3 Reasons Mosques should stay open

Sultanahmet Turkey by Fatih Yürür

I wake up early in the morning, everyday. Take shower. Pick up my diary. Zip up my bag. Find my tasbeeh. Ride my bicycle to reach the central mosque. Say Fajr with jamaat. Sit for nearly an hour in Quran class. Take notes. And come back home when Sun is up.

I am connected with our mosque. If I am told to give up on these gatherings, I would strongly advise we embrace the disease. Anything that distances me from faith, is wrong. This is definition of fitna; wrongly linking Prophet's hadith to justify an act of division.

Listen brothers and sisters. Give me your 5 minutes. I have broken down this article into 3 parts:-

1. Source of light

2. Reference in Islam

3. Reduces panic

Part 1 👉 Source of light

Sun by Jake Givens

We need light, a lot of it. While we are traveling down this road of endless facebook feeds and useless tiktok videos, we need an abundant influx of white bright light. Something that wakes us up. Shakes us up. Takes us higher. Moves us to grab it. Spread it. Lets us understand, there is more to this life. It is not empty and boring. It is yellow and orange. It is full of colors. Mosques are this source of light to make our life colorful.

Understand brothers and sisters, it is only in Quran. The source of all of our world and all of its biology, chemistry, physics. All of it is linked from above and beneath it with Quran. It is the rope Allah tells us to hold tight to. If there is no mosque, you won’t be able to stay true to your repentance. Believe me, it is not a vicious cycle of falling back to sinning. It is possible you stay firmly committed to your repentance. Your life is held on the pillars of Mosque only if you are a frequent visitor of this place.

I am writing this blog today in our mosque. I do not find my home and our library as soothing as this place. It needs an excessive amount of quietness to be productive. To shoot a good photo. And to write a good algorithm. I do it in mosque. Without it, I might fail at writing blogs and writing codes. It is my baseline. And without my purpose, I am already dead.

Part 2 👉 Reference in Islam

Tweet by MirMAK

These kind of fitna tweets and messages are circulating around us. I am not a mufti. Not a scholar. I am a muslim by logic. I am a web developer who is writing algorithms in his spare time to make this website work. I am not a liberal wasting time on twitter fighting satire agendas. I find God physical in front of me. Around me. I want to befriend God. Because I know He is right here. More these people talk bad about mosques, more they angry me. I get more irritated and more upset.

Logic 1 - Correct interpretation of Hadith👇

Prophet did not order this athan when there was calamity. He ordered it when there was rain and a storm. 1 odd day of excessive rain doesn’t mean you close mosque for an entire week or month. Corona is not rain. It is a test. It is a disease. In this calamity you open your mosque. You pray. You ask for forgiveness in mass gatherings. Even if they bring you death and sufferings.

Logic 2 - The First Plaque of 639👇

The first plague that had hit muslims was in year 639. Abu Ubaida Bun Jarrah, one of the blessed ten, was governing Syria and its surroundings. He did not shut these mosques down. He did not close gatherings where it was meant to get closer to Allah. He rejected the invitation from Umar RA to revert to Madina, saying;

Snippet from wikipedia page

Logic 3 - Importance of Mosques in Quran👇

According to Quran

Only those shall maintain Allah's mosques, who believe in Allah and Last Day, and establish prayer and give zakat, and fear no one except Allah. They, hopefully, will be among the guided.
- Surah 9:18

You can read more about the blessings linked with the mosques in this article.

According to above verse, only those people will come to mosques who believe in Allah and life here after. And believers are more logical, successful and liked human beings. They do not make absurd conclusions and spread fitnas. If a fitna comes to them, they prefer Quran over distance. Death over cure.

Part 3 👉 Reduces Panic

Sultan Qadoos Grand Mosque, Oman by mostafa meraji

People moving on roads, going to mosques, coming back, 5 times a day is not only 5 prayers a day. Community runs on this lines. People meet, discuss problems, release burden and find motivation. Isolation is satan’s weapon. He attacks people who are alone. Takes them further away from their religion.

Due to corona, you might resort to pornography while sitting in locked down homes. In isolation, you might find more reasons to drink and commit evil than when you are a frequent attendee of mosques. Lack of good people around you, continous recitation and publicly committing yourself to 5 prayers, makes you vulnerable to evil. Evil is greater than disease. It is dangerous. It can lead to endless sufferings. Corona might lead you to death. But after death, if you are a believer, honestly, it is fun, life and energy.

Brothers and sisters, there is more to death. It is an abundance of happiness and love. Just try to embrace the decree of Allah as such. Do not distance yourself from Allah. He is your friend and welwisher. He wants good for you. He doesn’t want you to live longer. He wants you die sooner in His way. In His love. In His mercy.

Conclusion

Doctor by JC Gellidon

With all the love and support for keeping your mosques open, comes responsibility. I know you are not afraid of death. But Islam doesn’t ask you to walk careless, act stupid and look immature. It is wisdom and love. You wear a mask, a head gown and walk with precautions. Act like you are a doctor, engineer and literate member of the society. You not only have to die in Allah’s way, but bring people into folds of Islam. Act in a way, people follow you, look upto you and find meaning in your call to mosques.

I am also tired of listening to half heard agendas and talks. I am writing this blog to let people know all of our speeches are incomplete. Just have patience. Do not end up judging your fellow brothers over half heard arguments. Listen to people of good hearts, agree with their disagreement and love them. Having good heart is more goal achieved than a disagreed argument.

Find peace, logic and love in your discussions. Do not fight. Do not hurt. Stay sober. A muslim acts, walks and talks sober. This is how, we muslims dominated the world. Dominate it once again. Conquer it once again. Make it colorful once again.