Islam And The Ummah: Reexamining And Reinventing Ourselves In The Face Of New Challenges
University Of London, London  22 September 2003 

I have chosen to speak on a very sensitive and  controversial  subject -  Islam  and  the  Ummah:  Reexamining and Reinventing Ourselves in the Face of  New Challenges. I hope I don't touch any raw nerve by  doing so.
  
2.  Firstly, does Islam need to be reexamined?  To  determine whether it should or should not, we have to  understand the fundamentals of Islam, the original  Islam as brought and preached by the Prophet, and see  whether there is any difference between this Islam and  the Islam that we believe in and practice today.
  
3.  We cannot change the fundamentals of Islam or we  will be changing the message and the teachings of Islam  as brought by the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad s.a.w.  We will in fact be changing the religion of Islam. And  it cannot then be Islam anymore. All we can do is to  determine whether the Islam of today has deviated due  to the interpretations of the fundamentals in order to  suit changing circumstances. We cannot and must not  accept a "New Testament" for Islam.
  
4.  Islam changed the feuding Arab tribes into a  united highly organised and sophisticated people who  built a great civilisation which lasted 1,300 years.  But today the followers of Islam, the Muslims are no  longer the great people they were in the early years of  Islam.  The great Muslim civilisation has almost  disappeared and the Muslims today are looked down upon,  oppressed and humiliated, their religion said to be a  terrorist creed, propagated by a terrorist prophet.
  
5.  Yet we know from the Quran that the Prophet s.a.w  brought glad tidings to the human community  and  promised good to those who accepted Islam.
  
6.  And we always pray to Allah for good (hassanah) in  this world, and good (hassanah) in the akhirat.
  
7.  The prayers by Nabi Adam Alaihissalam on his  arrival on earth in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 201 clearly  stated that he asked "Our Lord, give us good in this  world and good in the hereafter".
  
8.  Can we honestly say that the situation of the  Muslim in this world today is good? It certainly is  not. And if it is not, is it because of Islam, because  of its teachings? Or is it because changes have been  made to Islam so that it is no longer in accordance  with the original teachings of Islam.
  
9.  Changes occur to everything over time.  All  religions change over time.  All ideas and values  change over time. The Christian religion for example  has  changed and changed again until  the  early  Christians must find it impossible to reconcile their  Christianity with that practised today.  The sins of  yesteryear are now no longer sins so much so that even  the priests can indulge in them openly.
  
10.  The  same things happen to the ideals  of  egalitarian ideologies.  The French Revolution was  supposed to be about liberty, equality and fraternity  but no equality was accorded to the aristocrats. Over  time  the ideals of the Revolution evolved  into
Socialism, Communism; and then to the Dictatorship of  the Proletariat, the Dictatorship of a few in the  Communist regimes. Millions were killed during the  evolution of the egalitarian ideas of Socialism and  Communism. Eventually the ideals of liberty, equality  and  brotherhood were made convenient excuses for  denying them to those opposed to the Communist elites.
  
11.  Today we are seeing the same thing happening to  Democracy.  It has become an excuse for applying  sanctions, denying food and medicine, and finally to  war against innocent people, killing and maiming them,  invading and occupying their countries. The wishes of  the majority are negated by the veto of one, even as it  talks about promoting democratic processes. And we can  expect more changes to the application of democracy  until a dictatorship of democracy eventually destroys  the great ideals. As with the communists, the wheel  would turn full cycle.
  
12.  Clearly, it is not just Islam which needs to be  reexamined. All the religions, the ideologies and the  value systems of the world's human community need to be  reexamined. But we are of course concerned today with  the religion of Islam. Is it the religion that the  Prophet, Muhammad s.a.w. preached or is it different?  If it is then is it responsible for the sad state of  the Muslims today? Or is it because the religion has  been changed that it cannot deliver the good that was  promised?  Is it true as some would have us believe  that what the Muslims suffer today have been pre-ordained by Allah and Muslims will just have to endure  it? Is it true that they will enjoy heaven in the next  world because of their sufferings on this earth?
  
13. The Al-Quran says that all that is bad is from us  and all that is good is from Allah.  So we must  conclude that the present miserable fate which we  suffer, our oppression by others and the denigration of  our religion is due to us, not pre-ordained by Allah.  If that is so then we must find out what we have done  which is wrong, which is not in accordance with the  teachings of Islam, and has brought misfortune upon us.  We have to know this and knowing we have to correct  ourselves and return to the true Islam so we may once  again be blessed by Allah.
  
14.  Islam as all Muslims know is not just a religion,  a belief in the one God, Allah, in His Prophet. It is  not just about the performance of certain rituals, the  avoidance of sins. Islam is a way of Life -- Addin.  Islam governs every aspect of the life of the Muslims.  It guides their behaviour and everything that they do,  as individuals, as a community.
  
15. But is our way of life today Islamic? Many of us  believe that by the Islamic way of life we must wear  certain dresses, keep a beard and cover our body or  "aurat". But this is not everything as a way of life.  We perform prayers, fast, pay the tithes (zakat) and  perform the Haj. These are enjoined upon us together  with our declaration of faith in Allah and His Prophet.  But still these cannot be Addin, a way of life in  accordance with the teachings of Islam.
  
16.  Life for the individual and more so for the  community is much more complex and involves many more  things.  We have to eat, clothe and shelter ourselves.  We have to secure ourselves from all kinds of dangers  which threaten us. We have to ensure good health for  ourselves.  And this we cannot achieve as individuals.  We need  the services and efforts of others, the  members of the community.
  
17.  The Muslim belongs not just to himself.  He  belongs to the Muslim community, the ummah. The well-  being of the ummah is the responsibility of all the  members of the Muslim community. If that well-being is  not taken care of by the individuals or collectively by  the community, then every Muslim in the community would  have  sinned.  That is what is meant by "fardhu  kifayah."
  
18.  While the performance of "fardhu ain" is to gain  merit  for oneself, "fardhu kifayah" is for  the  community. Even if one performs "fardhu ain", it does  not absolve him from sin if the community needs are not  taken care of by some member or members of the  community. And so the production of food, clothing and  shelter for the community would form a part of the  injunction of Islam, failure in which would bring sin  and retribution in the afterlife for all in the  community. In fact as we have seen the retribution can  come even on earth.
  
19.  Apart from food, clothing and shelter, the human  community needs physicians to take care  of  the  individual and the community's health, laws and their  enforcement to ensure the security of the community and  its members.
  
20.  The Muslim and his community most certainly need  religious guidance so there will be no straying from  the prescribed path. For this there must be Muslim  scholars (ulama) and teachers.  But obviously not  everyone has to be Muslim scholars or teachers. If all  are, then there would be no one to provide the food,  shelter  and clothing. If that happens then  the  community including the ulamas would be sinning because  there is no one to provide for the non-spiritual needs  of the community to enable the Islamic way of life to  be lived.
  
21.  The number of scholars conversant with the  teachings of Islam must be limited so as to allow for  the performances of "fardhu kifayah" by others. Those  who perform fardhu kifayah which enables the ulamas  themselves to lead an Islamic way of life must surely  earn merit.  It cannot be that only those who study  religion and become ulamas earn merit.
  
22.  The role of the Islamic scholars and teachers is  essential but so are the role of the food, clothing,  shelter, health and security providers. Since all are  performing their duties and contributing  to  the  Islamic way of life, all must gain merit, in addition  to the merit gained through the performance of "fardhu  ain".
  
23.  Then there is the all-important task of defending  the ummah from outside attacks. In the Quran it is  enjoined upon the Muslims to prepare for the defence of  the community, to have war steeds and the necessary  weapons. Unfortunately many stress the horses and the  ancient weaponry and not defence.  They believe in
  gaining merit through being able to ride a horse as  this was one of the things the Prophet did. If by so  doing they cannot defend themselves, in today's world,  they seem not to care. The form of the preparation  rather than the objective of the preparation  is  emphasised. We admit that Muslim countries do prepare  for their defense, but they have no capacity to invent  and produce their own weapons. This is because by and  large  they neglect the study of those  subjects  concerned with the invention and production of modern  weapons. Once again in interpreting the injunctions of  the Quran to read they look at the form rather than the  substance of Islamic teachings.
  
24.  It is the same with regard to the implementation  of Islamic law. Despite the Quranic injunction that  when we judge, we must judge with justice, we still  emphasise the importance of procedures and process,  ignoring the injustice that it may cause. Thus if a  woman is raped and she lodges a complaint against the  rapist, if she cannot produce four witnesses then she  is guilty of false accusation and should be whipped.  If later she bears a child, then that is evidence of  zinah and should be punished by stoning to death.  Obviously this particular application of Islamic law  ignore the injunction to judge with justice. But the  orthodox remain adamant that the procedures must be  adhered to even if they result in injustice. If anyone  disagrees then he is considered to be against Islamic  law and condemned as unbelievers in Islam.
  
25.  Clearly the teachings of Islam is being wrongly  interpreted. As a result the good that is promised the  believers has not manifested itself.
  
26.  In fact it can be said there is deliberate  obstruction so that the Islamic way of life cannot be  practised and the good achieved. In the early years of  Islam, the Muslims, obeying the injunction to "Read"  i.e. to acquire knowledge, studied the works of the  Greeks and others on philosophy, medicine, science and  mathematics.  They actually expanded these fields of  knowledge so much so that the Europeans and others had  to access the works of the Greeks through the Arabic  translations of these works, stored in the great  libraries of Spain and present day Iraq and elsewhere.  The Muslims were ahead of the rest of the world in  agriculture (food), in the production of cotton and  silk  (clothing)  and  in  architecture  and  the  construction of homes and public buildings. They were  good administrators, governing the vast lands which had  accepted Islam. And certainly they were able to defend  their territories.  They were great navigators and  traders, enriching the countries they live in and those  of their trading partners.
  
27.  Because of the extensive knowledge in all fields  of  learning and their consequent skills in  the  acquisition of wealth, in administration  and  in  military defence, the Muslim civilisation thrived and  grew enabling the Muslims to live the way of life as  prescribed by the Quran.
  
28.  Muslims must refer to the Quran for guidance in  life.  But for the ordinary Muslim it is not easy to  understand the Quran. There are verses in the Quran  which are clear and can easily be understood. But most  of the verses are in parables and in the form of  anecdotes of the pre-Islamic and Islamic period. These  are not precise but because of that they can serve as  guides in dealing with worldly affairs resulting from  changes with the passage of time.  But of course  different interpreters may interprete them differently.
  
29. Unfortunately so varied can the interpretations be  that they often contradict each other. Some of the  differences in the interpretations are so extreme that  they lead to schisms within the Muslim ummah. At the  time of the Prophet reference could be made to him and  his words would be accepted by all. Almost immediately  after his death, the interpretations began to differ  and different sects began to emerge. The biggest break-  up resulted in the emergence of the Sunni and Syiah  sects.  But each of these two again broke into the  followers of different imams. Then there are numerous  other sects resulting from the personal teachings of  different  scholars and imams some of  whom  are  charlatans.  Frequently the sects are so different in the practice of Islam that they accuse each other of no  longer being followers of Islam, of being apostates,  "murtad".  And because of this they often fight each  other violently, even go to war against each other.  The situation now is not unlike the feuding of the Arab  tribes in the pre-Islamic period.
  
30. Because of the differences and the need to display  what is considered as Islamic virtues, the so-called  "non-religious" matters were neglected.  While the  early  Muslims  had a well-rounded education  and  knowledge, the later Muslims tend to concentrate on  religious knowledge only. Although Muslims do not have  a system of priests, nevertheless the Muslim scholars  gained a powerful role in the community.  If they  misinterprete Islam deliberately or otherwise, all  their followers do not contradict them.  And through  the ages many scholars misinterprete Islam for personal  gain, giving rise to numerous fanatical feuding sects.
  
31.  Being knowledgeable only in religion, the Muslim  scholars downgraded other fields of learning.  The  number of great mathematicians, scientists, physicians,  navigators, astronomers in the Muslim world began to  diminish when the ulamas and the Muslim jurists gained  power and influence in Muslim Spain. Soon the Muslims  lost their lead in those fields of learning which had  contributed  to  the  greatness  of  the  Islamic  civilisation. They became inward-looking and neglected  the development of their countries. They missed the  Industrial Revolution completely.
  
32. But later the division into different sects became  complicated with the acceptance by the Muslims of the  nation-states. This is an alien concept. The Muslims  had no nation-states as such. They belonged to the  Muslim community, the ummah. Their loyalty is to the  community no matter where they may be. But after the  British and the French broke up the Ottoman Empire, new  nation-states were created without regard for ethnicity  or even geographical boundaries. Thus Sham which lies  to the north of the Arabian Peninsular, to which region  the traders from Arabia, including the Prophet used to  go, was divided up into Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and  Palestine. The British installed feudal rulers in the  territories which came under them, while the French  treated these territories as provinces of France. When  these colonial territories became independent they  became separate states and no longer Sham.
  
33.  Whatever may be the states created by the  partition, loyalty to the states now complicate the  commitment to the ummah, the Muslim community.  And  State loyalties lead to conflicts and wars between the  Muslims. The arms dealers of Europe enjoyed brisk sale  at the expense of Muslim unity.
  
34.  After the collapse of the Turkish Ottomans, the  Muslims everywhere became divided and much weaker.  In  fact for a time there was hardly a Muslim country which  was not colonised or dominated by Europeans.
  
35.  Some Muslim reformers then began to question the  orthodox views of the Muslim scholars. They wanted to  "modernise", to emulate the Europeans. Some went so  far as to believe that only by discarding Islam and  becoming secular could the Muslims regain their pre-eminence.  They achieved very little success in the  face of strong opposition by the influential orthodox  scholars.
  
36.  The problem was that some of the reformers were  too much influenced by the European concept of the  separation of state from the church.  It may be  possible in the Christian context. It is not possible  in the Muslim world. Islam is a way of life and a way  of life cannot be compartmentalised into spiritual and  material. Everything that a person does is part of a  way of life. Certainly the system of government of a  country and its development is a part of the way of  life.
  
37.  It is entirely possible to be Islamic even if a  modern administration or system, including democracy is  adopted.  It is possible if we go back to  the  fundamentals of Islam. The problem is that Muslims  tend to emphasise and venerate the form rather than the  substance in the practice of everything.  Even in  modernisation they look for the form.
  
38. Thus clothing which are meant to cover the body is  translated as the wearing of the Arab dress. That the  other forms of dress, including the now universal coat  and trousers can also cover the body is regarded as  being of no merit, unIslamic. Reading to acquire  knowledge is interpreted as reading to acquire Islamic  religious knowledge only. Defense of the ummah is  interpreted as veneration of the ancient weapons of  war.
  
39.  Perhaps this sounds too simplistic. But what is  one to make of the neglect of learning and defence in  the Muslim world.  Must Muslims forever buy their  weapons from others, some of whom may be their enemies?  Surely they must have indigenous capacities to invent  and produce their defence needs themselves. To do this  they must learn science, mathematics, technology and  the rest.  Far from regarding the pursuit of these  subjects as not as good as the study of Islamic  theology, it should be regarded as an ibadah, which  should gain merit for the individual and merit for the  community.  But to focus on the defence of the ummah  will need political stability and economic wealth. And  so Muslims must learn to restrain themselves and to  make whatever system of Government they adopt, work.
  
40.  Democracy is compatible with Islam. The Prophet  s.a.w. did not create a dynasty. He left it to his  followers to choose from among themselves a leader, a  Khalifah.  It was only later that the Muslim dynasties  were set up.  One can say that a system where the  leader is chosen by an electorate, regardless of his  antecedents, is much more Islamic than otherwise.  Having been elected, a leader must care for his people,  for the ummah. And caring means ensuring his people  will have food, clothing and shelter and be secured  from domestic or foreign aggression.
  
41. If the fundamentals of Islam are adhered to, there  should not be conflicts and wars between Muslims.  The  fundamentals cannot differ.  Muslims are brothers.  This is fundamental to Islam.  But we are hardly  brothers to each other. We are ready to accuse each  other of being apostates and we are ready to kill each  other.
  
42.  Islam means peace.  We wish peace upon each  other.  This is also fundamental to Islam.  We only  fight against those who attack us, be they Muslims or  non-Muslims.  When the enemy sues for peace Muslims  must respond positively. But we are doing none of  these fundamental things.
  
43. Today Muslims are labeled as terrorists. We don't  think that it is justified. We may be right. But the  fact is that we are killing people because of our anger  regardless  of  who we kill, regardless  of  the  consequences.  Admittedly we  are  desperate  and  outgunned and there is very little else we can do to  defend ourselves against the injustice perpetrated  against  us.  But  should  we  just  lash  out  indiscriminately, killing innocent people, including  those who sympathise with us? Shouldn't we stop to  think, to plan and to strategise with ultimate victory  as our goal?
  
44.  Is it impossible to do this?  If we think  rationally, we must admit that it is possible.  What  have we got after almost 100 years of fighting?  Nothing.  Even our anger is not assuaged. We are in  fact getting more angry.
  
45.  If we think then we must realise that our present  predicament is not pre-ordained by Allah.  It is  entirely due to our own doing. We have neglected and  misinterpreted the teachings of Islam. When we should  be acquiring knowledge which can help us ward off the  attacks against us, we reject such knowledge. We rely  merely on praying to Allah for help when Allah has said  in the Quran that we have to help ourselves first  before He will help us. We have not helped ourselves,  not in the right way as prescribed by our religion.
  
46. We do not have a need to reinvent Islam. Islam is  perfect and is for all times. The present age does not  make Islam irrelevant. It is relevant if we stick to  the fundamentals, if we interprete them correctly. The  problem is with the interpretation of Islam.  It has  not only divided the ummah but it has made the ummah  practically illiterate, incapable of dealing with even  the simple problems of governing ourselves.
  
47. The fundamentals of Islam are still relevant.  We  must go back to the fundamentals, to reading in order  to  acquire knowledge, to the brotherhood of the
  Muslims, to the way of life as prescribed by Islam, to  the substance of the teachings of Islam in the Al-Quran  and the verified Hadis and not to the forms of Islam or  the weak unverified hadis.
  
48.  Islam is still the perfect religion. It is the  Muslims  who  are not perfect, who have  allowed  themselves to misinterprete Islam, to deviate from the  teachings  of  Islam.  The Muslims  must  correct  themselves and it is they who must change, not through  discarding Islam but through going back to the true,  the fundamental Islam. The fundamentals of Islam are  good. The early Muslims who succeeded in building the  great Islamic civilisation must be fundamentalists, for  the numerous and contradictory interpretations of Islam  had not yet emerged to confuse and confound.
  
49.  The Prophet brought to us only one religion of  Islam.  Today there are hundreds of Islams.  We have  to go back to the one Islam brought by the Prophet. We  must do so as thinking Man, not as emotional Man.  

50.  We can face the challenges of our times not by  giving vent to our anger, our frustrations and our  bitterness.  We must instead use the brain, that  thinking capacity that Allah has endowed us with.  We  take stock of our assets, we plan and we strategise.  And  Allah  has  endowed us with  riches  beyond  imagination. We have certain strengths, which we must  identify and apply with wisdom.
  
51. Above all we must reduce the enmity between us, if  not completely, at least selectively to face the threat  against us.
  
52.  There is no magic in the successes of our  detractors. We can do what they can do. But we have  to rid ourselves of the baggage of history and focus  completely on the problems we face today.  And,  Insyaallah, we will overcome the challenges without  losing our faith or deviating from the fundamental  teachings of Islam.
  
53.  We must certainly re-examine the Islam that we  practice.  We have no need to reinvent it when facing  the new challenges of today. But we must certainly  correct the wrong interpretations of Islam if we are to  overcome successfully the threats and humiliation that  we face.