Yearning to speak the Truth

Bismi’llah ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim
(In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful)

As-salaamu Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh
(May Peace, and Blessings, and the Mercy of Allah be upon you)


For the non-Muslim who just wandered in: the name Talib means "student" or "seeker of knowledge", and al-Haqq the Truth. Therefore I am "a seeker of knowledge" and/or seekker of the Truth. Al-Haqq also is but one of the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah the Most High: in this context it means the Truthful One, and it must be connected with the prefix Abd' meaning servant or slave; for only Allah Most High is Al-Haqq, to give one that name withouth the prefix is blasphemy. But this is not the topic of our discourse today. Nor is the fact that I am a North American Muslim: a convert, of Italian and Polish descent (two of the most Catholic backgrounds on the planet). Insha'Allah (God willing) we shall address these topics some other day.


Today I'd simply like to discuss or rather "vent" a great pain that grieves my heart; an aggravating and nagging sensation that which leads me to believe most of the world does not have the slightest clue or idea about what Islam is, who are Muslims, who is our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sal'Allahu alayhi wa salaam): May peace blessings and prayers be upon him) and who is Allah Most High?

It grieves me to watch interviews such as this one , in which people known as the “Christian Right”: Fundamentalist Christian Evangelicals, and are Zionists ( are for the establishment of a Jewish national state in Palestine), speak of our beloved Prophet (S.A.W.S) as a “Terrorist”. How they’ve come to this conclusion only Allah, Subhanna wa Ta’ala (“Glorified and Exalted is He”), may know; perhaps He has led them a stray purposefully…? I invite people to watch that 60 Minute interview on “You Tube”…A minister by the name of Jerry Falwell, claims that he “thinks Muhammad was a terrorist”, and has read sufficient history of his life written by Muslims and non-Muslims alike,coming to the conclusion “that he was a violent man; a man of war…”. He obviously claimed that he believes Jesus to be the ultimate example of peace and love… Once again it grieves me to no end to see human beings wallow in such deep and dark ignorance. For had he made any sincere research he would have seen that all acts of violence were acts of retaliation, and as Allah Subhanna wa Ta’ala said in the Qu’ran:

"Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, and do not transgress; for Allah loveth not transgressors." (Al-Qur’an Al-Karim: Surah 2; Ayat: 190)

"But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in Allah: for He is the One that Heareth and Knoweth (all things)." (Al-Qur’an Al-Karim: Surah 8; Ayat: 61)

In the beginning of his Prophethood Muhammad (S.A.W.S) was only instructed to preach the message of Islam, make Daw’ah (call people…) to the people of Mecca, (as well as the rest of the world...), and to establish the Deen (“the way”, or “religion”; among other meanings) of Islam. When tensions grew, and more and more pagan Arabs were plotting against him, Muhammad (S.A.W.S) had to migrate to Medina (then known as Yathrib). This was the Hijra or “flight”, and it marks the beginning of the Muslim era. Over the course of time, the order to fight back came, as the quotes from Surah’s 2 and 8 above attest to (the Qu’ran is made up of Surah’s: Chapters, and Ayats: Verses). However Muhammad was reticent to do so, so were the majority of the Umma (Muslim community), and therefore this Ayat was revealed:

“Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.” (Al-Qur’an Al-Karim: Surah 2; Ayat: 216)

Now if any non -Muslim who perchance is reading this and, which I truly hope, shall desire to go out and find out more about the final Prophet (The Seal of the Prophets) Muhammed (S.A.W.S) was. To these I recommend a book by Martin Lings entitled “Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources”: it is one of the most excellent Sira’s (biographies) in the English language. There is also Ibn Ishaq's classic sira, translated by Alfred Guillaume.

To get back to the people who seem to make a living out of defaming, and spreading calamities and lies about the Noble deen of Islam: I simply shake my head in disgust and awe at the same time. Truly the only reason why so many of these “enlightened ones” and so-called “bearers of truth” succeed in convincing so many people that Islam is bad; it is violence; it is terrorism; etc. etc. Is because they themselves have no knowledge what so ever of Islam to begin with, and therefore it is all too easy to convince someone who knows nothing about any given topic that that thing is either good or bad…I therefore urge all readers of this Blog, whether you’ve stumbled upon it by chance or have been directed to it…I urge you to educate yourselves.

Fellow brothers and sisters in Islam, who may be reading this as well, we must know more about our deen, to the point where each of us are unofficial Sheyukhs or Ulema’s so that we may refute any slanderer…we must have more knowledge about our deen. To the non-Muslims, you must know that the all the negative things being said about Islam are lies! I know: you are saying to yourselves that it’s obvious I’d protect my religion; yes this is true. But I also invite you to sincerely research on your own and I guarantee, that you will either be convinced about the truth of Islam and become a Muslim, like I did, or simply respect our religion. Knowledge and education is key: it always was and always will be.

This blog is a place for all searchers of Haqq: of truth. Insha’Allah, the Most High shall allow me the mental acuity and perseverance to present to you topics that shall deal with Islam in general and in particular. Over the course of this blog’s existence I shall attempt to dispel some, if not most of the myths surrounding this beautiful religion and, insha’Allah, educate many ignoramuses in the long run.


Wasalaam
(And Peace)