Islam in Sioux Falls, SD

Last week, I came across a rather surprising fact: Sioux Falls, SD, has an Islamic center. I was reading through the Wikipedia page for Sioux Falls and the religion section mentioned an Islamic center, which was a completely novel concept for me. The website for this center states there are over 3500 Muslims living in Sioux Falls, most of them refuges from sixteen different nations.

So why was I surprised to discover this? Well, let me tell you a bit more about Sioux Falls.

For one, it’s a city situated on the eastern border of South Dakota – close to Minnesota – for those of you who don’t know. According to Wikipedia, the population of the actual city is 158,008 with a metropolitan population of 238,122. Now, such a relatively small population (when compared with much bigger cities) is not something that relates to the unlikelihood of finding a Muslim population there.

Instead, the unlikelihood – at least to me – is the fact that it’s, well, South Dakota. The majority of Muslims in the US are immigrants or are descended from immigrants. The only exception would be converts. Immigrants tend to travel to places with large populations where there’s greater potential to find a better life. South Dakota is not known for large populations. In fact, it’s the 46^th most populous state in the US, with only four other states having a lesser population.

Plus, it’s a Midwestern state. If someone says ‘Midwest’ and ‘religion,’ I doubt Islam is going to be the first thing that pops into your head. I think most people tend to consider the heartland to be mostly Christian with small populations of different religions in the larger cities, like Minneapolis or even Omaha. But Sioux Falls? South Dakota? I certainly don’t think of Islam when I think of religions in South Dakota.

However, the biggest reason as to why I was surprised? I’ve been to Sioux Falls many times and I have never seen a Muslim. See, I was born in Madison, South Dakota – a small town of 6000 less than an hour away from Sioux Falls – and raised there and in Yankton, South Dakota – a relatively larger town of 13,000 about an hour and a half away from Sioux Falls. I have several family members in Sioux Falls, including my grandparents, one aunt and her family, and a second aunt. I’ve spent many a day in Sioux Falls, as a youngster and in the last few years since I’ve converted. During my last two or three visits, all of which lasted a week or so, I never even caught a glimpse of a Muslim. I was all over the city – shopping malls, grocery stores, restaurants – and not one Muslim did I see. I will have to admit I learned my aunt’s family has Muslim neighbors during my last visit, but I never would have guessed there were 3,500 others in and about the city!

In the end, I’m glad to hear Sioux Falls has over 3500 Muslims and an Islamic center. For me, only when the religion begins to filter out of the cities and into areas with smaller populations will Americans start to see the true Islam and start to see that not all Muslims are out to kill the ‘infidels.’ Hopefully Sioux Falls can serve as a model for future Muslim communities seeking refuge in smaller cities.

And I might just have to stop by this Islamic center next time I’m in Sioux Falls!

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Here’s the link to the center’s website in case you’re interested: http://www.icsiouxfalls.org/

The Importance of Asking for Forgiveness

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

“The best of sinners are those who frequently repent.”

-- Hadith --

In these modern times, the age of computers and other technology, it’s considered a good idea to routinely rid one’s computer of unused or old files. This allows the computer to run more smoothly and prevent disasters such as crashes. In the same vein, it’s common practice to clean out one’s email inbox, deleting any outdated or unimportant messages which are rather useless and simply take up space.

Although we often spend a good deal of time clearing our computers and inboxes, we often neglect our hearts, which are far more important. With each additional sin, they become more and more malnourished, further tarnished. The Companion Abu Hurayra rathiallah anh relates that Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wa salam said, “When a believer commits a sin, a black dot appears on his heart. If he repents and seeks forgiveness, his heart becomes purified. If he advances in sin, the black dots increase until they overcome his heart. These black dots constitute the encrusted pollution that Allah subhana wa ta’ala refers to in the verse: ‘No, indeed! But encrusted over their hearts is what they have earned.’” (Qur’an 83:14) (Tirmidhi)

If one simply allows these black dots of sin to encase their hearts and form a crust of pollution, their hearts become blind and impervious to spiritual realities. For example, a sinner who chooses not to seek for forgiveness may simply shrug off the mention of Hellfire and its terrors, while the one who seeks forgiveness fears even the mention of Hellfire, never mind mention what horrors lay in wait for darkened souls.

So why do we spend so much time caring for our computers when we should be concentrating on our hearts? We can ignore the buildup for only so long, but as time passes, the black dots spread until every inch of our heart is covered. Then we realize what we have done and become weighed down with sin and guilt, both heavy burdens to bear.

But there is an easy way to avoid the affliction of a heavily polluted heart, and that’s to cleanse the heart regularly. Cleansing the heart can be achieved through four different avenues: remembrance of Allah (dhikr), repentance (tawbah), seeking forgiveness (istighfaar), and by turning to Allah in penitence. Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wa salam himself did this 70 to 100 times a day – and he, like the other prophets before him, was without sin.

When a believer makes genuine repentance for his sins, Allah subhana wa ta’ala purifies him. It does not matter if the sin was severe, such as committing zina or backbiting, or if it was minor. No matter how severe a sin is, if it is His will, Allah subhana wa ta’ala will forgive the one who comes in sincerity to Him seeking forgiveness. And indeed, when a sin is forgiven, it’s as though it never happened; even the angels are made to forget about it.

Yet, why is it such a bounty that we are able to turn to Allah subhana wa ta’ala and ask for His forgiveness? Turning to the Almighty in penitence provides a release, the release we need when we are feeling beleaguered by the burden of sin. It’s a way out of sorts, a way to receive another chance. It fills us with a sense of joy, lightheartedness, hope, and the inspiration to better ourselves and start afresh. Through forgiveness we can gain so much hope that there remains no reason for us to despair of His mercy. Allah subhana wa ta’ala tells us not to run away from Him in fear but to run toward Him like a young child runs to his mother.

Many desire to seek forgiveness and enjoy the thought of being purified, but have no idea where to begin or how to go about it. They may not know what words to use or what even to seek forgiveness for. They may have forgotten about many of the sins they committed or consider some trivial and not worth mentioning. They may even feel there is no need to seek forgiveness. And if they do ask for forgiveness, they may do so superficially or without sincerity, using simplifications such as “Oh Allah, forgive all my sins.” The Blessed Prophet sallalahu ‘alayhi wa salam once said, “When one of you asks Allah…he should ask earnestly, for Allah does as He wishes and there is none to compel Him.” (Bukhari)

So I challenge all Muslims to try and take some time out of their day to both reflect upon their sins and seek forgiveness with sincerity and earnestness. Yes, you may be busy; you may already struggle to do everything that needs to be done. But let me ask you this: what will pay off more in the end? Time spent reading your favorite romance novels, watching a cricket game? Or time spent cleansing the heart of sins? Personally, I love the feeling of peace and joy that fills me when I’ve finished a session of penitence…there is nothing better in this world. In the end, we’ll have only our souls, so it makes sense to care for them now instead of waiting until it’s too late.

“Say (to humanity, O Muhammad): O my servants who have harmed yourselves by your own excess, do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Allah forgives all sins: He truly is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. Turn to your lord. Submit to him before the punishment overtakes you and you can no longer be helped.” (Qur’an 39:53-54)

Weekly Update: Feb 13 - Feb 19

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah!

Before I begin this post, let me first apologize (to the one or two of you who actually read my blog) for being a little late with the ‘Resolution and Reflection Week 5’ post. Life has had me running around in circles this past week or so, and I haven’t been able to find much time to sit down and work on this blog. When I do have time, I’m usually too stressed out to sit still long enough to write something. But Alhamdulillah I managed to find some time today and I managed to force myself into sitting still. Insha’Allah the next ‘R and R’ post will be up by tonight!

Okay, so what exactly is up with this post? Well, I’ve decided to add another weekly post, called the ‘Weekly Update’…so original, I know! Until now, my blog has been just the ‘Resolution and Reflection’ project with one or two other posts. But that’s not all I want it to be! Insha’Allah I want to increase the number of posts I have per week, with at least one on Tuesday and one in Thursday in conjunction with the ‘R and R’ post on Friday.

That brings me to the ‘Weekly Update’ post which will be a weekly thing on Sunday evenings. In it, I’d like to detail what sort of posts I’m looking into for the week. I’d also like to maybe include a bit of what’s happening in my, keep it a bit personal. And it should come in handy in case I’m going to be too busy to post that week! Then you won’t be left wondering what happened to me…

That’s enough for now, more coming next week insha’Allah! Now on to ‘Resolution and Reflection Week 5’ before I lose this motivation!

Ma’asalama

Iman

How to Maintain Presence of Heart in Prayer

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

The ritual prayer of Islam is an integral part of any Muslim’s daily ‘ibadah (worship). Its importance cannot be stressed enough. The Qur’an and books of hadiths are bursting with references to prayer and its impressive value. Like most aspects of worship, ritual prayer has both an outer reality (movements) and an inner reality (connection with Allah).

The importance of this inner reality, or maintaining presence of one’s heart, in prayer is worth noting. The Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam once said, ‘Only that of which the believer is conscious during prayer is credited to him.’ In other words, one could even go so far as to say letting one’s mind wander while in prayer is like not praying in the first place. From a legal standpoint, the person is praying, but from a spiritual standpoint, all they are doing is reciting some Arabic and making some movements.

Also, al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Every prayer in which the heart is not attentive is nearer to punishment than it is to reward.’ In his treatise entitled ‘The Book of Assistance,’ Imam ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad adds to this statement: ‘Shaytan, may Allah curse him, is intent on distracting the believer during his prayer, so that the moment he rises to pray he opens for him many doors into worldly affairs and reminds him of things which were not at all on his mind before. The repudiate’s aim is to distract him from concentrating on Allah and approaching Him, for if a person misses these he will also miss Allah’s approach to him, and may even come out of his prayer burdened with sin.’

So how can one improve presence of their heart in their prayer? Well, there are many different techniques a brother or sister can implement to better their presence. However, like any treatment regiment, some techniques will work for someone while some will not. There are techniques that might work well for one person that will not work at all for another. It is all a matter of experimenting and refining, striving to find the mixture that shows the best results for you personally.

Prior to the prayer:

1. Five to ten minutes before performing the prayer, engage in an activity related to Islam. Rather than jamming out to some tunes or checking out the latest cricket scores, sit down and read the Qur’an, make dhikr, or even listen to a nasheed. More than likely the mind of a brother or sister will be on what they were doing just before entering prayer rather than the prayer itself. It is far easier to concentrate on Allah and their prayer if they were remembering Allah immediately beforehand.

2. If ablution is necessary ahead of praying, try to maintain a presence of heart while performing wudu’ (or ghusl). This could take the form of du’a, dhikr, or anything that keeps the thought of Allah in one’s heart. The early Muslims had a du’a formula that they would recite (or so I’ve been told), which helped them concentrate but also kept in their minds the reason behind ablution.

3. Right before beginning the prayer, one could make du’a asking Allah to assist them in maintaining presence of heart. A Muslim should always go to Allah if they need help, for anything. Why should prayer be any different?

4. Recite Surah al-Nas immediately before rising to pray (just before the intention). Scholars say reciting this surah serves to protect the one about to enter his prayer from the wiles of Shaytan,, may Allah curse him. As mentioned before, Imam al-Haddad wrote in his treatise that the reason the mind of a Muslim wanders during prayer is because of Shaytan.

During the prayer:

1. When reciting the spoken parts of the prayer (al-Fatiha, accompanying surahs, tashahhud, etc.), say them slowly and reflect upon the meaning. This leads one to focus on the prayer and not simply speak a chain of words. Not only can one derive the benefit of increased presence from this technique, it also could potentially lead to a deeper understanding of what one recites in the prayer. What we say is not random words mixed together; they have meaning, a meaning that we should understand.

2. If necessary, pray with your eyes closed. Now, some scholars say praying with one’s eyes closed is actually disliked (this is the Hanafi perspective…I do not know about other schools). However, this is because it might be easier for some to become distracted if they close their eyes. On the other hand, there are those can concentrate better if they do. Then there are those for which it depends on the situation. If a person finds they concentrate better with their eyes closed, it’s fine to do so.

Of course this is only a short list of techniques that I have come across or tried myself. There are potentially many other choices out there for brother and sisters hoping to increase the presence of their heart in their prayer. It is something that each individual must discover for themselves what exactly works best.

As a final note, one must keep in mind that improving presence of the heart in prayer does not happen overnight. It does not happen in a week nor does it happen in a month. Many Muslims struggle with a lack of presence for a long time. Ultimately it takes practice, effort, and patience to improve.

And Allah knows best!