Believers strengthen each other

By Imam Abdullah El-Amin

“The believers, men and women, are protectors one of another. They enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil. They observe regular prayers, pay zakat, and obey ALLAH and His Messenger. On them will ALLAH pour His mercy; for ALLAH is exalted in power, wise.

The characteristics of the believer are the best in the world. Believers are so nice, loving, kind, and forgiving and you see 95% of Muslims living this way. That is a good thing. You see the believers welcoming people to the mosque and going out of their way to be helpful. Believers are not only nice to be around, they are the type of people that you have no fear of them harming you. And undoubtedly the best people on the planet earth.

The next step in our quest to move closer to ALLAH is to consciously assist one another in the good and positive Islamic activities. We must get a balance between water nature (moral consciousness) and fire nature. We must use every available opportunity to enhance the goodness of the Muslim community. This keeps our enemies at bay. And I’m not just talking about non-Muslim enemies. I’m also speaking of the ones that call themselves Muslim.

We hear a lot these days about the emerging “Modern Muslims” and “Reform Islam.” These terms are, in my opinion, a smokescreen for haters to spew their venom. These so-called “Modern Muslims” try to make things like women bending over in front of men leading the prayer acceptable. They even go so far as to try to push homosexual lifestyles in the Muslim community.

I’m not saying there is nothing wrong with the way some people practice Islam. I, for one, feel there is a strong need for some archaic and outmoded cultural adaptations of Islam to be abolished. I have written about them numerous times and the main one I harp on is the real and perceived mistreatment of women. Our women need not be looked upon as such a different creation than men that she can’t listen to prayers over a deceased person at a cemetery; even if the deceased be a female.

But there is one lady that puts out a strong argument for reform of Islam, but she also drinks alcohol and practices an open lesbian lifestyle. Does she want to reform Islam to accept these lifestyles as well? I think she does and it is totally unacceptable.

This same lady is headlining some sort of Islamic reform conference soon that has the TV news host Glen Beck as a leading participant. This is in spite of the fact that this guy has very little good to say about Islam on his show. So he and this lady are developing ways to “reform” Islam.

First of all, it’s not his job. He’s not Muslim. And if this lady chooses to bring an Islam basher, Homosexuals, and people who imbibe alcohol and intoxicants to “reform” Islam, their motives are highly suspect to say the least.

This is why we should not miss any opportunity to strengthen each other in the good virtues of the religion. The believers are described very plainly in Qur’an and what they do brings the most peace and wholesomeness to the society we all inhabit. The more believers support and help one another (visibly and vocally), the less the Muslim proponents of violence and the misguided “reformers” will be seen and heard.

The lesbian lady, Irshad Manji, will be appearing in the Detroit Library on March 1, 2007. Sponsored by PBS TV, this presentation will show her film and have questions and answers on how to “fix” Islam. It should be interesting. It’s also interesting how such a person gets so much help and press from non-Muslims.

As Salaam Alaikum
(Al Hajj) Abdullah Bey El-Amin

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