A SPIRITUAL METAPHOR
The mosque is a metaphor for a living heart. And like the heart, it can be healthy or diseased. However, whether sick or thriving, the mosque is only an expression of those entrusted to administer its affairs.
Mosques are not always the places they ought to be. When this is so, the shade it casts does not make for flourishing.
The worst manifestation is Masjid al-Ḍirār—The Mosque of Mischief—whose foundations were built on divisiveness, not piety: ‘Then there are those who built a mosque––in an attempt to cause harm, disbelief, and disunity among the believers––as an outpost for those who fought God and His Messenger before: they swear, ‘Our intentions were nothing but good,’ but God bears witness that they are liars’ [9:107].
The concept of the ummah—fraternity—is cultivated in the mosque. Unfortunately, many fail to achieve this noble objective due to maladministration.
Mutawalliys, or mosque administrators, are trusted servants. Their primary duty is to administer and maintain the mosque and its staff through lawful means and cultivate a fertile environment for the community’s spiritual, intellectual, mental, physical, political and social growth and well-being. However, what often exists within mosque structures are not Islamic principles but personalities expressing their self-will: ‘The only ones who should tend God’s places of worship are those who believe in God and the Last Day, who keep up the prayer, who pay the prescribed alms, and who fear no one but God: such people may hope to be among the rightly guided’ [9:18].
If earnestly seeking God’s Will at the genesis of any work is not our resolve, we miss the opportunity to lay the soundest foundation possible. When Prophets Abraham (as) and Ismā̀`īl set out to build the first House of God, they commenced with the invocation: ‘As Abraham and Ishmael built up the foundations of the House [they prayed], ‘Our Lord, accept [this] from us. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. Our Lord, make us devoted to You; make our descendants into a community devoted to You. Show us how to worship and accept our repentance, for You are the Ever Relenting, the Most Merciful’ [2:127-128].
This beautiful invocation is not reserved to elevate the heart and mindset before raising a structure but for the commencement and maintenance of any endeavour.
THE GREAT WAR
The life of the altruist is one of struggle.
Every day, those faithfully striving to live as humanitarians might miss their mark. But they mature into better people with each conscious, deliberate, and courageous attempt.
Those valiant women and men who are steadfastly engaged in the fight for the freedom of self know it’s arduous and no less treacherous than when fighting a war of attrition. Their inner demons won’t let up and are determined to set the trap at every turn.
The Prophet (s) knew this and, in profound ḥadīth (prophetic tradition), dispensed the highest wisdom when he (s) said: ‘The struggle of the self (jihād al-nafs) is the hardest jihād‘ [Tirmidhi].
When asked by his companions if it was even more supreme than fighting in war, he (s) assented.
Thus, bursting free from the tyrannous yolk of one’s ego and becoming God-centric is not part-time work but the full-time profession of every Muslim.
My Muslim identity, which is submission to God’s Will, is threatened when:
Until next week, InshaAllah
Zaahied Sallie
Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme
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