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Assalaamu ‘alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
Sheikh Hamza at his best like always – BarakAllahu Feek.
Fi Amanillah
Abu Khadijah
salam alakum sheik hamza yusuf is the best shaykh in the west his lectures r always uplifting may allah preserve him for this ummah
Sh Hamza What the hell happened to you after 9/11?????????? Why have you become an appologist?
How ironic to see you commenting with harsh words on a topic that concerns ‘purification of your tongue.’ Allahu Akbar. Ya Rub Forgive us our sins and short-comings, and Guide us to the straight path. Ameen.
Assalamualaikum
Brother, do not be harsh in your criticism of Scholars whose opinion you may not agree with it. It’s possible that his knowledge and understanding of the deen and the world is better.
Try to follow what you find beneficial from the lecture, if you don’t agree with something simply ignore it.
aslam alakum brother NAEEM if u got a promblem with shaykh hamza yusuf go to him and tell him and have some respect for the scholars if u do not agree with him its better for u to be silent and keep it to ur self shaykh hamza yusuf has done alot of hard work after and before 9/11 for islam may allah preserve him for this ummah and elavate his rank amin
Salaam,
Hamza Yusuf himself would tell you that he’s not a scholar. Having said that, I agree with you that we should respect the people of knowledge.
If you don’t like what he has to say politically, listen to him for his religious knowledge. It can be very inspiring.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Assalamu aleikum warahmatallah.
Criticism isn’t always nice but very useful for someone who is wise. Omar ibn al khatab r.a. always looked for people to criticize him as harsh as possible.
I disagree with Naem completely and i disagree with the comments against him even more. Just let the man speak and let the sheikh decide for himself if he accepts or rejects that claim. If he even gets to read it…
Peace be with you.
Assalam Alaykum.
Sheikh you really deserve the role of Saeedna
Umar (RA),when you find Muslims are very harder
to get the idea about what you lecturing never
hesitate to give out harsh words,they aid the process
sometimes.I really like your move,very inspiring indeed.
Assalam Alaykom.
[…] Click here for the lecture […]
you make me SICK Hamza Yusuf! you have sold out to the enemies of allah. may allah guide you before your death. Allah said do NOT take the Kuffar as friends and protectors and you have become their ADVISOR. shame on you and those like you.
Transcript of Interview with Hamza Yusuf Hanson by Michael Enright on the September 11 Tragedy
Michael: Well we know now it was more plunder than religion.
Shaykh Hamza: Well, that’s true. And unfortunately a lot of religious wars tend to be for other than religion. But the word jihad is probably one of the highest concepts that the Arabs and the Muslims have. It represents really the best of humankind. In the Qur’an it is never once used to express a military meaning. Not once.
Comment: This is not true. Open any Quran commentary book and find for yourself. (See for example: surah 4 verse 95, surah 9 verse 41, and surah 61 verses 10-13)
Interestingly, even Hamzah Yusuf himself knows that this statement is not entirely accurate. In his tape “The Life of The Prophet Muhammad,†tape number 9 Hamzah Yusuf – talking about the prophet SAAWS and his companions in Madinah- said: “They are in a state of perpetual vigilance and war. This is jihad, his life is really a life of jihad, of struggle against the people who were bent on not seeing Islam spread which is important to us to take as a lesson if we really want to spread Islamâ€
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Michael: It means… does it not mean to go to war with yourself?
Shaykh Hamza: Well, that’s one of the meanings. It literally means – if you look at the word, the root word is “jihad” which means to struggle, and juhd in the Arabic language means a struggle literally. So jihad is the act of struggling. And the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, said that the greatest jihad is to struggle with your own soul’s insidious suggestions.
Comment: The root word of Jihad is actually “jahada.†It means ‘fighting the enemies or doing ones utmost in fighting’ (see lisaan Al-Arab by Ibn Mandhoor, Vol. 2 page 396. First edition, published by Dar Ihya at-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut 1988).
The hadith mentioned at the end is a weak hadeeth (See the book of weak hadiths by Imam al-Albani, and the book of weak and fabricated Hadiths for Imam al-Shawkani). Sufis in general always quote this Hadith because it relieves them from waging the true Jihad.
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Shaykh Hamza (continues): And I think that really clarifies to the Muslims. Building a hospital in the Arab world – and I’ve lived in the Arab world, I speak Arabic very well – building a hospital, the Arabs will literally say what a great jihad that was when it was completed.
Comment: This is not an accurate statement. Arabic is my native tongue and I have studied it – at least one session every day – for 22 years. That phrase would never be used to describe such an effort. Instead, the Arab might say: what a great juhd which means “effortâ€.
However the Shari’ (legal) meaning of the term ‘Jihad,’ is “ The war Muslims wage to make the word of Allah superior against kuffar (disbelievers) who do not have a covenant with Muslims after being invited to Islam and rejecting the invitation. Reference: The Fiqh encyclopedia by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Kuwaitâ€
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Shaykh Hamza (continues): The idea of spending money for anything good… those firefighters who were pulling people out of the World Trade Towers, they would be considered, that’s an act of jihad. They would be considered mujahideen if they were described in Arabic. And I’m not exaggerating at all. That really is at the essence of this word.
Comment: Again, this is not accurate. In Islamic literature, when the word “mujahideen†is used without any qualification, it means one and only one thing: those who fight in the battlefield for the sake of Allah. Please refer to the Quran (See for example the commentary on surah 4 verse 95) and search for the word Jihad and Mujahideen to gain a better understanding of how they are used.
The following hadith in Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 4 Book 52, No. 44 shows how the prophet SAAWS understood the word “jihad†and “mujahid†(singular of mujahideen,†please compare this hadith to what Hamzah Yusuf said: Narrated by Abu Huraira (RA): A man came to Allah’s Apostle and said, “Instruct me as to such a deed that equals Jihad (in reward).” He replied, “I do not find such a deed.” Then he added, “Can you, while the Muslim fighter is in the battle-field, enter your mosque to perform prayers without cease and fast and never break your fast?” The man said, “But who can do that?” Abu- Huraira added, “The Mujahid (i.e. Muslim fighter) is rewarded even for the footsteps of his horse while it wanders about (for grazing) tied by a long rope.”
However, if one does use the terms ‘Jihad’ or ‘Mujahid’ in a context other than their literal meaning, one must supplement these words with specific references that modify its literal meaning. These two words may be qualified to mean other types of jihad e.g. you may say jihad against the devil which means being vigilant towards the devil’s tricks. Therefore, each time the word jihad is used without any qualification in the Islamic literature – aside from the Sufi books–it means primarily fighting in the battlefield for the sake of Allah(SWT). Without doubts scholars have clearly mentioned Jihad-ul-nufs (struggle against one’s insidious suggestions), however this has never been the primary understanding of the term Jihad.
Also, refer to all the authentic Hadeeth in which “jihad†is mentioned, observing what the scholars have said about it. For example when Imam Bukhari & Muslim compiled their books of Sahih Hadith, they carefully gathered related Hadeeth reflecting a certain theme under definitive titles. In order to see the understanding of these Imams about Jihad, please go and read the chapters on Jihad in their respective books of Hadeeth. The same applies to Imam Nawawi in his book Riyad-us-Saliheen.
â€******************************************
Michael: When you read the coverage in some of the more fulminating columnists and commentators, it comes up time and time again, this business about the Qur’an promising the martyrs or the suicide bombers that if they die in the course of their mission they will go immediately to heaven where they will be greeted by ten or fifteen or sixty-eight or something or other, virgins. You must have seen that. What is that?
Shaykh Hamza: You know, again this is the problem with religious language for the modern mind. The Qur’an, just to give you an example, says that there is nothing like God and immediately after that – it’s in a chapter called Shura (The Council) – and immediately after that it says and He is the All-Seeing, the All-Hearing. So here’s a verse that says there’s nothing like Him and then it’s immediately followed by saying He hears everything and He sees everything. Well, how do we know what seeing and hearing is if we don’t have a likeness in this world of it
Comment:: When it comes to the attributes of Allah the scholars of Islam discuss these attributes from 2 distinct, yet related, perspectives:
1. ‘The how’: This means, how does Allah actually see? How does His hand –that He has mentioned in the Quran- look?
The stance of the Companions of the Prophet, the Tabi’een (those who came after the companions) and those who follow, the major scholars of Ahul-Sunnah including the 4 Imams stated that: We do NOT know anything about the ‘how’ of the attributes of Allah SWT because Allah SWT did not tell us anything about them.
2. ‘The meaning’: What is the meaning of the attribute of hearing, seeing, etc? The stance of the Companions of the Prophet SAAWS, the Tabi’een (those who came after the companions) and those who follow, the major scholars of Ahul-Sunnah including the 4 Imams is that: We KNOW the meaning of the attribute of Allah SWT. We know what mercy means when Allah says about Himself that He is merciful. We know what hearing means. We also believe that His attributes are perfect. For example, Allah has the attribute of knowledge and humans have that attribute too. The difference is that Allah’s knowledge is perfect in the sense that there is no beginning for His knowledge and there is no end, it is not limited by time nor space, it precedes everything, etc. Human knowledge, on the other hand, is far from being perfect. Human knowledge is preceded by ignorance, it is limited by time, space, one’s mental capacity, and it is followed by a lack of it when one ages.
There is no contradiction in the verse that Hamza Yusuf speaks about. When Allah SWT states that “there is nothing like Him and He is the All-Seeing, the All-Hearing†this actually means that there is nothing like him in: [1] manifestations of (How) and [2] perfection of attributes (meaning). Actually, the scholars consider this very verse as the corner stone of the Islamic creed (Aqeeda) when it comes to the attributes of Allah SWT since this verse negates any resemblance between Allah and his creation, however it also affirms that He has attributes.
******************************************
Shaykh Hamza (continues): So on the one hand there is pure transcendence and on the other hand there’s the imminent aspect of God’s manifestations, his attributes in the world.
Comment: Please note how he has introduced a ‘supposed contradiction in the Quran.’ “Does Allah have a likeness to something in this world.†He will now use this, below, to convince the reader not to take the Qur’anic verses regarding Paradise literally.
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Shaykh Hamza (continues): If you look in the Qur’an about the pleasures of paradise, the definitive verse in the Qur’an is that the pleasures of paradise are those, which no eye has seen, no ear has heard of, and has never occurred to the heart of a human being. So that is the definitive verse about the pleasures of paradise. Now, there are some Hadiths, it’s not in the Qur’an, there is mention of beautiful youths as well as beautiful women, and that’s more metonymy in rhetoric.
Michael: It’s an allegory.
Shaykh Hamza: Exactly, it’s an allegory, exactly.
Comment:: There are many issues here:
1. With all due respect to Hamzah Yusuf, he is wrong: The statement “the pleasures of paradise are those which no eye has seen, no ear has heard of, and has never occurred to the heart of a human being†is not in the Quran. It is part of a Hadith. (Please see hadith 1760, page 857 in Sahih al-Bukhari, published by Dar-us-Salam Publications). If someone claims it is in the Quran, let him show us the Surah and the verse number.
2. In addition, beautiful youth and women are mentioned in the Quran contrary to his statement. See for example the following verses:
a. Surah 52 Verse 24
b. Surah 55 Verse 56 &70
c. Surah 56 Verse 22,36,37
d. Surah 76 Verse 19
e. Surah 78 Verse 33
Please refer to what the scholars of the commentary on the Quran have said about the meaning of the aforementioned verses. You may read Imaam at-Tabari, Imam Ibn Katheer, Imam al-Qurtubi, Imam al-Shawkani, etc.
3. The reward for a martyr is also mentioned in Ahadith. And it is not limited to what has been stated above. See Riyad-us-Saliheen [English], vol. 2, pages 967-992. Published by Darussalam, 1999)
4. Hamza Yusuf claims that the pleasures of Paradise are “an allegoryâ€. This statement is in contradiction with the consensus of Muslim scholars. There are clear Ahadeeth describing in detail the types of pleasures awaiting the believing men and women in Paradise. Unfortunately some early philosophers –who were not considered Muslims by Muslim scholars- claimed that the pleasures of Paradise are not real, but rather are only allegorical. As a general rule though, all the statements of the Quran must be interpreted literally unless there is an evidence for them to be interpreted metaphorically. In fact, this is the case in all sorts of texts (e.g. American Constitution- the US law). ******************************************
Michael: It’s an allegory.
Shaykh Hamza : Exactly, it’s an allegory, exactly. And the thing about it is that our scholars say that the highest sensual experience in the world is orgasm and it’s quite literal. I mean this is a traditional opinion; Imam al-Ghazali, one of the early theologians said that the orgasm that a human being experiences in sexual intercourse is the closest sensual experience that one can taste of what the delights of paradise are like. The Muslims traditionally saw it as almost – and the Hindus have this concept as well – that there’s almost a mystical experience Now, the vast majority of human beings do not have profound mystical experiences. The mystic has experiences that transcend sexuality and in fact, it’s well known that a lot of mystics lose their appetite for those types of things because of their own internal experiences.
Michael: They’re celibate.
Shaykh Hamza: Exactly.
Comment::
There is a contradiction here. If ‘the pleasure of Paradise has never occurred to the heart of a human being’ (as said by Hamza Yusuf earlier), which is true, how would anyone know if “sexual intercourse†is the closest sensual experience that one can taste of what the delights of Paradise are alike.
It does not behoove a Muslim to introduce such an irrelevant matter in this conversation.
What is the point of mentioning what concepts the Hindus share with Muslims? Does it make our concepts more valid? Are we to use Hindu doctrines to legitimize Islamic beliefs?
Who are these Muslims that considered orgasms to be a mystical experience? Can he quote any of the four Imams as having agreed with such as perverse notion.1 , 2
Please read the book of Abdulwahab al-Sharani ( a sufi scholar and historian) which he titled: Tabakat al-sufiyyah , or a book for al-Nabhani (another Sufi) to find if the mystics really lost their appetite for such things due to their own internal experiences. The reality is that many of these mystics have indulged in illicit sexual acts including homosexuality.
With all due respect to Hamzah Yusuf, does he find it praise-worthy to lose one’s “appetite†for these types of things? How about the Prophet SAAWS who married 11 women, living with 9 of them at the same time? How about the authentic Ahadeeth that relate the Prophet as having intimate relations with all of his wives within the span of one night. The Prophets life is indeed perfect in its totality, and leaves no room to take concepts of perversity or celibacy from other deviant belief systems.
_______________________________________
Expert says Islam prohibits violence against innocents
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/local/center/isl0916.htm
Hamzah Yusuf said: Jihad means struggle. The Prophet said the greatest jihad is the struggle of a man against his own evil influences. It also refers to what Christians call a “just war,” which is fought against tyranny or oppression — but under a legitimate state authority.
Comment: -This Hadith is not authentic as mentioned before.
– Please note in the previous interview Hamza Yusuf alluded to Jihad as ‘Jihad-ul-Nufs’ (internal struggle). However now he is introducing another meaning to Jihad, and allowing Jihad to be –a “Just War†against tyranny and oppression! This kind of Jihad is to be a defensive form of warfare.-[Jihad –ul-dafa’]
– Please note in Islam there is indeed a legitimate offensive Jihad. [Jihad-at-Talab] The Prophet SAWS sent troops to different parts of the Arabian Peninsula to spread Islam. Also the three rightly guided Khalifas after Him sent armies to Persia, Roman territory, and North Africa to spread Islam. (However there are etiquettes to all types of Jihad, and the armies did not oppress or compel people to change their religion, but rather spread the virtues of Islam).
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Interviewer: What is the Arabic word for martyr?
Hamzah Yusuf said: Shaheed. It means witness. The martyr is the one who witnesses the truth and gives his life for it. There are people in this country like Martin Luther King who would be considered a martyr for his cause. Also, if your home, your family, your property or your land or religion is threatened, then you may defend it with your life. That person is a martyr. But so is anybody who dies of terminal illness; it’s a martyr’s death. Because it’s such a purification that whatever wrongs they once did, they’re now in a state of purity.
Comment: While it is agreed that one meaning of the term Shaheed is to be a witness.
The prominent meaning of Shaheed in Islamic terms is, however, a person who is killed in Jihad. This is the highest degree of martyrdom. A lesser degree is for a Muslim who gets killed defending his/her family, his/her wealth, or his/her honor, a person with terminal illness, a woman who dies while delivering a child, and the one who dies drowning. But this applies only to Muslims according to the definitive Ayah in the Quran: “Verily, Allah forgives not (the sin of) setting partners (in worship) with Him†(Surah 4 Verse 116). Hence, Martin Luther King – although he stood for a just cause– definitely does not fit in this second category of martyrdom unless he became a Muslim before he died.
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Hamzah Yusuf said: And the greatest martyr in the eyes of God is the one who stands in the presence of a tyrant and speaks the truth and is killed for it. He is martyred for his tongue.
Comment: With all due respect this is not the complete truth. The statement above is extracted from a Hadith, which in full is “the master of the martyrs is Hamzah – the Prophet’s uncle who was killed in the battlefield- and a man who stood in the presence of a tyrant and spoke the truth and was killed for it†(see Sahih al-jami as-Sageer by Imam al-Ablani, Vol. 3 hadith no. 3569 page 219. Second Edition, Published by al-Maktab al-Islami, Amman 1979) .
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Hamzah Yusuf said: If there are any martyrs in this affair it would certainly be those brave firefighters and police that went in there to save human lives and in that process lost their own.
Comment: This is inaccurate due to the fact that the hadith of the Prophet SAWS regarding this matter applies to Muslims only. If any of them was a Muslim, then we hope that he/she is a martyr.
FOOTNOTES:
(PLEASE REFER TO LAST PARAGRAPH OF FIRST LECTURE) The four Imams were chosen here because they have a prestigious status in the entire Ummah and their leadership and knowledge has been clearly accepted by an overwhelming majority of Muslims.
Also please note that we were forced to address this perverse issue (understanding the delights of paradise through sexual experience) simply because it was brought up in these interviews in such a manner
You should argue the actual lecture ” the Purification of
Tongue” not some thing else. you seem that that you just want to descredit the Imam Yussef and that’s wrong. Imam Yussef is doing so great for the Umma and of course no scholar is ma’ssoum.
Please accept my previous comment and fear Allah..
Do not conceal the truth as the Christians do
Fear Allah my BRO..FEAR ALLAH
people should not assume “these people who are calling themselved mohamed zahir and deviated tube” are muslims. They are infact might be CIA/FBI agents who want to destroy Islam by trying to slander A MAJOR MUSLIM SCHOLAR, and a well-beloved one.
AllahuAkbar..This is a serious slander.You wil be recorded for this
And the statement Of Allah is sufficient for you
They have taken their(Ahlul Kitab) rabbis and their monks as their Lords Besides Allah
And the Statement of the messenger Of ALLAH
You will surely follow the ways, steps, or traditions of those who came before you, span by span and yard by yard (very closely) even if they entered a lizard’s hole you will enter it.” The companions asked, “Oh prophet, you mean the Jews and Christians?” so he answered, “Who else!” [Reported by Imam Bukhari)
nOW THEY HAVE TAKEN Hamza Yousuf as the ultimate authority
The words uttered in the interview is his
and Allah says
We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it crushes the latter: and lo! it withers away
Here you go …
Yousuf Estes in defence of our Sheikh
Recently it has escalated to the extent that he(Hamza Yousuf) is misquoting the Quran, denying certain verses, presenting wrong hadeeth and in general showing Islam in the wrong light. And to make matters worse, he is doing it on prime time television. Due to his fame and access to the media, this now presents a great problem for all of us.
First of all, I am not the first one to offer this information regarding some of the beliefs held or at least promoted by Hamza Yusuf. In fact, I may be guilty of holding back information all too long, for the sake of trying to keep the ummah together on the issue of the our brother Hamza Yusuf in California. If you have not heard of him, you should. He is a good speaker and knows how to hold the attention of a crowd. He has been promoted heavily in the past by well known Muslim organizations like: ISNA; ICNA; Sound Vision and others. He is an American who chose to come to Islam and then went to study in another country to learn more about Arabic and Islam. He has worked hard and produced a large following.
For several years people have been asking me about the rumors regarding Hamza Yusuf and his “Zaytunna Institute.” I have tried to avoid saying anything in a way that would be considered backbiting or slanderous. Yet, I have had complaints from some of those who actually were in his community studying under his tutelage. I took the opportunity over a year ago to go out to California and visit him, at the request of those who were commenting on the “strange” things that bothered them. After my visit I was convinced that there was a problem, but I did not feel that the best way to handle the situation was to publicly “blow the whistle” on him. I know that the Muslims today have a tendency to overreact and often they will turn against the one trying to help in the matter, out of their ignorance of Islam’s teachings on these types of issues.
It is all too easy to point the finger at someone who has said or done something that appears against the principles of Islam and call them misguided. And worse, these days anyone can be called a “kafar” (disbeliever) just for saying the someone else is not following Islam correctly.
Additionally, a factor came into play that I really did not want to upset. That is that so many people (including our own family) love the audios and videos that Shaikh Hamza has produced. If you realize that this is the kind of thing which helps keep Muslims together, then you must also realize that any criticism could hurt feelings and cause ruffled feathers amongst the ummah. There certain video and audio producers and distributors who are making a lot of money from the sale of Hamza’s tapes and they have been notified on no uncertain terms that there are problems with Hamza’s Manhaj (methodology) to say the least. They refused to do anything about it or even suggest anything was wrong. Why? Some have accused them of turning a blind eye to truth in favor of the money they make on Hamza’s tapes. They couple this with the fact that these same distributors also offer tapes with music on them. I don’t think that is fair, however.
Let me now come to the main point. While investigating charges leveled at Shaikh Hamza, I personally stood in his Zaytunna Institute in California and watched as Shaikh Muhammad Yaqubi from Syria was conducting a class in Sufi Dhikr. For hours his students sat there on the floor rocking back and forth saying only: “Allah. Allah. Allah.” Over and over again. One of the complaints from a student was that a Shaikh at Zaytunna Institute was forcing them to do hundreds of different Dhikrs everyday. So much so, that they were not able to complete their daily chores, but if they tried to stop a shaytan would start beating them. I advised them to stop immediately and get away from anything dealing with the shaytan. Keep in mind this is not Hamza, but rather someone working in his “institute.”
My other experiences with Hamza have shown me that he has a tendency toward exaggerating the meanings of words, especially when it comes to discussing issues of any type. I have heard him time and again give the wrong meanings to words and then go off on tangents trying to prove up some point that just is not there. I recall one instance when I offered him some scented oil and he pulled away and then said he needed to smell it first. After smelling it, he began to tell those gathering around that actually from the Sunnah he was able to understand that smells provided cures for diseases. He then mistranslated the word for fragrance (at-teeb) to be related to the word for doctor and then derived from that the meaning of prescription and then cure. From there he took off on a non-Muslim expert on scents and fragrances used for cures and began explaining that the plants have to be grown organically for them to still have the affect that they once had in the past.
The relevance of the whole situation is that many people in the West have come to regard Hamza as a scholar of Islam. I don’t think that he is trying to promote himself so much as a scholar but it is possible that he may just be trying to promote his understandings of different words. But in view of the recent increased attention and focus on all Muslims and especially our leaders, we are forced to come forward and clarify what is the true Islam and who are the true scholars.. We have to be up front and say what needs to be said, without fear of criticism from others.
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Message: 2
From: Sheikh Yusuf Estes ( sheikyusuf@aol.com )
To: (ADDRESS REMOVED) Someone who had complained about his first email
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:09 AM
Subject: May Allah forgive our mistakes, ameen. re: Article on Hamza Yousef
Bismillah Rahman Raheem
Salam Alaykum dear brother in Islam:
First, I begin by saying thank you for taking the time to write to me directly. I am amazed that someone criticized me to another person behind my back, for having criticized someone else, even though it was according to the teachings of Islam.
Also, up front we must say that no one is calling anyone else a nonbeliever (kafr). This all came about as an effort to clarify the correct teachings of Islam to many, including Muslims, who are very confused and concerned about what Islam does actually teach.
Before I begin, there is something that I should mention in all candidness. The organizations that I represent are not behind me in making these statements, at least they are not going to admit it publicly.
Additionally, the critique that was emailed out did not originate with me. Someone else with more knowledge and courage did a very through job on it and then forwarded it out and put in on the Internet. I did not take permission to reveal their identity, nor do I feel that it is necessary to disclose that information. If people want to be angry with me, so be it. At least it will not tear down years of work of a hard working scholar of Islam. By showing the identity what would be the benefit? Then the two scholars [Hamza & the other] may start to be against each other and divide the people up even further. If the whole matter stops at me, then there is actually very little loss. Right?
After all, who am I? I am just a brother who came to Islam some years ago, that goes around trying to bring others to Islam. I am merely a concerned Muslim who wants to do what Allah has ordered and what has been established by our righteous predecessors in Islam. If I am wrong, then I need to be shown proof from Quran and Sunnah regarding the matter in order to correct my mistakes and also to be able to go back to Allah in humility and beg for His Forgiveness.
Now to begin, inshallah. I love you for the sake of Allah. I pray that Allah Guide us both to truth and forgive any mistakes, ameen. I have been criticized for the way the brother treated the subject of Hamza Yusuf’s comments on television as being “fitnah.” But there is a lot of truth in what he said. He definitely used the right word: “fitnah.” — This word is particularly used in Islam to mean the things which could take someone out of Islam. It is the same word that Allah used when He told us that our wives, children, property and so on would all be “fitnah” [hard trials] for us.
The predictions of our beloved prophet, peace be upon him, are coming true faster than pearls fallen from a broken neckless.
Consider that he told us in the Last Days that the true scholars would be taken away and ignorance would be everywhere and the people without knowledge would be perceived as people with knowledge.
All of this is of course a test for all of us. Consider the recent events and how Muslims around the world are responding:
Afghanis blew up Buddhist statues — what was our response?
Suicide bombers went into gatherings of Jews in Palestine — what did we say?
Attacks came against America — the blame went to Muslims immediately — what did we do?
America is now destroying Muslim property, Muslim lives and thousands are homeless and dying as a result — what are we doing?
And certain individuals are promoting their distorted views of Islam, while raising themselves to be close to those who are doing these things. What would you like me to say?
I will not apologize for being a Muslim. Nor will I apologize for what Muslims have NOT DONE. Additionally I refuse to back down from the fact that Islam is the only valid answer to the problems facing our world today. We must stand up now before it is too late. Mark my words. This is not a time to play and think that things are going to go back to “normal” for the Muslims in this or any other country. Allah has made it clear for us. Now we must carry this message or suffer the real consequences.
I have fallen under criticism for more than one year because I have not spoken out about what I know on this issue. I was trying to use the time to do exactly what you have said. Many others have expressed concerns over these same matters. I delayed for more than one year saying anything publicly.
I regret only that we did not move earlier on this subject. You see this has been well known to a number of us here in the states as well as abroad. Hamza has totally disregarded our efforts to speak to him on these or any subjects. He immediately begins to give lectures in the middle of discussions and goes off on definitions of words that have no meaning whatsoever to the conversation. (and they are incorrect in meaning as well).
I met with him a year ago in July at his place in California. [he ignored me]
I sat next to him in a very important meeting of imams for America in Chicago last year at ISNA. [he talked over me – and everyone else]
And then again I spoke with him at the ISNA Conference in Chicago. [he had his own agenda — which included publicly attacking the belief of the Salaf as Saleeh (The companions and rightly guided early generations of Muslims) in the form of saying something twisted about “Wahabees” in his main lecture to thousands.]
I have referred new Muslims to his “Zaytunna Institute” only to find that they were not being taught Islam at all, they were being forced into doing “Sufi Dhikr.” One lady complained to me over the phone and then when I went out there she told me that the shaytan were punishing her for not obeying the head “Shaikh” at Zaytunna. (This was Muhammad Yaqubi from Syria – who happens to be one of the muftis of the Shadaleyah Tareeqah). I personally went in and found his followers sitting on the floor reciting the word “Allah” over and over again for hours without stopping. Their eyes were closed and they were swaying back and forth as in a trance. This is not the proper way to introduce people to Islam.
When people begin learning “Islam” from these types it is very difficult for them to simply break away. Some are afraid that the jinn will bother them. Others think that the dead shaikhs have some mystical powers. The list goes on.
We have only produced exactly what he has said on the most important occasion of trying to bring about a better understanding of what Islam is all about. I realize that all of us, especially me make mistakes in our presentations. Sometimes, like last Sunday, I put things in the wrong order and loose valuable time and even the attention of some of the listeners. I ask Allah to forgive me for that. But when it comes to the material that is presented, if it is not in conjunction with what the Quran and the Sunnah teach, what would you suggest?
Would you accept that someone says something to a non-Muslim about the Quran that can open doors to huge attacks against Islam for no reason?
Is it right to sit silent while someone is making our Deen appear to have mistakes in it?
In fact, that is why I have been criticized so heavily in the recent weeks. I had received admonition during the summer just before leaving for Egypt from some of our brothers who study at one of our Islamic institutes in Virginia. They insisted that we begin exposing Hamza’s institute before he did his last big nationwide drive for enrollment. But I thought I should wait a little longer. Now look what has happened.
There are others involved in this “Sufi” movement as well. I have not sat with them personally nor have they corresponded with me. However, I can assure you that the teachings coming from their sources have serious errors in them and could even be considered leading out of Islam completely.
All this time, this groups such as “sufees” And “Shiites” and “Nation of Islam” and “Ahmadiyyans” and “Rastafarians” and “Moorish Science Temple” and “Ansar Allah” and “Five Percenters” and “Submitters International” are actually doing the thing that you are complaining against me: They are dividing up the Muslims through their various cults and tareeqahs. We ask everyone to come together and unify according to what Allah has ordered us in the first place, and that is to unify under the Quran and the Sunnah.
Thank you again for coming straight to me with this subject. If I chose to reveal the topic, I will conceal your identity, inshaallah.
Salam Alaykum wa Rahmatulah,
Your brother in Islam,
Yusuf
hmmm..hmmm
Here is one more
Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Exposes Himself
Islamic history has shown that times of trial and tribulation for the Muslims have exposed the hypocrites in their ranks. During the Battle of Ahzab, when the disbelieving armies gathered against the Muslims of Madinah from all sides, the hypocrites came out and said: “And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease said: ‘Allah and His Messenger (SAWS) promised us nothing but delusions.’ And when a party of them said: ‘O People of Yathrib (Madinah) There is no stand possible for you (against the enemy attack)! Therefore, go back!'” [Quran 33:12-13]
One such personality amongst the Muslims that has been famous over the last few years is Hamza Yusuf. His eloquent speeches have led to a popular following amongst ignorant Muslims. However, his credibility was destroyed on 11 September 2001.
There follows a discussion on various points made by Hamza Yusuf after the events on 11 September 2001. One can make the necessary conclusions about this individual after hearing what he himself has to say.
There have been many other Muslim scholars who condemned the killing of the innocents in the World Trade Centre, but none crossed the limits of Al-Walaa Wal-Baraa (loyalty and hate for the sake of Allah) as Hamza Yusuf did.
Transcript of CBS’s 60 Minutes Interview with Hamza Yusuf, Imam Siraj Wahaj, Farid Esack and Faisal Abdur Rauf on 30 September 2001
Bradley: While Islam forbids the killing of innocents, in this 1998 interview, Bin Laden justified the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, saying every American man is our enemy, whether he is a soldier or a taxpayer. As for the women and children who died, he says women and children die every day in Palestine. In a statement last week, Bin Laden called for a Jihad or Holy War in the Name of Allah.
Yusuf: I would say that he has no legitimate authority, that in Islam, Jihad can only be declared by legitimate state authority. And this is accepted by consensus. There is no vigilantism in Islam. Muslims believe in state authority.
Comment: According to this, the Muslims in Palestine should not wage Jihad against the Israeli forces, because Jihad has not been declared by a legitimate state authority. Ibn Qudama, the Hanbali scholar, said in Al-Mughni 8/253, “The absence of an Imam does not postpone the Jihad because much is lost in its postponement.”
Bradley: You think he’s a vigilante?
Yusuf: Absolutely, absolutely. All Muslims are guided by the words of Islam’s holy book, the Quran, which is believed to be the word of God, and explains how Muslims should lead their lives. It also says fighting should only be in self-defence, a fight in the Way of Allah against those who fight against you, but be not aggressive. And the Quran forbids suicide. They cannot bring any textual evidence from the Quran, from the traditions of the prophet, to prove anything that justifies what they’ve done.
Comment: Jihad can be defensive or offensive.
Letter from the Messenger of ALLAH (SAW) to the people of Najran (Narrated in Baihaqi):
“In the Name of the God of Ibraheem, Ishaaq, and Ya’qoob, from Muhammad Messenger of Allah to Asqaf of Najran, and the people of Najran: Peace be upon you…
…I call you to the worship of Allah, away from the worship of the slaves (of Allah). And I call you to the governorship of Allah, away from the governorship of the slaves (of Allah). If you refuse, then the Jizyah. If you refuse (that), then I declare war upon you. Wassalam.”
Offensive Jihad
Where the disbelievers are not gathering to fight the Muslims. The fighting becomes Fard Kifaya with the minimum requirement of appointing believers to guard borders, and the sending of an army at least once a year to terrorize the enemies of Allah. It is a duty of upon the Imam to assemble and send out an army unit into the land of war once or twice every year. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the Muslim population to assist him, and if he does not send an army he is in sin.
And the Ulama have mentioned that this type of jihaad is for maintaining the payment of Jizya. The scholars of the principles of religion have also said: “Jihad is Da’wah with a force, and is obligatory to perform with all available capabilities, until there remains only Muslims or people who submit to Islam.”
Defensive Jihad
This is expelling the disbelievers from our land, and it is Fard Ayn, a compulsory duty upon all. It is the most important of the compulsory duties and arises in the following conditions:
A) If the disbelievers enter a land of the Muslims.
B) If the rows meet in battle and they begin to approach each other.
C) If the Imaam calls a person or a people to march forward then they must march.
D) If the Kuffaar capture and imprison a group of Muslims.
Bradley: Correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t it the responsibility… Does not Islam, does not Allah require that Muslims police their own religion and rid themselves of extremists?
Yusuf: Yes, absolutely. It’s an obligation for Muslims to root them out. And I think it is a Jihad now for the Muslims in the Muslim country to rid themselves of this element.
Comment: An apparent contradiction. Earlier in this interview, he says:
“I would say that he (i.e. Osama bin Laden) has no legitimate authority, that in Islam Jihad can only be declared by legitimate state authority. And this is accepted by consensus. There is no vigilantism in Islam. Muslims believe in state authority.”
Now he himself (who is also not a state authority) is calling the Muslims to fight Jihad to “rid themselves of this element.” ?!
Transcript of Interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson by Michael Enright on the September 11 Tragedy
Aired on September 23, 2001 Transcribed by Raneem Azzam
Shaykh Hamza: Yes, and he (President Bush) said that. I think he mentioned that going to New York was a very profound experience for him, being there. And he said that he was making serious efforts to keep himself contained. So he, I think, did express that in very real human terms of what he was experiencing emotionally. I mean I think none of us can really fully comprehend what happened. I think we’re all still in a bit of a shock, and I think that the fact that the American people… the World Trade Center towers there are really a symbol of American economic prowess and really of the capitalist world, so for them to literally be destroyed in a Shiva-like manifestation there, of just utter destruction, not just before the eyes of onlookers in New York but really of the entire world because of the film footage. And people watch this thing over and over again and I think it expresses just the profound impact that just those images have had on all of us.
Michael: And ditto his use of the word crusade.
Shaykh Hamza: He actually expressed his own regret at using that word but he did say that the Pentagon doesn’t have theologians and they’re the ones that name these things. And he said that they wanted to get it changed for that reason. I felt that there was a definite sincere response there.
Comment: According to this statement, he considers Bush to be sincere, and makes excuses for him. On the other hand, he does not make any excuses for his Muslim brothers, and is calling for a Jihad against them (See above).
Michael: Well we know now it was more plunder than religion.
Shaykh Hamza: Well, that’s true. And unfortunately a lot of religious wars tend to be for other than religion. But the word Jihad is probably one of the highest concepts that the Arabs and the Muslims have. It represents really the best of humankind. In the Quran it is never once used to express a military meaning. Not once.
Comment: This is an extremely serious mistake. His claim that: “In the Quran it (Jihad) is never once used to express a military meaning. Not once.” is contrary to the understanding of the scholars of the mainstream Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jama’ah:
The four Fuqaha’ have agreed that al-Jihad is al-Qitaal (fight) and to help in it (i.e. in Qitaal). Below are given four definitions of Jihad from the different madhaahib.
1. Al-Hanafiyah:
It has come in Fath al-Qadeer by Ibn Humaam 5/187: “Al-Jihad: calling the disbelievers to the religion of truth and to fight them if they do not accept.” Al-Kaasaani said in al-Badaa’i’, 9/4299 “To sacrifice ones strength and energy in Fighting in the way of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jal with ones life, property and the tongue and whatever besides.”
2. Al-Maalikiyah:
“For a Muslim to fight against a disbeliever who is not under oath, to raise the word of Allah, or if he (disbeliever) is in his (Muslim’s) presence (in order to attack him), or upon his (disbeliever) entering his (Muslim’s) land.” (Haashiya al-‘Adawi/as-Sa’eedi 2/2 and ash-Sharh as-Sagheer/Aqrab al-Masaalik by ad-Dardeer 2/267)
3. Ash-Shaafi’iyah:
Al-Baajawari said, “Al-Jihad means: al-Qitaal (fighting) in the way of Allah”, Al-Baajawari / Ibnul-Qaasim 2/261. Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani said in Al-Fath 6/2, “…and legally Jihad means sacrificial striving in fighting the disbelievers.”
4. Al-Hanbaliyah:
“To Fight the disbelievers” see Mataalib Ulin-Nuha 2/497. “Al-Jihad is al-Qitaal (fighting) and to sacrifice all strength in it to raise the Word of Allah”, see ‘Umdatul-Fiqh p.166, and Muntahal-Iraadaat 1/302.
Ibn Rushd said in his Muqadamaat 1/369: “…and Jihad of the Sword: to fight the Mushrikeen for the Deen. So whoever tires himself for the sake of Allah, he strove in the way of Allah. Except that when Jihad Feesabeelillah is spoken, then it cannot be applied (to everything) in general except striving against the disbelievers with the sword until they enter Islam, or pay the Jizya with willing submission and they are under humiliation”.
Ibn Hajr said in his explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, Fath Al-Bari 6/29: “…and by the phrase Feesabeelillah, Jihad is implied”
Michael: It means… does it not mean to go to war with yourself?
Shaykh Hamza: Well, that’s one of the meanings. It literally means – if you look at the word, the root word is “jahada” which means to struggle, and juhd in the Arabic language means a struggle literally. So Jihad is the act of struggling. And the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, said that the greatest Jihad is to struggle with your own soul’s insidious suggestions.
The saying, “We have returned from the lesser Jihad (battle) to the greater Jihad,” which people quote on the basis that it is a hadith, is in fact a false, fabricated hadith which has no basis. It is only a saying of Ibrahim bin Abi Ablah, one of the Successors, and it contradicts textual evidence and reality.
Ibn Taymiyyah said in Al-Furqan PP. 44-45: “This hadith has no source and nobody whomsoever in the field of Islamic knowledge has narrated it. Jihad against the disbelievers is the most noble of actions and moreover it is the most important action for the sake of mankind.” Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi reports it as daeef (weak) due to the narrator Khalaf bin Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Khiyam.
Al-Haakim says, “His hadiths are unreliable.” Abu Ya’la Al-Khalili says, “He often adulterates, is very weak and narrates unknown hadith,” (Mashari-ul-Ashwaq, Ibn Nuhas 1/31). There is also the narrator Yahya bin Al-Ula who is a known liar and forgerer of hadith (Ahmad). Amru bin Ali, An-Nasai and Ad-Daraqutni state, “His hadith are renounced.” Ibn Adi states, “His hadith are false,” (Tahzeeb-ut-Tahzeeb 11/261-262). Ibn Hajar said, “He was accused of forging hadith,” (At-Taghrib). Adh-Dhahabi said, “Abu Hatim said that he is not a strong narrator, Ibn Ma’een classified him as weak and Ad-Daraqutni said that he is to be neglected.”
Shaykh Hamza: And I think that really clarifies to the Muslims. Building a hospital in the Arab world – and I’ve lived in the Arab world, I speak Arabic very well – building a hospital, the Arabs will literally say what a great Jihad that was when it was completed. The idea of spending money for anything good… those firefighters who were pulling people out of the World Trade Towers, they would be considered, that’s an act of Jihad. They would be considered mujahideen if they were described in Arabic. And I’m not exaggerating at all. That really is at the essence of this word.
Shaykh Hamza: Linguistically, the word Jihad is taken from Juhud – Yajhad – Jahdan. So initially al-Juhud is with Dhamm or Fath which is al-was’ (strength) or at-Taaqah (power), and it is said: al-Juhud (with Dham) is al-was’ (strength) or at-Taaqah (power), and al-Jahad (with Fath) is al-Mushaqqah (hardship). Al-Jahd (with Fath) is used as al-Ghaayah (i.e. taking to limits): “They swore by Allah their strongest (Jahda) oaths (i.e. took it to limits)” [Quran 5:53] Which means to complete and to end their promise. So al-Juhud and al-Jihad linguistically is to sacrifice to ones utmost according to a person’s ability with strength, in order to obtain the beloved or to avert the hated / see Lisaan-ul-‘Arab and al-Qaamoos al-Muheet.
Comment: Could we then say, that linguistically, Shaytaan is also a mujahid, because of his utmost effort in misguiding the people ? We could also say that the Serbs in Bosnia, Hindus in Kashmir, Russians in Chechnya, and Israelis are also Mujahideen because they struggled/are struggling their utmost in trying to achieve their objectives.
Michael: When you read the coverage in some of the more fulminating columnists and commentators, it comes up time and time again, this business about the Quran promising the martyrs or the suicide bombers that if they die in the course of their mission they will go immediately to heaven where they will be greeted by ten or fifteen or sixty-eight or something or other, virgins. You must have seen that. What is that?
Shaykh Hamza: You know, again this is the problem with religious language for the modern mind. The Quran, just to give you an example, says that there is nothing like God and immediately after that – it’s in a chapter called Shura (The Council) – and immediately after that it says and He is the All-Seeing, the All-Hearing. So here’s a verse that says there’s nothing like Him and then it’s immediately followed by saying He hears everything and He sees everything. Well, how do we know what seeing and hearing is if we don’t have a likeness in this world of it. So on the one hand there’s pure transcendence and on the other hand there’s the imminent aspect of God’s manifestations, his attributes in the world. If you look in the Quran about the pleasures of paradise, the definitive verse in the Quran is that the pleasures of paradise are those which no eye has seen, no ear has heard of, and has never occurred to the heart of a human being. So that is the definitive verse about the pleasures of paradise. Now, there are some hadiths, it’s not in the Quran, there is mention of beautiful youths as well as beautiful women, and that’s more metonymy in rhetoric.
Michael: It’s an allegory.
Shaykh Hamza: Exactly, it’s an allegory, exactly. And the thing about it is that our scholars say that the highest sensual experience in the world is orgasm and it’s quite literal. I mean this is a traditional opinion; Imam al-Ghazali, one of the early theologians said that the orgasm that a human being experiences in sexual intercourse is the closest sensual experience that one can taste of what the delights of paradise are like. The Muslims traditionally saw it as almost – and the Hindus have this concept as well – that there’s almost a mystical experience. Now, the vast majority of human beings do not have profound mystical experiences. The mystic has experiences that transcend sexuality and in fact, it’s well known that a lot of mystics lose their appetite for those types of things because of their own internal experiences.
Comment: Saheeh-al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 53:
Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, “A single endeavor (of fighting) in Allah’s Cause in the afternoon or in the forenoon is better than all the world and whatever is in it. A place in Paradise as small as the bow or lash of one of you is better than all the world and whatever is in it. And if a houri from Paradise appeared to the people of the earth, she would fill the space between Heaven and the Earth with light and pleasant scent and her head cover is better than the world and whatever is in it.”
From this hadith, will any rational individual understand the maid of Paradise as an allegorical concept ?
Michael: Let me ask you this: people have been saying in the last few days that if the mullahs, or the imams, or the leaders, leadership of Islam, however you define that, came out and condemned in a loud voice or in a united voice, the terrorism, if there was some mechanism for excommunicating Osama bin Laden somehow. Is there…
Shaykh Hamza: Did somebody talk to you about that? It’s an excellent point because I’m working on that right now. Terrorism, interestingly enough, this is not a new thing, what is new is weapons of mass destruction. Terrorism is as old as the world. If we take the Biblical, as well as the Quranic idea of Cain and Abel, you know Cain is really terrorizing his brother. So terror I think is an ancient phenomenon. The Muslims were tried with a group called the Assassins, the Hashashin, which was a very bizarre sect from the Isma’ilis. It was, even within Isma’ilism, it was a radical sect, and what they would do was they would put sleepers, plant sleepers among Muslim rulers, and one day they would be told to kill them, and then they would kill them and then kill themselves. And these were a real, just a plague, on the Islamic world for a period of time. So there’s always been a condemnation of this.
Will he also condemn US terrorism against the children of Iraq (see article), and the civilians of Afghanistan ? Will he also condemn the US for terrorising the Palestinians by providing full support to Israel ?
Expert says Islam prohibits violence against innocents. Muslim scholar: Terrorists are mass murderers, not martyrs by Richard Scheinin, Mercury News
Richard Scheinin: Why would anyone do what the hijackers did?
Hamza Yusuf: Religious zealots of any creed are defeated people who lash out in desperation, and they often do horrific things. And if these people indeed are Arabs, Muslims, they’re obviously very sick people and I can’t even look at it in religious terms. It’s politics, tragic politics. There’s no Islamic justification for any of it. It’s like some misguided Irish using Catholicism as an excuse for blowing up English people. They’re not martyrs, it’s as simple as that.
Richard Scheinin: Because?
Hamza Yusuf: You can’t kill innocent people. There’s no Islamic declaration of war against the United States. I think every Muslim country except Afghanistan has an embassy in this country. And in Islam, a country where you have embassies is not considered a belligerent country.
Hamza Yusuf: In Islam, the only wars that are permitted are between armies and they should engage on battlefields and engage nobly. The Prophet Muhammad said, “Do not kill women or children or non-combatants and do not kill old people or religious people,” and he mentioned priests, nuns and rabbis. And he said, “Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees and do not poison the wells of your enemies.” The Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet, say that no one can punish with fire except the lord of fire. It’s prohibited to burn anyone in Islam as a punishment. No one can grant these attackers any legitimacy. It was evil.
Comment: What about bombing of Muslim civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sudan by US ? (see Children of Iraq article) Is this also evil ?
Can we say that Israel (in Palestine), India (in Kashmir), Russia (in Chechnya) are not belligerent because they have embassies in Muslim countries.
Richard Scheinin: What is the Arabic word for martyr?
Hamza Yusuf: Shaheed. It means witness. The martyr is the one who witnesses the truth and gives his life for it. There are people in this country like Martin Luther King who would be considered a martyr for his cause. Also, if your home, your family, your property or your land or religion is threatened, then you may defend it with your life. That person is a martyr. But so is anybody who dies of terminal illness; it’s a martyr’s death. Because it’s such a purification that whatever wrongs they once did, they’re now in a state of purity.
Comment: Are we saying that Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., a Christian, was a shaheed ?
“This morning I would like to submit to you that we who are followers of Jesus Christ, and we who must keep his church going and keep it alive, also have certain basic guidelines to follow. Somewhere behind the dim mist of eternity, God set forth his guidelines. And through his prophets, and above all through his son Jesus Christ…” ( A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.: “Guidelines for a Constructive Church” Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 5 June 1966)
This is a complete contradiction with the Islamic doctrine, i.e. that a non-Muslim can die a Shaheed !! Imam Nawawi has narrated seven different views in association with the Shaheed from the commentary of Sahih Muslim:
1. He is called Shaheed because he is alive, and his soul is present in Darus-Salam and his soul will be present in Jannah on the Day of Judgement. So the meaning of Shaheed is ‘present’.
2. Allah and His angels bear witness to him for Jannah. So Shaheed is in the meaning of ‘witness’.
3. When the Shaheed’s soul comes out, he sees those grades and gifts that Allah has made ready for him. So Shaheed is in the meaning of ‘observing Allah’s gifts’.
4. The Angels of Blessings come down to place his soul at its rank. So Shaheed is in the meaning of ‘the presence of angels.’
5. His obvious state has testified his Iman and a good death. So Shaheed is in the meaning of ‘testifying his death on Iman’.
6. The evidence to his Shahadah is the presence of blood and this is why he is given the rank of Shaheed.
7. He will be appointed as a testifier for the Prophets that they conveyed their messages to their nations. So Shaheed is in the meaning of ‘testifier’.
Richard Scheinin: What is a martyr’s reward?
Hamza Yusuf: The Prophet said that a martyr who dies doesn’t have a reckoning on the Day of Judgment. It’s an act through which he is forgiven. But the Prophet also said that there are people who kill in the name of Islam and go to hell. And when he was asked why, he said, “Because they weren’t fighting truly for the sake of God.”
Hamza Yusuf: If there are any martyrs in this affair it would certainly be those brave firefighters and police that went in there to save human lives and in that process lost their own.
Comment: So the non-Muslim firefighters and police in New York who lost their lives are shuhadaa’ who will not have a reckoning on the Day of Judgement ?
Oh wow you’re able to copy and paste from a site that is the biggest joke to beginn with if you look at the people they’re accusing everyone except them is a deviant.
About the letter by Yusuf Estes he wrote on his website that those letters were fabricated, tells you a lot about the people running that site 😉
SubhanaAllah,
You are a fitnah for the ummah; and your long letters are NOT going to change one single mind about Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and Sheikh Mohamed aL-Yaqubi. They are both wonderfull great muslim scholars. The people who like them are traditional Hanafis, Malikis, Shaficis and Hanabalis. they are not shi’ite, ahmadis, bad sufis e.tc. But I guest anybody who doesn’t agree with you, your anger, and your troubled mind has taken Hamza as an ilah..WACUDU BILLAH. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE TAKEN “SHEIKH YUSUF ESTES” AS AN ILAH? Yusuf Estes was a Christian like Hamza Yusuf before they became muslim and we are honered to have both of them as muslims. and we thank Allah for it. If Sheikh Yusuf Estes is jelous of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf because he is more femous than him, then, that is between these two shaykhis and their Lord. And we should leave it at that. If Sheikh Estes started this whole thing about Hamza, then this Sheikh shares part of the Fitna. And I think he should apologize to Hamza and ask Allah for His forgives. Estes should also tell his followers to stop SLANDERING MUSLIMS. We love Allah and his messenger above all and we obey Him when he tells us to treat people with respect…but people like you make it really hard for us to be civilized. But I should not assume that you are a muslim because you qoute this or that. You could very well be a non-muslim who is trying to be a muslim who want to bring Fitna to the muslims so you could disunite them. May Allah protect the muslim Ummah from people like you. I have listened to Sheikh Hamza and Sheikh Mohamed Al-yaqubi many many times and I have never heard of them trying to change the meanings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah…Wacudu billah. Specailly Sheikh Mohamed Al-yaqubi is a top, very top muslim personality not only in Syria, but in the world, who has been learning traditional Islam since he was a toddler and comes from a long line of famous Arab Sheikhs. He is also a direct decendent of the prophet Muhamed(SAW). or in your crooked book, is it only the shi’ites who love ahlu-beyt. No. we Sunnis love ahlu-beyt very much too. The Khawarij who killed Ali Ibn Abutalib were people who claimed to love the Din 1000 times, nethertheless they were non-muslims. MY ADVICE TO YOU IS THAT YOU STOP LYING ABOUT THESE WONDERFUL SHEYKHS AND YES, THEIR WONDERFUL INSTITION(ZAYTUNA).YOU ARE NOT DEFENDING ALLAH’S DIIN; YOU ARE ACTUALLY DESTROYING IT. I still think either you are a spy or mentally ill or you are paid to do this by Saudi Arabia
or some other government/agencies. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT SO WE CAN KEEP OURS SHUT; BUT YOU CAN NOT BE ALLOWED TO INSULT
SHEIKH HAZMA YUSUF AND GET AEAY WITH IT. I WISH I COULD IGNORE YOU LIKE HAMZA “IGNORED” YOU WHEN YOU WERE BEING BAD BECAUSE THAT IS THE MUSLIM THING TO DO. BUT SOME MULIMS HAVE TO STOP YOU SPREADING CORRUPTION IN THE LAND. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO IT.
Hayat and the good ali
You are both right. Good for you.
Ibn Shoukath, Daviated tube and M. Zahir, you are very bad people.
I am happy Sheikh Yusuf Estes said those emails were not his and they were fabricated. Aluhu akbar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Learn to have some manners dude
When somebdy tells that he is a muslim,He is what he says
Your assumptions does not count
And what about the Hadit where the Prophet SAL REBUKED uSAMA For killing a man who,when the sword was kept on his neck,Said the Shahada
Now that was taken from a News Channel as you could see clearly
ANY SANE,Islamically educated Person would know how wrong he was
And his ignorance of the Arabic language and being afraid of the kuffars
You could read that once more Bro ALI And then decide his opinions in the light of quran and sunnah or you can ask Hamza whether he said like that in a part of a TV Interview
And Allah is the decider Of my Iman in him and when I tell you how wrong HAMZA WAS,I do not become a non muslim
Learn to have some manners dude
When somebdy tells that he is a muslim,He is what he says
Your assumptions does not count
And what about the Hadit where the Prophet SAL REBUKED uSAMA For killing a man who,when the sword was kept on his neck,Said the Shahada
Now that was taken from a News Channel as you could see clearly
ANY SANE,Islamically educated Person would know how wrong he was
And his ignorance of the Arabic language and being afraid of the kuffars
You could read that once more Bro ALI And then decide his opinions in the light of quran and sunnah or you can ask Hamza whether he said like that in a part of a TV Interview
And Allah is the decider Of my Iman in him and when I tell you how wrong HAMZA WAS,I do not become a non muslim
Poor Ali brp is like a squeaking sparrow..Try to refute us regarding the interview and the stupid comment that he makes.
How can Hamza dude hold muslims accountable for the 9/11
Here are the links which proves the muslims innocence and this guy is giving them the Position of Shuhada
wah wah
whatreallyhappened
infowars
Mr.Ali
Those who brought forward a SLANDER against our Mother, the mother of all the believers,Ayesha(May Allah be pleased with her) were not called disbelievers by the Prophet
Rather when Hazrat Abu Bakr refused to help his relative because he participated in the slander
Allah reveled this verse
24:22 Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want, and those who have left their homes in Allah’s cause: let them forgive and overlook, do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful
I have heard many of Hamza Yousuf lecture, But he is not Islam,so that we say those who agree with sheikh Hamza are muslims whereas the others are CIA agents,Kaafir and mentally retarded dodos
And Allah guide You
Aameen
you are the ones who lack manners and so do PUNKS. Being a punk is not being a muslim.
May Allah guide you too.
Ya..Ok…You are a Muslim
salam all
shaykh muhammad yaqubi, and shaykh hamza yusuf may allah preserve them and elavate there ranks amin have done alot of work for islam these people who talk about these mashaykh must fear allah and repent cause it is very dangerous.i think the best thing you guys that speak about the shaykh hamza should get his book PURFICATION OF THE HEART and read it
and do not forget everyone to my self as well we should look at our actions before anyone else and our sins SHAYKH HAMZA AND MUHAMMAD HAVE PRODUCE BOOKS AND TAPES AND GIVE DAWAH ALL AROUND THE WOrld they have converted so many people from they talks and made so many muslim repent to allah for they wrong actions. may allah forgive our sins and elavate our ranks and may allah preserve the mashaykh that r working for his sake only amin
Muhammad,
GREAT JOB!!!
TRUE MUSLIMS LOVE SHEIKH HAMZA AND SHEIKH MOHAMED AL-YAQUBI BECAUSE THEY HAVE BROUGHT SO MANY PEOPLE (MUSLIMS AND NON-MUSLIMS NEAR TO ALLAH) WITH ALLAH’S HELP. TRUE MUSLIMS ARE THOSE WHO BECOME HAPPY WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO MUSLIM PEOPLE; NOT TO THOSE WHO CONSTANTLY SPREADING FITNA BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF ALLAH’S DIIN. AND THEY HAVE NO MANNERS. IT IS THEIR PARENTS FAULT WHO BROUGHT THEM UP POORLY AND NOW THE WHOLE MUSLIM UMMAH HAS TO PAY FOR THEIR UNHAPPINESS. EVERBDOY, TAKE A LESSON FROM HERE..TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR CHILDREN; BRING THEM UP PROPERLY; OTHERWISE THEY WILL BE PEOPLE WHO HATE THEMSELVES AND HATE OTHERS SPECAILLY THOSE WHO ARE SUPERIOR TO THEM IN DIIN
The amazing thing is people talking about shaykh hamza yusuf after this talk BE PEOPLE THAT PURIFY THEIR TONGUE listen to the talk again brothers and fear allah and have adab may allah forgive our sins and may allah give shaykh hamza yusuf a long life amin.
The amazing thing is that
we are not forging anything.yOU CAN SEE CLEARLY FROM THOSE RECORDED CONVERSATIONS THAT HOW WRONG HAMZA DUDE WAS
AND ALI is always talking bout his achievements and his soul inspiring speeches..
Thats beating around the Bush dude.
You donno anything other than to praise your scholars and take it as halal what they say as halal
The jews&christians fell in to the same trap.
We are showing clear evidence.Compare it with the sunnah and If Allah wills,You will know the truth
Now Ali will accuse us of being CIA Agebts,non muslims,mentally retatded
May ALLAH preserve him from his evil
Brothers
We dont hate Hamza Yousuf.We acknowledge his contribution to the muslim world.BUT,When he deviates in some aspects from the right methodology,Then we gotta be aware of that.
We got to have some fine line or some criteria and tose are the Quran and its understanding of the sahaba and the earlier generation whom Rasulullah SAL HAS TOLD THAT THEY ARE THE best generation of his Ummah
Now the analogy Of Ali and his actions is like that of a mad Bull.It does not think,rather when it sees somebody moving it hits them straightaway. So does ALi, When he see somebody in support of Hamza Yousuf,HE IS WITH THEM EVEN IF THAT Goes against the understanding of sahaba.But when he sees somebody going against Sheikh Hamza Yousuf..
OH oH
hELP,
He is mad, hE IS frustrated
HE knows no reason
he gotta hit them all,hit them like never before,Assault them with vicious words
Call them nOn muslims,mentally retarded,Punks,Enemies Of Islam..
He gotta win in the Battle of words and save the face of Hamza and regain the lost glory of the Sheikh
Oh
So we say”The winner is
Dude Ali”
There’s no point in continuing, so can we please move on. Neither one of us is going to be convinced by random people online, besides this is not a message board
I am shocked at reading the comments on this page!! Has no one bothered to listen to this lecture. This page is a perfect example of why we’re, as an ummah, in the state we are.
SAJ
WHAT IS HAPPENING THESE DAYS THEY IS NO ADAB AND RESPECT FOR OUR MASHAYKH THE STAFF THAT PEOPLE ARE WRIGTING ABOUT SHAYKH HAMZA YUSUF AS U SAID ITS SHOCKING ONE THING PEOPLE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HOW ITS DANGEROUS TO SPEAK ABOUT SCHOLARS WITH NO RESPECT. the work shaykh hamza yusuf has done speaks for its self they say we follow quran and sunnah but they forget the most importantTHING THE PROPHET (SAW)BRANG is adab respecting ur elders and diffrents love each other for the sake of allah. the most scary thing is that they speak about him AFTER LISTEN TO THIS LECTURE. THE MOST important thing on the day of judgement is a person with a sound heart.mashallah shaykh hamza yusuf is doing his part for the ummah WHAT HAVE WE DONE so before people point the finger at other look at ur self and see what have u done for allah deen im speaking about my self first I RECOMMED FOR EVERYONE TO GET PURIFICATION OF THE HEART CDs SET BY SHAYKH HAMZA YUSUF we all need it
may allah preserve shaykh hamza yusuf for this ummah and elavate his ranks ameen
If you look at the same articles of the interview with comments there are contradictions in them. One such example: In the first one by “deviated tube” Sheikh Hamza Yusuf (may Allah have mercy on him) is quoted as saying that the root word of Jihad is Jihad, and then the commentator is criticizing him about that and says the root word is actually jahada. In the other comment by Ibn Shoukath with the same article, sheikh hamza yusuf is quoted as saying the root word of jihad is jahada and therefore there is no criticism of him. Which one did he really say? How can i even take this seriously? Brothers i think there were too many comments under our beloved sheikh’s interview criticizing him for things he said which weren’t even wrong in the first place. Keep in mind that he is talking to a nonMuslim explaining things to him in a way which he can understand… the only thing you should do is go to Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and ask him about three things: “1) Oh Sheikh, did you say that Jihad has no militaristic meaning in the Quran and if so why? 2) Oh Sheikh, you mentioned jihad as only being defensive but i’ve heard otherwise, can you please explain yourself. 3)Oh Sheikh did you say that the mentioning of beautiful women is not mentioned in the Quran and if so can you please explain yourself?”
Other then these three things I did not see anything in this article (which may not even be the right wording in the first place) as questionable beacuse you have to make as many excuses as possible and bending and exaggerating so as to not think ill of your brother in Islam and to see him and his arguments in the right light. Therefore go back and do that and then you’ll see that maybe he did not say anything wrong. You have to also understand that this interview was not supposed to give the interviewee a comprehensive understanding of Islam and its ideologies – but the intention of the interview was to condemn the evil action of terrorism and taking of innocent lives and to clearly portray that it is not a part of Islam and to open up the readers mind to Islam by explaining Islam in a different way then they usually hear on the media – which manipulates the understanding of Islam (it would simply be rude for Sheikh Hamza Yusuf to start condemning the US for its past actions during this interview because it was after 9/11 and that would make it look like he has no sympathy for what happened to the innocents during 9/11). I think Sheikh Hamza Yusuf was being very wise in everything he said to the NonMuslim audience, without saying anything wrong about Islam – the only things which popped out at me were those three things i listed above – and even they won’t stop me from thinking good about Sheikh Hamza Yusuf because I a)don’t know if he really said it, b)don’t know HOW he really meant it, c)don’t know if he ever explained himself later or retracted it d)have no understanding myself… in other words its not enough for me to condemn him or think evil of him… why don’t you spend your efforts in trying to reach Sheikh Hamza Yusuf so he can explain himself instead of attacking him in his absence. Also, many of the attacks were not against Sheikh Hamza Yusuf but against Sufism and certain hadith – i don’t think those comments belong here or should be used to attack beloved Sheikh Hamza Yusuf just because he has adhered to a certain opinion. These type of issues require scholarly and indepth research over all of the opinions of the different scholars and how they reached them and the different opinions concerning different narrators. It is not enough to quote one or two scholars to cancel out all the other scholars’ opinions, because all of the scholars tried to arrive at the opinion which adhered to the Quran and Sunnah and legitimate differences of opinons naturally occurred.
As to Sheikh Hamza Yusuf’s saying about how the modern world does not understand religious language, I think he was trying to bring up a point about how nonMuslims in the West view the desire for virgins in Paradise by Muslims in the wrong way – they see it as lustful and perverted that the Muslim desire for martyrdom is purely a sexual desire, but what they don’t know is how to understand this desire for the virgins in paradise properly. It is completely different even though there are similarities between here and there (in terms of types of fruit,etc, but the fruits are completely different). We desire those virgins in Paradise because they are a gift from Allah and the best of the best in purity and we also know we will also be pure and have pure thoughts without any evil perverted intent, something that the people in the West don’t know and understand because they are not part of the tradition of Islam. Sheikh Hamza Yusuf made a good point about how Allah is not like anyone or anything and at the same time He is the All Hearer and All Seer – there is no contradiction (Hamza Yusuf never said there was) – the point is Allah has raised a similarity in words for us but we will never be able to comprehend Allah’s Seeing and Hearing, it is not like our hearing and seeing. Allah is All Merciful. People can be merciful,our Prophet (salalahualayhiwasalam) was the most merciful in all of mankind, but our mercy is not like Allah’s Mercy, theres no comparison. The things of paradise are also not like the things of this earth which are tainted and impure, there is no comparison.
May Allah forgive me if i said anything wrong. If i said anything right its from Allah, if i said anything wrong its from myself or shaytan.
Please forgive me. My point for writing this was not for argument but for defense of a beloved Sheikh and for all Muslims for that matter, that we be more careful and more precise and accurate and 100% sure if we are going to criticize someone. May Allah teach us all a lesson from this, myself included.
Asalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatahu
Keep it Halal peeps
May Allah bless the beautiful and noble Sheikh Hamza and bless him abundantly in this dunya and even more in the herafter for his efforts and forgive him and us for any errors and omissions. Inshallah we will vouch for him on the day of judgement for the knowledge and hikmah he has passed on to us in his bayans. May Allah give him the tawfeeq to continue striving on the path of Haqq, for this is truly a jihad in this day and age.
Peace and blessings on our pole, leige lord, shadowless noor, mercy to the worlds, our noble and beloved Rasool Allah (SAW), the Kulafa Rashidoon (RA), Noble companions (RA), the 4 great Imams (RA), Imam Ghazali (RA), all the ambiya (AS) and all the other rightly guided Shaykhs and Mashayks, the siddiqueen, the shahideen and the saliheen (RA).
Hold fast to the Rope of Allah, all together, and be not divided. (Qur’an, 3:103)
MAY ALLAH BLESS HONORABLE HAMZA YUSUF THOSE WHO HAVE OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT HIM HAVE A SERIOUSLY PROBLEM WITH THE TRUTH.. HE MAKES IT SO CLEAR & IT WAS ABOUT TIME THAT SOMEONE CLARIFIES IT TO US … ESPECIALLY THOSE IGNORANT PEOPLE.. SIMPLY IGNORANT ..
als het een tube is moet je er wel filmpjes op zetten
Dear brothers
“Actions will be judged as per intentions” . This hadith is repeated saveral times in the books of hadith and considered very authentic. Listen to Hamza Yusuf and u will see sincerety toward Allah, Muhammad and Islam. We should spread peace and help those who are struggling in the ways of Allah. Calling eachother deviated will destroy us from within. If u disagree with some scholar then do it in the best manner (Keep silent). Violence is the last refuge of incompetent and I believe my relegion is not the way incompetents. May Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala guide us all to the right path.
Regards
this
I cant believe our own muslim brothers, are making ridiculous comments about one of the greatest scholars of our time. It just shows how misguided are some of the brothers in the ummah. I appeal to you please
STOP MAKING DIVISION!!!! its one of the biggest reasons why our Ummah is suffering.
Dont believe everything you see or hear.
WAKE UP MUSLIMS UNITE!!!!!
All you disgraceful Shaykh Hamza haters – how long did it take you to dump your cut and paste garbage on here – 5 minutes?….2 minutes to find the website, 2 minutes to copy and paste and 1 minute to pacify the Shaitan.
May Allah bless and reward the massive ocean of knowledge that is shaykh Hamza.
May the sword of the ummah be upon those who seek to misguide others.
Asalamu alaikum war rahmatulahi wa barakatu
Subhan-Allah,
My dear brothers and sisters fear Allah and be careful of what you say to one another what example are you setting subhan-Allah we are one ummah and Allah SWT will judge us as one ummah everyone is entitled to their own opinion but the are respectable ways of doing so.
May Allah have mercy on us all and forgive us for our mistakes.
Ameen
I would recommend everyone reread Mateen’s comment. This is the proper understanding and this is how we should approach that interview given by shaykh hamza. I do not feel that deviatedtube and his like are abiding by the Islamic injunction to make excuses for your brother and to have ahsan ath-thun (the best opinion) of him that you can muster. In particular, I think it is sad that a Muslims scholar cannot sit down and criticize al Qaeda and OBL without such people saying:
“Comment: What about bombing of Muslim civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sudan by US ? (see Children of Iraq article) Is this also evil ?”
This is your error, brother. It is your own low opinion of shaykh hamza, that you assume that bc he speaks against one evil, he is automatically in favor of evils against Muslims. One has nothing to do with the other. We are Muslims, we are not defensive. We do not need to condemn one of our own and in the same breath shoot back with, “but you guys kill us too!” There is a separate space, time, and topic for that. And shaykh hamza has addressed the slaughtering of Muslims in MANY other lectures.
Your problem is you are victim of the colonized thinking in which we must always remind the colonizer of HIS evils, in the same breath that we condemn our own. this is FALSE and evidence of personal weakness. Shaykh hamza has never ceased to enjoin good and forbid evil with regard to any action, whether emanating from a Muslim or non-Muslim.
Someone stated that the yusuf estes letter is fabricated. I hope so, as I always liked yusuf estes despite the fact that he is under the tutelage of a limited circle of Saudi shuyukh and reflects their views accordingly. I myself have met shaykh hamza, and his mind did seem to be elsewhere, in fact he could easily come off as arrogant or ignoring. But he is a person. And he has mentioned his own flaws before. The difference is between one who doesnt know his flaws, and one who does known them because he does murakaba and muhasaba of himself. How many of us can claim to do that? In the end, I made an excuse for shaykh hamza, because I know with certainty that he is a good human being, a great Muslim scholar, and a man of compassion for others. Perhaps my momentary interaction was disappointing–but I would not allow my own hurt feelings to block out the overwhelming good he has done for so many, including myself.
Final note: He has never called himself a sufi—-so that is your own labelling and hizbiyya at work. He reads the books of tazkiyyat an nafs and the science of ihsan which can be called tasawwuf if you like, or if you dont like! Stop labelling everything.
Well, I looked at Yusuf Estes’ website and at the very least, he is allowing his site to host articles against what they describe as “sufi shaykhs”:
http://islamnewsroom.com/news-we-need/795-sufimistranslates
There is negative reference to shaykh hamza there, and just as I thought, the primary source is saleh alsaleh, a saudi shaykh.
There is a tendency among many saudi ulama to label as deviant any scholar outside their realm and their own school of thought. I think many converts and many sincere Muslims are attracted to their teachings bc they appear so certain of their own saved status and their own interpretations. however i think we must also research a little into the foundations of the saudi state, because it explains a lot of how they understand the religion. And I am not at all making takfir, rather Im warning that islam is an ideal, it doesnt belong to a particular group or country, yet the taqlid of saudi arabia amongst some Muslims is disturbing, as if the presence of mecca and madina makes anything emanating from their nation-state pure as a wa7i from Allah. Not so.
Actually, this seems a pretty decent blog, and since I’ve contemplated entering the 21st Century, you’re a good source of advice.
great post!! keep them coming!.
Ibn Shoukath, Daviated tube and M. Zahir, going off your statements, does not mean anything all you’re doing is creating hate. Learn to be Islam (peace).then you might be on the right line. Trying to behave like the hard guy and encouraging fighting a hate just gets you no where. Look at the non Muslims that’s what they do hate everyone and like to create fear and hate just like what you’re doing…Islam creates civilised human being worldwide NOT barbarians hungry for war and revenge.
Your posts are always awesome bro, I spent about 3 hours here. You are going to have to slow down man.
may allah guide you , bless you and give you tawfiq shaykh hamza yusuf 🙂
Well to be honest Hamza Yusuf was a really great scholar before 9/11 search “Dajjal NWO Hamza Yusuf” on youtube and listen to this lecture he gave in early nineties. He clearly have said that UN is going to have a NWO and US is preparing for arrival of Dajjal. That was rally fascinating. But sad thing is he changed his stance became adviser of G.W. Bush :((((
We should focus on uniting this ummah and bring it to a state as it used to be in the golden era. This is probably one of the reasons we have fallen; through backbiting and splitting into factions.
FYI, he “advised” Bush not to go into Iraq, just so you know.
May Allah guide us all and unite this ummah and may He may give it victory through this unification, Insha-Allah! Ameen, ya Rabb-al-‘alameen.
I like this info given and this has offered myself a few sort of commitment to succeed for some good reason, so keep up the good work.
very insightful knowledge, shaikh hamza. thank you.
shame on all of you for bad-mouthing someone who has dedicated his life for the sake of Islam. It’s because of people like you that the muslims are in the condition they are in. you wreak havoc and create rifts among muslims and claim to be on the right path.
have already been following your site around three days. absolutely love what you posted. btw i am doing research about this issue. do you happen to know any good websites or maybe forums where I can find out more? thanks a lot.
I loved Sheikh Hamza Yusuf’s lectures and learned a lot from him. I bought his lectures and shared with others. I also attended his lectures ‘live’ many times. Took many of my friends and relatives to listen to his lectures. He speaks so eloquently.
However, in Dec 2009 RIS conference in Toronto, I heard him say to everyone not to go into “Conspiracy Theories” regarding 9/11. I was very sad that day. The evidences I have seen in the last 5/6 years on 9/11, I believe that the official explanation of 9/11 is a lie. And the investigations, researches that are done to find the 9/11 truth is not a “Conspiracy Theory” at all.
Thousands of people (Civilians in Iraq/Afghanistan and US soldiers alike) died in two wars that started based on 9/11. People have lost their liberty, privacy in the name of War on Terror. And when I hear someone say 9/11 truth movement is just a “conspiracy theory”, I lose respect for that person, no matter who he is. How can you be a scholar, without trying to find out the truth? A scholar should remember that his\her words affect many.
My heart cries for those 3000 died in the twin towers and in the afghan\iraq wars. If someone says that seeking the truth about 9/11 is a conspiracy theory, then I just choose NOT to listen to that someone. Even if it is Hamza Yusuf.
If somebody told Hamza Yusuf that his brother killed so and so, would he just accept it just like that? Wouldn’t he at least try to find out if the accusation is true or not? Here, for 9/11 event Muslims are being profiled (and humiliated) everywhere and should someone just brush off the effort of finding the truth as “Conspiracy Theory”?
Well, everybody knows that 911 was an inside job, though everybody is concealing it including the 2 cheikhs Hamza Yusef and Yusef Estes, I even heard Yusef Estes in one of his videos against terrorism claiming that George W Bush went to Iraq to fight Fitna, and if you don’t believe me go to youtube or just google it, now I have a complete doubt about the ‘American muslem scholars’ and everything staying behind these scholars, because a believer when he sees evil he must undo that evil by use of hand or words or heart and that is the weakest way, Muslems should not in any circumstances stand by the side of their enemies and who ever stands by their side has nothing to do with Islam, 1500000 Iraqis died killed by the occupiers and their allies, 5000000 have fled Iraq to Jordan and Syria and Afghanis have become game targets for ‘Call of Duty’ fans, if you ‘American Muslems’ can’t find a right and just position about your dying brothers I don’t know who can ??
You perfectly know that Alkaeeda is a database created by the CIA to recruite patsies and puppets to stage false flags (Black Ops.)and we see the outcome Muslems are being occupied and killed in their own countries in the name of War on Terror, and your ‘American Scholars’ can do nothing about it except make a comment as : “Well what can we do this is a direct consequence of 911 ” your own inside job made by CIA and collaborate services (Pakistani ISI, German Service, MOSSAD only to name) Wake up at least say something just and right, we have seen so called “conspiracy theorists” by your leaders lead the way the best they can to an improvement and they aren’t even Muslems, talking about ‘ Jeremy Scahill only to name ‘ and others who are still doing their best to stop this madness.
Great article. Waiting for more.
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salam alykum brothers and sister
i thing i do not understand is the lecture is about PURIFY OUR TOUNGUE
if u do not agree with the shaykh about any topics its better if u be silent
the work shaykh hamza have been doing for this ummah speaks for its self
May allah preserve shaykh hamza yusuf for this ummah and may we benafit from his work and knowlege ameen
I am really sorry to read all the mean and hateful comments against other Sheiks simply because one does not agree with them. Making such learned people into Kafirs is just wrong and even possibly haram. I listen a lot and am not hearing the crazy biddah people are talking about from them.
Like the story goes: There was a man who said that everyone except the muslims from his country were going to hell. Then he said but then again, everyone is going to hell except the people from my village. Then again, every one is going to hell except the people from my masjid. Yet still everyone is going to hell except me and the Sheik. Actually then again, that Sheik is off….All that was left was his prideful self and he was obviously the worst of them all. Estagfirallah. May Allah guide us away
Thanks for the great post and all of your thoughts.
We should bless shaykh hamza that we have him. Indeed bring a man in this world will bring us success. Instead we see men actin the total opposite. We should l=ook at people of past as role models so that we may develop taqwa, and ia u can luk at the sunset more beautifully, and see a light at the end of a tunnel always!
thank u
Perfect speech! MashALLAH!!!
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How is jihad understood in Islam? Why has it become such a major source of misunderstanding between Islam and the non-Islamic world?
because the polotics got mixed with the religion in the mind of some people.
I’m absolutely disgusted with some of the allegations at Shk. Hamza Yusuf. This brother was a revert to Islam and spent years, YEARS studying our beloved way of life, Islam and then came back to the US to spread the knowledge and here we are slandering him for that? That honestly breaks my heart because we live in a world, especially in the West where muslims are leaving islam, especially the youth for the Duniya. We need to stop arguing about which school of thought is more correct or who’s more accurate. Its our FARDH as an ummah to be brothers to each other and constantly remind each other of Allah (swt). If i said anything good here, know that it is only from Allah. If, however, I said anything wrong or offensive, please forgive me, for it is from my own flaws. May God guide our hearts all to the straight path, Ameen.
it is time to become a sheikh yourselves and then critisize another