NY Times Op-Ed

No Room for Radicals in Mosques
By SUHAIB WEBB and SCOTT KORB
Published: April 25, 2013

JUST hours after the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing were identified as Muslims, Representative Peter T. King of New York, the Republican chairman of the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, called for an "increased surveillance" of Islamic communities in the United States. "I think we need more police and more surveillance in the communities where the threat is coming from," he told National Review. "The new threat is definitely from within."

Mr. King's hypothesis, and the widespread surveillance policies already in effect since 9/11, assume that the threat of radicalization has become a matter of local geography, that American Muslims are creating extremists in our mosques and community centers.

But what we're learning of the suspects, the brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, suggests a different story, and one that has itself become familiar: radicalization does not happen to young people with a strong grounding in the American Muslim mainstream; increasingly, it happens online, and sometimes abroad, among the isolated and disaffected.

The YouTube page of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, for example, does not contain a single lecture from a scholar, imam or institution in America. One report suggests that he found the theology taught in a local Cambridge mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston, unpalatable: while attending a Friday service in which an imam praised the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. Tsarnaev shouted that the imam was a "nonbeliever." The younger Tsarnaev brother seems to have rarely attended a mosque at all.
Representative Peter T. King of New York, the Republican chairman of the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, called for an "increased surveillance" of Islamic communities in the United States. "I think we need more police and more surveillance in the communities where the threat is coming from," he told National Review. "The new threat is definitely from within."

Mr. King's hypothesis, and the widespread surveillance policies already in effect since 9/11, assume that the threat of radicalization has become a matter of local geography, that American Muslims are creating extremists in our mosques a terror, we'll all find ourselves increasingly secure as more Muslims heed the call - coming to Islam as it is in the United States, as a real, living community.

Suhaib Webb is the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. Scott Korb, who teaches writing at New York University and the New School, is the author of "Light Without Fire: The Making of America's First Muslim College."

NYT

Facing Our Deepest Challenges (Ustadh David Coolidge)

Ustadh David Coolidge: a gem of an essay on Prophetic character, compassion, guidance and inner transformation:

Facing Our Deepest Challenges: One of the beautiful things about the sirah of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) is that it shows how the Prophet directly...

A few months ago, our community's very own Professor Martin Nguyen (Asst Prof @ Fairfield U; Harvard AM '06; Harvard PhD '09) posted an entry on his blog  in which he called attention to several recently published introductory reference works for budding Arabic manuscript experts. Enjoy!

Here is the English translation of Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah's recently published statement concerning the latest anti-Muhammad video and the protests associated with it. 

Declaration Regarding the Offensive Video to Muslims

The days and nights pass, as do the centuries and successive generations, and your light ever shines, and the fragrance of your remembrance penetrates throughout, your gentle cascade falls throughout, and your call to humanity remains timeless and universal: {O Mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single soul} – Quran. How then, can the vile block the light of the sun, or how can the putrid stream pollute the lucid water of life? Rabid dogs bark at the moon, but yet the caravan proceeds. They are the enemies of peace, the enemies of prosperity, the enemies of humanity. Your disparagers were referring to someone else, a product of their vile imagination. They deserve less than to be mentioned by name, and we care not to speak to them. Rather, we address people of reason and understanding. We address believers, and we address Muslims, with these three thoughts:

1) To people of reason and understanding: We ask everyone to ponder the ramifications of provoking the feelings of over one billion people by a small party of people who desires not to seek peace nor fraternity between members of humanity. This poses a threat to world peace with no tangible benefit realized. Is it not necessary in today’s world for the United Nations to issue a resolution criminalizing the impingement of religious symbols? We request all religious and political authorities, as well as people of reason to join us in putting a stop to this futility that benefits no one.

2) To the world’s Muslims: Expressing outrage in the face of the maligning of God or the Prophet Muhammad is a moral right, as faith cannot be devoid of feelings and immunity from provocation. It is from the completeness of our faith that we love the Prophet Muhammad more than our wealth, more than our beloveds, more than even our own selves. It is from our complete love of him that we follow God’s commands, specifically where He says: {And do not let a hatred of a people prevent you from being just; Be just, as it is closer to true faith} and {No soul bears the sin of another} and {He who kills a soul not in recompense for another soul or in retribution for the sowing of corruption, is as if he has killed all of humanity} – Qur’an. Consequently, we implore you not to inflict violence upon anyone, whether foreign delegations or otherwise. You should not destroy property or flout the values and cherished principles that you defend, as attacking innocents, killing foreign diplomats and ambassadors contravenes religious and moral principles before it contravenes political ones. It is important that we not forget the Prophet Muhammad’s praise for those who exercise restraint upon becoming angry. You should prevent those individuals who behave recklessly from actions that are unreasonable and immoral. We ask the Muslim youth to be disciplined in word and deed, and to act appropriately. We call upon Muslim religious authorities, governments, and community and organization leaders, to devise a strategy to deal with such situations in the future. These situations will likely reoccur, so it is important to manage the conflict before it does. We call upon Friday prayer congregations to perform the prayer and to seek blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad and to apprise the international community of the seriousness of the situation.

 3) To our Western neighbors: Our Lord has enjoined us to respect and treat equitably our neighbors, regardless of race or religious affiliation. Jesus Christ also spoke of love of thy neighbor. We will remain neighbors forever. No reasonable person would conclude that it would be possible for either of us to disappear from the face of the earth. Therefore, why shouldn’t we cooperate to establish effective neighborly relations in an effort to create a space for mutual liberty and prosperity? We are extremely concerned with a small active minority in your countries that seeks to perpetuate a state of conflict and war. We estimate that such objectives do not serve the general interest. Therefore, it is our hope that you reconsider and criminalize the denigration of religious symbols, as such provocations do not serve the principles of free speech, principles that you and us both seek to uphold.

Shaykh abdallah bin bayyah
Vice-Chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IMUS)
President of the Global Centre for Renewal and Guidance
Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence at the King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah

Blessed 'Id!

Learning Arabic

Check out this worthwhile blog post from our friend, brother and colleague, Shaykh Humza Maqbul Chaudry:

Ignoring the Messenger, Ignoring the Message... A Plea to the Ummah to Learn Arabic It is not a sin to not know Arabic. Generations of righteous and pious slaves of Allah and his Rasul, sallallau`alayhi wa sallam, came and left from this world, century after century, and they didn't speak a lick of Arabic. Heck, many of them didn't even know how to read. However, if they learned anything, they learned Arabic, because the book of Allah was the most important thing to them in existence, and the Arab prophet was the most the most dear person to them in creation. Until the twentieth century, no Muslim, righteous or unrighteous, undertook a course of education that wasn't based on the Kitab and Sunnah, nor was any institute of education built that wasn't based on the Kitab and Sunnah. Today, we take fourteen years of compulsory government-mandated education followed by four, six, eight and ten years of additional professional education, on our own dime; none of these nearly two decades of "education" will ever see mention of Allah or His Messenger, sallallahu`alayhi wa sallam, and when they rarely do, they will see them mentioned in the context of disbelief. Can we not see the difference between those simple farmers, housewives, slaves, and peasants, and us? They learned nothing, and had very simple lives in which they lived humbly, simply, and honestly. We are sophisticated and know everything under the sun about all things material. We learn Spanish, French, Latin, Java, C++, and literally tomes of jargon. ... but we never could be bothered to read the message sent to us by the Creator of the worlds, and we couldn't be bothered to understand His messenger, sallallahu`alayhiwasallam. The basic understanding of Arabic, meaning enough to understand basic sentences, vocabulary, syntax, morphology, etc., and how to look up words that one doesn't know in the dictionary takes between 1-2 years of study depending on time given, rigor of study, and diligence of the student. This is enough to change salat al-Tarawih from a test of patience to a journey in wisdom divine. You won't understand all of it, but it is a beginning. We spend twenty-some odd years learning that which will perish, and turn our back to that which will last forever... Do we not have a need to understand the message in this era? Are we so well off that we can take it easy with Allah and focus on other things? Is our position among the nations so strong and respected that we no longer need to learn wisdom? Is our relationship with Allah so strong that we are unassailable by those who wish to harm us? These are all concerns for this world. In the hereafter, what excuse will we have when we meet Allah?

Prioritization of Knowledge and Individual Responsibility

Prioritization of Knowledge and Individual Responsibility by Shaykh Taha Abdul-Basser from Darul Hikmah on Vimeo.

NYPD College Student Group Surveillance (UPDATE 1)

The Crimson has an article on the NYPD College Student Group Surveillance story today.

NYPD monitored Muslim students all over Northeast

See the AP story here.

For one of the weekly reports that the NYPD was allegedly compiling regularly on Muslim Student Organizations (MSOs), see here.

For the various Ivy League MSOs that were targeted, see on-campus coverage at Yale University, Columbia University and UPenn.

For background on how this latest set of revelations fits into the larger pattern of local (NYPD) and federal (CIA) surveillance and penetration of domestic civil organizations, see this useful summary of AP coverage.

This year's Ivy Muslim Conference 2012 is at Yale again.

Islam at Brown: Dear Adam: In the Name of Allah, The All-Merciful, The Giver of Mercy This is a public appeal to Adam Gadahn, an American citizen who has allied him...

Great article in the Crimson

As Ramadan Ends, Muslim Students Reflect on Religion
By Nadia L. Farjood, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Published: Monday, August 29, 2011

For the past four weeks, Rashid M. Yasin ’12 has folded back his covers around 4:15 a.m., rising to make a meal comprised of protein, grain and dairy, which he washes down with plenty of water to sustain him throughout the day. He then heads to a faucet to do wudu, the Islamic procedure for purifying oneself in preparation for prayer. Once he has washed his hands, face, mouth, arms and feet, Yasin performs the first of five daily prayers. He praises God and asks for forgiveness, concluding his prayer with personal supplication.

“I tend to pray for guidance and forgiveness and success in this life and the next,” Yasin says. “I pray to be able to incorporate consciousness of God and His will in all I do.”

Yasin’s morning ritual ends when he slips back under his covers again, still in the dark. After suhoor, his early meal, he will not break his fast for approximately 15 hours, going without food or drink from sunrise to sunset.

Yasin, the president of the Harvard Islamic Society (HIS), is observing Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting that ends Monday. This year he is doing so in Cambridge, but this is not the case for many Harvard students. Ramadan’s date is determined by the lunar calendar, and this year, the month does not overlap with the academic year as it has in the past. So Muslim Harvard students are showing their devotion to their faith all over the world, from Minnesota to South Korea, Senegal to Palestine.

ROUTINES AND RITUALS

Although Fatoumata B. Fall ’14 started the summer in her home nation of Senegal, she plunged into Ramadan in Seoul, South Korea, as a student in Harvard’s six-week summer school program at Ewha Womans University. She maintained her fast through studies and a two-week internship with an international development institute.

During what she considers a blessed month, Fall alters her daily schedule to practice her faith. Rising early, she prays five times throughout the day and reads the Quran after work. When dusk descends, she prepares for iftar, the evening meal when Muslims break their fast. Following her fill, she prays, meets with friends, and spends time on the Internet until she sleeps “after the morning.”

“Let’s just say there is lots of sleeping in on the weekend,” quips Nima Y. Hassan ’14, a Somali-American who is observing Ramadan in Ham Lake, Minnesota.

Like Hassan, Lena K. Awwad ’13, who observed Ramadan in Palestine this summer, also awakens to eat and pray before the sun rises.

For each student, pangs of hunger are a reality throughout the day. Awwad combats her cravings by avoiding salty foods and consuming enough water to “keep awake.” She fills her day with prayers until she breaks her fast with dates and cup of milk or water, which, she explains, was “how the Prophet used to do it.”

THE MONTH AND ITS MINDFULNESS

For Hassan, Ramadan is a dedicated time for believers to focus on getting closer to God. With constant demands on her time and the overwhelming presence of the Internet, she says it can be difficult to find the space and time to thank and praise God.

“We spend a lot of our time wired and moving onto the next activity,” Hassan says. “But in Ramadan, there’s a mindfulness that’s encouraged and expected of you which you don’t really make the time for otherwise. Ramadan is not just quieting the noise, but doing so with a purpose to hear God.”

Aside from being a religious and family-oriented month, Ramadan provides space for people to learn tolerance, Awwad says. She considers prayer on an empty stomach during Ramadan to be more reflective than prayer at any other time throughout the year.

“While fasting from sun-up to sun-down, it is important not to waste the day or the opportunity to get closer to your religion and the people around you,” Awwad says. “You see life as more than just in between the meals.”

Fall says that the most meaningful aspect of Ramadan to her is constantly evolving.

“We are young people and I’m restless. When Ramadan comes around I find a more peaceful side of myself,” Fall says. “As I grow, I enjoy getting more time and opportunity to practice my religion during Ramadan. This year, for instance, I did not devote a lot of time to my religion and spirituality with all the work at Harvard.”

HARVARD'S TRADITIONS

Yasin was raised in Scituate, Mass., 20 miles south of Boston, a community where he knows no other Muslims. Raised by a Bangladeshi father and a white mother who converted to Islam, Yasin attributes his view of his faith as diverse—“not only comprised of Arabs or South Asians”—to his mixed background. While he expected to find diversity in the Harvard Islamic Society, he was unsure of what it would entail with respect to people’s practices.

“When I got to college, I would see the different cultural traditions that Arabs have and Caucasians have. It’s partially religious, partially cultural,” Yasin says. “I was oblivious to different trends and interpretations. I had an individualized non-communal background.”

Yasin says community-building happens most during Ramadan, the biggest event on the HIS calendar. Historically, the organization has celebrated the holy month with catered iftars daily in Ticknor Lounge, drawing more than 80 graduate and undergraduate students.

With fewer people in Cambridge this summer, the group held three iftars per week, but the society continued to draw a consistent group of people Yasin calls his “brothers and sisters.”

“As part of the only Muslim family in my town growing up in suburban Massachusetts, I missed having a strong Muslim community outside of my nuclear family and so I have really embraced HIS since coming to Harvard,” says Yasin.

Awwad fondly recalls Ramadan with HIS as the “perfect introduction” to the College, especially as a first-year international student searching for a niche. As classes began, the society co-sponsored interfaith dinners and dialogues with student groups. Dinners served as a forum to meet Muslims and non-Muslims, while sharing the traditions of Ramadan.

“We even held iftars with faculty and had the chance to meet people from different religions,” Awwad says. “The events helped me connect to home. HIS was helpful in ways I didn’t imagine.”

SPACES AND SPIRITUALITY

Shortly after Hassan was born in Saudi Arabia, her family bounced to the U.S. Midwest, ultimately landing in Minnesota. She moved to Ham Lake, where she practiced Ramadan this summer. While she says there a sizable Muslim community concentrated in the Twin Cities, her town lacks a Muslim presence.

“There are Muslim communities within reach, but where we live there are few Muslims and people of color generally,” Hassan says.

Growing up in Fridley, Minn., in a community of largely first- and second-generation immigrants, Hassan recalls fasting with five other students in her grade. The school provided accommodations for observing students in a separate room.

“We didn't want to go to lunchroom and watch everyone eat. Over 30 days, we grew close,” Hassan says.

Despite appreciating the individual attention accorded to her by the school administration, Hassan says there is a disconnect between the West and Muslim societies where most people fast.

By contrast, Fall has celebrated Ramadan in a Muslim-majority country, Senegal, where she was born. Despite hot and dry temperatures that mark Ramadan, inducing thirst early in the day, she says the Muslim community is strong. Radios announce the time for iftar, community prayers are held drawing hundreds, and skits are performed in honor of Eid, the Muslim holiday following the final day of Ramadan.

“Ninety-four percent of my country is Muslim so Ramadan is not just a small group celebrating their special holiday,” Fall says. “In Cambridge I felt more in an isolated world. In Senegal, after iftar we have community prayer. Everyone, I mean everyone, goes. Houses are empty.”

Observing Ramadan in South Korea this summer proved even more isolating. Instead of praying with a large community and family, she often led prayers alone.

“I can count the Muslims who live here,” Fall says, who noted Seoul has a community of predominantly Buddhists, Christians, and Agnostics. Her friend observed her pray once, she says, and noted it was the first time she had seen a Muslim pray.

REFLECTIONS ON HUNGER

For Hassan, fasting has taken on special significance in light of the drought in the Horn of Africa, which has struck her parents' native Somalia, leaving millions with limited access to food or water.

“Somalia is a place where droughts happen with frequency, but this is unprecedented,” Hassan says. “When there’s so much hunger we need to be even more dedicated to our fast during Ramadan to be even more cognizant of what it’s like for many people around the world and act accordingly.”

But Hassan mentioned that some malnourished may continue to fast. She draws a distinction between her observance, which includes minimal physical activity during the day, and that of people who continue strenuous activity—such as working in the fields—while experiencing hunger.

“Building empathy through actual experience for people who go hungry is a beautiful thing about Ramadan,” Hassan says. “Whether you’re a king or a poor person, you observe the same. Having felt that, it’s a lot easier to imagine what it’s like for someone else to understand hunger and thirst.”

Hassan says that this empathy inspires charitable acts, making Ramadan known as a month of giving. Yasin connects empathy to spirituality, explaining that Ramadan provokes God-consciousness whereby he is reminded of his faith when he feels affected by the fast. He calls fasting “a spiritual refocusing” which facilitates remembrance of the interconnectedness of God in his life.

But hunger is only part of the experience of Ramadan. Iftar—breaking the fast—remains an important element. In Hassan’s family, it includes preparation of almost two hours, after which relatives gather for a countdown as the sun sets.

“We say ‘Three minutes! Two minutes! Time to eat!” she says.

While meals vary, one of Hassan’s favorites includes a rare Somali food, which resembles a donut, accompanied with a mango watermelon salad. The table is set with a cucumber and tomato salad, dates and milk.

“It’s pretty colorful, and I’m pretty thankful,” Hassan says.

FINISHING THE HOLIDAY

For Fall, last year’s Eid—her first in the United States—was strange. In the early morning of the day after Ramadan’s end, she gathered with other students in Roxbury to pray.

“After that I came back and went to class,” Fall says. “This was shocking, because all my life I had Eid as a holiday.”

On Eid this year, Yasin will go to prayers, accompanied with his friends from HIS, but he plans to skip out on the first day of classes. He will visit his family and celebrate in a week or two with HIS members again in the evening for an Eid banquet.

“For Eid, I’ll be home with my family,” says Fall. But after spending half the holiday in her home, she will spend the other half on a plane, coming back to Harvard.

A gem from our fellow Chaplain and member of the Harvard Muslim community, Shaykh David Coolidge:

Islam at Brown: How I Understand Islamic Law: I have been studying Islamic law ever since I became Muslim almost 13 years ago. I don't have ijazas or a PhD, just a pile of books and a treasure trove of memories that inform how I make sense out of it all. Because my life experience and way of thinking aren't quite typical, I have often refrained from sharing my views more publicly. However, as a chaplain I get numerous inquiries about Islamic law, and I think it will be helpful to have a document which lays out my basic philosophy. I will try to articulate my views as clearly as possible, for the benefit of those with varying degrees of familiarity with the history and philosophy of Islamic law.
In short, I consider Islamic law to be the sum total of what intelligent, learned, and pious scholars say about Islamic law. They must be intelligent, because the intellect is the basis of understanding the law. They must be learned, because there are plenty of books one must read before one can begin to understand Islamic law. They must be pious, because Islamic law is meant to be practiced, not just understood. In history, those who fulfill these criteria are well known: Malik, al-Shafi'i, al-Ghazzali, Ibn Qudamah, Ibn Taymiyya, al-Marghinani, al-Shawkani, al-Qarafi, and many others. Whatever they said should be considered as part of Islamic law as a whole.
However, the books of the giants of the past don't always help us understand what we should do today. Sometimes they can even lead us astray, if we don't understand the context in which they were writing. So when it comes to contemporary concerns, preference is given to scholars who not only fulfill the 3 conditions already mentioned, but also understand the political, economic and social realities we are living in now. These scholars are capable of interpreting the writings of the Islamic legal heritage in light of our 2011 AD/1432 AH world. Such individuals include Zaid Shakir, Hamza Yusuf, Yasir Qadhi, Muhammad Alshareef, Abdullah Ali, Yahya Rhodus, Intisar Rabb, Ikram ul Haq, Faraz Rabbani, Sherman Jackson, Tahir Anwar, Taha Abdul-Basser, Zaynab Ansari Abdul-Razacq, Suhaib Webb, and many others.
If you ask any of these scholars how to pray, they will be capable of giving you an answer that is valid. If you ask them about zakat, they will be sensitive to what a 401k entails. If you ask them to reflect on what it means to live in a secular, pluralistic democracy, they will have cogent thoughts to share. Each of them has earned the right to share their view, through hard intellectual work and a life of committment to God and God's Messenger (may peace be upon him). Much of what they say will be in agreement with one another, and where they differ, take what you think is best. Only the All-Knowing (al-Aleem) really knows which one of them is right, and only the Truly Just (al-'Adl) will judge between them and between us after all of our deaths.
All of these scholars encourage human beings to pray in more or less the same way. All of them highlight the importance of fasting. All of them can explain why God prohibited alcohol. All of them think it is best for Muslims to marry Muslim spouses with good character. All of them know the centrality of patient perseverance (sabr) when afflicted with trials and tribulations in one's personal, professional, or spiritual life. Similarly, they all understand the need for gratitude (shukr) for all of our myraid blessings. Most everything else is secondary or tertiary. If you want to learn the details, there are many different ways to do so, but never get so wrapped up in the trees that you forget the vast forest all around you.
The Straight Path (sirat al-mustaqim) is not this shaykh or that shaykh, this book or that book, this class or that one, this school of thought or that one. The inheritance of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) is vast, and reaches into the nooks and crannies of this world. If the teacher in your particular nook doesn't inspire you or make sense, then go looking for better ones, and the Guide (al-Hadi) will guide you to her or him. But as you search, always be aware that your inner self will fight back, because it does not want to submit. It wants to convince you that you are the center of the universe. But the spiritual purpose of Islamic law is to remind you that God has more of a right than anyone else over what you do and say. When Islamic law seems like the interpretations of men and women, go deeper, and find the unchangeable bedrock which is God's clear command and prohibition. When one has found that unshakeable core, then there is nothing left to do but submit to the best of one's ability, and ask God to forgive all the ways in which we fall short, for we all fall short. In these last days of Ramadan, may the Forgiving (al-Ghafur) forgive all of us our shortcomings in sincerity, knowledge, and practice, amen.

Initiative on Islam and Medicine | Medicine and Religion

Initiative on Islam and Medicine | Medicine and Religion

For those of you interested in Islamic bioethics--that is, the application of fiqh to contemporary medical (and other biological) issues--here is a video recording of a session of a recent conference on the subject. I am moderating this session. The speakers include Prof. Sherman Jackson and Sh Musa Furber. May Allah reward Dr. Aasim Padela, conference organizer, for the invitation.

Flashback ma sha'Allah. Harvard Crimson coverage of the courtship, engagement and marriage of two students of mine--Ustadh Daniel Jou and Ustadhah Ola Aljawhary--while they were students at Harvard College. Daniel and Ola met at the Harvard Islamic Society, of which they were both leading members.

Muslim students at Washington U. are getting food options

Muslim students at Washington U. are getting food options

Sh Suheil Laher's translation of the section entitled "The Pitfalls of [Sacred] Knowledge, and an Explanation of the Scholars of Evil and the Scholars of the Hereafter" from Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin, which is, as Sh Suheil describes it, "Ahmad al-Maqdisi's summary of Ibn al-Jawzi' abridgment of al-Ghazzali's Ihya' `Ulum al-Din." Al-hamdu li-llah, we have taught this text for years at Harvard Islamic Society.

The Scholars of Evil are those whose aim in [acquiring] knowledge is to obtain comfort in the world, and to attainment worldly rank in the eyes of people. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) has narrated that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said,
“Whoever learns knowledge by which the Countenance of Allah should be sought, yet learns it only to attain some worldly provision, will not find the fragrance of Heaven on the Day of Resurrection.” [Abu Dawud]
And in another hadith, [it is narrated] that he said,
“Whoever learns knowledge in order to vie thereby with the scholars, or to argue thereby with the foolish, or to turn people’s faces towards him [in admiration] thereof, shall be in the Fire.”[Tirmidhi, He clasified it as weak.]
There are many ahadith about this. Some of the salaf said, “The most regretful person at [the time of] death is a neglectful scholar.”

1. Know that what is required from the scholar is that he establish the commands and prohibitions [of Islam]. He is not required to be an ascetic, nor to relinquish the permissible. However, it is fitting that he curtail [his indulgement] in [things] of the world as much as he is able. People vary, and not every body is amenable to austerity. It has been narrated that Sufyan Thawri (may Allah have mercy upon him) used to eat well, saying,
“If a beast is not treated well fodder-wise, it will not [perform] work.” [On the other hand], Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy upon him) used to sndure a tremendously austere life. Physiques [indeed] differ.

2. Among the characteristics of the Scholars of the Hereafter is that they know that the world is paltry and that the Hereafter is noble, and that the two are like two co-wives, and so they give preference to the Hereafter. Their deeds do not contradict their words. Their inclination is towards the beneficial knowledge of the Hereafter, and they shun those fields of knowledge which are of limited benefit, giving prioity to those whose benefit is greater.

In this regard, it has been narrated Shaqiq Balkhi (may Allah have mercy upon him) asked Hatim,
“You have kept my company for a long time. What, then, have you learned?”

He replied, “Eight things.

Firstly : I looked at creation, and saw that every individual has a beloved [person or thing], but when he reaches his grave, his
beloved is separated from him, and so I made my beloved my good deeds in order that they could be in the grave with me.

Secondly : I looked at the words of Allah, the Exalted, (meaning), ”And he prevented the Self from caprice,”[Qur'an, 79:40] and thus I exerted [my Self] in eliminating caprice, until it settled upon the obedience of Allah.

Thirdly : I saw everyone who has anything of value guarding it, and then I looked at the words of Allah, the Flawless, the Exalted, (meaning),”That which you have shall perish, while that which is with Allah is enduring,” [Qur'an, 16:96]. and so whenever I obained anything of value, I turned it towards Him [by expending it in charity] in order that it might endure for me with Him.

Fourthly : I saw people referring back to wealth, lineage and nobility, although they are [worth] nothing. Then, I looked at the words of Allah, the Exalted, (meaning), “The noblest of you before Allah is the most pious,”[Qur'an, 49:13]. and so I practised piety so that I could be noble before Him.

Fifthly : I saw people envying one another, and then I looked at [Allah] The Exalted’s words, (meaning), “We have apportioned their livelihoods amongst them,”[Qur'an, 43:32] and so I forsook envy.

Sixthly : I saw them having enmity towards one another, and then I saw [Allah] the Exalted’s words, (meaning), “Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy,”[Qur'an, 35:6] and so I gave up enmity to them and took Satan alone as my enemy.

Seventhly : I saw them expending their selves in pursuit of sustenance, and then I looked at [Allah] the Exalted’s words, (meaning),
“There is not any beast on the earth except that its sustenance is [binding] upon Allah,”[Qur'an, 11:6] and so I busied myself with His rights over me, and I relinquished [pursuit of] that which is guaranteed for me by Him.

Eighthly : I saw them placing their trust in their commerce and manufacturing and their bodily health, and so I placed my trust in Allah, the Exalted.”

3. [Also] among the characteristics of the scholars of the Hereafter is that they are ill-at-ease with the rulers, and wary of mingling with them. Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Beware of the stations of sedition!”
They asked, “And what might those be?”
He replied, “The gates of the leaders. One of you enters upon the ruler and then corroborates him with lies and mentions [in his praise qualities] which he does not possess.”
Sa`id ibn al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “When you see a scholar calling upon the leaders then beware of him, for he is a scoundrel (literally: a thief).”
One of the salaf said, “You will not attain any of their world without their taking something better [away] from your religion.”

4. And among the characteristics of the scholars of the Hereafter is that they are not hasty to pronounce religious verdicts, and that they pronounce verdicts based only on that [material] whose authenticity they are certain of. The salaf used to pass on [the task of pronouncing] a verdict until it returned to the first [of them]. `Abdur-Rahman ibn Abu Layla (may Allah have
mercy upon him) said, “I met, in this mosque, one hundred and twenty of the companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and there was not one of them who, when asked about a hadith or for a religious verdict, did not wish that his brother would save him the task. Now, we have reached the stage where audacious people who lay claim to knowledge come forward to answer questions which, were they presented to `Umar ibn al-Khattab, he would have gathered the people of Badr and sought their counsel.”

5. And among their characteristics is that most of their investigation is into the knowledge of deeds, how to prevent the things which cause their corruption, cloud the heart and stir up devilish suggestions, for the form of deeds is simple and easy, the difficulty lying only in purifying them. The fundament of religion is to protect oneself against evil, and protection cannot really be achieved without recognising [the evil].

6. And among their characteristics is that they probe into the inner dimensions of the deeds of the Shari`ah, and take note of the wisdom therein. However, if they fail to discover the reason [for a religious ruling which is clear-cut, such as why prayer is 5 times daily rather than more often or less often], it suffices them to submit to the Law.

7. And among their characteristics is that they follow the [Prophet's] Companions and the best of the Successors, and guard against every newly-invented matter [in religion, i.e. heresy].

Harvard professor quoted in NPR article "Is it Wrong to Celebrate Bin Laden's Death

Impromptu celebrations erupted near the White House in Washington and ground zero in New York when news of Osama bin Laden's death was reported and tweeted.

Laura Cunningham, a 22-year-old Manhattan reveler — gripping a Budweiser in her hand and sitting atop the shoulders of a friend — was part of the crowd at ground zero in the wee hours Monday. As people around her chanted "U-S-A," Cunningham was struck by the emotional response. She told New York Observer: "It's weird to celebrate someone's death. It's not exactly what we're here to celebrate, but it's wonderful that people are happy."

Those mixed feelings get at the heart of the moral ambivalence of the moment: Of course there is relief that an evil mastermind cannot commit acts of terror in the future. But is it ever a good idea — from a spiritual or philosophical standpoint — to celebrate with beer and good cheer over the death of anyone, even a widely acknowledged monster?

Not 'Our Finest Moment'

The Roman Catholic Church responded to the news of bin Laden's death with this statement: "Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of everyone before God and man, and hopes and pledges that every event is not an opportunity for a further growth of hatred, but of peace."

"I think that's on the mark," says Mike Hayes, a campus minister at the University at Buffalo. "As a Catholic Christian, I cannot celebrate the death of anyone, especially when it is done violently. Naturally, my human nature fights against that idealism, especially when I think of those who I lost personally that day and all those who lost their life on 11 September."

However, adds Hayes, who runs the Googling God blog for young adults, "I don't think that the celebrations in the streets were our finest moment as Americans, and reminded me much of the anger I felt at seeing Afghans dancing in the streets at the fall of the Towers on that dreaded day."

Hayes says: "We are called to forgiveness. And that is the only way that we can be truly free. Holding onto our hatred keeps us in slavery to bin Laden's madness and gives the terrorists continued power over us."

There is also a sense of false elation, he adds, "because many believe that the world is a safer place because of this death. That relief is probably misguided."

Is Rejoicing Morally Justified?

Still, some Americans are wrestling with the rightness and wrongness of the party-like responses. A popular status update on Facebook today is a quote attributed to Mark Twain: "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

On a practical level, some people are concerned that such public displays of elation — similar to those following a sports victory or a political election — will create more animosity and even greater danger. "This closes a chapter, but the most sobering aspect of this is that this is not the end," Jack Cloonan, a former FBI special agent, told The Huffington Post. "The reasons they hate us have not subsided, and this could reinvigorate things."

And the question remains: Is there moral philosophical justification for rejoicing over the demise of someone like bin Laden?

"Most people believe that the killing we do in war is justified as the only way to disable an enemy whose cause we believe to be unjust," says Christine Korsgaard, a philosophy professor at Harvard University. "And although it is more controversial, many people believe, or at least feel, that those who kill deserve to die as retribution for their crimes.

"But if we confuse the desire to defeat an enemy with the desire for retribution against a criminal, we risk forming attitudes that are unjustified and ugly — the attitude that our enemy's death is not merely a means to disabling him, but is in itself a kind of a victory for us, or perhaps even the attitude that our enemy deserves death because he is our enemy."

It is important, Korsgaard says, "not to confuse the desire for retribution with the desire to defeat an enemy. But because terrorism partakes of both crime and war, it is perfectly natural, and perhaps legitimate, to have both of these attitudes towards Osama bin Laden: to think that we had to disable him, and to think that he deserved to die."

The two sentiments should be kept apart, she says. "If we have any feeling of victory or triumph in the case, it should be because we have succeeded in disabling him — not because he is dead."

I am reproducing, in full, Sh Suheil Laher's excellent summary of the section on dissection in a contemporary work on Islamic medical ethics.

DISSECTION

(abridged from Dr. Muhammad `Ali al-Barr, al-Tabeeb: Adabuhu wa-Fiqhuhu (The Physician: his Etiquettes and Jurisprudence), co-authored with Dr Zuhayr Ahmad al-Siba`i, Dar al-Qalam / al-Dar al-Shamiyyah, Damascus / Beirut, 1413 / 1993, pp. 165-183.)

1. Islam considers the human being to be noble, and the human body as subject to respect and sanctity.

“Verily, We have honored the Children of Adam…” [Qur'an, 17:70]

The Prophet has said, “Breaking the bone of a dead person is like breaking it when he is alive.” [Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ahmad, Bayhaqi. Malik (who reported it as a saying of Ummul-Mu'mineen `A'ishah). Sh. Shu`ayb Arna'ut authenticated it (Sharh al-Sunnah (5/393)]

The Prophet also prohibited mutilation. [Bukhari, Tirmidhi, Nasa'I, Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Darimi]
2. Nevertheless, the study of medicine is considered a noble pursuit in the service of mankind, and that without which an obligation cannot be achieved can itself become an obligation. Imam al-Shafi`i is reported to have said, “[True] knowledge is of two categories: knowledge of religion, and knowledge of the body.” Qadi Abu’l-Waleed Ibn Rushd, also a philosopher and physician, said, “Anyone who undertakes dissection increases in faith in Allah.”
3. Physicians in the Muslim world have practised dissection, and written books on it, since earlier times. Prominent in this field were:

* Abu Bakr al-Razi (d. 311 AH), a prominent physician.
* al-Husayn ibn `Abdillah Ibn Sina (d. 428 AH), the famous philosopher and physician, known in the West as Avicenna.
* al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (d. 430 AH), the famous opthalmologist.
* Qadi Abu’l-Waleed Ibn Rushd (d. 595 AH), also a prominent Maliki jurist.
* `Ali ibn al-Hazm Ibn al-Nafees (d. 687 AH), also a Shafi`i jurist, he is credited with discovery of the lesser circulatory system before William Harvey.

1. Jurists of earlier times did not directly address the issue of human dissection. The closest issues which are recorded in the classical juristic literature are the following:

1. The permissibility of cutting open the belly of a deceased woman, if it should transpire that her womb contains an unborn infant who is expected to live.
2. The permissibility of cutting open the belly of a deceased person who had swallowed an object of value which either belonged to someone else who demanded its return, or belonged to the man himself but was demanded by his heirs.

1. The first jurist who is known to have written specifically about dissection and its permissibility, was the erstwhile Grand Shaykh of al-Azhar, `Allamah Ahmad ibn `Abd al-Mun`im al-Damanhuri (d. 1192 AH / 1778 CE, a highly educated man, he wrote profusely on jurisprudence, medicine, astronomy and surveying), in a treatise entitled al-Qawl al-Sareeh fi `Ilm al-Tashreeh (The Explicit Word on Dissection). He expanded on this treastise, in a commentary thereof entitled Muntaha al-Tashreeh bi-Khulasat al-Qawl al-Sareeh fi `Ilm al-Tashreeh (The Pinnacle of Dissection, the Quintessence of the Explicit Word on Dissection.) His successor at al-Azhar was Shaykh Hasan ibn Muhammad al-`Attar (d. 1834 CE), who had also had medical education, and who wrote a number of treatises on medicine and dissection. It was during his time (1827 CE) that a medical college was established in Cairo. When the head of this college, a Frenchman, began to dissect bodies before the students, they were outraged. Shaykh al-`Attar was instrumental in convincing this pioneering class of students of the importance of dissection, explaining that it contributes to the knowledge of medicine, which in turn is a communal obligation.

On 26 Sha`ban 1356 AH (31/10/1937 CE), Shaykh `Abd al-Majeed Saleem, erstwhile Grand Mufti of Egypt, issued a fatwa on the permissibility of dissection, based on the principle that Islamic regulations are based on preponderant advantages, and that a lesser harm can be borne for the attainment of a higher benefit, the loss of which would be more harmful. Shaykh Hasanayn Makhlouf of Azhar issued a fatwa in 1951 CE, reiterating the permissibility of dissection for justifiable purposes. Thereafter, fatawa came in succession from different parts of the Islamic world. Among the more recent of these was the research of the Permanent Committee for Academic Research and Fatwa in Saudi Arabia (21/7/1392 AH), the verdict of the Body of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia (20/8/1396 AH), and the verdict of the Rabitah Fiqh Academy (Safar 1407 AH / 10/1987 AH).

These fatawa held dissection to be permissible for the following purposes:

1 – Forensic medicine: Investigation of a criminal case, to determine cause of death, or the nature of the crime, where dissection is the only means for the judge (qadi) to obtain this information.

2 – Autopsy, Necropsy: Investigation of various diseases which call for dissection to cast light on what precautions and medications can be utilized for such diseases.

3 –Anatomy: Learning and teaching medicine, as is the case in medical colleges.

And Allah knows best.