THE FUTURE OF ISLAM IN THE UK

Salaamu aleikum!

The Future of Islam in Britain? I thought and thought and finally decided there was only one answer. "How am I supposed to know? I can't see the future." 

So - to talk about your future I will talk about my past.

Recent TV program about Creation of Planets cf. My Schoolbook 30 years ago.

Your schoolbooks will be obsolete after 10 years.

Alvin Toffler and Pace of Change.

Maths now taught for calculators. We used logarithms - not even slide rules.

The information explosion. What knowledge to discard and what to preserve. What guides towards the truth. How much can one discard tradition.

Parents. Can you challenge their understanding and authority?

My generation certainly did. Our parents had just managed to have 2 World Wars, and we thought we couldn't possible do worse.

Education in Britain teaches questioning and challenge to fixed ideas, indoctrination and tradition. So did Islamic education once upon a time.

It can be a duty to reject the ways of your parents if they are wrong about certain things. Sahaba rejected their parents to become muslim. 

Why preserve tradition? To communicate with those who have experienced areas of life we have not yet come up against. To communicate with your parents and understand the past and the accumulated experience of mankind.

Though you reject them now, it's too late - you are them. When you are older you can see it.

John Cleese and Families and How to survive them. Strangers in a silent group choose partners that match their family traits. It could well be that you would pick the same partner that your parents would.

In learning about your parents you are learning about yourselves. You received your mannerisms and attitudes from them, starting with your genes even before you were born. 

Q. - because they raised me

Teenage Rejection of Authority. Some consider Islam to be intrinsically authoritarian. I remember a man in Wembley explaining to me at length how the Islamic system of its nature requires dictatorship. It wouldn't have mattered to me except that he was running the mosque. Guess how!

Recent newspaper demands for religious instruction not education. Instruction doesn't require understanding. To educate you have to know what you are talking about enough to adapt the message to suit the person being taught. A machine can give you instructions. 

Islam has a strong tradition of individuality. The variety of our tongues and colours (and hence our cultural traditions) is one of the signs of God.

We need no one for worship, no priests, just you and God.

Meeting the Princess- My mother saying 'Will you have to kneel?' I am a muslim, I kneel before God not before men.

Muslims must be prepared to oppose the group for what they believe is right. Sahaba opposed the Qureish under torture. "Believe in what your fathers believe in!" "No"

Converts to Islam have extreme individuality. Hamdy's appraisal 'Only thing converts have in common is that they have nothing in common'.

People who reject authority and tradition. To become muslim I had to reject the accumulated testimony of Christian wise men for the last 2000 years.

I doubt if muslim wise men were any wiser - they just had better tools to work with. Tools that made it easier for them to understand the truth.

That is why Islam is here to stay.

* It has the key of understanding the Truth of Creation

* Example of how to live according to that truth and in harmony with Creation

This is the knowledge to Preserve.

This is what Islam can offer.

What is the key to Truth - Qur'an - complete - must be seen as a whole - Best commentary on Qur'an is Qur'an. Out of this come all the Islamic systems of knowledge.

Example of behaviour - Prophet - Sunnah is not a collection of Ahadith - These are how we get to know the Sunnah. Not complete like the Qur'an. Even more dangerous to use selectively and taken out of context.

Aspects of Sunnah - Material (turban or wearing white; which foot first) - Moral and Spiritual (mercy, compassion, humility, humour, honesty, generosity, tolerance, gentleness, justice)

Religion of Truth and Tolerance - Qur'an and Sunnah.

This is what Islam can offer to non-muslims, and surprisingly enough to muslims as well.

How I talk to non-muslims about Qur'an.

What do I say about Sunnah - apart from moral and spiritual just mentioned.

Most important tangible - Prayer

High Speed Prayer Lecture

I .God

            A .Believer or non-believer?

            B .If non-believer what do you believe in?

                        1 .What gives your life purpose

            C . Name muslims use for what we understand of God

                        1 .Allah 

II . Prayer

            A .One word in English, two in Arabic

            B .Distinguish between du'a and Salaat

                        1 .Du'a an asking

                        2 .Salaat a greeting and recognition of way things are

                                    a .A Remembrance of Allah

                                    b .A direct link between mankind and his Maker

                                    c .Addressing Allah as "You"

                                    d .Following the example of the Prophet 

III . Specialness of the Salaat

            A .Only one of five pillars not given in Qur'an

                        1 .From the Divine Presence

                        2 .Miraj

            B . Five times a day

                        1 .Not following a man made schedule

                        2 .Timed to the light of the sun

                        3 ."Surely the prayer is a timed prescription for the believer"

            C . Prophet made many more prayers

                        1 .Regular Sunnah prayers

                        2 .Other prayers Witr & Tahajjud

                                    a .Long prayers

                                    b .Children on his back

            D . "Say: `My Lord esteems you not at all were it not for your prayer"

            E .Not allowed to do too much however

                        1 .Prophet forbade excess in anything

                        2 .Times of day when you cannot pray

                        3 .Link between Prayer and Doing Good in Qur'an

                                    a ."Woe to those who pray and are heedless of their prayers. To those who make display and refuse charity." 

IV . Wudhu

            A .Purification - Cleaning

                        1 .Distinction between wholesome and poisonous

            B . Sealing - washing orifices

                        1 .Menstruation

            C . "Prosperous is he who has cleansed himself, and mentions the Name of his Lord, and prays."   

V . Qibla

            A .Finding our direction in space

            B .Remembering our aim, which way we are going

            C .Ka'bah

                        1 .The Ancient House

                        2 .Abraham, Ismael, Hagar

                        3 .One God

            D . Straight lines and circles 

VI . Takbir

            A .Then Multiples of one Rakat 

VII . The Movements

            A .Standing

            B .Bowing

            C .Prostration - Sajda

            D .Sitting 

VIII . Fatihah & Qur'an

            A .In Arabic 

IX . Shahada and Salaams 

X .Alone or in Jama'at

            A .Kings and paupers shoulder to shoulder

            B .Moving as one

                        1 .Wind in the long grass 

XI . Practicalities

            A .Health Benefits

                        1 .Spine, liver, kidneys, breath, legs (relaxation & circulation)

            B . Same place every time

                        1 .Same provider of food and rent

            C . Ignoring interruptions

                        1 .Phone ignored

                                    a .Privacy of Bathroom

                        2 . Possessions ignored

                                    a .Luggage on Indian bus

            D . Open to Guidance

                        1 .Answers to worries and problems

So what is The Role of Muslim Youth 

Shaping the presently unimaginable - finding a way to ride Alvin Tofflers 3rd Wave - the Shockwave riders like surfing through the Shock of the New. 

Shaping a British muslim lifestyle. Exploring the variety of lifestyle possible to individuals, sharing your understandings and revivifying the Ummah. Start by coming to Islamic Outreach on Sundays.