If you are a good person God will protect you from money that will only cause you harm. There is an interesting story found in Rabi` al-Abrar of al-Zamakhshari and later al-Mustatraf of Baha’ al-Din al-Abshihi wherein Imam `Ali (عليه السلام, peace be upon him) displays a prudent lesson in choosing whether your income is through good or evil.

(ودخل علي بن أبي طالب ـ رضي الله عنه ـ المسجد وقال لرجل كان واقفا على باب المسجد: أمسك عليّ بغلتي، فأخذ الرجل لجامها، ومضى وترك البغلة، فخرج علي وفي يده درهمان ليكافىء بها الرجل على إمساكه بغلته فوجد البغلة واقفة بغير لجام، فركبها ومضى، ودفع لغلامه درهمين يشتري بهما لجاما، فوجد الغلام اللجام في السوق قد باعه السارق بدرهمين، فقال علي ـ رضي الله عنه: إن العبد ليحرم نفسه الرزق الحلال بترك الصبر، ولا يزداد على ما قدر له.)

`Ali bin Abi Talib radi Allahu `anhu (may God be pleased with him) approached the Mosque and said to a man who was standing at its gate, “Please hold my mule for me.” So the man took it by its bridle, but then walked on leaving the mule behind.

`Ali came out of the Mosque with 2 dirhams (silver coins) in his hand so that he could compensate the man for holding his mule. But he found the mule standing there without its ornamental bridle. So he climbed the mule and rode on.

He gave his squire the 2 dirhams to go buy another bridle. The squire found the very same bridle which the thief had sold to whom he bought it from for 2 dirhams.

To this, `Ali remarked:

“The bondsman made forbidden for himself pure earnings by abandoning his patience. And he received naught more than what was determined for him anyway.”

Not a single one of the world’s richest people made their fortunes by winning the lottery. You will not be the first. Work hard and honest for your earnings and you will be rewarded for it, but not at the cost of your honor.

One of the biggest problems facing religion today is modern relevance. For many people of faith, this means coming to terms with reforming their religion to fit modern times by dismissing or “re-interpreting” scripture. The beauty of Islam among religions is in its universality, its compatibility with science, and its versatile legal tradition which remains relevant across times and cultures.

Modernity between Acceptance of Reality and Rejectionism

For the Muslim, the correct attitude is not to resist or reject modernity, rather embrace it with our divine law. Unfortunately, some “conservative” Muslims fear modernity for one reason or another, thus detracting from their relevance. This way of thinking alienates many educated, reasonable Muslims, because they have to live in reality and Islam seems to be at odds with it.

We have ample means of accommodating modernity embedded in the Qur’an, the Sunnah and our vast, rich, 14-century legacy of jurisprudence. So for us, it is not a matter of reform per se, rather that of revivalist research of scriptural interpretation. The Islamic orthodoxy of law is quite vast and versatile. There are two issues that have hindered the proper manifestation of this versatility: closing of the doors of ijtihad (deriving new rulings from legal principles) for centuries, and a huge decline in the general quality of education in the Muslim world in the last two centuries. These two issues have led to some scholars blindly following certain, fixed schools of thought, and in turn to the subjugation of religious values to popular culture; thus our current dilemma/dichotomy.

Female Role in Society

One of the issues of modernity is female leadership. So you have the culture and its supporting fatwas from the Muslim world that women are not to be leaders outside of motherhood. You have a general consensus that women can be scholars and preach Islam, but only to other women, lest they corrupt the men with their sex appeal! In the west, Muslims are divided three ways over the issue of female leadership.

1. Since immigrants are still the major stakeholders in the Mosques, most mosques have not had a female board member, executive director (Amirah) and have never had a woman scholar or preacher speak to the community.
2. Some movements have started to make women Imams, leading prayers and giving Friday sermons to mixed gatherings. This has no traction in mainstream mosques due to the lack of precedent in the history of Islamic Law.
3. Some Mosques are empowering sisters as female board members and executive directors, and inviting female preachers to speak to mixed gatherings. They are reviving some historical precedents of Islamic Law to achieve relevance in dealing with modernity.

Women Scholars Preaching Islam to Mixed Gatherings

The subject I would like to tackle now, with divine providence, is having female scholars who advise and preach to both men and women. Naturally, some people will object, saying it is un-Islamic to have a woman speak to a mixed crowd, counsel or give fatwa to men. The same people would not object to a male scholar counseling a woman, outside of seclusion of course! To give them the benefit of the doubt, they have never seen or heard of this in the Muslim community. Here lies the power of culture in defining our traditions. The resolution of such issues should not be determined by what we see people doing, rather by what Islam says about the matter.

So the question is, what does Islam say about having women scholars, preachers and teachers who address both men and women?

The Holy Qur’an tells us:

“The believing men and women are patrons of each other. They command to good, rebuke evil, establish prayers, give alms, obeying God and His messenger. They will have God’s mercy. Indeed God is Mighty and Wise.” (Qur’an, 9:71)

This verse, like many others, puts men and women on equal footing regarding the practice of religion. It is especially significant regarding our question, because its linguistics equates men and women working together in preaching.

Umar sums up the drastic change to Arabia regarding women

“.كنا في الجاهلية لا نعد للنساء شيئا حتى أنزل الله فيهن ما أنزل وقسم لهن ما قسم،” و في رواية: “فلما جاء الإسلام وذكرهن الله، رأينا لهن بذلك علينا حقا”

 “Back in the days of ignorance before Islam, we didn’t consider women of much significance at all. This all changed with the emergence of Islam in which God mentioned them with respect and gave them new rights then we realized their rights over us.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 5843)

Aisha – The Founding Mother Scholar, Judge and Orator

There are many texts which unquestionably show that Aisha was a huge precedent for female scholarship. Trained for 9 years in the house of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Musa al-Ash’ari the great scholar of the companions is reported to have said about her:

“.ما أُشكل علَينا أصحابُ محمَّدٍ صلَّى اللهُ عليْهِ وسلَّمَ حَديثٌ قطُّ ، فسأَلنا عائشةَ ، إلَّا وجَدنا عِندها منه عِلمًا”

“Sometimes we the companions of Muhammad ﷺ would get confused about Islamic teachings. We would then go and ask Aisha about itand we found she always had the knowledge we were seeking in it.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, 3883)

It was also authentically transmitted by al-Zubair bin al-Awam, the great companion who was of the six nominated by Umar to decide among them the Caliph after him:

ما رأيت أحدا من الناس اعلم بالقرآن ولا بفريضة ولا بحلال ولا بحرام ولا بشعر ولا بحديث العرب ولا بنسب من عائشة رضي الله عنها

“I never saw anyone more knowledgeable of the Qur’an, Islamic Law, poetry, Arab history and lineages than Aisha radi
Allahu
`anha
 (may God be pleased with her).” (Al-Hakim, 4/11)

In his masterpiece on the biographies of the greatest prominent Muslims of our past, Imam al-Dhahabi relates that the famous scholar and general of the tabi’in (the generation of Muslims who were born after the death of the Prophet ﷺbut who were contemporaries of His companions) in Iraq, Al-Ahnaf bin Qays, said:

سمعت خطبة أبي بكر الصديق وعمر بن الخطاب وعثمان بن عفان وعلي بن أبي طالب والخلفاء من بعدهم فما سمعت الكلام من في مخلوق أحسن ولا أفخم من في عائشة

“I heard the sermons of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali and the Caliphs after them and yet I never heard speech from the mouth of anyone better or more eloquent than from Aisha.” (Siyar al-A’lam al-Nubalaa)

This should close the case, but some might say that Aisha was an exception. Well, she was in fact unique, since she was the greatest woman scholar among the companions, and greater than the top handful of men as well. That being said, as the mother of the believers, she naturally became a standard of excellence and an example to be followed by other women.

In his famous work Al-Isabah fee Tamyeez as-Sahabah, Imam ibn Hajar al-Asqalani reports on 1543 women scholars of Islamic Law, Hadith and Arabic literature!

As for teaching, the great granddaughter of the Prophet ﷺ Nafeesah bint al-Hasan was reported to have lectured to the masses in the Prophet’s mosque as well as in Cairo. It is also well-documented that scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Hajar, Ibn al-Jawzi and Imam al-Thahabi were all taught by female scholars.

For those of you who are still not convinced that it is acceptable for a sister to assert herself,

Imam Al-Haythami relates a story about the woman Umar put in charge of the policing of the marketplace of Madinah. Yahya bin Abi Saleem said:

رأيْتُ سَمْرَاءَ بنتَ نُهَيْكٍ وكانَتْ قد أَدْرَكَتِ النبيَّ صلَّى اللهُ عليهِ وسلَّمَ عليْها دِرْعٌ غَلِيظٌ وخِمارٌ غَلِيظٌ ؛ بيدِهِا سَوْطٌ تُؤَدِّبُ الناسَ ، وتَأْمُرُ بالمعروفِ وتَنْهَى عَنِ المنكرِ

“I saw Samraa bint Nuhayk, who met the Prophet ﷺ, wearing a rough Hijab with chainmail and a whip in her hand. She would discipline the people commanding to good and rebuking evil.” (Majma’ al-Zawa’id 9/267)

The majority of our scholars throughout history have said that there is nothing wrong with listening to a woman’s speech unless it is flirtatious or provocative. Both men and women were prohibited from (prolonged) looking at an attractive person. To say a woman clergy member cannot speak in front of men because some men may find her attractive is the same as prohibiting women from listening to a male Imam, since women have desires as well, and were equally rebuked from looking where there is attraction.

Just because the Muslims have strayed from the scholarly tradition of old and have become used to certain ways of dealing does not mean that our traditional sources of law do not support a different way of doing things more suitable for the reality we live in today.

It is of the utmost importance that we not judge Islam by the state of Muslims today. Our religion is much bigger and better than that. There were many great generations who were not only relevant but standard setters for civilization in general wherever they were.

There are many causes and struggles going on here in the US right now. Our religion is completely capable of addressing and solving the world’s problems. We are obligated to create a generation that has the right tools to bring moral balance to issues like feminism, economy, racism, class warfare, political corruption, oppression or anything else related to morality or ethics.

We wish to respond to evil with good, as our faith instructs us and send a powerful, united message of compassion through action. Our Prophet Muhammadﷺ (peace be upon him) said: “Have mercy to those on earth, and the One in the Heavens (God) will have mercy upon you.” And the Qur’an directs us to “repel evil by that which is better,” (41:34).

All fundraising proceeds will help with the immediate, short term needs of the families, such as funeral expenses. If we exceed the $50,000 goal, we can even assist the families with long-term expenses or possibly provide a donation to the regional center where the shooting took place. Funds will be distributed to the victims’ families by the MiNDS Institute.

Please contribute and share this project with those you know and insha’ Allah (God willing) together we can send this message of compassion.

https://www.launchgood.com/project/muslims_united_for_san_bernardino#

But Allah (swt) says in Surat Al-Kahf (Chapter of the Cave):

قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ

“Say ‘I am only a man like you, to whom it has been revealed that your god is one God,’” (18:110).

The Prophet ﷺ was not an angel, nor a demigod, nor a jinn. He was a human being, a son of Adam `alayhi as-salaam (peace be upon him)—granted the best of the children of Adam (as), but still human. This means that aside from the miracles facilitated to him by Allah (swt), and the revelations he received through God’s angel Jibreel (as), what he did and the way he behaved and lived his life were something a human can do. It was not supernatural!

Allah (swt) says in Surat Al Anbiya’ (Chapter of the Prophets):

قُلْ لَوْ كَانَ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَلَائِكَةٌ يَمْشُونَ مُطْمَئِنِّينَ لَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَلَكًا رَسُولًا

“Say ‘If there were upon the earth angels walking securely, We would have sent down to them from the heaven an angel [as a] messenger.’” (Qur’an 17:95)

If Allah (swt) had sent an angel for us to follow, how could we do so? Instead, all the prophets and messengers of Allah (swt) are humans, but humans who truly lived, practiced and breathed the message of Allah (swt). `A’isha radi Allahu `anhaa (may God be pleased with her) said of the Prophet ﷺ: “His manners were the Qur’an.” If we want to understand our religion, we must understand the way the Prophet ﷺ lived his life and understand why we should emulate him and practice his sunnah (tradition).

Allah (swt) says in Surat Al-Ahzab (Chapter of the Combined Forces):

لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا

“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.” (Qur’an 33:21)

We need to get to know the Prophet’s ﷺ personality better by reading his seerah (biography) and by studying his sunnah, and then by putting into practice all of his good qualities.

It is no secret that Islam is being attacked. Whether from within, by people who commit atrocities in the name of Islam such as ISIS and Al-Qa’idah, or from outside by the rising tide of Islamophobia and the subtle, and not-so-subtle, attacks on and mockery of Islam and Muslims. Our religion has been hijacked by a statistically insignificant minority who share nothing with the teachings of our faith other than a name. Their evil actions give reason and excuse for people of ill intent to try to smear this beautiful religion, using the actions of this minority as an excuse to attack Muslims and create a tremendous fitnah (trial) for us all. It is shaking the weak-hearted to the core and confusing those of us who, all of a sudden, find ourselves in the midst of a very disorienting storm.

Is this something new, or has it happened before? Let us take a quick look back at a couple of major events in our Prophet’s ﷺ life.

In the tenth year of prophethood, the Prophet ﷺ went to Al-Tayef, which is about 60 miles from Mecca. He travelled by foot, both ways, and in his company was his servant Zayd Bin Harithah (ra). Every time they stopped by a village or town, he would invite its people to Islam and none would answer his invitation. When he arrived at Al-Tayef he sought out three brothers who were prominent figures of the tribe of Thaqeef. He sat with them and invited them to Allah (swt) and to aid Islam. One of the brothers said to him, “I will rip the cloth off the Ka’abah if God sent you,” while the other said, “Did God not find anyone better than you?” and the third said, “By God I will never speak to you, for if you are a prophet then you are dangerous to engage in conversation and if you are lying then I should not be speaking to someone like you.” So the Prophet ﷺ left them and said, “Then please do not tell others about me.” (The Sealed Nectar, p148)

The Prophet ﷺ stayed with the people of Al-Tayef for ten days and he did not leave any of their honorable or respected figures without speaking to them about Islam. They all told him to leave their land and kicked him out. They also egged the lowly ones from among them, and their slaves, to yell and curse at the Prophet ﷺ and Zayd (ra) as they were leaving. People gathered and formed two lines and, along with cursing and yelling, threw pebbles and rocks at them until the heels of Prophet ﷺ bled. Zayd (ra) was trying to protect the Prophet ﷺ with his own body, was hit in the head, and bled. People continued to abuse them until three miles later, the Prophet ﷺ and his Companion got to a vineyard and they rested under the shade of its plants.

The Prophet ﷺ himself was humiliated, hurt and broken-hearted. What did he do?

Imam Bukhari reports that `A’isha (ra) asked the Prophet ﷺ if he had experienced a day that was harder on him than the day of the Battle of Uhud. The Prophet ﷺ replied that he had seen his fair share from her people, but the worst was when he went to Al-Tayef to invite its people to Islam. He said, “…then I left, saddened and downtrodden, until I realized that I had arrived at Qarn Al-Thaalib. While there, a cloud cast its shadow upon me. I looked up and the Angel Jibreel was on it, and he said, ‘God has heard what the people said to you and how they responded and He has sent the angel of the mountains with me to command him with whatever you may please.’ At that, moment the angel of the mountains called the Prophet and asked, ‘O Muhammad, you shall have whatever you please. If you so desire, I can close the two mountains on them.’ [The people of Al-Tayef lived between two mountains.] The Prophet replied, ‘But I wish that God would send from among them people who would worship Him alone and not associate any in worship with Him.’”

This is why Allah (swt) says about the Prophet ﷺ in Surat Al-Anbiya’:

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ

“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” (21:107)

He was the most merciful person. Allah (swt) called him “a mercy to the worlds”. He was merciful to his family, followers, friends, even enemies. He was merciful to young and old, to humans and to animals. Those who persecuted him in Makkah and killed his relatives and his followers, when they were defeated in battles and brought to him as captives, were forgiven by him. He asked them, “What do you think I am to do to you today?” and they replied, “Nothing but good, a generous brother the son of a generous brother.” He replied, “I shall say to you what Yusuf (as) said to his brothers: ‘No blame on you today.’”

He did not ever take revenge or retaliate. He was the most forgiving person. His concern was that the message of Allah (swt) made it through to hardened hearts. Yet we say, “He was a prophet akhi, how am I to compare myself to him?”

Allah (swt) says in Surat Al-Baqarah (Chapter of the Cow):

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُمْ مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْا مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ ۖ مَسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّىٰ يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَىٰ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ

“Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, “When is the help of Allah?” Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.” (Qur’an 2:214)

We are living in difficult times and many questions surround us.

How do we counter sick-hearted people who want to turn our children into murderers under the false guise of Islam?

How do we answer Islamophobia?

How do we answer our children’s questions about a distorted image of Islam?

How do we uphold the Prophet’s ﷺ honor?

By learning and understanding the life he lived. The morals he exemplified. The actions he took. By building ourselves in the same methodical way he built his followers. You start with faith and solidify it in your heart. Then you apply the beauty of that faith to all of your actions.

قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

“Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’” (Qur’an 3:31)

To follow him, we must understand him.

The time is now for us to focus on what is most important.

It is not the environment you live in. The Prophet ﷺ grew up in a time where people circumambulated the Ka`bah naked and worshipped idols.

It is not the lack of a full-time Islamic school that makes our children grow up detached from this religion.

It is not that we do not have an imam (religious leader). We have the example of a great imam, may Allah (swt) bless him and his family, but even though we have him, he is not going to raise our children for us.

The responsibility lies with us. We are the ones responsible for understanding our faith and raising our kids to be proud of, and to fully embrace and practice, their Muslim identity.

Allah (swt) says in Surat Muhammad:

فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِكَ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ

“So know, [O Muhammad], that there is no deity except Allah and ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women. And Allah knows of your movement and your resting place.” (Qur’an 47:19)

We are told to ‘know’ before we are told to ask for forgiveness. The most telling evidence that we must have knowledge first before we take action is that the first verse of the Qur’an to be revealed was:

اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ

“Recite in the name of your Lord who created.” (Qur’an 96:1)

Reading is the key to knowledge. Islam started with knowledge and learning before action, and therefore it is incumbent upon each one of us to learn our deen (religion). Learn and know what is obligated upon you for the sake of Allah (swt), for your own sake, for your family’s sake, your neighbors, your community, your society and humanity as a whole.

Knowledge is a fardh (obligation) on every Muslim. This obligation is two kinds. One is what is known in Islam as fard kifayah, or an obligation that is fulfilled if a sufficient number of Muslims within a community perform it. For example, not every Muslim needs to be a scholar of Islam, or an expert in hadith (traditions of the Prophet ﷺ) or tafseer (exegesis of the Qur’an). It is an obligatory knowledge, but if a sufficient number of people possess it, then the sin of not performing the obligation is lifted from the rest of the Muslims. This is true for all kinds of knowledge, not only Islamic or religious knowledge. This means that not everyone needs to be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer; rather, a sufficient number of people should have that knowledge, helping their societies become self-sufficient rather than needing to import expertise.

The second form of knowledge is that which is fard `ayn, or obligatory on each and every Muslim. Every Muslim must learn of their religion that which corrects, strengthens and improves their faith.

The best way to fight Islamophobia is to understand and practice our Islam: to engage people as a Muslim and to live our lives as Muslims. Therefore, wearing the hijab is fighting Islamophobia. Resisting lusts and temptations is fighting Islamophobia. Understanding Islam is fighting Islamophobia.

By Tasniya Sultana

Disclaimer: This is my vision and opinions about the current education system from my experiences and observations. I respect and admire all teachers and administrators who tirelessly work to provide the best form of education for their students. Having said that, I believe in a different approach to Islamic education and this article outlines my vision.

Recently, I read an article on virtualmosque.com entitled “A Second Look at Islamic Schools” by Lobna Mulla. A lot of her points and thoughts resonated with me as I read through the article. It is sad that many people have a negative perception when it comes to Islamic Schools and Islamic Education. I must admit that I am one of those people as well.

Growing up in a strict Islamic household and having many poor experiences as a student and teacher at Sunday and Islamic schools, I had lost my faith in Islamic schools and Islamic education at one point. I vented to my husband and friends that when I have kids, I would rather send them to a public school than an Islamic school.

But I took a step back and I realized that running away from Islamic education and schools is not the solution. Seeing such low attendance and participation in mosques and Islamic schools concerns me. It shows that more and more youth and Muslim families are choosing to stay away from Islamic education. Instead, they are choosing to go to public schools, which are not the best alternative either, having been there myself.

Therefore, we need to change our perception of Islamic education. As Sister Mulla stated in her article, Islamic schools have taken steps to make themselves more appealing and competitive. One of the steps she listed in her article is that many Islamic schools are run by principals and teachers who have proper education degrees and certifications. They also have extensive evaluation processes so that the schools are accredited by the respective states. This shows us that Islamic schools are trying to raise the bar and they are striving to get proper accreditation and standards for their schools.

While I agree that there has been a shift in Islamic schools to hire teachers and administrators who are qualified, it is simply not enough. There needs to be a change in the way we approach and teach Islamic education to our children. Traditional education systems offer workbooks, textbooks, and worksheets to teach various concepts like math, science, history, and language. There is very minimal hands-on experience for the child. From my personal experience, I have also observed that Islamic schools adapted this methodology of teaching Islamic studies to children through the use of books and worksheets.

Sadly, I cannot agree with this system. I believe that there should be a more hands-on approach to education. We should provide concrete materials and experiences for the children in the classroom so that they are excited and passionate about learning both secular subjects and Islamic subjects.  And that is where my dream comes into play. Insha’Allah (God willing), I want to change the landscape of Islamic education. I want people to have positive associations with Islamic schools and education in general. And for that, I truly believe that Montessori Education will be a good synergy with Islamic Education.

To give some background about Montessori Education, it is a system that was founded by Maria Montessori. Her vision was to provide an education system that is set according to the child’s pace. She observed children for many years in different countries and through her observations, she had many revelations about education.

For one, a Montessori classroom looks very different from a traditional classroom. There are no grades in a Montessori school. Rather, the students are grouped according to age levels: The toddler classroom has children from 0 to 3 years of age, the primary classrooms have student from ages 3 to 6, and the elementary classrooms have children from 6 to 12.

In addition, the teacher gives lessons in small groups or individually rather than giving the lessons to a large group in front of the classroom. The children are allowed to choose their own work everyday, and the teacher does not give a lesson to a child until he or she is ready to have that lesson. To learn more about Montessori education and how it is different from traditional education, please visit the YouTube link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcgN0lEh5IA&feature=youtu.be

Currently, I am doing my masters in Elementary Montessori Education at Washington Montessori Institute at Loyola University, Maryland. The more I learn about the Montessori theories and principles, the more I am convinced that Montessori education is compatible with Islamic studies. Lessons such as wudu (ritual washing), wearing a hijab, prayers, and hifdh (memorization) can be incorporated using the Montessori principles. Thus, my goal and vision is to create an Islamic Montessori school from the toddler program to the elementary program that will incorporate Islamic studies using the Montessori methods.

To give an example of how that will work, I will lay out some of my ideas below. For example, in many Islamic schools and Sunday schools, the topic of wudu is taught in a very intellectual manner. Often times, we go over a book on wudu and use flashcards to teach the children about the process. Once in a while we allow them to go to the bathroom to practice wudu but the sinks are not accustomed to accommodating wudu for the children. They struggle to do wudu because they can’t reach the tap or the sink or they can’t put their feet up on the sink in order to wash.

Therefore, one of my goals is to have wudu stations in the classroom for the child. We will use buckets, pitchers, and basin to do wudu in the classroom. The best thing about a primary Montessori classroom is that there is a huge emphasis on doing activities that are practical to a child’s life. For example, in Montessori education, the teachers give lessons on how to wash the table, wash their hands, brush their teeth, clean the dishes, mop the floor, and many more practical life activities! The children enjoy these activities because they see their parents doing these activities at home and they have a need to imitate them. But do not freak out because the Montessori classroom also does math, science, and reading as well!

But the most beautiful thing is that Montessori classroom allows for the child to experience and practice the practical aspects of their lives. And for a Muslim child, doing wudu and learning prayers is a practical part of life. So why not incorporate that into the classroom as a lesson and an activity that the child will enjoy?

This is one of the many ideas I have for my Islamic Montessori School. As Sister Mulla reiterated in her article, there is a huge shift to set the bar high for Islamic education in America. And I believe that my goal and vision for my Islamic Montessori School can add to raising Islamic schools from sub-standard education to highly sought-out education by the Muslim ummah (community) Insha’Allah.

Originally published at Safa Center here.

The suburban Muslim community in America has a problem. Our masajid (mosques) are in shambles because we think money alone can save them. We believe the wealthy and powerful can change our condition. We believe Islamophobia can be fought by impressing the important, the elite and that personal safety comes from fleeing poor neighborhoods and dissociating ourselves socially from their ranks. We could not be further from the truth and the example of our Noble Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him).

Even benevolent donors may fall into this delusional mind set. Donations may keep walls standing, air conditioning running, and the windows polished but they do not fill the room with Prophetic love, divine guidance, and a people who will carry the message of Islam with integrity and grace. Only the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) can do all this. When we change what is inside ourselves, when we put seeking Allah’s blessings and our Prophet’s example first, only then will He change our condition.

In Surah ‘Abasa, the Prophet ﷺ was redirected by Allah from appealing to an important member of Meccan society while turning away from a humble blind man. In this famous incident recorded in the Qur’an, we are reminded as an ummah (community) that we should not neglect the poor and downtrodden, nor prefer the influential to them. At a time in America where we hear about tragic hate crimes every few weeks, there is increased temptation to seek safety from the wrong sources. There is nothing wrong with practicing caution or building relationships with decision makers, but there is something very deeply wrong when suburban Muslims choose to dissociate themselves socially from poor Muslims and poor Americans in general, while rubbing elbows with police officials and politicians, in an effort to preserve their safety.

First of all, it is elitist, and secondly, it contradicts the Prophetic formula for success. Consider the following statements from the Prophet ﷺ:

Mus’ab ibn Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas said, “Sa’d thought that he had preference over those below him and the Prophet (saw) said, ‘Are you given victory and provision except on account of the weak among you?’” [al-Bukhari]

Abu al-Darda said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, ‘Seek me among the poor and weak. Truly, you are given victory and provided for on account of the poor and weak among you.” [Abu Dawud]

How incredible that an entire ummah seeks the prayer and support of the marginalized among them in order to collectively enjoy success, victory, and even wealth. On a psychological level, the wealthy believer must recognize their blessing in wealth literally comes from the poor. Contrast this with the delusion of Qaarun, an incredibly wealthy tyrant who said, “I was only given it (wealth) because of knowledge I have.” (Qur’an 28:78) Unfortunately, many Muslims, even big donors, may live with the myth of Qaarun: that their accumulated wealth is because they were smart, and played the game of money-making correctly and poor people are poor because they are either lazy, unintelligent, or predisposed to crime.

The Prophet ﷺ flipped the script on so many social pathologies: sexism, racism, tribalism, and also elitism and classism. The Prophet’s guidance is a shining light in a time of darkness, but will we have the courage to carry his lamp? America today has criminalized poverty. The structural and institutional discrimination that exists against poor people reflect nothing short of a new age of ignorance. If we do not confront this ignorance at least on a spiritual level, we too will become from its people and proponents.

It’s disturbing to see suburban masajid and their congregants having no meaningful fraternal relationship with the poor and marginalized, and even more so as the poor and marginalized also exist in suburbs and within these congregations. The programming alone usually reflect ticket costs that only the wealthy can afford. If you don’t see them at the event, maybe it’s because they’d rather not have to explain that they can’t afford being there. Donations are not a fraternal relationship. When we recognize that the poor and marginalized are not simply to be tolerated, but honored because they endure what has been lifted from the rest of us, so we can enjoy what we enjoy, we owe them a debt of gratitude, service, and love. They are the truly important people among us as this incident in the Prophet’s life indicates:

Abu’l-‘Abbas Sahl ibn Sa’d as-Sa’idi said, “A man passed by the Prophet (saw) who said to the man who was sitting with him, ‘What do you think of this one?’ He replied, ‘A man who is one of our nobles. This man, by Allah, if he proposes marriage, his proposal is accepted, and if he intercedes his intercession would be granted.’ The Messenger of Allah (saw) was silent. Then another man passed by and the Messenger of Allah asked him, ‘What do you think of this one?’ He answered, ‘O Messenger of Allah, this is just one of the poor Muslims. If he were to propose marriage, his proposal would not be worth accepting, and if he were to intercede, his intercession would not be granted, and if he were to speak, his words would not be listened to.’ The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘This one is better than the whole earth full of the first one.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

The Prophet ﷺ didn’t just honor the poor and marginalized, he loved them and he prayed for their love. He used to supplicate: “O Allah! I ask You for the means to do good, to avoid evil, and to love the poor, and I beseech You to forgive me and have mercy on me.” (Tirmidhi) Our beloved Prophet ﷺ lived his values. Given the choice to be a Kingly Prophet or a Servant Messenger, he chose very easily to be a Servant Messenger. His wife, Lady Aisha radi allahu `anha (may God be pleased with her) reported after he made this choice, the Prophet ﷺ never ate while reclining, saying: “I eat like a servant eats and I sit like a servant sits.” We know that he could have lived the life of a millionaire, but rather he was more generous than the free blowing wind. He despised the remodeling of homes for the sole purpose of symbolizing wealth and shunned excessiveness in spending and in the hoarding of worldly possessions. He taught us to see the power hidden within the poor, and their ultimate success:

Haritha ibn Wahb said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “Shall I inform you about the people of the Garden? All who are weak and thought to be weak. If they were to take an oath by Allah, Allah would carry it out. Shall I tell you about the people of the Fire? All those who are coarse, domineering, and arrogant.’” [Bukhari and Muslim]

We can say we believe Allah (swt) and His Prophet ﷺ but much of the suburban American Muslim community has behaved like something else. We have behaved like we believe our success, protection, and wealth come from the elite. We have behaved like the ones worthy of our fraternity are the powerful. We live socially disconnected from the poor no matter how much we donate, and consider ourselves morally and intellectually superior because we can donate. We live lifestyles that reflect the very waste, excess, and hoarding that the Prophet ﷺ despised. Worse yet, we consider ourselves the ansaar ((the helpers of Medina who shared their wealth and homes with the immigrants of Mecca who fled persecution)) , and the poor and marginalized are the muhajiroon ((the immigrants of Mecca who fled persecution)) . The truth is they are the Ansaar, and we are the ones impoverished spiritually, socially, materially, and even politically until we recognize it.

ابغوني في الضعفاء فإنما تنصرون و ترزقون بضعفائكم

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has provided American Muslims with a unique opportunity to put our faith into practice: signing up for health insurance helps us to look after our own health more productively, as well as the health of others in our community.

It is narrated in a hadith (narration) of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) that “Your body has a right over you,” (Sahih Muslim). In other words, Allah has blessed and entrusted us with a physical body, and we have an obligation to take proper care of it. Indeed, dietary restrictions and the instructions to perform ablutions before any prayers indicate the importance of maintaining one’s physical health. By having the proper tools, such as health coverage, one can better afford routine appointments with primary care physicians, who can provide important advice on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Health insurance also makes preventive services such as cancer screenings more affordable, so that many cancers can be detected and treated before they become dangerous. Thus, taking care of one’s own health is a way of giving thanks to God for His gifts.

In addition, Islam stresses the importance of looking after others in society. The Qur’an says, “They ask you as to what they should spend. Say: Whatever wealth you spend, it is for the parents and the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, and whatever good you do, God surely knows it,” (Qur’an 2:215). Many Muslims receive health insurance through a spouse or parents; thus, buying a health insurance plan enables Muslims to provide healthcare access to their entire family. The ACA makes this process easier by allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26 years of age, and making it illegal for insurance companies to charge men and women different premium rates.

Finally, it is the responsibility of American Muslims to look after our community’s well-being. Thus, signing up for health insurance is critical to our community’s long-term prosperity in the United States. It is narrated to us in another hadith of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that, “The believers, in their mutual mercy, love and compassion, are like a (single) body; if one part of it feels pain, the rest of the body will join it in suffering,” (Sahih Bukhari). Inadequate insurance coverage can lead to severe financial hardship when disaster strikes, and medical bills are the most common cause of bankruptcy in the United States. As a relatively small community in America (Muslims are roughly 1% of the U.S. population), it hurts us all when even a single brother or sister faces financial trouble. If we want to contribute to American society we can start by signing up for health insurance and protecting ourselves against financial ruin.

We urge all Muslim Americans to at least become better informed about their options. It is also important to note that signing up for health insurance is not in and of itself enough to improve one’s health; indeed, one must take personal responsibility for one’s health and make sure to keep regular doctor’s appointments, take appropriate medications, and follow nutritional guidelines, among other things. Visit www.HealthCare.gov for more information or to sign up for health insurance today.

www.FeedTheirLegacy.Com

In order to help people who wish to honor the legacy of Deah, Yusor and Razan to coordinate, we have compiled resources to help people with organizing:

Our Three Winners: Stay updated via the official facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ourthreewinners

Global Events Map: See where vigils and prayers are taking place near you http://www.atlantamuslim.com/2015/feb/13/global-events-map-ourthreewinners/

Resource Center: MSA National has a page dedicated to the Chapel Hill Shooting. Visit for updates, national initiatives and more http://msanational.org/old/updates-and-initiatives/

If you are organizing a vigil, please make use of these resources:

– Please make sure to coordinate with CAIR and add your event to this database using this form: http://bit.ly/UNCVigilForm

1- Spiritual: Advice from Imam Joe Bradford:

2- Media:

3- Safety:

– Counseling / Therapy – for any counseling or therapy resources to help community members cope with grief, anxiety or stress please refer them to the Muslim Wellness Foundation via info@muslimwellness.com

—

The above information was collected from SMILE organization, MSA National, and CAIR.

By Anthony Hardy

Photo: Lisa Ouellette

“My father always complains about how Islam has broad acceptance in the African-American community but not in the White American one,” said a Pakistani friend of mine as he handed me a cup of chai. “He doesn’t like how many African-American brothers come to Islam through the prisons and stuff like that. He wished more middle class White Americans were Muslims. He disdains Islam being associate with the lower class in this country.”

I shouted, “Wait? What? Is he serious?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Hasn’t he read the seerah [biography of the Prophet]? Hasn’t he read the Qur’ān? The people most receptive to the message are the exploited and downtrodden. That’s how it usually works. In America, that means Blacks, Latinos, and women!”

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“It must be nice,” I told a White Muslimah friend of mine, “to have people approach you for marriage so frequently in the masjid. I mean, your beauty is a constantly being reinforced, unlike Black beauty. I’m sure it helps with your self-esteem.”

“Yeah, it was nice,” she admitted.

“Was? What do you mean by was?

“Well, it was nice…until I realized why they were asking me. The aunties and Arabs were only approaching me because I was White and because they wanted lily-white children. Once I figured that out, I just stopped entertaining their request. That’s one reason why I stopped going to the masjid altogether. I didn’t want to be put on a pedestal.”

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While shopping for naan and daal in an Indian store with some Pakistani friends, I happened to browse the cosmetic section. I found a package of “Fair & Lovely: MAX Fairness for Men.” I had heard about this cream from my Indian and Pakistani friends, but I didn’t know it was sold in America or even that it could be sold here.

I read the label:

“…fight [the] darkening of your skin due to your active lifestyle.”

I laughed aloud. No amount of cream was going to lighten my melanin-enriched skin. My friends joined in my laughter when they saw what I had found. Afterwards I put it back on the shelf.

My laughing spell continued in the car ride home. One of my friends asked me, “What’s so funny man?”

I answered, “Because it’s all so darkly comical: White people here destroy their bodies to look like Brown people and Brown people there destroy their bodies to look like White people. Everyone wants to be something other than what Allāh has made them, and they all make themselves sick in the process.”

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A wise Muslim woman, who happened to be a White convert, once told me that my skin color, despite the hardships attached to it, is actually a blessing in disguise: she described it as a filter which would sift through those individuals who are not serious about their commitment to higher religious or moral principles, whereas she and her family, all of whom are White, will always have to worry about people dissembling their commitment to those principles for her and her family’s Whiteness. She said my dark skin was a test for them, one many of whom are failing miserably.

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“So an auntie was trying to find a wife for me,” a Latino Muslim friend of mine told me, “but when they saw my pictures, they said I looked ‘too Mexican.”

I laughed a little on the outside—died a little on the inside. He is handsome in his own right, a Mexican man with German heritage. The German traits dominate his physical appearance.

I replied, “Just exactly how are you suppose to look?”

“I don’t know bro. ‘Too Mexican’? What does that even mean?”

“It means you’re the right skin color – White or White-looking in your case – but you come from the wrong culture.”

He nodded. “That’s Jahiliyya [ignorance] man.”

I continued, “I know. But cheer up. You’re better off than me: at least you’re on the right side of the color line. I’m both the wrong skin color, and I come from the wrong culture.”

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Midway into my nine-year tenure as a Muslim, I returned to my hometown to visit the religious community of my upbringing. Standing there in the middle of a giant cathedral, gazing at the beautiful stained glass renditions of New Testament scenes, I began to reflect on my experiences as a Black Muslim convert in America. The Muslims I had chanced upon who hailed from abroad or whose parents hailed from abroad were in fact beneficiaries both of the injustices perpetrated against Blacks and of the “universal” franchise that resulted from the struggles against those selfsame injustices; and yet, this stark reality was seldom if ever brought to the fore at conferences, masjids, Muslim Student Associations, or Islamic centers, or what have you: rather, what I saw and heard was a community by and large preoccupied with the preservation of culture – some of which contain elements of anti-Black or anti-dark-skin bias – or obsessed with producing fair-skinned progeny or enamored with prospects of making Islam more palpable to the palates of the White middle class in America – itself a byproduct of anti-Black racism – while at the same time both relegating and denigrating the very community so instrumental in their success and indeed their very existence in America in the first instance.

To employ sacred history, by way of metaphor: the Muhajir (Immigrant), when he arrived in Medina, kicked sand into the eyes of the Ansari (Helper) man; and when the Ansari was doubled over in pain, trying to remove the sand from his eyes, the Muhajir climbed on his back, to elevate himself to a higher plane and then proceeded to disparage him for his state.

This monumental incongruity made me realize many self-proclaimed and perhaps well-intentioned Muslims do in fact worship multiple gods, and one of the modern deities that has caused many others, including myself, so much difficulty within large segments of the Muslim community and around the world happens to be – for lack of a better word – a White god or a god of Whiteness whereby the standards, sensibilities, sensitivities, and suspicions of certain classes of people become not just normalized but something for which to appease and sacrifice. The only difference I could gather that day is that whereas other communities tended to be more open, honest, and straightforward in their personifications and anthropomorphizations of this god, the Prophetic directives in Sunni Islam not to depict God or His Prophets and even the racial, ethnic, and tribal egalitarianism promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) tended to obscure the historic and contemporary reality of bias against darker bodies and of predilection for fairer ones.

By my estimation, many Muslims are racially agnostic at best: the tragic irony in this racial agnosticism or the unwillingness to deal with the issue is that it perpetuates and exacerbates racism within the community, creating a staggering dissonance of nonsensical proportions. Moreover, the inability to discuss the issue effectively means it does not exist and raises it beyond critique. One can quote the Prophet ﷺ and say “No White man is better than a Black man” or recite the popular platitude “There is no racism in Islam” or appeal to the racially progressive nature of the Prophet’s career or even name his children after prominent Black Companions of the Prophet and yet be rubbing “Fair and Lovely” on her skin to “beautify herself” or requesting “fair” women for marriage in public matrimonial advertisements or telling their children to “avoid too much exposure to the sun lest you become dark and therefore unattractive” or assert something seemingly innocuous as “Blacks are scary” or Black converts are “a dime a dozen.” Very few would be the wiser.

The irony of this glaring dissonance reminded me of Al-Lāt, Al-‘Uzza, and Manat, the mighty triumvirate of the pagan Arabian pantheon, and how the capricious conclusions drawn from idolatry and polytheism are often illogical, inconsistent, and, to be blunt, asinine. Our sacred history informs us the Prophet ﷺ had these stone effigies smashed to smithereens after the conquest of Mecca. I contend, however, these idols were never really destroyed; they merely took more imperceptible, incorporeal forms: instead of sacrificing for a god or goddess fashioned from stone, wood, or date pit, now sacrifices made for modern deities are intended to placate false, arbitrary ideals of what it means to be beautiful, intelligent, pure, civilized, rich, honorable, valuable, successful, wise, and – most of important of all – human; instead of sacrificing for and finding nobility within the aegis of an inviolable set of transcendent principles dictated by Allāh, subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He), Himself and His Prophets, modern Muslims are content to destroy their bodies, their communities, their families, their children, their religion, and maybe even the integrity of their hearts and souls to achieve an empty, ephemeral sense of honor and worth.

“So have you considered al-Lat and al-‘Uzza? And Manat, the third – the other one?” (Qur’ān, 53:19-20)

“Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely.” (Qur’ān, 4:139)

Yes Allāh, honor it is they seek in something other than You. I finally understood my mother’s fear of “becoming White”: shirk à la modernity.

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These words are not written with sorrow. I’ve shed far too many tears already for this community, enough to fill a suburban pool thrice over.

Nor are these words are not written with anguish. I’ve spent the better part of my tenure as a Muslim being angry to the point where I resided in such deep and dark nadirs that I existed in a state of oblivion regarding the blessings of my Lord.

Nor are these words written with pain. I’ve become desensitized in many respects to my own pain out of psychological necessity.

Nor are these the words of another Black convert to Islam who has faced insurmountable difficulties within the community for petty, superficial reasons. The Internet is inundated with such tales. Communities are filled with them as well. I therefore see absolutely no need to contribute to this sphere. If Muslims were so inclined to our struggles, they could sadly find those stories with minimal effort. Besides, imitation is the highest form of flattery: if the sacrifices and privations of converts were as inspiring as the community would have us believe then I would expect to see many others attempting to follow in our paths and make the sacrifices we are willing to make for the sake of the faith. Unfortunately, I don’t find this to be the case.

These are the ruminations of a detached wayfarer, one without a home who is just passing through trying to reach his destination: it’s far better not to have a home if having one means residing in the septic tank. The usage of this metaphor is, for me, quite literal, since, as I mentioned, in the wake of Jim Crow and the White Flight, the powers that be in my hometown decided to erect a sewage and water treatment in the Black neighborhood where God Himself chose to place me. This depiction is all too familiar for what awaits many converts after they declare shahadah (the testimony of faith), especially if they happen to be Black, even more so if they happen to be Black women. The way I see it, my ancestors had to endure this relegation for fear of violent reprisal. I, however, do not have to nor will I, especially at the hands of Muslims whose hues are often just as brown, if not darker, as mine own flesh and who are just as much victims of the same oppressive discrimination and just as susceptible to the caustic regimes of thought as I am.

These are the words of a young Muslim man who sincerely suspects many of his fellow co-religionists may be guilty of committing the worst sin in Islam, the only unforgivable one. And what’s worse: they may not even be aware of it.

These are the words of a soul attempting to cut the world asunder and peer at its core in an attempt to see what has gone awry.

I don’t expect my words will be heeded or taken seriously. I find many Muslims lack the sagacity and internal fortitude needed to rise to the occasion and confront the issues plaguing this community, whether it’s racism, colorism, tribalism, sexism or whatever the case may be. And if they are received, I doubt they will be received kindly. In “post-racial, colorblind” America, no one wants to have honest dialogue about race, including many Muslims, who are just as hypersensitive about color privilege and predilection in their own communities as many Whites are about White privilege in America. And even if they are received kindly, I seldom doubt the presence of the necessary courage needed to induce substantive change exists. Muslims excel at paying lip service and empty rhetoric; when it comes to walking-the-walk I find them languid.

Still, the inevitable pushback notwithstanding, I write these words in the spirit of the Prophet who informed us that religion is sound advice and who said that to change something with the tongue or words is the second tier of iman (faith). I am locked into this second tier because what afflicts Muslims and indeed much of the world cannot be changed with actions, the first tier, as the malaise is lodged both in the mind and the heart; and not even the Prophet ﷺ, best example of creation, could modify the hearts of his contemporaries.

I therefore would like to say this to my fellow Muslims who may chance upon what I’ve written here: it is our duty before our Lord to challenge idols of our times with due diligence and vigilance, whatever they may be, wherever they may be. The Prophet’s destruction of the idols in the Ka’bāh is symbolic to what we should be doing for the rest of our lives, for the remainder of time itself. The idolatry of olden times is far too crass to exist within the Muslim community today. Ancient, physical idols have been supplanted with ideological ones; the effects upon society, however, remain the same.

To be clear, what I’m writing about has little to do with White or fair skinned people per se: if anything, the false ideals to which I’m referring have the capacity to be just as damaging to White and fairer-skinned people. I’m sure my words will vibe with those people. I’m talking about a pernicious constellation of ideas that goes unchallenged because of cowardice, because of ignorance, and because of a degree of buy-in on the part of many people, Muslims especially.

I present this to the community with the hopes to commencing serious, heart-felt conversations about what ails us. I realize the gravity of my claims and I do not take them lightly. It is my solemn prayer that those who read this won’t take them lightly either.

I am so tired of waiting,

Aren’t you,

For the world to become good

And beautiful and kind?

Let us take a knife

And cut the world in two —

And see what worms are eating

At the rind.

— Langston Hughes, “Tired”

Photo: Anshu

Reflections of a Black Convert: Part I – A House in the World | Part II | Part III

By Anthony Hardy

“Remember – no matter what you achieve in life,” my mother told me when I was an eight-year-old child, “you will always be nothin’ but a nigger to them.” She looked at me with the piercing eyes only a mother has, the ones that see past your face and penetrate your soul. “When I brought you into this world, you already had three strikes against you: you’re Black, you’re a male, and you’re poor. You ain’t gonna get the same kinda leeway these White folks get.”

It’s the same admonishment all Black parents in America give their children at some point, though maybe not as candidly as my mother did. Above all else, she was a pragmatist and a martinet. Being a poor, single, Black woman in the American South will fashion a pragmatist; the desire to protect your three children from the negative influences of the environment will harden even the softest of hands. When my mother spoke these immortal words to me, the Civil Rights Act of 1965 had been the law of the land for some thirty-nine years; the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education had been so for forty-five years; and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 – deemed the Fair Housing Act – had been law for thirty-six. Adequate instruction was still a necessity for survival in an ostensibly “integrated” world, particularly for Black males.

My Sustainer saw it fit to fashion me Black and to place me in a poor, deeply rooted Black Catholic community located in a portion of the Bible Belt South. The cathedral serving the community was originally constructed in the late 1800s to serve the ecclesiastic needs of German, Italian and Irish immigrants. A group of nuns opened a school for Blacks and Creoles a few years after the completion of the cathedral. The descendants of emancipated slaves flocked to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism searching for education for their children, as back in those days, Catholics were known for their stellar parochial educational institution. My great grandfather, so my mother told me, was among those individuals who converted seeking something better for his progeny. I would like to think some of those Blacks even shared the pews with their fellow White Catholics.

If so, not for long: the ninety years of Jim Crow laws and the deceptive fallacy of “separate but equal” bifurcated the community. Many of the recent European immigrants who were maligned for being Catholic were able to purchase Whiteness at a fairly cheap price. And then there was the White Flight, the embodiment of discriminatory housing legislation, urban planning, government subsidies, social engineering, predatory economic exploitation, and even physical violence that gave genesis to the coveted suburbs and exurbs, the culmination of the illusionary confluence of separation and equality. These were Jim Crow at its finest—the holy grail of the ever-elusive American Dream, built off the backs of Blacks through savagery, thievery, and connivery.

Long before my mother came into the world in the early 1960s, only Blacks attended the church. Most of the Whites in the surrounding area had long disappeared. In their absence, the powers that be erected in the center of what would become the community of my birth a sewage and water treatment plant. The house of my grandmother, the house in which I was to be raised, was juxtaposed with the cesspool. The cathedral where I was to be baptized was a ten-minute walk down street from the plant; the elementary school where I was to be educated was a fifteen-minute walk from it. For decades, everyone in the vicinity woke up, worked, and laid down to the putrid stench of excrement and chemicals. Some people would even die with the fumes in their breast, said my grandmother.

The smell had not abated when I came into the picture. Sometimes, it was so bad I remember my mother and grandmother praying for God to command the winds to take the fumes. At times, those prayers were answered; other times, we just had to bear it. Allāh subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He), in His Infinite Wisdom, had coined for me a parable using my own childhood as to what I should expect from my existence as a Black man in America.

Said Moses to his people, “Seek help through Allah and be patient. Indeed, the earth belongs to Allah. He causes to inherit it whom He wills of His servants. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous,” (Qur’ān, 7:128).

“Ain’t much else you can do,” both my mother and grandmother would say, “but suffer it and go on.”

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Muslims often ask me what brought me to Islam. By way of preamble, I inform people of the obvious – that I’m a Black man – and the not so obvious – that I hail from the South. I then ask them to couple these facts with their own imagination as to why a man in my position from this part of America would accept the message of the unlettered, gentile Prophet ﷺ. Most of my interlocutors, at this point, have inklings as to some of the reasons—a sign, I hope, that people at the very least comprehend the connection between the social and historical realities and the theological consequences of those realities.

I then proceed to tell them this. In fifth grade, at a private Catholic school attended predominantly by White middle and upper class children, a fourth grader, a White kid, said, “All you Black people should still be slaves!” after I bested him in a game of basketball. Were it not for some childhood friends restraining me, I surely would have beaten him to Hell and back.

When I got home that evening, I started thinking about certain aspects of Christianity, at least as I understood them at the time. It possibly had something to do with the imagery often used in Catholic churches, chiefly pictures of a European Jesus and his equally European mother and disciples, and how inconsistent I thought it was for Blacks in America to be worshipping someone or something that so closely resembled our debasers. This kid and his parents believed that in accepting a certain theological interpretation of a historical event – the supposed crucifixion and resurrection of Christ – they were somehow absolved of their sins and thus would not have to answer for them. Yet I believed, even back then, people should be held accountable before God for their actions. I never told my mother what happened. She might have razed the school and maybe even the church.

Two years later, I found myself in an under-funded, dilapidated public middle school, an institution befitting of the low property taxes in its proximity, surrounded by teenagers who were more my peers, mostly poor Blacks and a few poor Whites. My mother withdrew me from the Catholic school because she could no longer afford the expensive tuition and because she was afraid I would “become White.” Back then I lacked the insight as to how one could “become White” and was unsure what that meant. I was sure, though, the strange white substance hanging exposed from the ceiling of the school was asbestos and that neighboring the school were a liquor store and a scrap metal yard. I was sure many of the teachers were not qualified for their positions, and those that were had to deal with sparse resources. I was sure many didn’t care at all: they were paid just to show up and leave.

The altercation with the fourth grader haunted me still, and because of it, I spent many nights wandering the streets of my neighborhood, agonizing over both social and theological issues as best I could. Although I believed in Him and although I was starting to challenge foundational Christian beliefs such as the Trinity and Vicarious Atonement, I also thought He was totally indifferent to our suffering or to the suffering of others. I never entertained the question of whether God existed; my concern was, rather, did God care? I wrestled with the wisdom of God putting my family in the position He did. I thought we denizens of ghettos and trailer parks were God’s bastard children, His “mistakes” in the way parents in our society often refer to their children, the ones He created by accident. Like our own derelict fathers, I figured He just left us to rot in the dirty armpits of America. I began to consider maybe there was something inherent to our nature that warranted our condition; or maybe we were guilty of some unknown transgression against Him that necessitated our status in society as just recompense. He seemed to prefer Whites, wealthy ones at that—they were made in His image after all. Why wouldn’t one want to “become White” in that case? Maybe, I reasoned, some element of their being was more favorable to the Almighty. Maybe He played favorites with His creation, the Whiter the better in His eyes. As such, I found myself wishing I looked more like them: wishing my skin color was just a little lighter, my hair was less coarse and kinky, my butt and legs were not as big. I was coming into tauhīd (belief in the oneness of God) in one sense but not in others.

I encountered my first Muslim a few months before I started college. She was a Black woman in her mid-fifties, a former member of the Nation of Islam in her youth who had embraced Sunni Islam later in life. She in many ways reminded of my mother, religious yet down-to-earth, profane yet wise. In fact, had my mother been Muslim, she would have resembled this woman. She elucidated the basic tenets of Islam, which I was eager to accept. I claim if one is predisposed to believing in God and prophets, the message of Islam will inevitably reverberate at a recognizable frequency; however, that being said, this woman, because of her background, possessed a manner of relaying the message that resonated with me on a personal level. Had someone else been placed in my path, I might not have been as receptive to the message. Allāhu `Alim (God is All-Knowing).

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Muslims often do not ask what happened after my conversion. In my experience, this appears to be less concerning to them, seeing as how the question seldom surfaces, which is a sad turn of affairs since that response is I think more beneficial and instructive.

Even after I declared shahadah (the declaration of faith in Islam), it took me many years of thinking, soul searching, reading the Qur’ān, considering the life of the Prophet (s), along with a hefty dose of Malcolm X, to reach conclusions about God that were more in line with Islam. I gave much thought to Allāh and how He relates to the suffering and downtrodden in societies, particularly Blacks in America: certain ideas about Blackness in the American context had to be challenged within my own being; ideas about Whiteness had to be jettisoned; old worldviews needed to be dismantled and new ones assembled. The psycho-spiritual furniture and psychological hardwiring in my mind and in my heart needed to be rearranged. The existential angst all humans experience borne of the paradox of infinite potential and mortal finitude needed to be directed towards a different qibla (direction Muslims face in prayer). It’s taken for granted that conversion is a process, not an event.

Not too much time elapsed following my conversion before I became acquainted with how the Muslim community actually functions in terms of race, color, class, and culture. Growing up in ghettos and trailer parks grants one amazing powers of perception. In addition to seeking God, I suppose I was also longing for a haven in the houses of Allāh against the monumental tribulation of being Black in America, a place of brief reprieve. I figured if anyone could understand us Blacks it would be the Muslims, who not only possessed a sizeable Black contingency, but who also by this point, post 9/11, were just as much the objects of unjust scrutiny as we were. I was, as it turned out, quickly disabused of this naïve notion: I went from Whites calling me “slave” to Arabs calling me ‘abd (literally, Arabic for “slave”, sometimes used in a derogatory manner to refer to Black individuals), I went from getting leery looks from Whites to getting them from South Asians, I went from Whites calling me “nigger” to Turks calling me zenci (Adopted from the Arabic “zanji”, meaning “one from the land of the Blacks”; more colloquially, the term means “nigger”), I went from hearing from Whites say, “You people can’t marry our children,” to hearing this from Africans, and I went from Whites saying, “You’re scary and uncivilized” to hearing this from non-Black Muslims in general. Not even the fanes of God were exempt, churches and mosques alike.

I remember, some time after my initial run-ins with the Muslim community, I visited my grandfather who was then eighty-two years old. He is from rustic regions of southern Alabama and had survived Jim Crow, portions of World War II, the Korean War, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Civil Rights Movement. On a whim, I asked my grandfather what he thought about race and if he thought the issue was ameliorating. Given his life experience, I figured his perspective would be valuable.

He gave me this response: “Nowadays, if someone wants to call you ‘nigger,’ they won’t do it your face. There ain’t no more ‘Whites Only’ drinking fountains and pools, ya see. There ain’t no more ‘Whites Only’ neighborhood. But what they do is they say make it so you can’t get a house or a job or they cheat you. They don’t say ‘You can’t live here!’ no mo’ but they make it hard to get a house! The Klan don’t do the lynchings. The police do it now. Ain’t no mo’ poll taxes but they still don’t want us voting! They call you ‘nigger’ but they hide it better. Don’t let them fool ‘bout what they say ‘bout progress. Things is really just the same as they always was.”

When I had this conservation with him, Trayvon Martin hadn’t been killed yet, nor had Jordan Davis, or Oscar Grant or Renisha McBride or John Crawford or Mike Brown. Richard Sherman, I imagine, was probably still in high school, so he wasn’t yet the brash “thug” he would become. And no one was asking for Barack Obama’s birth certificate or questioning his American citizenship.

At least not yet, anyway. I guess the old adage is true: the more things change, the more they remain the same. There is as much literal and figurative ‘nigger’ calling amongst the Muslims in America today as there is in American society at large. Like my great-grandfather before me, I sought something better. As my mother would say though, six in one hand, half a dozen in the other.

I’m looking for a house

In the world

Where the white shadows

Will not fall.

There is no such house,

Dark brothers,

No such house

At all.

—Langston Hughes, “House in the World”