Revitalization of Faith: The Necessary

Precondition of an Islamic Renaissance (II)

The most effective way to implant and inculcate faith in the hearts of the Muslim masses is the company and fellowship of such deeply religious persons whose hearts and minds are illumined by Divine knowledge and by the light of faith – persons whose hearts are untouched by conceit, hypocrisy, rancor, and avarice. It was through ceaseless evangelist and disseminating work, teaching and exhortation as well as practical examples portrayed through their conduct of life, that a continuous chain of pious and God-intoxicated people kept the beacon of faith burning after the collapse of Khilafah ala Minhaj al-Nubuwwah¹. Even though the winds of Western atheism and materialism are blowing high in Muslim lands, yet one can find here and there persons whose hearts and minds are full of certitude and staunch faith. The need of the time now is that the movement for Islamic faith and Iman be popularized and extended far and wide so that each and every inhabited piece of Muslim territory does have a few dedicated and selfless preachers whose sole aim in life is the pursuit of Allah’s (SWT) pleasure, individuals who, in obedience to the teaching of Prophet Muhammad (SAAW), make religious and moral guidance of people their sole aim and ambition in life².

Fortunately, in the recent past there has emerged in the Indo-Paksubcontinent a mass religious movement, the impact of which is visible on a vast multitude of people. It has led them to a firm belief in Islam and the radical change of values that this entails. That is to say, the Creator, the spiritual existence, the human soul and the life Hereafter are held superior to the whole order of creation and worldly life. This movement is the Jamaat-e-Tableegh. It is an off-shoot of the movement of Deoband. It was founded and initiated by persons of deep and inner religious conviction. Although more than a third of a century has flown past, its fervor and emotional zeal has not abated a bit. Though we do not wholly agree with its approach and methodology, there is no denying the fact that it has brought about a complete change in the thinking of a great many people, who have started to feel that it is the Creator and not the created objects that should command our attention and that the uncaused first cause³, and not the finite causes, is of prime importance. Similarly, they develop a strong belief that it is not food or water but the Will of Allah (SWT) that mitigates hunger and quenches thirst. Even the minor injunctions and precepts of the faith start appearing to them as of intrinsic worth and goodness without being grounded upon any logical argumentation or considered as part of a system of life or as a means to establish it. The smallest details of the Holy Prophet’s (SAAW) Sunnah appear to these people as pregnant with light (Noor) and splendor. They content themselves with the minimum material requirements of life and spend a major part of their time and energy in the propagation of Islam in their own way.

But as this movement addresses the sentiments and not the reason of the people and its main emphasis lies on action and not on understanding, its influence and efficacy are limited. The members of a community who hold reason and understanding to be superior to sentiments and action, remain uninfluenced by this type of preaching. The very mental constitution of these people compels them not to appropriate passionately anything that does not satisfy the test of reason and critical inquiry. They cannot attain the deeper levels of religious life without first untying the intellectual knots of their minds. These are the people who constitute the intellectual minority of a society and who command leadership over its ideology and policy. A change and indeed a total revolution in their viewpoint and way of thought is therefore of paramount importance. If Iman and belief could not be kindled in their hearts and they remained in the darkness of disbelief, faith occurring merely in the lower strata of society could not guarantee Islamization in a real and enduring sense.

Ref: An excerpt from the English translation of the Book "اسلام کی نشاة ثانیہ :کرنے کا اصل کام"byDr Israr Ahmad (RAA); “ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE: The Real Task Ahead” [Translated by Dr. Absar Ahmad]

End Notes:

1  This is an alternative expression for Khilafat-e-Rashida, the ‘Rightly Guided’ Caliphate (Khilafah) of Hadrat Abu Bakr, Hadrat Umar, Hadrat Uthman and Hadrat Ali (RAA).

2  This refers to the saying of the Prophet (SAAW):

فو اللهِ لأنْ يهْدِيَ اللَّه بِكَ رجُلًا واحِدًا خَيْرٌ لكَ من حُمْرِ النَّعم )متفقٌ عليهِ:عَنْ سَهْلِ بن سعدٍ)

“If Allah guides a man to the right path through your effort and struggle, this is better for you than the costly brown camels.”

3  This is how philosophers have traditionally conceived of Allah (SWT) (God) as Necessary and Ultimate Being, existing independently and in its own right.