Liberal Arts Forum

Bismillah,
Reviving our Islamic spirit.
…and Your Area Mosque
By Faraz Khan

Most mosques in New Jersey are built within last 20 years. There are a handful of mosques that are functional and cater to the needs of the Muslim community. To clarify, these mosques offer classes on Islamic education, assist in burial rites and rituals, lead daily prayers, have full-time Imam to offer advice, and have programs for women and youth, etc. So when I say “functional”, I mean a mosque is not only helping men but families who come every day.
It is not a surprise that in twenty years those uncles who were involved with these mosque projects have grown old and fragile. Many people probably recall the old rumble in their local mosque, unless the tag team continues! It was growing pains. There were many different view points, ideologies, creeds, fiqhs, coming to form a community center. A mosque that was going to serve not only the Muslims but the American community. So the uncles worked really hard. They rallied the community. They got the design. They got the township approvals. They got the Imam from the Land of Imams. They got the chandeliers and the carpets from Iran. They even got the Senators and Congressmen all along.

It was not easy to put a mosque together.

There were microphone love stories. The dome infatuations. The Kursi (chair) trouble. Sometimes people were on kursi and other times the kursi was on them. The Phatwas that made people laugh and sigh. The moon-walking and the moon-fighting. And there were parties … yes, many parties to keep one busy. No, not the type where you sing and dance. Istaghfirullah! And certainly not the type of parties where you eat, drink and enjoy yourself. There were many parties on mosque election day. All promising us many promises.

While the community was going through a massive change, the uncles also transformed. They adapted a new identity. From Big Daddy they became Grand Daddy! They became grandpa. But they did not stop. They did not stop for the sake of God.
However, in last 20 years others stopped. They stopped from coming to the mosque. They stopped from actively engaging themselves in the mosque affairs. They spent their time on better and bigger things. They said who wants to argue with the religious police who knows everything.

The reality is that uncles are getting really old and the young ones are far removed. Muslim community has grown tremendously in last 20 years. However, the mosque boards, committees, helping hands, do not reflect this ratio and proportion inside any mosques. Why in last 20 years others have not joined hands? Why are khutbas being given in broken English? Why the women and youth are not involved? Why do we find “haram and haram” when the deen is more than halal and haram? Why do we focus on the structure and cast people away? Why do we say “youth is our future” only on mosque election day?