Jabul Arabiyya: A Plan Whose Time has Come.

It is without doubt that only Allāh is the Owner and the Knower of the Unseen and the Future. Therefore, when man attempts to forecast’ he can only speak of ‘probabilities’, which because of his imperfections, must themselves contain ‘uncertainties’.

Throughout history, it has been proven that if a religious community is to establish itself firmly, it must have a physical base of operations wherein its principles, objectives and highest aspirations ae embodied. Furthermore, it is essential for that community to have a structure that is representative of its sacred ideals. The acquisition and use of land and territory as the basis of a self-governing community is not a new concept on global or American history.

Examples of this are easily seen in the cases of Quakers, Mormons and Native Americans. 9/11 there has been a decided increase in anti-Islamic and anti-Muslims legislation and initiatives typified by “Muslim Ban” of the Donald J. Trump administration and a rash of “Anti-Shariah” laws. The importance of land as the basis for establishing the community has been cited by professor and author Khaled A. Beydoun of Wayne State University: “Land is notably sacred for a religious population that is interlocked between federal terror suspicion and local hostility while seeking to construct religious spaces that simultaneously serve as safe havens from suspicion and centers of spiritual life.”

Jabul Arabiyya is unique in this aspect because it has more than eight decades of peaceful existence in a rural area and many of its successive generations have inter- married into the surrounding neighborhoods and communities. Challenges, however, have been ever-present and one of the most daunting has been the county tax burden which has been increasing over the years. It should be noted that at the time of the establishment of this organization, Islām was quite an unknown entity in the USA and Muslims were an anomaly.

“From certain sources, the point is being driven into the minds of many American Muslims that we, Muslim-Americans, should plan or be prepared on making hijrah (migration) to another country! There are serious problems with that “forecast” because there are many American Muslims, like me, who see our Islamic destiny as being here in America! Therefore, the Muslim-American Community is presented with a dialectic that is producing a dichotomy of thought, which in effect has said community chasing two “rabbits”. 1) plan & prepare to stay, 2) plan & prepare to leave! It is a well- established fact that when on chases two rabbits, he catches neither! The “forecast” for Muslim-Americans to make hijrah is detrimental to our National Interests, Security and our Future. And what about the American Muslims of European ancestry? Should those departing African Americans view these Americans with the racist view that has been cast upon them? And, then there the Muslims who have immigrated here and are now getting a small taste of what we have been experiencing all along!

“The “forecast” appears (unfortunately) to be emanating from a few African American Muslim leaders apparently speaking more like individual souls caught up in the “romanticism” rather than the reality. (Most are espousing hijrah to an African country and usually one generally recognized as “Black”)... certainly, they would not desert their own people to save themselves if and when (or before) a perceived “calamity” arises on these American shores, the shores of our homeland. Most certainly, every Muslim American of African ancestry would not find the means to immigrate even if he wanted (to). Most who would want to do so, could not! Should they then be left behind while their leader runs off to what he perceives is safety for him and his? Of course not.

I believe those leaders are men of good intentions who desire safety for all of us. However, I am reminded of this short story: One day, a man looked out his window and saw a cocoon on the window ledge. It had a tiny hole in it and the butterfly inside was struggling to get out of the hole. The man watched the butterfly struggle and after about three hours, the butterfly had apparently ceased to struggle and the cocoon lay still! This kindhearted man thought to help the butterfly and enlarged the hole so as to make it easier for the butterfly to emerge from its cocoon. The butterfly emerged and its wings were all crumpled and its body was swollen and distorted with fluid. This became the final state of the butterfly, for thereafter, it never reached its maturity as God intended. The kindhearted man although having the best of intentions, did not understand that the struggle of the butterfly to emerge (unaided) would have caused the natural fluids in its body to flow into its wings, making them strong and fully formed. Thus, it would have emerged from its cocoon having reached its full and beautiful development, continuing on to meet and fulfill its intended destiny!

“This Project is open to American Muslims and non-Muslims who have something to offer (to enhance its development). Let it be clear and understood that we are American citizens and that we are Muslim-Americans whose primary mission is to teach, to guide the citizenry of the United States (and all the world) by example, toward (a society based on) righteousness.

“This would be an act of choice; an act of free men taking hands in shaping their own destiny and that of their progeny. The formation of our Muslim neighborhoods would begin to cure many of today’s social ills which afflict us.”1

The founders of our community, who were mainly recent arrivals form the segregated Jim Crow south, envisioned a self-governing community in which they saw themselves simply as neighbors with a common goal rooted the worship and service to Allāh, the Almighty. A newspaper article featured the early members of the community in their newly established habitat and interviewed its President at the time who said:

“Our religion calls for us to pray five times a day. This all got started during the depression years and things were tough. We decided to put our money and to purchase a farm to make things easier.” (Courier Express Newspaper, June 6, 1946)

1 Yasin, Abdellah