Boreal

Shouting at Dead People at Ground Zero

Controversial Islamic centre opens its doors near NYC’s ground zero Globe and Mail, Sep 22, 2011

Whenever Islam achieves a significant victory over its adversaries it builds a mosque that seeks to both commemorate the occasion and dominate the site of its triumph.

The mosque near ground zero, and ground zero itself will probably become part of a new pilgrimage for the believers. First a visit to the Mosque to pray, but not for the victims, as most of them did not believe in Allah and His Messenger.

It is forbidden in the Koran to pray for the salvation of unbelievers.

9:80 Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them. If you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them; because they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger. Allah does not guide the sinful people.

The visit to the Mosque would be followed by a short walk to ground zero to remember the devastation and death that a small and determined band of coreligionists wrought, and to remind the victims that they had it coming.

After the famous Battle of Badr, where a small force of believers defeated a much larger force of unbelievers, the Muslim dead were given a proper burial and the dead unbelievers simply thrown down a well.

The Prophet was seen shouting at the corpses in the well. This yelling at dead people left some of his followers perplexed, but God’s Messenger had an explanation:

Narrated Ibn Umar:

“The Prophet looked at the people of the well and said, ‘Have you found true what your Lord promised you?’

Somebody said to him, ‘You are addressing dead people.’

He replied, ‘You do not hear better than they but they cannot reply.’"

Bukhari 23.452

The people the Prophet was shouting at at Badr and those who may be silently yelling their own invectives at the 9/11 victims at their memorial are not dead, but alive in graves beneath the ground where the twin towers used to be. Islam did not only borrow heavily from Jewish scriptures but Jewish folklore. It is from Dark Age Jewish superstitions that we get the Islamic concept of the punishment of the grave and the trial of the dead.

Narrated Aisha:

Two old ladies from among the Jewish ladies entered upon me and said, "The dead are punished in their graves," but I thought they were telling a lie and did not believe them in the beginning. When they went away and the Prophet entered upon me, I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Two old ladies" and told him the whole story.

He said, "They told the truth; the dead are really punished, to the extent that all the animals hear (the sound resulting from) their punishment."

Since then I always saw him seeking refuge with Allah from the punishment of the grave in his prayers.

Aisha reported:

The Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) entered my house when a jewess was with me and she was saying: Do you know that you would be put to trial in the grave?

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) trembled (on hearing this) and said: It is the Jews only who would-be put to trial.

'A'isha said: We passed some nights and then the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Do you know that it has been revealed to me:" You would be put to trial in the grave"? 'A'isha said: 1 heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) seeking refuge from the torment of the grave after this.

Bernard Payeur