The BARRIERS, that people continue to build, divide, discriminate and separate persons and communities on the basis of beliefs, cultures and ethnicities...Meditation: Mary & Joseph gave us an example of loving care and concern for their son, Jesus… They looked for him “with great anxiety”. Do we do it, likewise, in our genuine search for the Lord…?
let your herald’s urgent voice pierce our hardened hearts
and announce the dawn of your kingdom.
Before the advent of the one who baptizes with the fire of the Holy Spirit,
let our complacency give way to conversion,
oppression to justice and conflict to acceptance of one another in Christ.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near; Your son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
Extend to me, O God, Your love that never fails.
My heart exults in the Lord,
my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in my victory.
There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
God brings low but also exalts.
The Most High raises up the poor from the dust,
lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s
and on them God has set the world.
The most High will guard the feet of the faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might does one prevail.
The militant brands of "Islamism" (others refer to this as "Political Islam") cover a broad spectrum from A to Z. While these movements are diverse, there are discernable common features that identify them from the “old” or yet “older” schools and reform movements in the history of Islam. These are the following:
1. The BOOK (Qur'an) and the TRADITION (Hadith) provide the complete and perfect “blueprint” for socio political activism as well as a guide to public and private life.
2. The commitment to remake/refashion the world and community by strictly applying their beliefs with the use of violence.
3. Such endeavor/undertaking usually requires a charismatic and authoritarian leadership.
4. Boundaries are set… the enemy identified, converts are sought, institutions are created and the reconstruction of society becomes the MISSION.
5. Acute patriarchal structure… the leader is the all-powerful Father.
6. Hatred or Anger for the Power that dominates… that insludes among others,
Ø Sacred vs. Profane
Ø Religions vs. Secular
Ø Poor vs. the Rich
Ø Powerless vs. Power
Ø Oppressed vs. Oppressor
Matrix of this Religious Revivalism
There is a need to go into the matrix of this spectacular phenomenon to be able to appreciate both their significance as well as impact not only in the world but also on the relationship between and among our faith-communities.
Within the circle of these movements they believe that a new “dark ages” or Jahiliyya (age of “Ignorance”) has taken roots in the modern world. The world has been transformed into “al-nizam al-jahili (a decadent and ignorant order). Materialism and individualism have become the defining characteristics of our modern culture.
Moreover, the secularist leaders in the modern world have failed miserably to establish a legitimate, effective public order and to adequately address the profound socioeconomic disparities in wealth and class in most 3rd world countries, including the poor in the developed and industrialized ones.
The disillusionment with the secular and modern world coupled by the arrogance of power by the powerful nations have alienated not only the UMMAH (the Community of believers) but also the entire humanity from God.
(A portion of a Talk delivered by E. Mercado, OMI)
Is Head Cover For Women Mandatory In Islam?
by Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D
Hijab (head cover) for Muslim women is not mandated in the Qur’an. If it is, it is only the subjective interpretation of an ayah (verse) on the part of the reader. Hence, many Islamic scholars say that according to hadith, a woman should cover her whole body, except her face and hands. The majority of Muslims do not know in which hadith this is mentioned. A very limited number of Muslims know that this is in Sunan Abu Dawud. The English translation of Sunan Abu Dawud is in three volumes. Again, nobody ever mentions that it is in Volume Three. Actually, it is in Volume 3, Book XXVII, Chapter 1535, and Hadith number 4092, titled: "How Much Beauty Can A Woman Display?" For the benefit of the readers, the exact hadith is reproduced below:
(4092) 'Aisha said: Asthma', daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asthma', when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of the body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands. (Note 3523)
Abu Dawud said: This is a mursal tradition (i.e. the narrator who transmitted it from 'Aisha is missing) Khalid B. Duraik did not see 'Aisha.
[3523. When a woman reaches the age of puberty, she must observe purdah and have a thick veil which conceals her beauty. She may unveil her face and hands up to the wrists. In modern times, some scholars have prohibited unveiling the face out of precaution.]
It is very interesting to note that no one - neither the Muslim scholars nor the Muslim ummah, ever pointed out that this is a mursal (weak) hadith. It is imperative that when one uses a weak hadith for any reason, then one should explain to the people that it is such. What is a mursal hadith? But first of all, what is hadith?
Hadith is an Arabic word which in its real sense means a tale, speech, chat, conversation, or communication. In a technical sense, hadith or tradition means all the sayings, deeds, decisions of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w), his silent approval of the behavior of his companions, and descriptions of his personality. Each hadith is prefaced by a chain of narrators called al-'isnad. Al-'isnad was the chain of people through whom the hadith was transmitted. The second part of the hadith is al-matn, the content, which reports the teaching or the incident. Every hadith or tradition must have a chain ('isnad), as well as the text (matn).
There are three main categories of the hadith called (1) as-sahih or the authentic hadith, (2) al-hasan or the good, as some of its narrators have been found to have a weaker memory in comparison to the narrators of sahih hadith, and (3) ad-da'if or the weak. This refers to traditions in which there is some problem in the chain of transmission, in the proper understanding of the transmitter, or in its contents, which may be in disagreement with Islamic belief and practice.
Ad-da'if traditions are further divided according to the degree of problems with their reporter (ruwaat), or in the text (al-matn) of the reports. A few of these divisions are as follows:
1. Al-mursal: A hadith in which a tab'i (those who succeeded the sahabah or companions of the Prophet) transmits from Rasulullah (s.a.w), directly dropping the sahabi from the 'isnad.
We invite our readers to add to the enumeration…
* God is extraordinarily closes and proximate to the human heart (e.g., at S 8:24, "He passes between the man and his heart"). What truly matters is God’s uniquely all-encompassing divine knowledge of "what is in their hearts" (S 4:66, 33:51, etc.).
* The divine awareness of what is in the heart extends in particular to people's innermost intentions (especially in contrast to their words and ostensible actions). In consequence, ‘Ibn “Arabi speaks of the heart (as more commonly of the soul, al-nafs) as the enduring "self" or ongoing seat of our moral and spiritual responsibility, as at S 2:225: "...He will call you to account for what your hearts have earned...."
* The most obvious in his work is the consistent stress on the divine "responsibility", indeed the ongoing divine Activity, expressed in all the different states of our hearts, including especially our recurrent failures to "remember" God.
* The enlightened or divinely supported heart (whether in this world or the next) is said to be the locus of true Remembrance of God (dhikr Allâh, at S13:28).Prophets for Our Tme: Are We Listening?
by Dorothy C.Buck
When I think of Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Muhammad, the ancient Hebrew prophets, Abraham, Elijah, Moses then John the Baptist and Jesus, in fact the religious reformers and visionaries of all cultures and traditions in every age, one word overshadows all else. They knew how to listen, first to God, then to the voices of others in the world around them.
As Christians we talk of God “calling” us into relationship, of the prophets being “called” to speak publicly for God, to challenge and confront the ways that God's voice was not being heard.
In the Gospel according to Matthew John the Baptist is heard quoting the major Hebrew prophet Isaiah, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! ...A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” (Matthew 3:2, Isaiah 40:3)
Unless we listen to the prophets among us we are likely to wander farther and farther away from the
We have ample voices throughout our short history as a country who has warned us of the dangers of not heeding the call of the poor, of not feeding the hungry, offering a drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, and welcoming the strangers in our midst. Now we are challenged, almost beyond our capacity to respond, by the fear of terrorist attacks and the distrust and hatred felt towards this country in many parts of the world. Are we listening?
