September 12, 2005

A Brief History of Decline

Over 1400 years have passed since Rasulullah SAW stood at Mount Arafah, and addressed his companions for the final time. The beloved Messenger of Allah began by appealing to the hearts of the people by calling upon their reverence of that holy day of Arafah, reminding them that they must also revere each and every Muslim. He reminded them that they must respect the sanctity and honour of the Muslim people just as they respect the sanctity and honour of Makkah, of the Ka'aba. He called upon them to deliver that message, as well as the entire message he gave his life for, to all those unable to accompany him at that time.

And so the companions set forth, not in search of treasure or land, but in search of those unfortunate people who were unable to hear the message of the Messenger of Allah SWT directly. They carried their message to all the corners, wherever they might expect to find someone to hear the message - and many places where they did not expect to find anyone at all. But they went on either way, because the message was so important. They pushed onwards into the unknown, for years and years.

Many did not even return to their homes. The message entrusted to them was too valuable to afford them time in other than the propagation of it. It was that message, after all, that elevated them to the heights of spiritual and moral excellence, after spending generations living in depravity and chaos. They endured extreme conditions of hunger, exhaustion, torment and pain for that message; it was not something they would take lightly ever again.

And so they mounted their camels and called all those they encountered to the way of their beloved Prophet, peace be upon him. In the absence of the transportation readily available today, they delivered the message throughout much of the entire known world through tremendous physical strain and hardship. Their graves are scattered in locations many thousands of miles across, but the message they conveyed did not die with them. It endured and prospered for many generations, and has now been left to us.

And now, whenever injustice occurs in the world, the Muslims have to defend themselves. Whenever acts of hatred claims the lives of innocent people, the Muslims are blamed for it. Whenever civil liberties are threatened, the Muslims fall back into the same refrain of apology and regret. Muslims are being tortured and blown apart at the core, and the ummah is in shambles.

With the Muslims under attack from every corner, one would expect that we would at least be united in defending our beliefs and our values. One would expect that with such merciless agression against us, we would stick up for one another, and develop compassion amongst ourselves.

Instead, we exhaust ourselves in belittling one another. Rather than discuss issues in a constructive manner, we instead seek to point out errors in the views of others. Every group is trying to "expose" the wrongdoings and miscalculations of the other groups. Each one of them believes they have the exclusive right to call themselves the follower of the Prophet, peace be upon him, yet the rhetoric of each group is eerily the same - and nearly all of it contrary to the teachings of compassion and tolerance that our Prophet taught.

The heart of the Muslim world, the lands of the Prophet (peace be upon him), has been ruptured. The Hajj has become a business and spirituality is declining. Racism is rampant, with Africans suffering from hunger, poverty and mutilation, while the locals look down upon them with derision. The air is thick with the stench of the thousands of smokers who have no problem with exercising their disgusting habit in the vicinity of the Ka'aba. Unlawful food is being sold and consumed by those sincere foreigners who have assumed that everything there must be halaal. At the site of the first revelation of Quran, a merchant will dress you up in traditional Arab garb and take a picture of you pretending to supplicate to Allah for five riyaals.

And most of the rest of us are oblivious to all this, because we feel that attending some lecture and yelling at some rally is all we need to do. Instead of addressing our concerns amongst our companions and community where we can actually do something productive, we rant to strangers under the title of Irrelevant Opinions. Still, we feel good inside because Muslim organizations are working hard to break stereotypes plaguing our community; after all, the world must know that we too can sing and dance.

How has it come to this?

6 comments:

  1. You know... that's the first time in ages I've read something like that. Subconsciously, I've been scanning the web for someone who has the right perspective on the issues that plague us.

    You're right in what you said. Still, there is hope in that small band of people the Prophet said would always be on the "Siraat-e-Mustaqeem" in every time and age. They are far and few, scattered, but they exist.

    Dr Israr Ahmed and his foundation - Tanzeem-i-Islami (tanzeem.org.pk) - are doing a commendable job in this regard, I believe. It is interesting to see that, whatever opinions Dr Israr has regarding Shiites and other sects, he does not resort to finger pointing and accusations of infidelity. This does not mean he agrees with the Shiites, etc. A good example of how the Ummah can be consolidated with tolerance.

    I wonder if you've had the opportunity to ever listen to Dr Israr Ahmed or his Hafiz Aakis Ahmed's commentary on the Quran? It is excellently presented, and Dr. Israr Ahmed's ideas on the revival of the Ummah are greatly appealing.

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  2. In case neither Amora (Ameera) or Faraz know, you two are second cousins. Ameera's mother is my mom's sister which means that her mom and Faraz's father are first cousins. :)

    Regarding the actual posting, an excellent perspective on the state of Islam. May Allah (SWT) reward you.

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  3. Aaah, I had no idea! That is news to me! Thanks, Nomi bhai for that... it's a small world... a very small world.

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  4. I didn't know that either. It's nice to see technology being used to connect families together. Thanks for the info!

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  5. Wow! I'm impressed on ur devotion towards Islam. Oh well, hope you don't mind but I came across your blog as I was doing some Islamic research. I'm currently studying in an Islamic instituition here in Singapore. At the same time, I'm studying academic subjects in a circular school.. I'm sorta the balanced type of person. I was really impressed reading your blog actually with the exception of the vulgarities.

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  6. Assalaamu'alaykum wa rahmatu Allah

    Subhan'Allah...seriously.. how has it come to this. Shaykh Hamza was saying once that Allah's promise is to protect Islam, not Muslims. So while we have many Muslim countries, we don't have any Islamic countries. And while we have many Muslim voices, it's rare to find the Islamic voice. I'm sure you get the idea.

    Subhan'Allah... the message of Islam exists, but as a community we are weak in our faith.The only way to make the change is to start with ourselves. You may enjoy (but will definitely benefit from, insha'Allah) the lectures of Shaykh Mukhtar Magharoui (sp?) who often speaks of the heart. He once had a whole lecture/a poem almost.. "Ya Rasul Allah, I love you, I really do" wherein he shared the seerah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It was so beautiful, masha'Allah, so much so that one couldn't help but cry.

    May Allah strengthen our relationship with Him, take us only when He is pleased with us, protect us all from the punishments of the grave and the Hellfire, and grant us all Jannatul Firdaws, ameen.

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