Message on the Occasion of the Birthday of The Holy Prophet (ﷺ)
from His
Eminence Muhammed Fazl-Ur-Rahman Ansari Al-Qaderi,
Patron of
"The Muslim Digest",
1382 A.H.;
1962 A.C.
The month of Rabi-ul-Awwal
has come-the month which forms the most memorable land-mark in the history of
mankind inasmuch as it witnessed the birth of the Bearer of Abiding Truth and
the Repository of the Light of Divine Guidance, God's Last Prophet and Islam's
Final Messenger, Muhammad (ﷺ)!
This sacred month comes
every year and goes. Every year it reminds us of the birth of the Sun of
Righteousness and Virtue which shone from the
Every year it recalls to
our mind's eye the great and glorious struggle waged heroically and
successfully in the desert of Arabia by the Final and Absolute Leader of
mankind – a struggle for the banishment of darkness and the establishment of
Light, a struggle for the elimination of vice in all its forms and the
promotion of virtue in all its facets, a struggle for the cure of every disease
of mankind and the creation of healthy existence in all the spheres of life:
social, political, moral and spiritual — a struggle which was waged in that
Spring of Human History to form the nucleus and the model for entire humanity
and for all time to come.
This memorable month comes
every year, but do we who claim to be the followers of him who came in this
month — not to speak of human beings in general, for all of whom he came as
much as for us — do we, do all of us, or at least most of us, even understand
the real significance of this month.
And, of course, deriving
the requisite inspiration, renewing and reinforcing it from year to year and
making it the bed-rock for building up an ever-progressing life of virtue and
goodness, in personal as well as social spheres, are matters only of advanced
stage of religious consciousness.
Ceremonial observances
have a meaning – quite a deep meaning – in the domain of Group Dynamics.
Properly organized and intelligently executed, they are helpful in an
appreciable measure in keeping the, torch of faith burning and in bringing
inspiration to the multitude.
But if they are soul-less,
partially or wholly, or meagre, they are bound to fail in nerving their true
purpose and in achieving their real goal. We have to keep this very important
fact constantly in view. Behind the ceremonial observances, however, is the
spirit which is basic in its importance and which, so long as it re-mains
alive, keeps the flame of the group burning. Very unfortunately, this spirit
appears to be departing from us.
Thus, we are gradually
becoming a people without ideals, although Islam made us the richest
ideological group on earth. We profess to believe in Islam, but the behavior of
many of us betrays hypocrisy in this regard.
The root-cause is the
absence of Islamic missionary Endeavour in the manner and on the scale required
by the ugly situation. And the result is that not only is the Muslim society
suffering from different types of ills but humanity itself seems to be moving
steadily towards a cataclysmic end.
Indeed, this is so to
relate just one phase of the dangerous situation: Ever since the first
atom-bomb presented the picture of appalling destruction and devastation in the
unfortunate city of Hiroshima, the menacing scope of the destructive powers of
Modern Science has been progressively expanding, causing an ever increasing
anxiety in the minds of all those who love and cherish the higher values of
life.
The evil of the situation
does not lie in the scientific quest as such. For, the pursuit of Science as
science cannot be regarded as an evil by any stretch of imagination and on any
ground. It is, rather, a positive good, and for Muslims it has been prescribed
by their religion as a sacred obligation. Testimony to this effect is not only
theoretically borne by the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith but is also grounded in
the- practical achievements of Muslims in the past.
The actual source of trouble
is man himself. It is the perverted outlook of the possessors of scientific
knowledge, or of those who employ and control them, which is evil. It is the
misuse of science which is bad.
For, science, being a
means to the harnessing of the forces of nature, places a power in. the hands
of its votaries; and "this power", in the words of a Soviet
scientist, "Could be used for man's benefit or to his detriment". It
is, indeed, the materialistic bias introduced into the field of sciences which
is playing havoc with the life of mankind today and which tends to outweigh the
advantages that the world may have derived from science with regard to
technical efficiency and the advancement of human knowledge.
The truth is that although science Concerns
itself mainly with matter, it cannot at all be regarded as necessarily wedded
to materialism.
Most unfortunately,
however, it is also a truth that, ever since science was deprived of the
ennobling and balancing influence of Islam – due to the apathy and neglect on
the part of the latter generations of Muslims and modern West came to
monopolize it, materialism and science have gone hand in hand simply because of
a wrong outlook born of a wrong attitude of the Christian clergy against the
scientists. Thus, materialism feasted on science and grew fat, causing on the
other side, and the emaciation of humanity as regards spiritual values.
This tragic situation has
been in existence for centuries now, with the result that science is regarded
today as nothing more than a handmaid of materialism and it is being asserted
against all canons of scientific thinking that science cannot exist without a
materialistic philosophy of life. Thus it was that Professor Nuzhdin of the
"There is a
complete clarity (now) with regard to its philosophical outlook: throughout its
history science has been successful only on the basis of a materialistic
outlook, although scientists have not always been aware of it. All the attempts
that are being made to replace the materialistic foundations of science by
various forms of idealism have never promoted scientific progress." (Dawn,
A greater untruth, and an
untruth couched in more clever words, could have been hardly uttered by anyone.
And yet this untruth is, for all practical purposes, being regarded as truth
and, being acted upon by a vast and powerful mass of humanity consciously or
unconsciously.
The modern Western
civilization fell a prey to this fallacious line of thought and has been trying
for quite a long time past to drag the rest of the world with it. With great
energy and with all the resources at its command, it has been digging the
spiritual foundations of human life and substituting them with the fleeting
sands of materialism. And thus it has been heaping one tragedy upon another and
inviting its own doom and that of humanity at large, which, alas! seems to be
quite near, unless the Grace of God comes to the rescue in an extraordinary
manner.
The only way to salvation
lies in dethroning science from its falsely conferred and blasphemous position
as the substitute for the belief in God, in giving to it the place it really
and naturally deserves in human life and in affirming and establishing all the
human values in their pro per places.
There is no denying the
fact that Science does constitute "trustworthy knowledge" to a
considerable extent. But in the first place, it is not infallible. Secondly, it
cannot grasp and comprehend Reality as a Whole.
It can only give, in the
words of Sir Muhammad Iqbal, "a mass of sectional view of Reality — a
fragment of total experience . . . Naturally, Science deals with matter, with
life, with mind. But the moment you ask the question how matter, life and mind
are mutually related, you begin to see the sectional character of various
sciences that deal with them."
The answer to the question
raised by Iqbal lies in Religion. Religion alone can answer it. Let the world,
therefore, recognize the limitations of Science, side by side with its
usefulness. Let the world also recognize the proper function of Religion and
Morality. And let the world realize before it is too late that the true
foundations of human happiness and genuine progress can be built up only on a
harmonious establishment of all the values of life, including the religious and
moral values, which it might be declared without any fear of contradiction, is
possible only within the Islamic discipline.
Thus Muslims have a vital
role to play, not only in the domains of religion and morals but also in the
field of Science — even as their forefathers did in the heyday of Islamic
civilization. Humanity is heading towards destruction. It is groping in the
dark. Let the Muslims, therefore, lift the torch of Islam high to save humanity
and to save themselves.
The task is stupendous and
Muslims of the present day are suffering from different short-comings. But in
is never too late to, mend and there is no obstacle which cannot be conquered
by men of will and perseverance. Let us, therefore, rise to the height of the
opportunity and show to the world the true Path to Harmonious Existence and
Fullness of life.
This is the Light of Truth
towards which this month of the birth of the Apostle of Light invites us. May
Allah, the Light of the Heavens and the Earth, enable us to acquire it. Amen!
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