Page 2 Page 3 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 13 Dear Editor, I am writing this letter to let you know that The Islamic Bulletin. Is the best newsletter I have ever read. I thank Allah for giving the writers such knowledge and understanding. Many of the articles are extremely touching that they make me cry. It is such a joy for me to find your bulletin available for English-Speaking people. Being a single woman it is difficult to incorporate all the principles in my daily life, but I do my best and hope Allah is pleased with my sincerity and efforts. Your articles give me the feeling that I am not alone. I anxiously wait for them every month. I thank you again on such fine work and hope that with Allah’s help you may continue your great work. May Allah bless you. Sister Elizabeth Los Angeles, California Dear Editor, Yesterday I was given 2 copies of “The Islamic Bulletin” from a Saudi woman. I found it to be very interesting. Even though I live in a Muslim country, where Islam is all around me, it is hard to find good articles in English. Most everything here is in Arabic. There are great books of course, but not enough. I would like to receive a copy (subscription) to your bulletin. Can you please let me know the cost? What I find here are many Islamic articles in the newspapers, magazines, etc. I put together a newsletter from this. I now have a list of 67 people from all over the U.S. What I would like to do is copy the back of one of your bulletin’s and send it to all those on my list. Insha Allah many of them will subscribe. Sister Mashal Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Dear Editor, Assalamu Aleikum! I am currently incarcerated at Folsom State Prison and have accepted Islam about a year and a half ago. I have repented to Allah, a sincere repentance Inshallah. Your newsletter has completely guided me and changed my life. After reading each article I have tried to adapt it in my life, as they say ‘Islam is a Way of Life’. As there are no scholars here in prisons I would like you to answer me the following question if you can. Letters To The Editor Exactly how much are you allowed to talk about a person without ‘back-biting’? Can you please give some examples of ‘back-biting’? Brother A. Rasheed Folsom, California Response: Dear Brother, Wa Aleika Alsalam I hope the following answer will be of help to you. The Arabic word for back-biting is ghibah. When the Prophet - peace be upon him - was asked, “What is ghibah? He said, ‘It is to talk about someone (in his absence) what he should have disliked’. The man further asked the Prophet, ‘But if what I say is the truth, would it still be counted as ghibah? The Prophet - peace be upon him - said, “If what you say is true, then it is ghibah, but if what you say is not true then it is accusation (buhtan)”. The Hadith makes it very clear that if we have to talk about the mistakes of someone then we would do that in his presence and not at his back. Because when you talk about the mistakes of a person in his presence, he or she will be able to clarify his position or will be able to correct himself/herself. Also when you talk about someone in his/ her presence you will be careful and will not exaggerate or say wrong things, but when the person is not present, then you are at liberty to say whatever you want and the poor fellow has no way to speak on his/her behalf. Also, sooner or later the report of your conversation will reach to that person and that will grieve him or make him angry. These things slowly ruin the group harmony and good relations. You askedme to give you a few examples of back-biting. We’ll take this one. A goes to B and starts talking about C. A he says to B, ‘You know, C is a very cruel person. He beats his wife. He is very harsh to his children. He was fired several times from his job because of this bad behavior. And, moreover, do you knowB, I have seen himonce going into a video shop, probably, he was going to rent some X-rated movies.’ Now, poor C is not present and all this conversation about him is occupying A and B’s time. Do you think A would dare say these things in the presence of C? What will be the opinion of C about A and B when he finds out about this conversation? This is back-biting and it is forbidden in Islam. But sometimes one cannot handle the problem oneself and one has to talk to someone else. Imam Nawawi in his Riyad al Salihin, has mentioned six situations where ghibah is allowed. 1. A person to whom injustice is done and she/he complains to the authorities in order to seek justice. 2. A person who seeks the help of someone to correct a wrong action or to stop a wrong doer. Ghibah is allowed if the intention of the person is sincerely to stop the wrong, otherwise it is haram unlawful). 3. A person who seeks the fatwa (religious decision) and goes to aMufti (jurist) and says, “So and so is doing wrong to me or has deprived me of my right, what should I do? What am I allowed to do according to Shariah (Islamic Law), to address this wrong?” It is better to ask this question without giving the name of the person. But if it is necessary to mention the name then you are also allowed to mention the name and more details about the person. 4. In order to warn Muslims about someone who might harm them in their religion or their worldly matters, it is allowed to expose these wrong doers. It is for this reason the muhaddithin used to do critically examine people’s record and give their opinions about the reporters of the hadith of the Prophet (PBUH). 5. If a person openly flouts the rules of Islam, such as drinking alcohol openly, there is no sin in telling people about those things that he does openly, but one should not speak about his other private wrongs unless there is a need that makes it necessary to do. 6. If a person is generally known among people by some nickname or title it is not ghibah to repeat that as long as the intention is not to defame the person. As the hadith of Prophet (PBUH) says that every action will be judged according to the intention, it is very important that one should check one’s intention before talking about another person’s faults or mistakes. Need to contact us? Web Address: www.islamicbulletin.org E-Mail: info@islamicbulletin.org Editor, Islamic Bulletin P.O. Box 410186 San Francisco, CA 94141-0186, USA Islam in Europe is on the Rise Islam is the second largest religion in Europe today. In spite of periodic persecution and discrimination, Islam seems to be not only surviving but steadily growing in numbers of converts and influence. With the Serbian aggression against Bosnia-Herzegovina, a Muslim country, interest by people is growing in learning about Islam and Muslims. This article is a review and history of the general situation of the Muslims of Europe today. Western Europe The Muslims in Western Europe are those who emigrated from Africa, the Middle East and the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent after the Second World War. Due to manpower shortages and industrial growth in Western Europe after the Second World War, substantial numbers of Muslims migrated to Western Europe. These Muslims kept their cultural, religious and ethnic links with their mother countries. Today these Muslims and their descendants, along with a growing number of native people who are accepting Islam have made the Muslim population the second largest in many parts of Europe. Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, and Germany have large Muslim populations which are growing everyday. The Muslim community of these coun-tries need separate articles to cover their growing social, cultural, and economic role in Western Europe. popuLation Reliable figures on the Muslim population in Western Europe are not available. However, it is believed that an estimated 10 million Muslims live in Western Europe today. France, Germany, and Britain have the largest Muslim populations. Muslim sources estimate that both France and Germany have about three million Muslims each, while Britain is said to have about two million. As in Britain, Islam has been the second largest religion in France since the 1970’s. By the year 2,000, Muslims are expected to make up more than 10 percent of the French population. By the mid 1980’s, there was noWestern European government that had not instituted some legal measures to stop further immigration of Muslim people from Asia, Africa and other parts of the world. Large numbers of Europeans have converted to Islam in the last two decades. Their actual number remains unknown. The majority of these conversions have been made through the efforts of different ways or Islamic Sufi brotherhood and the Darqawiyahs which claim a link with the Arab-Moroccan city of Fez. Most of the Darqawi converts are drawn from the solid professional middle class and seek a return to the early traditions of Islam. European converts to Islam have included a number of prominent figures, especially in the academic life. This group includes Baron Omar Ehrenfels, the Austrian anthropologist (d. 1930); Vincent Morteil, the specialist on African and Islamic affairs, Michel Chodkiewicz, director of the French publishing house Editions du Seuil; and Roger Garudy, the French philosopher and former communist party member. Several countries in Western Europe have recognized the Muslim feasts and holidays. Broadcast time has also been allowed to Muslims in France and some other countries. But problems remain. Muslims and Islam are still treated unfairly in the media. Any attempt by a Muslim society to make Islam as its foundation of life is seen as a challenge to western civilization and is immediately labeled as fundamentalist or terrorist. Today, from Greece to Spain a new awakening is taking shape in forms of new institutions and projects. The establishment of the Muslim parliament of Britain is an indication of a new generation of Muslims confident and mature, resolute and strong. Italy Let us look at the history of the Muslims in Sicily. The Muslims arrived in the early 9th century - the Muslims left their imprint in the 250 year rule of the Island of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean. By the 10th Century they had made Sicily the ‘Bride of the Mediterranean’. All around the land was dotted with place names of Arab origin. Several hundred hamlets and towns have names derived from Arabic. For example, Baida is the Arabic bayda (white); Alcamo, al-Kamuk (a fort named after an Arab leader); Bagheria, babariya (place by the sea); and Marsala, marsa Allah (the harbor of God). The Gateway to Palace of the Normans in Palermo, was first built by the Muslims in the 9th Century. Besides place names, a good number of Sicilian words have Arabic origins as bbazzariari (to sell cheaply) from the Arabic bazar, giubba (jacket) from the Arabic jubba and zecca, sikka (mint). In the Muslim era, agriculture flourished as it never had before. Countless new plants were introduced and less than a century after the conquest of Sicily became known as ‘The Garden Island of Southern Europe’. The Arabs introduced citrus fruits and cultivated them on a large scale. Lemon (Italian limuni from the Arabic limun) and orange (aranciu from naranja) orchards were to be found in all parts of the Island. Today they are still widespread, their flowers carrying an Arabic name, zagara, originally zahr, their aromas hovering over every path and road. From the repertoire of plants found in their homelands, the Muslims also brought with them buckwheat, brush palm, carob, cotton, gutun, jasmine, spinach, sugar, saffron, sumac, tarragon and raisins. The manufacture of silk and the refining of sugar became thriving industries and these later spread to the remainder of Italy and beyond.
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