Indigenous Islam for an Ambidextrous World

Hay un Planeta de Ambidextrous

39:5. He created the heavens and the earth In true (proportions):
He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day Overlap the Night:
He has subjected The sun and the moon (To His law):
Each one follows a course For a time appointed.
Is not He the Exalted In Power—He Who forgives
Again and again?



The verb in this ayat, yukawwiru, indicates that our earth is round.  Al-ard kifatah - our earth is ovoid in shape - like a bumpy kufta. It has no sides, no left or right handed-ness, no left or rights positions, "isms" or parties. It is one, unified sphere, it is ambidextrous.

Upon this earth, Allah SWT has placed us as khalifah.  Successors to the malaikah who once cared for it, we are the guardians and protectors of the earth.  In the past, we were only capable of guarding and protecting a small portion of this wide earth's surface.  Before we domesticated horses, this truly was only a small portion - the distance we could walk in a day, perhaps.  This is evidenced by the discussions among scholars over the matla' for moon sighting.


In regards to moon sighting and fasting the month of Ramadan, Kurayb said: Umm Fadl, daughter of Harith , sent him (Fadl, i.e. her son) to Mu’awiyah  in Syria. I (Fadl) arrived in Syria, and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria that the month of Ramadan commenced. I saw the new moon (of Ramadan) on Friday. I then came back to Madinah at the end of the month.  Abdullah ibn Abbas  asked me (about the new moon of Ramadan) and said: When did you see it? I said: We saw it on Friday night.  He said: (Did) you see it yourself?  I said: Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and Mu’awiyah  also observed fast.  Thereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday night. So we shall continue to observe the fast until we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal).  I said: Is the sighting of the moon by Mu’awiyah  not valid for you?  He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allah  has commanded us. Yahya ibn Yahya was in doubt (whether the word used in the narration by Kurayb) was Naktafi or Taktafi.(Sahih Muslim Hadith 2391).


Scholars refer to the ittihad al-matla' or local sighting zone for the hilal as the area where people will fast and pray Eid together, and should be less than the area where one would perform qasr in salat while travelling.  While some feel this is an exact distance, in fact the best interpretation is that this distance depends on certain factors. In the time of the Prophet SAW this would be the distance one could travel in a day.  One factor here is whether you would have to sleep overnight away from home.  If you could go and return on the same day, then you were not traveling.  Today that distance is far greater because of the automobile. And with the airplane, an even greater distance is possible.  If one takes a commuter flight to New York from Washington, DC for example, can one pray in qasr?  Another consideration for prayer is regularity and the regular sphere of your daily movements.  If this is the norm for you, you are not "traveling" outside of your usual sphere.  

Today, scholars talk about global matla' for moonsighting.  With modern communication, this is possible.  So we can accept a moonsighting from any point east of us, and even points west if they are communicated to us before midnight in our local time.  

Thus, today, we are capable of guarding our entire globe and coordinating efforts to do so.  Recall that mankind was tasked to be khalif of the earth, not just Muslims. And as khalifa, we find that as Muslims, we are not the majority upon this earth.

Dar Al-Islam

Back in the day, Muslims used to refer to the lands where Muslims governed and had the power of enforcement as "Dar al-Islam," and the lands where non-Muslims governed and had the power of enforcement as "Dar al-Harb."  Some, including my Sheikh, Dr. Mohamad Adam El-Sheikh, have questioned whether these attributions still apply.  Today, many nations have populations where the majority of the people have "Muslim" names.  But, is having a "Muslim" name sufficient to assume the person is Muslim?  In America, many African Americans choose "Muslim" names because the name is associated with Africa, or the parent likes the meaning of the name. Case in point, Barack Hussein Obama.  Despite the rhetoric of the alt-right, Former President Obama is not a Muslim.  He may be sympathetic and respectful to Muslims, but he has repeatedly stated he is not.  He is free to be what ever faith he professes.  May Allah guide him.

So is there a Dar al-Islam today?  The Middle East, Africa and Asia are replete with countries where mosques are built and people practice Islam, but how many states have Shariah as the law of the land?  Some have codified pieces of the law, snippets such as inheritance, marriage and divorce law, and usually only if it benefits some interest group.  Only two states profess to have Shariah law as the law of the land, Saudi Arabia and Iran.  But, in Saudi, the law is not codified.  While this is not really an issue, Shariah is a living legal system, subject to continuous scholarly ijtehad and application (qada'), it does make due process problematic.  Too often, judicial decisions are subject to the whims of amirs and political considerations.  Shariah is a legal system between common law and civil law.  Partly code based, and partly precedent-based, Shariah allows for greater flexibility than American and English law, but more predictability than European law.  

Analyzing the decisions of courts in Iran and Saudi, however, raises questions as to whether these states are competently following Shariah law and its Maqaasid objectives.  Some the punishments in both countries have been harsher than Shariah allows.    The harshest form of whipping proscribed in the Qur'an is for zina, one hundred lashes. Yet, a court in Saudi ordered the blogger, Raif Badawi, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes.  Badawi was accused at first, of insulting Islam, and later, for apostasy, because he criticized religious figures and called one of Islamic universities, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud University, "a den for terrorists."  Such behavior at most is slander.  Slander of a non-sexual nature is subject to ta'zir discretionary punishment.  If the slander is of a sexual nature, it is Qadhaf, and subject to 80 lashes, maximum, set by Allah in the Qur'an.

24:4: And those who launch A charge against chaste women,
And produce not four witnesses (To support their allegations),—
Flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence
Ever after: for such men Are wicked transgressors;—

As for Iran, the continued use of torture by secret police, reveals the true depth of Islamic adherence by its regime.  The Prophet SAW forbade torture because he understood that it produces false fruit. People will say anything to stop the pain, including out right fabrications. More than a decade ago, Star Trek: TNG explored the issue of torture.  Captain Pickard (Patrick Stewart) was subjected to torture over and over.  The tormentor told him all he had to do to make the suffering stop was to say, with conviction, that there were five lights behind him, not the four that were actually there.  In the end, Pickard is saved before he breaks, but once safe, he confesses that he was just about to say it - to break, to see what was not there.  (The program is called "Chain of Command.").

What do people like Dick Cheney and Iran's Ayatushaytans want from torture?  Causing others to suffer, to watch them bleed, scream, die, what do these sadistic monsters get out of it?  Feelings of power - Allah SWT is more powerful, the Most Powerful; sexual-sadistic pleasure - well that perhaps is the motivation isn't it.  Why did ordinary Roman citizens watch people gets hacked to pieces, disemboweled, and eaten by animals, on the floor of the Colosseum?  Why did the Mexica/Aztecs flay young girls alive and wear their skins?  

Is this Islam?  Islam teaches us to not even sharpen a blade in front of a goat before zabiha, but we seem to revel in painful and violent methods of killing. And we find any excuse to kill - apostasy or heresy.  It's so easy to label. And the label absolves us from having to worry about it; it's justified. Or is it?  Are you so sure?  

Notice in the ayat above, those who accuse others of something without proof are punished almost to the same extent as those who commit the crime for which the accusers have accused.  And their testimony may never be trusted again.  They are Fasiqun - wicked.  

The point is, where is Dar al-Islam?  There was a time when such a place existed; in the time of Rasul Allah, in Madina.  But, today, there is no nation where Islam prevails and Muslims are in the majority.  Oh, yes, in the Middle East, there are mosques and Muslims, but are they in the majority?  Let's consider Egypt.  Look at the government, look at the majority of the people.  Do they have any religion, or are they like most of the people around the world, worshipers of themselves - enamored by all that glitter, by cell phones and facebook, by twitter and entertainments galore, techno-zombies lost in their own fantasy lands.  

Muslims are not in the majority anywhere, on any particular piece of geography.  Dar al-Islam exists only in our centers and Islamic institutions, in our families, in our homes.  And Dar al-Islam does not come about simply by having a bunch of Muslims gathered in one place, but by the Islamic connections we make between us.  Our behavior toward all others is what creates Dar al-Islam.  Da'esh and FBI agent provocateurs want you to think you have to go over seas and "join" some group in "Dar al-Islam."  I have heard this rhetoric for over 25 years from Salafi preachers, who, curiously, want you to go over there, but they are going to stay here.  For da'wa, or for a paycheck from the FBI?  

But, Dar al-Islam is not over there...It's here - with you.  

Islam is Indigenous

We hear it all the time, "everyone is born a Muslim..."  So, if this is so, everywhere is Dar al-Islam.  

Islam is the world's indigenous religion - al deen al qayeem - the most ancient and original religion, our fitrah.  We are born with innate understanding of right and wrong.  Upon this foundation, Allah SWT builds structures of morality, right action, adab-character, and justice.  He gives us freedom of will, equal human dignity and justice.  These are our rights as men and women.  Impingement of these rights by any man or group of men is haram.  The purpose of Islamic society is to protect these rights.  

Ideally, we would live in a society that guaranteed these rights.  Given that Islamic Shariah was sent down by Allah SWT to achieve that goal, Shariah is the best legal code to apply in creating a just government and legal system.  Where we can, we as Muslims, should prefer to apply Shariah.  In our Wills, contracts, transactions, dealings with all others, we should try to apply Shariah principles.  And this we can do in the United States and in part of Europe.  We can marry, inherit and divorce under Shariah in many nations including Israel and Ethiopia.  In fact, Muslims often have more rights to follow their religious law in non-Muslim countries, than in so-called Muslim ones.  Just try to pray five times a day in Morocco.  

However, even if the majority of the leaders in a government were Muslim, that would not give us a green light to impose Shariah law.  La Ikraha Fi Deen - there is no compulsion or force in matters of deen.  You cannot impose Shariah on non-Muslims, period.  The Prophet SAW allowed Jews to decide their own affairs under their religious law.  The Dustur al-Madinah formed a compact between the Prophet, his muhajireen companion, and the people - both Arab and Jewish, of Madina.  The people agreed, voluntarily, to be bound by the judgment of the Prophet SAW in disputes between communities.  But, even when he was asked to judge between individuals in the Jewish community, he used Jewish law.  An example is his adjudication of a case of zina.  The Jews brought the case to the Prophet, perhaps thinking he might be more lenient.  The Prophet SAW called for the Jewish law books and had the Rabbis open the book and read the page describing the punishment for zina.  They tried to block the text with their hands, but Abdullah ibn Salam told the Prophet SAW what they were doing and read the applicable text, prescribing stoning.  

This example is important for another reason. It reveals that legal authority is based on a social contract.  We voluntarily agree to be bound by a legal system.  When we ask to have our rights protected, we also agree to be responsible for our own actions.  When we come to America, and seek the protection and operation of its laws, we also agree to be bound by those laws ourselves.

Under an Islamic social contract, non-Muslims used to pay jizya.  This was a tax paid by non-Muslims seeking the protection and benefits of the Islamic state.  If the individual served in the military and participated in protecting the rights of all the citizens, then he was exempt from paying this tax.  

Our Dustur al-Madina and development of Islamic society during the Khalifaat period shows that Islam adheres to a paradigm that is most respectful of human rights, human equality, human freedom and human justice.  Certainly, we cannot deny that some governments were unjust.  Mu'awiyyah, Yazid, Marwan and Hijjaj were tyrants.  Later Abbasid Khalifs tortured and killed scholars.  But the model promoted by scholars, the most knowledgeable of this deen and the most independent of special interest groups, was of freedom, justice and equal dignity.  

Such a society focused on justice is a far cry from one based on imposition of power from the top down, for the benefit of the ruling group.  Colonialism saps the life out of one people for the benefit of another people.  Like its economic companion, Capitalism, which relies on hording of resources by the ruling elite, and the enslavement of the masses in debt, colonialism is based on kibriyyah, on the sin of Shaytan - "I am better than him."  The colonialist does not belong to the world, the world belongs to him. He is not a part of society, he is on top, and you are on the bottom. He is foreign, imposed from outside, alien.  He is not indigenous.

Islam does not support such a paradigm.  It supports indigenousity - the idea that we are one ummah, connected to one another, responsible to each other and for each other.  In salat, we pray together; in zakat, we support one another.  We build societies, and we become a part of the world in which we have been placed as khalifah.

Some Muslims shy away from talking about the history of a place prior to Islam.  They focus on the Seerah, if they are Sunni, or the time between the death of the Prophet SAW and Karbalaa, if they are Shia.  Some do not want to talk about the history of India or Persia or Rome or Egypt.  Why is their history important; they were pagans.  They were humans.  They preceded us on the land. Allah SWT tells us to travel through the land and see what happened to the people before us.

In Iraq, long ago, the people of Uruk built a great city.  They farmed the marshes and were able to provide food for a huge population.  As wealth increased, some had more than others, and some gained political power.  They rose to become kings, and supported religious leaders who supported them.  Those religious leaders told the people the kings were divine, special, more than human.  The kings and the religious leaders exploited the people and grew richer and richer on the backs of their labor.  But then the system began to crash.  The south of Iraq is a fragile area.  Over farming and draining of the marshes for fields caused the marshes to dry up, leaving a great dust bowl.  Saddam Hussein did the same thing in the '80s.  So, Uruk and its great city fell to the earth's first environmental disaster.  

What a lesson, but you have to know history to learn it.

The indigenous perspective is not imposed from without.  It arises out of the soil around it.  Indigenous Islam in Iraq will come from the dust of Uruk, Kufa, Basrah, Mosul, Najaf, Baghdad and Fallujah.  Indigenous Islam in Iran will rise from the gardens of Qom, Shiraz, Mashshad, and Tehran. Indigenous Islam in America will rise in New York, Washington DC, Florida, California, Northwest Arkansas, Phoenix Arizona, Peoria Illinois...  It will rise when American Muslims - those born and raised here, those who study the history of the people who came before them, Native Americans, European Americas, African American, Hispanic Americans, and we learn from these people, not just from history books, their stories, their lives, and hopes and dreams. When we, American Muslims, pick up the legacy they gave us and add in the legacy of our Prophet SAW and all the Muslims scholars and thinkers who have preceded us, and create an Indigenous Islam, born of American soil, and air, and water.  Not imposed from without by a colonial mindset of ethnic or madhhabistic superiority, but born of the indigenous Islamic understanding of freedom, equal dignity and justice. 

Hay un planeta de los indigenos.

Ramadan: A Month of Opportunities

Welcome Ramadan!



2:183. O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you
As it was prescribed To those before you,
That ye may be among those with taqwa,—

Al Hamdu lillah! Every year we are blessed with a very special opportunity, an opportunity to increase our taqwa.

What is taqwa?  Many have defined it as "fear of Allah,"  but this definition may give the wrong impression in the context of modern English, an impression that Allah is harsh and merciless, and Muslims should be as well. However, Allah SWT has specifically told us that He is ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim - His is the most complete form of Mercy; and in a hadith, He has told us that His Mercy outweighs His Wrath.

In older forms of English, the word "fear" not only meant being scared, but it also meant a feeling of awe, wonder and great respect.  However, in Arabic, this meaning is more attributable to "khashiyyah Rabbahu". The meaning of taqwa, then, can best be expressed as "grasping the firmest hand-hold," to grasp and cling to Allah with all one's strength (qawaya). And it is during this blessed month of Ramadan that we have an opportunity to increase out taqwa.

Certainly, fasting, the essential element of Sawm Ramadan, increases our taqwa.  In the ayat above, Allah SWT reminds us that fasting has been prescribed for those before us.  All religions prescribe fasting.  Jews fast Yom Kippur and the High Holy Days, Christians fast Lent, Hindus fast for vows and on other occasions, Guatama Buddha fasted also.  Fasting has long been recognized as a way to cleanse the body, mind and soul.  Even non-religious people fast today for the same reasons. 

Fasting increases our taqwa by reminding us of the bounties we are blessed with and who provided those provisions.  Often we do not appreciate what is in front of us.  But, when it is gone, we suddenly miss it - appreciate it.  So, during Ramadan, the food is missing for part of the day.  Those chips we snack on while typing away on our laptops and cell phones, they are missing.  That lunch we munch on without thinking, it's missing.  What if it were missing every day?  Anyone who is capable of reflection cannot fail to begin to feel gratitude for what, eleven months of the year, we take for granted. 

As Ramadan goes on, our days of fasting and nights of salat and tarawih remind us from where all those bounties come.  Factories don't create chips - they manufacture them from potatoes, which a farmer grew from a seed crop.  We should be reminded of all the hands that touched that food from the seed spud to the grocery shelf.  Without all those people, we would not have the food.  We should be grateful to them.

But, there is one more link in that supply chain - the One who made all of that possible every step of the way.  He created the seed spud; He watered the plant in the earth; He created the fertile soil; He created the worms and creatures that enriched it and aerated it; He created the birds who ensured that the worms did not get out of hand and become too many; He created an entire web of being, balanced and well-managed; He created the people who cut the potatoes, fried and salted them, put them in the bag, shipped them to your store...  He created you.

He also blessed you with an income - with the money to purchase the food.  Your boss did not do that.  Ramadan is a time to place gratitude where it belongs - with our true Rabb. 

And when we remember our Rabb - our Ultimate Benefactor - we realize how precarious is our existence.  We cling to Allah SWT with all our might.  We gain taqwa.

The first part of Ramadan is about Mercy.  We see that above.  At the end of this first period, we realize how merciful Allah SWT is, and we also begin to reflect that mercy toward those around us.  Here is our first opportunity.  We can express mercy ourselves.  Not only can we help feed the poor and those in need, but we can treat others mercifully in all situations.  If someone cuts you off in traffic, instead of getting mad and cursing them, think mercifully.  Respond positively, smile, wave - it just might surprise them.  It might make them think. 

People today have been raised to be selfish, self-centered, absorbed in a world of their own creation.  They are completely detached from Allah, from His creation, and from people.  They may be screaming to someone on the phone, but in reality, they are in their own world.  And in their own worlds, they are never merciful, never grateful, - they are only self-ful.  That act of mercy forces them back into reality.  In their "my-way-or-the-highway" world they live in, everyone is just like them - a singularity without any connections.  It's an angry, bitter, world.  They expect you to be like them - to spew hate.  If you spew hate, then they are justified in treating you like dirt.  It is easy to hate nasty people. 

Look at us Muslims.  In order to justify hatred and murder, we judge people to be "apostates."  Allah SWT has absolutely forbidden killing, except for specific reasons set by Allah alone.  Allah SWT created us, only He can permit our destruction.  If someone is killed unjustly, Allah SWT alone will deal with the murderer.  Think on that very carefully. 

We are no better than anyone else these days.  We are just as much a product of millennialism as anyone else.  But, we should be better.  We are the best ummah from among mankind, rights?  We have the potential to be, but are we?

We will be if we learn the lesson of the first part of Ramadan - mercy.  Abu Bakr, RAA, had a relative living with him.  He provided that man with food, shelter, everything.  When the people accused Aisha of infidelity, this man was one of the first to make lewd accusations.  Abu Bakr was furious.  He refused to speak to the man.  The Prophet SAW heard about this and spoke to Abu Bakr.  He told him, "wouldn't you want Allah to be merciful to you?" 

Allah SWT then revealed this ayat:

24:22. Let not those among you Who are endued with grace
And amplitude of means Resolve by oath against helping
Their kinsmen, those in want, And those who have left
Their homes in God's cause: Let them forgive (be merciful) and overlook,
Do you not wish That God should forgive you?
For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Think on this.  This relative, who had been "sponging" off Abu Bakr, sleeping in his house, eating his food, had just insulted his honor and his house by accusing his daughter of infidelity - of zina!  What could be worse?  What would you do in such a situation?  But is we would love for Allah SWT to forgive us some day, on that day, yawm al qiyammah, then we must also forgive.  And not just forgive, but lyasfahuu.  Sometimes we forgive people, but we never forget.  It stays in the back of our minds forever.  It clouds our thoughts about that person forever.  Allah tells us to leave it, overlook it, treat it as it never happened.  Wipe that cloud from your mind and give that person a fresh start. 

The amazing thing is that Abu Bakr responded immediately.  He didn't say what most of us would say..."But, you don't understand, he did this, he did that....."  In other words we spew justifications for hate.  Allah SWT does not use justifications - and who would be more justified given our lack of gratitude?  What justifications do you have really?  For every person who has dissed you, you have dissed someone else.  Do you want mercy in the end? 

Allah says:  "walya'fuu"  then show them mercy

Allah is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!

A Very Special Opportunity

This year we are blessed with a very special opportunity.  This year we, as Muslims, have been the object of a great deal of hate.  Hate crimes against Muslims have increased dramatically as some segments of our population have been emboldened into hate-filled action.  Muslims have been verbally attacked, and physically attacked.  Some have been murdered for no other reason than the murderer thought they were Muslim. 

But the hate attacks are not just coming from one side.  Muslims are being attacked by people claiming to be Muslims.  Again, hate fuels ridiculous justifications for murder.  Unfortunately, our youth, living in their little virtual worlds, are drawn into the brainwashing machine of Da'esh and other hate groups.  Shaytan is having a field day. 

The Prophet SAW told us that the shaytans are chained up during Ramadan.  True.  But you have freewill and you can unchain them yourself.  The propaganda is still out there, and some of shaytan's minions are out at the masaajid right now trying to recruit youth.  Some are paid by governments, some are just brainwashed zombies.  But they are out there, poking your kids in the chest, using domination tactics, creating doubt and not letting your kids think or use their minds.  Never forget, hate is the tool of Shaytan. 

Keep your eyes on the prize - Jennah, and use this special month to overcome hate, practice mercy, and develop taqwa.

Show mercy to all.  To those of other faiths or those with no faith, show mercy.  Practice the adab of the Prophet SAW, who was always kind, generous, gracious, friendly, warm, caring, professional, and sincere.  Smile and be friendly to all people.  If they abuse you, be even friendlier. Do not try to have a comeback for their verbal abuse. (You can imagine about that later, if that helps any). Say "a'uduu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim," and make du'a to Allah that they will find guidance. 

For those who claim to be Muslims, remember they are using brainwashing tactics.  DO NOT TRY TO RESPOND OR HAVE A COMEBACK FOR EVERYTHING.  The best response is to ignore them and walk away.  They will pursue you.  They may call your rude or that you lack adab - walk away.  When Shaytan taunted Ibrahim at Makkah, Ibrahim threw stones at him and walked away.  The person confronting you is not Shaytan himself, so stoning is not appropriate, but walking away is. Say "a'uduu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim," and make du'a to Allah that he will find guidance.  This might anger the person, if Shaytan really has a hold on him.  In that case, call security, the police, the authorities and file a complaint. 

Do not feel that it would be inappropriate to call the police when confronted by those under the brainwashing of Shaytan.  This is not the same as a brother or sister who is mistaken about something, or who may even be committing a sin.  When a person is a Muslim, we cover their faults and give them advice (nasihah).  We take care of things "in-house" as much as possible.  We reach out to Imams, trusted advisors, elders, if necessary.  But, these attacks by Shaytan on our community require a different response.  In Europe and North America, enforcement authority is in the hands of the police.  We pay "jizya", what they call taxes, for the protection of the state, just as the ahl-al-Kitab and those under protection pay jizya in an Islamic state.  And considering some of these people are being paid by the state to infiltrate and entrap our youth, we should not hesitate in the least to hold these people accountable for their abusive actions.

So this Ramadan, let us take advantage of this special opportunity to overcome hate.  We must begin by removing hate from our own hearts and replacing it with love of Allah.  When we do, we will be able to present a face of Islam to others that is loving, respectful, peaceful, full of sakinah, and full of the Noor of Allah.  Our children will also see this face.  We can also show people that this love is an active love, inspiring our actions in serving the community through charity and helping others.  Serving in the community is something we can do with our children too. And helping others connects us to real people, not virtual ones who ultimately do not care about us.  People who do activities together build bonds, and the more we act together, the stronger those bonds become. The stronger the bonds between individuals, the strong the society around us.  This all begins with taqwa, clinging to the rope, that firmest hand-hold, linking us to Allah SWT.

Family Opportunities

For parents, this is a great opportunity.  Why send your children and teens to the masjid, dropping them off and heading out to iftar parties, when you and your child can learn more about your deen together.  Why not find out how to address the hate-mongers of all stripes.  Strengthen your own iman and taqwa.  And ensure that your child is not falling in with agent provocateurs and hate-mongers.  Don't end up like so many parents these days, with your child's face plastered all over the TV as the latest terror bomber.  And then you have a camera in your face trying to explain that your son was not that way.... How do you know?  Did you go to the masjid with your son?  Or to that iftar party...

Ramadan is a wonderful time to build families.  In the past, we might have said, "strong families," but today, with each of us living in our own virtual worlds, just building families would be a start.  The family is the first place we connect with other people, the place where we learn love.  If we are all in our separate spaces, we do not learn love and we easily succumb to hate.  Ramadan is an opportunity to spend time together, with no distractions, and only the Qur'an in Tarawih for entertainment.  In fact, the word, tarawih means "entertainment." 

And do not pretend you know about your deen.  Too many "Ramadan Muslims" and regular attendees to our masaajid, do not know the deen or fiqh.  Yet, they parade around like shuyuk.  Only Allah is Alim, you are not.  When it comes to the knowledge you need to perform your job, you went to school, college, graduate school, etc.  This is knowledge you need to perform your 'ibaadah and establish your relationship with Allah - far more critical knowledge really.  So, what did you do to get knowledge of deen?  Hear some talk from your parents, friends, some TV evangelist/da'ii...  Oh, you read a book once - mabruk... Most don't read these days.  That makes you a makhallaf, not a mufti.  In fact, the schools of dawa in Arabia do not produce muftis either, although many of the graduates seem to think so.  We only have a handful of schools producing muftis within a madhhab in the Sunni world.  None of these schools produce mujtahids.  (The Shia have three hawzah in an-Najaf, Qom, and Mashshad, as well as some smaller hawzah producing ayatollah (mufti within the Jaafari madhhab, and a handful of marjaa at-taqlid/mujtahids).

So, instead of issuing fatwa and parading around a masjid you seldom attend outside of Ramadan, sit with your children and study with a truly knowledgeable person.  How do you know when a person is truly knowledgeable?  You know by his character.  First and foremost, he understands that he has no knowledge and only Allah is Alim.  Any understanding he has, Allah SWT has shared with him, and for that he is most grateful.  So, such a person is humble, sincere, honest, and just.  When discussing fiqh issues, he gives the dalil for his position. Never accept a position without a dalil - and "sheikh so and so said" is not a dalil.  If "sheikh so and so" was a sheikh, he gave a dalil. 

Now, we are aware that scholars may differ on a position.  In other places, we have addressed ikhtilaf.  However, in this context, we must understand that there are difference approaches and methodologies for extracting fiqh from the sources.  As long as a dalil is reasonable, it is acceptable.  We may not agree, we may find another position stronger, but as long as the dalil is reasonable, we cannot condemn a person for holding that positions and holding that position should never expose that person to verbal abuse, harassment or hate.  NO WUDU POLICE ALLOWED!!! This kind of harassing behavior drives people from the masaajid, and is unIslamic.  Remember how the Prophet SAW treated the beduin who urinated in the mosque.  Well, if you do not know this hadith and its implications, you have no business pretending to be a faqih.

Community Opportunities

 Speaking of our masaajid.  Many of our mosques and Islamic Centers and their controlling boards and members want to build the mosque and the Islamic school.  They are so focused on these things that they sometimes neglect teaching Islam.  We have hundreds of mediocre Islamic schools, but many of the children who attend are ignorant of fiqh and of deen.  Yes, they can make wudu and prayer, but they have no understanding of who they are praying to and why.  When coupled with the literalist dogma popular for the last hundred years or so, we have lost our spirituality at the expense of mechanistic posturing.  Only now, when this dogma has been stretched to its extreme, have people begun to look at a fuller picture of Islam.  Al-hamdulillah, we hope this trend continues. 

Our masaajid need to take a more active role in educating our adults.  All of the lessons the schools try to teach children are wiped out by parental behavior.  A sincere teacher may give a lesson on honesty, and then little Muhammad sees his father lie to friends, cheat customers, and cry "wa llahi wa llahi" to everyone else.  Who influences little Muhammad more?  Your child is not going to grow up like his teacher, he is going to grow up like you?  Who are you? 

Yes, some masaajid and shuyuk offer lectures and no one attends.  Yes this is a problem.  One solution is to help each other understand ikhtilaf.  Many do not understand why there are differences in fiqh.  For some, these differences put them off from attending lectures on fiqh.  So the first place we need to start is to offer lectures on usool al fiqh.  This does not have to be complicated, but such lectures do need to explain what fiqh is (the human understanding of the Law), how it relates to Shariah (the Divine Law), and why there can be ikhtilaf.  We also need to explain the basic minahij of the major schools.  We need to understand that these different methodologies naturally lead to different results.  And we need to emphasize that although we may prefer one school over another or one position over another, Allah Ta'ala Alim is our guide.  As long as a position is reasonable, we accept is as possible.

Then, once a person understands that ikhtilaf is natural and not necessarily a source of fitnah, we can explore the dalil behind various fiqh positions and enable a person to make informed choices.  We can then accept those choices and build respect and toleration of each other as members of an ummah. 

And all of this begins with that merciful month of Ramadan.  In Ramadan, we gain taqwa, we build connections to Allah and to His creation, we build families, we build our Ummah. 

We remind everyone that the second part of Ramadan is about forgiveness - Allah forgives us, and we forgive each other.  The third part of Ramadan brings us a reward.  Fasting is for Allah alone.  We could be showing off in prayer or zakat, but fasting, only Allah SWT knows and He rewards it with Jennah. 

May Allah SWT reward us all with Jennat ul-Firdaws.