Ummah within Ummah
Some readers
may wonder as to what an Ummah within the Ummah means. I am sure you must be
familiar with the expressions of “a state within a state” and “a
party within a party.” For instance, those among you who have read about
the freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent know very well that the Indian
National Congress was a big political party and there was a forward block of it
within the Congress that consisted of rather more revolutionary members. The
forward block stood for more radical strategy as compared with the ordinary
political policies approved by the Congress. Despite their membership and
loyalty to the Indian Congress, they constituted a separate group under the
leadership of Subhash Chandra Bose.
Similarly, since in the contemporary context the universal Muslim Ummah has been reduced to the level of an abstract concept, its reification is needed in the form of a smaller group (from among the larger Ummah) consisting of such Muslims as have fulfilled, to the maximum possible degree, the requirements and demands made in ayah 102 of the Surah with respect to the individual behavior and practice of a true Muslim. They attain the driving force of Taqwa in their hearts and meticulously observe the commandments of the Holy Prophet (SAW). Moreover, in compliance, to a fair degree, with the imperatives of the next ayah, they hold fast to the Qur’an for guidance even in minor details of their lives, and unite and join together as comrades in order to make up an ideological group. Ayah 104 of Surah Aal-e-Imran enlightens us about the three aims and objectives this collectivity of God-conscious and motivated Muslims is to work for:
- Calling and inviting
people to all that is good and noble.
- Enjoining and dictating
the doing of all that is right and virtuous.
- Forbidding the doing of
all that is wrong and immoral.
to be continued....
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