It's Eid for the year 1432 H or 2011

In the Name of Allah the Compassionate Most Merciful

The Office of H. E. Sayyid Seestani in Najaf-al-Ashraf hereby declares to distinguished Momineen that the Shar’i sighting been ascertained by H. E. (long may he live) and that tomorrow Wednesday is the first day of the venerable month of Shawwal in Iraq and all Arab countries and most Islamic countries like Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia as well as in India, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and the United States and Central America.

As for most European countries like Britain, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavian countries and Canada Thursday will be the blessed day of Eid-ul-Fitr. May all Muslims witness [this Eid] again, by the grace of Allah, with goodness and blessings.

http://www.najaf.org

Saudi Arabia moon-sighting blunders

When asked about the announcement by major Muslim organizations of Kerala that the Eid was tomorrow, Manicfan said,

"I have observed the moon-sighting issue in Kerala for the past 30 years and people say they have sighted the moon on days it is not possible. The lunar dates given in the various calendars in Kerala are different. Dates cannot and should not be changed like that. Even Saudi Arabia doesn't calculate this correctly. Only the Bedouins in the Arabian deserts follow the correct calculation."

He has a website highlighting some of the blunders made by the Saudis in sighting of the moon.

It’s not Eid yet!

The rest of the world (mostly Sunnis) has already celebrated the Eid, even though the moon was not sighted. Moon sighting is one of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (may the peace and blessings be upon him and his family).

The moon-sighting site has a wealth of information. It is using scientific data to visualize the moon phases and sighting possibilities across the world. According to the site, the birth of the new moon is on Monday. The birth of the new moon is not a sign that it is the Eid. Before the Eid is announced to everyone, the new moon (hilal) needs to be sighted by a few trusted individuals. I know that this approach sounds archaic and old fashion, but this is how they use to decide the day of Eid in the time of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

The second important information from the moon-sighting site is the possibilities of the new moon being sighted/seen on earth. This is perhaps the most interesting information from everything else that is published on the website. The only places where the new moon can be sighted (with naked eyes, binoculars and using other instruments) are places like Hawaii and Chile (South America).

So if there is no possibility of the new moon being sighted on Monday anywhere else on Earth then why did a great majority of the people in the world declared Eid on Tuesday (as if the moon was either sighted or not sighted)?

It’s because the world is following Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are absolutely and without doubt wrong on this. They have either abandon the tradition of moon sighting in preference of the calendaring system or they went to see the new moon on the wrong day. Based on the scientific data on the moon sighting website, the two days where you may not see the new moon is on Sunday August 28 and Monday August 29. And that is exactly when most Sunnis might have gone to sight the new moon.

Is the author of the "Three Cups of Tea” a fraud?

That’s my impression after watching 60 minutes yesterday. The transcript is available online.

Apparently he has been profiting from his non-profit charity (the Central Asia Institute or CAI).

Daniel Borochoff is president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, which has been examining and rating charitable organizations for the last two decades. He says the Central Asia Institute's financial statements show a lack of transparency, and a troublesome intermingling of Mortenson's personal business interests with the charity's public purpose.

The author made tons of money from the sale of his book and speaking engagement while the charity spent more money to promote the founder’s book than on charity itself.

The $1.7 million that they spent for book-related expenses is more than they spent on all of their schools in Pakistan last year.

In fiscal year 2009, the charity spent $1.5 million on advertising to promote Mortenson's books in national publications, including a full page ad in "The New Yorker." And there are $1.3 million in domestic travel expenses, some for private jets.

He also made up a lot of stories and passed it on as personal experiences/facts to sell his book.

Krakauer: He did. ...and it's a good thing. But if you go back and read the first few chapters of that book, you realize, "I'm being taken for a ride here." It's not a solitary example. Upon close examination, some of the most touching and harrowing tales in Mortenson's books appear to have been either greatly exaggerated or made up out of whole cloth.

This is a must watch interview.

Tonight is a grand night

It is the Night of Power.

 1. Indeed We sent it down on the Night of Ordainment. ِ إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ فِى لَيْلَةِ ٱلْقَدْرِ ﴿١﴾  

2. What will show you what is the Night of Ordainment? وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ ﴿٢﴾  

3. The Night of Ordainment is better than a thousand months. لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌۭ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍۢ ﴿٣﴾  

4. In it the angels and the Spirit descend, by the leave of their Lord, with every command. تَنَزَّلُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍۢ ﴿٤﴾  

5. It is peaceful until the rising of the dawn. سَلَٰمٌ هِىَ حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ ٱلْفَجْرِ ﴿٥﴾

The Holy Quran chapter 97

Denying the Imamah of Ahlul Bayt

It is a serious offense. You die a pagan based on the following traditions.

In the book Kamal ud-Din wa Tamam un-Ni'ma by Shaykh Saduq

Page 77

Narrated to us Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Yahya al-Attar (r.a.): Narrated to us Saad bin Abdullah: Narrated to us Musa bin Ja’far bin Wahab Baghdadi that he said: I heard Aba Muhammad Hasan bin Ali (a.s.) say:

“As if I can see you disputing after me with regard to my successor. Behold, someone who professes faith in all the Imams after the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) yet denies my son, is like someone who professes faith in all prophets and messengers of Allah and then rejects the prophethood of Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.); and the denier of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) is like one who rejects all the prophets. Because, obedience to our last one is obedience to our first one and rejection of our last one is the rejection of our first one. Behold, my son will have an occultation in which people will doubt except the ones whom Allah, the Mighty and Sublime saves.”

Narrated to us Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Ishaq (r.a.): Narrated to me Abu Ali bin Hammam: I heard Muhammad bin Uthman al-Umari (q.s.) say: I heard my father say:

“Abu Muhammad al-Hasan bin Ali (a.s.) was asked, while I was with him, about traditions narrated from his forefathers, peace be on them, that the earth does not remain without the Proof of Allah on His creatures until the Judgment Day and that if anyone dies without the cognition of the Imam of his time, he dies the death of a pagan.

The Imam said: This is as true as the daylight. It was said: O son of Allah’s Messenger, who is the Proof and the Imam after you?

He replied: My son, M.H.M.D. Whoever dies not knowing him, will die a pagan death. Behold, he will have an occultation during which the ignorant will be perplexed and the invalidators will perish and the time-assigners will lie. Then he will rise. As if I am gazing at the white standards waving over his head in the Najaf of Kufa.”

Sunni Imam Abu Hanifah was from the Murjiyyah sect

No one is actually hiding this fact. They believed that this was a slight mistake. Please see the Q&A here



Is Abu Haneefah from the murji'ah? (Note: This is the name of the sect)

Question:

Esteemed shaykh, may Allaah grant you tawfeeq, is it the case that Imaam Abu Haneefah (rahimahullaah) did not enter actions into (the definition of) eemaan? And is he to be considered from the fuqahaa al murji'ah (the murji'ah scholars) ý and if this is actually correct, then how do we make an excuse for this Imaam?

Answer:

Yes, Abu Haneefah and his shaykh, Hammaad ibn Abee Sulaymaan both made this statement that eemaan comprises speech upon the tongue and belief in the heart, and that actions of the limbs do not enter into it. And this is irjaa, without doubt. For this reason they call them murji'at ul fuqahaa' and the murjiah of ahl us sunnah. They are from ahl us Sunnah but this slight mistake occurred from them; and it is a mistake, without doubt.

We do not accept the mistake from any single person, not from Abu Haneefah (rahimahullaah) nor from anyone other than him because our goal is what is correct and attainment of the Truth. And this does not decrease Imaam Abu Haneefah's status with us.

Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan Explanation of Lu'mat ul I'tiqaad p 312

Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah passing away

There are a few more narrations about Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah (uncle of the 4th Imam) passing away. Members of the Kaysaniyyah sect believed that Muhammad Ibn Al-Hanafiyyah was still in occultation until the time of the sixth Imam (Jaffar as-Sadiq, may peace be upon him).

One of them is narrated from Muhammad bin Isaam from Muhammad bin Yaqoob Kulaini from Qasim bin Alaa from Ismail bin Ali Quzooni from Ali bin Ismail from Hammad bin Isa from Husain bin Mukhtar: One day Hayyan Siraj came to Imam Ja’far bin Muhammad al-Sadiq.

Imam (a.s.) said: “O Hayyan! What do your companions say about Muhammad bin Hanafiyyah?

He replied: They say that he is alive and receiving his sustenance.

Imam (as) said: My father had told me that he is among those who visited him while he was ill, closed his eyes when he passed away, laid him to rest in the grave, married off his widows and distributed his wealth among his heirs.

This is one of the core beliefs of the Kaysaniyyah sect (emphasis mine)

He said: O Aba Abdillah! Muhammad bin Hanafiyyah is like Isa bin Maryam (a.s.) to this community for people have started having doubts about him.

Imam said: Are his enemies having doubts or the friends?

He replied: His enemies.

Imam said: Do you think that Abu Ja’far bin Ali al-Baqir was the enemy of his Uncle Muhammad bin Hanafiyyah?

He replied in negative.

Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) said: O Hayyan! You people have turned away from the signs of Allah and the Almighty Allah says:

سَنَجْزِي الَّذِينَ يَصْدِفُونَ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَصْدِفُونَ

We will reward those who turn away from Our communications with an evil chastisement because they turned away.

Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: Muhammad bin Hanafiyyah did not die before confessing to the Imamate of Ali bin al-Husain. He passed away in 84 A.H.

This is the second narrations

It is narrated from my father from Ahmad bin Idrees from Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Yahya from Ibrahim bin Hashim from Abdus Samad bin Muhammad from Hannan bin Sudair from Abu Ja’far Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) that he said:

“When I came to Muhammad bin Hanafiyyah, he had lost the ability to speak. I asked him to make a will but he couldn’t speak. I ordered a copper vessel used to wash hands to be brought. It was brought near him after putting dust in it. I ordered him to inscribe his will on the utensil. He inscribed his will on that dust and I copied it on a paper.

The confession of a follower of the Kaysaniyya sect

The following confession in the book Kamal al-din wa tamam al-ni'mah (the perfection of the religion and the end of the blessings) by Shaykh Saduq

Sayyid bin Muhammad Himyari was an ex-Member of the Kaysaniyya sect. He repented and reverted to the school of Ahlul Bayt after meeting Imam Jaffar as-Sadiq (may peace be upon him).

The narrations are quite lengthy...

The following is a self-confession by Sayyid bin Muhammad Himyari

Muhammad Qutaibah Nishapuri from Hamadan bin Sulaiman from Muhammad bin Ismail bin Bazya from Hayyan al-Siraj from Sayyid bin Muhammad Himyari that he said:

“In the beginning I used to harbor extremist beliefs and had faith in the occultation of Muhammad bin Ali Ibne Hanafiyyah and a long period of time passed in this way in deviation and misguidance.

After that the Almighty Allah favored me through Ja’far bin Muhammad Sadiq (a.s.) and saved me from the fire of Hell and guided me to the Right Path.

Thus I asked the Holy Imam (a.s.) one day:

"I found in you those signs and qualities by which it was proved for me and all the people of your time that you are the Divine Proof and that only you are that Imam whose obedience has been compulsory by Allah and made following you incumbent on all. O son of Allah’s Messenger, traditions have been recorded from your purified ancestors about occultation, stating that it is certain to happen, so please tell us with whom it would occur. "

Imam as-Sadiq (as) replied, "Indeed this occultation shall happen with my sixth descendant and the twelfth of the guiding Imams after the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.), the first of whom is Amirul Momineen Ali (a.s.) and the last is Qaim bil Haqq (one who will rise with the truth). He shall be the remnant of Allah on His earth and the Master of the Age. By Allah, even if his occultation becomes as long as the age of Nuh (a.s.) he will not depart from the world without reappearing and filling up the earth with justice and equity in the same way as it would be fraught with injustice and oppression."

The Sayyid (ibn Muhammad Himyari) says: "When I heard this from my master Ja’far bin Muhammad as-Sadiq (a.s.), I repented to Allah in his presence and composed a poem (Note: The poem is not copied here)

The Kaysāniyya sect

The Kaysanite sect is classified in the Ghulat group. After the martyrdom of Imam Hussayn (may peace be upon him), a group of people followed the Imamah of Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah.

For the Shias, the fourth Imam from the progeny of Fatima is Imam Ali ibn Hussayn Zayn al-Abidin (may peace be upon him)

From wikipedia

One Kaysanite sub-sect was led by the Abbasids, who successfully revolted against the Umayyad Caliphate and then established the Abbasid Caliphate. However, following the establishment of the Abbasids as Caliphs and their disavowal of their Kaysanite origins, the majority of the Kaysanites responded by abandoning the Kaysanite Shi'a sect and instead switched their allegiances to other Shi'a sects. Thereafter, the Kaysanite Shi'a sect became extinct despite its once dominant position among the Shi'a.

Some of the Kaysanite sects believe that after the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, he was the promised Mahdi who is in concealment. One of the Ghulat beliefs of the Kaysaniyya sect is believing in the transmigration of souls (tanaukh al-arwah i.e. the return in a different body while having the same spirit).

Daughters of Allah

Why do people think Allah swt has daughters?

I was reading a wiki entry and found out that there is a huge misconception about the following Quranic verses (chapter 53 verses 19 and 20)

19. Have you considered Lāt and ‘Uzzā? أَفَرَءَيْتُمُ ٱللَّٰتَ وَٱلْعُزَّىٰ ﴿٩١﴾  

20. and Manāt, the third one? وَمَنَوٰةَ ٱلثَّالِثَةَ ٱلْأُخْرَىٰٓ ﴿۰٢﴾

Someone wrote on the wiki entry

The subtext to the event is that Muhammad was backing away from his otherwise uncompromising monotheism by saying that these goddesses were real and their intercession effective. The Meccans were overjoyed to hear this and joined Muhammad in ritual prostration at the end of the sūrah.(Note: Since no reference is provided here, I am assuming someone made this stuff up).

But…did anyone read the next three sentence after verse 20?

Chapter 53, verses 21, 22 and 23

21. Are you to have males and He females? أَلَكُمُ ٱلذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ ٱلْأُنثَىٰ ﴿١٢﴾  

22. That, then, will be an unfair division! تِلْكَ إِذًۭا قِسْمَةٌۭ ضِيزَىٰٓ ﴿٢٢﴾  

23. These are but names which you have coined —you and your fathers— for which Allah has not sent down any authority. They follow nothing but conjectures and the desires of the [lower] soul, while there has already come to them the guidance from their Lord.

إِنْ هِىَ إِلَّآ أَسْمَآءٌۭ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَٰنٍ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى ٱلْأَنفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَهُم مِّن رَّبِّهِمُ

The Quran is in no way saying that Allah swt has daughters. It was merely pointing out the foolishness of people who assigned children of specific gender to God.

ShiaChat is in the maintenance mode

I guess Ya Aba is doing the forum upgrade. He mentioned it to the team yesterday. I am told we are going to have a new facebook like feature call like.

Can’t wait.

Ibn Taymiyyah’s anthropormorphism

This article is interesting because it points to Ibn Taymiyyah being influenced by the Sabians.

I am not the original author. This piece is written by David Livingstone from terrorism-illuminati.com



Few Muslims today, due to the effective propaganda of the Saudi state, are aware of Ibn Taymiyyah’s true pronouncements and the controversy of his career.

In fact, Ibn Taymiyyah spent much of his career in jail, placed there by the religious authorities of his time, usually for the accusation of anthropomorphism, or ascribing human attributes to God. Islamic theology is very clear about safeguarding the notion of God’s uniqueness and transcendence.

This is interesting because, despite all their numerous tangents into various other details, the Wahhabi and Salafi scholars are devoted to ideas derived from Ibn Taymiyyah’s anthropormorphism. It’s there. It’s never very overt, but it is always there.

Ibn Taymiyyah was born in Harran, which in the occult tradition, is one of the most important cities in its history, besides Babylon, Athens and Alexandria.

Harran was the seat of the Sabians. This was a Gnostic group, that cleverly identified themselves with the Sabeans of the Koran to escape persecution. But they were nothing of the sort. Instead they were satanists who practiced human sacrifice, worshipped Tammuz, and practiced Neoplatonism and Hermeticism.

In fact, when the Muslims began their great program of collecting and studying the works of the philosophers, by which the West eventually acquired this knowledge, it was the Sabians they turned to as translators.

What happens then is that it is Sabian influence that results Sufism, and a very important occult work known as the “Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity”, or in Arabic, Rasa’il ikhwan as-safa’ wa khillan al-wafa. It was largely composed by Ismailis under Sabian influence.

“Abu Hayyan, of Andalusion origin, settled in Damascus, knew Ibn Taymiya personally, and held him in great esteem, until the day that Barinbari (d. 717/1317) brought him a work by Ibn Taymiya called Kitab al-‘arsh [The book of the Throne]. There they found, in Ibn Taymiya’s own handwriting (which was familiar to Abu Hayyan), anthropomorphic suggestions about the Deity that made Abu Hayyan curse Ibn Taymiya until the day he died… Abu Hayyan, in his own Qur’anic exegesis of Ayat al-Kursi (Qur’an 2:258) in surat al-Baqara, recorded something of what so completely changed his mind:

I have read in the book of Ahmad ibn Taymiya, this individual whom we are the contemporary of, and the book is in his own handwriting, and he has named it Kitab al-‘arsh [The book of the Throne], that “Allah Most High is sitting (yajlisu) on the Kursi but has left a place of it unoccupied, in which to seat the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)” . Al-Taj Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd al-Haqq Barinbari fooled him [Ibn Taymiya] by pretending to be a supporter of his so that he could get it from him, and this is what we read in it (al-Nahwi, Tafsir al-nahr al-madd, 1.254).

As Keller notes, “This is of interest not only because it documents (at the pen of one of Islam’s greatest scholars) that Ibn Taymiya had a “double ‘aqida [theology],” one for the public, and a separate anthropomorphic one for an inner circle of initiates”

Ibn Taymiyyah just happened to live in Harran at a time to witness the end of the Sabian community, as a result of the conquest of the city by the Mongols. This may explain his continuing vociferous opposition to these new Mongol rulers.

Fasting for 16 hours when it is 110 degree outside

Fasting in the Holy Month of Ramadhan will be challenging to some folks in Texas since the temperature will top at 110F/43 Celsius.

“The heat really puts the burden on thirst,” said Shaykh Kifah Mustapha, imam and associate director of The Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview. “Very few people complain about not eating, but many complain about the thirst. And for people who must work outside, digging ditches, doing construction work, it’s very bad.”

We also have long days. On the average, I am fasting for 16 hours plus some minutes (daily).

Interestingly some people in Turkey are also fasting for 16+ hours

The longest fasting period in Turkey this year will be 16 hours and 22 minutes in the Black Sea province of Sinop, while the shortest fast will be in the Mediterranean province of Hatay, at 14 hours and 46 minutes.

The best strategy for fasting is to not think that you are fasting, not think about food and keep busy.

The Holy Month of Ramadhan begins today

In The Name of Allah The Compassionate The Merciful

This is from Sayyid Sistani website.

Peace and blessings be upon Mohammad and his pure household

Tuesday 2 August 2011 is the first day of blessed month of Ramadhan 1432 A.H in the United Kingdom and European countries – except for Scandinavian countries for there is no possibility of sighting the new moon there tonight, the first of Ramadhan will be on Wednesday 3 August.

We ask Allah (swt) to accept everyone’s fasting and A’mal and to bestow victory upon Islam and Muslims For He is All Hearing and He Answers Prayers

Wassalamu alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wabarkatoh