By:
Muslim
we all agree that we belong to a great Ummah that has a glorious heritage and civilization. Let’s ask ourselves asimple questions then. What is the state of our Ummah today? Do we, Muslims, have any value in any international organization? Can Muslims, today, stand for their rights? Can Muslims, today, protect their lands and dignity? What is happening in These are just a few questions of the many questions we need to ask ourselves in order to picture the current state of our Ummah. A dark sad picture is what we will see. Change is needed, and we are the ones who should play the main role in the process of change.
It is the time when we, Muslims, should be the leaders of change, because the power of change lies in each single one of us. And in order to change, we have to know the roots of the problem, or you can say the problems, we face today.
In fact, the main factors behind our weakness and dependency today can be summarized in the following:
First of all, Lack of Iman. Muslims today are infected by ‘wahn’. This fatal disease was defined by Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. as loving this life and hating the Hereafter! We can easily see this in our daily life. The bonds of Ukhuwah are getting weaker, while, Asabiah and fanaticism are filling our hearts!
The second factor is, certainly, ‘Jahl’ or ignorance, not only ignorance, but complex ignorance. This is where people don’t know and unfortunately, don’t realize that they don’t know! Alas, the Ummah of {Read, in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher}, rarely reads!. This state of ignorance encouraged our enemies to attack us. Shimon Perez, President of the Zionist Entity, said once, “we, Zionists, should never fear Muslims! Because, they simply don’t read, and if they read they don’t understand, and even if they understand, then they don’t act”!
It is so embarrassing to say that his words are, to some extent, very true! It applies to many Muslims nowadays!
Finally, corruption appears to be one of the main causes of our weakness. Corruption at all levels has penetrated almost all aspects of our life. From ethics to politics, everything is affected.
Knowing all this, we should realize how critical our state is, and start thinking how to reform and develop the Ummah. To succeed in our reform, Qur’an and Sunnah should guide all our actions.
We should always bear in mind that we are the leaders of change and we can do a lot for our Ummah. Looking at the bright stars of the past century, we see that Islamic Reformers were able to make a significant difference. Names like Sayyed Qutub, Ahmad Yasin, Al-Maududi, Al-Nadawi, Al-Qaradawi and others, will be recorded on the golden pages of our Ummah’s history. Today, most of these great people are not around, but their heritage will certainly remain to be a guiding beacon for generations to come.
