ISLAM

Open Letter affirming Islamic Principles

Please check out the following link. This has sady had little publicity and deserves more.  http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/

TheTrinity

There is often concern within Islam with regard to the Trinity within Christianity.  And yet there is a trinty at the heart of Islam, affirmed daily during prayer over 150 times.

Subhanallahi walhamdulillahi wa Allah u Akbar

Glory is to Allah and praises to Allah and Allah is the most great.

Allah's glory is reflected through his creation. The relationship or attitude of creation towards Allah is praise. Allah stands as the most great, the absolute, the eternal, the all-powerful.  Glory, Praise and Power, the essential trinity within Islam and all created things. And also emphasised in the Lord's prayer which states: Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glorry,

Allah u Akbar

I find it so sad to hear people affirming the absolute power of God when they fire machine guns and rockets. It not only trivialises his majesty but associates Him with acts of human violence. It should stop. It does nothing for religion. As a Muslim I find it feeply shameful and completely misses the deep quality of what the words actually mean.

10 Islamic Rules of Warfare

Readers may be interested in the following. Quite a few war-mongering nations and groups would do well to reflect on this. Islamic State is not expressing Muslim attitudes or principles, and neither are some other military groups who like to call or associate themselves with Islam. The names in brackets are those who reported the words of the Prophet.

Before engaging in battle, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) instructed his soldiers:

1. “Do not kill any child, any woman, or any elder or sick person.” (Sunan Abu Dawud)

2. “Do not practice treachery or mutilation.(Al-Muwatta)

3. Do not uproot or burn palms or cut down fruitful trees.(Al-Muwatta)

4. Do not slaughter a sheep or a cow or a camel, except for food.” (Al-Muwatta)

5. “If one fights his brother, [he must] avoid striking the face, for God created him in the image of Adam.” (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

6. “Do not kill the monks in monasteries, and do not kill those sitting in places of worship. (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal)

7. “Do not destroy the villages and towns, do not spoil the cultivated fields and gardens, and do not slaughter the cattle.” (Sahih Bukhari; Sunan Abu Dawud)

8. “Do not wish for an encounter with the enemy; pray to God to grant you security; but when you [are forced to] encounter them, exercise patience.” (Sahih Muslim)

9. “No one may punish with fire except the Lord of Fire.” (Sunan Abu Dawud).

10. “Accustom yourselves to do good if people do good, and to not do wrong even if they commit evil.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

A.L.M

These letters appear at the start of certain chapters in the Qur'an. Pronounced aaalllmmm this is I believe a representation of the sound of creation which, in its fullness and scope can only be truly known by Allah, the Creator.However, we can reflect on what this symbolises. aaa is an open sound with no bounds, the origin of creation; lll is movement and relationship towards manifestation signifying relationship between Creator and creation; mmm is the manifest, created to reflect the Glory of the Creator. By sounding the ALM we can surely align our hearts and minds with Allah, the Creator, who we are told is closer to each of us than our jugular veins.

Closer than your jugular vein

Islam teaches that Allah is closer to each of us than our jugular veins. What does this mean? Well, to be that close means that Allah has to be within us. Cultivating sensitivity to His presence is surely the greatest of all endeavours? This 'greater Jihad' should be the primary  endeavour of all Muslims.

Halal meat

When is Islam going to recognise that halal in relation to  meat and animal products includes how that animal is treated whilst it is alive. An animal that is treated inhumanely is not halal food. Neither is an animal that is killed in the sight of another animal.. The fact is that much of the so-called halal meat actually isn't halal at all.

Has anyon chekced the abatoir used for the Hajj?

And what of eggs?  I see so many shops run by Muslims selling  battery house eggs. These are not halal.  Only free range eggs should be  sold and eaten by those wishing to make halal choices in their eating.

The Vegetarian Muslim

There seems to be a view that to be a Muslim you have to eat meat. But eating meat is not compulsory in Islam, merely permissible for those who have to. Yet in my experience few Islamic events cater for vegetarians and few halal restaurants really understand vegetarian food (cooked separately to meat, rennett used in cheeses, etc etc). I am happy to offer consultancy on this to improve things.