Darqawi
12th April 2006, 21:12
Flight From the Masjid
By Imam Zaid Shakir
One of the noblest and most beneficial institutions in the history of humanity has been the Masjid (Mosque). It was in the Masjid that the great scholars of Islam were first shaped: linguists, jurists, theologians, saints, and countless devout worshippers. The Masjid has produced men and women who have left an indelible mark on the world. It was around the Masjid that the great universities, hospitals, observatories, hostels, and the other institutions that became the hallmarks of the great Islamic civilizational enterprise appeared. The Masjid has always been the heart of the Islamic community, serving as a house of worship, an educational center, a center for the dispensing of valuable social services, a meeting place, and a place of solace and refuge.
Unfortunately, today in America, we find many Muslims who have either left, or were never fully involved in the life of the Masjid. There are many reasons for this regrettable situation. The purpose of this article is to examine some of those reasons, and to suggest some measures that may prove beneficial in overcoming them.
One of the greatest causes of the flight from the Masjid is ignorance. This ignorance begins with a lack of knowledge concerning the very word itself. If asked, how many Muslims would be able to define “Masjid,” linguistically and legally? This may seem a trivial point, however, the meaning of the word is intrinsically associated with its principal function. If we were all more cognizant of the primary function of the Masjid, we would possibly be more careful to avoid some of the questionable practices, which commonly occur in them. Many of those practices, as we will seek to explain in this article, are instrumental in the flight from the Masjid.
Read the whole article from http://www.zaytuna.org/articleDetails.asp?articleID=24
By Imam Zaid Shakir
One of the noblest and most beneficial institutions in the history of humanity has been the Masjid (Mosque). It was in the Masjid that the great scholars of Islam were first shaped: linguists, jurists, theologians, saints, and countless devout worshippers. The Masjid has produced men and women who have left an indelible mark on the world. It was around the Masjid that the great universities, hospitals, observatories, hostels, and the other institutions that became the hallmarks of the great Islamic civilizational enterprise appeared. The Masjid has always been the heart of the Islamic community, serving as a house of worship, an educational center, a center for the dispensing of valuable social services, a meeting place, and a place of solace and refuge.
Unfortunately, today in America, we find many Muslims who have either left, or were never fully involved in the life of the Masjid. There are many reasons for this regrettable situation. The purpose of this article is to examine some of those reasons, and to suggest some measures that may prove beneficial in overcoming them.
One of the greatest causes of the flight from the Masjid is ignorance. This ignorance begins with a lack of knowledge concerning the very word itself. If asked, how many Muslims would be able to define “Masjid,” linguistically and legally? This may seem a trivial point, however, the meaning of the word is intrinsically associated with its principal function. If we were all more cognizant of the primary function of the Masjid, we would possibly be more careful to avoid some of the questionable practices, which commonly occur in them. Many of those practices, as we will seek to explain in this article, are instrumental in the flight from the Masjid.
Read the whole article from http://www.zaytuna.org/articleDetails.asp?articleID=24