Part 02: Ramadhan Month of Victory Timeline
This is a time when we recite the Qur'an and ponder over its meanings. It is also a time when we think of our brothers and sisters across the world who are fasting with us - most especially those who face hardship -such as those overcome by the floods in Pakistan or those imprisoned in Gaza and occupied elsewhere.
Ramadhan is a symbol of the unity of this Ummah. Muslims from all over the world, black and white, young and old, weak and strong, wake up for Suhoor, break fast at sunset and spend nights in Tarawih and Tahajjud prayer. This wonderful unity comes through our Aqeeda - our belief in the One Creator, our belief in the Last Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam and in the revelation that was revealed in this month, the Qur'an al-Kareem.
As we fast this month we are all too aware of the tragedies that are facing this Ummah. Never in the 1400-year history of the Muslim Ummah, has the Ummah faced such problems. Today we are over 1 billion Muslims across the globe but we face countless tragedies - the on-going war in Afghanistan and Pakistan which has led to thousands killed over the years; the continued occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir; poverty and corruption, oppression and exploitation by the rich over the poor; the domination of Western values in our countries -all of these are testimony to the dire situation of this Ummah. These issues pain every Muslim across the world.
Allah reminds us that it is in Ramadhan that He Subhana wa Ta'ala revealed His Guidance for mankind. "Ramadhan is the month when the Qur'an was revealed - a Guidance for mankind with Signs for guidance distinguishing right from wrong." [Surah al-Baqarah v 185]
This month we need to ponder why it is that we have not implemented this Guidance in our countries today? In our individual Ibadaat we follow the Guidance of Allah but in our social, economic and political life we follow Western systems and values - the culture of free mixing, music and movies dominate the social life in our countries; capitalist free market economics dominate our economic life; and Western ‘democracy' that has brought the worst people in our countries to the ruling positions, dominate our political life.
These values are in complete contradiction to the higher Islamic values. Western society is built upon a philosophy of freedom of the individual and seeking pleasure and enjoyment - ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' is their main purpose in this life. This is opposite to the Islamic philosophy, which elevated man from submission to market forces, slavery to rich and powerful men and the pursuit of personal pleasure - to submission to Allah alone, slavery to Allah alone, and the pursuit of Allah's pleasure. Ramadhan epitomizes this philosophy. We sacrifice food, drink, and sexual relations from dawn to dusk purely to seek the Pleasure of Allah. Islam teaches us self-control whereas Western values lower man to mere consumers pursuing material pleasures.
Yet this Ummah that unites to fast all day, controlling our desires, has societies and countries that are dominated with systems and values that are based upon a completely different philosophy to Islam.
The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam not only showed us how to fast and perform the Tarawih prayers but also how to run the affairs of society and state; how to elect the ruler and how to remove him; how to solve disputes between the people; how to do business and trade; how to treat minorities and deal with foreign nations, etc. All of this is Guidance for mankind as Allah revealed in Surah al-Baqarah.
The sad truth is that when we abandoned the Guidance of Allah and started to blindly follow the West, the Ummah lost her way and became engulfed with problems.
The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam struggled for 13 years to establish a society and state in Madinah to implement the Guidance of Allah. Following him, the rightly guided Khulafaah ruled the Muslim Ummah according to this Guidance. Today this Khilafah does not exist in this Ummah. Instead we have more that 50 ‘states', ruled by the worst people in our countries, who have made a name for themselves in their pursuit of money, crime and corruption.
The vital issue for us this Ramadhan is to realise that the Guidance of the Qur'an and Sunnah needs to be re-established in this Ummah by re-establishing the Islamic State - the Khilafah.
Let us utilise the 30 days of this great month of Iman and Taqwa to ponder, study and understand this vital issue. Let us study the fiqh of Khilafah, as we study the fiqh of fasting and Tarawih. Let us pray that at the end of 30 days of fasting we are charged with the spiritual energy to commit to work for this most important fard -of re-establishing the Khilafah -a leadership that can start solving the problems of this Ummah once and for all. Ameen. Ramadhan Kareem to all our brothers and sisters, and may Allah accept our good deeds from all of us. (HTB)
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