My reversion to Islam - in depth
Appearing below are details about my reversion
to Islam. I have published them before but took the page down because I wanted
to rewrite it. I amended it today the 12th of October 23 but, Insha-Allah,
I would still like to rewrite it further.
I am aware that some of the material in the
opening paragraphs is already covered on the page 'My reversion to Islam - in
brief' but rather than try to edit the text I have let it stand so I can review
it properly later.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE HAS NOT BEEN
PROOFED. IF ANYONE NOTICES ANY MISTAKES COULD THEY PLEASE CONTACT ME AT ianccalderwood@gmail.com OR
RING ME ON 0437 611 146.
MY STORY - OR SOME OF IT - ABOUT MY REVERSION
TO ISLAM
My name is Ian Charles
Calderwood. I was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, on
the 11th of January 1946, but was raised in Melbourne.
I reverted to Islam as a Sunni Muslim who
follows the Hanafi Mazhab (School) in Melbourne in 1983. And this is my story -
or some of it - of why I became a Muslim.
Before proceeding with my background, I want
to note that after I reverted to Islam I changed my name on the 28th of October
1984 by Deed Poll in Melbourne from Ian Charles Calderwood to Yahya Abdullah. I
lived in Pakistan under that name from April 1985 and returned to Melbourne in
September 1990.
A copy of the Deed Poll can be seen at 'DEED
POLL 28 OCTOBER 1984' .
For details about my stay in Pakistan see my
pages headed 'LIVING IN PAKISTAN' and ‘ORGANIZED CRIME RESEARCH’.
For personal reasons I reverted to my former
name of Ian Charles Calderwood on the 12th of March 1992. I did so by Change of
Name Registration.
The Victorian Government had abolished Deed
Polls in October 1986 and introduced a Change of Name Registration form.
Details about the abolition of Deed Polls and
the change of name registration system can be found on the Births, Deaths and
Marriages Victoria website. The link is Homepage | Births Deaths and
Marriages Victoria (bdm.vic.gov.au).
The Law Handbook 1996, published by the
Fitzroy Legal Service, also explains on Page 324 that Deed Polls were abolished
in Victoria effective from the 01st of November 1986. It notes: “While you may
use a deed poll as evidence of a change of name, you cannot now use a deed poll
to administratively register a change of name. With effect from 1 November
1986, a change of name can only be registered by making an application to the
Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages on the prescribed form . . .”
The Fitzroy Legal Service has provided
invaluable support to the disadvantaged in Victoria over the years. The link to
the service is Fitzroy Legal Service – Fitzroy Legal Service
(fls.org.au).
The page about deed polls
can be found by searching the Law Handbook at The practical guide for law in Victoria – Fitzroy Legal Service (fls.org.au).
A copy of my Change of Name Registration form
can be seen at CHANGE OF NAME 12 MARCH 1992.
BACKGROUND
My father had worked in administration at BHP
in Newcastle during World War Two as part of essential services but had
ambitions to be a public accountant. In those days Melbourne was the financial
centre of Australia, so he moved us all there – my mother, my sister and me -
in 1949.
My family were practising Christians, not just
Christians in name only. We regularly attended St. John’s Church of England at
Camberwell, as it was called when I was young.
Later in 1981 the Church of England in
Australia officially changed its name to the Anglican Church of Australia.
I was raised to believe in the Trinity and
taught to recite the Nicene Creed – the affirmation that you believed in the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. For my thoughts on the Trinity and the Nicene Creed
see my page headed ‘The Trinity – a false doctrine’ (THIS PAGE HAS NOT
BEEN WRITTEN, BUT INSHA-ALLAH I WILL DO SO.)
I was confirmed in the Church at St. John’s at
the age of about 12 and regularly attended with my parents and sister.
St. John’s burned to the ground in March 1955,
a mindless act by some elderly man who lit a fire in the church so he could
keep warm only to see it leap completely out of control.
I have attached copies
of some of the newspaper reports from The Argus plus a photo from The Age about
the fire. As usual I have given two copies of each report, one copy is of the full page the other the story. The links are:
ST JOHN'S ARGUS 19 MARCH 55 FP
ST JOHN'S ARGUS 19 MARCH 55 ST
ST JOHN'S ARGUS 07 JUNE 55 FP
ST JOHN'S ARGUS 07 JUNE 55 ST
ST JOHN'S THE AGE 19 MARCH 55 FP
ST JOHN'S THE AGE 19 MARCH 55 ST
We were still living in Kew at the time and I
remember arriving home from school only to be greeted by my mother at the door
weeping because she had just heard on the radio that St. John’s had burned to
the ground.
The Church mattered to us. It was important.
My father was an alcoholic and adulterer. At
one stage my mother, who dearly loved him, went to see the minister at St
John’s, Camberwell, Tom Thomas. We had worshipped there for years so naturally
my mother expected the vicar to be supportive.
She complained about my father’s drinking and adultery,
but Thomas wasn’t interested and rejected her pleas. I recall my mother coming
home bitterly disappointed by the vicar’s attitude.
My father, an affluent man, regularly donated
to the church and I do not doubt that influenced Thomas.
Dad’s support for the church was far-reaching
and when St John’s was rebuilt after the fire in 1955, he paid for one of the
new stained-glass windows. A costly affair.
Such is the way of the world. You can sin
against God – commit adultery, spurn your wife and children, drink beyond
reason – and as far as some men of the cloth are concerned it is of no account
providing you pay with hard, cold cash.
I have attached copies of six pages from History
of St. John’s Camberwell which was published in Melbourne in 1963. On pages 218
and 219 the author R. J MacDougall writes about the stained-glass windows that
had been donated to the new church.
On page 219 he notes: “. . . and that of St. Matthew
the gift of Mr. Charles Calderwood”. No mention of my mother, not even of
family.
Each of the copies is a double-page spread so there are only three links. They are:
ST JOHN'S HISTORY TITLE PAGE
ST JOHN'S HISTORY CONTENTS PAGE
ST JOHN'S HISTORY PP 218-219
For years my mother had worked hard to maintain the
family home to my father's high standards – which to say the least were demanding. She
had supported him through all those difficult years when he had to study to achieve
his accounting qualifications.
But that all meant nothing. It was just taken
for granted and quietly swept away. No wonder she was bitter.
He was just an arrogant, egotistical man
seeking to impress others with his generosity. And, when it’s all said and done
it meant nothing. The only religion acceptable to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala -
glory be to Him, the Most High) is the religion of Islam and all that vanity,
all that show meant nothing.
Sadly, my parents separated when I was about
14 years old. My father, who by then was known as a brilliant consulting
accountant, was as I said above an alcoholic and an adulterer and in the end it
all got too much for my mother. She couldn’t take anymore.
When they separated I went with my mother, a
decent, chaste, loving woman, and a good mother to me and my sister, whom I
believed had been wronged.
PARENTS MARRIAGE FAILS
The separation which ended in divorce
triggered a lot of emotional turmoil in me about Christianity. I was already
struggling to grasp the Trinity – a doctrine that to my way of thinking was
suspect – but to witness my father’s hypocrisy only exacerbated the matter.
The breakdown in my parents’ marriage and
consequent clashes with my father proved to be catalysts that drove me away
from the Church. That break influenced me profoundly and I went from being an
innocent choirboy who believed in God to eventually being a renegade who knew
only too well some of the darkest paths in life.
As I grew older my dissolute, rebellious
behaviour went beyond the pale and in the late 1960s and early 1970s I found
myself blundering from one crisis to another. Like my father I too drank
whisky. Like him it made me quarrelsome, argumentative. There's nothing worse
than a nasty drunk.
I had seen my father drink a bottle of whisky
in a night and then get up and hit the port in the morning. I found myself
heading down the same path.
DREAM
In about 1968 – I cannot be
certain of the year now because at the time I did not place any great weight
upon the matter – I had a dream in which I saw the word EL, two large
block letters made out of stone, blazing fiercely in the sky. The stone
was grey, like granite.
The dream was so vivid, so
confronting, that I awoke with a start. My mother had come to stay with me – I
was renting a flat in St. Kilda Rd. - so I rushed into her room and woke her. I
cannot remember my exact words but in effect I asked her ‘what does EL mean?’
Sleepily she replied that she didn’t know.
At the time I associated the
dream with God. My heart kept saying ‘it’s God’ but my head couldn’t
handle that and instead of pursuing the dream and turning back to Him
I ignored it.
I believe that rejection was
my final undoing and as the years came to pass in the 1970s I found myself
beset with problems that began to spiral out of control.
There are verses in the Holy
Qur’an in which Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High)
warns against ignoring his Signs. If you do, you do so at your own peril. By
ignoring the dream I had done just that.
I won’t elaborate on the years
that followed the dream except to say that my problems escalated and eventually
in the mid-1970s I found myself in despair. I then recalled my youth – my
belief in God – and realised I needed Him now more than ever before.
RETURN TO GOD
As a result I tried to turn
back to Him, to abandon my immoral, wild behaviour and find once again that God
whom I had once so strongly believed in.
But, it was not so easy. I
tried going to church, but to no avail. I simply didn’t believe in the Trinity.
I believed that Jesus (alayhi as-salam – may the peace of Allah be upon him)
was a man and a Prophet, the Messiah, I accepted all of that, but there was no
way that I believed he was God. For my reasons why I reject the Trinity see my
page headed ‘The Trinity - a false doctrine’.
On the few occasions that I did
attend church I found myself unable to concentrate, to take part in the
service, and eventually I gave up trying to return to Christianity.
Since I had been a young
teenager I had regularly gone to the State Library Victoria in Swanston Street,
Melbourne, to read. I loved to study and used to browse the shelves looking for
books of interest.
It was my quest to find the
right path in religion that led me back to the library to try to research the
subject. ‘What is the best path for me to take,’ I asked myself.
I read various works, including
a desultory glance at the Mormons – a glance that left me cold and feeling
utterly disillusioned. I then started to read about Judaism, a religion which I
felt an affinity with. As a child I loved the Old Testament. I rarely read the
New Testament.
It was that empathy with
Judaism that led me to look at various titles, among them being a Hebrew to
English dictionary. Casually glancing through the pages my eyes fell upon the
word EL. And then I remembered the dream. I had forgotten about it for years.
SIGNIFICANCE OF DREAM
The revelation shook me. At the
time of the dream I had associated it with God, but only now, seeing the word
in the dictionary, did it hit home that my dream was from the Lord of the
Worlds, the God of the Old Testament known not only to the Israelites, but
among other peoples of the ancient world.
EL simply means God. It was a word not only
used by the Israelites, but by others such as the Canaanites, but the
latter used it to describe their chief god and associated partners with
him. In Islam it is strictly forbidden to associate partners with Allah (Subhanahu
wa ta’ala - Glory be to Him, the Most High); (Tabāraka wa-taʿālā - Blessed
and Exalted [is He]); (‘Azza wa-jall - Prestigious and Majestic (is He)]and to do so constitutes
disbelief.
Finding the dictionary and
realising the significance of the dream was a turning point for me, but I still
didn’t feel that my quest for the truth was over. So I continued to browse the
shelves, strengthened by the discovery that the dream really was meaningful,
but still wondering what path I should take.
In doing so I came upon a translation
of the Holy Qur’an. I had never really considered Islam as an alternative, but
sitting there in that reading room with the great dome soaring magnificently
above me I found myself thumbing through the pages and then my eyes fell upon
verse 72 in Surah Al-Ma’idah.
I cannot now remember which
translation it was, but the relevant verse from Tafsir Ibn Kathir reads:
“Surely, they have disbelieved
who say: ‘Allah is the Messiah ['Isa (ED: Jesus)], son of Maryam.’ But the
Messiah said: ‘O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.’
Verily, whosoever sets up partners (in worship) with Allah, then Allah has
forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for the
wrongdoers there are no helpers.”
In verses 73 and 74 Allah (Subhanahu
wa ta’ala - Glory be to Him, the Most High) continues:
“Surely, they have disbelieved
who say: ‘Allah is the third of three’. And there is no god but One God
(Allah). And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment
will befall the disbelievers among them.
“Will they not repent to Allah
and ask His Forgiveness? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
In verse 75 Allah (Subhanahu wa
ta’ala - Glory be to Him, the Most High) emphasizes that ‘Isa (Jesus) (alayhi
as-salam – may the peace of Allah be upon him) was a man: He says:
“The Messiah ['Isa], son of
Maryam, was no more than a Messenger; many were the Messengers that passed away
before him. His mother [Maryam] was a Siddiqah. They both used to eat food.
Look how We make the Ayat clear to them; yet look how they are deluded away
(from the truth).” (Ibn Kathir, 2003, p.
234) [1]
Commenting on the above verses
Ibn Kathir wrote: “Allah states that the Christians, such sects as Monarchite,
Jacobite and Nestorite, are disbelievers, those among them who say that ‘Isa is
Allah.
“Allah is far holier than what
they attribute to Him. They made this claim in spite of the fact that ‘Isa made
it known that he was the servant of Allah and His Messenger.
“The first words that ‘Isa
uttered when he was still a baby in the cradle were, ‘I am Abdullah (the
servant of Allah)’. He did not say, ‘I am Allah’ or ‘I am the son of Allah’.
Rather he said,
‘Verily, I am a servant of
Allah, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet.’
“Until he said,
‘And verily Allah is my
Lord and your Lord. So worship Him (Alone). That is the straight path.’ ” (Ibn Kathir, 2003, pp. 234-235) [2]
The above verses quoted by Ibn
Kathir, namely:
· ‘Verily,
I am a servant of Allah, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet’
· ‘And
verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him (Alone). That is the
straight path’
are from Surah Maryam, verses
30 and 36 respectively.
ISLAM STRAIGHT PATH
Discovering the verses in the
Holy Qur’an denouncing the Trinity reinforced my conviction that the doctrine
of the Trinity was false and as a result in 1977 I bought translations of the
Qur’an so I could read it at home at my leisure.
In doing so I was impressed and
felt it echoed the sentiments I had found in the Old Testament as a child, of
an awesome God, powerful and just, but also benevolent. A friend and protector.
I didn’t read the work from
cover to cover, but read pages here, verses there, always feeling I had come
upon what I had been looking for.
But, then the doubts started to
creep in. Was I misled? Perhaps it was the work of some scribe who had compiled
it from Christian and Judaic sources; perhaps it was a sham, a forgery of some
description.
So I began to wonder, the
doubts within eating away at my initial conviction that I had found the truth,
mulling over whether or not it really was the Word of God or it was a fake.
The problem was I didn’t know
anyone I could turn to for advice. I didn’t know any Muslims, nor Arabic
scholars, who could guide me. Perplexed, I pondered what to do and then I
realised that the one who knew was God and I resolved to ask Him if the Qur’an
was His book.
But, then the question was ‘how
do I address Him’? Obviously I wasn’t going to call Him Jesus (may peace be upon
him) because I didn’t believe Jesus (may peace be upon him) was God nor did I
wish to address Him as God – I felt it was impersonal, distant – I needed to be
able to turn to somebody I felt loved me; somebody I could trust to guide me.
So I decided to address Him as
‘EL’ because it was the dream that had turned those printed pages of the Old
Testament that I had read as a child into a reality. The living God who cared.
QURAISH
And my prayer was ‘EL is this
Qur’an your book?’
I had barely completed the prayer
when I felt something moving inside me. It was coming up through my chest from
somewhere deep within. I felt it was something physical, tangible; rectangular
in shape.
And to my astonishment it came
into my mind and it was a word and the word was ‘Quraish’.
I was stunned and sat musing,
with my head saying ‘what does Quraish mean’ and my heart saying ‘it’s in the
Qur’an, it’s in the Qur’an’.
So I turned to the translations
and searched for the word and found it. It was the title of the 106th chapter of
the Qur’an. I hadn’t read it previously, but did so then.
And this is what it said: [3] (Shafi,
2008, p. 885)
Surah Al-Quraish (The Quraish)
1. Because
of the familiarity of the Quraish,
2. That
is their familiarity with the trips of winter and summer,
3. They
must worship the Lord of this House,
4. Who
gave them food against hunger, and gave them security against fear.
Reading the verse, I realised
‘EL’ had answered my prayer. I understood that the verse ‘They must worship
the Lord of this House,’ meant He wanted me to worship Him – Allah
(Subhanahu wa ta’ala - Glory be to Him, the Most High).
Such a revelation - or
inspiration if you like to call it that - is called a ‘wahy’ in Arabic and in
my case it was confirmation from Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - Glory be to Him,
the Most High) that the Qur’an was authentic – His Word.
As a result, from then on I
believed that the Qur’an was the truth, the Word of God and I was set on a
straight path that eventually led me to embracing Islam in 1983 as a Sunni
Muslim who followed the Hanafi School.
On occasions I have told people
the truth about the ‘wahy’ and it is obvious in a few instances there have been
misunderstandings. I want to stress that the inspiration I had in 1977 was
about the Qur’an, it was not about any translation of that Holy text.
The Qur’an is only the Qur’an
in Arabic – no translation or interpretation of the Qur’an can replace the
original Arabic text, nor do it justice.
The reason why there was such a
long time between the Wahy in 1977 and my embracing of Islam in 1983 was
because of my personality, my nature. During the late 1970s I wanted to be
alone and shunned other people’s company and even today I tend to be reclusive.
I like being alone with Him.
Aside from going to work and
basics, such as going shopping, I had little to do with other people and didn’t
go to the mosque nor mix in the Muslim community.
However, because of my wish to
be alone, my failure to mix in the Muslim community I did not practise Islam
correctly and did not begin to do so until I recited the first Kalimah – ‘La
ilaha ill-Allah, Muhammad-ur-Rasoolullah’ [there is no god but Allah and
Muhammad (sall-Allahu alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) is his Messenger] in 1983.
It is true that after I had the
Wahy in 1977 I described myself as a Muslim – I sincerely believed in the heart
that Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - Glory be to Him, the Most High) was the one
and only God.
I made the claim with the
utmost sincerity and it certainly had nothing to do with me holding any
heretical beliefs, such as those espoused by the Qadiyanis or Ahmadis or any
other cult.
I am not and have never been a
Qadiyani or Ahmadi and have never told anybody that I was. Nor have I ever been
a Shia – I have heard that whisper back on a few occasions.
The Qadiyanis or Ahmadis,
whatever name you want to call them by, are not Muslims. Indeed anybody who
claims that there has been another Prophet after the Prophet Muhammad
(sall-Allahu alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) is not a Muslim and to claim otherwise is to reject the teachings of
Islam.
As for the Shias, their case is
with Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - Glory be to Him, the Most High). I am not
qualified to comment upon their affairs.
After I embraced Islam in 1983
as a Sunni Muslim it was explained to me that to be a Muslim it was essential
that a person not only believed that Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - Glory be to
Him, the Most High) was the one and only God and that Muhammad (sall-Allahu
alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was His
Messenger but they also had to recite ‘La ilaha ill-Allah,
Muhammad-ur-Rasoolullah’ [there is no god but Allah and Muhammad (sall-Allahu
alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is his
Messenger] with the tongue in Arabic.
As a result from then on, I
dated my reversion to Islam from 1983. If anybody is interested in reverting to
Islam I suggest they research the subject on www.islamqa.org .
There are several articles of interest on the site.
Over the years I have told
several people about the dream and the Wahy about the Qur’an but my claims have
usually been met with scepticism.
However, I have told the truth
and take Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High) as my
witness that I have done so. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the
Most High) is Ash-Shahid (The Witness) and He is also Al-Haqq (The Truth) and
never lies.
In Surah Al-Baqarah verse 186
Allah says:
“And when My servants ask you
[O Muhammad (sall-Allahu alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) concerning Me, then answer them], I am indeed near (to them
by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls
on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in
Me, so that they may be led aright.” (Ibn Kathir, 2003, p.
505) [4]
As such if any Muslim is in
doubt about my claim to have had the dream or they have doubts that I had the
Wahy about the Qur’an, then all he or she has to do is ask Allah (Subhanahu wa
ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High) whether or not I am telling the truth.
According to Ahadith reported
by Ibn Kathir He answers all prayers subject to certain qualifications. (Ibn
Kathir, 2003, pp. 505-508) [5]
For example, Ibn Kathir noted
the following: “Muslim recorded that the Prophet (sall-Allahu alayhi wa-sallam
- may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: ‘The supplication of
the servant will be accepted as long as he does not supplicate for what
includes sin, or cutting the relations of the womb, and as long as he does not
become hasty.’ He was asked, O Messenger of Allah! How does one become hasty?
He said, ‘He says, I supplicated and supplicated, but I do not see that
my supplication is being accepted from me. He thus loses interest and
abandons supplicating (to Allah).’ ”
In seeking guidance from Allah
(Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High) a Muslim may do so by
performing the Nafl prayer Istikhara (voluntary prayer for guidance) or simply
make Dua (supplicate).
In Radiant Prayers by Mufti
Muhammad Taqi Usmani, the Shaykh recommended reciting the following verse from
the Holy Qur’an when seeking guidance by making Dua:
“Our Lord, bless us with mercy
from Your own and bless us with right guidance in all our matters.” [Surah
Al-Kahf 10] (Taqi Usmani, no date, p. 15)[6]
I highly recommend Radiant
Prayers. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani is the son of the late Maulana Mufti Muhammad
Shafi, the former Grand Mufti of Pakistan. Mufti Muhammad Shafi was the
author of an excellent Tafsir called Ma'ariful Qur'an which is available in
English in an eight-volume set.
The website address for Mufti
Muhammad Taqi Usmani is:
Home | Mufti Muhammad Taqi
Usmani (muftitaqiusmani.com)
CONCEALING SIGNS
In the past I have not told
many people about the dream nor the Wahy about the Qur’an, not only because
when I did so my claims were usually treated with doubt, but because I believed
I could not use them to spread Islam.
My belief is based upon
comments made in the Tafsir, Ma’ariful Qur’an, by the late Shaykh Mufti
Muhammad Shafi (rahmatullah alaihi – may
the mercy of Allah be upon him) - one of the most highly respected Shaykhs
from the Indian Sub-continent.
In Volume 6, pages 94-95, of
the English translation of the Tafsir, the learned Shaykh wrote that Wahy
[inspirations from Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most
High)] that were received by ordinary people such as myself could not be used
to spread the religion.
He noted: “These
inspirations however, are specific to the person to whom they are made and are
not meant for (ED: to be made) public or to be used for the propagation of the
True Faith.” (Shafi, 2008, pp. 94-95) [7]
See my page headed ‘Wahy’
for details of his comments on the matter.
A copy of Volume 6 of Ma’ariful
Qur’an can be downloaded from the following link at the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/EnglishMaarifulQuranMuftiShafiUsmanir.aVol6/page/n1/mode/2up
The question of whether or not
I should discuss the dream and the Wahy with other people has confounded me
over the years and in recent times I have tried twice to get guidance on the
issue from qualified scholars in New South Wales. Unfortunately, such advice
has not been forthcoming.
However, I have decided to
publish the truth for the following reason.
In the Holy Qur’an Allah
(Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High) says in verses 159 and
160 of Surah Al-Baqarah:
“Verily, those who conceal the
clear proofs, evidences and the guidance, which We have sent down, after We
have made it clear for the People in the Book, they are the ones cursed by
Allah and cursed by the cursers.
“Except those who repent and do
righteous deeds, and openly declare (the truth which they concealed). These, I
will accept their repentance. And I am the One Who accepts repentance, the Most
Merciful.” (Ibn Kathir, 2003, p. 452) [8]
In his commentary on the verses
Ibn Kathir wrote:
“These Ayat sternly warn
against those who hide the clear signs that the Messengers were sent with which
guide to the correct path and beneficial guidance for the hearts, after Allah
has made such aspects clear for His servants through the Books that He revealed
to His Messengers. . .”
Ibn Kathir continued:
“A Hadith in the Musnad,
narrated through several chains of narrators, that strengthens the overall
judgement of the Hadith, states that Abu Hurayrah narrated that Allah’s
Messenger (sall-Allahu alayhi wa-sallam - may the blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said: ‘Whoever was asked about knowledge that one has, but he hid
it, then a bridle made of fire will be tied around his mouth on the Day of Resurrection.’ [9]
“It is also recorded by
Al-Bukhari that Abu Hurayrah said, ‘If it was not for an Ayah in Allah’s Book,
I would not have narrated a Hadith for anyone.’ ” [10]
Ibn Kathir then cited the
beginning of verse 159 indicating that this is the ayah Abu Hurayrah (Radi
Allahu Ta’ala’anhu – may Allah be pleased with him) is referring to. (Ibn
Kathir, 2003, p. 452-453) [11]
FEAR OF ALLAH
In light of verses 159 and 160
and the commentary by Ibn Kathir, especially the Ahadith he has cited from Abu
Hurayrah (Radi Allahu Ta’ala’anhu – may Allah be pleased with him) in which it
is made clear that the person who conceals knowledge risks being punished by
Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High) I have decided to
publish the truth.
I stress I am only publishing
the details of the dream and the Wahy about the Qur’an only out of fear of
Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High). I read verses 159
and 160 of Surah Al-Baqarah many years ago and upon reading them again recently
it occurred to me that they might be relevant to my situation and that it would
be prudent for me to tell the truth out of fear of Him. If it wasn’t for my
fear of Him, I would not have done so.
They say a Muslim lives between
hope and fear – hope of being loved, forgiven and shown mercy by Allah
(Subhanahu wa ta’ala - glory be to Him, the Most High) and fear of His Might
and Majesty, His Holiness, His punishment if they err. So, I have told the
truth.
In doing so I would like to
reiterate that I believe Shaykh Mufti Muhammad Shafi (rahmatullah alaihi – may
the mercy of Allah be upon him) was completely correct in stating that
inspirations received by ordinary people like me from Allah “are specific to
the person to whom they are made and are not meant for (ED: to be made) public
or to be used for the propagation of the True Faith”.
As such I believe I cannot use
the dream nor the Wahy about the Qur’an to propagate Islam – the straight path
of the Sunnis.
[1] Ibn Kathir. (2003) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (2nd
ed. July 2003) (Vol. 3). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Darussalam.
[2] Ibn Kathir. (2003) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (2nd
ed. July 2003) (Vol. 3). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Darussalam.
[3] Shafi, Maulana Mufti M. (2008) Ma’ariful-Qur’an. (Vol.
8). Karachi, Pakistan: Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom Karachi.
[4] Ibn Kathir. (2003) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (2nd
ed. July 2003) (Vol. 1). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Darussalam.
[5] Ibn Kathir. (2003) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (2nd
ed. July 2003) (Vol. 1). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Darussalam.
[6] Taqi Usmani, Mufti M. (no date) Radiant Prayers New
Delhi, India, Millat Book Centre.
[7] Shafi, Maulana Mufti M. (2008) Ma’ariful-Qur’an. (Vol.
6). Karachi, Pakistan: Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom Karachi.
[8] Ibn Kathir. (2003) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (2nd
ed. July 2003) (Vol. 1). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Darussalam.
[9] Musnad Ahmad 2:495u
[10] Fath Al-Bari 1:258
[11] Ibn Kathir. (2003) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (2nd
ed. July 2003) (Vol. 1). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Darussalam.
Ian C. Calderwood:
Newcastle, NSW. 26 January 2022
RESTORED at Lakemba, NSW 2195.
30 October 22.
EDITED at Lakemba, NSW 2195 and
republished 24 February 23
EDITED AT LAKEMBA,
NSW. 24 August 23
AT ONE STAGE, QURAN-E-HAKIM.COM
WEBSITE WAS NOT PUBLISHING CORRECTLY SO THIS PAGE WAS PUBLISHED ON QURAN-E-HAKIM.NET
ON 24 FEBRUARY 2023.
AFTER THE PUBLISHING PROBLEMS
WITH QURAN-E-HAKIM.COM WERE RESOLVED THIS PAGE WAS PUBLISHED ON
QURAN-E-HAKIM.COM ON THE 01 APRIL 23.
