In every chapter, he begins his topic with selections from Quran, develops his argument with support from hadith and writings of other shaykhs, and then… concludes with a poem! The effect is quite moving; can you imagine how much more interesting your university coursebooks would have been with the same technique?
Category Archives: Islam
Sahifat As-Sajadiyya
The dua brings up to the surface each individual’s relationship to their Lord, and it is for this that the duas of Sayyidina Zayn Al-Abideen (ra) are so special. His duas show us the highest stations of good manners in front of our Lord.
More Nasyid Translations
Continuing on with English translations from Hijjaz’s wonderful Pelita Hidup album, here is the next in the series, Kala Subuh:
Mata Hati
Hijjaz – Mata Hati Pandangan mata selalu menipu Pandangan akal selalu tersalah Pandangan nafsu selalu melulu Pandangan hati itu yang hakiki Kalau hati itu bersih The vision of the eye always lies The vision of the intellect always errs The vision of the ego always strays The vision of the heart will be true If […]
Pelita Hidup
One of my favorite Nasheed albums is called Pelita Hidup, by the Malaysian group Hijjaz. It is filled with beautiful duas, zikr, and nasheeds, very much a meditative album. Many of the songs deal with the certainty of death and the life of the grave. I’ve translated them and passed them on to Nasheed World. […]
More AIDS and Islam
Muslim Wake Up has a followup to the AIDS conference and the Dr. Wadud controversy, pointing out the dreadful condition of women in Pakistan. Of course there are many other muslim countries the author could have named too. Times are rough all over. At one point, the author says this: “When she gets married, and […]
Islam in Canada
AltMuslim has a front page story on the rise of Islam in Canada. As has already happened in Germany, France and England, Islam is now the second largest religion in Canada, surpassing the Jewish population by a few hundred thousand. This probably has already happened in the US too, but, as the AltMuslim article alludes […]
Mawlid Parade
12 Rabi’ul Awwal, the day our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) was born, is a national holiday in Malaysia as it is in every muslim country on earth except one. In the city of Kuching, Sarawak, to where I had just moved from America, there was to be a large parade that morning as there is […]