Sufi Journeys

[A blog piece from my friend, Ibrahim Tahir from Wardah Books. Read on...]

Minutes before closing time at Wardah on a Saturday evening, in walks a young man who seemed to me to be in his late teens. He scans the books on our shelves, pausing now and again at some of the more exotic titles: his expression was one of bemusement. Ah, it’s a familiar feeling for any bookseller – my selection is being sized up. Judgement is not for in coming. He finally turns to me and says, “Why do you have all these books?” Needless to say, I was puzzled, and my momentary silence must have successfully communicated this. “Why do you have books on philosophy, Islamic science, Islamic art … and all of that,” he elaborated, waving at the ‘Sufi’ section.

“Because this is a bookshop and this is our selection of books we think are good and are worth reading,” was my reply.

“But you don’t need all of this because the Qur’an has everything.”

[click here to read more]

An Apology
Heartfelt reflections on the passing of a legendary Blackamerican Muslim leader

By AZHAR USMAN

On September 11th, 2008, while countless American flags whipped in the wind and the television and radio waves were dominated by remembrances, recordings, and stories about the terror attacks of seven years ago, I attended the funeral of Imam W.D. Mohammed (may God be pleased with him). For me, it was a somber day, but I found myself mostly lost in thought: about African-American Muslim communities, about the challenges ahead in American Muslim institution-building, and about the future of Islam in America. If you don’t know who Imam WDM was, you should look him up. The Sufis say: “The true sage belongs to his era.” And of the many gifts given to Imam WDM by God, perhaps the most obvious and beneficial one was the Imam’s profound understanding of the principles of religion, and his adeptness at intelligently applying those Islamic principles in a socially and culturally appropriate manner befitting the everyday lives of his North American followers. While carefully respecting sound, traditional jurisprudential methodologies of the Islamic religion, and the collective religious history and time-honored scholarship of classical Islam, he promulgated creative ideas and dynamic teachings across many domains of human endeavor, including theology, law, spirituality and even ethics and aesthetics, that together articulated a vision for a quintessentially “American Muslim” cultural identity. And he did all of this before anyone else, with quiet strength and unending humility—a true sage indeed.

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Praises on the Beloved Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alaihi wasallam) by the famous Moroccan singer, Rachid Ghoulam. Born in 1972 in Casablanca, Rachid Gholam started his artistic career in the middle of the 80s when he was still a teenager. At that time, he used to sing Arabic classical music such as Oum kalthoum’s and Nazem Al Ghazali’s. He is now focused on singing qasidah and al-madih, or praises to Allah and Sayyidina Muhammad salallahu alaihi wasallam.

Listen to a good lecture on the subject of extremism by the eminent Dr Umar Faruq Abd-Allah (Chairman or Nawawi Foundation, USA).  The lecture was organised by The Radical Middle Way (UK), which is headed by my friend Fareena Alam. Islamic Extremism by Dr Umar Abd-Allah [click here to listen]

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, a major Islamic leader in the U.S. who led thousands of African-American Muslims to orthodox Islam, died on September 9th in Illinois. He was 74.

Born and raised in Hamtramck, Mohammed, also known as Imam W.D. Mohammed, was the son of Nation of Islam leader and Michigan native Elijah Muhammad. After his father’s death, Mohammed transformed the Nation from a black nationalist organization into a group that embraced a more mainstream Islam that rejected racial and ethnic divisions.

Born October 30, 1933, Wallace Delaney — later Warith Deen — Mohammed was tapped by the founder of the Nation of Islam, Wali Farad Mohammed, to be his father’s successor. But, trained from childhood in Arabic and in the Koran, he early came to reject the Nation of Islam’s racial theology and loopy accounts of the creation of the white race by a mad scientist. He also rejected his father’s contention that Farad, originally W.D. Fard, was divine.

He was considered to be the biggest Muslim leader in the U.S. among African-Americans and probably had more followers than any other Muslim leader in the U.S., say Muslims.

“He was a reviver of the religion,” said Imam Abdullah El-Amin, head of the Muslim Center in Detroit. “He saved a lot of lives, including mine…He brought a whole lot of people to the correct worship of Islam, almost with just a wave of his hand.”

Imam Warith Deen Mohammed died on September 9, 2008, the 9th day of Ramadan, in Illinois Chicago.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun. From Allah we came and to Allah we shall return. May Allah bestow His Mercy on Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, and rest his soul among the Prophets, the Truthful, The Martyrs and the Pious Ones, Ameen.

I had to honour of speaking to Imam Warith Deen many years ago to invite him to Singapore. The visit did not materialised, but he was certainly a nice person and he was thinking about his community all the time.

My takziah and condolences to his family and loved ones.