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Member, European Council for
Fatwa and Research
The lack of will that affects
the Ummah nowadays has many factors. Some of
them are related to the past and others to
current events. Some originate within the
Ummah and others originate outside it. These
factors affect the self, whether the
individual or collective, and the motivation
to work. When the self is negatively affected
by some factors, the will is inevitably
affected. The factors that affect the Ummah's
will can be summed up in the following points.
Deficiency of Thought
Muslims' perspective on the
Islamic creed has become deficient. Generally
speaking, Muslims believe in the Islamic creed
and, accordingly, they are Muslims. However,
their perception of this creed suffers some
problems that make it unable to motivate them
to work. Muslims' conviction and belief remain
restricted to their hearts, and they fail to
translate such belief into tangible action.
Depicting this situation, Sheikh Ibn `Ashour
says, "It is in their hearts and
witnessed by their tongues, but it never moves
their limbs and organs."
Separation of Belief From
Reality
Nowadays, there is a huge gap
between Muslims' beliefs and reality. Muslims
believe that Islam is comprehensive and
relevant to manage all life affairs, yet the
Islamic laws and regulations are not applied
or enforced. Part of this problem is to be
blamed on the failure of Muslim societies to
practice Islam and implement its teachings,
and the other is to be blamed on the
secularist regimes forced upon Muslim
countries. While Muslims, in general, have the
conviction that Islam is an all-embracing way
of life, they find it isolated and blocked
from having any say in the laws that run their
affairs. This contradiction between what they
believe and what they live results in a spirit
of frustration and defeatism that only helps
to undermine their will and confidence.
Inferiority Complex
At the present time, Muslims
are helpless before the sweeping Western
civilization. Actually, they are dependent on
the West in all aspects of life. They feel so
feeble and inferior, and this feeling is
intensified by the ongoing interactions
between Muslims and the Western countries.
Because they are unaware of
the reality of Western civilization, many
Muslims are captivated by it to the extent
that they see only its positive aspects and
are blind to the negative ones. Deluded by the
power and advancement of this civilization,
they believe that since the West accomplished
these amazing achievements, it must be right
and its way must be the best. By the same
token, since we suffer this miserable
situation and defeat, they argue, our way and
beliefs must be wrong.
This, in turn, creates a sense
of self-degradation and inferiority that has
negative effects on the Muslims' will, both on
the individual and collective levels. To get
out of this dilemma, some Muslims resort to
blind imitation of the West without any
serious attempt to understate or sift through
its outputs. Another party resorts to buying
and consuming the products of the Western
civilization and technology, believing that
this is enough to be as powerful and advanced
as the West. This, indeed, is the easy but the
useless way. Buying the means of power cannot
make up for the failure to produce them. There
are still others who despair of achieving the
same progress of this sweeping civilization;
thus, their life has come to a standstill and
they wave the white flag, waiting for their
inevitable fate.
Tyranny
Tyranny is almost the gravest
factor in the deficiency of will suffered by
the Ummah today. Muslims live under
totalitarian regimes that usurp their rights
to expression, participation, and justice.
Such oppression is exercised by a few people
who care only for their own interests and pay
no heed to the public welfare.
The effect of this tyranny on
the individual and collective will is obvious.
When people are deprived of their right to
participate in running their affairs, when
their right to think and express their ideas
is usurped, they become introverted and
abstain from participating in any field of
life. For they know that they are not allowed
to participate and that if they tried to
express their ideas, they would be persecuted
and suppressed. They therefore feel no motive
to do anything assigned to them under these
regimes, either because they are not convinced
of the task or they know no benefit from it.
This lack of motivation manifests itself in
indifference, deliberate negligence, or even
outright rejection.
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