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The lack of will that affects the Ummah nowadays has many factors; some of them relate to the past and others to the current events; some come from within the Ummah itself and others are the outcome of external reasons. These factors affect the self, whether the individual or collective, and their outcome reaches various aspects, among which is the self-will that motivates to work. When the self is negatively affected by some factors, the will is inevitably affected. Such factors can be summed up in the following points.
Deficiency of Thought
It means the deficiency that happened to Muslims' perspective on the Islamic creed. 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, but they fail to translate such belief into tangible action in reality. 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 in the comprehensiveness of Islam and its relevance to manage all life affairs, yet the Islamic legislations 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 and legislations 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, a feeling intensified and increased by the ongoing interactions between Muslims and the Western countries.
Due to the unawareness 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. They are deluded by the power and advancement of this civilization, which makes them 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, under the belief 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 to the deficiency of will suffered by the Ummah today. Muslims live under totalitarian regimes that confiscate 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 interests.
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 confiscated, they introvert and abstain from participating in any field of life. For they know that they are not allowed to participate and even if they tried to express their ideas, they will be liable to persecution and suppression. They therefore feel no motive to do any jobs assigned to them under these regimes, either because they are not convinced of them or they know no benefit from these jobs. This lack of motives appears in many manifestations such as indifference, deliberate negligence, or even outright rejection.
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