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RESPONSIBILITIES OF MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS
This speech was delivered at
Toronto on June 10, 1977.
O My bondmen who believe!
spacious is My earth; therefore serve ye Me (and Me
alone) (-XXIX: 56)
The aim of man's existence, in
the sight of God, is submission, i. e., to attain a
true awareness of God, and lead one's life in
conformity with his commands, and seek Ms
countenance by following the path laid down by the
sacred Prophet, and make provision for the
Hereafter. This is the real aim. All the other
things are the means to it. You will, of course, be
knowing the significance of ends and means. The
seeking out of the ways of gaining the propinquity
of the Lord, the creation of a suitable climate for
it, and the development of a critical sense which
made it easy to observe the God-given laws and there
remained no question of compulsion or of any other
power to obtrude or give a parallel call-all these
are the means. The Quran has alluded to it in these
words:
.... Until there is no more
tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and
faith in Allah.
(II: 193)
What it denotes is that the state
is reached in which Truth is triumphant and no
battles are waged for the souls of men and they do
not have to undergo the ordeal of deciding which way
to turn: only God is obeyed and divine honours are
paid to Him alone. There prevail justice and faith
in Allah. For it is preaching, and the sanctioning
of what is right and forbidding of what is wrong,
and, if need be, even Jehad. For it is Islam to be
made stronger and brought into power and authority
so that even for the fainthearted people it might
not become so hard to follow the path indicated by
Allah that they gave way to despair and decided that
it was beyond their endurance.
So, the end and object of all
these things is the worship of Allah. I created the
jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.
(LI: 56). Let us be clear in our minds for I have
noticed a good deal of confusion concerning it in
Europe and America. They fail to distinguish between
the ends and means. The aim, simply, is to earn the
good pleasure of the Lord. Our end and intention
ought to be to spend in His way the life and
capabilities He has granted us so that the object of
life is fulfilled, God is pleased with us on the Day
of Resurrection and favours us with His propinquity
and we attain the highest place in Paradise. This is
the real aim. If it is being realised any- where
then blessed is the place, and if it is not being
realised even in one's native land, it should be
left for good, Home, parents, wives, children,
kinsmen, property, trade-everything must fade into
insignificance before duty to God. No worldly
attachments should be allowed to stand in its way.
Say : If your, fathers, and your
sons, and your brethren and your wives, and your
tribe, and the wealth ye have acquired, and
merchandise for which ye fear that there will be no
sale, and dwellings ye desire are dearer to you than
Allah and His Messenger and striving in his way:
then wait till Allah bringeth His command to pass.
Allah guideth not wrong-doing folk.
(-IX: '414)
The charm and attractiveness of
Mecca is proverbial. We learn from the Quran that
when Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham) had settled his
helpless wife and infant child in that uncultivable
valley, he made the prayer: So incline some hearts
of men that they may yearn towards them. (XIV: 37).
The prayer was granted in all respects.
Overpowering, really, is the beauty and loveliness
of the city of Mecca where there is the Home of
Ka'aba, the Well of Zam Zam, the hills of Safa and
Marwa, and. then, close to it are Mina and Arafat.
But when the holy Prophet felt that it was becoming
extremely difficult for the Muslims to worship God
in that wonderful town. he told them to migrate to
Abyssinia. He did so in order that they lead their
lives in conformity with the Faith. The Prophet
observed: -You cannot worship God here: you cannot
offer Namaz; you are forced to bow your heads before
the idols; God is treated with insolence in your
presence: so migrate to Abyssinia". Twice did the
Muslims move out to Abyssinia. Finally, the Prophet
himself was commanded to leave Mecca and go to
Medina. If a city like Mecca could be abandoned for
the sake of God, in order that He was worshipped in
freedom, what to speak to the other towns whether
they be New York. London. Toronto, Chicago, Delhi,
Lucknow, Kufa. Basra. Cordoba. Granada. Cairo or
Damascus. Only that place is beautiful and worth
living in where the commands of the Lord can be
observed, and where it may not be possible, even if
it is one's native land or any other country, it
should be left for good.
Brothers!
I travelled to the United States
and saw a number of its cities. Now I am here in
Canada. On the one hand, it has made me happy to see
Muslims belonging to different countries in North
America. and, on the other. I wonder if you can lead
a fully Islamic life here. Will it be possible for
your descendants to remain true to Islam ? Will the
Islamic spirit abide in you undiminished? It is a
serious matter. Do not take offence? Many of you
have come here for economic reasons. A brother told
me plainly, - We have come here to earn our
livelihood." It is not sinful. There is no harm in
going to a place where a purely materialistic way of
life prevails and heedlessness towards the Futurity
is rampant, but the decision to settle down there
permanently requires careful consideration. If you
are confident that you can live here in confirmity
with the will of the Lord, and you are being useful
to Islam and are safeguarding your own faith as well
as caring for the faith of others, and are, also,
engaged in economic activities according to your
needs then it is alright, and -I will go on to say
that your stay is propitious. God may take from you
the task of spreading the guidance in this land,
and, one day, it might adopt Islam. It is not
inconceivable. When the Muslim traders arrived in
the Far East, whole countries were converted to
Islam and the Muslims are in a majority in Malaysia
and Indonesia and in so many islands of the Indian
Ocean even today. If you will care to enquire, you
will know that Islam spread mainly through the
efforts of the Arab traders or the Sufi-saints. In
my own sub-continent, vast areas like Sind, Kashmir
and Bangla Desh are indebted to the Sufi-saints for
their conversion to Islam.
Your stay here is not only
justified, but also a Jehad if you have made sure of
the preservation of Islam for yourselves and your
future generations and are carrying out the duty of
the preaching and propagation of Faith and
presenting an image of the Islamic way of life which
is attractive to others. But in case it is otherwise
and your aim is simply to make money then it falls
much short of the Islamic ideal. It is not worthy of
a Muslim to undertake such a long voyage only for
economic gain.
The Lord is the Giver of
sustenance, and this Attribute of His is not bound
down by geographical limitations. I am speaking to
you in a practical vein. All this is related wholly
to action and practice. You can hear the
intellectual subtleties at some other time and from
some other theologist. I am only telling you frankly
in the light of what I have seen here.
I unequivocally declare that if
your life and your stay here are beneficial to Islam
and you are paving the way for it, your migration to
this land is not only justifiable, but also an act
of worship. On the contrary, if your Faith and the
religious life of your children are not assured, I
shudder at the thought in what state death might
come, and, then, would we tell God that we had come
here only to earn livelihood. This is neither the
Islamic character nor does it befit a Muslim.
Nevertheless, if you have taken due care that your
Faith remains unblemished, and you are associated
with some religious endeavour, and have built up an
Islamic environment or founded a circle in which
religious activities are promoted and the Lord is
remembered and attention is paid to the life of the
Hereafter. and you have, also, arranged for the
religious instruction of your children then you have
my sincere good wishes. This last thing is very
important for when, on the Day of Judgement, the
children will be asked in what a miserable state
they bad come that they knew neither the name of God
nor of His Apostle, they will reply: Our Lord; We
obeyed our chiefs and our great ones. and they
misled us as to the (right) path. (XXXIII: 67).
The Quran says:
O ye who believe; Ward off from
yourselves and your families a Fire whereof the fuel
is men and stones. (LXVI: 6).
Your children will, of course, be
going to school. But, also, set aside for them a
couple of hours in which they can receive religious
instruction and learn about Monotheism and Apostle-
ship, without which no one can be a Muslim, and it
is impressed upon them, that it is sinful to die on
another Way than Islam .
Die not save as men who have
surrendered (unto Him). (-If: 132)
Forgive my plain-speaking, but
these are some practical things you must give heed
to after taking up residence in this country. If you
devote a little of your time to the theological
education of your progeny and the generation of an
Islamic atmosphere then live here by all means.
Maybe, God has sent you to this land for it.
I regard the stay of only those
Muslims here as justified who have taken adequate
steps for the protection of their Faith and made the
preaching of the Word of God among the non-Muslims
the aim of their life. Or else, even this much is
not certain that a Muslim who dies here will be
buried according to the Islamic rites.
A relation of mine called, Molvi
Mudassir, who is settled in Boston, related to me
that as a Haji died. He was told on the phone to
participate in the last rites. On reaching there, he
found that the dead body of the Haji, dressed in a
Western suit, complete 'with the neck-tie and
wearing a gold ring had been placed in a wooden
chest, and Christian men and women were coming in,
kissing the body and placing wreaths on the coffin.
May God bless Molvi Mudassir with a long
life-education in the Arabic Madrassas, after all,
bears fruit-, he took the Haji's son aside and told
him that he was going back, "Why?" asked the Haji's
son, upon which he said, "Will you do what I tell or
not" ? The Haji's son replied, "I had requested your
presence and will act on your advice". "Then", said
Molvi Mudassir, "first of all, take off the suit and
tell these people to go away from here. I will bathe
the dead body and cover it with a shroud as
prescribed by the Shariat. And, also, remove the
ring", "Do not remove the ring", interjected the
Haji's son. "Other- wise, my mother will die of
shock" "I shall take off the ring," replied - Molvi
Mudassir. "If you fear that your mother will die of
heart failure, don't tell her now". After much
persuasion, the Haji's son agreed and the ring was
removed.
A youngman educated in our
Madrassas happened to be present at that time,
otherwise God alone knows how many Muslims are
buried here in that way.
Another similar incident that has
come into my knowledge is concerning an Egyptian
scholar who was also the author of a book on Islam
in English. He had an American wife. When he died,
he was buried in a Christian cemetery as the Muslim
graveyard was at a distance.
Happenings like these are so
horrible that even if a Muslim saw them in a dream,
he would scream, "Oh God! Have mercy on me". Fie
upon us that they became common and we remained
unmoved.
So, brothers, care for yourselves
and for your children, and see to it that they
remained Muslims. Otherwise your immigration makes
no sense to me. You are in danger and so is your
country. Had the brain drain not continued unchecked
and the youngmen who are coming to settle down here
from India and Pakistan stayed back, they would have
been a source of strength to their communities,
subordinates and parents. The number of Arabs- in
America is increasing day by day. They could have
proved a great asset to their native lands if they
had decided not to migrate. Coming here merely for
larger salaries and better living conditions is
beyond my comprehension. It is a question upon which
serious thought must be bestowed. |
