Just curious - how many muslims are on mumsnet?

[Galvanise]

Hello/Salaam,

I know mumsnet has a wide and diverse population and I tend to recognise some MN usernames as regulars. Just intrigued to know how big/small a community it may be.

Of course, I respect that there may be those who do not wish to even identify themselves for various reasons - which is fine too.

I am not asking for 'religiousness' levels or any vital stats! Nor is this a muslim-only thread or an 'no non-muslims' thread.
If you really wish to tell me that you are not a muslim, that is fine too :)

:)

Sumayyah (ra) is also amongst my female favourites too :)

May Allah grant them all high status in heaven, ameen

My favourite is Abu Bakr RA hands down. The loyalty he showed towards the prophet SAW and the depth of his emaan was amazing.

There are also so many amazing things he did and said. The one that always stands out to me and sends shivers down my spine is how he held it together when the Prophet SAW passed away. "If you worship Muhammad then he is dead, but if you worship Allah know that He is the Ever-Living who will never die". Then he quoted the ayah about will you turn back from your faith if Muhammad SAW dies if you do you will not harm Allah in the slightest (quoting all this from memory so I'm sure I've got it slightly wrong). I think we owe a lot to him keeping his head cool and settling the Muslims after the prophet SAW passed away. His caliphate though short, brought stability in those turbulent early years.

The other thing I love is how he bought Bilal to free him and when his owner over-charged him (something like 50 dinars) and mocked him afterwards saying if you offered me 10 I would have sold him to you. Then Abu Bakr comes back with that killer line that if you had charged me 1000 dinars for him I would have paid it. Abu bakr started off a wealthy man in makkah but became poor because he spent all his wealth freeing slaves and helping the poor Muslims. I read Surah Lail in Juz amma is about him in particular the verse saying he spends his wealth seeking only the pleasure of Allah SWT.

Lastly (I know I've been going on and on but you can tell I'm a bit starstruck ) a hadith that describes how all the gates of jannah will be calling abu bakr's name because they will want him to enter jannah through them. Oh one more thing (I promise) the prophet SAW loved him the most out of all the men and loved his daughter the most out of all the living women.

I have found a lot of men prefer Umar RA out of all the sahabah. Anyone else seen that too or wondered about it?

I always think of Umar RA as a man's man I.e. having qualities they admire like strength, courage, feared, justice. Whilst abu bakr I think of as being a woman's man. Kind, loyal, selfless, loving, etc.

Oh and reliable and devoted. My ideal man.

Y'Allah you guys put me to shame and rightly so - I went through a phase where I bought books on the lives of the sahaba and thought I will truly get to know them but I still haven't finished reading my Quran tafseer which is my main objective and then everything else .
A few years ago I was a member of a certain site and remember I would read more just to share my knowledge with other members so Alhamdulilah I hope that I will get back into my reading and be able to provide my thoughts inshaAllah!

Ninja, you reading the tafseer is putting me to shame because i keep meaning to read it and then get side tracked.

Peaceful, love abu bakr (ra) too - who couldnt. Love hearing about these great persons over and over again and really enjoyed reading why he is your favourite.

I've always loved Umar (ra), his justice and humility always really touches me as he was also scary (if you crossed him) so the two aspects of his character really touch me.

During his Khalifat he tried to cap the amount of Mahr a woman could ask for, at this he was rebuked by an elderly woman telling him he was taking away the right given to women by Allah, Umar(ra) immediately capitulated saying 'Even an old woman knows more than Umar'.

Once he was he was going thro the streets at night to see if things were peaceful and came across a woman with crying children, the children were asking for food and the woman was telling them it would be ready soon, the children fell asleep exhausted and Umar asked the lady why she had not fed them, she said she had no food and was merely triyng to distract the children till they slept. She said Umar would answer to Allah for this as he was the Caliph and it was his duty to ensure they were not left to starve.
Umar went to the food store and took food back to the mother lifting sacks of flour on his back, when the servant saw him do this he tried to persuade Umar to allow him to carry it instead, to which Umar replied 'And will you bear the burden of my sins when I face Allah too?'
He then watched the children be fed and sat ot watch them play for a while as he had seen them cry and liked to see them laughing.

I'll tell you who I really would love to meet one day, whom I love very much and hold in the highest esteem, it would be the wife of Pharoah. She was utterly amazing. He story makes me cry every single time. I envy her iman.

Aww subhanAllah I'm inspired to read more already. I love talking with my daughter about things I or she has learnt - its always nice discussing religion with others defo strengthens your imaan. Alhamdulilah .

Alhamdulillah, I'm also inspired to learn more. It's been lovely reading these, and it's made me realise I don't have much knowledge about the individual personalities of the sahaba (ra). Can anyone recommend any good books that detail their lives individually?
Was hoping for a nice new reading list of books from you guys but no one has come forward ...

Salaam hardly, I have quite a few books at home about the sahaba (ra) and also the wives of the prophet (SAW). Admittedly i havent got through many. I suppose it is because they seem to be translations into english so do not tend to flow so well IYSWIM. Feeling inspired to start reading now, so will come back if i find one that reads particularly well inshallah.

The sealed nectar is ok, but they are arduous reading as they're all translations.

I read a book about Umar (ra) which is how I remembered some of the stories about him, he was full of humility, when during his caliphate they signed a treaty with Palestine, he entered with great humility and cleared the masjid al aqsa with his hands.

There are lots of beautiful accounts of the four rightly guided Caliphs.

I'll have a hunt around my books and get back to you on the ones I've read.

thanks fuzzywuzzy and blueorange
Perhaps that's why the Martin Lings seerah is so nice to read, as it's not a translation.

ooh, thanks crescent I have not read any of these!

Salams everyone

Hardly I did see your post about the books and was meaning to reply but when I came back the discussion had moved on. The books that I have benefitted from (and completed reading or read the majority of ;) ) are:

1. The Book of Emaan by Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) - excellent no nonsense explanation of the 6 pillars of emaan. So often I find a lot of people who dont know even the basics about what we as muslims believe about things like Allah SWT, the revealed books of Allah, angels, the day of judgement, the prophets etc. This book gives you a detailed look at the consensus of Ahlus sunnah wal jamaah on these topics without all the airy fairyness if you know what I mean. When I first became practising I read the section on the signs of the last day. It was the first time I had ever read them listed like that and all the hadiths and ayahs and I was really shaken up. I was walking round my house preaching to my family members that they better shape up because once the sun rises from the West its finished. Even now I sometimes check in the morning the sun is where it should be .

2. The Inner dimensions of Islamic Worship by Imam Ghazali (rahimahullah). Now I havent read the whole unabridged book I have to say in case anyone gets the wrong idea but I read the section on the inner dimensions of salah which was absolutely amazing. It was all about khushoo and how the people of the past used to concentrate so much on their salaah that the building would fall down around them and they wouldnt realise (think that was Abu Hanfia not sure). Imam Ghazalis works are very heart warming Alhamdulillah. I read a book by him on brotherhood (if anyone knows the title please let me know as I have forgotten it) which brought tears to my eyes. He mentioned how seriously the early muslims used to take brotherhood and that idea that you should want for your brother what you want for yourself that they use to literally just delve in to the pockets of their brothers without asking. One story was about how a man had gone to the house of his friend and only found his servant there (i.e. his friend was out). He insisted that the servant bring him his friends chest of money. He then took out the amount of money he needed and left. WHen the friend (owner of the house) returned and was told by his servant what happened he literally burst in to tears of happiness that his friend considered him such a close brother that he knew he didnt even have to ask him. Really blew my mind. I have to beg my blood sister to borrow a hijab let alone money.

3. Cant decide on a definitive third one. So will list the ones I really benefitted from.

I really enjoyed Martin Lings book on the LIfe of the Prophet Muhammed PBUH as well. Very good for a reference book on seerah that is easy to read. I keep trying to read the Sealed Nectar but I keep starting and stopping. I know the detail is important but I just want to get to the good stuff.

Ibn Kathir's (rahimahullah) abridged book on the Life of the Prophets is excellent. You really learn so much from it. He includes details from the accounts of the jews and christians about the lives of the Prophets with a pinch of salt.

Weeping from the fear of Allah is a short book which is a good heart softner. Read it a long time ago but I remember it encouraged you to force yourself to cry in private (obviously) not just out of fear but even love of Allah SWT as it is a sign of emaan. It includes alot of stories about how sahabah like Aisha RA used to cry for hours on end and imagine how much more pious she was compared to us.

I dont get as much time to read now as before so instead I prefer to listen to cds and I have found that they are really good for learning about sahabah and things like that. Just leave the cd collection in your car or in the kitchen and listen whilst you are driving or cooking.

The Life of the Prophet Muhammed PBUH by Hamza Yusuf is amazing. MAkes you cry and cry and cry.

Hisham Al Awadi's The Four Great Imams is a must for every mother. He shows how their mothers played a pivotal role in what they became. Did you know Imam Shaafi and Imam Ahmed were raised by single mothers. Their fathers passed away when they were really young. Imam Shaafis mother in particular devoted herself to him even though her husband passed away when she was young (in her 20s) and could have easily remarried. Im not saying necessarily you would do that but it really makes you think about how seriously they took their responsibility to raise their children to be exceptional Muslims.

Suhaib Webbs Mothers of the Believers is very good for learning about the female sahabah as is Hisham Al Awadis WOmen around the Messenger. Suhaib Webb is an excellent speaker (a convert from America) and his talks are quite engaging and funny.

Abdullah Hakim Quick is a good one as well for lectures on anything (all his stuff is good).

Naila have you heard of Shaikh Ismail Menk. He is an imam from South Africa (I got the impression you are originally from there - hope Im not wrong and embarassing myself). He has a series of lectures called reasons of revealation of verses of the Noble Quran which he did on the radio i think during Ramadhan. He goes through the quran giving the context behind the revealation of a lot of verses.

Have to go now. My 6 month old DS is literally breathing down my neck.

Crescent I love your posts but I think its a bit unfair to call Shaikh Albanee a wahhabi especially since it is construed as a deragatory term. Even though some might not agree with him it is indisputable that he has studied more of the hadith then every Muslim on mumsnet combined so we should really show respect to his level of knowledge as a Muhaddith.

JazakAllah khair for all recommendations. I'm glad I'm not the only one that couldn't get into the sealed nectar. Thought it was just me. Gonna try the Martin lings one inshaAllah.

Thanks so much peacefuloptimist, I'm very excited about getting hold of some of these. I have read the Inner Dimensions but think I need to reread.
I remember attending a study circle on the signs of the day of judgement and it is very sobering stuff. Whenever I find myself becoming to distracted by this world, I remind myself of that.
Your story about the man taking money from his friends house really made me smile and feel fortunate, as I have one very dear friend who I truly have that relationship with. I know exactly what her answer would be to any favour she asked of me, and vice versa and we have often skipped the asking stage! Alhamdulillah.

Also going to try and get hold of the Hamza Yusuf talk, you are right, it is easier to listen than read once you are a busy mother, I often listen while I'm ironing or cooking! (if I can convince DS to play quietly in a corner rather than yelling and stomping around the house!).