The Collective Aim of The Ummah  

 We Muslims are the member of an Ummah (Islamic community) whose sole purpose of existence and the aim of installation, according to Qur’an, is none other than calling people to Allah(SWT). As such, in this terrestrial existence not only our dignity and honor depend on realizing this collective aim, but our very existence as a religious community also depends on executing this duty in the right earnest. In the seventeenth section (ruku) of Surah Al-Baqarah (the Cow), along with the order for the change of Qiblah, the following verse was revealed:

“And thus have We made you an exalted (middle) nation (Ummah), that you may be the bearers of witness against the people and (that) the Messenger of Allah may be the bearer of witness against you.” (Al-Qur’an; 2: 143)

The divine order for the change of Qiblah was in fact a symbol that henceforth the custodian of the mosque of Jerusalemi.e., the sons of Israel have been deprived of the guardianship of the holy place and of their position as the upholders of the divine guidance. And in their place were installed the sons of Prophet Ismael(AS) as the custodians of the Holy Kaaba at Makkah Al-Mukarramah and as the new recipients and propagators of the Divine Guidance. Quite obviously, the sons of Prophet Ismael(AS) occupy the pivotal and nuclear position in the Muslim Ummah. As such their language was chosen for the revelation of the last Divine Book, and their customs and practices with amendments, modifications, additions and omissions have become the warp and woof of the last divinely revealed code of life. Other nations –(Akhereen) -which joined them later in Islam became in essence an integral part of them. This indeed was a great blessing of Allah (SWT) on them. But it was a privilege of only “Ummiyyeen” (unlettered people of Arabia) that the last Prophet (SAAW) was chosen from amongst them.

The objective and aim of the formation of this Ummah has been described very clearly thus in Surah Al-i-Imran:

“You are the best of the nations raised up for (the benefit of) humanity: you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in Allah.”

(Qur’an 3:110)

This verse makes it crystal clear that, according to the Qur’an, there is a radical difference in the ultimate aims and goals of the Muslim Ummah and other nations and communities of the world. By and large the goals which most nations of the world have been aiming at are self-aggrandizement, political power and military armaments, amassing of wealth, and subjugation of other peoples for their own selfish ends. This subjugation has been both political and/or cultural and economic. On the other hand, the aim and object of the very existence of this Ummah is that Allah (SWT)is recognized as the Lord of the Universe, His commands are exalted and upheld by all, the truth triumphs, virtues and good deeds flourish and vices and wickedness are completely uprooted. In other words, this Ummah is in reality the representative of Allah (SWT) on earth: an agency for the propagation of virtue and an institution for the total eradication of evil and falsehood from this world.

Ref: An excerpt from the English translation of the Book دعوت اِلی اللہbyDr Israr Ahmad (RAA); “Calling People unto Allah”[Translated by Dr. Absar Ahmad]