IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL
AFTER
BECOMING MUSLIM - WHAT NEXT?
[Shamim A Siddiqi,
INTRODUCTION:*
Islam is to be understood in the true perspective of the Qur’an
and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (S). The condition of the existing
Muslims is also to be judged on the same criterion. At present there are about
1.2 billion Muslims on this earth, but no where in the world the Deen of Allah
is in a dominant position. This is the greatest tragedy of human history. The Deen
that could deliver justice, peace and security to mankind is no where visible
as a political entity. Though “struggle” is going on in different parts of the
world for the establishment of Allah’s Deen, the success appears to be a
distant dream at almost all the places. To find out the cause of this desperate
situation, we have to examine what the Muslims constitute today and what they
are displaying? What are their basic
beliefs and what they are demonstrating in life? What is their understanding of Islam, where
they lack and what are their short-comings? Is their life compatible to what
the Qur’an demands and where it differs from the life-pattern of Rasulullah
(S)? These are the fundamental questions that must be discussed about the
Muslims as what they were, what they have become and what they should have been
in terms of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
In the present context of the world and on closely watching the
condition of the Ummah, Muslims can be categorized into two distinct groups.
They are either traditional or the re-born Muslims. I will discuss some of the
important features of each in order to make them clearly identified from each
other. This division attains more significance when the issues of each are to
be resolved in American perspective.
Let us first take up the position of the traditional Muslims and
examine as: 1.What believes and convictions they hold? 2.
What they follow or demonstrate in their personal and public life? 3. How far their life-style is controlled by the
Qur’an and Sunnah and how for it is contradictory to its teachings and
directives? These are very serious questions on which hinges the fate of the
resurrection of the Ummah. If we can
make a proper and a true diagnosis of our existing position, it would be easier
to find out the cure.
I.
THE TRADITIONAL MUSLIMS:
A
traditional Muslim is one who is born in a Muslim family and whose parents are
Muslims. He or she gets the first lesson
of Islam in his or her home by his or her parents or elders as a tradition from
father to sons and daughters. Where emphasis is given on learning and reading
the Arabic text of the Qur’an, memorizing some small Surah of the 30th
Chapter for recitation in regular prayers, learning some basic believes
[Aqeedah], some rituals of religion to practice as a routine in life, learning
some day today Fiqh problems about Wadhu, Taharah, Salah, Sawm, Zakah, Hajj, dress code, eating
manners, some Islamic etiquette in their respective cultural back ground, etc.
A scratchy life history of Prophet Muhammad (S) is taught along with some
account about Khulafa Rashedeen [the rightly guided
first four Caliphs] and significance of some days of Islamic calendar. More or
less that is all what a traditional Muslim or Muslimah gets in his or her
family environment.
It
is nothing but a very limited concept of Islam. This limited understanding of
Deen squeezes the concept of Deen Al-Islam into a religion as other religions
like Judaism, Christianity or Hinduism are. These traditional Muslims and
Muslimah follow mostly what they learn about Islam in their family traditions
and background. What they learn from their parents and forefathers in a
continuous process, these traditional Muslims preserve, protect, profess and
promote as sacred trust and pass on to their progenies for onward transfer to their future generations. It is
going on for centuries together. But the position becomes worst. The tragedy of
the traditional Muslims is further aggravated when one finds that most of them
are involved very often in practices like sectarianism, Qabar Parasti [grave
worshiping], “pir parasti” [saint worshipping], Rasum Parasti [custom
worshiping, A’ba Parasti [parents worshiping], Qaum Parasti [tribal, clan or
national worshipping] and many more evils of Jahiliyah like that.
Islam
in its truest form as ordained in the Qur’an and Sunnah is perhaps never
brought before the traditional Muslims. They recite Kalimah but unfortunately
don’t understand what it demands from them. The mission of Prophet Muhammad (S)
and how he accomplished it always remains obscured from them. The revolutionary
aspect of Kalimah is never taught to them. They do not care to learn and
understand Islam as the only way of life for mankind till doomsday and the
Qur’an is the only book of Guidance from Allah (SWT) to follow in its entirety
till eternity. They are never told or
taught that they are the “salt of the earth”; they are the “Best of the
Nations” and have been raised as “Ummatun Wasata” [the Balanced Nation] on
earth. Their assignment from Allah (SWT) is to establish “Al-Qist” [Justice]
amongst the people and nations. They are to display to humans the practical
demonstration of Islam as a way of life.
They are to show to the world what is honesty; what integrity of
character is; what is justice and fair-play; how promises are fulfilled when
commitments are made at different levels of life and what trustworthiness is in
its accomplished form. They are to
demonstrate to their respective
countrymen and women what is a
benevolent neighbor; what is a peaceful citizen; what is rendering selfless
services to the suffering humanity; how to make the society clean by fighting
against Munkar (what is prohibited) and promoting what is Ma’roof (what is
permitted).
Equally
they are never told, taught or reminded that their mission on this earth is to
free the humans from the slavery of man and bring them back to the obedience of
their Creator Allah (SWT). They know little about that the assignment from
their beloved Prophet Muhammad (S) is to carry out his (S) mission of Dawah
Ilallah [calling the people to the fold of their Creator and Sustainer] to
every nook and every corner of the world. The mission of their life is to get
the Deen of Allah introduced and spread on this earth. The culminating point of
their mission is to get the “
That
is the reason the Muslim Ummah nowhere stands today. If a nation or a people
who hold an ideology for the deliverance of mankind forgets or ignores the very
objective of its existence, how can it hold her head high with honor and
dignity in the community of nations? As such, Muslims have no say in the
affairs of the world and they have become a true example of what Rasulullah (S)
foretold in one of his Hadith It is narrated by Sauban
(R) as under:
“Rasulullah
(S) addressing his companions said that a time will come when the multitudes of
Kufr [idolaters] will prevail upon you and they will invite each other to
pounce upon you as if invited upon a feast. A Prophet’s (S) companion inquired,
“will it be due to our shortage in numerical strength”. Rasulullah (S) said,
“At that time you will be in great
numbers but will be like foam of the flood water. The Batil will not have any
fear of you” Allah will seed “Wahan” in your hearts”. Upon this the companions
of Rasulullah (S) asked, “O Prophet of Allah, “what is Wahan”? Rasulullah (S)
explained that it is nothing but “the love of this world and the fear of
death”.
[Narrated by Abu Dawood, Baihaqui and Mishquat Vol. II Hadith # 5135]
The
entire Muslim Ummah from Casablanca to Indonesia and from Eden to Caucasia, though it contains 56 independent Muslim states,
but the Deen of Allah is no where in a dominant position. The rest of the world
is treating them as disgraceful beggars with bowel in the hands of each,
begging financial aid, technical know-how and political favor and support from
Washington, London, Paris or Moscow for the protection of their respective
despotic un-Islamic regimes. Almost all of them are just Muslims in name,
traditional in approach, hypocrite in practicing Islam and completely reluctant
to bring and establish Islam as a way of life as a political entity in their
respective countries. Rather, each of them is very enthusiastic to introduce the
cultural values of the secular West and establish the social, economic and
political system of Europe and America. In terms of the Qur’an, all the regimes
of the Muslim world and their henchmen are the oppressors [“Zalemoon”] and the
transgressors [“Faseqoon” –Ref: Al-Maidah - 45, 47] In fact, they have only lip
sympathy for Islam. They do not want to go beyond the concept of a traditional
Muslims who keep Islam limited to some rituals and some Ebadah [worship] only.
The rest of Islam is totally obscured to these rulers, monarchs, dictators,
Sheikhs and the so-called elected heads of the states. They are just the
traditional Muslims and their Muslims population is sailing in the same boat.
Traditionalism
has now become the greatest curse and hindrance in the way of progress towards
reconstructing the Muslim societies on the lines the Qur’an and Sunnah ordain.
Traditionalism is a sickness of mind and a sign of litharginess
towards Allah’s Deen. It has made the Muslims inactive, indolent and “blind” to
understand the conspiracies going on around the world to annihilate the Ummah
altogether from the surface of the earth and “subjugate” their lands for good.
Traditionalism should be accepted as a sickness by Ulama
and the learned scholars of Islam should deal with it seriously on war
footings. Unfortunately, the brute Majority of the Muslim Ummah is traditional.
They need correct understanding of their Aqeedah [creed] and its
comprehensiveness, Islam as a Deen, as a way of life detaching it from their
respective cultural background, upholding and implementing it in the body
politics in every country where Muslims are inhabited. This is the most
important job of the Muslim leadership everywhere. If the task of
reconstruction is not undertaken as seriously as it is envisaged above, the
fate of Ummah cannot be revived.
Equally, the traditional Muslims are the stumbling blocks of the Islamic
Movements in the Muslim world. It is they who are being exploited by the
secular regimes of the Muslim world for their nefarious ends. The top most
priority of the Muslim leadership is to re-build the Ummah on the same pattern
as it was raised by Rasulullah (S) and his beloved companions in the first
fifty years of the advent of Islam.
The
Muslims of America are no exception to it.
Most of the immigrant Muslims are traditional
Muslims. They bear all the signs and symptoms of the traditional Muslims that I
have discussed above. They demonstrate their Islam in their respective cultural
background from where they originate. As such, they have become problematic to
be understood by the re-born Muslims of America. Traditional Muslims are found
both amongst the immigrants and the re-born Muslims of America. I will, Insha
Allah, now discuss the condition of the re-born Muslims and their issues that
need immediate attention.
II. THE RE-BORRN MUSLIMS:
The re-born Muslims are those who accept the
Deen of Allah and come into His fold on their own accord. They recite Kalimah,
take Shahadah and become Muslim. They are re-born Muslims because when they
were born, they were born as Muslim, physically obedient to their Creator and
Sustainer by nature. By birth they were Muslims but it is the environment, the
society and their parents who make them to follow a Deen [a way of life] other
than Islam. It may be Judaism, Christianity or any pagan fold. When they become
Muslim, they actually go back to the Deen of Allah on which they were born. It
would be, therefore, correct to pronounce them as “re-born Muslims.” The
verdict of the Qur’an is very clear in this respect:
“---The nature (frame) of Allah, in which He had
created man---” [It means that all are obedient to Allah by birth in the
physical aspect of life]
(The
Qur'an:30:30)
Thus, all humans are born as Muslim, obedient to their Creator and Sustainer
physically but coming to maturity they adopt different ways of life [Deen] in
their optional [moral] life where they have a freewill and a choice of their
own They become Jews, Christian, Hindus and what not. But when they enter into
the fold of Islam consciously, the most appropriate name to be given to them
must be “re-born” Muslims. Some brothers call the new Muslim bothers and
sisters as “born-again” Muslims.
Fundamentally, there is no difference between the two.
Dawah efforts are going on more or less in
almost every country where Muslims are living in Asia, Africa, Europe and
America. But the Muslims who are rendering Dawah work to their respective
native non-Muslims carry with them the “limited” concept of Al-Deen as discussed earlier with a few
exceptions here and there.. As a result, the outcome is the same as that with
the traditional Muslims. The brothers and sisters who are involved in Dawah
activities have an obscured or a very limited vision of Islam as a Deen, as a
way of life. Equally, they do not understand, very often, the concept of Dawah
Ilallah. To them Dawah is just to distribute some flyers/booklets on the
street, at market places, at malls, Public gatherings, subway stations and
rallies, talk about some basics of Iman and Islam and they think that the job
is done.
Mostly
they do not understand that Dawah Ilallah is a determined, an organized and a
continuous effort to call the people to the fold of their Creator and Sustainer
till the time he/she [the Dawah contactee] accepts the Deen of Allah as a way
of life, commits to change his/her life pattern and undertakes to live, act and
behave like a conscious Muslim and Muslimah. The process continues till it
engulfs the entire mankind in its fold. In this situation when a person accepts
Islam through taking Shahadah, giving witness that he/she accepts the authority
of Allah and Prophet Mohammad (S) as His Messenger, only the first stage of
Dawah Ilallah is completed. The process does not end here. His or her
understanding of Islam remains incomplete and his/her onward vision remains blurred.
He/she is rarely taught that, after accepting Islam, he/she has to live by
Islam and be its model in a gradual process. Ultimately, he/she too has to
carry out the mission of Islam to his/her countrymen and women and struggle
hard for establishing the authority of Allah on self, family and in
the society in which he/she lives. If the case is not so,
after the initial acceptance of Islam as faith, the quantum of his/her
education remains more or less the same as that of the traditional Muslim. Here
the blame does not lie on the re-born Muslim but on the “Da’ee”.
There are two big tragedies that are running
simultaneously parallel to each other. The so-called traditional Muslim is
“blind” to his restricted faith by birth but the new Muslim is devoid of the
total concept of Deen by circumstances in which he is placed. He is not
properly educated by the person or the institutions that have brought him or
her to the fold of Islam and then left him/her to remain obscured from
understanding the depth of their Deen and what it demands. What he should give
up after entering into Islam and what is the mission of his/her life now
onward. In the case of re-born Muslims, the tragedy is more disastrous as they
are made “blind” to true Islam due to their ignorance not on account of their
fault but to the ignorance of Muslims who call them to the fold of Allah and
are involved in Dawah work “enthusiastically.”
As a result, the re-born Muslims soon become ritualistic in their manifestation
of Islam as the total concept of Deen is missing from their approach. Mostly
they do not enter into the Deen of Allah in its totality. Islam is mostly
accepted by the new Muslims as their moral, spiritual and social need. Their
respective cultural background remains the same as with the so-called
traditional Muslims. In consequence, they carry their cultural backlash to
their new faith as it is whereas Islam by itself is a complete code of life or
a code of conduct for the entire human life. Islam remains with them only as a
belief not as a complete system of life. Perfection of Iman and what it demands
from a Muslim or Muslimah in most of the cases is not attained. The need and
urgency to bring their entire social, cultural, economic and political life,
both at individual and collective levels, under the control of the Qur’an and
Sunnah is never realized. As such, Islam remains, unfortunately, as a
ritualistic faith consisting of some Ebadah and some religious practices as
“dogmas,” with the re-born Muslims in the same proportion as with the
traditional Muslims with only a few exceptions here and there. It matters
little and makes no difference whether they are living in Asia, Africa, Europe
or America.
This is not only the case in the context of the
modern world. It had happened in the past too. After the conquest of Madinah,
people entered in Islam in multitudes. Later on, during the Caliphate of Abu
Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali [may Allah be pleased with them] nations after
nations entered into Islam. The Islamic education and the concept of Deen of
the new comers could not be polished the way it was done during the time of
Rasulullah (S) on person to person basis. As such, the “conquered” nations and
people brought their cultural and social backlash with them. The process of
reformation and education of Deen could not keep pace with the extraordinary
growth of new Muslim Ummah at that time. The
legacies of those “lapses” are still visible in the body politic of Ummah. It
affected the purity and quality of Islamic way of life subsequently a lot. And
I have no idea as how long the Ummah will suffer on this count. This is one of
the reasons that Muslim Ummah could not resurrect itself to its original format
again after the time of Guided Caliphs and its dark shadows are still
lingering.
On my visit to
The tragedy of our re-born Muslim brothers and sisters does not end here,
especially in European and American perspective. These re-born Muslims, after
accepting Islam as their faith, need proper mentorship at least for four to six
months for understanding and learning Islamic Ebadah [worship], manners,
etiquette, norms and ethical values as a practical demonstration when passing
some time in close brotherly atmosphere daily or weekly at least with a Muslim
family in a formal way. It would have practically perfected their Islamic
education that mere books and lectures cannot provide. This brotherly
environment is essential when he or she is cut off from his/her fraternal
relations. It gives him or her basic feelings that he/she is not alone in the
Muslim society but there are many brothers/sisters to look after him/her.
Similarly, the re-born Muslims need relocation of their position in the
society, financial help to continue their incomplete school/college education
and some honest means of living in changed circumstances. The Muslim society
must provide and see that he/she is absorbed with honor and grace in the Muslim
community. Muslim Ummah would have to create special funds to cater these basic
needs of re-born Muslims as priority # one of their Dawah efforts
Currently, Dawah efforts are going on extensively in correctional facilities
around the USA/Canada. A lot of non-Muslims inmates are being converted to
Islam but when they get out of jail, there is practically no one to look after
their education, attend their relocation process in the society and transform
them as useful Muslim/American citizens. In consequence, very often they, after
sometime, land again in some other jail. It needs building “half-way” house in
each big city to cater these basic needs and impart some vocational training to
enable them to stand on their own legs within a year or so. It needs million of
dollars to absorb the Muslim inmates from Jail in order to transform them into
good and effective Muslim Da’ees for this country while living in half-way
houses. The Muslim Ummah of the
Thus, the Muslim Ummah is passing through a very serious and alarming situation
both at home and abroad. The problems are our own creation due to “inculcating”
and promoting a truncated and incomplete concept of Allah's Deen. It
needs immediate attention. It exhorts us to make a detailed analysis and
dig deep into our beliefs and conviction to find out the causes for such a
deplorable plight which is contradictory to the prophecies of the Qur’an and
Sunnah. Muslims have to realize that their despondency and ignominy is only due
to the fact that they are not true Muslims and Muslimah as they ought to be in
terms of their Deen. For their disrespectful condition, they are to blame none
but themselves and the Muslim leadership that is oblivious of the fact: where
Ummah stands today and what it needs to revive its fate as “Ummatun Wasata” at
the time when global efforts are in full
swing to “enslave” it all around..
It is, therefore, desirable that we must make a
genuine effort to find out what Iman is? What declaration a Muslim or a
Muslimah makes when he or she realizes that he/she is a Muslim by birth or
claims that he or she is a Muslim, by reciting Kalimah and taking Shahadah? What connotations this “realization” or
“declaration” of Iman in Allah entails and what affirmative actions it
demands “After Becoming Muslim”? A realization of the concept of
Kalimah and what it demands will make a big difference when it will be
accompanied by dedication and devotion to the mission which it undertakes to
profess and accomplish as his or her life-long pursuit in the way of Allah.
This realization on the part of Muslims and their adherence to live and die for
it, Insha Allah, will be the turning point of the fate of Ummah
* This is the Introduction to my forthcoming Book: After Becoming
Muslim –What Next?