SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS OF
ISLAMIC WORLD
AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMA’AT
- SRI LANKA
619/4, Baseline Road, Colombo 9, Sri Lanka.
We are today living in a multiracial, multi religious and multi cultural
society. To live in harmony, peace and friendship it is important that
we understand each others’ traditions and faiths and religions
which have great impact on human sensitivities and emotions
While inter-religious dialogue is in full swing today, the religion
of Islam seems to have been excluded from this circle of goodwill. The
Western world holds false perception about Islam that has no relationship
with reality; and the intensity and continuity of this prejudice shows
no signs of slackening even in this liberal and tolerant climate of
today’s world. Unfortunately, the real fault lies with the Muslim
World itself.
Take the examples of 9/11 in New York, 7/7 in London and the Lal Masjid
episode in Islamabad Pakistan. These events have left a lasting impact
on the minds of people and continues to enforce the incorrect perception
of Islam being a religion that encourages violence. Muslim Ulema appear
to propagate prejudice and intolerance not only against other faiths
but also against other Muslims as well. And those Muslims who do not
subscribe to their views are immediately branded ‘Kafirs’
(non-believers) and aggression and violence is promoted against such
communities.
In the Western perception, Sharia law is seen as law of intolerance
which promotes the denial of basic human rights and is intolerant of
other faiths. It is also presumed that Sharia law does not give any
rights to women and treats them as second-class citizens. This perception
is based on the stories that are published in the press about the practices
of honour killing and the treatment of women in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Fortunately, we all know that the religion of Islam does not teach
us division or hatred. Islam only teaches peace and co-existence and
understanding of each other, and stands supreme among all religions
for its comprehensiveness and rationality. Then why does the Muslim
World suffer from individual disarray, interstate divisions aggravated
by sectarian and political expediencies? One may ask, quite legitimately,
how has this state come about in the Muslim world and where lies the
solution?
We have to go back to the very beginning to analyse the problem and
seek the solution. Before the advent of Islam, the Arab world was in
dire need of moral, spiritual and intellectual guidance for its people.
The Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), our beloved Prophet, the last Prophet
was sent by Allah the Almighty to lead us all to the righteous path
that leads us to our Maker and gives inner peace within ourselves. The
Holy Quran and the Sunna (practice of the Holy Prophet) will remain
forever as a beacon of guidance for all humanity to the end of the world.
The Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) encapsulated the guidance in his sermon
that he delivered on the Ninth Day of Dhul-Haj 10 A.H. in the valley
of Mount Arafat' in Mecca. Without going into detail, let me enumerate
the salient points from that sermon: He said:
“……All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no
superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over
an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has
any superiority over a white - except by piety and good action.
Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims
constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim
that belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly.
Do not therefore do injustice to yourselves.
Remember one day you will meet Allah and answer your deeds. So beware:
do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.
People! Understand my words which I convey to you. I leave behind me
two things, the Qur'an and my Sunnah and if you follow these you will
never go astray……..”
These injunctions given to us by the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) more
than 1400 years ago constitute a veritable Charter of Human Rights which
the civilised world only adopted in 1949 through the United Nations.
Unfortunately the Muslims forgot these injunctions and the results are
evident today in the humiliating state of the Muslim World.
The Muslim World needs to inculcate the values of trust, equity, justice,
forgiveness and brotherhood. But above all, comes the injunction of
righteousness. Because, it is from righteousness that every other condition
flows. Peace is not only physical security or absence of war and conflict,
although it is an essential aspect of the wider concept of peace. Peace
really means harmonious adjustment and orientation of the individual
with and towards, on the one side, his Creator and, on the other side,
with his fellow beings. Peace must originate in the heart of man. No
one can be at peace with his brother unless he is at peace with himself
and no one is at peace with himself unless he is at peace with his Maker.
That is the fundamental of peace and a most comprehensive concept.
The Holy Quran, that vast reservoir of Divine guidance, simply tells
us: “Those who have faith and do not let it be debased by injustice
are the ones who shall have peace. It is they who are rightly guided.”
(chapter 6, verse 83) In fact, equity and justice i.e. absolute justice
is the core around which a fair society can be built. That is why obligation
of adhering to the truth and of acting justly is not restricted only
to matters of disputes. It comprehends all spheres of life. Hazrat Mirza
Masroor Ahmad – Ahmadiyya Supreme Head in his address to the world
during the 2007 Peace Conference touched on the issue of absolute justice
in the global environment. He declared: (I quote!)
“We can only establish peace in the world when the nations and
countries try to establish peace in this way. It is regrettable that
the League of Nations did not follow these principles and failed as
a consequence. Today, the United Nations Organisation also seems to
be failing in dispensing the requirements of justice. There are different
standards of justice for different countries and different continents.
Except for some very few decisions, most of the resolutions passed,
in the past and even being adopted today by the United Nations have
been based on expediency and partisanship. Till such time that all countries
are treated equally and at par, and the grudges and deep-seated sense
of injustice are removed, no matter how many organisations are formed,
they cannot bring peace to the world. It is also regrettable that Muslims,
who have been given this teaching, are not acting on it themselves.
They harbour enmity against each other and this is the case all over
the world. Peace will remain a dream as long as each nation considers
its own interests above all other others.”
Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
states: “Allah the Almighty says about justice that it cannot be
achieved without truthfulness, that your enmity towards enemy nations
should not hinder you from dispensing justice. Remain just because righteousness
lies in it…….I say to you in truth that it is easy to deal
with an enemy with hostility but it is very difficult to safeguard the
rights of opponents and to deal justly with your enemy.”
Allah says in the Holy Quran: “Verily, Allah enjoins justice and
doing of good to others; and giving like kindred; and forbids indecency
and manifest evil and transgression. He admonishes you that you may
take heed.” 16; 91)
Unfortunately, equity, justice, tolerance and amity are rarely visible
practices in the Muslim World. Justice, let alone ‘Ahsaan’
or doing good are totally absent. Whereas Islam permits freedom of conscience
and belief, people of minority religions are not tolerated in the Muslim
World. The lives and possessions of the minority have no value. Perpetrators
of crimes against minorities walk free without being brought to justice.
If the Muslims want to create peace in the society then they must fulfil
the rights of others selflessly. They must get rid of the poison of
superiority complex. They must eliminate the distinction between Muslims
and non-Muslims, between ethnic majority and non-ethnic minorities and
between rich and poor. In fact, they must get rid of all national and
racial prejudices. On the one hand, Muslims claim to be broad-minded,
and on the hand, they have a class of clerics within their society in
which volcanoes of racial hatred are ready to erupt. The jihadi movements
and suicide attackers have disfigured the image of Islam all over the
world. Muslim scholars have pointed out that the terror attacks are
totally devoid of any legitimacy in terms of Islamic law and morality.
The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, more than one hundred years
ago declared:
“If you want to be associated with me and if you want to join
my Community, you will have to purify yourselves from cruelty and rebellion,
and that the assumption of Jihad with force has ended with my advent.
Perform your Jihad, he said, but in the manner that the Holy Prophet
(PBUH) performed Jihad-e-Akbar and that Jihad is guiding people to Allah,
exhorting others to righteousness, reformation of oneself and service
to mankind”.
Let us pause and think why more and more desperate Muslim are taking
this course of personal violence. The answer is stark and simple –
poverty and denial of environment to fulfil the aspirations to live
and prosper in peace. The solution is simple for the Muslim World. The
Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) gave us the five pillars of Islam. Zakat
or spending of one’s wealth in the way of Allah. This injunction,
if truly followed can eliminate poverty from the Muslim World in a very
short time thus removing the real reasons of violence and militancy.
But, who in the World of Islam can take on the onerous task of applying
the true and pristine teachings of Islam? And who is going to unite
all the diverse Muslim populace? No man-made organisations for the unity
of Muslim can perform this task nor any individuals. Many in the recent
past aspired to become leaders or dreamt of becoming ‘Ameer-ul-Momeneen’
(leader of the believers).They and their false credentials were blown
away in the winds like the autumn leaves. But there is no need to despair.
Allah, in His Mercy, never leaves the Muslims alone.
Remember! The religion of Islam is forever and for all times and the
guidance given in the Holy Quran is comprehensive and for all times.
The words of God possess the same quality as the works of God. That
is to say, it is alive as the universe is alive and keeps abreast, rather
ahead of all developments and continuously gives guidance for the human
life that goes on changing in a dynamic world.
Within the religion of Islam, angels have been descending on the righteous
and the steadfast to guide them to revive and revitalise the religion
of Islam until at the head of the 14th century Higra corresponding to
the last decade of 19th century, Allah the almighty sent the Messiah
for whom all the religions of the world were waiting. The Messiah that
was promised and prophesised by the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) - promised
in the Holy Quran and prophesised in the traditions of the Holy Prophet
Mohammad (PBUH) Hazrat Mirza Gulam Ahmad of Qadian, under Divine revelation,
claimed in 1889 to be the Messiah and declared that his advent was the
fulfilment of various prophecies made for the Reformer of the latter
days. His task, he claimed was to revive the beautiful teachings of
Islam that had been disfigured by the addition, innovations and distorted
interpretations. During his lifetime, he defended the cause of Islam
with all his might and repulsed vigorously all the attack that were
made on the teachings of Islam and on the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The scholars of the Muslim Umma of the time complimented him for his
JIhad but turned away as soon as he made his claim of being the Promised
Messiah. That was the most unfortunate turning point for all the Muslims
of the world. All of them are still mired in the bog of prejudice, intolerance
and sectarianism. When we look around, we see very few men of real religion,
small number of defenders and champions of the truth—when one sees
ignorant persons imagining that the principle of Islam is hardness,
severity, extravagance and barbarity—it is time to repeat these
words that were used by Prophet Yaqub: “Patience is beautiful,
and God is the source of all succour”. (12: 19)
The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, declared more than hundred years
ago, in his book ‘A Message of Peace’,
“Irrespective of whether we are Muslims or Non-Muslims, and although
we have many differences, we believe in God who has created this world
and all that is contained in it. We also claim commonality as human
beings. It is our duty that we should become friends with a clear conscience
and honest intentions. We should sympathise with each other on all matters
temporal or religious. My Friends! That faith is no faith that does
not teach sympathy for mankind. A human being is not human unless he
displays some element of sympathy. Our God has made no distinction in
any nation. Whatever faculties were given to the ancient nations have
been given to the Arabian, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, European and
American nations. The earth serves as a common ground for all and the
Sun, the Moon and the Stars perform common service for all mankind.
These Divine Manifestation teaches us that we should, also treat each
other equally, with amity and with tolerance. Narrow-mindedness or hard-heartedness
has no place in human relations.”
With the above message and under the present Caliph - the 5th successor
of the Promised Messiah, Islam and Ahmadiyyat is recognised and respected
in 190 countries of the world. The real solution to the problems of
the Muslim world lies in their unity under one leader. One solution
is to join the leader that Allah has appointed for the Muslims at this
difficult juncture. Come under the standard of Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya
because this will provide you with true protection against all evils.
This will unite you once again like the Umma was united under the rightly
guided Caliph of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The Promised Messiah,
more than hundred years ago, addressed the Muslim Community (Umma) and
invited them with these words:
“Come towards me truthfully, your security lies in this
Wild beasts are all around you, I am the impregnable fort of security.”
The whole Muslim world is floundering in dissention and without direction
and they are surrounded by hostile forces who are bent on decimating
each Muslim world one by one. That is why, with all sincerity and the
love and sympathy that I feel for my Muslim brethren, I implore them,
“The solution to problems lies in accepting Ahmadiyya Khilafat
(the system of Caliphate) that Allah has establishes for Muslims and
blessed this Institution for the last one hundred years. May Allah give
the Muslims wisdom to accept the truth. Amin!
(A. Abdul Aziz.)
Press Secretary,
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaath, Sri Lanka.
Mobile: +94 777 753440.
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