How Prophet Muhammed ? Taught Us Balance & Moderation
Aleem Mohammad
Trainer for Effective Communication, Public Speech, Career Transition, ESL & English Competitive Exams | 3500+ Students from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, North & South Americas | British Council Certified for IELTS
Today, on one side of the spectrum, we find ideologies like liberalism, individualism, feminism, agnosticism, atheism etc. impacting the ideologies of Muslims of all ages, on the other side, there are ideologies like racism, fundamentalism, nationalism, dictatorship, authoritarianism, fascism which vexes people at large. Both the kinds of ideologies hamper human beings – socially and psychologically. And things become worse if these ideologies are operated in the name of religion – any religion as such.
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This article is not being written in defense or to please any fraction, but to portray reality, and more importantly, the alchemy which works in humans and drives them toward extremism – strong emotions – no matter of what kind.
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We Muslims must understand that Muslim extreme elements brought far more damage to the name of Islam than the non-Muslims’ efforts to tarnish its image. In the recent past, Islam’s history was chosen out of context, and its jurisprudence was made a tool to carry out the most heinous crimes on humanity. These are what Muslims extremists have done in the recent past: killing of children and women, carrying out explosions in Masjids, schools, public transport systems, hospitals, eateries; displacement and torture of many, house demolitions and much more – all in the name of the Kalimah! And obviously, the anti-Islam elements reaped the best possible ways to do their job of calling Islam the anti-human, the anti-progress, the uncultured and what not!
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If we reflect, the first of its kind was seen in Muslim Ummah back in the days of the Khilafah. When Sayyiduna Ali (ra) was the Caliph and was involved in dealing with correcting his opposition, there was a big group of nomads who supported him ardently. However, when Sayyiduna Ali (ra) came in truce with the very opposition, they all rejected him and became hostile to him, to the extent of even planning to kill him. This group is called Khawarij.
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We Muslims must be aware that Islam rests in its doctrines and rules of conduct, and the foundations of moderation. Muslims were called Ummat-ul-Wasata (the balanced nation) – balanced in emotions and thoughts, balanced in approach, balanced in carrying out every religious, social, and political activity, and balanced in reacting to any incident.
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Unfortunately, over a few centuries, a balanced approach has often been considered unmanly or a sign of being weak. Speaking politely and with the best choice of words lets people feel that a person is too innocent, as if verbal violence reflects manhood. Was that what Prophet Muhammed ? said? Did he not say that strong is he who suppresses his anger? Which of the above acts of violence were ascribed to his blessed teachings? How was his reaction when people troubled him and his followers for 13 long years? What step did he take when he was personally attacked and stoned to bleed in Taif? What did he do when he marched into Makkah with his unbeatable army? Did he kill the killers of his loved ones, or declare mass pardon and granted them amnesty?
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We know that we Muslims are leaderless today - globally. But we have our beloved Prophet’s ? Seerah with us. We have his unmatched teachings. We have his beautiful character to read, reflect, implement and pass on – practically, to whatever extent we can. These are the same teachings and character which produced leaders and luminaries right after his passing. We have the blueprint, but we have not understood his teachings as he wanted to. Our egos and emotions always supersede the approach that we must take. We are a ‘culture first, religion next’ people. We have not learnt the art of reconciling and forgetting the past to carry on for a better future – both in terms of gaining worldly and spiritual benefits. There does not seem to be any balance in our way of life. When we rectify these, there will be a 180 degrees change in who we are and how people see us on a global platform. Then we and our offspring do not have to feel embarrassed for calling ourselves Muslims – this embarrassment is felt by us for what we have reaped of our deeds, not of what Muhammed Rasoolullah ? taught us.
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Seerah articles archived at:?www.themercifulprophet.com
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*Seerah of Rasoolullah ?*
_An initiative of The Quran Foundation, Tolichowki, Hyderabad, India_
MAY PEACE BE ON TO YOU! Pass out from Bundelkhand University, Jhansi.
2 年After reading the word of God, I observed that Allah has a kind of Sunnah that after the passing of the prophets, Allah does not intervene in the affairs of the people, until they themselves return to Allah through His Book. Meaning: we’ve to rectify our life according to the Book and spread its message to the dwellers of the miracle planet earth.