Khutbah – Ihsan Mosque, Norwich – 7/5/10

Those commands to do with the tongue are recitation of the Qur’an, dhikr and du‘a, and today we want to talk about the fourth matter: commanding the right and forbidding the wrong.

Allah, exalted is He, said, that whose meaning is:

Let there be a community among you

who call to the good,

and enjoin the right,

and forbid the wrong.

They are the ones who have success. (Surah Al ‘Imran: 104)

Continue reading “Khutba on Commanding the Right and Forbidding the Wrong – Abdassamad Clarke”

This excerpt is an incomplete translation of the section which Ibn Khaldun devotes to the subject of the Mahdi, and comprises in full his study of the ahadith on him.

If we examine first the ‘aqidahs which are acknowledged, such as those of at-Tahawi, an-Nasafi, or Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (in his Risalah and the Kitab al-Jami‘) we find that none of them mention the Mahdi as a fundamental part of the ‘aqidah of Islam, whereas all do indeed mention the return of ‘Isa, peace be upon him, and the descent of the Dajjal, except in the Risalah, whose ‘aqidah is brief.

When we turn to the works of ahadith, we find that Malik in Muwatta, and al-Bukhari mention nothing of the Mahdi at all, although Muslim does mention a hadith that in later times there will be an unnamed noble and generous khalifah. It is inconceivable for these great Imams to have neglected something which is a fundamental pillar of the ‘aqidah.

The significance of this section is not to deny that there may be at some point in the future of Islam a great rightly-guided Khalifah, but that it is not a fundamental part of the ‘aqidah and that it is a deviation of Islam to ‘wait for the Mahdi’ in order to establish Islam, wage jihad or restore the Khalifate.

In the later part of this section Ibn Khaldun devotes some space to Sufi writings on the Mahdi, and on some of the historical personages particularly in North Africa who rose in revolt proclaiming themselves to be Mahdis. Ibn Khaldun writes that if there is to be a Mahdi he will have to appear according to the dynamics of political power outlined in theMuqaddimah, and not as in the apocalyptic fantasies of some sources.

This section is by no means the last word on this matter, and Ibn Khaldun’s chapter has met with criticism from other hadith scholars throughout the ages, but that is also of the nature of these sciences, since there are few scholars who have escaped criticism for some position they have taken. Some of the criticisms made of him are utterly baseless, such as that he was not a scholar of hadith. This is blatantly untrue since he was educated thoroughly in hadith and indeed later in Cairo taught both fiqh and hadith, and numbered among his pupils the great Ibn Hajar (not necessarily in the science of hadith) who is unquestionably one of the greatest authorities on the subject.

However, this chapter has particular interest for us because of the huge significance that the prophetic ahadith on the Mahdi are given in the time in which we live, and as a corrective to the transformation of the Mahdi into “al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar” (the Awaited Mahdi) whom one of our acquaintance wittily renamed “al-Mahdi al-Muntadhir” (the Waiting Mahdi).

Continue reading “The Fatimi – Ibn Khaldun”

The following examination of the ayah of Qur’an which is taken to refer to the expansion of the universe is a single example of what is becoming a burgeoning literature claiming that science proves the Qur’an to be true. This literature can be said to date from the book of Maurice Bucaille: The Bible, the Qur’an and Science. As Hajj Idris Mears pointed out, it is implicit in the title that there are three successive stages of revelation: first, the Bible; second, the Qur’an which the author regards as a great deal more scientific (although in the process he manages to undermine and indeed repudiate the hadith literature); and then thirdly and lastly, science, which is clearly in his view the judge and arbiter as to the truth or falsity of the previous two. Continue reading “Qur’an and Science: The Expansion of the Universe – Abdassamad Clarke”

This is a timely work. With black people in the US beginning finally to emerge from the centuries of degrading slavery and the false start of the Civil Rights movement, and with Africa itself increasingly looking to be the continent of the future for Islam, nothing written in this area is without politics. Thus, it has been vital for orientalists, themselves often faithful servants of powerful oligarchic elements in world finance and corporatism, to back-project modern racism and the horrific history of Judaeo-Christian slavery into Islam. But make no mistake about it, this is entirely a political issue, or rather we should say an economic one, since today academia serves politics which in turn serves economics. Continue reading “Preface to “Illuminating the Darkness” by Habeeb Akande”

The Medium is the Message

Marshall MacLuhan, of the well-turned epigram, is too tempting to cite really, and too much needed in this utilitarian age that sees only content and not this other matter, sees only the message and not the medium by which the message comes, and what a matter that is! Of course, the message does matter; it does matter if people use the plethora of tele-connections we now possess to see a concert of Brahms’ German Requiem, an incisive documentary, a soap opera or porn, but still this very thing goes unquestioned, that we gaze across the planet and enter others’ lives or they enter ours, at the flick of a switch, utterly passively. That Paxman or indeed Max Keiser can be in a thousand, a hundred thousand or millions of homes at the same instant is not nothing. Max has probably entered the fray because he couldn’t stand any longer to see Paxman and his ilk, the official spokesmen for corporation and finance, hogging (literally) the entire field. Continue reading “Medium, Message – Abdassamad Clarke”

A concept of ‘The Islamic State’ has become very widespread among Muslims and non-Muslims and although the following document is based on my analysis of an essay whose origins I have so far been unable to trace, it has simply articulated a misconception that is very widespread. This is certainly not an attack on the author or the movement from which the essay issues. Rather, I am grateful to him and to them for articulating their position so clearly, thus allowing a proper analysis.

Continue reading “The Falsity of the Concept of the Islamic State – Abdassamad Clarke”

O Allah bless our Master Muhammad and his family and companions and greet peace

Because of our ignorance of history and our ‘ulama’s ignorance of of history, certain events have come to assume mythic proportions. One of these is the event of Kerbala. The movement of this event-as-myth to the centre stage of Muslim discourse has resulted in a cynical view of Muslim power, and a defeatism that glorifies useless sacrifice. This myth serves a subordinate role in the global myth of the dominant technique/technology culture that bestrides the earth. It thus serves a very useful geo-political purpose for the power élite. In that culture of globalised warfare and total spectrum dominance, the technique of the creation of money from nothing is absolutely central. In ignorance of the power politics of the age, active Muslims are locked into a false struggle with local dictators. Primed with the myth of al-Husayn, they are pre-configured to seek defeat. Moreover, as their understanding of power is false, even when they win it is a defeat. As the core community of mankind, it behoves the Muslims rather to turn to the primordial historical model of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions, the people of Madina, both in the telling of his history and the transmission of his practice, the Sunnah. The transmitted practice alone, which is the Qur’anic revelation embodied, deals with the motor, the money nexus, that drives the global frenzy of the age. The sirah represents, contrary to the myth of Kerbala, a life-affirming and positive victory-oriented approach to life and to political power.

Continue reading “Myth, Narrative and History – Abdassamad Clarke”

Brev till en ny muslim (del 1 av 2)

I Allahs namn, den Allnådige, den Nåderike

Och må Allah välsigna Muhammad, hans familj och hans följeslagare, och må Han skänka dem frid.

Allah, upphöjd är Han, säger det vars mening är:

Vem kan säga någonting bättre

än den som kallar till Allah

och handlar rättfärdigt

och säger “jag är en av muslimerna? (Surah Fussilat: 33) Continue reading “Brev till en ny muslim (del 1 av 2) – Abdassamad Clarke”