ICNE – Importance and Role of Islamic Academies

Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala Shafi Lambie with mousseline Muhammad Rasul Allah is Allah Holly URI Ali, he was Abu Salah doesn't even cathedra and cathedra

oh my god, my dear brothers and sisters, it's a great pleasure to be addressing this August gathering, the annual conference and banquet of the Islamic Council of

New England.

My subject today is the importance and role of Islamic academies.

Islam is a religion based on the book of Allah, the Quran, as communicated, interpreted and demonstrated by his messenger Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, what we know as a sunnah, in the light of the challenges that we Muslims are facing globally, it is essential to look at the fundamentals of our religion, in which light solutions to our problems. Allah subhanaw taala della della who showed us the way to educate our people, and he said, I will let him in a shade on the regime in a vehicle to somehow do a lot of the leveleleven herida iOttie leoline and Burb Levine is kurunegala pa Mukuru don't wanna you know, be him with a Carone where the her Corona PSRP some

eiwa do a lot. Rob Bernama Hanako Taha battlelands were haniger for Pina Allah No, which means Allah is around that I said very early in the creation of the heavens and the earth. And in the alternation of the night and the day, there are indeed signs for people I mean of understanding of people who have intelligence.

And Allah described who they are, he said, they are those who remember Allah subhanaw taala, standing, sitting and lying down on their sites. And, and I want you to remember this and, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth saying, our rub, you have not created all of this without purpose, glory be to you, and give us salvation from the torment of the Fire. The key concept is the and not all, education is not Dean or dunya. It is to learn how to look at the dunya through the lens of the deen. To illustrate if you were to look at bacteria, with a telescope, you will see nothing. So also if you try to look at the stars with a microscope, you will see nothing.

The fault is not with a telescope or microscope. But with using the wrong lens, then is the lens to look at the dunya and when we do that, we see the glory and magnificence of Allah subhanaw taala, shining forth and it enhances our taqwa and we ask Allah to save us from the fire. This is the role of the Islamic academies. It is essential to remember and remind others that Islam continues to remain relevant and valid, as our means of negotiating the obstacle course of life in the light of the Quran and Sunnah.

So that we not only deal with challenges, but we use them to understand and demonstrate the glory and magnificence of Allah subhanho wa taala. In more powerful terms. Our goal is not to reinvent or reform Islam, but to understand our modern world and life, its priorities, apprehensions and hopes, in the context of the Quran and the Sunnah. So that we can live by the beautiful way of life that Allah subhanaw taala prescribed for us, and His beloved messenger SallAllahu Sallam demonstrated for us to emulate and follow. The key to leadership is to differentiate, because differentiation creates brand, brand inspires loyalty, loyalty enables influence to influence is to lead Allah subhanaw

taala sent us Muslims to show the way to all of mankind, a way that enables success in the dunya well accurate in this life and in the hereafter. But knowing alone is not enough. You can stand and look at the right path all day, but at the end of the day, you will still be in the same place. To progress we need to walk. Islam is the path. We must work on it, not just studied, look at it, talk about it, but work on it, not trying to change it or make our own path away from it. Islam is the tried and tested path to success chosen for all of humankind by our Creator, jealous Allah Who Who knows who he created and what is best for them. Because he said, I'll do my utmost to Lacombe. Naco

will attempt to alikoum navety what are the two Lacuna Coil Islam Medina. In that context, I say to you that we need change, not incriminate.

gradual change, but total fundamental transformational change, not in Islam, but in our approach to it, how we teach Islam, what we teach, and those who teach it. We need this urgently. What remains unchanged is the book of Allah and the teachings of his messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi salam, the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu. What must change is how we teach and learn these in ways that open the doors of our minds and hearts, and show us how to leverage our heavenly assets to show the world the way into a future that is free from injustice, greed, misery and suffering.

This is where Islamic academies can play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between theology and theologians on one side, and practical life and knowledge relating to it on the other. Currently, most Muslim schools operate on a bolt on model where Islamic education is bolted on to the fundamental curriculum, which is secular. This is just like the bolt on model that many mothers have thanks mainly to donor pressure, where they teach English math and science as additional subjects bolted on onto the core theological curriculum. The fatal problem with both these models is that what is bolted on is not considered important, and so is taught and learned without interest. What

we need is a model of education, where theology is the lens through which we see the world. By theology, I don't mean merely the books but the whole ethos of ethics and values and morals and culture and priorities, to inculcate taqwa in all aspects of life. This will need a foundation of tusky our tarbiyah which sadly, doesn't even exist in our mothers, let alone in secular Muslim schools.

A foundation of mosquito knifes will build a connection with Allah subhana data and the messenger from which will immerse the framework of tarbiyah to Leclerc,

for which the source is the blessed Syrah of Rasulullah sallallahu sallam.

Both of these must be taught and learned by experience, because values can't be legislated values must be inculcated. This brings to the fore the critical importance of recruiting teachers with the right skills and even more with the right attitudes and o'clock, because children and everyone else, listen with their eyes. They don't care what you say until they see what you do, to connect ourselves with Allah subhanaw taala. And messenger is especially critical. Given that even as we speak, our youth globally are getting ever more disconnected from our Alama and massage. They were always disconnected with the mothers except those who studied there and their families. For the

rest. Islamic education is a mystery, which most are not even interested enough to solve. Most of us, most of us here

are donors to mothers in this country and other countries. If I asked you to name three books that are taught, as part of the curriculum in the mother saw that you donate to, can you do that? Can you name for me three books? I am not criticizing the mother is I'm asking you as donors. Do you know what you are supporting? Are you satisfied with the result? Do you check the results? Please continue to support but don't do it passively. Ask questions, it is your money. And you have a right to know what is happening to it.

In that it is our current education system that separated Allah subhanaw taala from his creation and created the gulf between the and dunya. Forgetting or ignoring that Dean is the name of the method for of negotiating the lineage. The two are not all interlinked, but one has no meaning without the other.

There is no Dean in the grave. And there is no dunya in the

dunya is the canvas for us to write our destiny in the accurate. But tell me, is this the message you received through your childhood and youth? From whoever taught you a Koran, or in the hotel that you listen to? In Juma in your masajid? Did they translate effort that builds the akhirah is anything other than Riba? Did anyone tell you that if you became a scientist or a physician or a surgeon or created a group

or business or became a pilot or astronaut, that would be an equally valid route to gender as someone who became who becomes a specialist in Islamic sciences.

If you if they did not tell you that ask why not? If this division is true, then what is the reason we learn from the lives of Sahaba? Who were promised Jana? Like Abdul Rahman, alpha the Allahu and Osman been a fan on the line who, who were businessmen. The short answer is that what matters is not what you do. But whether you do it according to the orders of Allah Subhana Allah and the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu sallam. Islam does not close our options to participate in the world, but gives us the criteria on which to base our decisions. The reality is that only those who know both worlds can bridge the gap. That is what we need today to interpret Islam in the light of modern

reality, and chart out a valid path to become leaders who will be standard bearers of Islam.

Allah Jalla Dinallo sent us to show the world the way to live in this life, not to reject the world and leave leadership to those who don't know Islam. That is how we lost the plot. It is not the fault of the teachers, or at least not entirely, they can only teach what they were taught. Therein lies the story of our slavery from the time and Lucia fair in the 13th century, we divorced our religion from the world and the world for about us. We created a priestly class in a religion that has no clergy or church we created and thereby we gave the average Muslim an excuse for not learning his religion, even though to learn was foreign obligatory for Ryan on him. Let us ask ourselves very

simple question let us ask ourselves how many of our children know the ACA will arise the rules for preparing the body after you pass away? And then you ask why not the best person to do our last rites to do ours another Janaza also cover and everything is our own son, because the dua of the bereaved is something that Allah subhanaw taala accepts, but instead, strangers prepare the body and we ask an imam to do the janazah for our father or mother, not because we believe that the that others are more pious, but because we don't know what to do, Imam at which was the prerogative of the ruler became restricted to to Roccat of Salah Islamically speaking, we ended up with two

factions, those who have little or no idea about how the world runs and out of the anxiety that producers they reject the world to varying degrees, bravado, disguises fear. So these people disparage science and treat scientific and other civil education with disdain. Little do they consider that they do not even understand what they are disparaging and discarding. Such people have great difficulty in relating to the world, and its emerging realities and challenges. The other group are those who want to change Islam and make it more user friendly. They are those who consider themselves on par with if not superior to the classical scholars, including the Sahaba of Soros, who

learned the deen directly from him. Salallahu Alaihe Salam. These people seem to believe that Islam and his theology is so simple, that it needs no preparation to understand and that anyone without even the basic knowledge of Arabic, which is the knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah can understand and interpret both freely, you will recognize them by the preamble to almost everything they say, which is, in my opinion,

both positions are wrong.

Both positions are an indication of a lack of understanding of what Islam is, and is meant to be. Both ignore the fact that Islam is the deen that Allah subhanaw taala chose for us and Allah subhanaw taala knows everything until the end of time. So something that he chose cannot possibly become outdated or need changing. We cannot create change from positions of fearfulness and apology. All change begins with the acceptance of the need to change, not with denial. I commend and applaud all those who are engaged in creating such institutions of learning, which can prepare leaders to lead us on the path that Allah subhanaw taala chose for our success in this life and the next we

need confidence which can come only with knowledge, real knowledge, rooted in experience and a personal connection with Allah. As someone said, the enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.

The best Dawa is one that people can see and experience. For this. We need to produce people who are equally comfortable in the world of Islamic theology, and modern pluralistic, so

society, there is a desperate need without which we will continue on the one hand to create Alama who are disconnected with the real world. And on the other hand, Muslims who don't understand value or can leverage the great wealth of Islam, because it has little meaning for them. Even more alarmingly, the gulf between the Allamah and our youth, and adults will continue to widen until bridging it will become impossible. And religion will get totally divorced from reality. History is witness.

We can choose to remain as we are consumers, victims, and pawns in somebody else's chess game. Or we can choose to change and once again become contributors to the world. It is our life, we must make the choices. The destiny that unfolds for us, will depend on which door we choose to open. And that is what we will be questioned about when we meet Allah subhanaw taala genicular. Ask Allah Subhana Allah Jalla Jalla who for His mercy and grace, and for the courage and persistence to see the project of creating not one, but a million such schools worldwide. That is the true scope of the challenge to produce a critical mass of ethical, moral compassionate leaders, conscious of their

responsibility and accountable to Allah subhanaw taala that is what our world needs most desperately. Ask Allah subhanaw taala to choose you to be the means by which the world will get what it needs. Rama for Filipinas over our coffee or NASA yet in our fundamental raw Robin attina for dunya Hassan at our villa, open Allah masala Alana veal Karim while he was ivh may want to get

Salam Alikum warahmatu Allahi wa barakato