Consistency and Integrity in Our Lives

(Friday Khutba delivered at ISNA Canada Centre on August 17, 2007 by Muneeb Nasir)

Consistency—the absence of contradictions—has sometimes been called the hallmark of ethical living – living a good life.

To live a good life requires consistency in the sense that our actions and behavior should be consistent with our beliefs, values and environment.

Reforming ourselves and improving our behavior is all about examining our lives to uncover inconsistencies and then modifying our behaviors so that they are consistent.

To live a life of integrity – an upright life - means people act in ways that are consistent with their beliefs and are in harmony with their inner values.

Consistent identity

One of the areas that require consistency is in regards to our identity.

Today, it can be said that there is an identity crisis facing Muslims. There is a crisis when people are confused about their identity – who they are, where we are – doubting, as well as, fearing of being invaded by the other – it leads to rejection and is the recipe for disconnectedness – it can lead to radicalization.

We must define ourselves and develop a consistent and connected identity.

This begins with understanding what it means to be Muslim.

To be Muslim means to be attached to remembering the Creator, knowing that we are in His presence, serving Him and finding ways to get closer to Him, intimately, and with all the energy in our hearts. 

Islam is a body of principles and universal values. One should not mix up these universal principles with a specific culture.

Islam allows Muslims to adopt aspects of the new cultures and environments where they find themselves, as long as it does not oppose any clear prohibition specified by their own religion. Everything that is not against our core principles is for us.

We can integrate all those Canadian values/culture which becomes a new dimension of our own identity.

No one asks or forcing us that as Pakistani or Arab Muslims, but simply Muslims and with time, we become Muslims of Canada. This is a process that is not only normal but also desirable.

If we are not grounded from within the society then our lives are schizophrenic- we are here but our reference point is somewhere else. We are here but we may live isolated lives and reject everything in the society.
   
But, to truly live our Muslim identity we cannot isolate ourselves and develop an attitude of rejection; to live our faith requires us to be connected to the society because we’re are God’s representatives of the final divine revelation.

Muslims need to recapture this understanding we have lost.

Canada doesn’t prevent diversity of cultures and of belonging.

Canadian law recognizes and protects the fundamental rights of all citizens.

Canadian society has been changing and the presence of Muslims has allowed it to experience an even greater diversity of cultures.

The Canadian identity has evolved and is evolving into an open, plural and is constantly in motion.

This is how we should be looking at Canada.

Canadian Muslims are part of this constant motion of enriching the whole society.

Consistency in our identity starts from one principle: Muslims must remain faithful to their values and consistent with their environment.
 
In other words, it is not a question of lessening the Muslim identity to become more Canadian. 

We know it is  possible to be a devout, sincere and practicing Muslim while being a citizen of Canada.

And this leads me to the second point about consistency – being consistent with the universal Islamic values.

Consistency in reflecting the Islamic values

All of us believe that Islam is addressed to all of humanity. In our minds, hearts and consciousness we accept this as true.  We think that our values are universal ones.

We accept that the Qur’an is ‘guidance for mankind’; we accept that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, is the ‘mercy to all the worlds’; we believe the revelations of Allah when He says that He has made us a moderate nation to be ‘witnesses to humanity.’

Yet our actions and our living today deny the universal aspect of Islam. Some people feel that an ‘authentic’ form of the religion can only be lived in isolation. They engage in exclusivity of thinking and action and compound this isolation by cultural layers that accompany their religious expression.

The end result is that Islam is reduced to a restrictive rather than expansive expression. Instead of engaging society, celebrating diversity, proposing moral values that would allow expression of the universal, they have become protectionists.

But we are not expected to be just like any other ethnic community trying to safeguard a specific culture – we are a moral community entrusted with the universal message; with the burden of delivering and demonstrating God’s final guidance to the world.

Instead we build institutions and set up parallel facilities to ‘maintain and protect’ our faith.

In a society where we can freely express ourselves and demonstrate the universal dimension of Islam, we choose to set up isolation zones and engage in protectionist thinking.

We speak almost exclusively to ourselves about the great universal principles of Islam and about the exemplary character of Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, who was sent as a ‘mercy to all the worlds’.

We tell ourselves of how Islam takes care of the poor and needy, yet we have few soup kitchens or food banks to take care of the growing numbers of deprived that the governments have failed.

We tell ourselves of that Islam is a religion of knowledge, yet we have no libraries or reading rooms or higher educational institutions or produce few, if any, scholars or authors from this community.

We tell ourselves that Islam teaches us justice and compassion for the disadvantaged, yet we are the last ones to join calls against social injustices in this society.

Why have we become incapable of doing all of these things? It is because we are not consistent with this universal dimension.

It is because we are no longer capable of relating to the universal dimension of Islam, described by the One God as ‘guidance for mankind’.

Summary

The main message of my khutba today is this:

We must live lives of consistency – reconcile ourselves to the environment and to our values.

First, Muslims must remain faithful to their values and consistent with their environment.
 
In other words, it is not a question of lessening the Muslim identity to become more Canadian. 

We know that it is possible to be a devout, sincere and practicing Muslim while being a citizen of Canada.

Secondly, we must reflect and live out the universal values of Islam; these values are for humanity and we are required to show this to others around us.

Islam is not exclusive and does not direct us towards isolation. Our commitment is not ‘for us’ and ‘against them’.

Our commitment as a Muslim is to live a life of integrity and not of duplicity.

Prophet Muhammad tells us that to be a believer - it is all about consistency and integrity of our faith and actions.

On the authority of Sufian bin Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him said:

I said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about Islam which I can ask of no one but you".
He said:" Say: 'I believe in Allah', and thereafter be upright." related by Muslim.