Tag Archives: ask

ATTACK: “KILL Them Where You FIND Them!”

Published on Muslim Words
September 30th, 2015

GUN

ATTACK: “Kill Them Where You Find Them”

“I don’t get this weird video game! I mean is it really necessary to shoot the zombies? That’s not very nice, you know!”
“Mom! If you don’t shoot them, they’ll eat your brains out!”

So yeah, let’s pretend we have two groups here:

The Zombies:

 They wear black shirts
They carve rocks in the shape of dolls and force people to worship them.
They make A LOT of money from selling those make believe doll gods
They think the concepts of ‘equality’ and ‘peace’ are ridiculous
They’re powerful, aggressive, violent and very stubborn

The Peace Makers:

   They wear white shirts
They’re sick and tired of being bossed around by the biased zombies
They worship an unseen God and follow His messengers and book
They call for equality, charity, compassion and forgiveness

So when the zombies found out about the Peace Makers’ new beliefs, they fought them left and right. They tortured them, killed them, starved them, abused them, seized their assets and tried to assassinate their messenger many times, until the Peace Makers finally decided to escape the city after ten years of patient suffering. Once they spread out their call in neighboring cities, more and more people joined and the Peace Makers finally established a considerable existence.. Ten years later, 100,000 Peace Makers marched back into the city, conquering it completely yet without shedding a drop of blood. Of course the zombies ran to hide like wusses! Now you’d think the messenger, Prophet Muhammad, coming back as a victorious king, would want to punish them and have his revenge! I mean he’s human after all! They tried to kill him. They starved him and his followers for three years till his beloved wife and dear uncle died! They threw garbage at him and called him a lunatic. They asked him to split the moon in half to prove he was a Prophet of God, and when he did, they called him a magician! They killed his uncle Hamza and a woman mutilated his corpse and ate his liver (gross!). No Prophet had ever been hurt, insulted, abused and pained as much as Muhammad was by his own tribe. But when he gained immense power the Prophet, peace be upon him, simply asked his former persecutors a question…

“What do you think I’m going to do to you now?”
“You are a generous brother and the son of a generous brother!” They replied (Suck ups!)
“I will tell you what Joseph told his brothers” Prophet Muhammad said, “There is no blame on you today. You’re all free to go!”

Wait. What?!
No punishment at all? Oh my God! One time I forgot to do my homework in school and I was punished for two whole weeks! Homework not cold-blooded murder! This is so unfair!

But then again, this is why he’s the ‘beloved’, because he was forgiving, caring and merciful. Oh how we love you Prophet Of God….

The Peace Makers and disbelieving zombies coexisted peacefully in the city of Mecca for a whole YEAR before the Qur’an came down with a new command of clearing the city out of the polytheists, after more than ten years of ordering Muslims to stay patient and refrain from war. So this is when the Muslims killed all the disbelievers, right?

No… Allah gave the zombies four months to enjoy themselves, think about their options, pack their bags and the handmade dolls they worship, throw farewell parties and move to another place if they wanted to. The warning was announced publicly and the punishment for their evil deeds was paused for FOUR whole months!

“And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful” (9:5, Holy Qur’an)

Did the revelation stop there? No sire, it did not… Here’s the next verse…

“And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah. Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know” (9:6 Holy Qur’an)

So even after the grace period is over, if one of the zombies stays behind and cries for help, then it is the Muslims’ obligation to grant him or her protection, which clearly means that the ‘killing’ must be a form of self-defense and not of those who have no idea what is going on! But you know, when people use the above verse to attack Islam, it slips their mind to mention that part. Are we allowed to do that? Translate the verses the way we want without researching the reasons behind the revelation? Coz if context doesn’t matter then why stop there? Here are some incomplete and out of context verses that give a totally different meaning…

“O you who believe! Do not go near prayer….” (Qur’an 4:43)
“And give tidings to those who disbelieve…” (Qur’an 9:3)
“So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill yourselves…” (Qur’an 2:54)

Can we now argue that the Qur’an commands Muslims not to pray, and that they should instead congratulate the disbelievers and then go commit suicide?! Do you see why ignorance is dangerous and toxic? Now you know why Muslims must educate themselves about their own religion?

If you read and analyze chapter nine of the Holy Qur’an you’ll see The “Kill them where you find them” verse only applies to the polytheists in Mecca at that time ‘on the day of the greater pilgrimage’, who attacked the Muslims first, expelled the prophet, refused the peace treaty, refused all options and insisted on transgressing. Those are the people this verse refers to! And thank God they’ve become extinct…. Mecca is solely for Muslims now, so the only zombies we are allowed to kill today are those in ‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops III’ for Play Station 4!

Islam is so beyond misunderstood! Our religion teaches us that ‘guiding one non-Muslim to Islam peacefully is better than owning the whole world and what’s in it! It’s the gateway to Paradise’. So what? We’re supposed to kill them and guide them at the same time? It doesn’t make sense! (I’m actually laughing out loud at this point!)

Well, I went to Mecca for Hajj this year, and as I stared at the millions of white-dressed Peace Makers I was suddenly grateful for the above verses. I’m grateful Muslims have a safe place to unite them, poor, rich, black, white… we all worship the Lord at His house, unthreatened by the zombies. I’m grateful the Ka’bah did not end up like the Aqsa mosque, under attack every three minutes! I’m grateful for the love and submission to the Great Merciful Lord….
Seeing the confusion, doubts, hatred, racism and atheism dragging many people down into the darkest pit of misery, I prostrate to Allah, grateful for the precious gift of guidance…
But I guess not everyone is as lucky as you and me…

If only people understood the true essence of Islam… they’d fall head over heels in love with it and find peace….

Beautiful, consuming and heartwarming peace….
Lilly S. Mohsen

The Amazing Race Of Ramadan: The Final Episode

Published On OnIslam.net
July 14th, 2015
This is the original version

The Amazing Race Of Ramadan: The Final Episode

Trophy

Oh man! Does that mean I’m going home after this? No more Ramadan episodes? No more camera crew and filtering out contestants and being asked 237 times a day how many minutes till Maghreb?
Fine I get it. It’s the final countdown, and before I start I’d like to say something to all of our lovely readers who are probably beating me to the finish line: I’ll really miss you guys!

Okay so what would be an appropriate grand finale? Come on people, give me some brilliant ideas and let me take the credit for them!
Wait… I hear something! Call me crazy, but I think it’s a conversation from thousands of years ago. Shhhhhh listen…

“Mary, where did you get this food from?”
“Oh uncle Zechariah, it’s from God. Indeed Allah provides to whom He wills with no limit!”
“At that time, Zechariah called upon his Lord, saying, “My Lord, grant me from Yourself a good offspring. Indeed, You are the Hearer of supplication.” (Holy Qur’an, 3:38)

At that time? Seriously?
I was pretty sure Prophet Zechariah asked God for a child all his life. Why does it say ‘at that time’? Or was it a different kind of supplication….? The kind based on the true belief that nothing was impossible when it came to Allah’s power?

How Do We Ask?

‘It’s not what you say it’s how you say it’. I guess many have heard this phrase before. There’s a difference between mumbling a request half-heartedly and then wondering why it was never answered and it’s a totally different thing when you feel every word without even saying it, knowing that with those silent screams of desperations and those helpless tears falling down your face, God will never, and I mean NEVER, let you down…

When Prophet Zechariah made a du’aa, he started by telling God his story. He told Him how he was growing old and his hair was turning grey. How his wife was barren and how they still both desperately yearned for a child. As if God didn’t already know that! But that’s the beauty of submission… it’s talking to Allah like He’s your best friend… Explaining to Him what you’re going through as if you can see Him. Certain and 100% convinced that your prayers will be answered, and then searching for the blessings that God has definitely lifted you up with while you were down on your knees begging for help….

Why Do We Have To Ask?

I’ll take one for the team and ask the inevitable question: Why doesn’t God give us what we want right away without having to ask? Isn’t He the Most Giving? Why does He put us in hardships to start with? Isn’t He the Most Merciful?
(Whoa I think my heart stopped there for a second at how brazen these questions sounded. You guys owe me big!)

Volumes could be written from the Qur’an and Sunnah to answer these doubts and queries, but I’ll just mention the one that makes my heart melt…

Did it ever occur to us that God loves to hear our voices…? That we are so dear to Him to the point He inspires us to supplicate, then rewards us for it. He then rewards us again by giving us what we want. He then inspires us to be thankful, then rewards us for that, too. He then inspires us to share the joy by giving out charity, puts those in need on our path, then rewards us for that, TOO! He then inspires us to encourage others to ask Him like we did, then rewards us for that, and in the end, when we meet Him on Judgment Day, we find all the above stored for us with the ultimate reward of Paradise….? Wow!

Is there perhaps a chain reaction of out-of-the-blues-blessings that starts with a simple, genuine plea from the heart…?
Yes, I think so too….

What Do We Ask For…?

Don’t look at me! I don’t know!
Yet…There’s a force dragging me away from my laptop and bringing me down to my knees… Come kneel next to me… lower your head and raise your hands… and just open your heart to the One who owns it…

My Dearest Most Merciful Lord….

Where do we start…? How do we thank You for every beautiful thing You’ve given us and every scary thing You’ve protected us from….?

How do we call on the One who says “Indeed I am close…”

How do we talk to the One who knows our inner thoughts and forgives our worst mistakes…?

But we have no one else to go to… My Lord we stand by Your door, needy and desperate, and even if you don’t answer right away we will keep begging until You do… There’s no where to run but to You my Lord…

Some of us come to You sad and damaged… we beg You to heal our broken hearts…

Some of us come to You sick and helpless… we beg You to take our pain and suffering away….

Some of us are lost and confused… some of us have fallen and failed too many times… and we beg You for guidance and support…

Some of us are scared and lonely…. And don’t know how we’ll survive another day… we beg You God to fill our lives with love and warmth…

Some of us are poor and can hardly make ends meet… we beg You to open for us the doors of wealth and success…

Some of us are ashamed… humiliated by what we’ve done or how we’ve gone astray… we beg You to give us a sign we’ve been blessed with Your forgiveness…

Some of us are desperate…. Oh God each and every one of us is desperate for something only You know of and only You can provide….

Bestow Your mercy on us my dear Lord… life is so hard sometimes… so grant us the patience and the will to stay on the right path and help us….

To the One who says “I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me” (Holy Qur’an 2:186)

This is our poor and humble supplication, and from You is the Best and most Greatest response….

The race has come to an end, and we don’t know if You’ve accepted us or not… if we are worthy of Your blessings or not… We don’t know who’s been saved and who’s lagging behind… All we know is that our only hope is Your everlasting mercy…

And today we ask You… please…

Please… look at us today… don’t let this Holy month pass by without admitting us into your eternally blessed servants… we don’t deserve it, but my Lord, You’re the most Merciful and the Most Giving….

Lilly S. Mohsen