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.

                                                                                                                                      

Understanding Mahr (Dowry) in Ohio

A Franklin County judge presiding over a divorce case involving a Muslim couple, asked the bride’s father to provide clarification about Mahr, one of the contentions in the case.  The father in turn asked me to provide an explanation since I performed that marriage and provided the Islamic contract containing the Mahr as one of its provisions.

In this piece, I’ll try to provide a short essay defining the Mahr, its purpose, its implication and an Ohio court ruling on the enforceability of Islamic marriage contracts.

It should be noted first that an “Islamic” marriage is not an act of worship; it is just a civil contract. In Ohio we say “Islamic” marriage to indicate that the couple being married is Muslim (or at least the husband is Muslim).  But the document signed by the bride, the groom, the witnesses and the Imam (the authorized person officiating the marriage) is simply called “Marriage Contract” and should be treated as such.

Definition of Mahr.

Mahr, also called Sadaq or dowry, is what the groom gives his bride at the signing of the Islamic marriage contract. It’s one of the requirements for a valid marriage. It can be in different forms: money, jewelry, livestock, real estate, etc., but it is always something of value, and symbolizes the man’s respect for the woman and his intention to provide for her.  Islam does not specify the amount or the form of the dowry.  It varies from country to country and from culture to culture.  (I have written contracts with Mahrs as low as $100 and as high as $50,000 and had one that offered a truck and another that offered camels.)  Other gifts exchanged during the engagement or even after the marriage are normally not part of the Mahr unless otherwise specified.

Purpose of Mahr.

Mahr is an Islamic requirement, among others, for a valid marriage contract.  Given by the groom to the bride, it shows that:      

1) The woman is being sought. (Like here in the USA, where women traditionally wait for men to propose.) 

2)    The woman has the right to ownership. Not only is the man accepting this right, but he is also empowering his wife to have her own wealth and handle it herself. The Mahr goes to the woman, not to her father or any other family member.  

Please note that this right was given to the woman more than 1400 years ago. Until recently women were themselves the property of their husbands in the western societies.  In some places in the Muslim world, the bride’s father has grabbed the Mahr from his daughter with the excuse of managing it for her and an insistence that she is irresponsible or incapable of handling it herself.  This is not according to the traditions of Islam and one wonders how poorly the father raised his daughter if she is so irresponsible.  Actually, the custom probably arises from places where, before Islam, fathers used to get a ‘bride price’ for their daughters and, after the region converted to Islam, fathers wanted a way to continue getting the money, so they made excuses. 

3) The man is and will be financially responsible for his wife and the children.

Advanced and postponed Mahr. 

In principle and preferably Mahr should be given, in its entirety, to the bride before consummating the marriage.  Over time it became customary in many places to give part of the Mahr (advanced part) at the signing of the marriage contract with a promise to give the remaining part (postponed part) at a later date.

The marriage contract is a negotiated written agreement between the man and the woman that can include any details in their agreement to become married.  A clear description of the Mahr should always be included.  Frequently the marriage contract will have the language: “the postponed part of the Mahr will become due to the wife when either a divorce or the death of the husband occurs”.  Other contracts may stipulate that the Mahr is due upon request or any other mutually agreed upon terms.

Frequently the postponed part becomes due many, many years (20, 30 or even more years) after the marriage took place. Except for possibly gold, if described in weight, most monetary amounts can lose their buying power, due to inflation, after all these years, leaving the postponed Mahr with almost no value. Attention should be paid to this point when the contract is written.

Divorce and Mahr.

Often Mahr, especially the postponed, becomes one of the major points of contention between husband and wife going through a divorce. This becomes an even bigger problem if the woman files for the divorce, since there is a general confusion among people that in this case the woman has to waive her right to her Mahr. If this were true, all that a man would have to do would be to make his wife’s life miserable to the point where she asks for divorce. Then he could free himself of her and get the Mahr back, or avoid having to pay her the postponed Mahr.  Such a practice is prohibited in Islam; Allah S.W.T said:

“ And when you divorce your wives and they approach the end of their appointed period, then either retain them in a becoming manner; or send them away in a becoming manner; but retain them not wrongfully so that you may transgress. And who so does that, surely wrongs his own soul” [2:231]

“….and harass them not that you may create hardships for them” [65:6]

“And if you desire to take one wife in place of another and you have given one of them a treasure, take not aught there from. Will you take it by lying and with manifest sinfulness?” [4:20]

When a woman wants a divorce today she goes to a judge, an impartial authority, who investigates the circumstances and decides the issue.  There are situations where the wife is required to forfeit all or part of the postponed Mahr and/or return the advanced Mahr as part of a divorce settlement.  It depends on the reasons for the divorce.  Where the husband has been abusive or neglectful of his responsibilities, he does not have the right to take his wife’s property in exchange for her freedom from him.  Unfortunately most couples refuse to go to the judge and binding arbitration for these issues even though the Quran says:

“And if you fear a breach between them, then appoint an arbiter from his folk and an orbiter from her folk. If they (the arbiters) desire reconciliation, Allah will affect it between them. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” [4:36]

Spousal Support and Mahr.

Another general confusion among people is the false idea that, in the case of divorce, the Mahr is the only thing the wife “may be” entitled to. You find a wife spent years and years of her life supporting (financially and otherwise) a husband while he is going to medical school and/or sponsoring his American citizenship, then a divorce takes place and the husband thinks that all that he owes her is the postponed Mahr of 2000 rupees (about $50) written decades ago. This is wrong.  The wife is entitled to an equitable spousal support determined by a judge in a court of law. Allah S.W.T said:

“For divorced women is a suitable Gift. This is a duty on the righteous” [2:241]

Enforceability of Islamic Marriage Contract.

While courts in other states have enforced Mahr or dowry provisions in Islamic marriage contracts, no case in Ohio holding similarly can be found. To the contrary in a recent Ohio case involving a Muslim couple, the court refused to enforce the Mahr provision.

Fulanah Al Fulanyyah (the wife in this case) argued that the Islamic marriage contract should be enforced as an ante- [pre-] nuptial agreement.  Fulan Al Fulani (the husband in this case) countered that the Islamic marriage contract could not be enforced because to do so would be a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Ohio Constitution.  Contracts in Ohio cannot be made to force someone to obey a religious requirement.  So the State does not get into the obligation of enforcing religious rules of different churches or other religious organizations.  Fulan argued that he signed the contract under pressure the day of the marriage and didn’t really know or understand what he was signing.  I was there at the contract negotiations with the couple and their families and I bear witness that Fulan knew exactly what he was doing and what he was signing, but love of money over Allah can make people into liars.  As you see some men are willing to say anything to run away from their religious obligations. What does the USA Constitution have to do with a few thousand dollars owed to the wife?

The judge, in her ruling on the case, wrote “Furthermore, even if enforcement was not prohibited on constitutional grounds, the Islamic marriage contract fails to meet the requirements of a valid antenuptial agreement”

Then the judge wrote “Based on the holding in Steinberg and the consideration of other policy concerns, this court finds the Mahr provision in the Islamic marriage contract is unenforceable in an Ohio court.

Nonetheless, the court stresses that [Fulan’s, the husband’s] testimony that he did not believe the Mahr provision was anything more than ink on paper was not credible.” [Steinberg v. Steinberg (6/24/82) was a previous case concerning forcing compliance with religious obligation.]

The Judge also wrote “Although not enforceable by this court, the court is hopeful [Fulanah] will be able to enforce the provision and obtain relief through other religious means.”

In the end this is what is going to happen as the Prophet PBUH said,

”The claimants would get their claims on the day of Resurrection so much so that the hornless sheep would get its claim from the horned sheep (in reference to the harm caused by horned sheep to hornless sheep).”

So either you pay it in this life or you will pay it in the hereafter.

Recommendations.

In regard to the Mahr provision I make the following recommendations:

1)    The bride should ask for all of her Mahr prior to consummating the marriage. If this is impossible (like in most cases) then:

2)    Consult with an attorney to supplement the Islamic marriage contract with a legal instrument, enforceable in Ohio courts, pertaining to the Mahr. This becomes more important when the postponed Mahr is great in value.

3)    In case of a contested divorce, to resolve exclusively the Mahr contention, I recommend accepting binding arbitration (which could be enforceable in a court of law).  

If you believe that you are right about how the Mahr should be dealt with in divorce, then you should not be afraid of arbitration.   If you don’t get the outcome you believe you are entitled to, then either educate yourself better to understand how you are wrong, or accept that Allah knows the truth and will compensate you elsewhere, either in this life or the Hereafter, accept the decision of others and move on with your life.

Black Friday

Ahmad:  Get ready Honey , we need to go!

Fatima, surprised to be called 'Honey', thought her husband  Ahmad  must be up to something.

Fatima :  Go where? It is already 8:00 o'clock at night and we need to put the children to bed.

Ahmad :  Did you forget? Tomorrow is 'Black Friday'!  

Fatima :  What do you mean 'Black Friday'? Is something bad going to happen?

Ahmad: No Darling!  In business merchants used to use red ink to mark losses and black ink for profits. So tomorrow all businesses are hoping to use the black ink. That is why everything's on sale tomorrow.

Fatima (Now he's calling me 'Darling'?): But what does this have to do with us?

Ahmad : Look Sweetheart!  I have been wanting this plasma 55 inch TV for a long time and it is going on sale tomorrow for only $2,199.99, one thousand dollars off from its original price. The store opens at 4 o'clock in the morning. The store has  only three in stock according to my source at the store. (His friend works at the store.)  So hurry up! We need to be in line! I noticed people started to line up as I passed by the store on my way home from work.

Fatima : But we have a nice 32 inch flat screen TV and we don't need another one!

Ahmad : Honey!  You don't understand!  This is completely different. I can see the OSU-Michigan in 3D. You too will enjoy watching "Bab Al Hara" on the other TV when I'm watching the game.

Fatima : We don't have that kind of money!

Ahmad : Yesterday I  received another Visa card and I can use it for this dream-come-true purchase.  I figured my minimum monthly payments will only increase by  $21.

Fatima : Did you forget the house mortgage payment?,  car loan payment? , my student loan?,  daycare for our children? monthly payment on our furniture?

Ahmad : Don't worry.  Everything's  under control.  I just got raise at my job.

Fatima : But any time you may, God forbid,  lose your job.  Have you thought about that? We would lose everything, including our home.  How many people do we know who lost their jobs and for more than a year they could not find another job?

Ahmad: But, isn't true ..

Fatima (interrupting): How many times did I tell you to save some money for our "Black days"?  Not for "Black Fridays"!  Did you forget  what the Prophet upon him be peace said, "The Martyr is forgiven for everything except debt".  Did you forget that the Prophet, upon him be peace, refused to lead the Salat Aljanaza  (funeral prayer) on a deceased person who owed money?  Did you forget what Allah S.W.T says:

"Make not your hand tied (Like a stingy one's) to your neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach. so that you become blameworthy and destitute (Al-Israa 17:29). Let's you and I stick to this golden rule:

"Buy what  you need with what you have"

Ahmad : Jazakillahu Khayran Fatima! Why do you have to be so right? I was so excited ... but you are right.  We shouldn't buy this plasma TV now. Let's work together to pay off our debt as soon as possible. But I have a question for you.  We have one TV, right? What if the OSU-Michigan game and Bab Al Harah are at the same time?

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

The Wife-Beating Issue

"Your mother is so great that I did not have to beat her up once in the thirty years we have been married!" a father told his sons as he was trying to praise his wife.

"Every time she will talk back at me I will slap her," a brother told me as I was trying to provide marital counseling for him and his wife. Apparently he had "smacked" her before they came to see me. The mind boggling thing is that when I asked him, "What did she say to you that caused you to hit her?" he replied, "We had an argument and she provoked me so I said to her "Haywaneh!" (you're an animal!) Then she dared to talk back at me saying, "Inteh el Haywan" (you're the animal). Then I exercised my "God given right" to beat her up."

Though this is hardly a common idea in our community, if only a few brothers follow this misunderstanding of our religion, it damages their families and it damages our whole community.

The opponents of Islam often accuse Islam and Muslims of mistreatment of women and allowing men to beat up their wives referring to the Quranic verse 4:34. Unfortunately some Muslim men do strongly believe that this verse in the Quran gives them some "God given right" to beat their wives.

Have you met my neighbor Bob?

The story below is true. It happened to a Muslim family in Central Ohio. I wanted to share it because I found it funny, while it reminds us of the value of our Islamic obligations toward our neighbors. I did some editing to conceal the identity of the people. It is narrated by the Muslim character.

Once I came home back in 2000 to find my porch lights being covered with thick pieces of green drapery! It reminded me of black out efforts in cities I saw during war time 40 years earlier in the Middle East. All the light bulbs were changed to green or blue.

"Why did you do that" I calmly asked Bob, my next door neighbor to the east. "Your lights are coming inside my bedroom," Bob angrily replied and he added, "Besides, you did not consult with me when you chose to change your front door from north to east, facing my bedroom!"

Why should I vote?

"What is voting in Islam?, It isn't mentioned in the Quran!" my friend Abdullah asked.

Well our scholars understood that voting amounts to "given a testimony" and we Muslims are required to give testimony when called for:

"...The witnesses should not refuse when they are called on"

(Al-Baqarah 2:282)

However, this should not be understood that given testimony is obligatory only when the witness is summoned . The prophet (PBUH) said:

"Should I not tell you about the best of witnesses? It is he who brings his testimony before he is even asked." (Muslim)

Allah S.W.T also said:

"... and do not conceal testimony; for whoever conceals it,- His heart is tainted with sin. And Allah Knows all that you do. "

(Al-Baqarah 2:283)

Based on this, an overwhelming number of Islamic scholars declared that Muslim participation is permissible in all political aspects including voting, nominating, and running for public offices. Many went on to saying that such Muslim participation is obligatory and it is sinful if a Muslim is negligent in this kind of participation, especially if his "No Vote" caused the election of a candidate who is not best for the job or caused the passage of a measure that is not in the best interest, from an Islamic standpoint, of humanity in general and Muslims in particular.

Then Abdullah said, "Fine but does my vote really count? Back where I came from, the presidential election, for example, was always won by 99.999% of the votes!"

In true democracies you will not see the 99.999%. For example in the 2000 Presidential election , in Florida Bush got 2,912,790 votes while Gore got 2,912,253 votes. As a result Bush won the election by only 517 votes. Also in the 2008 general election for congress in the Ohio 15th district, Mary Jo Kilroy defeated Steve Stivers by only 2311 votes (most likely the Muslim votes) out of more than 304,000 cast.

I hope this convinces you how important is your vote!

"I really don't care since next year I'm going back home anyway!" Abdullah replied.

Well, Abdullah, I have been hearing you say this for the last 10 years and you're still hanging in here. The prophet (PBUH) said:

"If you happen to witness the start of the Day of Judgment and you have a plant and if you live enough just to plant it, then do so."(Ahmad & others)

So you owe it to yourself, to the country which opened its arms to you and gave you its citizenship, to the community in general and to the Muslim community to get out and vote for he or she who can do the best job and for the issue that benefits everyone.

Then Abdullah asked an important question, "Fine, fine. I should vote. But I don't know who is who. How can I vote?"

You are obligated to inform yourself on the issues and the candidates. Ask others if you don't. The League of Women Voters is a national organization with local chapters that is a good source of information on both candidates and issues, as are newspaper stories. Television ads, fliers published by a political party, and other ads may be poor sources of information. A meet the candidates event or a debate can give you some ideas about candidates.

You may argue that back in 2000 we followed the recommendations of knowledgeable Islamic organizations and we were wrong. True, but you do your best and what happen later is with God's hands and wisdom.

"Say: "I have no power over any good or harm to myself except as Allah wills. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I should have multiplied all good, and no evil should have touched me......."

(Al-A'raf 7:188)

"I need to confess I don't trust any candidate. They're all liars. They promise you so many things and once elected they break all their promises. Therefore I'm not voting!" Abdullah continued to argue.

They're not all the same. There are many honest and trustworthy candidates. Look for them. And circumstances they encounter once elected often sidetrack them or block them from doing many of the things they dream of. Most people go into politics, particularly at the local level, because they truly want to make things better. We have to be reasonable about the jobs we send them to do.

Undoubtedly you will not find a perfect candidate for any post, a candidate that agrees with you on all issues. Just use your best judgment and vote for the most suitable person for the position from the perspectives of moral character and qualifications for the position. And remember that each vote will affect you, your family and your community whether you voted or not.

So be part of the solution. Get off the couch and vote.

Finally Abdullah conceded and said:

"Thank you my friend. I will see you at the polls on November 2nd, Inshallah, and we all will vote for the best candidates and vote for issues that are good for the community in general and for us, the Muslim minority living in the West in particular."

OK, I might see you then, but we don't have to wait to the last day to vote. We can vote early in Franklin County if we go to 280 E. Broad Street instead of our regular polling places. You can find out the days and hours for early voting at

http://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/

Actually this website has important information for all voters, like what kind of ID to bring for voting and a sample ballot so you can prepare yourself better. If you aren't familiar with where your regular polling place is for voting on November 2, you can look it up on this website, as well as find out if you are correctly registered. You can report your changed address when you move as well. Each time you move you must correct your voter registration information.

Abdullah, let's spend the evening of November 2nd at my place watching the election results while having dinner together. I know a great chicken recipe and I'll kick it up a notch for you since you love hot spices.