There was a time when the Children of Israel (the Jews) were the preferred people, given the task to hold the banner of virtue and eradicate vice and evil. But when they behaved antithetically, and started mixing the truth with falsehood, enjoining the others what was good but forgetting to follow the righteousness, concealing the truth and making the teachings of the Book, revealed to them a business for gaining the worldly benefits, they were deposed from the position of excellence. Then Muslim Ummah was entrusted with the same responsibility. According to the Quran, this Ummah is the best of all the human groups ever raised by the Creator.
“ You (true believers) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin what is right (Ma’ruf) and forbid what is wrong (Munkar) and believe in Allah…” (Ale-Imran: 110)
Allah, SWT, is not in need of any particular people to implement His Plan. It has been His test to judge who is eligible to qualify for His blessings by getting chosen for the Great Cause. The position of the best of the people ever raised up for mankind is with the conditions to maintain three qualities:
1) Enjoining what is good.
2) Forbidding what is wrong.
3) Persistence in belief in Allah
Umer bin Khattab (RA), is reported to have once said: “O people, who are pleased to be in this Ummah, fulfill the terms and stipulations set for you.” Mujahid, one of the famous commentators of the Quran said: “The Muslims are the best of the people only if they comply with the conditions mentioned in the verse; you carry on the duty of enjoining what is good, forbidding what is wrong and what is necessary for you in case of your belief in His Book, Messenger and what He has prescribed for you.” (Fathul Qadeer) As long as the Muslims continued to be up to the standard of the best people, they held the glory in the comity of nations. They were dominant and wielded power to defend themselves against the evil designs of their enemies. But when they lost their credit of honouring the Divine Matter, met the disgrace.
There is an inordinately cited Hadith of our Holy Prophet, be peace and blessings upon him. It says: “The time is to come when the nations of the world will fall violently upon you as the hungry people fall upon the plates of food.” He was asked: “Will we be little in number?” He said: “No, you will be great in number, like scum on the surface of flood water. Allah will take away your fear from the hearts of your enemies and will cast ‘Wahn’ in your hearts. One of the companions asked: “What is this ‘Wahn’ O, Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “love of the worldly life and detesting for death” (Ahmed, Abu Naeem and, Abu Dawud)
It is now far more than five hundred years, the Muslims have been suffering vicissitudes. As mentioned in the previous writing, an ultimate impact of slumping down in the marsh of materialism is weakening of belief in Hereafter. The more love for worldly substances grows, the more man comes nearer to the point of obscurity and more the cover of heedlessness gets thickened. Man, basically proves to be intense in his love for wealth and thinks the wealth will make him last forever. It is only Iman (Faith/Belief) saves him from lowness of sticking to this worldly life, that he preferably makes his choice against Hereafter which is actually better and more lasting. Augmentation of the wealth, instead elevating the moral quality of generosity, increases stinginess; and having children grows timidity in man, as told in a saying told to be a Hadith: Al Malu Mabkhalah Wal Auladu Majbanah. Greed for the belongings in worldly life creates cowardliness. Exceeding love for worldliness hardens the hearts like stones, as told in case of the Jews, who are the greediest for life due to their inclination to the charms of material life. This love for earthly life develops a nature evasive from any sacrifice for lofty ideals and finding erroneous ways to fugitive from death. This is the thing the Messenger of Allah, termed it ‘Wahn’.
Worldliness and materialism causes a moral downfall. It gives way to the vested interests and generates rivalries and partisan politics. The feelings of tribalism, regionalism and racism grow making the unity of a community torn into pieces. It happened in the Muslim Ummah bringing about a state of weakness. There came a stage the rulers and upper classes of the Muslim societies got sunk in lusts and in the face of the dangers they showed only humiliating retreatment and blandishment, no matter how impervious their opponents had been to them. During the Crusades mutual disunity and betrayal to the noble cause of Jehad by the Amirs of different provinces and Sultans of the Seljuk Empire in Anatolia and Turkey was nothing but the result of the same ‘Wahn’. Even when Nurudin Zangi and Salahudin Ayyubi were holding out against the crusading forces with velour and courage, many of the Muslim rulers timorously avoided to come forward for their help and secretly established friendly ties with the crusaders.
It was treachery of Captain Firouz, an apostate who promised the crusaders he would betray the city of Antioch for a price. The fall of Baghdad to Halagu Khan was because of ‘Wahn’ of the Caliph, and also due to an ugly role of some treacherous chiefs of the Muslim community and rival Shia’ wazir, Ibn Alqami. All intrigued and invited Tatars to invade that greatest center of civilization and knowledge. It was nothing else but selfish betrayal of Mir Ja’far in Bengal and Sadiq in Dakan (South India) bringing the heroic chapter of resistance Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah and Tipu Sultan against the British Imperialism to its awful end. And even up today, ignominy and disgrace suffered by the Muslims is the result of ‘Wahn’ of the rulers in the Muslim countries, who are sycophant and servile to the big powers, ever ready to bargain over the interests of their people. Once they find ways of evading their duty of enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong and show their weakened Faith, they slide into obsession of 'Wahn' which gets infiltrated deep in the veins of entire Muslim society.
A Blog by Muneer Ahmed Khalili....
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