Shahadah: Show your faith with Native Deen!

                   Showing faith is not easy in this modern city. Many distractions draw us away from what we believe. The first pillar of Islam, Shahadah, is one of the hardest to do here in LA. The Shahadah states: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammed is the messenger of Allah”.  These words are whispered into a baby’s ear at birth and the last thing that many Muslims hope to say. These words are our fundamental belief, and it assures that we not only believe in one God, but we pledge our submission to Him, and we believe in angels, prophets, and a day of judgement. Though you should say the Shahadah many times a day, we found another way to profess your faith: through hip hop! Native Deen is an Islamic musical group from Washington, DC. Their music strives to inspire young people to keep their Islamic faith in spite of the pressures and temptations of daily life. One of our favorite Native Deen songs is M-U-S-L-I-M, a song that shows muslim pride in a fun way. 

So always be proud, you can say it out loud

I am proud to be down with Muslim crowd!

Salat: Making it easy in LA

                   As you know, the second pillar of islam, Salat, is the prayer 5x a day. In primarily Muslim areas, the muezzin calls everyone to prayer at dawn, noon, midday, sunset, and nightfall. The imam, or leader of the prayer, stands in front of the congregation, facing Mecca. The imam starts the prayer cycle by saying “Allahu akbar!” (“God is most great!”) , and everyone lines up in rows behind him, following his various body positions. Not all people line up at a mosque--some prayer is done at school, work, or even in the streets. Before the prayer is a ceremonial cleansing from the fountain in a mosque. They kneel the direction of Mecca, reciting the Qur’an. But this city doesn’t stop for prayers, and it’s hard to know when to begin or what direction to face. With new technology, you can find many mobile apps to help you figure it out. Our favorite, Muslim Pro, features accurate prayer times, a compass for the direction of Mecca, the full Qur’an with Arabic texts, a Muslim calendar, and much more. This is easily downloaded from iTunes or the app store, so you can always pray on time. 

Zakat: Donate from the Heart

The third pillar of Islam is zakat, the obligatory 2.5% or more donation of ones net savings. The word zakat means purification. We muslims believe  that all things belong to God, therefore, our wealth is only given to us by God, and it doesn’t truly belong to only us. We also believe that wealth becomes pure if we give some of it away, and giving a way some of it helps to keep us from getting greedy, or selfish. Muslims in primarily islamic countries would give it to the state, but we can give it to our mosque. The money is usually used for the poor: soup kitchens, clothing, shelter, orphanages and more. The Qur’an also talks about other ways to use it. For example: ransoming Muslim war captives, education, and health. Zakat is not just the obligatory 2.5%--it’s a reminder to donate all the time. Try to help charities that speak to your heart. Many women in developing countries do not have the oppurtunity for education, or jobs; a lot Muslim women are not considered equal to men, and are treated badly. Islam is not about women being less then men-- don’t let Mulsim ‘laws’ keep you from helping women. Other places to donate to are organizations to help orphans find homes, or provide food for the homeless.

Here are some easy places to donate to:

http://worlded.org/WEIInternet/  

http://www.irusa.org/donations/

Siyam: Fasting with Friends

                 The fourth pillar of Islam is Siyam, or fasting. The Qur’an instructs us to fast for an entire month during Ramadan, the ninth month of our calendar, the month that God revealed His message to Muhammed. We fast from the break of dawn to sunset, with exceptions for pregnant women, travelers, the sick, the elderly, and young children. During daylight hours, we don’t eat food or drink liquids, including water. It’s considered time to begin fasting when a person standing outside can tell a white thread from a black thread, and then we break our fast and perform the sunset prayer. After a meal shared with family and friends, we attend special prayer sessions. Each night, a portion of the Qur’an is read aloud, and by the end of the month, we have heard the whole book. Ramadan encourages generosity, equality, and charity within the community. Fasting teaches self-control and makes them realize how it would be to be poor and hungry. The Eid al-Fitr, the celebration to remember Gabriel’s first visit, takes place at the end of Ramadan. We wear new clothes decorate our homes, prepare special foods, exchange gifts, and give to the poor. In LA, its hard to keep up the fasting. In primarily Muslim areas, everyone is doing it and keeping each other spirited and confident. The best way to fast in a place with a low Muslim population is to do it with friends. Finding more people to do it with helps more than you think--you keep each other up and it inspires a sense of community. Ramadan is not about feeling lonely and isolated--its about goodwill, forgiving, and equality. 

Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca

The 5th pillar of Islam is Hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah, two months after Ramadan. All Muslims who can afford the journey, and are physically able are required to make this journey at least once in their life. Hajj brings Muslims from many different parts of the world together, and helps create unity and fellowship between each other. While performing Hajj men wear two pieces of white cloth called the ihram, and we women wear a long white gown with a head covering. We do a series of symbolic rituals, that all are based on Abraham’s story. Over the course of three days, we run along a corridor and then take water from a well; this symbolizes Hagar searching for water for her son, Ishmael. We stand on a plain outside Makkah, in Arafat, symbolizing the last pilgrimage of Muhammad to Mecca and his Last Sermon. We throw stones at the three pillars, which symbolizes Ishmael drying away Satan’s temptations, while we throw the stones the pillars represent satan. We sacrifice an animal, like Abraham’s promise he made to God, to sacrifice his son Isaac, then share the meat with family, friends, and the poor.. Then we walk around the Ka’ba seven times, trying to kiss the black stone. Once we have finished the amazing journey of hajj we wear our own clothes again, and circle the Ka’ba seven more times. Muslims everywhere celebrate this “farawell” day as Eid al-Adha. We also get the suffix al-Hajj added to the end of the pilgrims name! Here is a link to a list of trusted Hajj travel agencies: http://www.hajinformation.com/hajj_agents.php?id=54

Hijab Fashion: Staying fabulous in Southern California

Stay modest and glamorous: Hijabs

are the new in fashion! The Qur’an tells us to be modest, so we Muslim women wear Hijabs, or head coverings, to show our dedication to Allah! Many women, Muslim or not, ask why we do this. One reason is to help us be identified as Muslim, but there are many other reasons too. We do it because we want people to pay attention to our intelligence, character, and dedication to Allah, rather than just our looks.

There is a lot of controversy about how much you have to cover. Some people say everything but the eyes, others say just the hair and body. Other factors are looseness, thickness, flashiness. All that aside, we believe that you should be able to express your creativity through your clothing, you can be modest and fashionable at the same time!

Here is a link to an awesome hijab website, inayah collection. http://www.inayahcollection.com/hijabs-c-114.html

For info about modern hijab tying visit:

http://hijabulous.blogspot.com/2008/09/modern-hijab-tie-styles-by-marwa-hamed.html

Shari'ah and Qur'an

The collection of Islamic law, based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah, is  called the shar’iah, or path to be followed. It is a combination of personal morality, civil, and criminal law. The word Shar’iah actually portrays a camels path to a watering hole, which can be compared to our path to Allah. The Qur’an describes laws and moral teachings, or the “straight path”. Since 651 CE, when an official version of the Qur’an was established, it has remained largely unchanged. We honor the spoken and written Qur’an, and don’t let copies of the book touch the ground. The Qur’an doesn’t talk about many modern issues, so scholars continually interpret the law. All Muslims agree on the basic principles of Islamic law, but we all interpret it differently. Our law places our actions into 5 different categories. Actions forbidden by God, actions discouraged by god, but not forbidden, actions allowed by God, actions suggested by God, but not commanded, and actions commanded by God. Sometimes the law is very specific: we can’t eat pork, drink alcohol, or gamble. Other things aren’t so specific: the Qur’an tells us women to “not display their beauty.” Because of this we usually wear modest dress, and hair scarves. For more about modesty read our article on “Hijab fashion”.Shari’ah also talks about Muslims’ duties toward other people. These are broadly grouped into 5 catagories. Criminal, commercial, family, and inheritance law.

When you sin, a Muslim is held responsible for it on judgement day. The only way to be forgiven is this four step plan.

1) Feeling sorry about it.

2) Repenting of the sin, by asking forgiveness of Allah.

3) Atoning for the sin.

4) Sincerely promising to God that you will never commit this sin again.

Our law helps us to live by the rules of the Qur’an. Today, most Muslim countries apply only some parts of Islamic law, but the shar’iah continues to adapt to modern ways of life.