Gems for the last 10 nights of Ramadan

I wanted to share these gems.

Salman al-Farsi narrated that the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:

‘Indeed, Allah is Shy and Beneficent. His is Shy when His servant raises his hands to Him (in a duaa) to return them empty, disappointed!’

-Ahmad, Abu Dawud #1488, at-Tirmidhi #3556, Ibn Majah #3865 and others

photo credit: iruh

Hadith Qudsi, Allah said:

O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great at it.

-Saheeh. Related by at-Tirmidhi

Weird reasons why people fast and what your real reason should be

It was lunch time and we were eating, well, except for the host.  She told me she was fasting because it was Friday and every Friday she fasts, out of habit. 

I’ve seen weird things in my life but this one confused me.  A few conversations beforehand, I discovered that she didn’t believe in God anymore.  So, the obvious perplexing question I had was why she would keep fasting if she was not doing it for God??

I guess because as Muslims, we get this question a lot.  Why do you fast in Ramadan?  I usually say that we do it for God to gain piety as the Quran says,

“O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed upon those before you in order that you may attain taqwa.”[Surah al-Baqarah 2:183].

Notice that I translated “taqwa” as piety.  Well, that’s not quite accurate.  Recently, we were all gathered around and the same question came up, how do you translate this rich Arabic word “taqwa” into English?

Some say it is piety, some say fear, others say it is obedience to God.  I’ve heard many translations but nothing quite encompasses the original Arabic word.  The funny thing though is that if you leave it untranslated and just say taqwa, most Muslims know exactly what you mean by the word and sense a deep emotional feeling.

Here’s a good translation of taqwa I found:

Taqwa is obedience to God hoping for the mercy of God and it is staying away from the disobedience of God fearing the punishment of God. 

And just by fasting properly, you can automatically gain taqwa.  Before I fasted every year, I never imagined that would be the result, but when you do it properly, you would be amazed at how much taqwa you gain.

 But do you think that the lady who fasts every Friday out of habit and not for God can gain taqwa?  Most likely not. 

People fast for weird reasons but if we want to feel full and take the maximum benefit from things in life, we need to know why we do things and not just do them because our ancestors did so or society tells us to do so.

——————

photo credit: diekatrin

A letter from Romania

Now that we’ve been working for the Islamic community in Greece, I’ve been thinking about other Muslim communities in Europe a lot lately, especially the forgotten ones like in the Balkan countries.  For some reason, I keep coming back to Romania and just today, I stumbled across an article about the Muslim community of Romania!

I was touched by this article below and how similar it is to the situation in Greece.

 

Source:  The Balkan Chronicle

There are many countries in the world where Islam springs to mind when they are mentoned, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Morrocco are just a few. There are many other lands Islam reached that many from amongst the Ummah may not be aware of, such as Western China, Greece, Southern Italy, Hungary and maybe even Austria. Romania is also one such land that many may not be aware lived under Islamic rule for 800 years. Many may not even know where Romania is, it is only 275 miles from Turkey.

In Europe Romania is infamous for Transylvania – home of Count Dracula. Whilt this character has assumed a position archetypal vampire in populer Western culture; the character is based upon Prince of Wallachia. Vlad III, who came to be known as the impaler. Historically, Vlad Dracula became infamous for his resistance against the Uthmani Khilafah and for the cruel punishments he inflicted upon his enemies.

Vlad Dracula was sent in 1475 with an army of Hungarian and Serbian soldiers to recapture Bosnia from the Uthmani Khilafah. Whilst the Uthmani Khilafah lost this initial battle, the Uthmani’s entered Wallachia in 1476 under the command of Mehmed II to recapture the lost lands. During the war, Vlad was killed and, according to some sources, his head was sent to Constantinople to discourage the other rebellions.

According to most sources in Romania, Islam first emerged when the Sufi leader Sari Saltik came to the region during the Byzantine epoch. The Islamic presence in Northern Dobruja was expanded by Uthmani Khilafah who oversaw successive immigration. In Wallachia and Moldavia, the two Danubian Principalities, the era of Uthmani’s did not accompany growth in the number of Muslims, whose presence there remained small. Also the battles between the Uthmani’s and Habsburg Empire led to many Muslim to move to the Islamic heatlands.

Romania emerged in 1859 as a union of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Northern Dobruja became part of Romania following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. However during the the communist regime, Romanian Muslims were subject to a number of harsh measures, especially supervision by the state. The Ummah in Romania managed to hold on to the deen and were able after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 to begin the open dawah to Islam.

Islam in Romania is followed by only 0.3 percent of population, this equates to around 60,000 people, but has more than 800 years of tradition in Northern Dobruja, a region on the Black Sea coast which was part of the Uthmani Khilafah for almost five centuries (ca. 1420-1878). In present-day Romania, most adherents to Islam belong to the Tatar and Turkish ethnic communities.

The vast majority of Romanians are Sunnis who adhere to the Hanafi madhab.

97% of Romanian Muslims are residents of the two counties forming Northern Dobruja: eighty-five percent live in Constanţa County, and twelve percent in Tulcea County.  The rest mainly inhabit urban centers such as Bucharest, Brăila, Călăraşi, Galaţi, Giurgiu, and Drobeta-Turnu Severin.

In all, Romania has as many as eighty mosques, or, according to records kept by the Romanian Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, seventy-seven. The city of Constanţa, with its Carol I Mosque and the location of the Muftiyat, is the center of Romanian Islam; Mangalia, near Constanţa, is the site of a monumental mosque, built in 1525. The two mosques are state-recognised historical monuments, as are the ones in Hârşova, Amzacea, Babadag and Tulcea. There are also 108 Islamic cemeteries in Romania.

After the Romanian Revolution in 1989, when Romania left the Eastern Communist camp native Romanians had the chance to discover Islam and taste its fruits. Today as many as 3,000 Muslim are converts to Islam and the number is growing day by day. Being converts they faced the particular problem in a society, in that society was not prepared to accept them. Most groups in Romania show little will to support Muslims generally. For these reasons the Ummah in Romania were forced to create an organisation capable of defending and maintaining the needs of the Ummah in Romania. The Alliance of Romanian Muslim was set up in order to protect and defend the Ummah and Islam in Romania.

When Islam came to Europe the continent was living in the dark ages. Eastern Europe was steeped in superstition, magic and sorcery. Islam came and brought a new rational belief that took the region from its misery and gave their lives purpose. Whilst in mainland Europe the challenge is to defend the deen, in Romania and many parts of Eastern Europe once again the people need liberation from capitalism and nationalism and it is here the Muslim of Romania are at the forefront carrying on the work the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم started and the Uthmani Khilafah expanded. Whilst the Ummah face the same issues globally, the Ummah from Romania stand shoulder to shoulder with the Ummah all over the world and await the day Allah sends his blessings.

Muslim female judge breaks barriers

(Watch YouTube video)

Μαζικές διαδηλώσεις για την επίθεση

Source: Ethnos

Τη διεθνή κατακραυγή προκάλεσε η αιματηρή επίθεση του Ισραήλ εναντίον της διεθνούς νηοπομπής με ανθρωπιστική βοήθεια προς τη Γάζα. Εκτός από τις μαζικές διαδηλώσεις που έλαβαν χώρα στην Ελλάδα και στην Τουρκία, χιλιάδες άνθρωποι στον αραβικό κόσμο αλλά και στην Ευρώπη ξεχύθηκαν χθες στους δρόμους για να διαμαρτυρηθούν. Ο πρόεδρος της Παλαιστινιακής Αρχής Μαχμούντ Αμπάς κήρυξε τριήμερο πένθος στα Παλαιστινιακά Εδάφη.

Στο Αμάν της Ιορδανίας περισσότεροι από 2.000 διαδηλωτές με ιορδανικές και παλαιστινιακές σημαίες διαμαρτυρήθηκαν φωνάζοντας συνθήματα, όπως «Θάνατος στο Ισραήλ» και ζητώντας από τις Αρχές το κλείσιμο της ισραηλινής πρεσβείας στο Αμάν και την απέλαση του Ισραηλινού πρεσβευτή. Και στη Βηρυτό και στους 12 καταυλισμούς προσφύγων στον Λίβανο ήταν χιλιάδες οι διαδηλωτές που ζητούσαν το κλείσιμο των ισραηλινών πρεσβειών στις αραβικές χώρες και αναρωτιόνταν: «Πού είναι η διεθνής κοινότητα; Πού είναι τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα;».

Μεγάλη διαδήλωση έλαβε χώρα χθες το απόγευμα και στη Βρετανία. Σε μερικές χιλιάδες εκτιμώνται οι διαδηλωτές στο Παρίσι, αλλά και σε μεγάλες γερμανικές πόλεις, όπως η Φρανκφούρτη, το Βερολίνο και το Μόναχο, ενώ διαδηλώσεις έλαβαν χώρα σε Ρώμη, Κύπρο και Βρυξέλλες, αλλά και σε κάθε γωνιά της «γηραιάς ηπείρου».

Πορείες σε Αθήνα – Θεσσαλονίκη
Κύμα αγανάκτησης στην Ελλάδα για το ρεσάλτο

 Μεγάλο ήταν το κύμα της αγανάκτησης των ατόμων που διαδήλωσαν χθες το απόγευμα έξω από την πρεσβεία του Ισραήλ στην Αθήνα, για την επιδρομή στον «Στόλο της Ελευθερίας».

Χιλιάδες άνθρωποι καταδίκασαν την επιδρομική επιχείρηση των Ισραηλινών και απαίτησαν να αφεθούν ελεύθεροι οι συλληφθέντες και να αρθεί ο αποκλεισμός της Γάζας. Οι διαδηλώσεις οργανώθηκαν από το ΚΚΕ, τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, οργανώσεις Παλαιστινίων που ζουν στην Ελλάδα, οργανώσεις της εξωκοινοβουλευτικής Αριστεράς, την Πρωτοβουλία «Ενα καράβι για τη Γάζα», το Δίκτυο για τα πολιτικά και κοινωνικά δικαιώματα, τη Συμμαχία «Σταματήστε τον πόλεμο», καθώς και ομάδες μεταναστών και προσφύγων, κυρίως από αραβικές χώρες.

Η πορεία και η συγκέντρωση του ΚΚΕ ολοκληρώθηκαν ειρηνικά στις 6.20 το απόγευμα. Ωστόσο, στη συγκέντρωση που διοργανώθηκε στη συνέχεια σημειώθηκαν επεισόδια. Το τμήμα της Λεωφόρου Κηφισίας, μπροστά από την πρεσβεία του Ισραήλ, μετατράπηκε σε πεδίο μάχης, όταν, λίγο πριν από τις 8, διάφορα άτομα επιχείρησαν να σπάσουν τον αστυνομικό κλοιό. Οι αστυνομικοί απάντησαν κάνοντας χρήση δακρυγόνων και χειροβομβίδων κρότου – λάμψης.

Ηρεμα και χωρίς να δημιουργηθούν προβλήματα ολοκληρώθηκε η πορεία που διοργάνωσε η Πρωτοβουλία για τη Γάζα στη Θεσσαλονίκη.

Αποτροπιασμός
Αγωνία για τους δύο Πρεβεζάνους

Αποτροπιασμός για την επίθεση των Ισραηλινών κατά των πλοίων που μετέφεραν ανθρωπιστική βοήθεια στη Γάζα και συνάμα αγωνία για την τύχη των δύο Πρεβεζάνων που βρίσκονται σ’ αυτή, επικρατούν στην πόλη της Πρέβεζας. Μέχρι αργά το βράδυ κανείς δεν είχε καταφέρει να επικοινωνήσει με τον γιατρό Χάλεντ Καμπάνι και τον κατασκευαστή μεταλλικών κτιρίων Στέλιο Τζίμα, μέλη της Επιτροπής Πρωτοβουλίας για τη στήριξη του Παλαιστινιακού Λαού, οι οποίοι συνόδευσαν τη βοήθεια που συγκέντρωσαν οι φορείς και οι κάτοικοι της Πρέβεζας. Σήμερα στις 8 το βράδυ, στο Εργατικό Κέντρο Πρέβεζας, η Επιτροπή Αλληλεγγύης του Παλαιστινιακού Λαού διοργανώνει συλλαλητήριο διαμαρτυρίας.

Διεθνής Αμνηστία
Εκκληση για  να ξεκινήσει έρευνα

Εκκληση στο Ισραήλ να ξεκινήσει άμεση, αξιόπιστη και ανεξάρτητη έρευνα για τις συνθήκες κάτω από τις οποίες δολοφονήθηκαν οι επιβάτες της νηοπομπής που μετέφερε ανθρωπιστική βοήθεια στη Λωρίδα της Γάζας απηύθυνε χθες η Διεθνής Αμνηστία. «Φαίνεται σαφώς ότι οι ισραηλινές δυνάμεις χρησιμοποίησαν υπερβολική βία», δήλωσε ο διευθυντής του προγράμματος έρευνας και δράσης της οργάνωσης για τη Μέση Ανατολή και τη Βόρεια Αφρική, Μάλκολμ Σμαρτ.

ΣΠΥΡΟΣ ΚΟΥΝΤΟΥΡΗΣ – ΕΡΗ ΠΑΝΣΕΛΗΝΑ

Δηλώσεις της συζύγου του προέδρου της μουσουλμανικής κοινότητας
 

«Ηταν έτοιμος ακόμα και να χάσει τη ζωή του»

«Βλέπω ότι γίνονται πορείες διαμαρτυρίας σε ολόκληρο τον κόσμο. Αυτό δείχνει ότι ο κόσμος έχει αρχίσει να δραστηριοποιείται».

Η Αννα Στάμου, σύζυγος του προέδρου της Μουσουλμανικής Κοινότητας Ναΐμ Ελγαντούρ, ο οποίος είναι από χθες αιχμάλωτος των Ισραηλινών, εκτιμά ότι η δολοφονική επίθεση μπορεί να αποτελέσει την αρχή μιας σειράς γεγονότων που θα συμβάλουν στη λύση του προβλήματος. Οπως λέει στο «Εθνος», ο σύζυγός της πίστευε ότι όλα τα ενδεχόμενα είναι ανοιχτά γι’ αυτό το ταξίδι. «Ηξερε τις προειδοποιήσεις των Ισραηλινών και έλαβε υπόψη του όλα τα πιθανά σενάρια.

Ενα από αυτά ήταν ακόμα και να χάσουν τη ζωή τους προσπαθώντας να φτάσουν στη Λωρίδα της Γάζας. Ηταν έτοιμος ακόμα και γι’ αυτό το ενδεχόμενο». Ο κ. Ελγαντούρ, λέει η σύζυγός του, δεν ήταν καθόλου ανήσυχος πριν ξεκινήσει το ταξίδι για τη Γάζα. «Η απόφασή του ήταν μονόδρομος από την αρχή γιατί πρόκειται για το όνειρο μιας ελεύθερης Μεσογείου που θα είναι προσπελάσιμη από όλους.

Ηταν έτοιμος πάντως να αντιμετωπίσει τα χειρότερα και τα χειρότερα ήρθαν». Η σύζυγος του Δημήτρη Πλειώνη, Δέσποινα, λέει και αυτή με τη σειρά της ότι ο σύντροφός της ήταν έτοιμος από καιρό για το ταξίδι χωρίς να υπολογίζει τις πιθανές συνέπειες. «Ηταν απολύτως ήρεμος, δεν είχε κανένα άγχος και πίστευε ότι όλα θα πάνε καλά» είναι τα λόγια της.

Στ. Βογιατζάκης

Muslims in the Balkans, now and then

I came across this promising website that seems to be a hub for Balkan news for Muslims and Islam.  As Greece is a part of the Balkan countries (South Eastern European countries), I find there are many similarities between Islam in Greece and Islam in the Balkan countries.

The website offers a mix between news, historical information and art, not to mention the good resource links it provides.

All in all, a good one-stop-shop to learn about Muslims in the Balkans, now and then.

Check it out:  www.balkanchronicle.com.

Paradise – A little poem

This is a little poem written by Amir from the Greeks Rethink team, for your entertainment.
Enjoy!

In this world everything
Yes everything I say
Does know it’s origin
And knows it’s final day

Nothing is a mystery
And everything is true
Dig out your consciousness
To see there’s only You

Remember, you are the Human
The manifested light
Fight your darkest demons
And the deep slumber, fight

Announce aloud publicly
For everyone to hear
That except our Lord The most High
There’s nothing else to fear

Don’t try to hide yourself
Reality surely is manifest
Don’t drown in your darkest lies
The light is in your chest

And do not – ever – doubt His Word
For He is The All-Wise
For through His Word is the true Peace
And by His Word your rise

Rise oh child of Adam
And don’t you ever look down
Walk the path of true success
The path that He has made for you
The path of Truth and Glory and Light
The path to Paradise

Kuwaiti European convention – photo gallery included

Διαβάστε στα Eλληνικά  

European Muslims, including the Greek team representing the Muslim Association of Greece, participated in a significant grand convention in Kuwait from February 27 to March 11, 2010 organized by the Islam Presentation Committee at the Kuwait Regency Hotel to educate Muslim converts and give them ways they can benefit their communities and societies they live in.

Famous speakers from several countries and from Kuwait as well came to give us their expertise each one at his field. During the two weeks, Europeans from several countries (UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Greece) had the opportunity to study but also be in contact with the Kuwaiti society and its structure through many enriching activities and field trips.

We visited universities, youth centers, discussion centers, school activities centers, centers for education of the foreigners of Kuwait and we realized the great emphasis  that was on education and that explains the spiritual growth of their society.

We had the honor to meet people that we normally study their books and DVDs, people that normally would be impossible to meet all together, but this happened thanks to the fine organizing.

The famous Tareq Suwaidan was with us and gave a magnificent lecture. The director of Bridges Foundation and member of International Union of Muslim Scholars, Fadel Soliman, came for a very significant two-day course.

Sheikh Sultan Bilam,  a famous lecturer from Bahrain, Dr. Musa Al Jowaiser from Kuwait, en expert on Psychology, Amal Abdulwahid from Kuwait, the coordinator of the entire project presented also a important course, Ahmed Al Mutawa lecturer from Kuwait, Sheikh Mohammed Daniel who also lives in Kuwait, Ebrahim Adsani general manager of the intercultural “Aware Center”, the accomplished lawyer Athari Al Abdaly, analyzing legal matters and in the end Faisal Al Zamil, chairman of IPC that organized the convention.

We visited magnificent mosques, warm houses with big families and the desert with the farms full of plants and animals.  Actually, Dr. Jassem Al Mutawa, sheikh, author of tens of books and director of Iqraa satellite channel, gave us an inspirational tour at his impressive biological farm.

We saw the traditional markets and the modern malls –same as in our countries – but above all we saw the warm hearts and the hospitality of every person, and you cannot compare this to any riches or luxuries.

The president of the Kuwait parliament was the one who honored us at the closing by presenting us our certificates.

The organizers wanted to give to the participants a real taste of the way of life in Kuwait along with the high quality education and they accomplished that. Everyone left with the best impressions looking forward to the next convention.

More media coverage:

Al-Anba

Arabic news coverage

Islam.gov.kw

Alaan

 

The hidden belief that can destroy your success

I noticed a trend amongst converts.  Before converting, many of them are climbing the corporate ladder.  After converting, it’s almost as if they think that if they continue to do that, they are not “as pious”.  In other words, get rid of wordly success so you can get afterlife success.

 

X     Be pious = afterlife success only

 

I don’t blame them.  Much of the reason why they adopt this concept is because many Muslims have this hidden limited belief and it carries over to the converts.

I was conducting a seminar this weekend where (on a side note) we discussed the same thing.  The sheikh in the room described that in Islam, the formula is actually this:

 

√    Be pious = afterlife + wordly success

 

The best believer is the one who is strong in their belief and puts it into action.  The best believer is not the one who sits at home and prays all day (although they would be rewarded for this) but the better one is the one who goes out and benefits society.

And that is what I have done.  Take a look how.

You’re so smart but sometimes you’re so dumb

Sometimes family members say to me, “You’re so smart but sometimes you’re so dumb!”  Well, part of that is because it doesn’t make sense for an educated person who looks like they have (or ‘had’) everything going for them just drop everything and embrace Islam - in their minds – to a religion that is ‘backwards’.  (Ok, the other part is because sometimes I just say dumb things :) ).

It all boils down to rethinking.

Mind sets, investigating and educating yourself.

Usually top experts are experts because they have a completely different mind set. 

• First, everyone thinks they are crazy.
• Then, some people attack them.
• Finally, people accept their ideas as the norm.

Just because ‘everyone’ does things one way, does that mean it’s the right way?

Smart people are smart because they step back and say, hmm, is this really the right way?  Let me educate myself and decide for myself.

What’s the difference between:

• a smart and dumb person?
• a poor and a rich person?
• a believer and a non-believer?

EDUCATION.

Then I got to thinking, if only people were educated on how sophisticated the Islamic system is, they wouldn’t think that I’m dumb in only this aspect of my life and smart in the rest.  If only they started to rethink like I did.  They would have it all. And that’s the whole point of Greeks Rethink.

Those who remember Allah (God) while standing, sitting and lying on their sides and think/ponder/reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, then cry out, ‘Our Lord! You have not created this in vain.  Glory to You! Save us from the punishment of fire. (Quran 3: 191)

 

 

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