The Absence of Community in 21st Century Islam

There was a time in the past when the Muslims worked together diligently to achieve goals as a
community. There was a time when you could not find one Muslim in a community in need of any of the
basic essentials required to maintain his existence. There was a time in which if you found one Muslim
who had a problem in his life, it was as if the whole community suffered from the problem of that one
Muslim together. However, we have entered a time when Muslims have discarded the all so praised
selflessness they possessed in the past to a time in which the Muslims have begun to wear the clothes of
selfishness even to the point that they care not if their neighbor has food for the day. This new age of
selfishness has introduced into the Muslim communities a new age of trials and tribulations that have
plagued our communities, and they will continue to plague our communities until we revert to the ways
of the past and control our communities.

Good Manners are Necessary for a Strong Community

Most people might look at the issue of manners as more of a parental concern and not a
communal concern; however, this is the most incorrect manner in which we should be viewing
these important issues that affect us as a community. Yes, parents are the first teachers of
manners to their children. Yes, if you have an absence of this oft important training from a
young age, you will not find it outside of your home nor will you find it in your later years. If
you have given your affirmation to the previous statements, you have verily expressed the truth
in one regard and your naivety or ignorance in the other.

Through your affirmation, you have stated that your opinion is that the raising of the children
is the job of the parents and no other entity has the right to interfere with what the parents see
fit for the raising of their children. I totally agree in this regards. In fact, having children and
raising them in the correct manner is probably one the biggest responsibilities that have been
placed on the shoulders of mankind. This is a responsibility that requires years of service, and
the parent is not allowed a vacation from this job. The parent has to maintain a diligent stance
and is not allowed to let up at any time; for by letting up would mean the absence of order in
the child’s life and this would, in turn, give way to opportunity for all types of chaos to ensue.

However, through your negation of the former premise, you have shown an abundant supply
of either ignorance or naivety. And how is that? This goes back to an old African proverb that
all people born before the 90s are familiar with, and it is: “It takes a village to raise a child.”
This is the truest of statements, and it can be used as evidence to make clear the meaning of all
that is to come. Firstly, however, we need to focus on how this proverb can be applied in the
issue of raising a child with good manners.
 It is a simple fact that we are most affected by our surrounding environment. On a daily
basis we are exposed to many good traits that we witness from people, and we are exposed to
many bad qualities that become known to us through our basic human interactions. If we have
parents who are very adamant that we be raised with the correct morals and manners to be
functional in our society, but society itself has lost those basic morals and mannerisms, well we
are in a lot of trouble, aren't we?

With this point clearly stated, we now have to understand the importance of Community in
the propagation of good manners amongst the commoners. This now becomes a community
task in which all must be involved if we wish to achieve our aim. Every parent will agree that it
is very difficult to teach your child some basic customs, and then send them out in a world that
does not implement these customs, and expect the child to apply all that he has been taught to
apply; it is a form of wishful thinking to say the least. Moreover, it is also very difficult for a
child being raised in a house that has yet to accept good manners as their forte, and thereupon
to be sent out into a world that has taken on these good mannerisms and expect the child to
apply the mannerisms of society as his lifestyle. Although the latter will meet with less
difficulties than the former, both will find extreme hardships in the raising of their children.

The next question will probably be: “How can society assist parents in raising their children
with the perfect manners?” Well there is only one plausible answer to this question and it is:
“All people must adopt a universal law in regards to morals and manners for anyone to be
successful.” What is meant by ‘a universal law in regards to morals and manners?’ What is
meant here is that what is regarded as good morals in society must be regarded by all or
discarded by all. Moreover, what is regarded as good manners amongst the people must be
implemented by all or rejected by all. Once we all take on similar mannerisms and implement
them in our society it will be easier for all ensuing generations to do the same.

Now we come to another issue which is: “How can we expect all people to accept a universal
code of morals and manners?” This is an issue of great difficulties. By embarking on a mission
to enforce the implementation of proper morals and manners on the people, it seems as if we
are embarking on the impossible, and if not the impossible, we are definitely coming very close;
however, the issue is much more simplistic than it seems. First, to spread a bit of clarity so as
not to create a state of confusion for many, when speaking of universal laws for manners and
morals, it is not meant that everybody in the world shall take on this universality of manners
because that would be impossible, however, what is meant is that each country and each culture
will have a set of laws and rules to follow in this regards and the people in the vicinity should
follows those customs without difference.

There are, however, certain founding principles in regards to manners and morals that all
should come to an agreement upon. An example of this would be as Muslims we have a certain
set of rules pertaining to morals and manners that are explicitly drawn out for us to follow with
ease. In this, of course, I am referring to what Allah has sent down in the Quran and the
authentic narrations that have been transmitted to us from our beloved Prophet Muhammad
(Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him). We have the most complete instructional manual
in regards to how a human being should carry himself whether alone or in the company of
others. All it takes is for all the Islamic nations around the world to adopt, or shall I say re-
adopt, these mannerisms in their daily lives for us to see drastic changes that would completely
obliterate all the differences we face that are mainly due in part to the people taking their
customs over the traditions of the Prophet and His Companions. We as a nation and as nations
have to prioritize and come to terms with how we can start to implement these traditions in our
lives.

This does not have to be limited to Muslims countries and Muslims alone either. It is the
duty of all the people present on the face of this earth to strive in making themselves better and
to create a more conducive situation on this earth for the introduction into a new day of
common understanding. If a non-Muslim, whatever his religion may be, were to find a blue
print for the implementation of good morals and manners in our society in the books of Islam,
he should strive to implement what he finds in his life and advise others to follow those same
principles. We have to deal with our differences in a logical manner where each person
differing with another should present his evidence and we should deal with those matters
accordingly. We cannot deal with each other based on our blind emotions. The consequences
of those blind emotions and the application thereof have caused a level of devastation that have
left an imprint on our lives that will be very difficult to erase.

I do not and will not agree with the hypothesis of Jean Jacques Rousseau in which he
proposed the complete demolishing of the corrupt system and the rebuilding of a more
structured system. This hypothesis is complete misguidance and should not be applied under
any circumstance for the following reasons: First, we have to understand that all systems,
however corrupt they have become, were at one time structured systems. They gradually
become more corrupt over time due in part to man following his desires and allowing his blind
emotions to lead him astray. This is a part of the cycle of life. We have never read throughout
the history of any country that chose to completely obliterate the tyrannical system and replace
it with a new system and met with success. If anybody wants a good model for that foolishness,
they will find it clearly displayed in the histories of all communist countries. I do not think
anybody would say that the Soviet Experiment is a system they wish to have implemented in
any aspect of their lives.

Second, after understanding the first principle which clarifies that this is what happens to all
societies that go astray and forget the principles that their society was strengthened upon, we
must then comprehend that even if we were to completely abolish the whole system we have
and replace it with a new system, we will, in the future, face the same problems of deviation
from the founding principles. What are we supposed to do in this scenario? I guess according
to the believers of this hypothesis, we are to destroy everything a second time and start all over
again. We will continue this process of destruction and reconstruction until the end of time.
When are people to realize that we have to find the reasons for failure and fix these problems
rather than continually tearing down a whole system and starting anew? This can be compared
to a person who buys a car. After a few years of driving the car without problem, he begins to
notice small problems in how the car runs. Instead of fixing the problem immediately, he opts
to be patient and see if the problem will fix itself. This in turn causes the festering problem to
grow in degree of seriousness. As the problem continues to grow, it begins to interrupt
functions in the car’s system. He continues to be patient! Once the problem in the car reaches a
level that now causes the car to malfunction completely, he decides finally to deal with the
issue. How does he decide to deal with the issue? He decides to implement the hypothesis of
Jean Jacques Rousseau and donate the car to a junkyard. He decides that it is time to start
again, so he goes to a car lot and purchases a new car and starts the whole process over. Now,
does this analogy express a logical way of dealing with problems? Any rational person would
agree that the owner of the automobile made his first mistake when he ignored the initial
problems he faced. Instead of dealing with the smaller problem, he allowed it to grow and
fester until it became an unsolvable problem.