Samuel Green, an Australian preacher who is described by Shamoun as his favourite apologist/ Christianity’s best apologist has responded to a Facebook post of mines. Unfortunately, I don’t think it went well for him, perhaps there are other Christians out there willing to help him? I did want to post this as a Missionary Mishap, but I think this post is a serious question and I don’t wish to denigrate the character of Mr. Green, of whom I enjoy discussing Christianity with.
My question has yet to be answered and I fully believe that Samuel’s exacerbated the issue to a far greater extent that I imagined he would have. Any Christians willing to take the dive and jump into this debacle?
They actually are Britian’s top charity givers, topping Christians, Jews and Atheists by a significant margin. The Times (UK) recently published an article which said:
Muslims are among Britain’s most generous givers, topping a poll of religious groups that donate to charity, according to new research. Muslims who donated to charity last year gave an average of almost £371 each, with Jewish givers averaging just over £270 per person.
Nearly one in ten of Jewish givers donated more than £1,000. Among Muslim givers, most donated between £300 and £500.
Atheists, by contrast, donated an average of £116 when they gave to charity, with Roman Catholics giving slightly more than £178, other Christians slightly less than £178 and Protestants £202.
I’ve been told though, that Muslims are giving charity to the poor and needy to convince them of implementing Sharee’ah on their behalf. Apparently, the Muslims have a secret agenda, the more financially stunted persons they aid, the more they dig their claws into the fabric of society, thus making their extremism seem ‘normal’.
Or, according to normal individuals – their faith just encourages them to extend a helping hand – no strings attached:
“A charity is due for every joint in a person on every day the sun comes up. Acting justly between two people is charity. Helping a man with his mount – lifting him onto it or hoisting his belongings onto it – is a charity. A good word is charity, and removing obstacles from the road is charity.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]
Sr. Alice’s article has caused quite the storm on Br. Paul’s blog, it’s great to see a female Muslim da’ee’s work in healthy circulation. While perusing the comment section, I came across a pretty witty quip from Br. Paul:
Perhaps this is why Sam Shamoun is afraid to debate you? Can definitely say you caught me out on that response, really didn’t expect it!
Recently, the case of an 11 year old Yemeni girl was brought to light and it has been making airwaves since. However, some persons have chosen to use this poor girl’s experience as an excuse to malign Islam. However, in appealing to the girl – she herself never blamed Islam but that of the cultural practises of her parents – in fact she even begins the very video by invoking the Islamic greeting of ‘Salaam ‘Alaykum’. Islam is clear that forced marriages are haram (read: impermissible) and that such marriages contravene Islamic law:
If a female was compelled to consent to marriage due to fear of being killed, the marriage will be invalid. The father is guilty of depriving his daughter of her independent right to choose her marriage partner.
In the Name of Allah, the Inspirer of Truth.
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
All the scholars agree that “offer and acceptance” (Al-Ijaab wa al-qubool) are amongst the pillars of marriage. Both bride and bridegroom must agree to the marriage contract, in order for the marriage to be valid. Forced marriages are a misnomer (an incorrect or unsuitable name) in most cases. I don’t think many persons are “forced” to get married. What we must stress here is where someone is coerced into a marriage contract, employing both physical and emotional pressure, it is not permitted, and a highly reprehensible act.
Sure, at times, persons may have family pressures to get married to so and so, which can be termed an “arranged marriage” of some sort. One wishes not to rock the boat and gets married to this person, whilst quietly regarding it as a kind of coercion. Whilst that may be the case to some extent, Islam gives the undeniable right NOT to get married, so one should refuse quite clearly if one is not comfortable for whatever reason – this is your Islamic right.
(1) Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (R.A) narrates that Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “A previously married woman should not be given in marriage until she is consulted (i.e. gives her consent directly and verbally) and a virgin is not to be given in marriage unless her consent is taken. The Sahabah (R.A) enquired, “How does she give her consent?”
Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) replied, “By remaining quiet.” (i.e. a virgin’s silence is considered as her approval).
(Bukhari and Muslim)
(2) Hadhrat Khansaa Bint Khizaam (R.A) narrates that her father gave her in marriage against her wish while she was previously married (i.e. not a virgin). She came to Raulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and he rejected the Nikah. (Bukhari).
To conclude, forced marriages where the bride or bridegroom have not agreed to marry, are not permitted or accepted in Islam. Where, the persons have been convinced and pressured into agreeing to marry a person, then the act itself may not be permitted, however the marriage itself is valid and accepted.
And Allah knows Best
Lastly, Mufti Ebrahim Desai has two other fatawa, previously referenced on this website about this issue:
“Knowing the importance and sacredness of a marriage commitment, the boy and girl having consulted with their seniors and making Istikhaara, should make their own independent choice.
They should not be compelled to marry against their wishes as the consequences (non-compatibility, divorce, disputes, custody of children, etc.) are too ghastly to bear. Parents should not compel their children to marry against their wishes due to economic status reasons.”
“As an adult, you have an independent right to choose your marriage partner. You should not be forced into marrying someone against your choice. Those forcing you are guilty of depriving you of your Shar’ee right and committing a major sin,
You should simply say no if you are not confident of marrying against your choice. The consequences of forced marriages are too ghastly. There are great possibilities of a marital breakdown. That will lead to disunity among many families. The matter will be clouded even more if there is a child born through the marriage. Considering the many negative consequences of a forced marriage, you should never give in to being forced to marry against your wish. It will be you and no one else who will have to bear the burdens in future. You may forward this email to those forcing you to marry against your wishes.”
In conclusion – in the case of our Muslim Sister Nada al-Ahdal, both forced marriages (as seen above) and honour killings (as detailed in this link) are completely forbidden acts in Islam. We celebrate that she has stood up against an unIslamic practise and that she has defended herself against being wronged by seeking the rightful authorities – may Allaah ta ‘aala continue to guide her and preserve her, Ameen.
I’m thankful to Allaah ta ‘aala, for having been given the opportunity to realise the importance of knowledge in my life. This is my simple advice to all Muslims who want to understand their religion, or to do the da’ee who wants to convey the truth of Islam to non-Muslims – study your religion first. Understanding of the deen is something of which value cannot be put, but it is necessary. Before you engage on your journey of learning, you’d need to value knowledge, value its purpose and its role in our lives. To gain this wisdom, every Muslim should read, Imaam al Ghazzali’s, “Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din“. In reading this book, there is a beautiful quote which made me create this post:
“Learning is the glory of mankind,
The wise are beacons on the road to truth;
Man is worth his knowledge, nothing more –
The fool will be his inveterate foe,
Knowledge is man’s hope of life immortal,
Man may die but wisdom liveth ever.”
Recently, I came across an interesting article by David Wood concerning a question about Ramadan. This is a question that the Muslim community has been asking for sometime, Productive Muslim has covered it:
Qibla ‘Amman’s, Dr. Farouk Haffajee has also pointed out that Muslims to avoid, “Over-eating especially at sehri“, sehri or suhoor is the pre-dawn meal. Shaykh Musa Furber has also stated the following:
One of the hadiths narrated in Bukhari is that the Prophet (Allah bless him and his family and give him peace) said, “Whoever has not left untruthful talk and acting upon it: Allah has no need of him putting aside his food and drink.”
Its etiquette includes not filling up with food and drink at night, but rather eats portions since Mankind fills no container eviler than his stomach – since whenever one eats his fill at the beginning of the night will not be of use to himself for the rest of the night. It is the same regarding eating one’s fill before beginning the fast: he will be of no use to himself until near noon, since too much food leads to laziness and abatement. And besides: the whole purpose of fasting is missed by eating too much, since the point is that one taste hunger, and forgo what he desires.
Therefore, as we can see, over-eating during Ramadan actually subtracts, or removes the very purpose of Ramadan. In response to David, instead of blaming Islam for what some persons do, can you perhaps show us where Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence) states that Muslims should eat more during Ramadan? I will concede however, that some Muslims do not understand the purpose of Ramadan entirely and in some cultures (‘urf), there are traditions to eat certain foods which are grossly unhealthy – Yes, I’m talking about you guys who eat the Rotis, the Fried Chicken, the Pakoras, the Samosas, etc. David, you need to learn to separate what is permissible according to Islamic law, and what is ‘urf or cultural traditions which may or may not agree with Islamic law. Just because some Muslims over-eat, there is no evidence to suggest that Islam allows this, to the contrary we read from Shaykh Salih al Munajjid:
Extravagance leads overstepping the mark, which means eating beyond the point of fullness. This is not limited to one or two or three meals a day. A person may eat one meal a day and eat extravagantly during that meal. Or he may eat three meals without being extravagant.
The hadeeth of al-Miqdaad encourages eating small amounts of food and being content with that which is enough to keep one going. It does not suggest the number of meals. These few mouthfuls may be eaten at three times, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he will be eating little in these meals. If he wants to eat more than a few mouthfuls – in his meal – he should leave one third (of his stomach) for his food, one third for his drink, and one third for air. If he needs another meal – as is the case for most people – there is nothing wrong with that, but he should pay attention to the same points noted above. The same applies if he needs to have three or four meals. The number of meals varies from one person to another, the type of food and the effort necessary to prepare it.
What matters is taking care of the body and not causing any harm, whether by overeating or starving.
What also matters is eating to have strength to carry out acts of worship, which is achieved by eating moderate amounts, not by eating heavy amounts or going too hungry.
It says in al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (25/332): Part of the etiquette of eating is to be moderate in eating and not to fill the stomach. The most that is acceptable in this regard is for the Muslim to divide his stomach into three parts: one third for food, one third for drink and one third for air, because of the hadeeth: “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is enough for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls to keep him going, but if he must (fill his stomach), then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for air.” That will lead to a lean and light body, because eating one’s full leads to heaviness, which makes one too lazy to do acts of worship and strive. When we say one third of the stomach, it means limiting oneself to one third of what one would have to eat one’s fill, and it was said that this may be done by limiting it to one half of a mudd. But al-Nafraawi favoured the former view, because of differences among people. All of this applies to one who will not become weak as a result of eating less than his fill, otherwise it is better for him to eat that which will give him energy to worship and will be physically appropriate for him.
In al-Fataawa al-Hindiyyah it says: Eating falls into different categories:
Obligatory – which is that which will ward off death. If a person stops eating and drinking until he dies, then he has committed a sin.
That which is rewarded – which is what will give him more energy so that he is able to pray standing up and makes it easy for him to fast.
Permissible – which is more than that, to the point of eating one’s fill, so that he will have more physical strength. There is no reward for this and it is not regarded as sinful. He will be brought to account for it but the reckoning will be light if the food was halaal.
Haraam – this refers to eating more than one’s fill unless the intention is to have the strength to fast the following day or so as not to embarrass a guest, in which case there is nothing wrong with eating more than one’s fill.
Ibn al-Haaj said: Eating in and of itself falls into different categories: obligatory, recommended, permissible, disliked and forbidden.
That which is obligatory is that which will keep him going so that he can fulfil his obligatory duties towards his Lord, because that which is essential to doing something obligatory is also obligatory.
That which is recommended is that which will help him to do naafil acts of worship, acquire knowledge and do other acts of obedience.
That which is permissible is that which enables one to fill one’s stomach in the manner prescribed in sharee‘ah.
That which is disliked is that which is a little more than is enough to fill the stomach but does not harm one.
That which is forbidden is eating a great deal that is harmful to the body.
Al-Nawawi said: It is makrooh to eat more halaal food than is enough to satisfy one.
The Hanbalis said: It is permissible to eat a great deal so long as it does not harm one. In al-Ghuniyah it says: It is makrooh when there is the fear of indigestion. It was narrated from Ibn Taymiyah that it is makrooh to eat that which leads to indigestion; it was also narrated from him that doing this is haraam.
Therefore, according to Islamic law, the over-eating which David has mentioned in his article is haram, forbidden for a Muslim to do and is not a practise encouraged by Islamic law. I’d like to deal with one last claim though and that is the rising of the amount of foods purchased during this month. Speaking from my experience as living in a community that is mixed with Muslims, Christians, Hindus etc, and by having known several restaurant and grocery owners – the rise in the purchase of food stuff can be easily explained.
Iftar or Aftari, is the meal consumed after the setting of the sun, the time for the breaking of the fast. A single family unit usually sponsors meals for over 300 – 4oo adults in my community. If we take this statistic into consideration, and we realise that many families (atleast 30 per Mosque), and even if we assume a single family only does this once, the average amount of food a family unit purchases should rise significantly – they’ve gone from feeding perhaps 2 – 4 individuals to 90 – 100 times this amount!
David then used the mistakes of a few and their improper eating methods, as an excuse to say that Islam allows men to engage in lustful acts of sexual perversion by allowing men to have sexual relations with more than one woman. David, this should not be a problem, for Abraham – the Father of our faiths – did have relations with more than one woman which give birth to the nations God promised him. It is therefore insulting to Abraham (may God’s peace and blessings be upon him) to mock what God has allowed, even if your faith disagrees with it, legally speaking -the Abraham tradition allows for one to have relations with more that one woman. Islam however takes it up a notch and requires that a man marry (and in marriage he assumes the responsibility of feeding, clothing and sheltering the wife), and in marriage sex is allowed. As for a concubine, the legalistic tradition of the Muslims is that it is seen as a form of marriage which then allows the male to have relations with the woman. Mufti Ebrahim Desai says:
Nevertheless, the wisdom underlying the permission granted by Shariat to copulate with a slave woman is as follows: The LEGAL possession that a Muslim receives over a slave woman from the ?Ameerul-Mu’mineen? (the Islamic Head of State) gives him legal credence to have coition with the slave woman in his possession, just as the marriage ceremony gives him legal credence to have coition with his wife. In other words, this LEGAL POSSESSION is, in effect, a SUBSTITUTE of the MARRIAGE CEREMONY. A free woman cannot be ‘possessed’, bought or sold like other possessions; therefore Shariat instituted a ‘marriage ceremony’ in which affirmation and consent takes place, which gives a man the right to copulate with her. On the other hand, a slave girl can be possessed and even bought and sold, thus, this right of possession, substituting as a marriage ceremony, entitles the owner to copulate with her.
He also mentioned Muta, which is a sin in Islam, it’s been a sin for over 1400 years David – you need to update your understanding of Islamic law, Mufti Ebrahim Desai states:
Subsequently, Nabi [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] issued the decree of its impermissibility (Haraam), a ruling that will apply until the day of Qiyaamat. Unshakeable proofs supporting their view may be found in a host of Hadith books including Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith5523) and Sunan Abi Dawud (Hadith1; Chapter on Mut’ah). The shi’a and innovators still practice Mut’ah supporting their shameless behaviour with feeble arguments and proofs that are baseless in the Shari’ah. According to Ahlus sunnah wal Jamaa ‘contemporary Mut’ah’ constitutes Zina and is a major sin.
Lastly, if a man goes on a killing spree, although it is sanctioned by YHWH and the NT itself never mentioned a prohibition on murder – it is haram (forbidden) and a major sin to kill women or children (whether in Jihad or otherwise):
In the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa sallam) prohibits the killing of women in war. (note: in Islam a women can only be put to death if she commited murder as crime).
Narrated Ibn ‘Umar: Messenger of Alla;h (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) saw the corpse of a woman who had been slain in one of the raids, and he disapproved of it and forbade the killing of women and children. (Bukhari, Vol. 4, Bk. 52, No. 257 & 258).
Abu Bakr advised Yazid: “I advise you ten things: Do not kill women or children or an aged, infirmed person. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Do not destroy an inhabited place. Do not slaughter sheep or camel except for food. Do not burn bees and do not scatter them. Do not steal from the booty, and do not be cowardly.” (Mutta Malik, Book 21, Section 3, Number 10).
David therefore, has been soundly refuted. I will e-mail this to him, but as always, I expect him to be silent for alienating the authentic Islamic views on these matters is detrimental to his money making, fear mongering (argumentum ad baculum) campaign.
Due to an extremely busy schedule, I forgot to inform our readers that for the second year running, I was privy to be able to host a Ramadan Series known as “Understanding Islam“. The episodes in which I was featured, aired nationally on several major local channels on the island of Trinidad and Tobago.
The episodes aired from Wednesday 10th July to Tuesday 16th July, several time a day. There is a strong possibility that the programs featuring myself will be aired again before this Ramadan comes to a close. The topics I dealt with revolved around the personality and Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his Sunnah.
TV Schedule is as follows -:
CNC 3:
(Monday to Friday) First run 9:54 AM. Repeat 3:50 PM.
(Saturday and Sunday) First run 10:25 AM. Repeat 5:55 PM.
Channel 4:
(Monday to Sunday) First run 9:00 AM. Repeat 4:00 PM.
IBN Channel 8:
The programs are being fitted into their daily schedule.
This was written by Rev. G. W. Davis of Yale University, New Haven. The source of the quote is, The Old and New Testament Student, Vol. 10, No. 6, Page 341.
Br. Yahya Snow once again reproduced another one of my articles on his blog (thank you to the brother). Fortunately (?), Sam Shamoun is freaking out, him and his cheerleader, Radical Moderate did something I sort of did not expect – write a homosexual fantasy story about me. Now, I imagine that this was to paint me in a bad light – problem though, this is the second time that Sam and his cheerleader have made homosexual advances towards me. The first time they threatened to rape me, and now, it seems as if they’ve had time to build a story around their threats:
Now, if this were a one off incident, it wouldn’t bother me much. However, now I’m a bit troubled by this, unsettled really, what is Sam Shamoun’s and his cheerleader – Radical Moderate’s addiction to placing me in a homosexual light? Once, maybe it’s you know just something to mock me, but twice? It seems as if Sam Shamoun and Radical Moderate are projecting their homosexual repressive tendencies upon me for some peculiar reason.
Moving on….I’d really like to see where I admitted to being homosexual, or said I lived in London? I think I’ve made it quite clear that I’ve never been to London – and that I live in a tiny Caribbean island in the middle of nowhere (1, 2). I’m not sure since when I became sexually abused either, but seeing as both of the authors of this homosexual fantasy are Christian, I can see why I as a younger adult male would fit into their really sick fantasies.
Sam, Radical, if either of you are reading this – while I appreciate that you’re trying to vent your sexual feelings in the form of mockery, I see through your veil of angst, your need for acceptance. If you need someone to talk to about your homosexual tendencies, I can recommend counselling for you, but I’m going to have to let you both down easily – I’m not interested, I happen to like women and…..only women, so I’d appreciate if you’d stop including me in your homosexual fantasies.
Calling Christians 
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