The companions of Rasulullah (saw), the Tabiin and the Tabi Tabiin. Those men and women who were around the Prophet, who surrounded, who supported, who followed, who listened, who obeyed, who loved, who sacrificed for the messenger of Allah saw. They were the strangers then.
Abu Hurairah RA, he said: Rasulullah SAW said: “Islam was strange when it began and will one day be strange again; Blessed are the ghuraba’ (those strange people)”. [H.R.Muslim]
Who are the strangers in our time? We are the strangers insyaAllah.
And when the prophet (saw) who was well known to his people. They knew he was Muhammad ibnu Abdullah, they knew he was Al Amin, the truthful. But when Allah sent him as a prophet and as a Messenger, and commissioned him of the Quran and ordered them to follow Him to listen to his words and to give up the idols and to obey and worship Allah alone, they thought he was saying something strange? And He said to them, by their names,
“ Oh Quraisy, you know me, If I told you there was an army behind this mountain coming here to destroy you, would you believe me? They said ”Yes, we would believe you”. Then I’m telling you I’m the messenger of Allah and you have the obligation to obey me.
Their response was that still he was saying something strange. Very strange indeed.
And so, the prophet (saw) who was respected, trusted and who was loved, who was known by his people, even to his uncle, that day he became a stranger. Umar Ibn Khattab, the patriot among the Arabs, among the Quraisy, the man who was willing to kill the prophet (saw) just because his feeling of Taumiyah, he was willing but on that day that he intended to kill the prophet, he too became a stranger. That very day.
We work Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, double shifts, we work anytime, but if its time for prayers, its Allah’s time. When we get a beard, when we practice Islam, when we pray in public, people start to ask, what happened to you? You’re starting to look like this terrorist guy, that Osama Bin Laden guy? Are you intending to go to war?Whats going on with you? You’ve become extremist? No, this is not extremist. This is the sunnah and the way Islam has taught us. And if you don’t like it I don’t care. We must be willing to become strangers, and when we become strangers, its going to effect our livelihood. It will cause people to misunderstand you, it will make you sometimes even doubt yourself. Why did I lose my friends? How come they treat me differently? They keep telling me, because I’m different from them.
Or in the case of the sisters, she doesn’t cover herself, shes wearing lipsticks in the streets, shes putting perfume on, shes working among the kuffar, and her husband is like her. And one day she wakes up. And she puts on hijab, and she puts her full clothes on. No more lipsticks, no more perfumes, she doesn’t talk with men just to be friends nor mix freely with them anymore, because she understands it is important to keep her Haya’ (modesty/shyness). She stays home to take care of her husband, her family where it really matters the most. Then people ask what happened to you? She says, I read an ayat in the Quran, and the hadith of the prophet (saw) and it made me cry to think about my religion. And I’m not doing it anymore. And they say, you have become extreme. She had now become a stranger. We ask Allah to bring strangers together. Because strangers belong with strangers.
Muslim brothers and sisters, we should want to be strangers. We should want to be a part of the return of the strangers. And we should realize no matter what the non-Muslims do, no matter what they try to do and extinguish the light of Allah by blowing with their mouths, their televisions, their cinemas, newspapers, books, radios whatever they do against Islam, the lies, the distortion the misconception, whatever they do to try to wipe out Islam, they will never wipe Islam out. Because Allah, “Yutimmu nurihi wa lau karihal kafirun.” Allah will perfect His light. And he will perfect it through the strangers.
We ask Allah that He make you and I among the strangers. We ask that he gives our son and daughters love for the strangers. We ask Allah that whoever that has gone astray will come back to become strangers. We ask Allah, whoever that comes to the Masjid will return again to the Masjid so that they can pray with the strangers. Because when the Muslims in Palestine, in Afghanistan, in Somalia, in Yemen, In Malaysia and when the Muslims wherever they are, they come out, began to pray in the Masjid as strangers, then Allah will give the earth back to them, their Quwwah, the strength back to them. Then Islam will be back.
But you should not ask for the rewards of the strangers if you’re not acting like the strangers.
THE PONDERER 
Salam Irfan,
Yeh juga pernah berfikiran macam Irfan
Tetapi, bila kita buka minda dan fahami apa erti orang asing yang sebenarnya, barulah kita boleh faham. Boleh faham akan nilai-nilai yang ada sebagai manusia. Dia juga mahu seperti kita. Ada keluarga seperti kita.
Kenangan di bumi Jepun dimana kita semua digelar sebagai orang asing sehingga di kad IC kami pun dinamakan sebagai “ALIEN CARD” cukup telah buat kita sedar hakikat menjadi orang asing.
Tapi dalam konteks agama kita, orang asing itu lagi hebat. Walau dinegara sendiri dia menjadi orang asing. Moga-moga kita tergolong dalam golongan orang asing seperti yang disebutkan oleh Rasulullah.
Teruskan perjuanganmu sahabat. Moga ketemu kita nanti. 🙂
Peace be upon you.
Thank you for sharing such an interesting view on this topic. To be frank, I am a Muslim revert. I felt compelled to share with you also after reading this. I used to have so many close family and friends. But even in that situation, I usually felt at a loss. Somehow alone. I couldn’t understand it at first. But, God showed me his light. Praise be upon Him.
I am now a Muslim revert. But my families and friends have distanced themselves from me. A lot of bad words were thrown at me. Even though I am alienated in my own home land, I feel so close to Him. He who takes care of this stranger.
Keep writing. May this inspire others to be the stranger also.
Assalamualaikum brother 🙂
May you find peace in Islam insyaAllah. Thank you also for sharing your experiences with us.
I myslef have not gone through that kind of experience that you have gone through, and I can only imagine as much. It must be really hard on you. But believe me, when you put your trust in Allah, He will pull you through in the end.
I have felt people distancing themselves when I talk about my religion to them, and sometimes it really knocks me down, but I believe in Allah, for He will surely guide and help those who follow His path. Keep doing what you believe is right. What Islam thought us that is right. May Allah be our guide.
Welcome to Islam brother Omar Stevens. And may we all be in the right path always. 🙂
Salam sahabat,
Melalui Sang Pelangi saya ketemu blog saudara. Terima kasih atas peringatan ini. Pada tiap kata bicara itu, mohon agar ianya terpahat kemas di hati sebagai bekalan kala alpa dan leka. Semoga yang asing itu adalah kita. InshaAllah. Dan video itu bila diperdengarkan, Alhamdulillah bangkit segala jiwa tenang dan damai. Semoga Allah merahmati hidup kita. Ameen.
Mohon izin untuk berkongsi ya. Terima kasih.
Wassalam.
Salam sahabat, 🙂
Selamat datang ke blog saya. Saudara menggunakan tumblr ye?
Peringatan ini juga adalah untuk kita semua termasuk diri saya. Sebagai manusia kita sentiasa mahukan jalan yang senang dan mudah, tetapi jalan menuju ke Syurga itu penuh cabaran. Dan hanya yang betul-betul teguh dengan cabaran akan berjaya. Moga-moga kita dapat menjadi orang asing seperti yang dijanjikan.
Video/lagu itu dihadiahkan kepada saya oleh teman saya. Saya Alhamdulillah juga berasa amat tenang bila mendengar dan menghayati liriknya. Syukur kepada Allah.
Moga Allah rahmati hidup kita. Ameen.
Feel free to share it with others. 🙂
Wassalam.
Ohh, aah tumblr.
InshaAllah. Ameen.
Terima kasih ya.
Asing di sini juga bermaksud mengasingkan jiwa tetapi bukan jasad. Mengasingkan jiwa di tengah-tengah manusia yang lelah pada dunia, namun dalam masa yang sama tidak mengasingkan diri dari masyarakat. Pemuda adalah ejen perubah masyarakat. Syabas untuk entri yang best!
Salam Bro. 🙂
Setuju dengan kata-kata tu. Situasi yang terbaik adalah kita ada pengasingan diri dari segi jiwa yang pegang utuh kepada Islam disamping tidak mengasingkan diri dari aktiviti masyarakat kan. Kerana hanya dengan itu, baru kita boleh beri pengaruh kepada masyarakat. Pengaruh untuk berubah dan kembali kepada nilai-nilai Islam.
Sama-sama kita berusaha menjadi ejen perubahan. InsyaAllah.
Subhanallah. What a good reminder Yeh.
The pleasure of being different, unique and extraordinary is now rarely appreciated cause it seems complicated and might even called extreme. Everybody wants to be in the common group and to just follow the flow. It is the safe choice.
Behind the well-known hadith, you’ve peeled word by word to show us the fruit inside it. Now I can really taste the sweetness. Thank u~
Salam Emann 🙂
Yes, it is nice to be different from others. Different in a good positive way. Nowadays, it is so much easier to follow the flow, blend in with the majority, because it is the easy way of making yourslef not left out. But we as Muslims have our own unique identity that we need to preserve. preserving that uniqueness while joining in the community is the best form of da’wah. Only then can we encourage others to return to the teachings of Islam.
May we all taste that sweetness insyaAllah. 🙂
Subhanallah. A good one. Alhamdulillah. I was moved. All this while, I understand about being a stranger but I never did make it into my life though – the way of the stranger. Its an honor to be one, Alhamdulillah. To be one and to maintain as one, InshaAllah. The way of the stranger. stiqamah sehingga ke akhirnya. InshaAllah.
And Idris, yes I love this article about ‘strangers’. Thank you for writing it and sharing it with everybody. May Allah reward your effort, InshaAllah.
Lets pray that we stay as stranger until the day that the universe recognize Islam as one true religion. Allah ma’ana.
Salam.
Hope u r fine. Heard that uve graduated. Congrats ye 🙂 Such a happy news.
Yes, I too, used to see strangers as something odd. I tried my best to fit or blend into the surroundings. Never really thought as being an outsider is something that makes you special. In this case, special as being Muslims.
Being foreign in a foreign land, is really hard. I am sure, in Ukraine it is sometimes difficult to really follow the way of Islam. At praying in public is something that I am quite shy of, but as times goes by, I understood that being a Muslim, makes us Muslims different from others. I am now actually proud if people stop and stare at me for praying in public.
There was one time, when we prayed in jemaah at the side of the road. And cars would slow down and stare at us. Suddenly the the road was jammed. Funny to think of it.
Nway, congrats on ur garduation. It is now safe to call u, DR BALQIS 🙂
salam yeh,
sbenarnya aku selalu silent reader je time singgah2 blog. neway, tgk n baca entri-entri ko dah banyak berubah dr dulu2, cetusan idea n pendapat yang semakin matang n mantap. mabrook2 ! nampak ko punya nickname kat blog aku TheDreamer aku teringat 1 quote. The future belong to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. moga segala impian ko tercapai . neway, bilakah ‘kad’ nak sampai ? jgn tak jemput plak, jgn lupa member lama. k bittawfeq salam
Salam Farah 🙂
Sorry for the late reply.
Owh yeke. Nape silent reader je? Comments would do a lot of good. Then I would know where to work on and where to improve on. But feel honoured that u read my entires. Hope I can improve more in the times to come. Ur blog is excellent too 🙂
Yeah, I do believe in that. Every success starts with a simple dream. Every great ideas, works starts of with a dream. InsyaAllah it will come true for me one day too. N I hope it will do for you too. 🙂
Tak pernah lupa member2 lame kot. Mestila ingat. Lagi2 kite sume classmates kan. Jumpa disana ye 🙂