Despair and Spiritual Hope

The dismal state of contemporary politics 

When it comes to politics, many people are nowadays apprehensive of the future of their very own land as well as that of their generations and the general population of their country. What we see nowadays is that human rights are being forsaken for money politics and the power of the fittest, especially in the corrupted realm.

This is indeed a very delicate topic to develop [like in my Friday Sermons], yet very important, as politics, true unadulterated politics is really important for the good day-to-day running of our society, countrywide as well as worldwide.

Even if good people, with good and clear conscience strive to uproot the bad weeds in society and seek to transform the political world and make it a better place for the good management of the country, but unfortunately they are met with many obstacles in their way. One of these obstacles is money, the power of money, its power to buy the conscience of people and to put aside honesty and morality, and to dance to the tunes of the corrupted. Alas, our society today, in its global view is deteriorating day by day, and the evils of society are becoming rampant to such an extent that law and order also, in many countries of the world are getting corrupted and unable to function properly to defend the best interest of the nation and the world. The people of the world are suffering due to this mismanagement of their individual societies, which in turn have a bad repercussion on the global society.

Muhammad as the ultimately True & Perfect Political Figure

By the grace of God Almighty [Allah], Islam has the necessary measures to transform a society and make it function properly, and all credit goes to Allah Almighty through His commandments through the ages, and which have been perfected in the glorious and perfect book, the Holy Quran, and put into practice by none other than the best and seal of all prophets, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).

While many people don’t believe in Islam as a Creed and Faith, but what they can’t deny is that Islam, with the application of all its true ethics and commandments – not as what the people of today have rendered it – and as taught by God Almighty and His Noble Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), has devised and applied great laws and governing skills which have the power to change the face of society for the better. But alas, after the demise of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), nobody has governed their lands and states as perfectly and diligently as the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Let us see an outline of one of the main aspects of the Holy Prophet’s mission.

Muhammad: The Best Statesman

God Almighty says in the Holy Quran: “You have in the Prophet of Allah a perfect model for him who hopes in Allah and the Last Day and who remembers Allah a lot.” (Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33: 22).

Being role model meant that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was not only to become an ideal and true example of piety and devotion to God Almighty, but it meant also that he had to protect the community of Islam from enemies and to make that divinely-raised community to stand on its two-feet, being independent and which can thrive and survive through proper channelling of funds so that the treasury – which represents contributions of the believers as well as the divinely-ordained Zakaat and Sadqua – could be used in the proper way. God Almighty indeed knows best as little by little during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) itself, the believers in the peninsula of Arabia increased in great number, and it kept on increasing during the times of the Khulafa-e-Rashideen (rightly-guided caliphs).

To say that all Arabia became Muslims is not exactly correct, but what we need to understand is that Islam as a way of life, as a Creed and Faith and as a Governing System became part and parcel of the day-to-day life of Arabia. Believers and even non-believers, especially as from the Conquest of Mecca in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) became regulated by the laws of Allah, and like I told you in my Friday Sermon of 08 November 2019, Islam is the only faith and governing system which supports freedom of faith and international laws. Islam respects other faiths and as per the clear commandments of Allah in respect to accepting Islam, no one is to be ever coerced into accepting Islam and believing in all commandments of God Almighty as revealed in the Holy Quran.

From Righteousness To Corruption

In the early years of Islam, and even before, the conquests of territories were practiced by the non-Muslims in large number, especially in the times of war. This was the trend or way of life of that time. When Muslims were persecuted to an unbearable level, it is only by divine commandments that the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad (pbuh) took up arms to defend the community of Islam, and the true creed. Lots of Muslims were persecuted due to their faith in Tawheed (the unicity of Allah). The Arab people could not understand the concept of one God as they worshipped many idols. They had long forgotten the teachings of Abraham (as) and his son Ishmael (as).

As a true son of his land, and foremost as a Messenger of Allah acting under divine instructions, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) went on to found Islam as a COMPLETE and PERFECT way of life. Islam is such a divinely-established system which pervades all areas of the life of man to reform him and teach him the true way to live his life decently, with the fear of God in the heart and to persevere in working hard to earn a living and to contribute to make his home and his land prosper under the good management of the pious who applied correctly the laws of God in Islam.

Pacts, treaties, agreements were respected. No one was forced to accept Islam. Those who believed after their disbelief became part and parcel of Islam and were regulated by the laws of Islam and those who did not accept Islam had to comply with the laws of the land, regulated by Islam, yet as Islam is non-coercive, they could freely practice their faith without any fear of repression or even oppression.

It is much later on that due to mismanagement at the head of the Islamic State, with corrupt people taking the lead, that the true teachings of Islam were casted aside so that the power-thirst people could take the law in their hands. A vivid example of this is Yazid bin Muawiya in the times of Imam Hussein (ra).

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is reported to have said: “There will be Prophethood for as long as Allah wills it to be, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Prophetic method and it will be for as long as Allah wills, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be biting Kingship for as long as Allah Wills, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be oppressive kingship for as long as Allah wills, then he will remove it when He wills, and then there will be Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the Prophetic method” - and then he remained silent.” (Ahmad).

Such is the cycle of the life of the world. There is purity when a prophet of Allah comes, when he reforms through the will of God the corrupted system which existed before him. All those systems were initially pure also but with time became corrupted by the hands of men. After purifying it, little by little when more people come and integrate the community of God under the banner of the deceased prophet, they invent their own conception of those same teachings and they therefore fall into perdition and they drag others along with them in that pit of despair. After the departure of Jesus (as) to seek the lost tribes of the House of Israel and beyond, Paul auto-proclaimed himself apostle of Jesus with a strange authority on its own to govern the Christians.

So this is a cycle. Indeed are fortunate those who witness the era of a prophet of God. As the door of the advent of law-bearing prophets has been completely shut, but what remains is the door of the advent of non-law-bearing prophets, the true heirs of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), to reform the people in Islam and to bring them to the pinnacle of true faith in God and His Unity.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the Seal of all prophets, and like he stated in the Hadith which I have just mentioned, he informed his companions and the believers in general that they should not despair for after corruption, Allah shall reinstate such prophets who shall be his followers par excellence; they shall be on one hand Khulafatullah (Caliphs of Allah) and also representatives of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), his true spiritual heirs and the good managers of the system of Islam as a whole, in terms of creed, faith and governing laws to maintain law and order in the land and around the world. Such is Allah, the Best of Planners. He devised such a system which is both religious/ faith-filled and material (mundane) in that which it knows very well how to regulate the world according to the divine precepts. But alas, only few people understand.

May Allah always maintain high the honour of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and keep his seal of prophethood intact in the face of all dirt thrown on his person, and may the world realise that Islam is the best way of life and they begin to act upon the commandments of Allah in the true way so that the world may not stumble into a profound despair due to the machinations of the devils in many forms. May Allah enable the true believers to equip themselves physically, mentality and spiritually to wage this spiritual battle within themselves and with others so that all veils may drop and the people may come to see Islam in its true and beautiful light. Insha-Allah, Ameen.

Allahumma Salli Ala Muhammadiw Wa Ala Aali Muhammadin Kamaa Sallaita Ala Ibrahima Wa Ala Aali Ibrahima Innaka Hamidum Majid. Allahumma Baarki Ala Muhammadiw Wa Ala Aali Muhammadin Kamaa Baarakta Ala Ibraahima Wa Ala Aali Ibraahima Innaka Hamidum Majid.

O Allah! Send blessings upon Muhammad (pbuh) and upon the followers of Muhammad (pbuh) as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim (as) and upon the followers of Ibrahim (as); indeed, You are praiseworthy and glorious. O Allah! Bless Muhammad (pbuh) and the followers of Muhammad (pbuh) as You blessed Ibrahim (as) and the followers of Ibrahim (as); indeed, You are praiseworthy and glorious.

-------Extracts from the Friday Sermon of 22 November 2019 ~ 24 Rabi’ul Awwal 1441 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.