Prerogatives of the Mosques - Q-News July 2006, Issue 367

It is not surprising that the number of people visiting the church has drastically declined. Why? Well I suppose just like marriage [see daily express 27 October, 1993] it is getting out of fashion. What do you think? But seriously speaking, I cannot conceive how people could fail to visit the church when prayers in the church are usually accompanied by the most up to date musical instruments played and sung by stars like Cliff Richard. Why are people just not interested?

A little closer to home, how many people visit the mosque, I wonder? And of those that do bother to make the journey, how many actually come to perform the five daily salat. When was the last time you prayed in the mosque in jam’ah?

Historically speaking, during the time of the Prophet (upon whom be peace) the mosque was at the center of Muslim community life; apart from being a place of prayers, and worship, the mosque was a school, a college a university, a lecture hall, and a meeting place. The origin of universities can in fact be traced back to mosques. ‘Ulama (Muslim scholars), scientists, geographers, mathematicians etc. taught and studied not in ivory- towered hallowed halls, but right inside the masjid. As a matter of fact, the ‘ulama of those days bore little resemblance to those of today, for side by side, with their Islamic knowledge, they were also leading philosophers, scientists, and logicians of their day.

Take Imam al-Ghazali, or ibn Khaldun. Al-Ghazali was a top logician and philosopher as well as being a leading theologian. While ibn Khaldun was a historian and sociologist in addition to being a renowned faqih (Islamic jurist). These great souls were also the fruits of great mosques: al-Ghazali with the great Nizamiyyah Madrasah of Baghdad and ibn Khaldun with the Grand Mosque of Cordoba.

Remember, the first thing our Prophet (upon whom be peace) did after migrating to Medina was to build a mosque. This mosque incidentally went on to breed an entire generation of great leaders and outstanding scholars of the likes of Abu Bakr al-Saddiq and ‘Umar al-Faruq.

Today the ‘ummah is riddled with disunity and plagued with political crisis only because our mosques have ceased to function and refuse to play their role. These people, the majority of whom have no knowledge of Islam - indeed many cannot even recite the Qur’an - are dull, boring and incompetent.

This reminds me of a saying in Bengali which my mother once told me, Only a tiger gives birth to another tiger. But what has all of this got to do with British Muslims you may well be asking. To cut a long story short if we want great leaders we need great mosques. This, however, will never happen until the legions of presidents, chairmen and amirs of our illustrious British mosques either resign, pay a visit to the job center or apply for a pension.

They have successfully turned our mosques into police stations; places where the young are afraid to tread. Woe betide he who forgets his cap, dares to ware a t-shirt or has the brazen guts to let his trouser dangle below his ankles. The young greet the mosques with salam only never to return.

As such a young Muslim and a student, I cannot just sit back and recite the words Subhanllah, Alamduilllah, and Allahu Akbar, without practicing the meaning of these great words. The future prosperity of British Muslims, of the whole ummah, of our prophet (upon whom be peace) lies in the hands of our once great mosques. Strong, vibrant and active mosques will rub off on the community. If our mosques continue to weak our community will continue to suffer.

All Muslims, particularly the imams and khatibs of our mosques must wake up now. If they cannot transform our current mosques into real mosques it is time for them to give way to a new generation of leaders. Too many young people both men and women, are bidding farewell to mosques from sheer disillusionment with the attitudes of the ruling hierarchies. The rot has to stop before the mosques of tomorrow become the churches of today.

This is a call to Allah-fearing, unity-loving brothers and sisters to come forward. Ask yourself, do you want to be a mujahid for Allah? If the answer is yes, educate yourself in both an Islamic and one modern secular subject. Time is precious. Don’t waste it. You are the future of Islam.

Allah says, “Oh believers! Be ye helpers of God: As said Jesus the son of Mary to the disciples, ‘Who will be my helpers to (the work of) God?’ Said the disciples, ‘We are God’s helpers!’” (61:14)

Muhammad Khan, 19
Q-News, Vol II No. 35, December 1993