Welcome to Islam, - * From Kabul to the ultimate truth

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This is the story of Yvonne Ridley's journey that started in a Kabul prison and put her on a quest to discover the truth.
Islam is by far the most misunderstood religion in the world today thanks to centuries of medieval-style propaganda successfully peddled by bigots and religious zealots. So I should not have been entirely surprised by the almost hysterical reaction in the mainstream media to news that I am considering becoming a Muslim. Some of the comments were )nasty( and snide, other journalists asked me stupid questions showing a distinct lack of research or understanding. One even accused me of suffering from Stockholm Syndrome as a result of spending ten days in the hands of the Taliban!
My spiritual journey, like that for many reverts, was meant to be a personal affair between myself and God. Sadly it has now become a very public issue and so I have decided to share with readers my feelings and thoughts on Islam to prevent any more misunderstandings or misconceptions.
Yes, my journey did begin in the unlikely surrounds of an Afghan prison where I was being held by the Taliban facing charges of entering their country illegally, disguised in the all-enveloping burqa. One day, during my captivity, I was visited by a religious scholar who asked me what I thought of Islam and if I would like to revert. I was terrified. For five days I had managed to avoid the subject of religion in a country led by Islamic extremists. If I gave the wrong response, I had convinced myself I would be stoned to death.
After careful thought I thanked the scholar for his generous offer and said it was difficult for me to make such a life-changing decision while I was in prison. However, I did make a promise that if I was released I would study Islam on my return to London. My reward for such a reply was being sent to a ghastly jail in Kabul where I was locked up with six Christian fanatics who faced charges of trying to convert Muslims to their faith. )After being bombarded with their bible readings, happy-clappy Christian songs and prayers twice a day, I think we can discount the accusations of Stockholm Syndrome(.
Several days later I was released unharmed on humanitarian grounds on the orders of Mullah Omar, the Taliban's one-eyed spiritual leader. My captors had treated me with courtesy and respect, and so in turn, I kept my word and set out to study their religion. It was supposed to be an academic study, but as I became more engrossed with each page I turned I became more impressed with what I read.
I turned to several eminent Islamic academics, including Dr. Zaki Badawi, for advice and instruction. I was even given several books by the notorious Sheikh Abu Hamza AI-Masri whom I spoke to after sharing a platform at an Oxford Union debate. This latter snippet was seized upon by some sections of the media in such a ridiculous fashion that outsiders might have thought I was going to open a madrassa )school( for AI-Qaeda recruits from my flat in Soho!
Thankfully the support and understanding I have been given from my brothers and sisters )for I regard them as that( has been unstinting and comforting. Not one of them has put pressure on me to become a Muslim, and every revert I've spoken to has told me to take my time. One of the big turning points for me happened earlier this year when the Israelis began shelling The Church of the Nativity in Manger Square, one of the most precious monuments for Christians.
Every year thousands of school children re-enact the Nativity at Christmas time, a potent symbol of Christianity. Yet, not one Church of England leader publicly denounced the Israelis for their attack. Our Prime Minister Tony Blair, who loves to be pictured coming out of church surrounded by his family, espousing Christian values, was silent. Only the Pope had the guts to condemn this atrocity. I was shocked and saddened and felt there was no backbone in my religious leaders. At least with Islam I need no mediator or conduit to rely upon, I can have a direct line with God anytime I want.
While I feel under no pressure to revert by Muslims, the real pressure to walk away from Islam has come from some friends and journalists who like to think they're cynical, hard-bitten, hard-drinking, observers of the world. Religion of any form makes them feel uneasy, but Islam, well that's something even worse. You'd think I had made a pact with the devil or wanted to become a grand wizard in the Ku Klux Klan.
Others feared I was being brainwashed and that I would soon be back in my burqa, silenced forever like all Muslim women. This, of course, is nonsense. I have never met so many well-educated, opinionated, outspoken, intelligent, politically aware women in the Muslim groups I have visited throughout the UK. Feminism pales into insignificance when it comes to the sisterhood, which has a strong identity and a loud voice in this country. Yes, it is true that many Muslim women around the world are subjugated, but this has only come about through other cultures hijacking and misinterpreting the Qur’an.
I wish I had this knowledge )and I'm still very much a novice( when I was captured by the Taliban, because I would have asked them why they treated their own women so badly. The Qur’an makes it crystal clear that all Muslims, men and women are entirely equal in worth, spirituality and responsibility.

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Welcome to Islam, - * Experience of a Canadian woman

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Many may ask why a young, Canadian-born, Caucasian woman would embrace a religion that not only supposedly oppresses women, but takes all her freedom and independence and treats her as a second class citizen.
I reject such accusations and pose to them the following question. "Why is it that so many women who have been born and brought up in the so-called 'civilized' societies of Canada, USA, and Europe are willing to reject their liberty, and independence, to embrace a religion that supposedly oppresses them and is widely assumed to be prejudicial to them?"
As a Canadian revert to Islam, I can only present my personal experience and reasons for rejecting the freedom, that women claim to have in this society, in favor of the only religion that truly liberates women by giving us a status and position which is completely unique when compared to non-Muslim counterparts.
As a child growing up in a non-religious home, I often asked my parents if there was a God, who is He, and where did He come from? Their response was always, believe in what you want to believe. This confused me, because many of my friends had religions, and I never understood why I didn't.
I remember when I was six or seven years old, I attended Sunday School, at a Church with a friend a couple of times. I found it very boring. I didn't feel comfortable around the other children, and felt pressured by the instructor and other children because I didn't know anything about Jesus Christ, may Allaah exalt his mention. Feeling this way I stopped going to the Sunday school, and continued growing up without a religion, with no knowledge of God, which made me feel very lonely.
It wasn't until I was in high school when I learned about religion in my social studies class, and remember vividly how my teacher told us women in Islam have no rights, women are denied education, must be circumcised, and how women must obey men, otherwise, the men can beat them.
This made me think
No matter what this teacher said, something in my mind kept telling me this couldn't be true. Ironically, around the same time I was learning this, I met a Muslim, named Khaled )who is now my husband( at the place where I worked and asked him about what my teacher said. He was shocked to hear the school boards were teaching this about Islam and told me they were all untrue. When discussing this with my teacher in front of my fellow students, the teacher told me that my source is wrong, and he has the information in his books, otherwise he wouldn't be teaching us this stuff.
My teacher pretty much made me look stupid; however some of my friends believed me. I continued talking to Khaled at work about Muslim women and was very curious about the role of Muslim women. I have to admit that I never agreed all the time with what Khaled said, but I was also a non-believer at that time, and never understood fully what Islam was. I was )and still I am( always fascinated with how the Muslim women would cover themselves, they always seemed to have the look of peace on their faces. I would never have guessed that I would one day be one of those ladies who is fully covered.
Two years later, Khaled and I were married and had our first child, Al-Hamdulillah. It wasn't until one year after my second child was born, Al-Hamdulillah, when I began to feel depressed and adrift, feeling a large spirituality void. I felt there was a big chunk of my life still missing. This was when I began to read about various religions, and it wasn't until I bought a translation of the Holy Quran when I finally understood the true meaning of life, and that there is none has the right to be worshipped but Allaah(. The Quran answered all the questions I was looking for, and some that I never even thought of.
One week before the holy month of Ramadan, I taught myself to pray, memorized two suras )Quranic Chapters(, and said my Shahadah )Testimony of faith(. I no longer felt adrift and I believed in Allaah. It was like having the feeling and guidance from Allaah.
Wearing the scarf for the first time made me feel as though I had more peace, I was someone, not only a someone, but a Muslim. I was )and am( protecting myself from all evil. I felt a lot more close to Allaah, because He has ordained women in the Noble Quran to cover themselves.
I know in my heart that it bothered my husband a lot to have a wife who did not only embrace Islam, but to see her practicing it when he wasn't. My husband and I have no differences anymore in terms of raising our children )as Muslims(, and have never been so happy since he and I started practicing Islam.
My life has changed a lot since I embraced Islam )all for the best(, and I'm loving every minute of it! I recommend it to everyone out there, whether a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, to pick up a copy of the Noble Quran and to read not just some of it, but all of it. May Allaah give everyone the strength and courage that He has given me during the past year.

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Menstruation and Post-Natal bleeding, - Dought& clear, - * Can a woman who is experiencing non-menstrual vaginal bleeding (istihaadah) fast?

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Can a woman who is experiencing non-menstrual vaginal bleeding (istihaadah) fast?.
Praise be to Allaah.
During the time when the woman who is experiencing istihaadah believes that the blood is menstrual blood, then she is menstruating and the rulings on menses apply to her. When the menses ends, then she is taahir (pure) and she should do ghusl, fast and pray and her husband may have intercourse with her, even if she is still bleeding.
It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah said: Faatimah bint Abi Hubaysh came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allaah, I am a woman who experiences istihaadah and I do not become pure. Should I give up praying?” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “No. That is just a vein, and it is not menses. When your menses comes, then stop praying, and when it ends, then wash the blood from yourself and pray.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 226; Muslim, 333.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, explaining the phrase “that is just a vein”:
This indicates that if the blood which is flowing is blood from a vein – which includes bleeding that results from surgery – then that is not regarded as menses, so the things that become haraam in the case of menses are not haraam in this case, and a woman has to pray and to fast if that happens during the day in Ramadaan. End quote.
Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 11/question no. 226.
It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that one of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) observed i’tikaaf with him, and she was experiencing istihaadah and could see the blood. Sometimes she would place a basin beneath her to catch the blood. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 303. And Allaah knows best.

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Menstruation and Post-Natal bleeding, - Dought& clear, - * Her period comes regularly but the bleeding stops for half a day or a day at the beginning and end

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My wife gets her period regularly, but it starts with a little bleeding, which then stops for half a day or a full day. The same thing happens at the end of her period. When should she stop fasting and praying and when should she resume?.
Praise be to Allaah.
If a woman sees menstrual blood she must stop praying and fasting, and if the bleeding stops during the period it depends:
1 – If traces of blood remain, such that if she inserts a piece of cloth or whatever it comes out with traces of blood, then the period is not regarded as having ended, and she should still refrain from praying and fasting, whether that happens at the beginning of the period or at the end.
2 – If the bleeding stops altogether, such that if she inserts a piece of cloth it comes out clean with no traces of blood, then this is the sign that her period has ended, so she is taahir (pure). She should do ghusl and pray and fast and do all that women who are taahir do. Then if the bleeding resumes she should stop again.
The ruling that being free of any trace of blood during the time of menses is regarded as tuhr (purity) is the view of the Maalikis and Hanbalis.
SeeMataalib Ooli al-‘Nuha, 1/260.
In the answer to question no. 37839we have mentioned the view of the scholars of the Standing Committee:
If the menses stops for one day or one night during the time of menses, then she should do ghusl and pray whatever prayers come when she is taahir, because Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “If she sees blood that is heavy or copious, she should not pray, and if she sees the tuhr for a while, she should do ghusl. End quote.
Majallat al-Buhooth al-‘Ilmiyyah(12/102)
And Allaah knows best.

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Menstruation and Post-Natal bleeding, - Dought& clear, - * She had an operation on her uterus

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If a woman has an operation on her uterus and bleeds as a result, is that blood regarded as menses?.
Praise be to Allaah.
A woman may experience something that causes her to bleed from her vagina, such as an operation on the uterus or close to it. This falls into two categories:
1 – If she knows that it is not possible for her to menstruate after the surgery, such as if she has an operation to remove the uterus altogether (hysterectomy) or blocking it so that no blood can come from it. This woman does not come under the rulings on istihaadah (non-menstrual vaginal bleeding); rather she comes under the rulings on one who sees some yellowish or brownish discharge or some wetness after her period ends. So she should not stop praying and fasting, or refuse to let her husband have intercourse with her, and she does not have to do ghusl in this case. But when she wants to pray she should wash the blood from herself and put a piece of cloth or something similar over her private part to prevent the blood coming out, then she should do wudoo’ and pray. She should only do wudoo’ after the time for the prayer has begun, if there is a specific time for the prayer such as the five daily prayers, or when she wants to offer a naafil prayer.
2 – If she knows that there is no reason why she should not menstruate after the operation and it is possible that she may menstruate. This comes under the ruling of istihaadah and is indicated by the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to Faatimah bint Hubaysh: “That is a vein and is not menses. When the time of menses comes, then stop praying.” The words “when the time of menses comes” indicate that the ruling on istihaadah may apply to one who has a period that comes and goes. If a woman does not have a period then her bleeding is regarded as coming from a vein in all cases. End quote.
Risaalah fi’l-Dima’ al-Tabee’iyyah li’l-Nisa’ by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him).

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