Building the Muslim Community
| Khatib : | Mohammad Shanqiti |
| Khutbah No: | 192 |
| Khutbah Date: | 04/07/06 |
Today, I shall examine the requirements for the development of a sound and prosperous Islamic community as we have learned from the life of our Prophet Muhammad (saw). As most of us have come to this country as immigrants, let us look at what kind of motives Muslims had when they made such a type of hijrah from Mecca to Madinah. They left their home and their properties for three reasons: [list][*] They were seeking the bounties of Allah(swt) [/*][*]They wanted to please Allah(swt) [/*][*]To support the faith of Allah(swt) and to support His messenger[/*][/list]We come to this country seeking education or money which are legitimate reasons but when the first Muslims made hijrah, these were not their reasons. We have to keep in our minds that our mission in this land is not to only to serve our material prosperity but also to please Allah(swt) and to support his religion. When our Prophet (saw) arrived in Madinah- people were divided and he had the task of building a community out of a divided people. Al-Ansar were divided into two tribes and they had been fighting for many years, and there were three Jewish tribes living there as well. The Prophet(saw) had to build a strong community out of these three components. His first step was to build a mosque. The Prophet(saw) said, “There is a piece of flesh in the human body if it is sound and well then the entire body is sound and well and this is the heart.” The Prophet started building the community by building the mosque – the heart of the community. It is not enough just to build a mosque, you must fill it with worship and learning- if the mosque is empty then our hearts are empty. This idea is reflected in a beautiful prose: "The minarets are high everywhere, the voice of the athan can be heard, but the voice of Belal is missing and the mosque is empty." The second step our Prophet(saw) took was to develop the brotherhood between the muhajareen and Al-Ansar. This kind of brotherhood was very important as they needed it more than anything else. The muhajareen were in desperate need of material help and Al-Ansar needed a new identity instead of their tribal frictions. His third step was to make a treaty with the three Jewish tribes of Madinah. In the treaty, the Prophet(saw) guaranteed freedom of worship, allowing them a school and syngagogue in Madinah. The final step to develop a strong community is to have healthy and normal relations with your non-Muslim neighbors. Unfortunately, we are divided today because of different cultures and ideologies. However, Islam is a universal message for all but we must free ourselves from the man made terminiology that is dividing Muslims today- words that are not taken from the Qur’an or sunnah. To establish our brotherhood we must free ourselves from terminology – we are brothers in Islam and we must have our mosques full of learning and worship. One of the challenges we have today is how to transfer Islam to our children- especially for Muslims living in a non-Muslim environment. Prophet Yacoub (ra), at the time of his death, gathered his children and asked them "What will you worship after my death?" as that was his main concern. Everyone needs to ask themselves and their children this question. Prophet Yacoub took this concern from his grandfather, Prophet Ibrahim(ra). No prophet was more concerned about his children and their fate than Ibrahim(ra). Whenever he made duaa for himself, he made duaa for his children as well- "Oh Allah prevent me from worshiping idols and prevent my children from worshipping idols." He took his family from the most prosperous community at the time, Iraq, to a desert in order that they perform prayers to Allah(swt). It is very legitimate to be concerned about the material concern of your children but the main concern should be about faith. If you have to sacrifice material comfort to preserve your faith you have to do it. Allah(swt) asked us to follow the way of Ibrahim(ra). Therefore, we must make sure our children have strong faith, that is the best kind of investment we will have in our lives and when we die that is the best reward we will find. A hadith of the Prophet says “When the son of Adam dies, his deeds will come to an end except three kinds: Sadaqah Jariah (continuous charity), beneficial knowledge, and a good child that will pray for him." When you transfer faith to your children you benefit them as well as yourselves. Let us remember our responsibility- we give the meaning of life to our kids. Remember the hadith, “Every newborn baby is born on blank sheet and his parents will make him into whoever he is."