Scroll down for report on "Rikers' Guards Alleged
Involvement in Inmate's Death" by Sr. Aisha ;
"Dreams of Hope" by Sr. Yasmin
and "Qur'an Tells the Truth about Mary" by Um Esma
Qur'an and Hadith Studies with Dr. Kaukab Siddique
The Qur'anic Injunction to "Read"
"Read (O Prophet) in the name of your Lord who created man
from a clinging form. Read! And your Lord is the most
bountiful One who taught by the Pen; taught man what he did
not know."
Source: Qur'an, 96: 1-5
Commentary by Kaukab Siddique
Reading books is essential for Muslims. Let us look at what
it does for us: It opens us to new ideas and opinions. It
transports us to new lands. It helps us to become better
writers ourselves. And, it helps us to become more
analytical.
One book—the Qur'an—teaches us how to approach
every aspect of our lives. The Qur'an is not man made. It is
a book which was written down as it was revealed. No other
book has that authenticity.
Then, the Book was explained and interpreted by the greatest
human being to whom it was revealed. That is Muhammad (SAW).
No other human being has had his public and private life
laid out in such detail before all humanity. If we study the
Qur'an and authentic hadith, we are given something which no
one else has.
Islamic Victories in 2024
Afghanistan: the United States, a superpower, was driven
out unconditionally.
Bangladesh: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India,
and now faces extradition.
Syria: The tyrant Bashir al-Assad fled to Russia.
Students rose in most colleges in America to oppose and
protest USA and UK crimes in Palestine.
Yemen: The Houthis showed the world what can be done by a
small, determined force against a powerful enemy.
Palestine: Despite tremendous adversity, the resistance
continues, with fighting on the ground.
Islamic losses in 2024
Palestine: Over 50,000 civilians were killed by Israeli
Occupation Force (IOF).
Palestine: Leading figures of the Palestinian resistance,
including Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, were killed.
The world: Not one major Muslim country came forth in the
defense of Palestine.
United States: Large numbers of U.S. Muslims voted for
Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, part of a presidency
which sent a record 17.9 billion to Israel in support of the
current genocide of Palestinians. It plans to send more
prior to leaving office.
Iran: Despite a great deal of talk and braggadocio, Iran
failed to take any effective action against Israel.
Syria: Bashir Al-Assad mass murdered hundreds of
thousands of Syrians and dumped their bodies in graves. The
prospect of justice for the dead is ambiguous at best.
Syria: Israel launched vast numbers of strikes inside
Syria. It is occupying the highest mountain in the region,
Mount Hermon, which it says gives it a strategic vantage
point over not just Syria, but also Palestine.
Juma'ah at the Islamic Society of Baltimore
By Dr. Kaukab Siddique
The community at the Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB) has
grown, and several prayers have to be held to accommodate
the congregation. On January 3, the New Trend editor had the
opportunity to attend the second khutbah and prayer. The
musallah was jam-packed, with large numbers of young people,
and the editor had to sit in the gymnasium which ISB uses as
an overflow area when the main hall is full. Significant
numbers of mosque-goers, men and women were wearing
kaffiyahs.
The khateeb spoke on the unity of the ummah. What happens to
Muslims in one country should affect Muslims in the rest of
the ummah, he said. This was really amazing because ISB
usually does not emphasize the unity of the ummah, and
largely focuses on local issues.
The khateeb, quoting a famous hadith, said: "Who is really
poor? The one who has money and does not give it to the
ummah! And the poverty-stricken is the one who on the Day of
Judgement will appear in front of Allah Almighty, and he
will be asked: Did you abuse anyone? Did you backbite
anyone? And the man will say I fasted, and I gave zakat and
I have brought with me these achievements (fasting and
zakat-giving). But did you abuse anyone? And did you take
away the rights of anyone? You are the one who beat up
someone for no reason, and all of your good deeds will be
taken and distributed among your victims. And is it not true
that you took away the rights of people which did not belong
to you? And the sins of the victims will be taken away, and
the victimizer will be punished."
The khateeb continued, "The poor ones among our ummah are
those who will be presented to the Creator as ones who took
away the rights of others. And he will be presented with the
evil he did, including beating up people, and taking away
their ability to do good. After all his good deeds are taken
away because he committed these sins, he will be sent to
Hell." (Sahih Muslim, Chapter on Doing Good and Distributing
the Goodness, Hadith no. 28)
The khateeb urged the congregation, many of whom are very
well-to-do, to think about who is really rich, and who is
really poor.
Rikers' Guards Alleged Involvement in Inmate's Death
By Sis. 'Aisha Jamaat al-Muslimeen New York City
Charizma Jones was a 23-year-old woman who arrived at Rikers
Island prison in September 2023. In less than a year, she
was dead.
Jones was serving time for an assault. She suffered from
mental health issues, and a fight with a Corrections Officer
may have contributed to her untimely death. After her
confrontation, she was placed on restricted status and
became ineligible for early release.
According to a video, on May 4, Jones was wobbly and unable
to stand unaided. The health clinic reportedly told guards
that no staff was available when guards contacted them about
the medical emergency.
Charizma Jones, who appeared to go in and out of
consciousness, was tended to by fellow inmates, who rubbed
her skin with ice and braced her head. Inmates grew irate
and vocal over the medical staff's lack of response to
Jones' health crisis. They triggered the emergency alarm,
which compelled medical staff to respond. This was caught on
video.
Charizma Jones was transferred to the infirmary, where she
was prescribed antibiotics for a suspected case of scarlet
fever and isolated in a prison cell.
Another video shows guards thwarting attempts by medical
staff to tend to Jones, even as she vomited in a toilet.
When medical staff attempted to check Jones' vital signs on
six separate occasions, guards allegedly came in and stopped
them.
The Board of Corrections, an independent oversight agency,
revealed numerous accounts where guards interfered with the
medical treatments of Rikers inmates, in general.
After two days of isolation, Jones was rushed to a nearby
hospital with a rash and a high fever. While in a coma,
Charizma Jones died on July 14, 2024, of multiple organ
failure. Her family is suing.
The Corrections Officers' Department has not issued any
statement regarding this case. The Department of
Investigation and NY Attorney General Leticia James are
investigating these alleged human rights violations. MK
Kaishian, the Jones Family's attorney, said there has been
no news of disciplinary action taken against any guards
allegedly involved in this incident.
In 2019, the New York City Council voted to demolish the
Rikers Complex, one of the largest prisons in America, and
replace it with several smaller prisons. However, Mayor Eric
Adams has opposed the Rikers Island shutdown. Other
proponents of the shutdown have acknowledged that meeting
the 2027 deadline will be challenging.
Recently, a judge voted to transfer control of Rikers to the
federal government.
Source: Yahoo.com and MSN.com
Guidance from Sis. Yasmin
Dreams of Hope ~{!}
{A Hadith that makes one Cry 'Subhan'Allah!}
Ibn al-Qayyim (R) records the hadith that was related by
Abdurahman ibn Samra. He said that the....
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said ----
'I saw something amazing yesterday...{!}
I saw a man from my 'Ummah' having the
Angel of Death coming to him to seize his soul.
Then came good dealings with his Parents
(to intercede for him)
and the Angel of Death left him !
and I saw a man whose torment in the
grave was about to come upon him ...
Then came his ablutions ('Wudu')
and saved him from that !
Then I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who had been surrounded by Devils.
Then came the remembrance of Allah
(Adkar & Dhikr)
and the devils were driven away from him...!
Then I saw a man of my 'Ummah'
who was surrounded by the angels of punishment,
then there came his prayers (Salah)
and he was rescued from their hands !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was panting from thirst.
When he got close to them,
he was prevented from every
jug of water and they were taken away from him.
Then came his fasting of the month of Ramadan
and, then he drank and was satisfied ... !
I saw a man from my Ummah
and I saw Prophets sitting in groups.
Every time the man went to the circles he was driven away.
Then came his washing (Ghusl) from major defilement
(Janabah), and they took him by his hand
and sat him besides me.
And I saw a man from my Ummah, in front of him was darkness,
behind him was darkness, on his right was darkness, and on
his left was darkness, and above him was darkness,
and below him was darkness.
And he was lost in the darkness.
Then There came his pilgrimage (Hajj)
and lesser pilgrimage (Umrah)
and they took him out of
the darkness and entered him into light !
And I saw a man from my Ummah
who was being burned by a fire...!
Then there came his charity (Sadaqah)
and it formed a cover between him and the fire!
And it provided a shade over his head !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was talking to the believers,
but they would not talk to him.
Then there came his keeping of family relations
(upholding ties of kinship) and it said...
' Oh gathering of Muslims,
he kept together family ties so speak with him...
Therefore, the believers talked to him
and they shook his hand !
I saw a man of my 'Ummah' who was encircled
by the Angels who throw the disbelievers into hell...
Then there came his
ordering good and forbidding the evil !
['Amr Bil Marouf wanahi anil Munkar']
~ so he was rescued from their hands.
and he was entered among
the angels of mercy !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was kneeling and between him and
Allah there was a curtain.
Then there came his good character (Ikhlaq)
and he was taken by his hand and
permitted to be with Allah.
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
whose recorded deeds were taken from his left hand,
Then there came his fear of Allah and He took
his papers and had them placed on his right side...!
I then saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who had a very light weight on the scale.
Then there came his young children who had died
and his weight was increased !
I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was on the brink of the hell-fire.
Then there came his hope in Allah
and he was rescued from it and he moved on from it.
I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was thrown in the fire !
Then there came his tears that he
cried out of fear of Allah
and he was rescued from that.
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah' standing along a path
that was shuddering in the same way
that a limb of a palm tree shudders on a stormy night .
Then there came his
good thoughts about Allah and the
shuddering was stopped !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
crawling on the path[over the hell-fire].
sometimes he was crawling on it
and sometimes he was hanging from it.
Then there came his prayers upon the Prophet
and he was made to stand on his feet and he passed over it...!
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who came to the doors of Paradise and they were
closed in front of him.
Then there came his testifying that
there is no God except Allah and the doors
were opened for him and he entered Paradise...!
Qur'an Tells the Truth about Mary
By Um Esma
According to the Qur'an, Mary was a Levite who married a man
from the Tribe of Judah after the Annunciation: At the time
Mary lived and Jesus was born, Palestine had been under
Greek and Roman occupation for more than 300 years. Due to
the cultural influence of Greece and Rome, the Jewish
cultural elite had become Hellenized; a process which
involved the adaptation of Greco-Roman myths into the Jewish
culture. One of the most predominant myths was the Greek
Heroes, as Perseus and Heracles, Sired by Zeus Upon a Virgin
Myth. This myth was applied by the thoroughly Hellenized
Gospel authors to the biography of Jesus. The myth was
strongly opposed by conservative Jews as Justin Martyr
explains in his contemporaneous Dialogue with Trypho,
Chapter 67. As is explained in the Gospel according to
Matthew, 5:17-19, Allah (SWT), sent Jesus, the Messiah, to
overthrow this massive Hellenization of Palestinian culture
and return it to the covenants of Moses (the Torah or Law)
and David (the Navvim or Prophets). Rome was victorious in
Palestine and the Church adopted the Hellenized version of
Jesus' biography. However, Allah (SWT) sent Muhammad to
relate the true biography of Jesus including the manner of
his birth.
The Quran confirms that Mary was either married but had not
yet cohabited with her husband or she had not yet entered
into a marriage contract. in Quran 3:45 which says: " [And
mention] when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah gives
you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the
Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary - distinguished in this
world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to
Allah]." Here Gabriel is telling Mary that she was to be the
mother of the messiah. According to 2 Samuel 7, the messiah
was to be a patrilineal descendant of David who was from the
tribe of Judah. Quran says that Mary was from the tribe of
Levi. According to Quran 3:35, Mary's mother is described as
(ٱمْرَأَتs
عِمْرَٰن¤) or a 'woman of Imran (biblical Amram)". Imran (Amram)
was from the tribe of Levi and the father of Moses, Aaron
and Miriam. Mary is thus designated as a 'sister of Aaron'
because she is also from the tribe of Levi. (Quran 19:28)
The Gospel of Luke describes Mary's cousin in a similar
manner when it states her kinswoman, Elizabeth, was 'from
the daughters of Aaron' (Luke 1:36). So, the Quran declares
through the annunciation of the messiah, that Mary, a Levite
was either married or about to be married to a man from the
tribe of Judah who was one of the many patrilineal
descendants of David. Jesus would not have fulfilled the
requirements of the messiah unless his mother was married to
a descendant of David who would be his biological father.
The genealogies of Jesus in the gospels of Matthew and Luke
confirm that Jesus' biological father was from the tribe of
Judah. Qur'an is always correct and precise.