GAINING LOST RESPECT
Be a Giver Member of Society
MUSLIMS seem to have fallen in public opinion all over the world as being people of no personal value. Muslim writers, of course, are unanimous in expounding the view that this is all attributable to the plots, oppression and prejudice of non-Muslim nations. How absurd this proposition seems when we consider that the arrangement of the entire world is in the hands of God Himself; He has never abdicated His control in favour of any particular community. Therefore, holding others responsible for the woes of Muslims is a baseless calumny.
The present state of Muslims has come about, not because of national or international conspiracies, but because they are subject to the laws of their Divine Maker like everyone else. The following verse of the Quran describes how God deals with nations, depending upon whether they are useful or useless to society at large.
He sends down water from the sky that fills riverbeds to overflowing, each according to its measure. The torrent carries along swelling foam, akin to what rises from smelted ore from which man makes ornaments and tools. God thus depicts truth and falsehood. The scum is cast away, but whatever is of use to man remains behind. (13: 17)
The giver group will attain stability in this world, whether in a national or international setting.
Another analogy is that of the purification of ores by heating them, so that whatever is impure first flows away, leaving behind a useful metallic residue.
A useless, or unprofitable group is like the scum from ore or the foam from water which has to be discarded, while the useful, giver group may be likened to the pure water, or pure metal which is left after the impurities have been washed away. It is the latter group which will attain stability in this world and give value, whether in a national or international setting.
The Muslims of today who have lost their usefulness have become so much like foam under the same law of God which governs all nations of the world. However it is never too late to change. They can be useful to the society by contributing positively in the constructive activities of the world.