Questions answered by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad

What is jihad? How does Islam define apostasy? What are the rights of women in Islam?

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The Revival has been asking young Muslims fro across the UK whether or not they have faith in the police:

Rabia Shah, 20. Stanmore (North West London)

The image of the police has deteriorated over the years; it may be due to the lack of patrol officers, flaws within the system or simply because what they refer to as ‘protecting the people’ maybe seen as injustice in the eyes of others. Their aim has been to ‘make London a safer place’ but how much progress has been seen? The police force has now been set targets to seek out and identify any potential terrorist plans or activities, but it has now become hunt for prey. Muslims have now been stereotyped and it seems to be that more Muslims are now stopped, questioned or perhaps even searched according to their appearance. (Read More…)

When I first heard that someone had shot and killed 32 people on an American university campus, the first thought that came to mind was: Please God, let it not be a Muslim! By the time the full details of the horrific tragedy unfolded, it was clear that he wasn’t, although a brief moment of dread emerged when the shooter was described as Asian.

Of course to the victims of that massacre on that campus in Virginia and to those who loved and knew them, it wouldn’t have mattered one way or another what faith the killer followed, which nationality he belonged to or what ideology, if any, he subscribed to. (more…)

Watch this hard hitting and highly informative lecture by Shaykh Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri on the topic ‘Terrorism has no Religion’. Shaykh Qadri makes it clear that Islam totally condemns and prohibits any acts of terrorism. This lecture is a MUST for everyone to watch.

“Terrorism has no religion. It is a social and criminal phenomenon caused by various reasons. Islam is based on plurality rather than individuality. It demands harmonization and integration.”

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By Irfan Khan

Reading, listening or watching the latest news headlines it seems to me that there is always yet another brand that I as a Muslim can fall into. Apart from fundamentalism, terrorism, Islamism (which genius came up with that one?!) etc.

I can also fall in to the wider category of ‘Moderate’ or ‘Extremist’. The media has attached so many labels to Muslims that I myself am beginning to wonder what type of Muslim I am.

Am I not just a Muslim? Are not all Muslims the same and don’t we believe in the same message and read the same Quran? (Read More…)

After the London tube bombings last year, British Muslims mobilized to fight Islamic extremism.

The Radical Middle Way project was designed to give young people a different view of their religion.

Within three weeks of the 7 July bombings, the British government set up a series of “Preventing Extremism Together” workshops with 100 British Muslims. Mostly young and from all walks of life, their job was to provide insight into why a small minority of Muslims veer over the edge into fundamentalism, while the majority do not. (more…)

In the plethora of articles about the motives of Osama bin Laden, little mention has been made of the leading ideologist of the modern Islamist movement, Sayyid Qutb (1903-1966).

Most of the radical Islamist movements which have been waging wars against governments deemed to be too secular or pro-Western are beholden to the Egyptian scholar’s ideas. Crucial to his thinking was the new meaning he gave to the word jahiliya or “ignorance”. (more…)

Anyone who is familiar with the Koran and the traditions of the prophet Muhammad knows that kidnapping civilians and harming them is absolutely prohibited. Those who do kidnap civilians defy the Islamic code of ethics.

This ethos applies to every kidnapped civilian, including Jill Carroll, the freelance journalist on assignment for The Christian Science Monitor, who worked in Iraq until she was kidnapped early last month. I appeal to her kidnappers to immediately release her and to stop kidnapping civilians altogether. (more…)

Today, the term “Islamic tolerance” causes confusion. So, could you please shed light on the spirit of tolerance in Islam?

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear brother in Islam, thanks for the very interesting question you posed and the great confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake. (more…)

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Brother in Islam, it gives us a great pleasure to receive your question. Islam, the true religion of Allah, encourages Muslims to seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. May Allah bless your efforts in pursuit of knowledge! (more…)

In The Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

First of all, we would like to tell you that war is decreed in Islam in self defense. This indicates that aim behind war is to ward off aggression not to impose Islam as a religion. Referring to this, Allah Almighty says: “To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged; and verily God is most powerful for their aid.” (Al-Hajj:39) (more…)

In the first place, we would like to stress that the study of world history would show that Islam and terrorism are extreme opposites. There is no meeting point between Islam and terrorism as practiced by terrorist groups in different parts of the world.

Terrorism involves the indiscriminate use of force to achieve certain objectives. Whereas, the basis of national and international relations in Islam is peace and not war as falsely claimed by some people. (more…)

Could you please clarify the Islamic stance on violence and aggression? Also, please shed light on the relation between Muslims and non-Muslims. (more…)

I hope you scholars will help me get rid of these confusions I have been having since the Sept 11 incident, especially as regards some Qur’anic verses. These verses totally contradict what Muslims say that their religion calls for peace and denounces violence. Mind you, though not a Muslim, but I don’t hate Muslims. (more…)

In the light of what is going on nowadays, i.e. the so-called war against terrorism, I think you Ulama need to write something on the true concept of Jihad in Islam, i.e., the way Islam reacts to such issue, for them to see the difference. (more…)

How the books that you read can be used against you in a way similar to the Thought Police in George Orwell’s novel, 1984.

Many Muslims who have been arrested under the Terrorism Act, have been charged with possession of materials - materials that are widely available in bookshops, web sites and even your local newsagent. (more…)

Dr Adnan Siddiqui

Confined in temperatures of over 100 F and humidity over 60% are conditions familiar to any one who has used the London Underground recently; but this is the daily reality for at least 9 months of the year for the prisoners at Camp Delta,Guantanamo Bay. (more…)

By Sajid Iqbal. Editor, The Revival

A year and a half has passed since September 11th 2001. Now you would have thought that the events of 9/11 would have made non-Muslims hate Islam and the Muslims forever.

You would have thought that the September 11 attacks would have damaged the name of Islam forever but you know what… (more…)

BY Karen Armstrong

Time Magazine, October 1, 2001 Vol. 158 No. 15

There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, and Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion. If the evil carnage we witnessed on Sept. 11 were typical of the faith, and Islam truly inspired and justified such violence, its growth and the increasing presence of Muslims in both Europe and the U.S. would be a terrifying prospect. Fortunately, this is not the case. (more…)

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Siraj Hendricks, Shaykh Ahmad Hendricks

It cannot be over-emphasized that Islam upholds the values of reason, balance and responsibility in the conduct of its worldly affairs. There is nothing arbitrary about its legal provisions relating to matters of war, peace, international relationships and the rule of law.

In this area there is considerable agreement between Islamic law and the legal systems currently practiced throughout the world. In addition to the real possibility that these legal systems were profoundly influenced by the legal heritage of Islam, this commonality can be explained by the fact that the protection and endorsement of basic human rights form the cornerstone of Islamic legislation. (more…)

by Harun Yahya

Introduction

During the last two decades in particular, the concept of “Islamic terror” has been often discussed. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on targets in New York and Washington which caused the death of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, this concept has once again returned to the top of the international agenda. (more…)

Regarding the rules of War & Islam, the following has been prohibited by Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him):

1. Killing traders, merchants, contractors and the like are to be spared if they do not take part in actual fighting (kharaj of Yahya p 34, Kharaj of Abu Yusufp 122)
2. Killing non Combatants (Mabsit of Sarakhisiy, X, 64)
3. Combatants are only those who are physically capable of fighting (Sharhj al siyar al kabir, IV,78).
4. Killing women (Idem, I, 59, 34), minors, servants, and slaves who accompany their masters yet do not take part in actual fighting (Sharhj al siyar al kabir, IV, 79-80), the blind (Mabsit of Sarakhsiy, X, 69), monks (Sharhj al siyar al kabir, I, 33), hermits (Idem, III, 190), the very old (Mabsut of Sarakhsiy, X, 6), those physically incapable of fighting (Idem, p69), the insane or delirious (Mabsut of Sarakhsiy p 69)
5. Killing peasants when they do not fight and the result of war is indifferent on them (Idem, IV, 79; for order and practice of Abu Bakr see Tabari 2026, 2031; for Umar see Ibn Rush Bidayah alk Masjtihad I 311)

Allah the Almighty states in the Quran:

“Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you but do NOT transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors”[Surah al Baqara (2): 190]

the Prophet said:

“Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well and that if they do wrong you will do wrong; but accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong if they do evil.” [Tirmidhi 5129]

Hundreds if not thousands of people have died. I suspect that few of these people have done anything harmful to Muslims.

Yes, the policies of the US may harm many Muslims e.g. in Palestine, Iraq, South East Asia etc - but this does NOT mean that the rules of Islam are broken and non combatants are targeted. Most people are no more responsible for the political actions of their government any more than you or I.

May Allah have mercy and guide us all, ameen.

The federal government is set to introduce legislation that would strip charitable status from groups proven to be fund-raisers for international terrorist organizations.

Under proposed new laws, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) would notify the Solicitor General and Minister of Revenue if its investigation concludes that a charity registered under the federal Income Tax Act is in fact raising money for terrorists. (more…)

This question is often hurled at Muslims, either directly or indirectly, during any discussion on religion or world affairs. Muslim stereotypes are perpetuated in every form of the media accompanied by gross misinformation about Islam and Muslims. (more…)

Nearly half a million Muslims contemplated leaving Britain after the London terrorist attacks, with one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks, according to new a Guardian/ICM poll published Tuesday, July 26. (more…)