Post by Islamic Revival on Apr 27, 2005 0:11:00 GMT -5
One thing that stands out is the way the Muslims view their history. Overall, there is a feeling among Muslims that the Islamic history is something to be ashamed of. On several occasions, whenever we are in a discussion with other Muslims and we mention the need to implement Islam, we are bombarded with replies at how Islam ceased to be implemented after the death of the Prophet (saaws) and what immediately followed was a period of turmoil and conflict where we were ruled by tyrannical despots. Thus, the question that must be asked, even before we discuss history, is: Why do Muslims have this picture, and how should we approach history?
When the colonial powers occupied the Muslim lands, they took several measures in order to ensure that Islam would never return again as a system of life that could challenge their own. One of the most significant measures they took was to impose an educational curricula that would develop a unique personality. The result of this education was the emergence of a mentality that possessed Islamic emotions but Western thoughts, one that would refer to Islam in the mosque and personal worship, but would refer to the Western culture and ideology for its outlook and behavior in life. One prominent feature of this educational curriculum was the manner in which Islamic history was presented to the Muslims.
The Islamic history that Muslims were fed with was one in which the typical story-line proceeds in the following manner: Islam as a system of life ceased to exist the moment the Prophet (saaws) died, the Sahabah fought amongst each other, three of the first four Khalifahs were killed, and after the Sahabah we had monarchs who busied themselves in wine, women, and all sorts of vices from A to Z. At the same time, those who designed this history cleverly praised and even beautified Islam as a religion; however, when it came to the application of Islam, the political system, and the Islamic system, they did not leave one aspect of the Islamic system immune from their attacks. They also fueled their attacks by gross exaggerations and stories that were either fabricated or had no credible source, relying upon the prevailing ignorance of Muslims for such stories and faulty information to pass unchecked.
This type of history had the effect of producing a mentality among Muslims that looked to Islam as a beautiful religion, but had a negative outlook towards Islam as a system of life. Such an outlook was further exasperated by some self-proclaimed Islamic regimes in the Muslim world that claim they are applying Islam. Such regimes are purposefully installed in order to serve the dual function of pacifying Muslims while attempting to create a public opinion among Muslims and non-Muslims that Islam in application is a total disaster. The combination of historical misinformation and the contemporary misrepresentation of Islam resulted in the outlook that exists among Muslims today. In addition, the Muslims were taught that the Islamic history is a measure of the correctness and validity of the Islamic system itself, which is incorrect. The correctness of a system is determined by the correctness of its Aqeedah that it is founded upon. Because the Islam Aqeedah (belief) is correct, then the system emanating from this Aqeedah is also correct. After all, the Islamic system is the system that was sent by Allah, the Creator of humanity. How can the system from the Creator have flaws?
Therefore, it is critical for the Muslims today to examine their history with extreme caution, keeping in mind that a great deal of information that exists today amounts to nothing more than fabricated stories, twisted facts, and gross distortions of the truth. On another note regarding history, there are many historical documentaries that discuss the history of Islam, among them are 'Islam: Empire of Faith' and 'Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet.' While the presentation itself is superb, the content of what was disseminated contains a great deal of faulty information, and such information is oftentimes disguised in an appealing or innocent manner to escape detection. Here are two examples that we should be aware of:
1). 'History' often states that the Prophet (saaws) decided to escape from Makkah to Madinah when his life was in danger. This is a very dangerous statement because it makes the entire Hijrah and all the succeeding events (including the formation of the Islamic State) as an accidental occurrence that was brought about by circumstances imposed upon the Prophet (saaws). The reality is that the Hijrah was a well-planned event that had its inception long before the Prophet (saaws) decided to leave, and it was only after the Quraysh were notified of his plans to leave that they decided to kill him. In Mecca, there was no reason to kill the Prophet (saaws) because both him and the Daw'ah were well-contained. Thus, the decision to kill the Prophet (saaw) was the result of the Hijrah and was not the cause of the Hijrah.
When the colonial powers occupied the Muslim lands, they took several measures in order to ensure that Islam would never return again as a system of life that could challenge their own. One of the most significant measures they took was to impose an educational curricula that would develop a unique personality. The result of this education was the emergence of a mentality that possessed Islamic emotions but Western thoughts, one that would refer to Islam in the mosque and personal worship, but would refer to the Western culture and ideology for its outlook and behavior in life. One prominent feature of this educational curriculum was the manner in which Islamic history was presented to the Muslims.
The Islamic history that Muslims were fed with was one in which the typical story-line proceeds in the following manner: Islam as a system of life ceased to exist the moment the Prophet (saaws) died, the Sahabah fought amongst each other, three of the first four Khalifahs were killed, and after the Sahabah we had monarchs who busied themselves in wine, women, and all sorts of vices from A to Z. At the same time, those who designed this history cleverly praised and even beautified Islam as a religion; however, when it came to the application of Islam, the political system, and the Islamic system, they did not leave one aspect of the Islamic system immune from their attacks. They also fueled their attacks by gross exaggerations and stories that were either fabricated or had no credible source, relying upon the prevailing ignorance of Muslims for such stories and faulty information to pass unchecked.
This type of history had the effect of producing a mentality among Muslims that looked to Islam as a beautiful religion, but had a negative outlook towards Islam as a system of life. Such an outlook was further exasperated by some self-proclaimed Islamic regimes in the Muslim world that claim they are applying Islam. Such regimes are purposefully installed in order to serve the dual function of pacifying Muslims while attempting to create a public opinion among Muslims and non-Muslims that Islam in application is a total disaster. The combination of historical misinformation and the contemporary misrepresentation of Islam resulted in the outlook that exists among Muslims today. In addition, the Muslims were taught that the Islamic history is a measure of the correctness and validity of the Islamic system itself, which is incorrect. The correctness of a system is determined by the correctness of its Aqeedah that it is founded upon. Because the Islam Aqeedah (belief) is correct, then the system emanating from this Aqeedah is also correct. After all, the Islamic system is the system that was sent by Allah, the Creator of humanity. How can the system from the Creator have flaws?
Therefore, it is critical for the Muslims today to examine their history with extreme caution, keeping in mind that a great deal of information that exists today amounts to nothing more than fabricated stories, twisted facts, and gross distortions of the truth. On another note regarding history, there are many historical documentaries that discuss the history of Islam, among them are 'Islam: Empire of Faith' and 'Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet.' While the presentation itself is superb, the content of what was disseminated contains a great deal of faulty information, and such information is oftentimes disguised in an appealing or innocent manner to escape detection. Here are two examples that we should be aware of:
1). 'History' often states that the Prophet (saaws) decided to escape from Makkah to Madinah when his life was in danger. This is a very dangerous statement because it makes the entire Hijrah and all the succeeding events (including the formation of the Islamic State) as an accidental occurrence that was brought about by circumstances imposed upon the Prophet (saaws). The reality is that the Hijrah was a well-planned event that had its inception long before the Prophet (saaws) decided to leave, and it was only after the Quraysh were notified of his plans to leave that they decided to kill him. In Mecca, there was no reason to kill the Prophet (saaws) because both him and the Daw'ah were well-contained. Thus, the decision to kill the Prophet (saaw) was the result of the Hijrah and was not the cause of the Hijrah.