A BRIEF LOOK AT RACISM…….

1
ISSUE 3 VOLUME 5 2010

 E NTERTAINING OUR CHIL-

DREN— AT WHAT COST DOES
IT COME? ………….………. 3

 O UR COMMUNITY. NABI AKRAM

I SLAMIC CENTRE– PROFILE
……………………………4-6

 P ATHOLOGY OF DIVORCE––
P ART 3– DOMESTIC V IOLENCE 1
………………………………. 7

Editorial
Salaam Alaykum!
Welcome once again to the Month of Rabi'ul Awwal
Al-Fajr Newsletter! This time round we are back with
more to enlighten you about what our Prophet (saw)
has advised with respect to racism and a number of
updates for the community.
We would also like to provide our readers informa-
tion about what they shall expect to see in every Al-
Fajr Newsletter. The content that we intend to cover
is as follows:
1. Theme article– based on the major occasion that
month;
2. Viewpoint: an opportunity to give your opinion;
3. Our Community: which will update readers
about news and activities of the centres here in
Sydney;
4. Academic: consisting of writings that are a reflec-
tion upon lectures provided by Sheikh Mansour.
We have deliberately released this issue on this spe-
cial day of the birth anniversary of our Holy
Prophet (saw) since this is a day we are expected to
reflect on the favours bestowed upon us by Allah
(SWT) ‚He it is Who raised among the inhabitants
of Mecca an Apostle from among themselves,
who recites to them His communications and
purifies them, and teaches them the Book and
the Wisdom‛[62:2].
We would also like to take advantage of the
section here to advise you to keep yourselves
updated about the current events surrounding
Sheikh Mansour’s case, and to encourage you
to provide your support for our scholar and
remember ‚With difficulty is surely ease.‛[94:6]
We hope you enjoy this month’s issue, and we
strongly encourage readers to provide us with
feedback, this would be greatly appreciated.
You may contact us through info@al-fajr.org.au
May Allah be pleased with us all Inshallah
The birth of the Holy Prophet of Islam is a signal to the world that justice has
arrived. We discuss here some aspects of racism and how the Holy Prophet
dealt with it.
A brief look at racism By Hameed Attai
Despite human beings having the same source, that of Adam and Eve, racism
has been rampant from the beginning of time and is still witnessed today in
different forms. Racism is basically the doctrine that one’s own race or back-
ground is better than someone else's. It has a cognitive, an affective, and a be-
havioural dimension. Cognitive racism is when you ‚think‛ low of someone
based on their background or ‚believe‛ that your background is better than
theirs. For example, when you hold stereotypes, or you believe that Lebanese
people are better than Iraqis, or vice versa. Affective racism is when these
thoughts and beliefs are translated into emotions. For example, an Aboriginal
man sits next to you in the train, and suddenly you ‚feel‛ uncomfortable. Be-
havioural racism is when you "act" on your prejudice. This action can be overt
and apparent, for example you bully someone from another race because
they're from that other race, or it can be covert and hidden, e.g.. preventing
your daughter to marry someone because they are not from your nationality or
village.
One can easily see that behavioural racism is the worst form of the three. Many
of us are racist at the cognitive or affective level unfortunately because we have
developed racist attitudes that stem from wrong stereo- Continued on page 2 >>>>
Keep Sheikh Mansour Leghaei in Australia!
Sheikh Mansour Leghaei has been a humble and loyal ser-
vant of the Sydney Muslim community for over 15 years.
The past weeks have seen the rejection of his appeal to re-
move ASIO’s negative security assessment by the Migration
Review Tribunal (MRT). This is not the end. We have to
fight hard to keep this gem. We need your help! You can do
so by writing letters of support, signing petitions and most
of all praying. Sydney cannot afford to lose this gem!
You can get more information from:
www.ihic.org.au, www.savethesheikh.com, articles from
www.theaustralian.com.au and on Facebook.
To obtain court transcripts/decisions/high court rulings
etc., go to http://www.austlii.edu.au/ and search for
‚Leghaei‛.

Mustafa Barakat and Abidali Mohamedali

Please do not approach the media until advised by the
(editors) Imam Husain Islamic Centre
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010
typical knowledge that we have learnt somewhere. Many times
also, we too blindly generalise about a race or nationality based
on the actions of a minority from such groups.
Behavioural racism can take its extreme and cruellest form in
ethnic cleansing. For example, the Nazis considered Jews, Gypsies,
Poles along with other Slavic people (e.g. Russians, Ukrainians,
Czechs) and anyone else who was not an "Aryan" according to the
Nazi terminology to be subhuman. It is sad to see that even the
most celebrated of thinkers, honestly and sincerely believed that
certain groups of people were subhuman and shouldn’t enjoy the
same rights and privileges as they themselves did. For example,
Scottish philosopher and economist David Hume said, "I am apt
to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the Whites. There
scarcely ever was a civilised nation of that complexion, nor even any
individual, eminent either in action or in speculation.‛1 Another very
famous and revered philosopher of German background, Imman-
uel Kant, stated: "The yellow Indians do have a meagre talent. The
Negroes are far below them, and at the lowest point are a part of the
American people."2
Although we can be grateful that in the last century we have seen
legislation and international treaties developed to abolish racism,
in the Muslim world however, such legislation appeared
more than 14 centuries ago. Approximately 1400 years ago
in the hot Arabian peninsula, at a time when Arabs
thought themselves as superior and treated others (like
the Africans) as subhuman and thought of them
only good for slavery and rape, came a
man called MuÎammad (saw) who
would change the world forever
and rid the universe from any
form of racism. MuÎammad (saw)
was an Arab man who belonged to the noblest of tribes
and family heritage. He taught his blood-thirsty and un-
educated countrymen that no matter where you came from
and no matter what family and lineage you belonged to, all are
equal before God. He preached and legislated to all and reminded
them again before he died in his last sermon that, ‚For man is
from Adam, there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, and
there is no superiority of a white man over a black man, except in pi-
ety‛3. Furthermore, he said, ‚All people are equal as the teeth of a
comb.‛
It is incredible to learn that while only recently so-called great
thinkers were debating as to whether certain races should be clas-
sified as human or not, a man over a thousand years ago would
come and force the idea into the minds of the adherents of the
fastest growing religion ‘of all time’ that the sense of superiority
due to one’s race or nationality is absolutely baseless, and that the
only way one can be superior to another is in terms of righteous-
ness and piety. This is further reinforced in the very explicit verse
in the Holy Qur’an (49:13) which reads, ‚We have created you
from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes,
so that you may know each other. Verily, the best of you in the
sight of Allah is the one who is most righteous and God-fearing.‛
Bernard Lewis refers to the Muslim Empire as the first "truly uni-
2
Masjid un-Nabawi, Madina– Saudi Arabia
versal civilization,"4 which brought together for the first time
"peoples as diverse as the Chinese, the Indians, the people of the Middle
East and North Africa, black Africans, and white Europeans."5 The
Qur'an, the Prophet MuÎammad (saw), and the overwhelming ma-
jority of Islamic jurists and theologians, all agreed that humankind
has a single origin and rejected the idea of certain ethnic groups
being superior to others.
Islamically, the purpose of different races is a blessing as it gives us
variety and allows us to ‚know‛ one another and reap knowledge
from the expertise one gains from living in the different regions
of the globe. We should also acknowledge the fact that Prophet
MuÎammad (saw) hated racism and aimed
to abolish it. He would sit down and eat
with those of other races perceived to be
inferior; gave them honourable and lofty
posts such as becoming the MuaÃhin (caller
of aÃhan) in the case of the Abyssinian slave, BilÁl; and fore-
saw and encouraged his children to marry cross-culturally, as in
the case of Imam Mahdi (ajfs), the 12th and current successor to
Prophet MuÎammad (saw) , whose mother is Italian and father
Arab.
Racism should have no place in a Muslim’s life. Muslims should
actively aim to abolish all forms of racism and prejudice within
themselves. Let us prove ourselves to our creator and become
amongst the "best in the sight of Allah" as those who are God con-
scious and righteous, and not become of those who have the satanic
attribute of racism within them. Satan is hell bound primarily due
to his pride that stemmed from his ‘racism’ and sense of superiority
over Adam merely because he was made of fire and Adam of clay. If
we are racist, we too fall in this satanic trap and can risk tasting the
fire of hell.
REFERENCES
1- Morton, E. (2002). Race and Racism in the Works of David
Hume. Journal of African Philosphy, 1, 1.
2- Boxill, B. (2001). Race and Racism. London: Oxford Read-
ings in Philosophy.
3- http://www.islamicity.com/Mosque/lastserm.htm
4, 5- Lewis, B. (1992). Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An
Historical Enquiry. London: Oxford University Press.
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010 3

Viewpoint
Entertaining our children - at what cost messenger’ etc…keeps our children entertained in the most empty
manner. They spend hours on the computer and at the end ask:
does it come? by Dr. Ali AlSamail ‘what did I actually do?’ Unfortunately, the need to ‘fill the time’
or ‘kill time’ brings them back again and again. With the internet
One of the most interesting phenomena of our world is that every comes exposure to inappropriate music, inappropriate images
type of lifestyle has its own major challenges. Many people living and so on, all a poison to the psyche of the young, developing
outside Australia face problems like poverty, starvation, epidemics mind.
of disease and war. We live in an affluent society largely free from
these challenges. However, affluence brings with it its own, differ- Then there is television. As yet, there is no hard medical evidence
ent, challenges. linking television with any mental or behavioural disease, but the
evidence for this seems to be gaining strength. There is evidence
From a medical perspective, affluent societies are afflicted with a indicating that very young children (under 2) are at a greater risk
different set of diseases than those plaguing the poorer societies. of harm if placed in front of the television even for short periods.
The advances in medicine have succeeded in dramatically reducing As for older children, excessive television (over 2 hours a day) has
death from infective been shown in some studies to be harmful and can perhaps lead
causes (which are the to lower academic achievement and poorer
biggest killers world- social functioning.
wide) but have been less
successful in treating a The least that can be said is that this enter-
different type of disease tainment technology is eroding the
that has emerged in af- ‘attention span’ of our children. Concen-
fluent societies. Auto- trating and processing information is a task
immune and allergic that requires some ‘brain effort’. This was
diseases (such as Multi- something that children of the past were
ple Sclerosis and accustomed to do. They could sit in a class-
Asthma), certain types of room for over an hour and try their best to
cancers and of course maintain concentration. If the teacher or
obesity and ischemic subject were particularly boring, the most a
heart disease generally child could do was wander away into a
have higher rates in af- Who is teaching our children? world of day-dreams or just stare out the
fluent countries. In window.
many instances, these
diseases are a by-product Nowadays, with the advancing technology
of an affluent lifestyle. For example, one of the theories for the de- of mobile phones, the world of the internet is only a couple of
velopment of an over-sensitive immune system is that children are buttons away and friends only a text message away. It is rare to
growing up in environments that are ‘too clean’ and thus not being find a child who gives full attention to homework. Most children
exposed to enough organisms to develop their immune system. A open their homework book or file in front of them and then
more obvious example is obesity, a direct result of over-eating and a open ‘MSN’, ‘facebook’, play some music and then attempt to
sedentary lifestyle, both hallmarks of affluence. begin their homework while all this is going on around them.
This problem extends even to university students. The potential
The above phenomenon also exists when it comes to problems relat- for distraction is so much greater, and so the act of focusing at-
ing to the psychology of a society. An affluent society develops its tention, which requires great discipline sometimes, becomes even
own set of psychological problems, both collectively and also in more difficult, and most children simply give up. This affects
individuals reflecting the environment around them. Clinical de- their learning abilities and often leads to poorer academic results.
pression is on the rise (and is alarmingly high) in affluent societies Of course, this form of entertainment- added to gaming consoles-
such as Australia and the rate of illicit drug-related disease is also encourages a sedentary lifestyle with less exposure to the natural
rising. This includes the high prevalence of alcohol-related disease. environment, leading to many of the above physical problems
discussed already.
As concerning as these more obvious physical and psychological
problems faced by our society are the more subtle problems caused Furthermore, in such an environment, children expect and de-
to our children by what we today call ‘boredom’. As parents become mand to be entertained. This has reached the extent that educa-
busier and busier in a society that eats up time, children spend tors feel they must compete with television and the internet for
more and more time alone. They become ‘bored’ and expect to be the attention of these children, and the only way to do this is to
entertained. Parents, either out of guilt or compassion, try to pro- entertain, entertain, entertain. Of course, life is not so easy, and
vide their children with solutions to boredom. Unfortunately, usually we must endure some hardship before gaining valuable
many of these solutions are harmful. The internet, with its now things such as knowledge or a new life skill.
endless avenues of time-wasting such as ‘facebook’, ‘twitter’, ‘MSN
It is this very principle that is being eroded by the media-
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010 4

controlled environment offers something of poor quality that has been cheaply deco-
around us today. We all rated and this distracts people from their eventual goal of
know, through experience attaining a life that is of truly good quality -something we
and intuition, that to call happiness- rather than a life based on the weak founda-
attain something of good tions of one quick pleasure after another.
quality, we need signifi-
cant time or effort or We face a great challenge in educating and nurturing our
both. However, the soci- children today, both as parents and educators from a psy-
ety we live in today gives chological perspective, and as health care workers from a
people the false promise physical perspective. In our next discussion, God willing, we
of being able to reach will discuss some of the ways to attempt to overcome the
something of good qual- problems discussed here. In the meantime, we need to reflect
ity without time or effort. A child or teenager, when distracted by on ourselves and how much this rapidly changing environment is
so many things, will almost always choose the quick pleasure of affecting us. We need to put the truly valuable and enduring inter-
these empty forms of entertainment over the long-term pleasure of ests of both ourselves and our children before the perishing, short-
achievement and self-improvement which requires some initial lived ‘entertainment’ offered to us at every corner of life.
hardship. The least that can be said is that such an environment

Every month, Al-Fajr will highlight activities of the community to create a camaraderie between ourselves and become
more aware of the services and facilities that different centres around Sydney offer. We shall endeavour to provide a snap-
shot of the activities/objectives of different centres from the members themselves! This month, we shall highlight the eHawza,
the visit by Dr. Shameli and finally a profile of the Nabi Akram Islamic Centre as part of a series on Islamic centres in Sydney.

Our Community
eHawza– the first ‘virtual Hawza!’ by Sr. Batool Jamali

develop your Quran reading skills as well as your Arabic – both

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to study Islam,
of which are so important in our journey of Islamic learning.
gain a Diploma in Islamic Theology that is fully recognised,
in English, at your own pace and in the comfort of your own
The eHawza external hard drive is
home?
presented with over 500 audio and
DVD lectures and presentations.
Well this wondering can easily
Lecture notes are also provided and
become reality due to the endeav-
compliment most audio presenta-
ours of Dr Sheikh Mansour
tions. Textbooks for Quran recita-
Leghaei at the Imam Husain Is-
tion and Arabic Grammar are also
lamic Centre, Sydney. In 2007,
included in our eHawza package.
after many years of dedicated study and delivering lectures in
English to the Islamic community, Sheikh Mansour shared his
Our eHawza Diploma package is available either as a personal
wealth of knowledge and, with a very dedicated team of volun-
learning tool for your own learning only or with examinations
teers set up a unique system of learning, which can simply be used
and assignments that lead to the award of a full Diploma in Is-
by plugging a small external hard drive into your own computer.
lamic Theology. Plans are already well underway for the Bachelor
degree programme.
The idea behind eHawza, is to encourage as many of our commu-
nity members as possible, to develop their knowledge and under-
We currently have over 80 students studying through eHawza,
standing of Islam so that they can teach what they have learned to
both in Australia and in more than 15 countries worldwide. Due
the youth of our society. Sheikh Mansour is particularly keen to
to the success of our eHawza programme, we will be launching
build up a dedicated team of scripture teachers for our local gov-
our own website in April this year and are developing our pro-
ernment schools. The beauty of eHawza is there are no ‚pre requi-
gramme so that there will be a full on-line learning service.
sites‛ for studying the Diploma in Islamic Theology except keen
interest and commitment. The eHawza administration as well as
Further information about eHawza can be found on our website
Sheikh Mansour are there to provide you with whatever support
www.ihic.org.au. If you would like further information, please do
you need to pursue your dream of studying Islam, whether it be
not hesitate to contact us at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre on
learning strategies, theological questions or technical support.
95581114 or ehawza@ihic.org.au

eHawza subjects range from beginners ‚Introduction to Islamic

Important News: We will be holding an eHawza Forum on
Studies‛ and progress through to Sciences of Quran, Hadith,
Sunday 11th April 2010 at 3pm at the Imam Husain Centre.
Rules of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) and Islamic Mysticism.
Please join us so that we are able to share the beauty of
The lives and roles of our Prophets and Holy Imams are also dis-
eHawza with you!
cussed, to name but a few topics. There is also an opportunity to
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010
Sheikh Dr Abbas Ali Shameli – Our guest
speaker for Arba’Ðn by Mustafa Barakat
Sheikh Dr Abbas Ali Shameli was Imam Íusain Islamic Centre’s
guest speaker for 11 nights starting from the ArbaÐn, (40th of
Imam Íusain (as)). Sheikh Shameli was invited to honour us with
his presence and knowledge and to enlighten us about the impor-
tance of family and parent-child relations in Islam. Sheikh
Shameli is a faculty member of Imam Khomeni’s (ra) Institute in
Iran, with 10 years of teaching experience at various university
levels in fiqh, usÙl, philosophy, theology and developmental psy-
chology. Sheikh Shameli has completed advanced studies in the
above subjects, including Quran exegesis in Qom Iran. His educa-
tional experience in theological seminary has allowed him to at-
tain the level of ijtihÁd (level qualified for religious guidance). Dr
Shameli holds three bachelor degrees in jurisprudence, law and
Islamic studies, and has also obtained his M.A in philosophical
psychology and in developmental psychology and PhD in philoso-
phy of education (included in the dean’s list) from McGill Univer-
sity Montreal, Canada.
Sheikh Shameli had began his series of lectures by elaborating on
the reality of the modern world, he described how humanity is a
slave to the distractions of this world. These include the lack of
time, the overwhelming amount of information that we are ex-
posed to etc. This has led to a generation gap between parents and
children and led to the disastrous effects of western culture includ-
ing determinism, individualism, patriotism and consumerism. He
pointed out that these realities could lead us to become independ-
ent from divinity and no longer enjoy freedom and freewill. This
cannot be stopped unless people change their hearts, become con-
scious and maintain a world view containing a belief and value
systems. We should be grateful to Allah as it is ‚He it is Who
raised among the inhabitants of Mecca an Apostle from among
themselves, who recites to them His communications and purifies
them, and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom‛[Quran 62:2]
such that we may not be victims of this culture.
Sheikh Shameli then discussed the rights of the parent and child.
He focused a significant time on child’s right of training and edu-
cation. He explained that there are three paths that parents can
take in raising their children, namely being the child centred ap-
proach, the parent centred approach and the Islamic approach. He
pointed out the deficiencies in the former approaches and pro-
moted the Islamic way of raising our children which was described
5
in the words of our Prophet (saw) when he
advised that: ‚The child is the master for seven
years; and a slave for seven years and an advi-
sor for seven years‛. He elaborated that the
Islamic approach is stage based, whereby the
first stage, a child centred approach (from
12 months to 7 years) and then a parent cen-
tred approach (the following 7 years of for-
mal education), and the last stage (7 years)
of mutual consultation. He emphasised that
the first 7 years of a child’s life are very cru-
cial towards the success of the child and
encouraged parents to allow their children
to play in a natural environment without
any formalities or rules. He ended this topic
by pointing out that the hyperactive chil-
dren and those that hate going to school
and reading books are the ones that often become successful ad-
justed individuals.
In the last few nights Dr Shameli shared with the audience his
wisdom on what parents should and shouldn’t do in the first
seven years for example: Not detaching themselves from children
especially during worshipping acts; being kind to children and
speaking to them as if you were another child; not teaching them
through books or letting them play with video games; keeping
promises, however small; giving children time they require and
being compassionate and merciful towards them; praying for
them and not ever daring to curse them. He advised that parents
should punish their children only by rewarding the good actions;
being careful in their own actions as a parent and watching out
for your children befriending the wrong child. For the last stage,
he advised parents to facilitate the path for them to get married if
the child is mature enough.
Sheikh Shameli also at some point discussed the cause of Imam
Íusain (as) and Imam Mahdi (ajfs) and touched on the com-
memoration of the day of arba’Ðn and how it is one of the signs
of the followers of Imam Husain (as). He ended his series of lec-
tures on the topic of life, satisfaction and how we could live with
contentment and happiness despite the trials and tribulations
thrown in our path.
For more information on these series of lectures you may pur-
chase the full audio/video of these lectures at the Imam Husain
Islamic Centre reception (email info@ihic.org.au). For Farsi and
Arabic speaking broth-
ers and sisters can re-
fer to the website
www.hadith.net and or
get a copy of the book
called ‚Child
Wise‛ (In Arabic).
Pictures by: Br. Khalid Mukaddem
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010 6

Our Community ... Continued

This is the first instalment of a new Al-Fajr feature called ‘Connecting the dots’. Each week we will profile one of Sydney’s
many Shi’a Islamic centres. Please email us with your suggestions on interesting profiles or facts about your local centre on
abidalim@gmail.com.

The Nabi Akram Islamic Centre– Granville By Ehssan Veiszadeh

Nabi Akram Islamic Centre used to be a place for hanging out scary thing. I
with mates and getting into trouble for Hameed Attai. remember I
would freeze, I
Today Hameed spends most days of his week at the Granville would stop every
based centre organising lectures and events for the community. second, I would
talk fast all of a
This is a long way from his early teenage years when Hameed and sudden, I would
his family made their annual Muharram visits to the centre. feel warm. And
slowly I devel-
‚It was completely social,‛ said Hameed. ‚It was in Farsi, so I did- oped my skills at
n’t understand a word they were saying. But I guess our parents being a presenter
wanted to bring us just to get familiar with the atmosphere.‛ although I
Each week we shall profile one of the many
would still have Islamic centres around Sydney (in Blue)

‚I guess it was kind of exciting in the sense that I got to see some anxiety attacks
of my friends that I only got to see once a year.‛ every now and
then.‛
Hameed admits that he spent little time inside the hall during the
lectures. ‚We were always outside playing, causing a bit of mis- ‚After a while I felt it was becoming like my own home. Then I
chief.‛ started helping out with the emailing, I started helping out with
organising the events and that’s really where it all started.‛
But in 2002, it all changed for Hameed. This was when he at-
tended lectures by Hasanain Rajabali who was visiting Australia Today Nabi Akram faces new challenges with Sheikh Jehad, who
as a guest lecturer during Muhar- was the centre’s Religious Director for seven years,
ram. The Hurstville based lectures
Nabi Akram Islamic Centre - 36 moving onto lecturing at Masjid Al Rahman at
inspired Hameed and pushed him Cowper St. Granville Kingsgrove.
to making a more serious commit-
ment to his religion. Weekly program: "At the moment we're just adjusting with Sheikh's
Wednesdays- 1hr before Maghreb- Qur'an & Tafsir
recent move and the completion of the renova-
Before he knew it, he became a regu- class for teens with Sh. Mustafa Bank; 1hr after tions. We may have to look for another regular
lar at Sheikh Jehad Ismail’s Nabi Maghreb- Youth discussions with Br. Fouad Attar lecturer pretty soon."
Akram lectures. ‚I do remember at
first that it was a bit scary because I Thursdays- Du'a Kumayl following Maghreb prayers For now, Hameed says Nabi Akram is open to all
was still young and some of the Fridays- 6:30am- Du'a Nudba and English program visitors as a place where Islamic knowledge can be
older dudes were a bit autocratic following Maghreb prayers gained in a ‚laid-back‛ environment.
because we didn’t really want to pay
attention to the lectures as such -- Nabi Akram Islamic Centre serves the needs of ‚Something that Nabi Akram has always catered
we wanted more to socialise,‛ the Muslim Community by delivering lectures for is a lecturer who is entertaining but at the same
Hameed said. in English, Farsi and Dari and holding regular time very knowledgeable. At the same time, you will
classes and programs for the youth and elders. see a crowd which is very young, diverse in culture
‚So if we were outside we would be and generally a very friendly atmosphere.‛
told off to go inside. But never-the-less, it was a fun
experience at first.‛

Initially, Hameed struggled to adjust to his newfound

faith. His older brother Rustam offered him some
timely advice that would ultimately change his life.
‚He was the first in the house, out of the kids, to start
praying regularly. We (Hameed and his sisters) would
typically say ‘why would you pray if you’re doing all
these other things?’ But he really opened my eyes by
telling me to take everything one step at a time. He told
me to just pray and slowly improve other aspects of my
life. 'Do your prayers as it is wajib (compulsory) and
the rest will just happen,' he would say."

This gave Hameed the determination he needed to be-

come more serious about his faith. It was then that he
decided to give MC’ing a go.

At first, nerves got the better of him. ‚That was a very

 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010 7
This month, we shall focus on the second most common causes of divorce– that of domestic violence. We shall try to deci-
pher the roots of this problem and attempt to suggest possible long term remedies for this disease of anger.

The Pathology of Divorce– Domestic Violence P1

Series of Lectures presented by Sh. Mansour Leghaei– Written by Abidali Mohamedali
Domestic violence is the second most prevalent claimed cause of
divorce. This applies specifically to the Muslim community but
statistics have shown that other societies are not immune from
this disease. This is mostly violence against women who often end
up with bruises and sometimes irreversible damage not only to
the body but to the emotional psyche too.
Domestic violence (or domestic abuse) occurs when a family
member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psycho-
logically dominate another. Domestic violence has many forms,
including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, in-
timidation, economic deprivation, and threats of violence. Vio-
lence can be criminal and includes physical assault (hitting, push-
ing, shoving, etc.), sexual abuse (unwanted or forced sexual activ-
ity), and stalking. Although emotional, psychological and finan-
cial abuses are not criminal behaviours, they are forms of abuse
and can lead to criminal violence. There are a number of dimen-
sions including mode - physi-
cal, psychological, sexual
and/or social; frequency -
on/off, occasional, chronic;
and severity – in terms of
both psychological or physi-
cal harm and the need for
treatment – transitory or
permanent injury – mild,
moderate, severe up to homi-
cide.
FACTS AND FIGURES
It should be noted that police reports only reflect the most severe
cases of domestic violence and also that most cases of domestic
violence, however severe they may be, are never reported. It has
been shown that:
1. 1 in 4 women may experience violence in their relationship
with men.1
2. Between 40 & 45% of murdered women are killed by their
male partners.1
3. More than 25% of all violent crimes reported to the police is
domestic violence of men against women.1
4. 100,000 women per year seek treatment in London for violent
injuries received in the home.2
5. Domestic violence is the largest cause of morbidity worldwide
in women aged 19-44; greater than war, cancer, or motor vehi-
cle accidents.2
Although Domestic violence occurs across various cultures and
ages, the figures show that it is mainly by men against women. It
is unfortunate that these statistics sometimes are even more scary
in the Muslim communities despite domestic violence being con-
demned in Islam. (This shall be discussed in detail in future is-
sues)
Nonetheless, males express their aggression more physically,
whilst females display it more verbally.
IS IT RELEVANT TO ME?
Often, when discussing such a topic, the question whether the
topic is relevant to the reader is often posed. To discover the po-
tential of an individual to tend toward domestic abuse can be
determined by a simple evaluation of a persons demeanour. If
one gets angry in situations such as when someone calls you:
‚You idiot!‛ or if someone cuts in front of you on the highway or
when you come home and the dining room is messy, or you are
tired and need to sleep, but your baby keeps crying etc. this dis-
cussion is relevant for them.
ANGER
All cases of domestic violence revolve around the problem of
anger and therefore in controlling and managing anger, this prob-
lem of violence can be alleviated.
Anger is defined as an emotional bio-psychological reaction to
perceived threat to self or things important to self. It is an emo-
tion therefore not rational, first of all that is in reaction to an
action or a perceived action and secondly it is involved not only
in a physiological effect but a psychological one too. Hence, dif-
ferent people express anger in different ways especially the mode
of expression of anger in men and women. There are two main
types of the expression of anger
1. Active- Lashing out verbally or physically
2. Passive- Silent sulking, hostility and tension. When a per-
son withdraws from another (such as husband sleeping on
a couch away from his wife), this is often a sign of a prob-
lem of chronic anger and has to be dealt with before it
snowballs out of control.
IS ANGER A DISORDER?
Allah in His infinite wisdom has placed this emotion in every
human being but like any emotion or desire, it needs to be prac-
ticed in moderation and not in its either extreme. Therefore, in
Islam, there are 3 major categories of anger.
Anger is like a wild horse, which if not bridled by intellect and
Islamic law can wreak devastating havoc. Therefore ‘unbridled’
anger, which is anger for selfish needs, is unacceptable in the eyes
of Allah. On the other extreme, complete suppression of anger is
also unacceptable as it leads to suppression by external forces
Continued on page 8 >>>>
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010 8

including one’s enemies so as to protect one’s dignity, religion or Imam forgave her and finally she said ‚and verily Allah loves the
family. The ideal compromise is that of anger bridled by intellect good-doers.‛ Imam at this point freed her for the sake of God! (For
and Islamic law. Henceforth, the term anger will be used to refer Sunni references see: Durrul ManthÙr and for Shi’a references see
to the ‘unbridled’ anger. To prove this categorisation, Imam ‘Ali Al BurhÁn under the interpretation of the above mentioned
(as) has said, ‚The best of your brothers is one who is roused to anger for verse)
your sake in [standing up] for what is right.‛ [The scale of wisdom
Allah in another verse referring to the believers says ‚and (those
tradition 95]
who) when they are angry, forgive‛ [42:37]. It is only at the time
ANGER: AN ANIMALISTIC of anger that one should forgive. There is no virtue in forgiving a
TRAIT Common Myths about domestic violence: person when there is no harm
to the self or when one is not
Anger becomes an animalistic trait for Domestic violence only happens to poor women. in a situation of anger.
man when he gets upset at others who Domestic violence happens in all kinds of families and rela-
In Islam, there are a small
are barriers for him to reach his goals tionships. Persons of any class, culture, religion, marital status,
age, and sex can be victims or perpetrators of domestic vio- number of sins that are consid-
or when something is done against his
lence. ered the key to all sins, mean-
desires. For example, he was cursed
Some people deserve to be hit. ing that if the key is used, one
out or oppressed and the feeling of
can end up committing nu-
revenge comes to his mind. Sometimes No one deserves to be abused. Period. The only person respon-
sible for the abuse is the abuser. merous other sins, Imam Sadiq
his skin turns red and the movement
(a.s) has said, ‚Anger is the key
of blood in his face becomes apparent. Alcohol, drug abuse, stress, and mental illness cause domes-
tic violence. to all evils‛ [al-Kaafi 2:303]. It is
At this time his nafs tells him to get
Alcohol use, drug use, and stress do not cause domestic vio- a known fact that almost all
revenge. First, he says something
lence; they may go along with domestic violence, but they do civil and domestic crimes oc-
against reality then curses or hits his
not cause the violence. Abusers often use these excuses for cur due to this problem of
opponent. In this state, he is unaware their violence. Generally, domestic violence happens when an
anger and its related crimes of
of his actions. It is an animalistic state abuser has learned and chooses to abuse. jealousy, rage, revenge, retribu-
where truth is inexistent. He is able to
Domestic violence is a personal problem between a husband tion etc.
perform any action in this state, just
and a wife.
like an animal. When he becomes an- Domestic violence affects everyone. About 1 in 3 American In another incident, some of
gry he does not know anything except women have been physically or sexually abused by a husband the companions of the Prophet
revenge. Sometimes he tears his own or boyfriend at some point in their lives. 40% to 60% of men were moving a heavy stone, or
shirt and hits himself. who abuse women also abuse children. in other narrations, were wres-
More information at www.domesticviolence.org tling, and competing to see
Sometimes he even gets a stroke if his
who the stronger one was. The
anger reaches an extremely high level and he is unable to get re-
H. Prophet walked in on them and asked them what they were
venge. One must control his nafs and stop his animalistic nature
doing to which they replied. The H. Prophet then asked them if
from growing into a wolf. A dog or wolf will rip his opponent's
they would like to know who the strongest of them is, to which
skin or flesh off, but an angry man takes away the honour of an-
they replied to the affirmative, he then said, ‚The strongest of you is
other man, which is a
he who can control himself at the time of anger‛ [Mizanul-Hikma, H.
worse form of oppression.
15014]. Therefore, one who snaps at his little baby when he/she
ANGER IN THE does not stop crying, or at his wife when the food is not on the
QURAN AND table, is a weak coward, however strong he may be physically!
AHADITH It has been narrated to have been said by Imam Ali (a.s) that
‚Anger is a flamed fire. Whoever inflames it will be the first that burns
Allah, when referring to
in it‛ [Ibid, H. 15005]. and again Imam says ‚Avoid anger; for its
the characteristics of pious
start is madness and its ending is regret‛ [Ibid, H. 15008]. Imam also
people says they are “ those who repress anger‛ [3:134]. The word
has said that ‚Hot temper is part of madness; for its owner will regret
used in this verse is ‘repress’ (al-kadhm), which literally means the
and if he does not regret then his madness is confirmed‛ [Nahjul-
stopper on a water-skin full of water to stop it from spilling and
Balagha- Wisdom 255]. These ahadith clearly indicate that the
therefore the pious control their anger such that when it needs to
consequences of anger are severe, regrettable and will eventually
be used it is. This is contrary to ‘suppress’ which means to kill the
affect the perpetrator.
anger, which is not a character of the pious. The pious, therefore
do have anger but it is controlled to such a degree that at the time NEXT MONTH: Learn about the major causes of anger, how
of anger even, which is the most difficult time, they forgive and to handle anger and how to control anger.. don't miss it!
pardon their fellow man. REFERENCES:
It has been narrated by both Sunni and Shi’a historians that once 1- UK Statistics on D.V. & Crime in England & Wales, 04-05 re-
a slave girl of Imam Sajjad (as) was pouring water for the Imam to port
perform his ablution and the jug she was using dropped and in- 2- Government News Network of UK Department for Constitu-
jured the Imam. Naturally, Imam was upset. The slave immedi- tional Affairs, Wed. 21 Feb. 2007
ately said ‚those who repress anger‛, to which Imam replied that he 3- Michigan Judicial Institute, Domestic Violence Benchbook,
is trying, she then added ‚and who pardon people,‛ at which point 1998, p. 1.6 - 1.7
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010
What follows is a summary and analysis of the life of the Prophet, based on the book written by the erudite scholar Ayatollah
Jafar Subhani, lectures of our well-known guide Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, as well as some discussions by a small group of
brothers. This is the first instalment of the series on the life of our Holy Prophet (s).
The Message– The Holy Prophet of Allah– PART 1 The Prophet Prior to his Birth
The discussion of the Prophet prior to his birth will be divided
into two:
 The lineage of the Prophet
 The light of the Prophet
 Ancestors of the Prophet
 Prophecies about the advent of the Holy Prophet of Islam
The lineage of the Prophet:
The ‘NÙr’ of the Holy Prophet (s)1:
It is clear that the Prophet of Islam was the most preferred mes-
senger of God. It is not that all of the messengers of God were at
the same level and greatness.2 The Holy Prophet (s) was the great-
est of the Prophets, who were already above the creation and thus
the greatest creation of Allah, the Exalted. This can be proved
based on various verses of the Qur’an.3
Thus, the claim is, since the Holy Prophet Madina– Saudi Arabia
(s) was the greatest creation and the most
clear manifestation of The Divine, he
must have been the first to be created.
One of the reasons for this is the law of
‚the noblest contingent‛ (introduced by
Aristotle). This basically means that you
cannot jump from one step to another.
Unless perfection of each level is achieved,
one cannot go forward. Thus, as Allah
(SWT) is absolute perfection, according to
this law, when creation exists it has to
begin with the most perfect.
Thus, what some of the Muslim mystics
believe is that the first creation that ex-
isted, was not of this physical world,
rather it was the ‘NÙr’ of the Holy
Prophet. When we are looking at the first
creation, we are not considering this
physical world, we are speaking of the
spiritual world. They refer to various narrations. When JÁbir Ibn
Abdullah Al-AnÒÁri was asking about the first creation, the
Prophet (s) replied that the first creation was the ‘NÙr’ of your
Prophet, God created him and from him he created all good.4
The Ancestors of the Holy Prophet:
The lineage of the Prophet goes back to Isma’Ðl (as). All Muslim
scholars agree that the Prophet was a descendant from Abraham
(as) through Isma’Ðl (as). It is only a small group of evangelical
Christians who attempt to cut the connection of Prophecy to the
Holy Prophet by stating that he is not related to IbrahÐm (as).
However, according to the Shi’a scholars, including Ayatollah
9
By Ansaar
Ja’fÁr SubÎÁni, the Holy Prophet’s (s) entire lineage was a purified
one, in that all of them were believers in one God; going back all
the way to Prophet IbrahÐm (as). The distinguished Shi’a scholar,
Sheikh MufÐd, in his exquisite book, considered this proposition
to be one on which all the Sh’ia scholars are unanimous.
The Prophet (s) had said: ‚Continuously from the time of Adam until
I was born, Allah (SWT) was moving me from the loins of my father
and the womb of my mother, throughout that time I have never been
touched by the impurity of Jahiliyyah.‛
Was the father of Prophet Ibrahim an idolater?
Having understood the hadith of the Prophet, the main question
arises then is that, was the father of prophet IbrahÐm and idolator
as it is mentioned in the Qur’an:
‚When he said to his father: O my father! Why do you worship
what neither hears nor sees, nor does
it avail you in the least?‛ (19:42). Ac-
cording to the Qur’an, Allah, the Ex-
alted, uses the word ‘Abb’ in reference
to the father of IbrahÐm (as). ‘Abb’ as
seen in the above translation, is usually
translated as father, however when
studying the use of the Arabic words
and especially in the Qur’anic termi-
nology, the word Abb means guardian,
whether this is your biological father,
grandfather, teacher, it is irrelevant.
This can be proved by various verses:
‚Nay! were you witnesses when death
visited Jacob, when he said to his sons:
What will you serve after me? They
said: We will serve your god and the
god of your fathers, Abraham and Ish-
mael and Isaac, one Allah only, and
to Him do we submit‛(2:133).
It is clear that Isma’Ðl (as) was not from
the lineage of the fathers, rather he was an uncle of Ya’qÙb. Yet,
the Qur’an still refers to him as ‘Abb’. Based on this and numer-
ous other verses5 it can be concluded that the father of Ibrahim
(as) was not in fact Àzar, who was the disbeliever and uncle of the
Prophet. Rather, IbrahÐm grew up in his house and he was the
guardian of IbrahÐm. It is for this reason that he is referred to as
Abb.
Prophecies about the advent of the Holy
Prophet (s):
The second part of our discussion was in Continued on page 10>>>>
 Al-Fajr– Vol. 5 (3)- 2010
<<<<<<< Continued from page 9
regard to the Prophecies regarding the advent of the Holy
Prophet.
According to the Holy Qur’an, the coming of the Holy Prophet
was certainly mentioned in the scriptures of the Christians and
the Jews, so much so that many converted to Islam on this ac-
count. Furthermore, historians have mentioned that the place of
the coming of the Holy Prophet was so clear in their scriptures
that the reason for the migration of the Jews from Palestine was
for this very reason.
Some of the verses in this regard are as follows: ‚Those who fol-
low the Messenger-Prophet, the Ummi, whom they find written
down with them in the
Taurat and the
InjÐl‛ (7:157) and ‚Those
whom We have given the
Book recognize him as
they recognize their sons,
and a party of them most
surely conceal the truth
while they know
(it).” (2:146)
Many websites have dedi-
cated much attention to
this issue. We will provide
a few references in this re-
gard from the Christian
scriptures6:
 Isaiah saw a vision of two riders: ‚And he saw a chariot (with) a
couple of horsemen, a chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of cam-
els‛ [Isaiah 21:7]. If the donkey rider is Jesus (John 12:14), then 1- Based on the views of Sheikh Mansour Leghaei
who other than Muhammad (s) is the camel rider?!
 Paran (Mecca); the place of advent of Islam: ‚The Lord came
from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth out of
Mount Paran‛ [Deut. 33:2].
Has the name of the Holy Prophet (s) been men-
tioned as ‘Mohammed’ in the Bible?
Historically, one should not think that the four gospels that the
Christians rely upon today are the only gospels that existed.
Christians believe that tens of gospels were written. One of the
gospels which was rejected in the 4th Century, is the gospel of
Barnabas which, prior to the 4th Century, was canonical, but af-
ter that, was removed due to the decisions made in Nicaea. Some
of the rejected gospels have remained through Ancient docu-
ments, while others have disappeared. In the council of Nicaea, it
was declared that all gospels other than those approved are not to
be part of the bible. In one part of the gospel of Barnabas, it is
mentioned as follows:
‚Jesus went into the wilderness beyond Jordan with his disciples, and
when the midday prayer was done he sat down near to a palm-tree, and
10
under the shadow of the palm-tree his disciples sat down. Then Jesus said:
'So secret is predestination, O brethren, that I say to you, truly, only to
one man shall it be clearly known. He it is whom the nations look for,
to whom the secrets of God are so clear that, when he comes into the
world, blessed shall they be that shall listen to his words, because God
shall overshadow them with his mercy even as this palm-tree overshadows
us. Yes, even as this tree protects us from the burning heat of the sun, even
so the mercy of God will protect from Satan them that believe in that
man.' The disciples answered, "O Master, who shall that man be of
whom you speak, who shall come into the world?" Jesus answered with
joy of heart: 'He is Muhammad;, Messenger of God, …For he is a white
cloud full of the mercy of
God, which mercy, God
shall sprinkle upon the
faithful like rain.‛
Any questions, please
contact: shiatma-
hdi@gmail.com
The Book Club dis-
cussing the book ‚The
Message‛ by Ayatollah
Ja’far Subhani meets
every Thursday at the
Imam Husain Islamic
Centre Library at 7:00
pm. Please email the
address above to regis-
ter your interest.
REFERENCES:
2- The Holy Qur’an: 2:253, 17:55
3- The Holy Qur’an: 21:07, 94:4, 34:28, 33:40, 4:80, 48:10, 9:62,
27:12, Allah (SWT), when He is addressing Adam, he uses his name
(Ya Musa), When it comes to the Prophet he is never addressed
directly. Ya ayyuhan-nabi! Ya ayyuharl-rasÙl! (etc.), God ordered
angels to prostrate themselves before Adam once, but ordered
them to send salawÁt to the Prophet forever. YuÒallÙna means a
present action, this means that continuously the angels are giving
their salawÁt to the Prophet (s).
4- Quoted in eHawza, semester three, The Prophet of Islam, Lec-
ture One
5- The Holy Qur’an: 6:84-85, 14:41 (the use of WÁlid as opposed to
Abb)
6- One should refer to the debate of Imam RiÃÁ (as) with the heads
of different scriptures in which he makes numerous references to
these incidents.
DISCLAIMER AND CAUTION
The articles published in this paper are not the views of Al-Fajr or
any particular Islamic centre but of the author. Please handle with
care as it contains names of Allah and His Prophet.