ISLAM: The o_nly True Revival
Thus, for the true revival, the ideology must be correct. This ideology is of course the Islamic ideology, which convinces the mind, as it is based upon the rational proofs, and it agrees with the nature of human beings such that it provides a system which accords with the natural instincts and inclinations of people, leading them to happiness and security. Both of these characteristics are absent from Capitalism and Communism.
The success of the Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula was directly as a result of the advent of the Islamic ideology and the productive way of thinking which its adherents adopted. But it is a success which contrasts with the current situation in the Islamic world, where it is as if the history of the pre-Islamic days of Jahiliyyah has repeated itself. Internally, there is social degradation, poverty and technological inability; and externally, the Islamic Lands have no effect o_n the affairs of the world, rather it is they who are exploited and controlled by the disbelieving nations and the tyrant rulers which they imposed o_n the Ummah.
Material Wealth Cannot Compensate for the Loss of Intellectual Wealth
All this exists despite the existence in the Islamic world of uncountable wealth in the form of natural resources, a huge population, and many sons and daughters with academic degrees and technical education. This leads to the question, why is the Islamic Ummah in such a state of disarray? The answer lies in the decline in the productive way of thinking. Even a brief study will show that Muslims no longer refer to Islam in the solving of the problems of life, rather they refer to it o_nly in the areas of worship and moralistic actions, i.e. those aspects of Islam which pertain to individual practices. In this way, when it comes to praying, fasting or Hajj, they go to the Islamic texts, but when it comes to the issue of economic policy, instead of referring to the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw), they refer to the IMF or the World Bank, which are institutions of kufr, as is the case in Bangladesh, Turkey, Jordan etc. Similarly, when it comes to the foreign affairs of the Islamic Ummah, they refer to the United Nations as is the case in Saudia Arabia, Bosnia, Palestine etc. The division of courts into Shari‘ah courts and secular courts in Pakistan and Malaysia are good examples of this division.
The Separation of Islam from Life’s Affairs
In essence, what has happened is a separation of the Islamic ideology from the affairs of life, where instead of returning to the Islamic creed in these issues, the Muslims merely imitate solutions from another way of life, i.e. that of Western Capitalism. This is despite Allah (swt) saying,
“So judge between them by whatever Allah has revealed and follow not their desires away from the truth that has come to you.” [TMQ 5:51]
Thus there has become a split in the way of thinking, whereby the Muslims have left the true and complete understanding of the Islamic ideology and its productive way of thinking which led the Prophet (saw) and his Sahabah (ra), and the generations of Muslims after them to the ranks they previously had enjoyed. This is in fact the true cause for the current situation that faces the Islamic Ummah and not a lack of wealth, technology or academic education. It is this that has led the Muslims to neglect their duty of appointing o_ne ruler over them to govern by Islam, and their duty to unify the Islamic lands, and their duty to expel the kuffar from physical and political control of the Ummah and that which belongs to her.
Accordingly it is clear that the way forward for the Islamic Ummah in solving those problems which face her is not a call for increasing the wealth at the Ummah’s disposal, nor a call for increasing the level of technology, nor is it a call to increase her level of academic education. When the Prophet (saw) brought revival to the Arabs, he focused o_n none of these things. For the materialistic things are in themselves of no value in the shaping of a society or the defining of its objectives. They are merely tools which can be used for a particular purpose, that purpose being decided by the thoughts and ideas of the people who own the tools. If the thoughts are absent, or unproductive, so too will be the tools. Accordingly, we see multitudes of young men with Phd’s waiting o_n tables in Egypt, billions of pounds worth or natural resources being squandered and plundered in Saudia Arabia and the Gulf, and vast armies and arsenals of weapons in Turkey and Syria sitting idly. Increasing in any of these areas o_n its own will achieve nothing.
In fact, this futile race for materialistic change is encouraged by the West and their agents in the Islamic Lands. For they hope this will act as a diversion for the Ummah from carrying out her true task which is intellectual change.
The Way for Revival
Indeed, the way forward is to fundamentally change the way of thinking of the Muslims, such that they understand that their deen is an ideology, which will define their objectives and which they will refer to in all aspects of life. When the Muslims have done this, the Islamic Ummah can use all the assets it has to propel her to her correct station as the leading nation in the world, progressive more than any other in justice, technology, education and in all other materialistic achievements, just as was the case before. All these will come when Muslims understand that the greatest wealth a nation could hope to have is not the material wealth but the intellectual wealth.