January 06, 2006
The Role of Muslim Intellectuals
Muzaffar Iqbal
For the first time in the recent history of Hajj rites, the Saudi Imam leading the Zuhr prayer at Arafah made a categorical statement about “well-organized and sustained efforts to empty Islam of its real content”. Coming as it does at this late hour, when the war on Islam has already entered a decisive phase and when those who have planned this war have already dug deep trenches in the Islamic heartland, it is more like a death cry than a battle cry made to rally support and stop the onslaught. Nevertheless, it is a welcome sign, for if the “custodians” of the two holy shrines could change their qiblah from Washington DC to Makkah, the losing battle can still be won; such is the power of these two holy shrines. But before any hopes can be entertained about this new realization of Saudi Ulama, we need to be clear about the nature of this war against Islam which has now been institutionalized to such an extent that there is no Muslim country where not just wayward individuals, but institutions with large budgets, staff, and all the power of state are busy doing exactly what the Saudi Imam leading a gathering of more than two million Hujjaj stated; emptying Islam of its real content.
This institutionalization of the war against a faith based on praxis, rather than theoretical theological formulations, needs to be clearly understood, because without such an understanding nothing can be done to turn the tide. The Saudi Ulama as well as all Muslims know this well that Islam is a religion anchored in both beliefs and deeds. The Qur’an is emphatic about both of these aspects. “Those who believe and do the righteous deeds” is an oft-repeated phrase in the Qur’an. Without deeds performed in the manner exemplified by the most noble Prophet—upon whom be peace—there is no Islam. One aspect of this war on Islam is aimed precisely at emptying this dimension of praxis.
Islam is based on five pillars, we are told in an oft-quoted saying of the Prophet of Islam. Two of these five pillars, the Salah and Zakah, are often mentioned together in the Qur’an. This pair is an emphatic reminder to the believers that Muslims have two basic duties, one toward their Creator and the other toward creation. The Salah is for the Creator and Zakah for the creation. The recent war against Islam has practically strangled the centuries-old system of Zakah in Islam. From the blessed city of Makkah, where the House of Allah was built some four thousand years ago by Prophet Ibrahim, to Washington DC, where a large Muslim population exists, there remains no place on earth from where Zakah can now freely flow into the hands of those who most deserve and need it. Such is the control and hold of those who have waged this war against Islam that even the most reputed charitable organizations are not able to send Zakah to their needy brethren in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, and other places where life has been made increasingly difficult for believers.
The Saudi Imam also mentioned during his Arafah khutbah that curriculum is being changed in many Muslim countries to empty Islam of its real content. This is a very important realization, although it is also too late in coming. Those who understand the science of social engineering have long realized the value of education as their most effective tool. They know that this kind of slow and steady indoctrination produces the most thorough-going “secular Muslims”, so they have made sustained efforts to develop curricula which “empties Islam” from the hearts and minds of students. This is done through interpretive skills, or more recently, through removing certain aspects of “Islam”—such as Jihad—from school curricula.
Countries such as Pakistan are at the forefront of implementing this agenda of change aimed at large-scale social engineering of Muslim societies, but even schools in Makkah and Madinah are no more safe from this global effort. In other places, such as Turkey, the secularization of society has already reached such advanced stage that nothing but a miracle can now turn the tide against state-sponsored policies against Islam.
In order to win this war against Islam, Ulama need to understand the complexity of modern-day wars which are not merely fought on battle grounds. This understanding is simply absent or is limited to a few individuals. Generally speaking, our Ulama simply do not understand that their sermons mean little when those who have gathered for the ritual of prayer are going to return to houses filled with images (beamed through channels specifically financed by those who have waged this war against Islam) which will quickly erase the effect of the sermon from the hearts and minds of even those who might have listened carefully to the pious talk. They also do not seem to understand that the so-called enlightening and modernizing curricula, filled with a content that directly or indirectly glorifies Western civilization to which they have remained blind so far, is like a daily dose of poison which kills the force of Iman in the young hearts and minds. They have not even looked at what is being taught in thousands of so-called modern schools right under their Amamas!
Before any hope can be entertained, one needs to see concrete proofs that our worthy and respected Ulama have really awakened to the realities of a century which may be the most important century in the history of Muslims. Such an awakening will require a sustained and well-organized effort by the Ulama to teach themselves what they have not learned so far: the very precarious and really dangerous possibilities that are lurking in the near future for the entire Muslim world because of its encounter with modernity.
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