The conceptual corruption & the betrayal of the Divine agenda

 Dr. Firoz Mahboobb Kamal

 The distraction & the disconnection

The distraction in the Muslim psyche from Allah Sub’hana wa Tala’s vision and objective is huge. The agenda of Allah Sub’hana wa Tala is clear, and the Muslims’ betrayal of that agenda is also clear. It is His repeatedly declared agenda to bring an overwhelming victory of Islam over all the brands of falsehood and release men and women from the yoke of man-made ideologies and fake religions. The evil forces do not cause the distraction in the name of idol worshiping, cow worshipping or atheism. Most of the distraction from Islam is done in the name of Islam; and not by the kuffars, but by the so-called Muslims themselves. It is being done through the corruption of the fundamental Islamic beliefs. And the success is huge. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him)’s Islam -which entails the establishment of an Islamic state, the implementation of sharia and hudud, rule through shura, jihad for the elimination of the evil forces, and the Muslim unity doesn’t exist in any of the 57 Muslim states. So the Muslims are living without Qur’anic Islam.

Likewise, the damage to the Qur’anic teaching is being done in the name of respecting Qur’an. That too, is being done by the people who claim to be Muslim religious scholars. They have been highly successful to limit the Qur’anic studies in the form of mere recitation without understanding. On the other hand, the final Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) has been projected as a man with peaceful co-existence with everybody. As if, he has no quarrel or war with anybody and was acceptable to everybody. He has been portrayed to fit into the sufi and Tablighi brand of Islam.  As a result, the most significant role of his life as the most successful Head of a state and as the most successful General of an Army that helped Muslims win series of wars and emerge as the most dominant World Power in those days remains almost hidden. Hence, the satanic project of limiting Islam within the rituals like five time prayers, month-long fasting, hajj and charity has been very successful. The continuing downfall of the Muslim owes to this deep distraction from Qur’anic roadmap and wide deviation from the Prophet’s tradition. Because of that, the Qur’anic guidance and sharia laws are found only in the Holy Qur’an; not in Muslim life. And the Prophet’s tradition of state-building and civilization raising survives only in history books.

The enemies’ war against Islam and the Muslims has many frontiers with so many strategies. They recruit a lot of Muslims –even so-called religious scholars as their soldiers. Most of the damages against Islam are done not by the non-Muslims but by these so-called Muslim scholars. Even the kuffer colonial occupiers found many so-called religious scholars to support their occupation. Even jihad against the enemies was declared defunct by them. They have damaged even Islam’s own methodology to build a connection with Allah Sub’hana wa Tala. That too is done in the name connecting with Allah Sub’hana wa Tala –as the sufi cults have done through centuries.

The Holy Qur’an helps people to show the straight path to paradise only when it is rightly understood and followed. So understanding Islam and full adherence to it is the most important element in Muslims’ life. This is why getting educated on the fundamentals of Islam and on the Holy Qur’an was made obligatory first of all for all the Muslim men and women; five-time prayers, month-long fasting and hajj were made compulsory more than 10 years later. “Iqra” as the first proclamation in the Holy Qur’an has a significant message for every Muslim. But awfully, it is being told through centuries by the Muslim sheikhs that mere recitation of Qur’an brings huge reward. Therefore, millions of Muslims didn’t feel any urge to go beyond that. So, the Muslim children in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia Afghanistan, and many other countries are taught how to read the Holy Qur’an; but not to understand it. They stay focused only to get rewards and not getting guidance. Whereas, understanding the Holy Qur’an was taken so seriously by the early Muslims that the non-Arab people of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Tunisia, and many others buried their mother tongue and learned Arabic. It was indeed the biggest linguistic revolution in human history.

It is revealed, “Whoever firmly holds the Qur’an, he is guided onto the way of siratul mustaqeem (the right path).” Firmly holding the Holy Qur’an means firmly adhering to the embedded guidance; for that, it needs the proper understanding. Mere recitation of a roadmap doesn’t pull anyone to the right destination. For that, following the roadmap is crucial. Otherwise, one gets lost in a wrong path; and this is indeed the situation of the Muslims today. The Holy Qur’an is called hab’lillah (rope of Allah); hence, whoever holds firmly the Holy Qur’an gets connected with Allah Sub’hand Ta’la –as revealed in sura Al-Imran verse 101. Here, it is about the connectivity of the soul; and Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la connects the souls of the believing men and women with His Own Self through the bundle of messages that He has passed onto the believers through the Holy Qur’an. Whenever one recites those Qur’anic messages in the salah, he gets connected with his Almighty Lord; this is indeed the immense benefit of 5 times prayers.

Ignorance works as a strong barrier against such connectivity; whereas knowledge of the Holy Qur’an strengthens it. Satan promotes ignorance, and Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la promotes knowledge. Qur’an has been revealed to serve this purpose. So it is revealed: “Innama yakh ’shAllaha min ibadihil ulama” (Of all creation, only the people of knowledge fear me). So, fear of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la (taqwa) gets generated only through Qur’anic knowledge; and fear of Him is the true marker of the Divine connectivity. This is why, there is a narration from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that whoever spends some time in understanding Qur’an, it is valuable than anything else of the world.

And the connectivity with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala is visible with open eyes. It is indeed the most distinctive feature of Muslim men and women that makes them different from the others. Such connectivity gets overtly expressed through their full alignment with the political, spiritual, social, cultural, economic, and military agenda of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala –as revealed in the Holy Qur’an and as has been practiced by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions. Such connectivity of the believers gets expressed through the investment of their talent, time, wealth, labor, and even blood to bring the victory of Islam over the falsehood. No victory is free of cost, and a Muslim pays the price through jihad. So, jihad surely comes to every Muslim’s life. This is why one can’t find a single companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who didn’t engage in jihad. In those days, the absence of jihad was recognized as a clear sign of a kafir or munafiq. Hence, establishing an Islamic state, implementation of sharia and hudud, dismantling the dividing barriers that are raised in the name of the language, race, and region, and solidifying the Muslim unity and the rule through shura are the defining markers of the connectivity with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. These are the markers of taqwa. The absence of such markers is indeed the clear proof of connectivity with Satan. And the tide of ideologies like nationalism, secularism, racism, tribalism, fascism, monarchism, and liberalism in the Muslim lands is in fact the pure proof of the satanic connection.

Zikr (remembrance) of Allah Sub’han wa Ta’la is the most powerful tool to build up a strong direct link with the Almighty Lord. Whenever a person remembers Him, He too, remembers him. Fazkuruni azkurukum (you remember me, I will remember you) is His promise –as revealed in sura Baqara. Thus, Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la provides all-time open access to every man and woman to tell Him whatever he or she wants to tell. He also teaches the best supplication in the Holy Qur’an. Hence, there exists no need for any intermediary role of any saint, pir, or darwish to make any recommendation. And the best zikr is salah. So, a Muslim enjoys an opportunity to get connected with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la at least five times a day through obligatory prayers.

However, zikr has a wider and deeper connotation. Zikr is not the mere remembrance of His name and the attributes. Rather, it is the remembrance of the message, the guidance, the duties, the roadmap, and the obligation that have been revealed in the Holy Qur’an. It is also about deep contemplation and repents over failures and weaknesses. It is the task to be done in privacy; daily prayers are designed for that. In those golden days of Islam, the task of strengthening the connectivity with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la was taken by the people themselves; there was no professional class of pir, darwish, saint or sufi to work as the intermediary. No sufi khanqa or shrines were built as the special premises for zikr; nor the Muslims were taken out of the mosques to do that. But again, huge damage has been done against the institution of zikr in the name of zikr. Instead of building direct connectivity with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la, people are encouraged to rely on a business clan flourishing in the name of an intermediary. As a result, the people have been left unmindful of their own duty.

Huge damage has been done to the fighting spirit of islah for the reconstruction of the state and the societies is done in the name prayers (salah). The people of Tabligh Jamaat have been successful to distract millions of Muslims from Islam’s prime agenda of bringing victory of Islam over the falsehood. Their focus is very exclusive; they are not interested in the Divine mission of “aamaru bil  maaruf” and “nehi anil munkar”. The issues like implementation of sharia, hudud, and khilafa, launching jihad for ending the enemy occupation, and establishing an Islamic state do not fit into their agenda. Their agenda is confined mostly within the five times prayers. They do not bother to call the Muslims to follow the full Islam. Whereas, Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la makes it obligatory to embrace the full Islam (udkhulu sis silmi ka’affa). Thus, they are adding a new and disastrous diversion to the Ummah.

The conceptual occupation

The foreign occupation, deaths, rape, destruction, and the eviction of the Muslims from their own homes are only the symptoms; the disease of the ummah lies much deeper. It is embedded inside the conceptual premise. Humans’ every deed, behavior, politics, culture, character, and warfare are indeed the expression of his conceptual paradigm. So, Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la reveals, “Tell (O Muhammad), everyone act as per his conceptual format (shakela), and your Lord knows the best who is best guided in the path.” –(Sura Isra, verse 84). In the above verse, the word “shakela” is used. The word shakela means format, shape or model. But it is not the physical format that shapes humans’ character, behavior, culture or acts; it is indeed the conceptual model or the paradigm. So, it is emphasized in the above verse that any shift in human’s attitude, behavior, culture, and politics needs a shift in the paradigm. The first thing must be done first; so it is the Sunnah of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. So He made ‘iqra’ the first proclamation in the revelation. ‘Iqra’ is a metaphorical expression to emphasize reading and understanding of the Holy Qur’an as the foremost obligation; the other obligations like five-time prayers, fasting, charity, and hajj came more than 10 years later. On the other hand, the consequence of staying away from the learning endeavor is catastrophic. They will stay deviated in this worldly life and will be raised in blind in the hereafter –as revealed in sura Isra, in verse 72.

Because of the conceptual difference, a secularist, nationalist, racist, fascist, or liberalist visibly differs from an Islamist in all aspects of life. This is why every meaningful social revolution indeed owes to the revolutionary changes in the conceptual premise of the people. The prophet (peace be upon him) took 13 years in the city of Mokka to bring a conceptual revolution in the early Muslims’ minds before raising an Islamic state and society in Medina. As a result, he could get a group of war-ready people who were prepared to make every sacrifice to promote the cause of Islam. But the enemies of Islam damaged the prophetic methodology. The deep secularisation process during the anti-Islamic rule of the foreign and native occupiers has reversed the whole process of Islamisation. As a result, the whole conceptual premise of the Muslim ummah now stands occupied by evil ideologies. So, the Muslim countries are producing more enemies of Islam than soldiers.

Since the de-Islamisation process still continues, the Muslims’ downfall also continues. Because of the conceptual perversion, the political and ideological forces in the Muslim countries stand fiercely inimical against Almighty Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la’s agenda. They are more aligned with the kuffars. So, the imperialists, the nationalists, the monarchists, the secularists, and the cruel despots get more soldiers in the Muslim World than are found for fighting for Islam. As a result, Islam stands defeated. Like the kuffars, the occupying forces of the Muslim countries, too look happy with the annihilation of the early days’ Islam. They are also desperate to crush any chances of Islam’s revival. Because of such a culture of animosity towards Islam, the most revered Islamic jargons like jihad, khilafa, sharia, shura, ummah, ittehad and hudud have turned taboo even amidst the Muslims. What Abu Jahl or Abu Lahab used to do with the early Muslims, they are doing the same against those who want to bring back the Islamic rule. They are either being killed or put in prisons. The conceptual distortion has gone so worse that even fighting against the occupation of foreign kuffar is criminalized; it is called terrorism. With such a toxic mindset, even the US-led occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq with the death of about 1.5 million and destruction of numerous cities and villages got sanitized -not only by the kuffar states but also by many of the Muslim states. In such a culture of perversion, even the rule of the most inhuman despotic autocrats over the Muslim countries is also tolerated with a deep silence of approval.

 The betrayal

The Muslims have hugely increased in number. But they adopted a culture of betrayal of the core Islamic agenda. Therefore, a population of 1.5 billion fails conspicuously to add any glory or success to Islam and the Muslims. They live without true Islam. Whereas, Islam is the only prescribed religion for the whole mankind; as it is revealed: “innad dina endallihil Islam” (certainly, Islam is the only acceptable religion unto Allah). Compliance with the Divine prescription brought them glory in the past, but now they are making a history of dreadful decadence by belligerent non-compliance with Islam. Opposing sharia, hudud, khelafa, jihad, and Muslim unity is no more a crime limited to kuffars, also getting committed by those who claim to be Muslim and the followers of the Prophet (peace be upon him). How such betrayals can bring down any Divine blessing? Is it not the way to qualify for the punishment in the hereafter?

How crucial is the implementation of Islam’s sharia law, hudud and other principles have never been an obscure issue, It has been made very clear many times in the Holy Qur’an. It is revealed: “He has made plain to you (O Muhammad) of the religion (deen) what He commanded upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, and that which We commanded upon Ibrahim and Musa and Isa –to establish the religion (deen) and not be divided therein.”–(Sura as-Shura, verse 13). Hence, the establishment of deen is crucial. It is non-negotiable. Compromise on this issue tantamount to disbelief that makes kafir. The above verse has a huge ground-breaking implication; brings revolution in Muslims’ minds and deeds. It brings obligatory jihad in their life. This is why none of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) companion stood away from it; more than 60 percent of them became martyrs. Every bit of Islam was ordained to be fully practiced. None of its laws (sharia), punitive codes (hudud) and other directives to be defunct. Nor should be confined within the premise of private life –as envisaged by many through some rituals, supplication, and recitation.

The issue of practicing Islam at the social, political, cultural, and state-level has always been the prime agenda of the final Prophet (peace be upon him). To demonstrate the whole methodology of implementation of Islam, he needed to be the head of the Islamic state. So politics was the part of his life. From day one in Medina, he demonstrated how to practice Islam at the community, state and international levels. He fully showcased Islam as the complete code of life. Since no society, state or ruling clique provides any empty space for the implementation of sharia and other Islamic obligations, the real test of iman starts in politics. Standing face to face against the war-ready kuffars becomes indispensable; even the kindest man in the whole human history like Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) couldn’t avoid such imposed war.

In the Holy Qur’an, Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la has revealed His Own agenda thrice using almost the same narrative. To make any Divine decree obligatory, a single Qur’anic proclamation is enough. But, Almighty Lord has preferred to repeat it thrice: it came in sura Taubah, sura Fatah and sura Saf. Such repetition has added an extra importance to His agenda. The common text in all three verses is the same and comes as “liyuzhirahu alad dini kullihi”. It is indeed the core intent of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. It means “to make His din (Islam) prevail over all other creeds or religions”. Such revelation of His vision has indeed a huge implication on those who sincerely believe in Him and has true love for Him. It sets the agenda of a true believer’s life. Nothing is more sacred in his life than full congruence with his Almighty Lord’s vision.

The dysfunction & the moral collapse

Islam aims to make people fit for paradise. Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la doesn’t give corrupt humans access to His paradise. It is only for the pure people. For that, everyone needs to go through a purifying process. Islam’s five-time prayers, fasting, charity, hajj and the Islamic state with its politics, education, culture, and judiciary are the indispensable parts of the process. Enjoining the right (amaru bil maruf) and eradication of the wrong (nehi anil munker) is also crucial for social purification. If all these elements work properly, only then the Muslims can attain the promised rank of khaira ummat (the best nation) in the midst of the whole mankind. The early Muslims could achieve that; they became the showcase of true Islam. Because of the high level of moral purification, they could cause huge religious conversion in Asia, Africa, and Europe. But later on, the purifying process became dysfunctional; as a result, the downfall started.

The Muslim states now stand occupied under the home-grown evil forces. They build a huge infrastructure of corruption with the taxpayers’ money. The whole civil and military administration, the police, the judiciary, the educational institutions, and even the religious bodies become servile tools in their hand to spread corruption. This is indeed the greatest catastrophe in the whole Muslim history. If a state gets corrupted, everything gets corrupted. So, it proves how crucial is it to keep the state free from criminals. It helps to understand why Allah Sub’hana Ta’la gives the highest honor to those who sacrifice their life to free the state from the evil forces. And it also helps to understand why spending even a moment for defending the state is better than spending the whole night in supplementary (nafal) prayers. It also illuminates why the highest seat of power must go to the best man in the country. But the Muslims have failed on all these counts. The seat where the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to sit has now been seized by the criminal despots. Now the whole Muslim World stays under their occupation. As a result, the downhill march of the Ummah has got an accelerated speed. Instead of becoming the best people on earth, they could go on to the level of the worst people on earth. Even the cow-worshipping Indian idolaters could show better political sense than these corrupt Muslims. Despite their ethnic, linguistic, and cast differences, more than one billion Hindus could stay united in one country.

As a consequence of moral collapse, they are doing greater harm to Islam and the Muslims. Because of them, the religious conversion rate to Islam now stands very low. What a few million Muslims could do in the early days, 1.5 billion Muslims can’t do even a fraction of that. Dense clouds can hide even the glowing sun; likewise, a huge bulk of corrupt Muslims could successfully hide the real Islam. Along with hiding Islam, they are doing another big crime. They are showcasing huge disbelief towards Islam through their practices. Thus, they doing the job of the worst enemies of Islam. They have even proven their worth as the partner of the external enemies to subvert any effort of Islamic resurgence in any Muslim land. Because of them, the bombing campaign of USA, Russia, France gets support in the Muslim countries. They also nullify Islam’s core project of eradicating the wrongdoers (nehi anil munker). As a result, they are inviting more Divine punishment on Muslim lands.

Corruption breeds corruption and makes people’s souls hostile to any faith. It is a moral disease that kills the faith and moral instincts of humans. For faithful moral survival, therefore, it needs the total eradication of the source of corruption. Hence, Almighty Lord has prescribed the curative measures, too. Mere enlightenment with Qur’anic knowledge and the religious rituals do not help cure the disease. Full implementation of sharia and hudud is obligatory to eliminate the source of the disease. But the Muslims’ failure in enjoining the right and eradicating the wrong is huge. When some Muslim countries score as the most corrupt countries in the world, it reveals the real disease of the Muslims. It shows how the Muslims are failing to grow up as true Muslims. The huge number of mosques, madrasas, schools,s, and colleges can’t hide such failure. Such moral failure gives a true estimate of the Muslims’ downfall as a civilizational force. It shows how badly they are failing to work as the viceroy (khalifa) of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. Since sharia, hudud and the Islamic judiciary do the cleansing part of the job against corruption, the Muslims can’t regain moral health without their full implementation. In absence of such a cleansing tool in place, corruption climbs up at an alarming rate. In Islam, the importance of sharia and hudud is so high that Almighty Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la has labeled those who do not run the judiciary as per revealed law (sharia) as kafir, zalim and fasik.–(Surah Maidah, verse 44, 45, 47). But, the Muslims show the betrayal of the Qur’anic prescription. Now, the betrayal is showing its ugliest face. The rulers of most of the Muslim countries now stand shoulder to shoulder with the kuffars against the implementation of sharia, hudud, khilafa, jihad, and other basics of Islam.