Lessons from Abraham

One great reason to live in Maryland is the plethora of Scholars in this area, it really is almost too much. I have mixed feelings about it living all over the US. I believe that every community should have at least 1 good Imam which unfortunately many don't. However, I think more is better, just think it took both Umar and Abu Bakr to try to follow in Prophet Muhammad's (Peace Be Upon Him) footsteps. And our Scholars however great they are, are not even an Umar or Abu Bakr, or a Ghazali or a Abu Hanifa. Therefore, gaining from a couple of good scholars in each community would be better. What makes a good scholar, I think the proof is in the pudding, its in the community. We have some good Muslim communities in Maryland, Alhumdulilah, but it saddens me to not see this in other areas. However, I do understand why Muslim all seem to migrate to one area. When you have those numbers you can impact society and make changes, you can have Muslim Mayors and Representatives of State. So as of now, I enjoy the diversity of Scholarship.

One of the Scholars that I have heard about through a Native Deen Song of all places is Imam Johari. You might remember he is the one that promised to take his daughter to the park. Well, he was doing a talk for Hajj on the Lessons from Abraham. His whole talk was recorded and you can listen to it below. However, my favorite part of it was when he said if you want to have a child like Ismael then you need to be a parent like Abraham and if you want to have a parent like Abraham then you need to be a child like Ismael. If you want to have a wife like Hajr, then you need to be a husband like Abraham. You have to be obedient to God, to have family members who will also be obedient to God.