17th Ramadan, Badar..
A place somewhere in The Arabian desert, some 70 miles from the Prophet’s city where Muslims fought (against the atrocities inflicted upon them by Quraish) and they won. It was not their number, neither the armaments but their faith that won them against the army approximately 3 times bigger. They say, “history repeats” and it repeated over and again until they conquered the greatest empires of the time, again it was their faith, iron will and their trust in Almighty’s plan, for their numbers, arms and technologies were no match to their adversaries; the Persian and the Roman armies. Truth then triumphed and Islam reached the farthest places in east and the west, as promised by their Lord. Furthermore, their Lord blessed them with the bounties of faith, knowledge, wisdom, piety, consciousness, courage, power, and other riches of the worldly life. These blessed souls handled all the blessings with utmost care, used all their competencies to serve their Creator and His creation. Thereby, they lived a purposeful life with a clear vision that not only transformed them at individual but at the societal level as well. They preserved the message of their Lord within their chests that reflected in their actions. Their decisions were based on the Holy revelations and the sayings of beloved Prophet ﷺ. They strived to efface ignorance, and falsehood from the layers of this planet and toiled to set humanity free from the shackles of slavery and injustice. Poverty atomized and their economies boomed. They excelled almost in every the field including science, technology and humanities. They lived disciplined lives and were the most honored of their times. In short they submitted their will to Lord of the universe and thus, became the leaders and mentors of mankind.
As clock ticked and generations passed, their numbers beefed but faith weakened and was overtaken by lust for wealth, power and the worldly possessions. They forgot the word of their Lord and deprived their souls of its vital food; Obscurity enveloped their minds, their hearts became tough and vision blurred. Feeding flesh alone became the sole purpose of their existence. Their hollow bellies dictated decisions due to which their animal self (Id) overpowered their humane self (superego). They lost the sense of right and wrong and thus the sight of purpose for which they were sent to the earth. They began following the suit of previous nations (actions that earned those nations the wrath of Almighty). Allah sent His messengers towards the nations from time to time in order to admonish them of the severe punishment, against the actions that shame humanity, but they overlooked the messages and continued in their rebellion. Allah then punished these nations and exterminated them from the face of this planet in a one go. The present Ummah is designated as the best of all the nations, which Allah affirms in Quran (you are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah~ch.3, v.110). Therefore, indemnities on this Ummah against the rebellion are huge, both in this world and the Hereafter. Today the adherents of the second largest religious group are living a miserable life, reason being they distanced themselves from their Lord and His word and in turn He made them forget their own souls (And be not like those who forgot Allah, and he made them forget their own souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors~ch.59 v19). And sent them punishments worst than those to the previous nations i.e. spiritual as well as physical that too at the hands idolaters and those that are accursed, who are creating the conditions that suffocate a pure soul, not even allowing them to practice their religion freely and on top of that these Kufar are leaving no stone unturned to malign Islam which further distance the common masses amongst Muslims (who have little knowledge of Deen) from their religion. Thus, making their life of this world miserable.
Nowadays Blood of a Muslim is cheaper than an animal, their air is adulterated to cease their breaths and beats, chemicals are showered upon them to rip their skin off, and their eyes are perforated to block their vision and are left into the ocean of unending agony and sufferings. No doubt present day Muslims are large in numbers, have strong armies, huge economies, best intellect, comparative technologies and best resources still they lag far behind and can’t even control the affairs of their own landscapes.
This devastated state of Muslims across the globe needs introspection both at individual as well as at collective level. What lead to the decline in their leadership and honor, was it because they became poor materially or lost their military strength or because they deprived themselves of those life-giving values which enabled them to be the leaders of mankind?
Answer to this question lies deep into our conscience and we need to question, this question to ourselves over and again until, we come out of the dead part of this dark night with the beautiful rays of the morning light, which enlightens the entire humanity, as Dr Muhammad Iqbal writres in his Poem Jawab-e-shikwa and I quote, ‘’Chshmae aqwaam se Maqhfi hai haqeeqat teri; Hai abhi mehfila-e-hasti ko zaroorat teri’’
Your potential is still hidden from the world’s nations; the assembly of existence still needs you…
Bottom line: Best way to revive our lost legacy is to revisit the book of Allah, teachings of our beloved prophet ﷺ and last but not the least, our ancestors and follow their footsteps.
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