Yesterday was a blessed day. I had the
opportunity to attend a gathering in Nouakchott where Shaykh Hamza Yusuf spoke
for a few minutes.
What can I say? I had never had the opportunity of seeing him
in person before; his akhlaks were simply amazing mashallah and his speech enlightening
& powerful.
He began by remembering the days when he used to stop in Gueru,
on his way to the village of Lemrabott Elhaaj (his Shaykh). At the time, one could hear Quran and mootoons being
recited all through the night. But now in Gueru, homes are infested with
television, satellite “dishes”, pouring out films made in the USA. Why don’t we
take the good things from the West, why do we only take the negative ones?
He emphasized on the importance of our Ulemas and said something very striking: the Ummah has
generally strong Iman (faith) but it is acquiring stronger knowledge that will ensure our
continuity. He spoke about tragic killings perpetrated by muslims and gave
the example of a woman who had fled the war in Syria and went to Turkey. When
she was asked how she was, she said something like: “I’m fine, God is Present (mawjud)
and in His Mercy He sent us Erdogan to welcome us in Turkey.” Wow what a beautiful example of iman!However, if this
same woman who displays such beautiful iman (faith) had fled to the UK instead of Turkey, it is not certain that her grandchildren would still be Muslim…
The Shaykh reminded us of the Quranic verse (20:114):”
And say: O my Lord, increase me in knowledge” but does not say increase me in
Faith….The message conveyed was clear; we are in dire need of more knowledge…
I am grateful to Allah (SW) that the Shaykh’s words found an
echo in my heart. I had been waiting for this conference with trepidation, not
knowing what to expect. I have been watching his lectures online since I was a
teenager but now a live lecture! How would it be? The man has always been my self-chosen
Shaykh and as said one of my brothers: if Shaykh Hamza Yusuf had a Zawiya , we
and many other people in the world would be queuing to take bay3a with him…my
sister, my brother, many of our friends and of course myself, have been coached
and uplifted by his words for quite a few years now, Jazahullah Khayran.
Getting back to yesterday’s lecture, it was like the Shaykh
was telling me that all my precious Islamic serenity would be threatened if I
didn’t acquire more knowledge. I shivered and I looked around at all the well
dressed audience and wondered how could they not seem frightened like I did? I
wanted to tell them : don’t you understand that our happy peaceful Mauritanian lifestyle
(based on Islam) might one day be challenged by this hemorrhage of deep Islamic
knowledge our society is experiencing?
Yesterday when I came back home, my mind was swirling : I thought
about knowledge as the peaceful adversary of terrorism, knowledge as the
rampart against the despair that leads to social unrest and finally knowledge to
combat all forms of oppression around the world…
It became clear to me that the rampart against the afflictions of this
modern age was knowledge and that I, poor slave of Allah should do my outmost to
acquire that knowledge asap. I did have plans, but they were for a long way
down the road (when I’m done with corporate) and now that Shaykh Hamza has
highlighted the urgency; sacrifices must be made. I can no longer wait for the
right moment, I must use whatever spare time I have to study NOW!
Speaking to my sister, I also realized that we should stop being
observers and get involved in something related to islam, no matter how much we
hate debates, polemic and bold display of ignorance… it is true that we have a
role model who’s gotten involved without going against his peaceful nature :
Dad.
Our Dad is a historian. In his soft gentle way, he’s an academic super
hero fighting against the forces of evil that strive to bring one community
against another, one tribe against the
other and one country against the other. :-)
With his research, he shows how we are all brothers and sisters from another mother by reminding us of past historical alliances based on faith.
I remember one of his lectures he concluded by saying “I hope that my
work has given you something that will put your heart and mind at ease for now you know
that we are truly “descendants
one of the other” (transliteration : thurriyatan ba3duha min Baa3d” Quran
verse 3:34)
It was
while he was preparing one of his conferences, that I had the chance to reflect on a Quranic
verse that consoled me of something I’ve had in my heart for the last few
years…
I sometimes
dream of a homogenous world where we would all have one skin color, one
language and no borders, for it seems to me that instead of seeing what a wonderful gift
from God diversity is, man uses it as an excuse to declare war.
I’m now aware
that dreaming of a homogeneous world is a terrible lack of Ridha and
acceptance of Allah’s decree so whenever I feel saddened by the disputes
arising in the Islamic world between Shia, Sunni, Maliki, Wahabi, Salafi, Sufi
(for God's sake we’re all one people!) and that the longing for a homogenous
humanity with brown skin (in my fantasy world we’re all metis :-) comes back to
haunt me, I reflect on this verse my dad used as an introduction of one of his
lectures on multiculturalism:
“If
Allah willed, He would have made you one nation, but that He may test you in
what He has given you; so strive as in a race in good deeds. The return of you
all is to Allah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to
differ.”
Quran
5:48
This aya says it all.
Finally, I cannot conclude this post without saying a word about the genial people who hosted the lecture.
The lecture was organized the Global Center for Renewal and
Guidance an independent research institute focusing on contemporary muslim affairs in the west. The GCRG's
board of Trustees has great names such as Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Dr. Abdullah
al-Nasseef.
The logistics of the specific event held yesterday was orchestrated by Cheikhna
Bin Bayyah (the son of Shaykh Abdoullah Binbayyah) and his lovely wife Habeeba.
As usual Cheikhna was a tremendous ice breaker (mashallah) making everyone laugh by sharing the story of his first encounter with Shaykh Hamza. When they met a few years ago in California, Cheikhna was invited to the Hansons' where he was presented with a gadha, a wooden Mauritanian bowl to drink from he told the Shaykh: "Don't you know I’ve come all the way to California to escape
Mauritania and here you are handing me a gadha in your american home!!!” Lol
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