Post by Prince of Destiny on Dec 29, 2005 1:28:35 GMT -5
The revival of the Muslim Ummah can be achieved through two ways:
Intellectual Revival.
Political Awareness.
Intellectual Revival: Man's personality is made up of a thoughts and behavior. In order to build a viable personality, the thoughts need to be addressed such that it emanates productive thinking. For thoughts to emanate productive thinking, the Intellect (Aql) needs to be addressed. The Aql (Intellect) plays very vital role in Islam. It is used to understand comprehensively the concept of Islamic Aqeedah. Thus, Aql (Intellect) is the only way to enter Islam. Islam compels the use of intellect, as it comprehends the rational evidences provided by Islam regarding the proof of existence and oneness of Allah (swt), the need for Messengership of Muhammad (saw) and that the Quran is from Allah alone. This way, the basis of believe in Islamic Aqeedah is build upon conviction through intellect. This process satisfies the intellect and the heart and devoid any notion of blind faith or superstitions.
Once the Islamic Aqeedah is embedded intellectually, then intellect is used to understand the issue(s) and the revelation and using revelation as a source and applying the revelation to the issue(s) from Wadu, to abortion, cloning, to stock market, to the foreign policy of Islamic State.
Muhammad (saw) took great care of the Sahaba (ra) in proper use of the Intellect. He (saw) not only clarified the matters of the law that dealt with their actions but also laws the directed their intellect and clarified its limitation. For instance, when the sun eclipsed on the same day that Prophet (saw) son Ibrahim died. When people suggested that sun eclipsed because of the prophet’s (saw) son’s death, prophet (saw) told them, “The sun and moon are signs of Allah (swt). They do not eclipse for someone’s death or birth; therefore there is no relationship between two events.” When the Prophet (saaw) taught Abu Bakr (ra) he shaped his thinking based on the 'Aqeedah. Thus, when the Quraysh argued Abu Bakr about Isra', he answered "I believe in things much more than this, I believe in the Wahi which comes to him in a time much shorter than you mention it took to travel from Mecca to Jerusalem." This tells us how Abu Bakr thought and how he connected the 'Aqeedah to his thought process.
When Islam came, it raised humanity to such an elevated quality of life that, under Islamic state Spain’s Capital city Cordoba, was given the title “the jewel of the world” (west likes to hide this era calling it the Dark Ages). Muslims were in the forefront of human achievement inventing camera, designing the astrolabe, describing blood circulation, developed cure of meningitis, introducing Algebra, and trigonometry, created greatest irrigation system, innovating water wheel, and designed beautiful structures. In addition, they also described and treated small pox, introduced anesthesia, and discovered medicinal use of alcohol. They also calculated the distance to the sun, determined the circumference and weight of earth and sun. The Muslims championed in the field of astronomy, solar system, and embryology. In 1512, a Venetian ambassador commented on Islamic state: “I know of no state which is happier than this one. It is furnished with all God’s gifts. It controls war and peace with all; it is rich in gold, in people, in ships, and in obedience; no state can be compared with it. May God long preserve the most just of all emperors.”
Political Awareness: Umar (ra) once said: 'Any Muslim who does not care about what the enemies of Islam prepared against him, nor distinguishes between what is Jahiliyah (ignorance) and what is not, he is not a Muslim.’ Political awareness can be defined as an outlook towards the world and its issues based on Islam. It guides Muslims towards deep understanding and scrutinizing the political Issues (Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq) Social Issues (cloning, homosexuality, adopting foreign cultures) and economic issues (stock market, policies of IMF and world Bank) from Islamic prospective and helps in deducing Hukm Shari’ah as these issues will have direct or indirect impact on Muslim Mind.
The Prophet (saw) developed within the sahaba (ra) thoughts and behavior based on Quran, developing their personalities into Islamic statesmen, solidifying their conviction in Islamic Aqeeda from which they extracted their thoughts and emanated their actions. He (saw) made sure the Sahaba (ra), developed a conviction in the Aqeeda, without it, any movement seeking a change, Sahaba (ra) would be force to compromise in the face of confrontation or conflict. When Muhammad (saw) died, he left behind an army of statesmen. Death of Muhammad (saw) did not hinder the sahaba (ra). They were highly involved in both the political struggle to establish and maintained the Islamic state. For instance, Abu Bakr (ra)’s political awareness saved the Islamic state from chaos when he tackled the people who refused to pay zakah (the people of Ridda), and sending off Army of Osama to fight Romans at the same time. Such moves deterred the Romans and Persians from attacking causing them to think again about any vacuum after the death of Muhammad (saw). The political awareness in the Ummah continued to produce statesmen like Salahuddin ayubi, sultan abdul hameed II or scholars like Ibn Taymia and Ahmed bin Hanbal and many Muslims who displayed outstanding contributions in the fields of -- medicine, astronomy, mathematics, optics, the foremost military and economic power in the world, In short, the Islamic momentum continued to be strengthened by the existence of statesmen who continued to be produced as a result of the political Aqeeda of Islam.
Thoughts, (productive thinking) in any nation, are the greatest fortune the nation gains in her life. Material wealth, scientific discoveries, and industrial inventions are gained through productive thinking. If material wealth, scientific discoveries, and industrial inventions are destroyed, could be regained provided that the nation does not loose its productive thinking. The lack of political awareness caused the collapse of productive thinking of the Muslim Ummah and its decline. The Uthmani Khilafah began translating Greek and Hindu philosophies, neglected Arabic language, and closed the doors of Ijtihad without realizing their impact on the Muslim thoughts. As a result, the Muslims wakened in understanding of Islam and its application. Today, quantity of the Muslim Ummah is not the problem, nor there is shortage of natural resources, or the Military or the technology, nor the problem is economic rather intellectual i.e. the issue of having confidence in the thoughts which emanate from Islamic Aqeeda. As a result, the affairs of Muslim Ummah have become like clay in the hands of the potter, shaped by the kuffar however and whenever they wish in a fashion that suites their interests. And thus we see Ummah in poverty, backwardness, disunity, and social crisis.
Only if the Ummah strips of its defeated mentality, and divorce it self from the ideas of nationalism, capitalism and secularism and adopt Islamic Aqeeda as its basis for thoughts and behavior only then Muslim Ummah would regain its dignity and status of Best Ummah. The Islamic creed establishes a specific way of thinking. It specifies an objective for one's life; it increases man’s intellectual level and places the human at a higher plane of existence, and directs the human being to fulfill all of this in an organized and controlled manner. All of this emanates from the 'Aqeedah, the rules stemming from it, and the concept of Halal and Haraam. Rebuilding and reformulating the manner in which the Ummah thinks is fragile endeavor, it requires for Muslim an awareness of where and how to start, and it requires that we be patient and persistent and rely on Allah (swt) in the right way, and to seek help from Him (swt) alone. The result will be a better Islamic personality and the creation of the Nahda (revival) in the Muslim Ummah. Muhammad (saw) said: “There is Khair (Goodness) in my Ummah until the day of judgment.”
