Monday, August 11, 2014

Palestine tragedy and Allah’s Help





The Muslim Ummah is like one body

In a hadith Rasulullāh (Sallallāhu ‘alaihe wasallam) is reported to have said:

The Muslim Ummah is like one body. If the eye is in pain then the whole body is in pain and if the head is in pain then the whole body is in pain.

The above hadith clearly signifies that the Muslim Ummah are like one body, immaterial of where we are, what nationality or gender we belong to or what colour is our skin. If we hear that any part of this Ummah is being oppressed, then we should all feel this pain.

Today in many parts of the world Muslims are being oppressed and persecuted. Foremost in the list is Palestine. Let us all join in making Du’ah to Allāh Ta’ala to bring an end to the sufferings of the innocent Palestinian men, women and children. Also, let us all join hands in boycotting the Israeli products in their entirety.

A very pertinent question arises here: Islam being Deen-ul-Haqq why is it that today its adherents, viz. the Muslims, are going through the state of utter disgrace and humiliation?

The answer is: Allāh Subhānahu wa Ta’ala has held back His Nusrat (Divine Help). He has held back His Nusrat due to fact that the Ummah of the noble Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alaihe wasallam) has invoked Allāh’s wrath by their actions. We have strayed from the straight path, the path that Allāh has defined in His Book as Swirat al Mustaqīm, and as a result we are not only denied Allāh’s Nusrat, we are actually being punished by Allāh through the Kuffār. The unfortunate thing is we are not even aware that we have gone astray.

There are a number of transgressions brazenly committed by us today due to which we have invoked Allāh’s wrath upon us. Given below are only a few of them.

Love of the World

On the authority of Thawbān , the Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alaihe wasallam) said:

“The People will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their food.” Someone asked, “Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?” He replied, “No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be froth and scum like that carried down by a torrent (of water), and Allāh will take the fear of you from the breasts (hearts) of your enemy and cast al-wahn into your hearts.” Someone asked, “O Messenger of Allāh, what is al-wahn?” He replied, “Love of the world and dislike of death.” (An authentic hadith recorded by Abu Dawud and Ahmad).
 
Hadhrat Moulana Ashraf Ali Thaanwi (Rahmatullāhi ‘alayh) in a tafseer once said that Allāh Ta’ala has kept different systems for Masjidul Harām in Makkah and Masjidul Aqsa in Palestine. The system that Allāh Ta’ala has kept for Masjidul Harām is that it will always be under divine protection no matter what the condition of the Muslims may be. Allāh Ta’ala will never allow the Kuffār to take control of the Ka’bah Shareef. That is why, when Abraha and his army of elephants went to attack the Ka’bah, Allāh Ta’ala protected His house using small birds which destroyed Abraha and his powerful army.

However, the system of Masjidul Aqsa is very much different.

The condition of Masjidul Aqsa is based on the condition of the Muslim Ummah. If Muslims live in the obedience of Allāh Ta’ala then Allāh Ta’ala will bless them with the control of the Masjid. But Allāh forbid, if the Muslims move away from the obedience of Allāh Ta’ala, He will take away the control of the blessed lands and hand it over to our enemies.”

While the Barbarian Israel is busy battering the innocent Gaza civilians the Islamic countries are busy building world’s tallest buildings (e.g. Bruj Khalifa) and the world’s first climate-controlled city that will also have the world’s largest shopping center. Isn’t this a manifest display of love of the world?

Emulating the Kuffār 

Today we (Muslims) have resolutely entrenched ourselves in the Western ideologies. We have firmly accepted the Western culture to dominate our lives and as time passes the Western influence penetrates more and more deeply into the fiber of Islamic society. In fact, some of us actually take pride in following the Kuffār culture. Rasulullāh (sallallāhu alaihe wasallam) never hated Kuffār, but he detested their ways. Today we are deeply in love with their ways. We have let the West choose for us our lifestyle, the literature that we read, the way we dress-up, the food that we eat with all its harām or doubtful ingredients, the way we perform our wedding ceremonies and so on and so forth.
One of the worst things that the Western Culture has ‘presented’ to us is the constant urge to be entertained. As a result today we have become enslaved to the electronic media that thrives on entertainment. Watching TV (equipped with wide screen TVs, some of our Muslim homes’ living rooms have actually become like ‘theatres’), browsing the filth on the Internet, socializing via Facebook and other social networks – all these vices have become today’s accepted norms. Hours and hours of our precious time is wasted on WhatsApp. Our kids’ spare time is spent in busying themselves with play stations and ipads and we parents watch them with approval.

In a bayān (lecture) Moulana Sulaiman Khatani says during the time he spent in Jordan, they visited an Islamic University while on a gasht (Jawla or visiting Muslim brothers), in the company of two doctors from Syria.  When they entered the University they saw students carrying Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi in their hands but all of them were dressed in jeans and T-shirts and they were all clean shaven. Outwardly there was no display of apparent Sunnah in them. When they entered the Director’s office they met the Head of the Islamic University and he was clad in a suit and a tie and there was a big self-portrait in the office. When the mahol (environment) is wrong then we witness such disregard of Islamic ways of life.

What a great irony it is that we Muslims love imitating and aping the very people that are killing and maiming our brothers and sisters and their children! We are not even aware that in itself, this is one of the reasons we are being punished.

Not Fulfilling the Obligation of Amr Bill Ma’roof – Nahy Anil Munkar

Amr Bil Ma’roof  and Nahy Anil Munkar (commanding righteousness and forbidding evil) is a sacred obligation on every Muslim. Regarding this obligation, it is mentioned in the Hadith narrated by Hadhrat Abu Dardaa’ (radhiAllāhu anhu): “Hadhrat ‘Aishah (RadhiAllāhu ‘anha) says:

Once the Holy Prophet (Sallallāhu ‘alaihe wasallam) entered the house and I guessed from his face that something of great importance had occurred. He did not talk to anyone, and after making Wudhu he entered the Masjid. I stood behind the wall to hear what he said. He sat at the pulpit and after praising Allāh, he said, “O Muslims! Allāh has commanded you to call people to good deeds and prevent them from committing sins; otherwise a time will come when you will pray to Him; but He will not listen to you; you will ask your needs of Him, but He will not grant them; you will appeal to Him for His help against your enemies, but He will not help you.” After saying this, he came down from the pulpit.”’  

Aren’t we witnessing the situation that is described in the above hadith? How many of us are involved in the effort of Da’wat and Tabligh (Amr Bil Ma’roof  and Nahy Anil Munkar)? In fact, once we involve ourselves in this effort, inshaAllāh, the first two vices, and many more, will automatically fade away from our lives.

What Muslims all over the world are going through today is a dire wake-up call for the entire Ummah. Let us totally migrate from the above vices and start obeying Allāh’s commands, bringing the Mubarak Sunāh of our beloved Prophet (sallallāhu alaihe wasallam) into our lives. Let us all make Taubāh and Istighfar and Du’ā in abundance that may Allāh save the Ummah from His wrath…Ameen.

And Allāh Ta’ala Knows Best.

Link:  http://muslimvillage.com/2014/07/27/56330/palestine-tragedy-allahs-nusrat/.

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