New Literature for a New Era

Sabaq Phir Padh, Says Iqbal

So, let us relearn that lesson of universal education all over again. Let us put every ounce of energy we can to become the Education People one more time, such that no son or daughter of Islam, shall ever again be without the best education that it is possible for a human being to have in this world.

We can do it if we set our minds to it, should that be the will and pleasure of Almighty God.

It is the same lesson that Muslims need to learn all over again, says that towering super-genius, that matchless Urdu-Farsi poet and thinker, that piercing seer and visionary and that amazing man of God, Iqbal, Rahmatullahi Alaih!

The present condition of the Muslims, therefore, is not a cause for despair or depression. This is a challenge to us to be motivated, fired up and rededicated to the mission for which Allah created us in the first place: educating the world.

And that includes Muslims. Every man and woman on earth, Muslim as well as non-Muslim.

So, all we need to do is to gird up our loins, pull up our socks and each and every one us dedicate ourselves to teaching everyone we can whatever we can: from Qur’an to Hadith; from science to math; from history to geography; from carpentry to masonry; from computers to calligraphy; from cooking to sewing; from everything to everything else.

That is the power and the vision that lies behind that simple command of Iqra! It says: Go change the world, and start with education. The most complete and comprehensive education of the best kind that you can possibly get or provide.

To my fellow-Muslims I say: What are we waiting for? Let us get started. Let us do it. Let us do it however we can and wherever we can. We don’t need, at least right now, any resources other than what we have: ourselves. That is the most important resource we have.

We are our resources. Let me repeat: We are our resources. Let us not waste those most precious and valuable of resources that Allah has put at our disposal.

Those who know, let them teach those who don’t know. Those who know more, let them teach those who know less. That is not my idea. That is the formula given to us by Allah’s Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, in his last speech at Makkah during the Hajj.

Those who are here let them take this message to those who are not here, he said, who knows they may be better able to comprehend it.

So let us mobilize every resource every individual in the Muslim community everywhere. Let us mobilize every community everywhere. Let us mobilize every mosque in every community. Let us mobilize every imam in every mosque. And let us mobilize every man and every woman.

And with these resources at our disposal, let us go change the world. Let us go give the world an education. Let us educate every Muslim and non-Muslim and every male and every female everywhere, till there is not a single uneducated man or woman left in the world.

That is what Islam came in this world to do. And this is what Muslims did not do for the longest time. And this is what Muslims must start doing without any further delay and without any excuses.

For, there is no job better than this in this world. Hear the Hadith of Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, say it: Khairukum man ta’allamal Qur’ana wa ‘allamahu!

Paraphrase: There is not one thing anyone of you can do that is better than learning and teaching how to read.

That is how broad and inclusive is the meaning of that expression Qur’an in the Qur’an.

Each One, Teach One!

So, let us use all means and methods that are presently at our disposal. And what we don’t have readily available, let us invent and improvise. Let us use all the formal as well as informal methods of educating the Muslims – and non-Muslims – that we can find or think of.

Let us organize all kinds of Muhims, Morchas and camps for the purpose of educating the people – the Muslim people as well as the non-Muslim people. Let us make this the mission, the very purpose of our lives. Let us turn every mosque and every house into a school. And let us educate every male and female and every adult and child everywhere.

And let us educate everyone in every subject under the sun – from the sciences to the arts to all kinds of skills and crafts to Qur’an and Hadith and history and everything else.

If nothing else, let each one of us teach at least one other person. And then as we get used to that idea, let each one of us teach ten others.

Want an instant and complete social and educational revolution – anywhere on earth? Want an Islamic Inqilab – wherever you may be living? Want to change the world? Want to make our natural habitat earth better for all its inhabitants without considerations of race or religion, or caste, creed or gender?

Want to change the condition of Muslims in India? Want to transform life in India from what it is to what it should and could be: socially, politically, morally, economically and in every other way?

Want to establish a so-called Islamic State – Government of God on earth?

Then just follow the Islamic method of Each One, Teach One.

That is how the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, did it for his time – and for all times to come. That is how he did in his place in Seventh-Century Arabia. And that is how you can do it – for your own time and in your own place., wherever you may be living.

You don’t need any resources other than yourself.

How Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, Did it

Let us take a look at how Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, unleashed the first educational revolution in the world – 1400 years ago. He first made it completely clear to everybody that God was everyone’s God. He then told everyone that the earth and its richness and fruits belonged to those who toiled mightily and with iron discipline toward the goal of achieving them.

To the tireless toil of a noble life he applied the most glorious name of Jihad. And the iron discipline of living a good, honorable and responsible life on earth, he called Islam.

And God spoke through his mouth.

And God gave him a book to read that he called Reading or the Qur’an. And the first word of that book that came down from heaven to earth was “Read!” It was a common command to humanity – male as well female; old as well as young; rich as well as poor – to learn to read and write.

To do everything in their power to seek education.

He was in a cave in a mountain when God through his angel asked him to read. He emerged from the cave, collected his wits and set about explaining to a benighted humanity who he was and what his role on earth was. “I am God’s messenger to you all,” he said. “And my mission on earth is to teach,” he said.

“I am a teacher,” he said. “And I am here to teach you all.”

And he set about teaching them. And he taught them everything about everything and all things about all things, based, of course, on their capacity to bear the burden of knowledge that was being imparted to them.

“He was extremely careful not to overdo it, not to tire us out,” his noble companions said.

And he told them to pursue education wherever it might be, even if it were in China. And he said it was the duty of every man and woman to be educated.

When I consider all the things he said and did to educate his people and I look at today’s Muslims, especially the so-called “Good Muslims,” whatever that means, because the “Bad Muslims” don’t really count in this equation, and I think about these Muslims’ general lack of concern with education, I am left wondering what kind of Muslims are these that don’t seem to know or care about the first thing about Islam!

In any case, that is what he said and that is what he did: our dear, beloved Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. And this is what we do. He was all about education and we are all about ignorance. He was all about accommodation and compromise on the biggest issues of the day and we are all about petty fights, bickering and hairsplitting on the most trivial of matters.

He told his companion Abu Dhar that to learn a single Aayat of the Qur’an was better for him than praying 100 Rak’at Namaz in the mosque.

And here is the method that God gave him and which he used to teach and educate the world. It was the method of Each One, Teach One.

He asked everyone to be a leader. And lead their respective flocks to success.

“Kullukum raa’in,” he said. “Wa kullukum mas’oolun ‘an ra’iyyatihi.” Paraphrase: You all have a flock of your own. So take full responsibility for your own flock. For, you will be held accountable for it.”

He told those who were present with him to convey his message and teach those who were absent. He said: A-laa falyuballighush-shaahidul ghaa-ib.

And here is another miracle of miracles, one of his most glorious Hadith: Khairukum man ta’llamal Qur’ana wa ‘allamahu. Paraphrase: The finest people in the world are students and educators.

“Teach yourself the Qur’an and then turn around and teach others the Qur’an,” he said. “For, those who teach the Qur’an to themselves and then to others are the best people on earth.”

They are the salt of the earth.

This World Is Knowable, Next World Is Not

But don’t forget, Qur’an being the Mother of All Knowledge – Ummul Kitaab – not a single branch of knowledge or education falls outside its purview or jurisdiction, regardless of whether it pertains to this world or the next world. And let us not dare forget that “Addunay,” as Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, put it, is, “Mazra’atul Aakhirah!”

That means this world is the pathway to the next world. It is our compass on the highway to heaven. It is preparation for the next world. What we sow here is what we will reap there. All our work and all our effort are concentrated in this world. This is where we live and work.

The next world is where we get paid for the work we did in this world. That is where we get evaluated for all that we did or did not do in this world and get rewarded or punished. So, this world is where all the action is. So, we have to know this world inside and out. For, without knowing this world well, we will not be able to live in this world successfully or practice any Islam in this world.

And that is what happened to Muslims. They started to know less and less about this world. Their condition became so pathetic that they ended up becoming total ignoramuses on practically all things pertaining to this world.

The irony and tragedy of it is that even as Muslims learned less and less about this world, they paradoxically claimed to learn more and more about the next world. This was a contradiction in terms.

For, there was really not much for us to learn about the next world. The next world was all Aalamul Ghaib – hidden away from our sight and knowledge. And it is completely out of our reach – until after death. We know about it only what we are told in the Qur’an and Hadith.

The only world we can know or learn anything about is this world of the senses in which we live. This is the Aalmush Shahaadah. This is the only world that is knowable in this world.

But that is the kind of bind Muslims got themselves into. And it turned out to be a sure recipe for disaster. I don’t know how much success the Muslims guaranteed themselves in the next world, but as a result of this warped perspective that they developed, they sure ended up being a failure in this world.

And that failure gets worse by the day.

Instead of focusing on knowing and learning about the knowable world (Aalamush Shahaadah) and using that knowledge to turn this earth into paradise and also at the same time earn Paradise in the hereafter, Muslims began to concentrate their efforts and energies on trying to know the unknowable world, (Aalamul Ghaib,) which is by definition and by its very nature not open to human access or knowledge while human beings are still in this world.

Yaa hasratan ‘alal ‘ibaad: Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Forgive me for translating the Qur’an using Shakespeare.

So do bear in mind that the Qur’an applies to both worlds and not a single branch of knowledge or education falls outside its sphere or guidance.

Therefore, it is all a question of proper understanding and perspective.

Also bear in mind that Muslim downfall began when, instead of going after every branch and field of knowledge wholeheartedly and with full gusto, Muslims sat around and spent their time and energies discussing what knowledge was good and what knowledge was bad. This is a practice and luxury that many Muslims indulge in even to this day.

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