Tag: ummah

  • Reflections on Islam as we know it

    The more I learn and experience and the more I witness with my own eyes, the more I realise that Islam is not nearly as monolithic as many would like to believe it is. Far too often I come across many sahih ahadith (authentic narrations) that are seldom quoted when I see the raging debates about whose manhaj (path) is more correct.

    These are ahadith that refer to social interactions, differing forms of worship that many are keen to dismiss as an innovation, and many other contentious issues. And it leaves me wondering how many times do we engage in ferocious debates aware of only the mainstream view of the subject without being aware of the body of knowledge that supports many alternate views?

    I’m not suggesting that we should suddenly become liberals in our tolerance of the views of others, but consider that there are over 600,000 ahadith that have been narrated. Of that amount, how many have you actually seen quoted to substantiate differing opinions of how to worship Allah? Given the number of times that I have consistently seen the scholars get it wrong regarding principles versus rituals, I’m loathe to assume that every differing view, except where it blatantly contradicts direct injunctions from the Qur’an or Sunnah, is actually a heretical view.

    The tendency for the scholars to selectively refer to principles at times and dismiss principles in favour of rituals at other times is also concerning. The issues pertaining to the sighting of the moon versus calculation of salaah times, and the use of those pagan symbols without any significant opposition by all the leading scholars is just two simple examples that I as a layman has been able to identify. Why then is it so difficult to believe that Islam is not merely what is presented by the scholars, or their blind followers that have been so effective in driving divisions in the Ummah, and even in communities?

    Recently the Islamic school that my daughter attends issued a newsletter indicating that the parents will be given the opportunity to visit the teacher to review their child’s progress. However, the meeting will commence at 09h30 and continue for the rest of the school day. This is directly aimed at encouraging mothers only to attend such discussions since most men are at work during this time, and only women from traditional Muslim homes are available. This despite the fact that all schools in the area hold parent meetings in the evenings to accommodate those parents that are in full time employment. What’s more irksome about this is that there are clear ahadith that confirm that the provision of education is the right of the father over his children. So why is the Islamic school system so mother-centric?

    This is just another example that further cements my concerns that we’re getting it wrong. We’re indulging in excessive ways and interpretations because of this perpetual focus on individual piety and we’ve completely lost the plot regarding social cohesion in Islam. We establish barriers and divisions under the guise of modesty and negate the fact that free movement and interaction with mahrams present is not outlawed. Yet we insist on husbands and wives sitting separate from each other at social gatherings because we want to pre-empt the individual actions of a few deviants. Whenever this happens, I always recall the hadith where Rasulullah (SAW) was present with Aisha (RA) at a public gathering where entertainers were performing. Rasulullah (SAW) sat there with his wife while she watched, and he turned away from the entertainment because he disliked it. (May Allah forgive me if I am quoting this incorrectly, but I will search for the original hadith as soon as I am able to, insha-Allah).

    My point is, the constant focus on individual piety, and same sex groupies is eroding the community. Women and men both play an integral part of the Muslim community, jointly, not separately. But just because we’re afraid of encouraging illicit relationships, we establish boundaries that are unnatural and disruptive to the harmony of the community, whilst the very same fitnah that we aim to prevent continues unabated.

    The very same groups where hijab is strictly enforced, separation of sexes is strictly enforced, and most women are in full niqab are the same groups where I have either witnessed first hand or heard reports from credible sources, the degradation and outright disgusting behaviour of many. This is not to suggest that they are worse than others that don’t observe such boundaries or attempts at modesty. Instead, this proves that our excessive efforts at establishing unnatural boundaries not supported by the Sunnah is in fact pointless, and quite possibly attracts ridicule towards the Sunnah rather than embedding its wisdom in the hearts of those that observe it in practice.

    We always seem to focus on excess in a negative light on those actions that are blatant innovations, but we fail to realise the excess in our actions that are intended to achieve piety. Excess of any form is forbidden for Muslims because Allah does not love excess. Yet we label those that encourage moderation, and elevate those that encourage excess in forms that are apparently above reproach.

  • Question – The Distracted Ummah

    eatandbeawesome answered your question: The Distracted Ummah

    i think the most appropriate way to approach this is to bring about a change in one’s own life, which in turn will affect those around us.

    I agree with you completely. The danger is trying to find a balance between this individual piety that seems to be preached by the conservatives, whilst maintaining a balanced and responsible view of our accountability towards our families and communities. Being grounded and self-conscious but knowing when to speak out against what is wrong. It gets even more difficult when we see our elders and contemporary scholars also towing the sectarian lines and the abrasive condescension. 

    Alhamdulillah, it seems we definitely live in a time when holding onto Iman is like juggling hot coals on our hands. 

  • Question – The Distracted Ummah

    naziafk answered your question: The Distracted Ummah

    🙁 you know, i just went to makkah and came back a month ago alhumdullillah. i was one of those people who took a pic there. i felt hesitant.

    Alhamdulillah. I know how tempting it can be. To put my post into context, that was my experience more than 10 years ago, so it’s expected that things have gotten progressively worse since then, let alone the indulgence in materialism around the precinct of the Ka’aba. So I guess squeezing off a single photo with hesitation will hopefully earn you Allah’s pleasure for resisting the temptation to succumb to the urge completely. Insha-Allah your efforts have been accepted. Ameen. 🙂

  • 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.