The mission statement of The Majlis is as follows:
The Majlis seeks to develop and nurture safe community spaces where people can learn and live Islam, based on the traditional sources of understanding the faith, while acknowledging the particular challenges of our context. Our efforts are focused around religious education, spiritual refinement, love, and service.
In this series of articles I will present some thoughts around how we came to the mission statement that we have and why we did. This third one is on the portion which says,”Our efforts are focused around religious education, spiritual refinement, love, and service.”
Religious Education
Our approach to religious education is guided by the well-known hadith Jibril. In this hadith we are taught that our religious is composed of a number of core components: islam, iman, ihsan, and signs of the end of time. In the realm of Islamic Studies these first three became the core foundations of Islamic education and they translated to the fields of Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh, Aqidah, and Tasawwuf. Each of these fields has its imams, well-known schools, and vetted texts. Each of these fields was established, developed, and contributed to over the entire course of Islamic history with no disconnect between generations. Mastery of them is the way to learning and scholarship as done for centuries upon centuries of Islamic history.
Another thing we see from the hadith of Jibril is that he came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and sat in front of him in nice clothes and with good manners. When he did so he asked his questions and learned from his teacher. This is the way of Islamic education throughout history as well. Students learned from teachers and developed their understanding over long periods of keeping their company. They did not simply learn by reading whatever they felt like and interpreting it however they felt.
There is much to be said on this topic and it is one of immense importance. Over the last several years we have taught several classes touching on this issue. They can be found on our online school.
In general, regarding Islamic education, we believe in following: the Ash’ari, Maturidi, and Hanbali schools in Aqidah; the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, and Hanbali schools in fiqh; and the way of Imam al-Junayd in tasawwuf.
Spiritual Refinement
After covering the more theoretical side of how we approach religious education, this point is to say that we as a community want to prioritize trying to act upon it with one another. We don’t want to be a community of talking and theory, we want to be a community that strives to do the things that we learn. In doing so we are practically learning those things in real-time.
This takes place through the efforts of love and service, but also through trying to have the best manners and character as possible with one another. It also happens through gatherings of remembrance where we come together to worship Allah and seek Him as a group. Sometimes this will be in making dhikr together, sometimes praying together, sometimes reading the Quran together, etc.
We recognize that this is a process and that we all benefit from one another when we do that process together and support one another in it.
Love and Service
When we do the foundations that we mentioned above then we should find in our hearts a deep and profound love for one another. The teaching of the Prophet, “you do not truly believe until you love for your brother/sister what you love for yourself” is the center of this. It is the core of the teaching of the Prophet, and previous prophets and messengers.
It is harder than it sounds.
However, when a community is built on this premise then we look out for another and pay attention to how we deal with and speak to one another. That allows us to build a community space that enables growth and lets us become who we truly are.
That love is a feeling that is deeply rooted in the heart and the way it manifests itself is through service. I want to help other people, do things for other people, because I love them. These are simple yet powerful spiritual practices that bring out the essence and beauty of our religion.
Conclusion
That concludes our series on explaining our mission statement here at The Majlis. Our hope and belief is that if we do these things then we will have a strong foundation by which to answer the many questions and challenges that we face as a community. However, without such foundations we cannot stand up to the challenges and carry the day. This is not the end of what we hope for, it is the base from which we do the work.
May Allah grant us all tawfiq.