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Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadr was executed on April 9th 1980, by the Ba'athist regime. The distinguished leader was a co-founder of the Islamic political movement in Iraq established in the late 1950s. In academic life, Shaheed Al-Sadr authored many publications which have forever revolutionised the teaching of various Islamic sciences in the seminaries. The AhlulBayt Islamic Mission presents 'Martyr of Islam: Shaheed Al-Sadr', on the anniversary of his martyrdom to commemorate this great beacon of light and guidance who through his life, contributions and esteem martyrdom, gave life to millions.
I know that these demands will cost me dearly, perhaps even my life, but these are not demands that could die out with a person’s death. They are the yearnings of an Ummah, the will of an Ummah, in whose psyche the spirit of Muhamad, Ali and the chosen descendants of Muhammad and his companions, and that will never die.
The AhlulBayt Islamic Mission (AIM) organised a grand Hijab Exhibition on Saturday 27th February 2010 in the James Theatre in Watford for sisters only. It was a day full of great features including inspiring talks, fashion show, bazaar, auction, prizes and dinner. With great demand, the hall packed in around 350 sisters who were delighted with the educational and entertaining features of this event.
Theologian, scientist, philosopher, jurist, a man of letters, teacher, and
religious leader: these are just a few of the terms used to describe Imam Ja'far
as-Sadiq (peace be upon him) by both historians and his contemporaries. The knowledge and teachings of Imam as-Sadiq were beyond reproach and earned him
visitors from all over the world seeking to benefit from him. The fifth and
sixth Imams were aware that during their time as representatives of Allah in the
world, there would be an influx of books by Greek and Egyptian philosophers into
the Islamic world, and alarm was raised because many Muslims began accepting
these works as truths. The intellectual awakening of the Muslim world during the
second century was not due to foreign influences as many Western textbooks
allude to; rather, it was a movement led by Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and his son
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq.
Generally speaking, the summons of all divine religions are based on the responsibility and accountability of man. The prophets and messengers of God have always declared, in the categorical manner that is peculiar to them, that in the vast world which lies before man, all of his deeds are subject to an accounting. Accordingly, they have emphatically exhorted those who have accepted their message to prepare themselves for the great event which will take place throughout creation, causing it to enter a new stage, be submitted to a new order and take on a new life. They have further commanded their followers to make use of their potentialities for growth, development and change in order to let all dimensions of their existence flourish and to prosper and attain salvation. They have warned them against doing anything which would earn them misery and wretchedness in the hereafter and cause them to burn in the fire of eternal regret. With his own hand, man sows in this life the seed of his life in the hereafter; he determines himself the fate that will be his in the next world. To express it differently, his eternal life is formed from the materials he himself provides in advance.
With the British General Elections round the corner, Muslims in Britain have to ask some long hard questions about their interactions in British society and how best to preserve an Islamic identity. The Muslim Forum challenges the status quo and asks the question: Should Muslims vote in the upcoming elections? The event featured short presentations from each panellist followed by an extensive open forum question and answer session.
March 21 marked the anniversary when the Shia world lost a pioneering personality some ten years ago in the year 2000. He was a person known for his visionary leadership and exceptional mobilization and organizational skills. To this day, his legacy and social welfare institutions that he help build continue to benefit Shias and non-Shias in India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Europe, and North America. This legendary person was Mulla AsgharAli M M Jaffer, founder of the World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Communities. His zeal for helping the community can be very aptly summarized in his famous quote, "I don't pray for His acceptance of my amaal as much as I pray for the opportunity to serve. And the day He grants me a new opportunity to serve, I believe the previous ones have been accepted. And I hope till my last breath the opportunities are there and when the Almighty calls me back, I will be able to tell my Lord, Thank You for giving me life, Thank You for giving me life."
Often it is thought that taqwa means piety and abstinence and so implies a negative attitude. In other words, it is maintained that the greater the amount of abstinence, withdrawal, and self-denial, the more perfect is one's taqwa. According to this interpretation, taqwa is a concept divorced from active life; secondly it is a negative attitude; thirdly, it means that the more severely this negative attitude is exercised, the greater one's taqwa would be. The meaning of taqwa in the Nahj al-Balaghah, however, is not synonymous with that of 'abstinence', even in its logically accepted sense discussed above. Taqwa, on the other hand, according to the Nahj al-Balaghah, is described as a spiritual condition which results in control and command over one's self. It explains that the result of subjugation to desires and lusts and being devoid of taqwa degrades one's personality making it vulnerable to the cravings of the carnal self. In such a state, man is like a helpless rider without any power and control, whom his mount takes wherever it desires. The essence of taqwa lies in possessing a spiritual personality endowed with will-power, and possessing mastery over the domain of one's self.
If young British Muslims had any doubts that they are singled out for special treatment in the land of their birth, the punishments being meted out to those who took part in last year's London demonstrations against Israel's war on Gaza will have dispelled them. The protests near the Israeli embassy at the height of the onslaught were angry: bottles and stones were thrown, a Starbucks was trashed and the police employed unusually violent tactics, even by the standards of other recent confrontations, such as the G20 protests. But a year later, it turns out that it's the sentences that are truly exceptional. Of 119 people arrested, 78 have been charged, all but two of them young Muslims (most between the ages of 16 and 19), according to Manchester University's Joanna Gilmore, even though such figures in no way reflect the mix of those who took part. In the past few weeks, 15 have been convicted, mostly of violent disorder, and jailed for between eight months and two-and-a-half years – having switched to guilty pleas to avoid heavier terms. Another nine are up to be sentenced tomorrow.
