REPROACH YOURSELVES
Blaming the others is still a deeply rooted trait in ourselves. This phenomenon is widely spread in the impotent societies and weak nations. It is the pretext for those who want to absolve themselves from responsibility.
The Holy Qur”an presents to us one of the scenes that will take place in the near future, a fact that agrees with what He, the Exalted, knows. He makes clear to us what will happen on the Day of Judgment, when truths will be quite evident, and the reality of all matters will be manifest. He informs us about Satan whom we always lay the blame on. Satan will stand among the crowd and say:
"It was Allah who gave you a promise of truth: I too promised, but I failed in my promise to you. I had no authority over you except to call you, but ye listened to me: then reproach not me, but reproach your own souls.." (Ibrahim, v. 22)
The malady can be diagnosed in this particular situation as the following: If it were not the aptitude in yourself you would not respond to the devil. If somebody invites you to have a delicious meal you crave, you will respond directly and accept his invitation, but if some one asks you to have a kind of food you dislike, would you accept his invitation?
Then the Exalted Allah represented the devil”s speech saying: "then reproach not me, but reproach your own souls," i.e., this is the readiness within yourselves that agrees with the devil”s call you have heard, and then conveyed to your feeling. When shameful deeds, laziness and indolence are liked by the self, they seem familiar to it.
The Exalted Allah”s speech attracted my attention when He described this scene and what man”s enemy, the devil, said. It is a well known fact that devils might be either jinns or human beings. Moreover, the human being devil is stronger than the jinn devil. The Exalted Allah described the devil”s speech to mankind saying: "it was Allah who gave you a promise of truth: I too promised, but I failed in my promise to you." Thus there are two types of promise:
-The pure chaste satisfied souls whom God is pleased with understand Allah”s promise and respond to it.
-But the vicious souls that incite bad deeds, and are unwilling to pass through the paths of purity and self-refining, listen to the devil”s promise and adhere to it.
The matter of the promise of Allah, the Exalted, and that of the devil is described in a simple and detailed way. For example, the Exalted Allah said: "The evil one threatens you with poverty and bids you to conduct unseemly. (Al Baqarah, v. 238).
Miserliness makes man be afraid of being poor and needy. This bad trait makes him constantly feel in need and servitude to things and money. Some hearts that do not have self-refinement are attached to The devil”s promise and be concerned with money and property. They make their resolution dependent on a false promise. But in the same verse, the Exalted Allah said: "Allah promiseth you his forgiveness and bounties (Al Baqarah, v. 268)
Allah”s promise is a favor, whereas the devil”s promise is poverty.
What a difference there is between the souls that are concerned with and attracted to favor, and those that adhere to the promise of poverty!
What a difference there is between the enriched souls by the favor of Allah, and the poor ones that feel that they are needy, day and night:
"riches is not by having too much wealth, it is rather the riches of content that the soul has."
Our ancestors invaded the world when they had sublime aims. They were able to break obstacles by their being above materialism. They were not rich by having too much wealth, but their souls were satisfied with the favor of Allah. When they rose with this sublime aim they surmounted all self obstacles.
The Holy Qur”an concentrates frequently on the matter of the soul regardless of the excuses we hang our failure, our backwardness and our defeat upon. At a time when we have great principles that the others lack and have starting points that could make us get great results, we say: "The others are to blame… the others prevent us from doing good… the others do not allow us to act… the others do such and such…."
For example, the Exalted Allah said:
"every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another" (Al An”am. v.164).
He also said:
"Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who goeth astray doth so to his own loss: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another" (Al Isra”, v. 15).
He also said:
"Nor can a bearer of burdens bear another”s burden. If one heavily laden should call another to (bear) his load, not the least portion of it can be carried (by the other), even though he be nearly related" (Fater, v. 18).
He also said:
"No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. In the End, to your Lord is your Return, when He will tell you the truth of all that ye did (in this life). For He knoweth well all that is in (men”s) heart"(Az Zumer, v.7).
He also said:
"Nay, is he not acquainted with what is in the books of Moses. And of Abraham who fulfilled his engagements. Namely, that no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another; That man can have nothing but what he strives for; That (the fruit of) his striving will soon come in sight;Then will he be rewarded with a reward complete" (An Najm, vs 36-41).
All the above mentioned verses are an evident proof that the one to blame is you, yourself.
But the question is: Can we determine the major problems that are the source of all the deficiency and weakness our Ummah suffer from?
I can see that the source of all problems are three: ignorance, laziness and materialism. Certainly, the major solutions are their opposites, namely, knowledge, determination and spirituality which, if joined together, they could surmount every crisis. Only then we lay the blame on nobody.
Firstـ Knowledge and its three elements:
1-Knowledge of the universe:
Knowledge of the universe is the strongest weapon in the face of the corrupters. It is impossible for a nation to prosper if it is ignorant of the means and laws of the universe. According to the law of the Heavenly wisdom, the cognition and discovery of the laws of the universe makes you superior to the others. The existence of a scientific research about the universe in a society that may result in knowledge of the laws of the universe makes its nation superior to the others. In the golden age in our cultural history, we would not have surpassed the western countries when they were in their Dark Ages had we not been versed in knowledge.
Why should the people of the North surpass those of the South today?
Is it not that because they do their best to explore the laws of the universe?
Was not Germany completely destroyed after World War II so that hanging became a common phenomenon among its people because they felt frustrated and disparate? Then this nation rose again and was able to break the barriers of despair and disappointment. It was able to execute its despondence and burn it. Nowadays, it has become an industrial and prosperous nation of developed civilization, with too many other examples that can be mentioned about its prosperity though they do not have the natural resources that we do.
2-knowledge of Islam:
Islam, with all its dimensions, social, ritualistic, economic and political, is the message sent to man by the Exalted Allah to take him out of darkness into light. It is the message that makes man get rid of his confusion and raises him to the level of being worthy of holding the responsibility Allah, the Exalted, entrusted to him.
We have to learn Islam from its sources, i.e., the Holy Book and the Sunnah. We have to learn it from the Book that has everlasting wonders, the Book that produces enough proofs to cover all knowledge in every age.
Knowledge of Islam should be dependent on a good rational understanding by which the believer is guided.
3-knowledge of the art of calling to Islam:
How many are those who read about Islam, but when they address the Muslims, they make them change their religion and become disbelievers, apart from their addressing the non-Muslims.
In our calling to Islam, we have to learn how to deal with the addressee and take into consideration what he expects. But if we do not have enough knowledge in this field, we cannot be considered qualified properly well.
Secondly- determination is a quality which when we are qualified by, we should have the following:
1-Clarity of purpose:
What is your aim: Is it this world or the Hereafter? Is it to be famous among people, or satisfy your Lord, the Truth? Is it piling wealth, or holding the responsibility of the mission?
Your purpose should be clear and void of any deception. The worst delusion is when man deceives himself. To deceive the whole world is easier than deceiving yourself. Your deception of yourself is a great catastrophe.
How many the souls are that say that they aim at the Hereafter, whereas they aim at this world!
How many the souls are that say that their aim is to satisfy Allah, the Truth, whereas they aim at getting people”s praise!
How many the souls are that say that they aim at holding the responsibility of the mission, whereas they aim at gathering wealth!
It is impossible for the believer to have a determination that rises and becomes sublime unless his purpose becomes quite distinct.
How much we witness today the game of distracting the youth from purposes! This kind of game is practiced inside as well outside the country. The new art of politics has become to direct people from their purposes and engage them with purposelessness, i.e., discharge man from his purpose.
If we do statistics on the global space channels and what they present, we find how much falsity, glee and amusement they present…. We can realize that the universal political game aims at making man reach the stage of aimlessness.
We do not mind whether this matter is clear or not to the others, and we do not depend on them, but we should be responsible for ourselves and ask ourselves:
Is our purpose clear?
Are we able to clarify our aim to ourselves as well as to the others, or we go on living in a state of weightlessness when we reach aimlessness?
2-Time organization
You should organize your time in a way to devote a certain time in your day for something beneficial. Your day should not pass in vain. You should allot a certain time for assuming the responsibility; for conveying the purpose; for understanding the mission and conveying it; and for understanding the art of calling to Islam. When you spend your day only in eating, drinking and work, then you are void of any determination.
3-Going out of the circle of individualism into the collective integration.
The fox eats only the lonely ewe. Your being a member in a community protects you from indolence and boredom. When you liberate yourself from the crisis of individualism, and collective integration begins to play a role in your life, you will then have determination.
4-Integrated productive effort that is proportionate to time:
This should be applied practically, not only theoretically. The certain time you allot in your day should not be for knowledge only. It should be accompanied by practice, or productive effort.
Thirdly-Spirituality:
The above mentioned elements should be joined together. We must have seen the one who has determination without knowledge; the one who has knowledge without determination; the one who has knowledge and determination with active energy working day and night, but he lacks spirituality… all these are not productive. Briefly speaking, the concept of spirituality can be summarized in tow objects:
1-The desire for the Hereafter
When the Exalted Allah wanted to instigate His beloved to call for Islam, He set forth for his missionary life a starting point saying: "And verily the Hereafter will be better for thee than the present.(Ad Duha, v.4)
This is the way our Lord planned for the beginning of the life of our prophet (PBUH). But the malady is in "Nay, (ye men!) But ye love the fleeting life(Al Qiyama, v. 20).
2-Truthfulness in devotion to Allah
This can be achieved only by disregarding the others” opinions, for hypocrisy destroys your spirituality. Have in mind the Exalted Allah”s speech while you are acting: "Knoweth he not that Allah doth see (Al “Alaq, v. 14), and: "Who seeth thee standing forth (in prayer) (Ash Shu”ara”, v. 218).
When you disregard the creatures” consideration of you, Allah, the Truth will take you into His consideration. If you do that, you are then sincerely devoted to Allah, and you are faithful in your devotion.
Try to join these three elements in yourself, and when you succeed in doing that, convey your experience to the others. Be aware of falling in the pit of despair, because it is the deadly disease that wipes out all sparks of hope from our prospect.
Finally. I do not believe that religious ceremonies or the rituals we are used to repeat every year in delight of the emergence of that enlightened Muhammadan face on the earth in the memory of his birthday express truly the intensity of our belonging to him (PBUH). Only when we apply the above mentioned elements of using knowledge, determination, spirituality and productive performance, and we have condensed scientific and practical programs, only then, our prophet”s heart (PBUH) will be much more delighted than setting colorful flags on this occasion.
The month of Ar Rabi” should be changed into manifest belonging, to a true identity that reacts with and derives from our master Muhammad (PBUH). What is the worth of an identity that does not make our master Muhammad (PBUH) its example?
Make the month of our master Muhammad (PBUH) an occasion of acquiring knowledge and application it, not mere fame, candles and ornaments.
Allāhum…Guide us to You favorably, and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my speech and ask God”s forgiveness.