A Question from a Reader on my Islamic Education

Was Posted by Imam Anwar alAwlaki on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008, at 7:33 am

I have received the following question from one of the readers of my blog:

I am not sure how much you have noticed, but in the West, their is a campaign to undermine your personal credentials as an ‘Alim. The all-too-common tactic of attacking the ‘messenger’ rather than the message itself is being employed in these campaigns.
We want to be able to refute any false claims against you and support all of your works, wholeheartedly. Can you please provide us information regarding the Shuyukh that you have learned under in the past, and who you may be currently learning under? As well as, the source of your ‘ijaza, etc. This will be very important in refuting any slanderous attacks against your credibility.

I have received this question in various forms and the frequency of it increased lately. Here is my response:

Alhamdulillah I have had the chance to experience the various methods of gaining Islamic knowledge through studying directly under shuyukh in their general circles or privately. I have experienced the regular academic method of university study, studying by correspondence, and studying directly from books.

Studying under shuyukh in their general circles:

I have attended the circles of the scholars of Makkah and Madina for a combined period of a few months and for a short while attended the circle of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen.

Studying under shuyukh privately:

In addition to an ijaza in Quran recitation according to the recitation of Hafs I have read and completed Sahih al Bukhari with Shaykh AbdulRahman Shumailah al Ahdal and he has given me ijazah to narrate Sahih al Bukhari from him through three high isnaads, one of them being the highest existing isnaad in the world. The other two he has received from his shuyukh in Makkah.

I have also read and completed Sahih Muslim and al Muwata by Imam Malik with Shaykh AbdulRahman and he has given me ijazah on both books.

I have studied al Minhaaj by Imaam Nawawi on Shafi fiqh with Shaykh AbdulRahman al Ahdal and Shaykh Hamud al Ahdal and received ijaza from both of them.

The above mentioned shuyukh have also given me ijazah to narrate through their isnaad the six books of Hadith, al Adhkaar by Imaam Nawawi, al Shifa by Qadhi Iyaad, and some other books in Shafi fiqh.

I have studied, traveled and lived with Shaykh Hassan al Ahdal and it was through him that I got to study with other scholars from this blessed family of scholars who are descendants of al Hussain bin Ali may Allah be pleased with them. They are based in al Marawa’ah in Tihama which is in the Western part of Yemen on the coast of the Red Sea and this is the land of the Sahabi Abu Musa al Ash’ari. He has given me a general ijaza in the six books of hadith, Buloogh al Maraam by Ibn Hajjar al Asqalani, Umdat al Ahkaam by al Maqdisi, al Minhaaj by al Nawawi, al Ghaya wal Taqreeb by Abu Shuja, and al Waraqaat by al Juwaini.

I have spent a short time with Shaykh Salman al Odah.

I have benefited considerably from the scholars I met in the US during the 90’s, a time in which there was a great influx of scholars in America.

And last but not least, I have benefited and continue to benefit from the Shaykh whom I trust his deen and know him to be a scholar who does not fear in the sake of Allah and is willing to stand up for the truth, Shaykh Hussein bin Mahfoodh. He is a friend whose relationship with me extends over the years. Until this day, I consult with him on the various important aspects of Sharia that I am presented with and I have continued to benefit from his knowledge and wisdom over the years. I have accompanied him and traveled with him and consider him to be one of the best scholars that I have come to know.

Regular academic university study:

In 2002 I was given permission from the administration of the University of Eman in Yemen to attend any class at any level and I took advantage of this and attended classes in Tafsir and Fiqh for a period of a few months. I have also benefited from the teachings of Shaykh Abdul Majid al Zindani the Rector of the University.

Studying Sharia by Correspondence:

I studied for two years through correspondence with the Islamic university in France. I lost interest and discontinued my studies with them because I reached the conclusion that it was not a proper method of disseminating Islamic knowledge. This was in the mid 90’s so things must have changed now in the field of correspondence study due to advances in technology.

Studying from Books:

After receiving the basics from the scholars and the keys of knowledge, learning from books is a lifelong practice of the seeker of knowledge.

My Ijazah:

In addition to the ijaza’s I have mentioned above I have a general ijaza in Quran, Sciences of Quran, Hadith, Sciences of Hadith, Tafsir , Fiqh, Usool Fiqh and Arabic from:

Shaykh Hassan Maqbooli al Ahdal

Shaykh Hussein bin Mahfoodh

Shaykh AbdulRahman Shumailah al Ahdal

Shaykh Hamud Shumailah al Ahdal

The Voting for Sharia in Somalia

Was posted by Imam Anwar al-Awlaki on April-20-2009

The Somali parliament has voted unanimously for the implementation of Sharia which is seen as good news by many in the Muslim world - and it is - as it reflects the desire of the Somali people to live by the laws of Allah.
However there are some issues that need to be highlighted. First, there is a fundamental problem with the procedure in which the decision was made. The law of Allah should not be voted over. To give the people the choice whether to apply  Sharia or not reflects a fundamental problem in the understanding of Tawhid.

Allah says: But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you, [O Muhammad] judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full] submission. [al Nisa 65]

So people cannot be believers until they submit to the law of Allah and accept it without any reservations. The Islamic government exists to impose Sharia rather than submit it to a vote. Therefore a government that declares that it will accept the results of a vote for Sharia, even if the results are not to implement it, is by necessity a non-Islamic government.

Second, the Sharif government is using its application of Sharia to convince the other resistance groups to lay down their arms and join the government. But from a Sharia point of view the objectives of the Jihad in Somalia have not been achieved yet and therefore the Jihad of these groups needs to carry on. Yes, the implementation of Sharia is the most important of these objectives, however, the Sharif government cannot be seen as a valid government for three main reasons.

The first: Just as it applied Sharia by a vote it could dismantle Sharia by a vote. They have not implemented Sharia as a matter of principle but because it is the will of the people and therefore the Sharif government is closer to being a democratic government than it being an Islamic one.

Second: The Sharif government is still allowing the existence of a foreign invading force represented in the forces of the African Union. The Jihad in Somalia should carry on until the last AU soldier leaves the country and any forces that side with the AU -including the Sharif government- become legitimate targets.

And third: The Sharif government is basing its foreign relations with the outside world on a nationalistic basis rather that an Islamic one. The support it receives from the US, the EU and the UN is a reflection of it being a tool to advance the imperialistic interests of the West and to eradicate the strong Jihad movement in the country.

Therefore, even though it is good news for the ummah that Sharia will be implemented again in Somalia but we should not see this as an end to the struggle to establish an Islamic state and community and to free the country from foreign intervention and corruption.

When Scholars Visit Rulers

Was posted by Imam Anwar al-Awlaki on July 18th, 2009

Ibn Abbaas narrated that Rasulullah (SAAWS) said: Whoever lives the life of a Bedouin becomes coarse. And whoever occupies himself with hunting becomes heedless and whoever visits the rulers falls into fitnah.
(Narrated by Abu Dawud, al Tirmithis, al Nasai, and al Bayhaqi and is agreeable.)

Man is affected by his environment and actions. Therefore Islam guides us to which actions we should perform and which actions should be avoided and it also teaches us what environment we should live in and which people we should surround ourselves with.
The line of work one chooses affects his personality. The personal traits one gains from being in the medical field are different than those one gains from being in IT for example. Some professions make people coarse when others make them gentle. In some professions being polite is necessary for  success in the field while in others profanity and rudeness is  the rule. Even within the same profession one may find differences. Rasulullah(SAAWS) says that shepherds of goats and sheep are merciful while shepherds of camels are proud.

In the above quoted hadith Rasulullah (SAAWS) mentions three actions and their effects on the person who performs them:

The first is living as a Bedouin. Rasulullah (SAAWS)says that life as a Bedouin makes a person coarse and rough in their character. The difficulty of life in the desert and the rough environment demand that man develops the traits that are suitable for his survival in such conditions.

The second action is hunting. The ability to find the game and  the desire to win against its abilities to deceive, hide and run from the hunter is exiting and can become an addiction. This may lead to a person foregoing the responsibilities that they have and lead to shortcomings in their religion and thus Rasulullah (SAAWS) says they become heedless.

The third action is visiting the rulers. Rasulullah (SAAWS) says that the person who visits the rulers falls into fitnah. In the commentary on Sunan Abi Dawud, Awn al Mabood,  it says that the meaning of falling into fitnah here is loosing one’s religion.

In Tuhfat al Ahuthi, the commentary on Sunan al Tirmithi it says: “that the one who visits the ruler and adulates him has fell into fitnah but the one who visits him and does not adulate him but advises him and enjoins him to do good and forbids him from doing evil then his visiting to the ruler becomes the greatest Jihad.”

The hadith here refers to the rulers of the Muslims who were Muslim but fell into wrongdoing and oppression.

So what should we say about the scholars who visit the rulers of today who have left the folds of Islam altogether? If the hadith states that a person loses his religion by visiting an oppressive ruler what would happen to the religion of those scholars who visit the promoters of apostasy and the protectors of the enemies of ummah?

Entering into the world of the rulers is a fitnah. Their world is an artificial and deceptive one when the scholars come from a pure and clean environment. The environment of the scholars is an honest and straightforward one and does not prepare them for what they face in the world of deception and lies of the kings. These rulers trick the scholars with their words and promises and they win over their loyalty by kind treatment and “gifts”. Doesn’t Rasulullah (SAAWS) say: “Give each other gifts and you would love each other”?

Indeed some of these scholars have absorbed in their hearts the love of the rules like Banu Israel absorbed the love of the Calf.
These rulers have entrapped many scholars in their webs and recruited them to the role of protecting them, their interests and the interests of their masters, the Jews and Christians, rather than protecting the religion of Allah and the Muslims.

But there will always be a group of this ummah on truth protecting the religion of Allah and there are scholars who stand for the truth and sacrifice for it. There are scholars today who follow the footsteps of Ahmad ibn Hanbal who stood up alone for the truth only to become the Imam of Ahl al Sunnah wal Jama’ah. 

Could Yemen be the Next Surprise of the Season?

Was posted by Imam Anwar al-Awlaki on October 7, 2009

The jihad movement around the world has witnessed a surprising growth during the past few years. After 9-11 America had succeeded in pulling together an international coalition in order to fight the mujahedeen. It invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, put pressure on governments around the world to throw anyone with association with Jihad behind bars and to stop the flow of money into Jihad movements. All over the world the mujahedeen have suffered an international effort under the leadership of America to bring an end to Jihad. But Eight years later the mujahedeen are wining on every front and are expanding into new ones. It appeared difficult back then to imagine that the world would be the way it is today just 8 years after 9-11.

That is because Rasulullah(saaws) said: “A group of my ummah will continue fighting in the path of Allah and they will not be harmed by those who are against them.”

The American people gave G.W. Bush unanimous backing to fight against the mujahedeen and gave him a blank check to spend as much as needed to fulfill that objective. The result? He failed, and he failed miserably. So if America failed to defeat the mujahedeen when it gave its president unlimited support, how can it win with Obama who is on a short leash? If America failed to win when it was at its pinnacle of economic strength, how can it win today with a recession – if not a depression- at hand?

The simple answer is: America cannot and will not win.

The tables have turned and there is no rolling back of the worldwide Jihad movement. The ideas of Jihad are proliferating around the world, the mujahedeen movements are gaining strength and the battlefields are expanding with the mujahedeen introducing new fronts.

In Afghanistan the rural areas are mostly under the control of the Taliban and there is a steady improvement in the growth and strength of the mujahedeen. In Iraq even though the US claims an improvement in the security situation but one needs to ask the question at what cost is that achieved? The amount of money America is spending on Iraq with a recession at hand is unattainable.

The Jihad of this era started in Palestine, followed by Afghanistan, then Chechnya, then Iraq, then Somalia, then the Maghreb, and the new front might very well turn out to be Yemen.

And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world.

Why?

First, the Arabian Peninsula has always been a land of mujahedeen even though there has been no fighting occurring on its soil. In Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq the participation of mujahedeen from the Arabian Peninsula represented the largest block of foreign mujahedeen. When Jihad starts in the Arabian Peninsula, Jihad would be coming back to its home.

Second, the Arabian Peninsula is home to Makkah and Madinah. To free the Holy places from the rule of apostasy and tyranny is to free the heart of Islam.

Third, the rulers in the Arabian Peninsula are playing a central role in the fight against Islam especially the al Saud family. The al Saud of today are the Abdullah bin Ubay of yesterday. They have perfected the art of hypocrisy.  They fight Islam in the name of Islam. They wear cloaks of sheep on hearts of wolves. There cannot be Islamic rule and a return to khilafah without removing them from existence and this is the responsibility of the mujahedeen of the Arabian Peninsula.

America and its allies in the area are plotting against the mujahedeen, nevertheless their growth increases by the day. May Allah grant the true believers victory and grant them steadfastness on His path.

"Their intention is to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will complete His light even thought the disbelievers may detest it" (al Saff 61)

Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing

Was posted by Imam Anwar al-Awlaki on 09 Nov 2009

Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.
Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the US army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.

The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.

The fact that fighting against the US army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right - rather the duty - to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.

Allah(swt) says: Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment –

Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely. (al-Nisa 136-137)

The inconsistency of being a Muslim today and living in America and the West in general reveals the wisdom behind the opinions that call for migration from the West. It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.

May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance and steadfastness and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act. Ameen

Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar al-Awlaki

Cageprisoners presents an exclusive interview with Imam Anwar al-Awlaki. Anwar al-Awlaki is a Muslim scholar of Yemeni heritage born in New Mexico. Imam Anwar was released from custody on the 12th of December 2007 having spent a year and a half behind bars. In his first interview since his release, conducted by former Guantanamo Detainee and cageprisoners spokesman Moazzam Begg, he spoke about the conditions of his detention and shared his reflections on his time in prison.

[ Download ] - Interview with Imam Anwar al Awlaki

The Maccan Minority

Was posted by admin on May-5-2008

In light of the current situation the Muslim Ummah is facing in the West, it is evident that there is a pressing need for a better understanding of how the Muslims should live as a minority in a non-Muslim society. Sheikh Anwar Al-Awlaki sheds light upon the Quran, hadeeth and the seerah (particularly the first 13 years in Makkah) and presents lessons to the daiee’ in order to strengthen his or her methods of conveying the message of Islam to the West.

[Download] - Part 1 - The Maccan Minority | by Imam Anwar al Awlaki
[Download] - Part 2 - The Maccan Minority | by Imam Anwar al Awlaki

Allah Is Preparing Us For Victory

Was posted by admin on May-6-2008

Allah Is Preparing Us For Victory

[Download] - Part 1 - Allah Is Preparing Us For Victory | by Imam Anwar al Awlaki
[Download] - Part 2 - Allah Is Preparing Us For Victory | by Imam Anwar al Awlaki

The Battle for Hearts and Minds

Was posted by admin on May-12-2008

This is the first proper lecture given by the Imam Anwar al Awlaki since his release last year December.

This lecture was delivered to a South African audience via live phone link on Sunday 11 May 2008. It was part of a Conference held by PureIslam Da’wah and Publications themed: Holding on to Hot Coals - Surviving as a Muslim in the West. An important topic that is going unnoticed by the majority of people around the world. With the advancement of communications in the world, the enemies are not only plotting away with their weapons but also with their lies portrayed in the media spreading all sorts of lies to justify the slaughter of innocent human beings.

[ Download ] - The Battle for Hearts and Minds | by Imam Anwar al Awlaki

The Dust will Never Settle Down

Was posted by admin on May-27-2008

There has been recently an increase of unacceptable behavior from the kuffar towards our beloved Prophet. So what is the ruling of sharia on such incidents and how did the Sahaba deal with such people and what do our scholars say about them. About this and more Imam Anwar will deliver a talk titled: “The Dust will Never Settle Down”. Allaah will suffice His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) against the criminals who mock him. He says (interpretation of the meaning): “For he who hates you (O Muhammad), he will be cut off (from posterity and every good thing in this world and in the Hereafter)” [al-Kawthar 108:3] i.e., he is scorned and humiliated and cut off from all that is good. When the Muslims besieged a stronghold and its people resisted, then they heard them mocking and reviling the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), they would sense that victory was at hand, and it would only be a short time before Allaah granted them victory, to avenge His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Al-Saarim al-Maslool (p. 116-117).

[ Download ] - The Dust will Never Settle Down | by Imam Anwar al Awlaki