Can Or Not?

Reggie Lee is one of favourite cartoonists simply because its artwork and the cynical messages he tried to convey to the multi-racial population of Malaysia. I bought this Can Or Not edition from MPH KLCC, when we spent our vacation in Kuala Lumpur.

Nabi Daniel Mosque : Reminding Us Nabi Daniel & Luqman el-Hakim

Nabi Daniel is not really popular among the Muslims globally. However, there is one street within the Moharem Bek district in Alexandria, named after his name and popular with the second hand books & magazines of all aspects. Towards the south of this street, close to the intersection of the ancient Via Canopica and the R5 Street, one will find a mosque called Nabi Daniel Mosque or Masjid el-Nabi el-Danyal.

The present Mosque of Nabi Daniel was built at the end of the 18th century and restored in 1823 by Mohammed Ali. A smaller shrine, probably the mosque of Dzoul Karnein - the Sire with the two horns - preexisted on the site. Here in this Mosque, it is said to contain the remains of the scholar and venerated teacher Prophet Daniel and his companion Sidi Lokman el Hakim, a religious story-teller.
The Arab legend of the Prophet Daniel appeared during the 9th century and was told by two astronomers: Mohamed Ibn Kathir el Farghani and Abou Ma'shar . It is mentioned that "a young Jew, Daniel, was persecuted and chased from Syria by the idolaters whom he had tried to convert. An old man appeared in a dream urging him to go to war against the infidels and promising victory over all of Asia. Nabi Daniel acquired numerous followers in Egypt, where he had sought refuge, and built Alexandria. Obeying what the old man had ordered him in his dream, he made war against the infidels. After a successful expedition, he returned to Alexandria and died of old age. His body was placed in a golden sarcophagus inlaid with precious stones, but the Jews stole it to mint coins and replaced it with a stone sarcophagus".

Photo: The main entrance of Nabi Daniel Mosque, on the left is the ablution area

A Russian monk, Vassili Grigorovich Barskij , visited Alexandria in 1727 and 1730 and made a plan of the city. Near the Kom el Dick mound he drew a small Mohammedan shrine, among ruins, which could well be the predecessor of the Nabi Daniel Mosque. We cannot refer to his written description of the city, as Barskij's work is only partially translated and only fragments have been studied.
The Danish Captain Norden visited the town in 1737, but tried in vain to find the tomb of Alexander. Similarly, James Bruce 30 years later in 1768 looked for the tomb of the Great Macedonian, "asking the Arabs, the Jews, the Greeks and others, but none were able to show him the location". However, at the end of the 18th century, Sestrini was shown the sarcophagus in the Attarine mosque as having been Alexander's tomb.

Photo: view from inside - the entrance of the mosque

In 1803, a Russian prelate from Kiev, the archimandrite Konstantios, tried without success to locate Alexander's Mausoleum, noting that he… "looked in vain for… the tomb of Alexander the Great, the tomb of the man whose life's course was above the faith of common mortals...;" he continues, saying that "until the 15th century the location was known but now even the tradition of this tomb has been lost...", adding that "beyond any doubt the remains survived under the great masses of the city's ruins". It is interesting to note that, strangely enough Konstantios, in his writing, and Barskij in his plan do not mention either of the Mosques. Were they have shown one of the Mosques as being the location of Alexander's tomb, and was it because of bigotry or because of their superior knowledge of history that they do not even mention these humble Mohammedan shrines as possible remains of the famous Mausoleum?

Photo: view of the mihrab. The carpet is being replaced.

A new impulse was given to the legend of the tomb of Alexander the Great in the middle of the 19th century. In 1850 a certain Scilitzis of the known Greek family in Alexandria, dragoman-interpreter to the Russian consulate of the town, produced a fantastic story.
It happened that, while guiding some European travelers entrusted to his care, he entered the crypt of the Nabi Daniel Mosque. He "descended into a narrow and dark subterranean passage and came to a wooden worm-eaten door. Looking through the cracks of the planks he saw a body with the head slightly rose lying in a crystal coffin. On the head, there was a golden diadem. Around were scattered papyri, scrolls and books. He tried to remain longer in the vault but he was pulled away by one of the monks of the Mosque, and notwithstanding his repeated attempts to return, he was forbidden the area of the crypt. Scilitzis apparently made a written report to the Russian Consul and to the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria.
It is obvious that Scilitzis had read Dion Cassius and may have had access to the subterranean passage under the Mosque, but he is not telling the truth. How can we believe that in the humid climate of Alexandria, papyri and books could have survived for over two millennia?

Photo: The door to the crypts or the tombs which is about 10 meters right infront of the main entrance.

Unlike Ambroise Scilitzis's story, which may be described as an enormous hoax, we cannot dismiss as such the written report of Mahmoud Bey el Falaki. This learned Egyptian astronomer and engineer visited the crypts under the Nabi Daniel Mosque some ten years after Scilitzis while trying to carry our the difficult task of drawing a map of the ancient town as ordered in 1865 by the Khedive Ismail. In Mahmoud Bey's report, he says that: "During my visit to the vaults under that building I entered a large room with an arched roof built on the ground level of the town. From this paved room inclined corridors started out in four different directions. Because of their length and their bad state I could not survey them entirely. The rich quality of the stones used in the construction and numerous other indications confirmed my belief that these subterranean passages must have led to the tomb of Alexander the Great. I therefore, contemplated returning and resuming my investigations, but unfortunately this was forbidden to me by a superior order and all the entrance ways were walled up".

Photo: the staircase that will bring you down to the crypts area.

El Falaki was not an archaeologist, so we can be skeptical about his conclusions, but one would not question his sincerity and he must be considered as a reliable witness.
His description raises some questions: Who decided and why, to force El Falaki to suspend his survey of the subterranean passages? Falaki was working for a project sponsored by the reigning Khedive. Why did he not appeal to his powerful patron? Why did he drop his investigation?

Photo: the top view of the Nabi Daniel crypt.

But, before the end of the 19th century, the story must be taken with reservation though, there was allegation of a discovery made in 1879 by a chief mason and the Sheikh of the Nabi Daniel Mosque. The story was that while doing masonry work in the basement, they were supposedly to enter the vault and reach an inclined subterranean passage. They both walked for some distance and could discern some monuments made of granite ending with an angular summit. The mason wanted to proceed further but the Sheikh ordered him to return. The entrance was walled up and the mason was asked not to reveal that incident. About 6 meters down, finished with marble and granite, one could find at least two other chambers on the north and on the east side of the so called Nabi Daniel's crypt. Sidi Luqman el-Hakeem's crypt is on the right side of the Nabi Daniel's crypt attached to the marbled wall. Allah hu Alam

Imam Shafi-ee Masjid

Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-`Abbas, al-Imam al-Shafi`i, Abu `Abd Allah al-Shafi`i al-Hijazi al-Qurashi al-Hashimi al-Muttalibi ,the offspring of the House of the Prophet, the peerless one of the great mujtahid imams and jurisprudent par excellence, the scrupulously pious ascetic and Friend of Allah, he laid down the foundations of fiqh in his Risala, which he said he revised and re-read four hundred times, then said: "Only Allah’s Book is perfect and free from error."

He is the cousin of the Prophet - Allah’s blessings and peace upon him - descending from al-Muttalib who is the brother of Hashim, `Abd al-Muttalib’s father. Someone praised the Banu Hashim in front of the Prophet, whereby he interlaced the fingers of his two hands and said: "We and they are but one and the same thing." Al-Nawawi listed three peculiar merits of al-Shafi`i: his sharing the Prophet’s lineage at the level of their common ancestor `Abd Manaf; his birth in the Holy Land of Palestine and upbringing in Mecca; and his education at the hands of superlative scholars together with his own superlative intelligence and knowledge of the Arabic language.

He was born in Ghazza or `Asqalan in 150, the year of Abu Hanifa’s death, and moved to Mecca at the age of two, following his father’s death, where he grew up. He was early a skillful archer, and then he took to learning language and poetry until he gave himself to fiqh, beginning with hadith. He memorized the Qur’an at age seven, then Malik’s Muwatta’ at age ten, at which time his teacher would deputize him to teach in his absence. At age thirteen he went to see Malik, who was impressed by his memory and intelligence.

At the age of twenty, he went to Madina and remained there as a student of Imam Malik till the later’s death in 796. He also came into contact with other learned men from whom he acquired knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Imam Shafi-ee possessed a very sharp memory and knew the whole of Imam Malik's Muwatta by heart. In 804 he visited Syria and from there proceeded to Egypt where he settled down. As a pupil of Imam Malik he was received with great honor and respect by the Egyptians.

In 810 he went to Baghdad and there he was surrounded by a large number of students who were eager to acquire knowledge of the faith and practice of Islam from him. The Shafi-ee school of law emerged from these students who practiced and propagated the views and rulings of Imam Shafi-ee through their writings and preaching.

Imam Shafi-ee wrote several books, the most well-known of which is called Kitab-al-Umm, which is a collection of writings and lectures of the Imam. A number of his students have also collected his writings, lectures and rulings in the form of books, or quoted him in their books. Baghdad in Iraq and Cairo in Egypt were the chief centers of Imam Shafiee's activities. It is from these two cities that teachings of the Shafi-ee school spread in the 9th century of the Christian era.
During the time of Sultan Salahuddeen (Saladin), the Shafi-ee doctrine was the most prominent in Egypt, and to this day the Imam of the Al-Azhar Masjid is always a Shafi-ee and the Shafi-ee Madhhab is industriously studied along with that of the other three schools of the Sunnis.
During his life Imam Shafi-ee also suffered from political intrigues. For instance, after studying under Imam Malik in Madina he was sent to fill an office in Yemen, where he was accused of political involvement which resulted in his arrest. He was taken as prisoner to Harun al-Rasheed. The Khalifa however found him innocent and the Imam was honorably released.
Imam Shafi-ee died in the year 820 in Egypt. The above photos were taken inside the Imam Shafi'ee mosque in Fustat, Cairo where the tomb of the famous Imam Shafi-ee placed. Let us pray to Allah swt that His blessings will always be with him. Aameen.

15.7.2007 minus 15.7.1995

Born in 15th of July 1995, sandwiched between his eldest brothers and younger brother Muhammad Aiman & sister Afiqah, this genius, cute and extrovert little baby is the third member of our family. Jovial, talented and has entertaining feature, has made him -Muhammad Asri the center of attraction amongst his friends, relatives and Yayasan Yusuf clan.
He was born in Miri, grown up in Bintulu for 5.5 years and spent another 6 years in Terengganu before he moved to Egypt.
In sync with his name - Asri – literally means ‘with regards to time’, is very committed with his assignments; punctual; active in extra curricular activities like futsal, football, marathon, Tae Kwon Do, Athletics; Badminton, Ping Pong, Chess and mind you, he is potential orator. Perhaps a future Yayasan Yusuf’s lawyer!
He has won several medals, trophies, prizes and certificates during various competitions that he attended in schools as well as others. Recently he won Champion title during the 16 KM Montaza – Quatbay marathon organized by Rotary Club Alexandria chapter. Really, these achievements contradict his skinny feature!! Keep it up, son.
Like his brothers, he had went through a strenuous bumpy road; suffocated by the unhealthy climate and confronted with thorny obstacles. Again, I must mention this was due to my poor navigation skill in which alhamdullillah, the water is clam, the wind blow softly over the beautiful garden of one of the Yayasan Yusuf members. Despite all those bad experiences, he is very persistent, obedient, and diligent with the gifted positive proactive attitude as well as soft kind heart. He can easily shed his tears tough, even he missed his homework. In his school - the British School of Alexandrai http://www.bsalex.net/ he is one of the macho kids admired by the 'ladies'. Now, for his birthday present, we fix his teeth with Dr. Amr stainless steel braces. Go Asri...!

Can Or Not & Be Serious

I love Datuk Lats' collection very much. I have bought this Be Serious LAT at MPH KLCC during our summer vacation. Please browse further to read Lat's biography.

Amr Ibn Al-As's Mosque : The first Mosque in the African Continent

This is the first and oldest mosque ever built on the land of Egypt. Constructed in 642 AD (21 AH) by Amr Ibn el-As’s, the commander of the Muslim army sent by the Caliph Umar Ibn Khataab r.a. to spread the Islamic teaching ouside the Hijaz so as to bring people to the Ad-Deen, the path of Allah swt.
Alhamdullillah, we managed to pay our visit and perform as respect two raka’at sunnatul Masjid inside the first ever mosque built in the land of Africa. The Amr Ibn al-As’s Mosque is said to have been built on the site of Amr Ibn al-As's tent at Fustat, is the oldest existing mosque, which is also known as Taj al-Jawamie (Crown of Mosques, al-Jamie'al-Ateeq (the Ancient Mosque) and Masjid Ahl ar-Rayah (Mosque of Banner Holders). Located north of the Roman Fortress of Babylon, it is actually on the edge of Fustat, the temporary city founded by Amr, and was an Islamic learning center long before El-Azhar Mosque. It could hold up to 5,000 students. The mosque was originally built on an area of 1,500 square cubits, overlooking the Nile. The initial structure was quite simple; with walls bared of any plaster or decorations, but without niche (mihrab), minaret or ground cover. It had two doors on the north and two others facing Amr's house.
The area remained unchanged until 672 AD (53 AH), when Musallama al-Ansari, Egypt's ruler on behalf of Caliph Mu'awiya Ibn abi-Sufian undertook expansion and renovation works for the mosque. Walls and ceilings were decorated and four compartments for "muezzins" (callers for prayers) were added at the corners, together with a minaret, while the mosque ground was covered with straw mats.
In 698 AD (79 AH), the mosque was demolished and expanded by Abdul-Aziz Ibn Marwan, Egypt's ruler. Once again in 711 AD (93 AH), the mosque was demolished by Prince Qurrah Ibn Shuraik al-Absi, Egypt's ruler. Upon the orders of Caliph al-Waleed Ibn Abdul-Malek, the mosque area was enlarged, a niche, a wooden pulpit (mimbar) and a compartment and copings of four columns facing the niche were gold-coated. The mosque had then four doors to the east, four to the west and three to the north.
Under the Abbasid state, successive additions and repairs were introduced. In 827 AD (212 AH), Abdullah Ibn Taher, Egypt's ruler on behalf of Caliph al-Ma'moun ordered an equivalent area to the north to be added to the mosque, thus bringing its total area to its present level of 13,556,25 square meters. (112.3m x 120.5m). However, the Fatimid period was the gold era for the mosque, where gilded mosaics, marble works, a wooden compartment and a moving pulpit were introduced and part of the niche was silver-coated.
The last structural amendments in Amr Mosque were made during the rule of Murad Bey under the ottoman era, in 1797 AD (1212 AD). Because of the collapse of some columns, the interior of the mosque was demolished and rebuilt.

As a result, eastern arcades were repositioned so as to be perpendicular to the mihrab wall. Accordingly, arches were extended across windows and two minarets were built.
Amr Ibn el-As's Mosque was not merely a place of worship but also served as a court for settling religious and civil disputes. Moreover, teaching circles were organized either for general religious preaching or teaching lessons in Quranic sciences, jurisprudence and Prophet Muhammad's Tradition (Hadith) as well as letters.
The mosque incorporates elements of Greek and Roman buildings, and has 150 white marble columns and three minarets. Simple in design, its present plan consists of an open sahn (court) surrounded by four riwaqs, the largest being the Qiblah riwaq. There are a number of wooden plaques bearing Byzantine carvings of leaves, and a partially enclosed column is believed to have been miraculously transported from Mecca on the orders of Prophet Muhammed saw himself. There are many other ancient legions related to the Mosque