CHAPTER 6
THE LAST WORD
The ummah of the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) is in a very sorry state
today. Despite the Divine command to
build power to the maximum extent possible the ummah is weak and helpless - as
weak helpless and vulnerable as it was in Makkah. At that time the Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa sallam) led the community, with
Allah's help, to that state of power with which they succeeded in defeating the
enemy at Badr.
Today’s ummah has a primary
obligation to restore power! There is no other subject more important to
Muslims today than the restoration of power, that power which can function as
an effective deterrent to the enemy, which can be used for responding to aggression
and for liberating the oppressed and tyrannized, and through which 'Truth' can
be seen more clearly by mankind to be 'Truth'. These are the functions of power
as established in various verses of the Qur'an. If that power is not restored
then the consequence for the world of Islam will be more Bosnias, Kashmirs, and
Palestines. There will be universal fasad (corruption and disarray) on earth
and the misery will fall on all, not just on the guilty. Muslims, however, will
face the brunt of the suffering. To avert that fate which is already at our doorstep, we
need to restore power.
We learn from the seerah that the
foundations of power must first be established before we can actually take the
battlefield.
This is the significance of the
thirteen years in Makkah, the Hijrah, and the first year in Madinah. The
foundations of power are FREEDOM, KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, FAITH, UNITY (and
Fraternity), LEADERSHIP and DISCIPLINE. A study of the main points made in
this paper reveal that the institution of the collective fast of Ramadan makes
a significant contribution towards developing and sustaining ALL those
foundations of power.
Our appeal to the
intellectual, moral and spiritual guides of the contemporary ummah is to direct
urgent attention to the following:
* Articulate the relationship between fasting and
power; why else, indeed, did Allah (subhanahu
wa ta’alah) delay
the promulgation of the new shariah regarding fasting until after the first
Ramadan in Madinah?
* Work for the recognition of the strategic input
which the fast of Ramadan is supposed to make in the development of power; this
input being described in the development of values, in winning inner freedom,
in facilitating the penetration of the transcendental foundations of knowledge,
in strengthening faith, in uniting the community, in developing a life of self-discipline
etc.
* Mobilize Muslims in such a way that the fast of Ramadan
may actually result in that input for power being achieved individually and
collectively. Ameen!
To Be Continued ....
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