New Literature for a New Era

It Is the Heart that Must Apologize

An apology is a function of the heart and the mind and not just of the mouth or the pen.

Let me spell out some details of an apology a bit more clearly – so maybe Muslims can use it as a guide to deal with those who may attack or insult them in future. Because nowadays there is a great deal of talk about apologies, and somehow the Muslims seem to be associated with these situations in one way or another.

But at the same time, sadly, poor Muslims are not always the best represented when it comes to pleading their case before the court of world opinion or negotiating a deal with those supposed to be their adversaries or competitors.

While the other side usually has some of the best brains and talents and some of the most articulate voices working for it, Muslims often end up with an amalgam of leaders, spokespeople and representatives of a somewhat interesting and less competitive sort.

Thinkers? What Thinkers?

As for thinkers, many Muslims simply don’t believe in thinking as a virtue. And to some of them it may even be antithetical to what they consider to be Islam.

So, with friends like that who would want enemies?

I have wondered about this phenomenon for decades – and made some noises whenever I could. But Muslims generally demand what they call “practical” solutions to problems they often have no idea what they really are.

Islam is not about thinking, they will tell you, Islam is about “doing” things.

Poor, poor Muslims! Allah will not leave them forever in this pathetic state of helplessness. But if they chose to impose a state of ignorance on themselves, who can they blame for their problems but themselves.

Anatomy of an Apology: An Eleven-Point Formula

In any case, for an apology to be considered a proper apology, it must contain a number of important elements, or it is not an apology at all. Here are some of them:

1. First of all, an act – e.g. speech, piece of writing, conduct – must have occurred that is generally considered to be offensive, insulting or damaging to some individual or group.
2. Next, those affected must take objection to the act and express displeasure at it.
3. They must then demand some kind of a redress to the situation.
4. The source of the objectionable act – an individual or group or organization or nation or country or society or other – must realize that it has done something wrong, which it should not have done.
5. The source must also clearly see and understand why and how the other party might have been offended, insulted, hurt or aggrieved by its act.
6. The source, thereafter, must feel a sense of guilt, shame, remorse and regret at having done a wrong thing, which, it must realize, it should not have done.
7. The source must own up and acknowledge without ambiguity or prevarication the wrong it did.
8. The source must make a firm resolution never to repeat its offensive behavior in future and never to do anything else that would cause similar hurt or insult to the aggrieved party.
9. The source must come forward with ways to amend its conduct in future and to make amends and provide compensation for the harm and damage that it may have caused its victims.
10. Thereafter, the source must express all of the above – its realization of wrongdoing; its recognition of the right of the aggrieved party to feel hurt and insulted; its genuine remorse and contrition at its own objectionable conduct; its firm resolve and commitment not to repeat such objectionable behavior in future; and its eagerness to do whatever it could to make amends to the aggrieved party over the insult and hurt it suffered – to the aggrieved party in the most direct, clear and unambiguous terms.
11. The aggrieved party thereafter must believe the sincerity of the source, the clarity and adequacy of its expression of remorse and accept the apology and agree to the practical arrangements and terms the source may be willing to make by way of restitution.

This is what a genuine apology must look like. Or else it is an apology for an apology and not a real apology at all.

Poor Muslims! I wish someone will educate them in some of these issues.

Ummat’s External vs. Internal Enemies

Nations, societies and communities have enemies. And Muslims are no exception. And some of those enemies are external, while some others are internal.

Poor, poor Muslims! May Allah save them from their External Enemies – of whom usually there are quite a few at any given time and place.

And may Allah also save them from their Internal Enemies – those who would like to use, exploit and ride them to their own personal advantage, name, fame, gain, glory, wealth, power and success.

The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, warned his Ummat about both of them. In fact, he received a guarantee from Allah that his Ummat will not be destroyed from outside. But Allah did not grant his Ummah similar immunity against internal enemies.

I used to wonder about it for the longest time. But then Allah opened my heart to see part of the wisdom – and Allah’s Rahmah – that this equation seems to carry in its fold. And it is quite simple.

A Level Playing Field

Allah is everybody is God. And his Rahmat – his love and mercy that is – belongs to everyone and everything, as he says in the Qur’an: Rahmatee wasi’at kulla shaiy’.

So, while Allah is willing and able to protect Muslims against threats from outside, the Muslims have the responsibility to clean their own house from inside.

That means they must get their Iman and belief right. They must get their Ilm, knowledge and education right. They must get their ‘Amal, behavior, conduct, skills, character and personal qualities right.

So, whoever comes out better and stronger in all these areas and characteristics of human excellence will emerge as the winner in the ongoing contest among peoples, nations and societies.

That is Allah’s way or law – Sunnatullah – in this world. And according to that law or decree, whoever plays better, wins the game. The better man wins, as it were.

Allah is not going to stack up the odds in favor of the Muslims just because they call themselves Muslims. So long as they are in this world, Muslims will have to play by Allah’s rules in his world and win fair and square or lose the game to those who play better.

It is as simple as that.

I Thought Muslims Were “The Education People”

While Allah alone knows the state of anyone’s Iman or belief, the whole world knows what the state of Muslim education is.

In general, the state of Muslim education around the world is seriously inadequate and flawed – both in quantity and in quality. I would go a step further and call it abysmal and shameful.

It is a disgrace to the name of Islam, which came to set the whole world free using the tool of education. Isn’t there a Hadith which says: Talabul ilmi fareedah? Paraphrase: Everyone has a duty to get educated.

It is a disgrace to the name of the Qur’an, which itself means Reading or Something To Read. A book the very first of whose revelation was Iqra’ or Read.

And it is a disgrace to the name of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, who called himself a teacher and an educator. As a Hadith says: Innamaa bu’ith-tu mu’alliman. Paraphrase: I am only a teacher.

An “Education Prophet,”
Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam

A prophet whom his ancestors Abraham and Ishmael, Allah bless them both, characterized as an education-prophet: Yu’allimuhum.

A prophet whom Allah himself called an education-prophet: Yu’allimuhum.

Paraphrase of Yu’allimuhum? He teaches them. He educates them. He is their teacher and educator.

So, what is the use of having any or all of these things if Muslims, as a whole, as an Ummat, end up, after 1400 years, among the least educated of the world’s people? And that dismal and sad fact seems to bother no one?

The world knows this fact about Muslims: that they are at the bottom of the education barrel. It is only the Muslims who have their heads buried in the sand and it is they who seek refuge in all kinds of excuses from this grim and stark reality.

But Allah’s decree is clear that it is this reality – education – that will decide the fate of nations in this world, including the Muslim nation.

Gold Before, Gold After

The world also can see the kind of human material that most Muslims have turned out to be – in terms of sheer human excellence and quality – beyond Namaaz and Rozah, beyond Hajj and beyond Zakat, which most Muslims don’t pay anyway.

Annasu kal ma’adin, said the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, Khairukum fil jaahiliyyah, khairukum fil Islam. Paraphrase: People are like metals. Gold is gold, whether it is before Islam or after Islam.

Sadly, there isn’t a great deal of gold in Muslim human quality and character and skill and knowledge levels these days, is there?

And what is more heartbreaking is that no one cares, and it is not even a priority item on most people’s long list of Muslim agendas.

You Can’t Force an Apology

I am not saying demanding an apology will not have a deterrent effect for the future. But to pressure someone into making an apology is almost like compelling them to accept your faith or “religion” by force.

And in all these matters, the Qur’an’s position is quite clear: “Absolutely no compulsion in matters of Deen.”

What may be quite appropriate, however, is to take this opportunity to address the substantive issues raised by the Emperor and then echoed by the Pope at a time when Muslims all over the world are living under great pressure, anguish and stress, both physical and mental, caused by events unleashed, for the large part, by Christians – followers of the Pope’s religion directly, as in the case of Catholics, or indirectly, as in the case of Protestants.

And let us do that now.

Issues in the Pope’s Echoing of the Emperor’s Views

There are three issues in the Pope’s echoing of the Emperor’s views on Islam, Muslims and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

• First, the claim that the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, brought nothing new that was not evil and inhumane.
• Second, the assertion that the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, told his followers to go forth and spread his message by force.
• Third, the Prophet’s, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, teachings fail the test of reason whereas the teachings of the Pope and the ways of the Emperor pass that test with flying colors – thanks largely to the Greek thought which the Christians embraced and the Muslims rejected.

On merit, all these claims are wrong and false. Whether or not they are malicious, it is up to everyone to make up their own mind.

Now let us take each one of these three issues individually and examine them carefully. First, let us look at theory as it pertains to each one of these three issues. Then, let us look at practice with regard to each one of them.

By theory I mean words, statements and professions and by practice I mean actual actions.

But before we do that, let us refresh our memories about some of the most basic and elementary information that we all should have known about the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, to begin with.

Only Man in Human History

The world does not know this fact about the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, but it should have known it. The world does not know that he is the only man in human history that either preached or practiced a perfect system.

If you want, you can call it a complete, comprehensive and self-sustaining “religious,” socio-political and economic system.

He not only preached it, he also practiced it – every bit of it.

No other human being came anywhere close to doing it, or even attempting anything like it, in the entire history of humanity on this earth. This is a historic fact – and not a matter of “faith” or conjecture – which anyone can verify.

Next Article: Islam Gave the World Monotheism and Education

Previous Article: Four Words that Changed the World! All It Takes Is You!

Home | Writings | Audio | Quote of the Day

Related:

1. Muhammad: The Living Miracle of Peace and Blessings – Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam!
2. Remembering the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam!
3. How Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, Changed the World
4. This Baqr Eid, a Wish, a Prayer [Quote of the Day - 317]
5. The Prophet Who Gave the World Education, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam [Quote of the Day - 302]
6. You Must Read That Book!
7. “Mutual Aggression”: Human Nature and the Need for Divine Guidance
8. Did You Say “Christian Islam”? Sorry, Does Not Compute!
9. Qur’an: Key to World Peace
10. Islam Is All about Communication
11. Internal Boundaries
12. Do Well Everything You Do! “So Says God,” Says Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam [Quote of the Day – 101]
13. Some Muslims on Course to Install an Islamic Pope [Quote of the Day – 140]
14. Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam and Encyclopaedia Britannica [Quote of the Day – 147]
15. Four Fly-Infested Children on a Very, Very Special Night Called Lailatul Qad’r [Quote of the Day – 148]
16. Female vs. Male Illiteracy and Education – in Afghanistan or Anywhere Else [Quote of the Day - 160]
17. How Rare Is the Authentic Voice of Truth in Defence of Islam [Quote of the Day – 166]
18. Heavenly Virgins Come with a Sky-High Price [Quote of the Day - 223]
19. Education Is the Virtue Islam Came in the World to Promote [Quote of the Day - 225]
20. Messenger Is the Message [Quote of the Day – 232]

Home | Writings | Audio | Quote of the Day