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40 Hadith from the Shamail: Intimate Descriptions of the Prophet

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In celebration of the month of the birth of the Prophet, peace be upon him, we present the following collection. It is a set of 40 hadith taken from the famous al-Shamail al-Muhammadiyyah of Imam al-Tirmidhi. I tried to choose narrations that were intimate and give a deep feeling of who and how the Prophet, ﷺ, was.

You can download it here.

Our Mission Statement | Part 3 | The Focus of Our Efforts

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

The mission statement of The Majlis is as follows:

The Majlis seeks to develop and nurture safe community spaces where people can learn and live Islam, based on the traditional sources of understanding the faith, while acknowledging the particular challenges of our context. Our efforts are focused around religious education, spiritual refinement, love, and service.

In this series of articles I will present some thoughts around how we came to the mission statement that we have and why we did. This third one is on the portion which says,”Our efforts are focused around religious education, spiritual refinement, love, and service.”

Religious Education

Our approach to religious education is guided by the well-known hadith Jibril. In this hadith we are taught that our religious is composed of a number of core components: islam, iman, ihsan, and signs of the end of time. In the realm of Islamic Studies these first three became the core foundations of Islamic education and they translated to the fields of Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh, Aqidah, and Tasawwuf. Each of these fields has its imams, well-known schools, and vetted texts. Each of these fields was established, developed, and contributed to over the entire course of Islamic history with no disconnect between generations. Mastery of them is the way to learning and scholarship as done for centuries upon centuries of Islamic history.

Another thing we see from the hadith of Jibril is that he came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and sat in front of him in nice clothes and with good manners. When he did so he asked his questions and learned from his teacher. This is the way of Islamic education throughout history as well. Students learned from teachers and developed their understanding over long periods of keeping their company. They did not simply learn by reading whatever they felt like and interpreting it however they felt.

There is much to be said on this topic and it is one of immense importance. Over the last several years we have taught several classes touching on this issue. They can be found on our online school.

In general, regarding Islamic education, we believe in following: the Ash’ari, Maturidi, and Hanbali schools in Aqidah; the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, and Hanbali schools in fiqh; and the way of Imam al-Junayd in tasawwuf.

Spiritual Refinement

After covering the more theoretical side of how we approach religious education, this point is to say that we as a community want to prioritize trying to act upon it with one another. We don’t want to be a community of talking and theory, we want to be a community that strives to do the things that we learn. In doing so we are practically learning those things in real-time.

This takes place through the efforts of love and service, but also through trying to have the best manners and character as possible with one another. It also happens through gatherings of remembrance where we come together to worship Allah and seek Him as a group. Sometimes this will be in making dhikr together, sometimes praying together, sometimes reading the Quran together, etc.

We recognize that this is a process and that we all benefit from one another when we do that process together and support one another in it.

Love and Service

When we do the foundations that we mentioned above then we should find in our hearts a deep and profound love for one another. The teaching of the Prophet, “you do not truly believe until you love for your brother/sister what you love for yourself” is the center of this. It is the core of the teaching of the Prophet, and previous prophets and messengers.

It is harder than it sounds.

However, when a community is built on this premise then we look out for another and pay attention to how we deal with and speak to one another. That allows us to build a community space that enables growth and lets us become who we truly are.

That love is a feeling that is deeply rooted in the heart and the way it manifests itself is through service. I want to help other people, do things for other people, because I love them. These are simple yet powerful spiritual practices that bring out the essence and beauty of our religion.

Conclusion

That concludes our series on explaining our mission statement here at The Majlis. Our hope and belief is that if we do these things then we will have a strong foundation by which to answer the many questions and challenges that we face as a community. However, without such foundations we cannot stand up to the challenges and carry the day. This is not the end of what we hope for, it is the base from which we do the work.

May Allah grant us all tawfiq.


The Virtues of the Sacred Land of the Masjid al-Aqsa Compound and What Surrounds It

What follows is a partial translation of a collection of narrations on the virtues of the Holy Land by Shaykh Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi. Collections such as these were made to increase the love in the hearts of the believers for sacred places and times, as well as righteous actions. This particular one was compiled in the period shortly after the liberation of al-Quds under Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, by a scholar who took part in the struggle against the Crusaders. We present this humble effort as a guide to be read in these days wherein hardship and oppression are befalling the people of al-Quds.

Those who wish to do so may hold gatherings in their homes or communities reading the text and asking Allah to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters and give them victory against their oppressors. This is the intent behind making this work accessible. Ultimately, this represents a timeless tradition of the Muslims where they would gather to read collections of hadith as a means of seeking Allah’s aid in the face of hardship and victory in the face of oppression. We pray that this simple effort is a means by which that beautiful tradition is continued.

This work is a partial translation of a much longer compilation by the author. For the sake of brevity, I have only mentioned one narration for each section of the text. In the original there are anywhere from a single narration to several narrations in each section, for a total of sixty-six narrations in the entire collection.

CLICK HERE FOR PDF.

Imam al-Dardir on the Qualities of a True Shaykh

In the end of the famous poem of al-Imam al-Sayyid Abu al-Barakat al-Dardir The Illustrious Pearl the author addresses the foundations of spiritual rectification according to the teachings of Islam. The author himself was a well-known and respected scholar, worshipper of the highest caliber, and a man of tasawwuf.[1] Among the things that he addresses in this section is a commentary on the qualities of a true Shaykh.[2]

 

There is much conversation in the American Muslim community around the idea of fake shaykhs and cases of spiritual abuse. As such we felt that this small section may be valuable for those who understand the need for spiritual mentorship, but also recognize the very real potential dangers in such a relationship.

CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE PAPER.


[1] As a community we need not fear the word tasawwuf. In fact, this term and idea existed in the dictionary of Islamic terminology from very early on and was embraced, within the guidelines of aqidah and sharia, which will come, by Muslim scholarship. Deviations and excesses from those who claim a connection to tasawwuf do not take away from the truth of the concept and its centrality to how we understand our faith.

[2] “Shaykh” refers here to someone who is able to provide spiritual guidance and rectification for his or her followers, not what we commonly call anyone who has a college level Islamic education.

Our Mission Statement | Part 2 | Learning and Living, in Context, with Context

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

The mission statement of The Majlis is as follows:

The Majlis seeks to develop and nurture safe community spaces where people can learn and live Islam, based on the traditional sources of understanding the faith, while acknowledging the particular challenges of our context. Our efforts are focused around religious education, spiritual refinement, love, and service.

In this series of articles I will present some thoughts around how we came to the mission statement that we have and why we did. This second one is on the portion which says,”where people can learn and live Islam, based on the traditional sources of understanding the faith, while acknowledging the particular challenges of our context.”

“Learning and Living”

This portion of the statement hints at the idea of “embodied learning” which we speak so much about at The Majlis. This idea is discussed at some length in the work of Dr. Bilal Ware, “The Walking Quran”, in the context of West African Islamic education. To put it simply it means that we learn not only as a mental exercise, but so that that knowledge can become part of us and really impact who we are, how we think, and how we are in the world. Put simply, we learn it to live it, and with the intention for it to be part of who we are.

We emphasized this in the mission statement because we do put a heavy emphasis on learning and knowledge in our programming, but we want people to understand that the knowledge is meant to be lived. We want the knowledge to become part of what the space is really about, for it to seep its way into the relationships and interactions of the community members. In doing so we do not only learn, but rather become a community of learners who are constantly improving on ourselves and becoming a means for one another to improve.

“Based on Traditional Sources…”

This point is to say that we are not coming up with something new here. When it comes to teachers engaging with community there are a number of factors, but in the context of learning and living we have clear examples. We look to what kinds of things to teach based on the kinds of things that have been taught. There is a continuity to this inherited religious discourse. The subjects of Islamic Studies are well-known as are the major relied upon texts and figures. This has been the case generation upon generation all the way back to the Prophet, peace be upon him. Of course, the texts themselves have shifted and such, but the concept remains. When it comes to living Islam we also have examples. Primarily in the teaching of the Prophet, but also in the way of those who have spent their lives trying to inherit his way.

We strongly believe that the knowledge of this religion and how to live it is a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge that is passed from one generation to the next. This does not mean there are not variations over time, it means that the adaptations to context are rooted in a tradition. It is a living tradition, not a stagnant and dead one.

We will speak more about how we understand what this tradition is in the article about “religious education.”

“In Context”

In context means that we know where we live and that matters to us. We know the culture, the history, the people, the regional variations, the good, and the bad. And with all of this we know that Islam is meant to be able to work in any time and place. So we dig into that tradition and find the best of it and know that when we do that it will work where we are. This means looking critically and deeply at our intellectual tradition, while not discarding it.

It also means that we have to figure out as a community what a lived model of commitment to this faith looks like and feels like in this context, in this place, in this time. There are no shortcuts to this process and it is messy at times. But if we are rooted in the right things and sincere, then we hope that Allah will guide us to build an example of what committed community can look like for Muslims in this country. This is not about doing something big, it is about doing something right. That takes time, commitment, patience, and an immense amount of tawifq. Ultimately, it is about our children and our grandchildren more than it is about ourselves.

Our Mission Statement | Part 1 | Community Spaces

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

The mission statement of The Majlis is as follows:

The Majlis seeks to develop and nurture safe community spaces where people can learn and live Islam, based on the traditional sources of understanding the faith, while acknowledging the particular challenges of our context. Our efforts are focused around religious education, spiritual refinement, love, and service.

In this series of articles I will present some thoughts around how we came to the mission statement that we have and why we did. This first one is on the portion which says, “The Majlis seeks to develop and nurture safe community spaces…”

“The Community”

One of the common ideas that we hear expressed all the time in conversations with people is the idea of “the community.” Why is “the community” like this? Why do people in “the community” always do that? Often in these conversations we invite people to consider what the word “community” means to them and who this “the community” is. When we dive in a little bit we often find that our conceptions around this topic are not clear. We don’t really know what we mean or have much consistency about how we are using the term.

For me “the community” is a term that has many layers. There is the global Muslim ummah, there is my country, my state, and my locality. The most immediate meaning for “the community” is in relation to those who I actually have some sort of engagement with, whether through teaching or social ties.

However we look at it there is no doubt that the idea of community is central to Islam and has a big impact on our religious practice and experience. When we are surrounded by healthy community that helps us to grow and become better we will do just that. If we are around community that is hypercritical, judgmental, nosy, and without focus, then that is what we will be subjected to.

So when we started this organization we wanted to have a community of people who committed to certain ideals, which are mentioned in the rest of the mission statement.

“Safe Community Spaces”

Another component of the mission statement is mentioning that the spaces we seek are “safe community spaces.” This does not mean that they are a free-for-all and everyone can define what that means for them. The rest of the mission statement makes it clear that the foundation for these spaces is the normative teachings of Islam. However, it does mean that we recognize that when we come together if we are not committed to high values of character and manners we will infringe upon one another’s comfort and safety. It does not mean we agree on everything, in fact, we shouldn’t. But it does mean that we will interact with one another with a basic respect for each other’s humanity. The Prophet, peace be upon him, mentioned this in a hadith saying, “The Muslim is the one from whom the Muslims are safe from his tongue and hand.” This, and many other hadiths, are the foundation for what safe community spaces look like.

We also recognize in this process that many of the details of what that means and looks like go back to one’s culture and part of the reason why so many young Muslims feel estranged from Muslim spaces is simply that the dominant culture is not the one that they were raised in — American. So we seek in our space to give room for the subtleties of acceptable American cultural interactions to be prominent, in so far as they do not contradict the clear teachings of Islam. This is not to take away from any of the many beautiful Muslim cultures that our community members have connections to, but it is to recognize that if we are to do Islam in this country, this must be the case.

“Develop and Nurture….Spaces”

The other concept that is mentioned in the mission statement is the recognition that such community spaces must be intentionally developed and nurtured. Yes, we can have spaces that just kind of happen as a result of enough Muslims being in one area. That is not what we were going for. From the beginning we wanted the spaces to be founded on the components mentioned in the mission statement and we knew that in order for that to happen we had to start with teaching and gathering around that. In doing so we were creating a shared understanding and a shared language. This is why when people want to get involved with The Majlis we always tell them that the first thing that they should do is start attending the classes regularly. This is the first step to developing such spaces.

From there though they must be nurtured and that is done through education, spiritual refinement, love, and service. That is what nourishes the collective and keeps it moving together and in the right direction.

We also noted in our wording here that this project has always been about spaces, in the plural form. We must start somewhere, but the goal is to move from there to developing various kinds of spaces where people can express themselves and their religion in a communal setting. That may start as a small living room like space, but it could expand into coffee shops, cafes, barber shops, and women’s gyms. All of these spaces would naturally grow as efforts of love and service and reflect the foundations that they are built upon.