Preface
Ansariyan Publications is pleased to present this book to its readers world-wide, soliciting their comments and suggestions not only about this book but also about other books which it has been publishing in English and other languages. The first book by our brother author published by Ansariyan is titled Fast of the Month of Ramadan: Philosophy and Ahkam which saw the light simultaneously in Iran and in the United States of America in the year 2000. Below you will find a list of other books which Yasin T. al-Jibouri has written, edited or translated. The reader is advised to visit our Internet website to see an extensive list of the books which we have published and are available for sale including, of course, those written or translated by the author of this book.
From 1972 to 2003, the author lived in the United States and observed how today's “Christians” worship at their churches and deal with each other. He was once kept on the mailing lists of five churches in Atlanta, Georgia, so he would be invited on various occasions by these churches, and he responded to most of those invitations in order to study the status of today's Christian community in that part of the world. This is why he later thought of writing this book which, differently from many others, relies in its contents on first-hand “Christian” references to prove a number of “shocking” facts such as: 1) Christ was not crucified but one of his disciples, who was not sincere in his conviction, was: The name of and details about this disciple are included in this book with complete references. 2) The concept of “the Holy Trinity” was never an original article of faith in Christianity but was introduced into it in the third century A.D. 3) Many of today's “Christian” beliefs were derived from ancient Babylonian, Indian and Persian religions in addition to Greek and Roman mythologies. 4) Christ was not born on December 25th; rather, Dionysius or Bacchus, the Graeco-Roman god of wine, was regarded as the “only begotten son” of Jupiter and was born of a virgin named Demeter (or Semele) on December 25th...! 5) All present day's four biblical gospels of John, Mark, Luke and Matthew do not represent the truth faith of Christ; rather, only the Gospel of Saint Barnabas of Cyprus, who learned directly from Christ, does. This true Gospel is not recognized by any of today's numerous Churches. Add to this list the fact that the concept of “son of God”, which most Christians of our time apply to Christ, was used by the Pharaohs of Egypt for Akhnaton just as ancient Greek and Roman mythologies contained many stories about alleged “sons of God”, a concept very much abhorred in Islam not only because of its Pagan origins but because it makes no sense: If God has sons, why not daughters, too? Are males implied to be better or superior to females? What happened to equality and justice? Does the Almighty prefer men over women? And if He supposedly has a son, and since he already has a mother, Mary, then the Christians worship a whole family...
Of course any zealous “Christian” may be quite angry on reading the above, and if the reader is one of these “Christians”, this book is not written for him; instead, it is written for those who truly seek the truth and commit themselves to abide by it, and these are unfortunately rare species. This book is written for open-minded Christians and for Muslims who live in “Christian” communities overseas.
Often, readers are interested in knowing who the author is, his background, academic achievements, etc. In order to satisfy this curiosity, we are providing you here below with his bio-data:
Yasin T. al-Jibouri was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1946 and lived most of his life in the holy city of al Kadhimiyya (Kazimain) which is located in north-west Baghdad; he is presently living there. He lived in the United States from 1972 to 2003 and closely observed the missionary activities of both Muslims and non-Muslims in that country. He was prompted to write this book by what he regarded as the hypocrisy of many Christian clergymen who were not playing their role as educators of their flocks and sometimes were themselves involved in immoralities that have nothing to do with the pristine faith brought by the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, peace and blessings be with him and with his sinless and virtuous virgin mother.
Al-Jibouri graduated from the College of Arts, Baghdad University, on June 30, 1969, having majored in English which he taught at a high school in Hilla, metropolis of Babylon governorate, starting in 1970 then at a vocational institute in al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, for a couple of years starting in 1971 during which year he had the opportunity to perform the pilgrimage (hajj) in the company of his respected father and a maternal cousin. From there, he flew in 1972 to the United States by way of Beirut, Lebanon. In Rome, Italy, he changed flights and reached New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport in the eve of August 13, 1972. His objective was to pursue his studies for a graduate degree in English which he achieved.
In the United States, al-Jibouri had in the beginning the hardest years of his life simply because he had to pay for his own studies as well as living expenses. He rejected an offer by Saddam Hussein's government, which was made in person by the Cultural Attaché at the Iraqi Embassy in London at the time, to pay for his schooling provided he moved from the United States to the United Kingdom. He knew that if he had accepted the offer, he would have to be used by the tyrant's government as a tool to do its bidding. Working menial jobs during the summer and studying during other seasons, he could not earn his degree before 1978, accumulating by then many more credit hours than required to graduate. His graduation date from the then Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University) is December 20, 1978.
Despite many years of hunger and want, he became involved in the activities of the “Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada” (MSA) which later was included under the umbrella of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). In 1973, he inaugurated Atlanta's first Islamic Center, delivering the khutba (sermon) as the imam, but he soon was forced out due to sectarian prejudices mainly from some Indian and Pakistani self-appointed Sunni community leaders who were administering the MSA's activities.
He, therefore, was removed as the imam, and this prompted him in the winter of 1973 to establish the Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc. in order to introduce Islam the proper way, not by attacking this sect or that as those ignorant couple and their followers were doing, but through the medium of Islamic Affairs bi-monthly newsletter which started publication in January of 1974. The founders of the Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc., were, in addition to al-Jibouri, Dr. Akbar Ali Zaidi, a Pakistani-American who worked for the statistics department in the famous Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, who served as the Society's President, and Muhammed Zafar Mahdi, also Pakistani, who was studying for his Ph.D. at Georgia State University and who served as the Society's financial secretary. Later, they were joined by Dr. Ja`far Tabatabai, an Iranian-American physician, who served as the Society's financial secretary after Mahdi had left the State of Georgia.
During the entire period from 1973 to 1979, al-Jibouri served as the Society's General Secretary. The Society's activities covered not only the local community in Atlanta but extended to serve the entire United States and abroad. Al-Jibouri kept in touch with a number of seekers of the truth in order to explain to them what the faith of the immediate family of the Prophet(?) was, and some of them finally were convinced, so they embraced it and have been propagating it ever since. For example, Latif Ali, who was born in 1954 in Banje Berbice, Guyana, for a Sunni family, is one of them. He recalls how his father used to go quite often to the area mosque but died when Ali was only nine. When he grew up, due to the fact that he studied at the Cumberland Methodist School, Latif Ali had an opportunity to compare the Methodist sect of Christianity with both Bahaaism (Which was created by one Baha'ullah who was born in 1817 and died in 1892) and Qadianism (faith of the Ahmadis; the Ahmadiyya Movement which was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed of Qadian which is located in the Gurdaspur District in the State of Punjab, India; “Qadianism” and “Ahmadism” bear the same connotation). Meanwhile, he came to know the author through Islamic Affairs newsletter. Gradually, he was influenced by both newsletter and books which al-Jibouri had sent him and eventually embraced Shiite Islam wholeheartedly. Other well known Shiite scholars and publishers also contributed to Latif Ali's acceptance of the Shiite Jaafari Inthna-Asheri School of Muslim Law.
The establishment of the Islamic Society of Georgia, Publisher of Islamic Affairs bimonthly newsletter, took place at al-Jibouri's modest apartment at 172 Vine Street, S.W., No. 7, Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after al-Jibouri was removed as the imam of the Islamic Center of Atlanta. This quite recurring incident of pushing out Shiites from leading positions in the Islamic community is one of the ugly manifestations of prejudice by some Sunnis towards their Shiite brothers, and it happens quite often. Yet this ouster produced a flood of literature started with the publication and distribution of Islamic Affairs newsletter and developed later into the translating and writing of many quality books detailed here for you so you may judge for yourself. And this incident of ousting al-Jibouri from his leading role in Atlanta is detailed in his autobiography titled Memoirs of a Shiite Ithna-Asheri Missionary. These memoirs were published and distributed and may be reprinted in book form. Presently, they are available only in electronic form.
In January of 1974, al-Jibouri started editing and publishing his Society's newsletter Islamic Affairs which evolved from a four page newsletter to a twelve page bulletin, becoming the most widely circulated Shiite publication in the United States with readers in all 50 U.S. States and 67 countries abroad, prompting the Society to seek help from a local company to maintain its vast computerized mailing list and print address labels for distributing Islamic Affairs by mail. All issues of this newsletter were printed and mailed out throughout the States and abroad free of charge, thanks to the generosity of its eager readers and supporters. Seldom has a Shiite publication lived for so long while being supported by voluntary contributions in addition to the generosity of its founders. Just to give you an idea about how powerful that newsletter was, here is al-Jibouri narrating an incident for you:
“Vol. 1, No. 4 issue of Islamic Affairs featured an article about Imam Ali(?), and the issue was extremely popular, so much so that we had to reprint it three times. Nevertheless, one day I needed a copy of that issue in order to reprint it for the fifth time, so I kept calling some of its recipients in Atlanta trying to borrow it from them. Everyone I called told me that he/she had given it to someone else and that it kept in circulation till he lost track of it. The Library of Atlanta's Emory University was a regular recipient of Islamic Affairs because it has a department of theology, so I went there and spoke with the librarian after introducing myself as the editor-in-chief of Islamic Affairs. The librarian went away and looked for the newsletter.
After a while, she returned to tell me that one of the university's professors had borrowed it and was using it as a teaching tool in his classes. I inquired about when he would return it, and the lady told me that it would be returned two weeks later. She wrote a note to herself not to let anyone borrow it other than myself for the time being. Exactly two weeks later, I returned to the library and asked for my copy of the newsletter. The same lady went and brought it to me. I was grateful but deeply disappointed: The professor had written so many notes on it in ink so he would explain its contents to his students, it could not be reproduced at all.” This incident shows you how popular and powerful Islamic Affairs was. In his book titled Islamic Da'wah in the West: Muslim Missionary Activity and the Dynamics of Conversion to Islam (Oxford University Press, 1992), Larry Poston mentions Islamic Affairs four times.
In 1975, Yasin T. al-Jibouri received instructions to facilitate the entry to the United States of the very first representative of the then Grand Ayatollah Abul Qasim al Khoei in North America, namely Sheikh Muhammed Sarwar of Quetta, near the Pakistan Afghanistan border, who, due to al-Jibouri's personal sponsorship, did, indeed, arrive at the same point of entry, namely New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, on January 25, 1976, a very important date in the history not only of the Shiite community of North American but of that of the whole Islamic world due to the tabligh activities that resulted from the establishment of such a monumental Shiite institution like the Khoei Center in an important part of the world. The request to facilitate the entry into the United States of Sheikh Sarwar came through New York's Shi'a Association of North America (SANA), which was founded by al-Jibouri's great friend, Ghulam-Raza Hassanali, who had migrated to the United States with his family from Dares-Salam, Tanzania, as did Aunali Khalfan who is mentioned elsewhere in this Preface. SANA is believed to be the very first Shiite organization established in the United States:
It was founded in the early 1970s, perhaps a year or two before al-Jibouri had founded his Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc. Sheikh Sarwar failed to obtain an entry visa to the United States after having tried to do so in Iraq, then in Iran, Germany and the United Kingdom. Followers of al-Khoei in these countries acted as guides and hosts for the Sheikh and helped him with accommodations and travel expenses. When Hassanali spoke to al-Jibouri about the Sheikh being given the run-around, the first sent a package to the Sheikh who was at the time in London containing the following documents: 1) a letter of sponsorship which al-Jibouri typed on his Society's stationery indicating that he was the Sheikh's personal sponsor and guarantor, that al-Jibouri pledged not to let this cleric work in the United States, and that the visa applicant, if granted the visa, would abide by U.S. laws, rules and regulations; 2) a copy of the Bylaws of the Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc., of which al-Jibouri was the General Secretary; 3) constitution of the Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc.; and 4) some copies of the Islamic Affairs newsletter. Unfortunately, the package arrived after the Sheikh had already made another failed bid in London to obtain the entry visa to the United States; so, he was advised to go to Lebanon to try his luck. In Beirut, he was subjected to a foiled kidnapping attempt as the country was embroiled in civil war; so, the Shiites there were very much concerned about his safety: They whisked him out of Beirut in the depth of the night to Damascus which was to be his last attempt following which he would return to Najaf, Iraq, to resume his studies at the hawza. In Damascus, Sheikh Sarwar submitted the package sent to him by al-Jibouri during the interview, and he was finally able to obtain his entry visa.
A few days following the arrival in the United States of Sheikh Muhammed Sarwar, the Sheikh became al-Jibouri's room mate in Atlanta, Georgia. There, the Sheikh received training by al-Jibouri on the preparation of newsletters and different publications especially in the areas of typesetting, art designs and layout, steps required for making a “cold camera-ready copy” before being sent to the press. The Sheikh had come with specific instructions from the late Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei to start a regular newsletter or magazine, produce a new English translation of the Holy Qur'an and write books for Muslim children and adults. Upon its completion, Sheikh Sarwar's English translation of the Holy Qur'an was published by Tahrike-Tarsile-Qur'an, Inc. (Distribution of Holy Qur'an, Inc.) of New York, a publishing house established and managed by al-Jibouri's close friend, Aunali Khalfan, and his great family. For your information, Khalfan was instrumental in the publication for the first time ever of a text of the Holy Qur'an in Braille language for the blind. He has been publishing not only various translations of the Holy Qur'an but also some other top quality Islamic books, including many published by Ansariyan, the list of which now tops five thousand. One of the books which he has published and is now marketing is Peak of Eloquence: Nahjul Balagha which is compiled by al-Sharif al-Radi and edited by Yasin T. al-Jibouri with an Introduction by Martyr Murtadha Mutahhari. This title is marketed world-wide by other American book sellers as well. May the Almighty bless Aunali's efforts and reward them in the life of this world and in the Hereafter, Allahomma Aameen.
As for the magazine which the Sheikh was instructed to issue, it was given the title The Message of Islam. It was, indeed, founded in February of 1976 under the supervision of Sheikh Sarwar not in Atlanta, Georgia, but in Houston, Texas, shortly before the Sheikh had gone to Atlanta to be al-Jibouri's roommate for few months. Its publication was made possible through help from the Shiite community in Houston members of which had written al-Khoei requesting him to send them a scholar to teach them Shiite Islam. During his stay at al-Jibouri's very modest apartment (so modest, its monthly rent at the time was only $98 exclusive of utilities) in Atlanta, Georgia, the Sheikh put out two editions of this magazine. Thereafter, the Sheikh moved from Atlanta to New York City where there have always been a much larger Shiite population and where a fourth edition of The Message of Islam was published. To the best of al-Jibouri's knowledge, this magazine disappeared after the publication and distribution of its fourth edition. In New York, Sheikh Muhammed Sarwar founded the Khoei Center. Later on, unfortunately a controversy developed because of which the New York Shiite community requested the late Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei to remove Sheikh Muhammed Sarwar from office and appoint someone else in his place. The great sage sent in 1982 one of his sons, namely martyr Sayyid Majid al-Khoei, on a fact-finding mission and to prepare for the establishment of the Khoei Foundation, the very first major institution established by Najaf's marji`iyya (highest religious authority) in the Western world. The year 1982 ended Sarwar's term which started in 1976. He was replaced, after a bitter and costly court battle, by Sheikh Fadhil al-Sahlani, an Iraqi sheikh from Nasiriyya and a friend of al-Jibouri.
Sheikh al-Sahlani has been efficiently running the Foundation, School and Center ever since. In the process of those court hearings, Yasin T. al-Jibouri, in his capacity as Sarwar's personal sponsor, was requested to submit a signed statement indicating that the late Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei was Sarwar's boss and that the latter was obligated to follow his orders; otherwise, he would be insubordinate. Al-Jibouri complied, composing and signing such a statement as requested in his capacity as the one who helped him come to the United States and acted as his guarantor. The statement was presented before the judge who ruled that Sarwar should step down from his office and hand over all documents and assets to Sheikh Fadhil al-Sahlani, the new representative of al-Khoei to the believers in the United States and Canada.
The present building of the Khoei Foundation, which is located in Jamaica, New York, was opened seven years after that incident, that is, on the 15th of Sha'ban 1409 A.H./March 25,1989, in order to meet the religious needs of the Muslim community in the United States. The religious programs are conducted in Arabic, Urdu, Persian and, of course, English. Presently, the address of the Khoei Foundation is 13711 90th Avenue, and that of the Khoei Center is 8989 Van Wyck Expressway, both located in Jamaica, a suburb of New York City. The latter includes a mosque, a school and resident imam's quarters as well as a modern library, kitchen and cafeteria.
In the same year, that is, 1989, the Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei established the London branch of this Foundation, appointing his son, Sayyid Muhammed Taqi al-Khoei, as its head. It is now located on Chevening and Salusbury roads. Its board, upon establishment, was comprised of these dignitaries: Sayyid Muhammed Taqi al-Khoei, Sheikh Muhsin Ali al-Najafi, Sheikh Yousuf Nafsi, Sayyid Muhammed al-Mousawi (of Bombay, India), Sayyid Fadhil al-Milani, Sayyid Majid al-Khoei (another son of the late al-Khoei), Sheikh Hajj Kadhim Abdul-Hussain, Sayyid Muhammed Ali Shahristani (a world renown philanthropist and founder of the Open Islamic University in London, a man who was born in Iraq and who had descended from an Iranian family), and al-Hajj Mustafa Kawkal. Sayyid Taqi al-Khoei was succeeded in this post by his brother, the late Sayyid Abdul-Majid al-Khoei who was assassinated in Najaf, Iraq, on Thursday, April 10, 2003. Following this tragic incident, Sayyid Yousuf al-Khoei, another son of the late Grand Ayatollah, became director of London's Khoei Foundation. Another branch for the Khoei Foundation was established in Montreal, Canada, but information about it has not been available at the time when this text has been compiled for the kind reader.
Late Grand Ayatolllah al-Khoei was born on November 19, 1899 and died on August 8, 1992. Following the demise of the late sage, Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qasim al-Khoei, the Shiite world, represented in Najaf's hawza, Islamic seminary, elected Sayyid Ali al-Sistani to succeed him in this highest religious office. Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husaini al-Sistani was born on August 4, 1930 in Mashhad, Iran, to a family of religious scholars. His grandfather, after whom he was named, was a famous scholar who had studied in Najaf.
Sistani's family originally comes from Isfahan. During the Safavid period, his forefather, Sayyid Muhammed, was appointed by then King Hussain as “Sheikhul-Islam” (mentor/leading authority on Islam) in the Sistan province. He traveled to Sistan where he and his children settled, hence his last name, “al-Sistani”. Sistani began his religious education as a child, starting in Mashhad and moving on to study at the great Shiite holy city of Qum in central Iran in 1949. In 1951, after spending few years there, he went to Najaf, Iraq, to study under the late Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qasim al-Khoei. Sistani rose in religious ranks to be named in 1960 a supreme “marji`” the highest religious authority, under Iraqi government's head, Gen. Abdul-Karim Qasim, but without any interference from the government. At the unusually young age of 31 (that is, in 1961), Ayatollah Sistani reached the senior level of accomplishment called ijtihad, which entitled him to pass his own judgments on religious questions and issue binding edicts.
Let us now go back and review al-Jibouri's stay in Atlanta, Georgia, which lasted from 1972 to 1979. During that period, al-Jibouri was instrumental in attracting converts to the Shiite Ja'fari Inthna-'Asheri School of Muslim Law. These converts were taught Islam as propagated by the Infallible Offspring of the Prophet(ص ), namely the Ahl al-Bayt(ع ). Among the earliest of local converts, that is, not counting those outside Georgia who embraced Shiite Islam through al-Jibouri's missionary efforts such as Latif Ali of Guyana who is discussed above, and many others elsewhere, are: Tariq Abdul-Salam followed by Mehdi Abdul-Raheem, Baqir Abdul-Haleem and Abdul-Qahhar who were the most active callers to the truth at the time. Conversion was done to some of them directly from Christianity and to some others from the Sunni School of Muslim Law. All these converts, with the exception of Abdul-Raheem, were born and raised in Georgia.
Abdul-Raheem was born in the Bahama Islands and was a permanent resident of the United States. Abdul-Qahhar once had the opportunity to go to Germany where he was blessed with converting some Germans to the Shiite Islamic faith. The other brothers gradually converted others, too, and so on, and only the Almighty knows how many are now those who have accepted Shiite Islam through such a chain of conversions. The Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc. was also able to reach out to many incarcerated Americans whom it introduced to Islam and who accepted it wholeheartedly. Some of these incarcerated converts established organizations of their own to promote the faith enthusiastically despite fierce opposition from Wahhabi and Salafi inmates who applied all sorts of pressure on administrators of American prisons to prevent these Shiite converts from practicing their faith in the claim that Shiites are not Muslims. It is not known how many inmates switched faith to Shiite Islam after being influenced by the works and translations of our brother, al-Jibouri.
After obtaining his graduate degree, al-Jibouri moved in 1979 to Prince George's County, Maryland. In that year, al-Jibouri was invited by a group of youths studying in Toledo, Ohio, for their undergraduate and graduate degrees and who wanted to organize themselves to do Islamic da'wah work. He met them there and then and took advantage of the proximity of Toledo to Detroit so he would, for the second time, meet the late imam Muhammed Jawad Chirri who was then imam and director of the Islamic City of Detroit. Chirri and al-Jibouri had met when the first came to Atlanta, Georgia, to hold a memorial service for the tragic and premature death of an ailing young son of Dr. Ja'far Tabatabani, an Iranian-American doctor and at the time one of al-Jibouri's fellow officers of the Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc. Reference is made to him above. The highly revered scholar and imam, Chirri, insisted on hosting al-Jibouri at his home, thus causing him to miss his flight from Ohio to Maryland! But it was time well spent: Chirri showed al-Jibouri his manuscript for his book titled The Brother of the Prophet Muhammed(?), referring of course to Imam Ali(?), soliciting his comments and suggestions. Imam Chirri was born in Lebanon on October 1, 1905 and died in Dearborn, Michigan, on November 10, 1994. He is known particularly for three of his most important works: The book referred to above, The Shiites Under Attack and Inquiries about Islam. These scholarly works will shine like the stars in the depth of the night and testify to the zeal of their writer for the teachings of Ahl al-Bayt(?). Imam Chirri, may the Almighty fill his resting place with noor, Allahomma Aameen, was an avid reader of Islamic Affairs, the newsletter which al-Jibouri started editing as early as January of 1974.
While living in Hyattsville, Maryland, from 1979 – 1982, then in Virginia thereafter, Yasin T. al-Jibouri became involved in the activities of the Islamic School located in Potomac, Maryland, where the Principal was Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim, a very active and energetic Iraqi pediatrician who started his Islamic activities at the Islamic Center in the U.S. capital, Washington. You can actually write a book about this great man due to the thousands of those who came to know Islam through his efforts which included writing and translating quality books designed either for new converts to Islam or for Muslim children and adults.
He is an icon in the history of Islam in the United States and the world, may the Almighty reward him most generously in this life and in the life to come, Allahomma Aameen. The Sunday School was rented from its administrators for Sundays to teach children of Muslim families in Maryland, the District of Columbia (D.C., where the U.S. capital is located) and Virginia. As the children were learning the tenets of their creed, Islamic Arabic and history in classes upstairs, the parents were downstairs listening to speeches about Islam some of which were delivered by al-Jibouri. These activities were arranged and directed by Dr. Abdul-Sahib Mahallati, an Iranian-American physician, and called “Adult Education Programs”. Now let us introduce you with some available information to two important personalities who have had a huge impact on the spread of Islam throughout the United States:
1. Dr. Mehdi Haeri son of Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi who was one of the mentors of the late Ayatollah Ruhulla Khomeini (founder of the modern Islamic Republic of Iran). Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri is the one who revitalized the hawza (religious seminary) in Qum, one of the main Shiite religious centers in the world. Dr. Mehdi Haeri studied at the same hawza then at Tehran University where he taught theology (ilahiyyat). He was once loaned by Tehran University to be a visiting professor at Georgetown University in the U.S. capital, Washington, where he taught Eastern Existentialist Philosophy, a branch of knowledge with which very few scholars are familiar. In fact, Dr. Haeri was one of three individuals in the whole world who specialized in this subject and had written books on it. He came to Georgetown University through his acquaintance with Mr. Schriver, one of the relatives of the renown Kennedy family. Dr. Mehdi Haeri will always be remembered affectionately by all those who were honored to meet him, learn from him or in any way benefit from his ocean of knowledge.
At the time, Yasin T. al-Jibouri worked as receptionist at a Persian rug store owned and managed by a highly respected Iranian-American family, namely the Parvizians. The store is still located till now in the Chevy Chase area of the metropolitan U.S. capital area. It was there and then that our brother, al-Jibouri, came to know this great man and saw how hard he worked towards establishing the Islamic Education Center (IEC). He sometimes used to visit him at his most modest Chevy Chase apartment and noticed how ascetic, simple and highly intellectual Dr. Haeri was. You will get to know more about this unique personality later on. This great personality played a pivotal role in founding the IEC, may the Almighty bless his soul and reward him for his efforts in spreading Islam in North America and the world, Allahomma Aameen.
2. Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim, an Iraqi-American pediatrician who is an institution all by himself and whose life's achievements are seldom matched. Dr. Hashim was born in the holy city of al-Kadhimiyya (Kazimain) in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 15, 1927. He went to private schools, finishing his high school studies in al-Adhamiyya city, Baghdad. In 1945, he joined the then Royal College of Medicine before Baghdad University was established from which he graduated in 1951. He served for one year as physician in the Iraqi army in the Rawandooz area. In 1953, Dr. Hashim migrated to the United States at his own expense seeking medical training in pediatrics during the years from 1953 to 1955 whereby he won residency and fellowship in pediatrics in 3 hospitals in Massachusetts and one hospital in Ohio. In 1956, he returned home to Baghdad where he practiced his career for one year following which he returned to the United States and won in 1957 a fellowship in Pediatric Pathology at the Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, after which he practiced Pediatrics in Cumberland, Maryland. In 1966, he became Superintendent of the Sunday school at the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. Family members, especially youngsters, of many Arab and Muslim ambassadors, diplomats, businessmen and permanent residents were taught Islamic Arabic, Qur'an and the tenets of the Islamic faith every Sunday. In 1968, he moved his practice to the U.S. capital's area to be closer to the Islamic Center. During a period of 10 years, the number of the school’s students swelled from 26 to 241. As its Principal, Dr. Hashim had to divide it, because it was too crowded, and to move part of it to Tilden Jr. High School in Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, eleven miles from the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., and close to where Dr. Hashim has been living. Most students at this Sunday Islamic School (75%) were Sunni, while 25% of them were Shiite. The other part of the school was left at the Islamic Center in DC. The school at Tilden grew from 99 students to 191 students in two years.
This impressed many Iranian visitors such as Mr. Futuvat, who once worked for the prestigious Parvizian family's rug store mentioned above and who wanted to establish an Islamic Center for Iranian and non-Iranian children. Dr. Hashim decided to write and introduce to his students his book titled Teachings of Muhammed as Taught by Ahlul Bayt(?) in order to test the tolerance of the Sunni brothers to the teachings of the Prophet's Family. As it turned out, they raised their ire and it was like a nightmare, so it was the parting time: Dr. Hashim and other Shiite teachers and students (plus 30% Sunni students from the Center's School) went to Woodward High School in Rockville, Maryland, where the Sunday school grew from 65 students to 160 students in 2 years. From 1968 to 1985, Dr. Hashim wrote as many as 20 books forming the Series of Islamic Books for Beginners.
At that juncture, and in 1981, the Sunday school moved to the Islamic Education Center (IEC) where it still is functioning till now. At the same time, a full-time Islamic school, that is, the Muslim Community School (MCS), moved to IEC and continues to do so till now. It won accreditation from the local Maryland government. From 1981 to 1986, Dr. Hashim managed to get 72,000 copies of the English translation of the Holy Qur'an by A. Yousuf Ali printed and distributed mostly to new converts serving prison sentences. In the next year, 1987, he quit being the Principal of the Sunday school, which is now directed by Br. Adnan al-Dadah, another Iraqi doctor, and established the “Qur'an Account, Inc.” to help educate new converts to Islam in American prisons among whom Islam was spreading steadily and quickly. From that year and up to now, as many as 7,634 Americans joined the Islamic faith, a monumental achievement by any standard, Masha-Allah. Many of these are becoming Shiite Ithna Asheris. Prisons in most American states always contact him. Also chaplains of prison libraries request Qurans and books in order to make them available to the prisoners through their libraries. Earlier, in 1985, he wrote How to be Your Child's Doctor, Sometimes as a textbook to help mothers who tend to their children at home. Remember that Dr. Hashim is a pediatrician, an expert on this subject.
In 1992, Dr. Hashim retired from his medical practice and completed the next year, 1993, the writing of his Sunni-Shi'i Dialog Pamphlets. From 1996 to 1998, he helped organize Ahlul-Bayt Conferences at the IEC where top Shiite scholars were invited to speak and the attendants, especially invited Sunni guests, were encouraged to raise questions. One of the speakers was Dr. Muhammed al-Tijani al-Samawi, the famous Tunisian-born professor who descended from an originally Iraqi ancestry that lived in Samawa city, Iraq, and a formerly Tijani Sufi scholar who converted to Shiite Islam following a visit to Najaf, Iraq, where he had met Martyr Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr. Our brother, al-Jibouri, always translated al-Samawi's speeches delivered both at the IEC in Maryland and at the Khoei Foundation in New York.
Both al-Jibouri and al-Tijani became good friends during that time and continue to be so. Besides Dr. al-Tijani, other prominent Shiite university professors were always invited to speak at conventions held at the spacious theater area of the Center, including Dr. Abdul-Aziz Sachedina and Dr. Liyakat Takim, both are noted for their scholarly contributions to the Islamic intellectual discourses in North America since the early 1970s. In 1997, Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim put together the Abstracts of Proceedings for the Ahlul-Bayt Assembly of America. In 1999, he wrote the Bylaws for the short-lived Darul-Salam Center which was established in Annandale, Virginia (Fairfax County), by mostly Iraqi Shiites, notably Dr. Ali al-Attar, Dr. Mahmoud Thamer, Dr. Sundukchi, and Dr. Ridha al-Attar.
Darul-Salam Center premise consisted of a two-storey townhouse, a kitchen and facilities plus a small parking lot. The town of Annandale is located in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. Al-Jibouri resided in Annandale before leaving the United States for the United Kingdom in late July of 2003. In the U.K., he stayed in the tourist town of Bournemouth, Middlesex, which is located about one hour and a half on the bus south of London. Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim wrote the Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation for Darul-Salam in 1998, registering it in 1999 as a non-profit religious organization. Its activities were astounding, and many of the personalities in the Iraqi government nowadays were guest speakers, such as the late Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, Dr. Humam Hammoudi, Dr. Muaffaq al-Rubai’i, Dr. Hussain al-Shahristani, Dr. Adil Abdul-Mahdi, to mention only a few individuals who now are famous officials in the Iraqi government. Revenue from membership, however, never met the expenses. From 1999 to 2006, expenses of Darul-Salam were around $219,300 whereas membership income was around $45,400, causing a huge deficit which was met mostly by a few generous individuals especially the Center's founding fathers: During this period, about $175,000 came from these few benevolent contributors. But this continuous financial hemorrhage could not be sustained indefinitely; therefore, Darul-Salam Center was frozen as of June 2006 and remains till now to be so. Our brother, Yasin T. al-Jibouri, had made a contribution of a large number of books to this Center just to be told few days later that a number of them were thrown in a nearby dumpster because the Sunni librarian of the Center did not like them. Perhaps they were “too Shiite” for him which he could not tolerate.
All the remaining books were given to Imam Ali's Center, and thank God, this time the Shiite librarian did not throw any of them away; they are put to good use, read or borrowed. Darul-Salam Center was a medium for all Iraqis to meet, socialize, and hold discussions. But without money to support it, it could not be sustained. Many informative lectures, religious and political, town-hall meetings, even a previous ambassador to Iraq (Wilson) gave lively discussions. Among those who delivered speeches and lectures at the Darul-Salam Center were famous personalities such as Dr. Phebe Marr, now retired university professor and author of many books on Middle East politics including The Modern History of Iraq, and Dr. Hussain al-Shahristani, now Iraq's oil minister. Al-Jibouri met both of these intellectuals but kept in touch only with Dr. Marr who expressed interest in what al-Jibouri wrote about Iraq shortly before and after the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Al-Jibouri presented a copy of his book titled Allah: The Concept of God in Islam to Dr. Hussain al-Shahristani there and then. Also, Darul-Salam sponsored the publication and distribution of al-Jibouri's translation of Ghadir's Khutba in the month of Thul-Hijja of 1419 A.H. (March 1999 A.D.), and Dr. Hashim was instrumental in getting it printed. This book is still being distributed to prison inmates all over the U.S. and it made headways with those who read it. This book contains both the original Arabic text of this great sermon of the Prophet of Islam(?) in 23 pages and al-Jibouri's translation of it. Ansariyan Publications hopes it will in the near future reprint it in a different format. In 2004, Dr. Hashim rewrote and edited his book titled Khutbas of Jumu’ah, and in the next year he posted his website: www.islamicbooks.info where you will find themes of Nahjul-Balaaghah in 27 selection subjects (such as Nahjul Balagha about the Prophet, Nahjul Balagha about Ahlul Bayt, or Nahjul Balagha about the Umayyads). This website has a very interesting section for downloading “slide shows” in Microsoft PowerPoint which Dr. Hashim first introduced in 2007 and continues to add to it. As regarding the books which Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim has been able to write so far, they now number 24 and still counting, and their titles are as follows: Iman, Ibadat, Eleven Surahs Explained, Life of Muhammed(?) Vol. I, Life of Muhammed(?) Vol. II, Al-Khulafaa Al-Rashidoon, Islamic Ethics and Personal Conduct, Life of Some of the Prophets(?) Vol. I, Life of Some of the Prophets(?) Vol. II, Islamic Arabic, Salat, Workbook for Islamic Arabic (By Sr. Siham al-Dadah, wife of Dr. Adnan al-Dadah referred to above), Arabic Alphabets Cards (by Sr. Siham al-Dadah), The Way of Ahlul Bayt(?), Ahlul Bayt Vol. I, Ahlul Bayt Vol. II, Ahlul Bayt Vol. III, Qur'anic Selections Explained Vol. I, Qur'anic Selections Explained Vol. II, Qur'anic Selections Explained Vol. III, Qur'anic Selections Explained Vol. IV, How to be Your Child’s Doctor, Sometimes, Abstract of Proceedings, of Ahlul Bayt Assembly of America, and 40 Sermons of Friday Prayers (Khutba of Jumu’ah). With such a glowing record, Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim qualifies to be described as an institution all by himself, an icon, an umma... May the Almighty grant him long, healthy and happy life and reward him for all what he has done and will be doing for the sake of promoting Islam in a mostly hostile environment, Allahomma Aameen.
Now let us narrate for the inquisitive avid reader the story behind the establishment of the Islamic Education Center (IEC), one of the largest and most prominent Shiite centers in North America:
The location is 7917 Montrose Road, and it has an interesting story behind it: The site was first a community center for the Syrian (or Syriac) Orthodox Church of Antioch, a Christian community of mostly Syrians who spoke Arabic and perhaps Syriac or Aramaic and whose religion was Christianity. By the way, there is an area in Syria where the natives speak the same language spoken by Jesus Christ, namely Aramaic, and they are unique among all other Christians of the world. These Christian Syrians were falling behind on paying the mortgage installments for their center and wanted to move to Texas, so they were willing to sell their property. The center was then comprised of a large hall for meetings or special functions as well as congregational prayer services, a modern stage, a large kitchen, cafeteria, many classrooms and restrooms in addition to vast five acres of grounds for either landscape or expansion. Al-Jibouri was at the time working for Parvizian's rug store on 7034 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland, which still exists and to which reference is made above. He noticed how a female realtor used to go quite often to Manoucher Parvizian, the most senior of the Parvizian brothers, trying to convince him to buy the property. It so happened that Professor Mehdi Haeri was loaned at the time by Tehran University to Washington's Georgetown University during the days of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and the professor noticed the female realtor's persistence, so much so that he spoke with the Parvizians and offered to get the Mostazafan Foundation in Tehran to sponsor the purchase and renovation as well as conversion of the center to meet the Muslim community's needs, and the Parvizians welcomed the idea. Al-Jibouri typed the application for the center's mortgage, and the Parvizian brothers managed, with help from the Mostazafan Foundation, to pay its $240,000 down-payment for a total cost at the time of a very modest $1.2 million; Manoucher Parvizian negotiated the deal.
The Mostazafan Foundation changed name later to the Alawi Foundation because it originally was the Pahlevi Foundation, a trust catering to the needs of the family of now buried Muhammed Reza Shah Pahlevi whenever they lived abroad. Ironically, the shah's son lived not far from the area where the IEC now stands, and once the friends of his “royal highness” had to make a collection in order to help him pay for the rent of his apartment because he had run out of cash! See how some people go from riches to rags. The above information introduced the reader to how the IEC came to exist, and the full story of this great institution, which has been serving Islam and its converts to Islam since its establishment in 1981, will be narrated for you later in this rather lengthy Preface! So, let us go back to Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim and see what he is up to.
Dr. Hashim received, on the IEC's inauguration day, the keys to the place from Abdi Parvizian who delivered a speech on the occasion. Al-Jibouri attended that inauguration and soon started teaching Qur'anic Arabic and Islamic History at it. During that time he was renting one room in a rooming apartment, sharing the kitchen and bathroom with other tenants, and he was paying the rent on a week-by-week basis. He simply could not afford to rent an apartment for himself, nor could he afford to get a telephone installed in his room except many months later. In 1978, Dr. Hashim became the Founding Father of the Muslim Community Center, which was established in the city of Silver Spring, Prince George's County, Maryland, which is adjacent to Montgomery County.
Below is a brief chronology of the Islamic Education Center with focus on its school where Muslim children have for years been learning the tenets of their creed:
In 1978, Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim wrote and published his book titled Book of Teachings of Muhammed as passed down by Ahlul Bayt(?) when he was Principal of the Sunday School at the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. Strong objections were raised by Sunnis about this book. This led to the establishment of a predominantly Shiite school at Woodward High School in Rockville, Maryland. In 1979, Dr. Mehdi Haeri became involved in the activities of the Sunday School, delivering series of lectures to adult classes there and then. The next year, 1980, witnessed the purchase of the Islamic Education Center which needed renovations and conversions. These were completed by 1981, the date when the Center became operational. Yasin T. al-Jibouri now moved his classes of Qur'anic Arabic and Islamic History from Woodward High School to the Islamic Education Center (IEC) which has been expanding and its activities diversifying ever since. The board of directors of this great institution at the time of its establishment included the following dignitaries: Dr. Mehdi Haeri, Dr. Abdul-Sahib Mahallati, Dr. Moinfar, Br. Bahram Nahidian, Br. Manoucher Parvizian and Dr Rafii, who all are Iranians, and Dr. Parvez Shah, a Pakistani physician and a very generous donor to all good Islamic causes, may he and all these dignitaries be most generously rewarded by the Almighty for their good intentions and actions, Allahomma Aameen.
Dr. Shah later was instrumental in the establishment in the late 1980s of the Idara-e-Jaferia at 3140 Spencerville Road, Burtonsville, Maryland, for this reason: Since the administrators of the IEC were all Iranians, Persian was the dominating language on the center's activities. Other Shiite communities had to wait till Persian programs were completed before theirs could start, and this meant a delay as late as midnight. By the time the activities of these non-Iranians were completed so those of non-Iranians could start, the time would have already past midnight! When they concluded, the time was in the early hours of the morning, and the children would have by then slept for quite some time while drowsiness would have taken its toll on those who have to drive their families back home in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia so late in the evening, or so early in the morning, on State highways where one wrong turn could end in a traffic accident and a disaster; most program attendants lived outside Maryland or far away from the Center. It was not a pleasant situation, so this prompted dignitaries in the Urdu-speaking community to establish their own center in Maryland and the Arabic-speaking community to first meet in Northern Virginia at apartments of active Shiite brothers, notably from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, then establish the Darul-Salam Center in Annandale, Virginia. One of the above dignitaries, namely Br. Bahram Nahidian, later established his own Manassas Mosque at 12950 Center Entrance Court, Manassas, Virginia, not far from the Metropolitan area, where he has been the imam since its establishment in the mid-1980s. The Manassas Mosque has been expanding since its establishment both by way of activities and physically, acquiring more space by purchasing adjacent stores. It was established at a mid-size commercial area.
Imam Bahram Nahidian, who received religious training in Iran and specializes in the exegesis of the Holy Qur'an, has been one of few Shiites in the United States who have been working very hard to strengthen a Shiite-Sunni brotherhood, tolerating in the process so much bothering and resistance from those who despise such a blessed effort, and unfortunately there are many such folks at every time and clime. Just as there are prejudiced Sunnis, there are also prejudiced Shiites, and it is this ugly prejudice which is responsible for tearing the unity of the Islamic world apart. Sunnis and Shiites are brothers, and they should treat each other according to the principles of Islamic brotherhood. Opponents of Islamic unity are at the root cause of the ills afflicting our Islamic communities worldwide.
One of the earliest programs at the IEC was an interesting Friday evening sessions in the exegesis of the Holy Qur'an presented by Dr. Adnan al-Dadah, an Iraqi medical doctor whose wife, Sr. Siham, was also very active in teaching the children Arabic and prayers, may Allah reward both of them for their selfless efforts, Allahomma Aameen. In the mid-1980s, the IEC managed to raise one million dollars to add another floor which allowed it to increase its activities. These activities attracted not only Iranians but also Pakistani, Arab, Turkish and other communities living in three states: the District of Columbia (where the U.S. capital, Washington, is located), Virginia and, of course, Maryland. Also, a nearby house was purchased to be the residence of the center's imam. Mawlanas (highly trained clerics who graduated from recognized religious seminaries) from abroad were invited temporarily to conduct special events. Among them have been these well known scholars: Mawlana Ayatollah Abdul-Majid Mahallati, God bless his soul, who was very much loved because of being so witty, knowledgeable and very cordial with everyone, and Mawlana Rafiq Naqvi, who came from India, a departure in the IEC's policy of importing Iranian clerics and scholars. Other mawlanas who have served at the IEC include: the late Mawlana Shahroudi (Iranian) who stayed in office for a short period of time in the early 1990s; may he always be blessed, Mawlana Mohammad Reza Hejazi (Iranian) who served as the imam from 1994 – 2001 during which he was studying for his Ph.D. degree in theology at Washington's Catholic University. Mawlana Dr. Hejazi is now in California, and he is remembered for having started a very interesting “Interfaith Dialogue” with the Catholic University in D.C., his alma mater. Three-day meetings once a year were held regularly for full three years during which ayatollahs from Iran were invited to participate. One of the products of those dialogue meetings was some Catholic University professors going to visit Iran, particularly the hawza (theological seminary) in Qum, where some of them stayed for few years. This was the streamlining of such unique activities started by Mawlana Hejazi, the great young and energetic scholar.
From 2001 – 2003, Mawlana Dr. Reza Akbarian (Iranian), a professor of Islamic Philosophy at Tehran University, was in charge of administering the IEC. From the year 2004 and till the present time, Mawlana Ahmed Bahraini (Iranian) has proven to be the most active, energetic and organized imam the IEC has been lucky to have. According to Dr. Abdul-Sahib Hashim, the IEC is now enjoying its golden age, thanks to Mawlana Bahraini. Mawlana Bahraini saw to it to add Maulana Abdul Jalil (a scholar from Ghana who had received theological training in Qum) to the IEC's staff. Abdul Jalil is most dynamic and eloquent in both English and Arabic, and his Friday khutbas (sermons) attract many people. He also conducts on each Friday evening meetings for exegesis (tafsir) of the Qur'an which are usually attended by 60-100 persons.
Expansion of premises of the IEC has always been on the mind of each and every imam who administered this great institution. In the late 1990s, the third phase of IEC's expansion was completed when the yard between the school's building and the mosque became an office space. The likelihood of more expansion remains to be real due to the fact that the front and back yards of this institution are still largely wooded areas.
In 2007, a medical clinic open to people without insurance was inaugurated at the IEC along with its sponsor MobileMed organization. Several hundred patients visit it every year. It is called Ibn-Sina (Avicenna) Clinic, and it serves all people of all languages and creeds. It is also worth mentioning that presently there are eleven Shiite centers in Greater Washington area: Three of them are administered by mostly Iranians, three others by Pakistanis, two by Afghanis, one by Arabs, in addition to others in the southern part of the State of Virginia information about which could not be obtained at the time when this material was collected for you. This phenomenal spread of Shiite institutions in Virginia has taken place within a short period of three decades, Alhamdu Lillah!
Let this information serve as a chronicle for present and all future generations. The doing of good is always rewarded by the Almighty according to the intention of the doer. May the Almighty purify our minds and souls and enable us to be worthy of bearing the name of His religion, Islam, Allahomma Aameen.
During the entire time when the author was living in Maryland, he had to face untold hardships. The time when he moved from Georgia to Maryland was close to winter, and during the winter, snow fell heavily and the man did not have enough to cover himself with during the night; therefore, in the morning, he always had nosebleeds. He met hardships also in making a living there simply because, in part, his degree was in a language which everybody spoke as the mother tongue, and due to the prejudice against Muslims in general and Arabs in particular promoted by the Zionist Jewish community in the United States particularly during those times due to the publicity against the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Despite the odds and the hardships, he was able to stand fiercely to defend the Islamic Revolution which had by then erupted in Iran like a volcano, delivering numerous speeches in defense of the Revolution and responding to the anti-Islamic news media, employing his pen and mastership of the language.
In 1980, Ayatollah Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr was martyred, and the event shook al-Jibouri and prompted him to establish the “Islamic Revival Movement” and to start the publication and distribution of its organ, Islamic Revival newsletter which he edited under the borrowed name of “Abu Ali”. Al-Sadr is recognized world-wide as one of the most brilliant scholars, thinkers, philosophers, economists, religious and political leaders not only of Iraq but of the entire Islamic world. He is the father-in-law of Muqtada al-Sadr and cousin of both Muhammed Muhammed-Sadiq al-Sadr (Muqtada's father) and Imam Mousa al-Sadr, the famous Lebanese Shiite leader who is believed to have been assassinated by Muammar al-Qadhafi of Libya. The father of Ayatollah Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr is Sayyid Haydar al-Sadr, a well respected high ranking Shiite cleric. The al-Sadrs' lineage goes back to the Prophet of Islam(ص ) through the seventh Imam, Mousa al-Kadhim(ع ). Martyred Ayatollah Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr is famous for his books Falsafatuna (Our [Islamic] Philosophy) and Iqtisaduna (Our [Islamic] Economics). Al-Jibouri once bought The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, a 4-volume set, by John L.
Esposito, and he was surprised to see how the information about Ayatollah Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr was so scanty and even inaccurate: The place of birth of martyr al-Sadr as placed in this encyclopedia is indicated to have been in Najaf, whereas the fact is that the great martyr was born in al-Kadhimiyya. Al-Jibouri wrote a letter to Esposito's office to correct this error, but he never received an answer, let alone an apology for making such a mistake!
Islamic Revival was dedicated to the Islamic liberation movements throughout the Muslim world in general and in Iraq in particular. In the same year, Saddam Hussein, encouraged mostly by the U.S., invaded Islamic Iran, and al-Jibouri was quick to put out a circular titled “Abu Satoor Invades Iran”. The term “Abu Satoor”, man of the hatchet, refers to butchers: Surely Saddam introduced himself to the world as “the Butcher of Baghdad”. During that period, in order to save money for publications, he could not afford to rent anything more than a single room in a rooming house where he had to share the kitchen and bathroom with all other tenants as stated above. It was there and then that he once sat in the kitchen preparing some food for his greatest guest ever, the late martyr Sayyid Muhammed-Mehdi al-Hakim, oldest son of the late Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim. Sayyid Muhammed-Mehdi al-Hakim was assassinated in Khartoum, the Sudan, in January of 1988 at the hands of Saddam's henchmen who were then running the Iraqi embassy in the Sudan like a den of hoodlums.
Al-Hakim had earlier met al-Jibouri when the latter was involved in his Islamic activities in Atlanta, Georgia, and a strong bond tied both men who worked hand in hand to expose the bloody nature of Saddam Hussein's regime to the world. At the time, al-Hakim had an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which was later closed by the Emirates' government following pressures from Saddam Hussein's government, and it was from there that al-Jibouri used to receive information about armed activities of Islamic resistance opposing Saddam's regime which he translated into English and circulated in both Arabic and English to the news media and important decision makers throughout the U.S. Martyr al-Hakim was also instrumental in sponsoring the translation and publication of one of the most important books which al-Jibouri has till now translated: المراجعات Al-Muraja'at: A Shiite-Sunni Dialogue to which reference is made elsewhere in this Preface.
The year 1980 shifted al-Jibouri's attention to politics, prompting him to put out several Arabic and English pamphlets, circulars and letters to the news media. In addition to Islamic Revival, he also published Rafidain News, Al-Rafidain and the Iraq News Monitor which he used to send out by mail and by facsimile. He also put out a newsletter in Arabic titled Al-Muqatiloon for circulation to Iraqis and Arabic speaking communities throughout the United States. In 1986, al-Jibouri became affiliated with the Islamic Union of Iraqi Students which was comprised of Iraqis studying in the United States on their own and who opposed Saddam's bloody regime. The Union published an Arabic newspaper which included an English section edited by al-Jibouri.
The Union also sponsored the publication and distribution of a translation made by al-Jibouri of a book titled Who is the Tikriti President? which appeared for security reasons without the name of its author or translator. The translation of this book was serialized in the United Kingdom by the Da'wah Chronicle newspaper and by the Echo of Islam magazine in Tehran. This book is actually authored by one of al-Jibouri's close friends, namely Dr. Sayyid Salah Jawad Shubber, son of the famous orator Sayyid Jawad Shubber who was martyred at the filthy hands of Saddam Hussein. One street in Najaf now bears the name of this martyr and scholar. Dr. Salah Shuubber, who presently works for Iraq's health ministry, details Saddam's life from birth to the attack on Iran, and it deserves to be treated as a major source of information about Saddam's biography especially since much of its contents were written as memoirs by one of Saddam's closest relatives, namely Hardan al-Tikriti.
Most people know Yasin T. al-Jibouri as a translator, and he prides himself in being the very first person ever to translate the works of Martyr Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammed Baqir al Sadr, the greatest economist, philosopher, author and political figure in the modern history of the Islamic world. Al-Sadr was tortured and killed in person by Saddam Hussein on April 9, 1980. Notice that this exact date in the year 2003 marked the beginning of the end of the tyrant's regime: It is the date of the fall of Baghdad. Prior to al-Sadr's martyrdom, al-Jibouri had serialized in his bimonthly newsletter Islamic Affairs excerpts from Contemporary Man and the Social Problem, one of the smaller works of Martyr al-Sadr. The first of al-Sadr's works which al-Jibouri translated was A General Outlook at Rites which was published by the World Organization for Islamic Services (WOFIS) in 1979. It was followed by Contemporary Man and the Social Problem which was also published by the same Publisher in 1980. In the same year, that is, when al-Sadr was martyred, al-Jibouri participated with other Iraqi opponents of Saddam Hussein's government in demonstrations in the American capital, Washington, to denounce Saddam's barbaric behavior, and this assassination prompted him to establish in the same year his first political newsletter, Islamic Revival, to which reference is made above and which was published in Washington, D.C., by his Islamic Revival Movement.
In the next year, 1981, he translated and published at his own expense and despite his abject poverty The General Bases of Banking in the Muslim Society and What Do You Know About Islamic Economics? The latter title was again published by the Imamia Center, Inc. of Lanham, Maryland, U.S.A., in the month of Ramadan 1410 A.H./April 1990 A.D. Twice was his translation titled A General Outlook at Rites published in the U.S. The latest edition was registered with the Library of Congress of Washington, D.C. Sadly, this is the only book that bears al-Sadr's name at this Library which is the world's most famous and important. In 1991, al-Jibouri responded to the uprising in his home country, Iraq, that is, the Intifada, so he started the publication and distribution of Al-Intifada newsletter on a large scale both by mail and by facsimile machines.
Al-Jibouri has also translated and/or published many other titles; one of them is: Our Faith by the revered Sayyid Muhammed Hussain al Jalali, a famous Iraqi scholar, researcher, critic and theologian now living in Chicago, Illinois. Other works which he has translated include: A Biography of Imam al Rida which was written by the late Sheikh Muhammed Jawad Fadlallah, brother of the famous Muhammed Hussain Fadlallah of Lebanon; his translation of it was published in the United Kingdom and has been reprinted several times; Al-Muraja`at: A Shi`i Sunni Dialogue by Sharafud Deen Sadr ad Deen al Musawi; his translation of it was published in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1415 A.H./1995 A.D. by the Imam Hussain Foundation. It had previously been translated and published under the title The Right Path. It was later reprinted in 1380 A.H./2001 A.D., and another edition of it in larger print size was published by Ansariyan Publications in a highly professional way. Add to the list Shiites are the [true] Ahl al Sunnah of Dr. Muhammed al Tijani al Samawi, a very important translation of his. It was published in New York in 1996 by Vantage Press and was marketed worldwide by both Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble; its ISBN number is: 0 533 12055 1. Its first copies were sold “like hot cakes;” therefore, Vantage Press had to reprint it three times so far and may do so again. Add to the above list Maqtal al Husain by the late Abd al Razzaq al Muqarram the translation and publication of which was also sponsored by the Imam Hussain Foundation.
Following the assassination at the hands of security forces of tyrant Saddam Hussein of the great scholar, religious and social leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammed Muhammed-Sadiq al-Sadr, on the eve of Friday, at about 7:30 pm, Thul-Qi`da 3, 1419 A.H./February 19, 1999, to whom reference is made above, al-Jibouri and a number of Iraqis who opposed Saddam's government and who were living in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., area founded the “Harakat Jund al-Islam” (Soldiers of Islam Movement) and staged demonstrations in the U.S.
capital to denounce this assassination. Every Saturday, for quite some time, al-Jibouri would speak through a loudspeaker to the Washingtonians and tourists about the long list of crimes committed by Saddam Hussein, about how the United States hand picked this tyrant to replace the Shah of Iran in the area, and how the U.S. will regret it. On a Saturday, the 27th of February of 1999, al-Jibouri put out a seven-page flyer for the American and foreign news media and for all others to introduce them to the biography of this great martyr who was born in Najaf al-Ashraf in 1943 and fathered four sons: Mustafa, Mu’ammal, Murtada and Muqtada. With the exception of Muqtada, the rest of the old sage's sons were martyred on the same day together with the Ayatollah's son-in-law who happened to be in their company.
It is a sad fact that not much has been written about martyr Ayatollah Muhammed Muhammed-Sadiq al-Sadr. For the sake of justice, we have to indicate to the reader here below some facts about him and about his background:
He is Sayyid Muhammed son of Sayyid Muhammed-Sadiq son of Sayyid Muhammed Mehdi son of Sayyid Isma`il son of Sayyid Sadr ad-Din Muhammed son of Sayyid Salih son of Sayyid Muhammed son of Sayyid Ibrahim Sharaf ad-Din. His genealogy reaches Imam Mousa al-Kadhim(ع ), one of the offspring of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib(ع ) and Fatima al-Zahra(ع ), daughter of the Messenger of Allah(ص ). His father, Sayyid Muhammed-Sadiq al-Sadr, is the cousin of Martyr Sayyid Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr who was executed together with his sister Bint al-Huda by Saddam Hussein. Martyr Sayyid Muhammed Muhammed-Sadiq al-Sadr started his studies at Najaf's hawza (religious seminary) in 1954. In 1960, he joined the College of Fiqh (Islamic juristic system) from which he graduated in 1964. During that period, he married the daughter of his uncle, Sayyid Muhammed Ja`fer al-Sadr, by whom he was blessed with four sons: Mustafa, Mu’ammal, Murtada and Muqtada. The latter, Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr, is famous world-wide for having opposed the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, and he is founder of the Sadrist Movement which now has representation in the Iraqi government and parliament.
Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammed Muhammed-Sadiq al-Sadr was tutored by the best scholars the most prominent among whom were: Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhsin al-Hakim, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abul-Qasim al-Khoei, and Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr. He was awarded the degree of ijtihad by the Martyr Sayyid Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr in 1977 when he was 37 years old. In the same year, he taught the stage of Al-Kharij at the hawza but, due to the political circumstances of the time, he could not continue to teach till the year 1990.
Due to his anti-Saddam activities, al-Jibouri was condemned by many Sunnis in Virginia and elsewhere. One day he received a phone call from a newspaper reporter in California asking him how he felt about some Sunnis in Virginia calling him “terrorist”. Al-Jibouri inquired of the reporter about what acts of terrorism he had committed, and the latter told him that this is just what he had heard from organizers of some “Islamic” (Sunni) organizations in Virginia. Al-Jibouri refused to conduct an interview with that reporter, whether in person or over the phone or in writing, telling the reporter that the Almighty will judge those who try to tarnish his image and will effect justice on his behalf.
In addition to the list of books detailed above, al-Jibouri has translated two books by the late Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammed al-Shirazi: Canon: A Glimpse at the Islamic Law and The Pathway to an Islamic Revival.
Since the early days when microcomputers were sold on the market with a 48 kilo bytes memory, al-Jibouri developed a passion to acquire as much knowledge about their hardware and software as he could. In the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, he managed to earn a Certificate with Honors in Microprocessors and Microcomputers from N.R.I. of Washington, D.C. He also obtained three Certificates in electronics and programming, including advanced programming, and finally his A+ Electronics Technician Certificate. He wrote more than 100 programs in dBASE.
Our brother, Yasin T. al-Jibouri, has edited and revised three English translations of the Holy Qur’an:
1) by S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali, which was published in New York by Tahrike-Tarsile-Qur'an for the United Muslim Foundation of Lake Mary, Florida, for which he wrote a very interesting Preface about the Qur'an being a miracle. This Preface is one of the best of his writings if not the very best,
2) by M.H. Shakir, and
3) by A. Yousuf Ali, which has been published also by Tahrike-Tarsile-Qur'an of New York.
Al-Jibouri edited several newsletters and magazines, including Middle East Business Magazine of which he became Senior Editor. Among the books which he has edited are:
1. Socio-Economic Justice with Particular Reference to Nahjul-Balagha by Dr. S.M. Waseem,
2. A Biography of Leaders of Islam by Sayyid Ali Naqi Naqwi, English translation by Dr. Sayyid Nazir Hasan Zaidi, and
3. Your Kalima and the Savior by Wajahat Husain which was published in India in the year 2000 while the author was then living in New Jersey, U.S.A.
He has also translated: 1) The Form of Islamic Government and Wilayat al-Faqeeh, and 2) About the World Political Situation from a Muslim’s Viewpoint, when he was living in Maryland during the 1980s.
Among his other translations are the following:
1) The first four volumes of the series titled Al-Islam Risalatuna, a project which was sponsored but never completed by the Khoei Foundation in New York,
2) Al-Muraja`at: A Shi`i-Sunni Dialogue, the first authentic English translation of Al-Muraja’at by Imam Sayyid Sharafuddeen Sadrud-Deen al-Musawi,
3) Al-Shiite hum Ahl al-Sunnah by Dr. Muhammed al-Tijani al-Samawi,
4) Al-Maqtal (the martyrdom epic of Imam Husain) by Abd al-Razzaq al-Muqarram.
Al-Jibouri has also translated the following titles originally authored in Arabic by Rachad el-Moussaoui:
1) Best Month, Best Night;
2) The Book of Istikhara;
3) Weapon of the Prophets, which was actually published by the Muhammed-Ali Foundation (named after former heavy weight champion Muhammed-Ali, formerly Cassius Clay, which later changed name to only “Muhammed Foundation”) in Chicago, Illinois;
4) Miracles of the Holy Qur’an; and
5) The Great Names of Allah (Asmaa’ Allah al-Husna). These books' Publisher removed al-Jibouri's name as the translator, perhaps the author wanted to give the impression that he had written them in English…
Yasin T. al-Jibouri contributed many articles for Islamic Monitor, a top quality bulletin of the Islamic Research & Information Center which used to maintain an office at the fashionable National Press Building near the White House in Washington, D.C. This top quality magazine was the product of efforts of mostly two young and energetic Iranians: Dr. Muhammed Nahavandian and Dr. Mustafa Safavi and was published by the Islamic Research and Information Center (IRIC) which still exists and has a website;
perhaps you ought to visit it! Among his most interesting articles published in Islamic Monitor were: “Violations of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia”, “The Drug Epidemic”, “An Interview with Professor Fazlallah Reza (once chancellor of the University of Tehran, Ambassador in Paris to the United Nation's UNESCO and Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Canada), “Bahrain: A Shameful Human Rights Record” and “A Biography of Ayatollah Sabzawari”.
Al-Jibouri also contributed articles to Noor al-Islam, a high quality Arabic and English magazine published by the Imam Hussain Foundation in Beirut. In its issue dated November/December 1992, it published a detailed biography of the late Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abul-Qasim al-Khoei which was written by al-Jibouri.
Not all of al-Jibouri's writings have been published; some of them have been considered as being too lengthy to publish, and these include a detailed rebuttal to an article written by Samuel P. Huntington and published in the Summer 1993 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine under the heading “The Clash of Civilizations?” This article created an uproar throughout the world, and al-Jibouri sent his rebuttal directly to Huntington himself at his work office in New York then circulated it as widely as he could. It may be one of his best essays in defense of Islam against those who enjoy using the term “Islamic terrorists” while they themselves have written the book on global masked and most lethal forms of terrorism.
Al-Jibouri has written eight books:
1) Volume One of his auto-biography titled Memoirs of a Shiite Missionary in America: Two Decades of Da`wah, which is available upon request now only in electronic form,
2) Fast of the Month of Ramadan: Philosophy and Ahkam, which was published first in the United States then by Ansariyan in the year 2000, and it is one of the most famous of his books because it approaches the fast from a completely different angle: It discusses the spiritual and Hereafter benefits of fast starting from the moment when the soul departs from the body and on Sirat al-Aakhira in the life to come; remember that there are two such Sirats, that is, al- Sirat Al-Mustaqeem: one in this life and one in the life to come,
3) The Ninety-Nine Attributes of Allah, which remains in manuscript form and will be edited for publication,
4) Mary and Jesus in Islam (this book),
5) Allah: The Concept of God in Islam, which was published by Ansariyan in the year 1997, then it was reprinted later under the title The Concept of God in Islam by the same Publisher,
6) Muhammed: The Prophet and Messenger of Allah, which was published also by Ansariyan in the year 2008,
7) Kerbala and Beyond, which was also published by Ansariyan in 2002, and
8) Ghadir Khumm: Where Islam was Perfected, which remains a manuscript in need of editing before it can be sent to the press.
Ansariyan has fairly recently published new translations by al-Jibouri. Their titles are: 1) Al-Siraj: The Lantern, which was published in 2001, 2) The Truth about the Shiite Ithna-Asheri Faith, which was published in 2004, 3) Kashf al-Reeba an Ahkam al-Gheeba: Removal of Doubt about Rulings Relevant to Backbiting, which was published in 2008, 4) Riyaa wa Ujub: Pretension and Conceit, which was published in 2008 and 4) Uswat al-Arifeen: The Model of the Gnostics, which was published in 2008. Ansariyan hopes to publish more such books.
Al-Jibouri founded the Islamic Society of Georgia, Inc. (Atlanta, Georgia) in 1973 when he was living in the U.S. State of Georgia and studying for his graduate degree, the Islamic Revival Movement in 1980 when he was living in Prince George's County of the American State of Maryland, the International Islamic Society of Virginia, Inc. in 1982 when he was living in a number of cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia till the year 2003, and the Iraq News Monitor in 1992. He edited Islamic Affairs bimonthly newsletter from January 1974 till June 1989 with a hiatus that followed his departure from Georgia in 1979; he resumed its publication in 1982, publishing it in a different format. The publication and distribution of Islamic Affairs is regarded as one of the most significant achievements of the author's Islamic Da'wah work due to the number of people who were influenced by it, some of whom eventually embraced the faith of the Shi'a Ja'fari Ithna-'Asheri School of Muslim Law which appealed to them more than their past sects. Reference to conversion efforts to the Shiite School of Islamic Law is referred to above.
Most men of letters receive recognition after their death and critics examine what they have left behind, but al-Jibouri has already received recognition for his missionary and literary as well as organizational activities during the 32 years which he spent in the United States. One of the best sources for such recognition is a book published in 1992 by Oxford University Press titled Islamic Da'wah in the West: Muslim Missionary Activity and the Dynamics of Conversion to Islam by Prof. Larry Poston, dean of a college in New York City. Its ISBN number is 0-19-507227-8. Look up in its Index the following: “International Islamic Society of Virginia”, “Islamic Affairs”, “Islamic Society of Georgia” and “Jibouri, al-”. It is just one of many books written by non-Muslim scholars documenting the spread of Islam in the West.
Following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, Yasin T. al-Jibouri decided to go home. He was deprived of seeing his family for full 32 years. On the first of September, 2003, al-Jibouri reached Amman, Jordan, where he stayed for the next day. After that, on September 3, 2003, he rented a car and went to Baghdad. He set foot on that day for the first time since he had left his home country in 1971. Alhamdu-Lillah, since his return home, and despite the hardships of life in the post-Saddam era in Iraq, he has been managing to write and translate as you have read above, and he hopes to keep doing so till the last day of his life.
He solicits in earnest your du'a for his health so he may enrich the Islamic library of precious books; Iraq's weather does not seem to be merciful to his asthma condition. Ansariyan, too, solicits your du'a so it may be able to continue its message of spreading Islam throughout the world; may you be rewarded by the most Generous One, Allahomma Aameen.
Ansariyan Publications thanks you for your interest in its publications, Wassalamo Alaikom.
Ansariyan Publications,
Qum, Islamic Republic of Iran
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Author: Yasin T. al-Jibouri
