The Beloved, Al Mustafa (PBUH), whom the Ummah is celebrating his anniversary, is praised by the Exalted Allah in an unprecedented way when the Exalted Allah said: "And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature" ((Al Qalam, v. 4).
The Muslims always extol and sing the praises of the great good manners of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), and sing lyrical poems in praise of his perfection. On the other hand, today we are living in paradoxical period on the level of reality, on the level of the qualities of our Ummah, on the level of the behavioral movement and moral virtues by which we sing the praises of our Master, Muhammad (PBUH), while we witness regression on the level of our Ummah in its moral applications.
I have hinted formerly to the fact that complicating the means makes the solution complicated too. It is self-evident that when we want to treat a patient, we try to isolate him from his infected environment.
But how can we do that and isolating a patient has become something impossible at the age of wire and wireless communication, at the age of space information conveyed from every place to every place?
How can we realize isolation as a remedy when social relationships have become numberless compared to those in the period of bedouinism or the time of customs and traditions (in the family, kinship, clan, and neighbors of the same lane). These relationships have expanded to form a new ideology that has not been known before. The more steps society takes towards material and civil development, the more complicated this social complex becomes.
I have formerly called the people of wisdom, the people of education and science, the people of the mission and thought to a collective deed that produces solutions proportionate to the level of this new complex.
But, to contribute to the issue and urge the people who are ready to share in it, I say: the isolation fitting for this stage should be a moral one, for material isolation has become improbable, as the identity of the Ummah has become exposed to great danger. Thus the required isolation should be a moral one.
I always quote this meaning from one of the great people of knowledge and verification when he stated that one might walk in the crowd, but the crowd should not be present in his inner mind.
I also insinuated to the fact that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) entered the Roman and Persian countries, but none of them was affected by the corruption of these countries. The one who said: "I fear that I might be tried by being attracted to the girls of Bania Al Asfar (the Romans)" is denounced by the Holy Qur'an when it is said: "Among them is (many) a man who says: 'grant me exemption and draw me not into trial'. Have they not fallen into trial already? (At Tawbah, v. 49). The Holy Qur'an diagnoses the malady of such people who are inwardly ready to respond to such faulty infatuation.
Infatuation tempts the one who is ready for it, but if one is above it, he transcends it without caring for it because he is stronger than it.
Why weren't the magicians of Pharaoh infatuated after they had believed, in spite of all the embellishment, money, women and gifts that Pharaoh had?
Why weren't the truthful and steadfast infatuated, and why weren't they terrified nor were they tempted by anything to turn away from the straightway?
It is because of the inner moral isolation.
The Exalted Allah said:
The Day that the wrongdoer will bite at his hands, he will say, "Oh! would that I had taken a (straight) path with the Messenger!
Ah! woe is me! Would that I had never taken such a one for a friend!
He did lead me astray from the Message (of Allah) after it had come to me! Ah! the Evil One is but a traitor to man!" (Al Furqan, vs. 27-29).
The above mentioned verse has a general connotation. It is not restricted to the time of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), because it refers to every strayed after the mission of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH).
Thus " with the Messenger" is accompaniment that is not conditioned by the presence of the believer at the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), because the Mission of our Prophet (PBUH) will never come to an end nor will its meanings disappear till the Exalted Allah inherits the earth and what it contains. This great mission is deeply rooted as if the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) were present among us.
In the discourses the Holy Qur'an directs to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), as well as in the instructions the Messenger (PBUH) directs to us, we feel as if we live with him, with his instructions, with his attributes, with his deeds and with his method as if he were present with us in every time…
In brief, the connotations of this verse are the following:
1-Following the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) is not specific to the generation contemporary to his lifetime (PBUH). It belongs to whoever follows him till Doomsday, and every believer has his share of pursuing the way of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH).
2-The reason of perversion for the one who does not follow the footsteps of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) is the bad company he has and his love of them.
3-The devil supports and helps the people of the evil so that they go on in their perversion.
4-The reason of disappointment man lives in is the evil company he has supported by the devil.
Briefly speaking, I'd like to suggest some means of salvation. I do not claim that my suggestions are solutions that may settle the matter altogether. In addition, I do not present something exclusive, but I think that I may share in presenting something useful. I suggest that we may do something useful by having the required moral isolation on three levels:
1-the level of improving the inner states.
2-the level of improving man' intellect and cognition.
3-the level of improving family and social performance.
By means of these three levels, we can achieve some moral isolation that makes us above infatuation and above moral dissolution, and by them we may transcend all the complexes of our age.
1-The level of improving the inner states:
1-It is incumbent on us to take a decisive decision to follow the footsteps of the Messenger (PBUH), or at least, take a step forward to improve our inner state. This kind of decision depends on determination that is missing in our days, and man has become torn and lost in the paths of our present life. According to our contemporary language, true determination and will mean taking a decision, i.e., taking a decisive decision to follow the footsteps of the Messenger (PBUH), and have true and strong intention of doing that.
2-It is indispensable to have a clear mechanism to make the heart get rid of the love of the people who are not affiliated to the way of the Messenger (PBUH) because when the heart is inclined to such people, it will not have full control over its will.
When I say to make the heart get rid of the love and inclination to such dissenter group, I do not mean to do without the compliments that is indispensible in social relationships, and which is an obligation, neither do I mean to cut social intercourse in which there are dialogue, mission and fixing of identity. I rather mean not to love, incline to and trust the lost people. The Exalted Allah said: "And incline not to those who do wrong, or the fire will seize you" (Hud, v. 113).
He also said:
Thou wilt not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, loving those who resist Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred. For such he has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with a spirit from Himself. And He will admit them to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, to dwell therein (forever). Allah will be well pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the Party of Allah. Truly it is the Party of Allah that "will achieve Felicity‏ (Al Mujadilah, v.22).
What helps the believer to get rid of these mechanisms are the following:
-Remembering Allah frequently: Remembering the Exalted Allah attracts the heart to Allah and His Messenger (PBUH), so it is indispensible to do that frequently.
-Reciting the Holy Qur'an: that is, recitation of the Holy Qur'an in a way that makes the reader react with the truths of the Holy Qur'an, with its secrets, and with its meanings. If one continues doing that, after a short time, he will find that his heart begins to be directed to the lights, to the Exalted Allah, and he begins to detest everything that makes the Exalted Allah discontented. In other words, such a man begins to be promoted.
The Exalted Allah said: "for ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith" (Al Umran, v. 139). The meaning of mastery is not restricted to politics. It also means that when one is able to transcend infatuation, one gains mastery, for infatuation will not have control over him.
The great people of knowledge used to say: "Oh man, make your price expensive so that nobody can buy you but the Exalted Allah": "Allah hath purchased of the Believers their lives" (At Tawbah, v. 111).
When the Exalted Allah is the buyer of yourself, you cannot sell it to anybody else. Moreover, nobody else can afford the high price that the Exalted Allah pays, nor can he be a rival to the Exalted Allah in this transaction. Consequently, raise your price so that nobody can afford to buy you except the Exalted Allah. Thus, you can be the higher and the most expensive.
3-There should be emotional strong connections directed from the heart to the beloveds of the Exalted Allah and His Messenger (PBUH). This kind of exchanged love in the cause of Allah strengthens homogeneity. As your heart has got rid of the inclination towards the unharmonious with you, it becomes directed and connected emotionally in a true love with the one whose heart is directed to the Exalted Allah.
This interaction with the religion of Allah will help you strengthen the interaction within you, and within the one or ones you love, and results in making the ties of this relationship, i.e., the ties of love in the cause of Allah, numerous: "Those who love one another for my glory will have pulpits of light (in Paradise), and prophets and martyrs will wish (without envy) to be like them".
The Exalted Allah said:
Among the Believers are men who have been true to their Covenant with Allah: of them some have completed their vow (to the extreme), and some (still) wait: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least (Al Ahzab, 23).
Relate your heart in the bond of love to such a person who does not change. Make your relationship with him based on brotherhood founded on love in the cause of the Exalted Allah.
The Exalted Allah said: "O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true" (At tawbah, v. 119).
2-On the level of improving man's intellect and cognition: In this modest participation, I'd like to offer two types of advice:
1-We can make our exposure to the flowing space information less within the family by filling the leisure time by visual performances, we choose, presented on developed devices such as video and others…
Namely, by presenting an alternative.
Through this alternative, which is available, we can remove what is unfitting, and how plenty the alternatives are nowadays. Thus, through the process of variety, we will be able to present alternatives.
It has become necessary for man to be acquainted with what is read, what is seen, what is heard, i.e., audio-visual devices, so that he may match his contemporaries. Consequently, we will be able to remove the unfitting and replace it with the chosen fitting.
Therefore, how much I wish that workshop teams of high standard would be constituted to choose the beneficial and present it to people. If this can be done, it will be a great achievement.
When there is a type of people who are not influenced by infatuation and can take a little of the beneficial then present it in compact CDs or other devices to people and say to them:"This is what is not harmful", their deed will be useful for the mission. They will be able to present something advantageous in this moral isolation.
Thus, the first advice is to replace this flowing haphazard space information by chosen programs through achieving a project in which the people of morality and cognition share.
2-to regain the interest of the public in reading and perusing. Reading has become something rare, and people nowadays are not interested in it, and T.V. has replaced it completely. We should not allow the disappearance of this equilibrium to happen. When this happens, it is incumbent on us to go back to reading.
Reading may be through a book, or through recent devices, such as reading the compact CDs in which there are great libraries. The system is not so important as long as reading is applied. We should not stop at watching T.V. However advanced the devices are, the book still keeps its own specialty. While you turn the pages of the book to attain your aim, you find a lot of benefits in your way.
A serious plan should be adopted to make people, youth and those who believe that our instructions are useful for them, regain reading. We should use this plan to make people get back to this useful process that has become scarce in our educational environment today.
The first revealed verse was: "Read" (Al 'Alaq, v. 1), but we do not read.
3-The level of improving the family and social performance:
In order to help in this moral isolation, we have to do the following:
1-We have to take great educational care of the family members by observing the company of every member, for the mother, the father, the children, all have their own company. If corruption enters into the family through any of the family members, it, by necessity, spreads into all the family. If one of the children is corrupted, his brothers and sister will be affected by this corruption. So is the case if the mother or the father are corrupted. Consequently, all the family members will be affected by the corruption of the one member whoever he is. Thus, choosing good company for every member is very important. As the family is usually isolated from the epidemic contagious plague, so should be the case with the immoral plague , because when such a plague befalls a family member, it will affect the other members however fortified they are, and the influence from within the family is very strong and influential because long coexistence leads to the spreading of bad manners from one member to another, then all the family will be stricken by this plague.
2-It is necessary for the parents to show compatibility in the family, even if this does not exist between them. The family may lack this compatibility, but in any case, the parents should show it even if they pretend it, for it is an educational responsibility. The lack of compatibility in the family leads to many psychological complexes and many abnormalities. The showing of this compatibility on the part of the parents requires realizing their responsibility and awareness. When such feeling of responsibility and awareness does not exist, prosperity of the family is not realized, and personal whims control the family. In such a case, the mother or father is indifferent to showing incompatibility which is greatly dangerous for the family.
3-Collecting hobbies that are morally and legitimately accepted. We have to join the hobbies of youth and teenagers together so that they find refreshment in the admissible, and relief from their scientific and practical responsibilities, for we have completely neglected this important side.
We have to observe the morally accepted hobbies, i.e., permissible ones, then we should encourage joining them together among the youth of the same age.
This is an educational responsibility that we have to take into consideration, because it constitutes a kind of moral isolation. We should not accomplish isolation within the framework of duty only. We had better do that in way that makes souls be attracted and be relieved, especially among the young and teenagers who are at the prime of their youth.
When the youth and teenagers are not given space enough for the admissible in which there is deterrent from immorality as well as attraction to morality and what delights the soul and does not contradict morality, if we do not care about this side, we will be giving the present generation an opportunity for moving to an infected atmosphere to realize their hobbies. When they are unable to realize their hobbies in clean atmosphere, they resort to an unclean one. Consequently, they become infected by the plight and they transfer it to their families then to their societies.
The mentioned points are for information and participation. As I have said above, I do not mean these points to cover the whole project. They are rather some contributions to the project, for this is an issue that should be adopted by the people of mission, the people of the intellect, the people of science and the people of education, so that a project is established through which we announce our affiliation to the One of the Great Nature, and the One of the anniversary (PBUH). Showing colored flags is not enough, we have to do something more. We have to carry out a project. In the absence of such a project, our celebrations on this anniversary are mere caprices that constitute only tickling of the emotions.
We are in need for a serious project in which we all participate. As we are going down the slope of immorality, we have to perform such a project so that deterioration may be prevented.
If we do not save our Ummah, our society and our city from falling down into this dissolute slope that is accelerating day by day, we shall find ourselves unable to stop this flow of corruption.
May the Exalted Allah guide us favorably to His religion, and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my words and ask Allah's forgiveness.