Archives | Dr. Wael Haddara

All Learning is Not Created Equal

Dec 27, 2016

In the last post, I wrote about hadiths #2 and #3 – that Islam is built on a statement of belief, a set of physical rituals, authentic beliefs and sincerity in orienting oneself to God. But those elements are not the totality of Islam, but rather the foundation of it. “Islam” is a set of actions and behaviours built on those foundations.

In this post, I will digress briefly from the topic of understanding Islam holistically to highlight an important detail. Of the companions of the Prophet peace be upon him, there are those who were prolific in their narrations of hadith such as Abu Hurayra, Ibn Abbas, Al-Sayyeda A’isha, Anas Ibn Malik and others and all of them are represented in the Nawawi collection.

The most prolific hadith narrators (in order of number of ahadith narrated, Abu Hurayra, Ibn Umar, Anas, Aisha, Ibn Abbas, Jabir and Abu Said may God be pleased with them), narrated 21 of the 42 ahadith in the Nawawi collection. The remaining 21 – half of the collection – was narrated by other companions, some of them far less known.

Of those ahadith, some names stand out: Mu’ath Ibn Jabal, Abu Dharr and ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with them stand out for having narrated 2 ahadith each, that are at the heart of Islam. But it is ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab who truly stands out even in this select company. If we accept that Al-Nawawi organized the ahadith in some order, ‘Umar narrates the two ahadith at the very beginning of the collection.

Why is this detail important? All learning is not created equal. Even in that select company of the people around the Prophet peace be upon him, some listened for the very important sayings of the Prophet peace be upon him and committed them to memory and committed to sharing them with others.

In our own lives, we should try to exemplify that principle: Look for the best of the pearls. Commit them to memory; share them with others.

London Free Press: Troubling views of women found close to home, too

Dec 12, 2016

The past few months have been a whirlwind in the U.S. with the presidential campaign and the election of Donald Trump. But let’s not pat ourselves too firmly on the back.

Many of us in Canada watched Trump vs. Clinton with horror and dismay as scandals broke on both sides. But even as memories of the infamous “locker-room talk” video — perhaps the single most disturbing revelation of that political brawl — fade, instead of a sanctimonious holier-than-thou attitude, I think we need to take a hard look at how we view acceptable male attitudes towards women.

I live in an affluent part of London. The closest shopping centre is apparently one of the most profitable in the province. Recently, I needed to bring my laptop in for repairs and I was early so I took a walk around the mall. At the end of one corridor, there is a store that sells T-shirts and hats and possibly other things.

It has an edgy look to it and, unsurprisingly, I had never been in. So, I decided to be adventurous (yes, that was sarcasm).

I was greeted by a pleasant young woman who started a brief conversation: “Have you been here before?” “No, I haven’t.” “‘Looking for anything in particular?” “No, not really, just killing some time.” And so she left me to browse.

The first row of T-shirts was the usual fare — quirky superheroes, some with a Canadian twist, for example, a maple leaf superimposed on the Superman S. The next set of T-shirts was something else altogether.

It’s not particularly easy to shock me, but I was shocked. Appalled, actually. One after the other, there was a series of T-shirts with misogynistic, demeaning, crude statements. I am not entirely sure who the target market is, or what social context would be an appropriate setting to wear one.

Wait, let me rephrase that: I am entirely sure that there is no social context in which it would be appropriate to wear one of these. No self-respecting man (I assume the target market is men) would wear one. But the fact that someone thinks that those captions would make good T-shirts to make a buck on — indeed, that the store is in the business of selling them — can only mean that someone out there disagrees with me and does so with his or her wallet.

You’re probably wondering how bad those T-shirts could have been. I’m not sure I can tell you. In fact, I’m almost certain the editors wouldn’t print — in the newspaper or online — many of the words screened onto the T-shirts that, for the right price, anyone who wants to can wear while walking down a street near you.

I don’t blame the editors, I wouldn’t want my children to pick up the newspaper or click on a website and read them, either.

(Editor’s Note: Correct, the T-shirt slogans are not printable in a newspaper or on a newspaper’s website. Here are two of the most tame, with BEEPs where necessary: “I have the BEEP, so I make the rules”; “This is Bill. Bill likes to drink and BEEP BEEP. Bill is a badass. Be like Bill.”)

Some of you will want to make arguments about freedom of speech, of course, and I want to emphasize this column is not being written to start a boycott of any stores or tell any store owners what they can or cannot sell.

Instead, it’s a simple observation that if the attitudes toward women that Donald Trump had on display in that video with then-TV host Billy Bush can be printed on a T-shirt to wear here in London, then we, collectively, have somehow decided those attitudes are OK.

And that should give us pause.

Wael Haddara is a London physician and educator.

Original Link:

lfpress.com/2016/12/09/troubling-views-of-women-found-close-to-home-too

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

Dec 11, 2016

Rabi’ Al-Awwal is the month in which the Prophet peace be upon him was born, and the month in which he made the migration to Madina. There is a misconception that the migration of the Prophet peace be upon him took place in Muharram, since that is the first month of the Hijri calendar. However, most authorities agree that the Hijra was in the month of Rabi AlAwwal, the current month of the Islamic calendar.

Truly observing the birth of the Prophet peace be upon him or an event like the Hijra means pausing to absorb the lessons of those events to help us re-orient ourselves to our own reality.

The lessons of the hijra are many and I want to consider only one small aspect of the vast number of lessons the Hijra teaches us and that is the clear divine assistance throughout the journey. The Prophet peace be upon him and Abu Bakr took significant precautions to secure their trip. Despite those significant precautions, the entire endeavour could have failed at multiple times.

And at multiple times, the Prophet peace be upon him and his companion, were protected by measures that had no worldly business serving as protectors. The most memorable of those occasions was during the flight to the cave of Thawr. As Abu Bakr said to the prophet peace upon him, regarding the Quraishites pursuing them, “if one of them were to look under his feet, we would be discovered.”

The books of seerah report that a pigeon built a nest and a spider weaved a web at the entrance of the cave, giving the impression the cave is as undisturbed. The “protection” of the Prophet peace be upon him and his companion was afforded by the weakest and least plausible of defenses. The lesson for us seems to be that God does His will whenever He wills and however He wills without regard to what we would consider possible or plausible.

وقاية الله أغنت عن مضاعفة من الدروع و عن عال من الأطم

“God’s protection was better than multiplied shields and high walled fortresses.”

But reading the story of the Hijra and seeing only this sequence of divine interventions in support of the Prophet peace be upon him is a misreading of the seerah altogether. This event – the physical migration of the Prophet peace be upon him – took place against a background of extensive preparation and planning. There was a plan A, a plan B, a Plan C and even a Plan D.

The prophet had already sent a group of Muslims to Abyssinia as a place of sanctuary to which Muslims may retreat if they were eventually forced to. He sought out support in AlTa’if and sought to migrate there first. He undertook extensive preparations over two years for Madina to become a sanctuary. And finally, he had laid the ground work for entire tribes to enter into Islam such as the tribe of Ghifar.

For the event of the Hijra itself he took extensive precautions including heading south rather than north, employing a scout familiar with the terrain and so on. And so the Prophet peace be upon him did not rely on divine assistance as his “strategy”. But when he had done everything humanly possible, he had confidence in Allah’s help. And so, in the Cave of Thawr, when Abu Bakr turned to the Prophet and said, “if one of them were to look under his feet, we would be discovered”, the Prophet’s response was simple but supremely confident: “Allah is with us”.

What is Islam?

Dec 9, 2016

Our next hadiths to consider are hadith #3 and #4 together. It’s probably important to note at this point that I’m not attempting any level of comprehensive treatment of these ahadith. Rather, my objective is to highlight how these texts help us understand Islam holistically. Hadith #3 is known as “hadith Jibril”, because the Archangel Jibril is the Prophet peace be upon him’s interlocutor. Because of the hadith’s broad sweep of essential concepts, books have been written on the meaning of the hadith. But from my perspective, in terms of the goal of understanding Islam holistically, it’s the shorter hadith #3 that is potentially more important.

Hadith #2 tells us that Islam, holistically considered is part ritual, part conviction and part sincerity and that each of those are inter-related. The highest form of Islam is one in which the sincerity is built on a deep and authentic belief that is, in turn, supported by ritual. Effort – ritual for example, is rewarded by God by greater strength of faith –

“…Just as for those who are [willing to be] guided, He increases their [ability to follow His] guidance and causes them to grow in God-consciousness.” (47:17)

Hadith #3 is read by many as simply as an iteration of the first part of Hadith #2. But, looking closely, that is not the case. Al-Nawawi seems to have selected these two texts in close juxtaposition to highlight the difference in the language describing Islam. Hadith #2 states that “Islam is that you bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His Prophet; that you establish the ritual prayers, pay the alms, make pilgrimage to the House of God [in Makka] and fast the month of Ramadan.”

Hadith #3 uses different language. Islam “is” not those aspects, rather Islam is “built” on these aspects.

In other words, Islam is ritual, belief and sincerity; but those are the foundation, not the edifice. The edifice of Islam is what comes later in the collection. No building is secure or robust without a solid foundation, and that is the importance of ritual, of authentic belief and of sincerity, but no building is worth the name if it never rises above its foundation.