Islam for today and tomorrow…

People often think: ‘Islam cannot help me in a worldly or materialistic way.’ But to be honest, it does. Having a faith like Islam can give you the support of a community and the structure and the discipline to move forward towards your goals in life.

And it’s important for Imam’s to keep the teachings of Islam up-to-date to show you how relevant they are to you lives.

As an Imam I try give advice – to Muslims and Non-Muslims – but not just from an Islamic point of view but also from a logical point of view.

I also do drug education and youth work about substance abuse within my community and I council people from different ethnicities, backgrounds, social groups and faiths. At first, you can see them all thinking;

‘Whoooah who is this guy with a beard who is going to be talking to me?’

But after I have broken the ice and build up some common ground with them, their preconceptions begin to melt. They forget I am an Imam; I’m just a person who is offering my advice and knowledge to help them.

Just after I graduated as an Imam for the Islamic institute I bumped into some old friends that used to be in my class; some of them were doing the wrong things or had been in prison and they said to me: ‘If we had the chance to do what you did we would do the same now.’

If I had not studied Islam then I think I might have fallen into the same kind of holes that my friends have with done with relationships or even crime – the same ones that many young people do today.

A positive environment is really important for all of us. If you walk through a perfume shop – even if you don’t touch anything – you come out smelling of roses; if you walk through a garbage dump with bad smell that effect will come on you too.

It’s good to spend time with educated and good mannered people – it will rub off on you too! And it will help you achieve your goals in life and make a better person of yourself!

A call to young muslims…

It’s really important for young Muslims to trust and look up to their Imam for guidance but – let’s not forget – it’s also about personal responsibility. Whilst I will always answer people’s questions to the best of my ability, I also teach young people about the skills to deal with things themselves.

It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to make our community, our country and our world a better place.

There are 86,400 seconds in a single day – and every one of those moments is precious because when the sun sets each night that time is gone forever (we can’t put them in a bank account and save them for another day). Time is like a stream of water either you watch it go by or you benefit from it.

Each person is the master – and the doctor – of themselves. An Imam can only advise you; the rest is up to you. Only you can make the effort and decisions that will make you a better person everyday of your life.

We tend to think we have all the time in the world…. Sadly the time doesn’t wait for us.

Utilize you every breath, your mind and your energy! Educate yourselves! Remember knowledge is power!