

Digging up the Saudi past: Some would rather not

by Donna Abu-nasr, AP, August 30th, 2009

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as “the rose-red city, ‘half as old as time,’” and which provided the climactic backdrop for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

But far fewer know Madain Saleh, a similarly spectacular treasure built by the same civilization, the Nabateans.

That’s because it’s in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives are deeply hostile to pagan, Jewish and Christian sites that predate the founding of Islam in the 7th century.

But now, in a quiet but notable change of course, the kingdom has opened up an archaeology boom by allowing Saudi and foreign archaeologists to explore cities and trade routes long lost in the desert.

The sensitivities run deep. Archaeologists are cautioned not to talk about pre-Islamic finds outside scholarly literature. Few ancient treasures are on display, and no Christian or Jewish relics. A 4th or 5th century church in eastern Saudi Arabia has been fenced off ever since its accidental discovery 20 years ago and its exact whereabouts kept secret. Continue reading Saudiana Jones vs the “Days of Ignorance” →

Rape and Shariah Law

Bangladesh, Ethics, Gender and Sexuality, Islamic Law, Pakistan

HOW SHARIA LAW PUNISHES RAPED WOMEN

by Hasan Mahmud, Mudugnet.com, November 20, 2008.

On October 30, 2008, the United Nations condemned the stoning to death of Aisha Duhulow, a 13-year-old girl who had been gang-raped and then sentenced to death by a Sharia court for fornication (Zina). She was screaming and begging for mercy, but when some family members attempted to intervene, shots were fired by the Islamic militia and a baby was killed.

Local Sharia courts in Bangladesh regularly punish raped minor girls and women by flogging and beating them with shoes.[1] Similar cases of punishing raped women are Mina v. the State, Bibi v. the State and Bahadur v. the State.[2] Sharia courts in Pakistan have punished thousands of raped women by long term imprisonment.[3]

You might think that such horrific barbarity cannot be the real Sharia law; that it is a misapplication of the law by ignorant clergy. Sadly, neither is true. Continue reading Rape and Shariah Law →

Monkeying Around in Old Aden

Aden, Animals, Photography, Yemen

Here is an old photograph entitled “Donkey Man with Trick Monkey,” taken in Aden during the days of the British protectorate. It is not just any kind of “monkey,” of course. Sitting on the donkey is Papio hamadryas, the baboon, usually called rubâh in Yemen. It appears, in deference to the British colonial presence, that the monk is wearing britches.

Saudi- Iranian War fought in Sa’ada

Huthis, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism Issue, Yemen


Destruction of a minaret in the recent fighting at Sa’da, Yemen

by Hakim Almasmari, Yemen Post, August 31, 2009

With every day that passes, we come close to believe that the war in Sa’ada is a Saudi-Iranian war, not a Yemeni one.
Both foreign countries are desperate for more regional power while both are also worried of losing greatly. Saudi Arabia does not want Houthis controlling northern parts of Yemen for one main reason; southern Saudi has a large number of Shiite’s which could make them turn against their country as well. Saudi also fears that Shiite’s already have a militant group in the north of Arabia (Hezbollah), and are now looking for one in the south of Arabia (Houthis). Saudi Arabia paid billions of dollars to keep Hezbollah out of rule in Lebanon and somewhat came out victorious for the meantime, and is doing the same in Yemen. Continue reading Saudi- Iranian War fought in Sa’ada →