MUSLIM UMMAH: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

TOMORROW 1995------ 2025 AND BEYOND

PERIOD OF SECOND LIBERATION ELSEWHERE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

PERIOD OF ESTABLISHMENT OF ISLAM IN THE WEST

“The independence of the decolonized Muslims (and non-Muslim) countries has remained enchained and that is why almost all these countries are engaged in their second liberation struggle against the stooges and surrogates imposed upon them by former colonial powers. This second liberation struggle against indirect economic, political and cultural imperialism will probably prove more tough and take longer than the earlier fight against direct colonialism”. Impact International

“Islam is a powerful but still an undirected force in politics. As a possible factor in international politics, the present prognosis is not favorable. There have been many attempts at a pan-Islamic policy, none of which has made much progress.

One reason for their lack of success is that those who made the attempt have been very unconvincing. That still leaves the possibility of a more convincing leadership, and there is ample evidence in virtually all Muslim countries of the deep yearning for such a leadership and a readiness to respond to it.

The lack of an educated modern leadership has so far restricted the scope of Islam and inhibited religious movements form being serious contenders for power. But is already effective as a limiting factor and may yet become a powerful domestic political force if the right kind of leadership emerges.

In Iran, clearly the right kind of leadership did emerge—right, that is, in that it was able to evoke and direct a remarkable outpouring of popular, evolutionary enthusiasm to overthrow and utterly destroy the old regime and to establish a new Islamic order in its place. How this new religious leadership will fare in exercising and retaining political power remains to be seen”. Bernard Lewis in his book “Islam and the West”

Our yesterday was black and bleak, our today is bloody. Inshallah our tomorrow will be bright and beautiful.

Muslim Nation has undergone a tremendous change in the past seventy years because of the Mercy of Allah (swt). In spite of some setbacks, this change is definitely a positive change. The future will be brighter than ever. The coming 25 to 30 years will be the most challenging and most exciting for Islam and Muslims. It looks as if Allah (swt) is setting a stage for Islam. It is up to us to seize the moment and play our part individually and collectively, specially, Muslims in the West in general and Muslims of United States of America in particular.

Allah knows better as to what will happen to Muslim Ummah by the year 2025.But Allah (swt) also says in Quran-ul-Hakeem, that good days will always follow bad days. So let us try to peep in the future. This time I will go in reverse order.                        

Elsewhere in the Muslim world specially Turkey

Iran

Saudi Arabia

The West and specifically USA

Our geography is not going to change. Numerically we will be 2 billion. Economically fifty percent of Muslim masses will be well developed. Economies of Malaysia, and Indonesia will be booming. We will enjoy the benefits of the 70 percent of energy sources which are in our lands. Militarily Pakistan and Iran will become nuclear powers. All the dictators will vanish. There will be Islamically oriented regimes in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, etc. There will be a Palestinian State where the Islamists will be fighting with the secularist. Kashmir will have Autonomy. Turkish people will overthrow their old constitution. In Central Asia, the second liberation will be in full swing. War of liberation will be waging in Xinjiang, China.

Saudi Arabia will become a constitutional monarchy.

In Iran the doctrine of Villayat-E-Faqhee will be discarded. United States will establish diplomatic relations with Iran.

In North Western Europe and England Islam will be established.

These are my assumptions. Let us see what the Press is telling.

News papers are predicting that by the year 2030 the world population will be 8.5 Billion. It is interesting to know according to P.C. Alexander’s article in Deccan Chronicle in 1800 the world population was just one billion but it took 130 years to add the second billion—30 to add the third billion—15 to add the fourth billion—12 to add the fifth and just 11 years to add the sixth.

So far as United States of America is concern the press is concerned about men, money, morality and material. The census department projects that the United States population will grow from 255 million in 1992 to 383 million by the middle of 21st century. That is 128 million more people will live in America. More black,more brown, more yellow than white. It would look a lot different, more roads, more houses, more schools, more hospitals, more jails—less open space, less wilderness and lot less peace and quiet! In this capitalistic society the only thing worst than death is running out of money first. In an article “A fate worst than death”, it is mentioned that in 1900, according to national census statistic estimates, there were only three million Americans over age 65 (1:25). By the end of 1993, 23 million (1:10) were over age 65. Current census estimates show that in 25 years (2030) I in 6 American will be in this category. And the fastest growing segment of the US population is the over 85 age group. Due to this rapid change in demographics most retirees never planned for their retirement funds to last 25 or 30 years.

On the moral issue of birth to unmarried women George F Will wrote an article “A straight line pointing up to calamity”. He pointed out that fifty years ago 5% of American births were to unmarried women. That began to change in the 1960s. By 1970 it was 10%--since then the increasing rate has produced a virtually straight line, almost 1% a year for 21 years. It is predicted by the year 2020 – 50 % of births to all races will be out of wedlock.

It is told that the World Energy Conference predicts that in 30 years by 2020 the energy needs of the West will be 75% higher than what is today. The West will rely on the Gulf for 2/3^rd of its needs compared to 1/4^th today. It is very significant to know that;

PRICE OF ONE BARRELL OF OIL IS $22

REGULAR PRICE OF ONE BARRELL OF COKE IS $130

PRICE OF ONE BARRELL OF PARRIE WATER IS $ 175

Those were the predictions in 1994. Since then in the last 16 years –many things happened, some as predicted, some unpredicted most unexpected. We are 1.5 billion.

Economies of Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey are robust. Oil producing nations are reaping the benefits. Pakistan became nuclear much earlier than I thought. The plight of all the dictators is right in front of you. In Palestine the reverse occurred, the Islamists won the election, they still fighting for statehood. Kashmir problem has not yet solved. In the last decade a new self respecting and confident Turkey has emerged. A star is born. A new Muslim leader has emerged, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkey. May Almighty God protect him and his family. Under his leadership a new constitution will be written.

What was said about Saudi Arabia and Iran is yet to be fulfilled.

Most unfortunate and tragic event of nine eleven happened. United States waged an unnecessary war in Iraq and we remained silent. Two new nations East Timur and South Sudan were carved out of Muslim lands and we remained silent.

Regimes of Iraq and Afghanistan were overthrown violently. The United States of America has overthrown 25 regimes including Iraq and Afghanistan in the world either by direct action or covert operations since the overthrow of the queen of Hawaii in 1853. We did not have the courage to say to our administration as to why the world hates America. But Patrick J Buchanan wrote “We are not hated for who we are. We are hated for what we do. It is not our principles that have spawned pandemic hatred of America in the Islamic World. It is our policies”.

Islam has established in North Western Europe and England. There are 16 million Muslims in Western Europe ( 3.2%).Total number of Muslims in Europe as a whole in 2007 was about 53 million (7.2 % ). 15% of Copenhagen and Birmingham is Muslim. 10% of London and Paris is Muslim. 5% of Belgium is Muslim. There are 1500 mosques in England. Muslims have created a place for themselves in every walk of life. There are a few Lords in the House of Lords and a dozen members of House of Commons. You see Mishal Hussain, Razia Iqbal, Zainab Badawi, Adnan Nawaz, Ali Maqbool on BBC. Once, cricket team’s captain was a Muslim. Prince Charles knows about Islam more than an educated Muslim. The Islam and Muslim hater Daniel Pipe put on his website “Is Charles a secret Muslim?”

In France the number of mosques doubled in 20 years from 1000 to 2000. Mr. Charles Martel must be turning in his grave because a mosque is built in Tours, where, he claimed that, he stopped the Muslim advance in Europe in 732.

In Germany there are 2600 prayer areas out of which 1200 are called mosques. 141 mosques have minarets.

Belgium has 350 mosques as of 2005. Out of 21 members of Municipal Council of Brussells, The capital of the European Union, 10 are Muslims!

Switzerland has 114 mosques catering the need of 400,000 Muslims. Recently they banned the construction of minarets.

In Canada there were 579,740 Muslims according to 2001 census.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY ISLAM HAS BECOME REALLY GLOBAL.  EACH AND.EVERY HOUSEHOLD IN THE WORLD HEARS ABOUT ISLAM 24/7.

MUSLIM NATION IS A NATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE. 60% MUSLIMS ARE BELOW THE AGE OF 25 YEARS.

UNITE STATES OF AMERICA:

It was the Muslim vote which put Bush Jr. in the White House in 2000. In 2008 Muslims heavily voted Mr. Obama to find out that how helpless is the President of the United States against the Jewish lobby.

The prediction about US population is coming true 2010 census show that American population is 311 million. George Will was not wrong. The number of US births in 2007 set a record of over 4.3 million with about 40% of them to unwed mothers. There are 5 million Muslims in America 65% immigrants and 35% indigenous, mainly concentrated in ten states (80%). There are 1462 Islamic centers/mosques.

So here we are. Almighty God established us in the only super power of the world. These are the most exciting times for Muslims to live, no doubt—full of challenges but pregnant with opportunities.  Mind you, this is our third encounter with the West. In previous two USA was not included.

We must take lessons from the first two encounters. Both the times it was our failings that we could not advance in Europe.

In the first encounter in 732 the Muslim commander Abd Al-Rahman Al-Ghafiqi (He was from Yemen) was martyred while fighting. The Muslim army consisted of Persians, Berbers, Yemenis, Spaniards and Arabs—these soldiers could not agree on a commander—they withdrew. Michael Hamilton Morgan wrote in his book “The Lost History”, “The Franks have won. The outnumbered, poorly equipped Franks have defeated the army of Al-Ghafiqi, whose men have withdrawn because they could not agree on a new commander”. The rest is history. About the same incident British Encyclopedia writes that the Muslims troops had to be withdrawn because the Berbers had revolted in North Africa.

Following the first encounter by roughly 700 years, the second encounter started in the last quarter of the fourteenth century. The Ottoman Turks entered Europe from the East, occupied Serbia in 1389 and Bulgaria in 1394. Sultan Bayezid I gave a humiliating defeat to the Frankish army in 1396 at Kosovo. Sultan Bayezid I earned the soubriquet 'Yildrim','Thunderbolt'. He continued his push towards the heart of Europe. He kept Constantinople under seige from 1394-1402. In 1402 Tamerlane attacked him from behind. Bayezid had to withdraw from Europe..................
Tamerlane lane attacked him from behind—Bayezid had to withdraw from Europe to face Tamerlane. Tamerlane defeated Bayezid I, captured him, put him in a cage, made Bayezid’s wife dance naked to entertain his generals. This is our history.

On both the occasions our advance in Europe was derailed because of our divisions and dissensions and ultimately we were driven out of Europe.

In this third encounter we are established for the first time in history in Western Europe and England. Will we be driven out again? I do not think so. Those days have gone. Or will be put here in America in internment camps as the Japanese were put after the Pearl Harbor incident? I doubt. The greatest possibility is-- we will get drowned and dissolve in this predominant, pervasive alluring Western culture. We will get melted in the melting pot and our story will go to history books. The press writes that Islam (and we boast about it) is the fastest growing religion in the West. But no body knows and nobody talks about as to how many second generation Muslims are just Muslim for name’s sake. The efflux is greater then influx. The greatest challenge is to keep our progeny on the right path.

Allah (swt) has established us in this great country, the only super power of the world. Decisions made here have a global impact. We have many challenges to meet.

The challenge is to muster up a political clout that the media dare not demonize us and dehumanize us.

The challenge is to become a catalyst between our government and the Muslim world from where we came from to bring a change there.

The challenge is to create a place for ourselves in the public square—to get a place on the table—to have a platform from where we can persuade our government to not only  sit in the world as a military might but to stand tall morally right—to tell our government that national interest is not just to have a continuous flow of cheap oil, national interest is to fight for the truth, for human rights and justice for all.—to have a platform from where we can say to our government not to prop up puppet democracies in the Muslim world.

Muslims do not want puppet democracies. Muslims are not monolithic. Let them develop their own democracies—to have a platform from where we can say to stop blind support of Israel. Stop the double standard. Do not use veto, instead put sanctions on Israel. It is high time that Palestinians should have their own state--to have a platform from where we can say loud and clear to stop name calling; that there is no such thing as Militant Islam, Mystic Islam, Political Islam and Radical Islam. Islam is Islam Deen-Al-Haq.

Yes, a Muslim can be militant, mystic, radical or fanatic. American Muslims are not militant, mystic, radical, terrorist or fanatic. We are peace loving, law abiding, tax paying citizens—we have to have a platform from where the immigrant Muslims will say loud and clear that we made this country our country and the indigenous Muslims will say we are the sons of the soil, part of the American soul We the American Muslims, immigrant and indigenous, will make this country a better country.

We are going to live here and we are going to die here. We are not selfish people. We are a unique lobby. We want equality for all, justice for all, who ever he may be, an atheist, a Budhist, a Christian, a Hindu, a Jew or a Muslim. We hold the constitution of the USA, not only because we are the subjects of the land, but for it’s greatness. All Islamic values are embedded in it.  We want our administration, also, to hold to our constitution.

We have to have a news paper of a national caliber. We do not have a TV station. There are 1912 think tanks in this country, maximum in the world. The first think tank was the Brooking Institution founded in1917. U.S. Air Force set up Rand Corporation in 1946 to think about air power. India has the third largest number of think tanks in the world. Quran-Al –Hkeem repeatedly asks, to think, to reflect and to ponder. Do we pay any heed to this demand? We do not have a single think tank, so for as I know. The challenge is to have one!

These are all lofty goals, to achieve them we have to have our house in order and the house which is properly run.

Look what happened during the last one year in Baltimore Washington metropolitan area. One Muslim organization was going to or went to the court because two so called Islamic scholars had a dispute. The second Islamic organization was going to the court because two groups clashed with each other. The third group went to the court because the people who were running the organization did not want to leave the seat. This is not the story just happening here only. The story is the same more or less in every big city.

We have to have a hard look as to how our organizations are run, how our children are taught and on the people who own the pulpit. We have to have a paradigm shift.

We must abandon the bi-polar management of our organizations and adopt un-polar management, which is Islamic model. We must stop marginalizing the 50% percent of our working force, our women folk. They must have an equal share in running our organizations. It is up to our women folk to demand their rights. Fredrick Douglas said “power concedes nothing without a demand, it never did, and it never will”

We must change the ritualistic education of children, where the Quran and life of our Prophet (pbuh) is kept at the periphery, to a system where the teaching of Quran in its entirety and life of our Prophet (pbuh) in its proper context should have a central position. We have to establish the institution of zakat.

Our deen gives us a golden half an hour every week, our Friday sermon. That tool, that treasure is not properly used by the owners of the pulpit. These people are in the driver’s seat. The driver who takes you the destination safely by seeing through the wide open windshield in front, by looking in to right side and left side mirrors and by seeing through the rear window. Most of them they just drive by seeing through the rear window.

There are three purposes of Friday sermon Remembrance of Allah (swt), rhe reverence for our Prophet (pbuh)m and relevance to the world we live in.

All of them definitely talk about the first two the third is always missing. The audience say do tell us the old stories but steer us. Do tell us old fables but open up new frontiers for us. Just becoming a good Muslim is not enough to survive in this world. No body gives direction to our young generation. No body tells them to participate in every walk of life in this country, to have broad based education.

Nations are not built by just producing physicians and engineers. We have to have artisans and artists, architects and astronauts, doctors and diplomats, educationists and entrepreneur geologists and journalists, politicians, poets and playwrights.

Friday sermons have become routine ritualistic rigmaroles when there is a hunger among the audience to be kept engaged and to get energized. I am quite sure that our preachers know Islamic history, but they must know the American history (government’s as well as people’s version).They must know the constitution of this country. They must read books on current topics and at least one national news paper every day.

American Muslims have to struggle and strive in two spheres namely spiritual and secular—what I call internal and external struggle. We have to work on both the fronts simultaneously. Internal struggle is the need of the hour, absolutely essential and most vital. The essence of Islam is the development of a God conscious and a God fearing personality.

A good Muslim and a devout Muslim can not be melted In the melting pot, but he can become part of a mosaic. He adds a beauty and a grace to that mosaic.

A devout Muslim is a true secularist—a good Muslim is a best citizen of any country, is an asset to ant community to any country. To become devout, one has to struggle with oneself. When returning from Hunain expedition the Prophet had declared:

 “we are back from the lesser jihad to greater jihad”.

A companion asked, what is the greater jihad O Prophet of God? He answered “it is fighting the self ego”.

My dear brothers and sisters, elders and youngsters, this is the time to hold fast to our deen and to embark on a massive jihad-e-akbar.

To become a better Muslim from our previous self.

Quran does not talk in terms of majority or minority. It gives you the glad-tiding of vicegerency.

To secure our secular demands, if we cannot create place for ourselves in the public square or a place on the table, we should join with the ones who have a place. There are hundreds of lobbying groups. We should join hands with the ones who will cater to our needs. There are three groups of our interest.

1. The first group is working for the political refinement at home such as Common Cause and Public Citizen. They are working to have term limitations on the politicians and campaign finance reform.

2. The second group the Council for the national Interest is working toward a fair and balanced foreign policy in the Middle East.

3. The third group is working on moral issues such as permissiveness, homosexuality, dreg abuse and alcohol abuse. They are Concerned Women of America and Mothers against Drunk Drivers. We should continue to work in various interfaith dialogue groups.

ASSIMILATION IS TABOO IN ISLAM BUT INTERACTION IS AMUST IN ISLAM.

In spite of all our short comings things are happening

4/5^th of the Prophesy of Muhammad (pbuh) is fulfilled and we are in the final stage. He said “The beginning of your Deen is Prophethood and mercy and it will last for whatever Allah has allotted it to last before Allah lifts it away.

And then there come to pass Caliphate patterned after the Prophethood and shall last for whatever Allah has allotted for it to last before Allah lifts it away.

And then there come to pass despotic monarchy and it shall last for whatever Allah has allotted for it to last before Allah lifts it away.

And then there come to pass tyrannical rule and it shall last for whatever Allah-has allotted for it to last before Allah lifts it away.

And then there will be Caliphate patterned after the Prophethood which deals with people by the Sunnah of the Prophet, and Islam shall spread its rule over the earth…

And the skies shall not withhold a drop of rain but pour it down abundantly—and the earth shall not withhold an atom of its produce and blessing but blossom forth with it’

And finally The Promise of Allah is bound to happen,

The question is what are we doing towards this end? Are the American Muslims fulfilling their obligations?, specially the immigrant Muslims.

Allah (swt) brought us to this great country which has a constitution in which all the values are embedded which we talk about. We belong to the top 20%^ of the American people economically, professionally and educationally.

Allah (swt) says in Quran al-Hkeem repeatedly that He does not put a burden on someone who is unable to bear that burden. We will not be absolved of our responsibility just by becoming a pious Muslims. We will be asked what we did to invite towards good and forbid evil and to establish social justice. Let me conclude by barrowing a phrase from President Kennedy. Ask not what Islam can do for you. Ask what you can do for Islam, Akhir-o-Dawana-oAlhamdolilahi Rubulalameen.