lubna
15-12-2005, 19:31
Our Lack of Appreciation
Now, listen to the voice of my afflicted heart! We, the preset-day
born Muslims, are like a child born in a diamond mine. He may have
diamonds all around, but if he plays with them as if they were
stones, these diamonds become as valueless for him as stones. Our
attitudes towards Islam are exactly similar, because the treasures
which the world is searching for, and is suffering through being
deprived of, have all been given to us by virtue of our having been
born Muslims.
The Kalimah tawhid (the creed of Oneness of God), which shows men the
right way to lead their lives, has been drummed into us from our
earliest childhoods; those priceless prescriptions of Salah and Sawn,
which elevate men from a mere animal existence to the human level, we
have inherited, without effort, from our forefathers; that matchless
practice of Zakah, which purifies the heart as well as the financial
systems of the world, without which people of the world are at
loggerheads with each other, is ours as our birthright.
Similarly Hajj has been part of our heritage for hundreds of years.
This magnificent way is more effective and powerful than any other
ever conceived to propagate our movement throughout the world and
keep it alive for all eternity. This universal movement is more
powerful than any other to draw out human beings in the name of God
and make them into a brotherhood transcending race, colour and
nationality.We are surrounded by treasures, but how do we treat them?
We play with them in the same way as that ignorant child who,
surrounded by diamonds, regards them as stones. My heart bleeds when
I see us frittering away such tremendous wealth ad power through
ignorance foolishness.
My dear brothers! You must have heard this couplet of the poet:
If the ass of Jesus goes to Makka.
It remains an ass when it returns.
That is to say, an ass, even one living in the company of a Prophet
like Jesus, cannot benefit from a visit to Makka; it would still be
as unenlightened as before. Today we have at our disposal gifts like
the prayer, Fasting and Pilgrimage. But these devotional acts are
meant to train human beings, not to tame animals. Although the people
carry out the external trapping of these precious gifts, their minds
have no concept of their inner significance. They have no concern for
their outcome. They imitate the actions of their forebears, but it is
a stereotyped imitation, devoid of comprehension or spiritual
content. How can good results be expected out of such exercises?Every
year thousands of pilgrims go to the centre of Islam and come back
after having had the privilege of performing Hajj without that
experience having had the slightest effect on them. Nor do they make
any impact on those they meet upon their return or live with. Worse,
many of them continue to exhibit their bad habits and bad manners;
thus the very name of Islam is tarnished by their behaviour. Not only
in the eyes of strangers but also among Muslims. Eventually some
young Muslims who have not themselves been on Hajj have come to
question its value.
Year after years for centuries, hundreds of thousands of the
adherents of a powerful movement, Islam, gather at one place, travel
along various routes, pass through villages, towns and cities and
demonstrate their faith through their words and deeds. How can, one
wonders, such an event fail to impress people with blessings it can
bring.
Yet is only Hajj was performed as it was intended it should be, even
the blind would see its benefits and the deaf would hear of its
advantages! Every year it would change the lives of millions of
Muslims, and attract thousands of non-Muslims to Islam!
Deriving Full Benefit From Hajj
To derive the full benefits from Hajj, what we need at
the centre of Islam are such hand that could make it effective, such
hearts that could pump pure blood into the body of the Ummah, such
minds that could turn the pilgrims in to ambassadors of Islami
carrying its Message far and wide. At least Makka should have been a
living example of Islam Alas, this is not the case at present. For
the time of the Abbasids till the Ottomans, the kings of every
period, in order to serve their political ends, tried to weaken the
Arabs. They brought them to the lowest levels of the decadence in
knowledge, morals and culture. The result was the land from which
emanated the light of Islam spreading its rays to all corners of the
world, reached almost the same state of ignorance in which it was
before the advent of Islam. There is little knowledge of Islam or
Islamic life. People from far-off places flock to the sacred
precincts of the Haram with the deepest devotion, only to find
ignorance, filth, greed, indecency, love of this world, bad manners
and disorganization. The result is that, for many, the experience of
Hajj, instead of strengthening their faith, weakens it.
Priestly exploitation which was imposed in the Ka'ba after Ibrahim
and Isma'il, and which was abolished by the Prophet, blessings and
peace be on him, has again been revived. The administration and the
Mu'allimin (who guide the pilgrims) have again adopted the ways of
priests. The House of God has become their property and Hajj a source
of business. They consider the pilgrims as their customers. Agents
have been appointed in different countries on big salaries to canvas
and bring in these customers. Every year a whole army of brokers
leaves Makka to seek out and fetch them from all parts of the world.
People are induced to perform Hajj by having Quranic verses and
Hadith suited at them. The motive is not to remind them of the duty
imposed by Allah but to make money.
It almost looks as if Allah and His Messenger initiated Hajj for the
sole purpose of sustaining the Mu'allimin and brokers. Trading in
religion, Mu'allim, Mutawwif, their attorneys, keepers of keys to the
Ka'ba---all confront a pilgrim at every stage. They and the
Government itself are all co-shares in the Hajj `industry'. The
performance of the rituals of Hajj is conducted on payment and even
the door of the Ka'ba is only opened for a fee. How a strange that
such is the condition of the followers of a religion which abolished
all priesthood!
How can the true spirit of worship survive where the work of
conducting it has become a source of wage-earning and trade, where
sacred places are exploited for personal gain, where sacred places
are exploited for personal gain, where Divine commandments are
employed to lure people to empty their pockets, where a man is
obliged to make payment for every rite he performs, and where Din has
become a business commodity?( This address was given in 1938.
Conditions have now greatly improved and the Saudi Arabian Government
is trying to enforce further reforms). Two matters require special
attention. Firstly, two sacred precincts of Makka and Madina must be
protected from the onslaughts of Western civilization. Second, the
methods and procedures employed by Mu'allims should be improved. May
god enable the Saudi government to adopt correct measures in this
regard!
In mentioning these facts I do not intend to cast blame on anyone. My
purpose is simply to point out what factors have so seriously
weakened such a potentially tremendous source of spiritual, moral and
social power as Hajj. There should be no misunderstanding in
anybody's mind that this state of affairs is due to any deficiency in
Islam. The deficiency lies with those who do not follow Islam
correctly. The situation is like that of an expert physician whose
prescriptions fall into the hands of quacks and thus become useless
and possibly positively harmful.
source:
Let us be muslims, by abul ala maududi
Now, listen to the voice of my afflicted heart! We, the preset-day
born Muslims, are like a child born in a diamond mine. He may have
diamonds all around, but if he plays with them as if they were
stones, these diamonds become as valueless for him as stones. Our
attitudes towards Islam are exactly similar, because the treasures
which the world is searching for, and is suffering through being
deprived of, have all been given to us by virtue of our having been
born Muslims.
The Kalimah tawhid (the creed of Oneness of God), which shows men the
right way to lead their lives, has been drummed into us from our
earliest childhoods; those priceless prescriptions of Salah and Sawn,
which elevate men from a mere animal existence to the human level, we
have inherited, without effort, from our forefathers; that matchless
practice of Zakah, which purifies the heart as well as the financial
systems of the world, without which people of the world are at
loggerheads with each other, is ours as our birthright.
Similarly Hajj has been part of our heritage for hundreds of years.
This magnificent way is more effective and powerful than any other
ever conceived to propagate our movement throughout the world and
keep it alive for all eternity. This universal movement is more
powerful than any other to draw out human beings in the name of God
and make them into a brotherhood transcending race, colour and
nationality.We are surrounded by treasures, but how do we treat them?
We play with them in the same way as that ignorant child who,
surrounded by diamonds, regards them as stones. My heart bleeds when
I see us frittering away such tremendous wealth ad power through
ignorance foolishness.
My dear brothers! You must have heard this couplet of the poet:
If the ass of Jesus goes to Makka.
It remains an ass when it returns.
That is to say, an ass, even one living in the company of a Prophet
like Jesus, cannot benefit from a visit to Makka; it would still be
as unenlightened as before. Today we have at our disposal gifts like
the prayer, Fasting and Pilgrimage. But these devotional acts are
meant to train human beings, not to tame animals. Although the people
carry out the external trapping of these precious gifts, their minds
have no concept of their inner significance. They have no concern for
their outcome. They imitate the actions of their forebears, but it is
a stereotyped imitation, devoid of comprehension or spiritual
content. How can good results be expected out of such exercises?Every
year thousands of pilgrims go to the centre of Islam and come back
after having had the privilege of performing Hajj without that
experience having had the slightest effect on them. Nor do they make
any impact on those they meet upon their return or live with. Worse,
many of them continue to exhibit their bad habits and bad manners;
thus the very name of Islam is tarnished by their behaviour. Not only
in the eyes of strangers but also among Muslims. Eventually some
young Muslims who have not themselves been on Hajj have come to
question its value.
Year after years for centuries, hundreds of thousands of the
adherents of a powerful movement, Islam, gather at one place, travel
along various routes, pass through villages, towns and cities and
demonstrate their faith through their words and deeds. How can, one
wonders, such an event fail to impress people with blessings it can
bring.
Yet is only Hajj was performed as it was intended it should be, even
the blind would see its benefits and the deaf would hear of its
advantages! Every year it would change the lives of millions of
Muslims, and attract thousands of non-Muslims to Islam!
Deriving Full Benefit From Hajj
To derive the full benefits from Hajj, what we need at
the centre of Islam are such hand that could make it effective, such
hearts that could pump pure blood into the body of the Ummah, such
minds that could turn the pilgrims in to ambassadors of Islami
carrying its Message far and wide. At least Makka should have been a
living example of Islam Alas, this is not the case at present. For
the time of the Abbasids till the Ottomans, the kings of every
period, in order to serve their political ends, tried to weaken the
Arabs. They brought them to the lowest levels of the decadence in
knowledge, morals and culture. The result was the land from which
emanated the light of Islam spreading its rays to all corners of the
world, reached almost the same state of ignorance in which it was
before the advent of Islam. There is little knowledge of Islam or
Islamic life. People from far-off places flock to the sacred
precincts of the Haram with the deepest devotion, only to find
ignorance, filth, greed, indecency, love of this world, bad manners
and disorganization. The result is that, for many, the experience of
Hajj, instead of strengthening their faith, weakens it.
Priestly exploitation which was imposed in the Ka'ba after Ibrahim
and Isma'il, and which was abolished by the Prophet, blessings and
peace be on him, has again been revived. The administration and the
Mu'allimin (who guide the pilgrims) have again adopted the ways of
priests. The House of God has become their property and Hajj a source
of business. They consider the pilgrims as their customers. Agents
have been appointed in different countries on big salaries to canvas
and bring in these customers. Every year a whole army of brokers
leaves Makka to seek out and fetch them from all parts of the world.
People are induced to perform Hajj by having Quranic verses and
Hadith suited at them. The motive is not to remind them of the duty
imposed by Allah but to make money.
It almost looks as if Allah and His Messenger initiated Hajj for the
sole purpose of sustaining the Mu'allimin and brokers. Trading in
religion, Mu'allim, Mutawwif, their attorneys, keepers of keys to the
Ka'ba---all confront a pilgrim at every stage. They and the
Government itself are all co-shares in the Hajj `industry'. The
performance of the rituals of Hajj is conducted on payment and even
the door of the Ka'ba is only opened for a fee. How a strange that
such is the condition of the followers of a religion which abolished
all priesthood!
How can the true spirit of worship survive where the work of
conducting it has become a source of wage-earning and trade, where
sacred places are exploited for personal gain, where sacred places
are exploited for personal gain, where Divine commandments are
employed to lure people to empty their pockets, where a man is
obliged to make payment for every rite he performs, and where Din has
become a business commodity?( This address was given in 1938.
Conditions have now greatly improved and the Saudi Arabian Government
is trying to enforce further reforms). Two matters require special
attention. Firstly, two sacred precincts of Makka and Madina must be
protected from the onslaughts of Western civilization. Second, the
methods and procedures employed by Mu'allims should be improved. May
god enable the Saudi government to adopt correct measures in this
regard!
In mentioning these facts I do not intend to cast blame on anyone. My
purpose is simply to point out what factors have so seriously
weakened such a potentially tremendous source of spiritual, moral and
social power as Hajj. There should be no misunderstanding in
anybody's mind that this state of affairs is due to any deficiency in
Islam. The deficiency lies with those who do not follow Islam
correctly. The situation is like that of an expert physician whose
prescriptions fall into the hands of quacks and thus become useless
and possibly positively harmful.
source:
Let us be muslims, by abul ala maududi