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Importance of Muslim Unity
by Dr Kaukab Siddique
Baltimore Grassroots Honors Incarcerated Imam
by New Trend Staff
Are You Ready for the Most Important Journey? How to Prepare and When to Prepare
by Sr. Asma
Transformed by the People: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's Road to Power in Syria
by Sr. Karin Friedemann
Partial Building Collapse Leads to Chaos
by Sr Aisha
I SAW SOMETHING AMAZING
by Sr. Yasmin
Muslim unity is essential. Please focus on the Qur'an and sunnah. The role model is the Prophet (PBUH).
Blind following of Muslim groups and self-proclaimed scholars and shaykhs will not work because Muslims are influenced by nationalism, tribalism, and various cults.
By Dr. Kaukab Siddique
New Trend Staff
Baltimore Grassroots Honors Incarcerated Imam
June 28, 2026—a grassroots group called Evolution2Resolution(E2R), organized an event called the "Returning Citizens Award Ceremony." The event was held in the "heart of the hood," close to Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen (York Road). Its purpose was to recognize detainees who have made a positive contribution to society or have uplifted the inmate population in some form or fashion.
Imam Abdul Hakim Mumin, an incarcerated imam close to the New Trend, was a leading honoree. For over a decade, Imam Mumin has been holding Qur'anic study sessions, juma'ah prayers, and other activities depending on what the prison administration allowed at the time. He thus united and uplifted his fellow inmates under the banner of Islam. Without his work, they would be left largely un-ministered to.
In toto, eight men were honored. They were brought in by Zoom, while their families and supporters met in person on Old York Road (Baltimore).
The New Trendeditor, Dr. Kaukab Siddique, was invited to sit in on the ceremony, but he was unable to do so due to being in a wheelchair, and having limited transportation options. Imam Mumin's wife, Sr. Khadija(Latavia), a long-time prisoner rights advocate, asked Dr. Siddique to issue a statement to be read instead. It is worth noting that many years ago, Dr. Siddique, in his capacity as imam, travelled to the Jessup Correctional Facility to perform the marriage ceremony of Imam Mumin and Sr. Khadijah behind bars. Since then, there has always been a special bond between their family and his.
The following is Dr. Siddique's address to the Returning Citizens Award Ceremony:
- - - - -
"As-salaamu alaikum and greetings everyone - My name is Dr. Kaukab Siddique. I'm the Ameer and imam of Masjid Jamaat Al-Muslimeen on York Road, and the author of several books on Islam. Our masjid has always supported returning citizens.
I've been standing up for the rights of people suffering behind the walls in the American penal system for several decades. I was privileged to visit Imam Jamil Al-Amin (also known as H Rapp Brown) in prison on several occasions.
In the course of meeting the brothers Behind the Walls, I realized their Islamic knowledge far exceeds that of most Muslims on the outside. That's because they have taken the trouble to read and study the Qur'an and Hadith.
In the course of visiting the Muslim community in the Jessup Facility, I met Imam Abdul Hakim Mumin.
Abdul Hakim Mumin is known for his ability to change the lives of people towards the Good. He supports education and understanding. He helps all those he meets to develop caring and humane attitudes, and to find peaceful solutions in times of difficulty. It's a pleasure for me to support him because is a forward-thinking brother.
He lives by morality and by the teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the sublime teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
I thank him for his newsletter, "Straight Talk from Behind the Walls." It is a unique newsletter which allows the brothers behind bars to he heard. I pray always for his success. I hope to meet Imam Abdul Hakim on the outside soon. Thank you for listening.
Are You Ready for the Most Important Journey? How to Prepare and When to Prepare
By Sr. Asma
No matter how much we prepare for a journey, we are never completely ready. We forget things, pack too much, carry what we do not need, and leave behind something we later wish we had brought.
Perhaps the same is true of our journey through this world.
We travel burdened with baggage—not only houses, cars, clothes, and possessions, but also expectations, attachments, relationships, memories, and worries. Over time, the load grows heavier.
Yet few of us learn the art of sifting: discerning what is essential and what can be gently set aside.
Such sifting requires clarity. It requires moments of khalwa—solitude and quiet reflection. These are increasingly rare. Our phones fill our eyes and hearts with an endless stream of images, opinions, desires, and distractions, most of which we neither need nor remember.
Even when a moment of stillness appears, a notification, a message, or a passing curiosity can interrupt the very train of thought that might have led us to ask deeper questions: Where am I on this journey? What am I carrying? What serves me, and what no longer does?
Sometimes it seems that the greatest challenge is not preparing for the next destination, but finding enough silence to understand the road we are already on.
Have you ever felt that way? How do you find khalwa? How do you lighten the baggage?
Book Review, Chapter 1
Transformed by the People: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's Road to Power in Syria
By Karin Friedemann
This book (Authors: Patrick Haenni and Jerome Drevon) is a breath of fresh air to those wishing to unravel the mystery of how Hayat Tahrir al-Sham(HTS) suddenly toppled the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, and how this new Syrian government managed to establish law in the region after a highly contentious civil war lasting nearly fourteen years. Combining scholarly research and on the ground interviews in Syria, this book presents a nuanced and deep understanding of Islamic politics in its narration of the road from military domination to the establishment of social order.
Ahmed Al-Sharaa went to Iraq as a young man in 2005 to fight against the US invasion. He was soon imprisoned for five years by the Americans in Abu Ghraib and Bucca prisons, where many ISIS leaders were also detained. While he expressed his views politely, al-Sharaa opposed the hardliners, saying the Syrian war was a revolution fundamentally different from the Iraqi fight against foreign occupation. His morals required avoiding civilian casualties and the harsh treatment that ISIS was known for.
Chapter One looks at how Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly a commander for the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), formed Jabhat al-Nusra as an offshoot of ISI during the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 and separated from them in 2013. Now this organization, in charge of governing millions of civilians, emphasized local engagement, collaborated with other local factions, and resisted launching jihad outside Syrian territory, framing its fight as against the Assad regime only.
While Jabhat al-Nusra was technically under ISI's authority, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi complained to al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan about al-Sharaa's independent decisions. Al-Sharaa refused ISI orders to orchestrate suicide attacks against Shia civilians and refused to launch attacks against the opposition in Istanbul. Locals generally appreciated Nusra's reluctance to interfere in people's daily lives, while some remained suspicious of the group's religious agenda.
Jabhat al-Nusra sought to recruit only recommended individuals, often from known Islamist families, to hit specific military targets. Reliance on a select few "was beneficial for building trust, limiting the threat of infiltrators, and avoiding incompetent recruits." This approach differed from other militias, such as Ahrar al-Sham, who "incorporated pre-existing factions into its organisational structures" or ISIS, which would welcome foreign fighters along with their entire families, in addition to known criminals, including former drug users.
While ISIS enforced strict ideological conformity, Nusra exhibited internal diversity, allowing philosophical arguments within its military ranks, such as whether to be praying with this or that shaykh, whether or not to ally with the Free Syrian Army, how to deal with the Shia community, or how to assess the Muslim Brotherhood movement. "At that time, Jabhat al-Nusra was all things to all people," reminisced a young activist from a respected family in Damascus.
Jabhat al-Nusra and ISI split in 2013 when al-Baghdadi wanted to reintegrate the Iraqi and Syrian militant factions. Al-Sharaa was very convinced that the Syrian movement needed to remain separate from Iraq, and feared ISI, which had a membership of upwards 30,000 foreign fighters not bound by regional loyalties, who unlike local armed groups, would slaughter Nusra's leaders. Al-Sharaa had no choice but to appeal to al-Qaeda for protection. Al-Sharaa insisted that this did not change his "Syria First" policy. "I conditioned my pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda on the idea that we will not use Syria as a launching pad for external operations, nor let others use it for that." Only joining al-Qaeda stopped the mass desertions to ISIS in 2014. However, al-Qaeda was under UN sanctions.
Nusra started an offensive against local factions they accused of accepting Western support, corruption and profiteering. They seized key resources from the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and dismantled the Hazm movement, a Western-backed rebel group. Jabhat al-Nusra was very selective about whom they attacked versus collaborated with, while continuing to participate in joint operations. Most Free Syrian Army fighters refused to fight against them.
A power vacuum in newly liberated territories resulted in court systems backed by militias to replace civilian structures. Major factions divided authority based on geography. In 2015, Nusra established its own court system, Dar al-Qada. It avoided public executions and most of its rulings addressed mundane issues such as regulating prices of basic commodities. According to an FSA commander, "We resisted Jabhat al-Nusra and opposed them locally for as long as we could. However, over time, they proved to be more astute and strategic than us. Their influence grew not through social services but by establishing courts of justice, which allowed them to deeply penetrate and embed themselves within society. They were swift, pragmatic, and adaptive in their approach to governance, which ultimately gave them the upper hand." Nusra did carry out some executions for murder, extramarital relations, and apostasy. It also put bans on music, smoking, gender mixing, and NGOs, which resulted in demonstrations against them.
In 2015 a coalition of foreign backers from Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia promoted the capture of northwest Syria. Nusra was accused of asserting dominance but it became clear that the opposition could not remain divided with Russia getting involved. Unification required getting rid of the UN sanctions designation under al-Qaeda. Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri accused al-Sharaa of being deceitful. Rebuking al-Sharaa's decision to leave, he wrote harshly, "We will fight you until there is no fitna." US drone strikes against al-Qaeda leaders "lowered internal dissent."
Jabhat al-Nusra transformed into Hay'at al-Tahrir al-Sham in 2017. At this time the "insurgency landscape" was extremely diverse, from the Free Syrians to various Islamic factions. The opposition agreed on combating ISIS but collaboration between the factions was unstable.
HTS, once a powerful affiliate of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State before that, deradicalized itself between 2016 and 2024 in order to appeal to the mainstream conservative Muslim population. HTS distanced itself from Salafism, renounced global jihad and forbade both al-Qaeda and ISIS from operating within their territory. HTS wanted the revolution to remain a local struggle that allowed religious freedom for Christians and other religious minorities, as well as for popular cultural practices such as Sufism. HTS's centrist alignment was a tactical adaptation that took place after defeating its rivals, as they remained committed to revolutionary objectives.
(To be continued)
Sis Aisha
Partial Building Collapse Leads to Chaos
People are enamored with the Manhattan skyscrapers and how they light up the Manhattan skyline. There was a time when real estate developers and architects took pride in their properties. That is not the case today.
On July 7th, Midtown East, in the Grand Central Station, was shut down. Area offices, residential buildings, and schools were evacuated. Public transportation was rerouted. Initially, the disruption spanned a nearly five-block radius but has since shrunk to a three-block radius.
The reason for this disruption in New Yorkers' lifestyle is greed. Surprise!
At 7:57 am, firefighters responded to complaints of bricks falling from the 38-story skyscraper.
David Werner Real Estate Investments and Metro Loft, co-developers on this project, are converting this office building, previously owned by Pfizer, to a residential building. They ignored safety rules and created a hazardous work environment for their construction workers and that has now wreaked havoc on other area employees and residents!
Five floors in the former Pfizer building collapsed. Two beams, which hold the building up, were found bent nearly in half. Al-humdulillah, there were no casualties.
However, according to Metro Loft chief executive officer Nathan Berman the collapse was blown out of proportion. They have been working with the city to get their project back on track. They intend to open the building to tenants later this year .
There is a lot of construction going on in the city right now. There needs to be more of an effort for the city to send inspectors to these sites to be sure safety rules are being followed.
(Source: Patch.com)
Salaam,
Sis. 'Aisha
Jamaat al-Muslimeen New York City
Guidance Wisdom from Sis. Yasmin
*PROPHET* ﷺ~*I SAW SOMETHING AMAZING*~{!}*DREAMS OF HOPE*~ [A TRULY BENEFICIAL POST 'ALHAMDULILLAH']~
'Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam `ala Rasulillah'.
'As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuh'.
Dreams of Hope ~{!}
{A Hadith that makes one Cry 'Subhan'Allah!} (سُبْحَانَ اللَّه)
'Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam `ala Rasulillah'.
Ibn al-Qayyim (R) records the hadith that was related by
Abdurahman ibn Samra. he said that the....
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said ----
'I saw something amazing yesterday...{!}
I saw a man from my 'Ummah' having the
Angel of death coming to him to seize his soul.
Then came good dealings with his Parents
(to intercede for him)
and the Angel of death left him !
and I saw a man whose torment in the
grave was about to come upon him ---
Then came his ablutions ('Wudu')
and saved him from that !
Then I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who had been surrounded by Devils.
Then came the remembrance of Allah
(Adkar & Dhikr)
and the devils were driven away from him...!
Then I saw a man of my 'Ummah'
who was surrounded by the angels of punishment,
then there came his prayers (Salah)
and he was rescued from their hands !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was panting from thirst.
when he got close to them,
he was prevented from every
jug of water and they were taken away from him.
Then came his fasting of the month of Ramadan
and, then he drank and was satisfied ... !
I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
and I saw Prophets sitting in groups.
Every time the man went to the circles he was driven away.
Then came his washing (Ghusl) from major defilement ('Janabah'), and they took him by his hand
and sat him besides me.
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah', in front of him was darkness, behind him was darkness, on his right was darkness, and on his left was darkness, and above him was darkness,
and below him was darkness.
and he was lost in the darkness.
Then there came his pilgrimage (Hajj)
and lesser pilgrimage (Umrah)
and they took him out of
the darkness and entered him into light !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was being burned by a fire...!
Then there came his charity (Sadaqah)
and it formed a cover between him and the fire !
and it provided a shade over his head !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was talking to the believers,
but they would not talk to him.
Then there came his keeping of family relations
(upholding ties of kinship) and it said...
' Oh gathering of Muslims,
he kept together family ties so speak with him...
Therefore, the believers talked to him
and they shook his hand !
I saw a man of my 'Ummah' who was encircled
by the Angels who throw the disbelievers into hell...
Then there came his
ordering good and forbidding the evil !
['Amr Bil Marouf wanahi anil Munkar']
~ so he was rescued from their hands.
and he was entered among
the angels of mercy !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was kneeling and between him and
Allah there was a curtain.
Then there came his good character ~Akhlaq (أخلاق)
and he was taken by his hand and
permitted to be with Allah.
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
whose recorded deeds were taken from his left hand,
Then there came his fear of Allah and He took
his papers and had them placed on his right side...!
I then saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who had a very light weight on the scale.
Then there came his young children who had died
and his weight was increased !
I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was on the brink of the hell-fire.
Then there came his hope in Allah
and he was rescued from it and he moved on from it.
I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who was thrown in the fire !
Then there came his tears that he
cried out of fear of Allah
and he was rescued from that.
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah' standing along
a path that was shuddering in the same way
that a limb of a palm tree shudders on a stormy night .
then there came his
good thoughts about Allah and the
shuddering was stopped !
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
crawling on the path [over the hell-fire].
sometimes he was crawling on it
and sometimes he was hanging from it.
Then there came his prayers upon the Prophet
and he was made to stand on his feet and he passed over it...!
And I saw a man from my 'Ummah'
who came to the doors of Paradise and they were
closed in front of him.
Then there came his testifying that
there is no God except Allah and the doors
were opened for him and he entered Paradise...!
My 'Salaams' to all.
Y a s m i n.
"Never Despair Of The Mercy Of Allah"
' Son of Adam! You are nothing but a number of days, whenever
each day passes then part of you has Gone!
{Al-Hasan Al-Basri (r)}
