Nature of Islam
Dr. Pasha
(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)
Islam is not a one-man -- or one-woman -- thing. Even though it is.
That is right. Even as we say Islam is not a one-person thing, we know that it is: a one-person thing.
Each individual believer is a team of one: man as well as woman.
Hazrat Ibrahim, Alaihis Salam, was a one-man team. And for how long?
And when he did break out, and his message got through to people, how many did he manage to "convert"?
One man, Hazrat Lut, Alaihis Salam, maybe?
Fa-Aamana Lahu Lut.
And what happened with Musa, Alaihis Salam? He got a handful of individuals.
Fa-Maa Aamana Li-Musa Illaa Dhurriyyatun Min Qawumihi.
And then Hazrat Nuh, Alaihis Salam, after all that hard work extending over centuries, what did he end up with?
Ask the Qur'an:
Wa Maa Aamana Ma'ahu Illa Qaleel!
"Not too many people really joined him."
Makes me want to cry.
And yet the world went on. And the world goes on.
At the same time, Islam is teamwork -- in the midst of all the individuality we are talking about. Islam is really everybody doing everything. That is what Islam is.
And it is everybody helping everybody. Everybody being everybody's keeper.
What a concept! What an approach! What a remedy for the human condition.
First, Islam creates the finest individuals. And then Islam sets about molding them into the finest team.
Read the Qur'an, and it is about teams; groups; configurations of people:
Yaa Ayyuhalladheena Aamanoo.
Those who ...!
And so on.
Best Namaz is Namaz Jama'at.
Read Surah Wal 'Asr (Surah 103). And see the formula it suggests for saving the world: TeamWork.
Everybody helping everybody.
(1) First: Wa Tawaasawu Bil-Haqqi,
(2) Next: Wa Tawaasawu Bis-Sabr.
Everybody telling everybody to say and do the right thing: to follow the truth.
And everybody reaching out to everybody and urging them to be patient;
to persevere; to be strong.
And never to give up.
In that sense, we -- meaning Muslims, meaning Allah -- invented the "social" as in Social Media. We are the originators of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and everything else.
For, that is what Islam is. A true People's Business. Everybody doing, both individually and collectively, what needs to be done.
Islam is everybody connecting with everybody else.
And not stopping till it is done.
And not even then.
It stops when we all return to Allah. Should I say "revert" to Allah?
That is when the journey ends.
But then that "end" is really a new beginning.
END
