Islamic Ancestry | How can contemporary Muslims hold onto an Islamic Identity?

How can contemporary Muslims hold onto an Islamic identity which is hot like burning coal?

Opinion: By Mujahid Chowdhury | Follow me on X

Today Islam is a religion and way of life adopted by communities all across the globe. Peoples of all countries and various vibrant cultures have all accepted the faith and allowed Islam to enhance their existing ways of life. Although their foundations are the same, one may notice subtle differences when observing Muslims in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and so on. From food preferences, to clothing and local customs there are definitely noticeable differences amongst Muslims of different countries, cultures, tribes and nations.

Muslims who have a well-grounded Islamic identity are comfortable in their Islamic beliefs, cultural practices and history. However today, especially in multicultural mega cities in the west such as London, New York and Paris; and Muslim majority countries where western culture has had a major influence on society, we find that many Muslims are facing an identity crisis. Many Muslims often feel confused about their identity and sometimes feel a lack of belonging, especially with the negative portrayal of Islam in the media attacking at the very roots of their identity. As prophesied in the Hadīth:

A person with a strong Islamic identity is a person who has beliefs and cultural practices which are in accordance with the sharī'ah. This is simple enough to understand. A person who does not believe in one God cannot be said to have an Islamic identity. A person who does not believe in the angels created by Allah such as Jibrīl, the scriptures revealed by Allah such as the Qur'ān, the Injīl (Gospel) and the Torāh, all the prophets of Allah, the day of judgement, and predestiny cannot be said to be a person with an Islamic identity. A person who continues a cultural practice which is forbidden by the sharī'ah due to their strong connection with their culture over Islam cannot be said to have a strong Islamic identity. Rather that person has a stronger cultural identity that they prefer over an Islamic one. However a person who practices that which is permissible in the sharī'ah, even though it is a practice which stems from their culture, can still be said to have a strong Islamic identity.

To summarise this point, when it comes to Islamic beliefs there are certain beliefs that must be maintained in order for a person to have an Islamic identity. And when it comes to cultural practices it is clear that there can be many different cultures which maintain an Islamic identity.

However in addition to a person's beliefs and culture there is a third crucial component which helps to form a person's Islamic identity and that is their history and lineage. It can be argued that this component can be broken down into the following three types and be labelled as "Islamic Ancestry":

Islamic spiritual ancestry: This can be viewed by drawing a chain in which the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is at the beginning and the person who holds an Islamic identity is at the end. In between are the teachers that took the teachings of the Prophet and handed it down to their students until it reached him or her. This type of lineage requires a Muslim to be connected to a teacher that has an isnād going back to the Prophet.

Islamic blood ancestry: This can be viewed by drawing a family tree which usually goes back to a significant male family member (through ones paternal bloodline) that accepted Islam and is a person's direct ancestor. This type of lineage is inherited by born Muslims via their paternal bloodline but does not apply to a person that was not born a Muslim.

Islamic ethnic ancestry: This cannot be drawn on paper but is a collective memory of an ethnic tribe or nation that has in their history a Muslim individual that made a significant contribution and has become a focal point of unity for that tribe or nation.

I am therefore proposing that knowing ones Islamic ancestry is required in order to form a complete Islamic identity.

Using the above structure I will now form my own identity. As a British Bengali Muslim that was born in London and spent most of my life in the UK my identity is as follows:

1) I believe in what the sharī'ah commands me to believe in and I reject that which the sharī'ah commands me to reject.

2) I maintain a British-London-Bengali culture so long as it does not contradict the sharī'ah.

3) I maintain my Islamic spiritual ancestry to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) via all the Muslim scholars that have taught me and transmitted knowledge to me from their teachers going all the way back to the Prophet.

4) I am from the descendants of Shah Suleiman Koroni who was one of the companions of Shah Jalal Al-Yemeni and is buried in my ancestral village in Sylhet, Bangladesh. He was likely the first significant Muslim in my bloodline.

5) I am ethnically Bengali and together with my ethnic group we unanimously trace our Islamic ethnic ancestry back to Shah Jalal who liberated us from tyranny and brought Islam to our lands in the 8th century AH.

These five points are great for a person who was born Muslim and is from an ethnic group that has a notable Islamic history and personality that everyone from that ethnic group unites upon. But what about a person who was not born Muslim or is from an ethnic group that does not have a notable Islamic history? Such a person holds a unique position as potentially being the first to accept Islam in their bloodline. Future Muslims would trace their lineage back to such a person. And maybe one day this person would be honoured with being the very first Muslim hero of their ethnic group.

In summary, in order for Muslims who are struggling with their Islamic identity to find themselves again in a world in which nation states are dictating and dominating their identities, they much first connect with scholars and teachers who hold an isnād going back to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). They must then make an effort to find out who their ancestors were and who the first notable Muslim within their bloodline was. For those who were not born Muslim they can still look within their ancestry and make an effort to know who their ancestors were as this is a Sunnah. The Prophet himself knew his ancestry which was traced back to Ibrahim (as) through Adnan. Finally Muslims along with their respective ethnic communities must know who their historical Muslim heroes were. Who was it from their tribe and nation that contributed towards their Islam? Who was it that helped take their ancestors from the darkness of disbelief into the light of Islām? If we do this we will be able to reclaim our legendary Islamic identity despite living in a harsh environment in which Muslims are demonised and made to feel like they are inferior. We will proudly and patiently hold onto the hot coal which is our Islamic identity which burns our hands as it would become more dear to us than any other identity in the world.

Allah says: