“Bin gar keine Indonesien, stamm’ aus Brunei, echt Malay!”

I’ve been growing increasingly concerned about the problem of Muslims buying into the thinking of ethnic identity politics. It seems as if in our times we can’t move on past differences in ethnicity and culture, and we make our family tradition our primary identifier, placing it before our religion. As Muslim communities in America grow, they seem to naturally split apart once critical mass is reached and the old diverse masjid is splits into an Arab masjid and an Afghani masjid and a Dhesi masjid, and so on. This is indeed a problem, but it is merely a symptom of an underlying disease of the heart, a disease that leads to a father threatening to disown his own son when he dares criticize the jahilliya practice of bacha bazi, a disease that leads to a young girl weeping to herself every night because she can’t marry anybody who isn’t from the “right family.” Even in the communities where there is still one or two diverse masjids, people seem to stick to bonding with those of the same ethnic group. Perhaps it is natural human behavior to be cliquish, but I believe Islam calls on us to transcend this behavior and foster a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood between believers regardless of what group they happened to be born into. This is a jihad that every Muslim man and woman is responsible for undertaking; it is the duty of all of us to reach out to the convert sitting alone with pain in his eyes. We bear personal responsibility when we leave the black guy sitting alone in the back of the prayer hall while we go chat it up with “Yousaf-bhai.”

‘Abdullah reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “When there are three people, two should not converse together to the exclusion of the third for that would grieve him.”

It certainly is natural to socialize with people you have more in common with, however. I know I certainly find it harder to get along with the fresh off the boat immigrant who struggles to pronounce bear and beard differently than I do with somebody who has been in America in a while, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try my best to foster brotherhood and friendship between us. Even when verbal communication fails, we still have to maintain good adab and show kindness, love, and acceptance to our brothers and sisters no matter how radically different they can be than us. We do not live in an age where harshness and rigor is going to solve our problems; the failure of the puritanical movements of the 20th century to revitalize the Muslim community prove that much. Perhaps Hamza Yusuf said it best when he commented that the modern Muslim world does not need a movement but a stillness, as we seem to have lost the tranquility of the heart exemplified in the character of the prophet and his companions. Modernity is indeed terrifying, and despite our gut reaction being atomizing our communities and growing distant from each other to protect ourselves, it is not the Sunnah.

One of the minor signs of the last days is that only people one knows will be greeted with salaam. (Ahmed)

No matter how dark things seem, and no matter how pessimistic of a person I am, I do sincerely hope this beautiful part of Islam will be revived before I die. Reading some of the stories of the companions and the righteous generations of Muslims, it never ceases to amaze me how deep and beautiful the bond was between each and every believer. That was not a time of class warfare or tribalism; the believers were like one body, and they helped each other out when they were hurting. What about today? Can we truly call ourselves inheritors of the prophetic tradition when we allow ourselves to grow so distant? In these days the Muslims have become so distant that for a Saudi to marry a Filipino would be regarded as a greater disgrace to a family than murder. If we truly put meaning into the words “Ihdinas siratal mustaqeem” when we pray, we cannot allow this fragmentation of the Ummah to continue. It goes against the example of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and causes us to place more importance on culture and pride than Allah. Things must change, and change starts in the heart. Hypocrite reader, my double, my brother, do your best to de-program yourself of the jahilliya ideology of tribalism that has fragmented the Ummah into the pathetic state it is in today. You owe it to your brothers and sisters in Islam and you owe it to Allah.

Jubair ibn Mut’im reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “He is not one of us who calls to tribalism. He is not one of us who fights for the sake of tribalism. He is not one of us who dies following the way of tribalism.” [Sunan Abu Dawud 5102]