Muh So Respected and most honorable viewers listeners and all those around the world tuning into this new annual lecture series hosted and organized by m International M Europe MMG UK and my Canada with their collaboration their cooperation their initiative following on from last year’s webinar Series this year’s series is titled
Navigating the modern world Doctrine psychology Theology and spirituality in this series which spans from February till the end of this year we shall be discussing various topics issues related to theology related to Doctrine psychology spirituality with a particular focus on who a Muslim is what Muslims
Are who they should be in this modern world in the 21st century I’ve tried to split up our topics and discussions into two or three lectures in the first set we will speak about the question of identity the question of purpose aim and objective for Muslims in the 21st
Century and then we will carry on speaking about spirituality psychology theology it is with the grace of Allah Almighty and through the blessings of the holy prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam that we have been given the ability and to host this lecture series may Allah subhah wa ta’ala guide us and
Through the blessings of the holy prophet peace be upon Him increase us in our knowledge and our ability to consume the wisdom of Allah and the holy prophet peace be upon him respected viewers and listeners our topic today is identity crisis for Muslims in the 21st century it is very unfortunate today
Muslims are distancing themselves from their Heritage from their culture from their tradition from their customs from their norms and their languages there seems to be a discomfort and an attempt to distance oneself from your culture from your religious and spiritual background in the modern world today where Muslims are moving on from their
Heritage and their background there’s an attempt to try to fit in the various Trends Progressive modes themes and ideologies of this modern world where Muslims aren’t comfortable with their own identity many Muslims today are trying to assume an identity a way a path which isn’t organic and native to Them what this does is suspends Muslims in midair between two opposing Traditions two opposing cultures two opposing ways of life and respected viewers and listeners a person who isn’t a traveler of one but two ships this person indeed never reaches their destination aim and objective one must be a
Traveler of one vehicle at one time only by walking upon One path you can achieve your destination respected viewers and listeners this confusion in identity discomfort leads to many many misc confusions and this manifests in many ways Muslims today are uncomfortable with modest Dressing with wearing clothes that are prescribed by Allah and the holy prophet peace be upon him with respect to the standards of and modesty although there is no particular item of clothing that is necessarily Islamic or religious but there is a particular way of dressing prescribed by the Quran and Sunnah with
Respect to modesty in that one must wear simp Sly Muslims are dis encouraged and not comfortable expressing their spirituality and religiosity in public circles amongst their friends amongst their colleagues in their professional environment so not to be labeled as someone who is religious as someone who is spiritual or someone who is connected
To their Heritage there are many examples where Muslims today are not comfortable with their identity who they are where they come from who they should be and this is split Muslims between two blocks or two various and contrasting groups communities cultures ways of life respected viewers and
Listeners I would say and I would suggest that this phenomenon is not the fault of Muslims today necessarily rather there is a long historical background and there is a historical context which explains why Muslims today are confused and are subject to an identity crisis we have to speak about two to 300
Years of colonial occupation and subjugation between the 18th and 20th centuries to understand why Muslims today are not proud to be Muslims are not proud of their identity are not proud of their language are not proud of their Customs are not proud of their culture and traditions between the 18th and 20th
Century the modern Muslim world as we know it it was governed by primarily speaking the Ottoman Empire which spanned from the modern Middle East that we know today this included regions of North Africa regions in Central Asia the Baltic states other areas in the Muslim World during this period were governed
By either the mul Empire some by independent princely states Afghanistan region was governed by at various times the durani Empire The Far East had its own system of governments in these two to 300 years uh European powers they came and they subjected the lands to territorial occupation and
Subjugation as a result of this political occupation and subjugation which lasted for between two to 300 years Muslim populations Christian populations Jewish populations native populations in these areas were subject to a completely different way of living living a new lifestyle a new set of values a new set of
Ideals a new set of Traditions new languages a new form of government what this did is distort the Muslim sense of identity the Muslim perception of culture of language traditions and customs and the organic native way of doing things of understanding who you are what you should be and what your aims and objectives in life were
Confiscated in essence you can say that the two to 300 years of colonial occupation it confiscated the spirit of Faith the spirit of spirituality the spirit of this beautiful and moderate and peaceful religion Islam the spirit and the enthusiasm that Muslims had for their own language from their own way of
Dressing their own code their own mannerisms their customs and their traditions and instead a completely foreign way of living foreign ideals were imposed through political occupation and subjugation so where certain populations in the Arab world were proud to speak their own language Arabic French was imposed upon them in certain
Areas English was imposed upon them in certain areas Italian was imposed upon them in the Indian subcontinent where many spoke Udu others spoke Hindi some spoke Punjabi and if you go to some of the western areas in the subcontinent many spoke P many spoke Hind and if you go south
Into what is modern Pakistan when he spoke the various dialects in Sy if you go to the Far East there were different languages there if you go to North Africa there was a combination of Arabic barar various dialects so where people were proud to speak their own language because of foreign occupation
New languages were imposed upon them a new lifestyle a new code new ideals were imposed during this 2 to 300 period when Muslims non-muslims local populations alike were proud to wear their traditional dress and their clothing whether it was a th an Arabic dress whether it was a particular dress
Worn in for instance Indonesia Malaysia the CA and the shalar worn in the Middle East in South Asia all the local dress for instance in Afghanistan as a result of this occupation a new way of dress a new way of clothing a new fashion was imposed now although there is no
Particular fashion or way of dressing native to Islam but there is a particular tradition a particular culture that is native to certain lands and reflective of Islamic identity and what it is to be a Muslim similarly the local approach toward Community toward socializing with each other mannerisms your morals your
Ethics there were certain Traditions that was specific to certain regions and as a result of this colonial period a lot of these Traditions were confiscated and replaced by other ideals and traditions in some the reason why Muslims today face an identity crisis it’s not necessarily Muslims today’s fault rather
There is an historical context a longstanding historical reason why this crisis exists today and you may question well in 194 47 Indian subcontinent received Independence some of the North African countries they received Independence in the 50s and the 60s some of the Arab states received their independence in the 40s in the 50s
Some in the late 20s and 30s so if European or the colonial Powers left these lands in these countries and offered dependence then why does this identity crisis persist surely when Colonial Powers left this area left the region then everything would have certainly turned back to normal and returned back to its original
State but respected viewers and listeners that’s not the case Colonial occupation and subjugation what is also known as imperialism is a comprehensive form of subjugation it not only consists of territorial occupation or Sovereign occupation of particular lands but this Imperial occupation it consists of political occupation territorial occupation cultural occupation intellectual
Occupation spiritual occupation linguistic occupation there are various forms of occupations that are taking place at once so you must understand a particular period of 2 to 300 years not just as a territorial occupation but an occupation of knowledge of intellect of spirituality of culture of faith of
Norms and Customs so in this 300 years not only were lands taken and occupied but language was taken what you say how you say it what you wear and how you wear it how you deal with each other this was occupied not only lands but it was a comprehensive confiscation of your
Identity so even when in 1947 for instance India and Pakistan received Independence territorially speaking these countries received political Independence but their culture remained subjugated the values remain subjugated the ideals remain subjugated the mindset remained subjugated culture Norms Customs this was all subjugated and it remains subjugated till
Today so what happened in 1947 in the Indian subcontinent in the 1960s and 50s in North Africa in the 20s 30s and 40s in the Middle East is that powers from Europe they left the lands and offered Independence but territorial occupation was relieved but intellectual spiritual cultural occupation continued and Contin till
Today so where governance may have shifted back to Native populations ideals culture language motives ways and ideals are not truly in dependent have not truly been liberated and my humble suggestion and opinion today is that if Muslims wish to be independent Muslims wish to be proud of
Their identity and wish to remove this confusion and this crisis in their identity they must get rid of this excess baggage this luggage and these strings from the past it is the Muslim way to forgive to be at ease to be peaceful to forget the past and move
Forward but unless Muslims today forget that past and move forward according to their organic Traditions their culture their language their ways their norms and ideals Muslims cannot be proud of their identity and this crisis will continue you may say and some may say well okay fine the subjugation the occupation was not just
Political it was comprehensive it included language Norms Customs ideals Traditions but again 50 60 70 even 80 years have passed surely this occupation this subjugation this confusion would have fixed itself it’s been decades upon decades respected viewers and listeners is another response to that that despite Independence for 50 60
70 80 plus years for certain countries like the modern Republic of Turkey approximately 100 years the system of global governance is what we call hegemonic system very simply put it means that a particular force a block of countries an international organization or a coalition of powers they control a majority of economic
Affairs they have a lot of political influence immense social control over the International System as a result of which the dominant culture the dominant language the dominant norms and ideals of this country Force Coalition international organization is imposed upon other countries and smaller States we use another term it’s called
Asymmetry so where there is a mismatch between the influence of one country and another country the more influential country the more powerful country their culture their Norms their ideals they will dictate what it is to be and what it isn’t to be for smaller and weaker powers in countries so
Although Independence may have occurred in 60 70 or 80 years when certain circumstances 100 years have traversed but this asymmetry and this hegemonic world means that that influence from Colonial time continues and we call this in international relations Neo Imperialism so where direct occupation and imperialism may have ended Neo Imperialism continues and
Therefore Muslims non-muslims native populations around the world even in the north and Global south east and west aren’t truly independent aren’t truly free there is a monopoly and unless this Monopoly is removed alleviated a true organic sense of identity cannot exist respected viewers and listeners when you are split between two
Ideals you cannot truly be who you should be you cannot truly express your identity you can not truly be committed towards your faith or religion your spirituality and this crisis continues this crisis is question also existed at the time of the holy prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam when early
Companions and members of the Society of qur were addressed by the holy prophet s. wasam and Allah subhana waala’s message of monotheism of Peace moderation self-respect mutual respect dignity honor Justice was conveyed to the people of qur there were many in meccan society who were split between
The ways of their forefathers the ways of their ancestors the ways of the people of qur the ways of the time of jilah of ignorance and the new ideals of Islam of monotheism of social justice peace dignity esteem equality early Muslims and early companions there were certain groups certain individuals who
Split between the past and this new ideal so the Holy Quran IT addresses this and says That when it was said to them except the teachings of Allah subhah wa ta’ala what is revealed to the holy prophet peace be upon him in the form of the verses of the Holy Quran they would reply but we are simply following the ways of our ancestors and earlier
Generations in other words they were uncertain and split between two blocks two ideals two ways of life they weren’t willing to commit themselves to this new and beautiful religion of Islam they felt an obligation and a liability towards the ways of their ancestors and the earlier generations and to this the Quran says
Only if they knew that their ancestors and Elder Generations they knew nothing and were not upon guidance so this confusion this crisis in identity there is a root cause there’s something that causes it and if we understand this root cause we can approach a solution you can find a way forward and
I would suggest resp viewers and listeners it is a question of Conformity and a question of being brave and cous and doing the right thing so simply speaking it is in human nature and psyche to try to fit in to follow the crowd to follow the masses to do what your family your
Friends what community and Society tells you to do the reason you blindly conf form to the ideals the values and the ways of society your community what everybody does is because you don’t want to be labeled as different you don’t want to be labeled as the
Other you don’t want to be labeled as someone who is different aside awkward from the crowd from Community from society and so this draw and this pull in your psyche toward trying to fit in pushes you to conform to whatever Society your community your friends tell you regardless of the fact whether your
Heart your gut feeling says that this isn’t right so those who found it difficult to embrace Islam at the time of the holy prophet peace be upon him it took some years eventually most of them accepted Islam but those who are courageous those who are brave and those who had a sense of
Justice and a conscience they embraced Islam immediately when the holy prophet s wasam addressed them and they became abak Ali abas they were Brave they were forthcoming they didn’t need to conform for the sake of Conformity they were Brave they were forthcoming and they embraced these new peaceful egalitarian ideals respected viewers and
Listeners the reason why we’re sort of discouraged and afraid to be proud of our identity is because we fear we will lose our reputation We Fear we’ll be different We Fear being labeled we’re not comfortable with our dress we’re not comfortable with our native languages we’re not comfortable with our Traditions our
Customs our Norms our culture because we try to fit in the various examples that I can think of when you are in public places for instance in shopping centers at the airport you can be in a shopping plaza you can can be at work sometimes it’s
Time to pray and some people find it difficult to find a quiet and secluded place to pray so I was in an airport once very recently and someone said I’ve got a question if it’s time to pray and we’re at an airport a shopping mall a
Public place is it okay if I simply pray on a chair so I said do you have any health impediments or difficulties do you have to pray on a chair he said no it’s just because of the crowd and people watching it’s kind of awkward and
Gets a bit difficult I said no because it’s award or you feel hesitant or you’re shy there is no reason for you to pray on a chair and they said okay maybe um it’s a question of not finding a place and it’s difficult to find a place I said no you
Can find a place to pray anywhere you just have to use your mind I said look it’s actually time of and uh we were sitting in an airport and Lounge I said look next to the window there’s an empty place there people are sitting minding their own business take a few moments
And pray in the corner so we prayed one by one and I said look this is how you pray in a public place they said what about the mall I said you can find places in the more you know and if you find no place and people can even pray
In changing rooms I’ve seen that once well we were traveling on the motorway and someone said it’s some time to pray a few people have asked in the past can we simply just pray in the car while the car is moving I said no according to our Juris Prudence you
Cannot do that because you’re able to put the car aside and park it and you can simply pray on the side so they’re very easy solutions but sometimes takes bit of Courage bit of grit to do what is right if you look at our younger Generations today young Muslims are not encouraged
To be inspired by their leaders by their intellectual Giants but the Geniuses of the past if you ask a young child who’s interested in science for instance who you inspired by who do you want to be a lot of them will say Einstein youon but why don’t young children and why aren’t young
Muslims being encouraged to be inspired by the greats of our past of our heritage Ja you can be inspired by Einstein but likewise be inspired by your greats your Giants of the past unfortunately it’s historical context as I explained but again it’s a question of Courage question of being brave and being proud of your identity I’ve heard other people ask that when we’re at work especially
Here in the West in Europe and North America you have after were Gatherings and social events where certain forms of socializing occurs which isn’t necessarily conducive to what it is to be a Muslim and your spiritual values and your moral values and your social values so a lot of
People say we have to go there otherwise you know we will lose out in business he will lose out on the networking aspect or professional development or going up the ladder what I say to them is people respect those who are principled and say no much more than those who
Conform those who have the courage and the guts to stand up for what they believe in for their principles for their morals for their ethics and their code are respected far more than those who have no principles and discipline if you draw a line and say I’m fully
Committed to our company to my work my professional responsibilities but my social life is completely different and separate I can guarantee you’ll be respected more than doing it for the sake of doing it and being hesitant if you’re principled and you’re disciplined you’ll be respected more as Muslims we
Should be proud of our identity what we were our languages our customs Norms Traditions that is the way forward that is how you will reinvigorate inspire a new set of ideals a new generation of proud Muslims secure Muslims happy Muslims respected viewers and listeners it’s historical context this is the first reason why identity today is confused used and is subject to a crisis and the second reason is that when Muslims realize that we’re pulled between the east and west north and south west and the East our own Traditions foreign
Traditions okay we’ve got a solution we’ll just follow ourselves the second reason is that in the 21st century the last 100 250 years there been a trend we won’t discuss this trend but I’ll give you the Crux it’s called postmodernism and postmodernism is an ideology which encourages you to create
Your own beliefs it encourages you to create your own ideals it tells you that knowledge isn’t certain it tells you that knowledge is created and that everything is in a flux everything is fluid nothing is certain everything it also encourages you that you can be who whoever you want you can tell yourself
That you can be whoever you wish to be it says that identity is in a state of flux it’s fluid it’s not certain that your orientation as an intellectual person as a religious person it can be whatever you wish it to be and unfortunately this trend postmodernism has confused a lot of
People likewise Muslims today in the 21st C it’s a slippery slope and the end is very very fatal an example is those who understand Contracting if you decide to construct a building there is an extensive process a very rigid routine you must follow and unless you follow that
Process you may suffer a mishap in the construction of the building there’s a process you must go through architectural plannings engineering plannings various Blueprints and tests and approvals planning permissions and when you actually build you have to excavate then there’s steel work then there is cement work it’s the outer
Frame that you complete and then when you complete the checks then you go and move on towards the inner work you furnish and you finish the inside and then again you go through various checks with your engineers with your city council and when everything is complete and the
Rigid process has been completed step by step then the building is ready to be resided in and if this process is not followed and you tell your contractor do whatever you want in any order however you wish it to be wherever you wish it to be give anyone the responsibility do
Whatever you want surely that building will collapse if you do the cement work far first the steel work after you begin with the finishing you don’t have architectural planning engineering you are preparing a recipe for disaster this is the same Parable and example for identity today unless you have precise ideals
Structure morals ethics certain knowledge and ideals you cannot have a certain airm a balanced individual a balanced Muslim a balanced spiritual person a faithful person a proud and courageous person where the 21st century tells you that you can be whoever you wish to be and you tell yourself what your identity
Is that’s not the way of of our beautiful religion you need order purpose restraint check in balance and higher ideals to guide you and what are these ideals where this world says you create them yourself we as Muslims say no these are higher ideals bestowed and awarded by Allah and the holy prophet
Sallai was we’re not Guided by our instincts our Wom Our own understanding our own pleasure rather we are Guided by the higher ideals and divine teachings and Commandments of Allah and the holy prophet sallam just as if you were to create a building in any random order and however you wished it to be built if you did the
Same with your identity just as a building will fall so will your identity and so will your individual you need order you need purpose you need checks and balances you need planning you need precision and you need higher ideals and just as you have engineers and Architects Allah subhana wa tala Says oh Believers obey Allah and his messenger peace be upon him and those with authority amongst you again it’s a problem of the 21st century where you have pseudo intellectuals pseudo philosophers pseudo thinkers who think they are all intelligent all knowing all aware they can determine knowledge ideals their purpose in life
On their own just as you were to create a building without an architect and Engineering that building would fall similarly you can’t follow the commands of Allah and his messenger peace be upon him without having a wise teacher without following a wise guide someone who teaches and guides you according to
The principles of the Quran and sunah someone who’s a specialist like an engineer or architect in the field of construction if a Layman like yourself or I were to go and plan a blueprint that’s the recipe for Des disaster you need Specialists you need those who have an
Indepth understanding of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah who spent decades and decades and decades upon decades learning reciting with deep contemplation of the Holy Quran understanding the Juris Prudence understanding theology Doctrine spirituality and the wisdom behind the teach teachings of the Quran andah so rather than following ourselves Allah
Subhana wa tala says follow Allah and the messenger peace be upon him and Allah subhana tala doesn’t stop there he says and those with authority amongst you and when rulers were ruling according to the Quran and Sunnah and the wisdom of the Quran and Sunnah this
Verse applies to them but in this day and age it’s all Al applies to wise teachers to your guides to your respected sisters and brothers and viewers and listeners our identity as the 21st century says is not self-determined it’s not self- imagined rather it is awarded and bestowed upon
Us by Allah the holy prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam and explained to us by wise teachers and our elders if we rely on ourselves then Allah subhana wa ta’ala also says in the Holy Allah says to those who try to understand the Quran by themselves the examples in the Holy Quran the parables in the Holy Quran and try to guide them that with this Quran and by this Quran not only do we guide but we also misguide many so those who do not follow
The Quran and Sunnah according to the consensus and the teachings of the scholars of 1,400 years in our heritage and in our past and go and learn and understand according to their own intellect and whims shall be misguided our understanding of faith spirituality of our Dean must come through authenticated sources authentic
Scholars and and our teachers and wise leaders of the past it’s like if you were ill you had a medical condition and ailment and it was serious would you sit at home and treating yourself you go on Google and search a recipe and try to diagnose the condition yourself without using the Necessary
Technology to understand what the problem is without going to a medical practitioner and determining what the problem is and following their treatment you were to treat yourself for any major illness God forbid you know you could suffer a fatal accident respected viewers and listeners wisdom in the
Right way is not not always very easy to digest wisdom is wisdom because it’s very difficult to digest and it doesn’t come to any ordinary person wisdom is granted by Allah subhana wa ta’ala to his special servants and it takes years upon years decades upon Decades of training of
Practice of experience to earn this wisdom today we think we know everything and we can a solution to everything we don’t need to listen to anyone we can be whoever we wish to be respected viewers and listeners Allah subhana wa tala says that we must obey Allah subhana wa tala
The messenger peace be upon him and those who are more knowledgeable and more wise than us and Allah subhana says and it is those who are the those who are sinful and those who are in other words rebellious who Allah subhana wa taala misguides and this is another problem in
Our society today it’s very very trendy to be the rebel the one who stands against Society the one who is odd the one who is the Dark Horse the one who tries to be outside the Matrix the one who tries to live differently to be differently speaks differently dresses
Differently it’s very very unfortunate Trend amongst our younger Generations the various terminologies use the one who tries to be the sigma the one who tries to be a road man the one who tries to seem cool to seem fashionable to seem trendy to be an outsider unfortunately this
Is problem in our society today and also problem amongst Muslims in reality the reason behind this is society has failed these people these people are disenfranchised and isolated and marginalized from mainstream society and because Society doesn’t address them with respect to their finances with respect to letting their voice be heard
With respect to allowing them to be involved they turn to small Cults and small groups to small gangs circles and they find a sense of belonging they find a sense of fraternity of Brotherhood a sense of understanding commonality a code and whether that group that segment of society is good or
Bad that’s irrelevant to them because they have a sense of belonging they stick to it and unfortunately this has tarnished a lot of our younger generation in the west respected viewers and listeners the solution to this crisis is multifold first we must try to get rid rid of the
Burden of the past and move on as I mentioned right at the beginning of my talk this occupation which was political and territorial ended but social intellectual linguistic cultural occupation continues unless we Le create this occupation and be proud of our language of our Norms our customs and
Traditions we cannot have a stable sense of identity we cannot be proud Muslims secondly as the 21st century says you can be whoever you wish to be this is a misunderstanding and our ideals who we are our aim our ambition our purpose in life must be understood and must be
Taken from Allah and the holy prophet s and those who are more wise and more knowledgeable than us it is only until we are comfortable with our identity with our norms and culture that we can be stable that we can be Progressive Muslims that we can be Muslims who are proud of our
Identity and comfortable what happened unfortunately in the Colonial period is that when European powers came and replaced native ideals languages Customs cultures with their own culture languages Norms they started to judge and adjudicate someone’s progress by virtue of them following the European way so if someone was European in their Outlook and their dress and their language way of speaking the way they thought what they said what they did they were considered Progressive and those who stuck to their
Organic and their native way of living their language were considered backward so when the occupation ended surely this question of being backward and being forward looking and Progressive should have ended but the colonial occupiers left but there many occupiers who remained in those countries and still judge our own
Populations Muslims non-muslims alike in the global South by these standards so in many countries your level of progressiveness and advancement is determined by the ability to speak English the ability to dress like a Westerner or the ability you know to emulate and replicate the ways of the Europeans
So that pride and that Courage the sense of satisfaction and encouragement that people received while practicing their own Customs Traditions speaking their own language Arabic Udu Persian that was slowly pushed Down and today this continues those who are religious outwardly spiritual who are committed to their faith and religion by our own communities by our own Society people those around us label you as backward or someone who’s not Progressive respected viewers and listeners as Muslims today in the 21st century you must
Understand that it is not being backward it’s not a lack of progressiveness to be proud to speak your own language and there are few reasons for this Islam as a faith and as a religion it’s not Arab Centric it’s not Asian Centric it’s not African Centric rather Islam as a religion is
Universal in its values in its language in its customs in its Norms so no matter what background you come from you can be a true Muslim no matter what language you speak you can be a decent Muslim no matter what culture you come from you can be a true
Muslim you are not judged by what civilization what culture what language you speak or what your background is you are judged by another standard and the Quran speaks about this standard Allah subhana T says That your level of advancement and progress It’s not dependent upon where you come from what language you speak what culture what tradition you come from rather the standard of progress in Islam is how Pious and how righteous you are how spiritual you are how committed
To the Deen you are how close you are to Allah subhah wa ta’ala How dear you are to Allah subhah wa ta’ala how kind you are to people how kind you are to the poor how respectful you are to others how generous you are as an individual the standard of progress is not civilization or culture or background the standard of progress
Is piety in right righteousness that’s the first point and the second point is Allah subhana T says that we have created you into tribes and communities into various segments and there is a wisdom behind this as I mentioned although Islam is not inherently Arab African Asian Far Eastern European although the primary addresses
Of the holy prophet peace be upon him were an AR community so that influence and that culture is predominant but Islam is universal so the wisdom behind Distributing us and separating us into various communities Nations cultures is so that we may recognize each other we know each other and so that we
Learn from each other respected viewers and listeners this is perhaps the most important point of this discussion today is that our faith our religion has been inherited from generation to generation to generation from our fathers to our forefathers to their forefathers and in our ancestry and although Islam is not
Inherently Asian African North African Arab European American we learn our religion from our forefathers from our family in our culture in our native language through our customs and Norms in the Gatherings that we sat and remembered Allah and the holy prophet peace be upon him in our native language
Where we praised Allah and the holy prophet peace be upon him through our customs and traditions where we learned the ad and the respect and the reverence for Allah and the holy prophet peace be upon Him Allah acknowledg this and says we distributed you into communities into the Arabs into the
Asians East Asians Americans Europeans Scandinavians and the purpose is so that you learn from each Other although Islam is not specific to a particular language Arabic is obviously the language of the Holy Quran and the holy prophet Beast be upon him but if you are from Persia and you speak Persian if you are from Pakistan and India you speak Udu or Hindi if you’re
From the Middle East you speak Arabic you speak the Eastern languages if you disconnect yourself from your languages from your culture from your background and Heritage because you learned your religion and it was transferred from generation to generation you will subsequently be cut off from your faith and your religion because
Unfortunately we’ve been put in a a position where we’re not proud of being representatives of our culture we’re not proud to speak our languages to wear our clothing we try to be someone we’re not doesn’t matter if you’re western or not Western Northern or Southern that is beside the point
It’s about being proud of your language your custom your background and unfortunately in the 21st century because Muslims and younger Generations especially are not learning their native language not inheriting their culture their Customs their Traditions from their parents and their parents they are walking toward a path
Of eventually losing out on the essence and spirit of their beautiful religion and Faith because this beautiful Dean has been inherited from generation to generation Allah subhana wa ta’ala has guaranteed the protection of Este that indeed we are the ones who have revealed these verses of the Holy Quran this de and we are the ones who shall certainly protect it so the preservation and protection of the dean the verses of the Holy Quran and Islam is Promised by Allah subhana wa tala but the passing
Down of this beautiful Dean and religion from this generation to Future Generations that’s in our hands and if we distance ourselves from our ancestry if you’re Pakistani from your Pakistani culture if you’re North African from your North African culture if you’re Moroccan if you’re Tunisian Algerian if
You’re from the Middle East if you’re from Indonesia Malaysia if you’re from an African country you could be from anywhere if you distance yourself from your native culture your language your customs and tradition you will distance yourself from your faith from your spirituality from this de for Muslims today respected viewers and
Listeners you must be proud of your heritage proud of your language proud of your customs and Norms this is how our Dean was preserved the four schools of thought Mal and they were in essence at a very very basic level Regional understandings of Islam of Central
Asia one was of Egypt one was of North Africa one was of what we know as Central Middle East so what local communities and local Scholars and local intellectuals and jurists of the time according to their environment their communities their customs and Norms how they understood the Quran and Sunnah is what eventually
Became the way of the the way of the Sha and the Malik so even these four schools of thought were in essence inspired by their Regional cultures their languages their customs and Norms similarly our Dean is inherited and for to move forward toward the next Generations we must connect ourselves to our heritage our background and this is how we will be comfortable proud Muslims happy and secure with our identity we must encourage each other to sit in the
Company of the pious and the righteous those more wise and knowledgeable than us we’re not here to determine our own identity way of living it comes from Allah and the holy prophet Sall alai wasallam and those who understand and have indepth understanding of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah respected viewers and
Listeners we’ve looked at various reasons for the confusion and crisis and identity from historical context to a 21st century Trend to decipher your own sense of identity yourself towards a solution that we move away from this historical past as Muslims we’re forgiving we’re at ease we’re comfortable so we move on and we
Determine who we are what we are and where we should be according to the Quran and the Sunnah and the teachings of the wise and more knowledgeable people and as Muslims it’s very very very important and I cannot emphasize this point enough to connect ourselves to our heritage to our language to our
Background nor nors customs and traditions this is where we’ve learned the ad the mannerisms of practicing the dean you can learn knowledge of the dean but the ad the mannerisms and the reverence and the Dignity of practice comes through your Customs through your culture through your background and your ancestry may Allah
Subhana grant us the ability and to be steadfast pass upon the way of the Quran and the Sunnah and the teachings of the wise and the knowledgeable and allow us to be proud and encouraged Muslims in the 21st Century
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