There has been a lot of debate about the proposed islamic centre near gound zero as well as the hate pastor of Florida Terry Jones but little has been said of the Muslims that died in the Twin Towers on 9/11 (estimated to be 60) nor about the prayer rooms that existed in the twin towers.
Here is a article taken form The New York Times, Published: September 10, 2010
Muslims and Islam Were Part of Twin Towers’ Life
By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN
Sometime in 1999, a construction electrician received a new work assignment from his union. The man, Sinclair Hejazi Abdus-Salaam, was told to report to 2 World Trade Center, the southern of the twin towers.
In the union locker room on the 51st floor, Mr. Abdus-Salaam went through a construction worker’s version of due diligence. In the case of an emergency in the building, he asked his foreman and crew, where was he supposed to reassemble? The answer was the corner of Broadway and Vesey.
Over the next few days, noticing some fellow Muslims on the job, Mr. Abdus-Salaam voiced an equally essential question: “So where do you pray at?” And so he learned about the Muslim prayer room on the 17th floor of the south tower.
He went there regularly in the months to come, first doing the ablution known as wudu in a washroom fitted for cleansing hands, face and feet, and then facing toward Mecca to intone the salat prayer.
On any given day, Mr. Abdus-Salaam’s companions in the prayer room might include financial analysts, carpenters, receptionists, secretaries and ironworkers. There were American natives, immigrants who had earned citizenship, visitors conducting international business — the whole Muslim spectrum of nationality and race.
Leaping down the stairs on Sept. 11, 2001, when he had been installing ceiling speakers for a reinsurance company on the 49th floor, Mr. Abdus-Salaam had a brief, panicked thought. He didn’t see any of the Muslims he recognized from the prayer room. Where were they? Had they managed to evacuate?
He staggered out to the gathering place at Broadway and Vesey. From that corner, he watched the south tower collapse, to be followed soon by the north one. Somewhere in the smoking, burning mountain of rubble lay whatever remained of the prayer room, and also of some of the Muslims who had used it.
Given the vitriolic opposition now to the proposal to build a Muslim community center two blocks from ground zero, one might say something else has been destroyed: the realization that Muslim people and the Muslim religion were part of the life of the World Trade Center.
Opponents of the Park51 project say the presence of a Muslim center dishonors the victims of the Islamic extremists who flew two jets into the towers. Yet not only were Muslims peacefully worshiping in the twin towers long before the attacks, but even after the 1993 bombing of one tower by a Muslim radical, Ramzi Yousef, their religious observance generated no opposition
“We weren’t aliens,” Mr. Abdus-Salaam, 60, said in a telephone interview from Florida, where he moved in retirement. “We had a foothold there. You’d walk into the elevator in the morning and say, ‘Salaam aleikum,’ to one construction worker and five more guys in suits would answer, ‘Aleikum salaam.’ ”
One of those men in suits could have been Zafar Sareshwala, a financial executive for the Parsoli Corporation, who went to the prayer room while on business trips from his London office. He was introduced to it, he recently recalled, by a Manhattan investment banker who happened to be Jewish.
“It was so freeing and so calm,” Mr. Sareshwala, 47, said in a phone conversation from Mumbai, where he is now based. “It had the feel of a real mosque. And the best part is that you are in the epicenter of capitalism — New York City, the World Trade Center — and you had this island of spiritualism. I don’t think you could have that combination anywhere in the world.”
How, when and by whom the prayer room was begun remains unclear. Interviews this week with historians and building executives of the trade center came up empty. Many of the Port Authority’s leasing records were destroyed in the towers’ collapse. The imams of several Manhattan mosques whose members sometimes went to the prayer room knew nothing of its origins.
Yet the room’s existence is etched in the memories of participants like Mr. Abdus-Salaam and Mr. Sareshwala. Prof. John L. Esposito of Georgetown University, an expert in Islamic studies, briefly mentions the prayer room in his recent book “The Future of Islam.”
Moreover, the prayer room was not the only example of Muslim religious practice in or near the trade center. About three dozen Muslim staff members of Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the north tower, used a stairwell between the 106th and 107th floors for their daily prayers.
Without enough time to walk to the closest mosque — Masjid Manhattan on Warren Street, about four blocks away — the waiters, chefs, banquet managers and others would lay a tablecloth atop the concrete landing in the stairwell and flatten cardboard boxes from food deliveries to serve as prayer mats.
During Ramadan, the Muslim employees brought their favorite foods from home, and at the end of the daylight fast shared their iftar meal in the restaurant’s employee cafeteria.
“Iftar was my best memory,” said Sekou Siby, 45, a chef originally from the Ivory Coast. “It was really special.”
Such memories have been overtaken, though, by others. Mr. Siby’s cousin and roommate, a chef named Abdoul-Karim Traoré, died at Windows on the World on Sept. 11, as did at least one other Muslim staff member, a banquet server named Shabir Ahmed from Bangladesh.
Fekkak Mamdouh, an immigrant from Morocco who was head waiter, attended a worship service just weeks after the attacks that honored the estimated 60 Muslims who died. Far from being viewed as objectionable, the service was conducted with formal support from city, state and federal authorities, who arranged for buses to transport imams and mourners to Warren Street.
There, within sight of the ruins, they chanted salat al-Ghaib, the funeral prayer when there is not an intact corpse.
“It is a shame, shame, shame,” Mr. Mamdouh, 49, said of the Park51 dispute. “Sometimes I wake up and think, this is not what I came to America for. I came here to build this country together. People are using this issue for their own agenda. It’s designed to keep the hate going.”
Saturday, 11 September 2010
The prayer room within the Twin Towers
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Joining Salah in Congression Late (i.e. Jammat)
The following has been taken form Islam Q&A - Fatwa 49037
Q: How should one who has caught up with the congregation in the last rak’ah of Maghrib complete his prayer?
Suppose we are in Magrib prayer and we joined the salat from the second rakat ie from the Tashahud part., then how shall I complete my prayers. Like I normally stand after the salam complete one rakat sit for Tashahud and then complete the third rakat and complete the Tashahud.
Answer
Praise be to Allaah.
If you join the congregation during the first tashahhud of Maghrib prayer, then you should follow the imam in the third rak’ah, and recite the tashahhud, then get up after he says the salaam to complete your prayer. You have two rak’ahs left, so pray the first one with al-Faatihah and another soorah, then recite the tashahhud, which is the first tashahhud for you, then get up for the third rak’ah, and recite al-Faatihah only, and recite the last tashahhud, then say the salaam.
What is stated above is based on the assumption that what the latecomer caught up with with the imam is the beginning of his own prayer, and what he prays on his own is the end of his prayer. This is the opinion of al-Shaafa’i (may Allaah have mercy on him).
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’ (4/117): If he catches up with a rak’ah of Maghrib he should stand up after the imam says the salaam and pray one rak’ah and recite the tashahhud, then pray a third rak’ah and recite the tashahhud.
Then he said:
We have mentioned that our view is that what the latecomer catches up with is the first part of his prayer and what he makes up is the last part. This is the view of Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyib, al-Hasan al-Basri, ‘Ata’, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez, Makhool, al-Zuhri, al-Awzaa’i, Sa’eed ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez and Ishaaq. Ibn al-Mundhir narrated it from them and said: This is also my opinion. He said: and it was narrated from ‘Umar, ‘Ali and Abu’l-Darda’, but that is not proven. It was also narrated from Maalik and was the view of Dawood.
Abu Haneefah, Maalik, al-Thawri and Ahmad said: What he caught up with is the latter part of his prayer and what he makes up is the first part of his prayer. This was narrated by Ibn al-Mundhir from Ibn ‘Umar, Mujaahid and Ibn Sireen. They quoted as evidence for that the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Whatever you catch up with, pray, and whatever you have missed, make it up.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim. Our companions quoted as evidence the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Whatever you catch up with, pray, and whatever you have missed, complete it.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim with many isnaads.
Al-Bayhaqi said: Those who narrated the words “complete it” are greater in number, have better memories and are closer to Abu Hurayrah who is the narrator of this hadeeth, so they are more correct. Shaykh Abu Haamid and al-Maawirdi said: Completing a thing can only be done after doing the first part of it. Al-Bayhaqi also narrated a view similar to ours from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, ‘Ali, Abu’l-Darda’, Ibn al-Musayyib, Hasan, ‘Ata’, Ibn Sireen and Abu Qilaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them).
With regard to the report which says “make it up.” This may be answered in two ways:
1 – That those who narrated the words “complete it” are greater in number and have better memories
2 – That qada’ (the word translated here as “make it up”) is actually to be interpreted as meaning “do it” and not the usual sense in which the word is understood, because this usage is that of the later fuqaha’, whereas the Arabs used the word in the sense of doing. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“So when you have accomplished [qadaytum] your Manaasik (rituals of Hajj)”
[al-Baqarah 2:200]
“When you have finished [qudiyat] As-Salaah (the congregational prayer)”
[al-Nisa’ 4:103]
Shaykh Abu Haamid said: What is meant is: what you have missed of your own prayer, not what you missed of the imam’s prayer; what the latecomer has missed of his own prayer is the latter part of it.
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (7/322):
Question: I would like to know more about how a latecomer should pray:
1- If the imam has already prayed one or two rak’ahs of Maghrib
2- If the imam has already prayed one or two rak’ahs of a four-rak’ah prayer.
What should he recite? Should he recite al-Faatihah only or another soorah as well?
Answer:
Whatever the latecomer catches up with of the prayer with his imam is regarded as the first part of his prayer. So whoever catches up with one rak’ah of Maghrib, that is regarded as being the first part of his prayer. So he should stand up after the imam says the salaam and make up what he missed. In the first rak’ah he makes up he should recite al-Faatihah and another soorah or verses, because it is the second rak’ah for him. Then he should sit and recite the first tashahhud. Then when he stands up to make up the remaining rak’ah of Maghrib he should recite al-Faatihah only, because it is the third rak’ah for him. Then he should sit and recite the final tashahhud. If what he missed of Maghrib was one rak’ah, and he caught up with two rak’ahs with the imam, then he should recite al-Faatihah only in the last rak’ah that he makes up after the imam says the salaam, because it is the third rak’ah for him.
If it is a four-rak’ah prayer and he catches up with three or two rak’ahs with the imam, then he should recite al-Faatihah only in the one or two rak’ahs that he makes up, because that is the latter part of the prayer for him, so he does not have to recite another soorah as well as al-Faatihah. This is the correct scholarly view. And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas.
And Allaah knows best.
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Rare Quran inscribed by Aurangzeb to be auctioned
Taken from Gulf News, By Samihah Zaman, Published: September 3, 2010
Abu Dhabi: A 300-year-old manuscript of the Quran, parts of which were inscribed by the son of the Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal, will soon be auctioned by its Emirati owner in Germany.
The 14.5x24cm manuscript has lavish golden insets and consists of sheets of paper, handcrafted from rice and natural materials, and inlaid with ruby, lapis lazuli and garnet.
The 14.5x24cm manuscript was part of the collection of the Mughal emperors of India, and was made during the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707), son of Emperor Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal.
It will be auctioned at the Auktionshaus Sebök (Seboek aution house) in the German city of Bamberg by its current Emirati owner, who wished to remain anonymous.
The manuscript has lavish golden insets and consists of sheets of paper, handcrafted from rice and natural materials. The script is written in ink made from valuable minerals, and it is inlaid with ruby, lapis lazuli and garnet.
Emperor Aurungzeb is known to have inscribed several passages of the manuscript himself, and he had reserved a special section of his palace for the artists who completed it.
Starting price
Stefan Sebök, an auctioneer at the auction house, told Gulf News that the starting price for the item has been set at 900 euros (Dh 4,221).
"The manuscript is extremely rare and was passed down to the last of the Mughal emperors by Emperor Aurangzeb. So we expect it to receive one of the highest bids at our art and antique auction in October," Sebök said.
Sebök also said that a comparable manuscript was sold to the Sultan of Brunei in 2006 for $10 million (Dh36.7 million), and a similar item went to an anonymous bidder for $4.3 million (Dh 15.781 million).
According to Sebök, the current owner of the manuscript acquired the ancient copy of the Quran from his great-grandfather. The owner's great-grandfather had been governor to Oudh, a northern region in India, and had served the Mughal dynasty.
Before the British Raj had dismissed the last Mughal emperor, the emperor had asked his loyal confidants to select gifts from his collection for themselves.
The great-grandfather of the current owner has personally selected the manuscript, and it has since been passed down through generations of the family.
Other interesting articles:
(1) Record price for 13th-century Quran(2) 800-year-old key to the Kaaba
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Money recovered from Hajj fraudster - Mohammed Faruk Ahmed of Qibla Hajj Kafela
Taken from The Metropolitan police - Tower Hamlets , 02.09.2010
In November 2008 Tower Hamlets Police investigated claims that a Mohammed Faruk Ahmed had defrauded over 300 intended Hajj pilgrims by falsely offering travel packages to the 2008 Hajj in Mecca.
Officers have been in negotiation with Bangladeshi authorities for almost two years in an attempt to recover significant sums of money sent to Dhaka by Ahmed.
As a result, in July 2010 the Bangladeshi authorities ordered the return of funds controlled by Ahmed in several accounts. £274,891.63 has now been received in the UK and will be transferred to Her Majesty's Court Service to satisfy a compensation order made in respect of victims.
The process of returning the money to victims will be undertaken by the court service who will contact victims by letter. This concludes Tower Hamlets Police involvement in the case.
DI Des McHugh from Tower Hamlets Police said: “This has required significant effort and tenacity. As well as the conviction of Ahmed I am pleased that the victims will now receive some financial recompense for this serious crime”
Further reading:
Sunday, 29 August 2010
My journey to Islam
The following is an article taken from Saudi Gazzette, 23.08.2010
By Nazeeha Renard
You can ask me what I had for dinner yesterday, and I will stop and think. But ask me at any time, on any day, when I reverted to Islam… and the answer comes quickly to the surface of my mind.
Before I tell you “when,” I will answer the question of “why?” I was waiting to die. No, there was no illness of the body. My heart and soul were dead. My body felt like it existed without purpose.
It was not a morbid feeling; I just didn’t connect spiritually, in my mind, to any faith. My family (who will remain private) and I were raised under the religion of Catholicism. Believing in God and knowing God, I believe, are very separate concepts. I attended church on the obligatory holidays. I would drop my coins in the faded gold box that was firmly welded to the candle offerings table. Kneeling down, I closed my eyes and prayed to any and all saints to help me.
College life, married life and divorce – all were basically lived without a firm grasp on faith. I was always spiritual (or so I thought), but did not claim any one religion as my own. It was only after having my son that I contemplated something more, a desire to be better and to find something greater in this world.
I was a stay-at-home mom doing my best to raise a “good person.” To give my son unconditional love, and provide him the opportunity to give back to this world. The strange thing for me was I could teach my son how to pray, however, I was unable to teach him about faith.
One day while I was doing my routine housework, I started watching a documentary about the fastest growing religions in the world. Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism were the featured religions. When the history of Islam was featured, I thought, “This is it!” My heart literally changed its rhythm. I can’t explain it… it can only be experienced. My eyes cried over the sound of the Adhan (the call for prayer) until I could barely see the screen. I remember going to the PC and searching frantically for this “music” I had heard. It was not music, but a call to worship Allah.
The year was 2007 and I said my Shahada and became a Muslim. I have a faith that is more important to me than anyone and anything in my life! Life for me revolves around Islam, not the other way around. I have lost some friendships, but I will not compromise my beliefs for anyone.
My family is very small, and is not what I would call practicing Catholics. My announcement that I was a Muslim came over dinner and was greeted with complete silence. I mean, crickets chirping… But as time passed and my mother and son (who is 21) saw that I was very serious, they still said nothing. My son is accepting and my mother feels I am “sad and unhappy” or going through a phase. You have got to love her. Well, at least I have to love her.
That is all I will say about them for now. I love them deeply and will always make supplication for my mom and son to accept Islam, Insha Allah. Each day, I love more, and learn more. Does Islam assure me happiness? No, but it does give me the freedom to be a stronger woman.
I started wearing the Hijab in stages. Six months after taking my Shahada, I felt the desire to cover yet, I was still nervous of public reaction. The wearing of a bandanna became my introduction to my new life as a Muslim. The first time I went outside a sense of calm overwhelmed me… even though my neck was still visible a transformation of spirit was occurring.
Within two months I was wearing the Hijab full-time! I still tear up thinking about seeing myself for the first time in the mirror. No longer was I seeing myself. Subhan Allah, the reflection looking back at me was of a woman who was grateful. For the very first time I saw an outward appearance, that matched my feelings inside. I saw a Muslimah at peace with herself.
I wear my Hijab only to please Allah. There are no Muslims in my family, and I am not married. So the answer to if I am being forced to cover is a happy and sincere “No.”
My beauty and femininity are not displayed for the public, or defined by what the fashion magazines say is beautiful. In fact, my makeup routine consists of a clean moisturized face and vanilla scented lip balm.
My Hijab is not worn as a political symbol. The way I tie it, or the pins which may adorn it are not the issue. More recently increasing government pressure is mounting to ban the wearing of the Hijab and veil. It is beyond comprehension how a group of non-Muslim elected government officials can speak for the choices made by Muslim women!
They say “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Maybe someone should tell these government leaders and their supporters… “Don’t judge the Muslimah for her cover!” – SG
New Metro System for Makkah & New Airport for Madinah
Saudi Arabia Prepares $27bn revamp for Makkah
Makkah governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has emphasized the need for preparing a well thought out and comprehensive development plan for Makkah to make it one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Saudi Arabia is planning to spend $27bn on transforming the city of Makkah via a model that will be the development for other urban centres in the country.
Arab News reported that the Holy Makkah Comprehensive Plan is being drafted by the Commission for the Development of Makkah and the Holy Sites and should be ready “by the beginning of next year”.
Four consulting and planning groups are currently working on the draft. The groups include local entities, such as government bodies that have a direct link to Makkah services, international planning experts and consultative companies.
Although the draft plan is not yet complete, some work is already being carried out.
“One of the important ones is the Fourth Ring Road project that will link the city’s main areas with a surrounding road. On that road, two projects are being executed to connect Makkah’s southern and western areas to the Jeddah highway,” Osama Al Bar, Makkah’s mayor, told the paper.
Other current work includes the construction of new municipal buildings and pedestrian bridges.
Makkah will also be the first Saudi city to have a metro system. Construction work on this project is already in progress, and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2011.
Prince Khaled Al Faisal told top executives that a new transport system and would allow even more pilgrims to visit the Grand Mosque in the coming years.
“We have completed two years of the plan that begins from the Holy Kaaba, which receives millions of faithful every year,” the governor pointed out, stressing the need to implement all transportation projects in the city in an integrated manner linking them with road networks of Jeddah and Taif.
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New terminal of Madinah airport to be ready by October
Taken from Arab News by P. K Adbul Ghafour, Aug 10, 2010
JEDDAH: The new passenger terminal at Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah will be completed by the first week of October, according to Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed.
Speaking to reporters after inspecting expansion projects at the airport on Tuesday, he said: “Prince Muhammad Airport will witness qualitative development in the coming days. We have instructed the officials to carry out the project in the best way.”
He said the new terminal would be able to accommodate more domestic flights.
The first phase of the ongoing expansion project would be completed by 2014 to increase the airport’s annual capacity to 25 million passengers. The General Authority of Civil Aviation designed the project, taking into consideration the growing number of Haj and Umrah pilgrims visiting the city.
Prince Abdul Aziz also inspected the expansion of the eastern courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque. The new expansion covering 37,000 square meters provides additional place for 70,000 worshippers.
The mosque expansion ordered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah was carried out at a cost of SR4.7 million. The project included installation of 250 sunshades in courtyards around the mosque for the benefit of 200,000 worshippers. A single sunshade covers an area of 576 square meters.
The governor, who was accompanied by Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Faleh, deputy chairman of the Presidency for Prophet’s Mosque Affairs, also inspected the new transport system near the mosque including parking facilities.
With the completion of the project, all residential areas of old Madinah became part the mosque complex. According to researcher Tandheeb Al-Fayedi, the expansion has covered the whole old Madinah.
“Some buildings that sprouted 100 years ago outside the old city have been added to the new complex,” he added. Souk Al-Manakha, an important market since olden times and which begins from Ghamama Mosque to Sabaq Mosque, has been included in the expansion.
Some of the old residential districts that are included in the new expansion are: Harrat Aghwat in the east of Haram, Bab Al-Majeedi in the north, Bab Al-Salam in the west, and Hammam Taiba in the south.
Meanwhile, Abdul Wahid Al-Hattab, spokesman of the Prophet’s Mosque, said Tuesday that Sheikh Ali Al-Hudaifi, Sheikh Salah Al-Bedair, Sheikh Hussein Al-Asheikh and Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Qasim would lead taraweeh prayers at the mosque during Ramadan.
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Vid: Middle EastEnders - The East London Mosque
Documentary about the history of the East London Mosque, which is marking its centenary.
Islam is often seen as a divisive force, but from the outset in 1910 its founders wanted a mosque that promoted harmony between Christian, Jews and Muslims in the east end. Baroness Uddin of Bethnal Green, worshippers from different generations, historians and undertakers and trustees of the mosque, examine how successful the mosque has been as a force for integration.
To View using the BBC iPlayer (UK viewers only):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tkr8b
This programme was aired on Wed 25 Aug 2010 at 23:15. It will be available on the BBC iPlayer until 11:44pm Wednesday 1st September 2010.
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Also on the iPlayer is a recent documentary called: Heart And Soul - Recite!
Razia Iqbal explores why the oral tradition of memorising and reciting the Quran remains so powerful to this day.
She meets children who would rather learn the Quran than play with their playstations - and a calligrapher who draws fresh inspiration from the ancient text.
She also visits an imam with a passion for the Quran in cyberspace.
This programme was aired on BBC World Service, 11:32am Sunday 22nd August 2010.
To Listen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0092pw0
To read further: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10957293
