Question
I am confused as I have been reading in Hadith that a time will come when Muslims will be oppressed, due to disunity, weaker faith and evil deeds. Tell me is this time really for renaissance of Muslim as predicted by prophet that Muslims will be the rulers of the world again? How do you see the current situation in the light of Qur’an and Hadith.
Answer
As for the first part of your question, it is actually a reference to God’s law relating to the fall of nations. A nation, which is blessed by any special privileges continues to benefit from these privileges as long as it remains obedient to God’s directives and fulfills the responsibilities, which these special privileges entail. This law is of God is applicable to each and every nation that is or ever was, as a nation, blessed by any of God’s special blessings, whether it be the Jews or the Muslims.
As for the second part of your question, I am not aware of any reliable narrative ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), in which he has clearly predicted the political renaissance of the Muslims.
Finally, you ask:
How do you see the current situation in the light of Qur’an and Hadith.
There are two separate aspects of your question. Firstly, what are the causes of the current situation of the Muslims; and secondly, what may be the remedy for this situation. From a strictly religious perspective, I consider the situation faced by the Muslims the result of the application of the same Divine Law, which caused the downfall of the Israelites. The Ishmaelites, like the Israelites, were given the rule of a huge part of the world for a specific purpose and because of their certain moral qualities and their commitment with the directives of the Almighty at the collective level. As long as the Muslims steadfastly fulfilled the purpose for which they were given this rule, they were shadowed by the great blessings of God and their caravan sped across the highway to prosperity. However, when they started deviating from these qualities and started ignoring their collective responsibilities, they were first subjected to stagnation and subsequently to deterioration. If the Muslims do not realize this fact and make amends in their behavior, then I am afraid that the current situation faced by the Muslims, as I see it in the light of the Qur’an, is just another step towards the ultimate doom that await all nations, who turn their back to the great blessing of God’s guidance, which they were entrusted with.
As far as the correction of the situation is concerned, it, in my opinion, can only be hoped and aspired if the Muslim leadership thoroughly realizes that, under normal circumstances, no nation can aspire to rise in this world, unless it fulfills the prerequisites of such rise. However, this would call for an overhaul in the approach towards all the problems faced by the Muslims today; it would require replacing the attitude of disgust and despair, with that of perseverance, trust, hope and faith; it would require exchanging the attitude of protesting to and blaming others for our shortcomings and downfalls with that of introspectively realizing our mistakes and thoroughly correcting them. It is common among the Muslims to put the blame of each one of their collective mishaps upon the West and, especially, upon the Jews. This evidences a complete lack of vision and wisdom on the part of our political and religious leadership. We must not forget that it is neither the Jews nor the West that is interested in the renaissance of the Muslims. If the Muslims themselves are not committed to their own well being, then they have no right to blame others for their deterioration and downfall. It would indeed require a far-sighted approach, sacrifice for the right cause and the development and strengthening of all moral, spiritual and physical virtues at a collective level, which may, if God allows, reopen the doors of prosperity and development upon the Muslims. Unfortunately, the political and religious leadership of the Muslims, all over the world is leading them to exactly the opposite ends.
How, then, can we expect or even aspire for development and prosperity, when we have ourselves taken to the path, which leads to ultimate doom?
Regards,
Moiz Amjad
October 18, 2001