The world is changing. What was accepted to be a norm a few years ago is no longer so. Behaviors of governments and institutions are changing. Behaviors of the public are changing and indeed laws are changing. So the future is uncertain and as Muslims we need to take on board some core points that can help us navigate through events. The points below need to be clear in our minds so that a course can be steered without compromising the deen.
1. It is not possible to live an Islamic life without an Islamic system of government i.e. the khilafah system that runs the affairs of the society according to Islam. This needs to be recognised otherwise we find ourselves going off at tangents to what Islam actually required from us.
2. Anyone who discards the role of Islam in regulating the affairs of society and accepts the status quo is at the very least sinful for acting on such a basis. This is wrong and unacceptable from the Islamic perspective.
3. Building institutions, think tanks, schools, colleges etc… under the permission of kufr is not a solution but a workaround. Meaning that they are concessions given under secular systems and not an application of Islam. By such arrangements we have temporarily fulfilled a need and not applied Islam, there are many ahkam that go unfulfilled and indeed replaced by western solutions. These are work arounds and should be understood as such.
4. Whilst Muslims have interests like building wealth, educating children etc. this must be taken in a context that whilst this may be possible today, the reality may change as western laws are fickle and changeable. The boom and bust cycles make it inherently unstable. Muslims have no Islamic political representation on the planet and are the ideal scapegoats for failing systems – just look at France.
5. In most Western countries there is an attempt at social restructuring. What this will mean for Muslims as part of western societies could be that they have to follow only a state authorised Islam if they are allowed at all. The prevent scheme in the UK might seem to have been a picnic- an easy ride if the proposed surveillance mechanisms, social credit scoring etc come to fruition. These will allow an unprecedented amount of control over populations.
6. Some Muslims view themselves to be a permanent feature of Western societies. This is built on the fact that many own property, have businesses and are now on the third or even fourth generation. This is a shortsighted view that lacks a worldly insight. Throughout history populations have been subject to forces that change the reality in which they live. The west is no different. Forces such as wars, famines, pandemics , political turmoil, economic ruin, new ideological trends and change of rulers all play a part in societal change and can leave minorities in a precarious situation. One needs only to look at Bosnia, Uganda , Kenya, India, Kosovo, Syria, Burma and others to see the effect changing dynamics. Muslims in al Andalus may have felt that they were permanent and they had the rule yet we find no Muslim community was spared once the ruling changed hands.
7. Muslims in the west are minorities , they have a different reality to those that live in the Muslim lands and therefore are more exposed to radical shifts in society. Societies with they same type of people are more cohesive in times of change or turmoil. Throughout history minorities have been driven out and in some cases genocides have been committed.
8. The reality is that many Muslims have become besotted with the Western way of life and ignore the fact Western societies are held together by a thin glue of laws on racism, hate speech and political correctness. This glue can come undone and in some circumstances especially dire economic ones the majority population can quite easily turn, populists can come to power and say your blood is not from here and you are unwanted. Whilst this is not sure to happen the possibility that it can needs to be taken onboard.
9. As for migrating from the west to the Muslim lands, the whole world is under the yolk of kufr. Whilst it may be more preferable for people to raise a family in Pakistan, Bangladesh or another Muslim country, this depends on their means and circumstances. An option that is not possible for all. Regardless of where we are we must understand Islam for what it is and our dawah must be focused on restoring Islamic governance.
10.Throughout the world Muslims are not in good circumstances and the challenges faced vary in different locations. Muslims must not rely on the West and should remember that ultimately they belong in the Muslim lands and that is why attention needs to paid to restoring the rule of Islam in the Muslim world.
11. Regardless of location, Muslims are subjected to the bombardment of cultural colonialism. The same feminist, LGBT etc… culture is pushed in Pakistan and Muslims lands through media, education and other means as it is in the west. The same attack on family structures exists in the Muslim world as in the West.
12. There are many misconceptions around the subject of dawah and what it entails in today’s reality. Dawah must be focused on returning the Islamic way of life by restoring the rule by Islam. It is quite ridiculous that some Muslims think it a priority to take Islam to some remote tribes and classify it as dawah whilst they the muslims themselves have no civilisation to call towards but only beliefs. There are many similar so called dawah projects that accept the status quo and ignore the fact that Islamic civilisation has been demolished.
13. When we study the life of the prophet (saw) his dawah was focused on establishing the authority of Islam and after achieving this the Muslims called the rest of mankind to 1) accept Islam and live like brothers 2) pay jizya relinquish control of their societies or 3) face the military consequence. Our dawah today must be focused upon resuming the Islamic way of life by restoring the the khilafah. Then the call to the rest of mankind can proceed.
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