Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

17. Media and the Word of God

It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West "But it is righteousness _ to believe in God and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy for the wayfarer, for those who ask and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity (Zakat); to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) the and adversity, and throughout all periods Software of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Godfearing" (Ayat 177 _ Surah Al_Baqar).

This is, comparatively speaking, a long Ayat but it is also unique in that it summarises the heart and soul, the innermost essence of the guidance provided by the Holy Quran. Inspite of its very great importance and wide-ranging significance, it remains a matter of conjecture how many of us who have Muslim names are even aware of the existence of this Ayat, much less having absorbed its guidance, moulded their lives in accordance with its directives. Apart from other things this Ayat, in a way puts in proper perspective the entire teaching of Islam.

While all the points touched upon in this Ayat are important, some of them need to be highlighted, because it seems that over the course of centuries the Muslims have lost sight of them or forgotten how crucial these points are for observance by those who claim to be Muslims. First there is belief in the Last Day, a concept very much central to the idea of being a Muslim. And yet one wonders that if the Muslims of today had a firm faith in the Hereafter, how could they have indulged in such flagrant violations of Islam’s moral code as bribery, nepotism, exploitation and injustice without batting an eyelid. Then there is the vital importance of fulfilment of contracts which has been considered so important that it is given a prominent place in the list of acts which constitute real righteousness.

The regrettable fact however is that many non_Muslim act upon these directives more scrupulously than we Muslims and this is partly the reason for their success and our failure in this world. Lastly we are told about the importance of firmness and patience in the face of pain, adversity, suffering and panic. This sort of firmness and patience can come only through a sincere belief in and total commitment to all the things mentioned in this Ayat. Owing to this lack of commitment, the Muslim world today is unable to show either firmness or patience in facing the crises which confront it on all sides.

The striking juxtaposition in this Ayat of "Deadening formalism" and faith without any mental reservations in the crucial things listed in this Ayat, should if we Muslims would only pause and ponder over it, make clear to us the real nature of the religion of Islam which unfortunately for us has during the course of centuries been obscured by the dust of confusion and controversy. Having examined the significance of this important Ayat we come to the crucial question which constitutes the theme of this article.

Why is such a weighty and significant Ayat not heard of on Radio Pakistan, nor viewed on Pakistan TV and not seen either in newspapers or on hoardings some of which do display Quranic Ayat. Is it that with the passage of time we have reversed the priorities fixed in the Quran and for us now the detailed formalism of religious rituals is more important than faith and the love of God and the love of humanity. Is it that for one reason or the other the publicising of the words of individuals human beings is considered more essential than publicising the words of God which is what the Holy Quran is? Do we realise or not that nothing can take the place of the words of God when it comes to true and clear-cut guidance on all aspects of our life in this world?

It is well known that publicising Quranic guidance or Tabligh is one of the important responsibilities placed on every Muslim. Ofcourse Tabligh can take many forms but here in this article we are considering only one aspects of it, the use of modern media facilities for propagating the word of God.

There was a time when the message of the Quran could only be publicised through word of mouth, because no other facilities were available for this purpose. Today, through God’s grace the powerful facilities of electronic media are available end to all mankind. Not to make full use of them to propagate God’s message to the whole world is not only a failure to do our duty but is also tantamount to blatant ungratefulness to God. To make effective use of these facilities it is necessary to evolve a clear-cut policy regarding what, how and when we should publicise the word of God. As is well known the Quran consists of both Ayats which fall in the category of Muhkamat and those which fall in the category of Mutashabahat. Obviously it will be appropriate to focus on the first category of Ayat.

It should be possible to select about a hundred Ayats from the Quran which provide a bird’s eye view of the basic and essential elements in the message of Islam. Just to give some examples of the Ayats which it would be most appropriate to publicise under this policy, attention is invited to Builder the following Ayats (a) Wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world But the things that endure, Good Deeds are best in the sight of thy Lord (Ayat 46 Surah Kahaf) Course (b) That Day will Man be told all that he put forward, and all that he put back. Nay man will be evidence, against himself, even though he were to put up excuses (Ayat 13_15 Surah Qiyamat). (c) So fear God as much as ye can: listen and obey; and spend in charity for the benefit of your own souls. And those saved from the covetousness of their own souls _ they are the ones that achieve prosperity (Ayat 16 _ Surah Taghabun (d) By the token of Time (through the Ages) verily man is in loss, except such as have faith and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth and of patience and constancy (Ayats 1_3 Surah Asr).

It may be contended that there are already many programmes on TV and Radio focused on the message of Islam. However it should not be forgotten that such programmes are Ravenfields seen only by the already converted, while the display of selected Ayaat at prime time may well produce an impact on those who are Muslims only in name, even though many of them do not seem to realise it.

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18. Islam & Economic Development

Index

Home Page

Preface

1. Theory & Practice of Islamic Socialism

2. Islamic Economic System

3. Islamic Financing

4. Quranic Commandments about Justice

5. The Quranic View-point about Tolerance

6. Interest on Production Loans : A case for Ijtihad

7. Moral Re-armament