Beginning of Blogging
Before I began blogging in 2005 I had periodically written for a number of Muslim publications. However, after 9-11, when I felt so much personal stress due to the ordeals of good friends of mine like Ismail Royer and my beloved Sheikh Ali al-Timimi I focused more on writing for boxing sites and doing some media work for some fighters.
Once Allah’ SWT puts the love for the Muslim community in your heart though it is hard to ignore the issues in our community ( especially when you see many important issues being ignored by the major Muslim leaders and organizations). So, in 2005 I began blogging in order to discuss the issues that I felt were being ignored such as the class-divide in the community, racial division in the community, Muslim organizations and mosques not addressing our needs, and the pro Takfiri Jihadi sentiment that was prevalent amongst many in our community, crazy anti-Jewish conspiracies, and other things.
I soon realized that very few bloggers came from the parts of the Muslim community I came from. While my experience has been diverse having attended hundreds of mosques throughout America from liberal affluent suburban masjids to hardcore taabliqui masjids in immigrant neighborhoods to “hood” masjids throught the country; it is a fact that the brothers I was closest to were always those brothers, mostly African-American, who were adherents to the Salafi Dawah, and with Arabs who were either Salafi or had a MAS-oriented approach to the deen in America.
This came after I had been educated in the deen by my teacher Sheikh Abdul-Rahman Basir who taught us from the traditional books of fiqh and aqeedah, the books of Sheikh Abu Ameena Bilal Phillips, the books of Syed Qutb, the speeches of Malcolm X and the political works of Frantz Fanon.
The Sheikh would say ” Islam is a movement..so you have to move” and carry the dawah with you. Almost all of the brothers I was educated with at that time were black, from the inner-city, and had criminal pasts and the Sheikh saw it as his calling to bring the dawah to the hood and on many occasions he said in every city he has been in he has looked for the “gang-bangers” to give dawah to.These were young men who were on a one-way path to prison or the graveyard and the Sheikh worked to transform their lives. I saw young men go from the corners and within 6 months be well-schooled in aqeedah, basic fiqh, know the salat, and read Quran in Arabic. A lot of Muslims would turn their backs on such men, look down on them, refer to them as ” low-lying fruit in the ghetto”, and a lot of non-Muslims would rather see them in dead or in jail than being Muslim ( a good friend of mine from the Bronx remarked that guys who he grew up who were Latin Kings had dealt drugs, menaced, fought and killed since Junior High and had never been sweated by the FBI and he lived an upright life not breaking any laws but because he is a Muslim has been constantly harassed). The story of these brothers and this segment of the community I came from did not have a home in the blogosphere just as these brothers have no place, or welcome, from the Institutes and “Suburban Capitalist” Islam Brother Yursil Kidwai has written of.
The strength of the teachings of the Sheikh was based on some very basic principals; we, our families, our neighborhoods, our nation, and our world is in a bad way because we have no Islam and have lost touch with Allah. No political movement, philosophy, or organization, can help humanity if it is not rooted in the Quran and the Sunnah. All secular knowledge and thought, and indeed our culture, must be filtered through the Quran and Sunnah. The Sheikh was “movement oriented” having been raised in Brooklyn in the 1940′s and being a part of the Black Power movement of the 1960′s. Like Imam Jamil al-Amin ( who I also spent a little bit of time with) and Imam Abdul-Alim Musa, who had come from similar backgrounds, he realized that Nationalism was not the way and being caught up in Western political and thought paradigms was not the way and that the only way to change a corrupt and oppressive Western-dominated world was through the Islamic Movement which sought to replace the secular order in Muslim countries with a Shariah-based Islamic system that could be a light of truth in a world of kufr.
Another white guy around at this time was Suhaib Webb who I used to sleep on the floor with at a storefront mosque in North St. Louis and have conversations about hip-hop and Islam over Mother’s Fish ( Suhaib had been given shahadah by the Sheikh in Oklahoma). He would go on to become a prominent Imam and famous. I do not agree with him on all things and I think he is dealing with a lot of pressures; but at the end of the day I always give Brother Suhaib the benefit of the doubt because I know in his heart he has a love for the Islamic Movement. He has a voice amongst those whose ears are deaf to people like the Sheikh and any other grassroots figures and I pray that Allah uses him as a force for good. Today, he is in the blogosphere, and I think he can shed light on many of the issues that I have talked about in the past with much more knowledge.
Tariq Nelson, Rise and Fall, and “Traditional Feuds”
When my old friend Tariq Nelson ( who I met at the IANA Convention in Detroit in 1995) began blogging I rushed to contact him. I told him ” look, blogging in the Muslim community is overwhelmingly Sufi, liberal, and there are very few blacks…so do not be too hard on the people”. I told him then what I will say today; blogs are not reflective of our community.
It was a blessing having him blog because we often bounced ideas off of each other. More often than not I would agree to write something and take on the role of bad guy while he would sit back and laugh.
The Rise and Fall of the Salafi Movement could not have been written without Tariq. We were both around in those times and he reminded me of things I had forgotten.
That series was probably read by over 100,000 people and was copied onto dozens of other websites and was even printed as a booklet by someone I don’t even know. It was written because it needed to be written. A lot of people knew more than me but remained silent; but as I saw more and more people suffering and depressed I knew it was time to open that discussion.
Some good came from it in that people who were suffering could openly talk about their pain and get help. People with the same ideas could come out of the closet. But, many bad things came from it. Those whose motives were not pure used it to advance their partisan agenda when they had skeletons in their own closet.
After writing the Rise and Fall my blog grew in popularity and I became exposed to segments of the community I had previously ignored; Traditionalists, Sufis, Liberals, Progressives, Modernists, Green Muslims, Gay Muslims, Vegetarian Muslims, Anarchist Muslims, Neo-Con Muslims, people who say they are Muslims but do not believe in the Quran and Sunnah, etc.
Now, I am not lumping all of these different groups together. A Traditionalist Muslim or a legit Sufi is obviously better than the rest of those groups; but all of these groups tend to hang together, support one another, and defend one another. A lot of this could be because they are internet-oriented groups and are familiar with one another and a lot of it could be class in the sense that they all tend to come from the suburban middle to upper class, are well-educated, are generally more in favor of secular political thought and social thought than Islamic thought, and have those ways and mannerisms about them.
After being revolted by a lot of what I saw and read I decided to take on the issues that I saw on that side of the spectrum just as I had argued with Muslims in 2000 over voting for Bush and getting too close to conservatives. Islam is a way of its own, we do not need the Left, the Right or the Greens, we need the Book and the Sunnah and the knowledge of the rightly-guided ulama.
I took on their pet issues; a softened position or an outright support for homosexuality, rewriting Islam to be compliant with atheistic feminism, and the list goes on and on.
I wasted a lot of time and energy on this until one day Brother Tariq told me ” Look man, these people do not care about Islam or what the correct Islamic opinion is. What is real to them is what they learn in their secular education not what is in the Quran and Sunnah. ” I knew he was right. They were creating a made-up version of Islam, based on their own opinions, that would be compliant with the Western Secular Humanism they were being taught at school and those who clung to the Quran and Sunnah were seen by them as ignorant peasants.
It was also a mistake to get sidetracked into some kind of a fued with the followers of Nu Ha Mim Keller and Hamza Yusuf. Although, I think I was right for the most part and those ideas do not seem too controversial amongst the brothers I know in real life, the internet is their domain and it was pointless to argue with people who do not listen in a format where they make up the majority ( unlike in the vast majority of masjids in America) and I did not present my opinions in the best of manners.
I just saw a brother at jumma who just got back from a Sufi school in Yemen. I invited him to dinner and he said ” maybe we can have a mawlid” and we both started laughing. He knows he has his way and I have mine and there would be a mawlid in my home over my dead body; but at the end of the day we are still brothers and can be friends.
Digital Divide: The Masjid and the Bloggers and Online Community
It is important to note that, as I said before, the Muslim blogosphere and online community does not reflect the Muslim community of America. In city after city that I go the masjids are largely controlled by fairly conservative Muslims. It is very hard for me to find a masjid with an Imam or group of brothers who are Green or Progressive or what not but those ideas are prominent online. When was the last time you have been to a Taqwacore masjid? A Quranist masjid? Now how many masjids do you find with Deobandi educated brothers, al-Azhar educated brothers, and Medina and Mecca educated brothers? African-American brothers from the American movements? There are even, by far, more imams educated in places like Yemen and Sudan in very conservative Salafi or Sufi schools than self-proclaimed progressive Imams.
What has happened online is that those marginalized groups, some who are Muslims others that are apostate and claiming to be Muslim without belief, have found a sanctuary online in blogs and Muslim group discussions. But, you will not find them in the lines of the masjid at salat-ul-fajr, or waiting for the adhan for maghrib . Nor will you find them struggling to raise righteous Muslim children.
Post 9-11: Intelligence Services, Selling Out, The Rise of Modernist Muslims and the Neo-Colonialists
9-11 dramatically changed our community. Imams stopped giving fiery khutbas, many people stopped saying what they really believed, and in many ways we became a community of deceivers. A brother would tell you he would give his right arm for Hamas over lunch on Tuesday and then be at a lunch at a synagogue on Wednesday.
Brothers like me became isolated. I belived in an Islamic Revival and the Islamic Movement before 9-11 and I believed in it after 9-11. I loved Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiya, Syed Qutb, and those groups fighting to establish Islam before 9-11 and I loved them after 9-11.
There are many brothers like me; but most are now silent. Others have sold out and changed their opinions on Islamic matters not based on daleel; but based on the fear of the power of the kafir.
We also have to deal with the issue of the FBI and other intelligence services in our community in the post 9-11 era. I will not deny that you have some fools in our community who need to be watched; but those same fools can be found in every community.
What we have today is a climate of fear in our community. People are scared to voice their opinion because if they say the wrong thing they will have the FBI knocking at their door. There is no freedom of speech for the Muslim in America. As an example; a Muslim is free to support the US-Sanctioned Fatah Party in Palestine, but voicing support for Hamas can get you put in prison. Pat Robertson can get on TV and advocate assassinations and and say that bad things are happening in America because our sinful ways and Sheikh Ali al-Timimi says the same things and gets a life-sentence. An Imam gives a fiery heartfelt khutbah on Friday and on Monday he has an FBI agent calling him to see if they can have lunch to talk about what he meant. How many Christian preachers get that call?
If you or your masjid is Salafi, MAS controlled, Deobandi, or any conservative strain of Islam you can be guaranteed that you and your masjid will be monitored and harassed. If you are an immigrant and a Muslim do not be surprised if you are pressured to keep an eye on your brothers if you want to keep your legal status. What will these brothers do? Most will be scared away from the Muslim community and keep their families from the masjid and that is what they want.
These are complicated matters. The FBI, which is overwhelmingly white and right, does not understand the community and many times are dealing with bad information. Muslims trying to use the FBI to take out their competitors, neo-con think-tanks and groups dedicated to perpetuating warfare between America and the Muslim World have the ear of the FBI and many times more responsible voices do not.
There are a few terrorists in the community, this is true and May Allah Guide them not to moderation but to more constructive means of achieving their goals. But I would argue that the real terrorist threat in America from the days of the Confederacy, to the days of the Klan, to lynchings and jury nullification, to J. Edgar Hoover and Bull Connor, to Timothy McVeigh, to the Tea Party of today to the guy who just flew a plane into a federal building in Texas, has always been from the White Right. And, if you never read anything from me again, mark my word that in the future of these United States will be a violent backlash from the White Right ( fueled by Evangelical Protestantism and Racism) as they become a minority in this nation that may even split the Republic. You could take 95% of the agents dedicated to harassing Muslims off the case and let them police their own people and it would be a much more valuable use of resources.
One response to the post 9-11 community has been to sell out. Some who had been advocates for suffering Muslims in the ummah have now turned their backs on them. Some who believed in the Sunnah now mock the Sunnah for fear of being called a misogynist or a homophobe by the kafir. They turned from being men to being cowards.
While the FBI and the other sellouts in the community have attacked the people of the Sunnah it has allowed fringe progressive and modernist groups to rise. But, alhamdudilah, while these leaders are propped up, and sometimes even funded by those hostile to Islam, we have seen in America that they have gained very little traction outside of the bourgeois set.
The Neo-Colonial groups such as the Progressives , Taqwacore and Green Muslims have failed due to their own deeds. If someone does not like Islam, does not like the Sunnah, and does not like the Shariah, most will just not be a Muslim. Those who do not like the Quran and Sunnah but are looking for some group to join and could not find a home at the Kabala Center, Zen Buddhist Center, or Church of Scientology, we often see now coming to Islam because being a Muslim seems cooler. But, instead of embracing the deen, they just take the label Muslim say they are “spiritual not religious” as some kind of a group label and do not submit to the Quran and Sunnah or believe in it and try and influence the Muslims based on Western Secular Humanist principals and ideologies. These mostly white converts and their Desi and few other cohorts they have are just the latest in a long line of Darwinian ( “white mans burden”) neo-colonialists trying to subdue a movement and people they feel threatened by using the tactic of deception.
The deviants can have a home on the internet; but the people of the Sunnah will have the masjid. The believers in Quran and Sunnah will be those who wake for fajir, who seek the blessings of the jamaa in the masjid, who will sit and read Quran with their children, and who will strive and struggle for the deen. They will teach the next generation the Quran, the Sira of the Messenger of Allah ( s.a.s.) , the stories of the Salaf, aqeedah, fiqh, will find a Muslim school for them or start one, will help them find good Muslim spouse, and die as old people in the lines of salat. All others will fade away because deviance cannot trump faith and the non-observant will never have the fervor of the observant.
The People of the Sunnah Will Cling to Being Strangers
We have to thank those who came before us in America. The Muslim slaves who kept their deen as the white Christian slave master tried to beat them into a love for the Church. The early Muslim immigrant groups from Poland, Turkey, Albania, Yemen and other places who established masjids in places such as Iowa and Michigan. The brothers, many from the Muslim Brotherhood, who founded many of the institutions of our community such as Dr. Jamal Badawi and the early Islamic Centers. The Islamic Movements such as the Dar al Islam Movement, the Islamic Party, Imam W.D. Mohammad, the Community of Jamil al-Amin, the Muslims of America, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman Basir and others. Thank Allah for those such as Sheikh Muhammad Syed Adly who later brought ilm to our community along with the likes of Imam Zaid Shakir, Abu Muslima, Imam Siraj Wahhaj,and others. These are our forefathers.
In the future we will have success if we cling to the Quran and the Sunnah and if we want to maintain our purity from the kufr we are surrounded in and maintain our children in this deen we must constantly strive to be Strangers and being strange is the key to our survival in America. Assimilation, moderation, and the mainstream are nothing but tools for the Shaytan to lead us astray. Our place is on the outside calling to the Haqq, giving the dawah of this blessed deen, and not watering it down to gain the favor of non-Muslims. Islam must remain, not the mainstream, but as Imam Zaid once said ” a radical alternative to the mainstream”.
Most of the best blogs are already gone. Umm Zaid, the best of all the bloggers, shut her blog down a while back. Tariq Nelson shut his blog down. Amir Sahib shut his down and I have heard that Marc Manley may be shutting his down. Izzy Mo and so many others are also gone. So, I must do so myself.
I will continue to write occasionally for MQ Magazine and sometimes Islamonline and to work on books; but I think the blogging format is dead in the community after having been very vibrant. It is also a fact that I am very busy. With four children in my home and a stay at home wife I have to stay focused on money. Making money at my job now and looking for bigger and better things to earn more money for my family insha’Allah. The time I spend blogging I could be working. There is also the fact that what is a better use of time; blogging or spending more time in the masjid with the believers? Reading the Quran or reading Twitter? Reading Ibn Kathir or the Daily Beast? Bilal Phillips or the Huffington Post? Watching a Youtube video or listening to an Islamic lecture?
We spend way too much time reading blogs, wasting time on Facebook, watching TV and not enough time in the masjid or studying the knowledge of this deen. We should be in the masjid not just in Friday, but everyday, and be trying to make as many salat as possible in the masjid. More time on dhikr ( according to the sunnah) and less time chatting. If you watch four hours of TV a day why not just cut that in half and give two hours to Allah’ SWT and spend it in the masjid? We are being corrupted by the TV and internet. Muslim brothers don’t want to let their beards flow because they want to look like some geek on The Office. Sisters do not want to cover properly because they want to look like some floosie they saw on Tyra Banks. Young people want to wear their pants hanging off their butts like the birdbrains on BET videos.
This deen is simple. Stick to the Quran and Sunnah and you will not go astray and if what you learn does not conform to Quran and Sunnah then it can only lead you astray.
As salaamu ‘alaykum.
Well, all good things must come to an end, I guess.
Very sad to hear that you’re closing your blog. It was one of the best around and I was an avid reader.
May Allah reward you for all your efforts and bless your future endeavours.
All the best bro.
Your sister, Farzhana.
Dang bro that sucks. Yours was the few I liked to read because it was of the few that many people can relate to, but are not necessarily on the net. It’s all good though. Do what you have to do.
May Allah make it easy on you and your family and guide us to that which pleases Him.
Yusuf – Cincinnati
There is so much here I can relate to.
So it is so! Today the muslim blogsophere is dead. I can’t foresee it ever returning to what it once was even if more muslims ,which doesn’t seem likely, start blogging. All we have now is our memories.
From an historical perspective I hoped you and Tariq archived all your blog posts,comments,etc.
http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Backups
Even though this blog will be no more I’m sure many within the US Ummah will continue to reminisce about this blog and many will love to see it for themselves. I hope it can continue on in some archived fashion. It would be a crime to let wordpress eliminate all record of this blog.
Now all I can say is thanks for “representing” us , convert muslims within blogosphere. Thanks for the interesting discussions ,mayhem & controversy (lol) and the knowledge.
May Allah reward you ,guide you and bless you always.
As Salaam Alaykum
Hamza
Brother you spoke for us the voiceless kids from the gutters of this nation. The kids who left the streets of crime and hopelessness and found hope in Islam. Yes some of us come from broken homes and others group homes the odd where indeed not on our sides most of our street friends are dead or locked up. The irony is Islam saved us from the madness of the streets and some how we become bigger criminals as Muslims because we say La-ela-ha-lil-la-la-Muhamad-da-rasulula. I guess I am waiting for that bang at the door and it won’t be crack I will be flushing down the toilet, but my degrees, hard-work, and family.
This was the best and most beneficial part of this post:
“…what is a better use of time; blogging or spending more time in the masjid with the believers? Reading the Quran or reading Twitter? Reading Ibn Kathir or the Daily Beast? Bilal Phillips or the Huffington Post? Watching a Youtube video or listening to an Islamic lecture?
We spend way too much time reading blogs, wasting time on Facebook, watching TV and not enough time in the masjid or studying the knowledge of this deen. We should be in the masjid not just in Friday, but everyday, and be trying to make as many salat as possible in the masjid. More time on dhikr ( according to the sunnah) and less time chatting. If you watch four hours of TV a day why not just cut that in half and give two hours to Allah’ SWT and spend it in the masjid? We are being corrupted by the TV and internet. Muslims brothers don’t want to let their beards flow because they want to look like some geek on The Office. Sisters do not want to cover properly because they want to look like some floosie they saw on Tyra Banks. Young people want to wear their pants hanging off their butts like the birdbrains on BET videos.
This deen is simple. Stick to the Quran and Sunnah and you will not go astray and if what you learn does not conform to Quran and Sunnah then it can only lead you astray.”
Excellent reminder! Allaah bless you and your family, keep you upon good and protect you from harm. May Allaah guide all the muslims, ameen.
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Allahu Akbar!
I agree with you 100%.
We should use more time on the Deen than Blogging and chatting on the internet.
Asalaamu Alaikum
It pains me to see you shut down your blog but I hear what you are saying. I never knew Jamal Badawi was from the Muslim Brotherhood. I spoke to him so many time on the phone when I was Christian to get clarification about muslim matters and listened to all his tapes. Alhumdullilah by the time I became muslim I actually had more knowledge about islam from those tapes and some books then most muslims. I saw him at RIS and wanted to thank him but he was surrounded by security. As for me I love blogging and its such a better thing than facebook and it has strengthened my faith and I’ve met much better muslims blogging than facebook. I love this quote :
The deviants can have a home on the internet; but the people of the Sunnah will have the masjid. The believers in Quran and Sunnah will be those who wake for fajir, who seek the blessings of the jamaa in the masjid, who will sit and read Quran with their children, and who will strive and struggle for the deen. They will teach the next generation the Quran, the Sira of the Messenger of Allah ( s.a.s.) , the stories of the Salaf, aqeedah, fiqh, will find a Muslim school for them or start one, will help them find good Muslim spouse, and die as old people in the lines of salat. All others will fade away because deviance cannot trump faith and the non-observant will never have the fervor of the observant.
However in Canada what you find are the slacking muslims mostly and its here on blogs that I find the actual ‘strangers’.
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Salamu’alaykum,
May you be with the Saliheen in your work, travels and life..
May Allah help you in your affairs and all the muslims. May he guide us to what pleases him and help us to stay away from munkar.
As-Salaamu ‘alaikum,
Br Amir and many others have not exactly stopped blogging or shut down; they have simply moved to group blogs such as Muslim Matters. Sister Mehzabeen in England (iMuslim) has done more blogging at Muslim Matters recently than on her own blog where she admits she’s run out of steam recently. As for the 2004 generation, I believe the Jordan fitna had much to do with this as with the election of Barack Obama which gave some the impression that the need for solidarity was gone, so people became much less tolerant of each other. I got this impression very distinctly from one of the bloggers who shut down in late 2008. You’ve talked a lot about unmanly (usually white) male Muslims, but the whole concept of “white/male privilege” and its use by some female bloggers in our community is troubling. The whole concept of using another’s race or sex as a weapon against them as an “instant argument winner” is not exactly native to Islam, and when it is aimed at men, it is quite dangerous given that all the Prophets (‘alaihim as-salaam), the most distinguished Sahaba and most of the most distinguished scholars of later generations were male.
The phrase you quote as “low lying fruit of the ghetto” is inaccurate; what I actually said was “while the ‘low-hanging fruit’ were picked in the ghetto” and I was referring to the over-emphasis on da’wah to these people at the expense of people in the countryside and other social classes. “Low-hanging fruit” is not a pejorative term; it means what is most easily accessible or accomplished.
Finally, while the worst may have passed over in the USA with Bush gone (although as you point out, the Tea Party business may lead to more trouble), blogs are very much still relevant in the UK as Muslims are still under pressure in the media here, with stories attacking Muslim sisters in niqab and questioning of their right to wear religious dress being a regular occurrence. Only last week a supposedly ground-breaking fatwa against suicide bombers became big news, and yesterday Channel 4 broadcast a “documentary” derived from lame material their spies had gathered at East London Mosque, spiced up by the commentary of a journalist known for hostility to Muslims and a few unheard-of local community leader wannabes. There is still a need for Muslims to answer the media hysteria and I won’t be shutting my blog down any time soon insha Allah.
Asalamu Aliakum Umar,
I didn’t always agree with you but always felt your posts came from the heart and out of genuine love and concern for the Ummah.
Blogging in general is on the decline so your experience is not necessarily unique, we all got older and real world priorities came first.
I myself have slowed down but have no intention of quitting anytime soon. I’m with Yusuf on that.
The judeofascist fifth column, immigrant brown clowns, native informers, munafiqs etc shouldn’t breathe easy as of yet.
Despite your departure I hope to you see updates from you from time to time inshallah. Take care Akhi, and keep your imaan strong inshallah.
I spent 4 years of my life with Sheikh Abdur Rahman Baseer. The man who transformed my life, gave me a turban to wear and encouraged me to have a beard. I was like a son to him. Travelled to many prisons all over Kansas, did business with him in the flea markets of Oklahoma, and saw hundreds of people accept Islam on his hands. His dynamic personality changed transformed me in my college days into one giving dawah. He changed the way I prayed; meaning I started praying at the mosque 5 times daily. I remember his speech, “If you can’t kick off a 2 pound blanket and walk to the masjid for fajr, you are not a man”. I can go on and on and on. I walked in the half-way houses, I felt and learnt about the “hood” and I learnt what it takes to survive as a true Muslim in America. If you are thinking I am black or white or born in the hood. It will surprise you, I was born in Pakistan, raised in Nigeria and came to study in America; but totally transformed by Sheikh Abdur Rahman Baseer. Born as a Muslim but educated in Islam by a True Muslim (the sheikh). One thing that has always saddened me is Br.Suhaib Webb…who has never made any mention of Sheikh Abdur Rahman Baseer as if the sheikh did nothing to change his life. But every season has a reason.
There aren’t too many true and sincere, hard working grass roots type dawah people around in USA. But I went on to marry a Black American and fell in love with Black American Culture, sharing the pain of America as I learnt from the heart of Sheikh Abdur Rahmaan Baseer.
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I’m sorry to see this web site go may Allah bless you for your effort in trying to awake the ummah.Is Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bashir still leaving.Do you know if the Sheikh ever met Imam Al AminLatif and Imam Taif Abdullah some pioneers of Islamic movement.The brothers were some of early pioneers and came out of DarIslam movement.The brothers always emphasized islam being a movement.As you Imam Taif tudy in Saudi for yrs. but didn;t come back confusesd and water down the message of Iqmattideen.Also brother Umar there is a good Islamic talk show out of Philly Deen over Dunya hitting on many of the concerns you reference to.Just go to Nur az zamaan institute on the net.Also on Saturday they have a 3 hr.show from 5to8pm.The call in number is [914]338-0884.This program really addresses the concerns of the innercity muslims.The priorties of Islamic movement in North America have been derailed .And some have even disorted the din by say the din is not a movement and this is a concept and it has nothing to do with the Islamic nexus.Both certain sufi and salafi groups have participating in this rhetoric.More than ever we need movement with strong Imam and sincere brothers and sisters.Also at the local masjids I go to we will be reading in a halaqa the book What does it mean to be a muslimFathi Yakhan anf Yusuf Al Qaradawi book Priorties of Islamic movement after that.IIPH has done a nice new translaton of Fathi Yakan book.May allah protect you and bless you in what ever new endeavors you pursue.I will truly miss this website.
Salaams Umar and your family the best, wishing you the best.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom here. Best of luck in your future endeavours.
as-salaamu alaikum akhi
i came along late in the game but it was refreshing to get a perspective from a fellow white brother who doesn’t come off as weak. may Allah bless you and your family in all that you do.
you can see my e-mail address, give me a holler if you’re ever in the dc area again., id love to talk life with you akh.
Umm Zaid left the blogosphere? Dang. What happened? What’s the story there?
“What has happened online is that those marginalized groups, some who are Muslims others that are apostate and claiming to be Muslim without belief, have found a sanctuary online in blogs and Muslim group discussions. But, you will not find them in the lines of the masjid at salat-ul-fajr, or waiting for the adhan for maghrib . Nor will you find them struggling to raise righteous Muslim children.”
Even more reason to keep your blog and keep blogging, I think you can still make time for blog posts even if it is the only thing you do online. Your voice is needed to counter those groups (and they will keep coming up), either way we need your perspective.
Salams Umar, sorry to see you go. Although I didn’t agree with much of what you wrote about you were interesting, you had an unique voice in the Muslim blogosphere. Refreshing to read perspectives of other brothers from the ‘hood’, though I’m from the UK, could relate to you more than most of the other Muslim blogosphere, even those in “my camp”. I wish you had talked more about The Wire n ‘ish
I don’t spend enough time on blogs to know about which Muslim groups are represented more, I didn’t have so many demarcations, blogs were either great, good or crap. 95% fell into the last group, none of the Muslim blogs in the first but a few in the good. A decent post every couple of months. Maybe you could do something like that? Every now and then between the (won’t mince my words) junk you posted (be honest, I bet you look back at some of the stuff you wrote and thought “what was I on?”) you did write some thoughtful stuff. I particularly found fascinating when you wrote about lives of Muslims St Louis, a way to connect with the Ummah in a far off land.
salaam aleikum,
many of your points, most especially as it has to do with modernists/muslim secularists and their amplified presence on the internet in comparison to their miniscule numbers and outright rejection by the Ummah offline are 100% valid and true.
Where i would urge you to instead to focus in on, is that in the last 48-72 hours — two converts in America – a caucasian and a latina — have been arrested in connection to the plot to murder one of the Danish cartoonists. Just as there are misguided modernists and secularists masquerading as Muslims online, there are also just as many sincere converts and born-Muslims who want and wish to make a difference but either live in isolated parts of the country (with no Muslims to discuss issues with) or are in situations where their friends and families shun and persecute them for their beliefs. They are finding misguidance online that is only validating to their family and friends that this deen is one of just murder and violence.
It is these sincere people — people that perceive the problems of the Ummah and want and wish to make a difference are the one that you should try and reach out to — to let them know that vigilante violence doesn’t achieve anything
and that the best jihad (per the hadith) is the one who speaks truth to power and says things that others don’t want to hear.
salaam aleikum,
Kashif
There’s nothing left to say…in fact no need to say anything, for it goes far deeper than words. Thank you for your wisdom and courage, May Allah keep you and your family safe and provide richly for you in this life and the next…I love you, Brother Umar, for the sake of Allah. Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barikatu!
Salam alaikum,
Internet was novel and provided a forum for many people , esp Muslims. But time allows refelction.
Time must be valued in this religion and the day is often short. Devotion requires respect. On a personal level, I seldom use the internet and find sakina fii qalbii by focusing on those sacred acts that the Lawgiver has stipulated.
As Yusuf Smith notes, in England the Press do not cease to find profit in nonsense & men such as himself are currently required. But politics has its dangers & the hasidic Jews offer an example in their general distrust of all media, including the Internet.
I liked you as a brother. I thank you for providing an insight into a life I know in the States (through family) but have not lived. Allah guide us.
Asalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu,
There is so much to say so let me try to structure it whilst writing.
1. I am sad to hear that you are leaving. I do not believe that blogging has finished or losing its importance. Even if that were the case then maybe that just increases the need for there to be a good blog amongst the rubbish ones, rather than for it to go and just leave the rubbish instead.
However things always come in circles and I am sure in a few years time there will be another revival of blogging. For example some of the Muslim countries where we see Islam today were socialist societies in the 1960s with little hijab and prayer. However they have changed and the socialist, Baathist tide has receded.
All the best in whatever you wish to do though. Your blog was/is an excellent piece of work.
2. One distinctive feature of your and Tariq Nelson’s blog is the fact that you exposed the problems in the western Muslim community. There is a fallacious notion by many that once upon becoming Muslim all their problems will go. Far from it, there are newer challenges. That is life, a series of challenges with no real respite until we depart this world and – if we are righteous – enjoy peace for eternity. What is a few decades of struggle compared to endless millenia of happiness. You covered issues such as race, class which are all very real issues and often not understood by those who do not suffer from that.
3. As for the quasi or psuedo-Muslim groups that you referred to. They have come and gone, and are a regular occurence in Islamic history but leave no major legacy. The Khawarij, Mu’tazila and others have come and gone. Where are the Khawarij today? A few Ibadites in Oman and Algeria.
The communists sponsored a communist-friendly Islam which supported Lenin and Marx and anyone who disagreed with it would be imprisoned or killed. Now their former rivals, the secular liberal capitalists are sponsoring a secular liberal Islam, and he who disagrees with it strongly is a “radical”, may be imprisoned or worse.
However “Communist-Islam” has gone and so will other state attempts to re-create Islam according to state ideology.
There is more to say, but I will continue later.
wa-salam.
- Faatih.
Salam
I am really dissappointed to hear this and hope you reconsider, i dont see why you cant blog on the side still, what will happen to all the articles you posted? they were very good hope they dont disappear into oblivion.
Also i think we need muslim bloggers, the internet is a great tool for communication, interaction and spearding knowledge, so we need them, there are so many muslims who rely on these methods as they have no access to other methods, plus we need people to write on issues and get messages across and the internet is a great medium.
wsalams