Then and Now
by Shahid Aziz
The Light (UK), May 2016 Issue (pp. 3–5)
There was a time when Muslims were the most truthful, honest, polite and respectful people in the world. When they were going to say or do something, what mattered to them was only one consideration — will this take me closer to Allah or distance me from Him. They little cared for the showmanship and glory of this world. They allowed Christians to pray in the Prophet’s [Muhammad (pbuh)] Mosque in Medina. Their khalifa [caliph] refused to pray in a Christian church because he said:
“those who come after will say Umar prayed here so it should be converted into a mosque”.
Christians from Spain came to them and asked them to save them from persecution because they said:
“We’ve heard that in the lands you rule no one is persecuted for what they believe and how they worship”.
What is the state of our nation now? This month, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was caught on camera saying that the most corrupt countries in the world are Afghanistan and Nigeria. But this is not just one instance of what the world view is of Muslims and the countries in which they are in a majority. Corruption, terrorism, grooming of young girls for sex, fraudulently claiming state benefits, not paying tax, taking and giving bribes, etc., the list is a long one.
The Holy Quran (13:11) says:
لَہٗ مُعَقِّبٰتٌ مِّنۡۢ بَیۡنِ یَدَیۡہِ وَ مِنۡ خَلۡفِہٖ یَحۡفَظُوۡنَہٗ مِنۡ اَمۡرِ اللّٰہِ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ لَا یُغَیِّرُ مَا بِقَوۡمٍ حَتّٰی یُغَیِّرُوۡا مَا بِاَنۡفُسِہِمۡ ؕ وَ اِذَاۤ اَرَادَ اللّٰہُ بِقَوۡمٍ سُوۡٓءًا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَہٗ ۚ وَ مَا لَہُمۡ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِہٖ مِنۡ وَّالٍ ﴿۱۱﴾
“For him are (angels) guarding the consequences (of his deeds), before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah’s command. Surely Allah changes not the condition of a people, until they change their own condition. And when Allah intends evil to a people, there is no averting it, and besides Him they have no protector.”
It tells us that Allah has appointed angels which look at all our actions and preserve them. It means that there are consequences of our actions which we have to bear. All our actions whether carried out in the past or in the future will have consequences which we will have to suffer as a people.
We know what we did in the past and what its consequences were. By saying that Allah preserves our actions and their consequences humans are told that they should understand if they do something wrong its result will always be the same. This is why Allah says that He will not change your condition unless and until you change your own condition.
What is that we need to do to change our condition? The Holy Quran (8:27) tells us what we have to do:
یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا لَا تَخُوۡنُوا اللّٰہَ وَ الرَّسُوۡلَ وَ تَخُوۡنُوۡۤا اَمٰنٰتِکُمۡ وَ اَنۡتُمۡ تَعۡلَمُوۡنَ ﴿۲۷﴾
“O you who believe, be not unfaithful to Allah and the Messenger, nor be unfaithful to your trusts, while you know.”
This means that anyone who ignores or neglects even one command of the Holy Quran is being unfaithful to Him. We expect our children to be faithful to us and to demonstrate this faithfulness by being obedient to us. But the Father and Mother who is in the heavens we ignore, and we neglect His commands. Unlike humans who, when angry or irritated, withdraw their support for others, He does not do so. He keeps bestowing upon us His favours but we seem unable to see or to appreciate this. However, when the slightest harm touches us we cry asking: why He has forsaken us?
We are unfaithful to the Holy Prophet (pbuh) if we neglect or ignore the way he lived his life and left behind us an example for us to follow. On the day he conquered Makkah he forgave all those who persecuted not only his followers but the Prophet (pbuh) himself. They had tortured the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers. They had murdered Muslims and tried to murder the Holy Prophet (pbuh). They had driven them out of their homes, looted their property and sold it to raise money for an army to annihilate Muslims. And, yet he forgave all of them. In the history of mankind one cannot find a greater example of mercy. If we forget or ignore his instructions or his example, we are being unfaithful to him.
The Trust that we have to be faithful to is the duty the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet placed upon us to show the world how they change a person who sincerely follows them. If we need to give evidence we speak the truth even if it is against our near and dear ones, regardless of whether we hate the person against whom we are giving evidence or not. If we need to give advice we give honest, sincere and true advice without thinking that this will upset someone and affect our promotion or pay-rise. If we think that it is humans who control our benefit or can cause us harm then, in practice, we are associating them with Allah and committing shirk.
Ahmadis are fortunate in that they have among them role models to this day who saw people act upon the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). Their truthfulness, honesty and integrity were used as examples of how a real Muslim lives his life. The impact they had on rest of the community was amazing. We saw detractors of the Jamaat go to our elders to request them to pray for them. On the one hand they called us heretics (کافر) or at least transgressors (فاسق) but on the other hand they were so convinced of the spiritual qualities of our elders that they would ask them for prayers because it was well known that Allah granted their prayers. It is strange indeed, that Allah would listen to the pleas of heretics and transgressors but not the prayers of real Muslims!
When Muslims yearn for a return to the time of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) we do not want to start travelling on horses and going without modern medicine. We dream of a time when Muslims will be respected and honoured by the quality of their character. A time when, if a Muslim gives his word, he would prefer to give up his life rather than give up on his word. A time when, in words of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), a woman would travel alone from Medina to Yemen, laden with gold, and she will not be afraid of anyone except Allah.
There is however, another aspect of Mr Cameron’s comments which needs comment. Indeed, the President of Nigeria and some members of the Commons have commented on it already. They explained that the ill-gotten gains of many in the Muslim world are transferred to London and other capitals, where the political leaders are sitting on judgement on them. We know that this “black money” is invested in Western countries. The property market in Central London is awash with “black money” used to purchase property. Billions are hidden in trusts and offshore companies whose beneficiaries or owners are not known. The Western governments are happy to hide this money. They are happy to make it very expensive for poor countries to make a claim on such money. Such cases drag on for years with uncertain outcome.
Hiding the “black money” is just as corrupt as earning it in the first place. If a murderer asked his family to hide the body of his victim what would be the police’s reaction on finding this helper? Would they let him go or charge him. Western governments are in the same position. They are accessories to corruption. This shows that financial corruption in poorer countries will not simply be eradicated by action on their part only. Their accomplices in the West also need to take action to stop the plunder of resources of poorer countries. But, will anyone hear our cries?