REVIVING INSTITUTION OF MASJID IN ISLAM
by M. Faisal Qasmi
Masjids have a critical and central role in
carving character of Muslim society and
keeping its followers aligned with
teachings of Islam. This is evident from
the fact that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
at the very outset of Hijrat to Madina
founded Masjid-e-Nabvi which acted as a
hub for all religious, political,
administrative, institutional and social
activities. Since then this has been
followed by Muslim Rulers around the
world and institution of Masjid has been
playing a pivotal role in one form or the
other. Muslims wherever they went, built
Masjids which served as a hub of their
activities.
Since the times of Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) Masjids have enjoyed the role of
a multifarious institution simultaneously
acting as a pulpit for conducting State
Affairs, Collective Consultative Decision
Making, Court & Dispute Settlement,
Social Affairs, Preaching of Islam and
Imparting elementary and Higher
Education to the Masses.
To understand true spirit of Institution of
Masjid, different roles of Masjids have
been briefly enumerated hereunder:-
Masjid as a Religious Institution
Throughout history, Islam has spread
through Masjids and impacted influential
circles across the globe. People of all cast
& creed, social status come together and
standby each other without making any
discrimination because before Allah
Subhanawatala all man & women are
equal except those who are better in
Taqva from others. Distinction among
Masjids Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has
given distinction to three Masjids over
the others. 1st Bait Ul Haram, 2nd Masjid-
e-Nabvi and 3rd Masjid-e-Aqsa. This
means that saying prayer in the
aforementioned Masjids is Afzal than
saying prayer in any other Masjid in the
world.
Masjid as a Political Institution
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ran his
dynasty from the Masjid. All ambassadors
of different countries and tribes visited
him in the Masjid and appropriate
measures through Mushawrat
(Consultative Decision Making) were
done within the Masjid.
Contemporary Political Roles Masjids
are used as a platform of unity and
participation all over the world wherever
Muslims are in minority. Masjids are also
used to promote civic participation. For
instance, Masjids in USA host voter
registration, cultural activities and
celebration of Eid and dissemination of
information about issues faced by the
Muslim community.
Masjid as a Judicial Institution In the
times of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) all
disputes were settled in the Masjids.
There hearing, consultation, decision
making and implementation was done
through the pulpit of Masjid.
Masjid as an Institution of Shelter &
Peace Not very far in history even in
today’s world, Masjids serve as a place of
shelter for the travelers and especially for
those who come from far flung areas to
preach Islam. Masjids have been declared
within our religion as a place of peace.
No war or activities of Fasad are
permitted in the Masjid.
Masjid as Administrative Institution
Activities such as collection and
disbursement of Zakat, Fitrana & Sadqa
from the local community existing in the
vicinity of Masjid. Collection of funds and
support commodities such as clothing
and grocery are also collected and
disbursed in case of earthquakes,
flooding etc. anywhere in the world or the
country. Masjids also serve as a unit of
information for announcements such as
lost & found, community functions and in
the times of war serves as a hub for
dissemination of information and for civil
defense activities.
Masjid as a Social Institution Nikkah,
activities of religious celebrations like,
Mahfile Hamd O Naat, Quran Khawani,
offering of Namaz-e-Janaza and to some
extant certain social affairs which include
deliberation on cleanliness of the
Mohalla, voting and pleading and
resolution of common disputes is also
practiced.
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Masjid as an Educational Institution
The Masjid played a major part in the
spread of education among Muslims. The
first school was Masjid-e-Nabvi set up at
Madina in 653 AD, and by 900 AD nearly
every Masjid had an elementary school
for the education of both boys and girls.
After basic reading and writing skills,
Quran was taught. Later on subjects such
as Astronomy, Philosophy, Jurisprudence,
Arithmetic, Engineering, Medicine etc
were also added and taught depending
on the inclination of the student. For
example, astronomy, engineering, and
medicine were taught at Al-Azhar & Ibn
Tulun in Egypt. Pharmacology,
Engineering, Astronomy and other
subjects were taught in the Masjids of
Baghdad in Iraq. Many of the ancient
Muslim Centres of learning which still
exist today, and are considered as the
oldest universities in the world, are Al-
Qayrawan and Al-Zaytuna in Tunisia, Al-
Azhar in Egypt and Al-Qarawiyin in Fez,
Morocco.
Present Status Masjids are now
controlled by different sects and sermons
delivered by them leave no stone
unturned in making other sect as totally
in opposition of true religion. Recently,
we have seen that these clergy man have
become nuisance to true religion and
seldom convey the true spirit and
meaning of Islam. This may not be by
intention but most probably based on
their inadequate and unauthentic
knowledge and inclination towards
harnessing personal benefits whether
based on a fact or falsified information.
Regular Prayers Masjids are primarily
used to offer prayers only. Imams
appointed for the purpose do not have
any other purpose & responsibility other
than leading prayers which is contrary to
the teachings of Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) as Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as
a Statesman and a person of greater
rather greatest responsibilities himself
led the prayers to make a note that
people of greater responsibility should
lead prayers. The four beloved Caliphs of
prophet Muhammad (PBUH) followed this
Sunnah in its true spirit. This signifies
that Imam of a Masjid is not a separate
designation (as prevalent nowadays)
standing in aloof of the society. People of
greater responsibility are supposed to
lead prayers in the Masjids of their
vicinity. Currently, Imam of a Masjid is
someone who does nothing but leads the
prayer and sometime involved in
teaching Quran to children. He has no
other role to play in the society. This
norm goes exclusively against the spirit
of institution of Masjid. For this reason,
today we stand apart from our religion
and our practical lives.
Jumah Prayer Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) especially instructed that the
heads of the state and their viceroys
should lead the Friday prayer and deliver
sermon in this regard. This role cannot be
assumed by any person wishing to do so.
This is perhaps based on unworthy deeds
of the rulers who are reluctant to say
lead and say prayers in front of public.
Once they lead the prayer, doing an
unworthy act demands enormous
courage and sinful nature which perhaps
is yet not there. In practice, Friday
prayers are led by clergy man who hold
no responsibility other than leading the
prayer and often misuse the pulpit of
Masjid and these further filters into wide
gap between religion and politics and
other sects of life.
Parallel Judicial System A parallel
judicial system exists and practiced
widely by Muftees in the Jamia Masjids.
The Mufti is a qualification hard earned
by years long study of religion which
includes political, social, religious
institutions as delineated by Shariah.
Matters pertaining to family matters such
as divorce, marriage, inheritance, names
of new born and any other matter on
which the Saail needs help and advice in
the light of teachings of Islam.
WAY FORWARD Now, with the passage
of time and extension of Muslim State,
the role of this institution has been
declining and nowadays only limited to a
place of worship. This has further
resulted in low attendance for prayers
which substantially rises in the month of
Ramazan. The apparent reason for the
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declining role of institution of Masjid is
that role and characters of the leaders of
the Muslim State could not keep up with
high values and perhaps this resulted in
non appearance before public in
congregational prayers and leading as
Imam of the prayer.
The idea of Masjid from the times of
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was to
keep both the State and Religion
together since Islam is not simply a
religion giving directions on
worshipping only but it is a complete
code of life and addresses all issues and
aspects of life. As Sir Dr. M. Allama
Iqbal said in his famous verses:-
Juda ho din Siasat Se to rah jati ha
Changezi
The present declining status of Muslim
world is the result of devastation and
misuse of its foremost learning centre
and hub of authority; the Masjid. It is
worth noting that in the shining days of
Islam, the scholars & knowledge went
hand in hand truly based on the verses
of the Quran e Pak and the sayings of
the Prophet urging its believers to learn
and seek knowledge. Similarly, the
word Jami' means both Masjid and
school. In Arabic, the word for
university, Jami‘a, is derived from Jami'
(Masjid).
Philosophy behind integrating State and
Religion although well explained above
has following apparent repercussions if
revived in today’s world:-
1. Rulers conducting State Affairs from a
Masjid would keep them aligned with
the teachings of Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) as compared to conducting
State Affairs from an extravagant
building / Corporate House.
2. Administrative Errands & Overheads
would greatly reduce.
3. Rules of Saadgi would become
prevalent
4. Contentment would prevail
5. Five times prayer shall be offered by
the Rulers along with their followers
and visitors and would enhance
attendance greatly and would prove
to be a milestone in realizing their
own deeds.
Presently, the Masjids serve no other
purpose but offering of prayers. The
Imams in local Masjids who lead prayer
and teach Quran are not qualified to the
level that they can advise the locals and
are absolutely unaware of modern
education. They cannot tender advice
with confidence and reference about true
teachings of Allah Subhanawatala
through Quran e Pak and the Sunnah. It
has been made impossible for a true and
honest scholar of Islam to make the
Masjid a centre of his preaching and fulfill
his duty to propagate the religion under
the command of God. The only way to
achieve this is to adopt the Sunnah of the
Prophet (PBUH) and this perhaps requires
following gradual steps at the
government level:-
1. The District Government should
hold Office within a Masjid which
should be declared as a central
Masjid in the city. Offices and
courts necessary for an
administrative unit are also set up
within the Masjid in every centre.
This Masjid should also act as
central education regulating
authority for the area.
2. Head of the Local Government /
Nazim/Naib Nazim should lead the
prayers
3. A system of substitute Imams be
introduced and emplaced
4. All Counselor Offices be placed in
Masjids of their vicinity.
5. The Counselor should lead the
prayer.
6. The Imam of local Masjids should
be constitutionally recognized,
qualified and possess certain
authority pertaining to vicinity
where Masjid is located and must
be bestowed with additional
responsibility other than leading
the prayer.
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 7. Number of Masjids should be
limited, planned and exclusively
controlled by the Government
8. The Madrassas operating within
Masjids should be given a
constitutional status as recognition
of their qualification and should be
regulated by education
department like other schools or
institutions.
9. Only qualified scholars should be
eligible to hold classes and
gathering in the Masjid to educate
and train the masses.
10.It must be made sure that such
office arrangements should be
situated in a Masjid rather than
Masjid situated in the offices which
is the case today.
11.Parallel system of Muftis may be
integrated and fabricated with
Masjids, society and existing
formal judicial system.
12.Qualification of Mufti be
constitutionalized and revised in
the light of modern learning and
knowledge so that decisions of
Muftis and their acceptance can be
weighted upon common sense and
made reliable. Because Islam is
not just a religion advocating
worship of one God, it is a
complete code of life which should
be adopted and interpreted as
permitted and leveraged in the
religion in the light of Ijtehad and
Fiqah.

Sources: www.Al-mawrid.org
www.Islamicheritage.com

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