The Revival of Islam

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

There are many people in this world who would like to see the revival of
Islam reduced to a program, rather than have it develop into a full-fledged
movement springing naturally from a vital and personal sense of mission. 
But human life is just too vast - and complex - to be confined within such
narrow limits.  It is indeed unfortunate that they feel they cannot
understand what has to be done unless they have a definite plan outlined for
them by someone else, for this, ultimately, means substituting the bare bones
of a program for a real flesh-and-blood movement.  It also means underestimating
the potential magnitude of any such movement.  The truth is that if individuals
must have a program, they themselves must actively become its makers, as opposed to
being passive recipients.. They themselves must breathe life into it.          

This is the true function of Islamic d'awah: to arouse the minds of individuals,
and to inspire them to become the program-makers.  We must remember that all
that the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, did was to call the people of
Mecca to worship on God.  He did not give the people a "program" as it is
understood in modern times.  Yet, whoever was influenced by that D'awah call,
was able to fabricate the whole "program" for himself.  After imbibing the
concept of monotheism from the Prophet, he would himself discover all
the forms of practical action required.  It is especially noteworthy that
although those Muslim who left Mecca for Abyssinia were given no actual
"program", they were so successful in representing Islam in Abyssinia that,
from there, the Islamic call became international in its scope.  Those Muslims
who left Mecca for Medina before the Prophet's emigration were likewise
able to launch the Islamic d'awah movement so effectively - with
nothing other than the verses of the Quran to support them - that Medina
eventually became the greatest focal point for Islam.          

Religion as a conscious option, as opposed to an inherited tradition.

The spreading of religion is the greatest revolutionary undertaking.  It brings
into existence such people as are in themselves a complete program.  Such a
mission makes its impact on a man's whole existence.  It stimulates his nature
in such a way that a whole fountain of divine wisdom springs up within him. 
Once the Prophet had awakened this divine wisdom in his companions, they had
no need of anything else in this world. Its effect is such as to make
people hold God by the hand, walk with God's feet, hear with God's ears, see
with God's eyes.  In the words of the Hadith, they became limitless, profound
human beings, unsurpassed in wisdom.          

Such men become substitute for everything else.  No matter how difficult
a problem they can always be relied upon to produce the best solution. 
Whatever the occasion, they can decide upon the most propitious course of
action.  One should rightly tremble before the insight of a believer, for it is
through God's eyes that he sees.          

God has indeed imbued human nature with everything that man needs in life. 
But it is only when man responds to the call of Islam that God's bounties stand
revealed.  Before that, they remain concealed behind an impenetrable veil,
causing man to be a prey to mental and moral stagnation, prejudice and
thoughtlessness.  But once Islam removes these imperfections from
man's psyche, human nature is at once illumined by that divine light which
radiates upon the heavens and the earth.  After that man sees everything as it
actually is.  And for one who can see things as they are, the problem of
having no "program" is as easily solved as taking an elevator - and not a
staircase - to the top of a very tall building.          

The following incident is an apt illustration of this point.

An Indian woman living in Tripoli with her husband once found herself in a
terrible predicament.  One night her husband told her that he had a severe
pain in the stomach and obviously needed a doctor.  Now, in Tripoli, there
is no arrangement for a house telephone by means of which a doctor can be
directly summoned from the house or the hospital.  Even if there had been,
the wife knew no Arabic, and being a simple housewife, had no contact
with anyone outside her own home.  But the sight of her own dear husband
writhing in agony was enough to make her overcome all her drawbacks.  Out she
went into the night, ignorant of the streets, and with no idea even of the
names or addresses of any of the local doctors.  Her determination to save her
husband drove her on and despite her unfamiliarity with the local language and
topography, she eventually found herself on the doorstep of a
Pakistani doctor to whom she could speak in Urdu.  To her great relief,
he promptly agreed to come and see her husband.  On examining him, he found
that it was a case of appendicitis which required an immediate operation. 
The doctor thereupon took him in his car to the hospital where he was operated
on without delay.  The patient took only a few days to make a full recovery.           

Most people find themselves in similar straits at some time or the other in
their lives.  Every individual is sooner or later confronted with situations
for which he has made no advance preparations.  But he pulls himself together,
faces up to whatever crisis it is and ultimately forges through.  Such
situations, however, tend to be handled well only when they are of direct
material interest to the person concerned, or to the members of  his family. 
If we were to develop the same personal interest in religion, it would be a
simple matter to become familiar with the demands of religion and to make
sacrifices for its cause. Problems relating to religion would in fact begin
to solve themselves, just as non-religious problems are solved every day by
the interested parties.  Then people would have no difficulty in finding their
"program" or religion, just as the above-mentioned lady was able to find a
doctor for her husband in the face of considerable odds.          

I am often questioned about our Islamic Center's program.  Ah! How does one
tell our questioners that we need people - devoted workers not a program! 
Be the issue Islamic, or non-Islamic, it is, in any event, men who are needed,
rather than a program, or a plan of action.  Revolution in congregational life
is invariably brought about by those who are in themselves program-makers
rather than by those who need to be given a set program to follow.          

On one occasion, when Aurangzeb (1618-1707), the last great Mughal emperor of
India had just completed his prayers he again raised his hands in supplication,
his eyes filling with tears.  In this state he continued to pray in silence for
a very long time.  All the while, his minister stood by his side.  When the
emperor's supplications finally came to an end, the minister, Sadullah addressed
him thus:  "Your Majesty, the flag of your empire can be seen flying everywhere,
right from Kashmir to the Deccan.  Is there still some wish in your heart
which has been left unfulfilled and because of which you are so grief-stricken?"
Aurangzeb remained silent for a while, then, his voice changed with emotion,
he replied, Sadullah, marde khwaham."  (Sadullah, I need a man.)          

Aurangzeb's plan of action lacked nothing, and he had all the resources
necessary for good government.  Yet he failed to consolidate the Mughal rule,
because he had no worthy successors to shoulder this responsibility.  If
Aurangzeb had a team of true, sincere people, the course of history after his
reign would have been very different from what it was, and what we see it as
today.          

The mission of Islam means searching among the crowd - among the multitudes
who are loquacious in the name of God, for a man whom fear of God has left
speechless.  Amongst those who are in pursuit of the world, it is looking for
one who has stopped dead in his tracks for the sake of the Hereafter; amongst
those who revel in the name of God, it seeks those who are fighting for God's
cause, it seeks those who have desisted from fighting and quarreling for the
sake of His religion; amongst those who are bent on settling accounts with
others, it awaits those souls who know how to reckon with themselves.  Such
are the people of whom Islam has the greatest need.  It is through such
people, and such people alone, that Islam will once again be able to resume
its position of intellectual ascendancy.          

Today, Islam needs such people as can purify themselves, demolishing appearances
in order to penetrate to the reality, who have the foresight to steer clear of
irrelevant problems; who have the patience to give their full attention to
the real goal, who consider this world of paltry insignificance when compared
to the Hereafter, so much so, that no sacrifice of worldly things appears too
great for them; who are such great realists as can see greater virtues in others
than in themselves and who can in consequence, step down in their favor; who see
the truth so clearly that nothing can make them waver in its pursuit; who are
so free of negative feelings that no personal grievances can make them deviate
from the right path;  who cannot be made to feel jealous of others; who are in
love with reality and not with appearances, having their eyes on the future
rather than on the present.  To sum up, Islam is in need of those who live in
the Hereafter rather than in this world; who have lost themselves, not in their
own greatness, but in God's.  If it was people such as these who made Islam the
dominant theology in its earliest stages, it will be people of like bent who
will raise it to the highest position of honor in our time.          

The question of having a program, is in actual fact, the question of how man
should be prepared for a specific way of life.  Individuals of the right mold
cannot be formed only by training, and certainly not by exposure to the hue
and cry of processions, speeches from platforms, and so on.  There is only one
way to prepare individuals, and that is by launching an unadulterated movement
based on pure established religion in such a manner as to influence human nature
and arouse the dormant, inner spiritual personality of man, striking some chord
deep within him.  It should so color human thought that  man's being should
become dyed in the hue of the Almighty.          

Such a movement cannot be launched in the negative spirit of reaction, for,
in essence it should sing the eternal, divine melody to the rhythm of nature. 
It should be a model of the beauty of divine creation, emanating the fragrance
of the flowers and the splendor of the sun.  Such a movement, in giving
temporal expression to the prophetic message, should - in the idiom of our times
- reveal the wisdom of the Book of God, thus presenting a medium of contact
between God and man.          

The advent of such a movement in a society is the greatest guarantee that such
divine souls will emerge as are able to `program' themselves.  For them, there
will be no difficulty in discovering what their role ought to be.  The history
of the prophets shows, however, that even after such a d'awah movement has been
set in motion, it is only those whose soil is fertile who can receive its seeds.
In other words, only those will benefit who have the innate capacity to receive
its message.  It is common knowledge that barren land will remain barren, even
after it has been lashed by the rain.          

If Islam is to launch itself on a new phase of its history, its first
prerequisite will be people so vital and responsive that when the call of Islam
is addressed to them, they will feel the awakening of a vast potential.  When
the seed of Islam is sown it must bring forth a blessed verdure - a great and
wonderful crop: for that to happen the soil on which it falls must be sufficien-
tly fertile.  The call of Islam simply awaits the right people to receive it.          

If people of high spiritual vitality emerge from the Muslim community itself,
that will be a matter of the greatest good fortune.  But if no such individuals
make their appearance, we shall have to come to terms with the fact that God
will eventually give His blessing to some other community.  It will then be for
the members of that community to come forward, not only to bathe in the light
of Islam, but also to devote themselves wholeheartedly to enabling the rest of
the world to benefit from that enlightenment which only Islam can bring.