The Making of the Community

The Making of the Community

1990 3 March 13-14 The Making of the Community (4420) The greatest sufferers in the wake of modern scientific and technological developments have been the Muslims. This is because most of the areas which came to be dominated by materially better equipped Western powers were formerly under Muslim control. Muslim reaction did, of course, lead to movements for reconstruction on a vast scale, but although this struggle has continued for two hundred years, the Muslims have failed to regain their lost position. The reason for this is not far to seek. Muslims have largely misunderstood the true nature of the problem, and have persisted in trying to brighten their future prospects by introducing measures of a purely superficial and shortsighted nature in an atmosphere which is unstable because it is so emotionally charged.

If we need proof of what havoc can be wrought by misconceptions of this nature, we have only to compare Turkey’s lacklustre performance with the all-round brilliance of the U.S.S.R. which today is sending rockets into space. Considering that modern developments in both these countries derive respectively from their almost contemporary revolutions in 1917 and 1922, and that 1Lenin (1870-1924) had 15 years less of a lifespan than Ataturk (1881-1938) in which to be effective as a revolutionary leader, why should Turkey’s achievements not be on a par with those of the Soviet Union? Why is it that the U.S.S.R. has been able to launch an ambitious space programme, while Turkey has not yet been able to reconstruct itself even on the ground? This shortfall in Turkish achievement is not just a matter of accident. There are profound historical reasons for it.

When Kamal Ataturk came into power in Turkey, he imagined that the secret of progress and nation-building lay in all-out imitation of Western culture. He therefore made Turkey a secular state, instead of the theocracy it had been since time immemorial. Then, rescinding canonical laws, he enforced in his own country the civil laws of Switzerland, the criminal laws of Italy and the German laws of international trade. Religious education was banned, and the observation of purdah (the veil) for women was declared illegal. Turkish vernacular script was ruthlessly replaced by the Roman alphabet. Turks were not allowed to go to Mecca on the Hajj pilgrimage, and even the use of Arabic when calling the faithful to prayer was prohibited. The national dress was Europeanized and the wearing of a hat instead of a fez was made compulsory. Turks who refused to wear hats, or who ridiculed them, were subjected to violence. There were innumerable cases of men actually having been hanged because they were not willing to discard their national fez in favour of the hat. When the long drawn-out battle in favour of the hat had finally been won, Ataturk expressed his jubilation by sending a “hatted” representative – a Member of the Turkish Parliament, Adib Sarwat – to the Islamic Conference at Mecca in 1927. The only delegate to the conference with a hat on his head, he was given a cold reception by the other Muslim delegates. (Irfan Orga Margarette: Ataturk, Micheal Joseph, Ltd., London, 1967, p. 265).

On the contrary, when Lenin was invested with supreme authority in Russia, one of his first acts was to appoint the Cominolit, the Committee for Foreign Translations (1922). The main objective of this committee was to collect scientific and technical books in foreign languages and to translate them into Russian. Lenin considered this so important that, despite innumerable other engagements, he took it upon himself to supervise the work personally. As a result, the Soviet Union has acquired a massive collection of scientific data. This work has continued till today without a break. Nowadays, if a scientist requires any scientific information, all he needs to do is consult just one publication – the Soviet journal, Referativyi Zhurnal, which, in each edition, presents the gist of one million scientific and technical articles published in 70 languages in 117 countries. The journal employs, for this work, a hundred thousand expert translators. The All Union Institute for Scientific and Technical Information alone keeps a permanent staff of 2,500 translators. Besides, there are 22 thousand experts in translation working part time for the Institute. The Russian government has today more than five thousand scientific institutions in which about one million scientific workers are engaged. The Russian education system has produced a large number of people capable of writing and translating two languages at the same time. Thus it was the result of such unceasing effort that Russia became the first country in the world to launch the first Sputnik into space in 1957. Today Russian science is so important that America imports 250 Russian science journals, translates them word for word and prints their English translation.

From the Quran, we derive three main principles for the construction and strengthening of the community:

(a) establishment on a sound footing;

(b) unity;

(c) intimidation as a means to power.

The Quran describes goods – material things – as a support. They have been devised by God as an economic support to mankind, for it is through them that man perforce meets his own and his dependents’ physical demands. He is thus constrained to become the possessor of such resources as are essential to the success of any human endeavour in this present material world. Once, in the course of a prayer, the Prophet said, “God, spare me from poverty!” His wife, Ayesha, was surprised at this supplication and asked him to explain it. The Prophet replied, “Yes, O Ayesha, poverty drives a man to unbelief!”

Five hundred years ago, Muslims dominated the world economy. But today, from the economic standpoint, they are at a decided disadvantage. The reason is that they have never fully grasped the essentials of modern economy and have, therefore, failed to find a place for themselves within the framework. In ancient times, earnings depended directly on land produce (farming and orchards). But, today, earning is a much more complex matter, for the economy of our times has undergone a fundamental change. Today the greatest sources of earning are industry and trade: even agriculture has begun to take on some of the attributes of large-scale industry. Modern technology plays so great a role in every field today that its possessors have the top earning capacity. Wealth naturally flows to them. The Muslims’ greatest problem in present times is their inability to go beyond traditional agriculture and traditional trade. In consequence, they have become second-rate communities all over the world, the sole possible exceptions being such countries as the Gulf Emirates which have contrived to become rich on the basis of natural resources, without, however having made any personal contribution in terms of human endeavour or indigenous technology.

If Muslims are to hold their heads up in the world of today, they must, inevitably, begin to understand modern economic changes, and must try to carve out their own niches in today’s economic scene. If they cannot rise to this, they will continue to be the world’s economic underdogs and, worse still, in terms of today’s economy, will ultimately find themselves outcasts.

Without exception, the great Muslim movements of modern times have made the mistake of giving political revolution the maximum importance, unaware that the enhanced role of economics, politics have actually become of secondary interest. Today, politicians are subservient to the economically powerful. Without economic power, there is no question of having political influence.

In the recent past, we produced political personalities who were Himalayan in stature. Yet we do not have the global position which ought to have resulted from their struggle. The reason is that, great as these personalities were, they were nevertheless incapable of grasping the fact that times were changing. Basing their judgement on past achievements, they devoted all their energies to politics, without making any real efforts towards economic progress and the consequent reinforcement of the Muslim position.

It must be conceded that modern economics has had a profound impact on present-day knowledge. And every human endeavour – from farming to the operating of machines – requires up-to-the minute knowhow. In this, too, Muslims have demonstrated a surprising unawareness. Having totally misconstrued the relationship between education and economics, they have for a whole century remained content with traditional learning. The consequences of this unawareness are grave, but are only now becoming apparent: whole generations of Muslims have come into existence who are, by traditional Islamic standards, well-educated, but also, in terms of times in which they live, are desperately undereducated. This is. largely because the Madrasas (Muslim schools which impart traditional learning) are still following a syllabus which was drawn up in Baghdad 500 years ago.

The other pre-requisite for the construction and strengthening, of the community is a sense of togetherness. ‘Do not dispute with one another,’ says the Quran, ‘lest you should lose courage and your resolve weaken.’ (8:46) Disunity creates cowardice and engenders disrespect for the community. If, on the other hand, the community has genuine unity, every number of it considers that he has the strength of millions. With this attitude of courage and confidence, Muslims cannot but inspire awe in other communities.

Unity is so important to religion that even two separate religious assemblies in the same mosque at the same time, are looked upon with disfavour. The following incident is a good illustration of this.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, one of the Prophet’s companions, having noticed two groups in the Mosque of Kufa, went and stood between the two to ascertain which had started earlier. Then he said to the group which had started later, ‘Arise and unite with them!’ Thus he united the two. (Tabarani)

When the Prophet died, his companions were so keenly aware of the importance of unity that they gave the selection of new leader (caliph) priority over the last rites and burial of the Prophet.

According to Ibn Kathir, Ubada bin Saamit tells of how the prophet once set out to inform people night of lailat-al-qadr. At that moment, two Muslims started fighting about a loan. The Prophet said, “I came out to inform you of the lailat-al-qadr, but two men – and here he gave their names – fell foul of each other. So the knowledge of the lailat-al-qadr is now lost to us.” Ibn Kathir then comments that “this hadith tells us that Islam considers quarrelling among Muslims so pernicious that it can even deprive us of such great blessings.”

The people of Islam posses the ‘Preserved Book’, which means that no one on this earth can cause their destruction. They will remain on earth so long as the Quran is in existence. No external power will even be able to inflict real harm upon them: the only thing which could be really damaging to them is their own lack of awareness. This unawareness will cause them to have many shortcomings, not the least of which is the tendency to internal dissension. In a speech which he made at the time of the Hajj pilgrimage, the Prophet said, “Beware! Do not become disbelievers after I am gone, and cut each other’s throat! Listen, Satan has despaired of his being worshipped by believers, but he will set you up one against another!”(Ahmed, Musnad)

History, astonishingly, has borne out this prophecy. How was it, after all, that the Tartar hordes were able in the thirteenth century to bring death and destruction to the entire Muslim world very soon after Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi (1137-1193) and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Christian world? The success of the Muslims in the crusades had so proven their military superiority that this in itself might well have discouraged war-mongering foes from looking at their kingdom with envious eyes. Yet within the relatively short period of twenty years, and despite the Muslims’ forbidding reputation in battle, the Tartars had attacked and overrun the Islamic Sultanate (empire).

The sole cause was disunity among Muslims. At the time of the Tartar attack, Nasir Le-Din-Allah (1158-1225) was the Caliph in Baghdad, and Sultan Alauddin Muhammed ibn Khwarzam Shah (1120-1225) ruled Khurasan and Transoxiana. The latter had set about suppressing any reference to the name of the Caliph in religious discourses throughout the length and breadth of all the lands under his jurisdiction for he planned, by attacking Iraq, to annex a part of it to his kingdom. When Caliph Nasir Le-Din-Allah came to hear of this, he tried to pre-empt such a move by sending a secret letter to the Tartars, inciting them to attack Khwarzam Shah. The Caliph thought that Khwarzam Shah would then be so preoccupied with the defence of his own country that he would drop all plans for the annexation of Iraq. Taking advantage of this dissension among the Muslims, the Tartars lost no time in attacking Khawarzam Shah and destroying his kingdom. But then, not content with this, the locust-like swarms of Tartars marched under the leadership of Chengez Khan (1192-1227) on the kingdom of Nasir Le-Din-Allah, so that it too was laid waste from end to end. Had there been no infighting among the Muslims, the Tartars, no matter how barbaric their methods, nor how great their military might, could never have dared attack the greatest kingdom of the time.

The end of Muslim government in Spain was likewise the result of internal strife. The Spanish Muslims were far in advance of the Christians in knowledge and science at the time of their defeat, so that if they were defeated, it was because the Christians were united, unlike the Muslims’ who were distributed across the country in separate groups which were not necessarily supportive of each other. This relative disarray in Muslims’ affairs had come about because the Muslims had rebelled against the central caliphate and had established their own autonomous governments; a stage came when they did not even feel ashamed to side with the Christians in fighting against the Muslims.

When the Christians gained control of the fort of Grenada in the fifteenth century, that signalled the defeat of the Muslims in Spain. Even then it took a hundred years for all Muslims to leave Spain. In spite of three large-scale massacres in the course of a single century, the last Muslim caravan did not leave Spain until 1605. This protracted stay was possible because the arts and the economy of the country were dominated by Muslims. The Christians, despite their political authority, did not, therefore, find it practical to banish all the Muslims at once. Yet, banished they finally were, thanks to their own internal strife.

The entry of Muhammed ibn Qasim via Multan in 713 into that is now Pakistan was not an imperial thrust like that of Mahmood Ghaznavi or Babar, but the arrival of the Religion of Mercy. In the words of a historian, he was more just and kinder to subjects than the Persian Emperor Nausherwan. That is why, within just a few years, Islam spread from the coast of the Arabian Sea to Kashmir. The local population thought of Muhammed ibn Qasim as their god, wept on his departure and set up a statue of him to commemorate his rule (Balazuri). But Suleman ibn Abdul Malik (died A.H. 99) deposed him, recalled him to Damascus because of a personal quarrel and imprisoned him. He died in prison with the following couplet on his lips:

“They lost me and what a youth they lost ... a youth that helped in need and protected the borders.”

After Muhammed ibn Qasim, the advance of Islam across the Indian subcontinent came to a halt for three centuries. When, after three hundred years it recommenced, it was in order to advance not religion, but political ambitions. The later generations did not have the same zeal to propagate Islam as Muhammed ibn Qasim had. Analysing the spread of the Arab empire, Jawahar Lal Nehru writes: “Widespread and apparently easy as the Arab conquests were, they did not go far beyond Sind in India, then or later ... Partly it may have been due to the internal troubles of the Arabs. Sind fell away from the central authority at Baghdad and became a small independent Moslem state”. (The Discovery of India, p. 263) Almost all of the failures of Muslims in later history can be traced to a similar state of disunity.

The Quran says that believers are each other’s friends and that the same applies to non-believers (8:71-72). This means that despite the dissimilarities in nature of different human beings, if a man is sincerely committed to a cause, he will find common areas of co-operation among people with a similar sense of commitment. Earnest devotion to his cause compels him to ignore differences among his compatriots so that he may unite with them, for, without co-operation, no success is possible in this world. similarly, non-believers, in spite of any dissension or differences that may exist among them, do find a point of common consent which makes cooperations a possibility. Believers, despite their natural differences, find an area of social life where they look upon one another as brothers. The reverse could be conceivable only if men’s hearts were entirely bereft of goodness (8.70).

The third factor – the power of intimidation – which is of importance to the topic under discussion, derives from the following verse of the Quran: “Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your disposal, so that you may strike terror into the enemies of God and your enemy.”(8:60) What is the significance of acquiring the power of intimidation in our world? The following historical example will elucidate this point:

Sultan Salahuddin of Egypt (1137-1193) and Sultan Tipu (1751-1799) were both men of great religious fervour, courage and military ability. Both, in their different historical periods, were confronted with ‘western power.’ But where the former became the conqueror of Palestine, the latter’s lot was defeat and martyrdom at the hands of his opponents. There is no magical secret to explain this success on the one hand and failure on the other. The facts are simply that in the eighteenth century, the west had acquired a monopoly over military industry and technique, having replaced traditional weapons with superior, long-range arms, and had gained complete control of the high seas. This meant that Sultan Tipu was not nearly well enough equipped to put himself against such overwhelming military odds. Sultan Salahuddin, on the other hand, lived and fought in the twelfth century when Muslims led the world in military industry. All that time, there were numerous factories in Syria, Egypt and Iraq, where the best arms of that period were manufactured. The defence against Roman attacks in the Abbasid period and the arrest of the European nations’ attacks during the crusades own much to the existence of these factories. Especially during the crusades, the military industry of the Muslims had made great progress. It is remarkable that whenever there was a lull in the fighting the European themselves would come to Syrian and Egyptian markets for the purchase of arms. Muslim ulemas (religious scholars) found themselves obliged to issue a religious decree against the sale of arms to Christians, considering that they bought them to use against Muslims. (Dr Mustafa Saba’i, Min Rawe Hadharatina, Damascus).

It is this power which the Quran calls the ‘Power of intimidation’: it commands us to acquire it for the explicit purpose of inspiring awe in others.

There are two dimensions to its acquisition. One relates to all Muslims, i.e. any Muslim group may try, to the best of its ability to acquire it. The other relates solely to a Muslim society which already has authority. The acquisition of such powers by Russia and Japan respectively provides a telling analogy.

The end of the Second World War saw the landing of American military forces in Japan, and the latter’s defeat and disarmament. Japan then found all doors to military and political ambition closed to it. The Japanese Emperor, Hirohito (1901-1989) said in a speech on the occasion: “We have to bear the unbearable for the reconstruction of the coming generations of Japan.” The whole of Japan then engaged itself in making progress in non-political areas. They paid their teachers ministerial salaries and gave them magisterial powers in order to raise the standards of education to the highest. Journalism was given such an impetus that today, the publication with the highest circulation is a Japanese newspaper. They brought science and industry to such a peak of perfection that though they possess no iron, they manufacture the biggest vessels in the world – the supertankers. Their products have such high quality standards that they have reached the zero-defect level. Indeed, they have made such great progress in nationalism and discipline that no nation of the world can compare with them today. This progress was ostensibly non-military and non-political but it proved so powerful that America withdrew its forces from Japan without there having been any confrontation.

The field of reconstruction and progress is open to all Muslim groups, whether in the majority or the minority, and whether in a position of authority or not. Being in a majority does not necessarily mean being in authority, however. It is regrettable that in many African countries with a Muslim majority, it is the Christians who are socially and politically in control. This is simply because they have so far outstripped Muslims in education, science, industry and discipline. For instance, Muslims constitute 65% of the Nigerian population and Christians only 20%, but in 1974, Nigeria’s 15-member Cabinet had only five Muslim ministers as opposed to ten Christian minister. When we talk of the educational advancement of the Christians and the backwardness of the Muslims, we have to remember that Muslim students represent a bare 25% of Government school enrolments, and that in higher education, the percentage drops even further; Christians, although in the minority manage to overcrowd the educational institutions. This is a situation which surely requires reversal.

An instance of the second dimension in the acquisition of power is that of the U.S.S.R., which found it self encircled after the second world war by US bases set up on the soil of bordering countries. In order to establish these military bases, America had entered into pacts with countries which shared borders with Russia. Through NATO, CEATO and CENTO, America sent its war machine across the Atlantic not only into Europe, but also into North Africa and Asia. America was thus in a position, through its two dozen military bases, to strike at its enemy from just across the latter’s border. Whereas Russia would have had to travel across a quarter of the globe to strike at America. American bases were so close to the Russian border that within five to ten minutes, the US could strike at all important Soviet targets.

In view of the dangerous encirclement, Russia now appointed an army of scientists to invent such rapid long-range weapons as would enable Russian rulers to strike at American targets directly from the Soviet Union. The landing of Lunic 2 on the moon in September 1959 was carried out with such great precision that it was a tacit announcement to the world of the success of Soviet scientific research and of the super-sophistication of its technology. The distance from the earth to the moon being fifty times greater than from the U.S.S.R. to the U.S.A, it became quite obvious that the rocket which carried the box of machines to the moon could also carry bombs to far-off countries. Successful space flights which have, with the utmost exactitude, been directed by radio-control, are an adequate proof that atom and hydrogen bombs can likewise be dropped with deadly accuracy on the furthest targets on earth. The sheer power and scope of such inventions have reduced American military strategy to a complete shambles.

The U.S.S.R. had a challenge thrown down to it on earth, but it was in the skies that it found its solution. This shows that there is no barrier which cannot be surmounted if human beings are sufficiently in earnest about achieving progress. God, in fact, has placed no limit on the power available to man in the universe: it is simply a question of man having sufficient courage to go out and seize hold of such power. The hostile intentions and actions of our adversaries will then be rendered ineffective, just as Pharaoh’s magicians’ “false devices” were “swallowed up” by the staff of Moses, when it came to a show of strength. “Thus the truth prevailed and their doings proved vain.”(Quran, 7:118)

The actual mission of believers on this earth is the propagation of Truth. But, all too often, they find themselves obliged to counter materialism with materialism. That is, they have to spend precious time in acquiring material backing for their religious aims, because the opponents of truth derive so much strength from their material possessions. When the Prophet migrated from Mecca in the thirteenth year of his Prophethood, he was extremely ill-provided for. But, ten years later, when he marched on Mecca, propagation of Islam had become so wide-spread that he had ten thousand able-bodied men with him. Of these, two thousand were so covered in armours that only their eyes were visible. (Tabarani)

In the modern world, the importance of following the same line of action as the Prophet has in no way diminished. Today, machines have become so vital in warfare, as opposed to mere muscle-power, that the concept of a martial race has become a thing of the past. Similarly, economic power has so increased in our own times, that the whole of humanity has become subservient to it. In former times, there was no direct link between the dissemination of truth and the state of world economy. But today, if the pen is to be wielded for such a purpose, its effectiveness will be in doubt unless it receives colossal economic backing. Moreover, when it is inevitable that other religions should resort to the use of aeroplanes and radio stations to propagate their views, the importance of material support increases a hundredfold.

The importance of economic resources even for personal requirements is far greater today than in any preceding era. Today a man’s practical needs have so increased that it is impossible for him to live out his life with legendary simplicity of old.

Although the real responsibility of Muslims is da’wah, modern exigencies demand that side-by-side with the da’wah struggle, Muslims must play a much more significant role in contemporary economy, on the levels of both the individual and the community.