Sanction for Authority in Islam

The Prophet, on him be peace, ordered his Community to appoint authorities over them, and commanded these authorities to fulfil their trusts and when judging between people to judge fairly. He ordered them to obey those in authority in obedience to God, Exalted is He.

In the Sunan of Abu Dawud we have it on the authority of Abu Said that the Messenger of God said: "When three men go on a journey let them put one of their number in command." In the Musnad of Imam Ahmed we learn on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar that the Prophet said: "It is not permissible for three men to be in a desert place without putting one of their number in command."

Now since the Prophet demanded of the smallest groups and most limited societies that one person be put in charge, we must admit the same obligation where greater numbers are involved.

Source:
"Public Duties in Islam" - Ibn Taymiya, p. 22

The Soul of the Ummah is Dead

Within the Muslim psyche there is a shameful degree of pessimism. We believe that we are not capable of overcoming the challenges faced by the Ummah. That the problems are too widespread, that divisions are irreconcilable, or maybe we believe that there is no personal accountability.

Our collective mentality is to succumb to what we perceive to be inevitable. We are not capable of comprehending how change can occur and what our own role within that change is. How quick we are to extinguish the distant flame of hope, how very sad.

Our fallback is to criticise the efforts of others. We tell them they will not succeed that their efforts are in vain. We mock and belittle every step they make on the road to change. In fact some may be the obstacle that prevents change.

Where is the humility in this? Where is the fear of our own infallibility? That we would be so ready to judge.

It is folly to talk of the beauty of Islam about the mercy of Quran when our mindset is such. What it shows is that the words have not penetrated the heart, they lay dormant on our tongues. The so called love we claim to have is just an illusion within our own minds.

Until we are unified we always be in this state. Until we have the wisdom to really understand the nature of our accountability we will always be in this state. Until we understand that piety leads to sincerity of deeds we will always be in this state. Until we are prepared to live and understand the true Spirit of Islam we will always, always be in this state.

It is not deeds that make you pious it is piety that makes you strive to do good deeds.

It saddens me but I believe the Soul of the Ummah is dead, but there are those who have chosen to revive it…..why not join them?

Saudi woman killed for chatting on Facebook

Posted: 01 Apr 2008 01:56 PM CDT
The latest crime “in the name of social customs and religious rules.”
A young Saudi Arabian woman was murdered by her father for chatting on the social network site Facebook, it has emerged.
The unnamed woman from Riyadh was beaten and shot after she was discovered in the middle of an online conversation with a man, the al-Arabiya website reported.
The case was reported on a Saudi Arabian news site as an example of the “strife” the social networking site is causing in the Islamic nation.
Saudi preacher Ali al-Maliki has emerged as the leading critic of Facebook, claiming the network is corrupting the youth of the nation.
“Facebook is a door to lust and young women and men are spending more on their mobile phones and the Internet than they are spending on food,” he said.
The woman was murdered in August but her death was highlighted following Maliki’s comments.
Social customs and religious rules oblige women in Saudi Arabia to cover their head and figure with a veil so that men are not distracted by the female form.
Critics also allege that Facebook is an avenue for the promotion of homosexual relations in Saudi Arabia. More than 6,500 people have signed the online petition in a bid to stop the conservative Muslim kingdom following Syria in banning access to the network from local internet servers.
There are estimated to be more than 30,000 Facebook users in the oil-rich kingdom. Many Saudi women use nicknames and post comic images or drawings on their pages instead of photographs. Some Saudi bloggers have dubbed the network “Faceless”.
Women users’ contact details and email addresses are often pseudonymous. The popularity of sites for singles has broken taboos on people making contact outside family and class connections.
One of the most popular Facebook groups among Saudi Arabian youth is Single and Looking in Saudi Arabia, which has 1,823 members and hosts many sexually explicit images. [Source]