US vetoes UN resolution on Israeli settlements

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are held to be illegal under international law.

The UN's latest draft resolution on the issue of Israeli settlement building has been vetoed by the US, despite all other members of the Security Council voting in favour.  Read about it in the Al Quds Today page.

Gaza- The World's Largest Prison

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

SubhanAllah, the plight of more than a million depicted in an animation one minute long...in audio/video now.

Gaza Children bear Scars of War

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Video report on the impact of Israel's actions on the children of Gaza.  In the audio/video page now.

Dawood continued: The Brothers in the Masjid

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

This post will cover the incident I referred to at the end of my last post on Dawood (as).  The incident occured when Dawood (as) was in Masjid Al Aqsa.  ***However, it is important to note that when I refer to Masjid Al Aqsa in this post I am not referring to the black domed masjid we refer to as 'Al Aqsa' today (shown above); that building did not exist in the time of Dawood (as)***.  Instead the term is used to signify the equivalent place of worship in the time of Dawood (as).

In Quran Allah refers to the blessing of wisdom which He granted His prophet Dawood (as).  It was important for Dawood (as) to have sound and decisive judgement as king of Banu Isra'il so he could arbitrate fairly in their disputes.  On one occasion Allah sent some angels to test the judgement of Dawood (as).  The story of this test is told in Surah Sad:

“Have you heard the story of the two litigants who climbed into his private quarters?  When they reached David, he took fright, but they said, ‘Do not be afraid. We are two litigants, one of whom has wronged the other: judge between us fairly- do not be unjust- and guide us to the right path.  This is my brother. He had ninety-nine ewes and I just the one, and he said, “Let me take charge of her”, and overpowered me with his words.’” (Surah Sad: 21- 23)

Dawood (as) had his own chamber in Masjid Al Aqsa where he retreated to make remembrance of Allah in private.  On one occasion he was surpised by the sudden appearance of two men, who were actually angels sent by Allah to test Dawood (as).  When one 'brother' complained about the other taking his single ewe, Dawood (as) passed his judgement:

“David said, ‘He has done you wrong by demanding to add your ewe to his flock. Many partners treat each other unfairly. Those who sincerely believe and do good deeds do not do this, but these are very few.’ [Then] David realized that We had been testing him, so he asked his Lord for forgiveness, fell down on his knees, and repented: We forgave him [his misdeed]. His reward will be nearness to Us, a good place to return to.” (Surah Sad: 24- 25)

As soon as Dawood (as) judged in favour of the brother whose ewe had been taken both of the men disappeared and it was then that Dawood (as) knew it had been a test from Allah.   Dawood (as) realised that as the arbitrator of the dispute he should have listened to both sides of the story before passing judgement.  His repentance to Allah was not only accepted, but Allah also honoured Dawood (as) in the next verse by confirming that Allah had given him authority in the land:

 “‘David, We have given you mastery over the land. Judge fairly between people. Do not follow your desires, lest they divert you from God’s path: those who wander from His path will have a painful torment because they ignore the Day of Reckoning.’ ” (Surah Sad: 26)

This incident reveals the sanctity of Al Quds by giving an example of a prophet who had a private chamber in Masjid Al Aqsa dedicated to the worship of Allah.  May Allah give the believing men and woman the tawfeeq to follow in this sunnah, aameen.

Reflections of War

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Reflections of War documentary now posted in Audio/Video page.

Dawood (David)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I mentioned in my last post on the story of Talut that Dawood was a young man in the army when Banu Isra'il fought their enemies the Philistines.  The post ended by revealing that Dawood, despite his youth and simple weapon (a slingshot), killed the ferocious leader of the Philistines, Jalut.  Allah went on to reward Dawood with both prophethood and kingship over Banu Isra'il.

Dawood (as) is mentioned in the Quran in numerous places and the context of these ayaat (verses) is normally to reveal the blessings bestowed upon Dawood (as) by Allah.  The first few posts of this blog covered how the land of Al Quds is a blessed land for all people and all times and it is not surprising to discover that Allah chose to bless His prophets even more so than others in this blessed place.  Indeed, the Quran reveals that some of the blessings given to Dawood (as) and his son Sulayman (as) were like none that anyone before them had ever seen or experienced.  The remainder of this post will share several verses from the Quran which detail some of the blessings of Allah given to His prophet Dawood (as).

Allah gave Dawood hikmah (wisdom):

"... David killed Goliath, and God gave him sovereignty and wisdom and taught him what He pleased...” (Surah Al Baqarah: 251)

Allah revealed the Zabur (Psalms) to Dawood:

“We have sent revelation to you [Prophet] as We did to Noah and the prophets after him, to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon- to David We gave the book [of Psalms].” (Surah An Nisa: 163)

The birds and mountains would join in with Dawood's remembrance of Allah:

“...Remember Our servant David, a man of strength who always turned to Us: We made the mountains join him in glorifying Us at sunset and sunrise; and the birds, too, in flocks, all echoed his praise." (Surah Sad: 17- 19)  


The ability to mould iron with his hands (to make armour):

"We graced David with Our favour...We softened iron for him, saying, ‘Make coats of chain mail and measure the links well.’ ‘Do good, all of you, for I see everything you do.’" (Surah Saba’: 10-11)

The above are some (but not all) of the blessings which Allah bestowed upon His Prophet Dawood (as).  There is one particular episode regarding Dawood (as) and Masjid Al Aqsa which is mentioned in the Quran.  InshaAllah the next post will be dedicated to covering this incident.  Then, inshaAllah, I will move onto Prophet Sulayman (as), the son of Dawood (as).

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of His Prophets and Messengers.

It's been over a month....

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

....since I posted.

My bout of inactivity has been due to a recent death in the family and what has ensued.  Truly to Allah we belong and truly to Him we shall return.  I intend to put up the next post in a day or two, if not tomorrow inshaAllah.

I'll also be posting up links to a youtube documentary on Israel's 2009 War on Gaza (Operation Cast Lead) in the 'Al Quds Today' section of the blog; essential viewing to try to comprehend something of the horror that Gazans and the Palestinians generally are constantly enduring so please check that out when it's up inshaAllah.

May Allah ease the affairs of every member of this ummah, aameen ya Rab aameen.

Response to comment- correcting a correction!

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In my 'correction' post on which prophet first built Masjid Al Aqsa I originally typed Ismael (as) by accident.  I meant to type Ishaq (as) as this was the response from the muhaddith, which is how it reads now, but I ended up typing Ismael (as) the first time round.  Pure human error.  InshaAllah that clears up the issue once and for all. 

Like I mentioned in the correction post itself, there are different opinions on who was the first prophet to build Masjid Al Aqsa.  I've posted the strongest according to what I could find, but Allah alone knows best.  The scholars are in agreement that Sulayman (Solomon) was the prophet to re-build/expand Masjid Al Aqsa and this is something we will cover when we get onto Prophet Sulayman (as).  Before that the next post will cover his father, Prophet Dawood (as), inshaAllah.

Also, just to take this opportunity to point out something else: the current series of posts on prophets are not meant to be detailed biographies.  Rather the purpose behind them is to outline which well-known prophets lived/spent time in Al Quds and the surrounding areas.  I mentioned in another post what I intend to cover after mentioning the key prophets (link to post).

The Story of Talut (continued)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

As their new leader Talut prepared the soldiers of Banu Isra'il to face their enemies, the Philistines.  When Talut originally set out with the armies of Banu Isra'il their numbers were huge.  They marched forth until they reached a river, thought by scholars to be the River Jordan.  Here, tired, hungry and thirsty, the soldiers faced a test from Allah which only the best of them would pass.  Allah says in the Quran:

 "When Talut set out with his forces, he said to them, ‘God will test you with a river. Anyone who drinks from it will not belong with me, but anyone who refrains from tasting it will belong with me; if he scoops up just one handful [he will be excused].’  But they all drank [deep] from it, except for a few. When he crossed it with those who had kept faith, they said, ‘We have no strength today against Goliath and his warriors.’ But those who knew that they were going to meet their Lord said, ‘How often a small force has defeated a large army with God’s permission! God is with those who are steadfast.’ " (Surah Al Baqarah: 249)

When the soldiers arrived at the river their gut instinct was to drink freely from it to quench their thirst.  The test from Allah to refrain from drinking (except for a handful of water) was designed to root out those soldiers in the armies who would be a liability when facing the enemy due to their weakness.

Yet the number of those who could not control themselves and drank from the river consisted of a large majority of the armies.  From the original armies who had set off with Talut, only a few hundred men were able to pass the test of the river; they numbered little more than 300 in total- the same number as the amount of companions who particpated in the Battle of Badr with Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). 

Rather than being disheartened by the severe reduction in their numbers, Talut and the steadfast soldiers who remained with him were aware that victory lies not in numbers but in the help of Allah.  Trusting in Allah's promise to help the believers they advanced to face the larger forces of the Philistines, under the leadership of Goliath who was renowned for his fearsome bravery and skill in battle.

When they saw how greatly they were outnumbered by the Philistines, Banu Isra'il conquered the natural fear they felt by turning to Allah and making dua for victory over their enemy.  The Quran tells us of their trust in and dependence on Allah in that difficult moment:

 "And when they met Goliath and his warriors, they said, ‘Our Lord, pour patience on us, make us stand firm, and help us against the disbelievers,’ " (Surah Al Baqarah: 250)

Allah's promise to the believers is true and so, despite being so heavily outnumbered, Banu Isra'il won the day by defeating the Philistines in battle.  Not only did they win, but Goliath was also killed during the battle.  The soldier responsible for bringing down the fearsome leader of the Philistines was a young boy armed only with a slingshot.  Despite his young age and simple weapon this boy, Dawood, was able to defeat the giant of a man he faced because of his trust in victory coming from Allah.  As a result Allah honoured him with not only becoming the next leader of Banu Isra'il, but also their prophet.  Allah says in the Quran:

 "and so with God’s permission they defeated them. David killed Goliath, and God gave him sovereignty and wisdom and taught him what He pleased. If God did not drive some back by means of others the earth would be completely corrupt, but God is bountiful to all." (Surah Al Baqarah: 251)

The next post will take up the story of Dawood, inshaAllah.

Al Quds Today

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Take time to check out the recently added links on this page.  They are intended to highlight what is going on in Al Quds (and Palestine generally) right now.

Unfortunately many (most) of our mainstream media organisations (for numerous reasons) are unwilling or unable to report accurately on the situation in Palestine, meaning we must actively seek for ourselves news of what is happening there.  These links are intended to help in such an endeavour for those who care, inshaAllah.

Next update (continuing the story of Talut) coming soon inshaAllah.