Brotherhood & Sisterhood Community

Have Mercy on Your Leaders

Amazing advice taken directly from a talk that Dr. Sherman Abdul Hakim Jackson gave at the 2010 RIS (Reviving the Islamic Spirit) Convention.

“Please brothers and sisters, have some mercy on your scholars, your imams, your activists. Brothers and sisters, you have no idea of some of the pressures they are under. You have no idea how thinly they are spread. You have no idea of what they have to confront on a daily basis. They have to confront you as the Muslims and they have to confront the non-Muslims. They’re away from their families. They have families too—they have children too—they have pressures too, and they need your support. If you can’t agree with them, fine, at least make du`a’ for them. Make du`a’ for their families.

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Keep them in your prayers. Pray that Allah protects their families in their absence. Pray that Allah does not allow the pressures of trying to contribute to this ummah be enough to rip their families apart. Please brothers and sisters, pray for your leaders, pray for your imams, pray for your scholars—don’t forget them in your du`a’.”

About the author

Reehab (Ramadan) Aref

Reehab (Ramadan) Aref grew up in a small Texas city and was unexpectedly uprooted to Cairo, Egypt. The shift of countries precipitated a shift in her outlook on life; this, with her enriching experience in community activism—specifically social service, youth work, and Qur’anic Studies—provides for a rather enlightened perspective. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in Counseling Psychology. Thankfully, her main outlet and therapeutic tool is to write, write, write! She keeps her own blog, contributes regularly to various publications, and – most importantly – you’ll find her entries on this site.

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  • Also, do scholars, imams, etc generally accept donations from the community? I imagine that most of them unfortunately are not compensated enough considering the importance of their work and how much time they put into it. If there are publicly known ways to donate, maybe that could help alleviate some of their stressors?

  • Heartfelt advice- unfortunately some of us are quick to pounce on our imams for the mistakes we perceive them to have made without taking a step back to realize that they are human. We need more brotherhood

    اللهم اغفر لعلمائنا ومشايخنا… اللهم ألبسهم لباس الصحة والعافية… اللهم مدهم بالعمر المديد والعمل الصالح الرشيد

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