Here is a nice recitation by Qari Sadaqat Ali of Pakistan. I especially enjoyed the Uncle in the background who routinely adds a "SubhaaaanAllah, SubhaaaaanAllah, SubhaaaaanAllah!" (especially around 5:20 seconds).
Question: What advice can you give to the Muslims in the west in the current situation in which the Muslim ummah finds itself? How can we fulfil our Islamic duties and please Allaah?.
Answer:
1. Our advice to our Muslim brothers who are living in the west – now – is the same as the advice that Allaah gave to the first and the last, which is to fear Allaah and to do that which is enjoined by Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and to avoid that which is forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger. 2. Do not stay there, except for those of you who are forced to stay or who need to do so, because they have no other place to go, or because they are sick and need treatment, or they are active in da’wah, calling people to Islam; or if you are natives of that land and can practise your religion openly. You know your situation better than we do and you have seen for yourselves how the west has shown its true colours with regard to so-called religious freedom and freedom of self-expression. That has become permissible for all religions except Islam, and for all people except the Muslims; the heads of some of these states have even dared to issue laws forbidding Muslim women to wear hijab in public schools. 3. If you have no alternative but to stay in those countries, then strive not to raise your children there; send them to a Muslim country, to their families or to Islamic centres that will take care of them and educate them. No matter how great the corruption in Muslim countries, it cannot compare to the kufr and permissiveness that exists in the west, except in a few rare cases. 4. You have to present a correct image of Islam by adhering to its rituals, morals and ways. Many countries were won over by Muslim merchants who dealt in a good and kind manner with people, so that the gave a good image of Islam and countries became Muslim at their hands whose inhabitants number in the tens of millions. 5. It is not permissible for you to look forward to dilute the rulings of Islam and to make compromises in order to please the west and its people. Rather you should feel proud of your religion and adhere to the guidance of your Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), no matter who disagrees with you. You see how the followers of deviant ideas and perversions feel proud of their principles and ideas and proclaim them openly with no embarrassment. The followers of truth have more right to do that. 6. Be united in adhering to the truth and in defending the truth; do not become divided and lose your strength, thus enabling your enemy to defeat you. And do not show your differences openly in front of the kuffaar. Advise one another in private and not in plain view of others. 7. Do not hesitate to be involved in newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and all kinds of media – within Islamic guidelines – and let your participation be with a purpose, namely to show the true face of Islam. Defend the honour of your Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), for many kaafirs may be receptive and may respond to a kind word or be influenced by strong evidence. 8. You have to develop strong ties with the scholars and shaykhs whose knowledge is trustworthy, through all available means. Rid yourselves of ignorance about your faith so that you may dispel the ignorance of others in turn. Introduce Islam to the public, free of all impurities. 9. Visit the Holy Land of Allaah – Makkah al-Mukarramah – for Hajj and ‘Umrah, in order to strengthen your faith and form strong ties with the scholars and shaykhs. We often see Muslims from all corners of the earth, but rarely from the west. So strive to do this and cooperate in organizing trips, and you will see a great deal of good inshaAllah. 10. Finally, strive to obey and worship Allaah, and take good care of your sons and daughters; strive to form strong bonds between family members.
The arrests in Britain this morning was another reminder of the problems Muslims face from within and without. On one side, there are the Evangelicals, Zionists and Neocons. On the other side stands a group of Muslims who have legitimate grievances but an ideology that is totally incorrect and policies that are completely hypocritical. The two sides are nutrition for the other and at times it seems as if the destruction of both is the only route to security and justice in this world.
From CNN to CNBC, one finds biased and editoriliazing commentators who present the truth as they see it, omit facts and give a very biased view of what is going on. For instance, Anderson Cooper (who would guess he's biased) repeatedly talks of how so many Lebaneese came out in support of Syria's withdrawal and against HizbAllah. Yet he never mentions the larger demonstrations held by HizbAllah where the opposite views were espoused. On MSNBC, Chris Matthews of Hardball and most of the other commentators see fit to call the democratically elected head of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a lunatic/nutjob. They belittle this professor who holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. If he was such a nutjob, why is Iran in the better position right now? Why is it that nothing has really been done to them? He can't be that stupid or crazed.
It seems that the Western media and all the so-called pundits have a pro-Israel, anti-Islam slant that is neither justified nor warranted. What has friendship with Israel given to the West except terror and hatred from others. Every day, the US taxpayers give Israel 15 million dollars of money that they do not have to account for and are free to use in any way they want (something that other aid receiving nations can only dream of). I can say with a clear conscience that if the US did not support Israel, merely stayed out of the entire problem both diplomatically and materially, Al Qaeda and all the other terrorist networks would have no base from which to draw human and financial support. Terror problem solved.
And by the way, our own President called the Muslim combatants "fascists" today. He and his conservative brethren have been trying for many years now to paint the battle as one against a group of people with a violent and completely warped ideology and set of goals. I don't necesarily disagree. But when will he call Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Rick Santorum and every other maniacal Evangelical/Neocon fascist as well? They too seek violence so as to bring about Armageddon and believe that we must support Israel b/c they are battling Satan. These people are just as evil and deserving of a good prison spell as the people arrested today. Their methods may be different, but their goals are the same.
On the other hand, there are millions of Muslimeen who support the indiscriminate killing of people in defense of Muslim causes and land. It is truly hypocritical that British born and raised Muslims sought to kill people on a plane over the Atlantic. These same people protest and justify their actions by citing the killing of our children, women and parents in Iraq, Kashmir, Palestine, etc. How does killing someone else's children and wife make up for the original legitimate injustice? It doesn't! Many 'ulama and regular Muslims justify suicide bombings in a similar way. They say that if they had F-16s and Merkava tanks, they would use them instead of their children. While I don't doubt this, there is a great deal of Islaamic literature from major scholars that refute the idea that it is ok to deliberately kill oneself as suicide bombers do. Now, I am not passing judgement on these people. May Allah have mercy on them. But what I will say is that no child or grandmother is a legitimate target and we transgress the bounds that Allah has set for us by attacking them. If we believe in an afterlife, and believe in a Day of Judgement, then we should not become so desperate in our suffering that we cross the ahkam of Allah.
