Be The Best

Chapter 13

Muslim Edx
Aug 9, 2017 · 7 min read

You cannot stop waves coming up against you, but you can learn to surf and stay on top.

The Muslims may go through low points, we might deviate from the straight path at times, but this Ummah remains to be “the best nation produced (as an example) for mankind.” (3:110)

The Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ is one which is raised in distinction by Allāh as the greatest Ummah. Such an honour is granted upon this Ummah for many reasons but one is certainly the honour, courage and valour shown by its adherents to establish justice.

Arguably, there is not a group of any significance whom you can think of from history but that you will find that the Muslims had challenged them or had been challenged by them and that the Muslims were victorious. Many such foes have come and gone be it the Romans, the Persians, the Crusaders, the Mongols, the Vikings and so on.

The ummah can be a force for good, and it would be defeatist and unimaginative to assume it could not change for the better in the 30 years.

Islam is not a Religion that Puts People to Sleep

Fierce mounted warriors swept out of Mongolia, laying waste to every city that refused to surrender. In 656 AH, they unleashed their fury against Baghdād and breached its walls. They murdered and pillaged for a week — some estimates say that as many as 1,800,000 were killed.

The whole IslāmIc world trembled in fear of the Mongols. This was such a decisive blow that for the first time since the very early stages of the faith at the time of Badr, there was a real fear that Islām and Muslims could be wiped off the face of the earth.

Amongst all this doom and gloom and when Muslims were in a real position of weakness, fear and apprehension, Allāh raised for the Ummah His servant, Saif al-Dīn Qutuz who was a Mamluk(Mamluks had served as soldier-slaves for the Ayyubid sultans of Cairo).

He united the Muslims, prepared them to fight, raised the necessary money and the army was mobilised to engage in the battle to defend Islām, its followers and lands, and to fight the usurping aggressor. Amongst the many renowned scholars who had encouraged the Muslims to unify behind Qutuz and prepare for the battle was the great scholar, al-‘Izz b. ‘Abd al-Salām.

Lying between Qutuz and the Mongols, however, was another enemy of the Muslims — the crusader forces that had come to Palestine to reclaim the “Holy Land” for Christendom. From them, Qutuz sought safe passage and the right to buy supplies in order to engage the Mongols in war in Palestine. The crusaders consented.

Qutuz, after all, was the only hope the crusaders had of ridding the area of the Mongols, who were as much of a worry to them as they were to the Muslims. As a result, the stage was set for a decisive clash between the Muslims and the Mongols. In the month of Ramadān, on Friday the 25th in 658 A.H was the infamous battle of Ain Jālūt.

Qutuz told his army to wait until they finished the Jummu’ah Salāh, “Do not fight them until the sun passes the middle of the sky, the shadows appear and the winds stir, and the preachers and people start to implore Allāh for us in their prayers,” and thereafter, the fighting began. Among the army of Qutuz was his General, Beybars, who would in time carve his own name into the honorary roll of warriors.

By the Grace of Allāh, they achieved their victory. The invaders were defeated and the whole of the world sighed in relief and stood in awe at the remarkable achievement of these noble sons of Islām. This was the first Mongol defeat since they had launched their westward thrust out of Mongolia 43 years earlier. Never again could they return with such thrust as they had done and in time, their descendants converted to Islām.

This set off the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the founding of the Mughal Empire which began another glorious chapter in the history of Islām.

Islam is the Religion of Freedom and Rejection of Tyranny

Hence, the role of every Messenger was to stand up to a tyrant and oppressive society and turn the order on its head. We glorify conquests that liberated men from subjugation of other men, and brought civilisation, prosperity, intelligence and justice.

Mughal India became the world’s largest economic power, with 24.4% of worlds GDP, and the world leader in manufacturing, producing 25% of global industrial output up until the 18th century. During Aurangzebs lifetime, victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to its greatest extent, ruling over more than 150 million subjects, nearly one quarter of the world’s population at the time. The Mughal Empire is considered “India’s last golden age” (Maddison, Angus (2003): Development Centre Studies The World Economy: Historical Statistics, OECD Publishing)

Every time the Muslims achieve a high level of faith and righteous deeds, the promise of Allah will inevitably be fulfilled; the wrong doers are only given power over the Muslims, and sometimes defeat them, because of the degree of shortcomings among the Muslims with regard to their level of faith and righteous deeds. The absence of Islams proper implementation is only a reflection of our own incompetence and current weakness and not a negation of it’s supremacy.

The Ummah which establishes the symbols of Islam, enjoins what is good and forbids what is evil, will attain happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah will send them His support and grant them victory, as He says “Verily, Allah will help those who help His (Cause). Truly, Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty.” (22:40)

The Heroes Before Us Intensified Their Efforts When Surrounded by Evil

They understood that they wouldn’t love every part of their journey. What they didn’t love they tolerated as necessary to realising their larger vision. These people wasted no time or effort on tasks meaningless to their purpose. They choose the strenuous life and did not fear the ambitious journey or the deep commitment it took.

They were not inclined to slow down, change or stop being who they were for the naysayers or couch critics who wanted them to be less. They remained unwaveringly true to their larger purpose and honoured the privilege of making contributions.

So from the greatest gifts that Allah bestowed upon the one He wants good for is that He has allowed him to live in this era in which He is renewing His Deen. Understand the opportunity and regard your current situation with optimism so that it motivates you to advance further.

Taifal Mansoorah

The Prophet said: “There will always be a group of my Ummah that is victoriously upon the truth until the Hour comes, and they will not be harmed by those who abandon or oppose them”

Commenting on that same hadith, an-Nawawi wrote: “It could be said that this group is dispersed between the various categories of believers… And they are not necessarily concentrated in one location. Rather, they could be scattered throughout the Earth.” — i.e. They will be taking on different roles and aiding the religion in their own ways.

The Prophet ﷺ described the reward of some people after him as being greater than that of the Sahabah, as Abu Tha’labah related that Allah’s Messenger said to a group of them: “After you, there will be days in which patience will be as difficult as grasping tightly to a burning coal. The one who does good during those days will get the reward of fifty people who perform the likes of your deeds.” He was asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Fifty of us, or fifty of them?” He replied: “Indeed, they will get the reward of fifty of you. You are able to find those who assist you in doing good, while they will find nobody to help them.”

Some scholars used ahadith like these to show that there will be people at the end of time who reach such a degree of virtue so as to actually surpass that of an individual Sahabi (as opposed to from a collective perspective, from which there is no dispute that they were the best generation).

This is why just as we come across mention of the Sahabah and attempt to visualize them and their utopia in awe, they — being a people who took the Prophet’s words seriously — also attempted to visualize us and our world in awe when he described us to them.

The scholars’ discussion of this group does not specify one type of people, or one city or one country, except for the last group which will be in al-Shaam and fight the Dajjal, as the Prophet said.

Threaten their Crown of Dominance

Today, the Muslim world is faced with imperialist occupation, military aggression, widespread corruption and oppressive rulers. In such periods it is sometimes easy to forget and overlook the good that is also due to transpire of a future, power and honour for the Muslims who will be well-established in the land.

There is no doubt that despite the atrocities the Ummah is going through, Allāh is showing us rays of light, and glimmers of hope, to keep us optimistic and motivated and to give us the ability to bear the responsibilities He commanded us to bear.

“Allāh has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion, that which He has chosen for them…” (24:55)

Do not underestimate the gravity of coming events. We have to read what happens correctly. Allāh is preparing this Ummah for its correct position that it left in the last hundred years — the leadership of humanity, since it is the Ummah of divine guidance.

We ask that Allāh raises a group of believers who walk in the footsteps of our beloved Prophet, the illustrious Sahābah, Tāriq b. Ziyād, Qutuz, Salāh al-Dīn and the other countless heroes of Islām who dazzled the world and changed the course of history.

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