On true thankfulness...

[The Prophet] David (peace be upon him) once said:

"My God, how can I thank You, when my thankfulness to You is itself a blessing from among Your gracious favors?"

So Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) conveyed to him by way of inspiration: "Now you have thanked Me indeed!"


- Sheikh Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (ra)


Too often, we look for Allah's blessings in the the form of reward, i.e. the products or outcomes of good deeds. What we too often fail to appreciate is that the real gifts of Allah are in being given the opportunity and means to do good. For example, rather than focusing on the reward we hope to receive by performing a good deed, we often overlook the fact that it is Allah who facilitated the entire situation to begin with! Thus, the real gift lies is in the desire, knowledge, opportunity and ability that we have been given to perform the act. When we are able to see in this manner, then gratitude to Allah takes on a new form: I don't hope for reward from fasting, but am grateful for even being given the opportunity and ability to fast; I don't hope for reward in praying, but am overwhelmed with gratitude and humility in being chosen by Allah to have the honor of bowing down to Him five times a day; I do not perform a service in hope of reward, but am awe-struck when I receive inspiration - seemingly from out of nowhere - to even want to do something good for someone. Thus, by being grateful for being given the opportunity to serve Allah is -- according to the great Sheikh -- the greater gratitude, if you will, that we should be striving and hoping for, insya-Allah...

A Muslim Response to 'Draw Muhammad Day'

A Muslim Response to 'Draw Muhammad Day'
By Nihad Awad

[Nihad Awad is national executive director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization. He may be contacted at: nawad@cair.com ]

I will be the first to defend anyone's right to express their opinion, no matter how offensive it may be to me. Our nation has prospered because Americans value and respect diversity.

But freedom of expression does not create an obligation to offend or to show disrespect to the religious beliefs or revered figures of others.

In reaction to the recent controversy over a depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in an episode of Comedy Central's "South Park," a Seattle cartoonist apparently declared May 20th to be "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day."

I say "apparently" because cartoonist Molly Norris -- the creator of the cartoon showing many objects claiming to be a likeness of the prophet -- now says she never intended to launch "Draw Muhammad Day."

On her web site, she has since posted a statement that reads in part: "I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.'...The cartoon-poster, with a fake 'group' behind it, went viral and was taken seriously...The vitriol this 'day' has brought out, of people who only want to draw obscene images, is offensive to the Muslims who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first place...I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be called off."

Norris even visited a mosque at the invitation of the local Muslim community.

The creator of a Facebook page dedicated to the day also repudiated the "inflammatory posts" it inspired. He said, "I am aghast that so many people are posting deeply offensive pictures of the Prophet...Y'all go ahead if that's your bag, but count me out."

Despite the cartoonist's and the Facebook page creator's seemingly sincere attempts to distance themselves from the fake event, Muslim-bashers and Islamophobes made sure the call to "draw Muhammad" went viral on the Internet. They are hoping to offend Muslims, who are generally sensitive to created images of the Prophet Muhammad or any prophet.

[The majority of Muslims believe visual representations of all prophets are inappropriate in that they distract from God's message and could lead to a kind of idol worship, something forbidden in Islam.]

So how should Muslims and other Americans react to this latest attempt by hate-mongers to exploit the precious right of free speech and turn May 20 into a celebration of degradation and xenophobia?

Before I answer that question, it must first be made clear that American Muslims value freedom of speech and have no desire to inhibit the creative instincts of cartoonists, comedians or anyone else.

The mainstream American Muslim community, including my own organization, has also strongly repudiated the few members of an extremist fringe group who appeared to threaten the creators of "South Park." That group, the origins and makeup of which has been questioned by many Muslims, has absolutely no credibility within the American Muslim community.

I, like many Muslims, was astonished to see media outlets broadcasting the views of a few marginal individuals, while ignoring the hundreds of mosques and Muslim institutions that have representatives who could have offered a mainstream perspective.

Next, one must examine how the Prophet Muhammad himself reacted to personal insults.

Islamic traditions include a number of instances in which the Prophet had the opportunity to retaliate against those who abused him, but refrained from doing so. He said, "You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness."

Even when the prophet was in a position of power, he chose the path of kindness and mercy. When he returned to Mecca after years of exile and personal attacks, he did not take revenge on the people who had reviled him and abused and tortured his followers, but instead offered a general amnesty.

In the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, God states: "Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for your Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path and who receive guidance." (16:125)

Another verse tells the prophet to "show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant." (7:199)

This is the guidance Muslims should follow as they express concern about an insulting depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, or of any other prophet of God.

Instead of reacting negatively to the bigoted call to support "Draw Muhammad Day," American Muslims -- and Muslims worldwide -- should use that and every other day as an opportunity to reach out to people of other faiths and beliefs to build bridges of understanding and respect.

The best and most productive response to bigoted campaigns like "Draw Muhammad Day" is more communication, not less communication -- including not restricting the free flow of ideas with measure like banning Facebook.

Research has shown that anti-Islam prejudice goes down when people interact with ordinary Muslims and have greater knowledge of Islam.

Therefore, the best reaction to those who would mock the Prophet Muhammad (or the religious symbols of any faith) might be a mosque open house for the local interfaith community, a community service activity organized by Muslims and involving people of other faiths, or a newspaper commentary describing the life, legacy and personal character of the prophet, which is the opposite of the calumny some people fabricate about him. This should be of concern to all decent and objective people.

We will all benefit if each of us -- whether Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu -- exhibits the common human decency required by our respective faiths.

Developing the Muslim Self Through Martial Arts

Developing the Muslim Self Through Martial Arts

By Hwaa Irfan

Al-jihad al-akbar the greater jihad, is the inner battle; the invisible war towards self development and unity of mind, body and soul. Many Islamic scholars view this as the prime ambition in Islam, for without this inner jihad, man’s will over his personal and public life is meaningless as man’s physical tendencies and weaknesses cannot be overcome. The modern exterior of life created by man has added ugliness where the signs of Allah (SWT) through nature once added beauty, meditation and reflection. The Qur’an states:

{…Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition…} (Surat ul Ra’d 13:11).

However, before the external changes (political and social) can take place, the internal must transpire first; otherwise it is all short lived.

In the past for Chinese Muslims, the martial arts were a means to bring the innerjihad into a tangible method of self development.

Many reports have shown that the proper learning of martial arts has helped troubled youths claim and earn self-respect and understanding. The enemy within is thus tamed and understood.

“A man’s enemies can be of more benefit to him than his brothers, for they draw attention to his faults from which he can then turn away.” – Ali ibn Abi Talib

Mind-Body-Spirit Union

Martial arts is seemingly a physical art form that has undergone many transformations over the years making it appear to focus on defense and attack. Yet in its truest form, as in Islam, it uses the physical world of man to understand the non-physical world to create a mind-body-spirit union.

Christian educator and theosophist Rudolph Steiner once pointed out that a great debt was owed by western natural science to the spiritual stream of what he called ‘Arabism’. He argued that Western natural science was the product of the Christian Crusades and Muslim Holy War in a martial age. It was during the battle for Christendom in Northern Spain that the works of ibn Sina (Avicenna) and others’ overwhelming belief in the transcendence of Allah (SWT) affected and influenced such prominent Christian scientists of the times such as Roger Bacon. Crusaders perceived Muslims as having a spiritual power and sense of unity that moved them with elemental force.

Kung fu is part of our long history as Muslims in seeking to learn and develop within ourselves. The word “Kung fu” actually means the ‘mastery of a difficult task to a standard of excellence’. It is the origin of most of the Asiatic martial arts, but focuses on the development of the complete person mentally and physically. The art of energy management, however, is not confined to Chinese martial arts forms which Muslims have helped to develop and even originate as some might claim!

Energy as in the life force directed through the human energy field in Chinese is called chi and shan. In Islam it is nafas and ruh. Used in spiritual cultivation, the direction of the life force plays a different role – the inner jihad.

Islam and the Martial Arts

Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia practice Muslim forms of martial arts like Silat. In China, where the Muslim place of worship is called Qing Zhen Si (Temples of Purity and Truth), Muslims have contributed to the development of chi kung and kung fu.

Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was the founder of the famous Ming Dynasty, and although he never proclaimed to be a Muslim, his six most trusted commanders were. They were Chang Yuchan, Hu Dahai, Mu Ying, Lan Yu, Feng Sheng and Ding Dexing. They were all wushu (Chinese for martial arts) masters. As commanders they defeated rebellious activities including that of the Mongols. A significant number of Muslims died between 1644 –1911 AD in the attempt to restore the Ming Dynasty, which was instituted to bring harmony and fellowship amongst all the different groups of China.

The leaders of the Hui, a Muslim minority of five million, called on the people to learn wushu as a “holy practice in the struggle for survival and self-improvement.” During the Lesser Bairam (Eid ul Fitr) and the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) birthday, the Hui local mosques held wushu contests or exhibitions. The Chinese martial arts technique called “Tan Lui” (spring leg) was actually developed by a Hui Muslim named Chamir from Xingjiang during the Ming Dynasty (1368 –1644 AD).

Cha Kungfu is a Muslim technique from Northern Shaolin also named after a Muslim Kung Fu master – Cha Mi Er. Another Muslim master was Cheong Ho, an admiral of the Ming Dynasty.

The Baijiquan (8 extreme fists – rake hand) was first practiced by Wu Zhong, a Chinese Muslim from the Mong village in Kang country. In 1936, Zheng Wen Guang, a Muslim, attended the 11th Olympic Games as a specially invited member on the Chinese Wushu team.

This is a glimpse at what once was. Last August, China’s military completed a large-scale ‘exercise’ in the Muslim region of Xingjiang.

Not acknowledging our religion and the wealth that has been offered to us is a reflection of our inability to bring into focus the inner jihad, as we seek to develop understanding and further control over our lives.

This was orginally written in 2002…

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