Ittihaadeeth v2-i2 Cos

7/24/2019 Ittihaadeeth v2-i2 Cos

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contents

Interview with Instructor3 There is No Sleeping in

Muhammad Alshareef's Class!

Reflections4 The Big Picture5 Simply Something Else

Articles5 Fatwa Shopping

8 Got a Minute?

Cover Story6 Standing Under One Shade

Fiction9 What's All the Hype About

AlMaghrib?

Arts & Entertainment10 What Am I?

10 A Scholar's Quest

10 Recommended Resources

11 Gems

c r e d i t sE d i t o r - i n - C h i e f : Iman Kouvalis

A s s i s t a n t : Marium Hussain

E d i t o r s :Ghazala Choudhary, Arij Elmi,

Sarah Mushtaq

L a y o u t D e s i g n e r :Iman Kouvalis

F r o n t a n d B a c k C o v e r :Ala Fahmy

I l l u s t r a t o r :Amna Fiaz

W r i t i n g C o a c h :Aishah Douglas

W r i t e r s :Ayesha Alvi, Sarrah Buageila,

Sana Chaker, Ghazala Choudhary,

Aishah Douglas, Hanaa Elmi

Amr ibn Muhammed Gharib,

Ola Alhasan, Haroon Malik,

Jasmin Malik, Thana Numan,

Bisma Parvez, Mariam Raza,

Asma Youssuf

By Haroon Malik, Ameer

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu,

Alhamdulilah, The Code

of Scholars: Usool Al-

Fiqhcould not have been as

successful as it was with-

out all the volunteers that

helped along with all of you

who attended. Alhamdulil-

lah, Qabeelat Ittihaad is greatly

appreciated by Muhammad

Alshareef for our excellent hospitality,

and insha' Allah we should keep thatup.

Soon enough insha' Allah we will behosting a promotional event for our

upcoming class. For those of you who

have not gotten the chance to attend an

AlMaghrib Institute class, I encourage

you to have a look out for our promo,and attend it to meet up with Sheikh

Mohamed Ibn Faqih, and be enlight-

ened by his knowledge masha' Allah.

By Sarrah Buageila, Ameerah

Insha' Allah everyone is still reaping

the benefits from our last class;

however, it is now time to look

forward to our future activities. First, I

would like to welcome you all to our

next class, Route 114: Sciences of theQur'an, taught by Sheikh Mohamed

Ibn Faqih. Insha' Allah this class will

be held at the University of Michigan

Dearborn, June 9-11 and 16-18.

Registration is already available at:http://www.almaghrib.org/enroll.php.

Dont wait until the last minute; I have

a feeling this class will quickly fill up.

With much needed topic, a great in-

structor, wonderful location and Qa-beelat Ittihaads awesome hospitality

there is no reason not to attend!

With that in mind, our qabeelah is still

in the process of making ourselves

known in SE Michigan and Windsoris still crucial for us all to work toget

in spreading our experiences to oth

Can you even remember your life bef

AlMaghrib? How has AlMaghrib mad

difference in your life? Keep th

things in mind when telling other peo

about who we are and what exactly

do. AlMaghrib is more than just a lea

ing experience; it is a life chang

experience.

What better way to introduce peopleAlMaghrib than to invite them to

Qabeelah event? Insha' Allah we w

have events for brothers and sisters

keep the sisterhood and brotherhalive between classes and to give

communities a chance to get to know

Visit the forums for information

future events and to suggest possibili

of your own.

Finally, Qabeelat Ittihaad would not

will not exist without YOU! If you

interested in helping out, whether ivolunteering for a task or just pass

along an idea, please let us know. Y

may email me:

Sr. Sarrah Buageila

[email protected]

or Br. Haroon Malik:

[email protected].

a note from


3/11

There's nosleepingin Muhammad

Alshareef's class!

By Thana Numan, Illustration by Amna Fiaz

An Interview with

Sheikh Muhammad Alshareef

We realize the great difference we can

make even as individuals when we

look at teachers such as Muhammad

Alshareef, who is the founder of

AlMaghrib Institute.

He has successfully motivated hun-

dreds of students to appreciate and

understand the importance of know-

ledge in Islam, and to convey the

knowledge to others.

Q.What motivated you to startAlMaghrib and did you everimagine it would come thisfar?

Knowledge of our deen should not

stay with one person, but should al-ways be conveyed to others, which I

always wanted to do first through a

night school and eventually started

AlMaghrib instead. AlMaghrib has

not come as far as I wanted it to. I

envision bigger and better goals for

AlMaghrib, like opening classes in

fifteen countries around the world with

the best Islamic degree available for

working Muslims who do not have to

stop their jobs.

Q.What was the hardest part

of establishing AlMaghrib in-

stitute?

Getting the Muslims to honor studying

Islam and convincing them that it isthe best thing they could do in their

life was the hardest part. Knowledge

of Islam is often taken for granted

because of culture and society.

Q. Is this thelast time TheCode of theScholarsClass will betaught? Why?

The Code of the

Scholars class was the

second class that AlMaghrib

started and I would rather teach some of

the newer classes that are on the cur-

riculum to the cities that havent had

them yet. The older classes will be re-

produced again after all of the classeshave been taught.

Q.Tell us a little bit about yourside business and how youstarted it?

I have always had an enjoyment to help

people to do something great and my

Peek Performance business helps peoplethat want to accomplish a project goal

that would take a longer period of time,

and I would help them with the drive andmotivation to accomplish it in a much

shorter period of time.

Q.What are your best memories

from studying in Saudi Arabia?

Memories of itikaaf at the kabah aresome of the best memories I have

because of the intimate feeling with the

surroundings of the kabah. This is an

experience that I wish everyone could

have a chance to do. Other g

memories I have are the opportunity

visit Masjid Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem w

some of my classmates.

Q.Do you have any recommendresources for the student knowledge?

The student of knowledge should

orize the Qur'an, because its benefits

person are fundamental.

Q.What did you enjoy most abQabeelat Ittihaad and what you think they should impro

on?

Qabeelat Ittihaad is the second strong

qabeelah in Canada so far. I feel

brother/sisterhood between the stude

and that they have worked very hard.

a teacher I feel blessed to teach a clas

Windsor, but the students sho

also stop sleeping in class, beco

more studious, and not fall i

stagnation.


4/11

Wow! Masha Allah. Windsor,

we did it! Successfully host-

ing our second Windsor based

AlMaghrib class is definitely

something to be proud of.

Countdown for Route 114has already begun. But wait

Im getting ahead of my-

self. Its what my grandma

says our generation is knownfor. We zoom through things

without getting the full value

of what we experience. So

what did I really get out of

this class? I cant even beginto explain how awesome the

class was. It was like dj vu

of the eman rush that Iexperienced from the History

of Khulafaa' class all overagain.

This time around, it beingonly my second class, I

learned many issues that in

my mind were only a light

haze and once the fog had

cleared there stood Mu-

hammad Alshareef saying,

Wheres your proof! I

gained a deeper understanding

of the 5 Ws of Islamic

lawmaking. I have left this

class with a greater gratitude

for what all the people involved in analyzing and

explaining what Allah (swt)

expects from us and how

each day we fall short

because we never really fully understood. I

learned about bind-

ing commands, law-

makers, cash and

credit fard in a new

context and how

the laws are

enacted for

humankind.

Now ask me

what I really

learned. Thisexperience was like

taking off my rose-colored

glasses and taking a closer

look at the big picture. The

big picture to me is that it is

our responsibility to seek

knowledge wherever it is. We

must step outside our comfort

zones and areas of expertise

and learn things that will

insha' Allah benefit us in this

life and in the next. Its likemy grandpa says that ideas are

things we can all learn but

they dont do people any good

when their still in their headsand dont ever reach their

finger tips.

I want to thank everyone who

made this experience an extra

awesome one for me. Yes,

that means you cheese people

and those of you who helpedme out during the grueling

brothers versus sisters com-

petition and those of you who

made me feel at home once

again, ignoring my loud andsarcastic ways. Also, those of

you who made those awesome

snack packs they were

ingenious. Thank you to

everyone new that I met. Oh,one more thing: always

choose the banana.

By Hanaa Elmi

R

eflection

:The

Bi

Picture

reflection


5/11

FATWA

S h o p p i n g

"Why should I grow my beard? Shaykh says that you don't haveto." "But Imam Abu Haneefah said that women can show what isbeneath their ankles." Sound familiar? It's called "fatwashopping".

A shopping fad, very popular among

Muslims, is not online shopping or

window shopping, but fatwa

shopping! This is when one asks

advice from a variety of imams and

chooses the interpretation of shariah

one likes best. This illustrates the

challenges faced by all Muslims in

the West as we try to practice theteachings of the Qur'an and follow

the sunnah of the prophet (saw).

Muslims who do go "fatwa shop-

ping" have already made a decision

and are looking for something that

supports their opinion.

A fatwa is a legal opinion upon a

matter and should only be issued by

someone who is qualified to do so.

One who issues a fatwa is called a

"mufti". A fatwa that reaches con-

sensus by all of thescholars, ijma'a car-

ries more weight as

a legal opinion to

be followed. Islam

has no central au-

thority such as a

pope, though there

is some hierarchy

the difference being

that the layman has

access to scholarly

proof. The firstscholar you ask

should be qualified

and should under-

stand your circumstance.

Choosing a fatwa to follow because

one likes it, rather than looking at

the evidences is very dangerous.

Imam anNawawi said, The mufti in

delivering fatwa of two views,

doesnt have the right to choose a

view that appeals to him withoutresearch, but he should choose the

preferable one. The questioner has

the same obligations of the mufti: he

cannot choose an interpretation.

Fatwa is a sensitive issue and has a

high status in Islam. So the next

time you hear someone ask for a

second opinion because he/she is not

satisfied with the fatwa that was

given to them, direct them to the

nearest supermarket.

By Asma Youssuf

Mufti qualities He should have a good intention.

He should be knowledgeable, forbearing, dignified and calm.

He should have a strong grasp of knowledge.

He should have a strong personality and not be affected by criticism.

He should know what people are like.

*Formulated by Imam Ahmed

Simply

Something Else

So it is finally over: Usool Al-Fiqh. Thirt

hours of instruction condensed into si

days, and what do I have to show for itPerhaps a spiral notebook with scribbles i

the spaces in between the print. Perhaps

couple of new numbers to take up spac

in my phonebook. But perhaps the mo

valuable thing that I have gained can no

be seen, smelled, or touched, only tasted

the sweetness of which is unparalleled

Not only gaining the knowledge but als

gaining the friendships and the experience

that will last a lifetime, insha' Allah, wa

for many simply "something else".

For myself, however, these past twweekends have been more than just th

usual eman rush felt at an AlMaghrib clas

These past two weekends (and the days i

between) have been an opportunity texperience AlMaghrib outside of New Jer

sey, the site of my only AlMaghrib en

counters. Subhan Allah, I never though

that I'd say this but I actually could se

myself living outside of New Jersey. Thhospitality, warm brotherhood, and relaxe

atmosphere really impressed me. Man

times throughout the class I couldn't helbut smile at the little things that they woul

do such as the rabbits we had for dinnethe lunch bags that the sisters made fo

everyone, or the cheese (you really can

beat the cheese).

Experiencing Usool Al-Fiqh in Qabeela

Ittihaad was a very rewarding experience

walhamdulillah. It taught me many lesson

such as sabr (with the border patrols), thvalue of knowledge, and of course th

ruling on eating a banana.I feel like I have left a part of me i

each and every one of the hearts of th

brothers I have met and shared th

experience with. It is going to b

hard to go back to the mundane activitie

which constitute my daily life. May Alla

help us all to manifest and exemplify wh

we have learned in class these past day

Ameen.

By Amr ibn Muhammed Gharib,Durbah


6/11


7/11

Got a Minute?Got a Minute?Got a Minute?Got a Minute?Why do women have to cover

themselves in your religion? Why is the

distribution of inheritance not equal

between men and women in Islam?

Why are men one degree higher than

women? What is the status of women inIslam?

Dawah to Non-Muslims

These are commonly asked questions weas Muslims are faced with and it usually

catapults the starting points of our dawah

efforts. Unfortunately by the time we

are through answering these questions

we have accomplished nothing more

than tojust answer these questions. Wehave not brought them that much closer

to the message of Islam, the message of

tawheed. This is because in a limited

amount of time we cant possibly discuss

all the complex peripheral issues and be

completely successful. Sheikh YasirQadhi once mentioned that as long as

they (non-Muslim) devise the scale, our

dawah attempts would have a minimal

chance of success. So how does one

give dawah in a limited amount of time?What we have to do is devise our own

scale and give dawah according to that.

Muhammad Alshareef mentioned in a

previous AlMaghrib class a useful

technique. When one is faced with anyone of those types of questions, he or she

should say, In order for me to explain

that, I have to explain Islam to you. Got

a minute? In reality what this does is

tip the scale in your favor and opens up

the doors to starting with tawheed.

When you have firmly established the

oneness of Allah (swt) and Him being

the Lawgiver and made that the focus of

your conversation, you can then go back

and explain the oft-repeated questions.

But do we really know the answer

the questions that are posed to us? we know why a woman must w

hijab or why the inheritance laws

different for men and women? Th

exact questions are one of m

reasons it is imperative to understUsool Al-Fiqh.

Dawah to Muslims

Whether Muslim or non-Muslim,

all need one form of guidance

another. With non-Muslims the ke

to bring attention to tawheed and hereafter, but what about the Mus

who knows tawheed and about

hereafter but is confused about

different rulings? The key to clear

up the confusion is to attemptunderstand the principles of fiqh. T

sciences of Usool Al-Fiqh attempt

explain to us the who, what, wh

when, and why. Armed with

knowledge we can than begin to repour ummah one word, one step,

one person at a time. We as a nat

are too quick to jump to giv

prescription fatwas a one size fits

type of mentality. Based on cerprinciples, the scholars of the past

present are able to extract ruli

according to case-by-case situatio

Ibn Abu Hassan said about ImMaalik, Once, Maalik was astwenty-two juristic questions, yet

did not answer more than

questions of them, saying every n

and then, There is neither might

power except with Allah."

His reluctance to answer the ot

questions had to do with him want

to be absolutely certain that what

said was correct and he did not wan

be held accountable for any misguance. It is such a stark contrast b

ween people like us and the gr

Imams.

What a grand eye opening and enligening experience it was to find out

we know the equivalent of a dust s

in the grand spectrum of Isla

knowledge. In the words of our

cher Muhammad Alshareef, if theranything he wanted us to leave with

was Allahu talaa aalam!

By Aishah Douglas and Jasmin Malik


8/11

What's All theHypeAbout AlMaghrib?

By Bisma Parvez

It was Friday afternoon and Aisha was

lying down on her bed, legs waving in

the air, reading The Da Vinci Code.She was so excited because she finally

got her hands on the novel just that

morning. The second she turned to the

first page, her sister, Zaina, came

barging in her room. Where is your

dark green hijab? I can't find it

anywhere, she exclaimed.

You should probably ask me if you

can wear my hijab before you start

looking for it, Aisha answered

annoyed by the disruption and the fact

that Zaina just assumed that she

would let her borrow it. Zaina simply

ignored Aisha and began to look

through her closet until she finally

found it.

Hey! Why aren't you dressedyet? The class starts in an hour,

Zaina nagged at Aisha.

What class?

AlMaghrib. I'm sure it will be

fun, Insha' Allah.

Why do you always assume things?

This is my reading weekend. You can go

by yourself.

It's free today so just come to check

it out. That's what I'm doing. And

anyway, Mom said that you have to go orshe'll yell at you.

Ugh! Well I don't even like

AlMaghrib! Why should I waste two of

my precious weekends sitting in somedumb class when I can be sleeping in? It's

going to be a shoot-me-in-the-faceboring

class. I am not going!

***

An hour later, Aisha and Zaina

were sitting in class while the teacher

was introducing himself. I cannot

believe I got sucked into this, Aishathought. She pulled out her novel and

decided that she might as well start

reading and zone out of the class.

As soon as she pulled it out, the

entire class started laughing.

Aisha looked around and asked

her friend why everyone waslaughing.

Muhammad Alshareef just

told the funniest joke! Masha

Allah, our teacher is so funny. I lo

this class already, Summaya replied

Woah! I can't believe th

Summaya is laughing. She never fin

anything funny. I guess I could p

attention for a while. If Summaya lik

the class then it can't be that bad.

So for the rest of the class Ais

paid attention. She was quite inte

ested in what her teacher was sayinand she even took notes. The best pa

was that the teacher did not ma

them sit and write notes for thr

straight hours. He gave the class a

minute break every hour and

was really fun. The student

discussed the class and Aisha g

to meet so many new peopWhen class was over, everyon

was walking out and signing u

for the class. Zaina came runnin

behind Aisha.

Are you going to sign up?

really liked it.

Aisha did not want to admit th

she liked the class since she had sa

so many bad comments about it in t

first place. She felt bad for havin

such an ignorant opinion. She did nknow anything about the class, nev

attended one, and did not even list

to what other people had to say abo

it. She simply made judgmen

Alhamdulilah, her mother and sist

practically forced her to take the cla

because she ended up really enjoyin

it and learning a lot of things sh

would have never known otherwise.

Well if you're going to ke

nagging me about it, I guess I mig

as well take it, Aisha replied sneakias she walked off to the sign up tabl

fictio


9/11

1. Facilitation and ease.

2. It is a word that is neither limited nor qualified in itsapplication.

3.

To connect two things by enacting one of them tobe a cause, condition or hindrance to the realization ofthe other.

4. An attribute that is evident and constant (meaningit can be measured), which the Lawgiver has taggedas the indicator to a hukm is such a way that itspresence necessitates the presence of the hukm andits absence means that the hukm is also absent. (Thecause).

5. An act or an attribute whose presence eithernullifies the hukm or the cause of the hukm.

6. The condition is separate from the action.(The condition).

7. The ruling applies directly and unmistakably to thekhaas, so as long as there is no other interpretation.

8. Does not apply to certain parts that would havenormally been encompassed in the general statement.

9. To do it immediately. (Cash fard)

10. You can do it later. (Credit fard)

W h a t A m I ?W h a t A m I ?W h a t A m I ?W h a t A m I ?

BBBBTdipmbsTdipmbsTdipmbsTdipmbs'ttttRvRvRvRv

He walked in search of the truth.His feet were in pain,

His body ached.Sweat trickled down his face.

His mouth was dry.

But, his heart longed for knowledgHe was a student and would only be sa

with true wisdom of his deen.He walked for miles

before finally arriving at his destinati

He sat down, in front of his teachervery respectful of him

and the knowledge he was about to recListening to every word,and each sound uttered;his thirst was satiated.

He wrote down each wordwith his pen

the tool that captured the words forevListening so attentively,

he did not dare interrupt his teachers spkeeping his inquiries to himself until th

He would not decide when the lesson was His teacher would.

If it ended soon, he would yearn for mIf it ended later, he would be eternally th

for the opportunity to have learnt.After the lesson, he kissed his teachers ha

gratitude.With that, he made his way home

He would return again tomorrow to studyif Allah willed.

He made this excursion every dayuntil his teacher was satisfied.

After gaining this knowledge,he humbles himself before his Lord

Tears roll down his face.He knows nothing-

a realization that comes with every ounknowledge gained.

People ask him questions.But he is afraid-

afraid to be held accountableif he speaks ignorantly.

Even more-he is terrifiedat the thought of pride entering his he

His lips part to speak.The most precious words to leave his mouAllahu taala Alim Allah knows

Recommen

ded

Resource

s

By Ayesha Alvi

By Sana Chaker

By Ghazala Choud

Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, by MohammadHashim KamaliThis is the first book on Islamic Law (Usool Al-Fiqh)available in English. This volume is concerned with theway in which the laws of Islam are derived from theQur'an and the sunnah. It is written as a universitytextbook. Its clarity and readability make it an essentialreference work for students of Islamic law.

Al-Waadih Fee Usool Al-Fiqh for Beginners,

by Mohammed Soleiman Abdullah Al-Ashqar

This book, written in Arabic, offers the detailed principles ofUsool Al-Fiqh and their implications. Furthermore, it

contains sample cases and problems for students, making itan excellent review tool for the Usool Al-Fiqh class.

Al-Shafiis Risala, by Majid Khadduri

Written in the year 204 Hijree (820 CE) by Imam Al-Shafiee, this book outlines the principles by which scholars

can come to their conclusions about Islamic cases. This wasthe first book to gather all of these principles in a singlevolume. For those wishing to gain tremendous knowledgeon the subject of Usool Al-Fiqh, reading this translation of

Arabic book is an optimal way to start.

Mix and Match

Maani'

AlMutlaq

Aam Ruling

Khaas Ruling

Rukhsah

Hukm Wadee

Fard fil Adaa

Fard fi Dhimmah

Sabab

Shart

rts & entertainment


10/11


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Ittihaadeeth v2-i2 Cos