Islamic Society/Center of Windermere

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Almighty

Meeting turn out to be a huge success, and all the right people show up. Imam Tariq Rasheed attended the meeting, and provided the background of another effort to build the masjid in this area of Windermere. Agreement was reached to continue both efforts, but delay forming any new Non-profit.

Basically, the effort last year slowed down due to some events, and it was brought back to life right after my first email about the masjid, three weeks ago. I wonder what caused that sudden reaction :-). It seems that there was a closed door meeting held in Dr Asif Mohiuddin's house, where a group of brothers has decided to join the effort to build a masjid. Although, none of the people I know was invited, we all welcome this news, and will work with them on this, InshAllah.

Personally, I am still cynical about the timing and seriousness of the effort, and especially the effort to build a temporary Musallah. However, I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and accept their sincere attempt. We will delay creating a Non-profit for now, and see what plays out in next month or so.

I will be asking for updates from Imam Tariq Rasheed, every second Sunday, unless we are invited to their meetings, which is up to them. Also, we will be continuing the efforts to look for the location for Musallah as normal, except when the time come for signing the contract, we will let this new group do that. If they fail to do that we will create a non-profit and take over at that point.

In essence, we are willing to give anyone lead on this effort, since gaining leadership is not the goal, but will not allow them to slow down. Hopefully, the effort will be successful, and we will have the Musallah or Masjid within months, InshAllah.

One concern that many brought to me was following Quran and Sunnah in the new masjid, and I agree with that concern, but we should not allow this to create disunity in the community for now. There are two conditions that I would like the new masjid to have.

- Imam should have full authority over all matters, and everyone works under him.
- No single Madhab should be followed, and Shura should be open to people from different Fiqh background, but Imam will be the final authority.

So, choosing the correct Imam will be critical, and should be decided by a mixed Shura.

At the end, ultimate goal for this meeting was to find a way forward in building a Masjid for this part of the town, and we have a way forward, so we achieved the first goal. We are looking forward to working with this new group of brothers.

Please participate in the public meetings, and ask a lot of questions. That is the only way to keep ourselves honest, and Allah knows best.

I would like to thanks all of the brother who came or who tried to come, and couldn't. You are from an elite part of our community, who take actions, and May Allah raise you among "AsSabiqoon AsSabiqoon" (The Foremost, The Foremost). I do not want to be among influential, but I want to be among you.

JazakAllah Khairin

AbuArman (Adnan Jumani)

Islamic Society Of Windermere: Reminder

In the Name of Allah,

All praise is due to Allah, The Creator, The Sustainer.

If Allah wills, we will be meeting at 11 AM at 9024 Edenshire Circle, Orlando, FL 32836. I urge you to come, and support us.

If you haven't done, please let me know if you are coming, so arrangements can be made.

One brother brought to my attention, an excellent location that is available, and we would discuss on that as well. There seems to be multiple reason for this effort to move forward. We can discuss those as well.

Please only come, if you believe in Allah, and the last day, and are not looking for worldly benefit.

If you can't come at 11 AM, please drop by anytime after the meeting to provide your feedback.

This effort is for Allah, and to him we surrender.

May Allah makes this effort successful, or make it the reason for other efforts to succeed.

JazakAllah Khairin

AbuArman (Adnan Jumani)

Islamic Society of Windermere: First Meeting

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

All praise is due to Allah, The King of Mankind.


"The mosques of Allah shall be visited and maintained by such as believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish regular prayers, and practice regular charity, and fear none (at all) except Allah. It is they who are expected to be on true guidance." (Quran 9:18)

Aisha (RA) said that the Prophet (PBUH) ordered that mosques should be built
in neighbourhoods. They should be kept clean and perfumed. (Tirmidhi) [Ahmed 26446, Abu Dawud 455, Ibn e Majah 758]

Is there anything more important for a believer to do then participate in building a Masjid? Would one allow some appointment that could be moved to deny them the reward of contributing to house of Allah? When Prophet (PBUH) entered Medina, one of the first things he ordered was construction of the Masjid, and believers cleared up their schedules and took part in it. Of course, if one has prior arrangement, and rescheduling it can have major impact to their life, no one is asking such. However, if one is able to join, but prefer not to, then may Allah give that soul what it sought after.

First Meeting for Islamic Society of Windermere has been scheduled, InshAllah. Following is the meeting information

Date:               Sunday, December 25, 2011
Time:               11:00 AM
Place:              9024 Edenshire Circle (Arlington Bay), Orlando, FL 32836.
RSVP:             Adnan Jumani
RSVP Phone:  407-873-2187
RSVP Email:   ajumani@hotmail.com.

Food will be served.

Please RSVP if you are coming so arrangements could be made.

Alhuamdulilah! Everyone I spoke to has shown interest in helping in this effort. We have some people pledged funds already, and others eager to jump in. One concern that many has brought to my attention is regarding this Masjid run by a specific ethnicity or school of thought. I share that concern and will be working to make this Masjid attractive to all genders, race, ethnicity, culture, and school of thoughts. It may be difficult, but if we work together it can be achieved, InshAllah.

Two option for Masjid Location.

- Store in Lakeside Village Center. This will be the best option, if happens.
- Rental Trailer on a rental land. This will take many permits, but can be done.

We will be making big decisions in the first meeting, InshAllah. So, please join us. Some of the points of Agenda are as follows.

- Praising Allah
- Open Forum for questions and concerns
- Selecting Board for the new non-profit organization to lead the effort
- Collecting funds for initial setup
- Decide strategy for finding a location

JazakAllah Khairin

AbuArman

Islamic Society Of Windermere

In the Name of Allah, The most Compassionate, The most Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, who sustains everything in place


The Prophet (PBUH) said, “Whoever builds a Masjid for the Sake of Allah, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)


Last Night, I met an upstanding member of the community, and he asked me about the status on the Masjid on this side of the town. It seems that the other effort has not succeeded in last year, and we will have to restart the effort to build a Musallah or Masjid ourselves.

Effort will be to build a place to pray 5 times salah on or around County Road 535 (Winter Garden Vineland Rd), and Reams Rd.

We will be meeting on 2 PM Sunday, December 25, 2011. Location will be decided soon. If any of you have suggestions, please let me know. Agenda will be as following.

- Praise Allah
- Open Forum to collect thoughts
- Ratify constitution
- Electing Imam (Ameer) to lead the effort
- Location update
- Fund collection (monthly pledges and/or cash donation)

These are some preliminary proposals for the constitution, based upon the examples of rightly guided Khalifah.

- Quran and Sunnah will be the only source
- Community will not adopt any rule that contradicts Quran and Sunnah.
- There will be one Ameer elected by an appropriate election process, and has to be a qualified person according to Quran and Sunnah to lead in Salah and World matters.
- Election of Ameer will be permanent.
- Ameer will be the final Authority on all matters of the organization, however, he can have advisers to help him make the decisions.
- Any matter of the Fiqh will be resolved by Ameer.
- Community can remove the Ameer with a super majority consensus, and replace with another qualified Ameer.

These are just some proposals, but please send me your ideas, so we can prepare them for discussion during our first meeting. It will be important to ratify these, before moving forward.

I need responses with names, phone numbers, and email addresses of people who are interested. One doesn't have to live in this area to be a member, so please come forward and help us with this effort.

If you know someone that will benefit from this, please forward this email, or get their contact information to me.

Please bring cash, check, ideas, and anything that will help us with this. Even a quarter will add to the support. If you like to come forward before the meeting to help arranging it, please let me know.

There are two ideas for masjid location right now, and please provide your input.

- Renting a land and a portable.
- Renting a store in the new plaza close by.

After all the effort, we leave our affairs to Allah, as nothing can happen without his permission. May Allah make this effort successful. Aameen.

JazakAllah Khairin

AbuArman Jumani

Dead Community

In the Name of Allah,


إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوا إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ قَامُوا كُسَالَىٰ يُرَاءُونَ النَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا


"Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for As-Salat (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little. "
( سورة النساء , An-Nisa, Chapter #4, Verse #142) 




(By Him, in Whose Hand my soul is, if anyone of them had known that he would get a bone covered with good meat or two (small) pieces of meat between two ribs, he would have turned up for the prayer, and had it not been that the houses have women and children in them, I would burn their homes around them.) (Tafseer ibn Kathir)

Last Night, Imam told us that he sent emails to 1300 people who are registered with Masjid, and 13 show up to listen to a scholar. Now, sometimes one is busy and can't make it to these optional things. I was busy myself with my classes online and couldn't attend this week. However, this has become a trend, and I can't believe that these people are busy every single time.

If it is announced that there will be dinner, you will see people crawl out of every rock. Women and children are brought so they didn't have to cook at home. They get mad if the chicken pieces are not up to their standard. I have seen one brother have a fight over the food during Ramadhan.

There are same 25 people who are regular to masjid and want to learn. Even the Shura Members are not to be found in this group. Persons running the new masjid construction meeting are not seen anywhere either. They only come when there is Shura meeting probably. Why do we have these people running the community?

As the Prophet (PBUH) said, we should throw some food at them every time, or burn their homes so they can visit masjid more often. Of course, he didn't mean that he will do it. It just shows the seriousness of the matter when the most soft person the world has ever seen gets angry at that level. It boils my blood to see 100 people show up for dinner, but 10 people for gaining knowledge.

In reality, the community is about 25 men, then there are some guests who come and use our facilities, but don't consider the knowledge in the masjid as authentic. Then, there are some who come when they feel guilty of committing sins the whole month, so they will come and make extra nafl and long duas. Who are they fooling? Then, there are some who come only for food. Oh, aren't they the interesting bunch. They will meet you like they have been in the masjid all along. Then, there are some who come to chat, and that's what they do. Then, there are some who invite others to masjid (only to tablighi masjid acitivities to be more specific), but are absent from circles of knowledge. Then, there are some who come for cricket, and May Allah give them all the enjoyments they are seeking.

In short, there is no true large community here. I mean Imam invites 1300 people, and even the people involved in the leadership role ignore him. I think I have been wasting my time trying to wake up the large community that is clinically "Dead". Inna lillahi WaInna Ilahi Rajiyon. This is probably the last post about this masjid, and the imaginary community that I had in my mind. I have much better things to do.

I seek forgiveness from 25 community members, for wasting their time. I seek forgiveness from 1275 guests who just looking for a good time whether at home or in the masjid. I hope the masjid can add some more dinners, melas, etc to keep them entertained. I just need to find a place to pray the five times Salah in congregation. For now it is this masjid.

Also, if you are one of the 1275, and get my emails, please let me know, and I will remove you.

Please don't send me emails saying that I am a quitter. I am just smart enough to divert my attention to other set of people who are more responsive.

JazakAllah Khairin

AbuArman Jumani

Islamic method for Jumma Prayers.

In the Name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, the King of mankind.

I received the following question from a brother regarding my analysis of Jumma Prayer format followed by my local masjid. Following is his question.

AoA Adnan:

I find your articles very thought provoking. Since this blog was not very clear to me, can you please let me know what the correct way of conducting the Jumma Prayers is? Thank you for your time.

JA

*****

If I understand the question correctly, he is wondering what is the correct method for Jumma Prayers, since the current format is against Quran and Sunnah. Lets try to answer this question.

If anything benefits you is from Allah, and anything annoy you is from me.

Jumma is a Salah, and Prophet (PBUH) asked us to imitate him in the Salah. Following was his method in the later part of his life. He will enter the Masjid, and said Salam, and sat down. Adhan was called to gather people. Then, he will rise and deliver first part of speech (in Arabic as his audience was Arabs), and then he will take a small pause, and then rise again to deliver the last part of the speech. At the conclusion of the speech, he will established Salah, and after the Salah he would mingle with people before praying his nafl rakah. 

If one follows the above structure, they have completed the obligation. Some scholars allow speech to be in another language, but there is a difference of opinion. Best opinion is to allow speech in local language with recitation of Quran mixed so believers are benefited, which was the main purpose of the Khutbah.

However, there are somthings that are prohibited on this day, like following.

- Engage in any world matters after Imam rise for the speech.

-      Praying nafl salah when Khutbah has already started.

- Buying and Selling inside the masjid

- Giving speeches before Jumma

-       ...

Any speech before Jumma is prohibited, and it should be stopped. If one is following an opinion that Khutbah has to be in Arabic, then that is fine. However, you can not go against the Sunnah, because following the weaker opinion causing people not to understand the speech. May be they should reconsider blindly following hanafi school. 

No one should drag believers to the masjid before adhan, as we live in a non-muslim country, and we work on Fridays. Changing the time from 1:45 PM to 1:15 PM to compel them to come causes hardship, which does not make sense. It is cruel and heartless, and may Allah question these leaders who causes hardship on their subjects. Imam should do ijtihad and break from Taqleed (blind following). 

I hope this answers the question. I apologize for making my words complicated. Sometimes it is needed to grab attention. 

JazakAllah Khairin

Abu Arman Jumani

A bucket with many holes. Patch it!

In the Name of Allah,

All praise is due to Allah, the one who Forgives.

Update on Masjid: We are still pursuing a location for Musallah, and a land for Masjid. Nothing confirmed yet, but there is hope on both front, Alhamdulilah. 

"Those who avoid the greatest sins and indecencies, except for oversights, (will find that) surely your Lord is ample in forgiveness. (Al-Najm 53:32)"

(Those who avoid great sins and Al-Fawahish (immoral sins) except Al-Lamam), Al-Lamam means, small faults and minor errors. (Ibn Kathir)

I have seen people put a lot of emphasis on good deeds, and most of the effort is toward optional deeds. For example, Taraweeh in Ramadhan is not Fardh, but you will see that people will be fighting over each other to get a spot in the Masjid. Now, there is goodness in that, but what happens when we do these optional good deeds one month, and commit major sins throughout the year. I mean major sins like paying interest, shaving our faces, illegal relations, breaking promises, etc...

I would like to present a visual that may help understand what my point is. See, our life is like a bucket that is empty in the beginning, and gets filled with our good deeds. More we perform Salat, fasting, Hajj, dhikr, and other good acts, more liquid gets added to the bucket. However, if we commit a sin, a hole is punched in the bucket and the liquid starts leaking. Bigger the sin, bigger the hole would be. So, if a person performs a lot of good acts, a continuous stream of liquid will be pouring in, but if they are also performing a major sins continuously, the wholes are being punched in the bucket.

Imaging the bucket that has some holes, and we try to fill it with liquid. After a few minutes, it will be empty. This is the situation of ours, when we commit sins on the regular basis. Moreover, These holes can be repaired with repentance, but that require desisting that sin, promising not to commit it again, and asking forgiveness from Allah. Above verse makes it clear that emphasis should be on avoiding major sins. Goal is to reach our death with a few drops of liquid in our bucket that will carry us through the accounting, InshAllah.

We should make an oath today that we will chose one major sin that we commit regularly, and we will avoid that sin this year, and will not repeat it again. Just pick any. This is better than praying optional Salat in Ramadhan and in the late night. People who think that good deeds will wash up their sins are mistaken, and will be standing on the day of judgement day with a pile of sins that can not be voided, and good deeds that have been leaked out from the holes. In other words, it is better to skip Taraweeh, then driving for Taraweeh in a car financed with interest loan.

A few days back, Imam made an emotional plead for people to stop watching TV programs that  may have some fahash (indecency)  in it. He is correct in saying that, but I doubt that any of them would cancel the cable right after that speech, because it is just not practical. In fact, I spoke to a few of them, and they agreed it was not possible. A leader should bring the follower to the truth, and not beat them with it, because they will consider it so impossible that  they will ignore it.

What I suggest is weening strategy. Don't stop sinning completely, because one can not. Rather find an activity that is less sinful and try to replace with it. For example, if you have cable at home, don't force yourself and your family to stop watching all American channels, because women are not covered in them. Rather, cancel the subscription of movies, and cut down on number of movies watched per month. Slowly but progressively implementing reforms will lead to long lasting avoidance of sins.

This is the Sunnah of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). We do not control our nafs right now, and we should not declare war with it, because it will win, rather compromise with it, and bring it under control with wisdom. And, Allah knows best.

It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Masa that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) deputed any of his Companions on a mission, he would say: Give tidings (to the people) ; do not create (in their minds) aversion (towards religion) ; show them leniency and do not be hard upon them. (Sahih Muslim #4297)

JazakAllah Khairin

A struggling sinner
AbuArman Jumani

Imam Abu Hanifa, A struggling believer

In the Name of Allah.

I compiled the following paper for my Fiqh class, and would like to share with everyone. After the Prophet (PBUH) and Umar, I follow the example of Imam Abu Hanifa, and owe my ideology to him. may Allah reward him for his struggles. Just like today, he found himself surrounded by Scholars without clear understanding of practical implication of Islam. He fought hard with extreme right, and extreme left, and gave us a model to follow today.

Text book gives a very high level and brief biography of Imam Nu’man bin Thabit aka Imam Abu Haneefah, but it does not provide the background and details that one should have to understand his status and contributions. There is an aspect of his life that is usually not discussed, which is very unique to him in the history.

He was born to an affluent family in Kufa, and his ancestry was from non-Arabic origin, and was brought up as a businessman. He was a master mind in business, and understood the intricacies of trade, and rules of trade, and his mind was very sharp, logical, and full of ambitions. As far as “Sirat-i-Nu’man” is concerned, Nu’man did not have any formal religious education until he was in his adulthood, which is a great contrast to other leading Imams of his era. His objective in life was not to become an Imam, but to become a businessman. This unique background gave him the edge over other scholars in his time over matters of trade and social rulings.

Once, he was passing by the house of Imam Sha’bi, and Imam called him “Where are you going, young man?”  Imam Abu Haneefah explained him that he was going to see a merchant close by. In fact, Imam Sha’bi called him by mistake believing him to be his student. Since they were talking, he offered him to join his classes (Sirat-i-Nu’man pg 9). Imam Abu Haneefah made up his mind to learn about Islam, and studied with many teachers for a long time to become a great teacher. When, he became a teacher, he had a mission that changed the world as we know it. He was, unlike other Imams, a man of trade in heart, and understood the direction the world is heading towards. In his time, there were a lot of foreign business contracts that were being exposed to Muslims, and it was very difficult for lay person to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) with every new case that came up. He made tons of rulings in the field of business and trade, and most of the rulings that Non-Muslims were exposed to in Islamic history, originated with him.

 Of course, with any change, comes the criticism, and he was given different titles, and labels. Some said that he rejected hadith, and others called him “what iffer”, and some even denied his status as faqhi, due to lack of him narrating ahadith. However, the fact remains that he was the first one to compile the fiqh in a way that paved the way for the future. He looked at each issue without the lens of local custom or culture, and allowed his students to debate when other scholars dictated the conversation. His mastery on qiyas, and unique background allowed him to look at fiqh from a different perspective. Muslims in the west can relate to his life story, as he was born, grew up and studied outside the mainstream schools of learning, and came to Islamic knowledge at a later age.

He compiled many books but most of them did not survive to us. Three are well known. Fiqh Akbar, Al-‘Alim Wa’l-Muta’allim, and Musnad. What reached to us mostly are his student’s compilations, which were influenced by his methodology, and provided the foundations for Muslim Ummah for centuries as their official Fiqh. Unfortunately, there are many false extraordinary stories attributed to him, like he prayed Fajr with same wudu from Isha prayer, and he completed seven thousand readings in the jail (Sirat-i-Nu’man pg 43). There is no evidence that they were true, however. What seems to be his great contribution is his unique way of looking at fiqh. While conventional scholars restricted themselves to direct meaning of the Quran and Sunnah, in most occasions, he explored the spirit of the rules of Islam within sources, so answers could be given to the new arising cases. Today, it is a necessity for the scholars to answer whether Quran saved in the phone, makes the phone a mushaf.

Nevertheless, his wisdom and keen mind was well known. His famous encounter with Imam Malik left Imam Malik sweating, and on many occasion, he solved people’s issue with his wit. For example, a man took an oath that he will not speak to his wife unless she speaks first, and the wife also got angry and took the oath that she will not speak unless he does first. Later, they realized their mistake and went to Sufyan Thauri, but he told them that the only way out is atonement of oath. Unsatisfied, they went to Abu Haneefah, and he told them that you can speak to each other all you want, and no atonement is required. When Sufyan Thauri found out, he went to Abu Haneefah to complain about the invalid ruling. Abu Haneefah told him that when she spoke to take her oath, she fulfilled his condition, and his oath completed, so he can speak to her as he likes (Sirat-i-Nu’man pg 71). Imam Abu Haneefah had the gift of having sharp mind that could see through clutter of details, and he could solve problems with the most ingenious solutions in a moment.

In reality, the most important characteristic that he had was that he could explain the difficult matters in simple terms, which was unique to him in his era among scholars of his status. Today, this is the biggest weakness in our Ummah that there is a gap of understanding between the scholars and lay person, and the scholars are not able to prove to people using practical examples their legal opinions. If he was alive today, he would look at the division among Muslims based on fiqh, and will laugh at it, and then cry at it. He will laugh, because the correct ruling is in front of the scholars, but they refuse to accept it. He will cry because, one of the reason people will not accept the correct ruling is because it will mean to admit that a certain fiqh followed the wrong ruling for centuries.

Imam Abu Haneefah continued his trade throughout his life, and presented an example of balancing the religious duties and worldly duties. He was able to understand the issues of common folks, and was able to deduce rulings, and was able to articulate his rulings in a convincing way.  Other scholars of his time could have been more educated, and well versed in hadith, perhaps, but his understanding of deen (fiqh) was second to none.

JazakAllah Khairin

Adnan Jumani (Abu Arman)

References

“Sirat-i-Nu’man”, Written by Allamah Shibli Nu’mani, Translated by M. Hadi Hussain.

Shirk crawls a little further. Can we stop it?

In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

All praise is due to Allah, the lord of the worlds

"O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were before you so that you may acquire Taqwa. Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He alone has the right to be worshipped)." (Quran 2:21-22)

The Prophet (PBUH) said: O people, save yourselves from this shirk for it is more inconspicuous than the creeping of ant. (Musnad Ahmad 4:403)

After returning from NYC, I visited the masjid, and I noticed this creeping of ant on the prayer schedule of the masjid. They have moved the time for Jumma from 1:45 PM to 1:15 PM. We know that Jumma starts when the first adhan is called in the Masjid, so why does it says 1:15 PM now. My guess is that my criticism of their UnIslamic format for Jumma caused someone to include the english talk as part of the Jumma services, which it is clearly not. So, why do I bring it in the context of Shirk?

Before all of you gather outside my home with stone and firewood, let me explain what is happening here. Iblis has a very practical plan, and he implements it with complete patience, and understanding of human psychology. He will never outright ask a believer to commit shirk, as no practicing muslim will follow him. Instead, what he does is that he places an acceptable ant that you can't really see while standing up, and then  the ant crawls very slowly towards us. In every movement of this ant, we will find benefit and acceptance, but once this ant reaches its destination, we have left Islam.

Prophet (PBUH) said, “I warn you of the newly invented matters (in the religion),and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Hellfire” (an-Nasaa’ee)

In the above hadith, innovation does not mean any new thing, because that would be very limiting. For example, using loud speakers, or websites to help in deen. What it means is that anything that requires belief has been enumerated for us in the Quran and Sunnah, and if we add to it, it will be innovation in deen. Blessings of Jumma service is a belief, and our belief is that it begins at the Adhan, because that is the method of the Prophet (PBUH). Any attempt to mark the start time for Jumma earlier than the first adhan is an innovation.

Also, english talk in Islamic Center of Orlando is prohibited by another hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) , but they continue it, and the ant is moving. Now ant has moved to include this innovation into Jumma time, and it will crawl further, and in a few years, the Jumma services will be a strange affair that will not be recognized. This is how shirk enters our life, and this is the method that doomed the early children of Adam. Let me provide an example.

When Noah came to his people with this message, they rejected it. Allah tells us: “And they said (to each other): ‘Abandon not your gods, abandon neither Wadd nor Suwâ`, neither Yaghûth nor Ya`ûq nor Nasr.” ( Quran Sûrah Nûh : 23)

Al-Bukhari recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "The idols that were among the people of Nuh wound up among the Arabs afterwards.... These idols were all named after righteous men from the people of Nuh. Then when these men died, Shaytan inspired his (Nuh's) people to erect statues in honor of them at their gathering places where they used to come and sit, and to name these statues after these men (with their names). So they did this (as Shaytan suggested), but these statues were not worshipped until after those people (the ones who built them) had died and the knowledge was lost. Then, those statues were later worshipped.'' ... Ibn Jarir recorded from Muhammad bin Qays that he said concerning Yaghuth, Ya`uq and Nasr, "They were righteous people between the time of Adam and Nuh, and they had followers who used to adhere to their guidance. Then, when they died, their companions who used to follow them said, `If we make images of them, it will increase our desire to perform worship when we remember them.' So they made images of them. Then, when those people died and other people came after them, Iblis approached them and said, `They (your predecessors) used to worship these statues and they were granted rain by their worship of them.' Thus, they (the latter people) worshipped them.'' [Ibn Kathir]

When my youngest son Arjan grows up, and if I fail to explain this blog to him, he will look at the hadith of Angels closing the book when Imam stands up, and the timings for Jumma, he will certainly think of the whole thing as the Jumma service. Interestingly, in my email debate with local supporters of this invalid format of Jumma, they gave me assurances that the speech at 1:15 PM is not part of the Jummah, rather a beneficial pre-cursor. I warned them that any prohibition from the Prophet (PBUH) has a purpose, and now we know that this innovation has become part of the Jumma.


Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:
Mujahid reported: I was in the company of Ibn Umar. A person invited the people for the noon or afternoon prayer (after the adhan had been called). He said: Go out with us (from this mosque) because this is an innovation (in religion). (Dawud :: Book 2 : Hadith 538)


The ant is moving faster than I expected, and it is stronger than all of us. I hope you all understand this plan of Iblis, and do not attend the english speech at 1:15 PM. There are many similar addition happening all the time which need to be stopped. The way to stop is to not support the addition, and not support the institution financially. I have withdrawn my financial support from the masjid, until they come back to the Sunnah, and I urge you to do the same. May Allah give us all guidance to follow the path shown by Muhammad ibn Abdullah (PBUH).

JazakAllah Khairin
An ant watcher

AbuArman Jumani