Advice

I'm often touched by my readers' comments, and I feel grateful to
Allah that I have the opportunity to help people through my writing.
However, I will no longer advise people personally through email or
Facebook chat. I have so many business and personal projects going,
and I also have a daughter to take care of. And I have my own
struggles. I'm doing my best just to walk the path, and raise Salma up
right.
I have to be blunt about another thing: sometimes sisters read my
writing or poetry here and then want to message me privately. I'm not
comfortable with that. Please take my writing as it is: a gift, a
sharing of whatever wisdom I have acquired, and an expression of love
to all. And if you benefit from it then Alhamdulillah.
If you need advice on a marriage or family issue, please to go my
IslamicAnswers.com website and submit your question to the
team.Besides, I really have only one answer to almost any question:
"Take responsibility for your ownchoices and happiness. Live up to
your talents and make something happen. Eliminate 'I can't' from your
vocabulary. Create opportunities. People will tell you 'no': you tell
them 'yes'.
Turn to God for guidance with an open heart and have the courage to
follow what comes, rather thanclinging to your own imagined outcomes.
He will always provide a way out, will always open a door; you only
need eyes to see it, and that comes from sincerity.
Be sincere with yourself above all,because if you're lying to yourself
then you're stuck. Focus on your own mistakes rather than the mistakes
of others, but only in order to learn and do better. Don't bind
yourself with guilt and self-pity. Regret for the past is a waste:
it's gone and you can't change it, so forgive yourself and forgive
others.
Believe in something greater thanyourself. You have a purpose in this
life, a mission, and most likelyyou know in your heart what it is,so
find a way to follow that path, one step at a time.
Guard your spirit from harm but be open to love. Choose compassion
again and again, even when the world makes it hard. Be patient with
your family and friends. Don't hold your love back: you only go
through this world once, so let your love shinelike the sun."
Finito. If this has been helpful, then make dua' for me. Jazakum Allah
khayr, may Allah reward youall.

Poem: Hear Those Who Call

O Allah, hear those who call:
the refugees, the small,
and those who cannot speak.
Hear them and help with blessings from above;
and for me…
give me love.
I know I'm weak.
A life that sometimes weighs
to others would be sweet.
Help the victims of war, and prisoners of speech:
feed them, care for their wounds…
and for me… bring a heart that beats.
For my people in Palestine,
in Syria, in Burma, I weep.
Give them freedom and a new day.
And if there's one stray soul
searching for me, Ya Allah,
then show her the way.
If You think I'm arrogant,
then break me down.
Bring me low to praise You above.
And if You think it's right,
if I've grown as You want me to grow,
if You look inside
and see a soul
sincere as a dove,
new and ready to be born…
then bring me love.

Compared to the Atlantic slave trade

Slavery in Muslim cultures and the Atlantic slave trade
Slavery in Muslim history lasted much longer than the Atlantic slave
trade - although slavery had existed in many cultures long before
Islam.
The Muslim slave trade from Africa seems to have enslaved roughly
similar numbers (estimates vary between 11 and 14 million Africans) to
the Atlantic slave trade, and the transportation conditions endured by
victims of the Eastern trade were probably justas horrible in their
own way as those of the Atlantic slave trade.
One poignant fact is that when the Atlantic slave trade was abolished
the Eastern trade expanded, suggesting that for some Africans the
abolition of the Atlantic trade didn't lead to freedom, but merely
changed their slave destination.
Slavery played a significant part in the history of Muslim
civilisation, but it was a form of slavery that was inherently
different from the 'slave trade' inthat the Muslim concept of slavery
regarded those enslaved as people who had some, albeit fewer, human
rights that must be respected.
What was notably different fromthe slavery of the western
world,however, was the degree to which they [slaves] were protected by
Muslim law. When the law was observed, their treatment was good. They
mightexpect to marry and have families of their own, and they had a
good chance of being freed. There were also built in avenues of
escape.
Gwyn Campbell; Frank Cass, The Structure of Slavery in Indian Ocean
Africa and Asia, 2004
But even though slavery under Islam could be significantly less harsh
that that of the Atlantic slave trade, both involved serious breaches
of human rights and restricted liberty. However well they were treated
the slaves still had restricted freedom, and when the law was not
obeyed their lives could be very unpleasant.
The relationship between slave and master in Islam is a very different
relationship from that between the American plantation labourer and
owner. It was a much more personalized relationship and relatively
benevolent. Everything here is relative -- being a slave is being a
slave and it shouldn't be romanticized.
Ronald Segal, interview with Suzy Hansen in Salon magazine, 2001
Here are some of the main differences between Muslim slavery and the
Atlantic slave trade:
*. The Atlantic trade lasted from the 15th to 19th centuries, the
Eastern trade from the 7th or 9th century to the 20th
*. Under Islam slaves were considered people first, and then property.
In the Atlantic trade slaves were considered property not people, and
often just regarded as units of productive labour
*. Islamic law laid down considerable protection for slaves; those
taken for the Atlantic trade had very little protection
*. Islamic law only permitted those conquered in legitimate warfare to
be enslaved, all other methods being illegal - although this was often
ignored - whereas the Atlantic trade enslaved anyone who had
commercial value
*. In Islam, slave-owners were forbidden to take young children from
their mothers, something common in the Atlantic trade
*. The owner-slave relationship could be kinder in Islam than in the
Atlantic trade, and often more personal
*. Islam recommends the freeing of slaves in itself as a 'good'
religious act and says that slaves who convert to Islam should be
freed. Zakat (the requirement for charity) was used by Muslim states
to free slaves. There were many other avenues whereby a slave couldbe
freed, for example as expiation for irregularities in other religious
rituals; as a result many more slaves were freed than in the Atlantic
trade
*. Under Islamic law a slave couldtake his/her master to the Islamic
courts to address a grievance, and the judge had the right to grant
freedom against the master's wishes and/or other compensations; there
was no such protection for slaves taken by the Atlantic trade
*. Islam permitted slaves to attainhigh office; those taken for
theAtlantic trade stayed at the bottom of society *. In the Atlantic
trade there weretwo males to every female; in the Islamic trade, there
were two females to every male
*. Islam permitted women to be enslaved for sexual purposes, although
not for prostitution
*. Africans were enslaved in the Atlantic trade to work on an
industrial scale in agricultural labour; in the Islamic trade they had
a far wider variety of roles
*. The Atlantic trade only involvedblack Africans; Muslim slavery
involved many racial groups
*. Slavery in the Atlantic trade was highly racist, something
prohibited in Islam where there was much less institutionalised
racism. Both masters and slaves had a wide range of colours and
backgrounds;

Muhammad and slavery

The Prophet Muhammad did not try to abolish slavery, and bought, sold,
captured, and owned slaves himself. But he insisted that slave owners
treat their slaves well and stressed thevirtue of freeing slaves.
There are two different ways of interpreting this:
*. some modern writers believe that Muhammad intended his teachings to
lead to the gradual end of slavery by limiting opportunities to
acquire new slaves and allowing existing slaves to become free. This
idea doesn't appear in early writings.
*. others writers argue that by regulating slavery the Prophet gave
his authority to its continued existence, and that by having slaves
himself he showed his approval
Muhammad treated slaves as human beings and clearly held some in the
highest esteem.
For example, he personally ensured the freedom of Bilal, an African
slave who had convertedto Islam. Bilal was chosen as the first muezzin
of Islam because ofhis beautiful voice. A muezzin is the person who
calls the community to the daily prayers, and is a position of great
prominence and responsibility.
Zayd was a young boy who had grown up in the household of the Prophet
as a slave, and remained with the household, almost as an adopted son,
even after he was freed. He was amongst the first four people to adopt
Islam. Indeed when Zayd'sfather (a wealthy nobleman) tracked his son
down and offered to buy his freedom from Muhammad, Muhammad told Zayd
that he was free to go withhis father with no money changing hands,
and to his father's astonishment Zayd chose to stay with Muhammad.
The Prophet also married a Coptic Christian slave girl.
In his lifetime the Prophet introduced the following rules about slavery:
*. Stated that freeing slaves was the act that God found most acceptable
*. Zakat (charity - the third Pillar of Islam ) was often used by the
state to free slaves
*. Stated that freeing a slave was the appropriate way to gain
forgiveness for certain wrongs
*. Ordered that those who committed certain wrongs should be penalised
by having to free their slaves
*. Stated that slaves should be allowed to buy their freedom, and if
necessary should be given the opportunity to earn money, or be lent
money by the state, in order to do so
*. Allowed slaves to be freed in certain circumstances
*. Stated that slaves' contracts should be interpreted in favourof the slaves
*. Stated that the duty of kindness towards slaves was the same of
that towards family, neighbours and others
*. Stated that when a slave owner had a child with a female slave, the
child should be freed and could inherit from their father like any
otherchild (as in the case of Ibrahim )
There are a number of hadith that show that the Prophet treated slaves
well and expected others to do the same...
He will not enter Paradise who behaveth ill to his slaves. The
Companions said, 'O Apostle of God! have you not told us, that there
will be a great many slavesand orphans amongst your disciples?' He
said, 'Yes; then be kind to them as to your own children, and give
them to eat what you eat yourselves. The slaves that say their prayers
are your brothers.
Be kind to slaves as to your own children...and those that say their
prayers are your brethren.
They (slaves or servants) are your brothers, and Allah has put them
under your command. So the one under whose hand Allahhas put his
brother, should feed him of what he eats, and give him dresses of what
he wears, and should not ask him to do a thing beyond his capacity.
And ifat all he asks him to do a hard task, he should help him
therein.'
'There are three categories of people against whom I shall myself be a
plaintiff on the Day of Judgement. Of these three, one is he who
enslaves a free man, then sells him and eats this money'.
al-Bukhari and Ibn Majjah
Narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari:"The Prophet said, 'Give food to the
hungry, pay a visit to the sickand release (set free) the one in
captivity (by paying his ransom).'"
Bukhari/