Humanity & Religion

All too often Ive been reading about humanity being above religion or that being a good person doesn't depend on religion, etc etc and I'm stumped! How can a Muslim make/agree with these statements. If one does, then it can be said they are not aware of the tenets of Islam. The majority of our deen is based on principles of humanity and justice and standing up for whats right even if that means going against your brother. Also maybe people aren't aware of the meaning of humanity. Here is what Wikipedia says:

The virtue, humanity, is a set of strengths focused on “tending and befriending others.”The three strengths associated with humanity are love, kindness, and social intelligence. Humanity differs from justice in that there is a level of altruism towards individuals included in humanity more so than the fairness found in justice.That is, humanity, and the acts of love, altruism, and social intelligence are typically person to person strengths while fairness is generally expanded to all.

So actually humanity is an incomplete concept as far as our deen is concerned and Islam actually goes one step ahead of this virtue to establish and serve justice. Allahu Akbar. A Muslim cannot be separated from his deen in any sphere of his life and hence claiming that humanity is above religion actually puts you in a very dangerous spot as a believer. The Lord who created us, chose this way of life for us and in it you will find such whole principles of community that empty statements like the above wont hold any water.

Ok. Rant over!

When West met East :)

I've just come back from a vacation to the UAE and Pakistan. This was my first time back with the niqab.... yeah I KNOW! Alhamdolillah, it went well and I live to tell the story :) Both these places were once home to me and its strange how once familiar faces and places seem inhospitable... or maybe it was the niqab! On the flip side, there were some close friendships which grew closer and this time for the sake of Allah SWT. But this writeup is not about that part of my trip, rather about the differences I found between practicing Muslims living in a "Muslim" land vs a non-muslim land. The main difference is that here we are trying to save our Iman from a largely non-muslim environment. Thats how we are raising our kids too and hence we limit exposure to TV (watching the content closely) and make sure we spend time with them and know who their friends are (and their mums!). We are close-knit with the Muslim community at large, trying to instill values from the Sunnah of brotherhood and avoiding gheebah. We are working hard to get ourselves and our kids an Islamic education so they know their roots. We read labels like no-ones business so that we may eat halal. Alot of us are involved in youth counselling and da'wah work. We try to be responsible citizens as we consider ourselves ambassadors of our deen; to the extent that we dont steal parking-spots and wait in lines PATIENTLY!
Initially, I was a little taken aback when i found these elements almost missing from people there. Soon however, i understood that these were not their concerns. Living in a Muslim land, even if only in name - their Iman is being nurtured by the environment and hence their concerns are focussed on the tiny kinks like should we listen to nasheed, or that scholar is only "mostly" right hence we should avoid him, or you must cover properly or else! Granted, all these are valid but it seemed very authoritarian to me till I understood that this is the difference between living here and there. They can focus on gaining knowledge and have many avenues to spreading it; their kids already have Muslim friends, they just need to see what kind of Muslims, there is plenty of halal entertainment hence avoiding nasheeds is not a big deal; they dont need big Islamic conferences as the work is being done on a state level and Islamic congregations are held at many places. They have the luxury to focus on micro issues. Alhamdolillah! both serve to strengthen our Iman and not only that, I also understood how Allah SWT has split our work. How merciful He is!
Mainly, I'd like to address my friends and family on both ends of the world to try and find common ground as our circumstances are different but our motive is one - to please Allah SWT. We should avoid pinpointing mistakes in lives in these different parts of the world and try to live in piety wherever we are as all land belongs to Allah. We must appreciate our differences and challenges and try to adapt to situations we are placed in. It was the will of Allah SWT and we must adhere. Inshallah!

Can i do Da'wah?

I know I'm not a good muslim, I do not pray as much or as well as I should, my ikhlaq (character) has a long way to go to reach the level required for a mo'min, i do not have enough knowledge (what is that, anyway), i sin often and do not ask forgiveness often enough... i know i'm not a good muslim. How can i do da'wah? thats for the good people to do.
I have heard many revert stories (they are so interesting and an eman rush too), mostly i noticed how they were led to Islam through their own intellect and the search for truth or were influenced by some "good" muslims. Recently though, i have been exposed to a whole new kind - reverts who were led to Islam by totally non-practicing muslims. Now is that something those muslims should be proud of, not necessarily because when Allah decides to guide someone, He will. SubhanAllah! But it got me thinking, those muslims probably dont even know they influenced someone so much. I probably dont know how i influence people either. I can only wish, someone - even one person has been led to the right path through me. But i dont know, and im not doing it consciously so i will never know.
Coming back to the first question. How can i do da'wah? I can, because its in my fitrah to leave an impression upon people - through the light of Islam thats in my heart. I just need to be aware that i am in that position, where people around me could be seeking peace or truth and find it through an action or word of mine.
I dont know if this write up is cohesive. But i just pieced together the ayah where Allah says He has raised up this Ummah "for" the people (which necessitates enjoining in good and forbidding evil.) with these revert stories because even in our ignorant stupor, we are innately leading people to the truth. However, to reap real results and actual reward, we need to be aware of this influence.

كُنتُمۡ خَيۡرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنڪَرِ
Surah Aal Imran Verse 110 

Pls do comment and let me know if this made sense, or you got what i was trying to explain. JazakAllahu Khairan

Push yourself

This one's more for me than you, honestly. I just read something - if you are working for islam and you are burning out then something is wrong with your intention! SubhanAllah. I'm still trying to educate myself but i know this is the path of Allah and in it I cannot burnout. When you think, this is it, thats enough on my plate - PUSH YOURSELF! Inshallah you will surprise yourself. That being said, you need to surround yourself with people who can build you up emotionally. If that core group is not immediately available, then work on yourself to keep out the negativity that may surround you.
We are instructed to look up to people higher than us in taqwa. If you know such people, they will always push you to do more, to test your limits. Laa yukallifullaha nafsan illa wus'aha (2:286) - look it up for translation. :)
You and i will only short change ourselves when determining our limits but not Allah, who created us.

"News"

We all have read articles in the papers under the guise of "news" which are aimed solely at defaming islam or its many scholars. It has boiled our blood, and has us ranting - albeit to each other. We have been told repeatedly by scholars that we need to respond, they need to know our point of view. For that, most papers require a simple login.
Today i'm suggesting to all my muslim friends, around the world to sign up at the websites of your local paper (if its reqd). Whenever there is an article you need to respond to, your id will be ready and shaytan will fail in making us lazy about doing it Inshallah!
I have created my id at thestar.com. would like to hear back from you on papers you know where we could sign up. Other sources www.dawn.com, www.gulfnews.com, www.khaleejtimes.com