Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Make a wish... |
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| Kashif |
| 09/28/01 at 19:43:55 |
| Make a Wish (Do We Need More Empty Structures) by (Removed by admin- He is now serving life in prison in US) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recently, I called a mosque to ask at what time they pray Salaat udh-Dhuhr and the answer I was given was, "We don’t really." I was a bit shocked and then thought perhaps they have some legitimate excuse for not praying the prayer in congregation, Allaah knows best… And I was also thinking about the fact that here in the city we have over 20 masaajid, three of them very close to each other. As is known, the practice of building masaajid in a vicinity is not in accordance with the practice of our righteous predecessors, but there is more that should raise our concern and cause us to worry… Dr. Mustafa as-Sibai, raHimahullaah, wrote in his biography of Rasoolullaahi, Sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, that, "Is it not true that Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Khalid, Saad, Abu Ubaidah, and their likes from among the greats of the Islamic history were but students of Muhammad’s school which was headquartered in the Prophet’s mosque?" Clearly the mosque is the most important institution we have. Also, as I quoted Shaykh Safar al-Hawali not long ago, it is the only thing we really have. But, what is it that constitutes a mosque? A nicely built, solid structure? A minaret? A dome? The sad fact is that we at times spend literally millions in building such nice, solid structures. Still, alHamdulillaah that we have masaajid. However, are such costs justifiable if we do not use these buildings properly - as, at times, we do not even establish prayer in them. It seems to me, and Allaah, subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa, knows best, that we are once again not prioritizing our resources in the best way. With all the structures already built, into what should we really be investing the next million (or whatever is the sum to be collected)? AlHamdulillah, Muslims like to donate for building masaajid, for Allaah’s sake and seeking His reward, however we should reflect for a moment, have we neglected something? Perhaps the following wisdom from `Umar ibn al-Khattaab, radhiallaahu `anhu, will make the priorities clear. Abu Nu`aim related in al-Hilyat ul Awliyaa’ that Bishr bin Moosa narrated that `Umar ibn al-Khattaab was sitting with a group of his companions and he asked: "Let each one make a wish!" Someone said: "I wish if this house was filled with gold and which I would happily spend on God’s path." `Umar asked the people again: "Make a wish!" Someone else said, "I wish that this house was filled with pearls, chrysolites, and with every kind of precious gems that I would most happily spend in charity on God’s path." `Umar asked again, "Make a wish!" They replied: "O Ameer ul-Mu’mineen, we truly do not know what to wish for!" `Umar then said, "I wish that this house was filled with men like `Abu `Ubaydah bin al-JarraaH." Allaahu Akbar. A beautiful narration. One thing we can understand from it is the importance of investing into people, great men like Abu `Ubaydah ibn al-JarraaH, in whose reference, it is worth mentioning, it was revealed, "You will not find among the people who believe in Allaah and in the Last Day, someone who loves those who resist Allah and His Apostle, and even if they were their fathers, their sons, their brothers, or their nearest kindred. Allaah has inscribed faith in their hearts, and He strengthened them with a spirit of His own. He will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will dwell for ever. Allaah will be pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the party of Allaah. Truly it is the party of Allaah that will achieve (true) felicity." [Qur’aan 58:22] So it may be that we Muslims should start investing our resources in raising da`wah workers, rather than in structures alone. Else, how will we have Muslim youth be at all like Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthmaan, `Ali, Saad…, if all that they are offered is structures. Muslim nation, alHamdulillaah, is a young nation. If thestatistics given by al-Azhar’s Population Study Centre are correct, 43% of Muslims are under 5 years old. Even if the figure were 25%, who will educate these youth? Brick structures certainly won’t. I hope in shaa’ Allaah that we will realize the importance of investing into Muslim teachers and du`aat who will teach Muslims the `ilm they need - first and foremost `ilm pertaining to our Deen. In a hasan hadeeth, we find that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam praised teachers, by saying, "Verily Allah, His angels, the inmates of the heavens and the earth, even the ant in its hole and the fish in the sea send salutation on the one who teaches good to the people." Investing the amount of money it takes to build another masjid into scholarships for Muslims to study the Deen, to pay already qualified Muslim imams and teachers to actively work in da`wah, in order to revive our mosques and to teach Muslims, is likely to be a good investment, in shaa’ Allaah. But one of the first steps to take, I believe, is to open ways for Muslim youth who wish to study the Deen. Ibn Abee Jamra, raHimahullaah, said that when a child shows an inclination or interest for something, then that is his/her purpose. "Rabbanaa, maa khalaqta haadhaa baaTilan, subHaanak." Our Lord, you have not created this in vain, glory be to You! Their inclination and interest to study the Deen was not created as something baaTil. If we help our enthusiastic youth in pursuing their interest to acquire Islamic knowledge, then, in shaa’ Allaah, we will have great Muslims who will establish prayer in the masjid, teach people good, and raise new `Umar's, Abu `Ubaydah’s and Khaalid's, who will, in turn, raise high the banner of Islaam once again. In shaa' Allaah. |
| NS |
| Re: Make a wish... |
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| jannah |
| 09/29/01 at 01:42:03 |
| AMEEN! totally true.. it is not the structures that make islam great but the people. when i came back from umrah i was telling friends and wrote on the board about what impressed me the most. it was that there is absolutely nothing there, it is mud, barren rocks, mountains of rocks, plains of rock and desert. those sahabah had nothing, absolutely nothing and they changed the world. we have computers and email and pens and message boards and phones and people can't even take the time to email to complain/complement someone in defense of Islam and Muslims. I think we're in a different phase now, we spent time building mosques and schools and organizations. Now we seriously need to come full circle and start working on ourselves. |
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