Tabligh

Our biggest challenge

A simple thought: Tabligh

Just as Muslims must not force their religion or religious principles on others, but rather treat them with respect, so must the other value systems and faith groups reciprocate. The challenge, however, is that Islam does not segregate between religion and any other dimension of our lives, be it cultural, political, social, or educational. When we speak of Islam (Tabligh) as a way of life, this is what we mean. To the power mongers, this is an open threat for by its sheer presence, it holds the potential of shaking the tenets of schools of thought that are based on self-harnessing power. What is happening in the world today is not surprising, for the “green enemy” (a reference to Islam after the end of the cold war era), has been long in the brew of the concoction of this new world order.

As Muslims, our biggest struggle is to learn our principles well and communicate them to the rest of the world, for the truth is, if not for the insulation of fallacy fabricated by those interested to retain their network of power, the vast majority of people do actually see sense in the truth. “Fasbir, inna wa’dallahi haq”, is Allah (SWT)’s affirmed promise in which we should rest our faith. In the meantime, whether we give in to the pressures of removal of beards, veils, and essentially, our morals, remains to be seen.

This initiative is made possible by the kind courtesy of Abu Baseer Eye Clinic, Bande Khuda Sponsors, Highways Car Hire Ltd, Max Fries, Meadows Academy, SD Dental Clinic & Ceramic Lab, SokoniAdvertiser and Xpress Rent a Car

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About the author

Mohamedarif is a marketing professional and educationalist with a penchant for writing as a hobby since childhood. As he experimented writing about sporting events at first and then current affairs, he quickly developed a skill for observation of his environment and began to write on reform topics, especially in connection with the community. To further feed his pursuit of writing, he founded several newsletters and bulletins at his school and at the Husayni Madrasah in the 1980's, all the time learning from others already in the field not just about writing, but also about pre-press and production processes. He was also the editor-in-chief of the Knowledge Magazine in 1995–1996. A decade later, importing a flurry of ideas into his new home, Nairobi, he first founded a two page community newspaper then became a regular writer of the Friday Faculty before establishing the Community on Friday, a fully fledged Madrasah magazine in 1996. And while his writing at the community continued, he simultaneously started writing for a business weekly, pairing in with his newfound role as a marketing professional. During his time in Nairobi, he wrote several speeches for sitting chairmen and presidents while also giving some himself, developing his concurrent role as a public speaker and trainer.

With changing times and a decrease in advertising sponsorship, as well as a fall in overall readership, Mohamedarif transformed this publication into an electronic blog. Thus was born the Community on Friday in its present format.

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