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YAHYA JOHN EMERICK. Presented by NUR JANNATUL MA’AWA BTE SHAHRI NURLIYANA BT MOHD NAZARI NAZIHAH BT JAMAT Edited by Dr. Md. Mahmudul Hasan International Islamic University Malaysia 2011. His first name is also spelt as Yahiya.
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YAHYA JOHN EMERICK Presented by NUR JANNATUL MA’AWA BTE SHAHRI NURLIYANA BT MOHD NAZARI NAZIHAH BT JAMAT Edited by Dr. Md. MahmudulHasan International Islamic University Malaysia 2011
His first name is also spelt as Yahiya. • He is one of the most prolific American Muslim writers of the present time.
Biographical Background • Born into an American Protestant Christian family. • Raised in a small town in the Midwest region of the United States. • Embraced Islam in 1989 when he was 19 years old. • Studied at Michigan State University. • Currently, he is a school teacher and social worker.
Educational background • He obtained a graduate degree in History. • Founded Amirah Publishing in 1992. -its major concern is to publish books on Islam in the American setting.
Literary works • He has thus far authored 14 books for adults and children. • Interests: -He began to be interested in science fiction and fantasy books at the age of thirteen. • He sometimes wrote short stories for fun. • He started writing seriously after he became a Muslim. • He saw that a lot of Islamic books were written in a one-dimensional way without much verve or imagination.
Books • The Holy Quran for School Children (1998) - 30th juzu’ of the Qur’an, text translation and transliteration • The Complete Idiot’s guides to Understanding of Islam (2001) - Introduction and insight into the feelings of the Islamic faith, presented in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. • How to Tell Others About Islam (2004)
In the Path of The Holy Prophet: Classic Traditions for Contemplation (1992) • What Islam Is All About (1997) • The Life and Work of Muhammad (2002)
Lists of articles • “How to Make America an Islamic Nation” (2001) • “Muslim Schools: A View From The Inside” (1999) • “So What About the Family” (2000) • “Dealing with Differences” (2001) • “What I’ll be Thinking About This Year” (2005)
“What Needs to be Done for The Future” (2005) • “The Origin of Life: An Islamic Perspective” (2006) • “Working in Muslim Schools” (1998) • “Demanding Professionalism in our Masjid” (2003)
Issues • children • family values • roles of Muslim schools • relevance of Masjid • future American Muslim society
The last ten years have seen a virtual explosion in the growth and numbers of “Islamic” schools in North America. • On average, about 10 new schools are being established every year with Islam as their fundamental principle. • It seems that a good number of those involved in building masjids and Muslim schools in America come from secular, non-religious backgrounds in their home countries.
What is the reason behind this strange paradigm? • Bertrand Russell said: “There may be numerically more Christians in the world than Muslims, but the number of Muslims who practice their religion is far greater than that of Christians who do.”
Perhaps, for this reason the secular in Muslim countries have tried so hard to suppress Islamic growth and awareness. In Turkey, Qur’anic teachings at schoo are banned. In Egypt, the Shariah or Islamic legal code has never been implemented despite decades of talk and promise. The latest wave of immigration from the Muslim world to the West began in the mid 60s. Many Muslims have entered professional careers which encompass medicine, business, science, education, etc.
Many have achieved a standard of living that is far beyond what they could have attained in their countries of origin. • Many immigrants began to rediscover their roots and began to appreciate Islamic spirituality and values. • The rise of new Islamic awareness: - Large number of African-Americans are leaving Christianity and embracing Islam.
School building began in the late 80s and continues to this day. • At the beginning, Muslim families were reluctant to send their children to the Muslim schools for the fear of poor education quality. • Advantages of Muslim schools: - good environment - Islamic dress code - prayer and other religious observances
DEMANDING PROFESSIONALISM IN OUR MASJID • Yahiya Emerick compares American masjids to the well-organized churches and synagogues. • Where do you go if your son rebels? • What do you do when your daughter wants to marry someone against your wishes? • Who can help? • If you have ever been faced with issues similar to these, then you would probably try to get help in the one place where you would expect to get it: Masjid.
If masjid is the focal point of the Muslim community and open five times a day for prayer, shouldn’t it be open for other needs of the believers as well? • He visited innumerable masjids across America to make Muslims aware of the importance of professionalism in running them.
What is professionalism in Masajid? comparison between church and masjid • Church: the institution is built to serve as a community centre right from the start. - Youth programs: well-planned - The minister or rabbi speaks English fluently. - In order to be a leader, the minister/rabbi had to undergo extensive training which includes counseling, administration, etc.
What is our definition of an imam? • An imam is supposed to have some authority over the community. • Elected by the Muslims and given respect and listened to. However, imams have no authority, enjoy little respect and merely lead the prayers and recite some dua’s. • At the most, he may teach some classes here and there on Sirah and Aqeedah. • We need imams with professional training in many subjects related to human relations. • Masjid is not just a place for prayer.
Islam regards family as the bedrock of society. • Parents should live together and take care of their children so that when the children grow up and the parents are old they will take care of their parents.
Yahya raises questions for people to ponder. For example, what will happen if a Muslim family is put in a place where people do not respect their parents? What will happen when Muslim children are raised in a country where parents are not thought to be valuable?
Yahya questions parents’ expecation to be respected by the children if they are not around while the children need them. • He is against the idea of leaving children in day-care centers for the following reasons: 1) Children are being watched by strangers. 2) Day-care centers are unsafe and have bullying cases. 3) Children will think that in future they can send their parents to day-care centers to be treated in the same manner.
As opposed to Islamic countries where parents are highly respected, in America parents are unimportant. • Unfortunately, Yahya finds out that Muslim children in the United States are exposed to Western family values.
Yahya is opposed to the idea of spoiling children by being excessively generous to them. • Such generosity results in moral degradation of the children.
Muslims need to tackle two issues: 1) Individualism 2) Exclusivity
Individualism • Modern societies in today’s world are moving towards Individualism. • To them, “every man for himself”. • In America, it is usual for people to lose contact with their relatives.
Immigrant parents failed to instill a sense of family values in their children. • Many Americans invest their money to pay for a professional care when they are old.
Muslims should: 1) live within walking distance of a masjid. 2) maintian masjids and get involved in da’wah organizations.
Exclusivity in organization • Each organization tries to act as a representative of God in its own way and does not interact with people outside its fold.
The solution: 1) Divide the country up into zones and give each organization the power to administer each zone.
