“Welcome Home” Past and Future
We launched the Welcome Home blog on Eid al-Fitr in 2021. Over nearly two years, we've published 25 articles introducing essential knowledge about Islam for newcomers to the religion, as well as articles on some of the most common challenges facing Muslims of all backgrounds in America and beyond. Each post is intended to create a homecoming of sorts. "Welcome Home" is an intention, and a prayer, that every interaction we have with the community, whether online or virtual, will bring us all closer to our loved ones, our community, and our Lord. As we approach the second anniversary of this blog, we'd like to take a look back by providing some of the deep history behind this greeting.
"Welcome Home" began at Taleef, like so much else, with our founder, Usama Canon, may God have mercy upon him. As soon as Usama came to Chicago around 2012, we noticed he would say this to new Muslims directly after they said their shahada. It was a brilliant greeting with layered meanings. Usama wasn't just welcoming them into a new religion and community, he was welcoming them to their primordial home. He was recalling the moment when God asked humanity, "Am I not your Lord?", and we collectively gave our first shahada. "Welcome Home" started as an acknowledgement that our first home is with God.
The power of these moments made this a common greeting at Taleef. When team members would travel from Fremont to Chicago, or Chicago to Fremont, we would greet each other with "Welcome Home." When old friends would return to Taleef after a long absence, we would greet each other with "Welcome Home." When visiting scholars would come to Taleef, we would greet them with "Welcome Home." When returning citizens would join us at Taleef, we would greet them with "Welcome Home." It was our prayer that, when we meet for God's sake, we remember and relive that time when we all were gathered in God's presence.
The same prayer lies behind much of what we do at Taleef. People often remark on the fact that we serve tea, burn incense, put greeter at our door, and obsess over the aesthetics of our space. Some are delighted by it while others have called it "bougie." But the intention is simple: when you feel comfortable, your heart opens; when your heart opens, you are ready to receive the angelic presence that arrives when God's name is mentioned. Grand mosques all over the world contain beautiful courtyards and groves that lead into the prayer hall for the same reason: to provide a scent of the Garden that fills our hearts with ease so that we may enter the prayer without our worldly baggage. "Welcome Home" must be said as much by our surroundings and conduct with one another as with our words.
"Welcome Home" is saying that we've noticed spreading around the wider Muslim community. More importantly, however, is that the ethos behind it appears to be spreading as well. There is a growing recognition, even in communities with whom we have no formal ties, of the need for places of homecoming available to everyone, but especially those on the margins of our community. I saw this recently during a conversation I had with a sister in Fremont who said her shahada with us nearly two years ago. She lived quite far from the Bay Area, so none of the staff had seen her since that day. Catching up with a new Muslim after a long absence like this is often a difficult conversation. You tend to hear about the struggles they endure to connect with their community and learn the religion from a consistent and reliable source. But, to my delight, she very joyfully reported that she had fallen in naturally with her local masjid, met a group of other new Muslims in her hometown, and even found a husband. Conversations like this used to be exceedingly rare but they are becoming more common. When I reported this to Taleef's Executive Director, Ali Dia, he asked me, "What does this mean?" I said, "It means we're winning." And by "we," I mean all of us. The effort to build an Ummah in this country where hearts come together with each other and with God is winning.
"Welcome Home" is a weighty claim. It's a claim that we will try to facilitate the primordial homecoming for all who walk through our doors. But it is a claim we must endeavor to fulfill for the sake of every heart that is seeking God. On the second anniversary of this blog, we would like to thank all those who have joined us in this effort, and invite others to come along. Whether you pass down a sense of home that was gifted to you, or you are providing a home that you never had yourself, make a home in your community for someone who can't find it elsewhere. May Allah give us the strength and wisdom to carry this weight.