The Inevitable Struggle – the Legacy of the Prophets (AS)

In January this year, foreign affairs minister John Baird signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel which seemed to imply that criticism of Israel, especially the kind coming from BDS, was going to be criminalized. Later this year, the public safety minister claimed that involvement in BDS was akin to hate crime. BDS is a student movement touted by pro-Palestinian activists as a means of showing discontent with the actions of the Zionist state. The opposition to this peaceful campaign is bipartisan as well. Justin Trudeau has also voiced his opposition to this movement, claiming it has no place on Canadian campuses.

The irony is perhaps not lost on the Canadian people, who just witnessed their government’s rush to defend the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, an outfit that was actually committed to the propagation of hatred towards minorities in Europe. It seems speech is only as free as the community who practices it. What explains this double standard?

Glenn Greenwald,summed it up as follows:

“When the views being suppressed are the ones amenable to those in power (e.g., cartoons mocking Islam), free speech is venerated…But when ideas are advocated that upset those in power (e.g. speech by Muslims critical of Western nation policies and their allies), the very same people acquiesce to, or expressly endorse, full-scale suppression.”

Muslims should not be surprised by this phenomenon. After all, have we not been condemned for the way we dress and what we teach our kids? Have we not seen our values of modesty and separation between the opposite gender described as inherently misogynistic? Just last week, ISNA high school boys’ soccer team found themselves in a difficult situation when one of the teams they were competing against in a boy’s league had a few female members. They politely asked to forfeit the match, as they did not want to co-mingle, but the other team refused the forfeit, preferring to switch out the female players for male ones in order to achieve better standings. The media tried to portray this as a sexist action, forcing ISNA to issue a statement explaining the situation.

Stories like this have become more and more common place in the Canadian context.

Shaming our Aqeedah

What can be gathered from these incidents is that normal and everyday action, like subscribing to a dress code, trying to uphold modesty, and expressing political discontent is being considered for legislative action by the Canadian government if it is done by Muslims. Why is this the case? Why are Muslims treated as if they have done something to be ashamed of?

The answer lies in our aqeedah. Holding on to this ideological worldview that was revealed in the Quran is the real issue, as it challenges the dominant worldview, and makes the elite amongst society uncomfortable. Muslims must be aware that this government pressure will not just be applied to a particular type of Muslim, who the media call “extreme”, or “radical”. Rather, anyone who wishes to hold on to Islam will fall under the same categorization. There is no immunity from it as long as our aqeedah remains intact.

Clashing Aqeedahs – the Mark of the Prophets (as)

Muslims should not be disheartened by this state of affairs. Rather, we should feel encouraged for being given the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the Anbiya (as). After all, waging this ideological struggle was the work of all the Prophets (as).

When Musa (as) walked into the court of Pharaoh, what made him so dangerous that Pharaoh needed to organize a public confrontation against him? What army did Musa have, what weapons was he armed with? His only weapon was the ideology revealed to him by Allah (swt), and the evidence for it in the form of his miraculous staff. Yet that was enough to cause Pharaoh, one of the most powerful rulers in history, to plan and plot and be anxious.

When RasulAllah (saw) was engaging with Quraish in Makkah, why was he such a threat? Many of his followers were the powerless and disenfranchised in society, and he advocated no form of violence. Yet Quraish felt the need to physically torture, economically strangle, and finally attempt to kill him.

Does this not remind us of the time and effort that the elite in this society have dedicated to demonize Islam these days? Have they also not used media deception and propaganda, the machinations of war, and the threat of judicial action to intimidate the Muslim community? Have the colonial powers not used their economic, social and educational institutions to spread misery in our lands? And have they not used surveillance, intimidation, and demonization to ensure that the Muslims in their own countries remain intimated and subjugated.

The reality is that whenever the aqeedah of Islam is advocated, the clash with those who hold an opposing ideology is inevitable. The justice and mercy of our system will always challenge those who hold power and position in a non-Islamic system, as they benefit from its oppression. Thus Muslims should feel no shock or dismay at the current campaign that tries to paint our Deen as unfit for modern life.Rather they should feel empowered by it, and should feel closeness to Allah (swt).

As our Beloved prophet (saw) told us:

“Islam began as something strange and will revert to being strange as it began, so give glad tidings to the strangers.”Muslim

Safety is only from Allah (swt)

One of the tragic casualties of this campaign of vilification is often the unity of the Muslims living in the West. We convince ourselves that if only we were less “reactionary”, showed more “wisdom”, and were less “extreme”, the dominant society would somehow accept us. We then blame each other for hurting the Muslim community by not being wise or “moderate” enough.

It is time to acknowledge that the only problem that the elite in society has with us is the aqeedah of Islam, and as long as we are willing to hold on to it, there is no avoiding the ideological confrontation with the elite in society.

“Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has gone astray from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided. Then do not obey the deniers. They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]”[TMQ 68:9-12]

Rather than partaking in this tragic blame game, Muslims should organize under a common banner to thwart the plots and devices of the oppressive elite.

Our Responsibility

Muslims are finding themselves in an increasingly intense spotlight these days. But regardless of the challenges, we must never allow ourselves to slip into a victim mentality.

Allah (swt) describes us as:

“You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.”[TMQ 3:119]

We should use this increased pressure as an opportunity to remind ourselves of the legacy of the prophets (as). As Ramadan is around the corner, it is of vital importance to maintain recitation of the Quran, both for the inherent blessedness of the action, but also to internalize the stories of the struggles that the Prophets of Allah (as) went through in delivering the guidance of the Creator to his creation. As was narrated in the following hadith, speaking the truth will not reduce our lifespan or diminish our sustenance:

“Do not let fearing people prevent you from saying the truth when you see it, saying the truth and doing the right will never advance your Ajal or prevent a provision” Ahmad, Ibn Habban, Ibn Majah

Muslims should also not use this hostile environment as an excuse to isolate from society out of fear. Rather, we should be more actively engaged in society, and turn the propaganda campaigns of the elite on their head by reaching out to all sincere individuals in this society who are also frustrated with the injustices of the Capitalist system. Finally, Muslims ought tostrive for the complete resumption of the Islamic way of life in the Muslim lands, through the re-establishment of the true Islamic Khilafah state, which will protect the Islamic aqeedah, apply the systems emanating from it, and spread mercy and justice to its citizens, Muslims and non-Muslims alike; this is the Khilafah state which has come to us through the struggles of our beloved Messenger (saw).

May Allah (swt) hasten its arrival!

“And when the two companies saw one another, the companions of Moses said, 'Indeed, we are to be overtaken!'[Moses] said, 'No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me.'Then We inspired to Moses, 'Strike with your staff the sea,' and it parted, and each portion was like a great towering mountain.And We advanced thereto the pursuers.And We saved Moses and those with him, all together. Then We drowned the others.Indeed in that is a sign, but most of them were not to be believers.” [TMQ: 26:61-68]