The role of masajid (mosques) in Islamic societies has been dwindling from the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) to the current period wherein it is limited only to the offering of Salat. To highlight the importance of masajid in the reformation of society, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Mira Road held a lecture on ‘Ma’ashre ki Tameer me Masajid ka Kirdar’ as part of its weekly programme on 6 December.
The programme began with the recitation of a passage from Surah an-Noor of the Holy Qur’ān which exhorts the people to stay attached to masajid.
Thereafter, Maulana Abdullah Shaikh spoke on the role of masajid in the initial days of the Prophet’s mission, during the golden period of Islam and the present day status of masajid. He said that when Caliph Umar accepted Islam, the handful of early Muslims ventured openly in the Masjid-ul-Haram and offered prayers publicly. This event became the talk of the town because of the reverence attached to the Holy Masjid, spreading the message of Islam in each and every household. The Masjid thus became a catalyst for the spread of Islam in Makkah and beyond.
Days before his arrival in Madinah, the Prophet erected a masjid in Quba which has found honourable mention in the Qur’an in Surah at-Taubah ayah 108. Again, upon his arrival in Madinah, the first task the Prophet executed was the building of Masjid-e-Nabvi, in which the Prophet himself participated. This masjid was the centre of all activities in the Islamic state of Madinah. It was at the same time a secretariat, a prayer house, a detention room, a nursing room, a place where foreign dignitaries and missions were received, a court of law, a school, and a rest room for even unbelievers who wanted to meet the Prophet, and after him, the rightly guided caliphs. The President of the Islamic State was also the Imam of the Masjid and carried out all his official activities from the precincts of the masjid itself. The doors of the Masjid were open 24×7 for all and sundry.
However, lamenting upon the present state of affairs, the learned speaker said that masajid have now been relegated to edifices of obligatory prayers and Qur’ān-khwani. Instead of being unifying centres of Islamic society, masajid have been divided and operated by people of particular sects and ideologies, of which he named the Tableeghi Jamaat, the Sunni/Barelvi Jamaat and the Jamaat-e-Ahle Hadees as three major ones. Ulema and aimma are being appointed to suit the tastes of the trustees and not on the basis of merit.
Juma sermons have by and large become a ritualistic procedure; any effort to use the sermon in the reformation of society or to publicise beneficial schemes is largely being looked down upon as ‘worldly’ talks. In sharp contrast, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) used to acquaint the public about current affairs in his Juma sermons or concentrated on the uprooting of prevalent social vices. The Maulana, himself an imam in a Mumbai masjid, added that these days, even good-intentioned ulema are compelled to bow down before ignorant trustees for fear of losing their job, reducing their stature and curbing their potential services in the uplift of Islamic society.
Upon being asked as to what can be done to rectify this malaise, Maulana Abdullah suggested that well-educated and well-intentioned people should come forward and build a masjid and try to run them on ideal guidelines. Answering another question as to why JIH does not concentrate on erecting masajid, Maulana explained that the Jamaat does not do so because it does not want to set up yet another ‘tagged’ masjid in addition to the three mentioned above.