Footsteps of the Prophet & How to Contribute to Community: by Prof Tariq Ramadan

These are points that I managed to jot down from lecture by Prof. Tariq Ramadan during his visit to Malaysia in July 2012. Hopefully it will be beneficial, insyaAllah, amin. Do comment if you have any thought to share or if there's any point need correction :)

Footsteps of the Prophet & How to Contribute to Community: by Prof Tariq Ramadan

1. Islam is unity and we are all equal, and the best among us is the one who is deeper in God consciousness (Ihsan & Taqwa)

2. Two state of pray:

a) Pray naturally - fetus/ baby, nature - plants, animals, etc
b) State of choice - making conscious decision and bear responsibility towards self, community & brotherhood

3. Problems with Muslim nowadays:

a) Incline to focus on routine or ritual (solat, fast, pilgrimage) and 'halal' or 'haram'. This is far from Islam during the time of Prophet, where Prophet Muhammad focus on developing belief (aqidah) & character (akhlak). The proof is the companions (sahabah) of the Prophet with exceptional quality in faith & attitude.

b) Misconception or lack of understanding of what Islam is all about.

- Islam is not just about halal & haram, dos & don'ts!
- Islam is not about who's going to heaven & who's going to hell - before asking whether a person is going to be condemned, ask ourselves, where are we in the picture?

c) Evaluating the success or failure of a Muslim by scaling our pahala/ sins, while the truth is, the highest level of faith in Islam is about our true intention when performing deeds for the sake of Allah (Ihsan).

d) Lack of deeper connection with God - Allah is not only to be scared, but most importantly, to be LOVED!

e) Arguing on trivial issue - Eg. issue on the word 'Allah'. The word 'Allah' is not exclusive only to Islam/ Muslims, since the Christians/ other religion's follower in Arabic spoken countries use the word 'Allah' to refer to God. 'Allah' simply means 'God' in Arabic.

f) Misunderstand the concept of hypocrite - those who realized their weakness & struggling to improve themselves are the true Muslims, while those who know they're wrong but not doing anything to improve but giving excuse of 'this is myself, and I don't want to be hypocrite' is the REAL hypocrite!

g) Misconception on Islamic practices - What is harsh is not necessarily right. Muslims do not follow the harsh way, but we follow the right way! Islam is about to feel good in this dunya & hereafter. There is nothing good about feeling bad & depressed all the time!

Assuming the harshest method as the best way of practice is misleading mindset!

Eg. Prophet Muhammad drink water during Ramadhan while travelling (musafir) as it is permissible by God.

4. Prophet Muhammad as role model:

a) Prophet Muhammad is reflection of Quran itself
b) Known as al-Amin (the Truthful & Trustful) even among his enemies
c) Send as rahmah (mercy) to the world
d) Consistent in his saying & doing
e) Tenderness in behaviour & speech
f) Demonstrating every quality that is normal as human being - Married, have children, do house chores, working & do business, etc

5. Following the footsteps of the Prophet. "If you love God, follow me (Muhammad), and God will love you."

How?

a) Principal - Nurturing honour, dignity & pride as a Muslims in the heart

b) Steps

i) Change the way we look at nature
- The world is a gift from God to humankind. See nature as a gift, not property
- Quran discussed about nature a lot, eg. surah as-Syams, al-Lail, al-Fajr, etc. Quran shows how to look at nature not just with the eyes, but the heart. Other name of Quran is 'Nuur' (light) - to make someone look at things in different way
- Look at nature & think about the intelligence behind every creation
- How we take care of nature reflects how we take care of ourselves!

ii) Change the way we look at human

Exemplary way of the Prophet towards:

Enemy
- Just & kind towards the enemies. Eg. Enemies captured after war were released without punishment

Family
-Tender towards his wives & family. Eg. Helping his wife & family to perform house chores.

Companion
-Love while correcting & guiding the sahabah. E.g. when the sahabah had overworked themselves by fasting whole day without break, pray all night without sleep, he correcting them by saying it is indeed a good deed, but human need rest, and even he himself did break his fast & sleep before night prayer.

iii) Change the way we look at life
- The way we look at the world is a mirror of how we look at our own life

iv) Change the way we deal with the society

- The poor is neglected by the powerful but celebrated by the believer (to love & to be loved by the oppressed)
- Don't judge a person by outer appearance or condemning a person without understanding reason behind the action
- NO racism in Islam ever!
- Stand & protect a human being in the name of justice and not religion-biased. Eg. Prophet offered protection to victimized person regardless of religion.
- Protect & raise the status of women to the highest level. Eg. The first person the Prophet sought for after received the first revelation of Quran was his wife, Saidatina Khadijah
- Respect & tender towards kids, youngster & elder. Eg. Prophet respect opinions from his nephew, Ali bin Abi Talib even though he is still young. Play around and jokes with kids and the orphan

How can we say we are obeying the Rahman if we do not give rahmah to the community?

c) Consistent
- Consistent in saying (words) and doing (action) through the guidance of Quran & Sunnah. As normal human, we will make mistakes here & then in life, but what is important is to correct the mistake and self-improve

d) Objective
- To fully understand, what is the purpose for improving life & contributing to community? What is the purpose of living Islam?

6. Characters of the Prophet that we must have!

a) Confidence - Never doubt Allah
b) Trust - Trust Allah, ourselves and the community
c) Ambitious - To change ourselves inwardly & outwardly, and consequently to influence the world
d) Courage
- Have the courage to speak out & stand up for the just cause regardless of religion, race or gender.
- Do the true meaning of Jihad: The word of truth in front of a tyrant before you have power in your hand
- Speak of the truth & stand by the side of justice regardless of external factor like money, power, majority support, etc
e) Connect - Connect with God, ourselves & the world. Balance our share & contribution in dunya & akhirat. Be successful in both life!

7. Two key elements in life:

a) Khilafah :The world is not our own, but a gift which we will be accountable for. Ask ourselves, what have we done as khilafah on this property of God?

b) Remembrance of death : Remember that one day, we are all going to die, and we do our best to come back to life in the best possible way


MESSAGES FOR MALAYSIAN

1. Education

a) Education is not only about science, math, physics etc, but most importantly, to build CHARACTER in a person

b) Connect tauhid with humanity through education, knowledge & understanding
-Education : Know-how, meaning & objective of knowledge

c) Sense of priority
- Where do we put our knowledge?
- What do we consider in choosing the place to put our knowledge? Eg. Salary?

d) Key questions in establishing/ shaping education:
- What is the purpose of education?
- What are the ends of knowledge?
- What are the ends of education?

Quote: "If Malaysia do not invest in education to get not only citizen with efficient but also dignity, you are destroying the future of humanity!"

2. Arts

- Discipline of arts: Music, poetry, literature, architecture
- What is the creativity in arts that is specifically represent our culture & identity as Malaysian?
- What is the definition of ethical entertainment? What is the standard? Is it practical & how can we achieve that?

3. How to choose a leader? What is the characteristic of a leader?

Regardless of religion, the Prophet will choose among them those who have:

a) Competence - skill
b) Integrity - upright
c) Accountability

Closure

1. Asking the question of 'do God still loves me?' means God still loves you
2. Learn to love & forgive ourselves
3. Start doa with yourself - ask all the good things for you from God, so you can in-return, do good to the society
4. Stand up for what is dignified in the name of dignity & justice
5. To feel good, smile & laugh is halaal! :)
6. Don't practice victim mentality. No one force us to choose the path we are taking now except ourselves. Be responsible for ourselves and realized the fact that we can choose between what is right & what is wrong
7. Do not feel guilty or hopeless, but strive to contribute to the community
8. We are responsible for ourselves & our community, and we can make it!

Wallahualam.