Re-Planning of the Islamic Mission in Modern Times
In the book, Re-Planning of the Islamic Mission in Modern Times, the author Maulana Wahiduddin Khan explains that life is replete with unfavorable situations. Successful is one who is able to discover favorable opportunities from unfavorable experiences and re-plan his course of action by accepting his mistakes and learning from them, to wring success out of failure. Re-planning can be called planning plus. Re-planning means adding experiences to previous planning and planning one’s actions anew in the light of new information. With this method, it becomes possible to achieve one’s goal in a better way which could not be achieved in the first instance. The Muslim Ummah needs to re-plan for the re-emergence of Islamic mission in modern times. They need to become positive thinkers of a high degree. Then they can discover the modern age as an age supportive to Islam and avail of the opportunities presented by the age for the purpose of dawah.
Re-Planning
of the
Islamic Mission
in Modern Times
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Translated by:
Prof. Farida Khanam
Differentiating Between the Relevant and the Irrelevant
The Event or Incident of Tartar Attacks
The Lesson of the Babri Masjid
The Experience of Khalsa Tehrik
Foreword
Calling people to God or dawah work is the most important mission of Islam. There are two phases of dawah from the beginning of the advent of Islam to the emergence of science and after the emergence of science to the 21st century. Prior to the age of modern science, dawah work was based on miracles as arguments. This has been called in the Quran as Bayyinat (The Quran, 57:25). In the second phase, dawah work has to be based on scientific evidence in respect of arguments. This scientific evidence is what has been referred to in the Quran as signs in the universe and in the creation of man (41:53). The Quran states: “We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is the witness of all things?” (The Quran, 41:53)
Modern science is indeed another name for the discovery of the hidden realities in nature. These hidden arguments were placed in nature, so that when the time came, these should be discovered and used in favor of dawah by way of argument. Now the final time has come when these arguments should be employed in favor of dawah and that great work is to be performed on the basis of scientific arguments, which has been called in the Hadith ‘Shahadat-e-Azam’, the great witness (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2938).
In present times this work of dawah has already been started on the basis of scientific arguments. Modern Science, in reality, is the theology of Islam that has provided us with the data on which we can base Islamic teachings by the accepted standard of the time. The modern scientific age is the fulfillment of a prediction made in the Quran: “We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is the witness of all things?” (The Quran, 41:53).
The laws of nature can now be discovered through scientific study to prove Islamic realities at a high rational standard. I have written a number of books to prove the theology of Islam on the accepted basis of argument. I can say that the modern age is potentially the age of the emergence of Islam. The only thing needed urgently is for the Muslim Ummah to shed its negative thinking which has been called uncleanness (rujz) in the Quran (74:5) and avail of modern opportunities for Islam’s second emergence. They need to discover the modern age to be an age supportive to Islam and re-plan dawah activities for the re-emergence of the Islamic mission in modern times.
Wahiduddin Khan
March 20, 2021
New Delhi
Emergence of Islam
This modern age is one which is supportive of Islam. Although it is generally attributed to the West, it is a fact that the efforts of all of humanity have gone into producing this age. However, the contribution of the western nations in bringing this age into existence is far greater than those of others. If other nations are part of this process, the western nations have seen it to its culmination or enjoy the position of bringing it to fruition.
The prominent aspect of this age is the modern civilization which has totally changed the ancient traditional age.
This age, a new age in every respect, was clearly predicted by the Prophet of Islam. There is a Hadith in this connection recorded in various books with the following wording: “Without doubt God will support Islam by those who would not be among the Muslims.” (Al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir of Al-Tabarani, Hadith No. 14640)
The truth is that the Islamic movement in ancient times was traditional in nature but the great signs of the Creator in nature were hidden. God desired that these signs be discovered and compiled in book form so that a scientific framework should become available to prove the veracity of Islam and enable the realization of God at a higher level. With modern civilization this possibility has become a reality in the 20th century. It is this event which has been predicted in the Quran in these words: “We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is the witness of all things?’’ (The Quran, 41:53) After the discovery of the secrets of nature, all this has now become a reality.
This age, potentially, is the age of the emergence of Islam. The beginning of this age was marked by the research done by Galileo Galilee (1564-1642) and later confirmed by Stephen Hawking (1942-2018). Perhaps it has reached its completion. Now the time has come that the divine religion should be brought to the level of being completely understandable, supported by the discovered truths according to the prediction made by the Prophet of Islam.
By using the modern means of communication, the message of the Creator has to be conveyed to each and every home, big or small. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 23814)
Islam has been presented by the prophets in every age. But there was another level of the emergence or advent of Islam termed in the Quran as tabeen-e-haq, the truth becoming clear enough (The Quran, 41:53). In the Hadith, this event of the emergence of Islam is called shahadat-e-azam (the great witness) (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2938). For this to happen, opportunities were required—on the one hand, the arguments giving evidence of the realization of the Lord, and, on the other hand, great favourable circumstances to perform the task of dawah. Both these things have come into existence in their perfect form in today’s modern scientific age.
Now a group is required who may recognize these opportunities and by availing of them may convert this final emergence of Islam into a reality. This has been expressed by the words of Shahadat-e-Azam in the Hadith.
For the completion of this goal, all the desired factors have been provided by God. The only thing needed urgently is for the Muslim Ummah to shed its negative thinking which has been called uncleanness (rujz) in the Quran (74:5). Only those people can avail of modern opportunities for Islam’s second emergence who are fully free from negative thinking, who are positive thinkers of a high degree. This is an extremely positive task and only people who engage in positive thinking of a high order can perform it. These are the people who by discovering the modern age to be an age supportive to Islam will realize this possibility through re-planning.
Planning, Re-planning
When hard work is coupled with organization that may be described as planning or planned action. According to an ancient concept, hard work was regarded as the most important element for success. But the progress of technology in modern times has added another aspect to it, and that is organization. According to this concept, planning means working hard in a planned way.
Re-planning is or can be called planning plus. Re-planning means adding experiences to previous planning and planning one’s action anew in the light of new information. With this method it becomes possible to achieve one’s goals in a better way which could not then be achieved in the first instance.
The method of re-planning is applicable to every matter. Similarly, in the matter of Islamic action, this method is of great importance. We find one example of this during the rule of Haroon Rasheed, the fifth caliph of the Abbasid Empire, as has been recorded in the books of history. Once when he was sitting with his queen Zubaida in his palace in Baghdad, he saw a patch of cloud floating in the air; at this he addressed the clouds thus: “Rain wherever you want to, the tribute (kharaaj) will come to me.” (Wahi Al-Qalam, Mustafa Sadiq Raf‘i, Vol. 2, p. 22)
This statement of Haroon Rashid could have been relevant in ancient times but today it has lost its relevance. In present times many new things have come into existence in this connection. For instance, the land-based agriculture of ancient times has now changed into technology-based industry. The politics of ancient times was based on personal rule, but now politics is based on democracy. In ancient times, receiving tribute was possible only in the limited sphere of one’s own empire. Now, it is the age of total freedom and through outsourcing, it has become possible to receive benefits of “kharaaj” today from all over the world.
Due to these changes, it has now become possible to engage in planning for any goal at a global level even without having political power. This has produced a fundamental difference in the concept of the mission.
If you want to run a universal mission, you require only one thing and that is peaceful planning based on modern technology.
For instance, the Prophet of Islam sent a Dawah letter to Kisra, the king of Iran. This letter was taken to him by a companion, Abdullah Ibn e Huzaifa. The content of this letter was in Arabic. (Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah by Ibn Kathir, Vol. 4, p. 306)
As we learn from historical records, when this letter was presented to the ancient emperor of Iran, he was enraged and tore it up. This was because of the prevalent culture of those ancient times. If today a leader of a movement were to write such a letter to any ruler, he would receive an acknowledgement and that letter would be preserved in the official archives.
The demand of this state of affairs is to engage in the re-planning of the Islamic mission in modern times in the light of modern facts. Now any member of the mission does not need to complain or protest. What is required is for man to understand the changes in the times, make concession to them and then go about the peaceful re-planning of the Islamic mission. It is this changed course of action which is called re-planning.
The Guidance of
the Quran
A verse of the Quran gives us this principle of human history: “No misfortune can affect the earth or your own selves without its first having been recorded in a book, before We bring it into being. That is easy for God to do; so that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant over what you have gained. God loves neither the conceited nor the boastful.” (The Quran, 57:22-23)
This means that all the historical changes that occur in this world derive from the laws of nature rather than from the enmity or plots of any hum an being.
As such, whenever any community or nation is afflicted by adversity, rather than grieving or lamenting over this, a positive response will produce right thinking in man. He will be in a position to analyze the events objectively, and this will enable him to re-plan and regain in some new form whatever he had lost.
The same happened in the case of the Prophet of Islam. He met with defeat at the battle of Uhud (3 AH), but he and his companions did not grieve over this but rather started thinking on this matter from a fresh angle. This resulted in their thinking of giving up fighting and establishing a peaceful environment between the two parties by engaging in re-planning their actions on the principles of peace, whatever the cost. The Hudaybiyyah agreement, which was made in 6 AH, was based on this kind of re-planning. This strategy was highly successful and within a very short time, the Muslims gained dominance without engaging in any war. The Muslims are facing the same situation once again. All over the world they suffer from the psyche of having been defeated by the other party. This feeling is very disturbing to them. Incidents such as suicide bombings in present times result from this frustration.
In the 21st century, Muslims have the opportunity to re-enact the history of Hudaybiyyah so that the history of a ‘clear victory’ might be repeated (The Quran, 48:1). The second victory without doubt is possible but in the non-political sense rather than in the political sense. In present times, such circumstances as made the signing of the Hudaybiyyah peace treaty possible, exist in very large measure. The opportunities found in ancient times in a limited way by making a ten-year peace treaty have now become a part of the universal norm. Now those opportunities have been produced in the wake of the global situation. There is no need to arrive at such agreements through negotiation such as took place at Hudaybiyyah. Now all those things have been permanently achieved, in practice, such as in ancient times had been achieved in a limited way after arriving at a ten-year peace treaty.
What was the objective of the Hudaybiyyah treaty? It was aimed at providing the believers opportunities for peaceful dawah work.
In recent times, under the United Nations Organization (U.N.O), the right to all kinds of freedom has already been achieved. Now the need of the hour is for the Muslims to abandon the path of violence and plan their actions along peaceful lines.
Now there is no need for any nation or community to establish its political power. In ancient times what was possible to accomplish through political power has now become possible to achieve through organizations. In ancient times battles had to be waged to achieve any goal. Now that has become possible through communication. In ancient times, the kings had to use military power to achieve their goals. Now under the universal norm, it has become possible to achieve everything through peaceful methods. In ancient times for any task to be accomplished the political area had to be expanded. Now the same can be done by sitting in a computerized office or through outsourcing, etc.
The Example of
the First Man
God created the first man Adam and settled him and his wife Eve (Hawwah) in paradise. But Adam did not fulfill his promise. God had forbidden him to eat the fruit of a certain tree, but he still ate it. Consequently, he and his wife were expelled from paradise. Then, both of them showed genuine repentance. They earnestly sought the forgiveness of God; then they were forgiven and regained their entry into paradise, provided they adhered to the faith and performed good deeds.
It appears that according to the initial plan, paradise was meant for all human beings in general. But when Adam did not adhere to his promise with God and he indulged in a forbidden act, the Creator laid down another principle for man. This principle was based on selection, that is, the paradise which had been attainable earlier for every man and woman was now attainable only by those men and women who managed to pass the divine test, while those who did not pass the test would remain deprived of paradise forever. This event (of Adam) was an eternal lesson for man. Now the only way to success for man is that if his first plan does not work, he should refrain from wasting his time in any irrelevant activity. All he should do is understand the circumstances anew and re-plan his actions.
This event took place at the beginning of human history. In this way, the Creator gave man the lesson that in the world it will repeatedly happen, for some reason or the other, that man will lose the first chance, and that on such occasions he shall have to save himself from negative thinking and instead engage in re-planning in the light of the earlier experiences. This is the only way to success in this world.
Man has been granted total freedom in the present world. Because of this, the circumstances here are not always favourable for man. Man has to undertake his journey by beating a path through unfavorable circumstances. This principle holds good for everyone whether he be religious or secular, powerful or weak. Every person or group is faced with such circumstances. In such situations, we have to refrain from blaming others, from complaining and protesting against them. This is because making complaints or protest is nothing less than a waste of our time and resources in this world. On finding that the first plan has not been successful, one should not waste one’s time in holding others responsible for this. He should rather judge in an unbiased way, according to his circumstances, and plan anew for further actions.
The first principle of successful re-planning is for man to acknowledge his own shortcomings. He must seek the cause of failure within himself. He should admit to the cause of failure lying within himself and be able to make a correct judgment of the situation. Therefore, what he has to do now is to make a reassessment of what has gone before and in that light re-plan his actions realistically.
The principle of re-planning for life is an eternal principle. It was valid on day one and will be valid in later times. So long as man has freedom in this world and the principles of cause and effect are prevalent, everyone will have to adopt this principle. Those who follow this principle will be successful in this worldly life and those who do not do so will certainly be deprived of success in this world.
Desert Therapy
God created man and settled him on this planet earth, providing him with all sorts of opportunities. He also gave him full freedom. Now it is man’s choice whether or not he holds himself deserving of eternal success by making the right use of freedom. But if he misuses his freedom, according to the creation plan of God, nothing but eternal failure will be in store for him.
God has given man the ability to reason. He has instilled in him the distinction between truth and falsehood, right and wrong. Subsequently, God made the arrangement of sending His messengers to every community and in every area. These messengers imparted to them the knowledge of truth as well as falsehood in their own understandable language. The Prophets performed this task in the best possible way, but men, by misusing their freedom, inevitably failed to give a positive response to their call. This is expressed thus in the Quran:
“Alas for human beings! They ridicule every messenger that comes to them.” (36:30)
According to His creation plan, God did not want to deprive humans of their freedom. That is why, by maintaining human freedom, God devised another plan for guidance. In order to realize this new plan, God chose Abraham and his progeny. This happened between 2324 to 1850 BC. This was like a matter of re-planning of Divine guidance.
Prophet Abraham was born in ancient Iraq. There he showed people the path of truth but the inhabitants of Iraq at that time were idolaters. They did not accept the message of Abraham. Finally, in accordance with the Divine plan, Abraham left Iraq and settled in the desert area where Makkah is now situated. He settled his wife Hajira and his son Ishmael at a place where there was nothing except the desert.
This new planning can be called desert therapy. This desert environment, although extremely unfavorable for the human population, was the most proper place for the new planning. In this desert environment, naturally, a new community or race began to be formed which was away from the ill effects of civilization. Besides the environment of nature, there was nothing else to influence them. In this environment of nature, Ishmael, son of Abraham, married a girl from a tribe of Jurhum and then through a long chain of procreation, a new race or community began to come into existence. This desert planning has been mentioned in Sahih al Bukhari in a long tradition (Hadith No. 3364).
This Abrahamic Sunnah was a case of second planning. What was desired was to prepare a new strong community whose nature was intact, and because of that desert training they had developed the ability to receive the message of truth without any difficulty. It was into this generation that the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad bin Abdullah, was born in 570 AD. Those who are known as Ashaab-e-Rasool (the Prophet’s Companions) belonged to this generation.
As expected, this plan was successful. Through a great dawah struggle, the Prophet and his Companions prepared a group which brought about a revolution on the basis of monotheism. It was this group which initiated a new age in human history. For the first time in human history their sacrifices resulted in a revolutionary process which changed the very course of history. As a result of this process, on the one hand, the age of shirk came to an end and along with that, on the other hand, the thinking of independent research and investigation in nature was produced. Later on, that age dawned in human history which is called modern civilization. This revolution in history was the result of re-planning.
The Emigration to Madinah
The mission of the Prophet of Islam was that of monotheism, that is, to replace the ideology of polytheism with the ideology of monotheism throughout the world. The Prophet began his mission in ancient Makkah in 610 AD. At that time, the culture of polytheism was prevalent there, the leaders of which had gained a position of dominance in every respect. After a period of opposition for thirteen years, these leaders finally gave an ultimatum to the Prophet that he and his Companions should either leave Makkah, or they would be killed.
For the Prophet this was a moment of crisis, but he did not adopt the way of reaction. Rather he judged the circumstances objectively and decided to leave Makkah quietly for Yathrib, that is, Madinah, one of the three major cities of ancient Arabia, which was about five hundred kilometers from Makkah. When the Prophet of Islam decided to leave Makkah, he said to his Companions, as recorded in the books of Hadith: “I have been commanded to emigrate to a township which will engulf all townships. People call it Yathrib and it is Madinah.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 1871)
On perusing this tradition of the Prophet, we find that in essence, the emigration to Madinah meant the re-planning of the mission.
When the Prophet reached Madinah, he did not adopt a negative attitude towards the Makkans. Rather by ignoring their behavior, he carried out the new planning of his mission in a totally positive manner. (For details, see the book of the writer: “Muhammad—A Prophet for All Humanity” [English] and “Paighambar-e-Inquilab” and “Seerat-e Rasool” [Urdu].) For instance, he sent dawah delegations in great numbers to the tribes living in Arabia and sent dawah letters to the Kings and Emperors outside of Arabia, negotiating peace treaties by accepting unilateral conditions. The Quraysh wanted to embroil him in war by attacking unilaterally, but the Prophet very wisely managed to reduce their attacks to mere skirmishes. All this was done so that the process that had been initiated for the re-planning of the mission might continue unhampered.
This re-planning of his mission was fully successful in the eighth year of Hijra. The result was miraculous. The Muslims entered Makkah once again as victors but without waging any war.
When the Prophet conquered Makkah and the Makkan chieftains were brought before him as prisoners of war, he did not engage in any retaliation against them. Rather he forgave them by saying, “I will say what the Prophet Yusuf said to his brothers, ‘I don’t lay any blame on you. May God forgive you, He is very merciful.’” The narrators said that when they left the Kabah, it seemed as if they had come out of their graves and they all entered the fold of Islam (Sunan Al-Kubra al Bayhaqi, Hadith No.18275).
The chieftains of Makkah knew that they were guilty of oppression. In spite of that, the Prophet of Islam forgave them unilaterally. As a result of such behavior on the part of the Prophet, it was but natural that they felt ashamed of themselves and surrendered before him. On the contrary, had the Prophet adopted the path of revenge, then certainly they would also have reacted in the same coin. A chain reaction would then have set in. Both the parties would have set about seeking revenge. According to the laws of cause and effect, the peaceful mission of the Prophet of Islam would in the very first instance have found itself in unnecessary difficulties. But thanks to his noble behavior, the Prophet’s mission continued unabated.
The Plan of Hudaybiyyah
The Prophet and the Companions of the Prophet left Makkah in the 13th year of prophethood and adopted Madinah as the center of their action. But the Makkan chieftains did not approve of this. They wanted to attack Madinah and put an end to the mission of the Prophet. As a result, a few battles took place, for instance, the battle of Badr, the battle of Uhud, etc. Because of these attacks, the Prophet of Islam was not able to find an opportunity to continue his mission in peaceful circumstances.
But then later, the Prophet devised a new plan. In the 8th Year of Hijra, he announced that he would go to Makkah for the performance of Umrah. About 1400 companions joined him in this journey. The Makkan chieftains learned of this when this caravan reached Hudaybiyyah, which is situated between Makkah and Madinah. They sent some of their men to stop Muhammad and his Companions from advancing further to enter Makkah. Subsequently at Hudaybiyyah, both the parties entered into negotiation which continued for about two weeks. This agreement settled between the two parties is known as the Hudaybiyyah agreement. Under this agreement both the parties accepted the condition of no fighting for a period of ten years between the two. In this way, this agreement was a ten year no war pact. As a result of this agreement, the Prophet of Islam found an opportunity to plan his mission in peaceful circumstances, which finally resulted in clear victory. The Quran puts it thus: “Truly, We have granted you a clear victory.” (The Quran, 48:1)
The agreement of Hudaybiyyah was certainly a clear victory but how did this peace treaty become a reality? It became a reality when the Prophet of Islam unilaterally accepted all the conditions of the other party.
The ultimate factor in accepting the conditions of the other party unilaterally was that when the peace treaty began to be written with the wording “This agreement is between the Prophet, the messenger of God”, the representatives of the other party (Quraysh) objected to this, saying that since they did not accept him as a Prophet, they should therefore rather write Muhammad bin Abdullah, that is, Muhammad son of Abdullah. The Prophet accepted this without any argument, and asked Ali, who was writing this agreement on paper, to delete those words, saying, “O Ali write, this is an agreement: between Muhammad bin Abdullah…” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No.3187)
After the Hudaybiyyah treaty, the circumstances changed to the extent that Makkah was conquered within a period of two years. The Hudaybiyyah agreement attests to the fact that if we want victory, we must first of all accept our defeat; if we want to advance, we must first be willing to go back or retreat. If we want the title of the messenger of God to be written on the pages of the world, we should at times be willing to delete it from the paper.
Practical wisdom is a wise principle which can be called the strategy of buying time. In the Hudaybiyyah agreement, accepting all the conditions of the other party unilaterally for peace was like employing this very strategy. This strategy worked wonders and subsequently in a very short time Arabia witnessed a bloodless revolution. This event was also one of re-planning in reality.
In ancient times the no-war agreement was achieved temporarily after a great sacrifice. In present times, this state of affairs has already been established in the world as the universal norm. The UNO was established in 1945 to encompass all the nations of the world who accepted, through a unanimous agreement, that everyone would enjoy total freedom for peaceful actions, that no nation would attack another nation and that no one would have the right to resort to coercion. Now violence in principle has become a criminal act provided man goes about his work fully observing the principle of peace.
Differentiating Between the Relevant and the Irrelevant
Re-planning has every chance of succeeding but with some preconditions. One condition is that during planning one should not become involved in any such activity as may become an obstacle to the process of planning. Only then can the process of planning continue uninterruptedly.
One example of this is the construction of the Kabah. The first construction of the Kabah was done by Prophet Abraham and Prophet Ishmael about 2000 BC in Makkah. Once Makkah was hit by a storm with heavy rains in the wake of which a part of the building of the Kabah was destroyed. At that time Makkah was dominated by idolaters. They rebuilt the Kabah around the 5th century AD. For certain reasons they did not build the Kabah on its foundations, but rather left one portion uncovered, which still remains as it is. According to the Abrahamic plan, the Kabah was in the form of a rectangle, but the Quraysh rebuilt it as a square. They left one part of it uncovered, without a roof, which is now called Hateem. The area of Hateem is one fourth of the area of the Kabah.
According to Sahih Bukhari, as recorded in the books of Hadith, the Prophet of Islam once said to Hazrat Ayesha, “Have you not seen that when your people built the Kabah, they made it smaller as compared to the Abrahamic Kabah?” Hazrat Ayesha replied, “O messenger of God, then why don’t you build it again on the Abrahamic foundation?” The Prophet said, “If your people had not entered Islam recently, I would have done so.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 1583)
This saying of the Prophet of Islam has been explained thus by Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani: “He gave concession to the hearts of the Quraysh.” (Fath Al-Bari Vol. 3, p. 457)
The truth is that, in the matter of religion, people are very sensitive. When any religion has lasted a long time, it acquires a sacred character in the eyes of the people. They do not tolerate even minor changes in it. If the Prophet of Islam had made changes in the building of the Kabah, it was to be expected that the people would not be able to tolerate that, hence the result would be negative. Consequently, the process of gaining acceptance for the religion of monotheism in Arabia would have been jeopardized. The real mission would have been greatly harmed by this.
This shows that Islam attaches great importance to giving concessions to the people in the Quran (9:60). This is called talif-e-qalb (softening of the heart). A study of the life of the Prophet of Islam tells us that softening of the heart is an important principle of Islam.
The Prophet always differentiated between the relevant and the irrelevant in his dawah mission. He never ignored something important for something of no significance. He always kept the real target in his focus. He always avoided anything irrelevant to the real target. This is another condition for re-planning. Concentrating on the real target is a permanent principle of Islam. Another name for this principle is wisdom. After studying in detail the life of the Prophet, the writer has discovered this definition of wisdom: “Wisdom is the ability to discover the relevant by sorting out the irrelevant.”
Dr. Michael Hart in his book, ‘The 100’ tells us that the Prophet of Islam was the most successful man in human history. In my view this was because he always adopted this wisdom in his mission. This was the secret of his great success.
Practical Requirements
Islam has opted for the system of politics based on consultation (shura). This is the same thing which has been called democracy in present times. After the death of the Prophet of Islam, the system of Khilafat was established on the basis of this principle. But about thirty years later, people felt that the system of Khilafat was not workable. In politics the most important thing is stability but, under the system of the Khilafat, this goal of stability could not be achieved. Therefore, after the rule of the fourth caliph, Hazrat Ali Ibn Talib, the dynastic system became prevalent in the Muslim world and in later centuries this system remained prevalent among the Muslims.
At the time this dynastic system was initiated, the companions as well as their disciples were present in large numbers. Then followed the age of traditionists, jurists, and the Ulama of earlier times. All these people in practice accepted this political change. What was the reason for this? The explanation is that in Islam the actual aim of politics is social stability. This social stability which was not sustainable under the Khilafat system was achieved by them under dynastic rule. Therefore, this dynastic rule came to be accepted following the principle of practical wisdom.
This was also a case of re-planning. In the first stage of Islam, the system of Khilafat was established but over time this system of Khilafat did not prove to be functioning as desired. The reason was that as a result of the history of the last several centuries, people had become conditioned to the idea that the right to rule belonged only to royalty. Because of the prevalence of this system, practical wisdom demanded that dynastic rule should be accepted so that, at least, the goal of political stability would be achieved. As such, this system of dynastic rule was adopted for practical reasons, rather than for theoretical reasons. This is an example of re-planning. The experience of history has shown that in this matter, the decision of re-planning arrived at in the first age of Islamic history was, in reality, absolutely right.
Re-planning does not relate to principle but rather to method and the method is never absolute; rather it is determined as a rule on the basis of pragmatism.
According to a well-known tradition of Hazrat Ayesha, when the Prophet of Islam had to choose between two options, he always preferred the easier one (aisar) to the harder one. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2327). Here aisar means the easier option, that is, the method which is easily practicable, that is, easily workable in a non-controversial manner without creating any problems.
With this Hadith we learn an important principle of successful planning, that is, only that planning is of real worth which is fully practicable, which is non-controversial, and result-oriented, rather than being just attractive in appearance but when implemented would only increase the problems. The truth is that first we have to see, as far as a plan is concerned, what is workable and what is not workable. In this way, we can save ourselves from futile activities.
One has to plan by keeping the result in view. That is, if the first plan did not show results then the second plan must be result-oriented. The goal, which was not achieved in the first plan, can be achieved in the second plan.
Accordingly, it would be right to say that the mistake or error in implementing the first plan is forgivable, but any mistake made in the second plan is not forgivable. In this respect, the right method of the second plan is that one should start by fully admitting one’s mistakes; the second planning is no planning at all, if it is to add to the already existing harm.
The Event or Incident
of Tartar Attacks
In the 13th century, Central Asia was ruled by Khuwarizm Shah. Once the Mongol leader, Changaez Khan sent one of his ambassadors to the court of Sultan Alauddin Shah. But owing to some misunderstanding, the Tartar ambassador was killed. This so enraged Changaez Khan, that with his tribal army he attacked the Muslim empire. His grandson, Hulagu Khan, made the conquest complete by destroying the Muslim world from Samarkand (Russia) to Aleppo (Syria).
The historian Ibn-e Aseer has held this event in Muslim history to be the deadliest of all. The Muslim world yearned for retaliation. Political activities were launched leading to the battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 AD. In this battle, the Muslims did gain some partial success, but they failed to expel the Tartars from the Muslim world. Finally, people lost any hope of defeating the Tartars. The Muslims began saying that if anyone said that the Tartars had been defeated or made prisoners, this should be treated as mere rumors. (Al-Kamil Fi al-Tarikh, Vol. 10, p. 353)
There was no conscious effort by anyone to give the Muslims the message of re-planning. However, the pressure of circumstance also acts as a teacher. As such, a new silent process set in amongst the Muslims of those times. Although this process was the result of circumstance, in effect, it took the form of re-planning, that is, opting for the method of peaceful dawah work and abandoning futile engagement on the battlefield.
On this subject, the British author T.W Arnold (1864-1930) wrote a well researched 388-page book “The Preaching of Islam” first published in 1896.
In this book, Professor Arnold writes in detail as to how under the pressure of circumstance a new line of thinking developed amongst the Muslims of those times. This was based on peaceful dawah instead of armed struggle. The work of peaceful dawah was undertaken amongst the Tartars on such a large scale that finally the majority of the Tartars accepted Islam. Referring to this event, Phillip K. Hitti writes in his book, “History of the Arabs” that: “The religion of the Muslims had conquered where their arms had failed.” (History of the Arabs, 1970, p. 488)
This statement of Professor Hitti can be differently worded, “Where the first planning of the Muslims had failed, the second planning had succeeded.” The process began with the event of the conversion of the Tartars, which has been thus described by Arnold:
“This Prince, Tugluq Timur Khan (1347-1363), is said to have owed his conversion to a holy man from Bukhara, by the name of Shaykh Jamal al-Din. This Shaykh, along with a number of travellers, had unwittingly trespassed on the game-preserves of the prince, who ordered them to be bound hand and foot and brought before him. In reply to his angry question, how they had dared interfere with his hunting, the Shaykh pleaded that they were unaware that they were trespassing on forbidden ground. Learning that they were strangers and were quite unaware that they were trespassing on forbidden ground, and also learning that they were Persians, the prince said that a dog was worth more than a Persian. “Yes” replied the Shaykh, “if we had not the true faith, we should indeed be worse than the dogs.” Struck with his reply, the Khan ordered this bold Persian to be brought before him on his return from hunting, and taking him aside asked him to explain what he meant by these words and what was “faith”. The Shaykh then set before him the doctrines of Islam with such fervor and zeal that the heart of the Khan that before had been hard as a stone was melted like wax, and so terrible a picture did the holy man draw of the state of unbelief, that the prince was convinced of the blindness of his own errors. However, he said, “Were I now to make a profession of the faith of Islam, I should not be able to lead my subjects on to the true path. But bear with me a little, and when I have entered into the possession of the kingdom of my forefathers, come to me again.” Later he accepted Islam.” (The Preaching of Islam, London, 1913, pp.180-81)
The Lesson of
the Babri Masjid
A mosque was built in Ayodhya (India) in 1528-29 by the Mughal King Babur’s governor Mir Baqi. That is why it was named the Babri Masjid. The Hindus complaint that this mosque had been built on the ground of Ram chabutara. That is why, this was a controversial mosque from day one. The Hindus were unhappy about this mosque even after independence. Then in 1947 during a movement launched by the BJP, this mosque was demolished. This incident took place on December 6, 1992 and a makeshift temple was constructed at the place where the mosque had stood.
After this event, the Indian Muslims launched a tumultuous movement. All the Muslim leaders unanimously demanded that the Babri Masjid should be rebuilt on the same spot. The writer felt that fulfilling such a demand was impossible. Now the Muslims should demand something which is practicable in the present circumstances. That is why, the author offered the suggestion that the Muslims should show willingness to relocate the Babri Masjid. The Hindu side immediately accepted this proposal but the Muslim leadership, both religious and secular, rejected this proposal. They insisted that the Babri Masjid should be built at exactly the same place where it had stood before the demolition. This demand was totally impracticable in view of the present circumstances. That is why, despite continuous efforts on behalf of the Muslims, this issue remained unresolved for decades.
Had the Muslim leaders known the importance of re-planning, they would have immediately accepted the proposal of relocation and by now in its neighborhood an Islamic center would have been built in the name of the Babri Masjid.
The way of relocation of the mosque has generally been adopted in the Arab world, then why was it not acceptable to the Indian Muslim leaders? The reason is that in the Arab world no other option existed because of the restriction on Muslims’ freedom: whereas in India, because of the prevailing freedom there was no compulsion, and the Muslim leaders were unaware that re-planning was also an accepted principle of Islam.
There is a guiding example in this matter. In the pre-prophethood era, once ancient Makkah received heavy rain. This damaged the building of the Kabah. At that time, the idolatrous chieftains of ancient Makkah had to rebuild the building of the Kabah. But for certain reasons, they left one third of the area of the Kabah uncovered without any roof over it. This uncovered area still exists in its previous condition. In this respect, the present building of the Kabah in itself is an example of relocation. The ancient building of the Kabah which Prophet Abraham had built was rectangular in shape, whereas the present building is in the shape of a square. This is an example of the relocation of the building of the Kabah. History tells us that the Prophet of Islam practically accepted this relocation. He did not demand that the Kabah must be rebuilt on the ancient foundations in the same form.
In the initial phase of Islam, people had built mosques all around. In the 20th century when the Arabs discovered their oil wealth, they started developing their dwellings in the style of planned cities. In this plan of construction, everywhere these mosques came in the way.
Then it was decided that the mosques should be relocated in order to pave the way for city planning. This plan was in line with the fatwa of religious scholars. Therefore, mosques were relocated in great numbers in Arab countries and everywhere the religious scholars (Ulama) accepted this.
This precedent set by the Arab world should have been sufficient for Indian Muslims to follow suit; but the Indian Ulama differed, and due to their disagreements, this could not become an acceptable solution.
The Re-Planning
of Dawah
Calling people to God or dawah work is the most important mission of Islam. There are two phases of dawah from the beginning of the advent of Islam to the emergence of science and after the emergence of science to the 21st century. Prior to the age of modern science, dawah work was based on miracles as arguments. This has been called in the Quran as Bayyinat (The Quran, 57:25). In the second phase, dawah work has to be based on scientific evidence in respect of arguments. This scientific evidence is what has been referred to in the Quran as signs in the universe and in the creation of man (41:53). The Quran states: “We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is the witness of all things?” (The Quran, 41:53)
Modern science is nothing alien. This is indeed another name for the discovery of the hidden realities in nature. These hidden arguments were placed in nature, so that when the time came, these should be discovered and used in favor of Dawah by way of argument.
Now the final time has come when these arguments should be employed in favor of dawah and that great work is to be performed on the basis of scientific arguments, which has been called in the Hadith ‘Shahadat-e-Azam’, the great witness (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2938).
In present times this work of dawah has already been started on the basis of scientific arguments. The writer has studied the subject in detail and has written a number of books on this topic, one of these being, ‘Mazhab Aur Jadeed Challenge’ (God Arises) which was first published in 1966. This book has been translated into many languages. For instance, in Arabic it is titled ‘Al-Islam Yatahadda’ (1970) and in English ‘God Arises’ (1988), etc. Much work has been done on this subject by Christian scholars, for instance, a book has been published comprising of articles written by forty American scientists with the title ‘The Evidence of God in An Expanding Universe.’ This book was published for the first time in 1958 from the USA. Later on, this book was published from Egypt in 1987 with this title “Allahu Yatajalla fi Asril Ilm.”
Another book worth mentioning on this subject has been published with this title “The Bible, the Quran, and Science”. This book, first written by Dr. Maurice Bucaille in French, has been translated into English and other languages. In Arabic its title is “At Torat wal Injil wal Quran wal Ilm’’ (Beirut, 1986). However, much still remains to be done to complete this task. Modern scientific research has provided us with a new framework by using which it has become possible to prove or establish the teachings of Islam by the accepted academic or scientific standards of the time.
Modern Science, in reality, is the theology of Islam. It has provided us with the data on which we can base Islamic teachings by the accepted standard of the time.
Looked at from this aspect, the modern scientific age is the fulfillment of a prediction made in the Quran: “We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is the witness of all things?” (The Quran, 41:53).
In this verse of the Quran, the signs of the universe and the creation of man implies that in future the laws of nature would be discovered through scientific study. By these discoveries it will become possible to establish or prove Islamic realities at a high rational standard. In other words, this means that in future, such facts will be discovered on the basis of which it will become possible to compile the theology of Islam on the accepted basis of argument.
The Need for Wisdom
According to a tradition recorded in books of Hadith, “Wisdom is the lost property of a believer. He should take it wherever he finds it” (Sunan At-Tirmizi, Hadith No. 2687). This shows that a word of wisdom is not something belonging to some religious belief. Anyone may take it from wherever one finds it and may use it towards his own ends. This teaching is very important in that it greatly extends the sphere of re-planning.
This means that when the time comes for a group to engage in re-planning, they should not differentiate between their own people and others. Everything pertaining to wisdom should be acceptable to them: they should gather any piece of wisdom available anywhere and should re-plan their actions accordingly.
This principle of re-planning cannot be determined in advance. Re-planning is always done in changed circumstances, which has nothing to do with some religious belief or the other. Rather it has to do with understanding and insight. Everyone has the right to use his insight, engage in deeper thinking and assess the situation or circumstances in an unbiased manner. He should discover the meaningfulness of the eternal principles of nature. In this way, it will become possible for him to achieve his goal without disturbing the system of nature.
There is an example of this principle in the life of the Prophet of Islam himself. In the 5th year of Hijra, the Prophet of Islam was in Madinah when he learnt that the leaders of the Quraysh were planning to attack Madinah with a 12000 strong army. The Prophet consulted his Companions as to how to solve this problem without bloodshed. One of his Companions was Salman Farsi who belonged to Iran. He said that in their country when kings wanted to avoid war, they would dig a trench between them and their opponents. In this way a buffer was established between the two parties to avoid war. The Prophet of Islam approved of it and he and his companions worked day and night to dig a long trench towards the open border of Madinah. In this way, the war was averted.
The method adopted by the Prophet of Islam is an example of re-planning. Earlier there was no way to save themselves from confrontation. This way of averting the war adopted by the Prophet shows that following the method of non-Muslims is as correct as following the method of one’s own community. Both the methods are always equally important to achieve success. One example of this is found in the Quran: “Believers, be God’s helpers, as Jesus, son of Mary, said to the disciples, ‘Who will be my helpers in the cause of God?’ The disciples said, ‘We shall be God’s helpers.’ Some of the children of Israel believed in him and some denied the truth; we supported the believers against their enemies and they triumphed over them.” (The Quran, 61:14)
From this verse of the Quran, we find that the method adopted by the Christians invites God’s help or succour, and success can be achieved only by God’s help.
Another significant aspect about the Christians was that they understood the importance of the printing press, published translations of the Bible in different languages and spread them all over the world.
During the times of the Companions of the Prophet of Islam, printing press did not exist. Therefore, the Companions used to read out the Quran to people. In the present age of the printing press what is now required is to follow the Christian pattern. The translations of the Quran should be prepared in different languages and spread all over the world. Where the Companions of the Prophet were reciters of the Quran, we now have to become the distributors of the Quran. This is an example of re-planning as regards the publication of the Quran.
The Modern Age
One problem of the present-day Muslims is that they suffer from the mentality of anachronism on a large scale. This is because they have not discarded the model they have inherited from their past. Owing to the unawareness of the times, they are perpetuating the ancient model in the modern age. But this method is not going to produce any positive result. For instance, the language of fatwa for reform was prevalent in ancient times. Today’s Ulama are still adopting the same model of fatwa for reform. That is why they opt for the way of Takfir (declaring a Muslim to be guilty of apostasy). They issue a fatwa of kufr against whatever they think is not right and they declare that the culprit must be killed, although today these methods are not going to work in any degree so far as reform is concerned. In the age of rational argument, only rational argument can be effective and acceptable to people. Today is not the age of the language of fatwa, it is not going to work.
Similarly, the Muslims have launched violent movements in the name of jihad on a large scale to achieve Islamic ends in present times. But that age no longer exists when the method of violence was effective. In present times, to achieve any goal the method of peace is fully workable. Therefore, the peaceful method, not the violent one should be used to achieve
our goals.
Another group of Muslims has adopted the method of debate in the name of the propagation of Islam, in spite of the fact that the method of debate has become outdated. In present times what is important for such work is dialogue and discussion rather than debate. The method of dialogue and discussion should, therefore, be used for the propagation of Islam.
Similarly, many Muslim leaders have adopted the model of protest journalism and protest leadership for the progress of their community, being unaware that this model of journalism and leadership has become totally ineffective. In present times, protest journalism and protest leadership are synonymous with wasting one’s time: they are not workable at all.
In present times, those Muslim leaders who rise for the cause of the Ummah are motivated only by their internal impulse. They never made a serious study to understand the present age and how to work effectively in present times. I would recommend that they read the book titled ‘The Great Intellectual Revolution’ by John Fredrick West. (1965, p.132)
The basic error on the part of the Muslim leaders is that they regard the modern age to be the enemy of the age of Islam. This is totally baseless. The truth is that the modern age is a pro-Islam age in the full sense. It is in accordance with the prediction made in this tradition which describes that a time will come when non-Muslim nations will become supporters of Islam. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 20454)
This is the plan of God Himself. A plan was initiated through Prophet Abraham, which can be called desert-based planning. Through this planning a team was formed which was favourable to Islam. By working on this team, the Prophet of Islam trained his Companions who were called the best nation ‘khair e ummat’ in the Quran (3:110).
Similarly, in the 7th century, by dint of the hard work of the Prophet and his Companions, a new historical process set in. Modern civilization was the secular product of this process. This civilization, in its reality, was a pro-Islam civilization. Muslim leaders failed to understand this and unnecessarily waged war against it. But the need of the hour was rather to initiate a new planning of the Islamic mission with the support of this civilization.
The Example of
the Crusades
The Crusades which started from 1095 AD and continued intermittently till 1291 AD, were military assaults launched by the western countries against Islam. During this time, the land of Baitul Maqdis was under Muslim rule. This land was called the holy land by the Christians. It had earlier been under the Roman Empire but became a part of the Muslim empire during the rule of Hazrat Umar, the Second Caliph.
During the Crusades almost the whole of Christian Europe unitedly attacked the Muslim world to regain this holy land. But, despite their united efforts they met with total defeat on this front. This event has been called “a humiliating defeat” by the historian Gibbon.
But it was a unique event in history that, after their defeat in the Crusades, the Christian nations did not develop a defeatist outlook. Rather a new positive spirit awakened within them. After their defeat in the Crusades, they only changed their sphere of work and took up peaceful research instead of settling matters on the field of battle. One commentator has called this phenomenon ‘spiritual crusade’.
The result of this peaceful crusade was that the Christian scholars of the West succeeded in bringing about a new age in human history, that is, the scientific age. They focused their entire energy on the research of nature. As a result, for the first time, the latent hidden technology within nature came within man’s understanding.
Islam for its part declared that nature was not a subject of worship but rather was a subject for investigation and research (The Quran, 45:12-13). In this way, Islam had theoretically delinked nature and worship from one another. The second development in this connection was thanks to the Christian nations of the west having carried out a great deal of research on nature. Finally, that age of science was produced which has resulted in modern civilization.
This initiative by Christian Europe is an example of re-planning. Christian Europe had first planned to capture the Holy land by the power of war. When this plan failed even after fighting on the battlefield for 200 years, their thinking changed. They engaged in re-planning in order to expend their energy in a peaceful field rather than on the battlefield.
This re-planning succeeded; within a few hundred years, a new political age had come into existence. By employing the latest resources Christian Europe regained on a much larger scale, the domination it had lost because of their defeat in the political field.
The Muslim leaders of this land could not do re-planning in this matter at the point when the division of Palestine was carried out in 1947 and the Arabs received half of Palestine. This was a time for re-planning for Arab leaders. They should have engaged in rethinking and the re-planning of their action according to the new circumstances, by doing away with the past political mindset. Had they done so, a powerful government would certainly have been established in Palestine. The area of Palestine given to the Arabs was the most important area of Palestine. Furthermore, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt were already in their possession.
This whole area is a historical area, having great attraction for world tourism. Had peace prevailed in this area, the tourist industry would have greatly flourished here. The Arabs would not only have received extraordinary economic benefits but because of the high tourist traffic in this area, dawah mission could have been performed on a large scale. It was because of their total unawareness of the importance of re-planning, this great opportunity could not be availed of. Hassan al Banna and other Arab Muslim leaders organized a huge gathering in Cairo on December 15, 1947. Addressing this gathering, Hassan Al-Banna said ‘Labaik Palestine’ (O Palestine we are present). Had they been wiser they would have given this slogan ‘Labaik Ayyuhan Nas’— “O people, we are present.” Then they would have built a new future for Islam and Muslims. But unfortunately, this great opportunity could not be availed of.
Vatican Model
According to a tradition of the Prophet of Islam, God will provide support by other nations to the believers
(Al-Mojam Al-Kabir of Tabarani, Hadith No.14640). One aspect of this tradition is that God will provide models by other nations or secular people to guide the Muslims in their religious mission. Such events have occurred repeatedly in human history. One of these can be called the Vatican model.
In ancient Europe, the Christian Pope had acquired the status of an uncrowned King of the entire continent. But the situation changed in the 17th century, when gradually the Pope lost his power. Now the Pope had to choose between two courses of actions: either the office of the Pope in terms of his political role come to an end or the title of the Pope remain intact at some non-political level. After much deliberation, the Christian authorities agreed on accepting this second position. This took place when Mussolini was in power. In 1929, an agreement called the Lateran Treaty was reached between the Christian Pope and the government of Italy. According to this treaty, the Pope was given a small area of just about 110 acres in Rome, the capital of Italy. This area which was already in possession of the Christians was now accorded the position of a State invested with political power. The Pope developed this land and now this is functioning successfully as Christianity’s spiritual kingdom.
With this Lateran treaty, the Christian nations found this opportunity to keep the title of the Pope despite the end of the papacy. In the name of the Pope, they organized and established religious organizations under a central authority all over the world. They are working in an organized manner for their religion all over the world. This is the wisdom which has been called in the Quran ‘Ihdal Husnayain’ or ‘one of the two goods’ that is, one of the two bests (The Quran, 9:52). I call this the availing of the ‘second-best’ opportunity.
In present times, the Muslims complain of their deprivation, but the truth is that this is not a case of deprivation, but rather of unawareness of the realities of the time or the prevailing situation. In present times, Muslims have repeatedly found an opportunity to secure the second-best, like the Vatican model. But owing to their lack of wisdom, the Muslim leaders have failed to avail of this opportunity. For instance, in the first quarter of the 20th century, when it became clear that the political institution of the Ottoman Caliphate could not survive, the Muslim leaders had the opportunity to accept the second best after negotiations like that of the Pope. In the name of the Khilafat, they could have found an area suited to their purposes in Constantinople or in any other part of Turkey, and by developing an institution like that of the Vatican, could have kept intact the title of the Caliphate. This was an opportunity for the Muslim leaders to engage in re-planning. But the Muslim leaders of the time failed to prove to be realistic in this matter. As a result, the title of the Caliph came to an end forever.
Similarly, in 1952, when the government of Shah Farooq of Egypt was replaced by military rule in Egypt, President Jamal Abdul Nasir had at that time been offered the ministry of education to Al Ikhwanul-Muslimun of Egypt. But their leaders rejected this offer. Similarly, President Mohammad Ayub Khan of Pakistan had offered the Jamaat-e-Islami complete charge of an international university in Pakistan in 1962. But the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan rejected this offer. All this was a case of failure to re-plan. Such failure is to be blamed for all the problems of the Muslims in modern times.
The Experience of Spain
The Arab Muslims entered Spain in the 8th century AD. Here they established their government in a part of Spain, which is called Al-Andulus. This government saw its ups and downs but remained in power for a period of 800 years. In the last phase, there was a revolt against the Arab Muslims, and, after a bloody war, the Arab Muslims were totally expelled from Spain.
The Arabs were recorded as invaders in the ancient history of Spain. But now a new history of Spain has been written which regards the period of Arab rule as a part of their own history. One example of this new age is that, on the coast of Spain, the statue of an Arab ruler, Abdul Rehman ad-Dakhil holding a sword in his hand and standing as a conqueror has been set up. This is the inscription: Abdul Rehman I landed at Almunecar in Al-Andalus to the east of Malaga, in September 755. This statue was created in 1984.
What is the cause of this revolution in Spain? The truth is that the 8th century AD was the age of political rule. In those times there was no positive concept related to political rule. But in the 20th century, the situation has changed entirely. Now under present day circumstances, a new industry has come into existence in the world: the tourism industry. Today this industry is a major source of income for many countries. In Spain, there were a great number of historical monuments pertaining to the Muslim period. Tourists started coming from all over the world to visit these sites. When the government of Spain learnt that there was a big source of economic uplift in its country because of the historical monuments of the Muslim period, it undertook renovations of these places on a big scale. As a result, Spain became the number two country on the map of the tourist industry. Its economic activities so increased that a backward country became a wealthy country.
This was the miracle of re-planning. The leaders of Spain understood the change in the times and re-planned accordingly. In this matter, owing to economic interest, the biased policy of Spain came to an end. Now the situation is that, once again Muslims are settling in Spain. They are building mosques and Islamic centers. As a result of these changes, the message of Islam is being communicated to the inhabitants of Spain. Today, the Muslims are being welcomed in Spain whereas earlier, they had become unwanted in the same country.
The Muslim world has a great lesson to learn from this re-planning of Spain. Similarly, there are opportunities for re-planning in Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Kashmir and other Muslim lands on a big scale. If the Muslims could develop this phenomenon in the modern world, today’s world would become for them a favourable world which they have so far regarded as unfavourable.
The Muslims of present times only know of such monuments as Al Hamra of Cordoba in Spain. But Spain has a bigger and more revolutionary message for the Muslims. The Muslims ought to realize the realities of the time and re-plan their actions accordingly. They will subsequently see that all of a sudden, a new age has set in in the whole world—an age of hope and opportunities.
The door to avail of new opportunities in Spain opened only when they abandoned their negative thinking. The Muslims whom they had regarded as their enemies, were ultimately discovered to be their friends. Similarly, what the Muslims have to do is change their thinking. If they manage to do so, they will find that the world of today is their own world. In today’s world they can script the new history of Islam.
Colonialism
The 16th century to the first half of the 20th century is the age of Colonialism. This system of Colonialism was different from the imperialism of earlier times. The truth is that, after the emergence of modern industry, the age of mass production was ushered in Europe. Now the need was to find a market elsewhere in the world for this extra production. Therefore, the age of Colonialism began to be shaped by commercial compulsions. And because of the ancient system already in place, dealing with excess production required military intervention. Otherwise, military engagements were not a feature of Colonialism.
Because of this association of the army with Colonialism, many states of Asia and Africa showed severe reactions. By the end of the 20th Century, it was clear that Colonialism and political power could not go together. Then, a new thinking emerged in the west. It was finally decided that Colonialism should be de-linked from political power. Therefore France, during the times of De Gaulle, dismantled its Colonialism in Africa unilaterally. In a similar way, Britain quite finally dismembered its colonial governments in Asia.
Subsequently, the western nations engaged in re-planning to achieve their goals. The method of this re-planning was based on outsourcing, as opposed to using the army as in the ancient colonial system. Now the same goals were to be achieved by technology and organization. This method was very successful.
In ancient times, commercial success was achieved through the use of the army. Now, far more commercial interests are being achieved through outsourcing. All over the world, all the industrial countries have expanded their businesses by the practice of outsourcing.
In this matter, the Muslim nations have failed miserably. In ancient times, the Muslims ruled in different parts of the world. But with the advent of the new age, their rule naturally came to an end, producing a negative reaction among the Muslims. They started waging war in the name of Jihad all over the world, even going to the extent of suicide bombing. However, despite their sacrifices for over two hundred years, they have not gained anything. They have not succeeded in bringing back the ancient political system. Now it is high time the Muslims engaged in the re-planning of their actions in this matter.
This re-planning has to be totally non-political. If in ancient times, the Muslims succeeded in establishing their governments, now they can avail of even more opportunities on a far larger scale to build a non-political empire peacefully.
The new opportunities opening up in modern times are tens of thousand times greater than the opportunities available in ancient times. Availing of these modern opportunities is entirely possible provided the Muslims totally abandon the path of violence.
The importance attached to military power in ancient times has now been replaced with the system of organization. Now the Muslims have this opportunity to re-plan their work through global organization. Like a peaceful nation, they may plan to avail of new opportunities.
One major feature of this new opportunity will be to distribute the Quran at a global level. If translations of the Quran are available in all the languages of the world, and if the word of God is spread all over the world in peaceful ways, this work would be so gigantic in nature that it would become the greatest of all great works.
The truth is that today the event of ‘clear victory’ (The Quran, 41:1) can be renewed with a greater vigour or power provided the Muslims learn the art of re-planning and put it into action wisely, in a peaceful manner.
The Example of Britain
The British Empire has a great history attached to it. During its zenith it was so vast that it came to be believed that the sun never set on the British flag. During its final days, the British Empire declined, as is in accordance with the laws of nature. But those in authority were not ready to dismantle the British Empire. The British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, (1874-1965) remarked “I have not become the king’s First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.”
But after the Second World War (1939-1945), British military power weakened considerably and apparently it was not possible for Britain to maintain its empire. At that time, a new movement was started in Britain by the Fabian society, the purpose of which was decolonization.
One member of the Fabian Society, Lord Clement Richard Attlee (1883-1967) became the Prime Minister of Britain,
succeeding Winston Churchill. Lord Attlee made an unbiased objective study of the state of affairs. Then he decided that India and other countries should be given independence unilaterally. Accordingly, India became free from British political power in 1947.
The British Empire was a matter of great national prestige for Britain. The British used to be proud of this national greatness but when the state of affairs changed, the British took a U-turn. They decided to distance themselves from their past sense of greatness and re-plan the building of their nation in accordance with the changed situation. Therefore, they acted accordingly under the leadership of Lord Attlee. As a result, the British succeeded in maintaining their national progress on this new basis.
This kind of political situation is also faced by the Muslims in present times. The Muslims had managed to establish their political empire on a vast land in the world. When a decline set in among the Muslims, their political glory gradually came to an end.
The reason was wholly internal, but the Muslims did not accept this. They continued to lay the blame on others for this. The result was that the Muslims suffered in general from negative thinking. They strove to bring back their past political glory, but this was an unreal plan which failed completely.
The right way for the Muslims is to stop living in the past and engage in re-planning for their national action. The situation, which was prevalent in ancient times was favourable for establishing an empire. But now, neither for the Muslims nor for any other nation is it possible to establish a political empire of the ancient type in the world. In this matter, if the Muslims think realistically, they will discover the possibilities in the new situation. Only then will it become possible for them to achieve their lost position once again.
The rise and fall of any nation offer a lesson. The British took the right lesson from its fall and soon they realized that it was the time for re-planning. But the Muslims in practice remained unaware of this reality. That is why after their decline they failed to do realistic re-planning for their national progress. This is the reason for the failure of the Muslims in present times.
The Example of Germany
Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, Germany was the major partner in the Second World War which lasted from 1939 to 1945. In this war, about more than 50 million people were killed, and other losses were much greater. When this long-drawn-out war came to an end, Germany had lost one third of its country (East Germany) besides suffering other great losses.
After the end of the war, Germany adopted the method of re-planning. During the first stage of planning, Hitler had been the leader of Germany. During the second stage of planning, the Germans chose to give credence to the philosophy of Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), their famous leader and statesman. Bismarck had said: “Politics is the art of the possible” (St. Petersburgische Zeitung, August 11, 1867 <https://www.shmoop.com/quotes/politics-art-of-impossible.html>).
After the Second World War, the intellectuals of Germany discovered that their first round of planning had been based on the impossible. Now they had to engage in new planning on the basis of the possible.
In the post-war period, Germany worked on this principle. It diverted its attention from war to peaceful progress, particularly in the fields of science and technology. As a result, Germany achieved great success in the later period. Particularly, in the matter of the printing press, it has established a new record all over the world.
This re-planning of Germany succeeded in about a quarter of a century. Germany became the number one industrial country of Europe. Now its economy is the most securely established in the whole of Europe. This progress made by Germany was achieved, in a word, by accepting the principle of re-planning.
In the Second World War, Germany had lost a vast tract of its country, but in the post-war period, Germany achieved whatever it had lost once again as a result of peaceful re-planning. This miracle happened in 1990.
Prior to the Second World War, the target of Germany, under the leadership of Hitler, was to make Germany the political master of the whole of Europe. In this, Germany met with total failure. After the Second World War, Germany set the practicable target of peacefully developing the remaining part of Germany. The first target of Germany had met with complete failure, while its second target of re-planning met with total success.
This experience of Germany shows that in modern times the importance of territory is relative. Even if a man has a small area, by wise planning he can achieve great success. This planning of a high order has two special elements: best communication and best organization.
Modern Germany did not only make itself highly developed, but it also set a model before the world: the model that shows how great success can be achieved after suffering a great loss. But the case of the Muslim countries is a different story. According to their own way of thinking, they have engaged themselves in a long-drawn-out battle for the recovery of their lost land, but they have failed to achieve any positive success. They must take a lesson from this example of Germany and engage in realistic planning on the basis of whatever they already have in their possession and, by availing of modern possibilities, they can achieve great success once again.
The Example of Japan
In the Second World War (1939-1945), Japan was a very active participant. It had high hopes of its involvement in the war. But in 1945, America dropped two atom bombs on Japan, as a result of which two big cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were destroyed. There was death and destruction on a large scale. This meant total defeat for Japan. But within 25 years, Japan was considered to be one of the most developed countries. How did Japan achieve this success? The answer is: through re-planning.
After the war, the thinkers of Japan deliberated on the whole matter anew. They concluded that despite exerting their utmost in the field of war and sacrificing lives and property, they had gained nothing. Subsequently, a new thinking emerged. They discovered that in this world any great success can be achieved through the power of peace alone. The way of violence can bring only destruction, it cannot result in any progress.
At the end of the war, the Japanese ruler Hirohito addressed his nation on the radio. He said that for the progress of Japan, “we have to bear the unbearable so that we may make Japan a developed nation.”
After the destruction caused by the two atom bombs, the Japanese nation wanted to have its revenge, but certain intellectuals of Japan came forward and managed to calm the anger of the Japanese nation by saying that although America had destroyed two of their cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in 1945, earlier in 1941, the Japanese had also destroyed the American naval base, Pearl Harbor, by suicide bombing; so, they must forget this tragic happening and resolve to build Japan anew.
Subsequently, Japan engaged in re-planning for national construction. In short, the Japanese abandoned the battlefield. For about 25 years, they attached all importance to scientific education and industry. The details of this new planning are all in the public domain and it was as a result of this new planning that Japan rose from the debris of total defeat and became a victorious country once again.
This re-planning by Japanese leaders has a big lesson for Muslim leaders. In Muslim lands one or another kind of unfavourable circumstance does exist. The Muslim countries also have the same possibility or opportunity to adopt the principle of re-planning and achieve great progress once again. For instance, when under the Balfour Declaration, half of Palestine was given to the Jews, the Muslim leaders should have accepted it. For centuries they had established their rule over Palestine, now if the Jews received this opportunity, it was in accordance with the laws of nature (The Quran, 3:140). There was nothing unjust about it. Had the Muslim leaders taken a decision of this kind, then certainly the history of Palestine would have been different today.
For the Muslims of the present times, the ancient history of Islam as well as secular history is replete with such examples.
The actual need of the hour is to study history objectively and the whole matter should be analyzed anew with an unbiased mind. If some doors are locked, other doors are open.
If re-planning is done by understanding the circumstances or situation, then certainly a new construction of the future can be done, provided we are ready to forget the defeats of the past and plan our actions keeping in mind the possibilities, and opportunities of the future.
The Experience
of Khalsa Tehrik
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) was a great Sikh Raja whose rule extended over a large area. The geographical reach of the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh included all lands north of the Sutlej river, and south of the high valleys in the north western Himalayas. The major towns in the Empire included Srinagar, Attock, Peshawar, Bannu, Rawalpindi, Jammu, Gujrat, Sialkot, Kangra, Amritsar, Lahore and Multan.
The Khalsa movement was initiated during the British period by the Sikhs, its goal being to restore the political glory of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. After the division of the country, its sphere became limited. But in 1979, it was revived in the form of the Khalistan national movement. Subsequently, the Sikh intellectuals felt that the Khalsa movement was proving counter-productive and that it was not going to yield any positive result. Ultimately, a new thinking emerged among the intellectuals of the Sikh community. They developed the same thinking in their community which I have called re-planning. That is, the period of Maharaja Ranjit Singh should be regarded only as a page in history and they should re-plan their actions in line with the changed circumstances.
These Sikh intellectuals told their community that after India’s independence (1947), the Sikh community had made great progress in India. Although they comprised just 2 percent of the Indian population, in practice they controlled 20 percent of the economy of the country. With this realization, Sardar Jagjit Singh Chauhan (died 2007), the leader of the Khalsa movement became unpopular in his own community. With this new mindset the Sikh community started re-planning and now Punjab is one of the wealthiest states of India.
This example of the Sikh community could be applied to Palestine and Kashmir. If the Muslims of Palestine and Kashmir were to learn lessons from this example and engage in re-planning for their national struggle, then without doubt they could create a new history in both these lands.
There are extraordinary opportunities for progress which are lying unavailed of because of unrealistic thinking. If the Muslims of Palestine and Kashmir were to learn the secret of re-planning, then without doubt they could carve out a great future for themselves.
In present times, not only in Kashmir and Palestine, but all over the world, the Muslims harbor negative thinking, holding others to be the oppressors and themselves the oppressed. Due to this mindset, positive thinking has not had a chance to develop. They can only think of their past glory and are totally unaware of the opportunities in the present. They know the culture of complaint, but they are not aware of such planning as is based on reality. Their thinking is based on the complaints that they harbor against their supposed oppressors, and due to this, they supposedly feel that they are the oppressed. If the Muslims of the present times were to banish this negative thinking, they would discover that the present age is totally in their favour.
Today’s age is wholly changed, but the Muslims are still living in the past. In practice, they are prisoners of history; this is the real problem of the Muslims. A new age can begin only when this negative mindset is changed.
Dr. Abdul Jalil Faridi of Lucknow (1913-1974) was the founding President of the Muslim majlis-e mushawerat. He published a daily Urdu newspaper ‘Qaid’. In one of its articles, he wrote that Muslim journalism was protestant journalism. These words are applicable to the entire journalism of the Muslims of modern times. Indian Muslims will have to bring into existence creative journalism instead of protest journalism, and only then will they be able to create a new age today. They are not going to achieve anything by complaint and protest.
Wrong Comparison
I received a question from a reader who said that when the Muslims were told that a large number of people had been killed during their warfare, they answered that in the World Wars innumerable people had been killed. Hitler killed tens of thousands of people. This is how they seek justification of their killing. The reader wanted to know the fallacy behind this.
The answer to this question is that it makes a wrong comparison. In this matter, what needs to be seen is what those nations, who were involved in the First World War and the Second World War, engaged themselves in after the experience of war. In this matter, their latter example is to be trusted rather than the earlier example. The events tell us that when those nations found that in the wars, they only incurred losses, that the way of war proved to be counter-productive, their leaders started rethinking. They analyzed the whole situation anew and subsequently adopted the practice of re-planning. They abandoned the way of war and adopted the way of peace in the full sense. Britain dismantled its great empire and limited its power to rule only Britain. France abandoned its African colonies on its own. Germany left East Germany and engaged itself in the construction and progress of West Germany. Japan entirely abandoned the way of war and violence and devoted itself to peaceful progress.
In present times, the Muslims have seen that despite all kinds of sacrifices on a large scale, they have only suffered losses, they have not gained anything. Now the demand of realism is that all the Muslims must take a U-turn and completely abandon the path of war and violence, and by adopting peaceful methods must engage themselves in the progress and construction of their respective countries. This is the demand of history and it is likewise the demand of Islam.
One principle of advice (nasihat) is that we should learn from others’ experiences. If people have found anything destructive in their own experience, then that must be shunned and only the positive lessons should be learned from their experiences. Neither the First World War nor the Second World War should be referred to or if it has to be referred to, then only the positive aspects should be taken up and that is, taking lessons from the negative experiences of war and then adopting the method of peaceful building by abandoning the ways of war.
Seeking justification from the errors committed by others is the worst kind of unwise approach. If you kill your supposed enemies and then say that others have also killed people, it would be adding insult to injury. The experiences of others are for learning lessons, rather than for justifying one’s wrong acts in this connection. There is a wise saying of Abdullah ibn Masud, a senior Companion of the Prophet of Islam, ‘Blessed is the person who can learn lessons from others. Imitating others is unwise action and learning good lessons from others is wisdom.’ (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2645)
ACCEPTING ONE΄S MISTAKE FOR POSITIVE RE-PLANNING
In the modern age, the issue of the Muslim community was that of its revival. Towards this end, the history of the Muslim struggle probably began in 1799 when Sultan Tipu of Mysore was killed fighting the British army. This struggle has continued till the 21st century on a large scale. But despite great sacrifices of life and property, the result has proved to be counterproductive. That is to say, that there was no gain, but the loss increased further. This futile experience demands that now the Muslims must adopt the way of ‘Tauba-e-Jamee’ (The Quran, 24:31) or collective repentance.
That is, taking a U-turn all together. They must make a reassessment of their efforts and then engage in re-planning.
The present state of Muslims is that they are repeating their past failed experiences again and again under different names. For instance, the theory of Islamophobia propagated by the Muslims living in the West, street activism of Al-Ikhwanul Muslimun in Egypt, the suicide bombing by Palestinians, the proxy-war of Pakistan, stone pelting of Kashmiris, protestant journalism of Indian Muslims, the discovery of enemies by Iran, Talibanization of Afghanistan, etc. All these are failed experiences. Repeating such experiences is nothing but a senseless repetition of an unproductive strategy.
The new future of the Muslim community can be built through positive planning and the process of new planning begins only with the admission that the previous courses of action were wrong.
Without accepting one’s mistakes, talking of a new future is like waiting for a green orchard to spring up without having planted any trees.
Conclusion
The Islamic movement in ancient times was traditional in nature but the great signs of the Creator in nature were hidden. God desired that these signs be discovered and compiled in book form so that a scientific framework should become available to prove the veracity of Islam and enable the realization of God at a higher level. With modern civilization this possibility has become a reality in the 20th century. It is this event which has been predicted in the Quran in these words: “We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is the witness of all things?’’ (The Quran, 41:53) After the discovery of the secrets of nature, all this has now become a reality.
The modern age, potentially, is the age of the emergence of Islam. The beginning of this age was marked by the research done by Galileo Galilee (1564-1642) and later confirmed by Stephen Hawking (1942-2018). This new age in every respect, was clearly predicted by the Prophet of Islam as follows: “Without doubt God will support Islam by those who would not be among the Muslims.” (Al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir of Al-Tabarani, Hadith No. 14640) This modern age is one which is supportive of Islam.
Now the time has come that the divine religion should be brought to the level of being completely understandable, supported by the discovered truths according to the prediction made by the Prophet of Islam. By using the modern means of communication, the message of the Creator has to be conveyed to each and every home, big or small. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 23814)
Islam has been presented by the prophets in every age. But there was another level of the emergence or advent of Islam termed in the Quran as tabeen-e-haq, the truth becoming clear enough (The Quran, 41:53). In the Hadith, this event of the emergence of Islam is called shahadat-e-azam (the great witness) (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2938). For this to happen, opportunities were required—on the one hand, for the realization of the Lord, and, on the other hand, great favourable circumstances to perform the task of dawah. Both these things have come into existence in their perfect form in today’s modern scientific age. Now a group is required who may recognize these opportunities and by availing of them may convert this final emergence of Islam into a reality. This has been expressed by the words of Shahadat-e-Azam in the Hadith.
The Muslim Ummah needs to re-plan for the Islamic mission in modern times. The only thing needed urgently is for the Muslim Ummah to shed its negative thinking which has been called uncleanness (rujz) in the Quran (74:5). Only those people can avail of modern opportunities for Islam’s second emergence who are fully free from negative thinking, who are positive thinkers of a high degree. This is an extremely positive task and only people who engage in positive thinking of a high order can perform it. These are the people who, by discovering the modern age to be an age supportive to Islam, will realize this possibility through re-planning.