Present Crisis of the Muslim Ummah
English Essay on "Present Crisis of the Muslim Ummah"
Since September 11, the Ummah is faced with the option of going down into the oblivion of hist1ory or to rise, from the ashes and once more dominate history. Islam rose from the Arabian desert alike a storm. It transformed the illiterate Arabs, who defeated the two superpowers of that period, Iran and Byzantium. Under the Ommayads the Muslims conquered the area from Sindh to the Atlantic Ocean and upto Samarqand and Bokhara. Finally in the last period of conquests, the Ottomans conquered Turkey, Eastern Europe, and Southern Russia.
Apart from this the Muslims ruled Spain for 700 years. And in South East Asia Islam was spread in Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines by Arab traders. In the Indo-Pak sub-continent, conquered by Turkish dynasties, then by Pathans (Afghans) and finally by the Mughuls for seven hundred years-the Muslims were supreme.
Lest it be thought this overemphasizes the role of the Muslim conquerors, let us come to the role of the philosophers, ulema, mashaikh, poets, linguists, jurists and above all scientists during this Muslim period.
Let is start with commentators on the Quran, as it was only the Quran, which motivated the Muslims in every field. Various commentaries made it possible for Muslims in general to comprehend it. Then the Muslims concentrated on Hadith.
Then there were vast contributions to Fiqah. Experts did not enunciate Islamic Law haphazardly, but first identified doctrines and then based the law on the Quran, the Hadith, Ijma and Qayas.4essays.blogspot.com They also enunciated doctrines like Istidlal and Istihsan, upon which they built the edifice of Islamic Law, still the most advanced and comprehensive legal system.
In philosophy, the Islamic doctrines were tested against Platonism and neo-Platonism and the foundation of Islamic philosophy laid. A galaxy of immortal poets made Persian the best vehicle of expression of both feelings and ideas. The Muslims also produced great historians. In science, the Arabs were the first to distinguish pharmacy from medicine, translated astronomy texts from Sanskrit, invented distillation, and discovered nitric and sulfuric acids, established hospitals and a paper factory, and made many discoveries in medicine, mathematics, astronomy and many other fields which were either the basis of Western scientific development, or are now credited to later. European scientists. But in Europe the industrial revolution took place and the Europeans themselves ‘adopted’ the Muslim sciences and left the Muslims far behind. Then there were the great people’s personalities who brought Islam to the common people, like Hazrat Abdul Qadir Gailani, Khwaja Bahauddin Mohammad and Data Garij Baksh, Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, who, along with others, in spite of all odds kept Islam alive and propagated it in an anti-Islamic atmosphere. Now in spite of the independence of more than 50 Islamic or Muslim States the Islamic world and its intellectuals arid ulema are in a intellectual quagmire. In science and technology, the leaders in the Middle Ages now stand at the bottom.
We, specially Pakistanis, have made remarkable progress in iT, but better prospects abroad have attracted many of our best people. In economics and industry we are the lower castes, and shall become real scheduled castes after the WTO becomes operative. Our development and even welfare plans are dependent on the doles and the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank. The emergence of multinationals shall emasculate our nascent industries., In international politics the Muslim World has been completely marginalized. Even our own international institutions like the OIC and ECO have become of no consequence. Local wars against Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine or the attempt to grab Central Asia and its fuels are not mere regional wars, but against Islam itself. This is now a war between Islam and the West. After understanding this new historical phenomenon, being repeated after the ‘Crusades, we have now to ponder, plan and act to reverse this onslaught.
Options.
It is necessary that the Ummah should undertake the following steps to avoid a catastrophe. Ulema, intellectuals, lawyers, scientists and the Armed Forces of the Ummah should critically analyze these proposals.
1. Unity of the Ummah
To make the Ummah a centre of power, it unity is a must. Not the creation of lifeless organizations of governments, but of the Muslim peoples, who represent both the virility and spirituality f the Muslim world, who take part in the Jihad in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Bosnia, Chechnya, Philippines, Arakan and Palestine.
2. Islamic Peoples Movement
It is now necessary to commence an Islamic Peoples Movement not merely of rulers, ulema, intellectuals and others but of the common people, for it is they who are the ‘core’ of the Muslim World, and of whom the West is mortally afraid.
3.HAJ
The annual pilgrimage. of Haj is the most important, most active and most revolutionary institution of Islam. It is the communicator of ideas throughout the Muslim World. This revolutionary institution should be re-vitalised where like before the common people coming from all parts of the Muslim world can listen to the views of the Ulema, Mashaikhs, scientists and experts on all subjects, not in dull seminars where the participants go to sleep, but in large public gatherings as in the Pakistan improvement. After the Second World War in 1945 it was the general consensus in the West that as a result of imported Western liberalism, the Haj as an institution shall die a natural death. Yet now the number of Hajis has increased.
4. Islamic Revolution
The entire basis r the dynamism and vitality of any system is and shall always be a revolution, so an Islamic Revolution is a must. It is not Islam but the Muslim World which has become decadent aria degenerate, or rather its ruling classes and not the common people.
What is the basic requirement of an Islamic Revolution?
a) Arabic
Arabic should be the lingua franca of the Muslim World, as without a common language, no revolution is possible. Throughout the history of Islam, Arabic was the lingua franca of the Islamic World.
b) Islamic System of Adl
The Islamic System of Adi is the most developed system of law and the Sharia was the law of the land throughout the Islamic World at least till the 19th century.
c) Military Training and Jihad
To usher in an Islamic Revolution, military training should be made compulsory for all able-bodied persons and Jihad should be its sheet anchor, as it is of the Pakistan Armed Forces whose motto is iman, taqwa and jihad. Revolutions do not succeed without the support of military power.
d) Islamic Economic System
To consolidate an Islamic Revolution it is necessary to create an Islamic economic system based upon the principle of social welfare for the common people which should be the main function of the State itself, and separate from the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO.
e) Islamic Political System
The Muslim world should also create their own political system as they had till the demise of the Caliphate in 1924.
f) Science and Technology
To compete with the West it is necessary to excel them in science and technology, especially IT. Institutions of higher learning of the same level as in the West must be established.
g) Islamic Learning
Till the Muslims’ concentrated on research and Ijtihad through doctrines of their own, the art of government continued to evolve. They developed their own, economic and political system Islam was not ideologically stagnant, but dynamic.
So it is now necessary that the Muslims collectively, that is the ulema, scientists, experts on economics and politics should utilize the time-honored doctrine of ijtihad, but on the basis of the fundamental principles of Islam so that the Ummah is not stuck in an ideological quagmire.
Conclusion
In the realm of state-craft there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends, so let us also be prepared for an ideological and intellectual dialogue with the West, but on the basis of equality, when we are really equal to them and not in our present position of abject servility. However, let us not be under any delusions with regard to the West. Let us not forget that it has now nominated Islam as its enemy Number One, and we have to face them.
We have two alternatives: face them in a long-drawn war lasting a century or more, like the Crusades, and then crush them as done by Salahuddin. But then the West was not technologically advanced as it is now and Salahuddin planned everything to the minutest detail. He first crushed the Crusaders’ allies the Fatimids of Egypt and then gradually closed in on Jerusalem. This defeat closed the chapter of the Crusades till 1918 when General Allenby took Jerusalem and a French General took Damascus and both said the same thing-”Salah uddin, we are back”. The other alternative is for the Muslims to accept defeat and complete suzerainty of the West in the entire Muslim World. It is now for the Muslims to decide, if we adopt the former, a path of confrontation with the West-let u be prepared for all the sacrifices and we need both a Jamal uddin Alghani to unite us and a Salah uddin to defeat the West. If we decide about the latter-abject slavery of the West-I can only say: “The fault dear Brutus lies not in our stars but in us that we are underlings”.
Apart from this the Muslims ruled Spain for 700 years. And in South East Asia Islam was spread in Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines by Arab traders. In the Indo-Pak sub-continent, conquered by Turkish dynasties, then by Pathans (Afghans) and finally by the Mughuls for seven hundred years-the Muslims were supreme.
Lest it be thought this overemphasizes the role of the Muslim conquerors, let us come to the role of the philosophers, ulema, mashaikh, poets, linguists, jurists and above all scientists during this Muslim period.
Let is start with commentators on the Quran, as it was only the Quran, which motivated the Muslims in every field. Various commentaries made it possible for Muslims in general to comprehend it. Then the Muslims concentrated on Hadith.
Then there were vast contributions to Fiqah. Experts did not enunciate Islamic Law haphazardly, but first identified doctrines and then based the law on the Quran, the Hadith, Ijma and Qayas.4essays.blogspot.com They also enunciated doctrines like Istidlal and Istihsan, upon which they built the edifice of Islamic Law, still the most advanced and comprehensive legal system.
In philosophy, the Islamic doctrines were tested against Platonism and neo-Platonism and the foundation of Islamic philosophy laid. A galaxy of immortal poets made Persian the best vehicle of expression of both feelings and ideas. The Muslims also produced great historians. In science, the Arabs were the first to distinguish pharmacy from medicine, translated astronomy texts from Sanskrit, invented distillation, and discovered nitric and sulfuric acids, established hospitals and a paper factory, and made many discoveries in medicine, mathematics, astronomy and many other fields which were either the basis of Western scientific development, or are now credited to later. European scientists. But in Europe the industrial revolution took place and the Europeans themselves ‘adopted’ the Muslim sciences and left the Muslims far behind. Then there were the great people’s personalities who brought Islam to the common people, like Hazrat Abdul Qadir Gailani, Khwaja Bahauddin Mohammad and Data Garij Baksh, Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, who, along with others, in spite of all odds kept Islam alive and propagated it in an anti-Islamic atmosphere. Now in spite of the independence of more than 50 Islamic or Muslim States the Islamic world and its intellectuals arid ulema are in a intellectual quagmire. In science and technology, the leaders in the Middle Ages now stand at the bottom.
We, specially Pakistanis, have made remarkable progress in iT, but better prospects abroad have attracted many of our best people. In economics and industry we are the lower castes, and shall become real scheduled castes after the WTO becomes operative. Our development and even welfare plans are dependent on the doles and the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank. The emergence of multinationals shall emasculate our nascent industries., In international politics the Muslim World has been completely marginalized. Even our own international institutions like the OIC and ECO have become of no consequence. Local wars against Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine or the attempt to grab Central Asia and its fuels are not mere regional wars, but against Islam itself. This is now a war between Islam and the West. After understanding this new historical phenomenon, being repeated after the ‘Crusades, we have now to ponder, plan and act to reverse this onslaught.
Options.
It is necessary that the Ummah should undertake the following steps to avoid a catastrophe. Ulema, intellectuals, lawyers, scientists and the Armed Forces of the Ummah should critically analyze these proposals.
1. Unity of the Ummah
To make the Ummah a centre of power, it unity is a must. Not the creation of lifeless organizations of governments, but of the Muslim peoples, who represent both the virility and spirituality f the Muslim world, who take part in the Jihad in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Bosnia, Chechnya, Philippines, Arakan and Palestine.
2. Islamic Peoples Movement
It is now necessary to commence an Islamic Peoples Movement not merely of rulers, ulema, intellectuals and others but of the common people, for it is they who are the ‘core’ of the Muslim World, and of whom the West is mortally afraid.
3.HAJ
The annual pilgrimage. of Haj is the most important, most active and most revolutionary institution of Islam. It is the communicator of ideas throughout the Muslim World. This revolutionary institution should be re-vitalised where like before the common people coming from all parts of the Muslim world can listen to the views of the Ulema, Mashaikhs, scientists and experts on all subjects, not in dull seminars where the participants go to sleep, but in large public gatherings as in the Pakistan improvement. After the Second World War in 1945 it was the general consensus in the West that as a result of imported Western liberalism, the Haj as an institution shall die a natural death. Yet now the number of Hajis has increased.
4. Islamic Revolution
The entire basis r the dynamism and vitality of any system is and shall always be a revolution, so an Islamic Revolution is a must. It is not Islam but the Muslim World which has become decadent aria degenerate, or rather its ruling classes and not the common people.
What is the basic requirement of an Islamic Revolution?
a) Arabic
Arabic should be the lingua franca of the Muslim World, as without a common language, no revolution is possible. Throughout the history of Islam, Arabic was the lingua franca of the Islamic World.
b) Islamic System of Adl
The Islamic System of Adi is the most developed system of law and the Sharia was the law of the land throughout the Islamic World at least till the 19th century.
c) Military Training and Jihad
To usher in an Islamic Revolution, military training should be made compulsory for all able-bodied persons and Jihad should be its sheet anchor, as it is of the Pakistan Armed Forces whose motto is iman, taqwa and jihad. Revolutions do not succeed without the support of military power.
d) Islamic Economic System
To consolidate an Islamic Revolution it is necessary to create an Islamic economic system based upon the principle of social welfare for the common people which should be the main function of the State itself, and separate from the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO.
e) Islamic Political System
The Muslim world should also create their own political system as they had till the demise of the Caliphate in 1924.
f) Science and Technology
To compete with the West it is necessary to excel them in science and technology, especially IT. Institutions of higher learning of the same level as in the West must be established.
g) Islamic Learning
Till the Muslims’ concentrated on research and Ijtihad through doctrines of their own, the art of government continued to evolve. They developed their own, economic and political system Islam was not ideologically stagnant, but dynamic.
So it is now necessary that the Muslims collectively, that is the ulema, scientists, experts on economics and politics should utilize the time-honored doctrine of ijtihad, but on the basis of the fundamental principles of Islam so that the Ummah is not stuck in an ideological quagmire.
Conclusion
In the realm of state-craft there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends, so let us also be prepared for an ideological and intellectual dialogue with the West, but on the basis of equality, when we are really equal to them and not in our present position of abject servility. However, let us not be under any delusions with regard to the West. Let us not forget that it has now nominated Islam as its enemy Number One, and we have to face them.
We have two alternatives: face them in a long-drawn war lasting a century or more, like the Crusades, and then crush them as done by Salahuddin. But then the West was not technologically advanced as it is now and Salahuddin planned everything to the minutest detail. He first crushed the Crusaders’ allies the Fatimids of Egypt and then gradually closed in on Jerusalem. This defeat closed the chapter of the Crusades till 1918 when General Allenby took Jerusalem and a French General took Damascus and both said the same thing-”Salah uddin, we are back”. The other alternative is for the Muslims to accept defeat and complete suzerainty of the West in the entire Muslim World. It is now for the Muslims to decide, if we adopt the former, a path of confrontation with the West-let u be prepared for all the sacrifices and we need both a Jamal uddin Alghani to unite us and a Salah uddin to defeat the West. If we decide about the latter-abject slavery of the West-I can only say: “The fault dear Brutus lies not in our stars but in us that we are underlings”.
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