Someone remarked the other day, that the followers of no religion criticise their own religion as much as the Muslims do. This superficially plausible observation is really quite fallacious in that most of the criticism from the Muslims is directed against the attitude and behaviour of other Muslims and not against Islam. As everybody would readily agree Islam and Muslims are two distinct entities, and although intimately inter-linked, they are by no means the same thing. The inability to see Islam and Muslims as two clearly identifiable entities is responsible for much of the confusion in writings and observations about Islam, specially those emanating from the Western countries.
Even the most educated Westerner of today forms his impression of Islam on the basis of the behaviour of Muslims in various parts of the world from Morocco to Indonesia. And yet in all probability not even one per cent of such persons would have read even excerpts from the Holy Quran. There cannot be a greater injustice to Islam than this, but then it cannot also be denied that the Muslims themselves are largely to blame for this state of affairs. On the one hand, in season and out, they proclaim their loyalty and devotion to Islam, and on the other, they continue to behave in a fashion worse than that of nonbelievers in so many matters relating to life in this world. This blatant hypocrisy, the disparity between words and deeds, is largely responsible for the tarnished image of Islam in the minds of non-Muslims.
How this dichotomy between the teachings of Islam and the behavior of Muslims came about over the last 1400 years is a tragic story of failure of commitment, lack of self-discipline and refusal to undertake the arduous task of self_development, which the message of Islam clearly expects and demands from Muslims when they recite the ‘Kalima’. It is also most unfortunate that this sad story of the decline of the Muslim Ummah has not been researched and recounted as fully and properly as it should have been.
While there is no denying the fact that there is a large amount of literature on Islam produced by Muslims, most of it is of a narrative and descriptive nature, and very little is critical or analytical in the true sense. As for the contribution of non-Muslims, especially the Westerners, apart from the fact that most of the earlier authors were deeply biased against Islam, perhaps no non_Muslim can have that intimate and instinctive understanding of Islam as a Muslim can have, and so the responsibility for investigating the causes of the decline in the Muslim Ummah and its deviation from the true path of Islam rests largely on the shoulders of Muslims. That we Muslims have, by and large, failed to discharge this important responsibility is a matter of deep regret and far reaching consequence, because without properly understanding the past, no people can even begin to plan their future with a view to achieving progress and prosperity in this world.
All talk of Islamization, Nizam-i-Mustafa or Islamic ideology becomes an empty slogan if this work of identifying past mistakes and deviations is not undertaken honestly, because it is only from such investigations that the path of reforms and correction can be worked out and projected. Merely recounting the glorious deeds of our forefathers in various fields is not going to get us anywhere, nor is the commemoration of various birth and death anniversaries in which we seem to have acquired such a speciality. This task of investigating our past sincerely and fearlessly is bound to be a painful process, but like the surgeon’s knife which offers the only chance of recovery in certain illnesses, this effort has to be made if we are to get out of the morass in which we have fallen at present.
According to a leading lawyer of Pakistan, who is also a recognised authority on Islamic matters, the principal cause of the decline of Muslim Ummah has been the lack of commitment to the Islamic way of life. In his view our adherence or devotion to the Islamic way of life is only nominal, with no depth of faith and affirmation. Most of the Muslims of today are Muslims only because they were born in Muslim families and were given Muslim names by their parents. During the course of their life few have bothered to understand the implications of being a Muslim the self discipline and the self denial which it entails, the effort for self-improvement and self_development which it demands, and the complete surrender to the Will of God which is the foundation_stone of the Islamic way of life. This commitment to the Islamic way of life has to be made with all sincerity and without any mental reservations, not in an apologetic manner and without trying to belittle the significance of such commitment.
It was the truth and intensity of the faith of the early Muslims, which enabled them to achieve all that they did in various fields of human endeavour, and it was the diminution of the intensity of this faith which has brought the Muslims of today to the level of disgrace to which they have fallen. Unless our faith in the fundamentals of Islam, the Unity of God, the prophet hood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and the Finality of the Day of Judgement, is renewed and raised to the same level as the faith of the early Muslims, there can be no hope for the revival of the fortunes of the Muslim Ummah.
The late Dr. Fazlur Rahman was of the view that the main purpose of God in sending His revelations to man is to provide for the breeding of a moral individual, and if this fact is lost sight of by the Muslims it is a great injustice to Islam and Islamic ideology. In other words the principal object of Islam is to change the ‘inner Man’s and if this object is not pursued and achieved, whatever else is designated as Islam is at best the outer shell and not the real substance the of Islam.
Among the large number of moral values Ravenfields which Islam has advocated, those which need to be emphasised because the Muslims of today have deviated farthest away from them are, justice, (OÕ ye who believe, be ye staunch in justice, witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourself or your parents or your kindred) Surah Nisa verse 135, tolerance, (Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burden can bear the burden of another; your Course goal in the end is towards God: He will tell you the truth of the things wherein ye disputed (Sura Anam_164) charity, (they ask thee how much they are to spend: Say what is beyond your needs) Surah Baqara_Verse 219 and austerity, (but squander not your wealth in the manner of a spendthrift Surah Bani Israel_Verse 26). In spite of these very clear and definitive directives of Allah, how many Muslims there are today who pray five times a day but are not fair and just in their dealings with others, who fast during the month of Ramazan, Builder but are not prepared to tolerate the views of others, who perform numerous Haj and Umra but do not give in charity as much as they can, and on the other hand squander lavishly on their own comforts and weddings and other functions. Are these people totally ignorant of the moral imperatives of the Quran or is it that they do not realise that moral behaviour and enforcement of moral values is the very core of the Islamic way of life. Unless this blatant deviation from the moral values enjoined by Islam is rectified, can there be any hope for the revival of the fortunes of he Muslim Ummah?
The strange cleavage in the behaviour of many Muslims pointed out above is, among other things, largely due to the fact that most Muslims today read the Holy Quran as a ritual, during Ramazan, and on occasions such as Fateha Khwani for a departed soul, and not to seek guidance from the Book of Wisdom and Knowledge sent down by Allah for their benefit.
In non_Arab countries the lack of knowledge of the Arabic language is a hindrance but it is not an insurmountable barrier. Almost every educated person today learns more than one language and Arabic can also be one of the foreign languages which can be learnt. However, if this is not possible, numerous translations and commentaries on the Quran in every language of the world are now available and there can be no excuse for non_Arabs not to consciously seek wisdom and guidance from the Holy Quran in all matters concerning their lives in this world. Since in Islam everybody is wholly and solely responsible for his own acts in this world, and will have to account for them fully in the next world, the need for every Muslim to acquaint himself directly and fully with the contents of the Holy Book is an obvious and inescapable requirement. The fulfilment of this requirement is necessary, not only for the salvation of the individual but also for the survival and progress of the Muslim Ummah, and it is because of our neglect of this important need that we are lost in a maze of conflicting ideologies and pressures.
Only an intimate knowledge of the message of the Holy Quran acquired directly by each individual, can lead us to the true path of Islam. Verse 7 of Surah Al_Imran states as follows: "He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: in it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning): they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical. But those in whose heart is perversity follow the part that is allegorical, seeking discord and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings, except God." This verse of the Holy Quran clearly points out that the basic verses (Muhkamat) are enough for the guidance of the Muslims and they are not to spend time investigating the allegorical verses (Mutashabihat) and trying to discover their hidden meanings since this is beyond the resources of human beings. Inspite of this clear and elaborate admonition the Muslim Ummah has spent a Software lot of its time doing just what is was not supposed to do, speculating about the nature of God, about life after death, about heaven and hell, beyond what is stated in the Holy Book itself. This has not only diverted the attention of the Ummah from the importance end of the observance and enforcement of the Muhkamat, but also wasted a lot of the creative energy of the Ummah which could have been used in investigating the social, political, and economic problems connected with life in this world, which could have helped in making this world a better place to live for all human beings.
Much could have been done through such efforts to make every day life more liveable, ensuring human progress, social stability and intellectual advancement. In other words instead of realising that the ‘Deen’ had already been revealed in its perfection by Allah, and human research should concentrate on matters which fall in the realm of this world, the Muslims in the past have spent too much precious time and energy unravelling the mysteries of ‘Mutashabihat’ which was not going to get them anywhere.
Finally we come to the failure of the Muslim Ummah to carry out the very forceful directive of Allah contained in Ayat 104 of Surah Al-Imran which states: "Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong." The range of this Ayat is not confined to inviting non-Muslims to become Muslims but also extends to making Muslims better Muslims, which task has been badly neglected over the centuries. If that were not so Muslims all over the world would not be in a state of demoralisation, having lost the moral values which are the hallmark of a true Muslim.
There is no doubt that all through the history of the Muslim Ummah missionary efforts have been made but most of these efforts have been concentrated on persuading the people to observe the prescribed rituals and ‘Ibadat’ and very little time was given to persuading the people to uphold the moral values of sincerity, brotherhood and honesty. Had this been done and had the Muslims been made to understand that for being a good Muslim sincerity is as necessary as Namaz, and Haj is more than anything else a practical demonstration of that feeling of brotherhood which is a lifetime commitment and not a one day obligation, the state of Muslim society would have been entirely different from what it is today.
The above paragraphs have recounted some of the past failures of the Muslim Ummah which have brought us to our present condition. They also provide a guide and a pointer towards the direction in which we need to move in order to fulfil our destiny as the vicegerents of God on earth.
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