Superiority
of Islaamic Culture
by by Imâm al-Haram Usâmah Khayyat
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Fellow Muslims! When the sense of reason carries no weight;
when hostilities and wishful desires become the order of the
day; and when injustice and oppression reign, a group of people
will go astray from the right path, uttering false statements
and giving arbitrary judgements without any evidence. At such
a time, some innocent men will be wrongfully accused and attacked.
Wise people should rather attempt to discover the truth behind
the lies, basing all evidence on rationality, fact and reason.
Among
the baseless utterances one often hears is that other cultures
and civilisations are greater than Islaam’s. This statement
can be regarded as a product of ignorance about the teachings
of Islaam and the light and guidance that it brings to mankind.
Brothers
in faith! The religion of Islaam is the system by which Allaah
established the best of all civilisations. It was a great
source of happiness and prosperity for those nations and individuals
who sincerely followed its teachings, and it shall continue
to be so – Inshaa Allaah – in this present age and the future.
The
Islaamic civilisation succeeded where others failed because
it calls people to shun the worship of false deities and worship
the Only Lord.
“Say, O people of the scripture: Come to a word that is just
between us and you, that we worship none but Allaah alone,
and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none
of us shall take others as Lords besides Allaah. Then, if
they turn away, say, ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims.” (Aal-Imraan
3: 64)
In
recent years there has been a spiritual and intellectual resurgence
in the Muslim world, and marked progress has been made in
diverting people from worshipping false deities and enjoining
them to worship Allaah alone. It is on this principle that
the real human civilisation should be based. It is also acceptance
of this principle that makes people aware that no race or
colour should be regarded as superior to another and that
the only criterion for superiority should be piety and righteousness.
Allaah says,
“The most honourable of you before Allaah is the most pious.”
Islaam
encourages the acquisition of both religious and scientific
knowledge. In fact, it commands that they should be sought
and it honours the knowledgeable ones and deems them far above
the ignorant. Allaah says,
“Allaah will exalt in degree those of you who believe and
those who have been granted knowledge.” (Al-Mujaadalah 58:
11)
Islaam
does not preach asceticism, nor does it shy away from the
material aspect of this world. Islaam teaches man how to make
use of all the worldly treasures with which he has been blessed
to the best advantage; in such a way that will guarantee for
him and his fellow human beings a fulfilling and meaningful
life. It teaches man not to take his material possessions
as an end in itself but as a means to an end.
Islaam
comes with a unique set of rules that leaves no right of man’s
uncatered for. It clearly stipulates the rights of every individual
member of the society in an all-encompassing, and comprehensive
way that is possible only in a divinely inspired system. Its
rules and regulations are free from error, injustice and defects
which typify and characterise all man-made laws. Islaam controls
the ardent human passion by obligating and enforcing the institution
of marriage and forbidding adultery and fornication.
All
these, dear brothers, are some of the excellent blessings
that Islaam brings and which are attested by its friends and
foes alike. Remnants of Islaamic heritage in Andalusia is
also a living witness to the greatness of Islaam.
Brothers
in Islaam! The present situation of the Muslims should never
be made a criterion for judging the Islaamic civilisation.
The Islaamic civilisation should instead be judged by its
basic principles, fundamentals and ethics.
The
retrogression, backwardness and sense of inferiority that
has infected the Muslims in recent times are the results of
their negligence of Islaamic principles, adoption of inferior
cultures and their turning away from the remembrance of Allaah.
Allaah says,
“But whoever turns away from My reminder, verily, for him
is a life of hardship.” |