In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
HEALTH OF UMMAH – A TERMINAL PATIENT
[Shamim A Siddiqi,
About 50 years back, I invited my
brother-in law, Late Shafiq Ahmad Merhoom of
I asked Shafiq Bah Merhoom: do you like to be the companion of such a terminal patient who is dying or is likely to die any moment? He felt so much disgusted with this scenario that he joined the IM forthwith. May Allah forgive his sins, if any and place his soul in Jannatul Firdaus.
Unfortunately, the Ummah has practically lost all its charms and character to attract others but Muslims are extremely unconscious of its precarious condition, taking its health as normal are busy in their day to day “routines” as usual, thinking the least that they are accountable to their Lord one Day ultimately. I wonder: how they will face Him?
This similarity, in fact, raises some very important questions about Ummah as where it stands to day. How much it is paralyzed and dysfunctional in its socio, economic, and political fields, national and International affairs, limping in moral and ethical standards, lagging far behind in fulfilling its obligation to call the humanity to the fold of its Creator and Sustainer, experiencing a total failure in delivering justice [Al-Adl wa Al-Qist] to mankind and neglecting its very objective for which it was raised as “Ummatun Wasatan”.[the best of nations] as emphasized by Allah (SWT) in Verses # 104 and 110 of Surah # 3, Al-Imran.
Is it carrying out in any form its top most obligation to stand in the witness box of human history? Is it playing its dominant part towards maintaining equilibrium in nations and communities at all the fronts or just keeping “mum” and behaving like a silence spectator everywhere? Has it forgotten its prominent part to stand towards removing injustices from the socio-economic-political spheres of human life in order to make his abode as the cradle of peace, justice and security for all and malice to none? How it will face the Mighty Court of Allah and “accepts” its failure in fulfilling the mission of Rasulullah (S) in the last and the current millennium to serve as the “Mizan” [Scale] of Justice and fair play?
THE AILMENTS: Ummah is not fulfilling any of its aforesaid obligations and by virtue of that it has rendered Islam – the Deen of Allah, into a “religion” of some rituals and Ebadah as Jews and Christians have rendered their original “Islam” into Judaism and Christianity. Muslims are practicing Islam as a religion restricted to some believes, customs, dogmas, traditions and follow like rituals – as some lifeless formalities to maintain their link with Islam for the name sake.
Their prayers are juts like routines - a formality that they are standing before their Lord hand folded but totally absent of what they are reciting, what they are praying and begging from their Lord, what they are committing to act, live and behave on this earth. They are standing in Salah but mostly wandering like a “vagabond” in the wilderness of their worldly life and its day to day engagements, giving the least or no consideration at all to whom they are facing and what they are begging from Him.
The result of such Salah is disastrous. With a few exceptions here and there, a good number of Muslims are habituated to offer prayers both in congregation or individually day and night but the matter of remembrance of their Lord is missing altogether. As such, they get nothing or very little from their Salah in return from their Lord. This makes their Salah an “exercise” in futility. They hardly get closeness to Allah as Salah is the ascension [Mairaj] of each Muslim towards Allah. So is the case of all the Ebadah of the Muslim Ummah. They are fasting with all formalities but the spirit of devotion to inculcate Taqwah through the fasting is found missing. In consequence, they are unable to make their life “Allah-conscious” or getting any taste of it. Thus, the essence of fasting is mostly missing. The condition of Hajj is rather, more lamentable. They perform it as a ritual devoid of the spirit of self sacrifice and devotion which every “directive” of Hajj symbolizes.
They go for Hajj and came back as they go mostly empty handed as on return no apparent change is visible in their life pattern except one title of “Haji” is added to their name. Those who are the men of means go every year for non-obligatory Hajj but what they get only they know and their Allah. They go for non-obligatory Hajj every year and leave behind a lot of Obligations unattended. It reminds me the story of Abdullah Ibne Maswood (RA).
Once he was proceeding to Makkah on a non-obligatory Hajj with his Khadim [attendant]. On the way he saw a girl on a wayside garbage dump. She was searching something in it and something she was hiding in her hand. He was surprised and went to her asking: “Daughter, what are you searching here?” She replied, “My mother told me that if you are hungry for three days, you can take any thing that you could find on the dump” He asked and what you are hiding behind you? She showed it to him. It was a dead bird in her hand. Seeing this pathetic situation, he (RA) asked his Khadim, “how much money he has for the journey?’ The Khadim replied, “Four hundred Dirham” Ibne Maswood (RA) asked him to go with this girl to her mother, keep 20 dirham for the return journey and give the balance 380 Dirham to her mother”. Our Hajj is completed. Alhamdulillah, these are the most eye opening words of the Faqih of this Ummah. Will the people who rush for Hajj every year take any lesson from it?
So is the case with Zakah. It is in the most disorganized shape. There are very small numbers of Muslims who pay Zakah. The rest abstain or ignore and do not pay at all as an obligatory Ebadah for the rehabilitation of the economy of the poor and the needy.
It is the Self-sustained Welfare System of Islam but it is in the most disorganized form throughout the Muslim Ummah. Allah gave us the means to remove poverty from our midst but no where in any Muslim country it is implemented as an organized Institution at any stage of our community life though there are 57 Muslim countries in the world. What a great tragedy it is!
This explains the condition of Ummah about the very Ebadah that it is performing while taking Islam as a “religion”. So we are the “so-called” Muslims as the Jews and Christian have become. Now please tell us why Allah should respond to our prayers and what for? With Allah every thing is conditional. “You fulfill your commitment, only then He will fulfill His promise” [Ref” Verse # 40 of Al-Baqarah] That is why I compared its condition with a terminal patient – a life less body that may succumb any time to the multiple adverse situations that Ummah is confronted with.
THE CAUSES: It can be enumerated briefly as under:
1. The aforesaid discussion confirms the tragedy that the Ummah is taking Islam as a religion and not as “Al-Deen” whereas Allah proclaims: “Inna Al-Deena Indallahe Al-Islam” – With Allah Islam is the only Deen” [Ref: verse # 19 of Surah Al-Imran] that covers the entire spectrum of human life from birth to death and from cradle to grave. Ebadah is only a segment of it. As such, Muslims are neglecting all other essential segments of Deen and lost the leadership of mankind.
2. Equally Islam is a Movement. A Muslim cannot sit idle till Allah’s Deen becomes dominant and Allah’s authority is established every where in the world. Verse # 111 and 112 of Surah Al-Tawbah, Verse # 125 to 128 of Surah Al-Nahal and Verse # 33 & 34 of Surah Al-Fussalat demand every Muslim and Muslimah to undertake it as the mission of his/her life and call the humanity to the fold of its Creator and Sustainer till the last breath of life. This factor is mostly missing from our life. The Dawah activities of the Islamic Movements around the world are limited within the national boarders. They couldn’t think to extend its blessings globally. All are bogged down with the community affairs of their respective home land and Dawah efforts could not be extended to its logical culminating point when it engulfs the entire human abode.
3. Interference of foreign powers within the internal affairs of Muslim world who are supporting and maintaining the usurper heads of the Muslim countries for their nefarious ends to perpetuate their secular rules. They all are overwhelmed by the cultural domination of the west.
4. Ummah has lost the sense of direction that it is raised as the leaders of mankind to guide its destiny and deliver justice to the human abode and be its models in every walk of life both at individual and collective spheres. This goal is missing altogether from our collective life. It would have inspired them to fulfill that role again.
5. As such, it has forgotten that it is to stand as the “Witness to Mankind” in this world and in Akhirah.
6. Dearth of Dependable and Trustworthy leadership and the Committed Team of Da’ees in thousands and thousands in each Muslim land to guide the Islamic Movements to their glorious end and run the affairs of the country positively on the lines directed in the Qur’an and demonstrated by Rasulullah (S) in his life pattern. When the requisite numbers are available to Ummah, its condition will start changing forthwith, faster than our expectation, Insha Allah.
THE CURE: If the causes as spelled out above are removed from
the body politics of Ummah and it is actively involved in fulfilling the
requisite obligations, the Ummah will resurrect its fate within a decade or so
Insha Allah. It will give Barakah in our efforts manifold. The terminal patient
will then rise afresh to change its destiny as well as the destiny of mankind
to new frontiers of peace, progress and security with justice for all and
malice to none.
Let every Muslim fulfill consciously what he or she commits at least 17
times in our daily prayers by reciting: “IYYAKA NABUDU WA IYYAKA NASTA’EEN” [We
worship Thee only and seek help only from Thee – the symbol of total surrender
to Allah.
It is my conviction that if Muslims just follow the meanings and the
concept of Surah Al-Fateha meticulously in their day to day life and change
their life pattern accordingly, they can change their destiny altogether in no
time. It is what that I have humbly presented
in my book: “Al-Fateha & Its Significance”. It is
available on my Website: WWW.dawahunamericas.com
I would request the readers to go through it thoroughly and get out of the list
of “Terminal Patient” within twinkling of an eye. It will bring you closer to
Allah, make your respective Salah meaningful and will help immensely in
changing your life as models for others, Insha Allah.
I pray to Allah to give us Tawfeeq, especially to our Sisters and Dawah
oriented workers to pilot the fate of Muslim Ummah in this country and be its
model for the rest of mankind.
Shamim Siddiqi
October 17, 2011