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| Thursday, 20 December 2007 | |
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But I digress. As I was saying, I went to my local mosque to pray the Eid salaah (prayer). The Imam gave a stirring speech on how it is important to understand the sacrifice of Ibrahim (pbuh) in its fullest sense and understand how we too must sacrifice our pleasures for the sake of the pleasure of Allah by striving to our utmost for the truth. But as I was to see later, this was just another talk, without anyone acting on it. Having finished the salaah, we listened to the khutbah (sermon) afterwards, made a du'a (supplication) to Allah and then started the celebrations by embracing our fellow brothers. It was then that my uncle pointed towards the window and we noticed that there was a brother in a wheelchair outside by himself. In the cold this brother really got to experience Muslim brotherhood as he prayed the Eid salaah outside with no one else around him. What makes matters worse is that this mosque has a lift that they designed specifically for disabled brothers and sisters, but never used it. If they have a lift designed especially for this reason why have they locked it up and put away the key? And before you defend them, that lift functions perfectly - I've seen them use it when they are transporting goods that are too heavy to and fro from the mosques. They can use it to for themselves to transport goods but they can’t open it for disabled brothers and sisters? Especially on this occasion of Eid when the mosques are full and the need of a lift much needed they didn’t bother to open it. No, they left it locked. The result: this poor brother had to remain outside on Eid day. What happened to sacrificing pleasures for the sake of Allah now? Are the mosques only to use the lift for their pleasure? Is the sacrifice to be only on this poor, disabled brother’s side, who despite the cold, stood outside in the open so he wouldn’t miss his Eid prayer? Where were all the words from the sermon now when it came to helping this brother? And you say that MPACUK should not be so harsh on the mosques. Just like this incident the mosques are ignoring our crippled mothers in Palestine, our mutilated brothers in Iraq and our brothers and sisters here, disfigured by the negative stigma about Islam, being demonised by Islamophobes. I swear by Allah that I will not rest while these pseudo-religious Muslim leaders are in power, and neither should you. I urge you my brothers and sisters to stand up to these oppressive leaders, and yes, they are oppressive as one does oppression enough when they do nothing to stop the oppressor. If you give only one thing to your loved ones this Eid, then let it be this: the courage to stand up to these men who have watered down our faith to that which it is now - pointless rituals in which you mouth some Arabic words, smack your forehead on the ground 5 times a day, starve themselves for 29/30 days, burn a 2.5% hole in their wallets and run around a black building. Islam was more than that, it held meaning, but while these leaders remain it will be nothing but empty rituals. Just as when ivy covers a tree it starves the tree of nutrients, kills it and then you have just ivy in the form of a tree without anything inside it, just like this, our mosque leaders have starved our institutions and now we have corrupt emptiness that appears in the form of a mosque. It's time to cut down this ivy. Let that be your gift to your loved ones this Eid. Eid Mubarak.           Readers have left 10 comments.
Bob:
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How do you know anyone else noticed the bloke in the wheelchair? You only noticed him when you started embracing your brothers.
(1)
2007-12-20 15:27:22
dude:
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Well, you (the writer) and the disabled guy both have tongues - you both could have said something. Or better yet, you could have done something instead of writing about it on here. I'm disgusted at your behaviour leaving some poor chap out in the cold.
We have a lift for disabled folk in our local mosque – disabled folk don’t tend to attend regular 5 time daily salaah which we understand and accept. But they do want to take part in big celebrations , again it is understandable. This year the lift was broken (been like that for 2 weeks) – so when a disable person in a wheelchair happened to attend everyone just helped. Its what normal people do – you know, just get up and help. Quite easy really.
(2)
2007-12-20 16:30:01
Muhammed Ali:
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Actually this brother can take the mosque to court for discrimination and I think he should do, at the end of the day the goons are not going to listen to anyone but the law and the Imams are impotent infront of the goon masters that control their salary
(3)
2007-12-20 17:33:41
Amir:
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It is a legal requirement to provide disabled access. You could have done your duty as concerned brother and approach the imam or committee to inform them of this law. But being MPAC who is always look for dirt on mosques, you found this a golden opportunity to justify your rants in public so that people in places like Policy Exchange can get some more ideas about what they can use to attack mosques again. Well done MPAC !! Keep up your campaign against Allah's houses and see where it gets you on the day of Judgment.
(4)
2007-12-20 18:28:07
Sara:
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I agree with many of the points raised in this article. However, before we jump on the Imam - bashing badwagan are you sure that the lift did not work on that specific day? Was the Imam even aware of the fact that a guy in a wheelchair was unable to get into the prayer room (after all, wasnt he busy at the front delivering his sermon?) and more importantly, why couldnt you or anyone else from the congregation help the guy into the Mosque? Its easier to place the blame on them, but it doesnt take much to fold a wheelchair and help a guy who cant walk into the Mosque.
And lastly, I was greatly insulted by the following paragraph. the courage to stand up to these men who have watered down our faith to that which it is now - pointless rituals in which you mouth some Arabic words, smack your forehead on the ground 5 times a day, starve themselves for 29/30 days, burn a 2.5% hole in their wallets and run around a black building. I'd expect the fundamentels of our relgion to be belittled like this on the DailyMail site by non Muslims. Its depressing to know that Muslims are also capable of demeaning the pillars of our faith. I'm all for MPAC and the campaigns that it runs, however there is no need to disrespect and disregard the basics of our religion. In the past, the great warriors of Islam fought against the non Muslims, won wars, honoured and held high the status of Islam, AND 'smacked their foreheads on the ground, starved for 29/30 days, ran around a black building etc You can stand up and fight for a forgetten aspect of Islam (political Jihad) without disrespecting Islam as a whole.
(5)
2007-12-20 22:37:44
@ Sara:
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I don't think the writer is belittling the fundamentals of faith, but rather that they are belittling those leaders who have turned Islam into mindless rituals, rather than helping us to LIVE islam.
I think the Imam can't be blamed here, but the way I see it (from the article) it's the committee members' fault. I mean, the imam is doing the sermon so can't be expected to know what's going on, but what about the money-hungry committee guys? I like this line as it's so true: "Just as when ivy covers a tree it starves the tree of nutrients, kills it and then you have just ivy in the form of a tree without anything inside it, just like this, our mosque leaders have starved our institutions and now we have corrupt emptiness that appears in the form of a mosque"
(6)
2007-12-21 08:38:38
Tahira:
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And lastly, I was greatly insulted by the following paragraph. the courage to stand up to these men who have watered down our faith to that which it is now - pointless rituals in which you mouth some Arabic words, smack your forehead on the ground 5 times a day, starve themselves for 29/30 days, burn a 2.5% hole in their wallets and run around a black building. I'd expect the fundamentels of our relgion to be belittled like this on the DailyMail site by non Muslims. Its depressing to know that Muslims are also capable of demeaning the pillars of our faith. I'm all for MPAC and the campaigns that it runs, however there is no need to disrespect and disregard the basics of our religion. In the past, the great warriors of Islam fought against the non Muslims, won wars, honoured and held high the status of Islam, AND 'smacked their foreheads on the ground, starved for 29/30 days, ran around a black building etc You can stand up and fight for a forgetten aspect of Islam (political Jihad) without disrespecting Islam as a whole. The whole point this article is making is that maintaining the outward aspects of the 5 pillars while bypassing morality IS disrespecting Islam. If we don't engage our hearts and minds in our prayers so that we grow in awareness of our Creator then are we really doing anything more than putting our forehead on a carpet? And if we were truly aware of our Creator, the all-seeing and all-knowing, we could not ignore the suffering of fellow human-beings. If you saw 5 pillars standing on their own in the middle of a field you'd think they were pointless. Pillars are made to support a building, and if we pull down this building it is that which is the desecration.
(7)
2007-12-21 09:08:10
zayba:
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i agree with sara another counterproductive article whats wrong with you guys?
(8)
2007-12-21 09:41:01
Galaxy:
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It is a legal requirement to provide disabled access. You could have done your duty as concerned brother and approach the imam or committee to inform them of this law. But being MPAC who is always look for dirt on mosques, you found this a golden opportunity to justify your rants in public so that people in places like Policy Exchange can get some more ideas about what they can use to attack mosques again. Well done MPAC !! Keep up your campaign against Allah's houses and see where it gets you on the day of Judgment. — Amirwhy is it that organisations like mpacuk get accused of not doing their 'duty' in informing the mosque leaders of everything that a mosque should be doing anyway and mosque leaders get defended for neglecting the duties that they should have been performing anyway. I suppose the mosque committee are 2-year olds that they were not aware that disabled people might want to join in the celebrations of eid especially since they already had a lift for that purpose. shouldnt the committee already know about the legal requirements (dont they live in this country?). Why is it that we have to inform them of everything step-by-step when as our leaders, as our great institutions they should be informing us and educating us...not the other way around. Arent they supposed to be leading us? But then why am i not surprised. Mosques (with the exception of a few) did not even know about the great policy exchange slander against them so why should they concern themselves with something as 'small' as the legal requirements of disabled access. This is the state of the mosques today...our 'leaders'. This is why organisations like policy exchange and other islamophobes out there find it so easy to slander Muslims because, One, Muslims are not going to be even aware they are being slandered, two, even if Muslims are aware they are not going to defend themselves, three, if some muslims try to get Muslims to defend themselves and hold Muslim leaders to account, other muslims start reading 'la hola wala quatha illa billa' instead of helping them or doing anything about it themselves. You are really very naive if u think people in places like policy exchange need organisations like mpacuk or anyone else to highlight 'dirt' about muslims before they know about it. No. THEY GO LOOKING FOR IT. Do u think this 'hate literature' policy exchange claimed to find was something that had been highlighted? The campaign here is not against Allahs houses but the leaders inside those houses who are emptying them of everything needed to uphold Islam and this incident is just the tip of the iceberg. It just shows ur sad mentality that u can refer to these leaders as 'Allahs house.'
(9)
2007-12-21 13:07:51
thehook:
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Let's see here - how many people were at the mosque. Forget that the writer should have said something there. That's not the point.
The point is - how many people were there and didn't do anything? What were the comittee doing or where were the comittee? As for the Imam - I have to say was not at fault cause he couldn't see. To the writer of the letter, please understand this: I've done khutba's before and when you do it right, you got to be there on time, done the khutba ready, be on that pulpit and share your knowledge and remind people. Your gaze is in the mosque, at the people and he wouldn't have known. Insha-Allah, give this Imam doubt just this once and maybe, go there tomorrow, and sit with him, have a chat with him. If I was an Imam there, I would have loved you to come to me after the khutba and asked for an appointment to meet me. Then discuss what it is that worried you. Then, if I knew this happened, I will try to find a way, and even if I have too, stand outside until all brothers and sisters are in mosque, and until I have go back in UNTIL I can find someone who can help with this issue. But I wouldn't know this is happening if I wasn't told or I didn't see it. Yes, I would know the sad state of our Ummah and lack of manners, adaab, and the backstabbing with each other, and the hypocrisy within our Ummah and yes - our Ummah has got a cold heart too due to not living Islam, which tenders the heart and soul. So, now you know, go to the Imam, go that extra step Insha-Allah to talk to him and see what can be done. Then come back and tell us what happened afterwards. This is an opportunity for hope to bring to the floor with your next actions. If nothing is done after you meet him, then maybe, suggest to give your service for that day, that hour to see if anyone in wheel chair, or elderly needs to be in the mosque and seated. Raise awareness as well, and maybe talk to Imam to raise this issue in the Khutbah too, or the opportunity will go. If nothing then is done, you have done what you felt you should. I know, from experience, comittees get in the way and so do the elders who need a slap on the face for acting so stupid and think their age awards them right of leadership. All those brothers were many and what's surprising is, they didn't see the person in the wheel chair and didn't try to help? It shows you how we have grown hard within our hearts. People, here - please try to give solutions Insha-Allah instead of downing the letter writer. I have seen this often, when someone is hurt, or feels down, you go nuts and shout at them for speaking up or tell them "what did you do then hmmmm?" Give solutions. This is how these forums and websites can help and by doing so, you may even shape all our minds to slowly think this way too. Wassalaam Be compassionate Insha-Allah, and help to resolve, show solutions.
(10)
2007-12-22 16:01:39
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I went to my local mosque today to pray the Eid salaah - by the way if your only focus throughout this article is going to be why I did Eid on another day (or on the wrong day), then you know you have been completely narcotised, you have your priorities wrong and need some help.
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