POSITIVE ASPECT OF ILLNESS

earlier people tried to establish political empires, often at a very heavy cost, today we can establish non-political ‘empires’ where the sky is the limit! we can establish them all across the world! we need no army or war for that. It is amazing that the Turks had established a vast political empire which ended in the early 20th century and then set about establishing a nonpolitical educational ‘empire’! God selected them to tell the world not to lament the passing of an age, but recognize the new opportunities and adapt to it. The ISNA has established a ‘social service empire’ in America and Ustad Gulen an ‘educational empire’—all using peaceful means. I told people I met in America that we at the Centre for Peace and Spirituality are trying to establish a ‘dawah empire’, calling all people across the world to God. Given the immense opportunities, this empire’ is surely possible today. Muslims must reflect deeply on the Hadith referred to above and understand its contemporary relevance and deep wisdom. From this Hadith I understand that though times may change, opportunities never cease. The passing of one age doesn’t mean all is lost. Instead, understand the conditions and demands of the new age, discover the opportunities and adapt. We are truly blessed with the freedom to work in a vast range of spheres. We are free to establish a ‘social service empire’, an ‘educational empire’, a ‘dawah empire’, all in the non-political fields. If we truly understand and appreciate the significance of this, we will not fall prey to despair or waste time in protest and complaint. Resorting to violence will lead to destruction of oneself and others in suicide-bombing, the gun-culture and the bomb-culture. It is futile because opportunities to progress are abundant, and there is freedom to avail them. In my interactions in America, I repeatedly stressed this point. One morning, I thought to myself, “While in America, my friends and I travelled more than 30,000 kilometres in just 15 days, doing dawah work!” What a blessing it is to visit so many distant places in such a short time! This is what I call a ‘dawah empire’—not based in some fort or castle. It is peaceful effort. We met many people—Christians, Muslims, The Quran is the basis of our mission. We have published translations of the Quran in several languages. We have brought out supportive literature to help people interpret the Quran to suit our contemporary times.