Present Facts - Action Agenda for the Muslim Ummah

Present Facts

Let us frankly acknowledge the hard facts and conditions of present-day Muslims, however unpleasant they may appear to us. Theoretically, the words “Muslim Ummah” cover in their fold all the Muslims of the world and as such it is a universalistic concept. But, as a matter of fact, one global Muslim Ummah is at the moment a non-entity. Instead, there are many Muslim nations in the world. Even Allama Muhammad Iqbal, a great advocate of the unity of Muslim Ummah, had to be realistic about the actual condition of Muslims in the world. Accordingly, in his lectures, entitled Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, he wrote that there is no one united Muslim Ummah in the world; rather there are many Muslim nations living in different states. However, perhaps this too was true more than half a century ago when Allama Iqbal delivered the Lectures. The present situation of most Muslim nations is worse still and most Muslim nations are split into numerous regional, ethnic, or linguistic groups.

The readers of these lines can very well appreciate this fact if they consider the case of Pakistan. At the time of its appearance in 1947 as a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, Pakistanis were considered as one Muslim nation by all. Both wings of Pakistan were united and considered Islam the basis of their unity. Soon afterwards, however, regional sentiments and concern for regional languages came up on the surface and eventually paved the way for the ceding of East Pakistan. Consequently, it became Bangladesh in 1971 and asserted her Bengali identity more than the former Muslim character. Every one of us laments how savagely and brutally non-Bengali Muslims were tortured and murdered by the Bengali nationalists of East Pakistan. And in the truncated Pakistan, too, there is no ideological unity in the people. The Pakistani nation stands divided and fragmented on the bases of ethnicity, culture, and language, and different groups are constantly at loggers head with each other. Since not a single province of Pakistan has only one ethnic community, we often hear news of gruesome violence and brutalities among various communities living in one province and even in one city. For example, in Baluchistan there are at least three large ethnic groups, and to a lesser degree this is also true of other provinces of Pakistan. In Sindh the Mohajirs (migrants from India) have formally assumed the status of a politico-cultural entity. Indeed, from the very beginning, distinction was made almost every where in the country but particularly in the province of Sindh between the locals and the migrants, and this discrimination eventually led to the formation of MQM in urban Sindh. 

Again the Arab world, where all speak and write Arabic, is divided in a number of nation-states and people there identify themselves with reference to distinct nationalities.

So the hard fact that we must accept is that today a united world Muslim Ummah is non-existent. The de facto position is frankly none other than this. The Ummah only exists as an ideal concept in the minds of Muslims who consider theoretically all believers of Islam and the Prophet (SAW) as members of one global religious fraternity. According to this belief, each confessor of Muhammad’s (SAW) Prophethood is regarded a member of the universal Muslim brotherhood. 

This belief in itself is perfectly correct, but the question is whether Muslims all around the world do in fact behave as a well-knit ideological group? Is there any discipline among the Muslims? Is there a plenary leadership among Muslim nations and are the directives and recommendations of that leadership heeded by the member states? I regret to say that the answer to all these questions is in the negative. Was not a large part of Afghan army with the Russians when the latter were killing Afghan people mercilessly? Were not the most inhuman atrocities against Afghans committed by their own Islam-professing Afghan brethren? Again was not the long and devastating war between Iran and Iraq between two Muslim countries? Armed clashes between different factions of Muslims in Lebanon and brutal and murderous assaults on Palestinian refugee camps are known to anyone who is in touch with modern media. And the recent Gulf war has proved beyond any doubt that, as a matter of fact, one world-wide Muslim Ummah does not exist.

In the light of these facts the ayah under consideration with the particularizing sense of preposition in the expression minkum assumes special significance and its meanings become quite intelligible. In effect, what it means is that even when the vast multitudes of people in the Muslim Ummah are in a state of slumber, are divided among themselves and pursuing only secular ends, there must arise a group or party within the larger Ummah that performs the duties laid down by the Qur’an in this ayah, and also make the rest aware of them.

Source: Three-Point Action Agenda for the Muslim Ummah (Book by Dr.Israr Ahmad)

to be continued....

Third step - Action Agenda for the Muslim Ummah

Third step

Let us now concentrate our attention on the third ayah (ayah 104 of Surah Aal-e¬Imran) the English translation of which reads:

And from among you there must be a party (a group or band of committed Muslims) who invite people to all that is good, and enjoin the doing of all that is right and forbid the doing of all that is wrong. It is they who will attain true success.

An objective and detailed study of the preceding two ayaat of the Surah leaves no ambiguity or doubt in the mind of the reader that both of them call for a collectivity of believers, and that a serious and sincere action on their dictates necessarily demands the formation of a group or party. Now the question arises: what is the objective or goal this group should keep in view and work for? As a matter of fact, all creations and artifacts are made for serving some purpose. Even a small and modest association of people is constituted and organized for achieving certain goals defined in the memorandum of aims and objectives. So the question that quite naturally arises is: what is the purpose or goal of that group which results from collectively dinging to the Qur’an? This exactly is what is explained in the ayah under review.

This ayah has been translated in two different ways by the translators. For some, the preposition min of minkum in the ayah is general and descriptive, while for some others it is of particularizing nature. Leaving aside the technicalities of the two types of min just mentioned, let us see what difference, if any, is made in the meaning of the ayah by either use of it. 

According to the former the ayah would be translated as: “And you should together form a group that invites people to all that is good…,” whereas according to the latter sense of min the translation would be: “And from among you there must be a group or party that invites people to all that is good ….“ Now in my view both these translations of the ayah are entirely correct, and the logical import of the meaning of the ayah is hardly changed by the minor linguistic difference of the two translations. 

If all the Muslims of the world unite and together constitute an ideological fraternity (i.e., the Muslim Ummah) that performs the duties of inviting people to all that is good, enjoin the doing of all right actions and forbid the doing of all that is wrong —this would be the import of the ayah according to the descriptive or indicative use of min. But since this descriptive function of the whole of Muslim Ummah is repeated a little further on in ayah 110 of this very Surah, a large majority of Qur’anic scholars take min in the particularizing sense and interpret the ayah by maintaining that it demands the formation of a group comprising of committed and motivated Muslims from among the vast Muslim fraternity of less motivated believers. That is to say, this ayah provides answer to the question: what should be done when, by and large, the Ummah neglects its religious obligations and thus pays no heed to its Divinely ordained duties.

Source: Three-Point Action Agenda for the Muslim Ummah (Book by Dr.Israr Ahmad)

to be continued....

Action agenda so far - Action Agenda for the Muslim Ummah

Action agenda so far

To summarize the action-agenda so far covered in these pages: the first practical step of the three-point Qur’anic strategy is with regard to Taqwa and Islam. That is to say, a true Muslim should remain steadfast in his obedience and loyalty to God. He should avoid everything which is not pleasing to Him and live his entire life in total submission to His commandments. As a corollary, acting on the injunctions of the Holy Prophet (SAW) is also included in it, as the commandments of the Prophet (SAW) are in fact the commandments of Allah (see Al-Nisa 4:80). The second practical step is with regard to the Qur’an: i’tesam bil-Qur’an holding fast and attaching oneself firmly to the Qur’an. And this obligation is to be discharged in a unified manner. Division and dissension among Muslims is thoroughly disapproved by Allah (SWT).

Now the question is : What does “holding fast together the cord of Allah” mean and imply in practical terms. In the booklet The Obligations Muslims Owe To the Qur’an, I have made an impassioned call to the Muslims to return to the Qur’an, to rededicate themselves to its study, and make it the sole guide for their lives. Instead of making purely academic attempts at describing the unique merits and magnificence of Qur’an, the most pertinent thing for us to do is that we should clearly understand our responsibilities towards the Qur’an and then assess for ourselves whether or not we are conscientiously fulfilling them. Paying lip service or pompous tributes to the Qur’an will not be enough and these cannot substitute for actually discharging our obligations towards the Holy Book. Now what are these obligations? Or, in other words, what does the Qur’an demand from us? An objective study of the Book makes it amply dear that it makes five demands from every Muslim. Put in a simple language, these demands or obligations are as follows:

1. A Muslim is required to truly believe in the Qur’an.
2. He is required to read it properly.
3. He is required to understand it.
4. He is required to act upon its teachings in his private life to struggle for the implementation of Shari’ah and the establishment of Social Justice at the state level.
5. He is required to disseminate its teachings to others and operationalize Islam at the global level. He must spend most of his energies and monetary sources for this cause.

As a matter of fact, if Muslims rejuvenate their relationship with the Qur’an on these lines, it will weld them into one Ummah with utmost mental and emotional unity as well as unique singularity of purpose and objective. All sorts of dissension, strife and antagonism among them will automatically vanish, and they will become united like a solid cemented structure (in Qur’anic expression, bunyan marsus). And this will indeed be a concrete exemplification of the Holy Prophet’s saying according to which Almighty Allah (SWT) will bestow dignity and honor on those people who hold fast to the Qur’an and will degrade and disgrace those who turn a deaf ear to it and do not discharge their obligations towards it. Allama Iqbal has expressed these very ideas in beautiful Persian verses thus:

To sum up: there are the two practical steps through which a man personally becomes a true believer and the collectivity of believers takes the form of a strong ideological fraternity. Now the question that crops up is: what methodology is to be pursued by this ideological group for its global struggle? This indeed is the subject matter of the next Qur’anic ayah to be explained in the sequel. It is a happy coincidence that this methodology too consists of three points and we will dwell upon them at some length.

Source: Three-Point Action Agenda for the Muslim Ummah (Book by Dr.Israr Ahmad)

to be continued....