I prayed this week’s Friday prayers at a university campus so the khatib was a student. The khutba was mostly well researched, educational and well-intentioned. However, it made me think about the khutbas given back home in Pakistan. The title of this post summarises my take on them. People who have attended khutbas in Pakistan would definitely have experienced maulvis who lecture on destroying other nations and religions and make muslims the greatest nation. I find these khutbas to be extremely amusing for their lack of application of Islamic ideology and the inherently wrong message that they give.
The Prophet (PBUH) appreciated the existence of many different moral and belief systems and fully endorsed their right to live freely. Who are we to pray for their destruction then? Why can’t we pray for our own betterment? Cause to be honest we’re really behind in all fields. Not just in terms of technology, infrastructure, economy etc., but in terms of rights, justice, peace, quality of life and our place in the world.
What is Jihad? It is generally accepted by most Muslim scholars that jihad bin nafs/qalb (jihad of the heart/soul) is the greater jihad or the more important jihad. It is an inner struggle of good against evil in the mind, through concepts such as tawhid. However, our maulvis prefer to emphasize on Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) which refers to qital fi sabilillah (armed fighting in the way of God, or holy war). Both are important. But shouldn’t our religious leaders be focussing a religious sermon given to a mosque full of young men and children on jihad bin nafs/qalb? Such young minds need nurturing and very careful attention; they should not be taught hatred and bloodshed.
However, having portioned much of the blame on maulvis or religious scholars who give these sermons I would like to take it back and distribute equally on our society as a whole. Who goes into religious scholarship? Who sends their children to madrassahs? People who can’t afford ‘normal’ education for their children. Religious scholarship in Pakistan hardly earns you any money, or for that matter, much respect. Yes, there are some notable exceptions, but most of them have received religious and regular education side by side. They are respected because they can quote the Quran and the Bible with the same fluency.
How many of us have seriously considered religious scholarship? Probably, none. How many of us have been passionate about religion? Surely, many of us. We may all have considered the armed forces, civil service, banking, law, engineering, teaching, medicine and decided in favour of one of them. Religion, however, never featured.
Look at the West. The Pope is considered the leader of over a billion people. He has a country for God’s sake. He is considered infallible. The Archbishop of Canterbury has been to Oxford and Cambridge where he developed his religious ideas. It doesn’t matter what university you go to, or if you have a country to yourself. But it portrays a passion for religious learning and teaching if you go to Oxford and Cambridge and decide to study theology rather than law and becoming a successful lawyer or judge. This only happens because the man knows that if he follows his passion he will be entering a respectable profession where he’ll get enough financial help to subsist and still be respected by people from all walks of life.
Have we, as Muslims, failed our religion?
I would not comment on the Muslims failing their faith. However I must add that after living here in the US for nearly three decades and attending Islamic centers/Masjids in various states and on several campuses, my observations about the khutbas is that in the pre-911 days they were very similar to what our Mullahs delivered in Pakistan. Actually, they were even more poisnous and chiliing as most of the khateebs were directly imported from the Saudi Arabia.
After 911, as the screws were tightened, most of the loud mouths went underground, detained or got deported. I am not sure if the air of moderation that is blowing these days in the Masjids is a permanent feature or not - old habbits die hard. But the positive outcome of the backlash of 911 on Muslims is the “rethinking”
During the last ISNA Convention I noticed a subtle change in the attitudes of speakers who were openly against getting dictats from faith healers/scholars from the Arab lands.
I am also convinced that the new scholarship that is blossoming in the West (mostly spear headed by educated converts) is going to reform Muslim mindset. This also true for Muslim scholars who have been groomed in Europe.