On reshaping the emuslim community

Bismillah (In the name of God the infinitely good, and merciful may God have mercy on my soul Ameen).

Thank You Maryah for adding another perspective to the issue but I wish to also address that race is not my central focal point here but an important one nonetheless. Maryah, I can say when going to school studying from different professors it always astounded me how the people in the times of Jesus, Noah and Muhammad reacted the way that they did, I mean those who were in denial of revelation. Since then it does not astound me now that since the revelation and the advent of our prophet has passed we still continue to do otherwise. I'm the first to say that I find "little" things that I still do now (which I'm trying to change) that I did before when I was in a state of Kufr (disbelief). I pray to God for more wisdom and guidance on many of my endeavours....Ameen.

What I see in our brothers and sisters of other ethnic groups is that they still cling to old traditions and solidify this by pointing out reasons why they choose to remain isolated from other ethnic groups. I was definitely surprised that sister UmmAminata pointed out that in the book "The reliance of the traveler" the Sheik wrote that Arabs must not marry non-Arabs. I mean, its almost like behaving like the Quraysh all over again. you see, there appears to be a parallel in behavior from the quraysh in Muhammad's time and the people now in contemporary times.

We have our elders clinging on to old marital traditions and teaching their children their ways, which,m is fine to me. But when it comes to making life decisions especially marriage one must not use ethnicity as the sole reason of choosing a mate. In my personal philosophy we all need to learn different cultures. If we choose to continue this endogamous philosophy we will never fully understand diversity and enjoy the traditons of others. More importantly, we go against what the Prophet said in his last sermon to the Muslims in his time. If there is anything I can do to end this is to mention it to other Muslims. Some choose to not look at this reality and some do but more importantly these issues definitely need to be addressed in the forums.

I mean, if we are so easy to criticize other people's countries why are we so hard pressed to acknowledge the ills within our community? In the bible, Jesus made an analogy from this. "Why point out the needle in your brothers eye when you have a needle in your own eye? Of course imperfectly I quote Brother Jesus (Alayhi Salaam) but the point is we shouldn't be quick to criticize others when we have ills of our own. I think its important to definitely address these issues and practice their solutions in our own homes.

Asalaamu alaikum:

I do agree with sister Herji, We need to be more visible in our communities and participate in good activities. I spent yesterday spooning mashed potatoes onto plates and cleaning up after homeless people at a non denominational non religious organization sponsored meal yesterday with my grand daughters. actually, people asked me if I was cold due to the fact that i was wearing a head scarf and I got a kick out of that! They were surprised to find that I was Muslim! Evidently many Americans are not aware that charity is a very important part of our faith! Inshallah, we could break that stereotype by being more involved in our community activities and let people know that we are a part of their lives!

Edited by Maryah

Peace to all,

Its with hope that i can read the posts,even though some reveals some shocking realities which indeed should be tackled like the issue of race relations,i mean,i have seen somekind of "keep to ourselves" kind of attitude among some arabs and some asians,but i guess here in Kenya its not that astounding as it may be wherever each one of you is,but as muslims we should not even have such kind of talk of "not wanting to associate with this and that" in anyway in anyform whatsoever.Its only the jews who have a doctrine that they should never marry someone outside their fold,and yet the prophet told us that we should be directly quite opposite what the jews do!!!...so!!...anyway.....

In regards to trying to make a difference in the communities wherever you are,you should know that you will be treating the symptoms and not the root problem,you can do as much as you want to do,but if the system directing your lives is not what you fully ascribe to,it will be an exercise in futility.The problem with most of us,we get content quickly,we do something for an orphan and we say "Alhamdulilah" and next day we start ranting about it to everyone that indeed 'i have done somthing"...no,thats not the way,as long as kufr is ruling over you,you should fight by all means to remove the kufr and install a system of islam,a system that will define the economic,social and political scene in a more islamic way.How does it work?

Right now most in the forum might be in America or Canada where the capitalism system thrives,a system where "maslah" is the main principle,to the point that people kill just to make a dollar i.e the the end (dollar) justifies the means (kiilings)"..a system where democracy (which is haram in islam) thrives,where doctrines like freedom,human rights and other sugar coated terms prevail.So when in essence you have to discipline your child here in Kenya using a cane,its a crime in America or Canada...how do u expect to achieve anything when you cant discipline a child???...a child should be directed when its still young,thats when it grasps the basics with zeal and the right grasping mind,even though at a younger age they might not like it..but as a parent,one has to use some little physical punishment to instill discpline in the kids..so..its hard raising kids in such a society where kufr prevails.
Now,we talk of -at-taddaruj,where we say we shall start slowly within our homes,and slowly it will grow and grow and the whole world will become muslimised,,,welll,thats a good thought,but it doesnt hold water,thats creating a ritualistic islam,not an idelogical islam.You can have many people becoming muslims by admiring the ritual culturalistic aspect of islam and not the ideological aspect of islam,yet many of us dont grasp a thing about the ideological aspect of islam,so much so we get soo fast in defending ourselves other than EXPLAINING ourselves!!.What i mean is that,we should use thepath the prophet used,he started at dar-al-arqam...wher he taught the ideological islam to some few sahabahs,by teaching them the main pillar of islam.."la illaha illaalah,muhamad ar-rasululah"..that theres no God but Allah,and that Muhamad is His prophet...when they understood this simple pilar,it was easy for them to apply islam to all aspects of life,from there,the prophet was asked to come out boldly and spread the word of islam,he tok on teh chieftains of quraysh without fear,explaining islam and the concept of one God,and he was taken through hardships together with his sahabahs,but he had his mind set on big things....wher im i heading?..all im saying that the prophet didnt choose to tackle one aspect of the social system at once!!!!..he wanted a system that would tackle all problems at once....thats why he fought to establish an islamic state,he didnt fight drunkards in mecca till he established a state in medina,he didnt fight any other social ills other than talk about it till he established a state etc etc...so as much as we should talk about our societies...we should set our targets high...an ISLAMIC STATE otherwise known as KHILAFAH!.

i bet theres some logic behind my thinking,yet its still a calling from Allah to fight for islam,Allah (swt) says "Answer the call of Allah when He calls you to that which gives you life"

peace

Aus

.....one has to use some little physical punishment to instill discpline in the kids.....


Peace to all,

Angel..emphasis is on LITTLE force!

Peace

Aus