Letter To The West – A Saudi View

Ghainaa Publications
Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 223 | Size: 1.5 MB

This book was prepared by a group of Saudi scholars and intellectuals. They address Western mind which looks at fair truth and objective and convincing dialogue. The book, in general, discusses the most important issues and suspicions raised by Western political and media organizations in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 events. These events have placed Islam, the Kingdom, its people, and its religious, educational and social institutions in a position that requires correction and review. The book is a moderate vision in responding to the issues and suspicions. A biased reader would notice the major difference between the reality and the raised concepts and images which were far from the reality.

The terrorist events of September 11 have marked a new turning point in international and human relations, particularly between the United States and the Islamic World. Political, cultural and religious institutions in the West have contributed to the delineation of the main features of such relations. The American media in particular has established and played a major role in promoting a great many negative notions, spreading incorrect and disingenuous terminology, and creating recurrent suspicion towards Islamic culture, which is adhered to by many Muslim peoples, governments, leaders and legal systems. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was particularly targeted in this respect for well-known reasons. Thus, these institutions have put Islam in general and the kingdom, its people, its leaders and its legal system in particular, within the framework of the relations that need to be scrutinized, reviewed and amended.

We strongly and unreservedly condemn the attacks on New York and Washington, just as we do those that targeted facilities in Riyadh, Nairobi, Dar es Salam and Bali. While we consider such deeds among those prohibited by Islam and appreciate that they constitute a threat to the security and peace of humanity, we are nevertheless firmly convinced, and such conviction is shared by all rational people in the United States and elsewhere, that such events need to be addressed objectively and impartially.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been in the forefront of states that have suffered as a result of what happened in New York and Washington. Its afflictions extended so far as to involve attacks on the religion of the state and its political, social and educational institutions, this being the result of an erroneous and unfair interpretation of the events. It is this that has prompted us to compile this book in order to address the open Western mind, which bases its views, ideas and attitudes on objective dialogue and persuasion. We are well aware in this address to Western peoples in general, and to the American people in particular, that they are eager to discover the truth. This is because their lives are based on true knowledge and dialogue that aims at reaching the truth, which is what all rational and fair people aspire to. In this book, we address the most important issues raised by the political, intellectual and media institutions in the United States with respect to way of life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the immutable principles on which it is based. This is exemplified by its moderate and judicious way of life, which the just reader will find a great disparity between and the allegations attributed to it, which are quite remote from reality.

False Portraits: Women In Islam And The West

Abu ‘Abdissalam

This lecture highlights how the media has falsely portrayed the Woman. The lecture, simply and clearly, dispels the feminist approach which has been enprinted in the minds of the Muslims and Non-Muslims across the world, clarifying the false notion of the ABSOLUTE equality of man and woman. It provides the ‘little known’ history of the West and Islâm with regards to their treatment of women. Indeed, is it not the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and all that is within it, who knows what is best for his subjects? The lecture characterises the true nature of man and woman as told to us by Allâh and His Messenger.

Islamic Education In The West

Sheikh Riyadul Haqq

The importance of Islamic education and learning is emphasised especially with regards to women. The responsibility incumbent on a believer in spreading the message of Allah and His Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam is outlined, as well as the possible consequences if we fail to collectively take part in fulfilling this responsibility. Part of this duty involves making various forms of sacrifices including financial. The virtues and blessings of spending in the way of Allah, as outlined in the Quran and ahaadeeth are elucidated in the latter part of the talk.

The Moral Foundations Of Islamic Culture

Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 117 | Size: 1.5 MB

It is important to understand Islaam from a cultural point of view because the basis of much of the current turmoil within Muslim countries and conflict with their neighbors can be attributed to cultural clashes. Consequently, a clear understanding of culture and its derivatives is necessary to comprehend the relevance of Islaam to the civilization of Muslim peoples in the twentieth century and beyond. The word “culture” comes from the Latin cultura which is a derivative of the verb colere meaning “tending” or “cultivation.” It was first recorded in the Oxford Dictionary of English in 1510 as meaning: “training of the mind” or “manners.” However, culture in anthropological usage, may be defined as “the way of life of specific group.”

“Basically, the idea of culture arises from the observation that what human beings do and what they refrain from doing is, in part, a consequence of being brought up in one group as opposed to another. People have a social heredity as well as a biological heredity.” Biological heredity represents practices common to all human societies, like, sleep, marriage, care for children and smiling, while social heredity refers to customs which usually vary from one society to the next. A simple definition of culture would then be ‘the man-made part of the human environment.’ “Members of the human species are trained in the family and in their education, formal and informal, to behave in ways that are conventional and fixed by tradition.”

The culture of most of the world today is that of Western Europe and America. It was exported to the remainder of the world during the period of European colonization and continued during the neo-colonial era by way of indirect rule. In the twentieth century Western culture has been promoted on a massive scale through the far-reaching effects of the media. Today, it is not surprising to find in the pages of National Geographic pictures of South American Indian youths in loin cloth in the middle of the Amazon wearing baseball caps with a Nike logo or Mongolian horsemen in the middle of the Gobi Desert wearing striped Adidas sweat pants and Rebok trainers. Western culture now represents the dominant cultural influence in most countries, both non-Muslim and Muslim. And it is the natural conflict that arises from the clash of cultures, which dominate the social and political policies in both the West and the East. Harvard University Professor, Samuel P. Huntington summed up the essential issues of the cultural clash in his following observation.

“The underlying problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power. The problem for Islam is not CIA or the U.S. department of defense. It is the West, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the universality of their culture and believe that their superior, if declining, power imposes on them the obligation to impose that culture throughout the world. These are the basic ingredients that fuel conflict between Islam and the West.”

The Rights Of Children In Islam

Shaykh Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid
Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 06 | Size: 1 MB

Islamic Legislation takes great interest in, and attaches great importance to children, and many rulings,  etiquettes and instructions were laid down concerning them. Unfortunately, we live in a time were the radiant sun  of Islamic rulings has set; knowledge has disappeared; and blind imitation of the west and ignorance in general is  widespread. Many Muslims who fell in love with the western way of life became interested in how the westerners take care of their children, as well as what they do to bring joy and happiness to their children; at the same time,  these Muslims neglected everything that Islam has to offer in this regard. This book is an adaption of a friday  khutbah given by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid explaining how the Muslim should raise his children.

The Abandonment Of Masajid Adh-Dhirar

Shaykh Abu Qatadah ‘Umar Ibn Mahmud
Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 44 | Size: 1 MB

This article is a translation of an essay by Shaykh Abū Qatādah ‘Umar Ibn Mahmūd Abū ‘Umar Al-Filastīnī, entitled “Hijrān Masājid Adh-Dhirār” (The Abandonment of Masājid Adh-Dhirār). Along with this essay, there were additions from an essay by Shaykh Abū Basīr ‘Abdul-Mun’im Mustafā Halīmah At-Tartūsī, entitled “Sifatu Masājid Dhirār Allatī Yajibu I’tizālahā”. Extra points and commentary by the translators were added to these two essays, and were prefaced by “Trans. Note:”. This topic was chosen due to the complete lack of discussion about it in English material, and an almost total lack in Arabic material. Along with this, many of the readers in the West may be in need of this information, due to the lack of Masjids in the West, alongside the many known problems that are present in many of these Masjids, such as being lead by misguided groups, having Imāms employed that are from the people of Bid’ah, being built with money from usury, being built by governments that are not Muslim, etc. Some other topics relating to areas in which Salāt is allowed and not allowed have also been discussed briefly in this article in order to add extra benefit for the readers.

Allah (SWT) Says:

وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّخَذُواْ مَسۡجِدً۬ا ضِرَارً۬ا وَڪُفۡرً۬ا وَتَفۡرِيقَۢا بَيۡنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَإِرۡصَادً۬ا لِّمَنۡ حَارَبَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۥ مِن قَبۡلُ‌ۚ وَلَيَحۡلِفُنَّ إِنۡ أَرَدۡنَآ إِلَّا ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰ‌ۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَشۡہَدُ إِنَّہُمۡ لَكَـٰذِبُونَ لَا تَقُمۡ فِيهِ أَبَدً۬ا‌ۚ لَّمَسۡجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى ٱلتَّقۡوَىٰ مِنۡ أَوَّلِ يَوۡمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ‌ۚ فِيهِ رِجَالٌ۬ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُواْ‌ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُطَّهِّرِينَ أَفَمَنۡ أَسَّسَ بُنۡيَـٰنَهُ ۥ عَلَىٰ تَقۡوَىٰ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرِضۡوَٲنٍ خَيۡرٌ أَم مَّنۡ أَسَّسَ بُنۡيَـٰنَهُ ۥ عَلَىٰ شَفَا جُرُفٍ هَارٍ۬ فَٱنۡہَارَ بِهِۦ فِى نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَہۡدِى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ لَا يَزَالُ بُنۡيَـٰنُهُمُ ٱلَّذِى بَنَوۡاْ رِيبَةً۬ فِى قُلُوبِهِمۡ إِلَّآ أَن تَقَطَّعَ قُلُوبُهُمۡ‌ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

And as for those who put up a Mosque by way of harming and disbelief, and to disunite the Believers, and as an outpost for those who warred against Allāh and His Messenger (Muhammad) aforetime, and they will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good. And Allāh bears witness that they are certainly liars. Never stand you therein. Verily, the Mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on piety is more worthy that you stand therein (to pray). In it are men who love to clean and to purify themselves. And Allāh loves those who make themselves clean and pure. Is it then he, who laid the foundation of his building on piety to Allāh and (His Good) Pleasure, better, or he who laid the foundation of his building on an undetermined brink of a precipice ready to crumble down, so that it crumbled to pieces with him into the Fire of Hell. And Allāh guides not the people who are the Thālimīn (cruel, violent, proud, polytheist and wrong-doer). Their building which they built will never cease to be a cause of hypocrisy and doubt in their hearts, unless their hearts are cut to pieces. (i.e. till they die). And Allāh is All-Knowing, All- Wise. [At-Tawbah, 107-110]

The Ruling On Meat Slaughtered In The West

Imam ‘Abdullah ‘Azzam
Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 52 | Size: 1 MB

“…During my visits to the West, and when I am being served meals on planes or in restaurants in Europe or America, I would find that I was very hesitant to eat the food, and I wanted very much to search for halal food and find that pure bite to eat in order to protect any part of my flesh from being nourished on haram, as the Fire is more deserving of every bit of flesh nourished on the haram…”

This is a treatise that I had written a few years ago at the start of my frequent visits to the West – especially America – to attend student conferences organized by the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) that have been held until this year, and it is an annual conference that takes place during Christmas, which falls at the end of each Gregorian year. MAYA was the precursor to many Islamic organizations, and the Muslim Youth Association in America was formed from the Muslim Student Association (MSA), which initially was composed of just thirteen students in Chicago.

And this issue has concerned me on my travels, and I exhausted myself in investigating it. If there is anything I could forget, I could never forget my visit to Spain as I was making my way around Grenada and Cordova, as the Islamic awakening there had not yet led to any viable communities forming that could operate their own markets and shops, especially those for halal foods and meats. So, I would spend most of my trip eating roasted pistachios.

I dug deeply into this issue – and it deserves to be dug into deeply – as the West has its own system of life. Carcasses and pork are not considered prohibitions in their daily life. In fact, pork and lard are ingredients in many products and desserts, and the life of the Muslim in the West has become unbearable considering the temptations that surround him and the prohibited ingredients that are found in most foods – in many places, you will find that even bread is made with lard!

The problem also has spread to most of the Muslim lands, with the Muslim populations and nations importing meat from Communist and Western nations without giving any consideration as to the status of the permissibility of such meat. When concerns are raised here and there from those who are hesitant to eat imported meat, a simple seal is placed on the meat that says ‘Slaughtered Islamically.’ So, if a country does respond to some concerns, it sends an envoy from the Department of Commerce to the slaughterhouse to task the embassy in the country from which the meat is coming to supervise the process of slaughtering. The problem is that the issue usually means nothing to the diplomats who work in these embassies of the Muslim countries in the Western or Eastern world. They usually pay no attention to it, let alone spend all of their time in slaughterhouses making sure Allah is mentioned at the time of slaughtering, mentioning and exalting Him whenever another animal is slaughtered. To make matters worse, commerce officials in the Islamic world don’t care much for this issue as they consider it a manifestation of backwardness, closedmindedness, and strictness on the part of religious people due to their so-called extremism.

Also, what would you say if you knew that many commerce officials in some Muslim countries – those who are responsible for declaring what foods are religiously permissible or prohibited – are Christians who refuse to import products from the Muslim nation of Turkey, and accept only to import meat from the Eastern nations like Bulgaria? This is despite the fact that Turkish meat is generally cleaner and cheaper.