Recently, there has been a conversation on a few online forums about the shortcomings and failures of the salafis in North America. This discussion touches some important issues that affect many of us so I plan to select some of these important issues, present the evidence of why they are important, and are not just "hot issues" of "who is off, and who is on". I hope of have the first part of this discussion posted in a week or less, insha'allah.

Rare Behavior or a Common Habit?

The manhaj of the salaf is an important foundation of the pure and perfected Sunnah. This fact is well established in the text of the Qur’aan and the text of the authentic Sunnah. In essence, the names “Victorious Saved Sect”, and the “Aided Group”, are fitting synonyms for ahl Sunnah wa Jamaat.

Allah said, in his final revelation to the Prophet (s), "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion” (5:3).

Clearly, when a Muslim understands this ayah, as it was understood by the companions, there is no disconnect between the personal responsibility to implement the intended meaning of perfection and completion found in the ayah and effort and commitment to do so.

However when a significant degree of disconnect exist, the issues and problems that arise are numerous and diverse.

One problem, all too common in North America, is the tendency for many Muslims, who scribe to the manhaj of the salaf, to hide their lack of personal initiative, and their lack of desire to improve themselves (men taking the personal responsibility to earning lawful money to provide for one’s family, and not to merely depend on state sponsored assistance).

All too often, one sees many salafis merely holding out the visible artifacts of the untrimmed beard, calf level pants (all of which are important manifestations of “true connection” to the Sunnah and are necessary elements of the Sunnah, but are not sufficient alone to establish one “upon the Sunnah” without the personal commitment to adhere to all of the Sunnah according to one’s ability (and that includes performing righteous deeds and obligatory duties in addition to seeking knowledge).

For many, instead of these elements taking root in a fundamental way, I have noticed over the past 5 or 6 years that the salafi dawah has become a prefect hiding place for those unwilling to change many of the un-Islamic thinking habits and behavior habits they had prior to Islam.

Simply put, some of these thinking habits and behavior habits are just a version of “Cool Pose” masquerading as salafiyah.

“Cool Pose” has been recently bantered around in the media but it is not new to many African American men. “Fronting”, “profiling”, and being “hard” are common tools too many African American men use (non-Muslim and Muslims alike) to mask a variety of personal shortcomings in manhood development.

I suspect that a lot of the fascination with the noble science of “Jarh wa tadeel” by some African American salafis is because “Jarh wa tadeel” (in their minds’) is the only attribute synonymous with being a “hard core salafi”.

Never mind that the meager amount of disposable income in many salafi maasjid is due to minimal education and minimal training; nevertheless, there is still plenty of disposable “Cool Pose” to go around. Too often “Cool Pose” becomes a substitute for being proficient as an educator, a Daee, a network administrator, or being skilled in a business beyond the deregulated street-corner hustle. Granted the street corner hustle is a logical starting place, but as a final destination, it is not.

In Part II, I’ll discuss some of the remedies to reduce “Cool Pose”, insha’Allah.