ISLAM THE PANACEA FOR MORAL DECAY IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY

ISLAM THE PANACEA FOR MORAL DECAY IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY
Mahmud S. Dean Aziz LL.B (Hon.) Barrister at Law
In the name of Allah, The Beneficent and Most Merciful

The world today, regrettably, is a spectacle of human beings who are simply confused. Everywhere, faith, the belief in the established world religions has become problematic both in individual and collective life. People are in search of a new and separate identity and keep stammering incoherently in borrowed symbols that lead them away from the path of righteousness (Siraat ul Mustaqeem). Basic human values have disappeared from society because of the total disregard, by people of every faith, for human moral values, mental health, family relations, truth, justice and the value of human life itself.
Islam today is prominently featured in the global media not as ‘a Way of Life’ but for all the evil and criminal atrocities committed in its name by some radical groups and dissidents. These small groups that are operating under some false banners in the name of Islam have arrogated to themselves the divine right to make some spurious political claims. The media is fully aware that these dissident groups are totally condemned by all peace-loving people including the 1.6 Billion true believers in the Islamic Faith. However, the Western News Media have a special assignment with responsibility to denigrate Islam and as such they avoid any mention of the truth and report on all the activities of these misguided groups with their focus only on evil negative news. They engage in deception and lay emphasis on the false premise that all these violence and evil transgressions form a part of Islamic Doctrines. The distortions and fake news fabricated by the media are deliberately focused on violence and terrorist activities only. They carefully and deliberately avoid any mention of the fundamental Message of Al Qur’an that deals with the pursuit of ‘Righteousness’ (Taqwa) to achieve peace and goodwill among men.
The Muslim Community however has a much bigger challenge within the Umma itself. There is no concerted effort or overt attempt from either the Sunni or Shia authorities to condemn the media distortions and do some damage control for Islam. It is unfortunate for the Umma that Muslim Nations are already consumed in some endless battles among believers and have no time to confront any external enemies of the Islamic Faith. Some Muslim Nations are in fact receiving support from nations who are hostile to Islam and are openly engaged in promoting programs that divide the Umma and help in perpetuating the struggle. These nations true interest is in the economic benefits that they receive from arms deals and the sale of other military supplies. It is a fact of history now that Sunnis and Shias have been engaged in a bitter perennial internecine struggle over the right of the descendants of Prophet Muhammad (uwbp) -‘Ahle Bait’- to inherit the leadership of the Umma. Since the demise of Prophet Muhammad (uwbp) Sunnis and Shias are engaged in this struggle. They have other differences that are basically procedural in nature and relate to some formalities in their actual practice of the Faith. As adherents of the Islamic Faith they are also aware that these differences do not alter their belief and solemn commitment to observe the five fundamental pillars of Islam. However, neither the Sunnis nor the Shias have made any genuine attempt to build bridges on the common belief of ‘la illaha illallah Muhammad ur Rasool Allah’. Although they are both devout and sincere about their claim to the Faith and in the ‘Divine Writ’ (Holy Qur’an) nevertheless they have allowed national interests and political considerations to triumph over Islam.
Today the true pristine message enshrined in the Holy Qur’an is being upstaged. The center stage for the promotion of the Eternal Message (Dawah) is now occupied by some Muslims who emphasize and highlight ‘love for the Holy Prophet’ as their main focus in Islam. The Book of Traditions (Hadiths) is promoted in such laudable terms that make it impossible for some believers to emulate Muhammad (uwbp) as a human ‘Role Model and perfect Exemplar’. Some ultra-zealous leaders even exceed their praise and bestow some divine attributes upon the Rasool. Their focus on certain dubious Hadiths and the desert stories from ‘Arabian Nights’ simply deify the Holy Prophet and are leading many from among the converted to commit ‘Shirk’ the unpardonable sin. The promoters of this movement are evolving into a cult that is obsessed with idolizing the Prophet. They are fully aware that during his mission the Holy Prophet spoke about himself as a plain and simple human being (basharum) and slave of Almighty Allah. In delivering the Message in Al Qur’an Muhammad (uwbp) testified that the Almighty is the one and only Creator, the indivisible who begets not nor is He begotten (Towheed). Every person who has taken the Shahada is made aware that Allah (swt) is ‘ONE’ and do not share His Divinity with any mortal. There is no one like the Creator nor will there ever be since He is eternal, absolute and has no partner (Al Qur’an: Ch: 112).
The Sacred Message in the Holy Qur’an and the Eternal Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (uwbp) are sometimes taken out of context and quite frequently distorted by immature and inexperienced scholars who deliver the Islamic Message (Dawah). In Trinidad and Tobago for example many of these young scholars and some foreign clerics are simply qualified as desert story tellers. They are woefully lacking in erudition and knowledge to take Islam out of the arid Arabian desert of the seventh century and bring it into the fertile valley of the twenty first century. The task to propagate the Islamic value system as a way of life is for the believer who is equipped with some real-life experience. A believer who has acquired the ability to reason and understand the basic message in Al Qur’an (Oo-lul-albaab). In a secular state with a mosaic structure of cultural diversity characterized by racial and religious overtones, the indigenous home-grown scholar with knowledge and ability to reason and understand the allegorical language of Al Qur’an will be more effective in delivering the Message. Home-grown leaders who have the maturity and wealth of experience to handle some of the contemporary issues affecting the Local Muslim Community would be better able to deliver the Message with wisdom and goodly exhortation.
The Holy Qur’an makes it incumbent upon every true believer to promote the Islamic Message of peace, justice and goodwill among members of the human family without exception. The personal example of the believer, free from any discrimination or compromise of Islamic moral values is the most effective form of delivering the Message. The Holy Book 3: 109 states: ‘You are the best nation raised up for mankind: you enjoin good and forbid evil and are anchored in Faith in the Creator. And if the People of the Book truly believed it would have been better for them. Some of them are believers but most of them are defiant transgressors’. This injunction is commonly referred to as ‘the kuntum khaira principle’ by those who are engaged in promoting ‘Islam as a Way of Life’ for success in this life on earth and life in the hereafter. Almighty Allah has enjoined upon every believer the obligation to rise-up against all the glowing injustices affecting his Faith as well as society. A true believer must take-up the challenge and do some damage control for pristine Islam that is free from bigotry and extremism.
The testimony in the case for the promotion of ‘Islam as a Way of Life’ is supported and corroborated in the Holy Qur’an: 5: 3 in which the Creator proclaim: ‘This day have I perfected your Faith and have completed My favors upon you and have chosen for you Al Islam as your way of life’. The believer is also reminded in Al Qur’an of the covenant made with the Creator pledging that his prayer, his sacrifice, his life and his death will be for Allah (swt) only. In Al Qur’an: 17: 70 Almighty Allah remind man that he was honored with provisions of the good things and endowments beyond many of the other creatures. In 2: 30: man is also given the special title of Vicegerent (Khalifa) and is expected to conduct himself as Allah’s representative in this earthly sphere (Duniya). This very special honour and title of Vicegerent have eliminated all or any tendency for discrimination. Every human being is equally endowed by the Creator leaving no room for man to pride himself on his wealth, titles, ancestry, office or political power. He must endeavor to walk softly upon this earth and do so with great respect and humility being always conscious of his promise to dedicate his living and his dying for the pleasure of the Creator.
Almighty Allah provided man with a mortal physical body within which resides a spiritual soul that is eternal. Both body and soul need nourishment to enable them to function for the pleasure of the Creator. The body is kept healthy with physical exercise and material nourishment while the soul obtains its nourishment from all the spiritual exercises and all the good deeds made possible with a healthy physical body. The soul’s greatest desire therefore is to reside in a healthy human body since the nourishment it seeks can only be provided by a physical human body that is alive and functioning. Death is the event which separates the soul from the physical body ending the soul’s true source of spiritual nourishment. The physical body returns to the elements and this we can confirm from the physical evidence available in the disposal of the corpse. However, the soul which is eternal must continue its journey back to the place from whence it originated. The final destiny of the soul has been the subject of much speculation from soothsayers and some self-righteous persons who have written volumes of true fiction on life in the Hereafter.
Islam has made it very simple for man to understand the workings of the Creator. The Holy Qur’an guides the believer to take care of these two solitudes, body and soul, and make his life sublime. In his Last Sermon (Khutba tul Wada) the Holy Prophet Muhammad (uwbp) said he was bequeathing the Holy Qur’an and his Noble Traditions as his Legacy to mankind. He emphasized that those who are guided by them and follow his example shall have no fear. The fear of failing to honor one’s covenant to please the Creator; the fear of death and the trials and tribulations that will attend an unfulfilled soul. Islam is a way of life that addresses these fears and urges man to dispel them through righteous living. The path of righteousness that will lead to success in this life and to the final destination of the soul in the hereafter.
The way of life advocated by Islam enjoins faith and the active practice of the tenets and guidance provided by the Creator in the Holy Qur’an. Almighty Allah have also provided a human role model in the person of Prophet Muhammad (uwbp) to show man how human effort is essential for all true progress and achievements. The type of living which will make one’s life a success here and his humanity a glorious bounty of Almighty Allah. The Creator is the source of the beneficence which alone makes human efforts meaningful. Islam defends all the basic human rights as being sacred and protected by the Creator. No human being should be deprived of the right to life, the right to the freedom to make one’s life a glorious bounty of the Creator, the right to be educated, the right to earn and own and the right to worship and serve the Creator according to the teachings of Al Qur’an.
The Islamic way of life requires every believer to be protectors of these rights and to preserve them for posterity. A believer must be willing to seek change and find new solutions for the enigmas of the entire universe to deepen the understanding of himself. A believer can accomplish this status by allowing his consciousness of Almighty Allah and his conscience to direct his life. He must endeavor to make his life a shining example by doing his duty to the Creator. He must be determined to pursue the ‘Path of Righteousness’ making all his action, whether in thoughts, words or deeds, be for the pleasure of Almighty Allah (ibadaat or worship). The believer must be prepared to dig deep into the religious mines of the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (uwbp) to unearth enough information and knowledge to enable him to proceed with the desired change. He must get ready to embark upon the amalgamation of thoughts between the essence and spirit of what Islam truly is and how it can be applied in the present day in science and technology, industries, commerce, economics, politics, culture and become a whole way of life that can again be distinguished as a new Islamic civilization.
In the Holy Qur’an 16: 90 the Almighty enjoins justice and the doing of good to others and the giving to kindred. He forbids indecency, lewdness, evil and rebellion. He admonishes man that he may be mindful of his purpose on earth. The goodness spoken of in this injunction requires the believer to look upon the whole of humanity as his kindred. The believer, therefore, must guard his external behavior and his manifest deeds, his words, his thoughts, his feelings and his intentions. He must demonstrate that he is a responsible, dignified and an honorable agent of his Creator. In a general sense his role is to truly champion what is good and right and forbid what is evil and wrong. He must seek and promote what is true and abandon what is false. He must cherish all that is wholesome and beautiful and avoid what is tainted and indecent. He must possess a good sense of social consciousness and nourish the feeling for the proper human response. He must provide for his dependents generously without extravagance and meet their legitimate needs.
In the Islamic way of life nature and this earthly realm are the fields of exploration and the farm that cultivate sustenance for the human body and provide the soul with nourishment to return to its final destiny in the hereafter. The believer must utilize their elements, explore their wonders, discover their secrets and strive to preserve their beauty as they are truly the signs of the greatness of Almighty Allah. He must use the bounties of Almighty Allah avoiding waste and excess always mindful of the fact that we share them with others and hold them in trust for posterity.
The moral precepts of Islam, whether stated positively or negatively, are designed to build in the human being a sound mind, a strong personality, a healthy body and a peaceful soul that is fully dignified, embellished and fulfilled to enter Jannah Firdaus (Paradise). Prohibition in Islam is not to be regarded as deprivation but enrichment, not suppression but discipline, not as limitation but as expansion. Morality is an integral part of all that is fundamental in ‘Islam as a Way of Life’. The Holy Qur’an clearly maps out the Royal Road that will lead man on to the Path of Righteousness (Siratul Mustaqueem). The Holy Writ provides the basic principles that can provide mankind with the ability to develop a refined taste for the good things in life and a sustained interest in higher moral values of life.
Islam has the solution for the moral decay that is evident in every area of human life. Through the sacred message of the Holy Qur’an and the Noble Traditions and Example of Prophet Muhammad (uwbp) man can change his current state and safely return to his honorable title of ‘Vicegerent of the Creator’. Only then will he be able to seek the bounty and favor of Almighty Allah and live generously with his fellowmen. When man decides to live in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and follow true Islam he will become well-mannered, sociable, faithful, sincere and content with himself, his relations, his neighbors, his community, his nation and those in the global community. He will once again know the true purpose of life and find peace and success here on earth and in the Hereafter.

ABDUL AZIZ TRUST PUBLICATION AMEEN