Live dialogues with Revert Muslims

[Muslim Woman]

I seek refuge in Allah (The One God) from the Satan (devil) the cursed, the rejected

With the name of ALLAH (swt) -The Bestower Of Unlimited Mercy, The Continously Merciful


Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh (May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you)


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http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/GuestCV.asp?hGuestID=8MH27B



Join us on Tuesday, February 6, 2007, for a live dialogue with Michael Wolfe for a session about Media Beyond the Sound Bites: Muslims on the Screen.

Michael Wolfe is the author of books of poetry, fiction, travel, and history. His most recent works are a pair of books from Grove Press on the pilgrimage to Makkah:


The Hajj (1993) is a first-person travel account, and One Thousand Roads to Makkah (1997) is an anthology of 10 centuries of travelers writing about the Muslim pilgrimage.




In April 1997, he hosted a televised account of the Hajj from Makkah for Ted Koppel's Nightline on ABC.


In 2002 he worked with the nonprofit Unity Productions Foundation to produce a two-hour PBS documentary, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, which won a 2004 Cine Award Special Jury Prize for best documentary and aired around the world in a dozen languages on the National Geographic Channel.


The same year, with the editors of Beliefnet, Wolfe helped produce Taking Back Islam, a collection of articles by 40 Muslims responding to the 9/11 crisis.


The collection won a 2003 Wilbur Award for best book of the year on a religious theme.

 

[Muslim Woman]

Salaam/peace;


Name Idris Tawfiq

Profession British Writer and Speaker


Subject Disabled with Rights

Date Saturday,Feb 10 ,2007
Time Makkah
From... 14:30...To... 16:00
GMT
From... 11:30...To...13:00

Born in the United Kingdom, Idris Tawfiq has a degree in English language and literature from the University of Manchester and a degree in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome.



He also has a postgraduate certificate in education from the University of Manchester. He studied philosophy at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome and spent an additional year in Rome studying Catholic canon law
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few lines from Media Beyond the Sound Bites: Muslims on the Screen

Guest: Michael Wolfe ( ex Jew )


Tell us about your experience in " Muhammad: Legacy of a prophet?" will you work on other documentary like this? Really it is so interesting
Answer


The two hour documentary film Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet began as a paragraph on a piece of paper in 1999. We thought for a year or so that it would be purely historical, and we planned to film the whole thing in Makkah and Madinah.


We did film in Makkah, but it wasn't possible to return to film in Medinah later.

In addition, broadcasters here said the film would have a better chance of being broadcast if it included the strand of a storyline about contemporary Muslims, too.



So we began to edit the film as a two-stranded story: one story being the historical Seerah or story of the Messenger's life and times, and another strand concerning contemporary Muslims today and how they expressed the meaning of his message in their modern lives.




The film was finally finished and broadcast nationally in the U.S. in late winter of 2002. Then National Geographic International Channel translated the narration into many languages and broadcast the film around the world.




It has proved to be very popular. We are almost finished with two more long historical documentaries now. They will be broadcast nationally in the U.S. and then around the world, in the next year, God willing.



We are also working on some shorter films on contemporary themes. I can tell you about them in another message, if you want to ask about them in another question. This answer is already very LONG.



Name Snerdley - Canada
Profession mortgage banker


Question Are you able to disclose the funniest episode in your career?


Answer Yes, of course. I was filming in Makkah with ABC Nightline in 1997 and our cameraman was on a short step-ladder 20 feet behind me.



I was approaching a pillar and he was supposed to be filming me. When I looked back for his signal to start moving, I saw him falling backwards off the ladder with the camera, into the arms of three policemen.




They were arresting him for filming in Makkah during the annual Hajj/pilgrimage to Mecca. Of course we had permits and paperwork to allow us to film then, but the policemen didn't know that.

They took us to their superior, who read our papers. He then appointed the men who had arrested us as our guides for the remainder of the day.



Name Shpilkas - Estonia
Profession
Question


What is reason for Arabs being bad guys and never good guys. Is true or false?
Answer Is false. The reasons, in Europe at any rate, are as old as the Middle Ages and as fresh as your morning newspaper.

I have only traveled in a few places in the Arab world, but everywhere I've been people are exceedingly kind and hospitable. I traveled there frequently in the 1970s and 80s, before I became a Muslims, and it was the same.

Kindness to strangers is an Arab art. So, while the news may paint a bad picture of Arabs, most western people who have traveled in Arab countries or even met an Arab at home are usually impressed with how nice the people are.

It's a terrible mix up. I try in my films and books to reverse this misunderstanding and so do many others. May be someday this will be a thing of the past.

 

[Muslim Woman]

Salaam/peace;




What Does It Mean to Be a Woman?



Do you think we have good female role models today?




Answer

Selma:

Assalam alaikum, and many thanks for your question. Yes, I do think we have many good examples of Muslim women today. The problem is that perhaps they are not highlighted enough so that everyone can know about them. What we are trying to do on Youth 4 the Future is highlight the work and activities of various Muslim women around the world.



This might not be just individuals working but groups of women who are truly good examples. You know, it is often the unsung heros of the world who initiate change. These are the people we are looking for to put online so that others can benefit from their stories.




In Australia I know women who have devoted their lives to helping young people who have been caught up in juvenile detention centers. They offer them counseling and advice and so on.


They are young women (under 30 years of age!!) who initiate projects with the government to get funding for these young people to help them make a fresh start in their lives. They don't look for recognition; they just get on and do the work.





I remember the young women who taught me about Islam when I was a new Muslim.

They were sisters from Malaysia and were studying at university at that time. Their average age was about 25 years old but their knowledge of Islam, their calmness, insight, patience, and sheer inner beauty certainly touched my heart and they had the job of teaching me! What a challenge I was! I'm so grateful to Allah for sending them into my life.




So young, yet so ready to give and help people make changes and so the cycle of good continues and as time passes, the impact of one person is felt all over; good generates good.




So the answer is a very big yes! There are indeed wonderful female role models. But we won't find them in the glossy magazines or on TV perhaps. One might be your own mother, your aunty, a woman in your community - sometimes we just don't see the beauty and goodness around us even if it's in front of our own eyes.

Q.
What are the rights of a married woman in an islamic perspective?

Women have to suffer many injustices in their life due to prejudices and traditions.

Assalam alaikum, many thanks for your question. I’ve put some links here from IslamOnline.net concerning this issue. I hope they will serve to give you a full and concise answer to your question.



It is a fact that women suffer due to traditions and prejudices and we should never stop in our struggle to put things right. First of all, when faced with any kind of difficulty or hardship we should turn to Allah the Almighty for guidance and help.

Be sure that no problem is without a solution and that we will all face life’s tests. The problem of injustices occurring within marriage is worsened by the attitude of many imams and in many cases, the collective attitude of the Muslim community.



It is often considered ‘un-Islamic’ when a Muslim woman seeks help because of an abusive or unjust husband. Often she will be told to be ‘patient’ and basically to just go home and get on with her life. However, this is so wrong and for real change to come about Muslim women need the support of the men and particularly the imams.




This has been done successfully in some places like Canada, the UK, the US and other places where the Muslim community has taken the necessary steps to confront this problem.

The important thing is to speak out and not remain silent. There are Islamic organizations that seek to assist women in such situations. Even if there isn’t one where you live, contact one in another place and ask if they have any contacts where you live.


Husband’s Duty Towards Wife and Parents

Wife's Emotional Rights

Women in Islam

Abuse of Women's Rights

Are Women in Bad Marriages Given Unfair Religious Rulings?

http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=V5nzU8

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[Muslim Woman]

Salaam/peace;


submit question : NOW

Idris Tawfiq

Profession British Writer and Speaker
Subject Help For New Muslims


http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestid=5ts6C4&hSession=Recent


David - Thailand

Question
I live in Bangkok, Thailand, which is a place where polytheistic practices are held. It is very dangerous for me, and this is why I constantly feel the insinuating whispers of Shaytan. I am constantly performing my daily prayers. I am not abundantly worried as I can feel that Allah is with me all the time. BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, the insinuating whispers of Shaytan are from time to time occurring inside my mind. (I hope you know what insinuating whispers are?) Please answer me.


Is my faith decreasing and that's why I keep thinking of these bad thoughts? Or is it because of the Shaytan?


I used to worship idols as my parent are currently worshipping. Is it because of my past that Shaytan is after me? Please, please, please help me further to overcome or terminate this, I know you cannot terminate it permanently as the Shaytan is always there. I am severely suffering from it. The good thing is that I am not acting upon it and still performing my daily Islamic duties.

Is Allah testing me to see if I will associated a partner with him? OR is it good that this is happening because Allah will reward me if I do not am not act upon it?


Answer
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu, brother. Thank you for your question.


I think that you don't need to live in Thailand to be tempted by the whispering of the Shaytan, although being surrounded by the worship of idols and of many gods must be an added difficulty for you.

"Whispering" is indeed a very good description. Whispering of others behind our backs is very distressing, because we never fully know what they are saying.


People use "stage whispers" to let us know what they think. The Shaytan uses all of these, and more. He tries to persuade us not to get out of bed for prayer in the morning, or to miss other prayers because we are tired and need to sleep. He even makes us doubt our own good intentions.

The great consolation, the trump card, that we have is that Almighty Allah is in control of all things. The very call to prayer is enough to make the devils flee away.



In your prayers, beg Almighty Allah to help you. Ask Him to help you feel close to Him. Keep the Holy Qur'an in the rooms of your house, as an aid to remind you of Allah's power over all things.

Do you have a radio that can receive channels where the Qur'an is recited? Leave such a station playing in your house.



Without descending into superstitious practices, let the Shaytan know by all this that you want to cling firmly to Allah and not to anything else. This may well be a test. Ask Allah to lead you through it and to make you a better Muslim by it.



Khalid - Greece
Profession Student (medicine)

Question

As-salamu alaykum brother! I reverted to Islam two years ago and I would like to ask you to give me some advice on how to talk with my atheist friends about God and Islam. They are curious to learn about Islam, since they prefer it as a religion to Christianity, but since they don't believe there is a God, how can I approach them?


Answer

Wa alaykum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu, brother.


First of all, it is very important to say that you need to be sure that continuing to mix with these friends is not a danger to your own belief. It takes much inner strength to deal with people who have no religion and no belief at all. If you find that these people are unsettling you, you need to make an important choice about how much time you spend with them. As one relatively new to Islam you need to protect your deen. Try to make some Muslim friends who can support you in this.

If you are sure that you are not in danger and that, you don't find the questions and the attitudes of your old friends a threat, then try by simple ways to teach them about Islam.


I don't think that arguing will do much good. Let them see, though, how happy you are as a Muslim and what a difference it has made in your life. Maybe even invite them to accompany you to the mosque to see what Muslims do. If they are really your friends they should not find this too threatening and will want to support you for friendship's sake.



I wouldn't be the one to be always talking about religion, since this might just put them off. You can, however, keep dropping some Islamic words into your speech, such asd "inshallah" and "bismillah." They require no explanation from you. If your friends want to know what they mean, they will ask you. This might be a much more natural way of talking about God than by opening it up as a topic for debate.



At the end of the day, though, it is your duty to Almighty Allah which comes foremost. Serve Him with all your heart and then ask Him to enlighten your friends. He who made the earth and the sky can surely do this if he chooses to.



Name Dina - Egypt
Profession Journalist
Question

Salams.


I've got two questions to ask about prayers:
1- I can't focus on prayers 100%. I sometimes forget how many rak`ahs I prayed!

2- I sometimes stop praying for a long time, and then I repent and ask for Allah's forgiveness, but this doesn't stay long, since I stop praying.

I feel really horrible, I feel that I am one of the munafiqeen, but I don't want to be one of them. I hate the munafiqeen and I wish to be a good Muslim.




Answer
Assalaamu alaykum, sister. Your question is one that many Muslims ask at some stage in their lives. Prayer is at the very heart of Islam and it is natural for us to become downhearted when we are not being faithful to prayer.



In answer to the first question, we wouldn't go for a job interview or give a lecture to a class of students without being properly prepared, would we? Well, neither should we go to prayer without being in the right disposition. Take a few moments before prayer to calm down and to let the cares and the worries of the day to drop away from you before you think of approaching Almighty Allah in prayer. It is only natural that if our minds are still on other things, we will wander from thinking about Allah alone.



The very act of performing wudu' properly is a good preparation for prayer. Rather than just splashing some water over us, we should actually pray while we are performing wudu', making our intention clear. Washing the dust from our bodies is a good way of washing away all those things that cling to us and distract us from prayer.

It is never too late to return to prayer, even if we have not been praying for a long time, although we have a duty to try and make up for all the prayers we have missed. Try to pray with others. Go to the mosque, if one is near.



Put yourself in a prayerful state of mind by taking time to recite the Holy Qur'an and to read about our beloved Prophet. Being attentive in prayer will not just happen by magic. We have to allow it to happen by preparing well before we pray.

We are all pretty poor Muslims, aren't we. We beg Allah for something and then all too soon we forget the blessings which Almighty Allah showers upon us every day, once we get what we wanted.



Never give up on prayer. It is the heart of Islam. Without prayer our faith is nothing. Ask Almighty Allah every day to make you a better Muslim.

 

[Muslim Woman]

Salaam/peace;



Live Chat with Dawud Wharnsby Ali

Wed,Feb 28
13:00 GMT

http://www.islamonline.net/english/index.shtml




Subject

Live Chat with Dawud Wharnsby Ali

Date Tuesday,Feb 27 ,2007


How did your family react upon your conversion?


Answer
Dear Hasan,

Thank you for your question.

I don't really look at my decision to begin practicing the teachings of the Qur'an as a "conversion". It was more a growth process...a spiritual journey that I am still on as a matter of fact...one that I suspect will never end, as I am sure even "death" from this life will be part of the "journey" ever onward.

My family's reaction to my decision of following the Qur'an was as one might expect: they were confused (they'd never heard of Qur'an before) and worried (they had seen people on tv claiming to follow the Qur'an and doing horrible things...so they had a right to be concerned).

More than ever they felt as though, by putting into practice the teachings of a scripture they had not raised me to follow, I was tossing away all they had raised me to be.

It has taken many years for me to help them understand that in fact, my effort to follow the teachings of the Qur'an is very much in line with what they taught me as a young child: Don't follow others blindly, keep your promises, be truthful, live with integrity, stand up for justice... the list goes on.

In my early days as a "believer" I was pretty passionate, dogmatic and hot-headed (immature actually) so it is no wonder they felt challenegd by my zealous application of Qur'anic teachings... I've mellowed out a lot though. The point of faith is to unite people (and Allah knows best), not divide them, so these days (now that I've cooled my jets) we get along wonderfully.

Please keep my family and I in your prayers.

With peace,
dawud



Name sister - United States

Question
Assalamualykum brother,
Jazakumaallahu khairaa for taking my question. Brother, I never visited any of your concerts . Can you gurantee me that you will follow the sunnah while singing?



Will there be singing out loud by girls [from audience]? Will all Muslims behave modestly there? Will there be any type of dancing? Would you do anything different if Prophet Muhammed (SAWS) was present at your concert? I am extremely sorry if I have offended you in any way. I just want to know what goes on in at Islamic concerts. May ALLAH SWT guide us to straight path. salaam.

Answer
Wa Alaikum As Salam Dear Sister,

May Allah reward you for asking the question.

I am sorry but I can never "guarantee" anything of the behaviour of other people. That would be like asking a driving instructor to guarantee that everybody else on the road will follow the driving laws all the time.

We are only accountable for ourselves my sister and all I can promise you is that: when I take to the stage I do my best to perform with integrity, passion, truth - and to the best of my ability. Do I make mistakes? Sometimes - yes. I am not perfect and would never dare take that title away from The Creator.




Will I follow the "sunnah" in my performance? That all depends upon one's interpretation of what is "sunnah". Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) was not a singer/songwriter, but he was a man of truth and tried to inspire others towards living truthfully and remembering Allah. Those "sunnahs" I always try to do in my shows.

I wish that the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) would attend one of my shows! Ya Allah! I'd sing for him like I'd sing for no other!

Your question was very important. Never fear offending me in any way. Asking questions is how we learn and grow.

If you came to a show and were uncomfortable with what you saw or heard and felt the environment or my actions would harm you spiritually in some way - I wouldn't be offended in the least if you got up and left...in fact I'd be offended if you DIDN'T leave! You need to do what you need to do to keep close to Allah and I'd never dream of getting in between that relationship.

What is good for me, might not be good for you. In the end we must respect each others views - even if they are slightly different.

With peace and thanks,
dawud.


Name Soraya -

Question
Out of all the nasheeds you have sung, which one is your favourite and why?


Answer
Dear Soraya,

Nice question! Does it have to be one of my own? Hope not! (I really don't listen to my own music and don't like listening to it.)



Ok - Favourite nasheed I have ever sung was probably "Wonderful World" written by Zain Bhikha for his album "Faith". Why - because it was recorded in a studio with Zain and Yusuf Islam who are two of my heroes! They are among my most treasured inspirations as men, and colleagues. I was so honoured to sing with them and the song is so uplifting and "fun".

Favourite nasheed I ever wrote - Probably "The Prophet's Hands". It was written at a tough time in my life. In those days, that song was really a comfort to right and "let out". Close second is "Wisdom & Tea", about my Grandmother whom I miss very much.

Award for my favourite "nasheed" of all time goes to..... "I Think My Mom Is Amazing" by Zain Bhikha. I cry literally EVERY time I hear it, sing it or even tell peoplel about it!

Peace,
dawud

 

[Muslim Woman]

Salaam/peace ,

Live Dialogues


Idris Tawfiq Thu, Mar 29 - 15:00 GMT


The Challenges of Imams in the UK

http://www.islamonline.net/English/index.shtml