Assalamualaikum everyone…

Sufyan athThawri (may Allah shower His mercy upon him) is a giant scholar from our history of knowledgeable giants that walked the face of this earth.

He passed away in the 2nd century, around 160 years after the migration of the final Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) from Makkah to Madeenah.

He lived in an age far different to the capitalist world filled with banks and digital money that we surf through today!

And during his humble age, I came across two eye opening statements of his as follows:

1. “If it was not for money (after Allah); the public would have used me (a scholar) to wipe their dirt!”

2. “In our time, wealth is the weapon of a believer.”

Subhanallah, these statements were said during the 2nd century of Islam, so what would be the reality of these statements in terms of the century we live in today, where greed is rampant, and money actually screams!

In my last telegram post I mentioned how some rich folks actually bully the scholars and become a test for a scholar.

And in a previous post (on Facebook) I spoke about the poor attitude some communities have towards their scholars, imams and students of knowledge.

They choose to pay them peanuts, but expect them to deliver 36 hour days to the community, for the sake of community development, especially in this day and age of higher percentages of matrimonial stress, misguided youth and other more serious issues related to the sanctity of beliefs and actions of our communities.

The only way to lift up the ummah is through injecting capable imams into the ummah and its systems and environments. I firmly believe that Imams that are truly financially able, above being technically able, will be more effective in commanding change and building that world we wish to see.

Money indeed does talk! And cannot be discounted from the discussion of transformative change!

Some communities are so unfair today, that they will refuse to even pay the minimum cost the Imam may charge to keep his efforts sustainable in a particular community, believing that we are living in the 2nd century of Islam where no one paid to learn the religion, and the Imams had the time to trade and still be in the service of his communities!

Come on brothers and sisters!

Enable your Imams, pay them well unashamedly, give them on top of that healthy working budgets (opex) and capable staff, and let them get to work becoming true Imams of their communities.

Money is a means to an end, and in the right hands, with the right vision; communities can become ignited, which eventually will benefit humanity.

This discussion is a long one, and hopefully this post will instigate healthy dialogue.

Your brother,
Sajid Umar