RELIGIOUS IMITATION, POLITICAL IMITATION — Corruption in Religion

The fact is that protesting in itself is a completely un-Islamic method. One simply cannot make it Islamic by giving it a beautiful-sounding name—by calling it ‘Peaceful protest’, or ‘Religious protest’, ‘Protesting for one’s rights’, ‘Protesting against the oppression of the Government’, ‘Protesting against insults to the Prophet’, ‘Protesting against the sacrilege of holy places’, ‘Protesting against insults to Islam’, and so on. What is the psyche behind this imitation of others? The answer to this is found in the Quran, in the following words: ‘their hearts are all alike.’(2: 118) In other words, imitation at the level of thought. When peoples who have been given a divine scripture pass through a phase of degeneration, their way of thinking is no longer based on God’s deen or way of life. Their minds are dispossessed of a live God-consciousness. As a result, they get influenced by irreligious thoughts and ideologies of their surroundings. The true divine model as a practice becomes unknown to them. So, they give non-divine models a religious title or label and adopt them as a part of religion. Present-day Muslims have fully fallen prey to both forms of imitation— to religious imitation as well as political imitation. The many innovative practices widespread among Muslims are all a result of this religious imitation of others. For instance, various rituals and practices among Muslims that they have adopted in imitation of others but by giving them a seemingly ‘Islamic’ justification—such as Milad un Nabi (celebration of the birthday of Prophet) and Quran khani (arabic recitation of the Quran by a group of people) are all innovations. The activities that present-day Muslims are engaged in all across the world in the name of Muslim politics are all, and without any exception whatsoever, a result of the ‘Political imitation’ of others. In the name of Muslim politics or Islamic politics, present-day Muslims have sought to ‘Islamise’ things that are not at all Islamic. This so-called ‘Islamic politics’ is, in reality, the politics of a degenerated community. It was practiced by earlier peoples who were provided divine scriptures but still strayed away from God’s path in their later periods. This ‘Islamic politics’ will bring no benefit to Muslims, either in this world or in the Hereafter. The task that Muslims must undertake is dawah, that is, communication of the message of God to mankind, not politics. Until Muslims abandon this method of ‘imitation’ and adopt the method of dawah, they will continue to be deprived of God’s blessings. They will never receive God’s help unless they undertake God’s work of communicating His message to mankind. o