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Name
Abdul Salam
- Pakistan
Profession
Question
What is the role of mosques now?
Answer
Salaam Abdul Salam,
Thank you for your question.
At present the mosque is no more than a prayer hall people used for their daily five times’ salah. There may be occasions when some lectures are held in some mosques. And a few people may use the mosque for I`tikaf, usually in Ramadan. And in many places the mosques are closed except at the times of prayer. If they are open, believers may use them for taking rest, which the mosque administrators want to avoid. The general feeling is that the mosques are for Allah as Bait-Allah (Arabic for: house of God) and NOT for the servants of Allah.
This certainly is a far cry from the way the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions used the mosques. Anyone who has a cursory knowledge of how the life of the Prophet and his companions was linked to the Mosque at Madinah, can see that the mosque there was not just a place of worship, but it was the headquarters of the Islamic state. Of course, we do not need to use the mosques in our places for that purpose. But the mosques of the present time can be used as a center of spiritual uplift and socio-cultural development for the community of believers around it. This is the least we can expect of the mosques even in these decadent times.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Peter
- Australia
Profession
Question
Hello, what do you say about the view that the mosques and the madrasahs are training grounds of Islamic terrorism?
Answer
Salaam Peter,
Thank you for your question.
First, there is nothing called "Islamic terrorism" as Islam (one of its derivatives is salam which means peace) does not tolerate terrorism.
Secondly, mosques and madrasahs (literally, ‘schools’) are places catering for the spiritual development of the believers, and they are time-honored institutions that cannot be misused. Particularly because the mosques and the madrasahs are Islam’s institutions, we need to first know what Islam is, before criticizing those institutions.
Islam is basically the same religion as taught by all the prophets of God, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Its fundamental creeds are the following:
1. The Creator and Sustainer of the whole universe is one and one only, as stated in the First of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
2. God chose His Messengers (prophets) from among the humans and appointed them to teach people how to live a good life in this world, in obedience to God.
3. The life of this world will come to an end with the coming of the Day of Judgment, when God will judge all souls based on their beliefs and actions. Those who led a good life will be sent to Paradise and those who led an evil life will be punished in Hell.
The Glorious Qur'an is the Final Scripture that completes earlier books of God; and Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last of the prophets of God who came to complete the guidance of God to humanity. Those who live by the Qur'an and the Sunnah (i.e the Example of the Prophet) are called Muslims, and the madrasahs are educational institutions where Muslim children receive instruction in the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
It is a distortion of fact to say that the madrasahs are the training places for terrorism. No Muslim is taught there to kill or harm innocent humans belonging to other religions.
Similarly the mosques are like churches, places of worship. In the mosques Muslims pray and listen to the lectures of scholars: That is how the mosques function. By adopting the example of early mosques – for example, of the Prophet’s time – Muslims can use the mosques not only as centers of worship, but also as centers of education and general relief and service for humanity, which is not generally the case now. That is to say, the mosque can be a refuge for anyone who seeks help. Indeed in this discussion our aim is to suggest ways of turning the mosques as haven for those in need and as beacons of light for the whole of humanity. Mosques are called ‘Islamic centers’ now. In fact the word, ‘Islam’ as said above, connotes peace; and an Islamic center can only be a center of peace and harmony.
Hope the foregoing answers your question.
Name
salma
- United States
Profession
student
Question
My question is that the mosques is a big part of my life but can one meet their husband/wife in the mosques?
Answer
Salaam Salma,
Thank you for your question.
It is a great blessing that you have the mosques as a big part of your life. May Allah bless you and reward you for that!
Indeed if a wife wishes to meet the husband in the mosque, there is no problem with that. It all depends on the intention behind such a meeting, and the nature of that meeting. If the rules of Islam as well as the sanctity of the mosque are not violated, there is no reason why you should not meet your husband in the mosque.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Haris Ebrahim
- India
Profession
Question
Assalamu aleikum. In countries like India, even in areas where people are starving, lavishly ornamented mosques are built for the sake of prestige. Is there any justification for this?
Answer
Thank you for your question.
Indeed, the mosques are meant for humans who live on earth. Allah Almighty does not need the kind of homes we desire for. What is important is that we must be prepared to worship Allah most sincerely in the proper manner shown by the Prophet of Allah. And the sincerity of our worship or its acceptability before Allah does not depend on the splendor or grandeur of the mosque where we worship. We should not forget that the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah didn’t have marble floors or ornate domes or minarets.
And Allah the All-Merciful does not command us to spend huge amounts of money on a mosque when his servants are deprived of the minimum living conditions. For that reason, there is no justification for the construction of lavish mosques in places where people face severe hardships in life.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Jehangir
- Sri Lanka
Profession
Question
Asselam aleikum wa Rahmatu Allah. What are the roles the mosques can play in the life of Muslims in these days?
Answer
Wa `Alikum Assalam Jehangir,
Thank you for your question.
First and foremost, mosques are places for the worship of Allah, and by definition (Masjid is Arabic for: a place for sujud or prostration) they serve as places where people can assemble for that purpose.
Islamic congregational worship on Fridays (Jumu`ah) requires that there should be an imam (leader) for the prayer as well as for giving the khutbah (sermon). Such a mosque where jumu`ahs are held, is a meeting place for a number of people once in a week on Fridays. (Apart from this, five times every day Muslims are expected to pray in congregation in a mosque).
This means that the mosque is a place for Muslims to meet at least once a week. But after the prayer times, the mosques remain empty and people can think of ways to utilize the facilities for common good.
In these times we know Muslims are terribly misunderstood and Islam is often in the dock for crimes sometimes committed by Muslims, or alleged to have been committed by Muslims. Especially after September 11, 2001, Muslims in several places in North America took the initiative to invite their non-Muslim brothers to the mosques to clear any misunderstandings they had. Many mosques organized open houses for the first time setting apart some money for these activities. This was a new role those mosques were playing, and it was a good idea though necessitated by the circumstance. And I believe mosques in other places can adopt the same technique for building bridges. This could be one way of reaching out to others by way of interfaith dialogue and understanding.
In this area of greater openness, the example of these American mosques is worthy of adoption by mosques everywhere. They often serve as the venues for social gatherings, as they organize lectures, book exhibitions, dinners and other activities of community life.
Another point is to bring in more women too so as to participate in all these activities. The qualified among them can serve as teachers, committee members and administrators.
Muslims can think of serving the community through the mosques, finding ways of solving specific problems facing people in a particular locality.
Thus, there can be one kind of activity in one particular mosque, to tackle the specific problems of that place; and in another mosque another kind of activity, and so on.
In short, a new dynamism designed to confront the new challenges is crucial. For example, consider the case of poor new Muslims who seek assistance. Certainly, the mosques can do a lot of service in this regard.
In most countries, there is no systematic way of collecting zakah and distributing it. Mosques can do a lot in this direction, so that those deserving of financial help can benefit from zakah. The donors of zakah also can feel satisfied that their zakah is being utilized as it should be utilized.
I hope the foregoing can be some of the new ways in which the mosques can function more effectively, insha Allah.
And Allah knows best.
Name
Shivani
- United States
Profession
Question
Hi, Is the black stone in the Big Mosque at Mecca an idol of some god or prophet?
Answer
Salaam Shivani,
Thank you for your question.
First of all, Islam is the religion of the One and Only God of the universe – indeed it is the only religion that is categorical in the rejection of all forms of idolatry or polytheism.
So there is absolutely NO question of Islam permitting any form of worship rendered to any object or to any being except to the Creator - Allah Almighty.
When Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to Makkah after an absence of ten years, the first thing he did was to purify the Ka`bah of all the idols inside it. After cleansing the Ka`bah of all the impurities related to idolatry, he asked Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) to give the Adhan (i.e the call to prayer); and thereafter the Ka`bah has remained to this day the symbol of the worship of the One True God – Allah.
In the Ka`bah, there is a black stone in one corner, which is used as a marker when pilgrims circumambulate the Ka`bah. They start the Tawaf (i.e going round the Ka`bah) from that corner, and they use that corner with the black stone to count the number of rounds they make. The Prophet used to kiss that stone when he came to that corner; nowadays the crowds are so huge, and most people can only wave towards that stone. That is the only use of the black stone. This means that the black stone is not an idol, not even a symbol. It is nothing at all in Islam, except for the purpose of marking the rounds of Tawaf made by a pilgrims.
And Allah knows best.
Name
M-
- India
Profession
student- high school
Question
Salams. I was raided in the West and moved to an arab country two years ago. I was surprised at the lack of unity, people talk about 'religous people' but live lives full of sin. The mosque is just a place to pray, I was wondering how could I contribute to make it a center of community. I'm an immagrant dont speak arabic but I know that in the mosques there are programs like hifz etc. How could I contribute to make my mosque( which has an english khutbah) a center of communtity and islamic activity. should I urge my friends? should I talk to the imam? I see lots of potential in making mosques into community centers as this would really help the society. How can I contribute?
Answer
Salaam M,
Thank you for your question.
It is a sad fact that the so-called religious people are disunited on several issues. And many people - how can we call them 'religious'? - live in sins. And the mosques are just prayer halls, and there is no community, no sense or feeling of brotherhood and so on... This is all true.
So what can we do?
The first point is to have people like you - I mean people who are motivated to bring about changes to this dismal situation. So, you need to take the initiative; you need to meet the imam and the administrators of the mosque and others in order to mobilize them to change your mosque into a real center of Islam and Muslims. You can ask the people concerned to hold discussions - brain storming - in order to find out how the mosque can be made into a more effective center for Muslims in the region.
May Allah Almighty bless your efforts to bear good fruits!
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Answer
Finally, we would like to thank our guest for speaking to Islamonline viewers today, and we also thank all those who participated in this dialogue. We request our readers to join us in the upcoming sessions.
