Muslim Lifestyle

Looking For the Muslim Man

Issue 1 Sept / Oct 2003

We have many selves, and we have many roles we would like to fulfil. To be a 'Muslim Man' requires that we put our ‘selves’ to one side and ask what it is that Allah (S) wishes of us in the situation.

 Picture this: a small town in South Africa one year after Mandela became president, a group of Muslims mostly from the UK cleaning up a house for a friend who was going to move there. It had been derelict and was filthy inside and out. It was a hot summer’s day and around two in the afternoon. Some of the men went back to the mosque for prayers leaving three men, six women and a child. Two of the men were young; one was white, about 18 years old and was cleaning the grounds near  the entrance gate; the black guy from Kwazulu Natal was hosing down the roof and walls of the house, the other black man was in the garden clearing it with two of the women and a child. The rest of the women were in various rooms in the house.

 Suddenly commotion at the front gate - two white South Africans in their 30s start trying to force their way onto the premises. There is an argument and the 18 year old guy is losing ground fighting off these strangers as they force their way in. The Zulu young man steps in – this is like pouring oil on a fire: one year into the New South Africa, the white Afrikaners don’t take too well to his intervention. The situation has reached fever pitch. One of the White Afrikaners pulls out a gun - either to use it or just to threaten them; the fact is, it is there. In the panic people freeze... The older black guy steps in front of the white Afrikaner and his gun, sends the two younger men in the house and asks what the problem is. It seems there is a hose pipe ban and these are neighbours who want to know what everybody is doing on the property. Everything is explained, apologies are made and things become calm.

 That situation did happen; in it all of the men who were at the house, cleaning it, acted as men and each of them was Muslim, yet if Islam is the middle path were they acting as 'Muslim Men'? In a way each of them acted for the betterment of the community, the men, the women and child on that property. Each acted with clarity of intent – the first to prevent the intruders' entry, the second - the only local in the group - to calm the situation, the third to prevent or minimise bloodshed. Allah (S) will judge our intentions. Each acted in truth with the conviction of his intentions. Perhaps the reason the third was more successful in the situation was the fact that he ‘read’ the situation most clearly through greater experience. In this he was able to ensure that his adhab, his courtesy, was appropriate to the situation. The Prophet Muhammad (s), said: “I have come only to perfect your adhab.” He encourages us to behave through his example, by remembering Allah (S) in every course of action we choose to take.

 The obstacle that gets in the way of Muslims being Muslims is the breakdown of intention, action and courtesy to Allah (S). It is about seeing the meaning behind the situation and acting appropriately. In the situation above, finding courage was not enough - it needed humility and wisdom too.

 We have many selves, and we have many roles we would like to fulfil. To be a 'Muslim Man' requires that we put our ‘selves’ to one side and ask what it is that Allah (S) wishes of us in the situation. A Muslim Man, in that instant in which he is a man, brings the qualities and gifts that Allah (S) has given him, to God’s service in the most appropriate way. A Muslim man is a father, husband, son, brother, neighbour, work colleague, the list goes on.

 Looking for the Muslim Man when enacting our various selves, requires a Muslim man to do those things which may not immediately seem to be characteristic of a 'man' but which in reality are, because of the good intentions behind them.

words: Abdullah Maynard

image: Ruh al Alam