Click here to view the embedded video.

Related posts:

• The media doesn’t know anything about the Somali “Pirates”
• Save the Baby, Save the World – Be a Hero!
• America Building Military Base to control Africa – Literally

There were around total 800+ attendees and some estimates put it closer to 1,000 making it the largest Ilmfest yet. Most of the audience were from the student groups (student tribes – Qaba’il [singular: Qabeelat]) from New York (Tayybah), New Jersey (Durbah) and the host Maryland-DC-Virginia (Nurayn). There were also people from all the way the West Coast to down south Texas to all the way up north to Seattle, Washington. I also met a brother from the UK. A lot of credit and respect is due to the core set of volunteers (which was very small for such a large event) from Nurayn.

Going back to the title of the post I must say that with all the hate, labeling, negative opinions, etc. on AlMaghrib Institute over the past years (which I myself have engaged in, may Allah forgive me), they have really stood ground, ignored the haters and continued to grow leaving behind the rest of the organizations. They have set the standard year after year and continue to increase it with new ideas and projects. I think Allah took all the barakah from the haters and gave it to AlMaghrib. From almost every perspective, AlMaghrib has excelled, although there is always area for improvement, but overall it is the only organization which I find myself recommending to young Muslims who are trying to get back into or start practicing Islam. Of course I recommend other outlets, but by far the most popular one is AlMaghrib.

Ilm to Action

So how is AlMaghrib putting knowledge into action? They don’t stop after they leave the seminar. Seriously they don’t stop. Over the past few years where ever there is an AlMaghrib Qabeelah (tribe, literally – student group in AlMaghrib) there were consistently doing and planning something in between each seminar. Some of them are planning/doing something once a month (the larger ones in large Muslim populated areas). What do they do? Anything to please Allah. Social work, relief work, dawah, teaching, etc. are some of the areas they try to implement within their local community in order for it to grow.

As an organization, even AlMaghrib has done a lot outside of it’s main focus. They had an online fundraiser for Gaza raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in hours. They joined up with other organizations to help Imam Siraj Wahhaj and also to fight Malaria. They also answered the call from MuslimServe.org which was trying to get Muslims to answer the call from President Obama to become active in doing social work and projects in their local communities. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the projects that are listed there were done by AlMaghrib students.

It doesn’t even have to be large it could be making a short film or having a picnic for Eid to feeding homeless people or organizing halaqaat to teach those who haven’t attended a seminar what they learned. It’s literally anything that improves their local community and brings them closer to Islam and worshiping Allah. One thing I’ve noticed that AlMaghrib Institute doesn’t really highlight or list all the work each Qabeelah has done over the past several years of it’s existence.  If they were I’m sure it would be a lengthy list of many social, dawah and community projects.  I think this is an extraodniray feat since it’s further proof of their intentions.  They aren’t doing it to show Muslims that AlMaghrib is doing all this good or to show non-Muslims that Muslims are good.  They are doing it simply for the pleasure of Allah (swt) and solely because it is their duty as a Muslim and a firm believer.

Army of Volunteers and Leadership

AlMaghrib is an instant pool of volunteers that can get things done. Wherever there is a qabeelah there is a group of brothers and sisters ready to work for Islam. There are over 15+ cities with active qabeelahs with hundreds of volunteers. On top of this, there is leadership. Each qabeelah has their own Ameer (Leader Male – like my first name) and Ameerah (Leader – female). They report to the AlMaghrib headquarters to get their guidelines and how to run their student group. From what I noticed, it is fairly simple for each Qabeelah to run independently. The obvious and clear guideline is the Islam with the Qur’an and Sunnah. What AlMaghrib headquarters offers is the basic administration advice and help. Other then that the leaders of each qabeelah function by themselves doing whatever work that needs to be done for their local community.

The AlMaghrib shuyukh specifically, Shaykh Muhammad AlShareef, Shaykh Waleed Basyouni and Shaykh Yasir Qadhi are the leaders. The basically run the show and give the final say. This is probably one of the most unique factor and major difference between AlMaghrib and other organizations. Without naming any names, most other organizations have a set group of non-scholars running the show and simply tell the scholar what to do. With AlMaghrib the scholars are actually the ones in control. I believe this is one of the reasons why they are so successful. With an ummah that lacks leadership from the local masjid to an entire Muslim country, AlMaghrib doesn’t lack this. As much as many may differ with their leadership you have to respect the fact they have leaders.

Forget about the bad apples and focus on the action

The theme of this year’s Ilmfest was Generation Islam with each speaker covering various subjects. The main point that was repeated in every lecture I listened to was simply apply our knowledge with action to our communities. From helping the youth to respecting our elders to fighting terrorism to doing social work and more. Now with all groups and organizations there will be a few haters and bad apples. Recently there was some haters complaining of Sh. Waleed’s lecture “Reclaiming Islam from the Jihadists”.  I thought this lecture was extremely important and should be played in front of the entire Muslim community in America.

These haters complained how Sh. Waleed was attacking the “mujahideen” (as they call them).  What mujahideen are they talking about?  The mujahideen of Omar al Mukhtar defended Muslims not kill them.  The mujahideen of Salah ad-Deen defended Muslims not kill them.  These so-called “mujahideen” kill any human that doesn’t agree with them.  The proof is clear and anyone can see who is real and who is fake.  I’d rather call them a bunch of Muslim thugs with guns, big beards and turbans.  They have the heart to kill Muslim women without any hesitation then they are not worthy of the title of ‘mujahideen’.  They buy their kafir-made weapons from kafir drug dealers and kafir human traffickers to kill Muslims. Wow, amazing “jihad”!? Now don’t get me wrong there are true soldiers who are fighting to protect their people and defend their home, but there are those who are just out there for blood from anything.

What’s even more interesting is that if they were alive during the Khilafat of the 1800s or 1700s or 1600s or even back to the 1000s or 1100s they’d be fighting the Caliph since he would be a “deviant” or in other words not following “their way”.   How much more Muslim blood do they have to spill before they stop? Instead of trying to rebuild their countries and stop the violence, they want to continue until everyone who’s not with them is dead.   It’s like their the crips and everyone else is a blood or vice versa (same difference).  In fact they are like the khawarij.

Back to the lecture that Sh. Waleed gave at Ilmfest.  He totally owned them and refuted them.  Especially the young ones who are in America who support these extremists.  One point he made that has stuck in my head was the fact that most of these brothers (mostly brothers, very few sisters) who support this terrorism are inactive in their communities.  They don’t give back to their communities but instead sit online discussing on forums.  They don’t do anything with their lives.  You don’t see them organizing relief efforts or helping raise money for those in need.  All this is so true, because I know a few examples of this. Many of them blog online in America and post online forums sitting in their suburban home while the government watches them.  Ever wonder why innocent people like Aafia Siddiqui or Fahad Hashmi or Sh. Ali Tamimi or Ahmed Abu Ali or Sami Arian end up in jail while these fools are still sitting in front of their computers blatantly and publicly supporting terrorism?  I would not be surprised if they were actually working for the government just to trap more innocent brothers and sisters.

The reality the ones who support this type of terrorism in the name of Jihad are bums.  Straight up online internet bums.  These are the haters that hate on AlMaghrib and all other organizations who are actually doing something.   They are the ones who would blog “media releases” from various media wings from international Muslim gangs.  I applaud Sh. Waleed for calling these fools out and refuting their deviant and violent beliefs.  I pray that the Ilmfest lectures are available soon.

They are like bad apples.  When they hit the ground, no one eats them. They just rot and decay into the ground.  The good apples are the ones that are consumed and make their benefits reach their communities bodies and make them healthier and stronger.  So let’s all be good apples and let the bad apples rot and decay into the ground.  May Allah (swt) increase the good apples and decrease the bad apples.  Ameen!

Related posts:

• AlMaghrib Institute and Islamic Relief raise over $150,000 within 4 hours for Gaza
• Bayyinah Institute and AlMaghrib Institute Join Forces
• AlMaghrib finally puts a sister on stage – Dalia Mogahed to be speaking at Ilmfest 2009 in Baltimore

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said:

“If two Muslims meet each other with their swords, then both the killer and the killed will be in the Hell-fire.”

Someone then said:

“O God’s Messenger, that is the case for the killer but why should that be the case for the killed?”

He (peace and blessings of God be upon him) replied:

“Because he wanted to kill his companion.”

Sources: al-Bukhari and Muslim

I pray to God that the Muslims stop fighting each other and start helping each other build their communities and putting families back together. Ameen!

Related posts:

• Layla Khalil, 57 of Iraq and Parveen Ali, 26, of Pakistan – Vicitims of the Binghamton Shootings
• While America continues to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, 600,000 Americans will lose health care
• America will never win in Iraq or anywhere in the Muslim world

Where do the Muslims get weapons?

The non-Muslims.

Arms dealers in Russia, China, Europe and America love to sell weapons to rich Muslims who then funnel it to other groups who then trade it to other groups and so on until it gets into the hand of a soldier who begins firing it at either a “deviant” Muslims and/or the opposing foreign forces in their country. In other words the only winners are the illegal arms dealers around the world who are making money off the blood of Muslims (mostly). This is why I strongly oppose groups who deal with arms dealers who help fund their illegal business that usually include arms dealing, drug dealing and human trafficking (sex slaves of young girls).

How can you fight Jihad with weapons bought from people who use young girls from South East Asia as sex slaves? Or from Russian and Chinese gangs who deal with drugs and prostitution? Even one of the great Salafi scholars, Sh. Albani said that the Muslims will not be successful if they use the weapons of the non-Muslims.

I have nothing against those who are trying to defend their homes and land.  It is obligatory for us to defend ourselves when under attack.  The Iraq war is coming to an end and eventually many of the American and other foreign forces will leave in the coming years, but they’ll still be fighting, because some groups do nott want to work with the Muslim Iraqi government and feel the need to get rid of the shia or deviant sunnis. This is where the Mujahideen turn into thugs. They aren’t killing fee sabelillah or for the protection of their homeland. There killing Muslims because they don’t support them. It’s like the gangs in America. They kill others because they don’t agree with them.

From Mujahideen of the Shores to Pirates of the Seas

An example would be the Somali Pirates who’s purpose is to make money. Originally it was pure and solely to defend their shores and land from illegal ships dumping toxic waste. As years went by some began to take other ships and ransom them. The money corrupted them and now that’s all they want. I have some family who are from Kenya and they discuss how the Somali’s buy up all the nice houses in Kenya because there is nothing to buy in Somalia thus causing inflation in Kenya. They also have support from “investors” in other countries such as Dubai who get a percentage of the ransom money depending on how great the ship is and how rich the owner/country is. It’s now a business of pirating ships. While their country suffers they are busy making money driving around in Land Rovers paying $50,000 in cash as a mahr (wedding gift) for any woman of their choice. Their original jihad against the ships dumping toxic waste became corrupted and completely left their scope. Now Somalia will suffer much more because of a bunch of thugs.

Gangs, Robbers and Thieves thriving in Pakistan/Afghanistan

This is what is happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are thugs going around killing innocent people and ransoming others for money. A friend who has family in Afghanistan told me under the Taliban they were safe and could leave the city and drive around, but now there are thugs and robbers on the roads who kill anyone for money. He told me a story of his family’s business truck driver who transported goods was tied up and killed. When they tried to perform ghusl on his body, they couldn’t move his hands due to the stiffness of his body showing that he had been dead for a long time and left there.

These thugs wear turbans, have beards and many times “claim” they are the fighting for Islam, but in reality they are far from it. I’m sure many of you have seen the video that was propagated throughout the media of the young woman being beaten in public. What I don’t understand is where in the seerah or where is an example of the Sahabas beating a women in public? Seriously, can someone show me the evidences for this “punishment”?  Is this a true scholar applying the shariah? Would Abu Bakr or any of the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do this? Would Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah increase him) do this? Or are they practicing “thug Islam”? I have read that even some mujahideen disapproved of their actions and questioned if they were even part of the Islamic group establishing shariah.

No Islamic State anywhere around the world anytime soon

There is none. Others may have differences with me, but I don’t see it. After Amir-ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (radiaAllahuanhum), there were no more “pure” Islamic states. That’s why the first four are called the “Rightly-Guided” Khulafa. After that they were was no 100% Islamic state. The Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Ottomans and the rest of the dynasties all ruled the “Islamic State” but there were many things wrong with it but it was still an “Islamic State”. Some were Sunni.  Some were Shia.  Some were Sufis.  Alcohol was even consumed under some Islamic States. Many famous scholars such as Imam Malik and Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal were jailed because of their preaching against the governments. Many of these Khulafa would be considered deviant by different groups of today which basically says for 1000s of years Muslims have been living in “corrupt and deviant” Islamic states.  Now some groups thing they can establish a pure Islamic state within a few years? Give me a break. As much as I dislike Saudi Arabia, they are more Islamic than Afghanistan.  Yemen is more Islamic than Pakistan. The only Islamic state that can be established anytime soon is a corrupt one. Oh wait, we already have that: all the Muslim countries.

Everyone cries about 1924 being the year the Khilafah ended. Read about 1910 or 1900 under the Ottoman Caliphate. It’s nothing compared to what the Muslims want in Iraq or Afghanistan/Pakistan. Nothing like it. The true 100% Islamic Khilafah ended after Ali radiAllahuanhum.  How about working with all Muslims instead of declaring who’s blood is halal or not and then establish an economy, an infrastructure and a social system before grabbing the AK-47 and shouting “Allah hu Akbar” then shooting a Shia or a “murtad” (i.e. a Muslim who doesn’t agree with them).  You can buy weapons from the kuffar but you can’t even work with a Muslim?

The Best and Most Successful Solution

The solution to all of this is to use the greatest weapon Allah has blessed us and the most significant and productive weapon used by Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his companions may Allah be pleased with them all.  Jihad and warfare can give you power, land, money and even respect, but it can’t give you this.

Dawah: calling people to tawhid.

Dawah and spreading the message of Islam is how Islam spread far and wide.  Yes, Islam was spread by the sword but it was also spread by trading, traveling, teaching, social work and other non-violent means. Ultimately it was the dawah of the Muslims that fully spread Islam throughout the world. Islam may have been spread with Jihad but that was after the Khilafah was well established. We’re back at the beginning struggling to find one. Dawah should be our primary and main objective throughout the

May Allah continue to bless those Muslims who are fighting for Islam, fighting oppression and fighting injustice around the world. Ameen!

Related posts:

• “They’re selling arms to both sides. That’s a true American!”
• Finally! Hundreds of Corporate Thugs Arrested!
• Darfur Mujahideen?

Here is a good article to further explain the video. Also MuslimMatters has a guest post from a Somali Canadian here.

Related posts:

• Somali “Pirates” save the Fishing Industry on the East Coast of Africa
• American Media and its Jewish Owners
• Somali President will agree with al-Shabab and establish Shariah, but not the “strict” version

(CNN) — Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Saturday he will give in to a rebel demand that he impose Islamic law, or sharia, in an effort to halt fighting between Somali forces and Islamic insurgents.

However, Ahmed told a news conference he won’t agree to a strict interpretation of the law, which forbids girls from attending school, requires veils for women and beards for men, and bans music and television.

The president, speaking at his palace in the capital, Mogadishu, said local elders and religious leaders, acting as liaisons with the militants, brought him a message saying the rebels wanted a truce in the two-year-old fighting. He also asked African peacekeepers to stand down.

Ahmed, who was elected January 31, said he would ask the AU contingent to leave once there is a solid political solution to the conflict.

More than 40,000 Somalis have returned to abandoned neighborhoods in Mogadishu over the past six weeks, despite some of the heaviest fighting in months, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday.

They are part of the more than a million residents who have been displaced by fighting in Somalia, including 100,000 who fled to neighboring countries last year alone, according to the United Nations.

Ethiopian troops entered the country at its request in December 2006. The Ethiopians ousted the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamic movement that had claimed control of Mogadishu earlier that year.

Ethiopia’s action had the blessing of the United States, which accused the Islamic Courts Union of harboring fugitives from al Qaeda. But various Islamist groups — including al-Shabab, which the United States has designated a terror organization — rejected the presence of Ethiopian forces and mounted an insurgent campaign against the Ethiopians and the transitional government.

Allah hu Akbar! This is excellent news. Seriously though, where in the shariah does it prevent girls from going to school? I have to wonder about some of these groups, if they actually read the Qur’an and listen to the Ulema. Who was the 2nd great scholar of Islam after the Prophet Muhammad (saas)? Who was it! It is clear who it was. It was none other than “Umm al-Mumineen” (Mother of the Believers), Aishah (radiallahuanhuma).

I’m liking the new President of Somalia. May Allah preserve him and continue to bless his plans on bringing peace to the people of Somalia. Ameen!

Source

Related posts:

• Establish the Khilafah on your PC
• Barack Obama: “As president…I will…make it clear that the U.S. is not at war with Islam…”
• Al-Shabab of Somalia Destroy the Graves of Sufi Saints

The Al-Shabab Mujahideen are probably the only group that is helping the Somali people in terms of establishing law and order in a land where anarchy exists. I haven’t read or even seen anything from any of the moderate Sufi scholars or websites regarding the destruction of these Sufi shrines.

Edit: I just want to make it clear that I do not support the destruction of the graves of Muslims.

Edit 2: Although many Somalians may appreciate the work that the Al-Shabab are doing in Somalia they still praise Al-Qaeda and are linked with them (via their videos) who are extremist Muslim and have deviated by the majority of the scholars of the ummah.

Allah knows best. May Allah (swt) forgive us all and guide us all.

Related posts:

• Somali President will agree with al-Shabab and establish Shariah, but not the “strict” version
• Sufi Muslims: for centuries the most ferocious soldiers of Islam
• Watching the World Cup, Haram in Somalia