Sankore Society

Author: Imam al-Azam Jabbi

  • Learning the True Teachings of Islam (series) | Al-Ihsan (Excellence)

    Learning the True Teachings of Islam (series) | Al-Ihsan (Excellence)

    Ihsan is the greatest and highest station in Islamic religion. Ihsan means excellence, perfection, and doing things in a beautiful and righteous way, the Hadith Jibril teaches us that the religion has three great levels are

    ISLAM, IMAAN and IHSAN

    Jibril asked the Prophet
    مَا الإِحْسَانُ؟
    What is Ihsan?
    The Prophet Muhammad answered
    أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ
    To worship Allah as though you see Him and if you do not see Him, then know that He sees you.

    This is one of the highest levels that a believer can reach and it is the highest guidance because no one misbehave in the presence of Allah.

    Why ihsan matters because ihsan transforms your relationship with Allah from merely performing an action into performing that action with consciousness of Allah.

    You pray knowing that Allah sees you, you speak knowing that Allah hears you, you deal with people knowing that Allah knows how you treat them, you preach knowing that Allah is watching how and why you are preaching, You disagree with someone knowing that Allah is watching your disagreement mood.

    This is ihsan, Allah says
    إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
    Indeed, Allah does not allow the reward of those who do good with excellence to be lost.
    The Muhsin/Muhsinah is the person who does things with excellence, Islam does not teach us to pursue truth without character but teaches us to combine truth with excellence, knowledge with wisdom, and dawa with beautiful conduct. Do you know the number of people who embrace Islam by proohet’s character is way more than those accept Islam through Jihad or preachuing.

    وَأَنْزَلَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ وَالْمِيزَانَ
    He sent down the Book in truth and the balance pay attention to the combination
    بِالْحَقِّ وَالْمِيزَانِ
    Truth and balance, Truth is essential But the way we communicate truth also matters you may possess the truth but if you deliver it with arrogance, humiliation, hatred, and abuse, you may drive people away from the very truth you claim to represent this is why wisdom is so important in our words and actions.

    ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ
    Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good manner look carefully at the language of the Quran
    بِالْحِكْمَةِ
    With wisdom.
    وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ
    And with beautiful instruction. The Quran does not simply tell us to call people. If you want to engage in dawa you need knowledge of what you are calling people to. Second, you need knowledge of yourself. You must understand your own emotions, weaknesses, intentions, limitations, and character. And third, you need knowledge of the people you are calling.

    1 who are they
    2 what do they understand
    3 what language will they appreciate

    This is wisdom dawa is not simply speaking, but communicating truth in a way that allows people to hear, understand, reflect, and respond positively.

    وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
    إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ مَكَارِمَ الْأَخْلَاقِ
    I was sent to complete noble character, his dawa was not separated from his character but his message was together with his manners. the famous incident recorded in the Sunnah a funeral procession passed before the Prophet and he stood up when he was told by his companions that it was the funeral of a Jew.

    Prophet respond
    أَلَيْسَتْ نَفْسًا؟
    Was it not a human soul? Look at the profound lesson the person was not a Muslim yet the Prophet recognized his humanity.

  • Learning the true teachings of Islam(series)

    Learning the true teachings of Islam(series)

    You must not understand Tawhid and sunnah as tools creating hatred, extremism, division and declaring others non-Muslims.

    Tawhid means affirming the absolute oneness of Allah. Do not use it to turn people into innovators, do not use Tawḥid as a weapon to declare people non-Muslims, And do not make Tawḥid a cause of hatred and division among the children of Adam.

    وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ

    Indeed, We have honoured the children of Adam, and here Allah had installed universal human dignities in us. He didn’t say indeed we have honoured the Muslims but the children of Adam, which include all people of all beliefs, even people without religion.

    After the above verse, the universal human dignities began to disappear in humanity by enslaving one another, worshipping objects and inequalities took place until Allah said

    ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ

    Then, We reduced him (man) to the lowest of the low.

    After this stage Alllah sent His messagers to the mankind with لا إله إلا الله to liberate humanity, not as Wahabist sub-groups using it today to kill Muslims, non-Muslims kill even children in the name of Islam, They have made non-Muslims scared of Islam while the Prophet Muhammad lived with Jewish, Christian and polytheists in Medinah peacefully.

    Tawhid or Sunnah doesn’t mean Arabization of our beautiful African culture, but it means declaration of an independence for all people.

    Have you once asked yourselves who are the scholars in the West Africa fought for human liberation against imperialism Wahabist or Sufist?

    Sunnah cannot means submitting to Arab cultures.

  • Jakhanke Pedagogy of Sirah

    Jakhanke Pedagogy of Sirah

    The Jakhanke society as enunciated by Alhagie Salim Suware, presented the Sirah to the Jakhanke movement not mealy as historical narration and songs, but as a living person in this understanding the Prophet Muhammad is encountered as a moral and spiritual presence whose character actively shaped the Diakha Karantalu (Jakhanke institutions).

    Through this approach, the Jakhanke sought to disseminate the prophetic character, ethics, comportment and rectitude directly among the people of Senegambia Region.

    A distinctive feature of Jakhanke Pedagogy is their use of oral and cultural forms to transmit prophetic character. These values are frequently embedded in songs: sometimes composed in local languages, sometimes incorporated into wedding songs and other times into associated with circumcision ceremonies and other communal rites. In this way there is no social class or age group remains untouched by the influence of prophetic ethics. Adults, children, men and women encounter the Sirah organically within the rhythms of daily and ceremonial life.

    When Alhagie Salim Suware and Mama Sambou Jabi-Gassama laid the foundation as teaching-centred Islamic society, they both held firm conviction that the most effective and authentic way to restore peace in Diakha-Massina (In modern Mali) was by establishing Majalis, continuous teaching in all local institutions and engaging people patiently and respectfully within their own cultural context.

    For these reasons the Jakhanke did not establish separate or exclusive towns, a Jakhanke individual would settle within an existing villages, build home and live with people. His primary goal will be to teach, embody prophetic character and nurture moral transformation presence rather than dominance.

    This model explains the wide geographical spread of the Jakhanke, they are rarely concentred in one place, yet they are traveling, teaching and integrating peacefully into diverse communities.