A dear friend told me, ‘You have given us an analysis of our situation. I agree. Now give us action points going forward. What must we do?’ So, here is what I believe we must do to take back the reins of our destiny from the hands of those we have given them to. Believe me, we are all in the Game. If you are not playing your own game, you are a player in someone else’s game. In the first case, you make the rules, you call the shots, and you win. In the second, you are a pawn and will be sacrificed for the benefit of the owner of the game. You are dispensable, to be used and discarded. Looking at our, Muslim, situation today globally, tell me which scenario looks familiar. Having said that, let me assure you that things are far from hopeless. There is great hope, even certainty of success, but provided we make the right choices. Like any game, it needs preparation, understanding of the situation, a play strategy, flexibility to change, and commitment to the goal at all costs. With that we can win. Without it, get ready for slavery.
If you read history, you will realize that there are forks in the road of destiny of nations. What happens after that fork depends on which branch you choose to walk on. I can give you examples from the history of different nations, but we don’t have time for that here today, so I will suffice to point out that we are standing at a fork in our destiny as the Ummah of Muhammad and our choice will affect our future generations, who will bless us or not for what we did. In the life of every person, man or woman, opens a window when they have the opportunity to make a difference. Once the window shuts our life is over, even if we remain alive because to live is not merely to draw breath. Our window is open now. What we choose to do will be our legacy. Choose wisely because we will be judged by our choice.
The best guidance is the life of Muhammad in which you can clearly see the sense of destiny that he lived with. He took decisions that colored centuries and never allowed exigencies to force him to take short-term or short-sighted decisions. He never sacrificed the principle for immediate gain at the cost of long-term results. For example, he didn’t accept the conversion of the people of Ta’aif when they put the condition that they would pray but not pay Zakat. He ruled that the one who separated Salah from Zakat was not Muslim. This ruling guided Abu Bakr Siddique (R) years later, when he faced the crisis after Rasoolullahﷺ passed away and Abu Bakr (R) was his Khalifa.
When Rasoolullahﷺ came to Madina, there were three things he did first. He started construction of his masjid, he formed the Ummah of Faith, and he formalized the Covenant which laid down the rules of interaction between the different groups who lived in Yathrib. Each of these was a generational project. The masjid was not simply a place to pray but was the epicenter of the community. A place where everything that was a collective need was addressed. Starting with Salah (prayer), which is the most important of all needs; our connection with Allahﷻ. But all collective matters where addressed in the masjid. Al-Masjid An-Nabawi Ash-Shareef was the place for Salah, the ‘Office’ of Rasoolullahﷺ, the Court of Law, the Madrassa, the communication center, the Command Center, even on occasion, a temporary prison. It was the nerve center of the community. If anyone wanted to know what was happening in Madina, they would know if they came to the masjid. The masjid was alive, open, populated and buzzing with activity all day long. The masjid was the place where the Ummah collected as one Ummah and you could feel the Brotherhood of Faith. Today we build Masaajid and give them sectarian names.
The second thing Rasoolullahﷺ did was to form the Ummah Muslima – the Brotherhood of Muslims, where he paired one Muhajir with one Ansari creating bonds that transcended all traditional boundaries of tribe, color, race, ethnicity, and social status. For example he paired Salman Al-Farsi, a Persian slave with Abu Darda Al-Ansari, one of the leaders of Khazraj and Bilal bin Rabah with Abu Ruwaiha Al-Khatami. [Other Ansari brothers were: Abu Bakr with Khaarijah bin Zaid bin abi Zuhair al-Ansari. Omar ibn Al Khattab with Othman bin Malik. Othman ibn Affan with Aus bin Thabit. Jafar bin Abi Talib with Mua’ad bin Jabal. Abdur Rahman ibn Awf with Sad bin Rabi Aqbi Badri. Talha bin Obaidullah with Ka’ab bin Malik. Mus’ab ibn Omair with Abu Ayb Aqbi. Ammar bin Yasir with Hudhayfa bin Yaman. Manzar ibn Umar with Abu Dharr al-Ghifari and Muhammad ibn Maslamah – Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah]
I want us to focus and look at the situation as it was in Madina at this time and see what Rasoolullahﷺ was focused on. Madina was a habitation around an oasis where people of different tribes, ethnicities and religions lived in their enclaves/forts. They had been hostile to one another for decades and had lost almost all their leadership. They were mainly farmers who grew dates and grapes and had a thriving winemaking industry. They also did some trade but were not a major trade center like Makkah was. When they decided to invite Rasoolullahﷺ they became the focus of enmity for the Quraysh and instigated new tensions within their own people which gave rise to the Munafiqeen. I am giving you this thumbnail sketch so that we can appreciate Rasoolullahﷺ’s ability to focus on his global vision even when there were many things clamoring for his immediate attention. And the way he did that, it took care of the immediate issues also.
There are three reasons that enabled him to do that. Recognizing the window of opportunity, identifying himself as an owner and therefore seeing it as his responsibility to do something to change things, and remaining focused on the long-term results of his actions in the context of his role and responsibility as the Messenger of Allahﷻ.
Learning from this, there are five things we must do today.
We must bury our differences and focus on common goals and challenges. For this, we must leave what belongs to Allahﷻ to Him to judge and collaborate with others to solve common problems. If we can’t do this, nothing else is possible. Until we do this, nothing else is possible. This is the first, most critical lesson from the Seerah.
We must stop complaining about circumstances and situations and start asking, “Therefore what can I do about it?” It starts with thinking, so ask, ‘Do we have a Think Tank? How many TTs do American Muslims have? I gave you statistics about TTs in my Khutba called ‘Chains in the Mind’. What was the result of that? Do we understand Strategic Thinking? Do we even know how to evaluate knowledge and scholarship? Strategic Thinking is a skill based on a background in history, the discipline of structured strategic thought, scenario generation, emotional discipline, power of concentration, the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind simultaneously examining them objectively without being sold out on either one.’ Without a collective strategy, we are part of someone else’s strategy. So Strategic Thinking is critical to success.
Become visible and influential through service and communication. Get involved. Volunteer in schools and local government projects. Raise money and donate to schools and town development projects. Then get elected to school boards and task forces. Contribute to common social welfare projects to provide food, shelter, medical aid, education, fostering children, and emergency services. Endow Chairs in universities to support research in areas that will benefit the neglected and oppressed in society. Guess who that will help the most? Create a fund to support students, researchers, specifically political science, Law, Journalism, and Media. Focus on those who are already in these streams. It does not have to be your children, but it must be your money.
When representing our case, speak in terms of justice, human rights, and economy. Not Islam/Muslims. Try to benefit all society for two very important reasons: because when the tide rises, all boats rise and because you can’t make your boat rise without making the tide rise. When you are a miniscule minority, the only way you will benefit is when the majority sees a benefit for itself in benefiting you. It is not about being selfless. It is about self-interest.
Finally, be prepared for the long term. Remind yourself that if our ancestors had done what the ancestors of others did a century ago, we would not have been in this mess today. I am saying this so that we don’t repeat that mistake. Each generation must examine its unique situation and act in a way that will benefit the next. This is never easy or painless. But if you are genuinely interested in the future of your children – key word being ‘genuine’ – then you must invest in it. Treat it like a matter of life and death, because it is.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:14 — 18.0MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | Youtube Music | RSS