[Here
is a plain statement to men, a guidance and
instruction to those who fear Allah! So lose
not heart, nor fall into despair: for ye
must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith.]
(Aal `Imran 3:138-139)
[It
is He Who hath sent His Messenger with
Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to
proclaim it over all religions, even though
the Pagans may detest (it).]
(At-Tawbah 9:33; also see Al-Fath 48:28 and
As-Saff 61:9)
The Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) said, "This
message will reach to wherever the night and
day have reached. Allah shall not leave any
home built by clay or stones or by animal skin
(tent) except Allah will make this religion to
enter it, to give honor to those who are
honorable and to disgrace those who are
disgraceful. The honor Allah shall give to
Islam and dishonor Allah shall give to
unbelief" (Ahmad).
It is our belief and
conviction that the truth will prevail.
Justice and righteousness shall be established
on this earth. Islam gives us confidence that
Allah's purpose cannot be defeated by anyone.
Allah has decreed
[It
is I and My Messengers who must prevail: for
Allah is One full of strength, able to
enforce His Will.]
(Al-Mujadalah 58:21)
[The
honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger,
and to the Believers; but the Hypocrites
know not.]
(Al-Munafiqun 63:8)
We as Muslims should keep a
few important things in our mind:
1- Ours is not a
materialistic work. Ours is a spiritual
and moral struggle. Our purpose is to
reform individuals and societies, increase
divine awareness, and bring goodness,
piety, truth, honesty, justice, and peace
in the world.
2- Ours is not a
nationalistic or ethnic work. We are not
working to promote the interests of Arabs,
Pakistanis, Asians, Africans, blacks,
whites, a particular nation, color, or
race. Ours is a universal mission for all
people, for the good of the whole of
humanity.
3- Ours is not an irrational,
anti-modern, archaic, and old-fashioned
work. We are not anti-science,
anti-education, and anti-learning. We
believe in reason and human progress.
Reason is Allah's gift to humankind.
Reason is not infallible. Reason makes
mistakes, but rational mistakes can also
be corrected by better reason. We believe
that revelation is infallible, but
revelation requires reason to understand
and follow. We believe in dialogue and
discussion, freedom of expression, and
open discourse. We want to understand and
be understood. We want healthy and
wholesome progress in this world.
4- Ours is not an intolerant
work. We want to live and let live. We are
peaceful and do not accept coercion or
aggression. We abhor violence. War for us
is not the rule, but the exception. We
fight against only those who fight us. We
believe in good relations with all people
of all races, colors, and creeds.
We as Muslims must pay
attention to a few very important things:
1- Live Islam. We must learn
Islam in all its details and must put to
practice the true and authentic teachings
of Islam. We must pay attention to our
behavior and example. We must pay
attention to our families and our young
generation. We must work together and do
our best for Muslim unity and solidarity.
We must build strong Islamic institutions
and should support them financially and
with more volunteer work.
2- Give the message of Islam.
All of us should consider ourselves the
ambassadors of Islam. We must give the
message of Islam with wisdom and good
preaching to all people with whom we come
into contact. We should not hide our
Islamic identity. We should try to explain
to all people, without any coercion or
antagonism, the true message of Islam.
3- Remove the
misunderstandings. We must do our best to
remove misconceptions and
misunderstandings about our faith, our way
of life. We must remove the propaganda
against us. We are not against
intellectual criticism. We should be open
to those who have some genuine problems
and grievances against us. But we should
not take lightly any stereotypes and bad
images that some people want to create
against us.
Cooperate with fair and
like-minded people of other faiths and races.
We must promote good dialogue and good
relations with our neighbors. We must help in
the building of a just, peaceful, and moral
society for all humankind.
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