One of the most baffling and in its own way controversial questions which confront every thinking Muslim when he sits down to ponder over the declining fortunes of the Muslim Ummah is the reason for the fall of a people who for many centuries led the whole world in every field of human endeavour. How could the guidance provided by the Holy Quran and the authentic Hadith which propelled the Muslim Ummah towards heights till then unknown to the human race, fail to motivate and inspire the present day Muslims to evolve a decent, just and tolerant social order in which every one would get a fair deal and be able to achieve his full potential strictly in accordance with his ability and efforts?
This failure becomes even more amazing when one considers that with the passage of time, the possibilities of human development and improvement have increased immensely compared to the period when the Muslim Ummah was at its height. Better communications, better facilities for health and education, increase in per capita income, all should have made it possible for the Muslim Ummah with the help of the guidance provided by Allah to improve the quality of human life and make this world a better place to live for all human beings. But instead of capitalising on these favourable factors the Muslim Ummah seems to have lost all sense of direction and purpose with the result that it continues to slide towards newer depths of degradation socially, economically as well as politically.
However as far as appearances concerned of which we Muslims are so enamoused, it would seem that the religion of Islam is being pursued to day as vigorously as it was fourteen hundred years ago. More and more mosques are being built all over the Muslim world and they remain reasonably filled, particularly at the time of the mid day Friday prayers.
Fasting is done almost on a ceremonial basis in most Muslim countries and an ever increasing number of the faithful are performing the Haj, some even more than once, Zakat is being paid by a good number of Muslims, although Pakistan is perhaps the only country where it is claimed that it is being recovered systematically by the Government. And yet in spite of the observance of these prescribed rituals, the Muslim Ummah appears to be probing uncertainly as to how it should grapple with the ever increasing complexities of modern life. How is it that the apparently meticulous observance of the rituals has failed to create that clarity of vision and sincerity of commitment to the way of life laid down by Islam as was possessed by the early Muslims? Why is it that for Software most members of the Muslim Ummah today these rituals have become an end in themselves, which somehow do not improve the character and attitudes of the observers to any perceptible extent?
Apart from Ibadat, the other visible aspect of Islamic teachings is Shariat. Here again the Muslim Ummah has lost its way in a maze of clarifications and qualifications put forward by the students of the five Imams who had given the original fairly simple and straightforward procedures for the implementation of the Quranic teachings in the day to day life of the Believers. By writing commentary after commentary on the fatwas of the great Imams, their followers and other Ulema have created the impression that the finer points of Shariat was the most important aspect of Islam. As a result, the cultivation of Iman by individual Muslims and the enforcement of moral values so strongly emphasised by Islam have become a secondary matter.
This shifting of attention from the cultivation of Iman and moral values, to the observance of the meticulous formalities laid down by each generation of Ulema has become the beginning of a major deviation from the actual path laid down by the Quran and authentic Hadith for attaining success in this world and salvation in the next. What is even more tragic is that most of these meticulously worked out ordinances of Shariaht have become dead letters, primarily Course on account of the fact that most Muslims have lost their understanding and commitment to the Iman which Allah has emphasised so many times in the Quran. A few glaring examples of such deviation will be given in subsequent paragraphs, but before doing that it is necessary to discuss the various elements of Iman, the Ravenfields invisible aspect of Islam.
Iman according to the teachings of Islam is absolute belief in three things, _Tauhid, Risalat and Qiyamat. The important point to note about Iman is that it cannot be secured automatically, but has to be acquired through one’s personal efforts. You can inherit your father’s name and his property but you cannot inherit his Iman. Some people are reluctant to call this Iman blind faith, but this is what it actually is in the last resort. One can reach the certainty of Iman by observing and pondering over the phenomenon of nature around him, from the sun and stars, to rain_filled clouds and the growth of vegetation. Similarly, one of the most important sources of inspiration for developing Iman is reading of the Holy Book over and over again in a language one understands and constant meditation over the various points brought out in the Holy Quran.
The important thing to note about Iman is that what really matters is the quality of Iman, the intensity of belief and the commitment to mould one’s entire life in this world in conformity with this Iman. Many people who have been born in Muslim families and who have recited the Kalima, think they have completed all the requirements of Iman, when in actual fact acquiring true Iman is a life_long endeavour with many dimensions.
The importance of true, sincere and complete Iman or faith in the three things mentioned earlier is a constant refrain of the Holy Quran. In so many Ayats, Iman and Amal are linked together as if they were inseparable. One of the most attractive smaller Surahs of the Quran is Al_Asr, where it is stated "By the token of time through the Ages, Verily man is end in loss, except such as have Faith and do righteous deeds...Ó. The reason for Builder this constant joining of faith with righteous deeds is that without Iman or faith, consistent righteous conduct is very difficult if not impossible. And it is this decline in the quality and intensity of Iman among the Muslims of today which is responsible for the precipitous fall in their standards of conduct and behaviour. Things have gone so far that all sort of ingenious devices have been developed to circumvent the clear_cut directives of Allah. A few examples would help substantiate this point.
One of the most elaborately described directions in the Holy Quran with far reaching economic implications is the law of inheritance. One cannot say with authority about other Muslim countries, but in Pakistan these laws are defied most shamelessly, with the result that very few female relatives get their due share of inheritance as laid down by Allah. As for Zakat which,General Ziaul Haq tried to recover through force of law, a very large number of Muslims in Pakistan have resorted to the subterfuge of giving false declarations without batting an eyelid. In the case of Riba, the third Islamic directive with economic implications, the Muslim Ummah has on the one hand equated Riba with bank interest without properly understanding the implications and on the other it has had no hesitation in resorting to every ‘hila’ possible to circumvent its own pious pretensions. This sort of blatant hypocrisy is possible only when there is more or less complete absence of Iman, which unfortunately is the actual situation of the majority of Muslims in Pakistan today.
Finally it may be mentioned that the Quran itself states quite clearly and unambiguously that the guidance provided by the Holy Quran is only for those who fear God. Almost the very first Ayat of the Quran states in Surah Alif Lam Mim: "This is the Book: In it is guidance sure without doubt to those who fear God". In the face of this and many similar Ayaat in the Quran it would be extremely presumptuous for any Muslim to think that he can benefit from the guidance provided by Islam without his Iman in the three principal articles of faith mentioned earlier being complete and without any mental reservations. In actual fact Muslims have from time to time succumbed to this type of presumption into thinking that merely by reciting the Kalima they can attain success and felicity both in this world and the next.
To sum up, it needs to be reiterated that every thing which has anything to do with Islam begins with Iman, absolute, unconditional, blind faith in the three things mentioned above. From this base of Iman, comes total commitment at all times and in all circumstances to the moral values emphasised by Islam, namely the Justice, Tolerance, Charity, Austerity, Honesty, Kindness, Equality and Fraternity. Without firm Iman it is difficult to envisage how any person can continuously and consistently practice the moral virtues which are the bedrock of Islamic teachings.
When all is said and done, it cannot be denied that the final motivator of human actions in this world is a person’s Iman, and the quality of a person’s Iman ultimately makes all the difference. An answer to the questions raised at the beginning of this article also lies in these observations if one cares to think about it.
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