Al-Risala (English), February 1990
Al-Risala (English), February 1990, p. 2
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
Result Oriented Method
1990 2 February 2-3 Result Oriented Method (430)
In the Footsteps of the Prophet
From the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the war against Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Punjab in 1831 right down to the “heroes” of the Ayodhya Babari Masjid issue, all have wasted their energies in what have proved to be exercises in futility. Such actions will ultimately go down in history – if they are recorded at all – as futile, or, at best, idle.
During the thirteen years which the Prophet of Islam spent in Mecca after attaining prophethood, no less than 360 idols had been placed inside the holy Ka’bah. The Prophet worshipped there daily, but never once did he attempt to rid this holy place of idols by smashing them or throwing them out, either alone, or along with his companions. He could certainly have done so, even if only for a short time. But, had he taken such action, he would soon have found himself in direct confrontation with the idolaters of Mecca. Moreover, they would have replaced those idols the very next day. The Muslims, being in a minority, and therefore powerless, could not have stopped them from doing so. But after the emigration, when Mecca had been conquered and Islamic rule established there, the first act of the Prophet was to clear the holy Ka’bah of all idols and to restore its sanctity as a holy shrine.
This shows that the Prophet’s way of dealing with such matters was result – oriented. He believed in refraining from taking any action unless there were clear indications that a positive result would ensue. He never took such steps as would result in futile wastage of time and resources.
The Muslims of today would appear not to have learnt any lesson from this aspect of the Prophet’s seerah. Indeed, all activity on the part of present-day Muslims seems to run counter to the method favoured by the Prophet. From the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the war against Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Punjab in 1831 right down to the “heroes” of the Ayodhya Babari Masjid issue, all have wasted their energies in what have proved to be exercises in futility. All such attempts on the part of Muslims have culminated in their own ruin. There has been no positive gain whatsoever.
Such ill – judged ventures have never been, and still are not in consonance with the sunnah of the Prophet. Such actions will ultimately go down in history – if they are recorded at all – as futile, or, at best, idle. Their, perpetrators cannot in any sense be said to have followed in the footsteps of the Prophet.
