Black Seeds: One of the Greatest Healing Herbs of all times

Black Seeds: One of the Healing
Herbs of all times

Dr. Mozammel Haque

The Six-day Tenth International Conference on the Miracles of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) organised by the International Commission on Scientific Signs in the Qur’an and the Sunnah in cooperation with Turkey’s Centre for Islamic Research, was held at Istanbul, Turkey from 10th to 15th of March, 2011. Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, the President of the World Muslim Congress, attended the Conference. I had the opportunity to meet him recently at the Heathrow Airport while he was flying back to Saudi Arabia from Europe.

International Conference on the Miracles of the Qur'an and Sunnah

The conference was attended by a number of Turkish officials including deputy Prime Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, and Director of the Centre for Islamic Research and Abdullah Al-Halifi undersecretary general of the International Commission on Scientific Signs in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, said. Dr. Naseef.
.
The International Commission on Scientific Signs in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, is an independent organisation, but under the Umbrella of the Makkah-based Muslim World League. Its Secretary General is Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al-Mosleh.

Dr. Abdullah Mosleh said the Conference aims to discuss the effects of the Holy Qur’an’s scientific miracles on human thought. “It will discuss the scientific signs in the Qur’an and the Sunnah in such fields as medicine, biology, astronomy. Cosmology, geology, marine sciences and humanities,” Dr. Mosleh said.

There are many new researches and new discoveries from the International Commission on the Miracles of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Dr. Naseef said, “It is especially about the Habba Sawdah, the Black Seeds, the prospects and effects of black seeds on heart problem. Every disease can very much be treated by Habba Sawdah.”

Black Seeds and its curative virtues are from the ancient knowledge base of Prophetic medicine to new scientific research. This intersection between the Prophetic knowledge base matched with the learning from scientific research surely contributes to make the Sweet Sunnah Black Seed products totally effective and unique. Black Seed appropriately known as the “seed of blessing” is considered to be one of the greatest healing herbs of all times.

Black seed is Herbal medicine and has been known to reduce risk to illness and disease by strengthening immune system and protecting body’s most important organs. It is an excellent medicine used for millenniums to treat a variety of conditions related to respiratory health, skin, stomach and intestinal disorders, kidney & liver function, circulatory and immune system support, and to maintain and improve overall health.

There were many other important researches and theses. Dr. Naseef said, “There are ten researches about this matter. The thing which attracted my attention is that many Saudi lady researchers are conducting researches in the field of miracles of the Qur’an and Sunnah from all Universities. They are from the Ummul Qura University, Dammam University, King Faisal University and their theses are very accurate and it attracted the attention of the people.”

These researchers were from the Medical and General Science and other departments. They don’t have the department on the Miracles of the Qur’an and Sunnah. “Unfortunately, there is no separate department for the research on the Miracles of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Although there were many recommendations that there should be department on the Miracles of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, but till today, no University has started that unfortunately,” said Dr. Naseef. .

Dr. Naseef at 39th World Scout Conference
Earlier, Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, President of the International Islamic Scouts Federation of Saudi Arabia also attended the 39th World Scout Conference held from 10-14 January 2011 at Estação Convention Centre in Curitiba, Brazil. At this event participated around 2000 scouts (delegates, observers, guests), including the participants from the Forum, from about 137 countries.

The Conference was for six days. Eurasia Region was represented by 6 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine. Belarus received the official document as a new member of WOSM of way of solemn ceremony. About the participation of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Naseef said, “The conference was from the 9th of January until the 14th of January. Saudi delegation was the largest delegation consisting of about 100 members because the Universities guest.”

The delegates to the Conference had opportunity to meet representatives of all regions and almost all countries and discuss possible projects, liaisons and new cooperation as almost all NSOs International Commissioners, Presidents and chairmen gathered in one place.

During a Six-day period, the Conference went through a variety of topics like: amendments to World Constitution and recommendations, Elections of Committee members, further Jamboree, Moot, Conference and Forum. Also a lot of different reports were presented at the Conference: Secretary General, Treasurer, Committee Chairman, a lot of heads of staff, representatives of Brazil Government and City Hall.

Speaking about the deliberations of the Scouts Conference, Dr. Naseef said, “The Scout Conference talks about the business of the Scouts for three years, their activities and the strategies and the implementation of recommendations and the budget; the sets of the admission of the new members, all those things are happened in five days.”

“Each country is entitled to send six delegations; but the observers can be of any number. That’s why; we have observers from all Saudi Universities, almost 100. It was the opportunity to meet because you know the Scouts around the world are 30 million.”

6 new World Scout Committee members were elected: They were as follows: Ms. Karin Ahlback, Finland; Mr. Abdullah Al-Fahad, Saudi Arabia; Mr. Joao Concalves, Portugal; Mr. Marcel Ledjou, Ivory Coast; Mrs. Mari Nakano, Japan and Mr. Daniel Ownby, USA. The WSC members this time elected for a period of three years, not six as the previous elections. The new elected Chairperson is Simon Rhee, South Korea.

The countries of further world events were elected at the Conference as well: Slovenia will host the 12th World Scout Youth Forum and the 40th World Scout Conference in 2014; Iceland will hosts World Scout Moot in 2017 Mexico, USA and Canada (they formed a mutual invitation) will host World Scout Jamboree in 2019.

International Scouts Conference was well attended, said Dr. Naseef and also added, “Before the international scout conference, we have one-day for each religious group. So we sent our delegation and discussed many things and then we moved to the World Congress. The Islamic Scouts Conference was on Sunday, 9th of January. International conference was opened on Monday, 10th of January, 2011.”

Overall, the Youth Forum and Conference were very intense and challenging and at the same time gave opportunity for delegates of Eurasia Region to establish new partnership, meet new friends and discuss possible future events and joint projects.

Dr. Naseef at the IICDR meeting in Cairo
International Islamic Council of Dawah and Relief (IICDR) have its annual conference usually in Muharram, at the beginning of the new Islamic calendar. Dr. Naseef, as a Secretary General of the IICDR, went to Cairo, Egypt, to attend the conference.

Dr. Naseef attends World Scout Federation at Hague
This year the World Scouts Conference was held in Hague, The Netherlands, from the 8-9th of April. Orange 2011 is the joint meeting of the World Scouts Foundation (WSF) and the Olave Baden-Powell Society) OB-PS) and is being organised by Scouting. Dr. Naseef attended the World Scouts Federation conference and said, “King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, the World Scout Federation’s Honorary Chairman, welcomes the present and new Baden-Powell Fellows.”

Dr. Naseef also said WSF meets every year wherever the King of Sweden goes, sometimes in Stockholm and sometimes in other places wherever the King goes. Dr. Naseef also said, “The World Scout Federation collects money and invests for the growth development and benefit of the scouting in the world. This is the opportunity to attract the attention of the people and the new member, the fellows who paid moneys to contribute to that fund and it was also very good.”

Maryam in the Bible and in the Qur'an

Maryam in the Bible and in the Qur’an

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Lord Harries and Lord Ahmed organised a Christian-Muslim celebration meeting in honour of Sayeditana Maryam entitled “Mary in the Bible and in the Qur’an” at the Cholmondeley Room at the House of Lords on Monday, the 28th of March, 2011. This was the first ever real celebration mounted by the All-Party Parliamentary Inter-Faith group. There were two renowned scholars from the Christian and Muslim communities, Archbishop McDonald and Hajj Ahmad Thomson, who gave brief outlines on the theme of Mary. The celebration was attended by parliamentarians, religious leaders from the Christian community, the Muslim Community, the Jewish community, the Hindu community as well as several journalists. There was a short film on Mary from the Christian-Muslim-Jewish Forum after the meeting.

Introductions by Lord Harries

Lord Harries, the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Inter-faith Group made some introductory remarks and introduced the two speakers. Archbishop McDonald was ordained as a priest in 1974 in the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Chad in Birmingham; he served for a number of years in Oscar College, first of all, as a Lecturer in Moral Theology and after that as a Rector of that College; he worked as a Parish Priest in Sparkhill, Birmingham and then he was ordained Bishop of Northampton in 2001. After that he was appointed Archbishop of Southwark in 2003. He is responsible for the inter-faith relationship of half of the Roman Catholics in England and Wales and although he has retired as Archbishop of Southwark, he is continuing that work.

Archbishop McDonald spoke on the life of Mary for 10 minutes and then Lord Harries introduced Hajj Ahmad Thomson, who embraced Islam in 1973. In his professional life he is member of Gray’s Inn; he was called to the Bar in 1979 and is a practising barrister working in the field of charity, employment, discrimination and Islamic Law. He was a founding member of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, is secretary of Muslim Lawyers (Europe) and is an author of a good number of books. He has been on pilgrimage to Makkah.

Hajj Ahmad Thomson

Hajj Ahmad Thomson, Barrister, began his talk by reciting a few of the many verses in the Qur’an which deal with Maryam, peace be upon her. Hajj Ahmad mentioned that the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, who did not go to school and who could not read or write – and confirmed that the Qur’an was revealed to him by the Angel Jibril (Gabriel): “So it is a powerful message. It is always good to hear some of it.” Then Hajj Ahmad recited in Arabic verses 42 to 48 of Surah Ali ‘Imran from the Qur’an and read the English translation of those verses (reading from the Bewley translation) as follows:

“And when the angels said, ‘Maryam, Allah has chosen you and purified you. He has chosen you over all other women. Maryam, obey your Lord and prostrate and bow with those who bow.’ This is news from the Unseen which We reveal to you. You were not with them when they cast their reeds to see which of them would be the guardian of Maryam.You were not with them when they quarrelled.

“When the angels said, ‘Maryam, your Lord gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, ‘Isa, son of Maryam, of highest esteem in the dunya and the akhirah, [that is, in this world and in the next world] and one of those brought near. He will speak to people in the cradle, and also when fully grown and will be one of the salihun,’ [that is, of the people who are in the right place at the right time]

“she said, ‘My Lord! How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me?’ He said, ‘It will be so.’ Allah creates whatever He wills. When He decides on something, He just says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is. He will teach him the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah [the revelation given to Moses] and the Injil [the revelation given to Jesus], as a Messenger to the tribe of Israel …[Surah Al ‘Imran : 3. 42-48]

After reading the translation, Hajj Ahmad continued, “These two examples of the angels addressing Maryam give us a glimpse of two different periods in her life: one when she was a young girl; and one when she was about to become the mother of Jesus, peace be on them.”

Speaking about a clear line of descent right from the Prophet Abraham down to the father of Hannah who was of course the mother of Mary, Hajj Ahmad said that he had not been aware of Maryam’s genealogy “when I was brought up as a Christian – and maybe I did not look hard enough.” Hajj Ahmad added, “Hannah, who was the mother of Mary was actually married to a man called Imran. Imran was descended from the Prophet Sulayman (Soloman), who was descended from the Prophet Dawud (David), who was descended from Judah, one of the sons of Yaqub (Jacob) – another of whose names was Israel – who was descended from Ishaq (Isaac), the son of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham).”

Purity and Special Station of Maryam

Another aspect which Hajj Ahmad mentioned is the purity and very special station of Maryam: “Hannah made a prayer and she said to God, ‘I dedicate to You whatever is in my womb,’ and she also made another prayer and she said, ‘Don’t let shaytan (Satan) touch whoever is in my womb or any of its offspring.’ And it is said that because of this prayer, when Maryam was born, shaytan could not even touch her – and similarly when Jesus was born, shaytan could not even touch him.” Hajj Ahmad added, “The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, said that every one of the banu Adam (that is, the people who are descended from Adam) is touched by shaytan when they are born – which is what makes them cry at birth – except for these two, because of the prayer of Hannah. So already even before she was born, there was an indication of the purity and special place that had been assigned for Maryam in the unfolding of the prophetic tradition.”

Hajj Ahmad also referred to the Prophetic geneaology of Zakariya: “The Prophet Zakariya (Zachariah) was also descended from Soloman, through the same lineage as Imran. He was married to Ishbah, which is the Arabic name for Elizabeth – and Hannah and Ishbah were sisters. The son of Zakariya and Elizabeth was Yahya, John the Baptist. So again we see within the prophetic family, we see this very close genetic link, as well as the link as regards the message given to mankind about the nature of God, the nature of existence and the guidance that He sent to mankind through His Messengers.”

Referring to Maryam’s relationship with her Lord, Hajj Ahmad said, “We have descriptions in the Qur’an of Maryam’s childhood in the Temple – and that first passage of the two main passages that I recited, mentions the angels speaking to her when she was still a girl, telling her to be obedient to God and to worship Him – and we also have a description of Zakariya coming into her room and finding her eating food and he asks, ‘Where did you get this food from?’ and she says, ‘It has been provided for me by my Lord.’ This was in fact food from the Garden, food from Heaven, from the Unseen. And again this is an indication of her purity and her special station, that she was given food from the Garden.”

Coming of Jesus – identical

There are many ayahs (verses) throughout the Qur’an which refer to Maryam and there is a chapter in the Qur’an which is entitled Maryam in honour of her. Then Hajj Ahmad referred to the second passage which really refers to the coming of the Angel Gabriel to her: “When Jibril (Gabriel) came to tell her that you are going to be the mother of Jesus, he appeared as a handsome man. And as we all know, this is where, if you look at the Christian tradition and the Muslim tradition, it is almost identical, word for word: ‘You are going to be the mother of Jesus.’ And she says, ‘How can I be, when I have not been touched by any man?’ And she is told, ‘It is by the command of your Lord,’ – and He can do anything, including the creation of the whole of the universe and everything it contains.”

God bestowed the highest station to Maryam

God has bestowed the highest station to Maryam. When speaking of the reference to Maryam in the Qur’an as an example of a believer, Hajj Ahmad said, “And then God gives the example of Maryam – and this is the highest station. We also have a hadith (prophetic saying) from the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, that enough for you – meaning that these are the best examples for you – are Maryam the mother of Jesus, Asiya the wife of Pharoah, Khadija (who was his first wife) and Fatima, who was his daughter from whom all the members of the family of the Prophet Muhammad are subsequently descended during the last 14 centuries up until now, blessings and peace be on all of them. So we have these indications again and again and again, right from before she was born and after, that Mary had a very high station with her Lord. And this was a station which no human being could confer on her – it was a station for which she was created.”

Miraculous figure of Mary

There then followed a lively Questions & Answers session when different questions were asked, especially as to whether Mary was a miraculous figure in her own right. Archbishop McDonald replied, “I think the key point is about two things about Mary – which I think as, if you like, the act of God: one is the virgin birth and the other is the fact that she was without sin from the outset. These two things, we call the virgin birth and the immaculate conception.”

Significance of Mary

On this question, Archbishop McDonald replied, “I think regarding the person of Mary as someone with whom we can engage, it is to engage together with Mary in whatever way our traditions commit us and encourage us – and to allow spontaneous responses and affective responses (and not just intellectual responses) to be shared; that is what I would suggest.”

Hajj Ahmad’s reply was, “I think regarding Mary there is no dispute about who she is and how she lived: she was very pure, she is a very good example and she was the mother of Jesus. This is something about which we have complete and concrete agreement on. Therefore there is no basis for entering an argument on that. I think that as far as women are concerned in this society, they have a good example. You could say that Maryam is someone who has an unfair advantage over any other woman in the world because of what was destined for her – but at the same time the way she lived was exemplary: she worshipped God without any partner and this is a good example; she was modest; and she had all the fine qualities that a woman can have.”

Limits of the two traditions

Another question asked was: “What are the limits in the two traditions, as regards the past?” Archbishop McDonald replied, “As a Christian, I can engage with and seek to identify with Mary in relation to the crucified Lord and in relation to God who created me. I think the most fruitful, most fertile area for common engagement with Mary would be the annunciation – and not for obvious reasons, the crucifixion, because that is specifically the Christian thing. I think it is a great important principle both in ecumenical dialogue and in interfaith dialogue that we begin with what we can confirm together or by what we can celebrate together – and if any further exploration in building towards more difficult things is indicated, then we can pursue it.”

In contrast, Hajj Ahmad said, “As I understand it, your question is actually looking at what happened before, rather than at anything that comes after – and, looking at the Jewish tradition, certainly the coming of Jesus was expected. I think it is probably mentioned in the Torah somewhere that the coming of the Messiah would take place – and when Jesus came, it happened that some people said yes, he is the Messiah and some Jews said no, he is not – and some say even nowadays that they are still waiting for the Messiah. The Christians obviously said yes, he is the Messiah – he came and he has gone. The Muslims say yes, he was the Messiah, he was not crucified, he was taken up into the Unseen – and he will be coming back. This is what the Muslims believe from the Qur’an.”

Hajj Ahmad continued, “And the Qur’an says that when Jesus returns, then the People of the Book, the people who received the earlier divine revelations, will then believe in the final revelation of the Qur’an without any disagreement whatsoever – because it will be very clear at that point that he is the Messiah, come back for the second time as far as the Christians and the Muslims are concerned, and arrived for the first time as far as the Jews are concerned. So there is still more confirmation to come in the future – but it does go right back to the time of Moses. That is why the genealogy I was giving earlier in my talk confirms actually how close all the Messengers of God and all the Prophets of God are in the Prophetic tradition – certainly as regards those who were post-Abraham, but also those who were pre-Abraham, because they all came originally from Adam and Eve. So we see that within the Prophetic tradition they were related genetically as well as by their message and function.”

The Roman Catholic duty priest commented, “Surely the main attribute of Mary is that she embodies someone who heard the word of God and kept it – and this is true for both of our traditions – and as a result of which she was able to answer the call of the archangel Gabriel.”

Hajj Ahmad replied, “I think that is a very good point that you have made. If I could, I would just like to add one point to the Bishop’s: as regards that great gathering, that gathering of 5,000 people is concerned, I find it very interesting that in the Gospel of Barnabus, the reason for that gathering is given: it was to give everyone a clear understanding of who Jesus was by letting Jesus prove that he was not God. So he asked a scribe, ‘Doesn’t it say in the Torah that God has no beginning and no end?’ – and the scribe said, ‘Yes, thus it is written.’ Then Jesus said, ‘I have a beginning and an end – so I am not God.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Doesn’t it say that God never sleeps, nor slumbers?’ – and the scribe said, ‘Yes, that’s what it says in the Torah,’ and Jesus said, ‘I have to sleep – so I am not God.’ And then Jesus said, ‘Is it not true that it says in the Torah that God has created everything in the heavens and the earth?’ – and the scribe said, ‘Yes, that is what it says,’ and Jesus said, ‘I could not even create a fly.’ Then the people said, ‘Then who are you?’ and Jesus said, ‘I am a Messenger of God.’”

Lord Harries

After the Q & A session, Lord Harries made the following closing remarks: “I have been involved in inter-faith dialogue for quite a long time and in my experience, there are three main fundamental principles. First of all, it is a way of understanding – of letting people define themselves in their own terms; secondly it is a way of affirmation – trying to identify and find common ground; and thirdly it is a way of sharing. It seems to me that we have certainly done the first two today: people have defined the subject in their own terms. I think this is very important.”

I think one of the ways in which inter-religious relationships are poisoned,” continued Lord Harries, “is because of the caricatures which society inherit – and we have to get beyond that and people have to define themselves in their own terms and secondly to identify a lot of common ground.”

Lord Harries concluded by saying, “And my third point is that whereas some people think wrongly that in order to engage in interfaith dialogue you have to criticise your most cherished convictions and try to find a sort of lowest common denominator of religion, in fact, in a true dialogue you have to share differences as well as what you have in common – and my own experience is that if you can build up relationships which rely on respect and trust, so also you can share differences as well as affirm the common ground.”

Lord Ahmed

After thanking everyone for coming and especially Caroline Jean from the Mary foundation because, “it was her idea that inspired me and prompted us to decide on all this,” Lord Ahmed said, “I think it is important to have this type of event where Maryam, peace be on her, brings everybody together – because we have seen too much of the Christian Minister in Pakistan who was murdered by extremists in Lahore and Terry Jones the so-called Pastor who burnt the Qur’an in the United States last week – that creates the differences and the hatred. It is important that we do bring people together.”

An Interview with Archbishop McDonald

After the conclusion of the celebration, I had the opportunity to talk to Archbishop McDonald and interview him regarding the common ground where both Christian and Muslim traditions can meet. The Archbishop confirmed, “The virginity of Mary is accepted by both traditions.”

As regards the understanding that Jesus spoke to people from the cradle, which is what Muslims believe, the Archbishop said, “We don’t believe this – that is not part of our tradition. This is a point of difference.”

On the point of the annunciation, the Archbishop said that both traditions can meet on this: “The story is told differently, but the key element of the story is held in common. The important thing is to engage first to our lady and then to engage with each of the stories of the annunciation together – and that we can do.”

On the question of the holiness of Mary, which the Muslim tradition accepts, the Christian tradition does not. The Archbishop said, “No, it is different. The main difference is our understanding of Jesus Christ, because we see the holiness of Mary as coming from the redemption of Christ – so we see the source of the holiness differently.”

Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Their Rights

Companions of the Prophet (peace
be upon him) and their Rights

Dr. Mozammel Haque

The importance of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the history of Islam and for the Muslim community is enormous. This first generation of Islam is really very unique and remarkable in the sense that they are the eye-witnesses of the revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet (peace be upon him); they are the ones who met the Prophet (peace be upon him) personally and saw everything happened; they are the eye-witnesses of the biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him); through them we got the text of the Qur’an; they are the ones who collected the text of the Qur’an during the life of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq; they are ones who did the second writing of the text of the Qur’an during the life of the third Caliph Osman and finally, they are the ones who presented the Qur’an to the Ummah as one Book. Thus, this first generation, the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is very important for us, for the Muslim community. This is one of the reasons, the Islamic Cultural Centre, London in cooperation with the Daw’ah Office in the UK held a Seminar recently.

Seminar on the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh)
A one-day Seminar on the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and their Rights, organised by the Islamic Cultural Centre, London in cooperation with the Maktab-e-Daw’ah, the Daw’ah Office in the UK, was held at the Library Hall of the Centre, on Saturday, the 26th of February, 2011. The Seminar was attended by the respected guests Professor Dr. Ghazi Makki, the Cultural Attache of Saudi Arabia and Yasser Shaban, a Counsellor at the Embassy of Egypt; Abdul Aziz Al-Harbi, Dr. Al-Hazmi and Dr. Sayyid from the Daw’ah Office in the UK and other brothers and sisters.

There were two sessions: in the first session under the chairmanship of Shaikh Saad Al-Jloud, there were two speakers; Dr. Ahmed Al-Dubayan and Shaikh Haitham Haddad who spoke on the ‘Reading in the Traditions of Ancestors’ Scholars about the Companions (RAA) and their Rights’ and ‘The Relationship between the Companions and the Family of the Prophet (pbuh)’ respectively. In the second session under the chairmanship of Shaikh Khalifa Ezat, there were again two speakers such as Shaikh Sultan Fayad Al-Hassan and Shaikh Mohammed Abd Al-Hadi Afdal who spoke on ‘The Superiority of the Mothers of Believers (RAA) in general and Mother of Believers Ayesha in Particular’ and ‘The Mother of Believers Ayesha’s Participating in narrating the Prophet’s (pbuh) Traditions’ respectively.

Welcome address by Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan
While welcoming the respected guests and other brothers and sisters, Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan mentioned about the importance and speciality of the Seminar. Dr. al-Dubayan said, “When we talk about the first generation, we closely talk about the biography of the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh), i.e. we talk about the history of the Qur’an; we talk about the Sunnah al-Sharifa; we talk about the beginning of our faith, ISLAM.”

“Our Seminar today is about the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh), Shahaba and Their Rights. This is very important because it is really a very fundamental piece of Islamic education for the young generation to know more and more about the first generation of Islam,” mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan.

Speaking about the first generation of Islam, Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned, “They are the eye-witnesses of the Qur’an and the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet (pbuh); they are the eye-witnesses who met the Prophet personally and saw everything happened whatever we read in the paper about the Prophet (pbuh). It is very simple to say that they are the model for us; they are the models we have to follow; they are the generations, as I said, who conveyed the message from the Prophet (pbuh) to the next generation which we call historically tabeyeen and the next generation after them which we call tabe tabeyeen.”

While explaining the objective of the Seminar Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned, “Recently we find some books, some articles, some people who try really unobjectively to criticise this generation and they try to minimise what we know about their rights and what attitude we have to have towards them as a first generation of the Prophet (pbuh). I am saying unobjectively because I myself read some of these articles, some of these books which talk about the companions, written by some Orientalist and by some people in the modern times from the Muslim themselves either from the Muslim countries or from the Muslim communities. They really missed lot of the principles without understanding many objective things.”

“It is very very important for every Muslim and every Muslimah to know more and more about the Shahaba, the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and to know about their rights and to know how we should deal with this Hadith which actually we find in our Islamic heritage about the Prophet (pbuh) and about the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). Of course, when we talk about the Companions, we don’t mean only men; we mean also women. We have few thousands of women; they were the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh),” mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan.

First Session
In the first session under the chairmanship of Shaikh Saad al-Jloud, there were two speakers as I mentioned earlier; the first speaker was Dr. Ahmed Al-Dubayan who spoke on the “Reading in the Traditions of Ancestors’ Scholars about the Companions (RAA) and their Rights.’ The second speaker was Shaikh Haitham al-Haddad, well-known in the Muslim community and a member of the Shari’ah Council who spoke on ‘The Relationship between the Companions and the Family of the Prophet (pbuh)’.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Dubayan
Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan started with the first question: Who is the Companion of the Prophet (pbuh)? He dealt with this question elaborately and said, Muslim historians have different opinions and Muslim scholars have also different opinions especially among the Ahle-Hadith about the definition of the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). “But I think the best one, most of them have accepted that any Muslim who had met the Prophet (pbuh) and then died as a Muslim, is a Companion even if he met the Prophet (pbuh) even may be for one hour or two hours; he will be considered as one of the Prophet’s companion,” Dr al-Dubayan said.

Who are the Companions?
Dr. Al-Dubayan also elaborated by saying, “Every Muslim, who met the Prophet (pbuh) even for short time, is considered to be one of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh). This is actually for men and women together; so we have shahabis and shahabians, the male and female companions.”

Dr al-Dubayan also raised another question: How many companions we have? This is a very good question and sometimes we used this question to ask the younger generation at the secondary school: How many companions we have? Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “Actually we don’t have one book or one record in which we have all the records of the names of the companions or if we go to the biography of the Prophet (pbuh) or if we go to the collections of the Hadiths or Traditions of the prophet (pbuh).” Of course, at the end of his speech, he has given some statistical information about one of the biggest collections of the companions.

Their Classification
Dr. Al-Dubayan classified the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) into two groups: those who narrated the Hadiths and those who have only their names. Dr. Al-Dubayan elaborated this point saying, “If we read the biography of the Prophet (pbuh), for example, the battle of Badr, or the battle of Uhud, we find some names of the Companions in these two battles but we don’t find any Hadith from them. Either they were not at the beginning or they died early, so the next generation did not have enough time to talk to them or take Hadith from them or they were young. Whatever, actually we find some names but we do not find their names in the Hadith.”

Their Exact number
Going back again to the question Dr. Al-Dubayan raised earlier about the number of Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). There were different estimated figures about this. Quoting of the greatest Muhaddeshins, who said when the Prophet (pbuh) died there were more than 100,000 who saw him, met him and listened to him, men and women. Dr. Al-Dubayan also mentioned there is another Tradition from him, who said when the Prophet (pbuh) died; there was 114,000 Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). The person, who talked to the Imam, asked him, ‘Who are they’? ‘Where are they’?”

It is a big number, 114,000. Where are they? Then the Imam said, ‘These are the people of Madinah, people of Makkah, people of the villages between Makkah and Madinah and between who came from the desert and between Makkah and Madinah and met Prophet (pbuh) and those who conducted with him the Farewell Pilgrimage. There were more than 100,000; they listened to him, they saw him especially when the Prophet (peace be upon him) standing in Arafat and delivered the famous speech, the Sermons on the Mount of Arafat, the Farewell speech, which we all know in the history. So all those people who met him we can estimate the number 114,000,” mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan.

Then Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned that the names of the Companions themselves were kept in the Seerah of the Nabubiyah, in the Prophet’s biography. He mentioned that the first book or biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was written by Muhammad ibn Ishaaq, who died in 151 AH. which is 768 according to the Gregorian calendar; i.e., in the 8th century. He is the first one who actually collected all the Ruayat or Traditions about the biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as one collection. Of course there were many before; but they were really separate traditions to collect this as one story, Muhammad bin Ishaaq who started to do this.”

These are the reasons, maintained Dr. Al-Dubayan, Muslims love and respect the Companions. There is no doubt that the message of the Qur’an is the last message, the last revelation from Allah the Almighty. We believe that the Qur’an is the last book revealed to Mankind. Allah the Almighty said in the Qur’an He is going to protect this Qur’an and He will guarantee the continuity of this. Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “The first generation of the Companions were very straightforward, they were honest, reliable. Without them, the continuity of the Message is not possible.”

Another point which Dr. Al-Dubayan wanted to make clear is about the Companions. There is a wrong notion about Ahle Sunnah and Ahle Jamaah. “We don’t believe that Shahabas are masumin, they are protected from doing sin; no. They are human beings. They can have a mistake,” said Dr. Al-Dubayan and mentioned, “What the Ahle Sunnah said is that Shahabas are all straightforward and we love them; we respect them but we don’t say that they cannot commit sin. This is not correct; this is wrong. And this misunderstanding many of the writers has especially in the modern times.”

Speaking about his attitude to the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Dr. Al-Dubayan said “two things, their straightforwardness and our mahabbah, the appreciation and love that we have for all of them. Allah the Almighty rewards them for the things they have done for all of us; because without them, we will never be able to have the Qur’an; as we have it today; and the Sunnah as we have it today; and this clear picture that we have about the Prophet (pbuh) today.”

Shaikh Haitham Haddad
The next speaker of the First session was Shaikh Haitham Haddad who spoke on the Relationship between the Companions and the Family of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Shaikh Haitham said, “We need to understand this topic because many Muslims and Orientalist attacked the Companions by claiming that there was tension and dispute between the Companions (RA) themselves. They capitalised on the dispute that took place after Ali ibn Abu Talib (RA) between some of the Companions and the camps of Ali ibn Abu Talib and the camps of Ayesha (RA).”

Shaikh Haitham through many narrations demonstrated how much love the Companions had among themselves and how much the Companions used to love and had love for the members of the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him). “We have seen from many narrations the nature of relationship between all Companions and even in particular the respect the Companions used to show, in particular, to the family members of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Then Shaikh Haitham mentioned about some sects who focussed on the relationship between Abu Bakr (RA) and Omar al-Khattab (RA) in particular with Fatema (RA) and in particular the relationship between Abu Bakr and Ali ibn Abu Talib (RA).. Again after quoting many narrations, Shaikh Haitham said, “There are many narrations and we can go on talking about those narrations I mean the statement from the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him).”

Islam, Democracy and Modernity in Indonesia

Islam, Democracy and Modernity
In Indonesia

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Indonesia is the biggest Muslim country in the world. Around 85% of its 230 million populations are Muslims. Indonesia is also the largest economy in South East Asia. It has been widely seen as a remarkable model of democracy with its fourth largest population in the world. Its three consecutive free and fair direct presidential elections is a clear proof of that achievement. Its economy has also been deemed as showing a fast growth with many analysts considering Indonesia as one of the emerging economy powers.

An International Seminar on Indonesia’s Future Political Landscape was held at Inmarsat Conference Centre, London on 19th January. There were mainly two sessions: First on Political Islam in Muslim Countries and the West and the second session was on Challenges Facing Indonesian Political Parties. The Seminar was addressed by Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham, Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Mr. Lutfhi Hasan Ishaaq, the President of the Prosperous and Justice Party of Indonesia and Mr. Anis Matta, Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian Parliament and other Members of the Indonesian Parliament as well as other important political party figures.. ,

The international seminar was started with the issues which were addressed were: how do the people in the West and Muslim countries perceive political Islam? Is political Islam really a threat to democracy and the West? What are the achievements and contributions of political Islam to the societies in the West and in the Muslim countries?

Interview with the Deputy Speaker
Of Indonesian Parliament
Before I start reporting on the one-day conference, I had the opportunity to meet and interview Mr. Anis Matta, the Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian Parliament.

The last General Election of the Indonesian Parliament was held in 2009; 38 political parties participated in the 2009 General elections of the Indonesia Parliament and 9 political parties came out largest parties and formed the government. The Prosperous Justice party (PKS) is the number 4 in that list of winning parties. The Prosperous Justice Party has 57 members in the Indonesian Parliament of 570 members. There are five speakers in the Board of Speakers.

Mr. Anis Matta, deputy speaker said, “There are five speakers. As PKS is number four among the winning party of nine, so it has one speaker. There are eleven commissions in the Parliament. We separate the duties and responsibilities of the Board into four and each one of them is in charge of political, another in charge of economy, another in charge of social and another in charge of Finance & Budget.” Mr. Anis Matta is deputy speaker in charge of Finance & Budget.

“Megawati’s party, PDI, is now number three. They are declining now. The Golkar Party is number two but also declining. In the first elections, the Megawati party got 34%, but in the next elections 19% and in the last elections they got 14%. The Golkar Party in the first elections got 25%, in the second elections they got 20%, and in the last elections they got 14%,”mentioned Mr. Matta.

Mr. Matta has specialised in Shari’ah from the Saudi University. He has Bachelor degree in Shari’ah from the Indonesian branch of the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1992. He also completed Defence National Course. He was teaching Islamic Economics in the University of Indonesia before joining politics. He joined political party, say the Prosperous Justice Party in 1998.

Ambassador of Indonesia, Yuri Thamrin
While delivering his Opening Remarks, the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mr. Yuri Thamrin, said, “Today, Indonesia is a living proof that democracy can develop robustly in a Muslim majority country. Indonesia is a country where Islam, democracy and modernity could go hand in hand harmoniously.”

“First, the basic assumptions of those who argue that Islam and democracy are incompatible are not accurate. The progressive trajectory of democracy in the Islamic world is more influenced not by culture but more by structural and instrumentalist factors such as modernisation, industrialisation, urbanisation, education and literacy, globalisation and elite orientation,” the Ambassador mentioned.

The Indonesian Ambassador Thamrin also mentioned, “I believe that the Qur’an, the Muslim’s Holy Book, does contain basic values and principles such as justice (‘Adl), consultation (Shoura), equality (Musawah), consensus (Ijma), freedom (Al- Hurriya) and dissent in opinion (Ikhtilaf). In my view, those basic values and principles could only live well in a representative form of government and could never prosper in an authoritarian regime. How could we expect that justice will be brought about to its fullest under a tyranny? Obviously no justice would ever be possible unless we have a participatory and representative government.”

While quoting from the World Value Survey, The Ambassador mentioned, “According to World Value Survey carried out in 2008, of all 1.2 billion Moslems the world-over and including 260 million Moslems in Middle East, it turns out that the majority of citizens believe in democracy and its compatibility to Islam. The survey argues that the desire for democracy in some parts of the Moslem world has not progressed as it should, not because of culture, but more of the repressive nature of the existing political system.”

Ambassador Thamrin said, Indonesia has established itself as a democracy, so the part of Indonesia’s identity is now about democracy and moderate Islam. “From this identity, Indonesia has actively projected democratic values in its international relations such as in ASEAN as well as by taking important initiatives such as the first ever dialogue on democracy among countries in Asia known as the Bali Democracy Forum that has continued every year since December 2008.”

Mr. Jazuli Juwaini, head of PKS-
The Prosperous Justice Party of Indonesia
The keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Jazuli Juwaini, M.P. the Head of the Central Executive Board of PKS – The Prosperous Justice Party of Indonesia. In his keynote speech, Mr. Juwaini first mentioned, “Islam is the religion of peace and the mercy for the universe and it is not merely about rituals, but a comprehensive way of life: ‘Aqidah (creed), ‘Ibadah (worship), ‘akhlaq (moral), education, social and culture, law and justice, economy, politics etc. Such a comprehensive view of Islam has been widely regarded as political Islam. This topic has been a very interesting discourse since the end of the cold war, and especially when the war on terror started and led by the US in 2001 as the response to terrorist attack on the twin towers in Manhattan, New York on September the 11th 2001.”

Referring to the political Islam, Mr. Juwaini mentioned, “The implementation of Islam as a political power dated back to the early era of Islam when Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, and his companions established the Medina Society. At that time, the city of Medina was a sovereign territory governed by a gentlemen agreement between various tribes and bounded the whole population of Medina. Since then, the history has witness the rise and fall of Islamic power until the early 20th century. We surely cannot deny that for centuries Islam has enlightened and positively contributed to the advancement of many parts of the world, including the Europe.”

Mr. Juwaini said, “Our party members and functionaries consist not only Muslims from one specific school of thought, but also from other religious and diverse backgrounds. This is because for us, the most important thing to consider is one’s commitment, integrity, capacity and contribution for the good and welfare of the nation,” mentioned Mr. Juwaini.

Mr. Juwaini also said, “PKS realises the importance of making and maintaining relations and cooperation with all nations around the world, for the Qur’an teaches that men and women are created into tribes and nations so that they may get to know each other. Furthermore, most of the members of PKS are young generation and educated and open-minded people. Some of them received their higher education from UK, USA, European, Arab, China, and Japanese universities.”

Practical Celebration of the Prophet's (pbuh) Birthday

Practical celebration of the Prophet’s (pbuh)

birthday through adhering to Sunnah and Islam

Dr. Mozammel Haque

This is the month of Rabi al-Awwal, the month when Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was born in Makkah al-Mukarramah in the 7th century. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was the Last and Final Prophet sent by Allah the Almighty to this world, to the universe as the Mercy for the Mankind. The Holy Qur’an, the last revelation, was revealed by Allah the Almighty to the Prophet through archangel Jibrael. Muslims throughout the world celebrated and is celebrating his birthday. Now what is the best way to celebrate Prophet’s birthday? I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, the former President of the Jeddah-based King Abdulaziz University, the ex-Secretary General of the Makkah-based Muslim World League and presently Secretary General of the International Islamic Council for Da’wah and Relief (IICDR).

“The occasion of the birthday of the Prophet is celebrated emotionally everywhere. But the practical celebration is to follow Islam and adhere his Sunnah in our life, in all spheres of our life. We adhere to his Sunnah properly. He is not only our spiritual leader; he is our guide and he brought the light to this universe. Then we have to encourage people to come closer and closer and to strive to live his life,” said Dr. Naseef.

“But unfortunately in many Muslim countries the celebration is through the public holidays, the songs and dances,” lamented Dr. Naseef and said,” There should be love for the Prophet and what is the essence of love? If you love Prophet (peace be upon him), you have to follow him and to follow him is to adhering to Islam.”

Dr. Naseef also mentioned, “If you look for how many people are adhering to Islam; you will find very very few. That’s why; our Ummah is suffering today and very much below the life of Islam.”

Dr. Naseef prayed and hoped, “Insha Allah, I ask Allah the Almighty to guide Muslims to come closer to the banner of Islam, to the Sunnah of the Prophet and Muslims should strive hard to uplift the Ummah from its present situation. Allah is Great and He will do it Insha Allah.”

Islam and Muslim in Italy

Islam and Muslim in Italy

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini, the President and founder of COREIS (Comunita Religiosa Islamica, the Italian Islamic Religious Community) came to London on 3rd February for the launch of his book entitled “A Sufi Master’s Message: In Memoriam Rene Guenon” written by him. He has also a very tight schedule of lectures at different centres of London. The Islamic Cultural Centre & The Regent’s Park Central Mosque was honoured by his visit on Friday, the 4th of February, 2011. The Shaykh Abd al-Wahid accompanied by his son Shaykh Yahya Pallavicini prayed Jumah prayer at the London Central Mosque, Regents’ Park and then met with the Director-General of the Islamic Cultural Centre, Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan and Imam of the London Central Mosque and other members and staff of the Centre. Shaykh had a very tight schedule of lectures.

On the same day, on 4th of February, there was launching of his book entitled “A Sufi Master’s Message: In Memoriam Rene Guenon” on the 60th anniversary of the death of Rene Guenon. The City Circle organised an event entitled “Meeting Genius and Holiness. Rene Guenon and Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi” at Abrar House, London. Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid gave a lecture and spoke about his spiritual journey. St. Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London also organised a meeting in the honour of Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini at the centre on Monday, the 7th of February and the Shaykh delivered a lecture on “The Universality of Abrahamic Monotheism”. London Metropolitan University also organised a meeting in the University on Wednesday, 9th of February on the Book. The book “A Sufi Master’s Message: In Memoriam Rene Guenon” by Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini was also launched at the Islamic Cultural Centre on Thursday, the 10th of February. Shaykh Pallavicini also delivered a lecture on Interfaith.

Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini’s
conversion to Islam
Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini, as a young man, was so well-versed in Rene Guenon’s teachings that he was inspired to seek out Julius Evola, editor of the Italian translations of Guenon’s books. In 1946, in Rome, Evola understood the Shaykh’s search to be purely spiritual rather than political and pointed out in the direction of Titus Burkhardt. Evola and Burkhardt had been in correspondence before the war.

Titus Burkhardt, known by the Muslim name Ibrahim, lived in Bern and was among the first Europeans to convert to Islam because of the works of Rene Guenon. On January 7, 1951, at the age of 25, Shaykh Pallavicini came to Islam at the hands of Sidi Ibrahim himself. Sidi Ibrahim Burkhardt gave him the name Abd al-Wahid, Servant of the Only One, as a tribute to Abd al-Wahid Yahya Rene Guenon, whose writings Burkhardt could see, had inspired Shaykh Pallavicini’s conversion to Islam. Only Later did the Shaykh come to know that Rene Guenon had passed away in Cairo on the exact same day as his conversion.

This sign was clearly a reminder that the inheritance of a standard Islamic name could become associated with a spiritual legacy whereby the faithful continuation and implementation of Guenon’s work would be embodied. This was not a succession, a term which Guenon never recognised in those who arbitrarily used it, but an entrance into the current of wisdom that had guided the great French metaphysician. Hence carried along by this same current Shaykh Pallavicini entered the Alawiyah, an Islamic brotherhood with a branch in Lausanne, through one of its European representatives who had corresponded with Guenon.

Shaykh Pallavicini returned to Italy and Founded
Italian Islamic Religious community (COREIS)
Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini decided to return to Italy and bring home the blessings he received in the East. Upon his initial return Italy in the seventies and eighties was a stranger to Islam; the country had yet to experience its current level of Muslim immigration. After having been totally unknown for many years, the Shaykh’s orientation has become well received in Italy. He is the President and founder of COREIS (Comunita Religiosa Islamica, the Italian Islamic Religious Community) to spread the wisdom underlying Islamic orthodoxy to a wider audience.

Islamic Centre and
Great Mosque of Rome
During those decades Shaykh Pallavicini would meet with the ambassadors of Islamic countries for Friday prayers. Sometimes they were unable to gather even the minimum number of seven man needed to perform the ritual properly. As he worked to serve the first generation of Italian Muslims, the Shaykh contributed to the establishment of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Italy that now manages the Great Mosque of Rome.

At that time, the refined and visionary Persian Prince Abolghassem Amini was the Secretary General of the Islamic Centre and he exerted great effort in establishing the Cultural Centre and the Great Mosque of Rome. Despite being the largest in Europe, the Mosque’s ability to establish Islamic dialogue in Italy’s capital, host to the seat of the Vatican has since been diminished by power struggles and ideological influences both internal and external to the Mosque.

Shaykh Pallavicini’s Interfaith Role
The first Mosque, the only Mosque in Italy, the Great Mosque of Rome was built up and King Faisal bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia had the privilege to inaugurate the Mosque with the permission of the Italian government.

Shaykh Pallavicini has functioned as an intermediary between Christianity and Islam since 1986 when he was in Assisi as one of the members of the Muslim delegation invited by Pope John Paul II to participate in the first meeting with the representatives of the world religions. He continued to bridge the two faiths during the years he acted as an ambassador between the Mosque of Rome and the Vatican. He channelled a metaphysical quality still present in both the Muslim and Christian Orthodox communities of the East. Abiding by the teachings of Shaykh Guenon, he did not intend to bring the metaphysical message to Christianity itself – which has always had this perspective and always will – but rather to the institutional structure of Catholicism.

Universality of Abrahamic Monotheism
Speaking about his lecture on “The Universality of Abrahamic Monotheism” at the St. Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London on Monday, the 7th of February, Shaykh Pallavicini said, “Once we embrace universality, it is but a short step to the belief in one God for all mankind, a belief expressed in the Islamic statement of faith: “There is no god but Allah”. Allah denotes precisely the Oneness of God, the one whose essential message Rene Guenon has so clearly pointed out in his works.”

According to Shaykh Pallavicini, “monotheism” should not have a different meaning than that of “universality”, which etymologically refers “to the One”, the one God of Abraham. He said, “It is this Abrahamic origin that brings us closer to our Jewish brothers who did not want to close the Prophetic cycle with the coming of Prophet Moses(as), through whom the Word of God was made “Law”. Through the continuation of this “law”, we Muslims, the last to arrive, were enabled to recognize the prophetic tidings in this final cycle of time, the Qur’an. This revelation was given to us by the last of the Prophets: the ummi, literally “unlettered”, Muhammad (peace be upon him)”.

“This ‘Universalism’ the fact that we are all directed towards the One God of Abraham does not involve either syncretism or a mixture of traditional forms. Nor does it even involve relativism, because everything is effectively relative before the Absolute. Instead, ‘Universality’ requires the recognition of the equal personal dignity of a believer in any orthodox faith, which, as such, necessarily entails the recognition of the Salvific virtue of its dogmas, even though they may differ from each other,” maintained Shaykh Pallavicini.

An interview with Shaykh Pallavicini
I had the privilege and opportunity to meet Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini and his son Shaykh Yahya Pallavicini on Friday, the 4th of February, 2011 at the Novetal Hotel, near Kings Cross, London.

Speaking about Islam in Italy, Shaykh said, “We have to say first that Italy is only country in the world where Islam is not officially recognised. It may be very surprising to you; but it is true and we cannot put any blame on anybody or any religion. But the fact is that Islam was not present in Italy in the times of Frederick II. He was Emperor of Sicily. From that time I must say up to us there was no Islam in Italy. That’s why, the first mosque was the only mosque in Italy; the one in Rome where we know the King Faisal had the privilege to inaugurate the mosque with the permission of the Italian government.”

“But since then which is about 15 years ago, there was no provision to build any other mosque in Italy. Although there is 1,300,000 Muslims in Italy now. Naturally, there is not Italian, 1,300,000 immigrant Muslims. So with such a large population, there is no permission to build another mosque besides the one I mentioned, the one in Rome,” said Shaykh Pallavicini.

Project to build another Mosque in Milan
Shaykh Abd Al-Wahid Pallavicini is an Italian by birth and as an Italian by birth Muslim he thinks it is his responsibility to convince his government to recognise Islam as a religion. “As an Italian by birth, we have to press the government in a way so that Islam will be recognised. By being Italian Muslim, this is our project to build a second official mosque in Italy in Milan which is the northern Italy and where there are mainly immigrant Muslims living; where we can give them the example of the Italian Muslims as there is French Muslim, English Muslim and other Muslims all over Europe. That’s why we are struggling for the fact to establishing a mosque in Italy run by this small minority, all Italians,” said Shaykh and maintained, “We are insisting on the government to make the possibility so that Islam would be recognised as a religion possible to be al-Ameen which means universal and eternal, as it is from the time of Adam (peace be upon him) to the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Islam is not recognised as Religion in Italy
As Islam is not recognised as religion in Italy so there is no Muslim organisation or association. Speaking about the organisation or association of Muslims in Italy, Shaykh Pallavicini said, “Muslims have no influence on the government because they are mainly immigrants; they are considered to be foreigners. We are the only Muslims who are considered to be Italians. We are Italians by birth. About 50,000 Italians are native Muslims. Italian Islamic Religious Association is the organisation of the Italian Muslims. But as we don’t have status in front of the government, there is no question of having an association. It is a question of having a mosque; because Islam is a religion; it is the religion of the ONLY GOD.”

“There are many associations. Nobody has the privilege to represent Islam in Italy,” said Shaykh Pallavicini.

Shaykh Pallavicini also mentioned, “There is no prayer hall in Italy. There is only one in Rome. WE can pray at home; we can pray at apartment, but that does not mean Islam is representative to the government, particularly there is a very strong opposition by the Vatican which pretend to be the only religion of the Italians. This is a problem.”

Christians-Muslims Relationship
Speaking about the Christian-Muslim relationship, Shaykh Pallavicini said, “There is no Muslims officially in Italy. So there is no relationship. There is only one relationship which is between native Italians and immigrants. We have to make a distinction. We don’t speak about religion. We speak about nationality. So nationality is not the representative of the religion. So the people who are coming from all over the world are considered as foreigners, as immigrants and that’s the problem.”

“Islam is a religion which requires to be compared with other religions present in Italy without discrimination,” emphasized Shaykh Pallavicini.

Shaykh Pallavicini said, “We cannot ‘Christianize’ Islam, even from a methodological point of view. We cannot colour our participation in tasawwuf with a Christian ‘mystical’ attitude, such as an ascetic detachment from life and the world. Nor can we expect to build an Islamic monastic structure, even one inspired by hesychasm, since Islam has neither monasticism nor clergy.”

“True Islam allows one to live Islam’s spirit and to follow its law wherever one may be and at any given point in time, even at the end of times. Indeed, the Sunnah identifies the end of times as the period when Islam will spread to new parts of the world,” said Shaykh Pallavicini.

Rene Guenon’s conversion to Islam
Speaking about Rene Guenon’s conversion to Islam, Shaykh Pallavicini said, “Rene Guenon’s so-called conversion from Christianity to Islam should not be misunderstood as a rejection of his original religion. Instead, it should be regarded as an acceptance of Islam through which he joined what he called the Primordial Tradition (din al-qayimah) in its final expression, which incorporates all previous Revelations without opposing them.”

Shaykh Pallavicini’s Wise Words
Shaykh Pallavicini said that there is a need to reconstruct the eroded integrity of believers. “In the West, intellectuality has become intellectualism and logic has become rationalism or, worse still, psychologism; in the East, intuition has created impulsiveness and fatalism has produced fanaticism,” mentioned Shaykh Pallavicini and said, “We need an exchange in which believers, from both the West and East, learn how to regenerate the beneficial waves of their complementary attributes from the respective shores of their common sea. In this way, we Westerners will return to intelligence, regaining our divinity by reflecting upon the intellect of God. Likewise, the East will once again manifest His Light when the Easterner rediscovers his or her own innate sense of divine immanence.”

Islam and Muslims in Korea

Islam and Muslims in Korea

Dr. Mozammel Haque


Seoul: Korea: I came to Korea during November 2010 and prayed my Eid-ul-Adha prayers at the Seoul Central Mosque, Korea. Of course, I also met the Imam of the Mosque as well as the President of the Korean Muslim Federation. During Friday Jumaah prayer after the Eid, I had the opportunity of meeting with Muslim brothers of various nationalities living in Korea.

There are 40,000 Native Muslims in a total population of 42 millions living in the Korean Peninsula with some 220,000 kilometre territory extending southward from the north-eastern section of the vast Asian continent. The northern border is mainly with China but also borders on Russia to the northeast. Though Korea has been having some link with Muslims from the earliest period, Islam, as a religion reached there in very recent times.

Presence of Islam in Korea
Though modern Muslim minority community in Korea was formed after the Korean War (1950-53), the relations between Muslims and Koreans can be traced back to the 9th Century or earlier. The history of Muslim connections with Korea can be initially divided into two periods: i) ancient and ii) modern. There were three stages of Muslim relationships with the Koreans in the pre-modern period.

Firstly, according to Korean chronicle and Arab scholars, the first verifiable presence of Islam in Korea dates back to the 9th century during the period of Unified Shilla dynasty with the arrival of Persian and Arab navigators and traders. According to numerous Arab and Muslim geographers, including the 9th century Muslim Persian explorer and geographer Ibn Khurdadhbih many of them settled down permanently in Korea, establishing Muslim villages. Further suggesting a Middle Eastern Muslim community in Shilla are figurines of Royal guardians with distinctly Persian characteristics. Later, many Muslims intermarried with Korean women.

Arabs came for the first time in 1024 in Korea. According to Korean history of the Koryo Kingdom, a group of some 100 Muslims, including Hasan Raza, came to Koryo in September of the 15th year of King Hyonjong (1024) and another group of 100 Muslim merchants came the following year.

There are more detailed and interesting accounts on Muslims living in Shilla in the several writings of such scholars as Ibn Rustah, Masudi Al-Idrisi and others. There are definitive accounts of the advent of Muslims into the Korean Peninsula 150 years prior to Sino-Korean historical records. Many Arab merchants came to Korea during the 11th century on a large scale trade mission, who might have been following their own religious rites, such as praying, fasting and have pursued their own customary tradition during their stay in Korea. But there was no evidence that they resided permanently in Korea or began spreading the message of Islam in this period.

Second in line came Muslims when the Mongols controlled Korea in 1270. Many Muslims, who had wielded power in most policy-making and administrative posts under the Mongol regime, came to Korea. During Mongol rule in Korea the Mongols relied heavily on Uyghurs to help them run their vast empire because of Uighur literacy and Uighur experience in managing extending trading networks. At least two of them settled down in Korea permanently and became the progenitors of two Korean clans. During the Koryo dynasty, particularly the Yuan intervention to Koryo (1270-1368), many Muslims, mostly Central Asians, settled down permanently. They took up positions not only as officials of the Koryo court but as private traders in almost every corner of the country. They formed their own communities in the Koryo capital and celebrated their festivals and maintained their religion, Islam, too. They built a Mosque called “Ye-Kung”, whose literary meaning is a ceremonial hall.

One of those Central Asian immigrants to Korea originally came to Korea as an aide to Mongol princes who had been sent to marry King Chungnyeol. Goryeo documents say that his original name was Samga but, after he decided to make Korea his permanent home, the King bestowed on him the Korean name of Jang Sunnyong. Jang married a Korean and became the founding ancestor of the Deoksu Jang clan. His clan produced many high officials and respected Confucian scholars over the centuries. Twenty-five generations later, around 30,000 Koreans look back to Jang Sunnyong as the grandfather of their clan. They are aware that he was not a native of Korea. Many believe that he was an Arab-Muslim. However, there is no evidence of Islamic influence on Deoksu Jang family traditions.

The same is true of the descendants of another Central Asian who settled down in Korea. A Central Asian (probably a Uyghur) named Seol Son fled to Korea when the Red Turban rebellion erupted near the end of the Mongol’s Yuan dynasty. He, too, married a Korean, originating a lineage called the Gyeongju Seol that claims at least 2,000 members in Korea today but shows no special signs of Muslim influence.

The continuation of Islamic religious activities was threatened by the Royal decree in 1427 which prohibited the performance of Islamic rites and the wearing of traditional dress and headgear. The newly established Chosun dynasty (1392-1910) was no more receptive to foreign cultures, including Islam. The assimilation policy of the early 15th century virtually obliterated most of the traces of the Islamic presence in old Korea. Therefore, Muslim settlers in Korea who had secured quite high social and economic positions, shed gradually their native attire, customs and rituals to which they adhered for about 150 years.

Islam in Modern Korea
In modern history, the spread of Islam and the development of Muslim community in Korea started with the Turkish troops serving with the United Nations forces during the Korean War in early 1950s. This phase of history can be classified into three periods: the first period from 1950 to 1960, the second from 1960 to 1980 and the third from 1980 to the present.

i) During the first period (1950-1960), the Korean Muslim community appeared in 1955 with another group of Turkish Muslim soldiers who had participated in the Korean War (1950-53) under the banner of the United Nations. The Turkish soldiers, besides their duties to defend peace and freedom, propagated their religion which paved the way for the beginning of a new era for Islam in Korea.

Among these Turkish soldiers, Abdulgafur Karaismailoglu, who was an Imam of the Turkish brigade, started teaching Islam to those Koreans only who visited the Turkish army camp at first and to general publics in Korea through public lectures. From September 1955, they initiated a wide range of Islamic activities in Korea. As a result of his efforts, some Koreans gathered around him evincing keen interest in Islam. Abdullah Kim Yu-do, Umar Kim Jin-kyu, Muhammad Yoon Doo-Young were the first generation of Korean Muslims who converted to Islam inspired by the Turkish Imam Abdulgafur.

For more effective Islamic learning and teaching, new Korean converts established the Korea Islamic Society in September 1955. Almost every weekend they would invite Karaismailoglu and organize Islamic lectures in Seoul, through which many Koreans took the opportunity to learn the basic teachings of Islam. As a result, 10th June, 1955 witnessed the mass conversion to Islam by 57 Koreans at once after an impressive Islamic lecture of Karaismailoglu.

This occasion became a turning point in the spread of Islam in Korea. In April 1956, “Chung Jin Madrasa” was established in the military barracks, where secondary education and Islamic lessons were imparted to the poor children who could not enter the regular school because of economic difficulties. The Korea Muslim Society grew large enough to become the Korea Muslim Federation in 1967.

In July 1956, Karaismailoglu was replaced by a new brigade Imam named Zubeyir Koch who came to Korea just after graduation from Imam Hatip (Khatib) High School in Turkey. Building on the base laid by the previous Imam, the young Imam initiated energetic Islamic Da’wah work through mainly holding conferences and establishing personal contacts. He also succeeded in building a temporary Masjid at the big military camp in Seoul with a minaret, which is recorded as the first Masjid in Korea. In the opening ceremony of the Masjid, another 58 Koreans accepted Islam. Till the Imam’s departure in July 1957, the number of Muslims in Korea reached 208.

ii) During the second period (1960-1976) till the 1960s, the relations were mainly built with the South-East Asian countries like Malaysia and Pakistan. Particularly Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, extended generous support for building a Mosque in Seoul. Another important figure to be mentioned here is Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Jamil, the then President of the Qur’an Society of Pakistan. In 1967, the Korea Islamic Foundation was officially registered and recognized as the representative of Muslim Community in Korea.

By the middle of 1970s, Islam saw a new era of rapid expansion in Korea when economic ties with many Arab and Islamic countries became prominent and opened their doors to the Korean Muslims. Some Koreans working in Saudi Arabia converted to Islam, when they completed their term of labour and returned to Korea, they bolstered the number of indigenous Muslims. The Seoul Central Mosque and the Islamic Centre was finally built in Seoul’s Itaewon neighbourhood in 1976, which is the symbol of Korea-Arab cooperation. At the same time, as the continuation of the Korea Islamic Society, the Korea Muslim Federation has emerged as unique and legal unified body for Islamic propagation in Korea.

Mosques in Korea
There are six Masjids in Korea: Seoul Central Mosque, Pusan al-Fatah Masjid, Kwang Ju Masjid, Jeon Ju Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Masjid and Anyang Rabitah Masjid. The Seoul Central Masjid and Islamic Centre was built at the site of 1,500 sq/m which was donated by the Korean government in May, 1969 and was opened on 21st May, 1976. It was later enlarged to a three-storey building in December 1991 with financial support from Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah.

Muslim Community and
Da’wah Activities
The main Da’wah activities consist of undertaking translation and publication of Islamic literature; organizing regular Islamic seminars and conferences for non-Muslims; opening Arabic course free of charge; setting up Sunday Madrasahs for Muslim children; arranging training programme for Muslim leaders and sending students to Islamic institutes in Islamic countries.

The Korean Muslim Federation made efforts to translate and publish books on Islam. In July 1976, the series of 17 booklets were published in Korean language and distributed free of charge. “The Muslim Weekly News” and “Al-Islam” ) (bi-monthly and bi-lingual magazine were published for informing Da’wah activities of the Federation. and “Korea Islam Herald” are published and distributed in and out of Korea. “The Korea Islam Herald”, a bi-monthly and bi-lingual newspaper was first published in June, 1967. A Korean scholar also translated the Tafsir of Holy Qur’an into Korean Language.

With the economic boom in the Middle East in 1970s, many Koreans advanced to Islamic countries and became much interested in Islam there. Responding to a need of Da’wah to them, the Korea Muslim Federation established its branch and Islamic Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in March 1978 with the help of Sheikh Omar Abdullah Kamel. Regular Islamic lecture and education were given to non-Muslim Koreans in the Jeddah Islamic Centre. As a result, about 8,000 Korean workers embraced Islam up to now. In July, 1979, another branch was also established at the Zaharah camp of Samho Construction Co in Kuwait. Mr. Sulaiman Lee Haeng-Lae (Imam of Seoul Central Mosque at that time) was dispatched in order to preach Islam to Korean workers in Kuwait; as a result, about 3,000 Korean workers became Muslims up to June 1984. Indonesia branch was also opened in 1982.

Korea Muslim Federation concentrated its Da’wah activities on Islamic education and research. Seminars and lectures on Islam were frequently held at the Conference Hall of Seoul Central Masjid. These academic activities about Islam reached the summit when the International Islamic Seminar was held in August 1997 with the financial support of Rabitah al-Alam al-Islami, Makkah. More than 100 Muslim scholars including 20 foreign Muslim scholars participated in this Seminar and had a lively discussion on the subject of “Islam and East Asia – History and Cultural Harmony”. During the Seminar, the Opening Ceremony of Korea Institute of Islamic Culture (KIIC) was also held.

Prospects of Da’wah in Korea
In Korea, full freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution. It can be said that the Korean government is not so much hostile toward Korean Muslims and acknowledges their contribution to the national cause.

Much importance is accorded to education by the Korean authorities. More than 98% of total population in South Korea is literate. The establishment of 200 Universities in a country like Korea with its very limited area, points to the great zeal of the Korean community towards education.

Performing Hajj
Korean Muslims don’t neglect their duty of Hajj. Umar Kim Jin-Kayo and Sari Such Jung-Kill had carried out the Hajj for the first time in 1960 and became the first Korean Haji. Hajj delegation was organized and dispatched to Saudi Arabia every year, including 132 Muslims in 1978 and 104 in 1979.

Madrasah Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz
In October 2000, Prince Sultan ibn Abdul Aziz, the present Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia visited Seoul Central Masjid and donated 300,000 dollars for establishing Madrasah, which was opened in the Islamic Centre of Seoul Central Masjid in October 2001.

The Islamic Centre is currently giving lectures on Qur’an, Arabic and English language, plus education about Islamic spirit practice with 15 students in each lecture. The final goal is to lay the groundwork of the Islamic Education Institute in Korea by activating the ongoing Madrasah, the afternoon school.

The Korea Islamic University
Responding to an urgent need for an Islamic Educational Institution to serve the top-level Islamic Da’wah in East Asia, the plan to found the Korea Islamic College has been shaping up since the late 70’s. In May 1977, Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Mutawwa from Kuwait visited Seoul Central Masjid and proposed the establishment of a Korea Islamic College.

Furthermore, Prince Naif ibn Abdul Aziz, the then and also present Minister of Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, then Malaysian Prime Minister showed great concern on the University project with financial donation. In 1980s, Choi Kyu-Ha, the former President of Korea visited Saudi Arabia and they came to an agreement to cooperate in establishing the Korea Islamic University. The Koran government accordingly donated the site of 430,000m for Korea Islamic University, and in 1982, the 1st Joint Committee was held in which details of the agreement are reached. However, the Korea Muslim Federation is working on the project on a somewhat reduced scale for Da’wah College due to such various reasons as budget shortage.

Establishment of Muslim Cemetery
The absence of a Muslim cemetery is another difficulty faced by the Muslim community. According to the Islamic law interment is indispensable and any Muslim society should prepare his own Muslim cemetery. In Korea, most of other religious societies like Christianity had their own cemeteries. Muslim society in Korea, however, had no cemetery. The establishment of Muslim cemetery has been a long dream of Korea Muslims, but it was difficult due to financial shortage. His Excellency, Abdul Razzaq, the Qatar Ambassador to Korea showed deep concern on this question from 2002. As a result of his noble effort, Qatar government decided the financial support for the site of Muslim Cemetery in Korea. In August, 2004, Korea Muslim Federation purchased the land site of 3,800m and established Muslim Cemetery.

Korean Muslims have also established Halal butcher shop at the Seoul Islamic Centre in 1983 in order to facilitate the growing tendency for Halal food among them.

Imam of Seoul Central Mosque
The present of Imam of the Seoul Central Masjid is Abdur Rahman Lee, Ju-Hwa who embraced Islam in 1984 when he was students of physics at college and after that he went to Saudi Arabia to study, first, Arabic language and then degree in Usul-al-Deen. He had a Bachelor Degree in Usul-al-Deen from the Islamic University of Madina and now pursuing his doctoral thesis on regional studies from the Korean University. He was married in 1989 and has three children. His eldest son, who was born in Madina, Saudi Arabia, went for Hajj during November, 2010.

Conclusion
Though modern Muslim community in Korea has passed half a century since the seed of Islam was sowed in Korea about 150 thousand Muslims are walking on the path of Allah the Almighty with 9 Masjids, 4 Islamic Centres and more than 60 Musalla, under the Korea Muslim Federation, which is a unique and legal integration body for Islamic Da’wah in Korea.