The Importance of Financial Support in the Indigenization of Islam in America

The Importance of Financial Support in the Indigenization of Islam in America

Imam Zaid Shakir

Introduction and Opening Remarks

Insha'Allah, next I would like to introduce our beloved scholar, Imam Zaid Shakir, who has, alhamdulillah, been serving the Muslim community for many years. I had the opportunity of going on the rahlah with him this summer, and subhanallah, spending that much time with him has really touched my heart. Imam Zaid, subhanallah, he really gave the time for all the students, he dedicated so much time for us, even when he was exhausted and tired.

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wassalatu wassalamu ala sayyidil mursaleen. Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallama tasliman kathira. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

I want everyone to be extremely quiet. I want you to listen to something. Extremely quiet. You ready? Here we go. Alhamdulillah.

Conference Announcement and Clarification on Nationalism

I'd like to start off by making an advertisement that Dr. Jackson made for the first annual conference of MANA, Muslim Alliance of North America, in Philadelphia, November 2nd through the fourth: State of the Black American Muslim Community.

And speaking on that subject, I'd like to just clarify, for those who might need clarification, something that you might have thought Dr. Jackson said. May Allah preserve him and bless his family. Dr. Jackson was not advocating nationalism. Black Muslim nationalism. How many of you understood that? He was not. You understood that. Okay. Alhamdulillah. They got it, Dr. Jackson.

And I think the reason that, Alhamdulillah. Takbir for Dr. Jackson. Takbir. Takbir for Shaykh Yasir Qadhi. Takbir. Takbir for yourselves. Takbir. Alhamdulillah.

Islam: A Religion of Diversity and Unity

The reason you got it is because you're educated and you realize that our religion is a religion of diversity. And our religion is a religion that recognizes national distinction, tribal differences. However, it does not recognize agendas rooted in particular nationalities that negate, oppress, or disadvantage other people. But the fact that Dr. Jackson is referring to the African American Muslim community should make no one uncomfortable.

Because our Prophet, peace be upon him, referred to distinct national Muslim communities. So, Islam recognizes:

"O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another."

"And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variation of your languages and your colors. Surely in this are signs for knowledgeable people."

So, we should not be uncomfortable with recognizing the uniqueness and the existence of particular Muslim communities. This should not upset us.

The Importance of Functional Unity

What should upset us is if we don't have at a higher level a functional unity and a functional agenda that can bring those diverse communities together to do large things that no individual community can do in and of itself. That's what should upset us if we can't come together at the higher level.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, when his armies marched out, the Aus had a banner, and the Khazraj had a banner, and the Muhajireen had a banner, and the various tribes had their banner, but they constituted a single army. And they recognized that that army was only as strong as the strength of its constituent elements. So, each and every one of us as an individual, and as individual communities, we have to be strong, and we have to support and strengthen each other.

The Central Role of Money in Indigenization

Now, I wanted to continue a theme that Altaf Hussain opened up, and that is money. Dr. Jackson is from Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, there was a group name that went by the name of the O'Jays. We're not talking Simpson football. We're talking the O'Jays, singers, and their most famous record. I'm not going to sing. Khorujan Minal Khilaf. Come on, Dr. Jackson. He wants to say it. Money, money, money, money. You're exposing yourselves. As if I'm not.

Now, money. All of these wonderful things. Indigenization. Indigenization takes money. Indigenization takes money. If the youth are going to do it, the MSA takes money. If it's going to be rooted in the experience of the African American community, that takes money. If it's going to be ISNA, it's going to take money. If it's going to be all of us, as it should be, it's going to take a lot of money.

Historical Lessons: The Rise of Spain as a Global Power

Sheikh Yasir Qadhi, may Allah preserve him and give him a long life of service to this Ummah, he talked about the history of Spain. Spain was the first major European power in a global sense. Why did Spain become a major power? Because they got access to a lot of money. It was called the gold and silver of the Americas. And they got access to that money with no investment whatsoever. Usually you get money as a return on your investment. They got free money. They got free money from gold and silver and they got free money from slavery. And as a result, they became a global economic power.

Now, I'm going to give you an indication of how events shape power. Why did Spain become a major power and why did the power of Islam as a global community, as a global actor, wane simultaneously? And I have to do all of that in three minutes. Allahu Akbar. I will make efforts. No, no, three minutes.

The Old World Global Economic System

Brothers and sisters, this global American-led global system is not the first global economic system. The old world, there was a global system. It extended from Scandinavia in the west to China in the east. And at the heart of that system was the Muslim world. And because the Muslim world was at the heart of that system that extended from Scandinavia through what is now Great Britain, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, a very critical player, the center of the system was Egypt.

And at the time, and we're talking about the first half of the 14th century A.D., Egypt was the richest society on earth because it was at the heart of that system. Ibn Battuta traversed the entire realm of that system from the west, Tunja, Tangier, in Morocco to the east, China. And there was a common culture that was created by Islam that held that system together.

The Flow of Wealth and the Golden Hajj

If that system had maintained its integrity, and if the money was flowing into the Muslim world from those overland trade routes, the old Silk Road, through the Saharan trade routes, if the gold that was... where was the... in that system, where was most of the gold coming from in that system? From West Africa, from Mali. And it's no coincidence that during that period, the first half of the 14th century, 1324, that's when Mansa Musa made the Golden Hajj.

The Malians had the most money, and as a result of having the most money, they had the biggest and the best universities. And those universities were indigenous African universities. Timbuktu and Gao and other centers of learning in West Africa. Indigenization takes money.

The Potential That Was Lost

If that system had remained intact, it's likely that the Muslim world would today be the technological and economic leaders of this world. Because Spain, by getting money, had finance capital to invest in research and development and mines. The Muslim world had that money and was investing in research, development, and intellectual capitals. And as a result, they were a dominant power.

The Bubonic Plague: A Turning Point in History

But what happened to that system? And this shows Allah Ta'ala can send something that can disrupt everything. And that is why no one should ever be complacent. America should not be complacent. Where is the Soviet Union today? It's gone.

What happened to that system? It was destroyed by a few mice and a couple of rats that started a phenomenon known as the bubonic plague. And once the plague started, and it's theorized in the Himalaya region of northern Pakistan, it spread by the traders. It followed the trade route and it decimated that entire system from China in

the east to Scandinavia in the west. And its greatest impact was at the heart of the system in Egypt, in Syria, in Palestine, in the heartland of Islam. That system was decimated by the bubonic plague. And it is in the ruins of that system that Spain began to rise.

See, we have to understand this. A few mice and a few rats and history changes. And history changes.

The Shift of Economic Power

The heartland of Islam, those sub-Saharan trade, the trans-Saharan rather, trading route, the silk road that traversed Asia. What happened with the rise of Spanish power? Number one, the economic center that was at the heart of the Muslim world was no longer the center. Now Western Europe was the center. America was one periphery. And now the Muslim lands were a periphery.

The infusion of cash into that system led to the development of navies and trading fleets. What did trading fleets do? They allowed the Spanish and then the Portuguese and then the Dutch and then the British to go around the Muslim world and to do it very rapidly. And the overland trading system collapsed. The trans-Saharan trading system, the salt and gold system collapsed. And the Muslim world went into economic depression. And as a result, a power rose and a power declined.

The Divine Pattern of Rise and Fall

This is the sunnah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala:

"Allah says He alternates power and weakness, impotence and strength, power and strength, impotence and weakness between nations to test us." (Quran 3:140)

Economics are critical.

The Prophet's Understanding of Resources

Brothers and sisters, as we talk about indigenization, as we talk about institutionalization, we need to talk about money and finance. The Prophet understood this:

"He frowned and turned away because there came to him the blind man." (Quran 80:1-2)

What was he doing? He was trying to get some money and some power.

The Early Muslim Community Had Resources

We think of the Muslim community that they were a group of dervishes, darwish. There were some dervishes, but there were some people with money.

The first convert was who? Khadija, may Allah be pleased with her. Did she have money or did she not have money? She had money. Ali was a young lad. Zayd bin Haritha was young and a servant. After that, Abu Bakr,

may Allah be pleased with him. Did he have money or did he not have money? He had money. And then he went and converted a bunch of his friends.

Uthman bin Affan, may Allah be pleased with him. Did he have money or did he lack money? He had money. Abdul Rahman bin Auf. Did he have money or did he have no money? He had money.

So, the earliest community, they had resources to finance the process of indigenizing Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. They had resources.

A Call to Sacrifice and Support

And brothers and sisters, we're going to need resources. And I only say that to say this. At every level, we have to sacrifice. We have to sacrifice our time. We have to sacrifice to develop our minds. We have to sacrifice to develop our hearts. And we have to sacrifice some money.

So, if you didn't write a check to MSA today, then pull out your checkbook and think again.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.