اصلاح کی جدوجہد

Narrated by 'Amr ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "When the religion (Islam) began, it was a stranger — strange to the people — so glad tidings to the strangers (al-ghuraba). They are the people who, when after me the people corrupt my Sunnah, will strive to set it right again."

The substance of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) words is this: when the call of Islam first began, and by Allah's command the Prophet (peace be upon him) placed Islam before the people of Makkah, its teaching, its beliefs, its practices and its whole way of life were entirely unfamiliar and strange to them. At that time it was like a stranger far from home whom nobody knows and about whom nobody enquires. Then, little by little, the situation changed: people grew familiar with it and adopted it, until a time came when first the people of Madinah embraced it as a community, then before long the whole Arabian Peninsula took it as its own, and then other countries of the world also welcomed it, and it gained wide acceptance. But just as corruption crept into earlier communities, this community too strayed from the straight path. In every field — beliefs, worship, dealings, social life, morals — people abandoned the teachings of the Prophet, adopted ways of their own choosing, and took to following others.

It is worth noting here in particular that among us the word "Sunnah" is used in a specific and narrow sense, whereas in the hadith "Sunnah" means all of the Prophet's teachings, whose scope encompasses the whole of human life.

Without doubt we too are breathing in that very age in which the community has strayed from the straight path. Corruption is touching its limits. The overwhelming majority of the community is unaware of the basic teachings of the faith. Even the fundamental pillars such as prayer, fasting and zakat have been abandoned. In buying and selling there is no concern for the lawful and the unlawful. False lawsuits and false testimony are commonplace. The scholars of truth are next to none in number, while the corrupt scholars are everywhere — who, in pursuit of wealth and status, keep simple-hearted Muslims away from the true teachings of the faith and entangled in customs and conventions.

In such a situation, to recognise one's own responsibility, and not only to act oneself upon the teachings of Allah and His Messenger but also to be concerned and to strive for the reform of the community, is surely to place oneself among those very "strangers" to whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave glad tidings. May Allah Almighty grant us all the ability to be counted in that group.

Although evil holds sway on every side; corruption has taken the form of a flood that seems in no way to be subsiding; matters are going from bad to worse; there seems no pleasing prospect of good or improvement; escape now looks like the only way out; safety seems to lie only in withdrawal; conditions are certainly disheartening, and despair and hopelessness begin to settle upon a person — yet the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is calling us to action. It calls those who love the faith towards struggle and action. Its purpose is to prepare every Muslim to strive so that he may be counted among those strangers. Let every person do whatever he can, each in his own place and according to his own standing. Every Muslim — young or old, rich or poor, educated or unlettered — should acquire the necessary knowledge of the faith, live by it, and according to his strength and courage also labour and strive to spread it among others. It is not necessary that this work be done only as part of some organisation or group; a person should do whatever he can in his individual capacity as well. And if he cannot even do that, then at the very least he should support such people — the least degree of which is to pray for them.