It has been narrated that Hamad Al-Samandary has said: I said to Abi Abd-Allahﷻ Ja’afar Bin Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Them: I enter polytheistic nations and some of our companions have said that if I were to die I would be raised amongst them?! So the Imam, peace be upon him, said: “Oh Hamid, would you mention our matters and preach them?” To which I replied affirmatively. He continued: “And if you were in Islamic Cities would you mention our matters and preach them?”. To which I replied negatively. So then he said – “Then if you were to die then you would be raised a Nation alone and your light will be between your hands.”[1]
Scholars and preachers need to travel to polytheistic and non-Islamic nations in order to serve the Islamic communities in those countries and strengthen their identity, resolve fallacies and facilitate inter-faith activities. Those societies are not free from religious and social issues and problems and need the presence of a learned guide.
Those communities must prepare the ground work for the scholars to be able to achieve their goals for the betterment not of individual agendas, but for the betterment of Islam as a nation.
Furthermore, Mosques and Religious Charitable Centres such as hospitals, schools should be built, and global opportunities in Western Nations to benefit Islam should be taken.
However, building of Mosques without building the spirituality and education of the adolescent population of that community is tantamount to preparing a nest for the chicks, yet neglecting to feed them. The spiritual nourishment of the young population needs to be in the same language they speak and learn in, the language of the country they live in.
There are many examples where buildings continue to be built by elders of a community, run in such a way that pleases the elders rather than the young adults that crave to learn. Usually, these are in the mother tongue of the country the elders migrated from.
This leaves the young children and adults uninterested, pre-occupied with gadgets that keep them away from the programs of these centers and the education they would otherwise crave for. Furthermore, in what has become a fashionable trend, certain speakers and centers are asking for children to not even be brought to an event lest they interrupt the speaker or event. An unfortunate trend, and one that could lead to generations of Muslims only by name, if at all. A topic that needs to be dealt with independently.
Of course, the mother tongue and the language of the nation in which the children’s parents have migrated from should be taught, and well, to the following generations so that when the opportunity arises, a migration back is possible, and is not met with the difficulty of language barrier.
[1] Wasa’il Al-Shia V15:P101
