A Village Called....

Our community was just hit by a locomotive. We heard it coming and some of us tried hard to prepare, and others chose not to.

But now we’ve stood up and we’re shocked with the most intense awakening; the murder of one of our own.

A young man who is my brother, although I didn’t know him. A man who is your son, and is related to you by spirit.

He was a man, a brother of our village…

We all left our villages, our parents’ villages in Lebanon and Iraq and migrated to the village of Al-Huda.

The next time someone asks me what Di’a I’m from, I will say Al-Huda.

My closeness and bonds to you, my fellow villagers, is closer to any bond or any village in Lebanon.

Al Huda is our Die’a, Al-Huda is the village of our children, our children’s children and so on.

We may fantasize about flocking back, but reality stares us in the face and says we are here and our challenges are here, our bonds are here and we have an obligation to protect each other – us – ahlul-dieat Al-Huda. This Die’a is our turba, my flesh is of this die’a and so is all of yours.

It take an entire village to raise a child, we are all responsible for each other.

When one child is hurt or is being seduced by shaytan, it is up to us, the Ahlul die’a to step in and show the child mercy. The same rahma that Nabi-Mohammad (s.a.w.a) showed to his fello members of Medina.

The small, new community of Muslims who faced challenges, like we do, who starred shaytan in the face and realized, if they didn’t take ownership of their new home, shaytan would devour their community.

We need to stick together and bond upon the principles of mercy and patience.

We need to honestly and sincerely bond with each other with intensions cleaner and purer than the ones we current hold.

We need to keep our hearts open and realize the vivid reality which we live in.

The reality known as Akhir ul Zaman, - the end times – the period of human history that is most difficult.

The only way we can succeed is if we take genuine ownership of this die’a and realize that it is home, the village we belong to.

Our children, our young men and women, our brothers and sisters, our young souls nad hearts are also our students who see and learn more from us than we intend to teach – they see us for who we are and want to look up to us.

If we don’t re-adjust the way we think about each other, if we don’t re-approach the way we look at die’at – Al Huda, we will onl witness more tragedies.

An example – this was told to a crowd of about 10,000 muslims at a conference 2 years ago by Imam Abdul Hakim Quick

He said, in South Africa, the drug problem is enormous, all drugs from east – to – west pass through Africa.

Drug usage, esp. methamphetamine, became prominent amongst Muslims.

To the point where young women and the daughters of the community were selling their virginity to pay their debts to dealers and drug lords.

Fitna is vividly everywhere.

But the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, friends and all did not accuse their own of sin and stop going to their mosques for fear of embarrassment, they didn’t see shame.

They rallied together, they organized, and they became a source of support for each others and their youth and took to the streets as one voice, one heart and one people.

They challenged the dealers; they challenged the drug lords, the corrupt cops and politicians, and as a community, stood up for their youth at a time when most Muslim communities would accuse them of sin.

The underlying principle of what I’m trying to say is “Rahma”; Mercy should be the governing point, the pivot, the centre, and the underlying principle of how we deal with our brothers, our sisters, and all those who are members of this die’a.

Therefore we need to change something within us, we need rebirth.

What we need is Allah, and none will change our condition except Allah.

And if we turn to Al Quran al majeed – Surat Al ra’ad, verse 11

eng trans: For each person there are angels in succession, before and behind them. They guard him by the command of Allah.

Verily, never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change themselves. But when Allah willeth a people’s punishment, they can be no luring it back, nor will they, besides him, anyone to protect.

So in order for us to work in harmony, to change our condition, we need to change ourselves, our children and the future of die’at A- Huda and the ummah depends on it.

Because it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a die’a to raise a child.

Rally together with merciful intensions to protect each other from Shaytan