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Maryam Jameelah (RA) [1934-2012]

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#1 [Permalink] Posted on 23rd November 2015 15:18

This thread is to talk about Khala (Margret Marcus) Maryam Jameelah (RA). Insha'Alah lets produce some of her letters and remember that this was a Jewish woman 26 year old who is writing these from 1959 (onwards).

After becoming Muslim she became the 2nd wife of Muhammad Yusuf Khan and moved to Pakistan in 1961 and never looked back and died in Lahore.

 


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#2 [Permalink] Posted on 23rd November 2015 18:22
(bism1)

In a small booklet called why I embraced Islam she states:

...By sheer chance when I was eleven years old, I happened to hear Arabic music, Western music at once lost all its appeal for me.
I would not leave my parents in peace until my Father finally took me to the Syrian section in New York City where I brought a stack of Arabic recordings for my gramaphone. The one I liked best was a rendition of the Surah Maryam, of the Holy Quran chanted; by Umm Kulthum. Then in 1946 I could not see what an evil woman she would become in her later years;...( Note: Umm Kulthum went on to become a popular folk singer through out the Arab World).. I admired her for her beautiful voice which rendered those passages of Holy Quran with such intense feeling and devotion. It was by listening to these recordings by the hour that I came to love the sound of Arabic even though I could not understand it.

After I embraced Islam in 1961 I used to sit enthralled by the hour listening to the recordings of Egyptian, Qari Abdul Basit!
But one Juma Salat the Imam did not play the tapes.

We had a special guest-a short, very thin and poorly-dressed black youth who introduced himself as a student from ZanZibar;
but when he opened his mouth to Surah ar-Rahman, I never heard such a glorious Tilawat even from Qari Abdul Basit! This obscure African adolescent possessed such a voice of gold, surely Hazrat Bilal must have sounded much like him!



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#3 [Permalink] Posted on 23rd November 2015 18:51
I will add more later, a few points to note about Maryam Jameelah.

She was a child genius.. far advanced for her age she learnt to talk read and write, whilst children her age were still struggling to string sentences together.

She started writing in defence of Islam whilst still a teenager and years before she embraced Islam. Even before she formly embraced Islam and took her Shuhadah, she developed a strong aversion to muslim apologists... or muslims who diluted Islam with western ideologies, she firmly believed that Islam should be practiced as Allah revealed and muslims should not compromise there deen out of some inferiority complex to the west.

She remained steadfast on this right to the very end and fearlessly defended this position.

She was critical of Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Ali lahori for there apologetic commentary in their translations. She commended the translation and commentary of Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi but expressed annoyance that the style was rendered in the Style of The King James Bible.

Was critical of Allamah Iqbal for his work "The Reconstruction Of Islamic Thought" as far as she was concerned Allah revealed his deen in a pure and pristine manner, no reconstruction was necessary.

She was also critical of her early mentors Muhammad Asad, for embracing modernist viewpoints, and Maulana Maududi because she believed that the Jammat e Islami had adopted and was influenced by the political methodolgy of the west, both in its structure and practicality.

She defended the Burqah, defended Polygamy and chose to become a second wife herself.

She was a prolific writer defending Islam against the attacks and propaganda of the orientalists.

She remained uncompromising despite personal attacks against her by the Modernists , the Orientalists and the Zionists a Mujahidah right to the end. Very unique personality of recent times.



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#4 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 00:30
Correspondence Between Maryam Jameelah and Maulana Mawdoodi

PREFACE

Soon after I began a prolonged and concentrated study (at the age of nineteen) of Islamic literature , in order to obtain more intimate first-hand knowledge of, what it personally meant to be a Muslim, and more detailed information about current events in the Muslim countries than what was ordinarily available in newspapers and magazines, I began correspondence with a dozen young people in the Arab world and Pakistan.

Most of these pen-friends did not last long because I soon grew bitterly disappointed with their westernized mode of living, their indifference and sometimes outright hostility towards Islamic faith and culture and their childish minds.

Finally I decided to develop correspondence with mature and influential Muslim leaders, especially among the ‘ulema.
By the close of 1960 I had exchanged letters with
• Dr. Fadhil Jamali, formerly chief delegate of Iraq at the United Nations,
• Dr. Mahmud F. Hoballah, then the Director of the Islamic Center in Washington D.C.,
• the late Shaikh Mohammad Bashir Ibrahimi, chief of the Algerian ulema,and the soul of the struggle for freedom against French imperialist domination; Dr. Mohammad el-Babey of al-Azhar,
• Dr. Hamidullah of Paris,
• Dr. Maruf Dawalibi, noted authority on Islamic Law, Professor of the Shariah at Damascus University and ex-Prime Minister of Syria ;
• Dr. Said Ramadan, head of the Islamic Center in Geneva,
• and was trying my hardest to make contact with the late Sayyid Qutb Shahid, at that time serving a long prison sentence in Egypt.
• Although the activities of the late Shaikh Hassan al-Banna and al Ikhwan al Muslimun had received abundant (though of course, derogatory) publicity in the New York press, Maulana Maudoodi and the Jama'at-e-Islami had not yet attracted much attention from American scholars or journalists.

Although for nearly a decade, I had been an avid reader of all books and periodicals in English I could find on Islamic subjects, I had never heard of Maulana Maudoodi and knew nothing whatever of the Jama'at-e-Islami until I came across Mazharuddin Siddiqui's essay in Islam the Straight Path (edited by Kenneth Morgan, Ronald Press, New York, 1958). When by sheer chance I found an excellent article in The Muslim Digest, Durban, under the-same name, at once I was eager to correspond with a man with such uncommon merits, and wrote to the editor of the magazine for his address.

I penned my first letter not expecting any more than a single brief reply expressing mutual sympathy for commonly shared ideals. Then I could not possibly foresee that this correspondence would mark the most crucial period in my entire life history.
Maulana Maudoodi had no need to persuade me to adopt Islam as I was already on the threshold of conversion and would have taken the final step even without his knowledge.

Neither did Maulana Maudoodi exert any decisive impact upon the direction of my literary career. Because I had begun to write essays in defense of Islam more than a year before our acquaintance and the main outlines of my ideas were already firmly established long before we knew of each other's existence. Nevertheless, as a result of this correspondence and consequently a vast increase in knowledge and insight, I grew more articulate and my writings gained in depth and maturity.
These letters should be read keeping in view their historical background.

In America, John F. Kennedy was President and the country had reached unprecedented heights of political power and economic prosperity. The so-called "Cold War" between Communist Russia under Khrushchev and the Western democracies had just begun to thaw. In Pakistan, President Ayub Khan ruled unchallenged and in order to make his dictatorship secure, had imposed martial law and banned all political parties, including the Jama'at-e-Islami. God-fearing ulema were being harassed and intimidated for daring to criticize the high-handed and arbitrary enforcement of the un-Islamic Family Laws Ordinance against the will of the overwhelming majority of the people.

After three and a half years of costly and fruitless psychoanalysis, and two years of hospitalization, I was just emerging from a long, unhappy adolescence filled with loneliness and frustration and was searching to find myself and my proper place in life. It was only due to all-Merciful and Compassionate Allah that at this stage, Maulana Maudoodi gave me the opportunity for a useful life rich in fulfillment by providing the fertile soil from which my endeavors could grow and achieve their fullest expression.

MARYAM JAMEELAH
Jumada al-Thani 14, 1389
August 28, 1969
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#5 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 00:42
Letter (1)

New York, December 5, 1960

Dear Maulana Maudoodi,

Your splendid article entitled "Life After Death" which appeared in the February 1960 issue of The Muslim Digest of Durban, South Africa was by far the best and most convincing I have ever read on the subject. When I first read about you in Mazharuddin Siddiqi's contribution to Islam the Straight Path (edited by-Kenneth Morgan, Ronald Press, New York, 1958) about Muslims in Pakistan, even though the author was a typical modernist who described you in derogatory terms, I immediately felt myself in complete sympathy with your cause.

During the past year I have discovered that I want to devote my life to the struggle against materialistic philosophic-secularism and nationalism which are still so rampant in the world today and threaten not only the survival of Islam but the whole human race. With this goal in mind, I have already written a number of articles, six of which have been published in The Muslim Digest and The Islamic Review of Working, England.

My first article entitled "A Critique of Islam in Modern History" written by Professor Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Director of the Islamic Institute at McGill University, Montreal, refutes point by point his arguments that secularism and westernization are compatible with Islam and that Kemal Ataturk's "reforms" in Turkey offer the most desirable model for other Muslim countries to copy.

My second article entitled "Nationalism A Menace to the Solidarity of Islam" shows how incompatible and irreconcilable is modern concept of nationalism to the universal Ummah or brotherhood of Islam.

My third article which appeared in the June 1960 issue of The Islamic Review and the August 1960 issue of The Muslim Digest is a refutation of Asaf A. Fyzee's (vice-chancellor of Kashmir University) arguments for a westernized Islam, reformed and "liberalized" to the point where it becomes nothing but empty ethical platitudes having no impact upon the shaping of society and its culture.

Other articles I have written refute
• the Turkish sociologist, Ziya Gokalp who tried to hoodwink his readers into believing that nationalism and secularism are compatible with Islam (Kemal Ataturk derived his inspiration directly from him);
• Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan who took for his god, nineteenth century European science and philosophy,
• Ali Abd ar-Raziq who in his Islam and the Principles of Government written just after the abolition of the Ottoman Khalifate, tried to show that the Khalifate was never an integral part of Islam and therefore that religion must be completely and permanently severed from the state.
• President Habib Bourguiba who last year attacked the fast of Ramadan as responsible for hindering Tunisia's economic development and
• Dr. Taha Hussain, blind Egyptian intellectual and author who in his Future of Culture in Egypt argues that Egypt is an integral part of Europe and therefore complete westernization and secularization is a necessity.

All these so-called Muslim "Progressives" are far more dangerous than any external enemies for they are attacking the very foundations of Islam from within. In writing my articles, my [aim] is to open the eyes of my Muslim readers to this fact.
Present-day secularism, nationalism and materialism are derived from the philosophers whoprovoked the French Revolution such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieux and others like them.

Fanatic haters of all religion, they were responsible for the belief that man can progress and achieve salvation without God. The illusion that man is not dependent upon God and that there is no Hereafter, led to the belief that immaterial progress in this life is the supreme goal of the human race. Without this deadly anti-religious atmosphere, such creeds as Marxism, Fascism, Nazism, Pragmatism (as advocated by John Dewy) and Zionism (which caused the Palestine tragedy) could never have taken root. I plan to write another article about this, offering an explanation in greater detail.*

Perhaps you are wondering who I am. I am a young American woman, twenty-six years of age who has become so intensely interested in Islam as the only hope for the world that I want to become a convert. My big problem is that there are hardly any Muslims in the suburb of New York where I live and I would feel so terribly isolated. That is why when I saw your article in The Muslim Digest, I wrote to the editor of the magazine for your address, hoping that you will correspond with me. Please send me, if you can, some samples of your writings, particularly the pamphlet you wrote some years ago entitled The Process of Islamic Revolution. Since we share the same ideals and are working toward the same ends in our work, I would like to enjoy contact with you and help you as much as I can in your endeavors.

Yours most respectfully,

Margaret Marcus.


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#6 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 00:50
Letter (2)

Dear Miss Marcus,

Assalam alaikum

Your letter dated December 5, 1960 reached here when I had left for Saudi Arabia in response to an invitation extended to me by King Ibn Saud. The King wishes to establish an Islamic University in Medina and he had invited me to prepare a scheme for the same. So I had been away from home for about a month. On my return I received your letter and the three cuttings of your essays. I cannot over-emphasize how pleased I was to read your letter and essays.

I have intentionally addressed you in the opening of my letter with the phrase, “Assalaam alaikum” which is the form of greeting peculiar only to Muslims. The reason is that although you are still only thinking about your conversion, I am certain that you are already a Muslim. A person who believes in the unity of God, in Muhammad as His last Prophet and in the Holy Quran as His word and in the life Hereafter is really a genuine Muslim regardless of whether he or she was born into a Jewish, a Christian or a pagan home. Your ideas bear witness to the fact that you believe in the above-mentioned truths. Therefore I regard you as a Muslim and my sister-in-faith.

No baptism or any proselytizing ritual before a priest is needed in order to enter the faith of Islam. If you are convinced of the truth that is Islam, you need only to affirm solemnly that “there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet.” Then you should adopt some Islamic name (i.e. Ayesha or Fatimah) and make a public announcement of your name and religion so that the Muslim world at large should come to know that you are a member of the great fraternity of Islam.

Then you should begin to offer the five obligatory prayers daily and follow other Islamic injunctions steadfastly. I find you quite on the threshold of Islam and only one firm step forward will bring you into the fold of the believers. I think this final step will be a natural and logical culmination of your ideas.

My personal assistant has sent you several pamphlets, including the one you mentioned. In addition, I am sending you some more books written by me. When I was reading your articles, I felt as if I am reading my own ideas. I hope your feeling will be just the same when you read my books. And this, despite the fact that there has been no previous acquaintance between you and me. This mutual sympathy and unanimity in thought has resulted directly from the fact that both of us have derived our inspiration from one and the same source.

These westernized Muslims over whose lack of Islamic spirit you are lamenting, are the worst products of western colonialism in Muslim countries. The greatest blow of colonialism which was administered against us was not in the field of politics or economics but in realm of the mind and spirit. This imperialism has produced many mental slaves among our ranks whose souls even after our political independence remain subjected to the West and who are faithfully following in the steps of their former masters. From this viewpoint, I think our war of liberation has not ended as yet and we have to fight a long-drawn battle against such indigenous foreigners.

And now I cannot help expressing my pleasant surprise at one thing. I want to know precisely how and where a young American girl could arrive at such a clear and genuine conception of Islam. Could you find some time to write a brief story of your mental evolution and send it to me? I quite understand your feeling of loneliness for lack of an Islamic society. No doubt this is the most acute agony for a Muslim in a non-Muslim country. But it might give you some consolation to know that in the present world, every true Muslim is sharing these pangs of loneliness with you, though it may be to a lesser degree or in a somewhat different way.
If you ever visit Pakistan, it will be my pleasure to meet you and welcome you as my guest. How delightful it would be for me and my family if you could manage to come and keep with us the fast of’ Ramadan (falling this year from February 17th to March 18th)! I will be in Lahore until the end of March. Then I intend to tour Africa where I wish to organize Islamic missionary work there, inshallah. I will return to Lahore by the end of May. I plan to remain in Lahore for the remainder of the year so whenever you come, you will find me at my home.

Your brother-in-Islam,
ABUL ALA

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#7 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 05:10
The very sight of the first post brought tears to my eyes.

Last few decades have been excruciating in the life of Muslims of world. In this duration the good tidings have been very few and very far between. The bad news, the nasty proceedings, the humiliations, the insults, the suppressions, then injuries, the atrocities,
the sleight, the persecution, the annihilation, the decimation, the assault, the onslaught, massacres, pogroms, riots, droning, missiling, the shelling, the bombing, legislating against Muslims and the like have been a plenty.

After Rasoolallah (SAW) these have been amongst the most trying times for Muslim Ummah. Just comparable to the Tatar onslaught. Only the scope this time is really global.

In such an environment migration of a non-Muslimah to a Muslim land together with acceptance of Islam and devoting her whole life to propagation of Islam has been like a breeze of fresh air.

May Allah swt have Mercy upon her.
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#8 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 11:11
I had read some of her writings earlier and now realize that it takes time to appreciate views expressed by worthy thinkers. In the present thread every single sentence is full of significant ideas.
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#9 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 13:51
Maripat wrote:
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I suppose ALLAH blesses certain people with a unique foresight, it is quite fascinating that, she as a fresh convert was able to decipher certain challenges and threats to the spiritual well being of the muslims several decades before anyone else had even started discussing these issues and taking them seriously. Like the following

!......The same article described King lbn Saud's plans to rebuild the entire cities, of Mecca and Medina. Although I know that so many of the ancient buildings in the holy cities are antiquated and in desperate need of repair, I only hope that the new buildings will be constructed in conformity to the Islamic style of architecture because the whole atmosphere in these places would be ruined if they are copied from the ultra-modern fashions. Personally I abhor modern architecture because it conflicts with every criteria of beauty, symmetry, grace and warmth. Every time I visit the United Nations headquarters (which is an outstanding example of modern architecture) I am repelled by the bleakness, barrenness and coldness of the high-rise buildings which look like nothing more than giant boxes with glass windows. I think that the contemporary architecture which is giving our cities an uglier face every day, is a prefect reflection of the rejection of all spiritual values by those who design them. Far better for Mecca and Medina to remain old and even dilapidated than go the way of our modern cities.



Reading through her letters I personally feel a tinge of sadness that she did not get the recognition for her efforts during her lifetime.

But I did read somewhere that for certain individuals ALLAH reserves their reward for the akhirah...Lack of government awards and honorary doctorates, is a sign of that persons sincerity.

I would humbly request everyone who is reading to remember her in their Duas.

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#10 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 14:03
Letter (3)

New York, January 31, 1961

Dear Maulana Maudoodi,

Several days ago I received your gift of English books and Pamphlets which amounted to a small library. I cannot begin to thank you enough, only to tell you that I will keep them and treasure them always. Just yesterday I received your letter in which you told me that when you read my articles, it was as if you were reading your own ideas. I assure you that when I read your books and pamphlets, I felt as if I were reading my very own thoughts only expressed more forcefully and comprehensively than I perhaps ever could write.

My two latest articles have been one about the poetry of Allama lqbal*, the only man in the entire contemporary world of Islam who has been able to express in poetry of enduring artistic value what it truly means to be a Muslim and the other entitled, "The Philosophical Sources of Western Materialism" in which I trace the development of Western materialism from its inception in ancient Greece, through the "Renaissance" to its culmination in the form of ideologies like Communism. In the latter I try to show that the evils we are witnessing today are the logical result of a trend lasting more than five hundred years. All the major leaders of Western thought were ardent materialists; in fact, the whole theme of modern Western civilization was its revolt against the Church and ultimately all religious and spiritual values.

Thus, materialism is part of the very essence of the West. The leaders of Asia and Africa, as you so aptly pointed out in your pamphlet, Nationalism and India, have been simultaneously taught to despise their native heritage and imbued with the philosophies of materialism. Filled with hatred and resentment against their former Western masters, they are merely flinging the garbage right back into their faces! I mean this as a description of violent upheavals taking place in Asia and Africa now, particularly in the Congo. After what I have read of the violence going on in Africa, I fear for your safety. It is extremely painful for me to read how such Muslim countries as the United Arab Republic slavishly copy Communist Russia and China in their foreign policies in Africa. I would like to be sympathetic with such countries as the United Arab Republic but can discern nothing which could be called Islamic in the policies of its government.

A gullible Muslim might like to rejoice in the efforts Nasser is making to promote the cause of Islam in Africa. But it is clear beyond doubt that he is not so much interested in furthering the case of the Faith than merely using it as a slogan instrumental in the extension of his own personal glorification and prestige. It is my deep and sincere conviction that your understanding of Islam as you present it in your books, Towards Understanding Islam and Islamic Law and Constitution as well as all the pamphlets (you were so kind to send me) is the only correct interpretation and I hope I will not be considered narrow-minded to say so. I respect you and what you do because you adhere to Islam in its pristine purity and refuse to compromise to propitiate the whims of the "times" or adulterate it with alien philosophies. As you present Islam in your writings, I believe this is the superior way of life and the only road to Truth. Tragically, there are many Muslims who disagree. Many the time I have met young Muslim students studying in New York colleges and universities who try to assure me that Kemal Ataturk was a good Muslim. And that Islam must submit to the criteria of contemporary philosophies and any Islamic principle or practice that conflicts with modern Western culture must be discarded. Such thinking is praised as "liberal”, "forward-looking," and "progressive" while those who think as we do are branded as "reactionaries" and "fanatics" who refuse to face the realities of the day.

One point in your booklet, Nationalism and India which deserves special mention was your opposition to Muslims wearing Western clothing. Many would dismiss this as a trivial matter but I consider it of the utmost importance. Did not the Holy Prophet himself say that "whoever imitates the unbelievers is one of them"? I think that the Muslim should feel proud to express the fact in his distinctive physical appearance. That is why whenever I see a Muslim leader dressed completely in Western clothing and clean-shaven, I cannot help but consider his faith defective because in his dress, he is advertising to the world that he is ashamed of his true identity. Have you ever read Islam at the Crossroads by Muhammad Asad which takes up this subject at length?
It is not surprising why you should be astonished how a girl born into a typical American home could adopt Islam so now I will tell you how it happened.

When I was ten years old, attending reformed Jewish Sunday school, I soon became enthralled with the tragic history of the Jews. I was particularly fascinated with the story of Abraham and his sons, Ishmael and Isaac; of Isaac who was supposed to be the father of the Jews and Ishmael, the father of the Arabs. Not only were the Jews and Arabs originally kindred peoples but their history is intertwined at many periods. I learned that under Muslim rule, particularly in Spain, the Jews experienced their Golden Age of Hebrew culture. Being ignorant, of course, of the sinister nature of Zionism, I naively thought that the Jews of Europe were returning to Palestine in order to become true Semites again and live like Arabs! I was very excited by the prospects that the Jews and Arabs would cooperate and together create a new Golden Age such as occurred in Spain.

Throughout my adolescence, I suffered from what amounted to social ostracism in school because I liked to spend so much of my time reading books in the library and had no interest in the opposite sex, parties, dancing, cinema, clothes, jewels or cosmetics. I thought that smoking cigarettes was a vulgar habit and a waste of money. Despite the fact that one must drink at parties to be socially acceptable and my parents consider moderate indulgence in wine inseparable from the "good things of life", I have never touched liquor. Since I shared few interests in common with the girls and boys my age, I had almost no friends throughout the eight years of junior and senior high school.
During my second year at New York University, I met a young girl also from a Jewish home who had decided to embrace Islam. As passionately interested in the Arabs as I was, she introduced me to many of her Arab and Muslim friends in New York. She and I attended the same class taught by a Jewish rabbi which was entitled "Judaism in Islam." The rabbi tried to prove to his students under the guise of "comparative religion" that everything good in Islam was borrowed directly from the Old Testament, the Talmud and the Midrash. Our textbook (Judaism In Islam, Abraham I. Katsh, Washington Square Press, New York, 1954) written by this same rabbi set down the second and third Surahs of the Quran verse by verse, tracing their origins from alleged Jewish sources. Interspersed with this was a liberal sprinkling of Zionist propaganda in many films and colored slides glorifying the Jewish state. Ironically enough, instead of convincing me of the superiority of Judaism over Islam, this course converted me to the opposite view. Despite the fact that in the Old Testament, there are some universal concepts of God and high moral ideals as preached by the Prophets, Judaism has always retained its tribal, nationalistic character. Despite some noble idealism, the Jewish scriptures is like a Jewish history book and their God a tribal god. The narrow-minded parochialism has found its modern expression (although in a thoroughly secular form) in Zionism. The Premier of Israel, David Ben-Gurion believes in no personal, supernatural God, never attends synagogue, and observes no Jewish laws, customs or rituals, and yet he is considered, even by the most pious and orthodox of Jews, to be one of the greatest Jews of our times. Most Jewish leaders consider God as some super real-estate agent who parcels out land for their exclusive benefit! Zionism has made the worst aspects of modern Western materialistic nationalism its very own. Only such a philosophy of expediency and opportunism could justify in their minds such a ruthless campaign to exile the majority of Arabs and trample on the pitiful minority who remained in "Israel" and then style themselves as the bearers of "progress" and "enlightenment" to a "benighted" Arab world! Although "Israel's" scientific and technological development is superior, this material advancement combined with the most reactionary tribal, "chosen people" morality, I believe is a major threat to the peace of the world.

I once heard Golda Meir address the United Nations General Assembly; "I oppose anybody who disputes Israel's right to security by retaining all Arab territories occupied by conquest. The only ethics that concerns us is the survival of Jewish people in the Jewish State !"
(Never mind, Mrs. Golda Meir, about the survival, much less the well-being of any other people! ) Then too, I soon discovered that Jewish scholars nursed even more enmity towards the Prophet Muhammad than the Christians. The hypocrisy of reformed Judaism was equally unacceptable. Thus although of Jewish origin, I cannot identify my ideals and aspirations with the Jewish people.
As neither of my parents are observant Jews and are the most firmly convinced of the necessity for American Jews to think, live, look and behave exactly like other Americans.

After two years of the Jewish religious school, I was enrolled in the educational system of the Ethical Culture Movement founded by the late Dr. Felix Adler in the closing decades of the 19th century. In your booklet, The Ethical View-point of Islam, you referred to this agnostic humanist movement which rejects the supernatural foundation of moral values, regarding them as purely related man-made. I attended weekly instruction at the Ethical Culture school for four years until I graduated at the age of fifteen. From that time until I entered Rabbi Katsh’s class at New York University in October 1954, I was a thorough-going atheist and contemptuously dismissed all organized Orthodox religions as superstition.
One day in class, Rabbi Katsh gave the students a lecture where he argued why all the ethical values cherished as the universal inherent right of every man are absolute and God-given and not man-made and relative as I had previously been taught to think. I forget the specific arguments but only remember that they were so logical and convincing to me that this marked the turning point of my life.

As I studied the Quran more and more deeply, I began to realize why Islam and Islam alone had made the Arabs a great people. Without the Qur’an, the Arabic language would probably be extinct now. At best. minus Quran, Arabic would be as obscure and insignificant as Zulu! All other Arabic literature and culture owes its existence to the Quran. Therefore Arabic culture and Islam are inseparable. Without the latter the former would have no international importance.

Although my parents can't understand my antagonism against the culture in which they raised me and especially my hostile feelings about Zionism, they give me the freedom to lead my own life. At first they tried to discourage my involvement in Islam, fearing that this would alienate me from them and the rest of the family. But now that they see how determined I am, they assure me they will not try to stop me from conversion or put any obstacles in the way of leading the life that makes me happy. Even though they hold contrary views to mine on almost everything, they are tolerant and broadminded enough no matter how much they may disapprove, never to threaten to disinherit me or cut their ties. What a contrast to Orthodox Jewish parents who consider a child who embraces another religion as dead!

Yesterday I went to the Islamic Foundation in New York, where the Imam, Dr. Nuruddin Shoreibah, who is a graduate of Al-Azhar, is now teaching me how to recite the five daily prayers in Arabic in preparation for the fast of Ramadan which I intend to undertake for the first time.

Whether it is best that we work together or independently is for you to decide as we both stand for the same ideals. On the basis of what I have written you in this lengthy letter, I would be most grateful for any suggestions you have to offer.

Respectfully yours,

MARGARET MARCUS

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#11 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 14:11
Letter (4)

Lahore, February 25, 1961

Dear Miss Marcus,

Assalaam alaikum warahmatullah

Your detailed letter dated January 31st arrived here a bit late. I am sorry that I failed to send a prompt reply due to some unavoidable preoccupations. I am afraid all this delay has put you to inconveniences for which I must offer my apologies.

I studied your life-sketch with great care and interest. As I read it, I came to realize how an open and unbiased mind can find access to the Right Path provided it makes a sincere and steady effort. The story of your sufferings, tribulations and mental anguish contained nothing unexpected for me. If a person is passing through a constant implacable conflict with his social surroundings and is at a loss to find even a single trace of sympathy or appreciation in his mental or moral environment, it would be unusual indeed if his or her nerves do not undergo a final collapse. Your maladjustment is a natural consequence of the incompatibility between you and your society.

Your temperament and taste, your ideas, your habits and conduct all are fundamentally different from those peculiar to the society you live in. The constant friction could have done you much more harm than what it really did. You seem to be just like an Equatorial sapling implanted into the Arctic Zone and you had to face the inevitable. Every person can best grow and shine in a favorable atmosphere. In a hostile climate one is apt to lose or dubbed to have lost one's mental balance and all one's capabilities are likely to wither away. Similar are the reasons for your being still unmarried. Your society can not like the type of woman that you are. All your merits are considered as defects there. You cannot possibly find a true life-companion in your present set-up, and if you are artificially tied to a person there, it could hardly prove to be desirable or successful matrimonial arrangement.

Ever since your first letter, I have been pondering over your problems. I think that you must choose between two alternatives. Either you should start to work openly for Islam in America and gather a group of sympathizers and co-workers around you or you should migrate to a Muslim country, preferably Pakistan. Now for me, it is not easy to decide which alternative would be best suited for you. It depends upon your circumstances and aptitudes which you know better. But this much I can say that if you come to live in Pakistan, you will find yourself amidst many like-minded people barring the language difference. God-willing, you will receive here all moral as well as material support and encouragement. Moreover, there is every likelihood here that you may find a virtuous young Muslim to be your life-companion. When you are in Pakistan, I can offer every possible help to you but I am-sorry to say that I am unable to assist you in your passage from America to Pakistan because of the very stringent restrictions on foreign exchange here.

I do hope that your parents as your well-wishers will not stand in the way of your choice. They should not fail to keep in view the fact that if their daughter is forced to live in inclement weather, not only will she be doomed to lead a life of despair but there is every danger of nervous breakdown. On the other hand, if she is fortunate enough to find a friendly and suitable social atmosphere, her mind will be restored to full health and vigor and she will be able to lead a useful and productive life. I think once they are able to grasp this point fully, no resistance will be encountered on their part. Rather, it is not improbable that they will welcome my suggestions.

You have asked me about the book, Islam at the Crossroads. I have read that book along with other writings by Muhammad Asad and I had the opportunity of personal acquaintance with him when after accepting Islam, he settled in the Indo-Pak sub-continent. Perhaps you may be interested to know that he is also of (Austrian) Jewish origin. I have great respect for his exposition of Islamic ideas and especially his criticism of Western culture and its materialistic philosophies. I am sorry to say, however, that although in the early days of his conversion, he was a staunch, practicing Muslim, gradually he drifted close to the ways of the so-called "progressive" Muslims, just like the "reformed" Jews. Recently his divorce from his Arab wife andmarriage to a modern American girl hastened this process of deviation more definitely.

Although these melancholy facts cannot be disputed, much less justified, yet I cannot blame him too much for this. At the time we met during the first years after his conversion, very welcome and pleasant changes were brought about in his life. But once man begins to live the life of a true Muslim, allhis capabilities lose their"market value." It is the same sad story with Muhammad Asad, who had always been accustomed to ahigh andmodern standard of living and after embracing Islam, had to face the severest financial difficulties. Asa result, he was forced to make one compromise after another. Still I hope that despite these adverse changes, his ideals and convictions have not altered even though his practical life has suffered many modifications.

Our Holy Prophet Muhammad (God's blessings be upon him) once said that a time would come when to follow his ways would be like holding a live coal in one's hands. This prophecy has been fulfilled. Now-a-days if a man or woman tries to practice the teachings of Islam, stiff resistance is encountered by materialistic civilization at each and every step. The whole environment turns hostile to such a Muslim. Either he must be forced to compromise or he will constantly be at loggerheads with society. The strongest and moststeady nerves are indispensable for such a resolute and unremitting struggle.

Have you contacted the Islamic Centers in Washington D.C. or Montreal, which may be useful for you? The address of the Islamic Center of Montreal is as follows:

The Islamic Center,
1345 Red Path Crescent,
Montreal-2, and Quebec, CANADA).

Thank you for expressing your sincere anxiety for my safety as regards my forth coming African tour. Fortunately the parts of this continent to which I am presently planning my journey are quite safe and peaceful. I intend to go to Somaliland, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Mauritius and the Republic of South Africa, all of which contain large communities of Indo-Pakistan and Arab Muslims and with their help, I hope to further the propagation of Islam in Africa.

I quite understand your bewildering thoughts about President Nasser. Far from being a defender of Islam, his cruel hands are drenched deep in innocent martyrs' blood. By ruthlessly crushing al Ikhwan al Muslimun, he has administered an irreparable blow to the Islamic forces in the Arabic-speaking world. He has at least four tongues in his mouth.
• When he speaks to the Egyptians, he says, "We are the sons of Pharaoh" (and he sets up in the public squares of Cairo gigantic statues of Remises II - that cursed Pharaoh of oppression).
• When he speaks to the Arab world, he says, "We are part and parcel of a single glorious Arab nation."
• When he addresses the Africans at large, he tries to become their self-styled exponent and mouthpiece.
• Recently he has started to trumpet the "Voice of Islam" over Radio Cairo because it suits his convenience and strategy.

Unscrupulous adventurers like him can never serve the cause of Islam. Only selfless, sincere, modest and uncompromising Mujahids, who are ready to sacrifice every personal gain and ambition and lay down their lives at the altar of Islam, can do this.
I am extremely happy to know that you have become an observant Muslim and have begun to offer daily prayers and keep fast in Ramadan. I congratulate you for this and pray to Allah that He may keep you always steadfast and progressing on the path of Islam.

Sincerely yours,
ABUL ALA

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#12 [Permalink] Posted on 24th November 2015 19:10
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#13 [Permalink] Posted on 26th November 2015 03:33
Abdur Rahman ibn Awf wrote:
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Sub-han Allah.

Ever since this discussion started my heart has been filled up with love for her.
May Allah swt have Mercy upon her.
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#14 [Permalink] Posted on 3rd February 2017 14:37
Maripat wrote:
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As the ancients used to say, she was like a thousand writers in one ....Indeed if we in my humble opinion look at the thousand best Muslim writers in the west in the year 2017 , I dont think all of them combined have been able to unleash their pens and defend Islam in the manner she did.

A true Mujahidah of the pen...!


Today looking on Social Media, Feminism is in Vogue.... young sisters on Twitter describing themselves as Praticing Muslimahs and feminists.

Maryam Jameelah did a brilliant job in refutation of Feminism. Decades ago.

archive.org/stream/IslamAndTheMuslimWomanTodayByMaryamJam...

She also did brilliant refutations of Modernist Islam, and an Anthology of western Propaganda against Islam,
Insha'Allah, some muslim publisher will revive her writings for there is desperate need for them. She was way ahead of her time in many respects in understanding the attacks and plots being made against Islam.


May ALLAH accept and reward her with a high maqam Ameen.


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#15 [Permalink] Posted on 3rd February 2017 14:57

Articles and Books Of Maryam Jameelah


1. ISLAM VERSUS THE WEST
2. ISLAM AND MODERNISM
3. ISLAM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
4. ISLAM VERSUS AHL AL KITAB PAST AND PRESENT
5. AHMAD KHALIL
6. ISLAM AND ORIENTALISM
7. WESTERN CIVILIZATION CONDEMNED BY ITSELF
8. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MAULANA MAUDOODI AND MARYUM JAMEELAH
9. ISLAM AND WESTERN SOCIETY
10. A MANIFESTO OF THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT
11. IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION UNIVERSAL
12 WHO IS MAUDOODI ?
13 WHY I EMBRACED ISLAM
14 ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM WOMAN TODAY
15 ISLAM AND SOCIAL HABITS
16 ISLAMIC CULTURE IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
17 THREE GREAT ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD OF THE RECENT PAST
18 SHAIKH HASAN AL BANNA AND IKHWAN AL MUSLIMUN
19 A GREAT ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN TURKEY
20 TWO MUJAHIDIN OF THE RECENT PAST AND THEIR STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM AGAINST FOREIGN RULE
21 THE GENERATION GAP ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
22 WESTERNIZATION VERSUS MUSLIMS
23 WESTERNIZATION AND HUMAN WELFARE
24 MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND THE DEHUMANIZATION OF MAN
25 ISLAM AND MODERN MAN
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