Eid Mubarak!

Eid is a time of festivities, especially for children, and to express our gratitude for what Allah has blessed us with. We hope for everyone a blessed Eid.

It’s also important, as we focus on gratitude to Allah, to continue our efforts in behalf of Palestinians in Gaza and Palestine who are under not only a siege of bombing and sniper attacks on whole families and children in particular, but also literally being starved to death by Israel deliberately preventing food, water, medicine, and other aid to enter Gaza, as well as continuously attacking Palestinians in the West Bank and elsewhere.

Despite the horrors, Palestinians are working to keep the Eid festival a moment of relief and kindness for children. (This photo in Rafah)

There are many actions we can take to help, from bringing awareness by protesting and calling our government leaders wherever we live, to donating to some of the Palestinians themselves who have accounts with PayPal or GoFundMe, and other means one can find on social media, and much more. Israel doesn’t care about humanity, let alone their holidays, so we must always be alert to times like this not to become complacent. Enjoy, but also remember.

Oldest Video of the Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca + Hajj History and benefits

Made in 1928, this video is purported to be the oldest video recording (actually is was probably film transferred to video) of the Hajj, annual pilgrimage to Mecca, also showing the preparations, travel by camel, and other aspects of what was once a much more arduous journey to the holy site. Back then you had to bring your own tents and the entire city was off-limits to non-Muslims.

The history of the Hajj (now also spelled Haj) is not only about the rituals that are performed during the annual Hajj during the month of Thul-Hajja 8-12, but also the journey to get there, which reflects the history of transportation and related development.

A Beautiful Video Message from Mecca

LETTER FROM MECCA pic.twitter.com/oChq19D04a

— SNEAKO (@sneako) December 31, 2023

He captures his discovery of the spirit of Islam in Mecca and Medina. Very moving regardless of your POV.

This video eloquently expresses the impact of being in Mecca and Medina, feeling the soul of Islam as a way of life, an attitude, a sanctuary and peace he now must take home with him to the very different materialistic West.

How Enemies of Islam Serve their Agenda Using the Hajj against Muslims

It’s not just about profit but about oppressing Muslims and suppressing freedom of religion.

This mind-blowing video is a must-see for anyone who is Muslim and wants to freely worship Allah according to what they understand as truth. Saudi Arabia’s leadership has given exclusive control over Hajj pilgrimage booking away from independent Muslim businesses and directly to Muslim-killer Modi’s India-run agency. For profit and also because they are like-minded. Saudi leadership has also Americanized Mecca and the Hajj itself for profit and, they imagine, power. Indian Hindus and Muslims once got along and shared both peace and cultural interests until Modi radicalized Hindus to create enmity between religious groups and, as he imagines, please the West and especially Britain who colonized India using the strategy “divide and conquer,” which Modi now espouses.

Eid Al-Adha Mubarak!

On this Eid Al-Adha, we think of our origins, Adam and Eve, who in the Quran are considered as one. Who came to this earth as wandering nomads, expelled from their homeland in Paradise, and trying to get back to the garden. We are born as Paradisians, our native land being with Allah. So we must always strive for that. In this life is continual striving until we return insha’Allah to our homeland with Allah in the timeless realm, accepted and beloved by the Almighty All-Merciful, which means we must have concern for all humanity as well, to not think of ourselves as a partisan or special group, but rather as seekers of a path of return. We are all exiles, equal in the sight of Allah/God – all that distinguishes us is our piety and compassion. So that is what we need to remember and that is our way back. What we need to carry with us always is taqwa, mindfulness of Allah in all we do, as much as we are able.

The Quran’s References to the Moon and What They Mean

Most common counts of the moon in the Quran consider only the word qamar, the standard word for moon in general, mentioned 27 times, the sidereal lunar cycle count. But in the Quran are two more words related to the moon: alahilla, crescent moons, the plural of hilal; and badr, which means “full moon,” but is it used in reference to a famous battle victory, not the moon, except symbolically, which would have been understood by the Arabs at the time the Quran was sent. If we include these, the lunar mentions in the Quran increase to 29 mentions in 28 ayat (verses) and 25 suras. But if we choose not to count the Badr reference, the total would be 28 lunar mentions in 27 ayat in 25 different suras. In all three cases the numbers of mentions and ayat are “lunar numbers,” relating to cycles of the moon. Here we discuss how these mentions are arranged in the Quran and examine the ayat that use the two words different from the word qamar, showing how the word badr as symbolic refers to the apex of the moon’s luminescence as an example of how a battle victory can be a shining light or possibility for a beleaguered people, giving them patience through the “darker” or more difficult days.

Eid Mubarak!

Wishing everyone blessed Eid! Photos of Eid in Palestine.

Saudi Govt Waging War on Islam Itself, Not “Extremism”

CJ Werleman gives this insightful report and what we can do about it.

Muslims often lead busy lives, in some places struggling just to survive, and for various reasons may not be aware of this. But Saudi Arabia under MBS is no longer protecting the holy sites — and apparently the regime has been working on their destruction long beforehand, according to the video above. No longer a safe place for Muslims to practice their religion. No longer interested in protecting the rights of Muslims in the world, or interested in Islam as a religion or way of life.

Calculating a Global Hijri Calendar and Al-Hilal

The article linked below from this site proposes a new global Hijri Calendar, using astronomical data as well as Quranic ayat and certain relevant hadiths to find the best and most authentic guidance, to create a Hijri calendar by which all Muslims in the world will follow a single calendar date for significant Islamic events, including the beginning of Ramadan and the start of the two Eid dates, over which political and other irrelevant considerations have famously been a source of division.

New thoughts about the Islamic Hijri Calendar

Eid Mubarak!

For this Eid, newly-revised post on the story of prophet Ibrahim’s test of sacrificing his son Isma’il (Ishmael). We examine the amazing equality between father and son, reflected in word and letter counts, as well as a more complete answer to the question of why did Allah ask Ibrahim to sacrifice his son.

The Quranic Story of Abraham’s Sacrifice – Its Surprising Message and Precision

Hajj 2022

Eid Mubarak!

NYC: Empire State Building turned green for Eid

Celebrations of Eid ul-Fitr Worldwide below.

A Pilgrimage of the Mind and Heart

Great Blue Heron (photo by author)

The Hajj pilgrimage is described in Surat Al-Baqara 2:196-203, as well as in Surat Al-Hajj (22:25-38) and elsewhere. This blog discussed it here in reference to animal sacrifice and the narrative of Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice; and here regarding the essential rites of equality, focusing on the current regime that exerts control over and provides services such as provisions for the Hajj. Here we shall show how the Hajj is a pilgrimage of the mind and heart, taking a different approach.

The Quranic Story of Abraham’s Sacrifice – Its Surprising Message and Precision

Eid Mubarak!

The story of Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) being commanded by God to sacrifice his son, whose slaughter was Divinely replaced by a sacrificial animal, is one of the most famous narratives in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, found in the Quran, the Bible, and the Torah. Although the basic tale is the same, there are major discrepancies between the narratives, which alter what message one takes away from it. 

In the Quran, the son in question is Ismael (Ismail in the Quran, Ishmael in the Bible, this being a spelling that reflects both), the first-born son, not Isaac as in the Bible. And he was specified as an adult willing participant, not a child, eliminating the issue of “the binding of Isaac”. Ismael is not named in the relatively short narrative, but the story begins with Abraham’s prayer for a righteous son (Quran 37:109), then Allah’s response in the form of a “forbearing” son (37:101) who would be his first, and only son at the time of the “test”. Then, when that son reached the “age of exertion,” meaning maturity, Abraham tells him of a dream in which he saw himself ritually slaughtering him, asking what he thought. Ismael replied that this was Allah’s command to slaughter him, and he, the father, should definitely do what Allah ordered, and for the son’s part, he (Ismael) was willing and able. 

Surat Al-Nasr: Victory Then, Now, and in the Hereafter

Hajj at Mecca, circa 1910.

Surat Al-Nasr 110 

إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ

وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا

فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا

110:1   When the victory of Allah and the conquest comes

110:2   And you see the people entering into the Way of Allah in multitudes

110:3   You shall glorify with praise to your Lord,  and seek His forgiveness; for He is the Redeemer.

This at first glance seems like a very clear and easy-to-understand surah that needs minimal explanation, perhaps only a little historical context. And indeed it can be easily understood. But with the Quran, there is always more…

Who Owns the Kaaba? Saudi Regime Allows Only Select Saudis to Hajj 2021

The Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, is that tiny black cube—can you spot the not?—dwarfed by the imposing 2-billion-dollar clock tower built as a commercial complex, making the holiness of the Kaaba, which was built by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) eons ago, seem rather paltry in capitalistic terms. This monstrosity was built at a cost that could have fed—forget about the rest of the world—those non-royal Saudi citizens who have neither sufficient food nor appropriate shelter, estimated at about 20% of the Saudi population.

Eid Al-Fitr Mubarak! And How We Can Mark the Occasion in This Difficult Time

Eid Mubarak! This year in mosques around the world Muslims are praying for Palestinians and Palestine, for Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa to be free from oppression and being hijacked as pawns to a political agenda posing as a religious one: a “divinely-ordained right” to usurp land at will and displace entire communities of men, women, children, and the elderly, to invade their holy places to maim and blind peaceful worshipers while they are praying in a holy site.

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Al-Adha, The Feast of the Sacrifice, commemorates the occasion when Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), in accordance with a dream he saw and interpreted as a divine command, was about to sacrifice his son Isma’il when Allah called him to stop, and replaced Isma’il with a great sacrificial animal, thus sparing the life of his son, a future prophet. There is more to this narrative than meets the eye, more than one usually hears in discussions regarding this event.