I would like to start my question by the hadith which stresses that ummah is like a body and if one part of the body is in pain the rest of the body reacts. Keeping this hadith in mind, I understand that there are a lot of daily life activities which are permitted and infact even encouraged at times. Spending money on your family and on ones own self (provided it is not exagerated and oversepnding/ wasting) is encouraged. Similarly, sports are encouraged and so are buying a nice house to meet one’s needs. However, in the current climate perhaps situation has never been as worst as it is now. The list is too long but to point out just a few:
a)muslims completely off track in muslim countires there is no more scope for islamic education (overall)
b) muslims fighting with muslims not one single country has a proper leader etc etc
Is it, therefore, not the time to consider the state of affairs and to set the priority right for our religous leaders to call for a worldwide focus one agenda i.e. to go back to basic values of islam with all hands on deck with efforts of all kind and asking people (or those who are generally religous) to first set the priority towards religon only and due to the severity of the problems let go of their general (permitted) desires/ preferences and work towards bringing the umma back to where it should be (irrelevant of when we get the results).. I understand that every religious leader is already urging Muslims to become better muslims that but I am referring to a ALL OUT WITHDRAWL from usual focus and to just focus on one issue i.e. the UMMA for example recently when Pakistan won the cricket the whole nation celberated. But there were people dying whilst the celebration was goig on in for example SWAT, Palestine, Chechniya, China etc. So cricket is a healthy sport and general positive entertainment benefits but this is not the right time to play cricket (let alone celebrate). If for example my father died in the conflict me as a son would hate to see anyone (who regard themselves as “brothers” in Islam) celebrating. In fact no one leader from Pakistan took the stance that our focus should be on the state of the umma. I know you are not from Pakistan but sharing this any how. I also understand that there are always issues and will always be, but the situation as you will know more than I; is getting worst day by day. Should all the religious leaders not decide to end all other points of focus/activity and diverge all attention towards the umma which could be towards religious education etc or infact establishment of an Islamic state (perhaps a long term goal)? It is clear that alot of ulamas refer to a strategy that works in accordance to the people around us (based on circumstances) but haven’t we given up a lot already in this strategy to work on circumstances? I understand not necessarily everyone will jump in and join the cause but should there not be someone who is making a clear call and setting the platform through? In fact may I also add that shouldn’t we feel guilt for enjoying whiles people in Africa are dying? Until these issues are at least resolve only then we can get back to normal life? Is this the right view for future or am I off track? If this is not the case then what should the umma do? Looking forward to your reply.
Answer
I understand your concern and frustration and I think any human being should share these feelings. I, however, want to remind you that even at the time of the Prophet (sws) and at the time of the Khulafa Rashidoon there were many people suffering from variety of things and yet while the Prophet (sws) and the Companions were doing what ever they could to help others, they also had their normal life in which there were reasonable times allocated for being entertained with Halal things and to relax and enjoy the life.
The situations you mentioned may be in their worst condition but are by no means new. In fact it seems like it is part of the life in this world to have these inconsistencies and drastic differences in social levels and life conditions.
I think as a Muslim (and in fact as a human being) we are not expected to shut down our life and to declare the state of emergency to attend all these issues. What we are asked to do is to be mindful about these issues and to make sure that we allow a reasonable fraction of our resources (financial, intellectual, time, etc.) to contribute towards making the situation better.
You can decide to allocate a specific percentage of your income (besides Zakah), a specific percentage of your time and your skills, etc. to help others.
This seems to be a more realistic and workable plan.
“Say: Who has prohibited the embellishment of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants and the good provisions? Say: These are for the believers in the life of this world, (and) purely (theirs) on the Resurrection Day. Thus do We make the communications clear for a people who know (Qur’an: 7:32)
