A noble and beloved man sat in the remote Arabian peninsula, hundreds of years ago, and talked to his companions about a vision he had. A vision which he and his 30 odd followers would work to carry out. A vision of conquering the world.This man if you hadn't already guessed it, was Muhammad SAW. Our noble and beloved Prophet had upto 40 companions during his dawah work in Makkah, but this did not constrict the vision that he had. He SAW had a vision, that one day inshaAllah the Islam that he was propagating, which only a small group of people in the world had accepted; would one day rule on every inch of the globe.
The Prophet SAW and his companions were being persecuted to the extent in Makkah, that they were incessantly starved, tortured and humiliated and made up only a small minority of the society; as the Quraysh had their own plan to stamp out this deviant little new craze. Thus when the Quraysh heard about the Prophet SAW's vision, that Islam would one day would not only rule over Makkah, but over the globe, they thought it was nothing more than a big joke. In fact people thought his 'phase' of Islam would definitely come to some sort of end sooner rather than later, and it was Abu Talib, his very beloved Uncle who came to him, with love and affection, insinuating this and asking him to give up, sooner rather than later. But the response of the Prophet SAW, in a time, when it looked like not only would Islam never spread, but its followers may not even survive, was:
'If you put the sun in my right hand, and the moon in my left, I would not leave the struggle (for this deen) until either it is victorious, or I perish therein.'
For the Prophet SAW non-pursuance of this Deen was never an option. Whether it seemed easy or not, realistic or not, Islam was to be taken to humanity and offered as the alternative system by which it should live. We would say many wonderful things about this beloved Prophet of ours, but one thing we would never say, astighfirullah, was that he was a dreamer. An idealistic dreamer. But this was definitely how the Qurayshi society around him saw him.For those of us living in this dark and painful world of the 21st century, who have decided that the Islamic vision is the only way, the label of idealistic dreamer is all too familiar. We live in a world where Muslim lives are cheap, in many parts of the globe. Muslim blood was a small price to play for oil in Iraq, a pipeline and domination in Afganistan, and today for the strength of Israel. Today the Muslim Ummah have no less love for their Muslim brethren across the world, and everytime we are hit, we feel impulsed to respond. But it is how we respond that is key. We have taken up a certain mentality that we have to respond to such atrocities in a way which will reap most result, in the most pragmatic way. Hence it is easy for us to send over some charity, stop buying from Starbucks and M&S, and even make that all important dua to Allah SWT. These avenues of seeking a solution for our brethren, make us feel good perhaps, are instantaneous, easy to carry out and most of all we think have the most immediate impact. But we just need to look to the life of our Prophet SAW to see how he reacted to situations and crises in his Prophethood.
When the Prophet SAW was offered to share the rule in Makkah with the Quraysh, his refusal was stark. When tribes, which he approached for the military support for Islam, may have had the military capability but either wanted to share the rule with him or had particualr treaties with nations which meant they could not fight them in any event; his refusal was stark. Rather the Prophet SAW continued to work tirelessly, still trying to change the society in Makkah, and still approaching tribe after tribe for the military support, without any type of impatience or need for an instantaneous, pragmatic result. Rather he had the trust that the result would come from Allah. If the noble Prophet SAW is our example, then should our method be any different? We are working for the same Ummah he worked for, to protect the same Deen he sought to protect. If the Prophet SAW did not at all compromise or feel the need to pursue avenues which were most palatable and perceivably 'realistic' then why should we? After all we just need to put in the effort to try and implement the solution Allah SWT gives us for our problems, and doesn't the result come from him SWT?
Alhumdulilah we must make dua, we must give charity for the needy, but we must also realise that we need to work for a viable, sustainable solution for the oppressed Muslims of the world which will protect them, and of course protect Islam. This in the past, always was the Islamic rule, led by a sincere Islamic ruler. And if the Prophet SAW with his handful of comapnions could have a vision of this being the solution for the world, us, with our 1.5 billion Ummah; shouldn't we too?It is time the Muslims realise that practicality, realism, pragmatism, mean nothing without the blessing of Allah. It is Allah who can bring forth life from a stone and it is Allah who gives us all the barakah in our lives. Thus instead of worrying about what is practical and realistic or not, shouldn't we just channel our efforts into what is obligatory upon us or not? After all, we have been born with the blessing of this time, by the mercy of Allah. Allah chose, throughout the entire history of this world, to bring us into this dunya during the short few years when the Islamic Khilafah has not been in existence, by default giving us all the blessing and opportunity to partake in this work, just as the noble Sahabah and the Prophet SAW himself did.
It is high time we abandon the thoughts of what we think is realistic, practical and palatable for the rest of the world in how we conduct our politics. Rather we should work for what we think is right for humanity and will bring them back the mercy and ease of a just rule. This may mean that as others are busy doing the rounds to raise money for Gaza, and you write, discuss and propagate the idea of Khilafah, the label of 'unrealistic, idealistic dreamer without any sense of urgency' may come your way. But to those I would say than none is more unrealistic, idealistic and complacent, than those who believe that their solutions are better than Allah's, for our politics; and sit in the comfort of this thought. Rather it is the most brave and reliant on Allah who will strive forth, eager to carry the word of Islam, uncompromisingly, to the world, just waiting for his SWT victory.
