In The Name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful

"Of all the world's great men none has been so much maligned (slandered) as Muhammad"  W. Montgomery Watt, Prophet and Statesmen, OUP 1961, p231

Alhamdulillah, last Saturday, Anuar and I had the chance to go over to Liverpool for a course held on The Mothers of The Believers - Biographies of the Wives of the Prophet Muhammad SAW taught by Sidi Abdul Aziz Ahmad (sorry cant supply much info on him..his white, from Glasgow). The course came at the right time..at the time where muslims all over the world were angered by the Cartoons of our Prophet SAW published by newspapers in Denmark. The course was very enlightening for me and most of all brought me back to the reality -- how much i dont know about the Prophet and his wives..and how so many times i claim to love the Prophet, his family and sahabahs but..my ignorance proved otherwise.

Sidi Abdul Aziz mentioned a very important point at the start of the course..learning is not just about receiving knowledge but at the same time we must teach what we have learned..and thats exactly what i plan to do today...rather than teaching i'd rather put it as sharing with all of u the valueable things i have learned throughout the course.

Today...i wont go soo much into the Mothers of the Believers rather..what i'd like to do is share the brief discussion we had on the Cartoons and the protests held by the muslims..Insya Allah i shall continue on the other parts later.

PROPHET MUHAMMAD SAW

Many times, over the past weeks, i considered writing about the protests held over the cartoons published on the Prophet (PBUH) as well as how i felt about the publications..but somehow i felt that its not as simple as it seemed. Discussions with Anuar over the matter made me realise thats its not just about the anger over westerners whom may find it fun or normal to insult each other or the Prophet (PBUH) BUT its about what made them (i am sure they knew or would expect the anger they may cause) took the brave step to publish the cartoons in the first place. Is it really their fault? Are all these protests held againts them justified? Is it just about holding protests..just to make a point? Alhamdulillah..during the course Sidi Abdul Aziz mentioned a bit about the matter..and his thoughts sums up exactly what i felt...

First..let us understand what drove these ppl to have so much hate againts Islam and our most beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW. As mentinoned earlier in my wrting..a western historian in his book noted tt our Prophet (PBUH) is probably the only Man who has received so much slander as compared to any other men before or after him.

As Sidi Abdul Aziz mentioned in the course..it all starts from how the non muslims study history and culture. we often face ppl making fun of the Prohet (PBUH)..about how he married so many women (polygamy), how he was accused as a child molester (Saidatina Aisha was very young when she married him) and many other slanders.

"Most orientalist have rejected the concept of normative ethical relativism theory which says that 'the moral rightness and wrongness of actions varies from society to society and that there are no absolute universal moral standards binding on all men at all times'. Spiro (1985) says 'because all standards are culturally constituted, there is no available transcultural standards by which diffferent cultures might be judged on a scale of or worth' " Melford Spiro, Cultural Relativism and the Future of Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology International 1, p260

Most importantly the biggest and most important rule when studying history is:

"Alll history must be assessed in terms of its own period" Michael Foucalt, The Archeology of Knowledge, New York, Pantheon Press, 1972, p170

In conclusion, on this subject, orientalists and those who do not understand history in this world today misjudge other societies as they persume that everyone will have the same moral standards or even the same principles. They feel that those who do not live the way we do today or more accurately put the way the "westerners" live today are either backward or labelled as savages.  The thing is..who are they to claim that their moral standards are the supreme moral standards? furthermore how is it tt we are able impose what we live for today on a time when things are very different and the needs of people then differ from the needs we have now...bearing this in mind..its no wonder how ppl could easily misjudge our Prophet SAW..

As told by Sidi Abdul Aziz, Abu Jahal, on his death bed, when asked by a fellow Quraisy, was Muhammad SAW a Siddiqi (a person who spoke only the truth)..he though attacked Muhammad SAW in every possible way answered YES. Why would a person who speaks only the truth about the dunya (world) would want to lie about the akhirat (here after)? The same person asked Abu Jahal, if its true he's a Siddiqi..why then do we attack and go againts him? Abu Jahal said that they had to do so because if they allowed Muhammad SAW to preach and continue his da'wah on Islam, the Quraisy will lose their position in the society and would not be able to continue to do what they always do...there's another reason given but must first check the fact with Anuar. will get back to u guys on this.

The one thing that really hit me was when Sidi Abdul Aziz told us about Khadija al Khwaylid also known as al Tahira (the pure one), the Prophet Muhammad SAW's first wife.

When the Messenger (PBUH) was overcome with fear when the angel Jibrail came to him for the first time, Khadija soothed and calmed the Messenger (PBUH) telling him and assuring him that "You shall not be disgraced by Allah SWT because you build up ties between people and you only speak the truth".

This was related by Sidi Abdul Aziz to what has happened to us today. We are angry at Denmark for allowing the cartoons to be published, we claimed that they were insensitive towards our religion and most importantly we are Angry because they did not only disgrace us BUT They disgraced our Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Masya Allah..the effect of the cartoons..i dont know what to make out of it. Some irrational muslims choose to burn down buildings, hold violent protests and in return they get nothing but death and worse they create more hatred and misconceptions towards the muslims. Then there are those who are rational..protesting in peace making a point to the non muslims..that YES we can live in peace BUT we must first respect each other and we DO NOT tolerate u making fun of our religion what more if u make fun of our Prophet Muhammad SAW.

But really..if u think abt it, i agree with Sidi Abdul Aziz..in actual fact..we Muslims are being disgraced by them  and they easily disgraced our Messenger (PBUH) because unfortunately we everyday disgrace ourselves and do not follow what was taught to us by our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW.

We are angry at them because of their insensitive cartoons..BUT why arent we angry at ourselves for our own actions..how many of us choose to live the way the Prophet SAW lived his life? how many of us actually make an effort to learn the hadith? How many of us strugggle to protect Islam not againts those who do not embrace it but those who call themselves Muslims but choose to leave the Prophets SAW teachings and glorify men made principles and rules? How many of us actually care for our brothers and sisters in Islam who are suffering from prejudices and war? how many of us are able to put our needs second above the need to spread da'wah and protect Islam from being disgraced? How many of us fight with our brothers and sisters in Islam...instead of building bridges we destroy them? And how many of us are brave enough to speak the truth?  Masya Allah..how ashamed i am of myself..:(

yes we are angry at Denmark for their action. Yes, we can boycott their products..but really would this cure the real source of the problem? 

Friends, the only cure for all these actions againts the Muslims is for us to go back to our roots..practice the real Islam and follow the Quran and Sunnah. We should be ashamed at ourselves..for allowing those who make fun of Islam to do the things they do and even more we should be ashamed at ourselves for disgracing our Prophet SAW everyday in our lives...perhaps when we finally give the respect that ISLAM should receive..then maybe the non muslims will respect Islam the way it deserves to be respected...

may Allah SWT forgive us for our sins and our prayers goes to our Prophet Muhammad SAW and his family and sahabahs...Subhanallah...

WASSALAM