One can sum up the state of the Muslim community
today by saying that they are afflicted by a
persecution complex. Wherever one looks, one finds
Muslims haunted by a feeling of having lost
something. Everywhere they are complaining of
persecution by other nations, of having had
something taken away from them.
Closer scrutiny will tell one the nature of those
things that Muslims complain of having lost. One
will find that it is political power, government
posts, economic resources, social influence and
material gain that Muslims feel they have been
deprived of. To their mind, they have been done out
of these things by other nations of the world.
But, in fact, the Muslims have only themselves to
blame for the losses they have incurred. It is their
own neglectfulness that has taken them where they
are. It is not a question of their having been
deprived; it is a question of they themselves having
failed to come up to the required mark. Still, what is
even more important is that, even along with all
these losses, there is still one thing that no one can
take away from them. They may have lost worldly
wealth, but they are still possessors of great
spiritual wealth. The religion of Islam is still with
them, fully intact. They still have the final divine
scripture, preserved in its original state. They are
heirs of a Prophet whose teachings still retain the
vitality of the days when he first imparted them to
the world. What the Muslims have, then, is greater
than what they have lost. How strange that they
should feel their losses, mere trifles though they are,
and be unaware of the much greater treasure that
they still retain.
To say that the path to worldly progress is barred to
the Muslims is a highly debatable point. But even if
one goes along with the general consensus of
Muslim opinion and admits that it is, then still they
have the chance to excel in the next world, and
success there is better and more lasting than
worldly success. Why then should they be so
concerned about worldly loss, when they still have
access to the much greater gains available in the
hereafter?
Muslims may not be able to find what they seek
from men, but they can still find it with God. If they
concentrate on serving the divine cause, then they
will find that God will provide them, in much
greater measure than men could ever do, with all
that they seek.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
