This article appeared in my local newspaper in the op/ed section May 2007.
Starting in the 6th century and continuing for approximately 900 years, a society existed like no other. Peoples of varying ethnicities and religious persuasions lived side by side complementing one another and seeking the means to live in harmony.They were masons and landscapers, craftsmen and tailors, financiers and accountants.The coalescence of their skills culminated in a system that produced an agricultural system envied by all of Europe.Architectural marvels exist today as a testimony to the sheer genius of their craft.The beauty of living without fear of ones neighbor was commonplace and has not been reproduced since its demise.This was Andalus and the citizens were Muslim, Jewish and Christian.
A Post Ramadan Challenge by Imam Abu Laith Luqman Ahmad
Some aspirations of the global Muslim community are purely optional; participating in the Olympics, seeing who can build the biggest masjid, and holding star studded fundraisers. Others are crucial responsibilities to which we are perpetually obligated. Assuming the Islamic moral imperative is a responsibility from which Muslims cannot escape. In the scheme of the modern global civilization, the Muslims peoples are obligated to be beacons of morality and guidance for the world. Now before some of you chuckle, sigh, or gasp, let me explain. Allah has unequivocally declared;
“Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity.”3:104
As the pages keep turning and the scenes of life come after another, she approaches a sudden halt in her life…
She paused and allowed the world to keep spinning while she moved out and watched as an outsider… Spiritually, she had reached a stage where she was hit badly, bruised, hammered, battered, and shattered; whatever you want to call it. This stop was indeed, a vital one for her, as well as every Muslim as each and every one of us gets caught up in the waves of the world and the hustles of life…
I looked at the sky then I looked at the earth, I looked at the sky again, There was no similarity between the two, Except that both were dark, black, and clouded.
I looked at myself then I looked at the mirror, I looked at myself again, There was no similarity between the two; me and my image, Except that both were dream-like, dreary and desolate.
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