Maintaining Islamic Identity in USA

THINGS WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF WHILE LIVING HERE IN THE WEST

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficient, the most Merciful

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and peace and blessings be on Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wasallam)

Most of us in this congregation have come here as immigrants. some of us have emigrated from muslim lands and the others have immigrated from non-muslim lands. wherever we have come from, we have to understand that most of us are going to settle down here, and our generations are going to grow up here. if we think deeply, it is Allah SWT who has sent us here. We may wonder what the purpose is. Allah knows best. In my humble opinion, Allah SWT has sent each nation warners to convey the message of Islam so that on the Day of Judgement, no one will say that i was not conveyed the message. So the promise of Allah SWT can be fulfilled.

Now comes the question, What are we supposed to do here as muslims? And what are the things we need to be aware of? we have come from background where we could hear the Adhan five times a day. There was a very strong family structure, and a society that was founded on moral values. We had muslim friends to play with, our grandparents to guide us, our parents used to spare time for us. We had an identity of muslims. The schools we used to go, though they had the British system of education, yet most of our teachers were Muslims. The classes in the schools used to be segregated for boys and girls. Even if a child was spoiled, the extent to which he could go was cut down by the discipline that was enforced by the parents. The moral fabric of the society was in place. Therefore though we were not educated that much in the teachings of Islam, most of us never read the Quran with understanding, nor did we know much about the life of the Prophet (sallalahu alaihiwasallam). Inspite of that, Islam has survived for generations and it was passed onto us by our predecessors. Islam was there in the culture. Brothers with kufis and Sisters sporting hijab was a common sight for us.

Then a phase came in our lives where we had this opportunity to migrate to America. Most of us had a common motive which was to earn dollars and to lead life in a better standard. We got excited, took the flight, left our parents, relatives everyone and came over here to realize our dream, the dream to succeed.

A person has great freedom here. He can do whatever he want. He can practice his religion to the fullest, or he can go to the extreme lows of the human behavior. Our families made some friends here and we started living here chasing wealth, buying houses, etc. If we have to take riba, we did not flinch from that. One thing we conveniently forgot or did not think about is the next generation. What will happen to our next generation? Will Islam be passed down to our generations or will they give it up and become secular? We send our children to public schools and they spend an average of 40 hours per week among non-muslims with their ideologies of evolution, atheism. The peer pressure on them is extremely great. Drugs, sex, alcohol, these are all the realities. We may try to ignore them saying my son or daughter is not going to be like that, but this is not a wise thing to do. There are innumerable incidents of the next generation going astray and foresaking Islam and its teachings. This is because the children did not see the practicing Islam in the society. they were brought up in a society which encourages evils. So how can we expect them to be practicing muslims if they never got the environment. Pop culture ,video games, TV etc are the in thing here.

Also the children watch the parents. the deepest secrets in the parents hearts come out openly in a child's behavior. The children are keen and easily make out the hypocrisy. if we do not practice deen ourselves, then they will not do it. when the time for salaat comes and we are in front of TV, then the kid is going to do the same. If the mother does not observe hijab, and she tries to lecture her daughter on modesty, she would detest that.

I do not want to scare anyone of you. I pray that Allah SWT makes our generation practice Islam in a much better way. But these are some of the realities that we have to understand.

so inshaAllah i will try to give some Naseeha to the brothers.

1) This is extremely crucial: Resolve to raise your family as Muslims. Don't be passive. Don't sit around and watch your spouse and children drift further and further away into disbelief and kufr. Would any of you like to be on their deathbed and then realize that they only left non-Muslims behind them? Imagine entering the great sleep with that realization on your heart!

Allah SWT says (the meaning)
o ye who believe! save yourselves and your family from a fire whose fuel is men and stones


2) Change ourselves first. Make an intention that we will practice Islam in a better way and make an effort on ourselves. If we start to change, that will start affecting our families inshaAllah.

3) Those parents who have children, send them to Islamic schools rather than public schools. There are many articles on the internet esp. by Br. Yahiya Emerick who is an educationist and has a good idea of the public school system and he lists out the evil effects of public schools on muslim children. if we cannot afford to send them to Islamic schools, homeschool the kids, and if we cannot even do that, atleast make an arrangement for them to learn Islam on a daily basis. If possible, go through some of the articles at http://www.islamicedfoundation.com/articles/articles.htm.

4) Keep islamic literature at home, translation of Quran, books of hadith, seerah, kufis, etc so that there is some kind of Islamic atmosphere at home

5) This point is very important. please try to move close to the masjid so that you can go to the masjid daily. Atleast that way, the children will see a community united on faith. If you cannot move close to the masjid, atleast get some families together and pray with jamaat in the house with your neighbors and make efforts to rent an office space for prayer.

6) Start doing taleem in your houses with your womenfolk and children, read from the books of Fazail, Riyad-us saliheen, atleast 10 mins daily. Spend time with the family, with the children. that will inshaAllah go a long way in making us a close knit family.

7) For those who can afford, perform Umrah every year or every two years. Instead of spending the vacation time visiting other places, go to the house of Allah. The kids can see an Islamic environment, enjoy Halal food and get the blessings of Allah SWT. This will be imprinted in their minds when they grow up.


I seek forgiveness from Allah SWT for my shortcomings and Allah is the source of all Strength. In Him we believe and in Him we put our trust.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.