Allah SWT has blessed this community with a base that is a welcome haven for all. This masjid, like<\/p>\n
masjids all throughout the world are the houses of Allah SWT but benefit us all in different ways.<\/p>\n
For some, this is a place of worship alone. They visit to carry out their congregational prayers. For<\/p>\n
others, it is a place of knowledge, somewhere to learn more on Islam. For some it is a place to meet<\/p>\n
like-minded people, to socialise and to build community bonds.<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to understand that this place is a blessing for us all and full of<\/p>\n
potential to be great for the whole community \u2013 muslim and non-muslim alike.<\/p>\n
And with any base such as this, we need the energy and the strength of the youth as well as the<\/p>\n
experience and the wisdom of the elders. As with all things in Islam, it is about finding the balance<\/p>\n
and this is no exception.<\/p>\n
Naturally when it comes to interaction, there is a big difference between the two groups in terms of<\/p>\n
their thinking and therefore there is a potential for conflict.<\/p>\n
Allah SWT has therefore laid down some rules to avoid this and we should aim to adhere to these<\/p>\n
rules so that we can best work together in a productive way.<\/p>\n
One such advice is found through the 41st to 49th Ayats of Sura Maryum in the Quran. It is translated<\/p>\n
to have said:<\/p>\n
Mention too, in the Quran, the story of Abraham. He was a man of truth, a prophet. He said<\/p>\n
to his father, ‘Father, why do you worship something that can neither hear nor see nor<\/p>\n
benefit you in any way? Father, knowledge that has not reached you has come to me, so<\/p>\n
follow me: I will guide you to an even path. Father, do not worship Satan\u2014 Satan has<\/p>\n
rebelled against the Lord of Mercy. Father, I fear that a punishment from the Lord of Mercy<\/p>\n
may afflict you and that you may become Satan’s companion [in Hell].'”<\/p>\n
His father answered, ‘Abraham, do you reject my gods? I will stone you if you do not stop<\/p>\n
this. Keep out of my way!’ Abraham said, ‘Peace be with you: I will beg my Lord to forgive<\/p>\n
you\u2014 He is always gracious to me\u2014but for now I will leave you, and the idols you all pray to,<\/p>\n
and I will pray to my Lord and trust that my prayer will not be in vain.’<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters, if you analyse, you will see the etiquette and manners by which the<\/p>\n
Prophet of Abraham addressed his father. Despite him being an idol-worshipper, there was love and<\/p>\n
respect shown at all times.<\/p>\n
We can dedicate hours just to this passage and still not get the full benefit of the wisdom in this<\/p>\n
passage but for the purposes of this khutba, it demonstrates the level of decorum we must show to<\/p>\n
our elders. We must in essence glorify them at all times. This is the position the elders hold in Islam.<\/p>\n
But to do this we need the youth to attend the masjid. And this is the ultimate challenge.<\/p>\n
And so this khutba ends with 5 practical steps we can all do to achieve this.<\/p>\n
1. Understand their world. For example, most youth now have a smart phone. Are we telling<\/p>\n
them that this masjid has its own app? An app with times of prayer, both start and<\/p>\n
congregational, an app that allows it to send questions and request for advice straight to the<\/p>\n
masjid? One that shows not only this masjid but all participating masjids in the country?<\/p>\n
For those who aren\u2019t aware it\u2019s called My Mosque and it is on the Play and App store. We<\/p>\n
also have Facebook and Twitter account. And even a website. We will put details up soon<\/p>\n
insh\u2019Allah on the notice boards and walls but it is already there to connect with the youth.<\/p>\n
2. Tell them of our classes. This isn\u2019t just a place to pray. We can learn here too. There are<\/p>\n
classes run throughout the week and we welcome ideas for more classes. Again, use the<\/p>\n
forums mentioned earlier to get the ideas across.<\/p>\n
3. Youth have an overwhelming desire to change the world for the better. The energy is there.<\/p>\n
Why not connect that with the more senior brothers who are already making this happen?<\/p>\n
We have links now with projects that involve feeding the needy, such as the food collection<\/p>\n
box at the back. We also are involved in projects feeding the homeless, donating blood,<\/p>\n
visiting the sick, visiting the elderly, spreading the word of Islam and many more. All with<\/p>\n
local people making a difference. Again, connect with the masjid and you can get all that<\/p>\n
information and make that impact in the community.<\/p>\n
4. Have a say in how your masjid is run. Whether it is an idea for a future khutba or whether<\/p>\n
it\u2019s an idea for some way this masjid can help you and the community, come to the masjid<\/p>\n
with it and make it happen. It all starts with the idea and the energy to do it. We even have<\/p>\n
social events here where everyone is invited, so attend those to connect with the masjid.<\/p>\n
5. Involve the Muslim women. This is particularly important and can\u2019t be overstated. We need<\/p>\n
to establish a position for our sisters to have a say in how our masjids are run. Again, it all<\/p>\n
starts with participation and involvement so contact us to get started.<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters, let\u2019s make this masjid a community hub that attracts experience and<\/p>\n
youth alike. We can only do that if we all make an effort to make it happen.<\/p>\n
May Allah SWT bring the youth to the masjid. May Allah SWT make this masjid a central base for our<\/p>\n
community and may Allah SWT rewards us all for our efforts in making this happen.<\/p>\n
Ameen wa Alhamdullilahi Rabil-alameen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Allah SWT has blessed this community with a base that is a welcome haven for all. This masjid, like masjids all throughout the world are the houses of Allah SWT but benefit us all in different ways. For some, this is a place of worship alone. They visit to carry out their congregational prayers. For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[177,72,103,78,178,179],"class_list":["post-3035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-activist","tag-charity","tag-masjid","tag-mosque","tag-proactive","tag-youth"],"blocksy_meta":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}