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Building vibrant Muslim communities: some thoughts of Umar Faruq Abd-Allah
By Auwais Rafudeen
Umar Faruq Abd-Allah, an American convert to Islam, is Director of the Nawawi Foundation the United States which has its mission the fostering of an indigenous American Muslim identity. He is thoroughly trained in both the Islamic and Western world views, an accomplished alim and academic, and has written what I believe to be some path-breaking articles on the principles that underpin vibrant Muslim communities. Though writing for an American Muslim audience in particular, I feel his ideas resonate with the South African Muslim situation and are worth some scrutiny.
Abd-Allah outlines five operational principles- principles derived from a distilled understanding of Islam- that he believes will result in personal and community growth. These principles are: 1)Trusting reason 2) Respecting dissent 3) Stressing societal obligations 4) Setting priorities 5)Being aware of and embracing key Islamic legal maxims
Abd-Allah writes: Any approach to Islam that does not cultivate and respect the free and candid use of reason is inadequate and cannot lay the foundations of a viable future. Reason is in fact the bedrock of Islamic law. Laws, as Abd-Allah rightly observes, require ongoing scrutiny to ensure that their application remains consistent with their rationale. Applying this principle to South Africa there may still be some Muslims who feel that certain areas- such as rationally discussing arguments for the existence of Allah- may be out of bounds. Of course, this has not been the norm in Islamic scholarship. For the youth, especially, an atmosphere of being able to ask all manner of questions without fear of being ostracized should prevail. Simultaneously, the limits of reason should always be kept on the horizon and they should be taught that an ultimate appreciation of the divine and religion comes with life-experience, respect and living the values of ones faith.
The principle of trusting reason is closely tied to the second one: respecting dissent. Abd-Allah notes that with regard to fundamentals Islam speaks with a monolithic voice, but in others with multiple ones and this toleration of diverse opinions is central to Islamic heritage. In fact, Islamic scholarship has specifically developed a protocol of dissent which describes how to live with and benefit from opposing points of view. He also makes the point that historically Islams openness to novel and often conflicting ideas was important part of its cultural and intellectual success. South Africa has made great strides in this arena, with increased appreciation and respect for a madhhab other than ones own and for alternate legal positions. Of course, more can be done. At the layperson level the distinction between fundamentals and branches and the fact that there can be different positions even within a madhhab still needs to be properly understood. The Eid issue, for example, is a branches issue and subject to different points of view. To be fair, this is being increasingly recognized among laypersons. Some still believe that a womans voice being part of her awrah is the only legitimate view on the matter. While it is quite understandable that some ulama sought to preserve people from confusion and a laissez-faire attitude towards the religion by only stressing particular points of view , it is more expedient in the current climate to provide them with more exposure to different points of view. Arming with information is also a form of protection and can enhance devotion.
With regard to fulfilling societal obligations, Abd-Allah strongly feels that Muslims in their preoccupation with individual interests and obligations have lost sight of Islams social mission and that this to a large extent has been responsible for the lamentable state of Muslims worldwide today. He believes that Muslims of the West must identify and implement societal obligations that are relevant to their context. In America he identifies the following obligations among others: the development of resources that address the issues of better social services, professional marriage counseling, the development of Islamic financial institutions and the establishment of advanced Islamic seminaries. Of course, the fulfilling of these obligations require communities to develop a strategic vision. Abd-Allah writes: Muslim communities cannot meet their societal obligations without farsighted institutional development, including the establishment of religious endowments and the employment of well-trained professionals. In this area too the South African Muslim community has made considerable progress and has in a somewhat decentralised piece-meal manner created a fairly well-developed infrastructure to fulfill the social needs it encounters. Needs, though, evolve and challenges change. One needs to be ever-vigilant of new societal obligations. Joblessness and high food and accommodation prices are current difficulties. Addressing such difficulties, as well as the broader issue of globalization and its social impact, will require South African Muslims to continually review and renew the ways they carry out their societal obligations.
An area where the South African Muslim community does seem at surface level seem somewhat remiss is that of setting priorities. According to Abd-Allah, Islamic law sets three descending levels of priority in order to secure societys well-being: necessities, needs and complements. Keeping this order of priority in mind, Muslims are able to allocate time and resources to imperative, major requirements without becoming side-tracked by minor or even false concerns. If all three levels of priority cannot be achieved- which is often the case- then the lower priorities have to be traded for higher ones. Abd-Allah gives the following example: an Islamic seminary project (a necessity) must not be held back because of difficulty in securing scholarships (a need) or finding an aesthetically pleasing location (a complement). I think that misplaced priorities often flow from good intentions but with an ill-conceived idea of the broader vision and objectives of Islam. While memorizing the Quran is a meritorious act, it should generally take a backseat to learning Arabic and making sense of the Holy Books meaning. While sincerely establishing a mosque brings rewards to the individuals involved, in cases of its construction not being a necessity issues like poverty alleviation and creating job opportunities are more important. These latter are the greater Sunnah in such a context.
Finally, Abd-Allah urges us to focus on key maxims underlying Islamic law and not simply on its directives. These maxims, which he believes must form a key component in the communitys religious instruction, highlight the spirit in which the law must be approached. The first of these maxims is that matters will be judged by their purposes. This maxim implies that work in general, whether related to personal actions, policies or institutions, must have direction and carried out in a way that is likely to achieve their rationale and objective. Another maxim stresses that certainty is not undermined by doubt. Well established convictions cannot be disregarded until there is stronger evidence to the contrary. This implies, among other things, that one is innocent until proven guilty and that things are deemed to be permissible until proven otherwise. This, as Abd-Allah observes, requires us breaking out of seeing Islam as a list of dos and donts- where the donts outnumber the dos. Two further maxims are closely related to each other, namely, that harm must be removed and hardship alleviated. The removal of harm means a primary focus on victims of harm, injustice and oppression. The alleviation of hardship implies the creation of easier alternatives. Finally, the maxim Custom has the weight of law does mean that we are free to imbibe from other cultures whatever does not explicitly conflict with Islamic law. Ideally, it is the adoption of good cultural norms in a manner that produces what is more beautiful and beneficial than existed before. Abd-Allah believes that this imaginative adoption has already been shown by American Muslims in fields as diverse as fashion, design, literature and comedy, among others.
Abd-Allahs is a refreshing blast of cold air on a hot day. His ideas are well thought out but eminently practical. I think South African Muslims would do well paying them some consideration.
Abd-Allahs thoughts can be accessed on www.nawawi.org
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