Leading the Change: Transformational Stories from the Seerah

Transformation can only happen in at least three generations (120 yrs). The only exception to that rule is seen in the life the prophet PBUH. And this was in one generation (30 years). The completion of this transformation was announced by Allah SWT in the chapter of Al-Ma’idah (The Table Spread), “This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” [5:3] Another verse states, “Thus, have We made of you an Ummat justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves…” in the chapter called Al-Baqara (The Cow) [2:143] The beloved messenger of Allah, Muhammad PBUH, is the only one who did it in one generation.

Khalil-u-Allah, Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH), tried and failed three times. He was able to finally make a change when he got to Makkah, because he was trying to find a group of people who didn’t have ignorance – traces of Jahileyya – mixed in with their concept of Islam. He wanted to build a role model community that would live on carrying the unaltered message.

The Detailed components make one – the blueprint (Seerah)

1. Embodiment of the formation of the creed
2. Change of the course of history
3. Complete overhaul of society

Embodiment – to integrate the variables or the components, to make one new thing.
Overhaul- Functional components and its missing something, you adjust it to make it work as a whole.

PBUH did that with the Arabs, they were like a broken car and they had the good things from the days of Ibrahim PBUH but there was messy stuff in the woodworks.

PBUH said my mission is to complete the reform of good manners – they already existed and they needed to be perfected. We need to understand the blueprint before we try to make changes. Or else we will throw it away, ruin the building or say there’s nothing we can do.

The context is missing, the content is there.

Islam in practice is missing, the theory is there (Qur’an and Sunnah.) In the chapter of Al- Hijr (The Rocky Tract), “We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)” [15:9] – content is preserved).

We know a lot of information, but its not internalized, we haven’t made it a part of us. We still don’t have it easy. We struggle to pray and give zakat. It becomes natural of you to do your religious obligations, it should be easy.

“Taha. We have not sent down the Qur’an to thee to be (an occasion) for thy distress” Ta-Ha [1-2:20]

Tactical and Strategic goals of Dawah:

In the chapter of Al-Kahf (The Cave) [18:29] Allah SWT orders the Prophet PBUH to, “Say, “The truth is from your Lord”: Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it)” Dawah isn’t conversion, as mentioned in the chapter of Qaf, “We know best what they say; and thou art not one to overawe them by force.” So admonish with the Qur’an such as fear My Warning!” [50:45] All you have to do is pass along the message.

Tactical goal of Dawah ( Makkah)

“Kuffu aydiyakum wa aqimu ul salat” – chain your hands, tie your hands, and pray.

Strategic goals:
“ Permission is granted for Muslims to defend themselves”

Objectives:

1- Aqeedah (Aqd – from contract- or knot a covenant with all these means it resonates with your mind, heart, etc…something firm I take freely and knowingly and I compel myself to adhere to it with no external forces) is the main axis for changing human behavior in order to have the change permanent and comprehensive.

a. List tools for affecting people’s behavior
i. Reward & Punishment.
ii. Example – most effective one
iii. Role Model – see no discrepancy, lack consistency.
iv. Visualization – Like story telling people can see (“Verily for the Righteous there will be a fulfillment of (the heart’s) desires ;Gardens enclosed, and grapevines; Companions of equal age ;And a cup full (to the brim)” An-Naba (The Great News) [78:31-34]

v. Education – tell people something they believe in (persuade them)
vi. Media – like communication, ads, flicks.
vii. Time – a component in any change.
viii. Superstars – The prophet PBUH and the Companions.

2- Most of these are affective and good, but they are temporary. When the change
of behavior is associated with aqeedah then it is permanent.
3- The messenger of Allah is the perfect role model given to humanity by the grace of Allah
4- Understanding comprehensiveness of Islam.
a. The job of a prophet is to move people form darkness to light, they aren’t equipped nor is it part of their job to be our role models in this area.
b. The prophet PBUH was in Makkah there was no farming, but when he went to Madinah they consulted him on dates and agricultural practices and he said if Allah SWT wants it to be it will be. SO they didn’t do their usual pollination and nothing grew then they came back to him and he said that “you are more knowledgeable about the ways of this life”
c. We have a mind, we can discover, we can learn so much, but there are limits.
i. Example of someone knocking on the door and we don’t know who if we leave it up to intellect. Without communication then nothing gets through. Steel door, were limited. If they stick a paper under the door and one person understands the language and we know that person and he was along us.. So without the message and without the messenger then we are doomed.
ii. We can understand the laws of nature, but the laws of humans and God are above us. Who is Allah? Ask anyone and they don’t know but when you ask a Muslim they say, “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him”. Al-Ikhlas (The Purity) [112: 1-4]
iii. “Allah. There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permits? He knows what (appears to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He wills. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory)” Al-Baqara (The Cow) [2:255] – An answer given to us by Allah swt.
iv. Messengers and messages are light, they are a blessing, they’re mercy to the worlds.
v. Who controls what, humans over religion, or the religion is in charge of controlling religion? In Islam the religion is in control, everything has to be consistent – life and religion – congruent, no inconsistency. – where’s the line between inconsistent and contradictory?
d. Qur’an is guidance to mankind
e. Methods of teaching, raising and conveying the message of Allah
f. Successful leaders are those who have firm Aqeedah.

Q&A
- How do you maintain your aqeedah?
o Knowledge is important, but the environment good friends and reminders.
o [51:55] “But teach, (thy Message) for teaching benefits the Believers.” Az-Zariyat (The Winds that Scatter)
o That’s why Prophet Ibrahim PBUH went to Makkah, he built it from scratch.

Siraj Wahhaj – Jesus in Islam

VA Mosque Reaches Out, Joining Immigrant Fabric

By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2008; A01

 

For years, the Dar al Hijrah mosque was an isolated, slightly mysterious presence in Falls Church — a stark stone building hidden behind a row of trees, rarely visited by non-Muslims in the multi-ethnic Culmore neighborhood, and known mostly for traffic jams on Leesburg Pike as worshipers arrived for Friday prayers.

These days, the mosque bustles with visitors chattering in Spanish and Vietnamese as well as Persian and Urdu. Immigrants from a dozen countries gather there each Thursday, many with toddlers and baby strollers, to pick up donated chicken, bread, fruit and vegetables.

On weekends, the doors are thrown open for community blood drives or mental health fairs. At night, mosque officials often attend meetings at nearby churches, synagogues or social agencies, including a monthly brainstorming session called Culmore Partners.

“The average person here has had no interaction with Islam. They may even think we are the enemy, especially after September 11th,” said Abdulkareem Jama, a network engineer from Somalia who is president of the mosque’s board. “The more we open up and interact, the more we demystify things and seem normal to each other.”

Dar al Hijrah has evolved dramatically since 2001, when it came under official suspicion amid reports that a man linked to the terror attacks in New York and Washington had visited there. This year, its glossy 25th anniversary report includes congratulatory letters from a variety of private and public institutions.

The mosque’s coming out also reflects the growing cooperation between area Muslim institutions and the largely non-Muslim immigrant communities that surround them. In Culmore, the trend has brought many groups together to help immigrants who struggle with poverty, discrimination and legal problems.

Father Horace Grinnell is the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, a longtime anchor of Culmore. Until six months ago, he had never met the leaders of Dar al Hijrah. Now, they are collaborating on a health clinic and other projects.

“There has been a quantum leap in synergy and coordination,” Grinnell said. “They were painted pretty harshly after 9/11, but now they are reaching out on all fronts. We can both be a resource for people, whether they are Catholic or not.”

Beyond places of worship, the evolving mosaic of shops, restaurants and offices in Culmore and several other Northern Virginia areas reflects an increasingly comfortable meld of Middle Eastern cultures with the Latin American and Asian cultures that once dominated them.

On Leesburg Pike, a Pakistani dentist’s waiting room has Spanish-language and Muslim-oriented newspapers; an Arab-owned travel company books trips to Central America; and an Iranian grocery owner often chats with the Salvadoran discount furniture seller next door.

“There is harmony here,” said Luis Lazo, 55, as he stopped by to greet Lida Sadahjiani in her shop stuffed with Iranian delicacies. “We don’t speak the same language, but we have known each other a long time.”

Just across Leesburg Pike, Ali Altaf, 35, a bank employee, was eating lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant with his wife and children. In the window were signs in Arabic, Persian and Spanish. His waitress was a Peruvian immigrant named Emiliana Navarrete, 21.

“People here seem more knowledgeable about each other’s cultures now; they are getting to know each other better,” Altaf said. Navarrete showed the notepad where she had written the names of Persian dishes phonetically so she could understand telephone orders.

“Baba kanush, korma sapsi,” she practiced with a laugh.

Such public familiarity has not crossed the line into many personal friendships, let alone religious conversions, local leaders said. There are only a handful of Hispanic Muslims in the area, including Farhanaz Ellis, an outreach worker at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Sterling.

Ellis, born to a Catholic family in Panama, said her mosque had held a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and presentations for emergency workers. Yet she seemed to have few personal ties to area Latinos and said much of her work involved explaining Islam to outside groups.

“Many people here have the misperception that Islam oppresses women and that Muslims see non-Muslims as infidels,” she said. She does not try to change critics, she said, “just give them food for thought.”

One area Muslim who has plunged into Hispanic issues is Mukit Hossain, a Bangladeshi immigrant in Herndon who co-founded a day-laborer center there for Latino workers. The center provoked a public outcry and was shut down last year.

Hossain said area Muslims, most of whom came to the U.S. legally, traditionally had little interest in the problems of illegal or Latino immigrants. After the terror attacks of 2001, however, they began to face public hostility and find common cause with other immigrant groups.

“What happened on 9/11 was a wake-up call for all of us,” Hossain said. To those who question why he would help Hispanic laborers, he retorted, “Do they think I am a terrorist here to convert people?”

Immigration is a “human rights issue,” he said. “No one from any country should be treated like an animal.”

It was the threat of a crackdown on illegal immigrants that first brought Dar al Hijrah into close contact with advocacy groups. A meeting was called in Culmore to discuss how to help families in cases of raids or arrests, and mosque officials offered their premises.

“We were blown away by their hospitality. They even bought us all pizza,” said Cindy Brown of Hogar Hispano, a nonprofit aid agency for Latinos on Leesburg Pike.

Mosque officials say they have no desire to push their religion on other immigrants, only to inform them about it. At community events, they set up a booth with brochures in Spanish, including a booklet on the history of Islam, women’s rights and “common misinterpretations” about their faith.

“We are one community of many cultures and faiths, and we want to break down the barriers that divide us,” said Mohammed Abdelilah, a manager at Dar al Hijrah. “This is nothing magic. It’s not for political gain. It is for the sake of God.”

At a recent food distribution in the mosque, families from Morocco, Iran, El Salvador, Vietnam, Korea, Guatemala, Pakistan and Ethiopia waited their turn. Although clustered together by language groups, they greeted each other with smiles.

Carlos Moreno, 71, an immigrant from El Salvador, said that with food prices climbing, he and his wife were grateful for the assistance and felt comfortable visiting the mosque.

“The Bible says there should be no divisions between human beings, no racism and no prejudice,” Moreno said. “When we die, we all look the same. Rich or poor, black or white, we all go to the same place.”