Dr. Pasha’s International Islamic Community Clean-up, Oldham – 2 | March 19, 2005
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Saturday, 19th March, 2005, 9:00AM – 3:00 PM
Werneth Park, Frederick Street, Werneth
Oldham OL8 1RB
Dr. Syed Pasha is a university lecturer who uses his Islamic background and academic training to build bridges across racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, class and gender divides. Dr. Pasha’s International Islamic Community Clean-up is a practical tool that he developed for this purpose.
“There is no reason why we should not polish up this planet several times over if we really wanted to. Who is stopping us? After all, it is the only home we know or have” (Dr. Pasha).
“Clean living is a basic right that human beings have been given by God. It is also an important duty imposed upon them by God Almighty. Those of us who have been given more and know better have an obligation to reach out to those who may have been given less and don’t seem to know any better” (Dr. Pasha).
Dr. Pasha has for long been a vocal advocate of Muslims in the West reaching out to their non-Muslim neighbors with the teachings of Islam and with the message of love, service and neighborliness that he says Islam embodies.
“The question – and the choice – before Muslims in the West, and everywhere else, is quite clear: It is to reach out or not to reach out. It is that simple!” (Dr. Pasha).
Alhamdulillah!
All praise to Allah.
Wassalaatu Wassalaamu ‘Ala Rasulillah!
Peace and blessings on Allah’s messenger.
Why am I doing the Oldham clean up? There are two ways of answering that question.
One, I just happened to be there and I decided right away to do something about the way the place looked.
Two, two years ago, Allah took me there; he made me see the condition of the place; he put the feelings of empathy in my heart; he made me want to do something about it; and then he showed me what to do and made me do it.
The first, you may say, is chance and science. The second, you may recognize, sounds more like Islam. At bottom, they are both one and the same.
For those who understand, that is how it is: science done right must result in Islam; and Islam properly understood and applied must translate into science.
Personally, after a long and arduous struggle I am finally quite comfortable with the second answer. Also, it is beginning to come to me more naturally and spontaneously. So, I started to do Oldham Clean-up because Allah Almighty made it all happen – out of his infinite grace, mercy and wisdom.
What is it then that I want?
Nothing that any of us would not want for ourselves – a clean life! For me? Of course! For all those for whom I can make a contribution toward making a clean life possible? Absolutely!
Do I want it for the wonderful, wonderful people of Oldham and neighboring areas? Yes, I do, without a doubt!
Do I want it for all the immigrant communities in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland? Yes indeed, I do.
Do I want it for all the immigrant communities in France, Netherlands, Italy and elsewhere? Yes, that is exactly what I want.
And that is just for starters.
Do I want the same then for the native, non-immigrant, indigenous populations of all these places – taking them from where they are currently and trying to move them and their communities and societies to higher levels of cleanliness and purification – as the Qur’an calls it? Yes, absolutely, without a doubt.
Do I want it for the whites, the greens, the blacks, the browns the reds, the coloreds and the colorless? Absolutely! Without a doubt!
And how can I not? For, humanity is but one family – either directly descended from Adam: so says the Bible and the Qur’an.
Or they may all have popped out of Lucey’s husband’s loins – the prehistoric lady to whom much of science traces the known origins of the human species.
Being civilized is being able to judge others by the same standards we use to judge ourselves and wanting for others what we want for ourselves.
Those are also the teachings of the most blessed prophets of God Jesus, son of Virgin Mary, may Allah bless her, and Muhammad.
May Almighty God bless them all!
But the common conclusion between science and Islam – among so many others – is the fact that human beings have but one shared ancestral source. As a result, they are all members of the same human family.
Therefore, no matter how you look at it, service to one of them is service to all of them. And, conversely, any harm done to one of them is harm done to all of them.
That is Islam in a nutshell.
But what is driving me personally to do these things?
Call it genes if you want – a long line of ancestors seduced by the lure of selfless public service. I of course give credit to my parents, teachers, training, education and upbringing. However, in the end – and in the beginning – four words summarize it all: God Almighty’s Boundless Grace.
Once you have all those things in place, it is the most rational thing – the most obvious thing – for anyone to do. The question no longer is why are you doing it, but the question is how can you not be doing it?
For, to be human is to ask more of life – to ask of it more than what most people are in general content to accept from it. It is to let oneself be driven by more than mere animal instincts of survival and satisfaction of bodily needs of hunger, thirst, sex and sleep.
Or even by so-called self-interest, which at one level is little more than animal instinct wrapped in a more resplendent and self-delusional garb.
To be human thus is to be able to ask: Why should there not be a better way for me to live?
And also for everyone else?
Not just for members of this group or that; not just for people I like or know; not just for people who look like me, live where I do and carry around the kinds of papers I do; but for every single member of the human race everywhere?
Why shouldn’t life be better for all of us?
Not to ask the first question is to abandon the quest for personal development and growth. Not to ask the second set of questions is not to taste the meaning of social progress, advancement, responsibility and intelligence.
“Better” could mean a lot of things to a lot of people. But for most people “cleaner” is an inseparable part of being “better.”
And clean means clean in so many different ways and at so many different levels. It means the body God has placed at your disposal; the clothes you wear; the food you eat; the water you drink; the air you breathe; the ground you tread; the place where you live, work, play and worship; and everything else about you.
It means the cleaner these things are the better your life will be.
In Islam, at all or many of these levels, cleanliness is almost by way of being a fundamental human right – and duty – regardless of whether or not others recognize it as such. Islam almost invariably begins where many of the best human efforts often leave off.
And then there is the other world – the world that lies beyond the body. It is the higher world of thoughts, ideas, knowledge, mind, spirit and soul. The spiritual world, you may call it.
For, a human being is part dirt – lowest of the low – and part spirit – highest of the high.
Cleanliness or purity, therefore, is a prerequisite for the human soul to rise to its proper level and to begin to radiate with the light of God; to be bathed in guidance from God; and to submit to the will, power, love, benevolence, approaches and commands of God.
In Islam, cleanliness is thus the starting point of human life at all levels. It is the first step in your soul’s – and your body’s – journey to God.
“La” is the first word in the profession of Islamic faith – La Ilaha Illa Allah! – No God but Allah!
The word “La” means “No” and part of its meaning is cleaning your inside and outside from all manner of litter, garbage, filth, pollution and corruption before the divine light of “Illa” can illumine your life.
So, Islam makes cleanliness at all levels of human life a fundamental human requirement.
So, in Islam, material cleanliness goes hand in hand with spiritual purity. They are often two sides of the same coin.
That is why when Allah took me to Oldham in 2002, I think it was, I could not help but notice the way things were on the streets and on the sidewalks. I was pained and deeply affected by what I saw. And I immediately felt the need to do something about it.
I was asked to give a talk to a group of Muslims in a local community center. There were two other speakers before me and they gave excellent speeches. When my turn came, I said: The previous two speakers have explained to you what Islam is in theory and doctrine. Now I want to show you how Islam works in real life.
Then I explained what my reactions were when I drove through the streets of Oldham to give the talk. I said I was going to go out and clean up the place. Those who wanted to were welcome to join me.
And I did precisely that.
For what appeared to be forever no one stirred. I said “Bismillah!” and went out. And then all of a sudden there they were – practically every single one of them: from children as young as 7 or 8 to older people in their sixties and seventies.
Outside, we quickly organized in a task force; spilt into groups; identified and assigned responsibilities; named group leaders; chalked out a tentative path; and moved out. Now it was “Bismillah!” for all of us – in the name of God.
Within minutes, the logistics group had gotten us bags, brooms and other vital tools of the trade of street cleaning. And Dr. Pasha’s First International Islamic Community Clean-up at Oldham was on its way.
That is part of how Allah made it all happen on that beautiful and blessed evening. And then the rest, as they say, is history. And what a blessed history it is!
Were my motives in doing all this personal? Of course they were.
How can they not be? I am a human being, a most flawed and imperfect one, and, like so many of the rest of us, I too have a lifetime of conditioning to make myself part of the equation of anything I do or contemplate.
At the same time, did my motivation come from a deeper, a more human wellspring? Of course it did.
Did Islam have anything to do with it? Of course it did?
In fact Islam had everything to do with it. In fact everything we did that day was an integral part of Islam. And it was nothing but Islam – pure, simple, practical, everyday Islam.
I was to say in the following year’s Dr. Pasha’s International Islamic Community Clean-up at Oldham 2003 that our clean-up had nothing to do with clean up and it had everything to do with Islam.
“Would you do it again?” a young man asked at the end of the clean up.
“Of course, I will,” I replied, “Inshallah!“
“You will come from America to do it?” he was surprised.
“Absolutely, Inshallah!” I said. “You organize it and I will be here, even if it meant having to spend money out of my own pocket.”
And Allah made it all happen the following year – in a much more planned and organized manner.
May Allah bless the wonderful people of Oldham who welcomed us and allowed us to walk through their streets that day and on subsequent days!
And may Allah bless all those who participated in and made possible that very first impromptu Oldham community clean up.
If someone were to ask me if I would do it if it were not for Islam and Muslims, my answer would be a very simple one.
I would just say the following two things:
Does that mean would I have done it if it were not for the Muslims? Of course I would have. And I have.
Does that mean would I have done it if it were for non-Muslims? Of course I would have. And I have.
Would I have done it for other racial and ethnic groupings and nationalities? Of course I would have. And I have.
Because that is what Islam tells us to do: not to look at the forms, faces and identities of those who need help but to look at the conditions in which they find themselves.
And then Islam tells us to do whatever is in our power to alleviate their pain and suffering; to ameliorate their condition; to try to encourage, support and help them to lift themselves up and make their lives better.
Islam, however, wants us to help people to make their lives better both in this world as well as in the next world – both from a worldly point of view as well as from an other-worldly point of view.
That is how abiding and inclusive Islam’s concern is with the life and wellbeing of Adam’s progeny on earth – every single one of them, regardless of race, religion or gender.
Where do we go from here? What does the future hold?
Well, how about polishing up the planet a few times over before we die? After all, it is our home, is it not? And it is the only home we know or have.
Islam tells us that God Almighty has a better place in store for us when we die. But Islam also tells us to deserve a better place in the next world we must strive to leave this earth in as good a shape as we possibly can.
That means we must run and manage the affairs of this earth in the best possible manner while we are on it; and when we depart from it we must leave it in the best possible shape.
And not just for Muslims.
And not just for this or that group, or people, or nation, or society, or race, or religion.
And not just for human beings either.
At the most basic level, our focus should be all of God Almighty’s creation.
Islam tells us that is the reason God Almighty created us in the first place: to be his chosen representatives on his earth. And to run and manage the affairs of this world in the best possible manner, keeping in mind the best interests of every single one of its inhabitants, from humans to animals to plants.
So, when it comes to cleaning up human habitations or other places on God’s good earth, we have no borders or limits. And when it comes to letting our spirits and aspirations and hopes soar in this respect, the sky is merely scenery through the window.
For, really and truly, we are from God and to him that we are hurtling along.
It is just that we want to leave a trail of some clean, beautiful and nice memories behind. If nothing else, at least a nice and kind word one of us may say to any random other that we may meet along the way – maybe when we are trying to pick up litter from their street or front yard.
And what a privilege it is to be able to do that!
No question!
The next question is one of help and resources. Where will the resources come from for such a mammoth undertaking? Or even for a tiny part thereof? Well, I have two answers to that question – both of them short.
And most of us seem pretty well-resourced to carry on life on this planet on a day-to-day basis in a fairly satisfactory manner. So, God Almighty fitted us well for our journey through life.
There are, however, some hurdles we must cross along the way.
Thus, the three things to be mindful of in our work are: do the good and the right thing; do it with good and pure intentions and motives; and do it right.
After that everything is in God’s hands. He moves and directs it and takes it where he wants.
Not that things were not in his hands to begin with. They were. Things always are. It is just that the burden earlier was more visibly and immediately on us.
Now, having done what we were supposed to, we have placed ourselves more directly and more firmly in God’s hand. From now on he is in charge – as he always was, at every turn and moment, and as he always will be.
Gratefulness to human beings is a pathway to gratefulness to God. We are grateful to all who helped us in the past just as we are grateful to all who are helping us at present.
We are also eagerly looking forward to working with all who will come out to help us in the future, so long as everyone understands and appreciates the fact that what we are doing is not simple clean-up activity but a full-blown act of Islamic worship.
That means, at a certain level, our clean-ups have nothing to do with clean up and everything to do with Islam.
It is just that when we are done with this particular form of Islamic worship and activity, our streets and neighborhoods would look a lot cleaner – Inshallah: That is, should Allah want things to happen that way. Our world, Inshallah, will be a better place for all of Allah’s creation to live, no matter by how little.
May Allah shower his blessings on us and may he make us of those who work to make his world a better place for all of his creation!
Ameen!
What better task or calling can there be?
And what could be more fun? Fun right here in this world, and fun there in the next world?
END
© 2005 Syed Husain Pasha
Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at]
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.