New Literature for a New Era

It was several decades ago when the late Maherul Qadri wrote his beautiful and evocative poem he called Qur’an ki Faryaad.

Paraphrase: “Complaint of the Qur’an.”

The basic theme of the poem was something like this:

They love me and they kiss me;

They honor me and they revere me;

And in silken mantles do they bundle me;

But they wait for death to strike them,

Before they ever read me.

Oh, how long on the shelf do they forget me,

To gather dust, as if they never ever see me; [...]

Faith is a risk either way. Whether you believe in God or you don’t believe in him, the final outcome is always uncertain.

That is so, no matter how much True Believers deny it is so. [...]

If you realize that everything you have is a gift to you from God Almighty, then, every time you open your mouth, what right do you have to say anything other than Alhamdulillah – meaning, “Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, God, Thank You!”?

And do so, not only with your mouth and with the bottom of your heart, but with every cell, sinew and pore in your body? [...]

“You must try to keep your heart as clean and polished as possible all the time. For, a rusted mirror does not reflect the light (Nur) that God shines on it.” (Dr. Pasha)

“Islam is simple, clear, uncomplicated. People, both Muslims and non-Muslims, make it sound hard, confusing and complicated.

Islam is from God and Islam is all good.

What is more, Islam is for all, and not just for Muslims.

What Muslims owe the world, and what the world owes itself, and which is a clear directive from God, is introduce the world to Islam – to make the world interface with Islam.

At one time, that was the mission of the messengers and Prophets that God sent into the world.

Now, in our own time, and forever, that remains the purpose and central focus of the life of Muslims in this world.” (Dr. Pasha) 

Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, came into this world in the 7^th Century. He changed that world, from the way it was to pretty much the way it is today.

That means a lot of the things that you see in the world today, and you think they are all good, and you like them, chances are many of them are traceable to the teachings and legacy of Prophet, Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

What I am about to say here is not an expression of my faith as a Muslim, but a simple statement of empirical truth. That means anyone anywhere can take any of what I am saying here and subject it to a Truth-Test of their own. [...]

“Islamist” is just another racial, ideological and political slur that the enemies of God use to insult Islam and Muslims.

They must make sure their official websites respect the integrity of the term “Muslim” and abstain from referring to themselves and other Islam-loving Muslims as “Islamists.” [...]

“The responsibility to take Allah’s word to every home and heart is not other people’s. It is ours.

And that means yours and mine.

And it is also work that must be done today and cannot be left till tomorrow.

That is why God Almighty created us and placed us in this world — all of us.

And that is also what it means to be a Muslim.

If only every one of us realized that, what a beautiful world this would be.” (Dr. Pasha)

“So many people say so many foolish, wicked and baseless things about Islam and Muslims.

Poor Muslims, most of them have neither the sophistication to know what is going on.

Nor do they possess the skills to address what is going on in any meaningful way and respond to it effectively.

If truth be told, as it always must be, here is a key element that goes, as it should, into shaping what you might call the Islamic character: Every Muslim must perpetually seek the wellbeing of this world and all its occupants – from human to non-human; and from Muslim to non-Muslim.

How much clearer can anyone make it?

Listen to this Hadith of Sayyidina (our leader and our master) Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and you will know:

Addeenu annaseehah, said the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

And in paraphrase it means: Deen (this Islamic faith business, if you will) is to work tirelessly, and forever, to enhance the wellbeing of others.

Now is it fair to ask: Who’s got what to match or trump it?” (Dr. Pasha)

“Those of us who really love God, and care about his creation, we should all be always keenly aware of how to move all those we come in contact with from where we find them to a higher stage of sincerity and commitment to Allah, and to Allah’s work, and to love and service to Allah’s creation.

That is part of our Job Description as Muslims.

And it doesn’t matter who these people are we are talking about: whether they are Jews or Christians; whether they are Hindus or Muslims; whether they are believers or unbelievers; whether they are rich or poor; and whether they are from this or that race or nation or society.

That is a sacred trust we hold in our hands from God as Muslims. And on the Day of Judgment we shall be required to render account for it before God.

Wa kaana ‘ahdullahi mas-oolaa, says God Almighty in the Qur’an, which in paraphrase means: “And there shall be accountability before God concerning his covenant.”" (Dr. Pasha)

Much water has flown down many a river in the so-called Middle East since a cowardly and spineless Ben Ali of Tunis stole the wealth of the Tunisian People and ran away to hide in a rent-free mansion in Jiddah nearly a year ago.

The expectation was he would do the needful: run tanks over the protestors and turn Tunis into a vast Golgotha, full of Muslim gore and crushed bones. Like the Algerian military and its foreign Colonial Masters had done in the 1990s with the innocent Algerian Muslim masses. [...]

In this world, there is truth and there is falsehood. One is from God; the other is from the Devil.

God not only speaks the truth, he is the truth. He is, in the language of the Qur’an, Al-Haqq: The Truth.

Also, in the language of the Qur’an, truth is Haqq and falsehood is Baatil.

This is eternally etched in heaven and earth – and on the face of every grain of sand, blade of grass and molecule of water.

On earth, this equation was spelled out most crystally 1400 years ago and never left it since.

Hence the way of the “righteous,” the good people, then, is truth: speaking the truth and acting on it.

The way of the wicked, on the other hand, is falsehood. It is the way of the Devil. [...]

Humanity was sick, Islam came to heal it.

Humanity is back to being sick again. It needs Islam, once again, to make it well and whole.

It needs the Qur’an.

Allahu Akbar, should that alone not wake up human beings today to the truth of Islam – to the fact that this Islam could only be from Allah?

And that this system of Islam could not by any stretch of the imagination be a human concoction?

Many of us confuse reality with religion. That is why it is important for me to explain how Islam is not “religion” but reality.

Islam is Al-Haqq. Translation: Reality.

Islam is divine, from beginning to end. Religion is man-made.

Religion is presided over by priests and pundits. Islam has no priests or pundits. Only scholars who may choose to be students of Islam.

That is why Islam is reality, from God Almighty.

And that is also why I am not a “Religion” writer – just because I choose to write about Islam.

Nor am I a “Faith” scholar, as some people may think.

I am a student of Islam, Muslims and the World. And that is what I write and speak about.

And that means everything that there is, was or can be: now or forever; here, there and everywhere else.

For, that is Islam. [...]