Transcript Document 7134810

Role of Muslim Men and
Women in the US*
Seif Fateen
MAS Columbus
* This presentation is based on a lecture by Dr. Salah Soltan given in
Columbus in January 2004
www.mascolumbus.org
People are like metals
• Diamond and Gold
– Increase in purity and strength in face of
hardships
• Iron
‫ كثرة‬:‫ وما جالؤها؟ قال‬:‫ قيل‬،‫(إن هذه القلوب تصدأ كما يصدأ الحديد إذا أصابه املاء‬
.)‫ذكر املوت وتالوة القرآن‬
– Indeed these hearts rust, like the rusting of
the iron when water comes to it. It was
said: ‘how can we clean it’. He said:
‘remembering death and reciting the quran’
• Dust
– Goes with the wind and disappear in water
www.mascolumbus.org
Five Roles
1. Systematic Acquiring of knowledge of this
religion
2. Working with this religion without selection
3. Calling to this religion with all our
knowledge
4. Defending this religion with all our abilities
5. Passing this religion to the coming
generations
www.mascolumbus.org
Importance of Knowledge
• Ummah was good in memorizing and reciting
poetry, yet one of the first emphasis was
about reading and writing
َ)‫• (ن َو ْال َق َلم َو َما َي ْس ُط ُرون‬
ِ
• 68.1. Nun . By the pen and that which they
write (therewith)
• It was not accepted that people remain
illiterate and ignorant
• The prophet makes the ransom of war
prisoners in the battle of badr to teach a
Muslim
www.mascolumbus.org
Importance of Knowledge
• 895 time in the Quran enjoining reading and learning
ً
‫• من يرد هللا به خيرا يفقه في الدين‬
)‫ عالم ومتعلم وال خير فيما سواهما (ضعيف‬: ‫• الناس رجالن‬
• Prophets learn knowledge before they fulfill their mission of prophethood
ً
ً
ً
)‫– (ولوطا آتيناه حكما وعلما‬
– And Lut, We granted him wisdom and knowledge
ً
ً
)‫– (وملا بلغ أشده آتيناه حكما وعلما‬
– And when he attained his maturity, We granted him wisdom and knowledge
ً
ً
)‫– (وملا بلغ أشده واستوى آتيناه حكما وعلما‬
– And when he attained his maturity and became full grown, We granted him
wisdom and knowledge
ً
ً
ً
)‫– (وكال آتينا حكما وعلما‬
– And We granted both of them wisdom and knowledge
• Knowledge is not an option. To have a role in protecting yourself and
correcting the society that you live in, you must gain knowledge.
www.mascolumbus.org
‫‪Companions‬‬
‫‪• Ibn Masoud was weak, small and dark in color. Umar‬‬
‫‪( “A container full of‬كنيف ملئ علما) ‪said about him:‬‬
‫”‪knowledge‬‬
‫• ( وهللا الذي ال إله غيره‪ ،‬ما أنزلت سورة من كتاب هللا‪ :‬إال أنا أعلم أين أنزلت‪ ،‬وال أنزلت‬
‫آية من كتاب هللا‪ ،‬إال أنا أعلم فيما أنزلت‪ ،‬ولو أعلم أحدا أعلم مني بكتاب هللا‪ ،‬تبلغه‬
‫اإلبل‪ ،‬لركبت إليه )‬
‫‪• Ubay ibn Ka`b loved the Quran‬‬
‫– (إن هللا يأمرني أن أقرأ عليك‪{ :‬لم يكن الذين كفروا من أهل الكتاب})‪.‬‬
‫قال‪ :‬وسماني؟ قال‪( :‬نعم)‪ .‬فبكى‪.‬‬
‫– إن هللا تعالى يرفع بهذا الكتاب أقواما‪ ،‬ويضع به آخرين‪.‬‬
‫‪– Indeed Allah elevate certain people with this book‬‬
‫‪and bring down others with it‬‬
‫‪www.mascolumbus.org‬‬
Problem of Randomness
• Inherent in our culture
• We preserve it even in this society
• Plans, if made, are seldom fulfilled
– Reading books
– Memorizing Quran
• Specialization:
– Abu Huraira – hadith
– Ibn Abbass – Tafsir
– Umar ibn Al-khattab – Fiqh
• [e.g. Kalala and Abba]
‫ وأعوذ بك من علم ال ينفع‬،‫• اللهم إني أسألك علما نافعا‬
‫• قل هذه سبيلي أدعو إلى هللا على بصيرة أنا ومن اتبعني‬
– Say: this is my path, I call to Allah with knowledge, me and
those who follow me
www.mascolumbus.org
Systematic learning
‫• طلب العلم فريضة على كل مسلم ومسلمة‬
• Acquiring knowledge is an obligation of every
Muslim man and woman
‫• يا يحيى خذ الكتاب بقوة‬
• O Yahia, take this book with strength
• Reading Books in its entirety
– Quran, Riyadh As-Saliheen, Usul Ad-Dawah – Abdel
Kareem Zaidan, Fiqh As-Sunnah, Seerah
• Attend a series of lectures completely
• Do not fill your mind with nonsense
"‫– "إن هللا جواد يحب الجود ويحب معالي األمور ويكره سفاسفها‬
– Indeed Allah loves the grand matters and hates their
nonsense
www.mascolumbus.org
Being old is not an excuse
َّ ْ َ ُ َ َ َ ُ َّ َ ُ ْ َ َ ْ َ ُ َّ َ َ ُ َ ُ َ َ َ ‫ي‬
ْ‫اَّلل َو َب ْع َد َأن‬
•
ِ ‫ و َقال َ ع َّمر َتفقهوا قبل أن ت َّسودوا ق َال أبو َّعبد‬: ‫البخار‬
َّ َ َّ ُ َ ْ َ َ ْ َ ُ َّ َ ُ
‫ه‬
‫ر‬
ُ
َ
َ
َ
َ
ْ
‫تسودوا وقد تعلم أصحاب الن ِب ِي صلى اَّلل علي ِه وسلم ِفي ِكَب ِر ِس ِِّ ِِم‬
• Umar said: acquire understanding in religion
before you lead, and after you lead. The
companions of the prophet learned during
their old age
َ َ ُ َ َ ‫َ َ َ َ َّ ُ ْ َ ُ ر‬
‫• ال يتعلم ال ِعلم مستح وال متك ِب ٍر‬
• Knowledge is not acquired by a proud or a
shy person
• We have to put aside time in our life for
gaining Islamic Knowledge
www.mascolumbus.org
Understanding vs. Knowledge
‫ فرب حامل فقه إلى من‬،‫• نضرهللا امرأ سمع منا حديثا فحفظه حتى يبلغه غيره‬
‫ ورب حامل فقه ليس بفقيه‬،‫هو أفقه منه‬
• May Allah illuminate the face of a person who
hears a saying from me, then he memorizes it
and imparts it to someone else. It happens that
a man carries `fiqh’ to a man who has more
‘fiqh’ than him, and it happens that a man
carries ‘fiqh’ while he is not a man of ‘fiqh’
ََ
‫• فقيه واحد أشد على الشيطان من ألف عابد‬
• A man endowed with sound understanding is
firmer before the Shaytan from one thousand
worshipers
www.mascolumbus.org
Understanding vs. Knowledge
“Right understanding and sincere intentions are counted
among the greatest gifts given by Allah to man. Other
than Islam, man has never been blessed with anything
greater than them. They form the cornerstone of Islam’s
foundation. Through them, man wards away from himself
the way of those whose portion is wrath )‫(املغضوب عليهم‬
because of their ill-intentions as well as those who have
gone astray )‫ (الضالين‬out of their misunderstanding. If man
wards off such evil, he becomes amongst those upon
whom Allah has bestowed His Grace )‫(الذين أنعمت عليهم‬, those
who possess sound understanding and good intentions.
These are the people of the straight way, whose course
we have been commanded to seek at every prayer.” –Ibn
Al-Qayyim
www.mascolumbus.org
Practical Tip: Write what you
read or listen to
• Arabs used to say: We read the best that is
written, We write the best that we read, We
memorize the best that we wrote, We say the
best that we memorized. We work with the
best that we said
• Do not just listen to khutbahs or halaqas.
Read in a systematic way. After you
understand, write down what you’ve learned.
www.mascolumbus.org
Practical Tips
• Listen to knowledge during your
commute
• Keep a book with you to read while
you’re waiting [airport, doctor’s
appointment, etc]
• Don’t consider that you’ve finished a
book before you summarize it in your
own words
• Find a regular halaqa of knowledge [e.g
MAS usrah] with a mentor and attend
regularly
www.mascolumbus.org