Tag: sincerity

  • The Distracted Ummah

    A few more memories surfaced after my last post about my visit to the Haramain in Makkah and Madinah, leaving me somewhat disillusioned about the state of Muslims today. Here’s a few experiences from that same first visit of mine that you may or may not find disturbing. 

    I was making tawaaf one evening with a surprisingly small crowd, when I passed by two young ladies also making tawaaf. Only difference is that they were taking a leisurely stroll around the Ka’aba with designer handbags slung fashionably over their shoulders. I don’t recall clearly if they were also absorbed in conversation or not, but focused on tawaaf they definitely appeared not to be.

    Before I could fully absorb this scene and while trying to turn my gaze away from them, a young man passed me by. He was tall, very well groomed, sporting a really fashionably shaped beard, gelled up hair, and had his cell phone firmly pressed against his ear while also performing his tawaaf. That just seemed wrong on so many levels, it left me really sad.

    Fortunately this was set aside by the sight of a woman in full niqab performing tawaaf, and suddenly jerking to a stop at the fear of accidentally touching a male that was walking in front of her. The man was obviously oblivious to others walking around him, but the motion of her hand that clearly indicated her concern and restraint remains clearly imprinted in my mind whenever I think about that moment. It had all the hallmarks of piety and modesty captured in a single gesture. Whether that reflected her true character or not is really irrelevant to me. But if I had to choose between the three incidents, the latter is definitely the one that reminded me of Allah, while the other two made me cringe.

    Then there was the time that I was walking through the souk in Madinah just after Dhuhr salaah, gaze firmly fixed on the ground in front of me as is my habit when walking in public (mostly out of shyness rather than modesty). Suddenly, from the side of me, I heard this deep throated grunt, quickly succeeded by this gob of discoloured mucus being spat out in front of me in the middle of the walkway, followed by a single flowing motion of the culprit stepping on it and spreading it wafer thin into the pathway as if that eliminated its disgusting presence. It was art in motion. Disgusting art at that.

    I won’t even go into the details of the woman that defecated on Mount Arafat at the time of Hajj a few years ago, as described by someone I knew that attended Hajj that year. Or so many other disgusting images and actions of impiety and filth practised openly by Muslims of all walks of life, and of all nations that I have no doubt that this is not restricted to any specific sect, or madhab, nor do I have any reason to believe any group is immune to this behaviour either.

    I look at many posts on Tumblr where people are sharing intriguing photos, often in real time, about their visit to the Ka’aba, and I wonder how far gone we really are that we can be standing in the single holiest place on earth, and instead of taking advantage of that nearness to Allah by focusing on dua and istighfaar, instead we’re thinking about looking cool and sharing cool photos with others, and wondering where we’re going to find that really cool gift for ourselves or someone back home. 

    The point I’m trying to make is that if we bothered to step away from our social networks for long enough, we’ll realise that the problems with the Ummah run far deeper than differing opinions about rituals, or sects formed by misguided zealots in the name of some innocent scholar. The real problem with the Ummah is that we’ve lost our self-respect, let alone the respect of what is sacred in Islam. We’re so distracted that we assume that our ability to focus on a single distraction at a time is in fact meritorious, forgetting that we’re actually still distracted from what’s important. 

    Look closer to home. Look in the masjid and see how many men of all ages engage in laughter, loud conversation and worldly distractions while waiting for salaah. It’s gotten so bad that at the place where I regularly perform Dhuhr salaah close to the office, some elderly men continue talking right through the Iqamah and only stop when the Imam begins the salaah. 

    So we really should stop trying so hard to focus on rectifying everyone else and convincing everyone else that we’re the only rightly guided ones because we ascribe to the sect that is closest to the correct path, while completely forgetting our manners, modesty, respect, dignity and so many other basic virtues that far outweigh our ability or responsibility to refute the opinions of the ill-informed in ways that expose our own arrogance and pride. 

    This post drips of the same condescension, rhetoric and generalisations that I despise hearing in the Friday khutbahs. But it’s not intended that way. It really is just reflective of how overwhelming the reality of this is when I consider the futile debates about theoretical perspectives while we’re holding on to our faith through token reference points that appease our conscience only, leaving us wondering in agony why our duas rarely appear to be answered. 

  • Choosing a sect

    The argument that just ‘professing to be Muslim is insufficient these days’ is patently flawed. Far too often the issue of following the way of the salaf versus being a salafi gets raised with the proponents suggesting that too many deviant sects or misguided schools of thought also profess to be Muslim.

    So here’s the issue for me. By worrying about what others will think of you based on the label you ascribe to yourself, you’re focusing your actions to be based on the acceptance of others, rather than concerning yourself with your standing in Allah’s eyes. Worse still, by insisting on creating a label for your flavour of Islam different from that of simply being a Muslim is simply creating another sect. 

    Consider this. Of the 73 sects that are mentioned in the hadith, 72 will be astray. Now let’s assume we create the ‘salafi’ sect as the 73rd sect. However, by creating it as a sect, it becomes bound by dogma, stigma, perceptions and interpretations. And as is the case with over zealous followers of such sects, when those over zealous ones acquire a senior status in the ranks of such sects, they often yield enough influence to contaminate the true teachings with their personal opinions, sometimes deliberately, and other times unintentionally simply because their words are misconstrued by those same over zealous followers. 

    At that point, all 73 sects would be astray and would therefore nullify the hadith referred to above. For this simple reason, I believe that being a Muslim and nothing else will always be enough. Learning and practising Islam according to the way of the salaf is the default disposition of any true Muslim. When questioned about the basis for our practises, we’re at liberty to quote authentic sources from the salaf, and in doing so, it would make us practising Muslims. So the 73rd sect is in fact everyone that practises Islam according to the salaf, and whether they choose to be labelled salafis or not is irrelevant. 

    Through simple laziness we succumb to needing to compartmentalise people so that it makes it easier to judge their worth without having to determine the merit of their actions. In so doing, we negate all their good the moment a single attribute of theirs identifies them with some group of misguided individuals. It is entirely possible for someone to be practising 90% of their deen based on the ways of the salaf, yet because something they do may be construed as sufi or shia, even though it is not shirk, they’re deemed deviants by those that indulge in the excesses of labelling Muslims. 

    I am a Believer, a Mu’min. And that, I know for a fact, is enough for Allah. So why would I want to contaminate my Imaan by labelling my rituals in my effort to get closer to Allah? Principles versus rituals. Insha-Allah we’ll understand the difference soon before it’s too late. 

  • The anonymity of the url has bolstered some people’s egos to the point where they believe that if their url is known, and they’re not deliberately anonymous, then it makes them sincere. Tumblr has effectively redefined the minimum requirements for sincerity and integrity. 　

  • Rhetoric has no place in giving sincere advice

  • Asmaa’ bint Yazeed رضي الله عنها reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

    “Shall I tell you who is the best of you?”

    They replied: “Yes”.

    He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Those who remind you of Allah when you see them.”

    He went on to say: “Shall I tell you about the most evil ones from amongst you?”

    They said: “Of course.”

    He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Those who go around with Nameemah. They make enmity between friends and they seek problems for the innocent.”

    “Musnad” of Imaam Ahmad and al-Bukhaaree in “Al-Adab Al-Mufrad” (323) and graded as “Hasan” by Shaikh al-Albaanee


    I’m often reminded of this hadith when I engage with many learned members of the Ummah. Some pretend to be more learned than others, but in most of my interactions, I’ve found that those who profess to be truer adherents of the Sunnah often had the most repulsive of manners. I’ve seen learned men, and men recognised as leading scholars of their time and in their communities speak with condescension and aloofness about those that did not agree with them, or revere their opinions.

    But similarly, as someone recently posted, it’s often those most humble without realising it, and those most subdued in their proclamation of virtues and practises that are the ones that have reminded me of Allah most. Rarely have I been reminded of Allah at the sight of an imam, or others that claim scholarly and leadership titles to embellish their profiles. Most often, those that maintain an overt appearance with distinction lack sincerity and moderation in their rebuking of others.

  • The strangeness of the self-proclaimed strangers

    I sometimes think that it requires a healthy dose of arrogance and pompousness to assume that I am from amongst the strangers that Rasulullah (SAW) has referred to. There are so many that profess to be on this path, that if each were to be believed, it would render the endless debates on Tumblr null and void, especially if each were actually correct. 

    Sifting through the opinions and interpretations of numerous scholars, ulama, wannabe scholars and others makes such a quest even more difficult. That is, the quest of determining whether or not I’m on the right path. The principles of Islam and characteristics of one who is inspired by the Sunnah is visible in sincere adherents across many different schools of thought, and even sects.

    The arrogance and condescension of some in their chosen forms of propagation of their views generally dissuade me from taking advice or guidance from them, which is a shame. It’s a shame because there is so much good that could be overlooked or dismissed because of the unpalatable nature of the attitude of those that may actually be in possession of valuable and beneficial knowledge. 

    I sincerely hope that Allah accepts me amongst these ‘strangers’ that are of meritorious character. But trying to determine, in my lifetime, whether or not I am a part of this blessed group will probably be a self-indulgence that will most probably result in arrogance before it benefits me with humility. So I’d rather live with doubt about my affiliations, rather than delusions about my merits. 

  • The virtual reality of life

    There is no line between virtuality and reality. Any line that you thought existed was simply a deception of your own mind. Online platforms give us the ability to escape our real lives under the guise of anonymity to the point where we identify ourselves as a url and assume that that is sufficient to justify our deceptive nature.

    Living a lie, be it online or in real life, is still living a lie. At no point is it acceptable to live by differing standards of morality because doing so lays the foundation of insincerity that will contaminate the flesh and blood relationships that you have. It feeds the same morbid self-indulgence that drives us to deceive those we’ve allowed into our personal space. If your online profile is vastly different from your real life behaviour, you’re fooling someone, and in all likelihood, that someone may very well be yourself included.

    People that are trusting are dismissed as gullible, while people that are insincere are accepted as normal. This is truly a case of us focusing so closely on the form that we miss the essence of what we’re doing. Escapism is entirely possible without misleading others. It’s easy to cry victim when we’ve been misled, but almost impossible to see our own deception for what it is simply because we’re looking to defend our actions and explain the context rather than appreciating that hiding behind masks is as detrimental online as it is in real life. 

    If you still believe that it is justifiable to hide behind masks online, then be clear about one simple truth that seems to elude many. Sincerity dictates that you are always clear about what is fictional about you and what is real. Whether this is online or not. Sincerity doesn’t come with qualifiers or disclaimers, nor does honesty. Any actions that I have recently defended or objected to online I will do so again, despite growing evidence that I may have been wrong. 

    In a world of spin doctors and politicians, and masses that despise them but aspire to operate like them, I choose to be the naive idiot that sits with egg on his face because others were more adept at seeing the reality of deception rather than trusting others the way they yearn to be trusted. For every single time that I assume the worst or treat with unfounded suspicion the actions of others, I warrant, justify, and invite the same for myself. 

    I may be cynically jaded about life, and entirely sceptical about people, but I will never use my life’s struggles to justify the blatant manipulation of others under the context of “they should’ve known better cos everyone else does it as well.” Regardless of how accurate or inaccurate my observations may be of others, who I am relative to how I live will always remain a constant, either on equal footing that leads to wholesomeness of purpose, or on unequal footing that will lead to chaos in my soul. 

  • There are times when the cowardly vagueness of some really threatens to unsettle me, but I quickly restrain myself with the knowledge that those that play for an audience will rarely engage in private. I believe that the true measure of our character is not determined by how we engage with others, but rather what thoughts and actions we entertain when we find ourselves alone, without an audience to appease. Everything else is a show, or an act, or both. Sometimes deliberately, but most times not. When we’re surrounded by others, no matter how intimately they may know us, there is always a barrier between who we are, and who we want them to believe we are. This is simply the innate nature of the human spirit that seeks to protect itself before it expresses itself. Accepting this truth allows me to master that which deludes others, while denying it allows me to delude myself whilst others achieve mastery over me.