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Qualities of Those Who Should Maintain Mosques: The Qur`anic View
By:
Dr. Ahmad Shafaat
(1983)
Most mosques hold, at one time or
another, elections for new majlis ash-shura (Board of
Directors). The question often arises of what sort of persons should
be nominated and then elected for this majlis. In this regard
the Book of God gives us clear guidance. In unequivocal terms it
tells us:
"Only those shall maintain the
mosques of Allah who believe in God and the last day, establish
regular prayer and practice regular charity and fear none (at
all) except God. It is they who are expected to be on true
guidance." (9:18)
Since the main function of the majlis
will be to maintain the mosque, it is clear that its members should
fulfill the three conditions mentioned in the above verse, i.e.
1) Belief in God and the hereafter
2) Practice of regular prayer and
regular charity
3) Fearing none but Allah
Let us explain these conditions in some
detail and see how we can recognize those who fulfill them. After
reading this explanation, many will probably feel that there is
hardly anyone in their community who fulfils the above conditions in
their entirety. But while this is most likely the case, we should
not make it a reason to ignore the Qur'anic guidance. If we cannot
find brothers and sisters who fulfill the above conditions in their
entirety, we should nominate and elect those who come closest
to doing so.
Belief in God and the hereafter
Those who fulfill the first condition
mentioned in the Qur'anic verse are not primarily motivated by the
desire to gain importance or power in the community or by any other
similar worldly desire. They engage in Islamic work for the pleasure
of Allah (i.e. no pleasure of anything that is no God), for
jannah (eternal bliss) in the hereafter and for their inner
satisfaction in this life.
A sign of such people is that they will
not go after projects whose main attraction is a glamour value, e.g.
building a mosque whether or not it is the most needed project, only
in order to be able to say to the community: "look! We, too, have
built a mosque".
Those who have genuine faith in God and
the hereafter will not concentrate on projects whose results can be
seen quickly and in tangible form. They will go, rather, for the
projects that the community really needs.
For the glory of Islam and for the
welfare of Muslims in this part of the world, there is so much work
that badly needs to be done. Many Muslims do not see the presence of
this type of work and if it is pointed out to them they will not
take it up because it requires patience and prolonged effort whose
results may not be seen quickly, and in some cases, not even in
one's lifetime.
But those who have faith in God and the
hereafter and seek the pleasure of Allah will not only be able to
see the work that needs to be done but also take it up, if they are
able to. This is because in their hearts they are sure that if they
do not see the fruits of their efforts in this short life of theirs,
they will most certainly see them in the life that they are sure
will come after this life.
Another sign of those who have genuine
faith in God and the hereafter is that they keep a generously
devoting part of their time, money and energy for Islamic work,
whether or not they have any official position in this or that
organization or center. They will give their time, money and energy
to Islam and Muslims not only when they hold such positions but also
when they are out of various organizations amongst us, no matter
whether they are out because they never joined any organization or
because they were ousted by an intriguing individual or clique or by
an honest and fair election. This is because God and jannah
for which they work exist regardless of whether they are in this or
that organization or out of it.
Practice of regular prayer and regular
charity
In addition to faith and sincerity of
intention, those who should maintain our mosques must also practice
at least the main injunctions of the Shariah (code of
conduct). Of these injunctions, by far the most important are the
commandments to practice regular prayer and regular charity, through
which a person comes closer to his Creator and to his fellow human
beings. If a person follows these two injunctions, both in letter
and in spirit, then he has already fulfilled the main part of the
Shariah and to fulfill the other parts will become easy for him.
That is why in the verse under consideration here, Allah mentions
only these two injunctions.
It is relatively easy to recognize those
who are regular in their prayers. But charity is something that may
be (and sometimes should be) practiced in secret. So by what sign
can we recognize those who practice it? By a generous and open
character. Those who practice charity are usually ready to forgive
and forget. Instead of keeping grudges and talking behind the backs
of others they prefer to settle personal differences by talking
things over. They also welcome with open arms any cooperation with
other Muslim brothers and sisters, provided such cooperation does
not sacrifice any clear Islamic principles.
Fearing none but God
The importance of this condition is not
fully realized by the Muslims these days, because most of our
ulama (i.e. powers other than Allah) in their speeches and
writings do not stress this condition in the same way in which they
stress some other parts of Islamic teachings (such as prohibition of
alcohol and free mixing of sexes, commandment to pray, fasting,
etc.; in other words, those parts of Islam, promulgation of which
will get these ulama into any trouble with the authorities).
A result of this is that in choosing members of our mosque
committees, etc. we never think of this third condition. We may ask
ourselves whether a brother considered for membership in a majlis
ash-shura or mosque committee is regular in his prayers, eats
halal food, etc. but we never ask ourselves whether there are
any signs that he fears only Allah (i.e. he does not fear
anything that is not God). But the Holy Qur'an is crystal clear:
fearing none but Allah is a condition that must be fulfilled by
those who are to maintain and manage our mosques. This is, of
course, because in Islam mosques are not just places of worship but
centers of Islamic work in all its aspects, including declaration of
truth and support of all just causes, and this is a task that mosque
committees can by no means perform properly if the hearts of their
members are full of all kinds of fears of powers other than Allah.
One of the signs of those who fear none
but Allah is that they give more importance to what is right and
good for Islam and Muslims than to "what people will say". if they
see clearly that something is right and good for Islam and Muslims
they will declare it and go for it, even if they know that some
people will laugh at them or consider them "odd" or criticize and
blame them or start a campaign of ghyba (or
backbiting) against them. For, the Holy Qur'an says that one of the
characteristics of the believers is that they are not afraid of the
blames of a blamer in following and upholding that which is right.
Another sign of those who fear none but
Allah is that they don't tell lies. They say what they mean and mean
what they say, except when there is a good reason to do otherwise.(1) The
Holy Qur'an says:
"Speak words that are straight" (33:70)
A result of the habit of speaking
straight is the habit of fulfilling one's promises. Those who say
one thing but have something quite different in their hearts often
make promises that they do not intend to keep and therefore do not
keep. Yet the Holy Qur'an greatly and often stresses the need to
fulfill one's promises. At one place it mentions fulfilling one's
word along with such important qualities of the believers as
regularity and humility in prayers and avoiding adultery. (23:1-8)
A third sign of those who fear none but
Allah is that they will be seen engaged in some form of struggle
against batil and zulm (falsehood and injustice) and
will be willing to face the dangers that such struggle (or jihad) inevitably
entails. When in the way of such jihad it is necessary to
raise their voices against corrupt and repressive regimes of their
countries they will do so. But at the same time they will not make
foolish steps but rather make calculated and effective sacrifices to
advance the cause of truth and justice. In others words, they
combine courage, bravery and wisdom.
Note
(1)One
such good reason, for example, would be the need to protect a secret
of a genuinely Islamic state from the enemies of Islam and Muslims.
In this case, one can deliberately give wrong information to the
enemy to confuse him. |