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Making Masters Out of Slaves

But unlike much of human slavery, this is one slavery – being a slave of God Almighty – that uplifts and liberates. By making a human being a slave of the creator, this form of slavery places in the hands of the slave the keys to the treasures of heaven and earth. And it gives every individual human being the right and the title to be treated with the greatest honor, respect and dignity in this world.

Being Allah’s slaves makes human beings the masters of all they survey, as someone put it, and all that they cannot even readily survey. It literally makes them the masters of the universe.

Read the Qur’an: Sakkhara lakum maa fis-samaawaati wa maa fil-ard. Paraphrase: He made subservient to your needs all that is in heavens and earth.

Slave of Allah: Master of the world! What is wrong with that?

Slave of Allah: Master of the world! What an equation! And what better deal can anyone imagine, ask for, offer or receive?

Making masters out of slaves! That is what Allah does with his slaves, the human beings. And that is also what Muslims did with their slaves. They not only set them free, they made them masters of their empires.

Hazrat Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, the first elected ruler of the Muslims – and quite probably of the world – used to refer to Hazrat Bilal, may God be pleased with him, an Abyssinian slave that he purchased and set free, as “My master.”

They Made Their Slaves Kings

Slave dynasty. Ever wonder what or who it was? It was former Muslim slaves being appointed by Muslims to be their kings.

It was Memlukes – slaves – becoming Muluke, kings. In India, in Egypt, elsewhere. Black slaves, white slaves, all kinds of slaves. Muslims made them kings and followed them to the ends of the earth. Very different from the way the Western world treated its slaves.

In many ways the world is a bad place. Mostly because of the way human beings act. Read today’s newspapers and you will see in their headlines how our air, land and water are being destroyed by human activities. Or, if you will, read the Qur’an and get those same headlines from 1400 years ago: Zaharal fasaadu fil barri wa bahri bimaa kasabat aydinnaas.

One of the most egregious ways in which human beings abused our world was by treating slaves the way most of them did – in many cases worse than animals, and they often treated animals pretty bad.

For hundreds of years, European and American civilizations, and what may be called the economic and industrial miracle of the modern age, were built on the back of racialized slavery and fed with the blood and sweat of African slaves, many of them Muslims.

That is what the world got when the Muslims allowed their own culture of the Qur’an and civilization of Islam to decay and be dismantled – one final manifestation of which was their being thrown out of Spain (before there ever was a Spain, mind you) in 1492 by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.

It was also the year Christopher Columbus set sail to transnavigate the globe. There were Muslim seamen and guides on board – and maps and navigational instruments derived from the discoveries Muslims had made earlier.

In general, Muslims worked diligently to bring about their own downfall – in Spain (that was yet to be Spain) and elsewhere. All you need to do is to look at how Muslims act now and you will have a pretty clear idea how they must have acted then. Practically everywhere Allah gave them a long rope and the Muslims all too often used it to hang themselves.

This is not to deny the role of all kinds of other factors that were involved, but only to point out the role the Muslims themselves played in their own defeats and destruction.

Yet the fact is, when it came to their treatment of slaves, Muslims did things a bit differently. They too had slaves. But the Muslims took their slaves and made them masters of their vast empires. They made them kings. That is how an entire dynasty of slaves came to rule large parts of the Muslim world. It was called, for obvious reasons, Mamaaleek – the slave dynasty.

Amazing people, these Muslims. They did some amazing things, even when they did not seem to be doing many things right.

Islam and Non-Islam: A Rivalry of Truth and Falsehood

I thought I would explain that important difference quickly – the difference between Islam and non-Islam on the subject of slavery – hoping it would help people see through the avalanche of often false and malicious propaganda let lose against Islam and Muslims by non-Islam.

First of all, Islam forbids lying, deception and cheating as means to political and economic ends. Non-Islam for the most part thrives on them. And non-Islam does something else: having committed the most egregious falsehoods and cover-ups, non-Islam papers over its guilty conscience with all kinds of lame excuses and by projecting its own failings and inadequacies onto Islam and Muslims.

That is why the Qur’an calls one the Haq or truth and the other Batil or falsehood and points out that the world is the primordial playground of the rivalry and jockeying for power and influence between the two – truth and falsehood, Haq and Batil.

According to the Qur’an, those who love and fear Allah, use truth as their principal tool, while those who love and fear this world, use falsehood as their major weapon. It is a most simple equation.

Once again, either read the Qur’an and find out or read the newspapers and figure out.

The Missing Link: A Clear Focus

This is the missing link in much of human beings’ search for identity and direction in today’s world. And in a sense it has always been. Their search for what I call focus.

Instead of proudly owning up to our identity as the slaves of Allah, throwing ourselves at his mercy and in exchange receiving from him the gift of both worlds, some of us feel uncomfortable by how Allah describes us in the Qur’an. Some of us prefer to throw ourselves at the mercy of human beings just like us and yet often receive from them in return nothing but rejection and humiliation or little to minimum wages for our toil and sweat.

Focus, focus, focus!

That is what human life is all about: a clear focus. And that is what Islam is all about. And that is what the difference between Islam and non-Islam is all about. And key to having the right focus is putting Allah first – and last and in the middle and everywhere else.

For, the equation is quite clear: Allah made you and the world in which you live. And he made everything you have and own and use in this world. And that includes your family, job, business and everything else.

So, the right thing for you to do is to put God Almighty over and above everything else you have.

Everything We Have Is a Gift from God

You must understand that it was God Almighty who gave you these things – whatever things you possess and think you own, including your life, your family and all your worldly possessions. And they are all gifts from him to you for a certain limited period of time. And that, as a result, he can take them all away from you whenever and however he chooses.

And the fact is, he always does: God Almighty always makes you return and surrender every little thing he gave you. Sometimes he does it during your own lifetime in this world. But he most definitely and unfailingly does it every time you are about to depart this world.

Just look at the way the healthiest and fittest ones among us end up. Those blessed with the best of health and longest of life end up the oldest, the most ailing and decrepit, the weakest and the most dependent and helpless. They end up returning their gifts of youth, energy, health and independence, and finally life itself, to where they all came from – God Almighty.

So when you die, you go to him alone, with every single one of your worldly possessions and connections left behind. King or commoner, pauper or prime minister, no one escapes this fate. If we had any sense at all, we would understand this fundamental fact about human life and prepare for it.

Dealing with Our Human Predicament

So, here is how you deal with this predicament that you are in. The fundamental human predicament of being a slave on Allah’s plantation earth with seeming mastery over your fate and your surroundings but in reality being entirely at the mercy of your maker and master. The supreme predicament of appearing to have everything, but in truth and in reality owning nothing.

You must, mentally and theoretically speaking, return everything you have to its rightful owner and master – God Almighty. And then receive all these things back from him as a gift and a blessing. Lease it all back from him.

When you do that the only logical thing for you to do is to dedicate everything he gives you to the supreme task of seeking his pleasure and serving him. That is your way of saying “Thank You!” to him. And it is part of your lease requirement.

And it is also in fact the smartest thing you can do. For he says that the more you thank him the more he will give you. Hear him say that in the Qur’an in his own words: wa la-in shakartum, la-azeedannakum.

That is why the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, says Alhamdulillah is the finest form of Dua that a human being can make. How could it not be? You keep saying Alhamdulillah and Allah keeps giving you more. You pocket what he gives you and say Alhamdulillah and he gives you even more. And so on … ad infinitum … forever and ever. What a Du’a indeed.

Inviting People to Allah: Reuniting the Creation with the Creator

There are many ways to thank your master. One is to simply say Alhamdulillah – which is the best way of saying “Thank You!” to God almighty. But the higher and the more comprehensive way to thank Allah is to love and fear him in his heaven and to love and serve his creation right here on earth.

That is what Islam does. It takes the best and makes it even better. Only God can do that.

Human beings, on the other hand, often tend to do the opposite. They take what is better and all too often make it worse. Look at what they did with slavery. And with all the animal species that have become extinct or are on the verge of becoming so. And look at what they have done with our land, air and water.

In other words, the best way – and in fact the right way and the only way – to truly and properly thank God Almighty is to do what he created you in the first place to do. And that is to make a concerted and focused effort to reunite an alienated and estranged creation with the creator. To let God’s will be done right here on earth as it is done in heaven, as a well-known Christian prayer puts it.

The purpose of your creation, the Qur’an tells you, was so you will serve him; invite everyone else to serve him; and manage and run the affairs of his earth according to his commands and instructions for the benefit of all of his creation. That is why he made you in the first place. Hear the Qur’an say it: Wa maa khalaqtul jinna wal insa illaa li-ya’budoon. Paraphrase: I created you for no other reason than to serve me.

That is right. That is where it all begins – and ends. The all-out and relentless effort, both organized and individual, to bring every one of God’s lost sheep back to the fold of God’s love, mercy and service. Everything else is filler in the middle.

He gives you a family, because you would need one in your work. He gives you a home, because you need shelter – a place to live – when you work for him. He gives you a career and a job and a business, because you need all those things to be able to do your work for God Almighty better and properly.

What is more, he is so kind and generous that he makes your pursuit of all these things – your career, your family, your home, your entertainment and leisure activities, your every worldly human need – count toward your service for him. He does that when you decide to put him first, acknowledge him as your true and only master and decide and dedicate yourself to work for him.

Clear Focus vs. Random Acts of Virtue and Goodness

That is what it means to have focus. And to have Islam.

And being a Muslim means having the right focus – having a clear and sharp focus on life and its responsibilities and on your own role in Allah’s world. Islam is not random acts of goodness, virtue and piety, even though Allah does not allow even an iota of good to go unnoticed or unrewarded.

Islam, therefore, is not a little bit of namaaz here and a little bit of hajj there with a lot of free and idle time in between, even though namaaz and hajj and fasting and zakaat will forever remain the pillars on which Islam is built. But who ever told you that the pillars, no matter how strong and big and ornate, are all of the structure?

Pillars are a part of the building, not all of it. The only place where you see huge columns standing all by themselves are ancient ruins – a state of dilapidation to which most Muslims have returned Islam in recent times. I mean many of the good, “observant” Muslims, not the bad ones. Because they have held on to the pillars and abandoned the whole superstructure that the pillars are put there to support.

Being Uncomfortable with God’s Terminology

If God’s choice of words and expressions – like when he refers to us as his slaves – makes us unhappy or uncomfortable or embarrassed, then we have a serious problem. What it is telling us is that we are forgetting who our real master is, God or other people like us. And when we put pleasing people above pleasing God, we are in for a lot of trouble.

How clearly Allah tells the people-pleasers among us – those who seek to please our fellow-humans even when it may involve displeasing God, our master: A-yabtaghoona ‘indahumul ‘izzah? Fa-innal ‘izzata lillahi jamee’aa. Paraphrase: Do they seek honor, dignity, recognition and power and position from people? Surely, Allah is the one where all honor, power, position and dignity reside.

Against this background, a Muslim is simply a person who acknowledges his true master, God Almighty; comes to terms with his true identity as God Almighty’s slave on earth; realizes his role as being one of serving God’s other slaves on earth and inviting them back to their master; and thus throws open the gates of peace, blessing, joy, comfort and wellbeing – for himself and for all the creation of Allah.

That is who a Muslim is and that is what a Muslim does or must do. What a glorious way to live!

Two Wonder-Words: An Average Muslim’s Trademark

And all this wealth of meaning and goodness is packed in those two wonder words Assalamu Alaikum – an average Muslim’s trademark everywhere – that in effect mean: May Almighty Allah shower upon you all the most wonderful blessings of this world and the next world and may he fill your life with all the miraculous wonders of earthly and heavenly existence.

Can’t you see that these words – Assalamu Alaikum – are there for a reason? And Allah makes Muslims spill them all over the world for a reason? And can’t you see that at least a part of that reason has to do with your own well-being? For, on the one hand, not an iota of goodness do these two words leave out without channeling it in your direction. Nor do they, on the other hand, leave out an iota of evil that they do not ward off and turn away from you.

That is what those two words Assalamu Alaikum do for you: fill your life with God’s blessings. And do bear in mind that your local Muslim is the only one who can supply you your daily dose of divine blessings – unless you go looking for other Muslims, just like your own local Muslim, elsewhere.

Assalamu Alaikum! If you know of any expression in any language or culture that gives you more or does a better job of making life on earth better for all human beings, let me know. I will be eager and agog.

Defining a Muslim

Therefore, next time, when anyone asks you who a Muslim is and what he or she does, tell them:

•         A Muslim is someone who makes life on earth possible and good for you, your family and for everyone else by invoking on you and yours the blessings of Allah all the time – 24/7 as they say – regardless of who you are.

•         A Muslim is someone who continually knocks at the doors of Allah’s mercy, love and grace around the clock – for you, your family and for everyone else, regardless of who you are.

•         A Muslim is the guardian of the gates of peace in this world – and of an ever-lasting peaceful life for all in the next world.

•         You surely have heard the expression Peace on Earth? Well, a Muslim is the one who offers you double the deal – peace on earth as well as in heaven – and cuts the price by one-third: two words instead of three – Assalamu Alaikum instead of Peace on Earth!

It Is the Same Message – All the Time and Everywhere

Therefore, whether it is Iqbal or someone in our own time, and whether it is from the East or from the West, the message – Payaam – that can or should emanate from a Muslim’s heart, mind, tongue and pen, is one and only one: Assalamu Alaikum!

Assalamu Alaikum! It is the same message all the time and everywhere. That message never changes, regardless of time or place. It hasn’t for the past 1400 years. What makes you think it will change now or in the next 1000 years?

That is why to me Paraam-e-Maghrib = Payaam-e-Mashriq. Which should equal, when rightly conceived and properly delivered, Payaam-e-Qur’an and Payaam-e-Islam.

But if you would rather hear the Qur’an, as you should, on the subject, here it is: Wa-lillahil mashriqu wal maghrib. Fa-ainamaa tuwalloo, fa-thamma wajhullah. Paraphrase: East and West belong to Allah, so no matter in what direction you turn, that is where Allah’s presence will be.

I wish I could tell you about a Hadith – saying of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. It is closely related to the Aayat I just cited and it goes like this: Ana ‘indi zanni ‘abdee bee… Don’t ask me what that Hadith means now. But if you really want to know maybe I will tell you some day, should Allah make that happen. In the meantime, you can ask anyone who knows Arabic, and they will tell you what it means.

So, the message – Payaam – is the same. Frankly, what other message can anyone who calls himself a Muslim have, no matter how it is conceived or in what language it is delivered or to whom?

Those human beings, including Muslims, who remember this message from the pages of the Qur’an – this Payaam-e-Qur’an – will rise to the top. Those who forget or ignore it will sink to the bottom. Humiliation will be heaped upon them in this world – with worse to come in the next world: Lahum khizyun fid-dunyaa. And Wa la-‘adhaabul aakhirati akhzaa.

And still, in spite of Allah’s message being so clear, some of us Muslims run around asking everyone: Will you, kind sir and dear madam, please tell us what is wrong with us and why Allah’s world is treating us the way it does. For answers you can do one of two things: You can either read the Qur’an or you can read your newspapers. I would say maybe you should do both, except that you may need a pinch of salt to go along with the newspaper fare. That is the nature of their business.

END

Copyright © Syed Husain Pasha

 

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