Until They Change Themselves

April 24, 2010 at 5:49 pm (Uncategorized) (change, complacent, death, dependent, dialogue, dunya, duty, eternal, guidance, identity, Islam, knowledge, life, living, negligent, peace, purposeoflife, quest, resolution, sleeping, slumber, speaker, student, submission, world)

How often have we come across the feeling of helplessness? Felt the dire urge to make a change in ourselves and the environment in which we live but could not find the heart to take the first step towards turning on a new leaf. I as a child considered myself to be a change maker eager to take on the world and regret to see how far I have lagged behind in life such that the slightest of restrictions to performing a good deed is a reason good enough to ditch it as a whole!

If you are like me, then this if for you! Victor Frank once said:

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”.

I hope to share with you a book titled “Until They Change Themselves” in parts. Insha Allah Each new segment will be posted within 5-6 days of the previous and any discussion on the topic is most welcome. The introduction to the original book will be the first segment which we will read today and those wishing to make a head start on reading the entire book could drop an email to pwayfarer@gmail.com to receive a .Pdf copy of the same.

The current situation of the Muslim Ummah does not require an introduction, we all see and hear day in and day out what is happening. One must realize that it’s not just about Iraq, for Iraq is a symptom of a large-scale failure in our Ummah. Other symptoms like Palestine, Chechnya, illiteracy, ignorance, disease, overall weakness and humiliation all point to the fact that we are in big trouble. Many of us are realizing the scale of our problem and feel the urge to make a change. Many sincere Muslims have vowed to do anything it takes to get our Ummah out of this situation. Many Muslims have reflected on themselves and started to develop their selves in the right direction and are drawing closer to Allah but many of us feel that there must be something else to do. Many Muslims have an enormous amount of energy they want to turn into results but they don’t know what to do. Sometimes this leads to frustration, and other times to depression. Some Muslims are complaining that its not enough of use loose terms like “returning back to Allah” or “maintaining Taqwa and Allah will bring us victory” and are demanding more specific things to do. Others are tranquilizing themselves by believing that this misery will certainly lead to the appearance of “Al-Mahdi” or “The Guided One” that will lead us to victory. We want to change and we are trying to, and many of us are already changing, but our Ummah is still in the mud…. Are we forgetting something?

When will we ever learn

When Allah created the universe, He decreed Divine Laws that organize all creation. Therefore, water will continue to boil at 100°C on our planet, and whatever goes up will always come down again (law of gravity). Aside from the Divine Laws that control nature (Physics), there is a whole other set of Laws that control societies and civilizations. If we Muslims want to rise as an Ummah, we must follow these Laws because there is no other way. We must learn these rules and take them into consideration and act according to them.

 Amr Khaled, an Egyptian Preacher, started a series of daily episodes during the war on Iraq that presented practical solutions to change the status of our Ummah. He drew a step- by-step guide that takes into consideration the Divine Laws that control the rise and fall of civilizations so that we could implement them and therefore rise as an Ummah. Allah has made a promise that if we do certain things, we will rise, and if we do other things we will fall, and Allah does not break His promises.  The series was titled “Until they   change themselves”, and was inspired by the Divine Law in the verse

 “Verily Allah will never change the condition of a people until they change themselves” (13:11).

 Each series addressed something we are not doing that we should do or something wrong in us that we need to change. These things are practical day-to-day behaviours that if corrected by Muslims, will lead to their rise. So if you are looking for something practical to follow, this series might help you.

 It may be dark, but the sun is about to rise. The question isn’t “Will Islam rise again?” because it certainly will, its Allah’s religion, He takes care of it. The question is…

 “Will you be part of it”??!!

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