Hereafter, Not Politics

Hereafter, Not Politics

1991 11 November 13 Hereafter, Not Politics (318) Just after Maulana Asad Madani, President of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, had returned from a tour of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, a meeting was held in the Masjid Abul Nabi, New Delhi, on September 27, 1972.

When a member of the gathering asked the Maulana what Muslims should do in the prevailing situation, he replied, “Muslims will never achieve anything so long as they remain deeply concerned about politics. It is a wrong interpretation of Islam to believe that the prophets came to establish political order in the world. In fact, their priority was the life hereafter.

They used to instill Divine fear in people. They were like a father who tries to pull away a young son who is about to fall in the raging fire. In this matter the Muslim League has caused the maximum damage. The move to partition the country created so much hatred; it created such a gulf between the two communities, that whatever we say now, it is not taken in the correct light. Prejudice begets further prejudice. It creates a dead end. I have heard Maulana Syed Hussain Ahmed Madani say that the Masjid in Calcutta, known as the Nakhuda Masjid before partition, used to witness about 100 persons convening to Islam everyday. (Maulana Madani was Khatib in the Masjid before Partition). The same was true of the rest of the country. Daily hundreds of people were entering the fold of Islam. All this ended as a result of the policy of hatred of Partition. (AI Jamiat Weekly, Delhi March 24, 1973, p. 3).

Muslims today are committing the same blunder. Whatever the cost, they must revive the kind of atmosphere that existed prior to partition in order that they engage in da‘wah work. If they fail to do so, it is almost certain, that they will be held accountable by God, and there will be nothing then that will save them.