8/8/2019 Reviving Institution of Masjid in Islam

1/3

Page 1 of 3

Masjids have a critical and central role in carving

character of Muslim society and keeping its

followers aligned with teachings of Islam. This is

evident from the fact that Prophet Muhammad

(PBUH) at the very outset of Hijrat to Madina

founded Masjid-e-Nabvi which acted as a hub forall religious, political, administrative, institutional

and social activities. Since then this has been

followed by Muslim Rulers around the world and

institution ofMasjidhas been playing a pivotal role

in one form or the other. Muslims wherever they

went, built Masjids which served as a hub of their

activities.

Since the times of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Masjids have enjoyed the role of a multifarious

institution simultaneously acting as a pulpit forconducting State Affairs, Collective Consultative

Decision Making, Court & Dispute Settlement,

Social Affairs, Preaching of Islam and Imparting

elementary and Higher Education to the Masses.

To understand true spirit of Institution of Masjid,

different roles of Masjids have been briefly

enumerated hereunder:-

Masjid as a Religious Institution Throughout

history, Islam has spread through Masjids andimpacted influential circles across the globe. People

of all cast & creed, social status come together and

standby each other without making any

discrimination because before Allah Subhanawatala

all man & women are equal except those who are

better in Taqva from others. Distinction among

Masjids Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has given

distinction to three Masjids over the others. 1st

Bait

Ul Haram, 2nd

Masjid-e-Nabvi and 3rd

Masjid-e-

Aqsa. This means that saying prayer in the

aforementioned Masjids is Afzal than saying prayerin any other Masjidin the world.

Masjid as a Political Institution Prophet

Muhammad (PBUH) ran his dynasty from the

Masjid. All ambassadors of different countries and

tribes visited him in the Masjid and appropriate

measures through Mushawrat (Consultative

Decision Making) were done within the Masjid.

Contemporary Political Roles Masjids are used as a

platform of unity and participation all over theworld wherever Muslims are in minority. Masjids

are also used to promote civic participation. For

instance, Masjids in USA host voter registration,

cultural activities and celebration of Eid and

dissemination of information about issues faced by

the Muslim community.

Masjid as a Judicial Institution In the times of

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) all disputes weresettled in the Masjids. There hearing, consultation,

decision making and implementation was done

through the pulpit ofMasjid.

Masjid as an Institution of Shelter & Peace Not

very far in history even in todays world, Masjids

serve as a place of shelter for the travelers and

especially for those who come from far flung areas

to preach Islam. Masjids have been declared within

our religion as a place of peace. No war or activities

ofFasadare permitted in the Masjid.

Masjidas Administrative Institution Activities such

as collection and disbursement of Zakat, Fitrana &

Sadqa from the local community existing in the

vicinity of Masjid. Collection of funds and support

commodities such as clothing and grocery are also

collected and disbursed in case of earthquakes,

flooding etc. anywhere in the world or the country.

Masjids also serve as a unit of information for

announcements such as lost & found, community

functions and in the times of war serves as a hubfor dissemination of information and for civil

defense activities.

Masjid as a Social Institution Nikkah, activities of

religious celebrations like, Mahfile Hamd O Naat,

Quran Khawani, offering ofNamaz-e-Janaza and to

some extant certain social affairs which include

deliberation on cleanliness of the Mohalla, voting

and pleading and resolution of common disputes

along with lost & found announcements is also

practiced.

Masjid as an Educational Institution The Masjid

played a major part in the spread of education

among Muslims. The first school was Masjid-e-

Nabviset up at Madina in 653 AD, and by 900 AD

nearly every Masjidhad an elementary school for

the education of both boys and girls. After basic

reading and writing skills, Quran was taught. Later

on subjects such as Astronomy, Philosophy,

Jurisprudence, Arithmetic, Engineering, Medicine

etc were also added and taught depending on the

inclination of the student. For example, astronomy,

engineering, and medicine were taught at Al-Azhar

& Ibn Tulun in Egypt. Pharmacology, Engineering,

REVIVING INSTITUTION OF MASJID IN ISLAM

by M. Faisal Qasmi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_registrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_registration

8/8/2019 Reviving Institution of Masjid in Islam

2/3

Page 2 of 3

Astronomy and other subjects were taught in the

Masjids of Baghdad in Iraq. Many of the ancient

Muslim Centres of learning which still exist today,

and are considered as the oldest universities in the

world, are Al-Qayrawan and Al-Zaytuna in Tunisia,

Al-Azhar in Egypt and Al-Qarawiyin in Fez, Morocco.

Present Status Masjids are now controlled by

different sects and sermons delivered by them

leave no stone unturned in making other sect as

totally in opposition of true religion. Recently, we

have seen that these clergy man have become

nuisance to true religion and seldom convey the

true spirit and meaning of Islam. This may not be by

intention but most probably based on their

inadequate and unauthentic knowledge and

inclination towards harnessing personal benefitswhether based on a fact or falsified information.

Regular Prayers Masjids are primarily used to offer

prayers only. Imams appointed for the purpose do

not have any other purpose & responsibility other

than leading prayers which is contrary to the

teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a Statesman and a

person of greater rather greatest responsibilities

himself led the prayers to make a note that people

of greater responsibility should lead prayers. Thefour beloved Caliphs of prophet Muhammad

(PBUH) followed this Sunnah in its true spirit. This

signifies that Imam of a Masjid is not a separate

designation (as prevalent nowadays) standing in

aloof of the society. People of greater responsibility

are supposed to lead prayers in the Masjids of their

vicinity. Currently, Imam of a Masjid is someone

who does nothing but leads the prayer and

sometime involved in teaching Quran to children.

He has no other role to play in the society. This

norm goes exclusively against the spirit of

institution of Masjid. For this reason, today we

stand apart from our religion and our practical

lives.

Jumah Prayer Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

especially instructed that the heads of the state

and their viceroys should lead the Friday prayer

and deliver sermon in this regard. This role cannot

be assumed by any person wishing to do so. This is

perhaps based on unworthy deeds of the rulers

who are reluctant to say lead and say prayers in

front of public. Once they lead the prayer, doing an

unworthy act demands enormous courage and

sinful nature which perhaps is yet not there. In

practice, Friday prayers are led by clergy man who

hold no responsibility other than leading the prayer

and often misuse the pulpit of Masjid and these

further filters into wide gap between religion and

politics and other sects of life.

Parallel Judicial System A parallel judicial system

exists and practiced widely by Muftees in the Jamia

Masjids. The Mufti is a qualification hard earned by

years long study of religion which includes political,

social, religious institutions as delineated by

Shariah. Matters pertaining to family matters such

as divorce, marriage, inheritance, names of new

born and any other matter on which the Saail

needs help and advice in the light of teachings of

Islam.

WAY FORWARD Now, with the passage of time and

extension of Muslim State, the role of this

institution has been declining and nowadays only

limited to a place of worship. This has further

resulted in low attendance for prayers which

substantially rises in the month of Ramazan. The

apparent reason for the declining role of institution

ofMasjidis that role and characters of the leaders

of the Muslim State could not keep up with high

values and perhaps this resulted in non appearance

before public in congregational prayers and leadingas Imam of the prayer.

The idea of Masjid from the times of Prophet

Muhammad (PBUH) was to keep both the State and

Religion together since Islam is not simply a religion

giving directions on worshipping only but it is a

complete code of life and addresses all issues and

aspects of life. As Sir Dr. M. Allama Iqbal said in his

famous verses:-

Juda ho din Siasat Se to rah jati ha Changezi

The present declining status of Muslim world is the

result of devastation and misuse of its foremost

learning centre and hub of authority; the Masjid. It

is worth noting that in the shining days of Islam, the

scholars & knowledge went hand in hand truly

based on the verses of the Quran e Pak and the

sayings of the Prophet urging its believers to learn

and seek knowledge. Similarly, the word Jami'

means both Masjidand school. In Arabic, the wordfor university, Jamia, is derived from Jami'

(Masjid).

8/8/2019 Reviving Institution of Masjid in Islam

3/3

Page 3 of 3

Philosophy behind integrating State and Religion

although well explained above has following

apparent repercussions if revived in todays world:-

1. Rulers conducting State Affairs from a Masjidwould keep them aligned with the teachings ofProphet Muhammad (PBUH) as compared to

conducting State Affairs from an extravagant

building / Corporate House.

2. Administrative Errands & Overheads wouldgreatly reduce.

3. Rules of Saadgi would become prevalent4. Contentment would prevail5. Five times prayer shall be offered by the Rulers

along with their followers and visitors and

would enhance attendance greatly and would

prove to be a milestone in realizing their owndeeds.

Presently, the Masjids serve no other purpose but

offering of prayers. The Imams in local Masjids who

lead prayer and teach Quran are not qualified to

the level that they can advise the locals and are

absolutely unaware of modern education. They

cannot tender advice with confidence and

reference about true teachings of Allah

Subhanawatala through Quran e Pak and the

Sunnah. It has been made impossible for a true andhonest scholar of Islam to make the Masjida centre

of his preaching and fulfill his duty to propagate the

religion under the command of God. The only way

to achieve this is to adopt the Sunnah of the

Prophet (PBUH) and this perhaps requires following

gradual steps at the government level:-

1. The District Government should hold Officewithin a Masjidwhich should be declared as a

central Masjid in the city. Offices and courts

necessary for an administrative unit are also set

up within the Masjid in every centre. This

Masjid should also act as central education

regulating authority for the area.

2. Head of the Local Government / Nazim/NaibNazim should lead the prayers

3. A system of substitute Imams be introducedand emplaced

4. All Counselor Offices be placed in Masjids oftheir vicinity.

5. The Counselor should lead the prayer.6. The Imam of local Masjids should be

constitutionally recognized, qualified and

possess certain authority pertaining to vicinity

where Masjidis located and must be bestowed

with additional responsibility other than

leading the prayer.

7. Number ofMasjids should be limited, plannedand exclusively controlled by the Government

8. The Madrassas operating within Masjids shouldbe given a constitutional status as recognitionof their qualification and should be regulated

by education department like other schools or

institutions.

9. Only qualified scholars should be eligible tohold classes and gathering in the Masjid to

educate and train the masses.

10. It must be made sure that such officearrangements should be situated in a Masjid

rather than Masjidsituated in the offices which

is the case today.

11.Parallel system of Muftis may be integratedand fabricated with Masjids, society and

existing formal judicial system.

12.Qualification of Mufti be constitutionalized andrevised in the light of modern learning and

knowledge so that decisions of Muftis and their

acceptance can be weighted upon common

sense and made reliable. Because Islam is not

just a religion advocating worship of one God, it

is a complete code of life which should be

adopted and interpreted as permitted and

leveraged in the religion in the light of Ijtehadand Fiqah.

Sources: www.Al-mawrid.org

www.Islamicheritage.com

http://www.al-mawrid.org/http://www.al-mawrid.org/http://www.islamicheritage.com/http://www.islamicheritage.com/http://www.islamicheritage.com/http://www.al-mawrid.org/