Happy Birthday Jesus!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Anna was a righteous woman married to Imran, a great man from the children of Israel. Almighty Allah has blessed and chosen the House of Imran as He did for Adam, Noah and the House of Abraham above all people.

Anna was barren and she wished so much to have children of her own. So one time she vowed that if she ever got pregnant, she would put the child in the service of the Temple of Jerusalem. Soon after her prayer, Allah listened to her and miraculously allowed her to conceive. When she first felt that, she turned to Allah and prayed:

“Oh my Lord! I have dedicated to you what is in my womb for your special service. So accept this from me! For you hear and know all things.”

A few months later she delivered her child and to her surprise it was a girl. She turned to Allah and said:

“Oh my Lord! Behold! I have delivered a girl (and Allah knew very well what she had delivered). And the male is not like the female. As it is I have named her Mary and I commend her and her offspring to Your protection from Satan the rejected.”

Anna wanted a boy to put him to the service of the Temple. It was hard work that was customarily done by men. But she ended up having a girl. Of course she did not know then that this same girl was going to be the mother of a great messenger of Allah, one of the five most important messengers of all times.

Mary grew up healthy and strong. Then after the death of her father, Mary was placed in the care of her relative, Zachariah, an important priest in the Temple in Jerusalem and a prophet of Allah himself.

Mary withdrew from her family and her people to a private place in the Temple and she screened herself from them for prayer and devotion. It is in this state of purity and devotion that, one day, God sent her Angel Gabriel in the shape of a man. She was terrified and cried, “I seek refuge from you to Allah Most Gracious. Don’t come near if you fear Allah”.

Gabriel, comforting her, said, “No, I am only a messenger from your Lord to announce to you the gift of a pure son.” Then he added “Oh Mary! Allah has chosen you and purified you. He has chosen you above the women of all nations”. Gabriel then explained to her what kind of a son she was going to have. “Oh Mary! Allah gives you good news of a word from Him. His name will be Messiah Isa (Christ Jesus), the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and in the Hereafter and in the company of those nearest to Allah.”

Mary, in disbelieve, wondered “How will I have a son, seeing that no man has ever touched me?” Gabriel replied “So it will be, your Lord says, ‘It is easy for me and We wish to appoint him a sign for men and a mercy from Us’. It is a matter so decreed.”

She miraculously conceived him and tried to hide the pregnancy from her family. Later she decided to run away. She went to Bethlehem, 6 miles south of Jerusalem. The pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree.

Virgin Mary was alone, scared, anguished.  She gave birth to a remarkable baby, Jesus. Realizing what had happened to her she cried, “I wish I had died before this and been a thing forgotten.”

Virgin Mary was certain of her innocence and was assured by Gabriel that she would be giving birth to a great man, one of the greatest of all times. She should have been very happy and excited, so why did she wish she was dead and forgotten? She was certainly weak to face her people and she must have thought that she will be accused of adultery by some; others, if they believed her story, might end up worshipping her and or her son. 

We should remember too, the difficulty for a woman to give birth alone, her first experience with labor.  A story from hadith gives us some perspective on the difficulty of labor.  A man carried his old mother around the Ka’ba for hajj and thought that he paid her back for all that she’s done for him and that he did not owe her anything. He came and proudly told Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, what he did for his mother and asked him if he paid her back. The prophet looked at him and said not even for one of the labor pains.

So Mary had just been through a very difficult ordeal of labor alone and fearful of her future.  Baby Jesus cried to his mom “Don’t grieve, your Lord had provided a stream near you. And shake the trunk of the palm-tree; it will let fall fresh ripe dates for you. So eat and drink and cool your eyes.”

Obviously Mary was very tired after her first experience with labor and yet she was asked to shake the palm-tree to get the dates! Isn’t this shaking almost impossible to cause dates to fall?  After all of these miracles that happened to Mary, Allah could’ve made an extra small miracle to cause the dates to fall for her without her efforts! In fact Allah wants to teach us an important lesson in life. It is as if Allah is saying to you ‘My servant, you start the work and I will help you finish it.’

Shortly after birth, baby Jesus and Virgin Mary headed back home. On the way home, Baby Jesus instructed his mom, “If you see anyone, just say I have vowed a fast to Allah, Most Gracious and this day I will not talk to anybody”.

At length, she brought the baby to her people. Not surprisingly, they accused her, “Oh Mary! This is a horrible sin that you have committed. Shame on you, you are a descendent of Aaron; neither your father was a man of evil nor your mother an immoral woman”. As instructed, she pointed to the baby, as if to say talk to him. They angrily said, “How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?”

Baby Jesus then spoke in defense of his mom, saying,

“I’m indeed a servant of God.

 He has given me a revelation and made me a prophet.

 He has made me blessed wherever I may be.

 He has enjoined on me prayer and the giving of charity as long as I live.

And He has made me kind to my mother, Mary, and not arrogant or miserable”.

Then he concluded with these beautiful words:

              “So peace is on me the day I was born,

                      the day that I will die and

                        the day that I shall be raised up to life again”.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

[Quotes in this story are from the Quran, Surahs House of Imran and Mariam.]

My name is Bobby-A journey to Islam

My name is Bobby!

A journey to Islam

 "Takbeer!,” someone sitting next to me on the floor of the mosque shouted. It was so loud that I nearly jumped off the floor.

Everybody in the mosque and I happily yelled in unison "Allahuakbar" (God is the greatest)

"Takbeer," a second person shouted louder from behind me.

"Allahuakbar," we all repeated.

Then a third brother screamed even more loudly, for the third time "Takbeer" 

We all loudly repeated "Allahuakbar."   

Several months ago, over Thanksgiving break, my wife and I went to visit her family in San Francisco California. One evening there, after dinner my brother-in-law, Hassan, took us all to the local mosque for Isha (night) prayer and a short halaqa (study circle). Right before leading the prayer, Imam Abdullah asked us to stay after the prayer to witness Bobby taking the shahada (declaration of faith).

They started with the traditional 3 "takabeers", to celebrate the conversion of Bobby to Islam.  Of course, the isolated sisters, at a back room packed with screaming-at-each-other and running-everywhere children, participated in this happy moment, (as my wife told me later that night). At this mosque, I was told that the sisters were only allowed to hear what was happening at the brothers’ side through the use of modern technology. Although they could see through one-way glass, they could not be seen or heard.

 During the prayer, two little boys - escapees from the sisters’ back room, were chasing each other, yelling, and giggling and having fun. One of them would shout, “On your mark, get set, go” and they raced across the mosque. They were certainly disturbing our “khushou’” (spiritual concentration). As I was in my prostration posture, I was making plans to protect my head if I heard these boys charging in my direction.

 As soon as the prayer leader, Imam Abdullah, announced the end of the prayer, “assalamu alukum wa rahmatullah, assalamu alukum wa rahmatullah”, the two boys did, guess what? They miraculously disappeared.

After the prayer, a nice looking young man, in his mid twenties, dressed in suite and tie with a neat haircut and light beard, came from the back and sat near the Imam. He had a nice smile on his face but looked nervous and shy.

Imam Abdullah, smiling, said “Welcome, welcome, what is your name brother?"

The man replied, “My name is Bobby"

"You're here to become Muslim? What a wonderful thing!"   

Bobby, nodded: "Yes, sir"

Imam Abdullah: "No, please, please, don't call me sir. Call me Imam Abdullah. Tell us what made you like Islam to a point that you’re willing to become Muslim?"

Bobby, looking more calm, started "Well Imam, its simplicity! Islam is an easy religion to understand. Islam is the religion of all prophets from Adam to Muhammad ("sallallahu alyhi wa sallam" –peace and blessing be with them, the Imam and many of us interjected in unison). Islam means submission to the will of Almighty God. Allah (the Arabic name of God) He himself introduced Islam in a few words and …. ”.  

Imam Abdullah (surprised at Bobby's answer, as we all were, cut him off.) "Few words, only few words!, what do you mean?”

 “Well ,Imam” Bobby continued “when Allah spoke to Moses in Mount Sinai He told him:

‘Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance. Indeed, the Hour is coming - I almost conceal it - so that every soul may be recompensed according to that for which it strives.  So do not let one avert you from it, one who does not believe in it and follows his desire, for you [then] would perish. ‘”

Imam Abdullah (even more surprised) said “Mashaallah!, Mashaallah! Mashaallah!  (Whatever Allah wills, It is used in occasions where there is surprise in someone’ good deeds or achievements), did anyone make Da’wa to you, I mean preach you?”

Bobby, shook his head: "No Imam, I did some study, I read the Quran and God has opened my heart”.   

The two little boys appeared again charging at each other, screaming from row to row. Their respective fathers sat still, ignoring them as if they did not know to whom these kids belonged. The Imam had to intervene to stop these boys so we could hear the Shahada.

After Bobby took the Shahada, we responded to the calls for the 3 takbirs. Then we all lined up and started hugging him and tapping on his back and arms one after the other. Some practically crushed him in bear hugs, so strongly, I was scared that he’d suffocate.

That night, soon after the Halaqa was over, everybody left the Mosque and Bobby was left behind alone, or was he left alone?

Almost a year later, I met Hassan during a national Islamic conference in Washington, DC. As we were having dinner together, I remembered Bobby and asked:

“How’s Bobby doing?”

“Who Bobby?” he replied as if he’d never heard of this name before! 

“The young man who took the Shahada last year during Thanksgiving’s break”

“Oh yeah! I remember now, Bobby became, Abdulshakur Abdultawwab Mujahid  Alislam”, he replied. “Shortly after Bobby took his Shahada, he was completely neglected by the majority of people of the mosque, except for few. These few brothers are nice people and are blessed with a lot of time to spend in and around the mosque. They are self declared ‘muftis’ (scholars in Islamic jurisprudence). They managed to cause some changes to Bobby’s life. Starting by forcing him to take what they called an ’Islamic name’!” and to dress ‘Islamicly’.

As Hassan was talking, I thought to myself, wondering, out of the 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, what are the odds that two people exist with the name Abdulshakur,Abdultawwab Mujahid Alislam?.

Certainly Bobby’s new name is so beautiful; Abdulshakur means the servant of The Appreciative. Abdultawwab is the servant of The Acceptor of Repentance and Mujahid Alislam is the one who is ready to struggle to serve Islam. The Appreciative and The Acceptor of Repentance are two of the 99 beautiful names of Allah. Of course with such a unique name Bobby does not have to anymore worry to become a victim of identity theft!

Hassan added, “Bobby quit his college since he could no longer, according to his new muftis, accept student interest-bearing loans nor could he work for non Muslims.(Of course these muftis were not willing to financially support Bobby through his college  because they could barely support themselves!). He cut off his relation with his family, he left his hair grow to his shoulders, he’s wearing kufiya (head cover) and a dishdasha (an-ankle-length garment). He’s spending most of his time in and around the mosque living off small odd jobs and charity.”

Bobby, like many converts, felt like he needed to “prove himself” as a good Muslim. He thought, wrongly, that he needed to give up his heritage and reject his society in order to “fit” and hence he became a soft target.  All of these changes he did to fit in were not things any regular person born Muslim would think of doing.  No Muslim should cut relationships with his family, even if they are not Muslim.  Many Muslims get student loans and even more work with and for non-Muslims.  Kufiya and dishdasha are cultural clothing for some ethnic groups of Muslims, but they are a minority in the Muslim world and they usually wear American style clothes when they stay in the States. 

Sadly, for Bobby and the like, many Islamic institutions are too busy with inner fighting. In most cases fighting is over leadership. Sometimes we don’t even know what the fighting is about. Valuable time and money are vainly spent on dispute upon dispute upon dispute, and in protracted costly law suits.

Where are the regular Muslims to open their arms to people like Bobby? We leave Bobby to take care of our own things, and spend our time with our own friends, people like us from our own ethnic backgrounds.  We leave Bobby alone because he doesn’t fit in to our little cliques.  But those who practice extreme interpretations of Islam, those who ignore moderation in affairs, they focus their time to attend to Bobby and teach him their version of Islam.

Meanwhile Bobby will never “fit”, or will he? Where will he feel at home among brothers?
 

Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this piece are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.