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The Task of A New Generation.

SomaliNet Forum (Archive): Islam (Religion): Archive (Before Feb. 16, 2001): The Task of A New Generation.
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New Deal

Wednesday, January 31, 2001 - 07:02 am
Hello fellow friends,

As promised in the "dress Code" folder, here is the new folder titled "The Task of A New Generation."

Few words seem to be repeated amongst the members of my generation over and over again. You may already have a sense of what those words are from the title of this folder: the creation of a new culture, the task of this generation, we must change for the good of our peoples; our society is in misery and it is us, the new generation, who can change things. We heard the call and the trumpets yet haven’t changed the guard.

The task of the new generation, our generation, seems to be crystal clear: change the course of our society. We seem to see the wounds and we seem to understand its cure, yet we seem to be inactive. Our generation argues that the task in front of us is far greater than that of revolutionary generations who came before us, that it has a magnitude far greater then they can imagine. We seem to be full of ideas and all. Yet, as brother Nur rightly recognized under the folder named “dress code …,” we seem to watch things happen rather than making them happen.

For this reason, I wanted to start a dialogue whose sole purpose is the fundamental question of how do we make things happen. How can our generation cash on their ideas? The aim is to have constructive dialogue on what methods do we think would help our generation rightfully fulfill their duty. What would help us go from point A (seeing the wounds) to point B (curing the wounds)? What would help us end the mere discussion of matters, the academic dialogue, and make us practitioners of what we argue? This is the purpose of this folder, a discussion of the methodologies rather than the problems.

New Deals

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Nur

Wednesday, January 31, 2001 - 08:36 am
New Deal

Thank you for your effort, by now the angels have recorded credit for your intentions.InshaaAllah

You wrote" What would help us end the mere discussion of matters, the academic dialogue, and make us practitioners of what we argue? This is the purpose of this folder, a discussion of the methodologies rather than the problems."

Brother, have you ever, washed the body of a dead man?

If you did not, please try one time. It is sobering experience. If it is yor first one, it will rearange your priorities.

The journey is long, supplies are not enough, travel mates are inexperienced and weak, and there is confusion everywhere.

Change starts within us, then our close family members,relatives, friends, compatriots in that order.

The Prophet was ordered to invite Islam and begin with his closest family members...Why?

Later he preached secretly in Makkah, and later he took it to the streets. this trend continued until Islam reached Asia and the gates of Europe.

If everyone of us helped one Somali brother or a sister to become a true servant of Allah, we will have enough momentum in a generation to become a respected group.

You see New Deal, Our eyes should be focused on Akhirah, while a strong desire and action to change the world around us is the force that drives us.

The curent situation took years to deteriorate to reach were it is today, it will take twice that effort to be just were we were twenty years ago.

What happened to our people is something we rightfully deserve due to our actions or lack of.

in 1974 in an early April Morning a dawn, at a dusty grounds near the beach in Mogadishu, ten blindfolded men where dragged paraded and put to death by a firing squad on orders of Siad barre the Father of Knowledge as he was called, for the crime of opposing Siad Barre claim that the Quraan is obsolete and Quraan does not have a place in modern socialist, Marxist .

The public were complacent, no one resisted or took to the streets, as everyone cared about their jobs and schools. so the story goes, and Allah's wrath took years, and when it happened in 1990, few were spared, everyone was fleeing:

Allah says in the Quraan" And when they sensed our wrath , they ran away, do not run...go back to your comfortable homes.......

" They said O Allah, we were indeed transgressors.. their begging continued until we made them crushed and dead"

This scene is in the hereafter but Somalia in 1991 was a close resemblance to that scene.

After Ten years of the collapse, Somali communities are dispersed throughout the world, Just like the Jews disobeyed Allah, and were punished, and disgraced, so are Somalis now been punished for crimes against Allah.

The wild fires has consumed a lot of people, old trees have collabsed, and fresh grass is sprouting all over again, rich with nutrients and hope.

This grass is people like NEW DEAL, IDEA, TLG and COMMON.

I pray that Allah protect our new generation from eveil. and help them put the right step at the right path.

This is my contribution.
The only solution that I can think of is:

Hardwork for Islam in Dawa, one person at a time.
Patience.
Keep yur eyes fixed on Aakhirah and the love of Allah.
Keep your sanity.

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Asraar

Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 08:04 am
New Deal, I think the most important aspect of the task is to focus on how best to teach Islam to the community.

Brother, as you may know for most of us, learning the Quran entailed a rote memoraziation without true understanding. I think this is the fundamental weakness in our society. Islam is a comprehensive religion that lays the ground rules for a way of life and blueprint for keeping the social order. People have to be taught this, if we want to get out of the mess we are in.

How you make ask. Nur answered. Islamic dawa, one person at a time. I would add, let the focus be on the social sector of society. I would urge your generation to stay away from politics (a very divisive and corroding element at this time).

By focusing on social sector; education, health etc, you will not only attract a lot of followers but you will succeed in building a strong and healthy society.

Look at the work of other faith-based communities and what they do worldwide. Under the guise of humaintarian assistance, missionaries do their thing and succeed!!! Why? because, they focus on social sectors.

Islamic dawa should do the same, i.e, focus on the basic needs of the communities.
The task seems daunting, but doing one step at a time will make it happen. Let us start with ourselves, then the family, then neighbours; then classmates, then the colleagues and so on.
Network with family members and like minded people both where you are and back home; start small, focus on what is feasible.

Be patient and never be discouraged.

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TLG

Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 03:30 pm
Asalaamu alaikum...

New Deal this is such a hard question! Ok, how about we discuss something else...for example...ummm.. the weather...that is much easier.

Ok, I just wanted to drift too, since Nur and New Deal have been drifting from my topic :)

Asraar, good job sis.

Insha Allah, my comment a lil later.

salaam.

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New Deal

Thursday, February 01, 2001 - 06:36 pm
Salaam all,

TLG,

You know, I used to live in Southern California and there was this joke that the best job, and easiest of course, in Southern Cal is that of weatherman. Why? Well, because all he/she has to say every morning is, "ladies and gentlemen, we have are warm day--about 70 degrees." The forecast is the same for the whole week, th whole month and year. So, yeah, weather is much easier in some parts of the world. Which brings me to this point, I still don't understand why you didn't consider Comedy as your major rather than that Bio stuff. You could have made a decent ...(Unislamicly speaking!).

Nur and Asraar,

Thank you both for your message, always full of wisdom. I agree with most of what you guys said, and inshaa Allah will follow up with a response tomorrow when I have more time.

Just one quick thought though, lest I forget it tomorrow, in regards to something Asraar said. You said that our generation must stay clear of politics. I think I would respectfully disagree with that. though I will elaborate more on tomorrow, I think that many of the problems that the Somali society suffers esteem from the lack of political participation. The lack of public mobilization that brother Nur refered to (when he's talking about the 1974 incident) is just one example of the political inactivity.

Another reason why I think that it is wrong to be apolitical is the fact that Islam is an all encomposing (would somebody check the spelling for me, please) way of life. As you and I are well aware of, Islam is not only a social force but also a political force, an economic force and "all-things," if I may use that phrase, force. So, abandoning one aspect of it will result the total failure of the other aspects. I do blame many of our problems the absence of political Islam from the scene of governance.

Although I already wrote too much, let me just add one more point (the hell whatever other work is waiting me!). To be just clear, and politically speaking, I think the political attempts of Islamists in Somalia failed miserably. I personally belief so, and I think our generation can learn from our past experiences and correct that of which went wrong. My argument: lets have new deals in every thing, from the way we run our governments, the idealogies we hold dear and even those norms that are acceptable in our society. I think we need complete reform of everything, if not a revolutionary. Reform, new deals, revolution, that is the task of this generation.

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common

Friday, February 02, 2001 - 12:17 am
A salaamu Alauykum


Ja Zaku Allahu Kahir everyone,
I love you all for the sake of Allah (swt)

New Deal, your last message made me smile quite disproportionatly

(not just becasue of its political nature... I am not a "political animal".. although aristole disagrees but phhs! what did he know , the greek guy never did a hard days work in his life!.)

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