So We prevented them from hearing in the cave for a number of years. (1)
Can our Ummah expect that our future will be better than our past? Will this world ever become a better place?
Imagine that you have lived your life in a dark cave. Your parents and grandparents lived here too, and so did their parents and grandparents. You have been told that generations ago, your relatives lived in a very different, beautiful place, but can you really believe some story about the possibility of life on the outside?
But no matter how accustomed you have become to the darkness, you still feel restless and insecure. You realize that, although the darkness may be a part of life, it is not life itself.
As we stumble through life, we have all wondered if we will ever find true Islam within ourselves and lead a truly meaningful life. After all, even though human nature craves a higher purpose, what is the point of working so hard to live a virtuous life if it is not leading anywhere?
The answer to all these questions is just one word: Jannah. Jannah is the light at the end of the cave. Jannah is the belief that this world was created by design, and its purpose will indeed be realized -- that goodness will prevail and that our lives can be meaningful. Without Jannah, our lives would be meaningless -- a never-ending cave of darkness, with little awareness of an alternative existence and no hope of ever reaching the light.
It was narrated by Abu Huraira (ra) that The Prophet (saws) said, "Allah said, "I have prepared for My righteous slaves such excellent things as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of. " (2)
How do we get out of this cave?
He is Allah the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner; His are the most excellent names; whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares His glory; and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (3)
Allah (swt) created within each of us a nafs which, when cultivated, allows us to illuminate the darkness and move on. How does one cultivate this nafs? By recognizing the strength of Allah (swt) empowering your soul. By rising above your ego and acknowledging an absolute force that is far greater than yourself. And above all, by realizing that, amidst the darkness there is indeed a light to be found, which will instill every act of virtue with infinite meaning. To be redeemed means to be freed from an overbearing employer or a tyrannical regime; to be freed from a dangerous habit or an abusive situation; to be freed from the fear within ourselves and the confusion that clouds our vision.
Are we still in the dark?
The current technological revolution is in fact the hand of Allah (swt) at work; it is meant to help us make Allah (swt) a reality in our lives. And as time goes on, science will show itself more and more to parallel the truths of Allah (swt), thereby revealing the intrinsic unity in the entire universe.
The divine purpose of the present information revolution, for instance, which gives an individual unprecedented power and opportunity, is to allow us to share knowledge -- spiritual knowledge with each other, empowering and unifying individuals everywhere.
What now?
And We strengthened their hearts with patience, when they stood up and said: Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth; we will by no means call upon any god besides Him, for then indeed we should have said an extravagant thing. (4)
After the centuries of living in the cave and traveling through its darkness, we now stand on the threshold of the era of redemption. This means, in part, that people will perceive Allah (swt) in all their experiences. We will all see our material pursuits through the filter of our deen -- not as an end in themselves, but as means to a higher end. Revolutionary changes are taking place on all fronts -- on a personal level and on a global scale, in technology, in politics, and in the human spirit.
We are now approaching the exit from the cave, and we are beginning to feel and see the warm, bright light. Now, then, is not the time to be skeptical or selfish. Even the smallest things -- a kind word, an offering of sadaqah, a few minutes in salat -- are immeasurably significant. We must do anything we can to throw even one ray of light into the darkness. Our journey is about to end; we are set to reach our destination, our rendezvous with Allah (swt). The next move is yours.
Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) narrated that The Prophet (saws) said: "If anyone seeks protection in Allahs name, grant him protection; if anyone begs in Allahs name, give him something; if anyone gives you an invitation, accept it; and if anyone does you a kindness, recompense him; but if you have not the means to do so, pray for him until you feel that you have compensated him." (5)
Add in acts of kindness and sadaqah.
Because your challenge is so large, you must start small.
Take an inspiring class or go to a lecture.
Learn about Allah (swt) and the purpose of creation.
Remember, the first step in escaping the darkness is acknowledging that it is darkness. Familiarize yourself with these ideas at your own pace, and you will begin to see a larger picture taking shape in your mind. Pause for a moment to reflect on the true priorities in your life.
Make your home a loving environment; make your office a place where charity and compassion replace selfishness and aggression. And above all, share these ideas with your family and friends.
If one person can resolve to make these changes, then ten can. And if ten can, so can one hundred, and on and on. After all, we are intrinsically good; we naturally want to lead better, more productive, more meaningful lives. Commit yourself today and exhort others to do the same.
That Allah may forgive your community their past faults and those to follow and complete His favor to you and keep you on a right way (6)
Footnotes
1) 18.11
2) Sahih Bukhari: Volume 9, Book 93, Number 589
3) 59.24
4) 18.14
5) Sunan Abu-Dawud: Book 9, Number 1668
6) 48.2
Islam was sent as mercy to humanity, yet some merciless barbarians insist on sullying its teachings by unleashing the evil that corrodes their own souls.
There is a message in this for all of us. In the pursuit of political and ideological goals we are forgetting the sacred value of life itself. Since 9/11 thousands of innocent civilians have died, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Spain, in Turkey, in Indonesia, and now in London.
Can we find a way to deal with these tragedies in such a way that it does not lead to more deaths, more violence, more anger, and more hatred?
Our reality today questions our humanity, can we reassure ourselves that we indeed constitute a civilization. .. MORE...
http://www.ijtihad.org/london.htm
For those of you who haven’t caught on yet, there is a new doctrine of success. It is called the ‘Doctrine of Blatancy’. My coinage admittedly, but one that in my view defines the strategy of the New World Order.
The Doctrine of Blatancy works something like this:
First identify our (US of A) area of benefit (where can we maximize our power and wealth?)
Next look for locals who will collaborate with us to help achieve our ends. Of course there are always scraps from the table to be thrown to them. And most dogs are satisfied with that.
However there always seem to be those who are neither shocked nor awed by our firepower or ruthlessness. And between you and me, they can become quite a nuisance. So for them, we have to invoke our contingent strategy. This works as follows:
Pick something about them that is possible to twist to show up in a bad light to a western audience. If you can’t find anything, invent. What are the PR guys for anyway? Then do a publicity blitz with one sole attempt: to color them as negatively as possible. Suppress any news to the contrary and flood the eyes and ears of our people with every possible negative aspect of these people.
Case in point: what we did in Afghanistan:
Government had no money to run schools and we said, “They have closed all the schools!! They have closed the schools for women. They are oppressing women! (That one gets the maximum mileage, believe me…Women get mad that their kind is being oppressed. And their men become chivalrous and want to defend these unknown and unseen women on the other side of the globe…..never mind that ours get raped every 6 seconds.)
And of course our latest tactic: the tactic of tapes is such a brilliant one. So simple and so effective. Create tapes from Osama, Saddam, you-name-it, anyone, and then broadcast them as exclusives sent to some obscure TV channel. Conveniently worded to fuel our ongoing blitz against them, which will get the fence sitters to jump down onto our side. “After all Osama or Saddam or Whoever said it himself!!” The Word of the TV. Second only to the Word of God. Or is it??
Or this new fiend in Iraq, Moqtada Sadr; unreasonable raghead, simply refuses to believe that you can’t beat the Marines. Ask the Vietnamese, he says. OK. So that was one case. And look at how many of those died trying to do that, eh!! And what’s more, he won’t see reason, does not know the value of money and to top it all, calls himself and his rag-tag army, “Freedom Fighters”……..he ain’t read no American history. Freedom is what we fight for. Not some stupid Muslim who doesn’t know when to eat crow. So we call him “Radical Cleric”……..whoever said, “What’s in a name?” was a fool. Its all in the names. ‘Genocide’ is a name. So is ‘Ethnic cleansing’. ‘Murdering innocent civilians’ is a name. So is ‘Collateral damage’. See what I mean?? Naming is the art of bending minds to think what we want them to think.
So let’s look at our strategy. It’s brilliant and can’t fail.
Once this naming and mentioning has gone on long enough, and we have built a case, then we apply the other doctrine that our Great Leader resurrected: The Doctrine of Pre-emption. This gives us (naturally we are the ones who gave it to ourselves, remember??) the right to ‘take-out’ anyone who we consider to be a threat to our Great Nation.
See the beauty of this: Anyone who We consider (Not anyone who actually is. Nor anyone who the UN considers. The UN you said?? Man!! Come on!! Get real. The U who??)
And then of course it is merely a matter of statistics: how many troops, how many planes, how many food packets to be dropped with the bombs, how much money to be handed out to the newly compliant ones. How many people dead, you are asking?? Haven’t you heard of the term, ‘collateral damage’? Get an education, brother! When we drop Daisy Cutters, do you think we are doing it to cut the daisies? Of course someone will die. And who cares if some foreign types with turbans die? Their own kind don’t care, so why should you?
Now, the beauty of this is, that if you do this with confidence and fast (remember our corporate values: Speed, Simplicity, Self-confidence) you will come out the winner. Everyone will fall in line. Even the ones who opposed us initially. The winner is always right, remember?
What do you do with the stories of local people dying and suffering and so on, you ask?? Well, brother, who controls the media? Who owns CNN and BBC and the channels that speak the truth and tell it like it is?? And in any case who wants old news?? Want proof?? Do you see coverage about Afghanistan any more?? How many letters are you getting asking for it?? And do you think that the schools have reopened and the women are all liberated??
As I said, who cares?? Their own kind, the Great Muslim Ummah (Man!! What a joke!) itself doesn’t care. But don’t tell anyone. The GMU is a great concept to generate fear based patriotism, fast. After all we need that to get the Congress to sign off the big bucks. Who cares if it is yet another fantasy?? The reality is that all their countries are ruled by our boys. They need us to keep them in the style they have become used to. They bow in submission to us. Need proof? Well, the big boy in the country that does not even have a name of its own and is named after his family; built a palace in Costa Del Sol (Spanish Riviera) which is a replica of the White House. What more proof of our hegemony over him and of his slavery do you need? The same is true of all those countries. Their governments willingly do what we want them to do. They never criticize us. They take our prisoners (who are their own Muslim brothers…..so much for your Great Muslim Ummah!!) and torture them for us and give us the intelligence they spill out. That way we don’t spoil our human rights record and can always hold them up as violators of human rights. This world is beautiful, man!! All the years of planning and working are now paying off. Sit back and watch the fun. This is our time.
What about our boys, you ask? What about the fact that Americans can’t stand the sight of body bags? Well, let me ask you, how many body bags have we actually seen? And you know why? The Arms Inspectors. You got it? Okay let me spell it out for you. Here’s how it works: First we accuse them of having weapons of mass destruction: WMD. Then we tell them to declare those. When they don’t, we demand that they allow UN Arms Inspections. Of course they don’t find any. When there aren’t any, how can they find them? But we get a total map of what conventional weapons they do have. Tremendously useful data for the next step: our scientific bombing. So the inspections disarm them and identify what weapons they do have. We then go in and take those out and then our boys walk in singing: For he’s a jolly good fellow.
And listen to this: the world is so full of mindless sheep, that nobody thinks to question us, by what right we demand that others don’t have WMD when we have them in plenty; we invented them; we sold them the technology and the weapons; and we have the worst record of actually using them against civilian populations. Long live capitalism. Sell them WMD; accuse them of having them; destroy the government, which bought them and a great part of their country; then go in and give our boys rebuilding contracts paid for by
the resources of the same country. Can you beat that?
Stop bleating!! Natural resources don’t belong to the poor sod who happens to be born on top of them. They belong to us, who have the power to cease them and who know how to use and enjoy them. The American way of life is everyone’s dream.
Ask all these foreigner types who are ready to sell their Islamic souls for a green card. So someone’s got to pay for that, right? And we do give them a choice: sell it to us at our prices. For God’s sake, what can be fairer than that? We are asking to buy what we can have for the taking. But if they won’t sell it, then we go in, take them out and take what we need anyway. Of course we do it legally, through the new elected government, who lawfully sells it to us and is grateful for liberating the people from the previous tyranny.
Neat, eh! And in the long run, they will all be happy if only they stop fighting and supporting terrorism and evil. If they accept the fact that we have the right to rule and let us rule, they can have the American dream, right in their homes. No need to come to America for that.
Now tell me, what can be better than that, eh? Ask them that.
So that’s why I call this strategy the Doctrine of Blatancy. Be blatant, brother. As we always say in this country: if you got it, flaunt it. Let the other guy eat his heart out.
Being a scientist, there is sometimes an underlying anxiety about how compatible my chosen path is with my deen. It seems Ive bought into the science vs. faith tug-of-war, until I reflect and realise it doesnt exist.
It was Einstein, the celebrity of the scientific world, who was purported to say "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." The past celebrated Muslim scholars were scientists as well as theologians and philosophers. Cambridge and Oxford, the seats of academia, are composed of Trinity, Jesus, Emmanuel and various Saints. Perhaps this separation of science and faith is contained in the theory of evolution, of which, not only the ideas, but also the principles of uncovering the non-need of religion, have permeated the whole concept of science.
Science without religion cannot explain the “why?” it is galloping along lame, missing a leg. We can discover “how”, analyse “what”, uncover “where”, but we cannot reason “why” because to do so requires knowledge of a purpose and a goal. It requires understanding why things cannot be any other way and why the current situation is the best for the future. The essential randomness of evolution demands reaction to the current but no planning for the future.
And religion without science has no reality and no practicality. Choosing to ignore all scientific discoveries is choosing to ignore God’s creation and so we wander around senseless, unable to navigate the current world and falling into pot holes we could fill if we saw them. We ramble on missing the cues and clues left around for us.
Religion and science are currently two monarchs, each ruling over their own kingdom, not realising that if they joined forces they would be greater. Their subjects, one set with inspiration the other with practical skill, could build up the kingdom to be more beautiful, grand and resistant to outside attacks.
So I am a scientist and whilst in this kingdom do I accept the Law of the Land or exercise my democratic right to question? Discoveries are only made possible through God’s will, Who removes the veil from our understanding and reveals His miracles. So we mustnt tut at the latest discovery and use it to build up the image of science being eternally against God that we build. It is only with Gods grace that these things are discovered, the people involved are merely intermediaries, the agents God reveals His power through. Henna Khan, of studying-islam.org, writes that Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin, once said:
"But we scientists dont work hard really. Have you heard about saints? Do you know what they do? And do you believe in God? Just as the saints keep dancing in Gods presence and wait for the right time for His blessings, we scientists continue to dance, I mean continue to search in our laboratories and God gives us the knowledge of what we were looking for when He wills; when He knows is the best time to pass this knowledge on to us. But He would only give it if we continue to "dance" He would give this knowledge to the dancer; not to the ones who never danced, or who stopped dancing."
We must continue to “dance”, keep moving and keep curious. It is only when you question that you get answers and in that dance we join science and faith in harmony. Take that step, exert that energy, approach your Beloved and ask for the grace of Their Hand to lead you in a dance of discovery. It is up to your Beloved to accept, and only They know the best time to lead you to the revelation.
Alexander further said in his interview that apples were dropping from the trees since thousands of years but when Newton started "dancing"/pondering over it, God instructed to the angel to give the knowledge of gravity to the person who was looking for the reason behind this everyday common observation.
How does the pigeon navigate across miles of invariant sea? How do daffodils know when it’s spring? If we don’t open our eyes and search God’s creation, why should He give us the privilege of discovery? Until we ache with the weight of awe of God’s infinite blessings and flawless creation He won’t relieve our hearts with removing the veil. And we must not turn our backs against science and let those without wonder and appreciation shape the future of discovery and keep ignoring the “why”; the essential ingredient that gives meaning, purpose, and the human need for wonder and beauty to an otherwise purely descriptive field.
Science is the lamp, religion provides the discoveries. We can build the perfect lamp, designed to spread the light far and strong, but why should we even have a lamp if there is nothing to see? The discovery of the treasures of God is the reason for a lamp. The treasures are always there, but the light enables us to discover them. And to build the lamp, we must question what it is that we keep bumping into in the dark.
For the assertive Muslim, familiarizing himself within a new neighborhood is generally not a difficult task. Due to the emphasis that Islam places on being polite and interpersonal, a Muslim is most likely well received by others, even if it is primarily on the surface. There are some residents in practically every neighborhood that tend to “stay in the shell” and avoid interaction with anyone outside of their homes. Within Islamic guidelines, there is much that can be done by Muslims to reach out to an introverted neighborhood resident. It would be quite a task for a Muslim to approach such a neighbor, but the reason for the introversion could determine the success of the attempt.
Islamic teachings stress that a Muslim should make conscious efforts to coexist peacefully with neighboring individuals. A general respect for others’ property, comfort and well being is characteristic with Muslims, and such traits often pave the way for harmonious relationships with neighbors. In America, residents may initially be cautious of Muslims dwelling close by due to negative media images, but after meeting these individuals personally, Muslims have an opportunity to make a difference.
There are certain types of neighbors that tend to avoid any contact at all with others in their area. They may be seen peeking from windows or be “sighted” at the local grocery store very briefly. Quite possibly, such an individual only seems introverted and disassociated because no one has ever approached that person. All that needs to be done is for someone to take the initiative and break the ice, which may even be what the neighbor in “voluntary solitude” actually wants. American society is characteristically not interpersonal, perhaps due to the great number of differences present within the social structure. This caters to the further distancing of neighbors and does not promote conscious efforts for them to become familiar with one another.
There are subtle means that the Muslim neighbor can utilize for making contact with “shy” neighbors. An effective and universal method is the offering of food. The Prophet Muhammad spoke against a Muslim enjoying his fill as neighbors go hungry, thus validating the bond inducing properties of nourishment. Having a cookout and inviting a particularly evasive neighbor could be all that is required to “bring him out.” A less personal but equally effective approach would be to mail an invitation to that neighbor. Just as the invitation can be mailed, so can a general written introduction that requests a personal meeting at a later time. If this neighbor is very close by, “surprise maintenance” can be used. For example, as a Muslim shovels the snow or rakes the leaves on his property, the chore can be extended to the shy neighbor’s property. It is true that some may not greet others being on their property for any reason with gratitude or kindness, but at least the effort has been made and the evasiveness is then entirely on the shoulders of the targeted neighbor.
Finding out the exact reason for a neighbor’s evasiveness can also be a key means of breaking ice. Some people may be elderly and quite afraid of society as it is now. Meeting someone that can be trusted and is genuinely kind could open many doors to strong neighborly relations for the elderly. There may have been a bad experience with another neighbor in the past, and the shy neighbor just needs to be reassured that all of his neighbors are not the same. Sadly, some may avoid others based upon racial, religious, economic or otherwise personal reasons that would need extensive work for correcting. Should this be the issue at hand, a genuine, sincere effort may still make a difference and at the least, satisfy the mind of the initiator.
As the Islamic presence and Muslims become more visible in American society, more individuals will commonly be the neighbors of these Muslims. Among these neighbors will be a number that do not make an effort to know the new residents in the area and may require the other parties to approach them. As Muslims find themselves in this scenario, they can rely on Islamic teachings and values to initiate and maintain strong relationships with even the most anti-social of neighbors. Some reasons for their avoiding of others may stem from personal differences and can not be corrected easily, but the effort made by a Muslim is surely what Allah will count as a credit at the appointed time. Regardless of the final outcome, the Muslims assertiveness and kind gestures will still have made a difference.
Articles 
