The Holy month of
Ramadan has commenced in many parts of the Muslim world. Muslims in the
subcontinent begin the compulsory fast tomorrow. Fasting in the month of
Ramadan is enjoined upon every Muslim. The premise of the fasting is not merely
abstinence and abstaining from eating, drinking and carnal desires/needs but a
comprehensive re-orientation of the self. This re-orientation is supposed to
make the Muslim self submit comprehensively to the enjoinments and commands of
God, disavow worldly pleasures, have empathy for the poor and the deprived and
re-orient thoughts toward the afterlife.
The Muslim world,
on account of the comprehensive re-orientation inherent in the philosophy of Ramadan,
by and large, has a different complexion and hue during this month. Muslims are
more compassionate, more devout, more
attuned to the subtleties of religion and their energies are devoted to
fulfilling this very important injunction of Islam. It is a time for making
resolutions, charity and vigorous devotion. The aim is the cleansing of the
soul and its catharsis. Ramadan accords
Muslims to obviate and cancel the focus on the duniya(worldly affairs) which allegedly
implicates the soul and makes it impure. This raises a very important question:
Is this retreat into a self that militates against worldly affairs good or
prudent? Is this interlude in Muslim lives a metaphor for the Muslim condition?
Should Muslims instead of treating life as a way station and a preparation of
the other world aim and aspire for a balance? Would this balance which
incorporates the worldly dimension improve the Muslim condition?
These questions are
necessarily eschatological in nature and by way of a disclaimer; this article
does not dwell on the eschatological dimensions. The focus is on what may be called
the mundane and the prosaic.
The world of Islam,
it is safe and perhaps accurate to posit, is gripped by torpor and political
decay. The reasons for this decay are manifold and multifarious. A plethora of
analysts and scholars-Muslim and non Muslim-have tried to put a finger on and grappled with
this and have come up with answers that pertain to the political, economic and cultural
conditions that obtain in the world of Islam. The focus in this piece, however,
is on one aspect that has not been accorded much attention. That is, the other worldly
focus of Muslims and treating life as a way station and an opportunity to cleanse
oneself and prepare for the afterlife. This approach and attitude may not be
inherent in Islam given that the Holy Quran enjoins Muslims to be ‘God’s
vicegerents on Earth’ and enjoins them to observe and understand nature or in
Islamic terminology , the bounties and munificence of God. There is no clear
cut injunction in either the Quran or the Ahadith(sayings attributed to the
Prophet(SAW) to retreat from the world. In fact, an oft stated and quoted
hadith clearly states that,’ a Muslim should tie his camel first and then do
what he has to do’. The implication of these Quranic verses and the hadith
appears to be some latitude for free will in Islam and a disavowal of fatalism.
Or in other words, the emphasis is on the Muslim’s engagement with the world.
However, on account
of perhaps accretions that have latched onto the corpus of Islamic theology and
theosophy, this approach which could contain the seeds of modernity understood
as attempting to attain mastery over nature is now almost moribund. The focus
of the devout Muslim is on life after death and this life, to repeat is held as
a way station- an opportunity to redeem the self by coming out clean through
the vicissitudes, trials and tribulations of life. This approach leads to a
crippling fatalism and acceptance one’s lot in life. As such, it is a status
quo attitude. Latching onto this attitude means and implies torpor, decrepitude
and political decay.
By retreating and
withdrawing from the world, Muslims abdicate their responsibility toward making
this world a better place to live in. The fortress like and besieged mentality
that accrues from this then renders the collective Muslim self into a sullen,
forlorn and reactive one. This leads to reaction and a reactionary attitude and
goes against the gravamen of the philosophy that Islam is imbued with. This philosophy
is confident and vibrant and the Golden Age of Islam is testimony to this. The
question then is how can this attitude be reversed?
Introspection,
Ijtehad(independent reasoning) and a resolve to engage with the world and
nature is the answer. These ,incidentally , are the grist and mill of modernity
and goes to show that Islam is not really antithetical to modernity. The
condition of the Islamic world does not smell of roses. Political decay, torpor
, poverty, and deprivation are the hall mark of the Muslim world. This condition
is not foreordained. Neither is it punishment for abdicating the principles of
Islam. It is man made and can be reversed. This is eminently possible. What
needs to be done is to vigorously engage with the world and give short shrift
to man made problems. This warrants and requires discarding shibboleths and vigorously
trying to change the Muslim condition. Let us all make a pledge this Ramadan to
balance the otherworldly approach with a ‘this worldly’ focus. The results will
be salubrious and we owe this to Islam and the next generation of Muslims.
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