In The Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

 

IN THE MIDST OF EID REJOICING

 

[Shamim A Siddiqi, New York]

 

Alhamdulillah, the Ummah celebrated the Eid with all solemnity throughout the Muslim world on Sunday, November 14, 2004.  It was the expression of their respective thanks to Allah (SWT) Who very kindly and graciously gave the requisite Tawfeeq, courage and stamina to each of us who was fasting for His sake and will get reward from Him only in terms of the quality of Taqwah [Allah consciousness] that he or she demonstrated at every moment during this month of Ramadan while fasting, offering Traveeiah, and expending in His way. That was individual Ebadah of Muslims in between Allah and His slaves. They are the fortunate followers of this Ummah who could please their Creator and Sustainer and reaped the harvest of His blessings immensely.

 

Unfortunately, there are millions and millions Muslims around the world who were suffering at the same time. We cannot forget them and shouldn't during the midst of Eid rejoicing. They are the integral part of Ummah and are our body and soul. They are scattered all over the surface of the globe. They constitute the overwhelming majority of the Ummah. Let us acknowledge their sad and miserable plight at this occasion as who they are?

 

* Those suffering millions who very often have nothing to eat and sleep empty stomach with hungry children around them while their “unconscious” affluent neighbors pass their night tossing on spring beds with belly full. No body cares to replenish blood on their cheeks and fill their belly that Allah and His Prophet (S) had made it incumbent upon them to take care of these deprived brothers and sisters with no exception.

 

* Those millions of families who have no shelter, no roof on their head and they are passing their days in scorching heat and nights in shivering cold with tattering cloths on their skeleton body whereas the oil-rich nations and people of means “snore”, “twist and turn” in beautiful parlor and dreamy bed rooms sitting on their wealth with no sense or any urgency to rehabilitate the economy of the poor, the needy and the have-nots of this Ummah. They are unmindful of the fact that they will be “stigmatized” with their wealth on the Day of Judgment with its burning fire. [Al-Tawbah]

   

*.Those freedom fighters whose only fault is this that their land has been occupied by the tyrants, oppressors and big superpowers or their henchmen and they are now pronounced as “insurgents”, “terrorists”, “fundamentalists”, “Jihadists” and what not. They are being denied their very existence and are killed every now and then on different please and vague allegations. They are spread over in Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir, Far East and Middle Eastern countries, the sub-Sahara region and the Balkan states. The “usurpers” have made their life a hell but the Muslim world is rejoicing its “hey days.” like dumb and deaf fellows.  Its governments, its institutions and its ruling clique are trying unashamedly to be friendly with the oppressors and the tyrants.

 

* How a Muslim can rejoice when the other “part” of his body is bleeding fast and suffering with acute pain and the Muslim leadership around the world is sitting "idle" with hand crossed except with a few "exceptions" here and there and doing practically "nothing" to establish a political entity of Islam as a system of life anywhere on the surface of the earth.     

 

* While different parts of the Muslim world are being ravaged by willful military attacks, heavy air bombardment, artillery barrages, devastating mosques and minarets and killing the innocent Muslims in thousands by “puppet” regimes in collaboration with the “outsiders”, making the political stability in the region a “farce” to justify their perpetual presence in the region to serve the “greater interest of Israel and prepare the ground for the inevitable Armageddon, how the Muslims can rejoice their Eid except just thanking Allah for His Tawfeeq to fast only.  How can we rejoice when our lands are not “free”; when they are occupied by foreign forces of our adversaries in collaboration with “home-puppets”; when our cultural life is being poisoned by liberal values and our educational institutions are targeted to be remodeled as secular and cut off from the teachings of the Qur'an; and when the ruling coteries of the Muslim world have "sold" themselves to the mighty power of the time just on “threat” and “intimidation.” How coward they are!

 

* When the entire Muslim world is in turmoil, restless, “occupied” one way or the other and is agitating day in and day out to get rid of its prolong pains, sufferings and profusely bleeding condition, Muslim Ummah cannot celebrate Eid rejoicing, feel happy and contented. It would be quite unnatural. While the “house” of Ummah is at fire and is choking, its blood artery has been cut, its natural resources are being robbed and its purity is being polluted by foreign adulteration, it cannot rejoice its Eid meaningfully.  That day of total rejoicing is still far away when the Ummah will enjoy its freedom, have full control over its resources, elect its own “Amir” through  a well established democratic process, have its own Shura system and enforce its Deen in all the four corners of its domain. That would be the real day of rejoice of our Eid and thankfulness to Allah (SAT). That day of rejoice is inevitable if the Ummah resurrects itself as the “Ummatun waheda”, acts, lives and behaves like a Mumin. Let the Ummah and it leadership struggle for it wholeheartedly with devotion and dedication.

 

 

Shamim A Siddiqi

November 15, 2004