Juma Prayers at Anjuman-e-Najmi in Irving

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2012

• Juma Prayers - Anjuman-e-Najmi,  Irving
• Visiting different Mosques every Friday.
• Place of worship: Masjid Anjuman-e-Najmi
• Address: 1324 S. Nursery Rd, Irving, TX 75060
• Website: http://www.dallasjamaat.org/
• Denomination: Dawoodi Bohra
• Pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157631012940372/show/
• A part of Shiah Tayyibi Dawoodi Bohra denomination of Islam.
• Clergy:  Janaab Aamil Saheb Sheik Fakhruddin Bhanpurawala

__________ __________ __________

 Anjuman-e-Najmi, Dawoodi Bohra Masjid, Irving, Texas - 11 other pictures in link

I am driven by the wisdom of Sura Hujurat 49:13. The reason we have conflicts with others and among ourselves is because we don’t know each other and shamefully, what we know is “cooked up” negatives about the other.

Today, I went to the Dawoodi Bohra Masjid for Friday Prayers, and as always, I walked out feeling good knowing that we all worship the creator, with our own uniqueness that is beautiful. Insha Allah, I will be visiting this Mosque for Iftaar this coming week. 

God says the best among you are the ones who understand and know each other. God has not said to be mirrors or copycats of each other. Had he wanted, he would have punched all of us out of a factory with exact same specifications. Nope, he wanted each one of us to be unique with our own specific thumbprint, eye print, taste bud, color bud, drink bud, scent bud and rituals bud. Respecting that uniqueness amounts to appreciating the creator.

I am blessed to have been to literally every place of worship of different faiths, and I simply admire the devotion of the individuals towards the creator, how one leans, bows, kneels or prostrates is unique to each tradition and it is beautiful. Like my daughter had said once, Gee Dad, God can be worshipped in so many different ways!

I urge Muslims to think about this… upgrading ourselves to be truly Mukhlookhul Aalameen, a universal being with whom everyone can relate, and who has no barriers between him (her) and another human.

Each denomination has its own addendum to the religious practices. The major denominations being Sunni, Shia, Ahamdiyya, Salafi, Alavi and Sufi - then within each there are many schools of thought and variations.

The Dawoodi Bohra is a small community,  but very active in building and maintaining good relations with fellow members of the community at large. They have always been a part of the activities of Local India Association and City of Irving.

Brother Tahir Hamid is one of the senior most (not by age, but duration of living in Dallas) Muslims in the area and has been active in keeping with the communities.  I met him again at the Masjid with his son Mustafa and nephew Mudar.

I want to share a funny anecdote; I have been a full participant in the domain of Rabbul Aalameen, under the mercy of Rahmatul Aalameen to have become a Mukhlookhul Aalameen, and a few have difficulty in placing me in a specific pigeon hole.

I have been called a Jew, Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist and a Baha’i, which I have appreciated. So the first person who meets me in the Mosque was all surprised - What is this Christian fellow doing in the mosque now?  

Well I am not a Christian, never was one, but Christ is one of my mentors.  I was born a Muslim, then remained an Atheist for nearly thirty years. I am in tune with Buddhism and Baha’i, equally beautiful faiths, but chose Islam some 15 years ago for the value it places on Justice and creating cohesive societies where no one has to be apprehensive or fearful of the others, and I align with that vision of a society. 

Alhamdu Lillah, I am pleased to be a Muslim, however, it does not mean that other faiths are any less. Because of my name, I have had amazing experiences.  

The Bohra community prays 4 rakats (units) of fard (obligatory) Prayers on Friday, it is as though it is another day along with the Sunna and optional prayers, they also pray additional 4 units of prayers in conjunction with Zohar (Noon) prayers and Asr (late afternoon) prayers.

There was no Friday Sermon, as they were all up last night with Lailat-al-Qadr (the night of value) prayers. Each Mosque and each tradition observes a different day in the last third, between the 21^st to 27^th night of Ramadan. God listens to the prayers in this night more enthusiastically, obviously when you have gone through the training of 20+ days, your Taqwa meters shows good reading (Taqwa is feeling a sense of closeness with the creator and emulating his qualities like forgiving, kinds, charitable, merciful and loving all of his creation).

When people line up for prayers, each one has a special prayer rug they pray on, leaving a lot of gap between individuals. In the Sunni tradition, there is usually a call for people to stand shoulder to shoulder.

One of my friends jumps at each one of the variations and becomes judgmental; I always challenge him to show me in Quraan. He is the kind who  believes that Prophet Muhammad’s body, or the dead bodies of prophets do not disintegrate, of course there is nothing like that in Quraan, a lot of it is hearsay. Every human body disintegrates, that is a normal part of creation. The greatness of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was, he never claimed to be divine, he said, he will die like everyone else and lived like everyone else.

The Adhan (prayer call) has an additional verse honoring Hazrat Ali, the spiritual head of the Shia tradition. A few Muslims need to free themselves from the severe programming to anxiously spit the words Bidda (innovation) at the drop of the hat.  We have the basic religion and cultural additions are tagged on to it, each tradition has its own influence, and we need to honor them and hold the tongue from pronouncing judgments. 

Prophet Muhammad never said; to be a Muslim, one has to wear the Arab garb, to be a Muslim one has to name their child from the prescribed list of names, to be a Muslim one has to speak Arabic, and to be a Muslim one has to eat Arab food. Islam is about faith and not rituals. Islam is about Universalism that embraces the God given diversity. 

Thank God for America, we are exposed to different traditions on a daily basis and have learned to separate the faith from culture. Other than the Hajj experience, you will not find God given diversity anywhere other than western democracies where Muslims of all hues come together without judging the other. Let me take that back, most of us leave the judgment about other's faith to Allah, some work on taking over that power from God and attempt to act like God pronouncing judgement.  In Indian democracy, there is some degree of integration, but still Muslims live in silos, and yet claim we are one religion without being one. Look at the matrimonial pages to understand how they make Islam un-universal. 

I appreciated a very unique practice among Bohras today. The Adhan (prayer call) has two verses in it, where the Muezzin (caller for prayer) turns to the right and recites Hayya 'ala-s-Salah - Hurry to the prayer and then turns to the left and recites, Hayya 'ala-l-Falah Hurry to success; come to the right path and come to do good things… when the Adhan was recited,  the entire Jamaat (congregation) did turn to the right and again to the left. That was unique!

Growing up in India, I was taught to remain quite when the call for the prayer was on. They did that at this Mosque, but I have been seeing people carrying on the conversation during the Adhan and it always puzzles me. However women folk have always done the right thing, pull the scarves over their head and listen. 

Right after the conclusion of the prayer with Salam to the right and the left, they did a duwa (supplication) which was recited in Chorus by the entire Jamaat. That’s a new learning experience for me, and they finished the prayers with an emotional call to Imam Hussein by hitting their chest with their right and left palms several times.

I am a slow guy during the prayers, and had to hurry from position to position in the prayers to catch up with the Aamil Saheb (called Imam in other traditions) during the fard prayers. I was watching the people do the optional prayers with the agility and speed that I have not seen in ages, as a Kid I used to do that.

As usual, as I have mentioned earlier, we are all creatures of habit, during the Aqama (standing) position of the prayers, I could not drop my hands freely on the sides, and I had to place each hand on the other over my abdomen, as I was taught that way. It’s a funny feeling to drop the hands on the side; it feels like driving without a seat belt. Each one of us have our own habits that we form, they are not right or wrong, but feel in tune with the conditioning.

There was no Friday Sermon, and I ponder about it! It has become a ritual rather than a message sharing moment.   

Except a few Imams in Dallas, most of the visiting or Adhoc Imams will not pass for a fact check. I don’t know how many of the members simply put up with it or swallow it. For example, a preposterous statement was made in one Juma that Muslims don’t get aids because we get our kids get married early on, and they don’t have a chance to get aids! Even our grade school kids know better than that! We don't have to build Islam on falsities. 

It is not just Muslims; the story is same with others. I have heard the tall claims from clergies of most of the religions if not all.  My dearest friend Pastor Robert Jeffress of the biggest Baptist Church in Dallas will not pass the fact check either.

While it is a pleasure to listen to Pastor George Mason on Radio on Sundays, he is a pastor of another big Baptist Church in Lakewood, and he makes perfect sense.  I wish I could watch Joel Osteen frequently, if you don’t know him, google him.  Most of his sermons can be easily converted to Islamic sermons by merely labeling the quotes from Quraan instead of the Bible, they are very inspirational. I am working on one.  I have appreciated a few sermons of Imam Zia Shaikh, Imam Zia Kavakci,  Ustad Nouman, Hamza Yousuf, Tariq Ramadan and Imam Feisal. Insha Allah, I would like to hear Imam Yaseen and other Imams  They connect with the people and are engaging speakers, speaking relevancy of Islam in our daily life.

Our sermons need to relate with our daily lives. If we tell the story of Abraham, we need to learn how it relates with our life today? Our kids will listen to them as courtesy, but that is not education. We need to do better than that. If you feel, this piece reflects some of your own thoughts, please share it in the comment section. 

Insha Allah, next Friday, I will be in Westport Masjid or River Road masjid in Louisville, Kentucky.

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net

Al Azhar confirms HIJAB is not a part of the religion

HIJAB IS NOT A PART OF RELIGION
URL - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/05/al-azhar-confirms-hijab-is-not-part-of.html
The following statement is in reference to the "Burqa ban movement" in United Kingdom, it sounds more like a political movement to appease someone. Burqa Ban is brutish and driven by men's primal instinct to control women. No one should have the right to impose what a woman wears or not wears. However, we should seek acknowledgements and endorsements from Muslims that Burqa in it is form is cultural and not Islamic. Over a generation or two, either the practice will continue or fade for a sizable population, but it should never be forced.
 
Our position on Hijab
Islam is about freedom and not compulsion, Q 2:256, "Let there be no compulsion in religion". We recognize that culture is deeply ingrained into each one of us, and a full Hijab wearing woman will not go cold turkey and quit wearing the Hijab the very next day.  She will not be comfortable with it and none of us have the right to tell her to wear or quit wearing it. The change should come out of her own volition as it is a part of her cultural life.  It is like forcing a vegetarian to eat meat or ordering a meat eating person to quit eating meat.

As Muslims we should be pro-choice based on Quran and Prophet's teaching, the prophet had said, if the husband compels her to believe (in matters of faith) other than what she believed, she does not have to obey him.  Meaning a woman should have the freedom to wear full Hijab, partial Hijab or just the head covering or not wear the covering at all,  but never forced.
That is the genuine freedom, a critical value of Islam.
Mike Ghouse,
World Muslim Congress.
A think tank committed to nurture the pluralistic values of Islam. 

# # #

 
AA
This statement is in reference to the "Burqa ban movement" in United Kingdom, it sounds more like a political movement to appease the secular government.  Burqa Ban is an useless and losing battle. However, we should seek acknowledgements and endorsements from Muslims that Burqa in it is form is cultural and not Islamic. Over a generation or two, either the practice will continue or fade for a sizable population, but it should never be forced.

Go for the winning battles, small ones and gradually big ones. You will create enemies out of average Muslims and then it becomes a fight.... is it necessary? What is the need to employ so much energy on this issue?

Several articles are referenced below, and two versions of the stories, both from Egypt, one affirms that Hijab is not a part of the religion, and another Zealot Shaykh Tantawi compels a woman to take the Niqab off. He is wrong, however big he is to compel and take advantage of his position of a scholar. Islam is about freedom and not compulsion.

A good guideline for discussion would be resisting the temptation to reject a presentation by others as propaganda.

As far as your statement,  “A statement of a Ph D thesis cannot change the ruling of the scholars of all times”, kindly note, that only God’s word remains unchangeable, and Prophet’s words remain unchangeable, provided, they are his words. Everyone else’s word should be questionable. Muslims are to read (Iqra), question and believe.

A few Muslims have been threatened, frightened and reduced to meekness with no guts to question the veracity of the scholars. With the unprecedented availability of knowledge, two generations down the road, you will see that new breed of Muslims will have stronger faith in God to question everything. They will be Allah fearing and not Mullah fearing, and they will question the authenticity of Imam Bukhari, Hanbali, Shafii, Jaffari and others without batting an eye. That is when Islam will be re-realized to its fullest extent. Right now our fear to question has put layers of dust over Islam…

I hope Gehan can provide further research on this, however the responsibility falls on all of us, we are responsible to find the truth on our own.

  

Some 15 years ago, we had a Muslim woman scholar giving a talk about the same subject; the Muslims “In charge” of the event were scrambling to shut the woman down, because they did not have the stomach to hear that Hijab is cultural and not Islamic.

There is nothing wrong in wearing the Hijab, if one is used to, and no one should compel the woman not to wear or to wear. It should be her choice. However, to force on as religious duty is wrong, because it is not religious. Who am I to say this? An ordinary Muslim, whom Prophet told to read and understand the book , as I am responsible for my acts on the day of judgment .  

Mike Ghouse, World Muslim Congress.

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RE: MuslimsTogether :: al Azhar confirms HIJAB is not a part of the religion

This is sheer propaganda. Please give us the whole Ph D thesis for checking. A statement of a Ph D thesis can not change the ruling of the scholars of all times.

Who are these people of WMC? What is their interest?

Shah Abdul Hannan

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From: WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com [mailto:WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ISLAM
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 9:44 PM
Subject: MuslimsTogether :: al Azhar confirms HIJAB is not a part of the religion

here is my humble interpretation:

Finally al Azhar clarifies its position and announces that hijab has nothing to do with religion

al Azhar's endorsed Sheikh Mustafa Mohamed Rashid's PhD thesis on Sharia and Law for which he obtained a grade of excellent, where he stated that hijab is not an Islamic requirement (fard), and that the interpretation (tafseer) of the verses (ayat) and the circumstances during which they appeared has led to the widespread misunderstanding about the so-called 'Islamic Hijab' denoting covering the head, of which there is absolutely no mention in the Quran.

Yet some have misconstrued the intent and correct interpretation of the Sharia, refusing the logic and sequence of its appearance, abandoning the proper methods of citing and interpreting of the verses (ayat), their historical background and reason for them.  They have done so either intentionally, or with good intention but with lack of the essential analytical savvy.

This hijab issue imposed itself on the Islamic and non-Islamic psyche, and thus becoming the defining factor, meaning, and nature of the Islamic faith to non-Muslims, which led some non-Islamic nations to consider it a divisive political statement.  In consequence to the resulting friction, some female students have been expelled from universities and jobs, only due to their adherence to this false belief, thereby attaching to Islam a non existent requirement.

So inconsistent and misguided have the proofs of the supporters of the hijab theory been, that it would sometimes take the form of khimar or jalabeeb, which distanced them from what they meant by head cover, which is indicative of their restrictive set of mind.

'Hijab' was mentioned in verse (ayah) 53 of al AHzab, where it signifies 'wall' or 'what prevents view' and it was in regards to pure "ummuhat al mo'mineen" where a "hajib" is to be placed between them and any men.

As for verse (ayah) 31 of Al Khimar - Sourrat al Noor, that is also a redundant claim, as the intent here is the cover of the breast and neck - the background here is the covering of the breast whose exposure is un-Islamic, and not what is now understood by hijab for the head.

And in regards to the historical background of verse (ayah) 59 of Sourrat al AHzab was to distinguish between the pure and the promiscuous whores and slaves.

Finally, in the mis-use of the Hadith about Asma'a, daughter of Abu Bakr, when she walked in on the prophet (pbuh)s gathering, and he ordered her to not expose her face or palms - this Hadith is not a binding Hadith, as it is one of al AHaad and not one of the consistent, or the connected confirmed.


TRANSLATION BY GEHAN A F D SABRY

from the Arabic text at http://www.elbashayer.com/news-192556.html

1. BBC - Egypt's highest Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing trend for full women's veils, known as the niqab.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8290606.stm

2. Shaykh Tantawi eventually tells even a teacher to remove her niqab!!

When the Grand Shaykh was invited to address a group of young female high-school students, he noticed one of them wearing a face-veil (niqab). This seemed to irritate his Excellency rather mightily, and, his conscience so roused, he proceeded to ask the supercilious girl to remove her veil (he is preceded by the likes of Jack Straw and Tony Blair, amongst other honorable mentions) – he charged on, blasting, “I have already told you that the niqab has absolutely nothing to do with the religion, and it is something that is from custom!”

http://muslimmatters.org/2009/10/07/with-scholars-like-these/

3. Burqa Ban Debate (1/4)

Burqa Ban Debate (1/4)

View on www.youtube.com

Preview by Yahoo

 

 Atif al-Awami, vice-chancellor of Ain Shams University, added that he "personally believes that the niqab was nothing but a social habit that spread in response to motives unrelated to religion."

http://al-shorfa.com/en_GB/articles/meii/features/main/2010/02/03/feature-02?format=mobile&mobile=true

A FEW ARTICLES ON BURQA ON THIS SITE

1. World Muslim Congress: Me without my Hijab
2. World Muslim Congress: Burqa to no Burqa
3. World Muslim Congress: Burqa - Panipat to Paris
4. World Muslim Congress: Nazia wins womens rights
5. World Muslim Congress: Canada should not ban Burqa.
6. World Muslim Congress: Burn the Burqa
7. World Muslim Congress: Veil and British women
8. World Muslim Congress: To Veil or Not to Veil
9. World Muslim Congress: Fifteen Tips for Muslim Men talking about ...
10. World Muslim Congress: Lifting the Veil on the Niqab
11. World Muslim Congress: Muslim Dad Kills Daughter

Rethinking Islamic Reform: Hamza Yusuf & Tariq Ramadan

This is nearly three hours documentation.


Hamza Yusuf and Tariq Ramadan are two of the giant Muslim scholars in the world today.

The Rethinking Islamic Reform conference, originally held May 26, 2010, features two of the world's foremost Muslim intellectuals as they provide guidance in the ever polemical topic of reform in Islam.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY17d4ZhY8M&feature=related