Civic Engagement

Bismillah-hir-rahman-nir-rahim my dear brothers and sisters, As salamu alaykum Jami'an wa Rahmatullahi Wa barakatuh. We find ourselves as citizens of our country, sometimes surrounded by people, whether in our communities or in society in general, those who have a different viewpoint than us, those who see the world differently than what we see it to be. And in those circumstances, whether in times of peace, whether in times of upheaval, regardless of what the state of society is, we must ask ourselves what Islam wants us to do and how Allah wants us to behave as citizens of a country, as members of society.

Rasul Allah, sallal-lahu alayhi wa alihi wassalam, he says to Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib, alayhi assalat wa assalam, "Ya Ali, thalathun man yam lakun feehi lam yakum lahu 'amal" . There are three things that a person must adhere to if they want to ensure that their actions will stand up, that they will persist and will have an affect. The first Rasul Allah, he says. "War'un yahjuzuhu'an maasi Illa azza wa jal" . The first is that they must have fear of God, so that they do not transgress the limits of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, they remain within the boundaries of his morality.

Number, two, "Wa 'ilmun yaruddubihi jahla as-safih" they must have knowledge by which they can act in forbearance or with forbearance towards those who are ignorant. To those who do not know about them, they act in a manner that is tolerant towards those who are ignorant. And number three, "Wa 'aqlun yudaari bihi in-naas " And they must have reasoning by which they can deal courteously and moderately with the people who surround them, every person. Hence in society. We must engage in a civic manner and the term civic engagement or social engagement or social involvement is defined as the action of individuals or groups of individuals for the good of the public, for the good of society, people acting together to bring about betterment in society.

And this is the code of Islam. Yet we must recognize that there are two aspects to civic engagement, something that we must continue in irrespective of the state of society or what we find the society to be in. A Muslim must be constantly, positively engaged in society. And as I mentioned, it requires two aspects. The first preceding the second and the second being contingent on the first. The first is service. A person must engage in positive service to the society, to community to go out and help the poor, the destitute, to teach those who want to learn, to give to those who need to remove the deficits of society to empower those who are disenfranchised.

Only then can they engage in the second aspect that is required for civic engagement. That second aspect is to create dialog and to voice your concerns and to come forward and to provide positive contributions for the betterment of society. When a person is engaged in service, when they go and actively help the poor of the society, whether helping a Muslim or a non-Muslim, helping any citizen in need, helping any person in need, a person who is a part of that same homeland as them, then they have a foundation on which they can stand and now voiced their concern and be taken seriously for the direction of their country, for their society, for wherever they live and they contribute.

That voice, that dialog, that engagement is far more potent when it is preceded by service, preceded by us being active. And you see, this is the legacy of Muhammad wa aali Muhammad, alayhim as-salatu wa assalam, that not only did they call people to improve the state of society, they did so after they had already personally engaged in helping the poor and helping the destitute in empowering those who needed empowerment and providing a voice for those who did not have a voice.

Let us live by this example and make ourselves positive citizens in our country. Wa assalamu alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.