Banning Drugs from blasphemors’ states

I read this in The News, Islamabad, on Saturday 11th Feb, 2006:

Drugs import from blasphemors’ states to be banned
Drugs import from blasphemors’ states to be banned

So the government wants to ban import of medicines from 45 countries!

I couldn't believe it, or rather I could, because we are perhaps the stupidest or the cleverest people on Earth.

Stupid, because what we should be banning is luxury goods and non-essentials like cosmetics, processed cheeses, dried milk etc. And trade only in those items that are needed for saving lives or other essentials. By stopping import of medicines, we shoot ourselves in the foot.

Clever, because this could be a ploy of those ultra Westophones who want to sabotage any expression of religious fervour. This would be ascribed to Muslim Ulema, and the blame for non-availablilty will be laid at their feet.

Europe's arrogance

Europe's contempt for other cultures can't be sustained

A continent that inflicted colonial brutality all over the globe for 200 years has little claim to the superiority of its values

Martin Jacques
Friday February 17, 2006
The Guardian

Is the argument over the Danish cartoons really reducible to a matter of free speech? Even if we believe that free speech is a fundamental value, that does not give us carte blanche to say what we like in any context, regardless of consequence or effect. Respect for others, especially in an increasingly interdependent world, is a value of at least equal importance.

Europe has never had to worry too much about context or effect because for around 200 years it dominated and colonised most of the world. Such was Europe's omnipotence that it never needed to take into account the sensibilities, beliefs and attitudes of those that it colonised, however sacred and sensitive they might have been. On the contrary, European countries imposed their rulers, religion, beliefs, language, racial hierarchy and customs on those to whom they were entirely alien. There is a profound hypocrisy - and deep historical ignorance - when Europeans complain about the problems posed by the ethnic and religious minorities in their midst, for that is exactly what European colonial rule meant for peoples around the world. With one crucial difference, of course: the white minorities ruled the roost, whereas Europe's new ethnic minorities are marginalised, excluded and castigated, as recent events have shown.

But it is no longer possible for Europe to ignore the sensibilities of peoples with very different values, cultures and religions. First, western Europe now has sizeable minorities whose origins are very different from the host population and who are connected with their former homelands in diverse ways. If European societies want to live in some kind of domestic peace and harmony - rather than in a state of Balkanisation and repression - then they must find ways of integrating these minorities on rather more equal terms than, for the most part, they have so far achieved. That must mean, among other things, respect for their values. Second, it is patently clear that, globally speaking, Europe matters far less than it used to - and in the future will count for less and less. We must not only learn to share our homelands with people from very different roots, we must also learn to share the world with diverse peoples in a very different kind of way from what has been the European practice.

Europe has little experience of this, and what experience it has is mainly confined to less than half a century. Old attitudes of superiority and disdain - dressed up in terms of free speech, progress or whatever - are still very powerful. Nor - as many liberals like to think - are they necessarily in decline. On the contrary, racial bigotry is on the rise, even in countries that have previously been regarded as tolerant. The Danish government depends for its rule on a racist, far-right party that gained 13% of the seats in the last election. The decision of Jyllands-Posten to publish the cartoons - and papers in France, Germany, Italy and elsewhere to reprint them - lay not so much in the tradition of free speech but in European contempt for other cultures and religions: it was a deliberate, calculated insult to the beliefs of others, in this case Muslims.

This kind of mentality - combining Eurocentrism, old colonial attitudes of supremacism, racism, provincialism and sheer ignorance - will serve our continent ill in the future. Europe must learn to live in and with the world, not to dominate it, nor to assume it is superior or more virtuous. Any continent that has inflicted such brutality on the world over a period of 200 years has not too much to be proud of, and much to be modest and humble about - though this is rarely the way our history is presented in Britain, let alone elsewhere. It is worth remembering that while parts of Europe have had free speech (and democracy) for many decades, its colonies were granted neither. But when it comes to our "noble values", our colonial record is always written out of the script.

This attitude of disdain, of assumed superiority, will be increasingly difficult to sustain. We are moving into a world in which the west will no longer be able to call the tune as it once did. China and India will become major global players alongside the US, the EU and Japan. For the first time in modern history the west will no longer be overwhelmingly dominant. By the end of this century Europe is likely to pale into insignificance alongside China and India. In such a world, Europe will be forced to observe and respect the sensibilities of others.

Few in Europe understand or recognise these trends. A small example is the bitter resistance displayed on the continent to the proposed takeover of Arcelor by Mittal Steel: at root the opposition is based on thinly disguised racism. But Europe had better get used to such a phenomenon: takeovers by Indian and Chinese firms are going to become as common as American ones. A profound parochialism grips our continent. When Europe called the global tune it did not matter, because what happened in Europe translated itself into a global trend and a global power. No more: now it is simply provincialism.

When Europe dominated, there were no or few feedback loops. Or, to put it another way, there were few, if any, consequences for its behaviour towards the non-western world: relations were simply too unequal. Now - and increasingly in the future - it will be very different. And the subject of these feedback loops, or consequences, will concern not just present but also past behaviour.

For 200 years the dominant powers have also been the colonial powers: the European countries, the US and Japan. They have never been required to pay their dues for what they did to those whom they possessed and treated with contempt. Europeans have treated this chapter in their history by choosing to forget. So has Japan, except that in its case its neighbours have not only refused to forget but are also increasingly powerful. As a consequence, Japan's present and future is constantly stalked by its history. This future could also lie in wait for Europe. We might think the opium wars are "simply history"; the Chinese (rightly) do not. We might think the Bengal famine belongs in the last century, but Indians do not.

Europe is moving into a very different world. How will it react? If something like the attitude of the Danes prevails - a combination of defensiveness, fear, provincialism and arrogance - then one must fear for Europe's ability to learn to live in this new world. There is another way, but the signs are none too hopeful.

· Martin Jacques is a senior visiting research fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

mailto:Martinjacques1@aol.com

a conspiracy to burn flags!

"Why was there an abundance of Danish and other Western Flags to burn. Doesn't it show a conspiracy?"

Having revealed the top-secret CIA findings on why the Muslims are violent, (the gene and meme research, in the post titled "We are the Borg!"), I feel compelled to continue in the spirit of telling the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. So I will reveal why there always is such an abundance of foreign flags for burning.

We are required by our Imams to have at least ten flags of every non-Muslim country in our homes, or else we aren't allowed to attend the Jummaa prayers. This is a lucrative market, so lucrative that every business family in the Muslim countries has had a go at printing flags.

That also shows you the need for having flag-burning festivals, (for what are these demonstrations but festivals), at regular intervals, so as to revitalise the flag printing industry, and to keep the economy rolling.

I hope that answers the question on abundance of flags for burning.

We are the Borg!

The West asks: Why were there protests and boycotts and burning of Embassies and threats over things so innocuous as cartoons. Surely cartoons are for laughing. Don’t Muslims have a sense of humor?

There is an answer that will satisfy the religious, another that will satisfy those who think in terms of politics, yet another other that involves a clash of civilizations, and then there is the truth. I weighed it very carefully, because as some of my readers may have discovered I do a lot of self-censoring, and by the look of things, the West at least does not want talk that is restrained. It is more comfortable with free speech.

OK then, I will take the plunge and tell you the truth about us Muslims; it will be free from self-censor.

There is a big secret about us that is known only to a few, but perhaps some of the truth has got out, hence this constant hammering of the violent minority although an overwhelming majority of Muslims have condemned the slogans calling for death or holocaust.

Research on Islam has been going on for a very long time - centuries. Some of this has resulted in good, and some of this has exposed such dark secrets about us that these secrets have to be kept under wraps.

The CIA thought it knew all about us, but then something happened, and the CIA had to commission this research. Some time ago in the last century it happened so that the Shah of Iran fell, and Iran became an Islamic Republic, and gave up all the goodies and the civilized behaviour like nudity and nightclubs and wine and gambling (all things that enhance the GDP and make one civilized), that it had learnt from the West, and the women went back to wearing the oppressive veil (or at least the hijab) and the like; and horror of horrors, they even voted in the dreaded backward Shariah (the Shia version).

The Director of CIA was grilled on German TV about not being able to foresee it even while the CIA for Asia was centered in Tehran. He said in his defence something to the effect that "we thought we understood the Muslims, but obviously they (the Muslims) have some trait that is unpredictable."

The CIA then set about to remove this unpredictability by commissioning the research. That research yielded what I am going to tell you:

You see we Muslims are violent.

No big deal here as any sensible non-Muslim has seen by now, because although all the Muslims here have condemned the slogans, they haven't condemned the protest over the questioning of "free speech" about the prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). Hence we Muslims must, by definition, be violent.

However, the CIA research goes further, and tells you why:

We Muslims have a "terrorism" gene, and a "terrorism" meme.

If we are born Muslim, we are violent by virtue of this gene, and if we are converts, then alas the meme thing comes into play, because just saying the shahada puts the meme in there.

There really is no hope for us, but as we multiply faster than rabbits and we are immigrating into other cultures, we will take over the world.

At one time Europe understood us better, and the truth about us is told in the frightening stories of yore. The Inquisition understood us best.

We are the Borg; be warned that the world's inhabitants are being Borged.

That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Islam, Muslim families, Islamic societies, Khilafa

I am going to try to write some basics. Will be obliged if offered corrections, additions or subtractions. :)

What are Muslims?
First of all, we give witness that that there is only One Deity, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Merciful, the Just, ... and that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the last prophet.

When we say, we are Muslims, what does that imply as to our behaviour and duties?

o living Islam,
o building Islamic societies,
o raising Muslim families,
o establishing the Khilafah.


That is what we have to do. Of course, these can be consecutive.

How do we live Islam?
I am going to write out a few things. These will seem like a lot of learning to do, and a lot of ways to mould ourselves in, and we may think it is too much, but actually it is easy. I will give a key at the end, and that will open the way, insha`Allah.

The first is aqeedah (belief). Aqeedah is:

o the concept of Allah,
o His attributes;
o the concept of Risalah (prophethood),
o of the last prophet Muhammad ;
o of the revealed Books,
o of the last revealed Book (alQuran) and its preservation by Allah;
o of Qiyamah (Day of Judgement),
o ...


We need to know what these beliefs mean and require from us. It is counterproductive to give witness that there is only One Deity, who has no son, yet to go on believing that Jesus is God's son. It is a contradiction to believe in Allah, yet to believe that He has abrogated His powers in favour of some men (and women, dead or alive) who are intermediaries between us and Him, and who can stop or facilitate our approach to Him. We must learn and believe (and that belief should be reflected in our actions).

It is necessary to know that the prophet was not a postman who delivered us the Book (alQuran) and vanished, but that he lived as an example of the life we are required to live (except in those things where he was special), and that obeying Allah also requires us to obey the prophet. It is important to read Allah's last revealed Book, to understand it, to act upon it, and if we find more than one set of instructions, either to learn to understand where the different rulings apply, or to ask those who know.

It is very, very important to get it right, but it does not mean that we pick a quarrel with those who haven't got it right. We are to discuss with them in a calm and logical manner.

It is part of the beliefs to know why we are here in this world, and what will become of us.

Why are we here?
We are here to establish that we have deserved the trust Allah placed in us when He created us as His viceregent in this Universe. For that we have to live by His rules, and to spread His word, as there will be no more prophets coming to correct human errors. The last prophet has come and gone, and the last Book has been revealed.

We offer Salaah (prayers) five times a day, in each of which we follow a series of body movements indicating our attention, obedience and communication to Allah. A set of these series of body movements is called a rakaah. The Salaah for each time consists of several such sets. In every rakaah, we recite the Surah (Chapter) al-Fatihah (the Opening). That Surah starts with the person reciting it praising of Allah, appealing to His attributes of Sustainenace and Mercy to All, and supplication to show us the right path, of those He has favored, not of those who were forsaken or who went astray.

And immediately after that comes Surah Baqarah wherein the opening verses Allah says:
Verily this (Book) is without any doubt. It shows the path to those who are pious. So, our supplication to show us the right path is answered, and we are given the Book which shows the path to follow. But there is a qualification - the path is shown to those who are (or want to be) pious. And we will have to read this instruction manual.

You see Allah created the Universe and mankind, to whom He entrusted His viceregency. He gave man the Universe to decipher and use.

When we get an instrument or appliance, we often get a manual with it. The more complex or powerful the appliance, the more need of a manual. Allah gave us life, and viceregency, so it is natural that we should have been given a user manual to go with it. Quran is our user manual for living this life. And as with all user manuals, we have to read and understand it to get the functions right, and not to short-circuit or blow up the appliance.

Now that may seem like a tall order - a book in Arabic, not written in the form we are accustomed to. First we will have to learn Arabic, then try to understand the verses which, at first reading do not follow any logical order, and which sometimes seem to contradict each other.

Well, may Allah be pleased with all who have brought this Deen (way of life) to us, that meanings of the Quran have been translated and explained by the Ulema (scholars), and it is not necessary to be able to understand Arabic to know what is required of us. Of course, it is still better if we learn the language, and many scholars have also devised ways to impart that learning to us.

The wonderful thing is that most beliefs, and most dos and don'ts are very clear. On reading the Quran, we see some beliefs stated and explained in many ways - the Oneness of Allah, His attributes of Power, Sustenance, Mercy, Justice, etc., the purpose of mankind, reason for its straying away, of the prophets sent to set erring mankind to the right path, of the Books revealed, of punishment meted out to those who persisted in their evil ways, of the blessings in sending the last prophet .

What then is the key we talked of earlier?

That key is the Sunnah of the prophet . After the death of the last prophet, some Muslims approached Ummul Mumineen Aisha (ra), and asked her how the prophet lived. She exclaimed: "Haven't you read the Quran? He was living Quran".

Subhanallah! Not only did Allah send us His last revelation which He has undertaken upon Himslef to preserve, but He also sent His last prophet as an example for us to follow, and by deduction it follows that the prophet's Sunnah is also preserved.

the second of the things we are to do is establishing Salah (prayer). Establishing means:
offering the prayers with all the requirements in the prescribed manner:


o the niyyah (intention)
o purifying ourselves - ghusl (bath), wuddu or tayyamum, as applicable
o adhan (call to prayer) if someone hasn't done it before us
o offering the prayer in jamaah (congregation, establishing it if it does not exist, and joinig it where it does).

o the niyyah intention)
o body movements an positions,
o reciting with the words, phrases and Surahs in Arabic
o understanding, feeling and responding to the words uttered,
o making supplications (in Arabic or any other language)
o ...





We have talked of establishing Salaah. This requires places of worship properly cared for, where the adhan is said at the time of Salaah, where Jumma prayer is established together with the khutba (address), and where Muslims are in sufficient numbers to participate in these prayers. There should be arrangements for Eid prayers, attended by all Muslims in the city. There should be arrangements for dhabeeha, for washing and burying our dead.

Is it sufficient to be a self-contained Muslim in submission to Allah, who prays five times a day, keeps fast every day from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadan, pays his wealth purification tax (Zakaah) every year, performs the Hajj at least once a lifetime, if he can afford it?

From the story of the Bedouin who asked that question about what will take him to Jannah, and was told the Ibadah, we must realize that the Islamic state had already come into being with the Prophet [saw] as head.

We can find a lot of articles on what constitutes ibadah (worship) in Islam. Perhaps I will add a few sentences to what I have previously written, but there is something more.

It is also necessary to try to establish an Islamic society.

[b]What then is an Islamic society?[/b]

In an Islamic society one shouldn't have to worry whether one's living, one's earnings or investments are halaal or not. At present, there is so much mixing of halaal and haraam, that our living incorporates much of the haraam.

For example, loans needed for buying houses, transport, establishing businesses, carry interest, which is haraam (forbidden).

We are addicted to participation or watching entertainment that is haraam. Quite frankly, watching TV in which we see pictures of non-Mehrams, is haraam, more so because the living depicted is unIslamic.

Islam is submission to Allah (swt), and that means a lot of thing besides worship. Every act in life that is allowed can be an act of worship, but I want to distinguish between HUqooqullah (the Rights of Allah over us), and Huqooqul Ibaad (the rights on people over each other).

Let us see if we meet the criteria for Islamic societies, and if we can improve our lot.

From time to time we hear of acid throwing on the face of women, Muslim or non-Muslim – totally unIslamic.

Theft, shoplifting, violence in any form outside of warfare, are totally unIslamic, yet we hear of revenge attacks, killings and rapes – totally unIslamic.

Our pursuit of money and power, at work and in politics is unIslamic.

Our spending, our consumptions, follow unIslamic routes.

Where is this coming from, both in the Muslim countries and in the West where the Muslims have settled?

Ignorance? but if so, is there an attempt to remove ignorance?

There are Muslim countries where a leader commands obedience whether by virtue of descent from the chief’s family, or of a spiritual leader of the past, or because of his landholding or as an employer or facilitator of employment, or other favours.

We know that the Iran-Iraq war was brutal. True that it was engineered by the West, but why did two Muslim populations fall for it?

We know that either Iran, or Iraq, carried out the chemical weapons attack on the Kurds. Why was that?

We are told that the Arab Janjaweed attacked another Muslim group in Darfur, Sudan, with murder, rape and plunder as weapon of ethnic cleansing.

There are areas in the West where the Muslim population is ghettoized in a locality, and a supposed village atmosphere from back home is envisaged and enforced.

I am thinking of cases of forced marriage in Pakistani, Morrocan, Kurd etc. communities. It seems the Moroccan youth in France are particularly prone to violence. If this is true, where does this unIslamic behaviour come from?

Then, our living is unIslamic. Most of our time is taken up in efforts to earn more, punctuated by entertainment.

I look at my life, and am sad, for it has been so far from Islamic. After coming back to Pakistan, I had the mosques so much near me, but I did not spend time in them. I took my son to Jummaa, but always ridiculed the Maulvi, and so he had this instilled in him that the Maulvis are somehow not up to the mark, and not worth listening to. I did not sit down with him and study the Quran and Hadith, I did not make him stand with me in Salah, which would have made him understand the importance of praying in Jama`a.

It is I who introduced TV, tape, cassette and video players in the house, so now if I want the Quran tapes to be played in the house, how can I expect the rest of the family to do the same. It is the man of the house who is responsible, but if he spends his young days in enjoying himself, he cannot expect his family to give it up when he does.

A Major retired from the army, and after a few years turned to the Tablighi Jamat. His was a very impressively full beard. He confided in me that when he started a beard, his wife told him the family would not object to him, but he also should not expect the to become so overtly religious as him.

He knew that was logical, and although it hurt him to see his family not observing Islamic norms, there was nothing he could do.

We should consciously Islamise our lives immediately with our families. We should try things that set us apart from non-Mulims, and are pleasing as well. Say, if we use atr (perfume), specially on Fridays and Eid days, make Fridays special days for our children. If the man of the house isn’t taking his responsibility in this regard seriously enough, the one who does understand should make every effort.

alHuda International has worked wonders. There has been a sea change in the condition of the women, the girls and the children here.

It is important to make our children realize that we use only what is halaal for us. We should make them learn the value of sacrifice for others, the value of working in unison, of obeying the leader, of respecting other people’s rights. The reason Muslims have been in a mess is the tendency to excommunicate those who are different, whether in terms of ethnicity, sect, tribe or anything else.[I] I often think we operate on the exclusion principle[/i].

human cost to UK for Halliburton

98 UK service personnel killed, 4,017 medically evacuated from Iraq.

MoD must already hold records on the natures of injuries, but the details are not being released. Defence minister Ivor Caplin said in Jan '2005 that 790 service personnel had been injured in hostile action and accidents. but the department could not provide an equivalent figure for the past 12 months. However, it insisted that the number categorised as wounded in action at the main field hospital at Shaibah Logistics base, south of Basra, was less than 200.
comments from the UK effectees:
______________________________
Sue Smith, whose son, Pte Phillip Hewett, 21, was one of three Staffordshire soldiers killed by a roadside bomb last July, described the injured as the "forgotten soldiers of the Iraq war".
Reg Keys, whose son Tom was among six Royal Military Police officers killed in 2003, added: "Both the American and the British don't want people to know about them."Corporal Dave Corrigan, a Territorial Army Para, who has undergone four operations on his knee since injuring it while serving as a field ambulance commander during the initial war phase, said: "We are a statistic and they try to hide it and it is so easy to hide the TA because we melt into the background."

Extent of soldiers' injuries in Iraq 'hidden by MoD'

Understanding the Long Term

Here is an article by bro. Yahya Emerick. I think there is good sense here.

Understanding the Long Term
By Yahiya Emerick
I have been an avid reader of history for all of my adult life. It’s what I studied in college, and even when I was in grade school I always found social studies classes to be the most intriguing. Tales from long ago gave me a sense of my own time. I felt grounded in a historical period that was just one of a succession of time periods. The teachers were my guides and I was a sponge.


As a teacher in a school today, I can appreciate what it means to sit “on the other side of the desk.” Imagine being the one to influence generations of people- simply by influencing one child! Parents know this and alternately fear and hope for their children. If their child becomes a loser, then it will affect grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. But if their child excels and becomes successful, then it will have a positive affect on their descendants likewise.


Oh, the travails of youth and their parents! Think about it: when we were all young energetic students, our view of the world was so one-dimensional. Our main concerns were social relationships, sports, buying things, fashion and how best to defy our parents’ authority. As adults, however, we have come to see things in a different light: we want to live in a safe neighborhood, get a good job, set ourselves up comfortably both now and for retirement- and we certainly don’t want our children to play the same kinds of tricks we played on our own parents! The view of youth is shorter in nature, that of adults is, by necessity, longer term.


One of the things that has occurred in the last four years, (with all the world-turned-upside-down events that seem to be falling one after another in a cascade,) is that a few more people than normal are beginning to step away from their little insulated lives and are starting to take a look, albeit from different perspectives, at the “Big Picture.” That there is a wider perspective on life and its meaning is something not new to history buffs, and it is certainly not a new concept for Muslims either. Isn’t the Qur’an chock full of demonstrative stories of the past and exhortations to look at ancient peoples and their mistakes to learn lessons? But still, it’s hard, very hard, for people to lift their eyes away from the ground before them and look to the horizon.


When I entered into Islam, I plunged into the understanding that I was joining a civilization, not just a religious community made up of many immigrants from exotic foreign lands. To even think so narrowly is out of the question. No, Take a stab right back through time and see the rise and fall of the Ottomans, the Seljuks, the Fatamids, the Abbasids and the Umayyids! The Silk Road was the highway of da’wah and the waterways of the Spice Islands were the haunts of great Muslim sailors and adventurers. The mythical Sindbad and the colorful stories of the Arabian Nights were the reflection of the imagination of a far-flung world that produced such opposite characters as Omar Khayyam and Ibn Taymiyah. Swirls of intrigue, achievements in science, the great rulers and lonely poets who dotted the landscape from Timbuktu to Samarqand all compete for our attention in the history books as we consider the flow of our great civilization.

Yes, we still talk of the art and the advancements in culture, though we don’t preserve much of either. We extol the literature and the poetry, but almost no Muslims today read it, (and we certainly aren’t creating much in that department these days except for maybe imitating rappers, comedians and other shallow pursuits!)


People ask me why I’m so cheery all the time. Well, besides the fact that Eman is supposed to make you happy, I am not depressed about the current state of Muslims. No, I have always taken the long view. Sure, Muslims are stuck in a pickle right now, but 200 years from now when (unknown) revival sweeps over the Muslim world, or five centuries from now when the (somebodies) come to power, or 1000 years from now when the great Khalifa (who knows) rebuilds the Muslim heartland with a new vigor and energy after the old (as yet unnamed) empire fell into decay…


Do you get the point? We are not the end-all and be-all of Islamic history. We don’t need to panic and have a heart attack that somehow we will drop the ball and Islam will disappear forever. So we’re losing the youth, so some people are having a hard time struggling for their status in the Masjids, so the Department of Homeland Security is arresting every Muslim taxi driver and tennis player they can find. All of these things are the problems of the moment, but they are not the long view. If all of us are only looking at the dashes on the road and arguing about whether or not they are crooked, painted right, or too bright, then our collective car will slam into a brick wall and we’ll look around dumbly and ask, “What happened?”


Islamic civilization was old before us, and one day we will be part of the past. Schoolchildren will be reading about our time in future classrooms, and innocent young faces will be asking their teachers, “So why didn’t they do this or that?” To which the teacher will reply, “Well, Fatima, I guess they were too busy being caught in the moment to think up new and novel solutions to the many problems they faced.”


Have you ever driven by a graveyard and seen the big monuments and mausoleums? Did the thought ever occur to you: “Why did those fools make such structures over their graves? Did they think it would make them remembered?” For really, no matter the size of the monument, you will only be remembered as long as there are people around who knew you. How many of you go to the graves of your great-great grandparents and reminisce about them? I would venture to say none of you do this, for you never met them. One day your grave (and my grave) will be in some forgotten corner somewhere, awaiting the day when future people decide to pave over the graveyard to build a new parking lot or luxury condominium complex, or even spaceport!


There is a think-tank called the Rand Corporation, which has some loose ties to the U.S. government. Besides trying to come up with policy suggestions for them, this group has a department that projects current trends into the future to try and predict events of interest to the U.S. 50 years, 100 years, even up to 300 years from now, so that policy makers today can tweak their decisions to get more favorable results for future Americans. Besides the fact that, as a historian, I laugh at the idea that the future can be so micro-managed, I do appreciate the effort that at least somebody has seen the value of looking at the wider picture; not just worrying about the war in (fill-in-the-blank) or the repeal of the state tax, but trying to see what they can do today to make their country more stable in the future.


This is not a new concept for Muslims either. The hadith literature abounds with predictions and suggestions for future generations of Muslims, while the Qur’an gives us the example of how charity can have a ripple effect, likening it to a corn plant that produces more and more kernels. Even Muslim rulers and scholars knew that their actions would affect Muslims for countless generations. Listen to this story:


Once there was a famous Seljuk Muslim ruler by the name of Malik Shah, who had a very able prime minister called the Nizam ul Mulk. While Malik Shah was the muscle behind his kingdom, it was the Nizam who demonstrated his superior intellect and foresight. The Nizam traveled all over the land not once, but seven times to check on the condition of the people. From North Africa to the borders of India he caused innumerable Masjids, orphanages and schools to be built. To top it all off, he established the University Nizamia of Baghdad to which all the brightest young scholars were attracted to.


When Malik Shah noticed these things and thought about it, he called to his prime minister in alarm and said, "What are you doing, minister of mine? To support all these institutions you began, my treasury is almost empty. Why, you haven't even built a single fortress nor have you built up a powerful regiment of soldiers to defend the empire if need be!"


The Nizam became very serious in his tone and replied, "The fortress you speak about is perishable and temporary. But the fortress I have built for you will defy the ravages of time and prove unbreakable. You have spoken of increasing the numbers of soldiers, but the arrows of those soldiers won't travel beyond 100 yards. The arrows of the army which I have built up will ascend into heaven itself and make your name imperishable."


This has always been one of my favorite nuggets of wisdom, for in these times when we’re having to combat any number of idiotic challenges from every dark corner, we need to be reminded that we are only a small footnote in a grander story. Islam will not perish, for Allah has promised to protect it. Too many Muslims forget this and they fill themselves with stress and worry, thinking that somehow they were the protectors of Islam, and thus, whenever there is a setback or things are unbearably tough, they take it as a personal defeat.


It’s not that we have to stop doing what we are doing. No, because Allah calls upon us to work actively in His cause. What the problem is is that our attitudes are focused only on the now without the hope for the future and the satisfaction that Islam, will, yes, prevail over all other lifestyles. It’s when we have this kind of attitude that we can take a fresh look at what we’re doing and free our minds up from defeatism to come up with ingenious solutions, bold initiatives, creative concepts and long term goals.


I’ve seen too many good brothers and sisters running from one crisis to another like a fireman working alone to contain a forest fire. Not every problem needs to be addressed right away and with a knee jerk reaction. I like the fact that we have an organization like CAIR, for example, because it allows national coordination and action on many issues of hatemongering, whereas in the past, individuals ran themselves silly trying to do everything themselves. Now CAIR can approach major news organizations and get them to adhere to standards that are not Islamophobic, and in turn they filter these guidelines down to the countless newspapers and radio stations they own.


This is creative thinking with long-term impact. Now what about other areas? What can Muslims do to solve other headaches, keeping in mind goals for 50 or even a hundred years from now? This is where you come in. Whether it’s saving the youth, getting sisters their equal Islamic rights or how to make (and keep) converts- there are better ways to do things that will outlive and outlast our own fragile lives. The key is in two things:1) remembering that you are part of a greater process of history, and that you will die and not be a physical part of that history, and, 2) you can still be a “player” in the grand drama that leads humanity back to its Lord by setting your sights a little higher and trying to see what you can do today that will alter the course of generations to come.


Think long term. Do things smarter. Influence the lives of your great, great grandchildren that you will never meet for the better. Make sure they will have access to the only path that will bring them true success- the path of Islam. You won’t be with them in person, but wouldn’t you love to see them in Jennah! Be prepared to sacrifice a lot of time and money because your life is the blink of an eye, yet our history is ageless.

http://www.ifna.net/articles/article99.htm