Al-Hakim narrates with an authentic chain that Rasulullah was traveling with his companions when a bird came flapping it’s wings over his head. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Who has brought grief to this bird?” One of the companions said: “I have taken some of its young ones.” Rasulullah ordered him to return them to their mother.
Rasulullah was leading an army on a travel for Jihad, the peak of Islam, but he was still teaching the sahabah about an issue as simple as mercy towards a bird.
There are some brothers and sisters who expressed concern when I talked about the opinions of scholars regarding cheese at a time when we have more important issues at hand that are of great concern to the ummah. I would like to take this opportunity to point out an important principle in Islam and that is: Islam is a comprehensive religion that covers all aspects of our life and every Islamic teaching is important. Rasulullah has taught us minute aspects of life that would otherwise seem trivial such as how to eat, growing a beard, and even manners of responding to the call of nature. If these were trivial issues Rasulullah would not have wasted his time teaching us about them, the Sahabah would not have narrated them and our scholars would not have documented them in their books of hadith and fiqh. The topic of cheese is even more important because it relates to what enters our body. It is enough to state that our dua would not be accepted if our food is haraam. So the rulings of diet are very important .
Some of these people who do not recognize the importance of the smaller issues told Salman al Farisi: “We see that your Prophet has taught you everything even about excrements” Salman said: “Yes he did. He taught us not to face qibla when urinating or defecating, not to use our right hands in washing ourselves, not to use less than three stones and not to use dung or bones” (narrated by Muslim and others.) The Messenger of Allah who taught us this was also a head of state and a leader of Jihad.
When one understands the wisdom behind the comprehensiveness of the teachings of Islam nothing is trivial anymore. When we understand that every moment in our lives, every movement, and every act should be for the sake of Allah we appreciate the reason why Rasulullah taught us about everything.
The problem is not in talking about the sunnah in matters that one may assume to be trivial but the problem is when one talks about the beard to the exclusion of Tawhid, wearing the clothes above the ankle to the exclusion of Jihad, or the miswak to the exclusion of wala and bara.
On the other hand, it is even a more serious problem when people occupy themselves with the mustahab ( the recommended) and ignore the major issues, some of which are issues of aqeedah. There are some that escape from the responsibilities that demand sacrifice to the safety of the easy rituals. We need to take Islam as a whole. We should follow Quran and the way of Rasulullah in all matters.

Cheese is great. So if you are a fan of cheese you might be asking yourself the question, is cheese made by non-Muslims allowed or not?

Well if it is cheese made from vegetarian rennet then there is no concern but the issue is with cheese made from natural rennet. Rennet is extracted from the stomachs of calves and contains enzymes that are used in the cheese making process. Bellow are quotes from scholars of the four schools:

One of the characteristics of a humiliated and oppressed community is their submission to their oppressor and their tolerance of oppression. On the other hand they are arrogant and intolerant among themselves. This is how it was with Banu Israel when living under the Pharaoh. I am sorry to state this but unfortunately this attitude is been reflected by many American Muslims who humiliated themselves by voting for candidates who have no serious concern for their issues.
I mentioned in my previous post:

After reading all of the responses to my previous post I have this to say: Brothers and sisters before we carry this discussion any further we must agree on these three points:

1. The American leaders of today are playing the exact role of Pharaoh and Abu Jahl of yesterday and the American people of today are playing the role that the Quraish, Aad and Thamud used to play yesterday. Therefore the verses of Quran and Hadith of Rasulullah that apply to Pharaoh and Abu Jahl apply to the US leaders and the ones that apply to the Quraish, Aad and Thamud apply to the American people. The US is in a state of war with Islam and Muslims and not just against the so called extremists.

The Muslim community in the US is busy with the vote and are debating who the Muslims should pick as their president. The argument presented is we are choosing between the lesser of the two evils. In reality it is more about being American and part of the system than it is about benefiting the ummah because the fact of the matter is there is no benefit in either candidate whatsoever.
Democracy in an un-Islamic system and we as Muslims should have nothing to do with it. Whether one looks at the root and history of democracy or at the reality of democracy today one can realize that it is a system that is not only different than the Islamic system but is opposed to it. Can’t you see that the West in its war against Islam is offering the democratic system as an alternative to Sharia? So if the West, which is the founder of democracy, sees democracy as an opposing system to Islam why are some Muslims still insisting on participating in it and adopting it as their political religion?
Democracy is a Western system that was founded and developed in the West and today the West, not the Muslims, have full authority and right to tell the world what democracy is and how it should be practiced and implemented. We have our own system of government and likewise it is the Muslims who are going to define it and will not allow non Muslims to meddle with our religion and teach us what is right from wrong.
Muslims should seek to avoid any forms of participation in Western democracy.
The promoters of participation in American elections argue that we are choosing the least of the two evils. This principle is correct but what they are missing is that in the process of choosing the lesser of the two evils they are committing an even greater evil . The breaking down of the psychological barrier that should exist between Muslims and non-Muslims, the erosion of the aqeedah of wala and bara (loyalty to Allah and disavowal of the enemies of Allah,) and the risk of loosing one’s religion are evils that outweigh any benefit that may come out of such participation.
Also the types of candidates that American politics has been spitting out is absolutely disgusting. I wonder how any Muslim with a grain of iman in his heart could walk up to a ballot box and cast his vote in endorsement of creatures such as Mcain or Obama?! How can a Muslim sleep with a clear conscience after he has chosen the likes of G.W. Bush? No matter how irrelevant your vote is, on the Day of Judgment you will be called to answer for it. You, under no coercion or duress, consciously chose to vote for the leader of a nation that is leading the war against Islam.
There is also a strange belief among some that if we participate in the elections of the disbelievers we will bring good to ourselves, while if we have trust in Allah and avoid the disbelievers, as He wants from us, we will be missing out on some good and would draw harm to ourselves. They are so weak they believe we can only survive in today’s word if we seek support from the enemies of Allah. But for the believers Allah is sufficient for them and they do not need to seek assistance from the leaders or the governments of the disbelievers.

For those readers outside of the US who have no clue what the title of this post is talking about: Benjamin Franklin is the US statesman who is featured on the face of the $100 bill and George Washington is on the $1 bill.
Even though I am not an economist there is an issue on this topic that I would like to share with my brothers and sisters. Gold has been recognized as currency for thousands of years. FIAT money (Paper money) is a new invention and is only worth the political and economical strength of its issuers and the trust the world has in this political and economical strength. That is obviously the case with nations that issue paper money without gold backing such as the US.
Because the US economy is the powerhouse of the world and is the greatest economy on the face of the planet its currency enjoys the trust of the world. It has become the most recognized and it is the world’s foremost reserve currency. Today rather than commodities being valued in gold or silver they are valued in dollars. Oil for example is priced in dollars. In fact gold itself is priced in dollars.
The Messenger of Allah says: Allah has destined that whatever goes up must come down. Therefore if the US falls politically or economically the dollar falls with it.
Today America is the home of an interesting assortment of sins that are handpicked from all over the nations that existed before us: the obstinacy of the people of Nuh; the arrogance of the people of Aad; the rejection of Allah’s signs by the people of Thamud; the sodomy of the people of Lut; the financial deviance of the people of Shuayb as America is the biggest dealer and promoter of the interest based economy; the oppression of Abu Jahl et al; the greed, deception, love of the temporal life, and the bogusness of the children of Israel; along with the arrogance of the Pharaoh who had the misled notion that just because he is the leader of the most powerful nation on earth and is at the top the greatest army of his time he can somehow defeat the servants of Allah.
Brothers and Sisters this leads to the belief that the punishment of Allah is hovering over America. When? And how? Allah knows best.
So if you are one of those unfortunate folks who turned out to be living in the wrong place at the wrong time then it is advisable for you to leave. That is obviously if you take heed. Many don’t and are still living the utopia of the American dream. I am not talking about Mo and Mike who are still shaking to the tunes of MTV with their coke and big mac and are only Muslim by name, but I am talking about the practicing Muslims who sadly enough still think that the America of George W is the Abyssinia of the Negus.
Hijra for the sake of Allah will continue until the day of Judgment. If you leave with the intention of forsaking the people of sin and protecting your family from evil you would be rewarded abundantly. But not everyone has the capacity to make hijra just like there were some Muslims who could not make hijra from Makkah at the time of Rasulullah. So for those who cannot they should pray to Allah to make a way out for them and protect them from the people of transgression.
If you are a person whom Allah has bestowed wealth upon then you should avoid owning property in the US and you should diversify out of the dollar into gold and silver. Gold and silver have retained there value over history and there is no reason to think that they would not do the same in the future. In addition to this being the prudent thing to do from a financial point of view, it is also the recommended thing to do Islamicly. Muslims should not be supporting the economy of a nation that is fighting them.
Finally, for those who are contemplating purchasing a home in the US based on mortgage which is a clear form of Riba they should fear Allah. In addition to it being one of the most evil sins in Islam it is putting money in the wrong place. Allah says that He will destroy Riba. It is a promise from Allah. There is no blessing in anything based on it. What is happening in the US nowadays is a testimony to that.

I arrived at the Political Security Prison late at night so my first meal was breakfast. Before my imprisonment, I had discussions with former prisoners about how it was in jail, so there was some mental preparation for what was to come. I remember the words of one of the shuyukh who had been to this same prison. He said the food was so horrible, so I was expecting the worst. Early in the morning, while all the prisoners where asleep, I began hearing the opening of the doors and soldiers screaming at prisoners to pick up their meals. It was my turn and I was already awake. They opened my door and there were two soldiers, one holding a bucket and the other dragging a sack full of kudam. The one with the bucket took my plate and poured in it a cupful of steaming pinto beans while the other handed me six kudam. Before my imprisonment, former prisoners had specifically told me how horrible the beans were, so that was what I was expecting. But, to my surprise, the beans just tasted wonderful!
I have never bean a fan of beans. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t eat them. But somehow now I was very pleased that I would be served such wonderful food! The beans where served in a spicy tomato sauce with bits of chili pepper. The fact that they were serving them out of buckets that where identical to the ones we used in the restrooms (although they were not the same ones) was not really appetizing, but in jail one is not particular about such trivialities. However it happened once that the food bucket was not cleaned so the soldier just picked up a restroom bucket instead and served us our meal out of it.
So far I was happy; then came lunch. Now there were two soldiers carrying two buckets, one had rice the other had a vegetable stew. The rice was brownish in color so it must have been cooked with some stew in it, and to my surprise there was cardamon, cloves, and bits of cinnamon mixed with it. Because many readers of this blog may be brothers and sisters who are used to eating basmati rice, I want to note here that this was no basmati rice. This was a very bad quality rice that either came from the US or Egypt or some other country that produces rice that is short and fat and totally out of shape, rather than the tall and slim basmati.
The vegetable stew was mostly potato with some squash, tomato, okra, and carrots thrown in. It had possibly been cooked with chicken that had been taken out to be served to the wardens because I once discovered a small piece of chicken meat in it.
Again, under normal circumstances I would not have had the appetite to eat such a meal but probably because I had such low expectations, the food was appealing to me. Dinner was identical to breakfast.
The next day we where served kidney beans for breakfast and dinner. The following fava beans and the following lentils. This carried on for a while but after that we would be served mostly pinto beans while kidney beans and fava beans only once in a while. Lentils disappeared forever. For lunch we were served rice and stew for eternity.
After a few weeks I began to feel the same as every other prisoner I had met; this food stinks. Alhamdulillah, by then I was allowed to purchase some food items from outside such as yogurt, fruit, and tuna. I was also allowed to get hot food from home twice a week. However the prison administration would use this as a method to pressure prisoners. Under the pretext of searching our food for contraband items I would sometimes receive my food in an inedible state. They once mashed together my rice, chocolate cake and salad and then poured over it a package of cranberry juice. Even the guard who delivered the meal to me was saddened by the state of my food. I waited an entire week to receive some proper food from my family and then this is what I got. The issue here is not only that this is proper food served from one’s home, but it is also the memory of one’s family that he misses. It is the house where the food was cooked and the hands that cooked it. So for them to mess with it in such a way, is a violation of one’s sanctity and what the prisoner holds dear. What was even worse is that my family was being told that I was allowed to have food from home twice a week and then they stole that food altogether for a period of over two months because they claimed that I was uncooperative with the investigators. I made an issue out of it and eventually I would receive my food and they would search it without mixing the different items together. However, this improvement only came when I moved from my underground cell to the ground floor.
On the ground floor there was another major improvement; each wing had access to an electric boiler. This allowed us to make tea, coffee and Indomie noodles (instant noodles).
The best treat was at Eid. For each Eid we would be served beef for lunch for three days. Because this was such a monumental change in prison diet, prisoners would talk about this for weeks before and after Eid. All of this makes me wonder how we have taken for granted all that Allah has blessed us with.
O Allah we thank you and praise you for all that you have given us. O Allah we ask you to make us from your grateful servants.

Assalamu alaykum All,
Ramadan Mubarak to all of you. We ask Allah to guide us to the best deeds and to accept from us our fasting and prayers.
Ramadan is the month of Quran and generosity. In Abbas says: “I have never seen anyone more generous than Rasulullah, and he would be most generous in Ramadan when Gibril would read Quran with him”
Imam Malik used to close the books of hadith and fiqh in Ramadan and devote his time to Quran.
Allah says: “The month of Ramadan in which Quran was revealed.” So the revelation of Quran began in Ramadan.
Therefore dear brothers and sisters we should focus on Quran during the holy month.
Lets not forget too that the month of Ramadan was a time when great battles were fought such as the battle of the criterion, the battle of Badr, and the greatest conquest, the opening of Makkah. There is also the important battle that saved the Muslims from the Mongol invasion, the battle of Ayn Jalut. So we should not forget our brothers who are carrying on this duty today from our dua and support.
Lastly, we need to keep in mind that while we are enjoying the blessing of freedom and having iftar with our families that we have thousands of brothers behind bars and only Allah knows what conditions they are in and there are thousands of families who are deprived the presence of their loved ones. Lets pray for them during this blessed month.
O Allah free our Muslim brothers from the prisons of the tyrants and shower on them and their families Your mercy. O Allah accept our good deeds and forgive us our mistakes.
Assalamu alaykum

Question:

Salam Alakum. What I understand from your lectures is that you believe the

method to re-establish Khilafah is through Jihad. Can you respond to this?

“Another view that is being addressed to the Ummah is the concept of fighting

the rulers and that through military struggle Islam will return to the world

stage. Again this is based upon a particular Hadith. It has been narrated from

many sources including Imam Muslim that the Prophet (saw) said, .Do not

challenge the people of authority unless you see explicit Kufr of which you have

I am done with my book reviews, so now let’s take a culinary tour of prison. The first item on the list is kudam.
The definition of kudam is a unique creature that exists on Yemeni military bases and prisons. It is the plural of kudma or kidma. The unique thing about kudam is that no two are equal in shape or color. The color can range anywhere from off-white to black. The shape of kudam does not conform to known geometric shapes. To a first time observer, they might appear to be visitors from outer space. Their size is usually equal to a large fist.
Do you have any idea what kudam really are?
Kudam are the staple breads of prisoners and soldiers in Yemen. They are fascinating pieces of art.
Kudam are transported from bakeries to military basis and prisons around the country on open flatbed trucks and are therefore subjected to wind, dust, sun, rain and the various forms of life that would naturally want to devour them. However kudam are pretty resistant to the elements, with the exception of rain, which they never handle well.
Kudam are supposed to be multigrain. That is how it was in the old days. Now they are most likely whole-wheat. They are fermented so their taste resembles San Francisco’s sourdough bread (those who live in America would know what I am talking about). They consist of a solid crust (and I mean really solid); they could be used for fights. They are covered with a layer of loose flour plus whatever particles have become attached to them along their route to prison, such as dust. Inside this hard crust, they are soft and tasty. They are mouth watering when hot, but unfortunately we only received them hot for sahur during Ramadan.
The ration for every prisoner is 6 kudam, which works out as 2 for breakfast, 2 for lunch, and 2 for dinner, but you get them all before breakfast.
There is a traditional way of eating kudam that is unfortunately dying just like all other wonderful customs. The traditional way of ‘breaking in’ to kudam is that you hold one kudma in each hand and then slam them together as hard as you can. This takes care of breaking loose all the foreign particles and flour that is hanging on to the surface. It also breaks the crust. This tradition is mostly lost among the prisoners, who may not have had enough exposure to kudam before incarceration, but I used to see the prison wardens always do it.