Text of a sermon
delivered by the Chief Imaam, Fountain University, Osogbo, Sheikh Abdul-Hafeez
A.A. Adedimeji, in the University Main Mosque on Friday, 7th
Muharram, 1436 A.H. corresponding to 31st October, 2014 C.E. and 14th
of Muharram, 1436 A.H. corresponding to 7th November, 2014 C.E.)
BRING BACK OUR DIGNITY, BRING BACK OUR HONOUR
All
praises and adoration belong to the Truthful Allaah (Al-Haqq), the One who
enjoins His servants to be truthful always thus: ( O You
who believe! Be afraid and conscious of Allâh, and be with those who are true
(in Words and deeds). May the infinite
mercies and blessings of Allaah be upon the noblest and most beloved Prophet
Muhammad, his household, companions and the generality of Muslims till the Day
of Judgment (Yaomul-Qiyaamah).
Fellow brothers and sisters in Islam, the theme of today's
sermon entitled: "Bring back our dignity, bring back our honour" is
carefully chosen to reflect the yearnings of conscious muslims at the micro,
local, national and international levels.
While the social crusaders, pressure groups and non-governmental
governmental organizations have inalienable rights to team up to form what is
now popularly known as "Bring-Back-Our-Girls" group, the present-day
muslims should be bold enough to gather under the umbrella of Islam to demand
for justice, fairness and positive evaluation under the banner of
"Bring-Back-Our-Dignity, Bring-Back-Our-Honour" campaign.
O you who believe, I want to start by reminding us the fact that
we are the best of all creatures and the chosen among the men. This is what our
Everlasting Allah has referred to when He says thus:
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110. You [true believers
In Islâmic Monotheism, and real followers of Prophet Muhammad and his Sunnah
(legal ways, etc.)] are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; You Enjoin
Al-Ma'rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and All that Islâm has ordained) and forbid
Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and All that Islâm has forbidden), and You
believe In Allâh. and had the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)
believed, it would have been better for them; among them are some who have
Faith, but Most of them are Al-Fâsiqûn (disobedient to Allâh - and rebellious
against Allâh's Command). {Suurat Aal 'Imraan (Chapter 3), Verse 110}.
Dear eminent listeners, it is not far-fetched from the
afore-mentioned verse that the our being "the best of peoples ever raised
up for mankind" is attributable to three qualities namely: enjoining what
is good in terms of religion and morality, forbidding what is wrong without
minding whose ox is gored and having unshakeable belief in Allaah. Without
these three sterling attributes, we are not special and we are no more than any
group of people. In fact, jettisoning these tripod concepts render us not only
unrecognized but also irrelevant in the comity of fellow religionists. The
legendary Ameerul-Mu'mineen (Paramount Leader and Ruler of Muslim faithful) of
his time, 'Umar Bunul-Khattaab summarizes the rise of muslims vis-à-vis Islam
thus: لله بالإسلام، ومهما
ابتغينا العزّة في غيره أذلّنا الله!كنّا قوما أزلّة أعزّنا ا
Meaning "We were indeed a set of down-trodden people, but
Allaah used the instrumentality of Islaam to elevate us. If we resort to
seeking greatness and elevation through other means aside Islam, we will
ultimately be relegated!" In essence, we should not downplay the essence
of Islam and its dictates our guiding principles in whatever we think,
perceive, utter, adopt and advocate.
ورحم الله الشاعر
الإسلاميّ وليد الأعظميّ حيث يقول:
شريعة الله للإصلاح
عنوانٌ وكلّ شيء سوى الإسلام خسرانٌ
تاريخنا من رسول الله
مبدؤه وما عداه فلا عزٌّ ولا شأنٌ
والحقّ في العلاج الناجع والدواء الناجح
ما قد حدّده الشاعر السعوديّ عبد الرحمان العشماويّ حيث يقول:
ودعاؤك الميمون في جنح
الدجى سهمٌ تذوب أمامه الأخطار
وتلاوة القرآن خير
وسيلةٍ للنصر لا دفٌّ ولا مزمار
في منهج (الخنساء) درسُ
فضيلةٍ وبمثله يسترشد الأخيار
In the same vein, I want us to always remember that muslims
wherever they are one indivisible entity which Almighty Allaah refers to as
"Ummah" in many verses of the Glorious Qur'aan of which example is
His declaration thus:
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92. Truly! this, Your
Ummah [Sharia or Religion (Islâmic Monotheism)] is one religion, and I am Your
Lord, Therefore Worship Me (Alone).{Suuratul-Anbiyaai (Chapter 21), Verse 92}.
Referred brothers and sisters, we have seen how the Almighty
Creator referred to us as "Ummah" which simply means
"nation", "people" or "body politic" in the
English modern parlance. In Islamic perspective, an "Ummah"\"nation"
does not need to be a geographical entity but it is rather a group of people
that share the same beliefs and common destiny. In line with the above, we
muslims are all citizens of the Nation of Islam. We should also realize for us
to be ideal Muslims, our affiliation to
this concept of Islam should prevail on and supersede other affiliations loke
country, race, gender, tribe, profession, office and social status.
In it is light with this reality that we should consider any
humiliation, relegation or name-calling a muslim or a group of muslims is
subjected to anywhere and anytime should as collective deprivation that that we
should all rise up to condemn and resist.
Bearing these two facts in mind, it is observed that
contemporary muslims are suffering from persecution and intimidation because of
the facts that they abandon their major missions on earth, they are disunited
and their faith in their Lord is unfortunately compromised because of their
inordinate love for fame, wealth, position of authority and other mundane
desires.
Dear citizens of the Islamic Nation! For long, Muslims have
always protested against the use of “Islamic” in characterising the murderous
Boko Haram group because they do not represent Islam. However, despite the
denunciation of the group and condemnation of its agenda by Muslim leaders,
there is an inexplicable obsession of harassing the majority of peace-loving
Muslims with the obnoxious activities of a fringe minority.
With the recent revelation that Christian religious leaders
engage in gun-running, arm deviant youths and incite impressionistic minds to
launch attacks on Muslim communities while blaming Muslims at the same time,
the situation is clearer. What is disappointing is that some uninformed or
mischievous people especially in media circles still utter such things as
“Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram”, an anachronism that should be totally
rejected. When I was hosted in a live programme by Osun State Broadcasting
Corporation (OSBC) earlier this year, I told the media people that they are the
ones consciously or unconsciously promoting this paroxysm of hate and disgust
for Muslims, especially those who identify with Islam in their looks and\or
dressings.
In other words, a terrorist is a terrorist, pure and simple. As
the facts of the matter are coming unmistakably to the public glare, it is
better terrorism by Muslims and Christians is condemned all together without
any religious affiliation.
The reports of aircraft dropping ammunition and food supplies on
insurgents given by Emirs and locals in the North East have now become
meaningful. Regardless of unsuccessful attempts to hide behind a finger, the
cash-for-arms-in-a-private-jet scandal linked to the President of the Christian
Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsajafor, has demonstrated that terrorism
in Nigeria goes beyond the dimensions and scope of what even our leaders are
ready to admit.
It would therefore smack of aberration for any self-respecting
Government or media to continue to malign the entirety of a religious group
with terrorism. Those who tag Muslims as terrorists are enemies of humanity.
This is because as Voltaire said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities
can make you commit atrocities”. These atrocities, including torture that Amnesty
International says is of industrial scale in our country, are still going on
with our collective humanity being diminished. It is high time killings and
torture stopped by stopping the identified sponsors of terror, not shielding
them from law and justice.
A German scholar was asked about terrorism and Islam. He began
his response through a series of questions: Who started the First World War?
Not Muslims. Who started the Second World War? Not Muslims. Who killed about 20
million aborigines in Australia? Not Muslims. Who dropped nuclear bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Not Muslims. Who killed more than 100 million Indians
in North America? Not Muslims. Who killed more than 50 million Indians in South
America? Not Muslims. Who took about 180 million African peoples as slaves and
88% of them died and were thrown into the Atlantic Ocean? Not Muslims.
“First of all”, he further submitted, “you have to define
terrorism properly. If a non-Muslim does something bad, it is a crime. If a
Muslim commits the same, he is a terrorist. So first remove this double
standard and then come to the point”. From this illustration, it is clear that
they, i.e. the Western war mongers, are the terrorists and not the Muslims.
It is trite that since the collapse of the defunct USSR, the
need for a new enemy to justify big defence budgets and provide market for the
lucrative and tightly controlled arms production industry had arisen. Islam,
which incidentally is the fastest growing religion in the world, happens to be
the target of this war and no effort would be sparred to tarnish its image as
well as blackmail and punish its adherents. But this is not right.
Despite all the lies we are being made to believe, the
percentage of Muslim terrorists in the world is marginal. Last year, the Loon
Watch of Princeton University published a chart, a summary of its study
compiled from the FBI database, which shows that the percentage of possible
terrorist attacks masterminded by Muslims between 1980 and 2005 was minimal.
The study showed that there were more Jewish acts of terrorism within the US
than Islamic.
The report revealed the patterns of terrorism among various
groups as follows: Latino, 42%; Extremist Left Wing Groups, 24%; Jewish
extremists, 7%; Islamist extremists 6%; Communists 5% and others, 16%. The
implication of the reports is that Muslims are not "more terrorist"
than the others though the tag of terrorism appears to have been reserved for
Muslims only.
If the statistics of the CIA and Pew Research Centre are
anything to go by, the monstrosity called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) has 31, 500 fighters/ terrorists. The population of the world in 2013
was estimated to be 7.2 billion out of which 1.6 billion are Muslims. This
means that 23% of the world’s population are Muslim. Put differently,
approximately one out of every four persons in the world is a Muslim.
Based on the given
figures, the percentage of ISIS in the world Muslim population is 0.001969%,
far less than 1%. If other fringe groups like Al-Qaeda, Al Shabaab and the
original Boko Haram are added, hardly would the figures still add up to 1%.
This shows that it is irrational and wicked to blame more than 99% of people
for the crime of less than 1%.
أنا
مسلمٌ أبغي الحياة وسيلةً للغاية العظمى
وللميعاد
لرضا الإله وأن نعيش أعزّة ونعدّ للأخرى عظيم الزاد
أنا مسلمٌ أسعى لإنقاذ
الورى للنور للإيمان للإسعاد
ويروعُني هذا البلاء بأمّتي لمّا تخلّت عن طريق الهادي
Let us come back to our painful and pitiable situation in
Nigeria. We all know that main purpose of having a government in place, whether
democratic, theocratic or dictatorial is security; Nigeria is not secure.
The central message of religion whether celestial, traditional
or man-made, is to be good; some of our religious leaders are bad.
These two groups (i.e. the political and religious leaders) are
the heartbeats of the society and the determinants of its regeneration and
degeneration. This why our most noble Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.S.) says:صنفان من النّاس إذا
فسدا فسد النّاس، وإذا صلحا صلح النّاس: العلماء والأمراء.
(There two categories of people whose well-being translates to
the general well-being of the society and whose corruption makes the entire
society corrupt: the religious scholars and political leaders).
In Christianity, Jesus (PBUH) said, “In everything, do to others
as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets
”(Matthew 7: 12).
In Islam, Prophet Muhammad (SAW), said: “Not one of you truly
believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.”
In Judaism, it is recorded in the Torah, “What is hateful to
you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is
commentary" (Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31a).
In Buddism, it is stated: “Treat not others in ways that you
yourself would find hurtful” (Udana-Varga 5:18).
In our traditional religions, we are all enjoined to be good. It
is in line with ethical dictate of traditional religion that Yorubas will say:
"Eni ti o ta ofa si oke ti o yi odo bori, bi oba aye o rio ti orun n wo
o" (which can be paraphrased to mean : whoever does anything that will be
detrimental to fellow human beings in secrecy should not be oblivious of the
fact that he\she can only dodge the temporal punishment).
Brothers
and sisters in Islam, the summary of the solutions to our multi-various sources
of Muslims' worries, grief and despair is to have unshaken confidence in
Allaah, to consolidate unity and return absolutely to the dictates of Islam.
Let us all jointly ponder on the meanings of the following verses:
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103. and hold
fast, All of You together, to the Rope of Allâh (i.e. This Qur'ân), and be not
divided among yourselves, and Remember Allâh's Favour on you, for You were
enemies one to another but He joined Your hearts together, so that, by his
Grace, You became brethren (in Islâmic Faith), and You were on the brink of a
pit of Fire, and He saved You from it. Thus Allâh makes his Ayât (proofs,
evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that You
may be guided. ({Suurat Aal 'Imraan (Chapter 3), Verse 103)
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{You Muslims
should not become weak (against Your
enemy), nor be sad, and You will be superior (in victory) if You are indeed
(true) believers. If a wound (and killing) has touched you, be sure a similar
wound (and killing) has touched the others. and so are the days (good and not
so good), we give to men by turns, that Allâh may test those who believe, and
that He may take martyrs from among you. and Allâh likes not the Zâlimûn
(polytheists and wrongdoers).{Suurat Aal 'Imraan (Chapter 3), Verses 139 and 140).
This
sermon entitled "Do not become weak nor be sad" is a more or less the
continuation of my last week's sermon which was : "Bring back our dignity,
bring back our honour". I will start by giving us hope through Allaah's
words thus:
(ولا تهِنُوا ولا تحزَنُوا
وأنتمُ الأعلوْن إن كنتم مؤمِنين# إن يمسسْكمْ قَرحٌ فقد مسّ القومَ قرحٌ مِثْله
وتلك الأيّام نداوِلها بين الناسِ وليعلمَ الله الذين آمَنوا ويتخذّ مِنكم شهداءَ
والله لا يحبُّ الظالِمين)
You
Muslims should not become weak (against
Your enemy), nor be sad, and You will be superior (in victory) if You are
indeed (true) believers. If a wound (and killing) has touched you, be sure a
similar wound (and killing) has touched the others. and so are the days (good
and not so good), we give to men by turns, that Allâh may test those who
believe, and that He may take martyrs from among you. and Allâh likes not the
Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrongdoers).{Suurat Aal 'Imraan (Chapter 3), Verses 139
and 140).
In
spite of all the humiliations, persecutions and intimidations, Islam is still
the religion to beat in the present-day world. It is in the light of this that
we should not neither lose focus nor feel deserted by our All-knowing Lord. As
a Yoruba adage rightly says: "Eni ti o ba mo inu ro yoo mo ope du (Whoever
is thoughtful is always grateful).
Equally,
I want to talk about the present-day dilemma of contemporary backwardness of
muslims and the resulting cultural imperialism of the West on one hand and the
inferiority complex of most muslims on the other hand. In x-raying this fact, I
want to rely heavily on the thoughts and writings of a prominent western muslim
revert who an Austrian by nationality, Muhammad Asad, author of the popular
book, "Islam at the Crossroads". In a chapter of the book which is
entitled "About Imitation", the prolific author posited that
individual and social imitation of Western mode of live by Muslims as
"undoubtedly the greatest danger for the existence of the Islamic
Civilization. He traced the origin of what he called "this cultural
malady" to the events of twentieth
century regarding the despair of Muslims who saw the material power and
progress of the West and contrasted it with the deplorable state of their own
society, especially in the Arab world. It was out of Muslims' ignorance with
regard to the true teachings of Islam, the author continued, arose the idea
that Muslims will not be able to keep pace with the progress of the rest unless
they adopt the social and economic rules of the West. According to this line of
thinking, the Muslim World was stagnating: and many Muslims came to the very
superficial conclusion that the Islamic system of society and economics is not
agreeable with the requirements of progress, and should, therefore, be modified
on Western lines. Unfortunately, these so-called "enlightened and
realistic" Muslims did not trouble themselves to inquire how far Islam, as
religion and teaching, was responsible for the decadence of Muslims: they did
not bother to investigate the real attitude of pristine Islam to issues of
economics, society and governance. Is Islam responsible for the backwardness of
most Muslim nations and societies? My answer is a loud and deafening "NO"! If you ask me to justify my
position on economic sphere, I will tell you that the economic meltdown that
the world, especially the Western world, witnessed in the last couple of years
is a glaring evidence that the Western-introduced system of banking is full of
evils both to the society and the governments. We were all witnesses to the
wobbling, fumbling and crumbling of major global banks in the Western capitals.
At our local level here, it took the decisive and drastic measures of a
frontline Muslim astute financial technocrat, renown Islamicologist and
respected risk manager Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the then Governor of
Central Bank of Nigeria and the reigning Emir of Kano, to bail Nigerian banks
out the global financial leprosy contracted from high interest-championing
Western banks through recapitalization and enforcement of financial discipline.
I want to say that regardless of political and ideological wars waged against
Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in the twilight days of headship of CBN and efforts
to tarnish his hard-earned reputation, we muslims should be proud that this
incorruptible and bold banking guru is one of us. The reality of apparent
failure of Western banking system and the inconveniences associated with its
high interest rates is forcing national and international banks to resort to
Islamic banking option. Apart from, Jaiz which is the duly licensed
full-fledge Islamic bank, many indigenous banks like Sterling and Stanbic IBTC
banks are now operating Islamic elements in some of their transactions. If this
is the reality we all see and notice, how can Islam be held responsible for
economic backwardness of some Muslims?
On
the educational and political fronts, the Gulf nations and the rising tigers of
Asia are not only politically stable, they are fast developing in terms of
physical, infrastructural and technological aspects. About few weeks ago,
Mallam Siraajuddeen Femi Bakrin, who just returned from holy pilgrimage to
Saudi Arabia, centred his sermon on what he saw about the unparalleled social
integration and unrivalled development in all spheres of life in the Islamic country.
When he was sermonizing, he made me nostalgic of my eventful ten-year sojourn
in that "God's own country"! Yes, no matter what anybody may say or
think, Saudi Arabia, the country that is fully or majorly Islamic in its
policies and principles, the country which trained and fed me free-of-charge
for ten years, the country where I bagged my three highest academic
qualifications so far remains my own "God's own country" and I owe
nobody any apology for this.
Also,
I have heard from many friends and colleagues, some of them lecturers of this
university, the degree of educational advancement in Malaysia in general and
International Islamic University situated in its capital, Kuala Lumpur. It is
both noteworthy and praiseworthy the rightly-guided Management of our dear university, Fountain University, Osogbo,
has signed a MoU with the university, which will see some of students travel to
the Islamic country to complete their degree course in the next academic
session. The motive behind signing this MoU, apart from bilateral relations, is
to expose our students to the outside world and make them fully benefit from
modern-day and state-of-arts facilities available in the Islamic University.
Hopefully in the next few weeks or months, our visionary Vice-Chancellor is
setting necessary machineries in motion to sign another MoU with International
University of Africa (IAU), Khartoum, Sudan, yet another University of an
Islamic country! I ask again: if this is the reality we all see and notice, how
can Islam be held responsible for educational and social backwardness of some
Muslims?
At
this juncture, I will return back to Muhammad Asad to directly quote from his
thought-provoking "theory of self-discovery" rather than paraphrasing
him as I did earlier. I call it "theory of self-discovery" because I
see what he said more than seventy years ago -the book was first published in
1942- in after his reversion to Islam and subsequent travellings throughout the
length and breadths of Africa and Asia still relevant to our micro and macro
environments. He said:
"Quite
apart from the fact that many a thing which is an essential part of the Western
culture –as, for example, the free intercourse of the sexes, or the interest on
capital as a basis of economic activity- is unmistakably opposed to the
teachings of Islam, the innate character of Western civilization, as has been
shown, definitely precludes a religious orientation in man. And only very
superficial people can believe that it is possible to imitate a civilization in
its external appearance without being affected by its spirit. A civilization is
not an empty form only, but a living energy. The moment we begin to accept its
form, its inherent currents and dynamic influences set to work in ourselves and
mould slowly, imperceptibly, our whole mental attitude.
"It
is in perfect appreciation of this experience that the Prophet (SAWS) said:من
تشبّه بقومٍ فهو منهم which means: "whoever makes himself
resemble a people becomes one of them". (Narrated by Ahmad and Abuu Daud).
"This
well-known Hadeeth is not only a moral hint, but also an objective statement
which lays down the inevitability of Muslims being assimilated by the
civilization they imitate".
Muhammad
Asad continues: "In this respect, it is hardly possible to see a fundamental
difference between "important" and "unimportant" aspects of
social life. Nothing is unimportant. There is no greater mistake than to
suppose that dress, for example, is something purely external and of no
consequence to the intellectual and spiritual self of man…. European fashion of
today, for instance, thoroughly corresponds with the intellectual character of
Europe. While wearing European dress, the Muslim unconsciously adapts his taste
to that of Europe and twists his own intellectual self in such a way it
ultimately fits the new dress. And in doing so, he renounces the cultural
possibilities of his own people, he renounces their traditional taste and
accepts the livery of serfdom which a foreign civilization has conferred upon
him. If a Muslim imitates the dress, the manners and mode of life of Europe, he
betrays his preference for the European civilization, whatever else is avowed
pretensions be"!
Dear
listening brothers and sisters, I need to quote vividly and lengthily from the
Islamic writer in order to buttress the fact that what I am about to say at
this juncture has been collaborated by notable Islamic scholars and Muslim
intellectuals decades and centuries ago. I use this medium to appeal to both
the Governing Council and Management of the University to have a re-thinking
about or review of making Western dress the standard dress code for staff and
students of the FUO. I am aware that the formulation of this policy is not the
making of our listening Management team but they can assist by either conveying
this position to the Governing Council of the University or being liberal in
the understanding of the word "corporate". The fact that I am a
linguist by training makes me understand that "dressing corporately"
does not necessarily means: "dressing in the Western or European
way". The word "corporate" is derived from
"corporation" and "corporation", according A.S. Hornby's Advanced
Learners' Dictionary, means: "a large business economy or an
organization or a group of organizations that is recognized by law as a single
unit". In this definition, there is nothing that clearly or implicitly
means shirts, trousers, coats and ties. I am emboldened to say this because
other conventional and most private universities do not narrow it down to what
we practise here. Apart from subjecting ourselves to cultural imperialism of
the West by insisting their mode of dress is the standard one, my confidential
interactions with colleagues show that majority of them are not comfortable
with it.
Sirs
and ma, I want to say it here on this Prophetic podium that one of the key
reasons for the undesirable turn-over of staff in this university, especially
the male folk, is this Western dress we refer to as "corporate". In
fact, one very hardworking staff of this university who is still in the service
of the University confided in me some few months ago that the only reason that
can make him reconsider his appointment with the University is the enforcement
of this dress code which he detests. We all know a Professor who had to bargain
that he be exempted from our corporate dressing before he could accept to spend
his sabbatical leave in the University. It was only on the convocation day that
the Professor wore a Western dress although he spent twelve calendar months
here!
Yes,
it may be argued that our adopted "corporate dress" makes staff and
students to dress well but this argument may be punctured in two ways. Firstly,
we have seen many who do not dress neatly, decently and perfectly despite the
fact that they are dressed in the Western way as we have seen many people who
dress perfectly well despite and "corporately" the fact that they are
either dressed in native attires or Arab wears. The second argument is the fact
that we allow that staff and students can dress in native or Arab wears, which
some people erroneously call "dressing down", on Fridays which is
holiest day of the week and which Islam enjoins us to specially adorn for. If
dressing in the Western way connotes dressing well, does that mean that we encourage
people not to dress well on Fridays only!? I am afraid that this idea of double
standards in allowed mode of dressing is unconsciously copied from
Western-oriented financial institutions and other related corporate bodies. As
Muslims, I know you will agree with me that these institutions should not be
our role models. While Islam encourages universality which connotes that
Muslims should be open to all cultures of the world that do not run contrary to
the dictates of their religion, it frowns at what is called "globalization"
which is directly or indirectly pushing all people to think, perceive, act and
dress the way Western people do. Islam enjoins its adherents to be independent
of others and distinct from them as much they can. It was for in the quest for
distinction and avoidance of imitation that Almighty Allaah changed the
direction of Qiblah from Jerusalem that it used to be for few years after
Salaat (mandatory prayer) was prescribed for Muslims to Holy Ka'bah. Also,
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was unequivocal in justifying the reason for his
commandment for Muslims to trim their moustaches and rearing their beards when
he said:
اعفوا
اللحى وقصّوا الشوارب خالفوا اليهود والنّصارى
Dear
compatriots of the Nation of Islam, this position I am canvassing for is not,
and should not be misconstrued to mean, antagonism of the constituted
authority. As Muslims, we are morally and religiously bound to respect and obey
decisions of our leaders and rulers. Until they review their position on the
men's corporate dress code if they wish, we remain obedient staff and students
as much as we can. However, we have to admonish ourselves and speak frankly on
some salient issues like this from time to time because the essence of religion
is "admonition" or "counseling". It is on the strong
bedrock of "Naseehah" that our religion is built. This is vividly
illustrated in the following tradition of the most noble and most beloved
Prophet (PBUH) thus:
فقد روى الإمام مسلم
في صحيحه الجامع عن تميم الداري t، أن النبي r قال: ’’الدين
النصيـحة‘‘.
قلنا: لمن؟ قال: ’’لله
ولكتابه ولرسوله ولأئمّة المسلمين وعامّتهم‘‘.
فقد قصر النبي r الدين على
النصيحة، وهذا من باب قصـر موصوف على صفة، وذلك على سبيل المبالغة والادّعاء، لأن
ثمّة أشياء أخرى غير النصيحة تنـدرج في الدين. وإطلاق مسمّى الدين على النصيحة فقط
هاهنا من باب ’’إقامة
الأكثر مقام الكل، واعتبار الأقل في حكم العـدم، والمعنى: معظم الدين وقوامه
النصيحة‘‘.
ولهذا، يـجد المتلقي نفسه متطلّعة إلى السبب الذي من أجله قصر النبي r الدين على
النصيحة، ويتساءل عن حقيقة النصيحة، الحقيقة التي من أجلها تبوّأت هذه المكانة،
وحازت هذه العناية.
وقد ساعد الإيـجازُ
القصرَ في تحقـق التشويق من هذا الحديث، فالمـراد من (النصيحة) في هذا السياق غير
معروف لدى المتلقين، ومن هنا أثار الإبهـام الكامن فيها شوقهم إلى معرفة القصد
منها، وهذا الذي حملهم على الاستفسار عمّن تكون له، ومِن ثَمّ فصّل النبي r أن النصيحة تكون
لله، ولكتابه، ولرسوله، ولأئمة المسلمين، وعامتهم، لكلٍّ حسب ما يليق به. وكان
اختياره r لأسلوب الإيضاح
بعد الإجمال لزيادة تمكين المعنى في أذهانهم، والإشارة إلى أهمية هذا الكلام، ولا
شكّ أن هذا أوقع في النفس، وأشدّ رسوخا في الذهن.
The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “The deen (religion)
isnaseehah ( i.e. advice, sincerity, admonition).” We said “To whom?” He (peace
and blessings of Allah beupon him) said “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and
to the leaders of the Muslimsand their common folk.” This hadeeth which is
readily available in Nawawiy's Forty Hadeeth Collection was related by Muslim.
It is part of blessings of Allaah for muslims and one things that make Islam
stands out in the comity of religions is that ours is not a group of deaf
leadership nor blind followership. As political and administrative leaders are
saddled with the responsibility of good
governance and general well-being of their subjects as much as they can,
religious and spiritual leaders must be alive to their cherished responsibility
of telling both leadership and the followership the bitter truth as much as
their conscience dictate to them.
In
conclusion, I will echo the sound of warning made by the same Muhammad Asad
when he says: "In order to achieve the regeneration of Islam, the Muslims must, before adopting any
measures of reform, free themselves entirely from the spirit of apology for
their religion. A Muslim must live with his head lifted high. He must realize
that he is distinct and different from of the world, and he must be immensely
proud of being so. He should endeavour to preserve this difference as a
precious quality, and pronounce it boldly to the world, instead of aplogising
for it and trying to merge into other cultural circles. This does not mean that
Muslims should seclude themselves from the voices coming without. One may
always receive new, positive influences from a foreign civilization without
necessarily destroying his own".
Finally,
I will also want to borrow a leaf from the immortal words of the mercurial
poet, T. S. Elliot who counsels us thus: "The only wisdom we can hope to
acquire is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless". Experience has
shown that those who are humble are unlikely to stumble. Dear brothers and
sisters, if I have offended you in any way by either the contents or
presentation tone of this sermon which I intend to be eye-opening, corrective
and enlightening, I am sorry.May Almighty Allaah enable us to identify the
truth and give us courage to follow.
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