Futuwwah

Albania was literally the only country in Nazi occupied Europe to give shelter to Jews & end up with more Jews after the war than before it.

I hear so many people talking about how they want to learn more about Islam but don’t have access to scholars or can’t move in order to study. But, by virtue of having an internet connection, we all have access to a plethora of information to get a baseline understanding of the religion from some top scholars. So here are some links:

Qur’an Translation: Oxford Classics

Bayyinah TV:  The best place to learn basic Qur’anic Arabic. There’s something called Cover to Cover that Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan teaches, which is basically a tafseer (exegesis) of the whole Qur’an. It’s incredible. There are tons of free webinars and historical/youth centric lectures on here as well!

Qalam Now: Islamic education that is systematic with a curriculum, quizzes, etc. Taught by Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy, Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda, and Mufti Hussain Kamani.

Qur’an Weekly: Get to know the Qur’an from your favorite scholars! 

HalalTube: Lectures from all your favorite scholars! This is a really incredible compilation, and there are lectures that you can filter based on scholar and/or subject. I recommend Abdul Nasir Jangda, Nouman Ali Khan, AbdelRahman Murphy, Hamza Yusuf, Jamal Badawi, Khalid Latif, Omar Suleiman, Suhaib Webb, Tariq Ramadan, Wisam Sharieff, Yasir Birjas, and Zaid Shakir

Seeker’s Hub: An incredibly practical source for your everyday Islam. Over 35 courses across all major disciplines, for beginner and advanced students.

Imam Omar Suleiman’s Facebook: Imam Omar doesn’t shy away from more “difficult” subjects like slavery in Islam, adoption, and politics. He’s incredible, and so are the videos and lectures he puts up on Facebook.

Shaykh Akram Nadwi’s Facebook: Awesome blog posts and videos! 

Books! I have a Reading List on my blog here of books that are good to read if you’re just getting started. If you need a place to start, Being Muslim: A Practical Guide by Asad Tarsin is really useful for basic and practical knowledge.

Harvard: Islam Through its Scriptures course (It’s free!) 

Learn About the Prophet’s Life

In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad by Tariq Ramadan [Thematic life of the Prophet—this book is a very good start.]

REVELATION: The Story Of Muhammad

Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet by Karen Armstrong

The Sealed Nectar by Shaykh Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarkpuri [A pretty lengthy read but very comprehensive.]

Seerah Podcast by Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda

Seerah of the Prophet Mohammad by Shaykh Yasir Qadi

Dua when feeling that something is a bad omen

اللَّهُمَّ لَا طَيْرَ إِلَّا طَيْرُكَ ، وَلَا خَيْرَ إِلَّا خَيْرُكَ ، وَلَا إِلَهَ غَيْرُكَ

Translation

O Allah, there is no omen but there is reliance on You, there is no good except Your good and none has the right to be worshipped except You.

Transliteration

allaahumma laa ṭayra illaa ṭayruka, wa laa khayra illaa khayruka, wa laa ilaaha ghayruk

Abdullah Quilliam (1856-1932) was the son of a prominent Methodist preacher. He had traveled to Morocco at 17 because the warmer climate there didn’t aggravate his illness like the English weather had. His fascination with the Islamic faith there and immersed study of it soon led to his conversion to Islam.

Quilliam would go on to found the first mosque in Britian and later be named the leader of Britain’s Muslims by the last Ottoman caliph, Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq (1855-1935) would have been the first Muslim in the House of Lords had he accepted the position but instead converted to Islam that same year.

It was while working for the British Raj in the 1890’s that al-Farooq had his first encounter with Islam. Under his mentor and noted Islamic scholar, Khwaja Kamal-ud-din, he found Islam to be a tolerant religion and studied the faith thereafter.

In a Time magazine feature, al-Farooq was dubbed “a man of many parts, a champion middleweight boxer in his day at Cambridge, a distinguished globe-trotter, an editor and excellent raconteur”. Al-Farooq also had the title of an accomplished engineer and martial arts pioneer under his belt, making him one truly interesting man.

Making the Hajj pilgrimage in 1923, al-Farooq would pass away about a decade later, but not before requesting that his son bury him in an Islamic cemetery.

Zainab Cobbold (1867-1963), one of the last aristocratic Victorians to convert, spent a fair amount of her childhood in Algiers and Cairo with Muslim nannies to look after her. Cobbold was 65 when she converted after professing her faith to the Pope:

“Some years went by, and I happened to be in Rome staying with some Italian friends when my host asked if I would like to visit the Pope. Of course, I was thrilled. When His Holiness suddenly addressed me, asking if I was a Catholic, I was taken aback for a moment and then replied that I was a Muslim. What possessed me I don’t pretend to know, as I had not given a thought to Islam for many years. A match was lit, and I then and there determined to read up and study the faith.”

Cobbold was the first Western woman to make the Hajj pilgrimage and wrote about her experiences in her book, Pilgrimage to Mecca.

Zainab Cobbold passed away at 96. In Scotland, where her gravestone can be found, it reads, “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.

Muhammed Marmaduke Pickthall (1875-1936) traveled often and widely, studying mostly in the Middle East and India. A successful polyglot and novelist with notably H. G. Wells among his admirers, Pickthall wrote a translation of the Qur'an after converting in 1917 which gaining the approval and authorization of the famous Azhar University in Cairo.

In his foreword to the translation Pickthall emphasizes the Qur'an’s eloquency in its original Arabic, stating:

“ …The Qur'an cannot be translated…the book is here rendered almost literally and every effort has been made to choose befitting language. But the result is not the Glorious Quran, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy. It is only an attempt to present the meaning of the Quran and peradventure something of the charm in English. It can never take the place of the Quran in Arabic, nor is it meant to do so…”

Repost from Amir Mamdouh @amirmaamdoouuh for the #everydayegypt Ramadan Tuesday

Our contributor Mahmoud Khaled @mahmoud.khaled9 selected this photo.