Diversion

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

In the Islamic world, before there was music, there was poetry and Muslims busied themselves with Qur'an--and studying the Shatibiyya--the 7 canonical recitations of the Qu'ran. There was a time when Muslims only had one garment so that there is a section in the Chapter of Prayer in the books of fiqh which taught people how to pray when naked (they were naked because when they washed their garment they won't have anything to put on until the garment was dry). There was a time when eating loaves of bread with salt and oil were considered a feast and people would give much praise to Allah for that.

Nowadays most of us have plenty. Some of us can't even imagine not having cheese or milk for breakfast. We eat a full spread of food frequently--with full range of appetizers, entrees, salads, deserts, and drinks. A feast could be 5 to 10 course meals. We have one or two closet full of clothes (for him/her). We have clothes for all seasons, formal and informal wear, night and day clothes. We see people who seem cannot live without music--you can tell by the continuous music/songs coming out from their homes, or their cars, or their offices, or the humming of songs from their vocal chords and some with headphones sticking in their ears while walking, or in the malls and shopping centers.

The rule is the dunya (world) can be means to the Hereafter or diversion from it. If you have a lot of wealth and you use it to feed the poor, build schools, sponsor students of knowledge in their studies, you have used the dunya for your Hereafter--these are some examples of the direct means to the Hereafter. If you have worked so hard to support yourself and your family and need a break, there is nothing wrong with entertaining yourself but in halal ways like listening to something halal or spend time with a friend(s) and share a good meal together.

If somebody knows and have memorized the songs that are at top of the chart and knows the tune in his mind (even certain so called Islamic songs) but hasn't memorized 10 surahs in the Qur'an, this is shameful. If you are busy in the latest fashion or in the national championship of some ball game or in some TV series/season finales, and this is what you spend much of your time doing, ask yourself, "When was the last time I went to the masjid and pray?" "When was the last time I learn about how the Prophet's, Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to dress, walk, eat, drink, sit, sleep, and what he used to be like?" This shows where your priority is and what your concern is.

When entertainment becomes the focus of the society and this is what all life is about, this leads to worldliness and religion goes into decline. We saw this happened in Andalus (Muslim Spain) and it is happening around us even in Muslim countries.

They say the genie is out but we can do something. We start in our homes by teaching our children about Allah and instill in them the love of the Qur'an and the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. But of course it has to start with us. This is priority #1.

The other day we were visited by an Al-Azhari, not an Arab. I consider him a success story for any parent. He came from a family of 12 children and is among nine children who graduated from Al-Azhar university (the other 3 studied or graduated in Islamic studies elsewhere.) His parents did not leave them anything except the real knowledge but they have good and wholesome life. We should aspire to have children to be like them. We should want for our children to be successful in this life and the next, treat us with kindness (and not put us in old folks home when we can't tend to ourselves anymore)and pray for us after we die. But how can we achieve this if we don't teach our children the religion properly; how can we expect this from our children if we don't learn it ourselves and still absorbed and engrossed with the dunya?

May Allah guide us and give us tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam