Mosque Consturction Dilemma
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Peace be upon you,
I am just curious as to what any of you would do in such a situation as I am currently facing it.
Each year, I donate a certain sum of money to our neigborhood mosque for expansion and other construction purposes. Its been about 7 years, I believe, that me and several other visitors to the mosque have been donating (and of course, no mosque yet!)
So far I believe I've donated thousands of USD and each year in mail right before Ramadan I get an inviation to donate even more. I was very well aware that this mosque was/is/and always will be a Sunni mosque. However, not until recently, I stared to dislike every aspect of this "construction".
They lauched their website recently (based on donated money) and on it, they've got things included that I don't believe and won't support. For instance, as soon as you enter the site, the first thing you see is the Hadith of the moment - were each time a new statement from the hadith is posted. No Koranic verses anywhere!
Next, as always I was interested to see what they had under women in Islam cateogry and of course they claim that a woman must obey her husband to the limits to ensure a safe hereafter. A woman can't fast without her husband's permission, she doesn't have the right to choose her kids name's, she can't leave her home without husband's permission, etc.
Inside the mosque, there are wooden art works - one says Muhammed in Arabic and the other Allah in arabic, side by side and they are held high up on the wall. Every time we bow, those art works are above our heads.
The day at the mosque begins each day with "Dars-E-Hadeeth" which I believe is reciting and explaining the hadith. Right after prayers, the glorify Muhammed and start humiliating the visitors by asking them to donate huge sums of money for the construction. How absurd do they have to be to ask one person to donate 25 thousand?
I clearly can see people in front rows being humiliated as the man points fingers and says, how much will you give, etc.?
I don't stand up for what they believe in, but I feel guilty if I don't support the construction because, to be fair, they do recite the Koran as well. Its not like they've compltely abandoned it, but their ideas are very paganistic.
What would any of you do keep donating or no?
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Salaam all
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- thanks for the post. I have a similar dilema with my local mosque and for some reason it gets much worse around Ramadan.
Allah commands us to be like a cemented structure and not to break into sects and for this guidance I keep going to the masjid and praying with the muslims there,,,,, but around Ramadan I feel more distant from the Muslim community around me than at any other time. I don't know if its the extra numbers in the mosque or the high degree of non-quranic superstitions which they attach to Ramadan but I find it really bad for my Iman to be around them.
I wonder if its the spiritual benefits of fasting that makes it harder to bear the pervasive shirk....As for your problem - have you considered a % solution. ie - what % of the masjid is spent on quran and what % on non-quran - either in terms of time, wall space, what gets elevated, what gets promoted? Withold that % of what you are inclined to give and instead dontate it to another social charity. Its what ppl do if they are witholding taxes because they don't want to support the arms race, for example, and you might be able to apply it to your situation.
Its a suggestion anyway
salaam all in this blessed month
asdfjk
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Peace be upon you all,
(934) You, you those who have faith, truly many of the religious scholars , and the monks eat the people's properties/wealths by the falsehood, and prevent/obstruct from The God's path , and those who accumulate/herd the gold and the silver and do not spend it in The God's path , so announce good news to them with a painful torture.
My advice is to stop SUPPORTING falsehood. First, creating a building is not asked of us by the God. All that money could go to feeding the hungry or building homes for homeless people, not so that sunnies have yet another CENTER OF IDOLWORSHIP to compete with the christian and jewish CENTERS OF IDOLWORSHIP.
Regarding not breaking into sects, if you go to a sunni mosque and give the appearance that you are "with them", then you are supporting sectarianism. We remain a cement structure ONLY under the God's system. THEY must come join the righteous, we do not stay in the SECT fearing that we would create another sect by joining the righteous. NO, Musa FREES the children of Isreal from its oppressors. We have to COME OUT of that "land" and join the righteous.
With that said, there are not enough projects going on here for the righteous to support. The money would be better spent on projects here at this "online masjid", but I do not know of any projects. So give that money directly to someone who needs it, don't pay for SUNNI WEBSITES spreading falsehood and creating division.
Be mindful of the wombs.
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My advice is to stop SUPPORTING falsehood. First, creating a building is not asked of us by the God. All that money could go to feeding the hungry or building homes for homeless people, not so that sunnies have yet another CENTER OF IDOLWORSHIP to compete with the christian and jewish CENTERS OF IDOLWORSHIP.
Peace Idol,
I wholeheartedly agree with you, and I am most confident The God does also.
The fact is, these "muslims" have grossly denied/rejected/ the revelations from The God, to the point of associating partners with HIM, even though they "read" them(for show).
Peace
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Peace Idol,
I do not think you are getting the picture very well. I will elaborate on my case. I have been going to my local mosque as long as I have lived and I am nearly 40. Since 2000, I only go on Fridays when it is a public holiday(as when it is not, I am at work) and during the eid festivities as I was no longer a sunni. I have always contributed money to that mosque. The local mosque is the entity that takes care of you when you die, i.e providing you with a "muslim" burial etc, etc. People here on this forum who were/are members of their local mosque will get tyhe picture. Since this is a small local community, everybody knows each other and me particularly since my father was very active in that mosque. Now when this mosque comes calling at my door for donations, I find myself unable to refuse them. The best I can do is keep the donations as little as possible. Mind you, telling them exactly what you had in mind will castigate you and make life impossible for you as most of the friends are sunnis and we support one another.
I am glad that I will be shortly settling abroad which will solve this dilemma.Regards
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Peace be upon you Mozmahe,
I understood/understand very clearly your issue, but I can only answer one way. Now wether my answer is easier said than done, that is another topic, but there is only one correct path.
The best I can do is keep the donations as little as possible. Mind you, telling them exactly what you had in mind will castigate you and make life impossible for you as most of the friends are sunnis and we support one another.
As I said, might be easier said than done, but if you are looking for an answer, there is only one path. I myself will never tell you to give one penny to a building whose culture misleads the people away from The God, the only One worthy of serving. NEVER.
Lastly, I am not in your shoes, but if you state that you are going to be leaving there soon anyway, why not leave them with some things to think about by refusing to support "iblis" and tell them exactly why. The God says this;
(242) And do not confuse/mix/cover the truth with the falsehood, and you hide/conceal the truth and you are knowing.
Also,in 2189, the God tells us not to beat around the bush but to be straightfoward.
All that I have said above is not an attack on you or what you chose to do from here, it is only THE answer given by the God through His message.
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Peace be onto you all,
At first i had the same problems.
I used to go to the mosuqe frequently with my friends but then i started to realise that going to the mosque and praying towards mecca was almost the same thing i was doing in a Catholic Church when kneeking towards the statue of a man hanging on cross posing to be as Jesus!!
Even before this i had trouble...on my reversion i actullay had no idea there were these "Other teachings" called Hadiths...i was a Quran alone person when i reverted to Islam. Slowly i started to gain knowladge of Hadith, from one time i used to say "Islam is not a religion, it is a way of life" then after hadith teachings and all i started to preach Islam to my Christian friends saying that "It is the right religion"!!Anyway sorry back to my point oops
Some friends might ask you "why have you stoped going the mosque" and some friends will not even ask.
I always just give them what i know and i let the know what i am doing, i tell them that i respect what you do because Allah has tought me not enforce my beliefes on anyone else...and i let them know to show the same respect back to me if its possible, most of them have agreed as such.
When i am with them for bracking fast (I am not fasting myself due to technical dificalties with my family) they like to eat dates and drink water as commanded in Hadith, i do the same out of respect.Anyway i understand that you are in a difficalt possition at this time.
You do whats best...i was only saying what i do at the moment.Peace
Sebs
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Peace Idol,
They know my position since they enquired when they did not find me attending the mosque regularly. Since that was during my infancy years in the God Alone domain, I was not able to defend my stance properly and they figured that my position was weak and thus needed no further inspection. Now, that I wanted a new confrontation they are no longer interested.
And moreover, to really have a clear picture of my predicament requires a lot of writing. A 40 year odyssey cannot be explained in a few words.
Regards
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Peace be upon you,
And moreover, to really have a clear picture of my predicament requires a lot of writing. A 40 year odyssey cannot be explained in a few words.
Respected. I am sure you will make the best decision. May the God increase us all in knowledge and give us victory over the rejectors.