Lessons To Be Learned

 

 

EPILOGUE - LESSONS FROM ISLAMIC HISTORY

 

The lessons to be learned from all the history we have briefly reviewed could be the following.

1.
All men are weak and imperfect and however great they cannot live up to all the essentially lenient and reasonable demands of the Divine let alone equal the Divine in perfection.  This leads us two two conclusions, namely (a): We should not blame and denigrate anybody too much nor, conversely exaggerate and praise too much.  All of us are in need of not only Allah’s guidance but also His mercy. And this conclusion is infallible.   We must then strike a balance between exacting a revenge and forgiving and forgetting, BOTH for Allah’s sake.  (b) Understanding that this medial assessment of man’s capabilities and fallibilities we must build on each man’s abilities and tolerate to a realistic extent his fallibilities. 
The Prophet’s sws, Abu Bakr’s RA and partially Umar’s toleration of Khalid b. Walid RA is a case in point. His potential utility to Allah’s cause was assessed as greater than his potential harm.  What  is even more striking in terms of realism was the Prophet’s  toleration of the hypocrites.  This helped some to repent and improve while checking the rest’s harm to a certain extent.  Sunnis followed this middle path and prospered more than the Shia whose absolutist beliefs and demands drove them to regard Ali and his sons infallible and send in their imagination almost all sahaba to hell and while on the other hand they failed their idols the ahl al Bait by expecting too much of and doing too too little for them at every turn of events and then hysterically wailing their fate non-stop for centuries.

2.
That the strifes of history (as all strifes between persons) either arise from or is exacerbated by seeing things from only one’s own angle with his own interests in view and not putting one in the shoes of the fellow opposite. An excellent example of avoiding this trap was Ali’s RA eventual acceptance of Abu Bakr’s and then immediate acceptance of both Umar’s and Uthman’s khilafa.  Said Rasulullah sws “Al khairu fi ma waqa’a” which means “ (Ultimately) good is in what actually happens”. There is a nice saying in English about ‘being at the right place at the right time’.  We gain or miss prizes by providentially being or not being where and when it is obtainable and should regard either outcome as Allah’s Will for us and be content with it and not be jealous and hostile towards the selected winners.  This could stop many wars.

3.
As riches and leisure increase even the most pious souls may begin to succumb to their lower selves’ lusts and arrogances. That must be why Allah warned against greedily amassing the good of this world and Rasullullah sws practiced extreme charity to show us how to deal with too much wealth.  We must realize that the right address of wealth above our reasonable needs and comforts is the needy wherever and whoever they may be.  An economically fortunate person must do three things to avoid the plagues of riches-  relieving the poverty beginning from his relations, friends and neighbours and if necessary and possible extend his charity even to most distant places and races. 

There has never been and most probably nor shall there be a time when some innocent need awaiting relief will not exist.  Had people been more charitable than they have been to date a lot of the tragedies which kept marring our history could probably be significantly avoided.   Instead Muslims as much as non-Muslims far more succumbed to their luxurious lusts than submitting to Islam’s charitable spirit and brought upon them both their poor’s and their rivals wrath.  See the Crusader and Mongol invasions in this light.

4.
There must be a balance between our reforming/modernizing instincts and conservative instincts.  Too much too fast submission to either is dangerous.  For example Mahmud II needed not to Westernize his rule and subjects as to modernize his means.  Antagonising his subjects should worry him as much as curing their real or imagined ills. This taking the shallow easy and often false road to modernization ran through all rulers after him and ended up in a Turkey which wasted its time and resources in aping the West in inconsequential externals while remaining as weak as ever if not weaker than before- relative to the age of course. The same applies to all Muslim nations to varying extents with inevitable local modifications.  Against this we must set the opposite error of sticking too much to past forms no matter their standing in the face of the Qur’an and the authentic, more well-known Sunna (as distinct from obscurer or far weaker alternatives in Hadith) or pre-Islamic habits which survived into Islam and came to be regarded inalienable parts of it- like the excessive segregation from of and imposition on women by men. 
The Prophet sws is clear that both men and women must be educated and women also can be economically productive depending on their circumstances etc. which often find no favour with people who think they know better or are more pious than him.  Women must be both allowed and encouraged to contribute to social life in more ways than mere child bearing and rearing and domestic tasks,  within the limits of course of their biological and ethical constraints; no concessions from them is right.

5.
Piety and tasawwuf (Islamic spirituality) also need a more realistic perspective.  These should bar nobody from paying his way in the society. Parasitical existence cannot be justified under any circumstances.  Again, piety and tasawwuf should not be abused in any form, one of which is arguing about who is right and who is wrong or who is the holier or the more glorious party.  Sectarian fights must be avoided although polite and respectful dialogue may help relieving many hidden tensions and improve mutual understandings.

6.
Using Islam as a weapon or battering ram against fellow muslims, agitating for inter-Muslim warfare or itching and organizing for ‘jehad’ as one arbitrarily sees it has always been Muslim’s most indulged hobby and the greatest headache of all Muslim governments. 

This bad habit is almost certainly fed by an ambition for power which unholy ambition must be responsible for that characteristic snarl and threatening looks and statemets defining its indulgers.  Governments are favourite targets for self-styled jehad preachers who often end up hurting themselves and causing hurt to others to any extend including loss of life. A Muslim citizen’s duty is obeying any government which allows him to perform his devotions unmolested and emigrate to some place else if too unhappy under it. 

History records almost not a single example of a successful Islamic motivated rebellion against any Muslim government which did not disastrously and bloodily failed or was not hijacked after victory by even worse an oppressor sooner or later. It looks quite convincingly the case that real Islam is not for everybody and in fact only a small minority can meet its demands and standards to any credible extent. The majority cannot simply click on but, if forced,  boredly tread the line shown and is on the lookout for the first opportunity  to default and if possible sabotage it. 

Even Prophets failed to win their near ones entirely if at all and application of force created at least as much hypocrites as believers. An utopia and even half-utopia is not available in this world of many characters and wills no matter what Book or Prophet says what and that must be why Allah promises us an Utopia only after death and that not without complicated and precarious delaying processes and procedures. We must not confuse our greed for power over and imposition on others our cherished pious-looking political delusions of grandeur with a holy will to establish Allah’s rule.  Allah’s rule is already in place and has never failed in the first place. 

Revelation from Allah is both an opportunity and test for us and use of force in implementing its apparent requirements is reserved for people born for it and not angrily and desperately struggling.  When such a person comes he will and others will know it.  And he will be again only partly successful for Allah said “Mankind will not stop differing and disputing. Because for exactly that Allah created them….

 

 

Web design by Surge Solutions