Thanks brother Malamin for bringing some light to what I tried to say in respect to the subject of Halal and haram food items or drinks. I am definately not propogating practicing or participating in any RITUALS of our cousins ( Christians or Jews) ( No one means to practice rituals if they just say merry Christmas or Hannukah) and as regards to our good relationships with neighbors whether they are Christian or muslim they have the first rights/claims to you that even your own blood relatives who live a mile away from you.We must respect them and share our beliefs with them in an appropriate manner, not stay away from them or critize them. Remember we are part of the community just as they are too and they are all God's creation as we are too . No one is better than the other even if they are non muslims. We cannot judge people just on the surface , it must be deeper than just mere perceptions. We have muslims who have the worst habits and commit sins similar to shirk knowingly in many countries. I would prefer to have a Christain neighbor who practices his religion as ordained than a muslim one who does not. ( reason at least practice what you preach) Remember the prophet (pbuh) never expected the whole world to be muslims ( he mentioned that he would be satisfied /happy even if half would be mumins) Ah lil Kitab (people of the book) says a lot of what we are today and what we were yesterday. Exceptions are Buddists or hindus or pagans who worship idols and do not believe in One God. The companions of one of the greatest prophets Jesus the son of Mary had each written their own NEW testaments / interpretations of Christ, who never mentioned anywhere in the old testaments that he was God . Yes We are all sons of God and he is our father who arth in heaven. Jesus (pbuh) said so but he did not say I am God.We should try to explain this NOT condemn them. Tolerance & patience are almost equal to prayer.
Yes there are many conflicting views . In my opinion many of them depend on the scholars who try to interpret them and their cultural backgrounds. What is acceptable in Indonesia may not be a norm in Saudi ( like in weddings where men and women mix together in the actual celebrations whereas in Saudi NO one from the opposite sex even the parents of the bride and groom are seen together) . There are some gray areas that only you must investigate by your self in good faith and research . Frankly many people think the Sunnah of the prophet means all the complete Hadiths we now have but I beg to differ because there are conflicting explainations from the different scholars and we have some weak hadiths that may not be authentic. Thsi is a long subject so I will not get into that now.
Bottom line and lastly when ISLAM is and muslims are refered to remember the basic meanings they carry- Peace and followers who practice peace . This includes Abraham ,Moses ,Jacob John, Josepth ,Zakaryah ,jesus and finally Mohamed ( peace be upon them all) The total number of prophets who were sent to mankind is 313. We believe in all of them and their messages and Mohamed the last on was the seal who got the final book the holy Quran directly from the angels.
I offer my apologies if I have offended any of you as no onee is perfect nad I am no different.
Habib
>From: Malamin Barrow
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Celebrating or Participating in Holidays of the Disbelievers >Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 00:28:51 +0300 > >Malamin, Gassama et al >Thanks for forwarding an article as this from Al Jumah publication. I think >it is important, as it opens a debate on a crucial issue in our lives, that >is our religion's prescription of our relationship with other faiths. >I am not surprised that the authors of the Al Jumah article have come out to >categorically condemn any form of participation in the festivities of non >Muslims. Al Jumah being a Gulf publication, is no doubt influenced by the >teachings of Sheikh Saleh Al Othemeen, a respected Saudi cleric who in 1411 >al higra, signed a strong fatwa prohibiting Muslims from any form of >participation in non Muslim festivals. >I note also that the same article restricts Islamic festive holidays to only >the two Eids. However, I think it is important for people to know that >these views represent a school of though that is prevalent in the Gulf >states, and is not necessarily the view of the entire Islamic Umah. >I know that surat Al-i-Imran verse 28 clearly states the kind of >relationship Muslims should have with non Muslims; and on a strict >interpretation, this may justify the sort thinking guiding the Al Jumah >article. >However, we should also remember and be guided by the fact that when the >Prophet (SAW) went to live in Medina, he maintained a very cordial >relationship with the Yahoud (Jews) that then lived there as well. Indeed >the story of Muslims fasting the day of Youm Al Ashoura came about because >of guidance from Allah (subhana wa taalah) and the interaction of the >Prophet (SAW) with that non Muslim community. Unless acts or non acts are so >fundamental as to affect the basis and practice of our Islamic faith, we >should lean more towards interpretations that lead to communal harmony in >our society. >Again to show that Al Jumah's article is not necessarily the only version >of things, they restrict Islamic festive holidays to just the two Eids, and >this is indeed the case in all the Gulf states. However Egypt celebrates, >and Al Azhar, the authoritative institution on Sunni Islam, sanctions the >celebration of both Youm Al Ashoura (Islamic new year), and Maulud Al Nabi >(Birthday of the Prophet, SAW). They do so as we do in the Gambia. >Now this brings me to the encounter of Mr Gassama with the Egyptian educated >young man who seem to be condemning everything as we know it in the Gambia. >Unfortunately, this sort of behaviour is now quite common among our young >educated Islamic scholars, most of whom are of recent vintage from the new >middle eastern universities. >This sort of attitude is similar to the behaviour of many of the first crop >Cantab educated Africans who came back to their roots looking down on >harmless local practices. If it wasn't a matter of faith, and therefore >dealing with here and hereafter, then many of these zealots could be >ignored. But as Islam and Islamic practices are currently the subject of >intense debate; we have to stand firm and defend our ground based on the >teachings of the Koran and the Sunnah as we know and understand it. >Our subregion has contributed a substantial body of literature to Islamic >understanding, and unless we revist some of those texts, we will as usual, >continue to be indoctrinated by extremist and non culturally compliant ideas >from regions afar. This my brothers and sisters, is my two cents on the >current debate, and I say A SALAM A LAIKUM, WA RAHMATULAHI WABARAKATUHU TO >ALL. > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Malamin Johnson <[log in to unmask]> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >Sent: Friday, January 04, 2002 10:34 PM >Subject: Re: Celebrating or Participating in Holidays of the Disbelievers > > > > Yus & Mr. Ghanim: > > > > I think you are confusing religious tolerance, friendship, and good > > neighborliness with actual participation in non-muslim holidays and > > celebrations. Allah does NOT forbid us to be tolerant and respectful of > > non-muslims. Yus, disbelievers in Islam are people who do not believe in >the > > Oneness of Allah(SWT) and Muhammad(pbuh) is the last messenger. > ><>//\\<>//\\<>//\\<>//\\<> > >To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > ><>//\\<>//\\<>//\\<>//\\<>