Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah

salaam alaikum.

What is with this stiring up additional fitnah ? It is clear to anyone with a ounce of english comprehension skills that this "schwartz" being spoken of was not Kabbani rather it was someone else, presumbably some new Naqshbandi convert or suchnot.

Witness this in the context of the mail:

From schwartzs@sfgate.com
Thu Mar 25 14:29 PST 1999
To: "'mateens@sybase.com'" <mateens

^^^^^^schwartzs, the guy writing this

"Alhamdilullah! I will be on channel 5 at"

This Umar Schwartz speaking in first person

"our favor. I am meditating at every moment on the great guidance provided me by our beloved shaykhs Nazim and Hisham"

He, Umar Schwartz, still speaking in first person, "shaykhs Nazim and Hisham" are being refered to in third person, now unless this brother is bi-polar or something I will assume that he is an entirely different person from Hisham Kabbani.

Now please excuse me for being so forward, but why did you jump to conclusions ? Could it be that you were so busy trying to spot some flaw or embaressing thing in the Naqshbandis that you jumped on the first thing you found ? My dear respected brother and elder I would humbly suggest that you make tawba and to please exercise greater caution in such matters! We are accountable for everything that we write and say and our 'good intentions' may not make up for some slips. We must all be careful and villigant !

Also as I and a number of other brothers have suggested it would be more effective, more in harmony with the sunnah, and less in apperances of one seeking to spread discord, to simply argue with teh Naqshbandi Jaqqanis on *substantial* issues, matters of true import, words ideas things said. What is not needed, and what utterly repulses me, is this assasination of character business. It gets nowhere, it leads to failure and bitterness, it looks and smells plain ugly, and its actually counterproductive and working in the FAVOR of the agendas of those who started this whole fitnah in the first place ! Please ikhwa THINK !

Indeed the MOST productive thing that we can be doing is to ignore distractions and pay attention to the one thing that we are directly responsible for, and that is our actions and deeds and the state of our heart. Our Iman depends on this, so lets work on cleaning our hearts and when fitnah needs to be fought then fight it Islamically and without pettiness or character attacks. I do not care to know about the character flaws of any Naqshbandi because it is irrelevant, nor do I care about any semi-conspiratorial paranoid references to selected muslims being closet Jews, rather I care about their words and actions and how they affect the Ummah, when they are wrong they should be opposed and when they are right their words should be supported. Plain simple khalas.

I do not care if Hisham Kabbani is a State Dept. plant because it is an irrelevant point, if he trully was I can assure you that we would be the *last* to know, so it is irrelevant, not salient, and in bad form and etiquite to bring up such matters. Criticise his words for whatever danger they pose and leave the "secret agent man" background rooting around to others. In any case if you go around accusing him (incorrectly) of being a plotting Jewish state Dept. plant then you will sound irrational and silly and daft and rational sincere Muslims who would otherwise heed your warnings will dismiss you as ludecrus and may well fall into the trap that you are trying to warn them of for the simple reason that you drove them there by presenting the right alternative as absurd by your words and actions. Now Shaikh Kabbani can say " I told you so, I told you so ! I have had X numbers of death threats from extremists"

WE are our own worse enemies, its a conspiracy of silliness and absurdity. Sometimes I think that we would make good characters on a "Monty Python" skit...

In short, clean our own hearts and stop making accusations that can not be supported and which are, even if correct, unIslamic to make. And if and when someone needs to be criticised as a way of warning the Ummah or checking their danger and harm then do so in an Islamically acceptible fashion.

I have more to say but the man who talks too much is an A--(of the donkey variaty)

Jazak Allahu Khair brothers, sisters, and elders.