Our
Communities

You know, there are some things humans can do on their own,

but there are some things they can only do when they are working together.

Now, when they are babies they really can't do anything to look after themselves,

and as they start to grow they learn how to do lots of things for themselves,

but there's still a lot of stuff they need bigger people to take care of.

They usually need their parents to take care of paying for things,

and they need big people to teach them what they don't know but need to know,

and they need grown up people to find out what is wrong with them when they get sick.

And because not everyone knows enough to be a teacher, they build schools where a teacher can get to teach lots of kids.

And they build hospitals so that one doctor can get to treat lots and lots of patients.

And of course, even when they have grown up enough to leave home and look after themselves, they still get sick,

or disabled,

and eventually they get old, and need other people to look after them again.

And it is part of the muslim way of life to care for other people,

to help them when they need help,

and to form a community that will be there when they need help themselves.

And sometimes people join together to do things just to relax and have fun

They can sing together, and play together, and love and comfort each other.

But when people get together they can easily disagree on what is best to do at any time,

and disagreements can easily turn into fights.

So people make rules for what they can and can't do when they are doing things together.

Just as in sports when two teams fight each other, but with rules so that they don't hurt each other.

In the same way a community has rules that they call laws,

and has a police force to make sure that everyone follows them.

And in their smaller communities,

those of their schools or their families,

they also have rules that are there to make it easier to share their space when they live together.

But they need to find ways to agree on those rules, and that's not always easy.

They have to find ways to settle arguments and come to some sort of agreement about things.

And in the muslim way of life it is said that those who argue should do so in a gentle and fair way,

and do their best to come to friendly agreement.

Just as in a choir, when people can sing different notes,

but if they agree on the rules they are following, they can all sing in beautiful harmony.