Leading the Community
Jan 15
|00:00
Last Updated on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:29
The Muslim community in being established for quite a while in the UK, has, especially in the last decade, found itself neck deep in complicated situations. Undoubtedly, Muslims living in the West pose a unique but also very complex problem for jurists given that there does not exist in our more than thousand year old scholarship a time when Muslims lived as they now do in the West. Thus, from the copious Islamic books written throughout Muslim history, books on this subject are somewhat scarce, and it is only now with second and third generation Muslims that a new light is being sought, where the realities of living in the West are being addressed by scholars and thinkers alike.
However, there seems to be antagonism between these new scholarly thinkers and the cultural ways of old, and as is usually the case with change, there are those who refuse to acknowledge the Muslim community for what it is. Thus, we still see the systematic problem where mosque committee members (AKA ‘uncles’) refuse to allow any changes to the running of the mosque, instead maintaining the hierarchy they have adopted from ‘back home’. Similarly, in many communities those appointed are merely done so based on their activism or social standing within the community, or on occasion, simply due to their ability to speak English.
However, as many of these communities have failed to realise, a community leader’s appointment should be based on knowledge, it being first and foremost shar’ii (legal [Islamic]), and then other Islamic and secular disciplines. He should be righteous in word and deed which would serve to safeguard him against corruption, and have a firm grasp of the political and social landscape so that he may facilitate his community’s growth. It is through open mindedness yet vigilance to Islamic principles that Muslim communities will be able to grow; in status, righteousness, and having a positive effect on other communities around them.
Likewise, leaders who are not endowed with the correct knowledge can eventually result in having a negative impact on the public, and instead of propagating that which is closer to the ideals of Islam and most beneficial for society, they unknowingly become a means of damaging the very ideals that Islam promotes. Examples of this are numerous, from the true purpose of mosques being unrealised to promoting phenomenon that are unacceptable to the shari’ah. A fitting example is that of the current headline where Muslim and Sikh groups are challenging a ruling which bans amateur boxers from the ring if they have a beard.[1]
It seems that unbeknownst to these Muslim groups, their ‘challenge’ is redundant given that boxing is impermissible according to Islamic law. The legal issue concerning boxing is multifaceted (such as the permissibility of training, sparring etc) and I only mean to discuss boxing in the sense of organised fights between two opponents. Amongst the objectives of Islamic law is the preservation of life and intellect, and both are jeopardised by the sport, a point being that many physicians have spoken out against the sport as being a serious risk to physical and mental health. Furthermore, boxing is a form of depraved entertainment reminiscent of the barbaric Roman gladiators; it involves two individuals attempting to pummel each other merely for the entertainment of others whilst being paid quite handsomely to do so. It is according to these reasons (as well as others) that many scholars speak against boxing, and so, for various community leaders to make an issue about facial hair acting as an impediment to an impermissible sport is ridiculous, akin to a Muslim complaining about facial hair acting as an impediment for entry into a nightclub.
To complain or challenge unfair principles is to maintain a call for justice, but when people begin to challenge others based on redundant claims, they in reality undermine the notion of speaking out for the preservation of rights. There is no doubt that the Muslim community must do all in its power to maintain these rights, but to act as if we are always being oppressed (when at times certain issues have nothing to do with us) only serves to debilitate our potential as a collective, for if we always look to others to provide us our rights, when will we actually empower ourselves?
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Source: www.islam21c.com
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