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We believe that a true and comprehensive understanding of Islam would not be possible without careful recognition of the Prophetic Tradition and the Prophet's Household. And Allah is the Source of Strength.
 

Desirable Strangeness

This paper is a submission by Kaneez Fatima.
You can contact her through her email address [kaneezefatima@hotmail.com]

"The world has always liked and accepted people who agree to the prevailing fads. You dare to defy, and you are rejected. Everyone who has been different hasn’t been accepted easily.

Take the example of renowned scientists like Albert Einstein and Socrates or of some legendary politicians. Initially, all of them looked strange to the eyes of the masses, for they did not follow what the masses followed. The world made fun of Galileo and Copernicus when they claimed that the earth was round (and not flat) and that the planets revolved around the sun and not the earth.

People were persecuted who challenged "established" "scientific" "facts". Imagine the kind of persecution those might have faced who challenged kings and "gods"? Ibrahim (AS) was thrown in the fire, Younus (AS) had to flee, Yahya (AS) was martyred, Isa (AS) would have been crucified and so forth. Even Prophet Muhammad (SAW), prophet of the prophets, had to leave his hometown to migrate to Medina and fight Ghazwas, and his progeny (AS) was executed since saqeefah.

Believers (in the words truest spirit), even to date, are seen as strange people. When the majority runs about to find peace in splendour of money, they seek peace in simplicity. When the majority strives to seek recognition and applause from the world, they strive to seek recognition from Allah. When the majority seems lost in having fun through shameful things, they seem lost in efforts to develop their higher self, serving God through serving humanity and being grateful for having that opportunity, which is, in real sense, the true fun in life, but it's experienced by only those who are truly blessed.

Prophet Mohammad (SAW) has said: "Islam began as something strange, and will revert to being strange as it began. So give glad tidings to the strangers. The people asked, "Who are they? (The strangers), O Messenger of Allah? He (SAW) answered, "Those who are pious and righteous when the people have become evil."

It was strange when Ibrahim (AS) intended to sacrifice his son Ismail (AS) for Allah, when Musa (AS) returned to defy the might of the pharoah, when Nuh (AS) built an ark in a desert, when Yaqub (AS) cried throughout his life for the loss of one son, when Daud (AS) fought the giant Jalut, when Adam (AS) cried for ages for repentance, when the youth (Asahab al Kahf) defied the mighty king, when Muhammad (SAW) offended the pagan leadership by unifying the one true God, when Ali (AS) stayed silent and aloof from caliphate for 27 years and when Hussain (AS) stood alone at Kerbala against the establishment.

Today, it is not strange, to adulter and have physical relationships, to kill and create fitnah, to earn from Riba, to show off and to envy. You know what is strange? It is strange to weep in fear whenever Zikr-e-Allah is done.  "

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