Integration and identity (al-indimaj wa-l-huwiyya)

Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy offers the example of an egg, a carrot and a coffee bean to show that the believer affects society and is not affected by it. He holds that integration takes place while keeping one's characteristics and identity. ¹ He cites the experience of the first Muslims, and holds that the last of this community cannot be made right except by what made its first generation right. ²

The Sheikh gives an example of three things placed in boiling water: the egg hardens, the carrot softens, but the coffee bean dissolves and keeps its taste, colour and aroma. ¹ He explains that the believer integrates into his society without losing his characteristics, just as the coffee bean dissolves in water while keeping its scent and flavour. He says that he does not change like the egg and does not soften like the carrot. ³

The Sheikh says that the believer enters societies and changes them without losing his self. He mentions that non-Muslims may see a veiled woman as they see Mary, and be affected by her. ⁴

The Sheikh says that the first Muslims were brought up in the house of al-Arqam, then went out as a small number and integrated into the society of the polytheists without being affected by their polytheism. Instead they dealt with people with kindness and goodness, and God preserved their identity. ⁵

A viewer asks how a Muslim can integrate into his society as the first Muslims did without changing, and the Sheikh answers that this happens by holding fast to the Book and the Sunna (needs_source: part of the question is unclear in the transcript). ⁶

The Sheikh holds that the last of this community cannot be made right except by what made its first generation right. He likens this to a successful engineer who builds on a tested success, and holds that the Companions set a successful measure of faith. ²

The Sheikh holds that integration into society takes place through the call to truth and patience in it, without losing one's characteristics. The believer keeps his characteristics even when the society is far from God. ⁷