"O
believers, bow down and prostrate yourselves, and serve only your Lord, and do good,
so that you might attain well-being. And struggle in the way of Allah as ought to be
struggled in (His way). He has chosen you, and He has not laid on you in your Deen (the
Way)
any constriction, Follow the way of your father, Abraham. He has named you Muslims, before
and in this, so that the Messenger would be witness before you, and you would be witnesses
before the mankind. So establish the Prayer, give the Alms, and hold fast unto Allah. He
is your
Master. How excellent the Master, and how excellent the Helper"
Al-Hajj: 77-78
The realization of what Allah SWT
has commanded us through Al-Qur'an has been the guiding principle for the
formation of Witness-Pioneer. It started with a group of conscious sisters
searching for the true understanding of Islam from authentic sources, who came
to know S. A. Hannan, a well-known scholarly figure in Bangladesh, and had
started a study circle under his guidance. This soon had taken an organized form
and was named Witness with the goal of becoming witnesses before the mankind the
way Allah SWT has commanded through the Qur'an. Subsequently, the necessity for
a similar group for young Muslim brothers was realized and under the supervision
of S. A. Hannan, "The Pioneer" had been formed with a vision to take the
pioneering steps in establishing Islam in every sphere of life based on the true
teachings of the Qur'an and the authentic Hadith with a highly balanced
interpretation. The goals of both the groups are to understand and practice
Islam in the present context of the world and reject all forms of extremism in
religious affairs.
Later, several members of the
Witness and the Pioneer came abroad for better education. The need to keep these
brothers and sisters in touch with each other became crucial. In February 1997
the scattered members of the groups started to share their thoughts and ideas
over the net. So the formation an organized group was necessary. A committee was
formed in November 1997 to build and design the website which was completed this
year (1998). This had led to the onset of Witness-Pioneer.
Initially, the newly founded
organization included members from USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan and
Bangladesh almost all of Bangladeshi origin. The network has facilitated
education, research and learning and exchange of ideas and views.
This web-group started with the
goal to facilitate in practicing the Islamic way of life in general with special
thoughts to create a group of well-balanced, spirited, educated, knowledgeable
and responsible Muslims excelling in all spheres of life and contributing to
humanity at large.
Below are some of the goals for the
group in sight:
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Reconstruction of the
thoughts - Work toward building a balanced educated group who would focus on the
issues of the Muslims and reject all forms of extremism.
|
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Islamic perspectives of disciplines
of human endeavors & how to contribute to these disciplines.
|
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Focus on women and children - Women
and children had been ignored to some extent from many Islamic literatures and
societies. Focus should be given to educate them. Women should be educated about
their rights through education.
|
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Building of educational and
humanitarian institutions.
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Cooperate with other humanitarian
organizations to help distressed humanity irrespective of religious or ethnic
backgrounds.
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Contribute to the better
understanding of Muslims in the west and bridge the gap created by the
misunderstanding of Islam in the west and among Muslims.
|
by Imran Chowdhury &
Sultana Syeda Razia
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