Aim of Muslim Ummah
Imagine Islam like this clock. Just as the purpose of the clock is to indicate the correct
time, so the aim of Islam is that you should live in this world as the vicegerents of God,
as witnesses of God unto mankind and as standard-bearers of truth. You must
yourselves follow the commandments of God and bring all other people under Him:
You are indeed the best community brought forth for mankind: you enjoin the doing of
right and forbid the doing of wrong, and you believe in God
(Al ‘Imram 3: 110).
And thus We have made you a just community, that you might be witnesses unto
mankind (al-Baqarah 2: 143).
God has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deds that He will surely
make you to accede to power on earth (al-Nur 24: 55).
And fight them, until there is no rebellion [against God], and all lsubmission is to God
alone (al-Anfal 8: 39).
Wholeness of Islamic Teachings
To fulfill this purpose, various parts as were required, like those of the clock, have been
brought together in Islam. Beliefs and principles of morality; rules for day-to-day
conduct; the rights of God, of His slaves, of one’s own self, of everything in the world
which you encounter; rules for earning and spending money; laws of war and peace;
principals of government and limits of obedience to it---all these are parts of Islam. As
in a clock, they are linked to each other in such a way that as soon as the winding is
done, every part starts moving and, with the movement of all these parts, the desired
result is obtained. Rule of God’s ;aw in the world, domination of Islam, start
manifesting just as, with the movement of the parts of the clock in front of you, the
time appears on its face.
In order to fasten together different parts of the clock, screws and small pieces of
metal have been used.
Similarly, to join all the parts of Islam together, there is an arrangement called the
Jama ‘ah or organization. Muslims should organize themselves, and have leaders
equipped with proper knowledge and endowed with taqwa; the brains should help
them and the limbs should obey them, as they all strive to live under God.
When all the parts have been brought together and property assembled, regular
winding is necessary to set them in motion and to continue their movement: Salah
which is offered five times a day provides that winding, creating the energy which sets
an Islamic life in motion. Cleaning this clock is also necessary: fasting observed for
thirty days a year cleanes hearts and morals. Lubrication, too, is required: Zakah is
like the oil which is applied to its parts once a year. Then it is also necessary to
overhaul it periodically: Hajj is that overhauling which should be performed at least
once in a lifetime. And the more often it is done, the better.
Abusing the Clock
The processes of winding, cleaning, lubricating and overhauling are of use only when all
the parts are present in the frame, when they are linked in the order designed by the
clock-maker, and when all are so trained that immediately on winding they start
moving and begin showing results.
Alas, today the situation has become very different. For a start, the very Jama ‘ah, the
organizational structure, which was supposed to link the parts of the clock together has
ceased to exist. The result is that all the fittings have come apart, each has gone its
own way. Everybody does whatever takes his fancy. There is nobody to question
anything. Everyone is autonomous. If someone wants to follow the Islamic code, he
can; if he does not want to, he need not.
Since even this so-called freedom has not satisfied you, you have pulled out many
parts of the clock and in their place put anything and everything: a spare part from a
sewing machine, perhaps, or from a factory or from the engine of a car. You call
yourselves Muslims, yet you render loyal service to Kufr, yet you take interest, you
insure your lives, you file false law suits, your daughters, sisters and wives are
forsaking Islamic manners and your children are being given secular materialistic
educations.
Some have become disciples of Gandhi; others are following Lenin. Which
un-Islamic gadget is there that you have not fixed into the frame of the clock of Islam?
Despite this, you expect the clock to work when you wind it! And you suppose that
cleaning, lubricating and overhauling it will also be of use. With a little reflection,
however, you should see that in the condition to which you have reduced the clock you
can wind it, lubricate it, and overhaul it, for the whole of your lives without any effect.
Nothing will happen until you remove the parts brought in from other applicnaces,
replace them with the original parts, and restore the original priorities. Then, and only
then, will the winding and so forth produce any results.
Why Worship Rites Are Ineffective
This state of affairs is the real reason why your Salah, Sawn, Zakah and Hajj make
no impact upon your lives. First, there are so few among you who perform these acts
of worship. Due to the dissolution of Islamic Jama ‘ah everybody has become
autonomous. Whether you fulfil your obligations or not, there is nobody to care. Nor do
those who do apparently carry out their obligations do so in a proper manner. They are
not constant in attending the congregational Prayer. People are selected to lead the
Prayers in the mosque simply because they are fit for no other work: people who exist
on the free bread doled out to mosques, who are uneducated, who lack moral caliber.
How can congregations led by them turn you into the leaders of mankind? Similar is
the situation regarding your Fasting, Almsgiving and Pilgrimages.
Despite all these facts, you may argue, there are nonetheless many Muslims who do
discharge their religious duties conscientiously. Why does that make no difference?
But, as I have said, when the parts of the clock have become unhinged and numerous
foreign bodies have been inserted in it, it makes no difference if you wind it or not,
clean it or not, lubricate it or not. From a distance it does look like a clock. An outside
observer may say: This is Islam and you are Muslims. But what he cannot see is how
badly its inside machinery has been tampered with.
Our Deplorable Condition
Brothers! You understand why it is so that you pray and fast and yet remain trampled
under the heel of cruel tyrants. But, should I tell you something even more distressing?
Although most of you no doubt regret this situation but, I would say, 999 people out
of 1000 are not prepared to change their situation. They have no urge in their hearts to
assemble the clock of Islam again properly. They are afraid that any such
reconstruction would mean that their own favourite imported parts would be thrown
out, and this they are not prepared to accept. They are afraid that any tightening of
various parts would means that they will have to discipline themselves, and this they
are not willing to undertake.
Instead, they prefer that the clock remains a piece of decoration on the wall for people
to be shown and told how wonderful Islam is, what miracles it can perform. Those who
are supposed to love this clock more than others would like to wind it repeatedly and
zealously and to clean it most laboriously; but they want to do nothing to reset its part
properly or tighten them, nor will they seek to get rid of the extraneous parts.
I wish I could endorse your attitudes and behavious, but I cannot say anything which I
believe is wrong. I assure you that it if, in addition to praying five times a day, you
were to offer Tahajjud (predawn), Ishraq (post-sun rise) and Chasht (midmorning)
Prayers, read the Qur’an for hours every day, and observe, over and above
Ramadan, extra fasts for five and a half months in the remaining eleven months, you
would still achieve nothing. What is needed is to restore the original parts to the clock
and fix them firmly. Then even the little necessary winding will make it work smoothly;
and the minimal amount of required cleaning and lubrication will be needed.
Wa ma ‘alayna illa ‘l-balagh
There is no responsibility on us except conveying the truth.