Subject: Re: msa-net: Muzammil Siddiqi: "Allah certainly has an image (soorah)"
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 22:00:10 +1100
From: ab 
To: portia@sunnah.org, abuabdullahi@hotmail.com
CC: msa-net@msa-natl.org
BCC: sunnah@aol.com, Umer Abdul Ahad ,
     "abulhasan1@hotmail.com" ,
     webmaster@cc.uiuc.edu, hostmaster@meer.net, sufism@makelist.com,
     "islam@ign.com.au" 

Salaam Alaikum wa RahmatuAllah,

*yawn*.. once again the Naqshbandi cultists are dining on their favourite
food - muslims.

But who is the enigmatic Portia Shah and what are her credentials in
attacking and slandering every single Muslim who "dares" defy the "supreme
authority" of self-declared "leader of America's Muslims", Hisham Kabbani?

If we visit her page at http://www-courses.cs.uiuc.edu/~p-shah1/ we find
that Ms Shah has just completed Arabic 303 (3rd Semester Arabic).
Mash'Allah, these are the credentials required nowadays to critique the
1400 year old religious beliefs of the scholars of Ahlus Sunnah wa'l
Jamaa'ah?...   On the same page, Ms Shah gives us a sample of her level of
mastery of the Arabic language - "Ismi Portia! Kaifa haluk? Ana min
Pakistan."

Ms Shah also enjoys the high station of being a friend of someone called
"Tarik Crozier" (http://osirisani.home.mindspring.com/people.html).  She is
listed amongst his "favourite people" that he enjoys "conjugating with"
(see http://osirisani.home.mindspring.com/infinite_domain.html).  Hardly
surprising that he should count Portia Shah as amongst his favourite
friends when he says that enjoys:

"wandering aimlessly, and/or collecting information in preparation for my
conquest, during which I will take over the world. Make no mistake; the new
regime shall represent the utmost epitome of fashion sense and
technolust... just like any good reactionary democroanarchist aristocracy
with net.goths at the helm should. Not only will the revolution be
televised; it will be streamed. Prepare to be spanked. Submit! Lick the
whip! "

So the question that I must ask now, has Portia Shah, like Hisham
al-Kadhab, been sitting with Madonna too long? (see
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8841 for details on the
'Madonna connection').

W'salaam

Amir Butler

Portia Shah wrote:

> Hdate: Thursday 22 Rajab 1419 A.H.
> Number: msa-net/12Nov98/                
> Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
>
> Audhubillahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajeem
> Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem
> Was-salaat was-salaam ala Rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam
>
> As-salaamalaykum all,
>
> In this unprecedented adaptation of Salafi aqida, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi
> here states in clear English that Allah has an image, hands, eyes, and
> far stronger than any Salafi statement to date, he says "[He] sits on a
> throne..."
>
> Read it at the link or in the text below:
>
> By the President of ICNA Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi Stated:
>
> Pakistan Link Issue March 06, 1998
> http://pakistanlink.com/religion/siddiqi.html
>
> Questions and Answers:
>
> Q 3. Most people imagine God to have a certain form or image and to be
> in a particular place. Is this belief correct? What does Islam tell us
> about the appearance or physical attributes of Allah -subhanahu wa
> ta'ala? (Faisal, Dallas, Texas)
>
> A 3. Allah -exalted and glorified be He- is not something abstract. The
> Qur'an describes Him as a Personal Being with face, eyes, hands. He
> sees, hears, speaks, sits on the throne, likes and dislikes, loves and
> hates, certain things please Him and things displease Him and make Him
> angry. All these descriptions are in the Qur'an. Thus Allah certainly
> has an image (soorah). We as Muslims believe in and accept all that
> Allah has told us about His own self. But we do not say "how". In
> Islamic theology this is called "Bila Kayf" (meaning "without how").
> Thus we accept that Allah has face, hands and eyes, but we do not make
> a picture or an image of them. We say what Qur'an has told us, "There
> is nothing like Him and He is the Hearer and Seer of all." (al-Shura
> 42:11) or " There is none equal to Him." (al-Ikhlas 112:4)
>
> It is acceptable in Islam to say that Allah is above or to raise one's
> head or hands towards the heaven to pray to Allah. The Prophet -peace
> be upon him- went to the heavens in his Mi'raj and there Allah spoke to
> him. The above signifies the greatness, honor and glory of Allah.
> However Allah is not limited and confined to any particular place. His
> knowledge encompasses every thing. The Qur'an also tells us that He is
> very close to us (al-Baqarah 2:186; Qaf 50:16; al-Waqi'ah 56:85) and He
> is with us wherever we are (al- Hadid 57:4).
>
> By the President of ICNA Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi
>
> Born in India in 1943, he received his early education at Aligarh
> Muslim University and Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow, India. He
> graduated from the Islamic University of Madina in Saudi Arabia in 1965
> with a higher degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies. He received an M.A.
> in Theology from Birmingham University in England and a Ph.D. in
> Comparative Religion from Harvard University in the United States.
>
> Dr. Siddiqi has worked with numerous Islamic organizations in
> Switzerland, England, and the United States. He served as Chairman of
> the Religious Affairs Committee of the Muslim Students Association in
> the United States and Canada, and he was Chairman of the Department of
> Religious Affairs at the Muslim World League Office to the United
> Nations from 1976 to 1980. Dr. Siddiqi also served as Director of the
> Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. At present he is Director of the
> Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove, California.
>
> He is also a member of the Consultative Council of the Islamic Society
> of North America, a member of the Fiqh (Islamic Law) Council of North
> America, and a founding member of the Council of Mosques in the United
> States and Canada.
>
> Dr. Siddiqi has traveled widely and lectured at universities, colleges
> and other academic and religious institutions in Saudi Arabia, South
> Africa, England, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Trinidad, Guyana,
> Grenada, Barbados, Mauritius, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong
> Kong, Brazil, the United States, and Canada. He has taught courses on
> Islam and world religions at Harvard University in Cambridge,
> Massachusetts; Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey; Seton Hall
> University in South Orange, New Jersey; Birmingham University in
> England; International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan; and
> California State University in Long Beach, California. He is at present
> Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies and World Religions at California
> State University in Fullerton, California. He is also an external
> examiner for the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of
> Durban-Westville in South Africa.
>
> Dr. Siddiqi has participated in many inter-religious dialogues. He
> spoke at the World Assembly of the World Council of Churches in
> Vancouver, Canada and has participated in many seminars organized by
> the National Council of Churches and the National Council of Christians
> and Jews in the United States. He is currently Vice-president of the
> Academy of Judaic-Christian and Islamic Studies in California. He is
> also a member of the Supreme Islamic Council of Egypt and the Supreme
> Council of Mosques in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He has been conducting a
> weekly religious radio program since 1982. Dr. Siddiqi has contributed
> numerous articles to several Islamic and academic journals,
> encyclopedias, and other publications.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Has Dr. Siddiqi been sitting with the Christians too long?
> ___________________________
> portia@sunnah.org

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