The Role of the Mosque in Islam

8/3/2019 The Role of the Mosque in Islam

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The Role of the Mosque in Islam The mosques are the most important centers in any Muslimcommunity. From their Minbar are delivered the khutbah, arguably themost important weekly address regarding Islam, and around them the

Muslims congregate and organize their affairs.

It is no wonder, therefore, that the mosques have been caught up insignificant controversy because of their important status, both for the

Muslims who visit them and for the government. Effective control of the mosque and its agenda can significantly contribute to the revival of

the Muslim Ummah or it can lead to the perpetual silence and

ignorance regarding our affairs, further entrenching our decline.

In this article, we will look at the current reality of the mosque andtheir perception in the eyes of the Muslim community. We will also

look at the attempts to manipulate them and their role as described byIslam.

The Mosque and Muslim Youth

The Muslim youth in this country are very familiar with the mosque

routine they endured as children. The daily visit to the mosque sent bytheir parents to learn and memorize the Qur’an, to establish Muslim

friends and to develop a strong Islamic personality, did the opposite inmany cases. Many times the parents dropped off the kids and didn’t

attend neither the adult lecture nor the Zuhr prayer, and came by topick up the kids after the Sunday school was over.

Rather than centers for guidance and clarification, the mosques manytimes are operated by “no-discussion, no-question rule” and are

completely unaware of the reality and problems faced by the Muslimyouth. Muslim teenagers and youth felt that they could not turn to the

mosque to clarify their understanding of Islam, to have the confusingquestions posed at school to answer or simply to seek advice about

avoiding the temptations and pressures brought on by living in asociety that contradicted their way of life. Most of the emphasis in

Sunday schools is on memorization, while most of the problems canonly be solved by understanding and discussing the wisdom of Islamic

teachings. The issues of drugs, alcohol, dating, terrorism, being proudof being a Muslim, the lies of the Media that they have to deal with in

school are hardly every dealt with.

The Muslim youth resultantly found no solace and saw no point in



attending the mosque. It is no exaggeration to say that this affected a

whole generation of Muslims in this country. Many may have turned toIslam later in life through university and college Islamic societies

(MSA’s), but many simply rebelled against the mosque and in somecases even disassociated themselves from Islam. This was because

either they ‘followed the crowd’ or aspired to a life of freedom withaccountability to no one, lessons learnt from Western society or simply

as a result of resentment and sometimes fear of the mosque.

The Khutbah

Arguably, the most opportune time to access the Muslim community,

the khutbah has always occupied a pivotal role in informing the MuslimUmmah about her affairs and calling her to the appropriate actions.Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) has ordered that trade and all other

activity be abandoned at the time of Salat al- Jumu’ah and that people

assemble to hear the khutbah:

“When the call is proclaimed for the Prayer on the day of Friday, cometo the remembrance of Allah and leave off business…” [Jumu’ah: 9]

The Prophet (salAllahu alaihi wasallam) said that, “…When theImam comes out (i.e. starts delivering the khutbah), the angels

present themselves to listen to the Khutbah.” [Bukhari]

However, we frequently find that many khutbah address subjects

which have little or no relevance to the affairs of the Muslims. Thekhutbah is one of the greatest, yet most squandered, opportunities toexplain and alert the Muslim community to a whole host of important

issues. Most of the time the khutbahs revolve around topics thatpeople already know. Even when the most famous and well known

speakers come, they will talk about topics that have already beenrepeated several times, or for fundraising of their organization. Most

often the topics relate to issues of purification, and no action.Purification of the Ummah is an important aspect, but it is not the onlyaspect. Many khutbahs are boring; the right of the khutbah is that it is

conducted by people who can communicate properly. The Khutbahs is

the institution of education started by the Prophet for the wholeUmmah, yet the khutbahs given by the most qualified peoplesometimes are a real waste of time. According to Surah thul Jummah

and the saying of some companions, the main function of Jummah isto teach people the wisdom of Quran.

As stated above, some khateebs can give such a boring khutbah and it



can sometimes turn out to be a waste of time. If someone read this

and started arguing that going to Jummah is a blessing first of allbecause of so and so hadith, that’s fine, he’s correct in that matter.

However, since doing qital fe-sebillilah is a blessing, should we go do itnow? No, because we are not ready, and it will have negative effects.

So the same is for Jummah khutbah, people should not be put tosleep!

Countless khutbah have repeatedly discussed the lives of the previousProphets (as), the miracles of the Qur’an and the Hereafter, all of which are very important subjects, but rarely does the Imam address

the prohibition of taking usurious loans such as mortgages, the

prohibition of playing the National Lottery or the shirk of thehakamiyah. They also fail to address the situation of the Muslim

Ummah globally except through a mere mention in du'a, and many willcompletely avoid the issue of working to re-establish Allah’s

(subhanahu wa ta’aala) Deen on the earth. This according to Quran isthe main reason for us being an Ummah.

The khutbah therefore takes place without leaving any significant

impression on the minds of the congregation. These khutbahsrepresent only preaching and Christian-style sermons that bore the

audience who eagerly wait for its end. It seems that little or no

thought goes into addressing the issues that affect and concern theMuslim community.

The Imams of the Masajid

Even the best of the Imam do what the leaders of the Mosques expect

them to do. In some cases it actually becomes a blessing. The major

problems with the Imams of today are four. First, they are too dividedinto their sectarian groups, and this adds to the friction & conflict in

the Masjid already there. Second, the knowledge that the Imams havemay be traditionally deep, but it’s only textual which is acquired

through the process of memorization. They do not have the training of critical thinking, and thus fail to address real issues, in applying the

knowledge gotten by them. We can see this both in America and inMuslim countries, where thousands upon thousands of learned

scholars of Islam are just following old rhetoric and can’t solve realissues, and thus can’t stand up to the injustices that occur in theirsociety. The ideal Imam, or the “organic Imam” is the one who cangive a small khatirah in the morning after Fajr, then can attend a

church and effectively talk about Islam, then give a powerful JummahKhubah, then give an academic lecture to a University setting, then



attend a conference with the Media. Such a person must have a

strong core group of people with him. This problem in the US can besolved by at least having American born Imams rather then outsiders

to lead the communities. The third problem is, the Imams are not trueImams, and they themselves are followers. Many times they can not

even be members of an Islamic Movement. Fourth, they have to havethe ability to visualize a better future for the Ummah and must be

willing to run towards it with full force, and must learn how to and theimportance of building bridges with people and organizations who aresincere.

An Advice to the Masajid

The great Imams of the past… Imam Ghazali, Imam ibn Taymiyah,

etc, were not paid by anyone. The Imams have to have the freedomto say what needs to be said, most should have their own independentway of income. When the Mosques hire the Imam they should set upa small business for the Imam, and that should be the means of his

livelihood.

An Advice to the Islamic Schools

Today’s Islamic schools have been secularized and the image of Islam

in the mind of the youth is just a mere religion and not a Deen. Butthis is not the only issue with these so called Islamic schools of today.

The youth as well as the elder don’t practice the Islamic principles

properly. Take for example, “lower your gaze” is hardly a practice. Infact, the men mix with the women so much, that it becomesimpractical to lower their gazes. The Muslim woman today is no longer

seen as something ‘untouchable,’ in where men hardly converse with

her unless if needed to in extreme matters, otherwise today they arerather ‘touchable’ and easy to talk to or use. This is completely wrong.

The following is taken from an Islamic School in New York, Bayshore.Here is an excellent example of what the Islamic Policy should be like

and implemented:

“We want to uphold the highest Islamic standards in all areasof our work. Certain policies have been put in place to ensure

adherence to the Divine Law, Al-Shari'ah. All adult Muslim menand women must strictly observe the Islamic Code of dress

when entering the premises. Kindly contact the office for more

information regarding Islamic Dress codes. All men enteringthe building are expected to lower their gaze when interacting

with female teachers or any other non-family females. All



women are expected to do the same and keep interaction

across genders to an absolute minimum. Kindly observe theserules when you are picking up and dropping of your child, at

parent teacher conferences, and

Documents

The Role of the Mosque in Islam