The Future of Muslims in the United States
The Challenge and the Issue
Muslims in the United States are facing a tremendous challenge which threatens not only their identity and presence but also the identity and existence of Islam itself. At the core this challenge is the future of their so-called "communities" consisting of groupings of small numbers in various localities. No one can claim that Islam has become deeply rooted in this country or that Islam will remain a permanent feature of American society. The idle talk of Islam as the fastest growing religion in America is misleading and ignores the large number of Muslims being assimilated into the American melting pot.
The increasing number of Muslims will not have any significance if their Islam is a mere label that they affix to themselves only on certain occasions or on a particular day of the week. Many of them enthusiastically embrace a non-Islamic life rooted in the American Capitalist way of life. Hillary Clinton and other celebrities continue to utter statements such as Islam becoming the fastest growing religion in America towards Muslims at the front door of the White House, and at other official Iftar and Eid functions, statements that appear on the surface as symbolic gestures of appreciation towards Islam and Muslims. In reality these statements are politically motivated to provide Muslims with a feeling of contentment and security about their future in America, which could potentially misdirect the Muslims to ignore the great challenge that Western culture poses to their presence, identity, and future in this country. The American establishment clearly hopes that most Muslims in this country, as well as their children, will eventually be fully assimilated into their society like the previous waves of Muslim immigrants.
Prophet Muhammad and his companions (may peace be upon them all) did live among non-Muslims and under their rule in Mecca for the first 13 years of Islam. Some of the early companions even had to emigrate to Ethiopia [Habasheh] to avoid the harsh persecution and torture by the Kuffar of Mecca before the Islamic State was established in Madinah. However, they never compromised Islam in spite of the numerous opportunities that they were presented with to do so.
Today Muslims in the West face the prospect of integration and subsequent assimilation into this society. This trend of assimilation does not only manifest in Muslims formally abandoning Islam. There are also more insidious and potentially more dangerous currents of assimilation which are exerting their impact. The outcome of such hidden currents of assimilation is the presence of Muslims in the West who alter Islam, either consciously to fit within the American society or subconsciously as a result of both societal pressures combined with an organized government campaign at reducing Islam to a secular religion. This trend seeks to retain only segments of Islam pertaining to dietary laws, some rituals and burial rites. Should such a corrupt form of "Islam" become rooted among Muslims in the West, it would pose a deadly threat to the Ummah. Once firmly rooted among Muslims residing in the West, this type of Islam can then spread to the rest of the Ummah as another legitimate form of Islam. Unlike earlier attempts to distort Islam, which clearly emanate from the Kaffirs, this version of Islam will appear to emanate from the Muslims themselves and would not be rejected as an element of foreign invasion but would rather be welcomed as an indigenous project!
Muslims in the United States
There are millions of Muslims residing in the United States, and they consist of a wide spectrum of immigrants, Muslims born in America, those that were born Muslims and those that converted to Islam, first generation U.S. residents, and Muslims who are several generations apart from their immigrant ancestors. All Muslims in the United States, regardless of who they are, face the threat of being assimilated by, or melted and blended into, this society, overwhelmed by its tremendous size, its greedy capitalism, and its pervasive culture. Residing in it on a longterm or permanent basis, these Muslims abandoned any serious thought of emigrating to societies where Muslims are the majority. Thus, they are living with the clear risk of losing their unique identity and way of life. Some have already lost both. Others are struggling to hold unto one or the other. And only a few, with the intellect and the will, have managed to preserve both, by stubbornly resisting the seductiveness of the accommodative "American Islam."
The phenomenon of "American Islam" has little to do with Islam that Allah has sent to all of humanity, by revelation to His Messenger Muhammad (may peace be upon him). Followers of the so-called "American Islam" pursue the American dream (or nightmare) with little regard to Islam and its rules. The "Islam" they practice is limited to the observance of the Islamic dietary laws and some Islamic rituals. To gain a perspective of the Muslims' landscape in the United States, the following observations may be useful.
First, almost all descendants of Muslims who came to the U.S. at the end of the 1911 Century and the beginning of the 2011' Century have retained no relationship with Islam. Second generation descendants, with some exceptions, have little to do with Islam. Descendants of later generations have nothing to do with Islam whatsoever, with most of them becoming American Christians, atheists, or adopting religions other than Islam. A precious few among the third and later generations remain attached to some form of Islam.
Second, a significant number of African-Americans took up Islam as an honor badge. The anomaly founded by Elijah Muhammad was not Islam but was rather a separatist, nationalist movement, called the Nation of Islam, to claim a place for the African-American to live free from their historic oppressors, the "white devil" in the American society. Islam was only used to add a flavor to another African-American rebellion. But after his death, and the subsequent conversion to Islam by many of his disciples and followers, Islam spread widely among African-Americans.
Most Muslims of African-American descent, both those who embrace Islam and those who profess an "Islam" tainted with African-American Nationalism, feel conscious that they are descendants of Africans brought into this country under forced slavery. Some think that their ancestors were Muslims forced to change their religion and their names, and to abandon their languages and their culture --- an early example of "successful" integration of Muslims into the American melting pot.
Third, most of the chronic social and moral ailments characteristic of American society at large have seeped into the lives of Muslims and their children in the United States: the breakdown in family ties and values; promiscuity, including homosexuality; the cancerous growth in the number of divorced parents, single-parent homes, and illegitimate childbearing; the culture of drug and alcohol abuse; and greed, consumerism, corruption, and ill-mannered behavior. Many Muslims still try to guard against such ills, but they have not been immune to their overwhelming impact. Muslims may be seen on New York streets using or selling drugs, in Chicago and Los Angeles with street gangs, and on many campuses throughout the country drinking alcohol, frolicking around, or just trying to be like everyone else.
Fourth, Muslims residing in the United States have recently become more aware about Islam and their identity as Muslims. This phenomenon is noticeable from the explosive increase in the number of mosques, prayer rooms (Musalla), Islamic centers, weekend and full-time Islamic schools, summer programs, recreational places, and of Muslim cemeteries and other such organizations. Such an emerging awareness echoes the worldwide revival the Ummah has undergone during the last 30 years. This echo effect stands as another indicator of the integral nature of the relationship between Muslims in the US and the rest of the Ummah worldwide. As the Ummah seeks to regain its health and identity, Muslims here respond in a like manner.
Fifth, Muslims in the United States do not live together in exclusive communities of their own, although there are a few such places around the country. However, in the majority of cases where they live separately, they do have some focal point for their gatherings and activities. This center of focus may consist of one or more of the following: An Islamic center or mosque; a full-time school, including High School; a weekend children's school; or a more fully developed Islamic or cultural organization.
These facts should be of concern to every Muslim in the United States. The future of Islam and Muslims in this country is at stake, and Muslims should not have in mind to stand idly while Islam disappears within one or two generations.
Where Do Muslims Stand?
Muslims living in the United States, their local communities, and their national organizations, must all think and feel about this life and the Hereafter as Muslims would or should anywhere on this earth. They are all part of the same Ummah that believes in Allah the Almighty, the Creator and Lord of all worlds, in the Quran revealed to His Messenger, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and in the same Islam that is based on this belief in Allah and His Messenger. They also believe that Islam is the final message that Allah sent to all mankind. The existence of Allah and the message of Islam are facts that will never change with time or place. Therefore, the belief of Muslims in the United States as well as their practice of Islam cannot and must not be any different or separate from that of any Muslim residing in the world.
Muslims everywhere submit to Allah the Almighty by living the way He has ordered them to live, and by governing themselves according to the Shariah (Islamic laws) under the Caliphate. Any place in the world is a suitable place to establish the Islamic system and reinstate the Caliphate system, so long as certain conditions exist. The Prophet (saaw) initiated the Islamic Daw'ah and worked to establish the Islamic ruling system in societies predominately inhabited by non-Muslims. However, Muslims today face a reality that gives them an advantage which the Prophet (saaw) and his Companions did not have: societies where the majority of the inhabitants are Muslims and where the Islamic culture have well-established roots, the product of centuries of living under Islamic rule. Furthermore, in some of these countries, there have already been attempts to bring back Islam to the sphere of application. Therefore, while Muslims are not expected in the foreseeable future to either change the existing system in the United States or to reinstate the Caliphate in this country, they are very much capable of either supporting, or assuming an active role in, the global effort to restore the Shariah and reinstate the Caliphate in the Muslim world where the conditions exist to facilitate the emergence of the Islamic state. Once restored, the land of the Caliphate becomes the Dar-ul-Islam or, literally, the home of Islam. Because the total implementation of Islam, which can only be achieved through the Islamic state, is the only way to please Allah and to maintain Islam as a viable way of life on the global scene, then the issue of the Caliphate is as important to Muslims living outside Muslim lands as it is to those living in Muslim lands. An Islamic state to defend Islam as a distinct culture and viewpoint towards life is a vital issue for all Muslims wherever they reside.
Islamic jurisprudence has long held that Muslims should live under the rules of Islam. Once the Islamic State exists, Muslims residing in nonIslamic states should emigrate to Dar-ul-Islam, especially if they were not given a chance to practice Islam. However, there are cases where Islam permitted Muslims to reside in non-Islamic states for certain reasons, such as for trade, study, or supporting the Call to Islam. The first such mandatory emigration to Dar-ul-Islam took place during the first year of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims were required to emigrate from Mecca to Medinah once the latter became the first Dar-ul-Islam. However, today there neither exists a Caliphate nor any place which fulfills the criteria to be considered Dar-ul-Islam.' Muslims may now live anywhere in the world where they can preserve and practice their Aqeedah (belief system). Should they encounter any fear of losing their Aqeedah or their ability to practice Islam, they must relocate to another place where they have no such fear. In this regard, Allah (swt) says: "Verily! As for those whom the angels take (in death) while they are oppressing themselves (as they stayed among disbelievers eventhough emigration was obligatory upon them), they (the angels) will say (to them): "In what (condition) were you?" They reply, "We were weak and oppressed on earth." They (the angels) will say, "Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to emigrate therein?" Such men will find their abode in Hell - what an evil destination! Except the weak ones among men, women, and children who cannot devise a plan, nor are they able to direct their way." [TMQ 4:97-98]
Given that the United States is certainly not Dar-ul-Islam, Muslims as individuals and as communities that support the individual Muslim must make safeguarding their Islam a priority. This does not merely mean maintaining their identity as Muslims, as it may only refer to an Islamic label. Rather, self-preservation for a true Muslim is to keep his Islam alive and functioning, with all that it entails. It means that he continues to be a functioning and integral part of the Ummah who maintains his regular worship of Allah, his knowledge and study of Islam, his brotherhood for all Muslims, his concern for the affairs of Muslims everywhere, and his work for the restoration of a Dar-ul-Islam which alone can protect him and the rest of the Ummah and allow them to live and maintain a true Islamic life.
Beyond that, there is the obligation to invite all human beings to Islam, which requires the presence of the Islamic State. However, the absence of the state does not relieve the Muslims from this duty that all capable Muslims are required to undertake. In a non-Muslim country like the United States, this calling must first aim at the vulnerable Muslims who are subjected to the pull of this secular society. While carrying Islam to non-Muslims is part of the obligation to call others to Islam, safeguarding Islam, which should be foremost among the priorities of Muslims living in the United States, also includes extending a lifeline to other Muslims in need of basic Islamic knowledge and education to strengthen their Aqeedah.
Concerned and enlightened Muslims have a duty towards their fellow Muslims, especially in these awkward times when there is no Dar-ulIslam or a Caliphate to safeguard the integrity of all Muslims. Such a duty is so paramount to their survival that they must harness their energy in setting priorities and engaging in serious thinking before leaping into action. Thought must precede action, and both must aim at achieving specific and well-defined objectives. Thinking must begin with an appreciation of reality and of certain facts, followed by an identification of important issues established upon these facts. The Muslims must then study the Islamic culture and Shariah, the lens that shapes their outlook, to define the proper course of action, and finally to mobilize as many concerned Muslims as possible towards common actions along the fixed course. This article will attempt to discuss and highlight these propositions in defining a strategy for Muslims in America.
Ideological Foundation
Muslims in the United States must hold close and dear to their minds and hearts certain ideas about Islam that are both critical and relevant to their survival. These ideas must form the foundation upon which to build their thoughts and actions. Muslim individuals and communities must keep these in mind whenever they plan to engage in any work that will affect their life and presence in this country.
First, Islam is a comprehensive way of life and ideology and not a mere "religion" as the term is used in Western terminology. As a result of this view of Islam as a Deen, and not a mere religious label that is wom during a certain day of the week or in a certain place of worship, Islam should not be considered a rival to Judaism or Christianity, but more a counterpart and a competitor to ideological-based systems of life which address the human being in a more comprehensive manner, such as Capitalism and Socialism. Similarly, Islam should be practiced and conveyed comprehensively and not as a collection of rituals that address only one facet of the human being. The Islamic Aqeedah, which constitutes the essence and foundation of Islam, is not just a spiritual idea that addresses metaphysical realities such as the unseen and the Hereafter. It is both a spiritual and political creed that recognizes Allah the Almighty as both the Creator of everything in addition to the Sovereign Who sets the laws that regulate the person's relationships in life. Islam is a complete system of life that addresses the system of worship which defines the relationship between man and the Creator, the personal aspects of an individual's life that define the ethical code and dietary laws, as well as the social, political, and economic aspects that define the individual's relationship with other people in the society.
Thus, unlike the West, Islam does not separate between religion and this worldly life, nor does Islam accept the Western notion of separation of state and Church, even though there is no church or clergy in Islam.' While the West is founded upon the notion of separating the Creator from the life affairs and reducing the role of the Creator to a limited niche, Islam rests upon the foundation that Allah sent the message of Islam to all humanity in order to govern themselves and worship Him in the manner that Allah has chosen. This fundamental notion is clearly mentioned in several ayahs of the Quran, some of which are translated below:
"Surely His is the Creation and the Command; Blessed is Allah, the Lord of the worlds." [TMQ 7:54]
"And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, then they are the kafirun." [TMQ 5:44]
"And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, then they are the Zalimun." [TMQ 5:45]
"And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, then they are the asiqun." [TMQ 5:47]
"But no! By your Rabb! They do not believe until they make you judge in whatever is in dispute among them." [TMQ 4:651
"And it is not fit for a believing man or woman that, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, they should have any choice."[TMQ 33:36]
It is difficult to relate such an idea to Muslims in the United States, both immigrant and native-born. Most of them carry a secular understanding of Islam. Even new immigrants have been raised with the alien notion that Islam is merely a spiritual and moral code rather than a comprehensive ideology established upon a distinct Aqeedah. On the other hand, many native-born Muslims became Muslims for reasons in addition to, or other than, a conviction in Islam, such as to be different from white Christians or to pursue a fascination with one or more aspects of Islam as a sort of "exotic" Eastern tradition. In such cases, the names and places of worship may change, but the secular mindset engrained through education and socialization remains the same. Only of late has there been any thoughtful exploration of the nature of Islam, and many do not respond comfortably. Unfortunately, Muslims in their local communities busy themselves with mundane community work, and spend little time to understand and approach Islam the way they should: as a vibrant ideology leading them here and now. In order to keep their minds and souls alive with a true understanding of Islam, Muslims must be active in learning and engaged in true intellectual pursuits.
Second, encouraging intellectual pursuits in no way should imply opening the door for the ignorant and the Enemies of Islam to alter the Islamic Aqeedah or to corrupt its basic tenets. Differences of opinions will of course be expected and should be tolerated so long as they are within the boundary of Islam and have a semblance of legal evidence [Daleel]. Differences among traditional schools of thought regarding minor details in the rituals of prayers, or what constitutes the meat that Muslims may eat, if slaughtered by the "people of the book," are examples of what has long been debated. But there is be no room in such pursuits, for example, to equate today's Christians or Jews with Muslims, under the facade that "all are believers in a creator." In these issues, there are no two opinions. It is worth mentioning that the early generations of Muslims, who possessed the highest understanding of Islam, never debated the issue of whether Christians and Jews are believers or whether the ruling should be based on Islam. The Muslims in the past understood that Islam decisively settled such issues and left no room for differences of opinion to exist.
Third, Muslims in the United States must remain an inseparable, integral part of Muslims throughout the world, realizing with full consciousness that they are part of the Muslim Ummah and not a separate entity. It would be detrimental for them to succumb to societal pressures and to begin viewing themselves as a small minority preoccupied with asserting its "rights" in this society. Rather, they should view themselves as part of that noble Muslim Ummah that worships Allah, the Lord of all worlds, believes in Islam, and is entrusted with carrying the blessing of Islam to all human beings. The Muslims must realize that they will never truly enjoy a life of security and tranquility in any part of the world, including America, unless the Ummah as a whole has a commanding international presence. Without a guardian, they will continue to be an exposed prey, and this state of affairs will always loom over them as a perpetual source of anxiety, frustration, and helplessness. The existence of Muslims in the United States can only protect them from the physical abuse that they are subjected to in the Muslim lands. However, Muslims all over the world are subjected to the intellectual abuse that attempts to distort their understanding of Islam, and the Muslims who reside in the US, being immersed in a completely secular society, are far more vulnerable to this intellectual assault.
Fourth, Muslims in the United States must have a realistic perception of the society they live in, and not a perception induced by an inferiority complex or shaped by materialistic values. Such a distorted perception, which thrives on producing material abundance, motivates some individuals by the promise of material reward while driving most by the fear of being deprived of the very basics of life. The luster of material wealth and conspicuous culture of consumption blinds many to lend credibility to the ruthless capitalism and the expediency of pragmatism.
The dominance of materialistic values over all other values in the United States is a natural outcome of its worldly way of life and its secular culture. Individuals may believe in the existence of a creator but only as an abstract entity that has no meaningful role to play in the life affairs. The existing order and its beneficiaries do not recognize any role or function for Allah in determining how these individuals or the society at large are to govern its affairs.
Such a materialistic-based secular culture directly conflicts with Islam and makes life more cumbersome for Muslims in the United States and their children. For example, in the name of freedom, the society allows its media and educational institutions to talk irreverently and outrageously about Allah, the creator and Lord of all worlds. At the same time, and in the name of free enterprise, it licenses the obscene commercial appeals to the instincts and desires. And all of this culture, which the society disseminates to the masses, is accessible to everyone and eventually reaches the children of Muslims. It would be naive for the Muslims to deny that such a comprehensive exposure would have no impact upon them, if not upon their children.
Furthermore, a society with such characteristics and preoccupations can be overbearing and intolerant of others who may have different values. It does not gracefully accept in its midst any community with a different outlook towards life that promotes any system of values higher than the materialistic values prevalent in the society. The American society, somehow perceiving such communities as a threat, would mount a crusade of propaganda and pressure against it, until such a community is fully melted and eventually assimilated. There were a few exceptions, such as the native Indians and the black Africans who, because of their color, were rejected outright and their assimilation was not sought after but fiercely resisted.
On the global level, the United States, as a capitalist power, has adopted an imperialist stance similar to that of the European powers before it. The spoils of foreign dominance flow naturally to a privileged small segment that is also the dominant force behind capitalism domestically. It now dominates substantial parts of the world, both Muslim and nonMuslim, and has used its own citizens with foreign origins in such places as China, Eastern Europe, and Africa, in pursuit of such dominance. Muslims in the US now are beginning to be offered opportunities by this elite to serve as their plantation managers in their colonies in Muslim lands. The State Department is recruiting Muslims to work as diplomats in Muslim lands, and other agencies such as the CIA and the FBI are employing Muslims to serve them. Their "native" appearance in Muslim lands is an important asset for these colonial powers. Some Muslims, especially those who head such "American-Muslim" organizations are already demanding even more of these plantation jobs. The question that the Muslims should ask is whether they will choose to follow their lead, and become a bridge for colonialism and a dagger in the heart of the Urnmah, or decide instead to maintain their allegiance to Allah and His Messenger.
It would be inconceivable for the economic and political forces in the United States to afford the Muslim community much room to either live as Muslims or to advance the Islamic agenda. Islam and Muslims are correctly perceived as the prime challengers to Capitalism and to its current dominance in the world. And what truly makes this challenge a difficult one, even for the United States, is that the scope of the challenge is not limited to conflicting economic interests, as it exists among Western powers, but is an ideological conflict where both Islam and Capitalism are pitted against one another in defining the very purpose and outlook of humanity.
A Vision for the Future
Immigrant Muslims in the United States keep alive a vague hope which consists of a tentative, non-specific, plan of soon returning home. Many say they would be staying for a year or a few years, but they eventually remain for several years, with few actually returning except for visits. Their feelings, though understandable, betray their alienation and an ambivalence about living in this "love-it or leave-it" society. They live anxiously, their lives appear unsettled and drifting, and they clearly lack a healthy outlook towards the future, which renders them incapable of planning for the future, whether individually or on a community level. They should be reminded of the advice of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and companion of Prophet Muhammad, who said, "Work for your worldly life as if you were to live forever and work for your hereafter as if you will die tomorrow."
Muslims in the United States should not lead a life characterized by uncertainty and confusion, whether in the United States or anywhere else. Their outlook towards life must be a confident one based on an absolute faith in Allah and on full knowledge of Islam and the Shariah to guide them through the trials of life anywhere. A hesitant or wavering outlook may indicate a lack of confidence in Islam or a vague and distorted understanding of what Islam or the Shariah requires from them in this life. Muslims in the United States must be at peace with themselves and about their lives in this country while diligently working to resolve the issues they face as they arise. Brushing aside the thoughtful resolution of such issues, with the excuse that they are local and of no concern to them, would only paralyze them or expose them to the risk of isolation or assimilation.
Muslims should reject isolation as an option as they should reject assimilation and integration. They need to live their lives as Muslims and to deal with their environment on the basis of Islam. Islam allows them to live and work with non-Muslims, to trade with them, and to exchange services with them. The Prophet and his companions who had lived in Mecca among the disbelievers did not isolate themselves. They attended to their worldly affairs while at the same time openly carrying the call to Islam. They did not boycott the rest of society. In fact, it was the disbelievers of Mecca who eventually decided to boycott the Muslims by not trading with them at all. The type of relationship that Muslims should have with non-Muslims in a non-Muslim society is clearly explained in the following ayahs of the Quran:
"Allah does not forbid you, among those who have not made war against you on account of religion and have not driven you from your homes, that you be kind to them and deal with them justly. Surely, Allah loves those who do justice. Allah only forbids you, among those who made war upon you on account of religion, and who drove you from your homes and conspired with others to drive you out, that you ally yourselves with them. And whoever so allies themselves, they are the unjust." [TMQ 60:8-9]
Muslims in the United States should not of course be ignorant of or complacent about the risks to them and their families of living in this materialistic non-Muslim society. But assuming they are culturally on guard, they also need not feel guilty about their life here. Based upon Islamic jurisprudence, if a dar-ul-Islam were restored and the Caliphate were reestablished, all Muslims should live there or would emigrate to it if they were living elsewhere, unless they could realistically help expand such a Dar-ul-Islam to include the place they were living in. Until this reality materializes, they may live anywhere in the world so long as their ability to adhere to Islam and practice it are not threatened or compromised.
However, such an allowance should not serve as an excuse for them to abdicate their obligation of striving to the utmost of their capabilities to restore Dar-ul-Islam and reestablishing the Caliphate. For Muslims in general, and especially for those among them who are the enlightened, the responsibility is great. Should they continue to fail in this duty, no member of the Muslim Ummah, neither those residing in Muslim lands nor those residing in the West, will be able to escape the squeezing hand of Capitalism. Sooner or later they will lose not only their resources but their very existence as well as Islam itself.
Maintaining a vigilant awareness in this country means that Muslims must preserve the purity of their Aqeedah and maintain an accessible knowledge of Islam and of the Shariah without any compromise. Towards that end, especially in cities with extensive Muslim communities, they must draw on the resources of Islamic scholarship in Muslim lands to maintain a stream of knowledgeable individuals for the purpose of teaching and maintaining the vibrancy of their understanding of Islam. They must also insist on the importance of Arabic to Islam: that the Quran is only the Quran that was revealed verbatim in Arabic, that it would be impossible to have any translation of the Quran that would do justice to its original Arabic text, as revealed, and that there can be no Islamic scholarship without a mastery of the Arabic language.
Islam encourages Muslims to congregate and in some cases requires them to do so, such as during the Jumma' prayers. The focus of such congregating must be to enable them to worship together and to support each other. Congregational activities can also provide a means for Muslims to gather and discuss ideas. In grouping together, the Muslims must prevent their organizations from being manipulated or contained. The organizations should be free of any entity that would seek to use them for its own agenda. Muslims in the United States should take lessons from their historical experiences and avoid what happened to their brothers in Europe, where the French establishment worked hard to organize them and then established state-directed institutions to contain the congregations and manipulate them.
The Mosque or masjid, throughout the history of Muslims, has always served important functions in their lives. Besides a place of worship, the Masjid was used as a seat of government, a school, a place of scholarship, a cultural and social center, and thus as the civic center of its neighborhood. All Muslim communities in the United States would reap the benefits of having their Masjids perform all these roles. Many of these functions, such as full-time schools, weekend schools, study circles and libraries, are essential and deserve the full support of the community.
The most important function of the mosque is to serve as a center for teaching and learning Islam. There are so many Muslims in the United States, both native born and immigrants, who carry the label of Islam but who desperately need to learn and study Islam and the Shariah. Knowledgeable Muslims must aim at educating these brothers in addition to conveying Islam to non-Muslims, and the Masjid must support these efforts. There is no suggestion here that all work with non-Muslims should be stopped or delayed, but the Muslims must establish their system of priorities correctly.
Another important concern for Muslims in the United States must be their own youth, who will, to a great extent, define the future of Muslims in the United States. Adult Muslims must generously provide for and attend to the youth in their communities. Muslim youth must be viewed as the richest resource that adult Muslims have in this society. If they are to carry Islam forward, they will have to be given a counter ideology as an alternative to the potent Capitalist ideology that this society indoctrinates them with. This can only be done if they are properly taught Islam as a comprehensive and dynamic ideology.
On a final note, the immigrant Muslims in the United States must realize that they are the brothers of the native-born Muslims, and both have common objectives which they must work hand-in-hand to achieve. They must understand and appreciate the history and the present situation the native-born Muslims, especially those who happen to be African-Americans. They must abandon the mentality of taking over Islamic activities and assuming that the native-born will simply follow their lead. It is sad enough that immigrant Muslims are themselves divided by national origin. They must realize that Islam denounces in the strongest terms all ethnic and racial divides. All Muslims, whether immigrant or indigenous, have the common objective of establishing Islam and carrying Islam to the world for the sole purpose of attaining the pleasure of Allah. Therefore, all Muslims must consolidate their efforts and unify their resources towards the realization of these objectives.
Endnotes:
' For a given territory to be considered dar-ul-Islam, it must fulfill two criteria:
1. The system that governs the territory must emanate exclusively from Islam.
2. The security of that territory should reside with the Muslims.
Therefore, what determines whether or not a certain territory can be labeled as dar-ul-Islam is not the presence of a Muslim majority or the presence of masjids or other symbols of Islam.
Z The Western idea of Secularism is typically associated with the separation of Church and State. However, this notion, in the broader sense, includes the separation of the Creator from life. As a result, the Muslims should not associate Secularism with the separation of Christianity from life. Because Christianity today is a religion that has no system dealing with the life affairs, then the Christian religion does not essentially pose a challenge to Secularism. The same can be said about all other religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and others. However, Islam, being a complete system of life, is a direct challenge to Secularism. Therefore, any call to Secularism should be interpreted as a challenge to Islam more than to anything else.
Back to the Main Page