THE MORDERN WORLD AND THE
MUSLIM LIFE
All praise is due to
Allah we praise Him we seek help from
Him and we seek forgiveness from Him and we believe in Him and we depend on Him
and seek refuge with Allah from the evil
of ourselves and the mistakes in our deeds and I testify that there is no deity
worthy of worship except Allah alone with no partners set to Him and I testify
that prophet Muhammad saws is His servant and messenger أمابعد م
AssalamalaikmwarahmatuLlahiwabarakaatuhU,The
topic for tonight's dawa is
The modern world and the
Muslim life.We pray that Allah be our guide
Aameen.The discussion is
going to be in four parts Insha Allah
What we will do is to
take the definition of modern link it to our present life by comparing it with
the Muslim life.May Allah help us.
Considering modern to
mean of the present or recent times that has to do with new innovations and
inventions leaving us with the assertion
that new things will have to emerge day in day out to ensure continuity of life
for the prophet once said "islam began strangely and it will return
strangely as lt began"
Let us ponder and then
reflect on how amusement and recreation have taken over our airwaves and our
lives in general. Muslims of today cannot do without their television set and
what they care to watch are beauty pageant, telenovela, football matches and
what have you. Some of these amusement and recreation in itself is not haram
but the criteria to use is "what ever is going to lead you to haram has
automatically become haram" that is they do partake in these activities
and pay no much attention to Islamic activities especially salat . The
believers amongst them will make time to attend to the Islamic need later on.
In as much as you will attend to your worldly desire a true Muslim must
consider Islam paramount and must not neglect the salat and other lbaadaats.
May the almighty Allah
grant us the understanding of Islam and also grant us the patience and the zeal
to serve Islam in the best of our ability.
Aameen
Now let us define modern
in the context of being new and intended to be different from traditional
style. A traditional Muslim must endeavour to live by the means that has been
confined by the teachings of Islam . Islam as a matter of fact forbids not its
followers from enjoyment of this world or worldly life for human in their
nature desire the world.
For Allah swt states in
the holy qur'an "There is no sin on you if you seek the bounty of your
Lord (during pilgrimage by trading)................2:198
So when you have
accomplished your manasik remember Allah as you remember your forefathers or
with a far more remembrance. But of mankind there are some who say our Lord
give us (your bounties) in this dunya and for such there will be no portion in
the hereafter. 2:200
Verse 201 continues with
the speech of the other group who normally say "And of them there are some
who say: " Our Lord give us in this world that which is good and in the
hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the fire
Allah swt concluded with
verse202 by the statement "Those for them there will be alloted a share
for what they have earned. And Allah is swift at reckoning.
We pray to the Almighty
Allah to make us among the second group who will seek for this dunya but not
forgetting aakhirat
Aameen
Each and every one of us
is to note that the life of a believer lies between fear and hope that is fear
of this dunya and its problems, hope for the aakhirat and its benefits. Fear of
the hell fire, hope for the jannat. Fear of misfortune, hope for the fortune
and the best. Fear of failure, hope for success. Fear from being a pauper and
the hope of being a man of substance but in quest to pursue this don't fall or
engage in haram for qur'an 3:7 states " It is He who has sent down to you
(Muhammad saws) the book (qur'an). In it are verses that are entirely clear,
they are the foundation of the book and others not entirely clear. So as for
those in whose heart there is a deviation (of the truth) they follow that which
is not entirely clear thereof seeking alfitnah and seeking for its hidden
meaning. .........
We conclude this part
with this famous hadith " what is lawful is clear and what is unlawful is
clear, but between them are certain doubtful things which many people do not
recognise. He who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and his
honour safe but he who falls into doubtful things falls into what is unlawful.
..........
may Allah safeguard us
from the temptation of the unlawful and always direct us towards the path of
the lawful and halal
Aameen
Last but not the least
let us now define modern as "using the latest technology, design, material
etc. Thus up to date. Technology as it is shapes the world, gone are the days
when Muslims neglect the pace at which technology is catching up with the
world. AlhamduliLlah now even our mosques are not out, they are now beautified
and decorated with the modern materials and equipments. The architectural
design of some of our mosques will wow you and Ghana is not left out, the
modern gadgets that are being used. The ambience alone is something to wonder
about. This speaks a lot about Muslims and Islam and tells us now they are of
age.
It is interesting to know
that even the prophets and messengers were not idle they were engaged in one
occupation or the other prophet Muhammad was a merchant whilst Dawud (king
David)was a black Smith for qur'an 34:10 it was started in there
"........and we made the iron soft for him" referring to Dawudasws, ,
prophet musaasws was a shepherd and the list goes on and on
This is wI want to draw
the attention of all and sundry not to sit idle but rather find something
doing. Unemployment brings about this radicalism and terrorism.
Let us come together and
make effort to curb out their activities by creating employment avenues and
what have you
May the almighty Allah
grant us the ability to do so and grant us success
Aameenyaarabb.
Now that comparison has
been made between the modern world and the Muslim life.One can say Muslims are
now heading towards the world neglecting the Muslim life while Islam is a way
of life too. There was one non Muslim who happens to say "He saw Islam
when He travelled to the west but couldn't find Muslims rather He found Muslims
at the east but couldn't find islam. Meaning Islam is being practiced in Europe
and America where the indigenous people are not Muslims where as Muslims in the
Islamic country act other wise. He judged Muslims by their character where He
judged them to have failed. The prophet saws happened to have said righteous is
good character and sin is that which revolves in your heart and you hate people
to notice. When will Muslims portray the good character and stop the bad habit?
When Nana Ayisha was
asked about the prophets character she replied His character is the qur'an
Thus Muslims must follow
the teachings of the qur'an to succeed in this dunya and the aakhirat
Once again let us
consider the meaning of modern as being "new and not always accepted by
most members of society" every society has its norms and that applies to
the Islamic society. It seems that there is difficulty trying to abide by the
norms or the rules set by Islam. As for the breaking of rules we are all
culprits. Some even compete with one another on that. This brings about
innovations in Islam that the prophet caution us agains.
Let us consider scenarios
like exorbitant dowry which may delay the marriage ceremony, sitting by the road side which I ppresume the
root of all evil and last but not the least our dress code the Apuskelekes, the I'm awares , the ottofisters and what
have you.
We should endeavour to
dress the Islamic way for in qur'an 33:59 it was prescribed the dress code for
our women
May the almighty Allah
grant us the understanding of Islam and also grant us the patience to abide by
the teachings of the beloved prophet
Aameen
We conclude with this two
verses
The first one isWhat the
people of musa as said to qarun
28:77
“But seek with the wealth
which Allah has bestowed on you the homes of the hereafter and forget not your
portion of lawful enjoyment in this world”
This is but a short
presentation and all knowledge is with Allah
No comments:
Post a Comment