The root cause of the problems in our ummah is we speak big and do very little or we dont do it at all.
4. Integrity and Solidarity
Any team or any person for that matter without integrity cannot be effective. People can make certain change if they fake integrity but not a sustained change and definitely not a major change. Integrity is what keeps us able, against the odds. The next verse is talking about the two qualities, the integrity and solidarity and it is an earth shaking verse.
O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not? Grievously odious is it in the sight of God that ye say that which ye do not. Truly God loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure. (Quran 61:2-4)
Here when Quran says yaayuhalladinaamanu, Allah is calling those who attained faith. I recommend that every time the Quran says yaayuhallad-inaamanu, one is not listening to it, then that person is considered to be not included. Allah is calling and one is not listening, there is a problem here. It is exactly like, when the teacher asks all the students in the class to stand up and someone keeps sitting down in the class. So Allah says yaayuhalladinaamanu. And it is one of the rare situations after the calling comes a question. Which means what? It means that He knows this is what youre doing, why do you say what you do not do? Very exposing. It is exactly like if you are a doctor and a patient walks in and you look at him and say, Why arent you taking the medicine? He did not tell you that he is not taking the medicine. But you are exposing him. Likewise Allah is asking, Why on earth are you saying contrary to what you do? The root cause of 90-99% of the problems in our ummah is due to the fact that people say what they do not do. Think about this mathematical equation for the rest of the month and see if anyone disagrees with me.
The problem is we speak big and do very little or we dont do it at all. It indicates a kind of distorted behaviour that is revealing to so many ailments. Allah says He is talking to us, He is not talking about the Communists or the Zionists, He is not talking about the monkeys and chimpanzees, He is talking about those, who attained faith, How come you say what you dont do?
But if we look at the next verse, the Quran says that it is grievously odious or if one can read Muhammad Asads translation, it is the most loathsome in the sight of God. Can you see the tornado in these two verses? It is Allah who is saying, not the boss. It is God Almighty talking to us as believers. One has announced, committed to something and how come one is saying what he/she did not do?
Let us train ourselves. Let us not say that we are going to do this and that, and finally we do not do. If one cannot expand the doing, shrink the saying. Let us not inflate the saying and shrink the doing, because one will fall into that. Because of this value that is absent, there is a great disturbance in our plans, follow ups, accountability and achievement and just imagine after all we talked about, dedication, etc. etc. and we do exactly the thing that is hated by God most. It is not good. It is not only when we say we will do it ourselves, the ayah is applicable more likely to the people who are holding the leadership, of course that makes it even worse.
There is a difference of course between a person saying that he/she will do something and then unable to do it because the person really couldnt. It will probably be more advisable to know ones capacity and pledge on that. How many Khatibs talk about jihad and they never did jihad in their life? They just send young people to die. How many people talked about generosity but didnt pay a penny? How many examples? It is a problem; obviously Quran is considering the problem.
In Arabic inna Alllaha la yahibu means verily, God does not love for you. Here in this verse innalllahuyahibu, Allah loves. That those when they fight for this cause and again fighting is physical fighting, intellectual fighting and there are so many kinds of fighting.
We Muslims in certain situations according to certain rules in Quran and Islam have to fight physically. It is not to jump and keep beating people and say this is jihad, this is not jihad.. But we are talking about situations, where Quran is very clear about it. When you do that in your struggle you do it in one line and this is by the way one of the things that bothers me in the prayer when the Imam says, stand in the straight line, shoulder to shoulder, toes to toes and people start nudging each other and start stepping on each other because people take it literally. A straight line means disciplined, organized to the same direction and do not leave gaps. If one fights in one line then that person will be defeated. It is the meaning of discipline and solidarity that actually counts, it is to have a solidly cemented building and this is the intra-group relationship. When the Quran talks, it is about those who support each other and hold each other tightly. This is the way it should be.
The writer is Sr. Advisor, Muslim Public Affairs Council- MPAC
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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