How Islam Shapes Civilized Humans ?
A
civilized human is one who is born into a dormant environment and breathes life
into it, planting fruitful seedlings within it. He does not use overwhelming
circumstances as an excuse to destroy his hopes and dreams; rather, he conquers
and overcomes those circumstances. Instead of letting them discourage him, he
tames them and makes them serve his legitimate goals, projects, and
aspirations.
The
contemporary state of youth in many countries of the Islamic world is suffering
from a striking state of civilizational dryness. In the hearts of some,
a sense of weakness is taking hold, leading to an aversion to seeking a way out
of a state of defeat. Instead, they assimilate and coexist according to its
realities.
Causes and their Outcomes.
The
fragile condition of the youth can mostly be attributed to the Ummah entering a
period of weakness and the youth's constant question: "Where is the
victory? And where is the empowerment on earth?" This is because they have
constantly heard from Friday preachers and recorded sermons about victory, its
inevitability, its necessity, and its closeness.
The
youth see a clear state of defeat and a backwardness that encompasses every
aspect of life. They then see a striking superiority of non-Muslims in all
fields. And instead of asking, "How do we overcome this stage?" the
question that arises is, "Why are we here?"
The
curricula, methods, and goals of education play a major role in shaping both a
courageous and a weak environment in the minds of those who receive them.
Social Media and Its Harm!
Social media plays a dangerous role in shaping consciousness
and directing its course. The world, wide open, is an important factor in this
process, impacting awareness both negatively and positively. Young people spend
long hours on social media, which knows very well how to make its followers
crave more content and how to make them leave it while yearning to return.
Social media creeps into
issues that consume a tremendous amount of followers' energy, dividing people
into quarrelsome factions. On every occasion that could be used for
civilizational progress, that very occasion becomes an opportunity for
fragmentation, creating discord, and escalating ideological and sectarian wars.
Today, social media is
dominated by individuals and institutions that promote issues which should not
be a concern. The Ummah has long experienced how its preoccupation with trivial
matters has hindered its progress in the field of civilization.
When the Ummah was
preoccupied with debating the issue of "the creation of the Quran,"
history books were devoid of any mention of a conquest the Muslims achieved, or
a frontier whose defenders they supported. This happened during the time that
issue was ablaze, and they were absorbed by it. This is because trivial issues
are a waste of the great purposes of the Ummah, a distraction from them, and a
squandering of its efforts on something that yields no benefit.
Fabricated and Spurious Matters
As we pointed out, fake
issues creep into our lives; some of them are manufactured, and others are
mindlessly drifted into by the masses. For example, when preparations for
Ramadan begin, the commotion starts about sighting the crescent moon and
whether astronomical calculations are sufficient or not?! Everyone who has an
opinion on the matter sees it as an undeniable truth, and they then start to
mislead others and accuse them of deviating from the evidence. They fail to
realize that this is a matter of legitimate difference, in which it is not
permissible for either side to transgress against the other.
The scholars assumed that an
error had occurred on the Day of Arafah, so the Muslims stood on the tenth day
instead of the ninth. When some people came to the Imam to testify to the
error, Ibn al-Humam said: "The Imam should not listen to them, because
hearing their testimony would publicize it among the common people at the
standing place. This would lead to much gossip and strife, and the hearts of the
Muslims would be troubled with doubt about the validity of their Hajj after
their long struggle. So, if they come to testify, he should say to them:
'Leave, we will not hear this testimony. The people's Hajj has been completed'.
(1)
Furthermore, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan
did not permit someone who independently sighted the moon to contradict the
Imam, no matter how certain they were. Rather, they should perform the standing
ritual whenever the Imam of Hajj does.
And so, instead of seeking
ways to agree on fixed issues, we have come to differ over changing and new
matters where disagreement is permissible.
As for the disagreement
regarding Zakat al-Fitr, even though it is a permissible difference of opinion,
some people have turned the disagreement over it into a battle that rages
during the last ten days of Ramadan. Instead of being preoccupied with worship
and attaining the Night of Power, a fierce dispute flares up over what suffices
for Zakat al-Fitr!
And so, waves of
falsification cast forth issues that make a person shift from building
civilization to fabricating falsehoods. They move from harnessing the laws of
the universe to scribbling on the margins of jurisprudence, and from being
preoccupied with making art serve civilization to writing books on the rulings
of musical instruments, and building loyalty and disavowal based on whether one
considers them permissible or forbidden.
And from examining the
methodologies of scholars in authorship and the generation of knowledge to
looking at their flaws, belittling them, and tracking their statements, then
judging them as acceptable or fake, and consequently judging the one who said
them.
On building the civilized human
In the well-known hadith, a
man asked the Prophet (peace be upon him), "When
is the Hour, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "What have you
prepared for it?"(2) And thus, the Messenger (peace be upon him)
redirected the questioner's attention from asking about the timing of the event
to working to prepare for it. For there is no doubt about the certainty of the
Hour's coming, and so the important thing remains to be preoccupied with
preparing for this certainty.
Ibn Rajab said, "He
turned away from the answer about the Hour to mention preparing for it, because
that is what one is commanded to do, and it is what concerns the questioner and
others, and it is what should be focused on.(3)
Al-Ayni said, "What
should concern you is to focus on its preparation and to take care of what will
benefit you when it comes, namely righteous deeds.(4)
And
in an effort to thwart the making of a civilized human, a Jew named Shas ibn
Qais lit a fuse. When he saw the unity and cohesion of the people of Medina, he
said: "The elite of Banu Qaila have gathered in this land. By God, we will
have no peace with them if their elite gather here." So, he ordered a
young Jewish boy who was with him, saying: "Go to them and sit with them,
then mention the day of Bu'ath and what preceded it. Recite to them some of the
poems they used to say to each other that contained insults and disparagement
from each side to the other."
The
two groups agreed to a fight, driven by the tribal animosity that had existed
between them in the pre-Islamic era. The Jew was thus able to light the fuse of
fire between those for whom brotherhood was the most important civilizational
trait that united them.
And
in order to bury the strife, extinguish its spark, and remove the fuse of evil
that this Jew had planted, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went out
with his companions from the Emigrants until he reached them.
He
said: "O community of
Muslims, fear Allah! Is it with the call of the Jahiliyyah while I am among
you? After Allah has guided you to Islam, honored you with it, cut off the
matter of the Jahiliyyah from you, saved you from disbelief, and united you,
are you returning to what you were upon as disbelievers?!"
The
people then realized that it was a satanic instigation and a plot from their
enemy. They threw the weapons from their hands and wept, and the men of the Aws
and Khazraj tribes embraced each other.
Then
they left with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), listening and
obeying, for Allah had extinguished the plot of their enemy—the enemy of Allah,
Shas ibn Qais.(5)
Therefore,
any person who clings to a call of Jahiliyyah that takes race, color, or
lineage as a basis for distinction has departed from the state of
civilizational witness and entered a state of worthlessness.
So,
the civilized human is the one who was raised in the shade of the Almighty's
words: (so you—by His
grace—became brothers) (Ali 'Imran:103) And he is the one who aligns himself in the shade of
the Almighty's words: (the most
noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you) (Al-Hujurat:13)
The
civilized human is one who embodies the Hereafter in their pursuits and aims
for it in their enthusiasm and their reluctance.
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(1)
Fath al-Qadir (3/169).
(2)
Agreed upon.
(3)
Fath al-Bari (1/197).
(4)
Umdat al-Qari (22/196).
(5)
Subul al-Huda wa al-Rashad (3/398).
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