The future of Islam: Our Roles as Ummah -By Hamid Fatimah Omotayo

Islam is a worldwide known religion that. It is the total and absolute submission to the will of Allah.

As we are all human beings, we have the future we are aiming at, and so, Islam also has its future.

Future  is a condition or situation of something or someone in the time that will come.
As Muslims as we are, pursuing our futures, we also have our roles in pursuing the future of Islam.

The role can be said to be a part that something or someone has in a particular activity or situation.

We should believe in the oneness of Allah and we must be certain that there is no other religion which Allah accepts other than Islam. 

Allah says in Quran 3 verses 19;”إن الدين عند الله الاسلام وما اختلف الذين أتوا الكتاب إلا من بعد ماجاء هم العالم بغيا بينهم ومن يكفر بآيت الله فإن الله سريع الحساب” “Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were A wawa given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them out of jealousy animosity between themselves, And whosever disbelieves in the verses of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in taking account.”

As a Muslim, before anything else, our role is to be united, as an adage says; “united we stand divided we fall”, once we are united, it is not easy for anything to break the ties, but when divided, it’s easy for the enemies to defeat us.

It’s our role to be the representatives of our religion, to promote good deeds and live exemplary lifestyles and allow  people to see us as ambassadors they can emulate. Doing so, we are building the future of Islam as a religion for people to live their lives upon.

We must cooperate with ourselves on the shari’ah of Islam and make sure it’s intact, there must not be any contradiction between us that will give the third party the notion that there are clashes among us. Contradictions may end up in division which is a hindrance to the future of Islam.

We must be fully prepared to face any challenge that comes to us, holding the future of Islam at stake and we must be ready to defend our opinion and beliefs on any Islamic matter.

We must remain knowledgeable and update our knowledge, knowledge is said to be  information, understanding, or skill that you get from experience or education, for the future of Islam. Our knowledge should be providing positive information about the Deen and be able to explain what the Deen entails.

Establishment of Islamic Institute; an Institution is a place where people get knowledge, and establishment of the institute will provide people the knowledge of their Deen and get them prepared for what lies ahead of the future of Islam.

There, Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), the stories of the prophet and Sahabah (Sirah), words and deeds of the Prophet (Hadith), Writing of Arabic language (Qotuh), Dictation of Arabic language (Imlah), and lots more will be taught.

There should be a day set aside for Muslims to meet themselves for introduction, treating topics about Islam, explaining the concept of the deen, and reminding themselves about the words of Allah, these will be a reminder for us Muslims because we are bound to be forgetting things.

Training of our wards in Godly ways, train them in the ways of Allah, train them to be better people because they are part of the future of Islam.

Practice what you know, for a knowledge is not beneficial when you don’t put it in practice, and teach others.

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the prophet said: “The best charity is when a Muslim gains knowledge, then he teaches it to his brother.” (Sunan Ibn Majah Vol. 1, Book 1, Hadith 243). 

Building a good future for Islam is the duty of every Muslim.

Hamid Fatimah Omotayo is a 200 level student of Education and biology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.