To give an idea of the Islamic values, and understanding from the western point of view, by interviewing European Muslims. Also to portray Islam in its proper Peaceful and tolerant way to other myths and beliefs. To stop the bad publicity that had been done to Islam and Muslims. Islam is a religion that will tell you to do good in life and refrain from doing harm. Different countries painted Islam with their own mix of cultural understanding, Customs, Values, Priorities, Political seen.

Home page

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Lauren Booth converts to Islam





















Tony Blair's sister-in-law Lauren Booth converts to Islam after a 'holy experience' in Iran
By Mail On Sunday Reporter
Last updated at 2:02 PM on 24th October 2010

Comments (238) Add to My Stories


Conversion: Lauren Booth
Tony Blair’s sister-in-law has converted to Islam after having a ‘holy experience’ in Iran.
Broadcaster and journalist Lauren Booth, 43 - Cherie Blair’s half-sister - said she now wears a hijab head covering whenever she leaves her home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque ‘when I can’.
She decided to become a Muslim six weeks ago after visiting the shrine of Fatima al-Masumeh in the city of Qom.

‘It was a Tuesday evening and I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy,’ she told The Mail on Sunday.
When she returned to Britain, she decided to convert immediately.

‘Now I don’t eat pork and I read the Koran every day. I’m on page 60. I also haven’t had a drink in 45 days, the longest period in 25 years,' she said.

'The strange thing is that since I decided to convert I haven’t wanted to touch alcohol, and I was someone who craved a glass of wine or two at the end of a day.’
Refusing to discount the possibility that she might wear a burka, she said: ‘Who knows where my spiritual journey will take me?’
Before her awakening in Iran, she had been ‘sympathetic’ to Islam and has spent considerable time working in Palestine. ‘I was always impressed with the strength and comfort it gave,’ she said of the religion.
Miss Booth, who works for Press TV, the English-language Iranian news channel, has been a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq.
In August 2008 she travelled to Gaza by ship from Cyprus, along with 46 other activists, to highlight Israel’s blockade of the territory.

She was subsequently refused entry into both Israel and Egypt.
In 2006 she was a contestant on the ITV reality show I’m A Celebrity .  .  . Get Me Out Of Here!, donating her fee to the Palestinian relief charity Interpal.
She said she hoped her conversion would help Mr Blair change his presumptions about Islam.

Influential position: Lauren Booth hopes her conversion will have an influence on how her brother-in-law - Tony Blair - views Islam
During her visit to Iran last month, Booth wrote a public letter to Mr Blair asking him to mark Al-Quds (Jerusalem) day - a protest at Israel's occupation of Palestine.
The missive was a bitter attack on the former Prime Minister, who is now a Middle East envoy working for peace in the troubled region.

'The men, women and children around me withstood a day of no water and no food (it’s called Ramadan, Tony, it’s a fast),' Booth wrote.

'Coping with hunger and thirst in the hundred degrees heat, as if it were nothing. They can withstand deprivation in the Muslim world.

'Here in Iran they feel proud to suffer in order to express solidarity with the people of Palestine. It's kind of like the way you express solidarity with America only without illegal chemical weapons and a million civilian deaths.'

She adds: 'Your world view is that Muslims, are mad, bad, dangerous to know. A contagion to be contained.

'In the final chapter [of his autobiography] you say we need a "religious counter attack" against Islam. And by "Islam" you mean the Al Quds rallies, the Palestinian intifada (based on an anti Apartheid struggle Tony, NOT religious bigotry), against every Arab who fails to put their arms in the air as the F16 missiles rain on their homes and refugee camps and sing a rousing chorus of ‘Imagine all the people...’
Booth stands next to a damaged building in Gaza in 2008
Booth moved to France with her family - husband Craig Darby and two daughters Alexandra and Holly in 2004.
Her husband was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in April 2009 when he was drunk and not wearing a helmet.

He suffered a severe brain injury, a fractured neck, damage to his spine and several broken ribs and was in a deep coma for two weeks.

The 42-year-old had to learn how to walk and talk again. He lost much of his memory, has sight problem and cannot work.

The couple decided to move back to Britain to help his recovery and reduce the amount of time Booth has to work away from home.
Booth with husband Craig and daughters Alex and Holly at their home in France last year. They have now returned to Britain
Booth took part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Met Out of Here! in 2006 alongside Myleene Klass and Jason Donovan, finishing ninth.

Of her relationship with the Blairs, she said at the time: 'I'm happy to criticise them politically if they deserve it but that on a personal level we get on fine.'

Mr Blair was famously told not to 'do God' by his spin doctor Alistair Campbell while he was Prime Minister.

But on leaving office, he converted to Catholicism after starting to go to Mass - saying later that it was his wife who spurred his decision.

He said last year that it was like 'coming home' and is now 'where my heart is, where I know I belong'.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1323278/Tony-Blairs-sister-law-Lauren-Booth-converts-Islam-holy-experience-Iran.html#ixzz14JHfMtNH

Monday, October 25, 2010

VIRTUES OF THE FIRST TEN DAYS OF DHUL HIJJAH


Superior Days For Righteous Deeds
Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Abdur-Rahman al-Jibreen
The Superiority And Virtue Of The First Ten Days Of The Month Of Zulhijjah
And The Deeds Legislated In These Days
from the Gulf Times March 1999
Verily, the praise belongs to Allah, the Most High, and may the Blessings of Allah and Peace be
upon His Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, all of them. It is narrated from Ibn
Abbaas (RAA) that the Prophet (PBUH) of said: "There are no days in which righteous deeds
done in them are more beloved to Allah than these days, ie the ten days (of Zul-Hijjah). They
said: O Messenger of Allah, not even Jihaad in the path of Allah? He said: Not even Jihaad in the
Path of Allah, the Most High, except if a man goes out (for Jihaad) with his self and his wealth,
then he doesn't return with anything from that."
(Al-Bukhaaree, Abu Daawood and others. The exact wording is that of Abu Daawood)
It is narrated from Ibn Umar that the Prophet Muhammad (Blessings of Allah and Peace be upon
him) said:
"There aren't any days greater, nor any days in which deeds done in them are more beloved to
Allah, the Most High, than these ten days (of Zul-Hijjah). So, increase in them the saying of
Tahleel (La Ilaaha illa Allah), and Takbeer (Allah Akbar) and Tahmeed (al-Hamdu li-llah)"
[Musnad Imaam Ahmad]
The Types of Deeds in These Ten Days:
First: The performance of Haj and Umrah, and these are the best of deeds that may be done.
And what indicates their superiority are a number of Ahaadith, one of which is the saying of the
Prophet (PBUH).
Performance of Umrah is an expiation of the sins committed between it and the previous Umrah,
and the reward of the Haj which is accepted by Allah, the Most High, is nothing but Paradise.
(Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)
Second: Fasting during these days - as many of them as may be easy (for one to fast);
especially the Day of Arafah. There is no doubt that the act of fasting is one of the best deeds, and
it is from what Allah, the Most High, has chosen for himself, as in the Hadith Qudsee: Fasting is
for Me, and it is I who give reward for it. Verily, someone gives up his sexual passion, his food
and his drink for My sake..." (Al-Bukhaaree, Muslim, Maalik, at-Tirmidhee, Nasaa'ee and Ibn
Maajah)
Also, from Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree who said that the Messenger of Allah said: No servant (of
Allah, the Most High) fasts one day in the Path of Allah, except that Allah, the Most High,
removes his face from the Fire because of it (the distance of travelling) seventy years. (Al-
Bukhaaree and Muslim)
From Abu Qatadah that the Prophet said: Fasting the Day of Arafah will be credited with Allah
by forgiving one's sins of the previous year and the following year. (Muslim)
Third: At-Takbeer (Allah Akbar) and adh-Dhikr (the remembrance of Allah through different
words of praise and glorification) in these (ten) days, Allah said "And mention the name of Allah
on the appointed days"(12:28).
This has been explained (by some) to mean the ten days (of Zul-Hijjah), and the scholars consider
it desirable to increase adh-Dhikr in these days, based upon the hadith of Ibn Umar narrated by
Ahmad, which contains the words:
... so increase in these days the Tahleel and Takbeer and Tahmeed...
It is reported about Ibn Umar and Abu Hurairah that: the two of them used to go out to the market
place during the ten days (of Zul-Hijjah) saying: Allahu Akbar, causing the people also to say it.
(Al-Bukhaaree)
Ishaaq narrates from the scholars of the Taabi'een that in these ten days they used to say:
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Laa Ilaaha illa 'llah Wa 'llahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Wa li'llahi alhamd
.
It is a beloved act to raise the voice when saying the Takbeer in the markets, the houses, the
streets, the Masjids and other places, because of the saying of Allah, the Most High, in Surah al-
Hajj, verse 37: "... that you may magnify Allah for His Guidance to you"
The saying of Takbeer in congregation, ie everyone pronouncing the Takbeer with one voice, is
not permissible since this has not been transmitted (to us) from the early generations of the
Sahabah and those who followed their ways. Verily, the Sunnah is for everyone to say the
Takbeer individually. And this is (generally) applicable to Dhikr and supplications, except if the
person doesn't know what to say. In that case he may repeat after someone else until he learns
(the words to be said). It is also permissible to make Dhikr with all the different wording of
Takbeer and Tahmeed and Tasbeeh, and the rest of the Islamic legislated supplications (from the
Qur'an and Sunnah).
Fourth: At-Tawbah (repentance) and abstaining from disobedience and all types of sins,
since forgiveneand mercyare the results of deeds. Disobedience is the cause of being far away
(from Allah, the Most High) and repulsion, while obedience is the cause of being near (to Allah,
Most High) and His love. In the hadith of Abu Hurairah he said that the Prophet said: Verily
Allah has a sense of Ghaira, and Allah's sense of ghaira is provoked when a person does that
which Allah has prohibited. (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)
Fifth: Doing plenty of voluntary (nafl) righteous deeds of worship like Prayer, Charity,
Jihaad, reading the Qur'an, Commanding what is Good and Forbidding what is Evil, and other
such deeds.
Verily, these are amongst the deeds that are multiplied in these days. It is during these days that
even deeds that are less preferred, are superior and more beloved to Allah than superior deeds
done at other times. (These deeds are superior) even to al-Jihaad - which is one of the most
superior of all deeds - except in the case of one whose horse is killed and his blood is spilled (loss
of life in Jihaad).
Sixth: It is legislated in these days to make at-Takbeer al-Mutlaq at all times of night and day
until the time of the Eid Prayer. Also, at-Takbeer al-Muqayyad is legislated, and it is done after
the (five) obligatory prayers that are performed in congregation. This begins from Dawn (Fajr) on
the Day of Arafah (the 9th of Zul-Hijjah) for those not performing Haj, and from Noon (Zhur) on
the Day of Sacrifice (10th of Zul-Hijjah) for those performing Haj (pilgrims); and it continues
until Asr prayer on the last day of the days of Tash-reeq (13th of Zul-Hijjah).
Seventh: The slaughtering of a sacrificial animal (Adhiyah) is also legislated for the Day of
Sacrifice (10th) and the Days of Tashreeq (11th, 12th and 13th). This is the Sunnah of our father
Ibraaheem - when Allah, the Most High, redeemed Ibraaheem's son by the great sacrifice (of an
animal in his place). It is authentically reported that The Prophet Muhammad slaughtered
(sacrificed) two horned rams, black and white in colour, and said Takbeer (Allahu Akbar), and
placed his foot on their sides (while slaughtering them). (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)
Eighth: Offering animal as Udhyia It has been narrated from Umm Salamah (may Allah be
pleased with her) that the Prophet said: If you see the Hilal (new moon) of Zul-Hijjah, and any
one of you wants to make a sacrifice, then he should not cut (anything) from his hair and his
nails. (Muslim and others) . And in one narration, he said: .Then he should not cut (anything)
from his hair, nor from his nails, until he performs the sacrifice. Perhaps this is because of the
similarity with the one who is bringing a sacrificial animal for slaughter (in Haj). As Allah, the
Most High, said: And do not shave your heads until the Hady (sacrifice) reaches the place of
sacrifice...
The apparent meaning of this prohibition is that it is particularly for the one whom the sacrifice is
for, and does not include the wife or children, unless there is an individual sacrifice for one of
them. There is no harm in washing the head, or scratching it, even if hairs may fall out.
Ninth: It is incumbent for the Muslim (who is not performing Haj) to make every effort to
perform the Eid Prayer wherever it is performed, and to be present for the Khutbah and benefit.
He must know the wisdom behind the legislation of this Eid (celebration). It is a day of
thankfulness and performing deeds of righteousness. So, he must not make it a day of wildness,
pride and vanity. He should not make it a season for disobedience and increase in the forbidden
things like music and singing, uncontrolled amusement, intoxicants and the like - those things
which could cause the cancellation of the good deeds done in these days (of Zul-Hijjah).
Tenth: After what has been mentioned, it is fitting that every Muslim, male and female, take
advantage of these days by obeying Allah, the Most High, remembering Him, thanking Him,
fulfilling all the obligatory duties, and staying far away from the prohibited things. He must take
full advantage of this season, and the open display of Allah's gifts, to attain the pleasure of his
Lord.
Surely, Allah, the Most High, is the One Who grants success, and He is the Guide to the Straight
Path. And may the blessings of Allah, the Most High, and peace be upon Muhammad and his
family and companions!
Islamic Terms:
Ghaira: A sense of honour and prestige, and the anger caused by its being violated.
At-Takbeer al-Mutlaq: the Takbeer (Allahu Akbar) which is unrestricted to specific times or any
specific form.
At-Takbeer al-Muqayyad: The Takbeer which is done at a particular time and in a specific
manner.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Friday, June 25, 2010

Yusuf Islam

Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, plans to perform concerts around Australia in June. I have liked his music, but I won't attend. I cannot forget watching an artist saying another deserved to die because of his art. Peter Kavanagh, a Victorian state MP goes further and suggests we deny him a visa unless he publicly recants from that view. Whatever the Immigration authorities decide, it's worth being clear on what he stood for. The publicity for his Australian tour trumpets: "As Cat Stevens he defined a generation". It's a big claim, even as marketing puff. Yusuf may indeed have done so, but not the way his promotion suggests. If one moment defines the cultural history of Yusuf's generation, it's Valentine's Day 1989. In Christopher Hitchens words: 'this was not just a warning of what was to come. It was the warning…For our time and generation, the great conflict between the ironic mind and the literal mind, the experimental and the dogmatic, the tolerant and the fanatical, is the argument that was kindled by The Satanic Verses.' Every time I hear a Cat Stevens song, or see a mention of Yusuf, my first thought is to remember his part in that argument. He was famous. As Cat Stevens he'd been a very popular singer songwriter. He wrote and sang lyrical songs full of concern for personal freedom and kindness and peace. By 1989, after a decade as Yusuf Islam, he'd been described as Britain's most famous Muslim convert. It was natural that he would be asked his opinion about Ayatollah Khomeini's call and promise of reward for Salman Rushdie's death. Yusuf agreed to join the panel of Geoffrey Robertson's Hypothetical to discuss the issues on television. I watched the program when it was shown in Australia in October that year. I'm still dismayed by the memory:Geoffrey Robertson: You don't think that this man deserves to die? Yusuf Islam: Who? Salman Rushdie? Geoffrey Robertson: Yes. Yusuf Islam: Yes, yes.Yusuf's website includes a variety of clarifications and justifications for his comments about Mr Rushdie on that program and elsewhere:- he never called for Rushdie's death or supported the fatwa;- his remarks in the Hypothetical were an attempt to lighten the moment and raise a smile, British dry humour; and- he's been tricked, misquoted and misinterpreted by the media.He uses a Nina Simone song he covered as a headline, '…please don't let me be misunderstood", and complains that no matter how many times he tries to explain, journalists bring it up 'as if it was the only memorable thing I was reported to have done in my almost sixty years living on this planet (yawn).' Recent articles say he now refuses to talk about the issue. Some postings of Hypothetical on YouTube say 'This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Yusuf Islam.' You may for the moment be able to judge for yourself here whether his comments were dead pan or in deadly earnest.Those who heard him at the time were in no doubt. Writer Fay Weldon, not unfamiliar with British dry humor, took him so seriously she wished the police superintendent on the panel would "come over and arrest this man here for inciting on television, people to violence implicitly and otherwise". Mr Rushdie certainly didn't get the joke. He later wrote to the Sunday Telegraph saying that however much Yusuf may wish to rewrite his past, he was neither misunderstood nor misquoted and recalled that asked what he'd do if Mr Rushdie turned up at his doorstep looking for help, he'd said 'I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like. I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is'. Yusuf was quizzed repeatedly about his views, and he issued a statement on 2 March 1989 to clarify. [The statement is quoted in full as a footnote here.]He says that when asked questions he couldn't tell a lie and was just trying to describe Islamic law, and points out that there are 'similar harsh laws' in the Bible, and that 'Muslims are bound to keep within the limits of the law of the country in which they live'. This is disingenuous. Whether ancient legal codes prescribe violent physical punishment was never at issue. The question repeatedly asked of him was what place he thought such laws should have in a contemporary heterogenous world. It's clear he thinks English law deficient, and regretted that there was little chance of Islamic Law being applied in Britain in the near future. When he gave an extended interview to the US cable TV news program World Monitor, he reaffirmed his support for Mr Rushdie's death. His statements leave no doubt. He supported capital punishment for blasphemy and the killing of Salman Rushdie.We all make mistakes. There are constant reminders of the problems a few ill-chosen words in public can cause, including recent examples from Gordon Brown, then Prime Minister of the UK, to Nick Sowden, now expelled from the Queensland Liberal National Party. It's possible to interpret Yusuf's comments simply in terms of his own life, even to make light of them or to feel sorry for him, like his former fiancee Lucy Johnson, a stripper known as Princess Cheyenne, who was reported in the Boston Globe as saying at the time: "He's really a sweetheart; he just lost it. Obviously, he's gone through a lot of changes. He used to be an extremely fragile person. When he embraced Islam, it was like do or die. It was an all-encompassing thing for him. He goes by the protocol. If it's protocol, he's all for it. He's a very serious man. You've got to feel sorry for someone like that. Of all people to be for censorship, a writer. He wrote 'Peace Train' about an orgasm."Ultimately, however, it's not something to be made light of. It's not a yawn. It mattered then and it matters now. Yusuf supported killing a man because someone took offence at what he had written. Beyond the deaths and threats of violence that still continue, a generation whose legacy of cultural freedom allowed the young Cat Stevens to pursue his spiritual journey and to choose for himself was infected by self censorship and hate. Opportunities for mutual tolerance and accommodation have been diminished in favour of a readiness to take offence and contagious gangland demands for respect. The marketing puff for Yusuf's tour says when he was last here he was given books on Rumi and numerology - all part of his "Road to Findout" and promises he will his return will deliver "the result of an extraordinary spiritual journey." In his own life he has changed his name and changed his mind, and he makes much of his quest. Last year he unveiled a musical that he describes as 'a metaphorical mirror of my own journey.' One might hope that a man with such a life might be tolerant of the quests and questioning of others, however confident he was with his present position. But Yusuf had no sympathy for Mr Rushdie's artistic quest. He would look for juridical uncertainty when his son brought home a guitar, but not for Mr Rushdie's questioning. You don't think this man deserves to die? Yes, yes.In many cases, as then Prime Minister Brown desperately hoped, a ready apology and an acknowledgement of harm can lessen a mistake. But 20 years on Yusuf seems to think all the wrongs were done by others. Journalists asked him loaded questions. His replies were misinterpreted. It was the book, not the call for violence that "destroyed the harmony between peoples and created an unnecessary international crisis". At worst, his remarks were silly but they were dry English humour. He defined a generation but not as the young Cat Stevens enjoying and celebrating the fruits of freedom and searching for answers. He did it in a few words on television as a rigid man convinced he now had the answers, denying that freedom to others. He will probably sing Peace Train at his concerts: Now I've been crying lately,thinking about the world as it isWhy must we go on hating,why can't we live in bliss?It's time he stopped singing the question and answered it. He had an opportunity to stand for peace and tolerance when the need for such a voice was critical. Instead, when Geoffrey Robertson asked the question, he found no room for tolerance or doubt, but with dogmatic certainty took the side of violence and tyranny. For me, it remains the most important thing he ever did. Unless he revisits the issue and finds room for difference, in my mind he's forever defined by the choice he made in those weeks in 1989. The only message I hear from him is the echo of Khomeini's threat not just to Salman Rushdie but to every free thinker in the world: If you speak your mind we may kill you. Michael Gordon-Smith is a Sydney-based management consultant. He used to be a public servant.