When I saw he was very receptive to Islamic teachings I
began to get excited. Here was a man who spent his entire life living for little more than
himself, now he wanted to live for a greater ideal, a higher goal. He could very easily
become a Muslim. I knew I had to move carefully. One misstep and he might turn away and
remain unfulfilled and lost.
I thought of what to do next. I was only one person. I knew he needed to
see more, to know more, to understand more. I realized then that my problems were just
beginning.
If you can identify with this scenario then you may already know what
problems naturally follow. If you cannot conceive that there would ever be any difficulty
with introducing someone to Islam, then read on and be enlightened. Certainly light can
dispel the darkness that has hidden the truth to many.
We've all dreamed of bringing someone to Islam. Every time we've had the
chance to share our faith with others we thought about the potential for a new Muslim
being born. The Blessed Prophet once said that to bring someone to Islam is better than
the whole world and everything in it. It's especially of interest to those of us who have
accepted Islam ourselves. We know what life is like before Islam: stupid, meaningless and
empty. We know our fellow Americans need it desperately.
But no man is an island and Islam cannot operate in a confined space. To
achieve the full benefit of Islamic practice, one must live Islam, come into contact with
other Muslims and have access to uplifting and inspiring "Taqwa Builders" such
as books, gatherings, salah in jama'ah, etc...
Let's say, just for a moment, that you convinced someone to consider Islam
a bit closer. Let's say you've peaked their interest and you've reached them at the right
time in their lives. What do you do next? If you were a Christian, you might introduce the
person to your Bible-study group or bring them to your Church where they can be drawn into
the life-blood of the thriving institution.
But as a Muslim, you know that we, as a community, don't have relevant,
interesting study groups. Instead, we have boring meetings where a bunch of old guys sit
around and argue about fiqh issues, middle eastern politics or the evil Americans. Scratch
that. You can't take your convert-to-be there.
What about the Masjid? Surely I could take him or her there? Well, not if
it's a her, in most cases, because many of the Masajid tend to be very anti-female places where
sisters are shoved into back closets, stuffy basements or tiny places far away from
anything important. (In the old country, women didn't even go to the Masjid anyway.
"Ah,
the good ol' days," they reminisce.)
But your prospect is a male, good, that solves that problem. So you bring
him with you to evening prayers one night so he can get a feel for the place Muslims meet.
If you're blessed with a well-organized Masjid, then you're okay. But if you're
Masjid is
like most, it is disorganized, has no real full-time secretary, is dirty with papers and things lying
around and, perhaps, there are people living in it and sleeping around here and there or
hoards of unsupervised children are all over the place, running amok.
Your friend is open-minded so looks past all the third-world habits he
sees flaunted and sincerely wants to learn. You're lucky, because most educated Americans
of all races wouldn't want to stay in a place that reminds them of a welfare building.
You make Salah and perhaps your friend joins in. He loves the experience.
Afterwards, you introduce him to the Imam and some of the brothers. They're friendly, warm
and decent people. Then everyone decides to sit together for a small meal in the
Masjid
and your friend hesitates. He feels shy. He's off his own turf, after all, and is
completely dependent on you at the moment for his sense of center and place.
A large sheet is spread and the brothers sit down around it. A community
bowl is placed in the center and then everyone begins eating. Your friend takes a few
tentative bites and begins to relax. He even exchanges a word or two with the brothers and
is on the verge of opening up. Then, something strange happens. Slowly, imperceptibly, the
words floating in the air begin to lose their English flavor and drift over into Urdu or
Arabic or Bengali or whatever. After ten minutes, everyone is speaking a foreign language
and laughing and ribbing each other.
Your friend starts to feel uncomfortable again. No one talks to him, no
one looks at him. You try to engage him in small conversation or even try to translate
discreetly what they're talking about. But after a few minutes of translating the useless
banter of what's going on in so and so's old town in the dusty old country, you see it's
not worth trying anymore.
You finish the meal and the brothers depart. A Muslim sister passes by
along the edge of the room carrying a food pot to the kitchen. She looks timid and skulks
like a thief who hopes to go unnoticed. None of the men salute her or offer to help. They
merely throw their plastic plates in the garbage and filter out of the Masjid and go home.
You try to keep the interest of your friend. You don't want it to end
here. You look around near the Masjid entrance for some literature you can give him. There
are no booklets, flyers or anything like that. All there seems to be are piles of donation
forms from about twelve different relief organizations.
You're getting nervous. You know follow-up is the key. Your friend shifts
his mind to going home. You can almost see the invisible block erecting itself again. You
don't want to start at ground zero again. You tell him you want to check and see what
upcoming programs are available to attend. You go to the bulletin board. It's a mess.
Papers announcing programs held three months ago still remain. Ads for carpet cleaners and
halal meat stores jostle with each other for space.
After a frantic search you're eyes brighten for a moment. You find notice
of an upcoming event. But after seeing who the speaker will be you become disappointed.
The scholar in question is legitimate, but he hardly speaks good English and often puts
audiences to sleep in record time. He never even speaks about anything relevant. You don't
ever want to take anyone interested Islam there-- you wouldn't even go yourself, equating
it with a horrible punishment.
You and your friend make ready to leave. You pass by the locked door to
the library. A thought comes and then goes just as quickly. No one attends to the library
around here and it's full of books a seeker of knowledge would never understand anyway.
Hoping for the guidance of Allah upon your friend, you bid each other good
night and he travels off in his car to his home. Either he has a lot to think about or he
feels he found another dead end in his quest for a spiritual center.
As you turn onto the highway you can't help but wonder: what if your
Masjid were just a little different? What if it was set up for da'wah like nearly every
church in America is. What if it were clean, well-maintained, staffed with a friendly
secretary and set up as a full service center for the community? What if those people who
have lived in this country for ten years or more would open up and at least speak the
language of the people around them when they were present? What if there were good,
relevant programs for Muslims and non-Muslims alike given by people who were inspiring,
eloquent and aware of the issues we face in the modern world?
Then, just then, you think to yourself, people like my friend would be
accepting Islam all the time. If you can identify with anything I've written in this
article, then resolve to do something about it. If your Masjid is good and run in a
professional manner for da'wah and community support, then please give your address to
every Muslim in your city or suburb so they can steer clear of the Masajid which fall far
short of decent management and organization.
If a Muslim businessperson can go to Indonesia and within ten years
everyone in the village is Muslim, what are we doing who have been here for decades? There
are hardly any converts attending our Masajid, second-generation kids find it irrelevant
to be involved there and women are given little, if any voice in our community affairs.
Time and time again I have seen middle-aged, wealthy men who made big
kuffer-bucks in every haram way, filling the Masajid and talking about establishing Islam
in this nation. Meanwhile, their kids are outside talking about music, girls, dancing or
whatever, their wives are at home watching godless TV programs and their relatives lost
Islam long ago. All this happened right under their noses, by the way.
If we truly want to establish Islam here then we have to build community
Masajid which serve the community and are relevant to both Muslims and non-Muslims. I
wouldn't want to be those people on Judgment Day who built a Masjid in this life but then
made it a dead structure by their own hands. Allah help us take the Masajid out of their
control before there are no more Muslims left to fill them!