A Brush With Innovation

Yesterday, by the Grace of Allah Ta'ala, was a beautiful sunny dry day, which are few and far between here in the UK. So, my wife and I decided to take the kids out and let them enjoy the day running around playing and doing the typical non-sense babies get up to.

As we approached the park, we heard something in the distance. Could it be? I was starting to think they skipped it this year. We inched closer to the park, the distant rumble was getting louder and the faint “Ya Rasul Allah” could now be clearly heard. Eight days late but with all it's innovation plus a police escort there it was, the annual precession marking the birth of our beloved Nabi Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. This is a big day for innovators, perhaps the biggest, and all the top innovators are there. Wearing their Friday's best, clean shaved and head help up high, they proudly declare, 'Yes, I am an innovator!'

I turned to my wife and suggested we go down and take a look, so that I could make ugly faces and throw peanuts at them. Knowing their route, we made our way to where the procession would pass. Along the way, I practiced my ugly face and expressed my disappointment that we didn't have any peanuts.

It wasn't long after we arrived that the slow moving procession could be seen. I made my ugliest face and stared at anyone who looked my way. I told my wife to look for anyone we knew. There were plenty. I was so angry I started to feel ill. Some were chanting, 'Takbir, Allahu Akbar, Ya Rasul Allah, Ya Nabi'. Others were simply saying, 'hu, hu, hu, hu', which later in the day my brother in-law would compare to monkeys but I think monkeys have more sense. Music was playing, everyone had a green flag and all the cars had what looked like Christmas decorations on them. It was disgusting.

When the last of them passed us, we turned and walked in the opposite direction. As the distance grew between us and the once thundering stupidity grew ever more faint, we found a nice spot on the grass to put our blanket and sit. Our conversation turned from the filth of innovators to our desire to make Hijra. I pray Allah ta'ala makes it easy. I pray we find a nice place ruled by Islamic Shariah and free of innovation.