A PAPER PRESENTED TO 37TH ANNUAL MCAN NORTH WESTZONE CONVENTION
Under the theme THE ROLE OF A LEADER AND HIS/HER FOLLOWERS
24TH – 26TH MARCH 2017 ZAMFARA STATE
In the name of Allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful. All praises are due to Allah the Sustainer and provider, the one who have power over his creations, I bear wetness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is His servant and messenger sent by Him to guide the entire humanity, and to rescue them from all evils and wrongdoings.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu, it’s a privilege to stand before you today under our great association MCAN Northwest zone to present this paper and interact with you, may Allah bless our Union and tighten our brotherhood bond more.
I actually want to discuss a question with you and come out with answers insha Allah, my question is WHAT IS YOUR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS ISLAM?
As we all believe, we are here in this world for a purpose and for a very short time, then what have we achieved? What goals do we need to set? What type of challenges do we have to conquer? After our death Allah will resurrect us back again, on that day when the sun will brought very close to people just one mile distance, people will stand still for fifty thousand years, there will be no shade on that day except that of Allah’s throne, they will wish to go even to hell fire, but they will stand still by the order of Allah.
The prophet Sallah Allahu Alaihi wasallam said; No servant will move a step on the day of resurrection until he is asked for four (4) things
1- His entire life, on what has he wasted it.
2- His youth age and body, on what has he exhausted it?
3- His wealth where has he gotten it from? And
4- On what has he spent it?
We have to provide answers for this questions since we cannot escape it. Have you ever asked yourself what have you contributed to Islam? Let’s assume that you are a Lawyer, a school teacher, or an engineer, or an architecture, or a pharmacist, or a business administrative manager, since your field of specialization is not Islamic Studies, one may automatically say since my field is not Islamic, or I am not directly and constantly interacting with people, it is not WAJIB on me to carry Da’awah. That is the problem we are facing now. Many people say I am not a scholar or I don’t have enough Knowledge to call for Islam, so, I cannot carry out Da’awah , let those who read Islamic studies or Arabic do it, as their field of specialization is connected to it, and they understand Islam more than I do. If I said it is not WAJIB on me, you said you don’t have knowledge, and Umar for example said the same thing. Then who is going to call for Islam?
If we take the life of Prophet’s companion as a case Study, we will find that they have different skills and talents, but they all have the same goal and aimed toward achieving it, that goal is to uplift Islam to highest level. But before taking the examples, let’s make a promise within ourselves that I am not going to be a weak spot that the weak spot that the enemies of Islam will get a point to destroy it, attack it, or even to criticize it through me, now let’s go to the examples:-
1- Our first example is no one but of ABUBAKAR ASSIDDEEQ RTA, he was the first man to accept Islam and immediately embarked on Da’awah, it is because of him that five (5) out of the ten (10) companions that the prophet SAW granted them a free ticket/pass to Jannah, he didn’t say that since the prophet is alive and there, and we are just starting, and very few in number I don’t have to preach, ABUBAKAR is a role model for everyone to follow.
2- The second example is UTHMAN BIN AFFAN, he was the richest Sahabi, and has donated all his wealth for the sake of Allah in so many events, one or two examples of that is when the prophet PBUH said whoever can buy the well of AROOMA I promise him Jannah. None of the companions said he could, but UTHMAN stood up, accepted the challenge & went on to buy the well from its owner (the Jew who sell the water for a high price), actually the Jew refused to sell it to him in the first attempt, so he adopted a different way, you know a good business man usually possesses special talent and so is UTHMAN, so he asked the Jew to sell for him half of it and let us be partners, and because the nature of Jews is that they are greedy and can’t resist money, he thought he can make more money since UTHMAN is a well-known businessman, so he sold the half of his well and signed a deal with UTHMAN that every one of them will use its water for a day while the other one will have the other day, so UTHMAN DECLARED to all Muslims in MADINA that I am now a co-owner of AROOMA well and you’re free to come fetch water on my day, so no one goes to buy water on the Jew day because they can always wait for the next day to fetch it for free, and he had no option than to sell his remaining share to UTHMAN. And the other example is when he prepared the entire participants of Battle of TABOOK, he donated Armor tanks and jetfighters (960 camels and 60 horses) and provided food for all the soldiers, until PROPHET PBUH said “No wrongdoing will ever harm UTHMAN after what he gave today.
3- The third example is ALI RTA, he was not rich but he had a sword that no knight can stand a chance of survival if they met him, and he was the first to show up for fight in GHAZWATU BADR, and during the battle of khaibar the prophet PBUH said, I will give the flag tomorrow to a man that loves Allah and His messenger and they love him too, Allah will grant us victory in his hand, UMAR was quote saying that I have never in my life wished to lead except that day, the next day he gave it to ALI RTA.
4- The last one is not actually a brave soldier or a rich sahabi, but simply he is a poet, yes a poetry teller, he is no one but Hassan Bin Thabit, he was blessed with a sharp tongue, and knows how to use it for the right cause, when the KUFFAR mock Rasulullah will say to him mock them back and you’re supported by the Holy ghost.
So my respected brothers and dear sisters, we don’t have an excuse when it comes to contributing our own quota in uplifting Islam. Let us use our chance in whatever circumstances, if you are school teacher use your post to preach to your students and feed them with Islamic knowledge and thoughts, if you are a lawyer stand for the right and defend the truth, if you are an engineer don’t just build only houses and construct roads, reach to your community as they need building too, and if you’re in medical field don’t just treat the body of your patients, treat their souls too, and if you ever need an example you can always look or read about Zakir Naik.
In Summary my dear brothers and sisters let’s put Islam first in all that we do, May Allah bless us with beneficial knowledge and good understanding of Islam. JAZAKUMULLAHU KHAIRAN.
Abubakar Muhammad Zain
Ameer MCAN JIGAWA STATE CHAPTER
25TH March 25, 2017.
