الحمد لله رب العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على المبعوث رحمة للعالمبن، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين، والتابعون لهم إلى يوم الدين
Assalāmu alaykum Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh,
Beloved Brothers and sisters in the Dīn we are all welcome to this night’s Halqah which is titled: The Basics of a Healthy Community. We ask Allah to grant us the understanding of His Dīn, Āmīn
A community is a group of families or people that live together in a place and interrelate with one another. The people in a community often share common heritage and same government, and most times, have same societal goals. What we intend to discuss here are the basics that make any such community healthy and free of problems.
The Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – built a very healthy community that bonded people together and delivered the goals of a society and community. It all starts with the individual. Every individual must be at peace with four himself, his Lord, his family, and his society. By being at peace, we mean having a sound and balanced relationship that is free of insincerity, rancor, malice and hypocrisy.
What is meant here is that all these four are free from his harm. To be at peace with himself is for him to not take himself towards sinning and transgressing the limits of Allāh.
This is what is known as self oppression in Islām. Allah – ta’āla – said about this in the Qur’ān
وما ظلمناهم ولكن ظلموا أنفسهم
“We did not oppress them but they oppressed themselves”
وما ظلمناهم ولكن أنفسهم يظلمون
“We did not oppress them but they are the ones oppressing themselves”
That is because by sinning and driving oneself toward the wrath of Allāh, it is to oppress the body that was created to serve Allāh and to have a peaceful repose with Firdaws on the Day of Qiyāmah. Thus the believer must give himself its rights. He must take excellent care of his spiritual, mental, psychological, physical and intellectual spheres. Next, he must be in peace with Allāh ta’ālā by not associating partners with Allāh and not transgressing the limits of Allah. It also involves loving Allāh, loving His injunctions, keeping His limits and complying with His Regulations.
Being at peace with his family implies keeping the bonds of kinship, servicing it and struggling for the attainment of their interests. Being at peace with the society is to not harm anybody in the society with his hand or tongue to contribute to the society’s growth and showing concerns over their pains.
We shall inshā Allāh pause here to continue tomorrow
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد ان لاإله إلا الله نستغفرك ونتوب إليك
