Brethren-in-Islam!
In today's
lecture I have to explain to you as to why Salah, the numerous benefits of
which I have been continuously describing to you in my several discourses, is
not now yielding these benefits. Why is it that although you offer Salah, yet
your life is not ameliorated, your morals do not become pure, you do not become
a powerful army of God, the unbelievers are dominating over you, and you find
yourselves in a wretched and destitute plight? A brief answer to this question
could be that, firstly, you do not generally offer Salah and, secondly, when
you offer it you do not perform it in the manner prescribed by Allah and His
Messenger. Therefore you cannot expect those benefits from Salah which elevates
a Momin to the highest degree of excellence. But I know this much answer will
not satisfy you. Therefore I shall explain this point to you in some details.
One example---clock
You see in the
clock fixed on the wall before you that lots of small parts in it are joined
with each other. When you wind it, all the parts start working and as these
parts move, the result of their movements starts showing on the white disc
outside, i.e. both the hands crawl to denote each second and each minute. Now
you observe carefully. The purpose of making the clock is that it should
indicate the correct time. With this aim in view all those parts which are
necessary to show the correct time have been fitted in. Then all these have
been joined with each other so that together they move synchronously, while
every part performs that much specific work which it must to give the correct
time. Then the winding system was made so that these parts do not remain
stationary but move recurrently. Thus when all the parts were adjusted
correctly and winding was done, then only did this clock begin fulfiling the
purpose for which it was made. If you do not wind it, it will not show time. If
you wind it but not according to the method prescribed for it, it will stop,
or, even it works, it will not give the correct time. If you remove some of the
parts and then wind it, it will be a futile effort. If you replace some of the
parts with those of the sewing machine and then wind it, it will neither
indicate the time nor sew any cloth. If you keep all its parts inside it but
disjoin these from each other then no part will move even after winding it.
Although all the parts will be present inside it yet their presence will not
serve the purpose for which a clock is made because you have disrupted their
arrangement as well as their connection with each other as a result of which
they cannot move together. In all these positions which I have described to
you, although both the existence of the clock and the act of winding it become
useless, an observer from a distance cannot say that it is not a clock or that
you are not winding it. will surely say that its shape is just like that of a
clock and will expect that it will be as useful as a clock. Similarly, when
from a distance he will see you winding it he will take it as a genuine effort
on your part to do the job hoping to notice the result which comes off from winding
a clock. But how can this expectation be fulfilled when it looks like a clock
only from a distance while in reality it has lost its existence.
Aim of Muslim
You can
understand the whole situation
from the example I have given you. You can judge Islam on the lines of this clock.
Just as the purpose of the clock is to indicate the correct time, in the same
way the aim of Islam is that you live in this world as the vicegerent of God,
as a witness of God against mankind and a standard-bearer of the campaign of
Truth in this world. You must yourselves follow the commandments of God,
enforce these on all people and make them submissive to the law of God. This
objective has been clearly stated in the Qur’an:
"You are the best community that has been
raised up for mankind. Your task is to enjoin righteousness on all and prevent
them from misdeeds, and believe in Allah."
(Al-Qur'an 3: 110)
"And thus We have made you the best community
so that you be witness against mankind." (Al-Qur'an 2 : 143)
"Allah has promised such of you as believe and
do good work that He will surely make them His caliph in the earth."
(Al-Qur'an 24: 55)
"And fight them till the mischief of servitude
to other than Allah is annihilated and the worship is completely for Allah
alone." (Al-Qur'an 8: 39)
Islamic orders are coherent like parts of clock
In order to
fulfil this purpose, in Islam also all the parts, like those of the clock, have
been assembled which are considered necessary and appropriate. Religious
beliefs and principles of morality, rules for worldly dealings, rights of God,
rights of His slaves, rights of one's own self, rights of everything in the
world which you encounter, rules of earning livelihood and methods of
expenditure, law of war and rules for making peace, laws of governance and the
manner of obeying the Islamic government—all these are parts of a clock, arc
fastened to each other in such a sequence that as soon as winding is done,
every part, in conjunction with the parts starts moving and with the movement
of all these parts, the real result, i.e. domination of Islam and preponderance
of God's laws in the world, starts continuously manifesting itself just as with
the movement of the parts of the clock in front of you, the result goes on
appearing on its white disc. In order to fasten together the different parts in
the clock; some nails and small pieces of metal have been used. Similarly, in
order to keep together all the parts Islam had to maintain their correct
sequence, there is one instrument which is called Nizam-i-Jama'at.
There should
be a chief of the Muslims equipped with correct knowledge and adorned with the
quality of piety and the brains in the Jama'at, should jointly help him and the
limbs of the Jama'at should obey him. With the strength of them all, he should
enforce the laws of Islam and prevent the people from violating them. In this
way when all the parts are joined together, and they are properly arranged,
then to set them in motion and to continue their movement, winding is necessary
and that winding is provided by Salah which is offered five times in a day.
Then it is also necessary to clean this clock and for this purpose fasting
constitutes the cleaning process which is observed for thirty days in a year.
And this clock requires to be lubricated. Zakat is that oil which is applied to
its parts once in a year. This oil does not come from outside but some parts of
this clock themselves produce oil, and, after lubricating the parts of the
machine, enable it to function smoothly. Then it is also necessary to overhaul
it off and on. Hajj is that overhauling which it is necessary to perform at
least once in a lifetime. And the more it is done, the better it is.
Joining disparate not useful
Now you should
note that this process of winding, cleaning, lubricating and overhauling can be
useful only when all the parts of the clock are present in the frame, when each
one of these is joined with the other in the same order as was followed by the
clock-maker, and all are so fitted that immediately on winding they start
moving and begin showing result. But here the situation has become quite
different. First of all the very Nizanz-i-Jama'at with which the parts of the
clock were fastened together, has ceased to exist, with the result that all the
fittings havt, got loosened and disjointed, and the parts left scattered.
Now everybody
does whatever comes into his mind. There is nobody to question anything.
Everyone is independent. If he desired, he would follow the Islamic law,
otherwise not. When even this did not satisfy you, you pulled out many parts of
the clock and in their place everybody, as he chose, brought any part he wished
from some other machine and fixed it therein. One person brought a part of
sewing machine which he liked, another brought a part of flour mill for which
he took a fancy, and yet another brought something from a motor lorry which he
admired, and they all fixed these pieces in the clock.
The simile is
apt because, you, being a Muslim, carry on business in usury, you have insured
your life with an insurance company, you get involved in bogus law suits, you
render loyal service to Kufr, your daughters, sisters, and wives are being
turned into Mem Sahibs, your children are being imparted materialistic
education. Mr. Gandhi is also being followed along with singing of songs in
praise of Mr. Lenin. In short, there is no un-Islamic gadget which our Muslim
brothers have not thrust in the frame of the clock of Islam.
Those desirous of unexpected results
After doing
all these antics you now desire this clock to operate on winding it, and show
the same result for which it was made. Also by the supposed cleaning,
lubricating and overhauling of it you expect the same benefits that naturally
follow a genuine process. With a little wisdom you can easily understand that
in the condition to which you have reduced the clock no result can be achieved
even if you wind it, lubricate it and overhaul it for your whole life. Till
such time as you do not remove the parts brought from outside and in their
place put the original ones and fix and tighten them with the same arrangements
as was followed in the beginning, you can never expect those results which were
once shown by the clock.
Real reason why religious practices are ineffective
Please
understand fully that the above is the real reason why your Salah, fasting,
Zakat and Hajj are inconsequential. In the first place, there are so few among
you who offer Salah, observe fast, give Zakat and perform Hajj. Due to the
dissolution of Nizam-e-Jama'at everybody has become totally independent.
Whether he fulfils these obligatory duties or not, nobody is there to question
him. Neither those who perform these functions, do so in a befitting manner.
There is no constancy among them in attending congregational Salah and if that
practice is found anywhere, such persons are selected as /mums in the mosques
who are fit for no other work in the world. Those who subsist on the
charity-bread doled out to mosques and are uneducated, having no calibre and
morally depressed, have been appointed by you as Imams of that Salah which was
ordained to make you Allah's vicegerent upon the Earth. Likewise, the condition
of fasts, Zakat, and flajj is such that it defies description.
In spite of
all these facts you may assert that even now there are certainly numerous
Muslims who discharge their religious duties in proper order. But as I have
stated, when
the position
is this that the parts of the clock have been disjointed and scores of pieces
from outside have been inserted in it, it makes no difference if you wind it or
not, clean it or not, lubricate it or not. Of course from a distance it does
look like a clock. An observer would say : "This is Islam and you are
Muslims". When you wind this clock and clean it, a distant onlooker would
conclude that you are doing it quite genuinely. Nobody can obviously deny its
being "Satah" and Fasting", but what do the observer know that
inside this outward frame all sort of "workmanship" has been spoilt?
Our deplorable condition
Brethren-in-Islam!
I have
explained to you the real reason why religious deeds of yours are today unproductive
of result and why, despite offering Salah and observing fasts you are in the
clutches of unbelievers and an easy prey to every oppressor, instead of
becoming a divine inspector. But if you won't take it ill, I may tell you a far
more distressing fact. You no doubt regret this plight and feel its pang but
there are nineteen hundred and ninety-nine in a thousand such people, even
more, who are not willing for a change through the proper remedy. The)' cannot
bear prefabrication of this clock of Islam which has been dismembered and
infested with accretions by all and sundry according to their individual
liking, because when the extraneous material will be jettisoned in this process
each and every body's pet article will be inevitably removed. It cannot be that
things liked by others are done away with but the extraneous part you have
inserted is retained. Similarly, when your piece is riveted, all other pieces
wili also be riveted alongside. It is not possible at all that the pieces of
all others are tightened and your pieces alone are left loose. The central
point, therefore, is that when these will be tightened, others also will be
tightened with these, and it is a labour difficult to be tolerated by the
people cheerfully.
That is why
they want this clock to remain as it is as a piece of decoration on the wall
for people to be brought and shown from a distance as a bundle of miracles.
Those who are greater well-wishers of this clock than others would like to
repeatedly and zealously wind it in this very condition and also clean it most
laboriously but will never have its parts properly reset and tightened, nor
will they desire to get rid of the extraneous parts.
I wish I could
fall in line with you but I am helpless because I cannot negate my knowledge. I
assure you that, in view of deplorable condition if, besides the five-time
prayer, you were to offer TaHajjzid, Isizraq and Chasht prayers, and also read
the Qur'an for five hours a day, and observe, over and above Ramadan, extra
fasts for five and a half months in the remaining eleven months, even then no
benefit will be achieved. The position you ought to understand is that only
after the original parts are set properly in the clock and are riveted firmly,
then even a slight winding will make it operate smoothly, and a little cleaning
and lubrication of it will also produce the desired result. Otherwise, if you
wind it for the whole of your life, the clock will never work.
Wama alaina illal balagh:
There is no
responsibility on us except conveying the truth.
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