You are welcome to RENAISSANCE ISLAM. This blog provides a pictorial and written record of the renaissance of Islam in America, which was and still is in its pure essence, without any cultural or religious innovations that may disfigure its original teachings.
RENAISSANCE ISLAM offers a clear presentation of Islam's wisdom and philosophy as derived from the Holy Qur'an, the recorded practice of the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, whom we believe is the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.
RENAISSANCE ISLAM will enunciate the view point of the Muslims who believe in the Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
I grow up in Michigan where I learned how to fish, shoot and hunt. I was surrounded by loving family members who did the same. Served two years in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Era. I traveled extensively during my eighteen month military duty in Europe. After military service I accepted Islam as my religion and way of life via the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at 23 years of age. Performing the rites of Al-Hajj to Mecca and Medina in 1973-74 was the beginning of my travels in countries where Islam and Muslims were a significant part of the population. I also lived in Kumasi, Ghana for a period of time.
My service in the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam has been continuous since 1969, serving in areas of Administration, Education and Finance by the Grace and Mercy of Allah.
My importance is to be unimportant.
"And thy Lord has inspired the bee saying, 'Make your hives in the hills and in the trees and in the trellises which the people build. Then eat of every kind of fruit, and follow the ways of thy Lord that have been made easy for thee.' There comes forth from their bellies a drink of varying hues. Therein is cure for men. Surely, in that is a Sign for a people who reflect." (Holy Qur'an 16:69-70)
The verses of the Holy Qur'an quoted above introduces the subject of divine revelation. The bee has been selected as a prominent example, because its wonderful organization and work impresses even a casual observer and is discernible to the naked eye. The verses says that God inspires the bee to collect its food from different fruits and flowers and then by means of the mechanism provided in its body it converts the collected food into honey. Honey provides a cure for the physical diseases of man and the most essential quality of the Qur'anic revelation also is that it is a cure for the spirirual maladies of man.
Throughout history honey has been considered a food with unparalleled nutritional and physical benefits. Really, honey is a miracle food. For over 10,000 years (and maybe more) honey has been used as a staple food and as a medicine. Honey is one of the few foods that can actually sustain human life by itself. If you’re not storing honey, this ought to convince you to start.
Storage
Honey lasts forever; if stored properly you will never need to worry about your honey going bad, forget about FIFO with honey. There was actually edible honey discovered in the pharaoh’s tomb in Egypt. It is also a healthy substitute for sugar that contains no fats or cholesterol.
Honey Food Storage
My honey is hard and crystallized! Not to worry, if your honey has become crystallized all you need to do is heat it to return it back to normal. Or if you like, turn it into mead!
Honey has been used as an antibacterial for years, it was even one of the most popular treatments for wounds in the First World War. Recent science has explained to us why honey is such an effective antibacterial agent.
"One New Zealand researcher says a particular type of honey may be useful in treating MRSA infections. Antibacterial properties of honey are the result of the low water activity causing osmosis, hydrogen peroxide effect, and high acidity."
Got a stomach ache? No problem, mix one teaspoon of honey with a hot glass of water, squeeze in about half a lemon and your stomach ache should go away.
Folk medicine suggests that taking local honey will help your allergies because you gain a tolerance to local pollens. Recent studies suggest that while it doesn’t help by eliminating allergies it helps reduce allergies.
"a recent study has shown pollen collected by bees to exert an anti allergenic effect, mediated by an inhibition of IgE immunoglobulin binding to mast cells. This inhibited mast cell degranulation and thus reduced allergic reaction."
Coughs
Honey coats the throat, making it great for a sore throat. To cure your sore throat simply take about 1 teaspoon of honey and let it slowly trickle down your throat.
Burns
Honey is also great for burns since it removes the pain and helps aid in the healing process.
Some studies suggest that honey can also help with various nervous disorders such as insomnia. If you can’t sleep, mix 1 teaspoon of honey into a warm glass of water and enjoy a good night’s sleep.
**Because of the spores contained in honey, infants under the age of 1 year cannot consume it. While it’s fine for older children and adults, infants under 1 year can contract botulism from honey
In 1947, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA held its first National Jalsa Salana (annual convention) in Dayton, Ohio. The site where the convention was held is the site of what was to become the first mosque built in America by American converts to Ahmadiyya, the true Islam.
From these humble beginnings the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA has continuously held its Jalsa Salana (annual convention) for sixty-one years. Alhumdulillah! All praises are due to God, Who is Single.
Prayer is the life of a Muslim. In the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA the observance of prayer is the means of direct communion with the Lord of All The Worlds. 95% of these brothers, pictured above, are American born Ahmadi Muslims. They have incorporated prayer into their lifestyle after their acceptance of Islam. It is through the acceptance of prayers that one comes to know God for certain.
Many of these Islamist groups fear the election of a black American president with explicit African roots and symbolic Islamic connections will lessen the anti-American fervor among their recruitment targets.
When media reports emerged that al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, disparaged President-elect Barack Hussein Obama as a "house negro," it angered many in the black community. However, it also struck a chord.
The Egyptian physician — who is reportedly Osama bin Laden's confidant — actually used the phrase "house slave," but it was later translated as "house negro."
Al-Zawahiri said, "You [Obama] represent the direct opposite of honorable black Americans like Malik al-Shabazz or Malcolm X," who "condemned the crimes of the Crusader West against the weak and oppressed, and he declared his support for peoples resisting American occupation."
The al Qaeda leader said Obama, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice "confirmed" Malcolm X's definition of a "house slave." He was referring to Malcolm X's distinction between slave-era "house Negroes," who lived comfortably in the big house abetting white supremacy, and "field negroes," who toiled in the fields under the whip, plotting resistance.
But his metaphor was wrong about Obama: If anything, he would now be the housemaster, not the slave.
What's more, Al Qaeda is deploying this particular metaphor to offset Obama's global popularity, particularly in East Africa. Many of these Islamist groups fear the election of a black American president with explicit African roots and symbolic Islamic connections will lessen the anti-American fervor among their recruitment targets.
Although al-Zawahiri overplayed his hand with such a transparent racial ploy, he did manage to draw attention to what could be a troublesome issue for many progressive activists, particular for those who are African-American.
Many advocates of progressive international policies see the United States as "imperialism central." And for good reason. Stephen Kinzer's 2006 book, Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, makes clear this nation's ignoble history in subverting and deposing foreign governments. Kinzer concludes, "No nation in modern history has done this so often, in so many places so far from its own shores."
The response to al-Zawahiri's comments also revealed African-American Muslims have little love for radicalized Islamists. At a news conference in New York City at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Educational and Cultural Center, a gathering of African-American Muslim leaders denounced al-Zawahiri's remarks as "insulting." The group added, "As Muslims and as Americans, we will never let terrorist groups or terror leaders falsely claim to represent us or our faith."
The statement also noted that radicalized Islamists have, "historically been disconnected from the African-American community generally, and Muslim African-Americans in particular."
This was a veiled shot at Arabs' historic role in the slave trade and the racism still blemishing some Arab nations, such as in Sudan.
Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam — which is generally separate from other African-American Islamic groups — has been effusive in his praise for Obama. And Farrakhan has made clear his disdain for groups that employ terrorism.
Despite Farrakhan's aversion to al Qaeda's tactics, his foreign policy prescriptions probably would please al-Zawahiri and "condemn the crimes of the Crusader West against the weak and oppressed." With their man Obama now leading the "Crusader West," where will the Nation of Islam stand when the crusade inevitably continues?
More generally, where will black progressives stand?
No doubt, there will be strong black critics of the Obama administration who will keep the first black president's feet to the fire.
Others may find more to love about America. If the Obama administration decides to bomb Pakistan's tribal territories, for example, these supporters, who once may have questioned the wisdom of unilateral bombing, now will urge critics to "understand the bigger picture."
In October 2002, actor and activist Harry Belafonte called Powell and Rice "house negroes" for their subservience to the Bush administration. He was condemned in the media, but the black community had his back. If Belafonte said the same about Obama today, he would have to take a banana boat back to Jamaica.
How did I get here? Where did I come from? Who are my ancestors? It would be safe to say that these questions may be asked by every thoughtful human being at least once in their life time.For Black Americans in particular, finding the answers to these questions begins an incredible journey of self discovery.
Black American folk wisdom says, “If you don’t know where you’ve been you won’t know where you’re going.” Our captain and navigator into “where you’ve been” is Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop (December 29, 1923 – February 7, 1986), a historian, anthropologist and physicist. Considered one of the greatest African historians of the 20th century, Diop’s scientific ideas have transformed the basic thrust of African studies in the United States.
Cheikh Anta Diop was born in the town of Diourbel, Senegal, on the West coast of Africa. His birthplace has a long tradition of producing Muslim scholars and oral historians. His early education was in a traditional Islamic school where his inspiration and interest in history, the humanities and social sciences from an African point of view began. At the age of 23, he went to Paris in 1946 to become a physicist. He remained there for 15 years, studying physics under Frederic Joliot-Curie, Marie Curie’s son-in-law, and ultimately translating parts of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity into his native Wolof. Diop's education also included African history, Egyptology, linguistics, anthropology, economics and sociology.
In 1951, Diop submitted a Ph.D. thesis at the University of Paris in which he argued that ancient Egypt had in fact been a Black African culture. The thesis was rejected. Over the next nine years, Diop reworked the thesis, adding stronger evidentiary support. In 1960, he succeeded in the defense of his thesis and was awarded his Ph.D. degree.
In 1955, the thesis had been published in the popular press as a book titled Nations nègres et culture (Negro Nations and Culture). Dr. Diop challenged the notions of European centered scholars, who had written Africa’s contributions to world civilization out of history. It would make him one of the most controversial historians of his time.
Dr. Diop’s critics contend that his thesis lacked merit and that it essentially supplants and counters one form of racism with another rather than attempting to arrive at the truth.
Seeker after truth who engage themselves in studies should be aware that there are scholars performing inferior research and research that supports prejudicial conclusions rather than ones of discovery. Other pseudo scholars approach scholarship with designs to a political end. Concerning the latter, identity politics came to the forfront in the Black American awarness experience.Identity politics is political action to advance the interests of members of a group whose members perceive themselves to be oppressed by virtue of a shared and marginalized identity (such as race, ethnicity or religion).
While using Africa as the vantage point and the basis for his thesis, Dr. Diop does not neglect the broader dimensions of history. He shows that history cannot be restricted by the limits of an ethnic group, nation, or culture. Roman history is Greek as well as Roman, and both the Greek and the Roman histories are Egyptian because the entire Mediterranean was civilized Egypt; and Egypt in turn borrowed from other parts of Africa, especially Ethiopia.
Diop left his mark in the realm of the reassessment of the role of black people in world history and culture. Combining an unusual breadth of knowledge; including linguistics, history, anthropology, chemistry, and physics; he uncovered fresh evidence about the ancient origins and common principles of classical African civilization. He believed that people who feel they possess no past of their own tend to be absorbed and assimilated into the governing system, and are made to feel inferior because of this apparent deficiency.
Dr. Diop contends that there exist two theories of human origin: monogenetic and polygenetic. The monogenetic view states that there is one source for mankind; man was born in one place and became different due to the climatic conditions to which he was exposed. Followers of this theory believe that mankind was born in Africa - specifically in the area of Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia. It is from this area of Africa that mankind evolved as a separate species and left there to people other parts of the world, which had different climatic conditions. Under these different climatic conditions and over periods of time the African changed and developed a new look.
As an example: during the last Glacial Epoch or about 40,000 year ago a Homo Sapiens Sapiens, currently identified as Grimaldi Man, left Africa and went to Europe. As a result of the extreme cold climatic conditions and over a period of 20,000 years he underwent an adaptation to that climate and evolved into what we conventionally call a White man. The Grimaldi Negroids have left their numerous traces all over Europe and Asia, from the Iberian Peninsula to Lake Baykal in Siberia, passing through France, Austria, the Crimea, and the Basin of Don, etc. In these last two regions, the late Soviet Professor Mikhail Gerasimov, a scholar of rare objectivity, identified the Negroid type from skulls found in the Middle Mousterian period.
The polygenetic opinion claims that man has several locations of origin, which would explain the physiological differences between the races. Followers of this theory believe that man was born in Africa, Europe, and Asia and there was no evolutionary or climatic development. Diop argues that there are two reasons why this theory is faulty. He says that nature never strikes twice in its evolution; she doesn't create the same being twice. In addition, complete fossils have been found only on the African continent, which proves that life began there. No such fossils have been found anywhere else in the world.
Aspects of the polygenetic theory (sometimes referred to as multi-regionalism) have been criticized as not based on objective scientific observation. Some critics even argue that the polygenetic theory may be motivated by ethnocentrism and is meant to instill beliefs of purity of lineage. This implied racism has had a negative effect, causing scientists to restrict their hypothesizing to politically correct conclusions.
Dr. Diop reinforces his belief in the monogenetic theory by noting that the polygenetic theory seeks to establish a hierarchy of race suggesting that some races are superior to others. He asserts, if man has the same origins there can be no intellectual hierarchy because all of the races of the world would have the same intellectual history. If the races had had different origins it can be said that they had different intellectual capacity because they all had a different intellectual history. The polygenetic theory is essential in order to defend the notion that there are inequalities between the races. It is for this reason why people have defended the polygenetic theory. However, science has set this theory aside.
It is the monogenetic theory that will support the notion that because our origin is the same we also have the same intellectual capacity. Dr. Diop is not saying that Blacks are intellectual superior to Whites. That would be false. Diop’s insistences are: no race is superior to another. All races have the same intellectual capacity. There is no autonomic difference in the brain of the various races.
Currently, the dominant view among scientists is the Out of Africa Model. According to the Out of Africa Model (sometimes referred to as the Recent African Origin of Modern Humans or RAO) Homo Sapiens Sapiens evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago. Homo Sapiens Sapiens began migrating from Africa between 70,000 – 50,000 years ago and would eventually replace existing Homo Erectus, Neanderthal, and Homo Sapiens in Europe and Asia.
The Out of Africa Model has gained support by recent research using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). After analyzing genealogy trees constructed using 133 types of mtDNA, they concluded that all were descended from a woman from Africa, dubbed Mitochondrial Eve.
By analyzing DNA from people in all regions of the world, American geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells has concluded that all humans alive today are descended from a San Bushman who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago.
Here, important questions arise: Should Black Americans be satisfied with learning only European history and why should there be a focus on Black history? Dr. Diop answered these questions by stating, “Its fine to learn the history of others but you must know your own history first. People who lose their historical memory become a fragile people and they regress. It is their historical memory that permits them to be a strong people. The final question is: in what measure does the works of Cheikh Anta Diop allow one to respond to the challenges of the future? Theophile Obenga, a disciple and a companion of Diop answers this question by stating,” with Cheikh Anta Diop, history is not defined as the study of the past of human kind, but as the construction of the future in the name of life."
Dr. Diop was the Director of Radiocarbon Laboratory at the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa (IFAN) at the University of Dakar. He sat on numerous international scientific committees and achieved recognition as one of the leading historians, Egyptologists, linguists and anthropologists in the world. He traveled widely, lectured incessantly and was cited and quoted voluminously. He was regarded by many as the modern `pharaoh' of African studies. Cheikh Anta Diop died quietly in sleep in Dakar, Senegal on February 7, 1986.
In the introductory remarks of Cheikh Anta Diop we noted that his early education was in a “traditional Islamic school”. His life’s work appears to be a reflection of the Holy Qur'an. Based on the idea that “the proof of the pudding is the pudding itself”, it would be safe to believe that he was grounded in the Qur'anic concepts of man’s creation. Some of the verses that support Diop’s ideas of the origin of the human race and the development of man are in Arabic at the beginning of this paper and may be rendered into English as follows:
Who made perfectly well all that He created. And He originated the creation of man from clay. Then He made his progeny from an extract of an insignificant fluid.(32: 8-9)
O you human beings! What is the matter with you that you fail to understand that Allah does not do anything unless there is wisdom and purpose underlying it? You yourselves are not ready to accept the assumption that you do things with no aim or purpose in view. Why do you therefore assume that Allah, the Most Wise and Al Knowing does things without purpose? Why do you jump to the thoughtless conclusion that He created man with no purpose in view? Why do you fail to grasp the evident truth that your creation has not been the result of a sudden meaningless impulse? It was the result of wise planning and deliberate execution in a succession of stages from one point to another.(71: 14-15)
Allah has made the earth a vast expanse for you. That you may traverse its spacious paths for the development of civilization and also to attain spiritual perfection.(71: 20-21)
One world, one people. That seems to be what Allah is saying in the Holy Qur'an, “O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes that you may know one another.”(49:14) As a counter-measure against ethnocentrism (lack of tolerance of other cultures), etnocentrism (lack of tolerance of other races) and xenophobia (fear of other races) we must internalize the historical reality that the blood that unites us is thicker than the waters of the Diaspora, culture and accents that separate and divide us.
Bibliographical Sources:
The Holy Qur'an with English Translation and Commentary, Vol. II (Part II) and Vol. III, Published under the auspices of Hadhrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud, Khalifatul Masih II.
The Holy Qur'an with Arabic Text – English Translation as Explained by Allamah Nooruddin.
Creation of Man by Hadhrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud, Khalifatul Masih II.
The Cultural Unity of Negro Africa, Cheikh Anta Diop, (Paris: Presence Africaine, 1963), English Tanslation: Cultural Unity of Black Africa: The Domains of Patriarchy and Matriarchy in Classical Antiquity, (Karnak House: 1989).
Civilization or Barbarism, (1981), Cheikh Anta Diop
Introduction to African Civilizations, John G. Jackson and Runoko Rashidi, (Citadel: 2001).
Conceptions of History in the Works of Cheikh Anta Diop and Theophile Obenga, Jackson and Rashidi, op. cit; Chris Gray, (Karnak House: 1989).
Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution in Nature, Rebecca L. Cann, Mark Stoneking, Allan C. Wilson (1987).
Genetic and Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Modern Human in Science,
Christopher Stringer and Peter Andrews (1988).
Modern Humans Came Out of Africa, "Definitive" Study Says, James Owen, National Geographic News (2007).
Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop Part 1-6, http://www.youtube.com
Created Unequal: Multiregionalism and the Origins of Anthropological Racism, Adam Wells Davis, MA
Islam also attracted people of Native American heritage. One convert who joined the St. Louis Ahmadiyya Muslim Community went by the name of Ibrahim Khalil. Ibrahim may have been the first Native American to become an Ahmadi Muslim. Ibrahim was said to be a very private man. What is known about him comes from the oral history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the St. Louis area dating back to the 1930s.
According to Rasheed Ahmad of St. Louis, Ibrahim Khalil was a jazz musician - a saxophonist who played with a band featuring a singer named Ida Cox. He was said to be a very diplomatic individual who was known for always being immaculately dressed in fine suits. While in St. Louis, MO, he founded the Pyramid Barbershop, which still exists today on 4338 Oakwood.
Ibrahim was already a Muslim before he came into contact with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It is believed that he was originally a member of one of the few Islamic brotherhood societies in America that existed during that time. When he heard about the Ahmadiyya Movement and about the claims of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, he made a pilgrimage to Chicago to meet with Sufi Mutiur Rahman Bengalee, who was the missionary there during the 1930s. He reportedly accepted shortly afterward and then returned back to St. Louis and became a vital part of its Ahmadiyya community.
According to Ahmadi elder Munir Ahmad, who now owns the Pyramid Barbershop, Ibrahim was originally from Mississippi and his family name before he he became a Muslim was Johnson. These last two points suggest that he was perhaps a member of the Choctaw Nation - a majority of whom are located in Mississippi. (When Nations Gather, by Sultan Abdul Latif, page 256-259)
Angela Y. Walton-Raji states in her book, African-American Ancestors Among the Five Civilzed Tribes, that through intermarrying came European surnames into the Choctaw Nation.
...this was how European surnames became part of most of the Indigenous tribes. As the Indian women married European men, names such as Ross, Boudinot, Leflore, Johnson were not unusual in Indian communities. (Black Genealogy Research: African-American Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Traibes, by Angela Y Walton-Raji, page 8)
His Influence On The Spread Of Islam In The United States
Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, who came from India, was the first Muslim Missionary to America. His purpose, as a representative of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, was to convert Americans to the religion of Islam.
On January 24, 1920, Dr. Sadiq left England on the S.S. Haverford, headed for the United States, where he intended to establish a mission. On board the ship Dr. Sadiq succeeded in converting six Chinese passengers to the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith.
When the S.S. Haverford arrived in Philadelphia on February 15, 1920, the United States Immigration authorities refused to allow Dr. Sadiq to enter the country. After the authorities interrogated him for several hours and established that Dr. Sadiq was a representative of a religious group that practiced polygyny, they asked him to leave the United States. Dr. Sadiq refused to go and asked for an appeal to the Secretariat in Washington D.C. He was incarcerated in the Philadelphia Detention House until the decision of the appeal was handed down.
Mr. R. J. Rochford, who was also in the Detention House, became Dr. Sadiq's first convert to Islam in the United States. During those weeks of incarceration, Dr. Sadiq made nineteen other converts. These men were from Jamaica, British Guiana, Poland, Russia, Germany, Azores, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and France.
After seven weeks of incarceration, Dr. Sadiq was finally allowed to enter the United States in April of 1920, on condition that he would not preach polygyny. Dr. Sadiq made a distinction between commandments and permissions in Islam. He stated that all Muslims must follow the commandments of their religion, but may avoid the permissions. For instance, no government can persuade a Muslim to worship more than one God, since the worship of one God is a commandment of their religion. However, polygyny is permitted only in countries whose laws sanction its practice. In countires that prohibit polygyny, permission for its practice is disallowed under the commandment that all Muslims must obey the laws of the country in which they live. This response enabled Dr. Sadiq to begin his work in the United States.
A dark skinned man with a heavy gray beard, wearing a bright green turban and a gray coat with flowing sleeves, Dr. Sadiq presented quite a striking picture to the American public. He came at a time when race riots against black Americans rocked the nation's cities. Racial discriminationagainst Indian and Asian immigrants was also at an all time high. Many racially oriented uprisings were directedagainst immigrants from the Punjab, whom white American called "ragheads" because they wore turbans. This was the challenging climate into which Dr. Sadiq came to win the people's hearts to Islam.
Dr. Sadiq was well suited for his role as preacher, writer and public speaker for the Ahmadiyya Movement in the United States. He had served as a missionary in England for a number of years, and was a very learned man. He was a graduate of the University of London, a philologist of international repute and an expert in Arabic and Hebrew. He spoke seven languages and held six doctorate degrees.
Dr. Sadiq set up his first headquarters in April 1920 at 1897 Madison Avenue in New York City. By the end of May, he had made twelve new converts to the Ahmadiyya Movement ---six from the Christian community and six from the Islamic immigrant community. Mrs S. W. Sobolewski was the first American woman converted by Dr. Sadiq to Islam in New York. He named her Fatima Mustafa, in fulfillment of a dream he had in England about an American female convert.
During his three years in America, Dr. Sadiq converted over seven hundred to Islam, from all racial, ethnic and religious groups. His missionary work was done through preaching and writing. By may 10, 1920, he had contributed twenty articles on Islam to various American periodicals and newspapers, among them The New York Times.
I October, 1920, Dr. Sadiq moved the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya mission to Chicago because of its central location. He purchased a house in an affluent area of Chicago, at 4448 S. Wabash, and converted it to a mosque. In July 1921, he published the first issue of the Moslem Sunrise. This journal appeared every three months. Its purpose was to teach Islam and refute the misrepresentations of Islam that appeared in the American press.
Like many immigrants from the "darker races" Indian Muslims suffered discrimination in the United States. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community pointed to the race problem in the United States as proof that Americans needed Islam. The Ahmadis said that it was pitiful that the Christian teachings of brotherhood and equality had not been able to eliminate the evils of racism. Furthermore, the Ahmadis claimed that in Muslim countries people of all colors worshipped together so that there were never seats or mosques, which separated people based on race.
Because of its teaching and practice of universal brotherhood, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community attracted many black Americans, who assumed leadership roles within the Movement. During this period , Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq became friends with Jamaican born Marcus Garvey, the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, (UNIA).
Marcus Garvey had captured the imagination of millions of black people around the world on the 1920s. In America, hundreds of thousands became dues paying members of the UNIA. Marcus Garvey has the distinction of starting the first extensive movement among black Americans. His concepts of race pride and self help, as they were embodied in the UNIA, led to the establishment of the largest international racial justice movement in the history of black culture.
In 1923, Dr. Sadiq gave five lectures at the UNIA meetings in Detroit. Eventually, he converted forty Garveyites to the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith. The most noteworthy of these converts was a former Christian minister, Reverend Sutton, who was named Sheik Abdus Salaam and was appointed the leader of the Detroit branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Black Americans were told that Islam was the religion of their fore-parents before slavery. Apparently, through their connection with the UNIA's internationalist perspective, the Ahmadi Muslims had acquired a keen understanding of the ordinary black man that enabled them to connect Islam with Pan-Africanism and race pride. The adoption of Muslim names by all new converts was further commitment to the Islamic world view as was the wearing of veils by some of the female converts.
A number of Islamic oriented organizations sprang up among black Americans in the 1920's and 30's, apparently influenced by both Dr. Sadiq's teachings and by the philosophy of the UNIA. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, leader of the most successful of these organizations, the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, is stated to have been a corporal in the uniformed ranks of the UNIA.
During his time in the United States, Dr. Sadiq had made many devoted friends. The Muslims in Chicago were so attached to Dr. Sadiq that they sent a letter to the international head of the Ahmadiyya Movement, requesting that he be allowed to stay in the United States indefinitely. However, at the end of September 1923, Dr. Sadiq left the United States and stayed in Paris, France for several weeks, where he lectured and secured converts there. Then he returned to India.
When Dr. Sadiq began his missionary work in the United States, most Americans had never heard of Islam or the name "Muslim," and had never seen a mosque. Today, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States, with millions of converts to various sects.
The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam is continuing its missionary efforts across the United States and around the world. It has established missions in 170 countries. It has communities in fifty-three U.S. cities, where new mosque and mission houses are established. Dr. Sadiq's work has grown from one small seed of faith into a tree whose branches are spreading from coast to coast.
Historic photographs of early members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in America.
This is a photo of Aliyya Ali. She was the first African American to accept Ahmadiyya, the true Islam, which was in 1921. Aliya was originally from Kenner, LA and on a visit to Chicago she heard about Ahmadiyya. As a result she paid a visit to the mosque at 4448 South Wabash. Her visit marked the beginning of African Americans into its fold. Aliyya Ali subsequently established her permanent residents in Chicago and the rest is history.
This photo was taken in Rabwah, Pakistan about 1977-78. We were at a dinner party hosted by M.S. Shahid who, was a Chief Missionary of the USA Jamaat. Five of his children are in this photo.
In 1922, The Moslem Sunrise magazine featured a picture (to the left) and a short report about a recent Black convert, Sheik Ahmad Din (P. Nathaniel Johnson). He was described as a "zealous worker for Islam", who had recently been appointed Missionary in St. Louis, Missouri.
An article about Din in the St Louis Dispatch reports that he had acquired one hundred converts during the first six months of his mission in St. Louis (Islam in the African-American Experience, by Richard Brent Turner, page 126).
ALLAH EXHORTS US IN HIS HOLY WORD TO "KEEP UP THE SUPPLICATION: LORD, BESTOW ON ME AN INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE." PERHAPS THIS IS BECAUSE WE LOVE IN PROPORTION TO THE HEAVENLY KNOWLEDGE, WHICH WE RECEIVED. FOR LOVE KEEPS PACE WITH KNOWLEDGE; AND AS THE ONE INCREASES SO DOES THE OTHER. WHEN HEAVENLY KNOWLEDGE IS PERFECTED, LOVE WILL BE PERFECTED ALSO. AND THAT KNOWLEDGE, THAT LOVE, WILL BE MANIFESTED IN HEALTHY, HIGHLY FUNCTIONING FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE PRODUCES MODEL FAMILIES.
THIS PAPER: "GOOD FAMILY RELATIONS: THE ISLAMIC WAY," IS A SUBJECT THAT TOUCHES THE VERY CORE OF OUR DEEPEST CHALLENGES AND CONCERNS.
TO REVIEW OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD FAMILY RELATIONS, LET US EXAMINE THEM FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF UNDERSTANDING THE FAMILY STRUCTURE IN ISLAM. IT WOULD SEEM REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT IF WE COMPREHEND THE MUSLIM FAMILY AS BOTH A RELIGIOUS AND A SOCIAL-BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM, IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN GOOD FAMILY RELATIONS.
FAMILY'S OBLIGATIONS TO SOCIETY
FAMILY RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS ARE NOT PRIVATE FAMILY AFFAIRS OF NO CONCERN TO THE REST OF SOCIETY. DUTIES AND OBLIGATIONS ARE ASSIGNED TO THE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE ENJOINED TO ADMINISTER THEM PRIVATELY. BUT, IF THE SITUATION BECOMES UNMANAGEABLE, RELIGION COMMANDS SOCIETY, REPRESENTED BY DESIGNATED AUTHORITIES AS WELL AS CONSCIENTIOUS INDIVIDUALS, TO TAKE WHATEVER ACTION IS NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT ITS SOCIAL LAW, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN EQUITY AND HARMONY. THIS IS A NATURAL RESULT OF THE FACT THAT THE MUTUAL EXPECTATIONS OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS ARE NOT ESTABLISHED ONLY BY FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIP, BUT ALSO BY THE MEMBERSHIP IN A LARGER SOCIAL SYSTEM WHICH DERIVES FROM A COMMON RELIGIOUS BROTHERHOOD. THIS BROTHERHOOD HAS ITS OWN IMPLICATIONS. IT IS CONCEIVED TO REINFORCE FAMILY TIES, COMPLEMENT THEM, OR PREVENT THEIR ABUSE.
THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE
THE FAMILY IS THE BASIC UNIT OF HUMAN SOCIETY. THE FOUNDATION OF A FAMILY IS LAID THROUGH MARRIAGE. THE STRONG EMPHASIS THAT ISLAM HAS PUT ON MARRIAGE MAY BE SEEN CLEARLY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PURPOSE THAT MARRIAGE IS DESIGNATED TO SERVE.
MARRIAGE IS REGARDED FIRST AND FOREMOST AS AN ACT OF PIETY. ALLAH SAYS, "HE IT IS WHO CREATED YOU FROM A SINGLE SOUL, AND MADE THEREFROM ITS MATE, THAT HE MIGHT FIND COMFORT IN HER.” (AL-A'RAF VERSE 190) "OF HIS SIGNS IT IS THAT HE CREATED YOU FROM DUST, AND LO! YOU ARE HUMAN BEINGS SPREAD OVER THE EARTH. OF HIS SIGNS IT IS THAT HE HAS CREATED MATES FOR YOU OF YOUR OWN KIND THAT YOU MAY FIND PEACE OF MIND THROUGH THEM, AND HE HAS PUT LOVE AND TENDERNESS BETWEEN YOU. IN THAT SURELY ARE SIGNS FOR A PEOPLE WHO REFLECT." (AL-RUM VERSE 21)
THE LEAST FOCAL ASPECT OF ISLAMIC MARRIAGE IS THE ECONOMIC FACTOR. ALLAH SAYS, "ARRANGE THE MARRIAGES OF THE WIDOWS FROM AMONG YOU, AND OF THE RIGHTEOUS FROM AMONG THOSE UNDER YOUR CONTROL, MALE AND FEMALE. IF THEY BE POOR, ALLAH WILL GRANT THEM MEANS OUT OF HIS BOUNTY. ALLAH IS VASTLY BOUNTIFUL, ALL-KNOWING." (AL-NUR VERSE 33) THE HOLY PROPHET (SAW) IS REPORTED TO HAVE SAID, "IN MARRYING A WOMAN, A MAN'S CHOICE OF A SPOUSE IS DETERMINED BY THE CONSIDERATION OF HER WEALTH, HER FAMILY, HER PHYSICAL BEAUTY AND HER RELIGIOUS PIETY, BUT THOU SHOULDST MAKE THY LIFE HAPPY, PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL, BY CHOOSING A SPOUSE, ON ACCOUNT OF HER RELIGIOUS PIETY, AS THIS IS THE SOURCE FOR LASTING CONTENTMENT." (BUKHARI)
OUR LATE, BELOVED KHALIFATUL MASIH II, MIRZA BASHIRUDDIN MAHMUD AHMAD HAS EMPHASIZED: "MARRIAGE IS A VERY DELICATE AND IMPORTANT MATTER. AS A MATTER OF FACT, VERY FEW OTHER MATTERS ARE AS IMPORTANT. WHAT IS MARRIAGE? IT IS SIMPLY A MEANS TO CARRY OUT THE DIVINE PLAN. ALLAH WISHES THAT MAN MUST PROCREATE, PROPAGATE AND SPREAD, AND THUS MAINTAIN HIMSELF AS THE MOST WONDERFUL AND SUBLIMEST OF THE DIVINE CREATION.
"THE WORD MARRIAGE MAY SOUND LIKE AN ORDINARY THING, BUT IT IS REALLY A CONSECRATION OF A GREAT DIVINE PLAN. AS SUCH IT IS OF SO GREAT AN IMPORTANCE THAT I WOULD PUT IT NEXT ONLY TO OUR RELATION WITH ALLAH, AND IT IS OUR REQUIRED DUTY TO SEE THAT IT IS DULY RESPECTED AND ADHERED TO FAITHFULLY."
MARRIAGE CONTRACT
SOME OBSERVERS HAVE BEEN LED TO STRESS THE CONTRACTUAL NATURE OF MARRIAGE IN ISLAM. THEY MAINTAIN THAT MARRIAGE AS A CONTRACT MUST STATE CONDITIONS AND TERMS THAT FALL WITHIN LEGAL BOUNDS, CAPABLE OF BEING ALTERED. SOMETIMES THE STRESS ON THE SOCIO-LEGAL AND CONTRACTUAL ELEMENTS OF MARRIAGE TENDS TO OBSCURE THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT: "MARRIAGE IS A CONTRACT, BUT MARRIAGE IS ALSO A COVENANT." ALLAH SAYS, "...THEY (WOMEN) HAVE TAKEN FROM YOU A STRONG COVENANT." (AL-NISA VERSE 22) IT IS NOT ACCURATE TO DESIGNATE MARRIAGE IN ISLAM AS A SECULAR CONTRACT. ALTHOUGH IT HAS THOSE ELEMENTS. THE APPROPRIATE DESIGNATION IS THAT IT IS OF A "DIVINE INSTITUTION."
CONDITIONS OF MARRIAGE
SO, THE QURAN DESCRIBES MARRIAGE AS A "COVENANT" BETWEEN ALLAH AND THE HUMAN PARTIES AS WELL AS BETWEEN THESE PARTIES THEMSELVES. IF THE MARRIAGE IS TO BE CONSUMMATED AND BECOME VALID, CERTAIN CONDITIONS MUST BE SATISFIED. SOME OF THESE CONDITIONS ARE: (1) AS THERE IS NO COURTSHIP IN ISLAM A MUSLIM MALE GUARDIAN IS REQUIRED TO ACT ON BEHALF OF THE FEMALE IN A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL. THE GUARDIAN IS TO BE OF SOUND MIND, FULL AGE AND GOOD CHARACTER. HE SAFEGUARDS THE FEMALE'S MORAL INTEGRITY AND TAKES ALL PRECAUTIONS TO MAXIMIZE THE PROBABILITY OF A GOOD MARRIAGE. (2) THERE MUST BE A DIRECT, UNEQUIVOCAL PROPOSAL FOLLOWED BY A CORRESPONDING ACCEPTANCE THEREOF; (3) THE WORDS USED IN THE CONTRACT MUST BE DIRECTLY DERIVED FROM, OR INTIMATELY RELATED TO, THE ROOT WORD OF MARRIAGE; (4) THERE MUST BE AT LEAST TWO COMPETENT WITNESSES SO THAT THE PROGENY'S RIGHT OF LEGITIMACY WILL BE SAFEGUARDED; (5) THE CONTRACT REQUIRES THE CONTRIBUTION OF A "DOWRY," OR MARRIAGE GIFT, BY THE GROOM TO THE BRIDE; (6) THE MARRIAGE MUST BE WIDELY PUBLICIZED; (7) THE WOMEN MUST BE FREE FROM ALL MARITAL BONDS, FREE OF PREGNANCY, OUT SIDE THE "WAITING PERIOD" IF SHE IS DIVORCED OR WIDOWED, AND SHE MUST NOT FALL WITHIN THE FORBIDDEN DEGREES OF BLOOD RELATIONS; (8) SHE MUST BE A MONOTHEIST OR FROM AMONG THE "PEOPLE OF THE BOOK;" (9) HE OR SHE MUST BE FREE FROM ADULTERY AND FORNICATION; (10) THE CONTRACTING MAN MUST BE A MUSLIM.
IT WOULD NOT BE OUT OF PLACE HERE TO ELABORATE ON DOWRY. DOWRY IS USED TO DESIGNATE THE GIFT A MUSLIM GROOM GIVES TO HIS BRIDE. IT IS A SYMBOL OF TRUTHFULNESS AND SINCERITY ON THE PART OF THE HUSBAND. THE DOWRY BECOMES HER PERSONAL PROPERTY WHICH SHE IS EMPOWERED TO WAIVE, REDUCE, RETURN TO HER HUSBAND, OR DISPENSE WITH AS SHE PLEASES. IT MAY CONSIST OF MONEY, PROPERTY, MOVABLE OBJECTS, OR SERVICES RENDERED TO THE BRIDE HERSELF. THERE IS A TRADITION THAT A COMPANION OF THE PROPHET WANTED TO MARRY A CERTAIN WOMAN BUT HAD NOTHING TO OFFER HER IN DOWRY. THE PROPHET ASKED HIM TO TEACH HER WHATEVER HE KNEW OF THE QURAN, AND THAT SUFFICED AS A DOWRY.
THE LIMITS OF DOWRY SHOULD BE ESTIMATED ACCORDING TO CIRCUMSTANCES WITH EMPHASIS ON MODERATION. THE HOLY PROPHET IS REPORTED TO HAVE SAID THAT THE MOST BLESSED MARRIAGE IS THAT WHICH IS LEAST COSTLY AND MOST EASY. HAZRAT KHALIFATUL MASIH IV HAS SET AN AMOUNT OF 6 MONTHS TO ONE YEARS WAGES.
MATE SELECTION
THE IDEA THAT LOVE IS BLIND AND LOVE IS THE DECISIVE FACTOR IN MATE SELECTION IS NOT THE NORM OF ANY SOCIETY. THE BELIEF THAT "LOVE AND MARRIAGE GO TOGETHER LIKE A HORSE AND CARRIAGE" HAS BEEN DRUMMED INTO THE HEADS OF WESTERN YOUNG PEOPLE SO INSISTENTLY THAT THEY CONSIDER "BEING-IN-LOVE" BEFORE MARRIAGE ENTIRELY NATURAL. PERHAPS THE PRESSURE ON THE MARRIAGE CREATED BY EMPHASIS ON UNREALISTIC ROMANTIC LOVE MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE HIGH DIVORCE RATE IN WESTERN SOCIETIES. THE FACT IS, RULES AND CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT INCLUDE THE PRIORITY OF LOVE HAVE HISTORICALLY GOVERNED MATE SELECTION IN MANY SOCIETIES.
THESE DAYS THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS TREND IN MATE SELECTION IS TOWARD WHAT IS CALLED "SOCIAL EQUALITY IN MARRIAGE." THIS CONCEPT IS BASED ON TWO THEORIES: (1) PEOPLE TEND TO MARRY PEOPLE WHO ARE SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY LIKE THEMSELVES; (2) EVERY INDIVIDUAL SEEKS WITHIN THEIR FIELD OF ELIGIBLES THAT PERSON WHO GIVES THE GREATEST PROMISE OF PROVIDING MAXIMUM NEED GRATIFICATION.
WESTERN ADVOCATES SUGGEST THAT THE WELFARE OF THE FAMILY REQUIRE MEASURES OF SOCIAL EQUALITY TO MAXIMIZE THE PROBABILITY OF MARITAL SUCCESS. THEY SAY WHEN TWO PARTIES ARE NOT SOCIALLY EQUAL, IT IS THE MAN WHO MUST "MEASURE UP" TO THE WOMAN. A WOMAN MAY MARRY ABOVE BUT NOT BELOW HER SOCIAL LEVEL, WHEREAS A MAN MAY MARRY BELOW BUT NOT ABOVE HIS. THIS MEANS THAT THE LEADERSHIP ROLE, IS THE MANS, AS HE IS THE PROVIDER OF THE FAMILY AND THE BEARER OF ITS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS. IF HIS LEADERSHIP IS TO BE REAL AND LASTING, HE MUST BE CERTAIN OF HIS STATUS. THIS IS MOST LIKELY TO BE OBTAINED WHEN HE MARRIES HIS EQUAL OR DOWN. BUT IF HE MARRIES UP, HIS POSITION MAY BE SUBJECT TO UNCERTAINTY. PERSONALITIES MAY CONFLICT; ROLES MAY BECOME DIFFUSED AND BLURRED AND FAMILY STABILITY ENDANGERED. TO MINIMIZE THIS RISK, IT IS DEEMED ADVISABLE FOR A MAN TO MARRY HIS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EQUAL. THE CASE OF WOMEN IS NOT THE SAME. IT IS PREFERRED THAT THE WOMAN MARRIES HER EQUAL OR UP, NOT DOWN.
THIS WESTERN CONCEPT OF "SOCIAL EQUALITY IN MARRIAGE" HAS NO SUPPORT FROM THE HOLY QURAN. ALLAH SAYS, " VERILY, THE MOST HONORABLE AMONG YOU, IN THE SIGHT OF ALLAH, IS HE WHO IS THE MOST RIGHTEOUS AMONG YOU. SURELY, ALLAH IS ALL-KNOWING. ALL-AWARE." (AL-HUJURAT VERSE 14)
ISLAM ASSERTS "RELIGIOUS EQUALITY IN MARRIAGE." ACCORDINGLY, EVERY INDIVIDUAL IS RANKED FIRST ON THE BASIS OF RELIGIOUS VIRTUES. THESE VIRTUES MAY OR MAY NOT AGREE WITH TRADITIONAL WESTERN VALUES. ALL MUSLIMS ARE TO BE REGARDED AS EQUALS IN THE SIGHT OF ALLAH AND BROTHERS OF ONE ANOTHER (AL-HUJURAT VERSE 11); THE ONLY RECOGNIZABLE CRITERION OF DISTINCTION IS THAT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS OR TAQWA.
THIS CRITERIA OF RIGHTEOUSNESS INCLUDES BELIEF IN ALLAH; THE LAST DAY OF JUDGMENT (WHICH DEPENDS THE DIRECTS MAN’S ACTIONS IN THIS LIFE); BELIEF IN ANGELS; DIVINE SCRIPTURES; AND THE PROPHETS. RIGHTEOUS ACTIONS ARE RECOGNIZED BY SPENDING FOR THE LOVE OF ALLAH; PRAYER AND PAYMENT OF ZAKAT; KEEPING ONE'S PROMISE; AND DISPLAYING FORTITUDE, PATIENCE AND STEADFASTNESS IN TIME OF DISTRESS.
DOMESTIC FAMILY RELATIONS
SO FAR, THE DISCUSSION HAS BEEN CONCERNED WITH THE FORMATION OF THE FAMILY. LET US NOW TURN TO DOMESTIC FAMILY RELATIONS.
TO BEGIN WITH, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A HUSBAND AND WIFE IS TOO INTIMATE AND VARIED TO LEND ITSELF EASILY AND ENTIRELY TOO FORMAL RULES AND REGULATIONS, HOWEVER COMPREHENSIVE. IT DEFIES THE SUBTLEST FORMALITIES OF RULES OF LAW SINCE IT OPERATES ON LEVELS THAT ARE NOT ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE TO DETECTION. THEREFORE, IT IS SIMPLER TO FOCUS ON THE MORAL PRINCIPLES OF THE HUSBAND-WIFE RELATIONSHIP SO THAT WE DO NOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT ALLAH IS THE INTEGRAL ELEMENT OF ANY ACTION SITUATION.
ALLAH SAYS, "AND ONE OF HIS SIGNS IS THAT HE HAS CREATED WIVES FOR YOU FROM AMONG YOURSELVES THAT YOU MAY FIND PEACE OF MIND IN THEM, AND HE HAS PUT LOVE AND TENDERNESS BETWEEN YOU. IN THAT SURELY ARE SIGNS FOR A PEOPLE WHO REFLECT." (AL-RUM VERSE 22) HERE, ALLAH DEFINES THE PRINCIPLES OF THE HUSBAND-WIFE RELATIONSHIP AS BEING ONE OF A CONSCIENTIOUS COMMITMENT BY BOTH PARTIES THAT THE MARITAL UNION BE AN ABODE OF PEACE OF MIND, LOVE AND TENDERNESS.
THE WIFE'S RIGHT; THE HUSBAND'S OBLIGATIONS
THE HUSBAND'S OBLIGATIONS IN MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF MARRIAGE BECOMES CLEAR WHEN ALLAH SAYS, "...AND CONSORT WITH THEM IN KINDNESS...(AL-NISA VERSE 20) AND "MEN ARE APPOINTED GUARDIANS OVER WOMEN, BECAUSE OF THAT IN RESPECT OF WHICH ALLAH HAS MADE SOME OF THEM EXCEL OTHERS, AND BECAUSE MEN SPEND OF THEIR WEALTH..." (AL-NISA VERSE 35)
TRANSLATED INTO BEHAVIORAL TERMS, THESE MORAL PRINCIPLES ALLOCATE TO THE WIFE CERTAIN RIGHTS, WHICH ARE THE HUSBAND'S DUTY TO ALLAH TO FULFILL. THE WIFE IS TO BE CONSORTED WITH IN AN EQUITABLE AND KIND MANNER AND THAT THE HUSBAND IS TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER MAINTENANCE.
THE WIFE'S MAINTENANCE ENTAILS HER INCONTESTABLE RIGHT TO LODGING, CLOTHING, FOOD, AND GENERAL CARE. HER LODGING MUST BE ADEQUATE SO AS TO ENSURE HER PRIVACY, COMFORT, AND INDEPENDENCE. THIS IS INTERPRETED TO MEAN THAT THE LODGING QUARTERS MUST BEFIT HIS MEANS AND HER STYLE OF LIFE. THIS RIGHT IS TO BE EXERCISED WITHOUT EXTRAVAGANCE OR MISERLINESS. THE HUSBAND'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WIFE'S SHELTER DOES NOT ENTITLE HIM TO IMPOSE UPON HER ANY DISAGREEABLE ARRANGEMENT OF RESIDENCE. ALLAH SAYS, "LODGE THEM... IN THE HOUSES WHEREIN YOU DWELL, ACCORDING TO YOUR MEANS; AND HARASS THEM NOT THAT YOU MAY CREATE HARDSHIP FOR THEM...LET ONE WHO IS IN EASY CIRCUMSTANCES SPEND ACCORDING TO HIS MEANS, AND LET HIM WHOSE MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE ARE STRAITENED SPEND OUT OF THAT WHICH ALLAH HAS GIVEN HIM. ALLAH DOES NOT REQUIRE OF ANYONE BEYOND THAT WHICH HE HAS BESTOWED ON HIM. FOR THOSE SUFFERING FROM HARDSHIP, ALLAH WILL SOON BRING ABOUT EASE." (AL-TALAQ VERSES 7&8)
FAILURE TO PROVIDE FOR THE WIFE MAY SOMETIMES BE INVOLUNTARY. ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS AND SOCIAL CHANGE MAY CAUSE THE HUSBAND TO BECOME DESTITUTE. RELIGION DEMANDS MAINTENANCE FOR THE WIFE; BUT THIS IS DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE IF THE HUSBAND IS DESTITUTE. THE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM CALLS FOR COMPASSION AND COOPERATION BETWEEN MARITAL PARTNERS. ASSUMING THAT EACH PARTY WOULD SHOW THE DECENCY AND INTEGRITY EXPECTED OF CONSCIENTIOUS MUSLIMS, IT COULD BE ANTICIPATED THAT THE HUSBAND WOULD DO HIS UTMOST TO MINIMIZE HIS WIFE'S DEPRIVATION AND SHE, IN TURN WOULD DO HER UTMOST TO STAND BY HIM, SHARING HIS UPS AND DOWN. IT MAY MOTIVATE THE HUSBAND TO INTENSIFY HIS DRIVE TO IMPROVE HIS CONDITION, SO AS TO KEEP HIS FAMILY AND PRIDE. IT MAY ALSO ENCOURAGE THE HUSBAND TO RISE TO GREATER HEIGHTS OF CHARACTER, STRIVE TO ACQUIRE PERSONAL QUALITIES THAT CAN BE A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION FOR THE WIFE WHO HAS HOPEFULLY PROVEN HER INTEGRITY, PATIENCE, UNDERSTANDING, AND LOYALTY UNDER ADVERSE CONDITIONS.
NOW LET US LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT ALLAH'S DIRECTIVE THAT THE HUSBAND CONSORT WITH HIS WIFE "IN KINDNESS." ALTHOUGH THIS IS A QURANIC COMMANDMENT FROM ALLAH ADDRESSED TO MEN SPECIFICALLY, FUNDAMENTAL QURANIC PRINCIPLES APPLY TO ALL HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS. SO, "CONSORTING WITH KINDNESS" IS NOT A ONE-SIDED AFFAIR. IT IS ALSO VALID FOR THE WIFE TO HUSBAND AS WELL. ALL ARE TO RECIPROCATE EACH OTHERS LOVE AND KINDNESS. DEPENDING ON THE ASSIMILATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE INTO OUR CHARACTER, OR NOT, WE CAN EITHER BE THE PERSONIFICATION OF ONE WHO "CONSORTS WITH KINDNESS" OR ACTUALLY BE CRUEL AND MEAN-SPIRITED AND NOT REALIZE IT.
AS STATED EARLIER, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE IS HIGHLY INTIMATE AND VARIED. EACH PERSON, EACH FAMILY, IS AT A DIFFERENT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT. AT ONE END OF THE CONTINUUM ARE FAMILIES WITH LOVING, HIGHLY FUNCTIONING, GROWTH-FILLED RELATIONSHIPS DESPITE TRIALS, WHICH ARE A CONTINUOUS PART OF LIFE. AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE CONTINUUM ARE FAMILIES LOCKED IN THE GRIP OF SUCH TURMOIL AND DESPAIR THAT BELIEVERS WOULD CRY - "WHEN WILL COME THE HELP OF ALLAH?" AT SUCH TIMES ALLAH SAYS THAT HIS HELP IS NEAREST. (AL-BAQARAH VERSE 215)
PERHAPS IT IS JUST THEN, WHEN THINGS ARE MOST CONTRADICTORY, DIFFICULT, AND FRUSTRATING THAT LIFE REALLY MAKES SENSE. SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES PROVOKE US, ALMOST FORCES US, TO DEVELOP OUR HIGHER FACULTIES. OLD WAYS OF DOING THINGS NO LONGER WORK. AS ALBERT EINSTEIN OBSERVED; "THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WE FACE CANNOT BE SOLVED AT THE SAME LEVEL OF THINKING WE WERE AT WHEN WE CREATED THE PROBLEMS." WE NEED A NEW AND DEEPER LEVEL OF THINKING BASED ON QURANIC PRINCIPLES THAT FIRST, ACCURATELY DESCRIBES OUR PROBLEM (CORRECT DIAGNOSIS IS CRITICAL) AND SECOND, PROVIDES ITS REMEDY. THEN PRAYER, TO GIVE US THE WILL TO APPLY THAT REMEDY.
LOVE'S RENEWAL
PERHAPS ONE OF MARRIAGE'S MOST DIFFICULT TESTING TIMES IS WHEN THE "SAME-NESS" OF THE RELATIONSHIP BEGINS TO BLUNT ENTHUSIASM AND CHALLENGE THE MARRIAGE COMMITMENT. THE INTIMACY, RICHNESS, SOFTNESS AND SPONTANEITY HAVE GONE AND ONE SPOUSE, OR BOTH, FEEL NO INSPIRATION TO REVIVE IT.
IN CHAPTER AL-NISA, ALLAH SAYS: "IF A WOMAN FEARS ILL-TREATMENT OR INDIFFERENCE FROM HER HUSBAND, IT SHALL BE NO SIN FOR THEM THAT THEY ARE SUITABLY RECONCILED TO EACH OTHER, AND RECONCILIATION IS BEST." IN OTHER WORDS, IT IS AS IF ALLAH SAYS: DOES THE COUPLE THINK THEY WOULD BE COMMITTING A SIN IF THEY BECAME RECONCILED TO EACH OTHER? IT IS NO SIN TO DO SO. ON THE CONTRARY, IT IS A COMMENDABLE THING. IT IS AN EXHORTATION FROM ALLAH. SO ALLAH ENCOURAGES US THAT LOVE AND CARING CAN BE REVIVED. AND SINCE IT CAN, THAT IS A GOOD REASON TO BEGIN TO PUT THE REVIVAL PROCESS IN MOTION. ONE MIGHT ASK: "BUT HOW DO YOU LOVE WHEN YOU DON'T FEEL LOVE?"
POPULAR OPINION TELLS US TO BE DRIVEN BY FEELINGS, NOT VALUES; TO BE PROGRAMMED TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE, THAT WE ARE A PRODUCT OF OUR FEELINGS. BUT THIS IS NOT THE REALITY. IF OUR FEELINGS CONTROL OUR ACTIONS, IT IS BECAUSE WE HAVE ABDICATED OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND EMPOWERED THEM TO DO SO. WE CAN SUBORDINATE FEELINGS TO VALUES AND MAKE LOVE A VERB. AND A VERB IS AN ACTION WORD. LOVE -- THE FEELING -- IS A FRUIT OF LOVE -- THE VERB. LOVE IS SOMETHING WE DO. IT IS THE SACRIFICES WE MAKE,THE GIVING OF SELF, LIKE A MOTHER BRINGS A NEWBORN INTO THE WORLD. IF WE WANT TO STUDY LOVE, STUDY THOSE WHO SACRIFICE FOR OTHERS, EVEN FOR PEOPLE WHO OFFEND, OR DO NOT LOVE IN RETURN. LOOK AT THE LOVE WE HAVE FOR THE CHILDREN WE SACRIFICED FOR.
IN THE QURAN LOVE IS A VERB, AN ACTION WORD. RE-STUDY THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET (SAW) AND HOW HE LOVED -- HIS WIVES, HIS FAMILY, THE BELIEVERS, ALL OF HUMANITY.
SO HUSBAND AND WIFE SHOULD PRACTICE LOVING EACH OTHER (THE HIGHEST FORM OF "CONSORTING IN KINDNESS"). FOR INSTANCE, PRAY FOR EACH OTHER. "LORD, MAKE MY SPOUSE THE DELIGHT OF MY EYES AND MAKE US MODELS FOR THE RIGHTEOUS," IS A QURANIC PRAYER ALLAH TAUGHT US THAT CAN HAVE MIRACULOUS EFFECT. AND SERVE EACH OTHER. SACRIFICE FOR EACH OTHER. LISTEN TO EACH OTHER. SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH EACH OTHER. EMPATHIZE. APPRECIATE EACH OTHER. AFFIRM EACH OTHER. BE WILLING TO DO THAT. LOVE IS A VALUE THAT IS ACTUALIZED THROUGH LOVING ACTIONS. SO LOVE, -- THE FEELING -- CAN BE RE-CAPTURED.
TO HAVE A HAPPY MARRIAGE WE MUST GENERATE POSITIVE ENERGY AND SIDE-STEP NEGATIVE ENERGY RATHER THAN EMPOWERING IT. THIS IS CALLED, IMPROVING OUR SELF, OR JIHAD. IT IS FUTILE TO TRY AND IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS BEFORE IMPROVING OURSELVES. IT TAKES A TREMENDOUS COMMITMENT AND COURAGE TO CHANGE.
THE QURAN IS REPLETE WITH MORAL BEHAVIORS WE ARE TO INCULCATE INTO OUR CHARACTER. ESPECIALLY FOR YOUNG COUPLES, NEW TO MARRIAGE, HERE ARE A FEW THAT IF PRACTICED WITH DILIGENCE, CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE MARRIED LIFE RICH, JOYFUL AND ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYING RELATIONSHIPS ON EARTH:
l. PRACTICE TOLERANCE AND PATIENCE.
2. BE FORGIVING. DON'T HOLD GRUDGES
3. KEEP OUR PROMISES/COMMITMENTS TO EACH OTHER.
4. SHOW PERSONAL INTEGRITY (THAT IS, NEVER COMPROMISE WITH
11.LEARN TO COMMUNICATE CLEARLY. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SPEAKER TO MAKE HIMSELF/HERSELF UNDERSTOOD.
12.EXPRESS GRATITUDE OFTEN TO OUR SPOUSE. HE/SHE WORKS HARD
13.GIVE OUR SPOUSE PRE-PLANNED QUALITY TIME WHERE CHILDREN AND FRIENDS DON'T INTRUDE.
14.BE FAITHFUL. MAKE OUR SPOUSE FEEL SECURE IN OUR LOYALTY TO THE MARRIAGE.
15.HANDLE MONEY WISELY, BE NEITHER EXTRAVAGANT NOR MISERLY. AVOID DEALING IN INTEREST AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.
16.CONTROL OUR TEMPER.
17.PRAY TOGETHER AT LEAST ONCE DAILY.
THE HUSBAND'S RIGHTS; THE WIFE'S OBLIGATIONS
THE BASIS ON WHICH ALL THE WIFE'S OBLIGATIONS REST AND FROM WHICH THEY FLOW IS FROM THE FOLLOWING PRAYER IN THE HOLY QURAN: "OUR LORD, GRANT US OF OUR WIVES AND CHILDREN THE DELIGHT OF OUR EYES, AND MAKE US A MODEL FOR THE RIGHTEOUS." (AL-FURQAN VERSE 75)
THE ESSENTIAL CRITERIA OF DETERMINING THE WIFE'S OBLIGATIONS IS THAT SHE FULFILLS "THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE." WHATEVER SERVES THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE, OR FOLLOWS FROM IT, FALLS WITHIN THE RANGE OF HER DUTIES.
ONE OF THE WIFE'S OBLIGATIONS IS OBEDIENCE TO HER HUSBAND. THIS HAS STIMULATED MORE COMMENTS THAN ANY OTHER SINGLE OBLIGATION. ALLAH SAYS, "SO VIRTUOUS WOMEN ARE THOSE WHO ARE OBEDIENT, AND GUARD THE SECRET OF THEIR HUSBANDS WITH ALLAH'S PROTECTION." (AL-NISA VERSE 35) WHAT HAS TO BE CLARIFIED HERE IS THAT OBEDIENCE IS NOT ABSOLUTE OR UNQUALIFIED. OBEDIENCE TO HER HUSBAND CANNOT VIOLATE THE RIGHTS OF ALLAH. OBEDIENCE APPLIES TO MATTERS THAT FALL WITHIN THE SPHERE OF PERMISSIBLE CATEGORIES OF ACTION AND LIE WITHIN THE RANGE OF HUSBAND'S RIGHTS.
IF WE VIEW THE WIFE'S OBEDIENCE AND THE HUSBAND'S AUTHORITY FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, WE FIND THAT AUTHORITY IS A NECESSARY ELEMENT OF ANY GROUP STRUCTURE. AS STATED EARLIER, THE HUSBAND'S AUTHORITY IS NOT ABSOLUTE. IT IS RESTRAINED BY THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE QURAN AND IN NO WAY ALLOWS HIM TO IGNORE HIS WIFE'S POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS. THE HUSBAND'S PREROGATIVE IS A TYPE OF AUTHORITY, WHICH IS BASED ON EQUITY, GUARDED BY COMPASSION, AND GUIDED BY CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.
AUTHORITY, OR MORE SPECIFICALLY LEADERSHIP, IS A REQUIREMENT OF ANY GROUP ACTIVITY AND IS TO BE INVESTED IN A PERSON WHO IS BEST QUALIFIED FOR IT. WHAT THIS SEEMS TO SUGGEST IS THAT THE FAMILY LEADERSHIP IS NOT CREATED FOR THE HUSBAND; THIS IS NOT AN "OFFICE" FOUNDED FOR THE MAN. RATHER, IT IS ALLOCATED TO HIM AND HE IS APPOINTED TO IT BECAUSE ALLAH DETERMINES HE IS BETTER QUALIFIED FOR THE PLACEMENT. THIS MEANS THAT IN HIS ASSUMPTION OF THE FAMILY LEADERSHIP, THE HUSBAND IS BOUND BY THE RULES OF THE POSITION. IF HE VIOLATES THE RULES OR ABUSES THE POSITION HE CEASES TO QUALIFY FOR IT. HIS AUTHORITY IS NOT UNCONDITIONAL, NOR IS HIS LEADERSHIP UNQUESTIONABLE. THEY ARE NEITHER IMPOSED NOR CLAIMED, BUT ALLOCATED AND SUBJECT TO CHECKS AND BALANCES.
THESE ARE THE KIND OF PRINCIPLES THAT UNDERLIE THE HUSBAND-WIFE RELATIONSHIP IN THE ISLAMIC SCHEME OF SOCIETY.
THE CHILD'S RIGHTS, THE PARENTS OBLIGATIONS
ONE OF THE MOST INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE MUSLIM CHILD IS THE RIGHT TO LIFE...IN ALL ITS FORMS...PHYSICAL LIFE, SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE, EMOTIONAL LIFE, EDUCATIONAL LIFE, SOCIAL LIFE, CULTURAL LIFE. ALLAH SAYS, "...THAT YOU KILL NOT YOUR CHILDREN FOR FEAR OF POVERTY, IT IS WE WHO PROVIDE FOR YOU AND FOR THEM..." (AL-ANAM VERSE 152)
AS MUSLIMS, OUR GOAL IN BRINGING UP OUR CHILDREN SHOULD BE TO TRAIN THEIR PERSONALITIES IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEIR BEST QUALITIES AND POTENTIALITIES WILL BE DEVELOPED AND THAT THEY WILL BE CONSCIOUS OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO ALLAH, SERVING HIM WITH ALL THE TALENTS AND RESOURCES HE HAS GIVEN THEM.
THIS GOAL WILL INSHA ALLAH (IF ALLAH SO WILLS) BE ACHIEVED BY MEANS OF THREE BASIC APPROACHES: (1) PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHILD'S PROPER TRAINING BEFORE IT'S BIRTH. WHEN HUSBAND AND WIFE COME TOGETHER THE PROPHET (SAW) SAID PRAY: "OUR LORD, SAFEGUARD US AGAINST EVIL AND SAFEGUARD THE OFFSPRING THAT YOU MAY BESTOW UPON US AGAINST EVIL. PROPHETS ABRAHAM AND ZACHARIAH'S PRAYERS FOR RIGHTEOUS OFFSPRING (AND OTHERS IN QURAN) ILLUSTRATE THE DUTY PARENTS OWE TO CHILDREN. (2) BY WORKING TO BUILD IN OUR CHILDREN ISLAMIC PERSONALITIES AND ISLAMIC ATTITUDES THROUGH AN ISLAMIC-ORIENTED FAMILY LIFE, AND (3) BY BUILDING INTO THEM A CLEAR AND DYNAMIC UNDERSTANDING THAT ISLAM IS A TOTAL SYSTEM OF LIFE FOR MAN AND HIS SOCIETY PROVIDED FOR HIM BY ALMIGHTY ALLAH, AND THAT HENCE IT IS INFINITELY SUPERIOR TO ANY SYSTEM OR IDEOLOGY WHICH MAN CAN DEVISE. BY ADHERING TO ISLAM HE/SHE WILL BE FOLLOWING HIS NATURE,WHICH WAS DESIGNED BY ALLAH; AND THAT THERE IS NO ALTERING THE CREATION OF ALLAH.
THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO SHAPE A CHILD IN ISLAM'S MOLD IS BY MODELING. HOW SURPRISINGLY IMPORTANT IT IS FOR US AS PARENTS TO REALIZE THAT OUR DAY-TO-DAY MODELING IS FAR AND AWAY OUR HIGHEST FORM OF INFLUENCE. AS PARENTS, WE MAY ATTEMPT TO UNDO OR EVEN COMPENSATE FOR BAD MODELING BY ATTEMPTING TO VERBALLY TEACH CORRECT PRINCIPLES. BUT PRINCIPLES ARE ABSTRACTIONS, AND UNLESS THEY ARE CONCRETELY INTERNALIZED IN OUR MODELING, OUR BEHAVIOR, THEY SIMPLY WILL NOT TAKE. WHAT PEOPLE IDENTIFY WITH FAR MORE THAN WHAT THEY HEAR, IS WHAT THEY SEE AND WHAT THEY FEEL. IF WHAT THEY HEAR IS IN HARMONY WITH WHAT THEY SEE AND FEEL, IT WILL THEN REINFORCE THAT OBSERVATION AND FEELING. IT WILL ALSO GIVE A VERBAL HANDLE ON HOW CORRECT THE CONCEPT IS AND WHY IT WORKS. THE NEXT GENERATION WILL THEN ALSO BE ABLE TO TEACH BY PRECEPT AS WELL AS BY EXAMPLE, FOR THEY WILL BE CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT TO DO SO.
THIS IS WHY THOSE EARLY YEARS OF LIFE ARE SO CRITICAL, SO SUPREMELY IMPORTANT. THIS IS WHY THE ROLE MODELING OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN IS OUR MOST BASIC, OUR MOST SACRED, OUR MOST SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITY, TO OUR CHILDREN.
THE CHILD'S DUTIES; THE PARENTS' RIGHT
ALLAH SUMS UP THE WHOLE MATTER OF PARENT'S RIGHT WHEN HE SAYS, "...AND THAT YOU DO GOOD TO PARENTS..." (AL-ANAM VERSE 152) IT IS A MUSLIM'S DUTY TO ALLAH TO SHOW GOODNESS TO OUR PARENTS, BE THEY MUSLIM OR OTHERWISE. BEHAVIORAL APPLICATIONS OF THIS DIVINE ORDINANCE OF GOODNESS TO THE PARENTS INCLUDE ACTIVE EMPATHY OR "ROLE TAKING," COMPASSIONATE GRATITUDE, PATIENCE, PRAYER FOR THEM EVEN AFTER THEIR DEMISE, HONORING THEIR COMMITMENTS ON THEIR BEHALF WHEN THEY CAN NO LONGER DO SO, SINCERE COUNSEL, AND RESPECT.
PARENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO EXPECT OBEDIENCE FROM THEIR CHILDREN. BUT PARENTS MAY NOT EXPECT SUCH OBEDIENCE IF THEY DEMAND THE WRONG OR ASK FOR THE IMPROPER; IF THEY DO, DISOBEDIENCE BECOMES NOT ONLY JUSTIFIABLE BUT ALSO NECESSARY.
AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CHILDREN'S DUTY TO ALLAH IS TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE FOR THEIR PARENTS IN CASE OF NEED. MAINTENANCE INCLUDES ADEQUATE PROVISIONS FOR FOOD, LODGING, CLOTHING, AND GENERAL COMFORT.
FAMILY UNITY
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, ALLAH HAS CHARGED US WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF LEADERSHIP OF THE FAMILY WITHIN OUR RESPECTED SPHERES. PERSONAL LEADERSHIP QUALITIES ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY GIVEN TO US AT BIRTH. WE MUST WORK FOR THEM. FOR OUR FAMILIES TO BE "TURNED-IN-ONE-DIRECTION" -- UNIFIED -- CLARIFIED AS TO ITS GOALS, LEADERS MUST BE SURE OF WHERE THEY ARE GOING. CREATING THE UNITY NECESSARY TO RUN AN EFFECTIVE FAMILY REQUIRES GREAT PERSONAL STRENGTH AND COURAGE...AND CONSTANT PRAYER. NO AMOUNT OF COMMITMENT AND SKILL IN LABORING TO PROPAGATE ISLAM TO THE MASSES, CAN MAKE UP FOR LACK OF NOBILITY OF PERSONAL CHARACTER IN DEVELOPING OUR "AT-HOME" RELATIONSHIPS. IT IS AT A VERY ESSENTIAL, ONE-ON-ONE LEVEL, THAT WE LIVE THE PRIMARY LAWS OF LOVE AND LIFE.
AND FINALLY; ALL PRAISES ARE DUE TO ALLAH, LORD OF ALL THE WORLDS. MAY ALLAH GRANT YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES THE GOOD OF THIS WORLD AS WELL AS THE WORLD TO COME.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berelson, Bernard, and Steiner, Gary A., Eds. Human Behavior: An Inventory of Scientific Findings. New YorkBaltimore: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1964.
Burchinal, Lee G. "The Premarital Dyad and Love Involvement."
Parents' Manual: A Guide for Muslim Parents Living In North America, Prepared by The Women's Committee The Muslim Students' Association of the U.S. & Canada. USA: World Community of Islam in The West, 1976.
Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, eds., Gibb, H.A.R., and Kramer, J.H. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1953.
The Dictionary of The Holy Qur’an, by Abdul Mannan Omar. Noor Foundation – International Inc. 1st Edition May 24, 2003.
The Family Structure in Islam, by Hammudah Abd al Ati. USA: American Trust Publications, 1977.
The Holy Quran, With English Translation and Commentary Published under the auspices of Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad IV. United Kingdom: Islam International Publications LTD., 5 vols., 1988.
The Quran, Arabic Text * English Translation by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan. Great Britain: Curzon Press Ltd., 1981.
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