Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Muslim Travel Ban: America under the Dark Cloud of Bigotry

by Dr. Aslam Abdullah

A divided Supreme court on partisan lines upheld Muslim travel ban by a margin of 5 to 4. No different than the 1944 Supreme Court decision that upheld the internment of Japanese American. In the decision the majority conservative judges believe that the President has sweeping statutory authority and his decisions based on national security are within his constitutional rights.
Thus, National security is the mantra that gives the President absolute power to impose whatever policy he deems fit to secure national interests. 
The implications of this decision are far-reaching. 
The president now has the backing of the judiciary branch to include more countries in the list travel ban countries.
The President can revoke the naturalized citizenship of any legal resident anytime under the pretext of national security
The President can declare any community or a country a threat to the people of the United States
The President can ban any religion under the pretext of danger to the people of the United States
The decision, in fact, expands the power and authority of the President beyond the known constitutional process. It relegates the house and senate to a debating club without any authority to legislate because the President has the authority to question any legislation to secure national interests.
This is the rise of dictatorship on the ashes of democracy and no one really knows how the events would unfold the future political drama in the country.
The Supreme Court decision is made by judges who claim to be nonpartisans and secular, but the reality is that like any other human beings their religious and political ideas and affiliations impact their views. 
In the current Supreme Court, there are five Catholics, three Jews, and one Protestant, even though he is not loud about his religious affiliation. The Catholics are chief justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor. The Jewish justices are Ruther Bader Ginsberg, Stephen  Breyer, and Elena Kagan. Neil Gorsuch is an Episcopalian  This has not been the case always. Since its inception in 1789, the Supreme Court has had 91 Protestant judges out of 113 judges.
The judges are not selected on party or religious lines. However, the possibility of their religious and ideological biases may impact their decision. The travel ban decision seems to emerge from this hypothetical belief that the current Islamophobic propaganda created by the right-wing Christian evangelical political groups close to the Republican party and especially to the President might have impacted he conservative judges who are usually more inclined to take positions that in the past have favored the conservatives and Republicans.
Indeed, this decision is one of the most earthshaking in modern American history with far-reaching consequences t the generations to come. The 1944 supreme court decision upholding the internment of Japanese still haunt the Japanese and the ethnic and religious minorities. This current decision would be a nightmare for Muslims and other religious minorities who do not endorse the Republican or Trump agenda in the near future. This decision would be seen by the generations to come as a form of legalized Islamophobia and under this decision, Muslims would face, a situation that might pale the Japanese internment. The country is in the grip of white supremacy and evangelical Christian who view every non-white non-Christian especially Muslims a threat to Western Civilization under the leadership of America. When race and religion combine to promote their supremacy, nothing but persecution and violations of basic human rights occur through a process the perpetrators call legal. This is where America stands today.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

How to determine what Impact Ramadan has on our lives?

By Dr. Aslam Abdullah
The month of fasting is over and life is now slowly returning to the pattern that we all had before Ramadan. Let us take a moment to reflect on what we gained during this month besides the reward from God, Almighty. Let us also plan to use during the next 11 months the training that we had in self-control in the month of Ramadan  A simple way of doing that is to compare ourselves to the branches of Iman as identified by the Quran and the Ahadith. The Prophet said in several of the statements attributed to him that there are some 60 or 70 odd branches of Iman. The highest is to bear witness there is no god with Allah and Muhammad is his messenger and the lowest is the removal of harm from the road and modesty is also of faith. 
Imam Bayhaqi (d. 486 A.H identified some 77 branches of Iman. Some 30 of these branches deal with the heart, some seven with the tongue and the remaining with our actions.
Let us see how the self-discipline, exercise in Ramadan would help us to impact our behavior, attitude, and actions in relation to these branches of Iman.

 The branches of Iman related to the heart

By the grace of Allah, the Almighty, we all 
1.      Believe in the oneness and uniqueness of Allāh Most High.
2.      Believe that everything other than Allah was non-existent. Thereafter, Allah, the Highest created these things and subsequently, they came into existence.
3.      Believe in the existence of angels.
4.      Believe that all the heavenly books that were sent to the different prophets are true and the Quran is the final divine testament.
5.      Believe that all the prophets are true and Prophet Muhammad is the last messenger and the Prophet of Allah.
6.      Believe that Allah Most High is the creator of the knowledge of everything.
7.      Believe that Resurrection will definitely occur.
8.      Believe in the existence of Heaven.
9.      Believe in the existence of Hell.
10.    Have a love for Allah, the Highest.
11.    Have love for the Messenger of Allāh, ﷺ.
12.    Have the intention of serving God   
13.    Fear Allah Most High.
14.  Trust in Allah Most High. 

Do all these beliefs lead us to have?

15.  Hope for the mercy of Allah Most High.
16.  Regrets and remorse when a sin is committed. 
17. Have modesty. 
18.  Gratitude over a bounty or favor.
19.  Commitment to our promises  
20.  Patience.
 21.  Humility
22.  Mercy on the creation.
23. Acceptance of the reality that we face in our lives  
24. Humbleness
25.  An attitude with malice or hatred towards anybody.
26.  No jealousy towards anyone.
27. Control over our anger.
28. Goodwill to all and malice to none
29. A balanced attitude in the world.
30.  Love or hate someone solely because of Allāh. 

Concerning the branches of Iman dealing with our tongue

we need to ask would we continue
1.      To recite the Testimony of Faith [Kalimatu-sh Shahādah] with our tongue.
2.      To recite the Qur’an regularly.
3.      To acquire knowledge.
4.      To pass on knowledge.
5.      To make supplications [du’a] to Allāh Most High.
6.      To make invocations [dhikr] of Allāh Most High.
7.      To evaluate ourselves to ensure that we do not lie, backbiting,  vulgar words,  curse, and indulge in useless talks and actions.  

Branches of Iman concerning our actions.

We must ensure that we 
1.      Make ablution [wudū], take bath [ghusl], and keep one’s clothing clean.
2.      Are steadfast in offering the prayer [salāt].
3.      Pay the tithe zakāt and Zakat-l Fitr.
4.     We continue to fast.
5.      Perform the Hajj if we have means.
6.      Make tawaf during the Hajj.
7.      Move away or migrate from that place which is harmful for our practice of religion [din].
8.     Fulfill the vows that have been made to Allāh Most High.
9.      Fulfill the oaths that are not sinful.
10. Pay the expiation [kaffārah]for unfulfilled oaths.
11. Cover those parts of the body that are obligatory [fard] to cover.
12. Perform the ritual slaughter.
13. Enshroud and bury the deceased.
14. Pay off our debts.
15. Abstain from prohibited things when undertaking monetary transactions.
16. Do not conceal something true which we may have witnessed.
17. We do not go closer to fornication and other lewd actions.  
18. Fulfill the rights of those who are under us.
19.  Provide comfort to one’s parents.
20. We rear children in a proper manner.
21. Do not sever relations with one’s friends and relatives.
22. Obey one the law
23. We are just.
24. We do not initiate any way that is contrary to the generally accepted legitimate ways of Muslims.
25. We obey the legitimate rulers, provided what their government is not contrary to the principles of justice.
26. We make peace between two warring groups or individuals.
27. We participate in noble tasks.
28. we command the good and forbid the evil.
29. We reprimand ourselves for mistakes, according to divine guidelines.
30. We stand up to those who are bent on destroying the divine guidance  
31. We fulfill one’s trust (amana).
32. We give loans to those who are in need.
33. We see to the needs of one’s neighbor.
34. We ensure that one’s income is pure.
35. We spend according to the divine guidelines
36. We reply to one who has greeted you.
37. We say yarhamuka-Llāh [Allāh have mercy on you!] when anyone says alhamduli–Llāh [all praise is for Allāh] after sneezing.
38.   We do not cause harm to anyone unjustly.
39. We abstain from actions contrary to Islamic teachings.
40. We remove pebbles, stones, thorns, sticks, and the like from the road.
Let us use this list as a barometer to determine the impact of Ramadan on our Iman and let us be prepared to correct ourselves once we realize that we are lacking in some aspects of our behavior and character.

Monday, June 4, 2018

What, then, is the Lailatul Qadr?

by Dr. Aslam AbdullahGod Almighty revealed the Quran at a time when the world was living in a spiritual vacuum and darkness.  It was a world that had forgotten the significance of the divine revelation or Wahi in one's life. In fact, the renewal of the revelation was a turning point in human history and the beginning of a new era.      It was expected that men and women under divine guidance would create a world that would bring about peace and justice and end the exploitative ways of managing things. It was meant to redefine God and His message in an objective manner. The night when the revelation began was indeed the most blessed night, better than 1,000 months.This night created the intellectual conditions for the coming of an era where human beings under divine guidance would be inspired to explore the forces of nature and learn about their real purpose of existence. They would overcome superstitions and irrational thoughts that had dominated them for centuries in the name of God.The guidance would inspire Human beings to rid of all darkness and ignorance and ultimately bring material resources in full harmony with divine guidance. The resources created by the divine would be used for serving humanity not destroying it. It was expected that Humans would draw strength from their intellect, sincerity, and commitment to divine guidance as well as from the hidden forces of Allah.It’s a night when human beings should focus on rediscovering their real purpose in the universe under divine guidance and refresh their commitment to those values. If they do that this one night would be better than 1000 months and they would rediscover the real essence of life.So what should we do on this night.Select a few passages of the Quran that reminds human beings of their role in this universe and reflect on them while offering prayers as many times as one can and seek clarity for future work.Spend the night in seclusion pondering about the Quran message. In addition to having big lectures and extra congregational prayers with lengthy duas sung in heart-melting voices also spend the night reflecting upon your existence, your purpose and your future commitment and Allah has promised that you would find the power in this night.