House before the mosque
religious rule says that what the house needs is forbidden to the mosque. this is a humane and logical base, before being religious. nothing should be given to the mosque if the house needs it more. i remembered this rule while reading a message in whatsapp which says: “when the difference between your country and the poorest european countries (western) is 100 years of development, you need to build a school in your country, not a mosque in europe!” kuwaiti ambassador to australia najib al-bader expressed his pride in the project of building a mosque and a kuwaiti center for islamic studies in canberra — the capital; and that the cost of the center is about $6 million and it will open soon. the oxford center for islamic studies, an islamic research and studies center in oxford university, was founded in 1985 to promote islamic studies. prince charles has been sponsoring it since inception. it is worth mentioning that 32 years after its establishment, no one, perhaps in our region at least, has benefited from its services and studies; except being considered a place to meet reputable figures with more reputable personalities, to exchange greetings and smiles, have banquets, shake heads and hands, and then bid each other farewell hoping to meet again in the forthcoming occasion or meeting. only the supervisors of these centers benefit from their existence, having proven that they have not changed the nature or position of british society or its members for 32 years. the position towards islam and muslims remains the same. terrorist operations have increased over the past 10 years, and hatred against muslims, in general. i really hope to see a useful study or position which contributes to re- flecting the good image of islam in britain or europe. the center, which has cost hundreds of millions of pounds over three decades, should have played this role. the problem is here in kuwait and other arab and islamic countries not in britain, new york and canberra. terrorism originates here, extremism originates among us, religious misunderstanding is in its homeland at present, and those who need a center of islamic studies are our nations, not prince charles or the british people. we need religious centers that teach people to accept each other, teach them love and co-existence; instead of spending tens of millions on external centers or weak internal mediation centers, and bringing a group of extremists from the muslim brotherhood, who are backward, to manage these centers. what applies to these centers applies to institutes, centers and competitions of memorizing the holy quran which are beneficial only to their administrators and officials. though these competitions are being held for almost half a century now, they have introduced only a few hundreds of memorizers. in fact, we need thousands who understand what they memorized. our educational and religious sectors complain a lot. all of us must direct our efforts inside the country. damage prevails in every educational field. once we finish correcting the internal situation, we can travel abroad with our money, ideas and efforts. note: this article is not personal, the oxford center consists of personalities whom i appreciate and respect.
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