Asalaamu alaikum
Indeed, there is non worthy of any form of worship except
Allah and I bear witness that our prophet Mohammed is the slave and Messenger
of Allah
The Ghana Muslim Students over the years have has
transformed a lot of students into better Muslim especially the SHS students.
Despite its the leadership challenges it has become a great tool for the
preservation and propagation of Islam.
Brethren in Islam, our topic for today is "THE WAY
FORWARD OF GMSA"
The way forward of gmsa is not so different from the way
forward of Islam at large.
Allah says in the glorious Quran in an ayah popularly known
to many Muslims. Allah says 👇
” And hold
fast all together by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you) and be not
divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined
your hearts in love so that by His grace ye became brethren; and ye were on the
brink of the pit of fire and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make his
signs clear to you: that ye may be guided”.
(Al-e-mran Verse 103)
Before I proceed I would want to say that the GMSA is not an
association for any sect or group of people in Islam.
May Allah increase us in patience and understanding.
The are some categories of people who to a larger extent
cause GMSA to fail in its mission. These
individuals are the learned and the leaders (executives).
There is one serious challenge we face in gmsa that needs to
be handled with a lot of caution. This is the issue of sects. Our whole
presentation therefore will focus on this issue.
In most schools you find some group of students who do not
want anything to do with GMSA because how these categories of people handle
issues in GMSA.
In the attempt of these leadership or the imams to solve
certain challenges they end up causing a lot of harm to the Muslim community.
Their challenge are a huge one, balancing between preserving the unity of the
Unman and the sanctity of the religion.
There are a lot of sects in Islam and some people are
associated with some of these sects but are ignorant about the dogma of the
sect and how back it might be. Nonetheless that is where they find themselves.
As a GMSA leader this is where you and I fail: we push such individuals away or
treat them with such attitudes that makes them uncomfortable.
When these individuals decide to leave GMSA, they actually
cause a lot of people to also leave GMSA with them. As a leader you need to
learn to understand to respect the feelings of others. You will hear the imams of GMSA saying
"I will say the truth no matter what".
So what happened to the below.
Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good
instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has
strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is guided.
An-Nahl 16:12
We need to guide each other to the truth but it doesn't need
to he done in away that will hurt the feelings of the individuals we are
attempting to advice.
To my knowledge, some individuals we classify as haven gone
wayward actually are able to pull a lot of people to follow their teachings.
This is possible because they are tolerant and hence seems convincing.
Brothers and sisters in Islam, when we decide to argue with such individuals
we need to do it with a clear intention of guiding them to the right path. Most
often when you see some leaders in GMSA engaging in sectorial dialog, it
becomes clear the motive is to prove to the individuals how knowledgeable they
(GMSA LEADERS) are above them or how stupid those individuals and their sects
are.
Islam allows that we engage each other but let's remember
the manner in which we don't could make it very bad. It shouldn't look like a
quarrel when we engage in Sectorial discussions. Allah commands us in the Quran
Obey Allah and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and do
not quarrel among yourselves lest you lose heart and your
momentum disappear. And be steadfast. Allah is with the
steadfast. (8:46)
Again, our social relations with people of different sects
is also very important. It forms part of the hiqma is the attempt to bring
people to the way of Allah.
You need to be a little tolerant and welcome every nonsense
because it's in the patience that you can transform other or make them reflect.
To the Gmsa members too, it's obvious we all come different
sects and our ideologies might be different. Nonetheless, we interacts with
Christians knowing they have a bad perception about us but we will fight
ourselves because we think some group of Muslims are looking down on you.
I have had the privilege to see how Gmsa is run in many
schools and administratively every school has a particular sect and or ethnic
group that dominates the leadership.
Let me be a little specific from this point. The bone of
contention is normally between Ahlul-Suna wal Jamaa and Tijaaniyyah with a
little Shia contest in it. In the school these are the groups that differs when
it comes to GMSA's leadership and activities.
We all need to understand from today that all the sects
belongs to GMSA and hence THE ACTIVITIES OF GMSA IS NOT SUPPOSED TO TYPICAL OF
A PARTICULAR SECT. Therefore GMSA shouldn't at any point be involving in
actives that are particular with the Tabilic brothers or with the Tijaniyyah or
any other sect for that matter.
I attended KNUST and to your surprise some colleagues of
mine wouldn't want to be Associate with GMSA because they believe they like
condemning things too much.
They will say everything is Haram and as such they won't
associate themselves with GMSA. Just last year I had the privilege to go to
KNUST to visit them and some people also complained now GMSA is weak and that
Haram goes on and the leadership is being hypocritical about it.
So are you going to disassociate yourself because of any of
these scenarios above? Then you might
not join any association. The same association from time to time will change
based on those who lead it. Why don't you stay and make changes, convince them
you need that respect as a sect.
Let the leadership of Gmsa understand you are being treated
badly and you deserve better. But attempting to leave the Gmsa or to form your
association isn't the way forward.
Currently, the Tijaaniyyah Muslim Students has also formed
an association. Despite the fact that they have the right to do it, I see it
very unfortunate. They have done this because they feel they are being
sidelined, they are not being allowed to do certain religious acts.
I have personally lived with Tijaaniyyahs till date and I
know they have factions or they are divided into groups and sometimes they
seriously fight amongst themselves. Now that they have formed an association
don't u think with time those differences that makes them fight at home will be brought to the association they have
formed?
Now, assuming the Tijaniiyah is allowed to do its
activities, the Tabilic also does theirs and the Ahlul-Suna wal Jamaa also does
theirs and the Shia also does it's activity then what becomes of GMSA.
We members most often start the problems we face in Gmsa and
when the leadership is unable to handle it then we shift the blame on the
leaders. Though we need to hit on the failure of the leader but come to think
of it many of them have no leadership training. It is therefore also incumbent
on us as members to exhibit self-control.
In your family they could be people of different sects, like
mine but we are still family. We still stick together despite the
misunderstanding.
I want you to understand from today that GMSA is for all the
sects and as such they cannot activities that are know with the Ahlul-Suna or
with the Tijaaniyyah or any other sect but you still belong to GMSA even if
they they won't allow you people to do what you want to do.
Today the leadership is Tijaaniyyah and they do activities
of the Tijaniiyah but when you go to a different school you realise the
leadership is Ahlul-Suna and they are also doing activities of the Ahlul-Suna .
In a different school too they also do theirs differently.
Now when you move to a different school and realise your
activities are not being allowed there then you start fighting. Have you asked
yourself those whom your activities didn't favour back in your previous school
how they felt? Let's not be hypocritical.
Finally, one of the
problems we face in Gmsa is when a member feels he is more knowledgeable than
the leaders (especially the imams). May
Allah forgive us.
You are knowledgeable than the imams then you go closer to
the and give them ur support. It's very wrong when a member only sit and
started punching holes in the what the leaders do. He or she disgraces the
leaders in public to prove he or she is better than them or to prove the
leaders don't deserve to be there.
Imam Shaafi is reported to have said if you advice him in
public then u r attacking. Advising the Iman in public doesn't make people see
you as a knowledgeable person but rather they see you as a controversial
person.
You can go to the imam and point him in the right direction
if he does something wrong and he will come himself to correct it. Be an asset
and not a distraction to the leadership of the GMSA.
Frankly, the leadership of GMSA irrespective of their
weakness does their best, it's a collective efforts that will end up making
GMSA what we make it to be.
May Allah strengthen us in faith and increase us in
patience.
Let's end here insha-Allah.
Asalaamu alaikum brethren
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