REFORMING A COMMUNITY
An Important Task
THE question of reforming a community always arises after the period of a prophet. Hence, to reform a community means to bring back on to the path of the prophets the later generations of a people among whom degeneration has set in. In other words, the purpose of reforming a people is to bring back their later generations to the ways prevalent at the time of their prophet. It is this that Imam Malik refers to when he cites his teacher Wahb ibn Kaisan: “The Muslim community, in its last phase, will be reformed through that which reformed it in its first phase.” The narrator asked Imam Malik what was it that Wahb was referring to. Malik replied that what Wahb was speaking of was taqwa, or God-consciousness. (Musnad al-Muwatta).
One of the traits of the Prophet’s Companions mentioned in the Quran is that they were ‘firm and unyielding towards those who deny the truth’ (48: 29). That is to say, in matters of religion, they did not imbibe external influences. In contrast to this, with regard to degenerated people the Quran says that they are prone to imitating others (9: 30). That is to say, with regard to religion, they imbibe external influences.
When degeneration sets in among a people, it is the duty of its reformers to deeply study its conditions. Discovering the root cause of this degeneration, they must plan, in a realistic manner, for the community’s reform.
In these verses, a law of nature is explained with the help of references to some communities. When a particular community or people are in their ascendant phase, they are so firm on their principles that they remain established in their religious teachings without accepting any influences from their surrounding environment. In contrast to this, when a people begin to degenerate, they lose their concern for principles. As a result, in matters of religion they begin to accept influences from the surrounding environment. This is the cause for the decline of communities.
When degeneration sets in among a people, it is the duty of its reformers to deeply study its conditions. Discovering the root cause of this degeneration, they must plan, in a realistic manner, for the community’s reform. In the modern age, there was great talk about Communism, Socialism and Democracy. Their proponents viewed human life in terms of socio-political systems. Soon, others, too, began to imitate them. Among these were numerous Muslim thinkers, who began interpreting Islam, too, as a socio-political system. For instance, there are certain commands that have been mentioned in the Quran in the intransitive sense, but these people wrongly interpreted them in the transitive sense. These commands in the Quran were meant for a person to practice in his individual life.
But some Muslims scholars described these commands in terms of imposition on others by force.
Converting intransitive Quranic injunctions into transitive injunctions led to the emergence of various evils in the Muslim community. As a result the mentality of political extremism took root among the Muslim community. People began to clash with political authorities in the hope of enforcing the system that they desired. Consequently, the Muslim ummah was badly fractured, leading to radicalization.
In line with the law of nature, this political extremism proved to be completely useless and pointless. It had no positive result whatsoever. The consequent frustration that was generated among people took a terrible form—of suicide-bombing, based in the belief that even if one could not subjugate one’s supposed enemies, they could be harmed, even if it meant losing one’s own life.
Reforming a community is a very sensitive matter. In this work there is always the possibility that people may veer to some extreme or the other, and then, instead of reform, their work will only lead to further harm.
When negative thoughts
come in from one door, intellectual
development exits from another.