Thursday, 9. November 2006, 21:31:01
Once A Master, Muslims
There was a time when Muslims were the masters of the earth, controller of the destiny, but today they are on a path of continuous decline.Their Condition is horrible, they face miserable poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, disease and sickness.There is a feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and frustration among the Muslims.They are just living, for the sake of living ,without any sense of direction.Neither the rulers, nor the intellectuals of this nation, have any plan, for this huge mass of suffering humanity. It is really painful to see them suffer, despite the best lands, resources, and vast number.It is very important for those, who are concerned about the future of the Ummah, to ponder about as to what is the cause of Muslim decline? What if anything can be done to end this misery.
Monday, 19. June 2006, 17:04:17
Muslims
If one looks at the general picture of the Muslim world today it is hard to find something positive on the horizon. There is political chaos and regional turmoil all over the Muslim world. Muslims seem to have lost control of their affairs. They feel frustrated and helpless. Many Muslim governments are persecuting their people in the name of Islam. Can Muslims hope for a better future under these circumstances?
Allah has blessed Muslims with plenty of natural resources. Yet, they are dependent for most of their basic needs not to speak of their dependence in the field of science and technology, and on knowledge, in general on non Muslims. Their resources are being plundered and wasted on an unprecedented scale, while the majority population suffers extreme hardships.
Muslims generally tend to blame others for their problems. Some blame their rulers. Others blame one another. There may be truth in all of this. But what is lacking from Muslim discourse is an honest and intelligent diagnosis of problems facing the Muslim ummah.
Representing almost a billion Muslims, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) the official organ of the Muslim countries for discussing such problems has become no more than a platform for passing resolutions upon resolutions of empty words with no teeth. No wonder it has been dubbed “Oh! I see!” Most other Islamic organizations, more or less suffer from a similar fate.
In the present environment, Muslims mostly live individual lives (in their own little islands) while using the term Ummah in their discussions. Some seem to cooperate on issues affecting Muslim lives but that is limited mostly to charity work. Muslims do not have a unifying plan (or rather are not interested) to chart out the future course of action for the ummah. Muslims appear to behave like millions of individual atoms without any strong bonds.
Thursday, 13. April 2006, 17:59:46
Muslims
Many Muslims especially of influence in society think that
the idea of unity of humankind is an unrealistic goal and
therefore, should be abandoned. According to them, this may
be a romantic or an exotic idea but it is an unattainable
goal. They think that Muslims waste their time in talking
about the unity of humankind when they themselves are badly
divided. They catalog a long list of such divisions from
Muslim history. Wars fought and continue to be fought
amongst themselves and millions of Muslims killed by
Muslims are given as proofs from past and present history
to support their claim that Muslim unity is not possible,
let alone the unity of humankind. How can then one talk
about Muslim unity when their past history has been so
divisive, they are quick to remind everyone. These are
mostly the feelings of the secular liberal or progressive
minded Muslims. This feeling gives them intellectual
satisfaction and a sense of psychological security. The
conservative minded Muslims are no different. In fact, they
put a religious and a sacred twist to the differences among
Muslims. From every religious pulpit they announce that the
differences and divisions among Muslims are the blessings
of Allah Almighty. Remember, the Quran does not support
this chapter 3 verse 103.
In fact, it warns Muslims not to create divisions chapter
30 verse 32.But religious leaders thrive and in fact exist
on these differences. So, they perpetuate the existence of
these differences and divisions by sanctifying them. This
opens the door for any group to call itself Naji and
therefore on the way to Heaven and the rest destined for
hell. So, in the end, it turns out that, every group can
and does claim that it is going to Heaven.
In layman terms they want to have both ways: have the cake
and eat it too! What can be more wonderful than this This
gives individuals in each sect emotional satisfaction and a
sense of self-righteousness. So, we see that Muslims in
both camps secular as well as conservative feel satisfied
with their respective positions – but for totally different
reasons. Secular Muslims feel satisfied because of their
intellectual analysis of Muslim history. Religious ones, on
the other hand, feel satisfied based on clerical edicts and
blind faith. Thus both groups in a way feel satisfied with
the perpetual disunity of Muslims in the world.
There are many Muslims though who simply want to move with
the times and leave Islam to the Mullahs. They believe in
the adage: Do in Rome as the Romans do. But a vast majority
of Muslims practice passive Islam that was passed on to
them by their forefathers in the name of Islam and go about
doing their daily businesses. They feel fed up with all the
controversies created by the secular and conservative
Muslims but at the same time they do not want to spend time
and effort to find out the truth for themselves. They feel
satisfied as they have been told by their parents that God
will forgive all their sins simply because they were born
in Muslim families and that the Muhammad peace be upon him
will save them from hell fire no matter what. In other
words, they feel satisfied by being ignorant about Islam.
