the islamic concept of ‘ummah’week11

8/7/2019 THE ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF UMMAHWEEK11

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THE ISLAMICTHE ISLAMIC

CONCEPT OFCONCEPT OFUMMAHUMMAH

Week 11Week 11

66thth April 2004April 2004 WednesdayWednesday 08:0008:00 10:0010:00


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INTRODUCTIONINTRODUCTION

The middle half of this century presents anastounding picture. On one hand, the process ofdecline and deterioration reached its lowest ebb inthe events of 1967 and 1971. On the other hand,there was also a widespread movement towards

revival and the beginning of a process of renewal.


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It commenced during the years 1920-1925. For thepast fifty years, these concurrent trends ofdegeneration and revival continued side by side

almost in the manner depicted in the Quran.

He has let free the two bodies of flowing water,meeting together. Between them is a barrier whichthey do not transgress. (Al-Quran 55 : 19-20)


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THE CHARACTERISTICSTHE CHARACTERISTICSOF ISLAMIC UMMAHOF ISLAMIC UMMAH


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The Islamic world can be divided in threesections geographically. It can be divided in

three sections geographically. The first

geographical section is in the centre, the

heart of Muslim territory. The two others

form wings on either side. The Arabian

Peninsula, Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Asia

Minor can he regarded as the main body of

the Islamic world, analogous to the body of

the eagle. Asia Minor is its head and beak.

The southern part of the peninsula is its tail

with wings stretched out. Its right wing

starts from Iran and Turkey, includes

Afghanistan and Indo-Pak sub-continent,

and extends up to Malaysia and Indonesia. .

Its left wing encompasses the whole of

Northern Africa and had reached into Spain

and France.


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This has been viewed by Malik Bennabi when hecommented that many thinkers and reformers,while admitting the fact of the ummahs

disintegration, have reached a different conclusion:Muslims, not Islam, have to change. However, thequestions as to how and who should undertake theresponsibility remains largely incomplete andinconclusive for a variety of political and culturalcircumstances.


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Bennabi also while addressing the issue of MuslimUmmah has developed the concept that everycivilization passes through 3 important stages:

birth, peak and decline. (refere his Shurut al-Nahdah).By this concept also he tries to develophis three-stage schematization on the creation ofIslamic Ummah;

1. Spiritual Stage (fitrah)

2. The Rational Stage

3. The Instinctive Stage


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1. The Spiritual Stage

Lasted from Prophet saw received the first revelation

at Hira until the Battle of Siffin. This can be seen

clearly from significant events; one of it; the case ofBilal, whose adherence to Islam enabled him towithstand the torture and persecution.

He says, only the spirit gives humanity theopportunity to rise and progress to form civilization.


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2. The Rational Stage

As the society continues to practice its religiousprinciples and integrate its internal bonds, the religion

spreads globally.

At this point, the Muslim community is enlarged and

newly created needs and challenges stimulate thesocietys capacity and creativity. As the science and

the arts flourish, reason becomes the controlling force

and society ascends towards the peak of its cycle ofcivilization.


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Bennabi viewed the Umayyad period as an exampleof rational stage where humanity is indebted to itfor discovering the percentage system and the

experimental method in medicine.

Despite the rational and intellectual success,Bennabi make a significant remarks that reasoncant discipline the instinct as effectively as thespirit did in the first stage.


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3. The Instinctive Stage

Marked by weakness and corruption which becomesinevitable when society can no longer control its

members instinct.

Society then enters the darkness of history as the

cycle of civilization ends.

This stage applies easily to the period prior to the

Mongol invasion. Bennabi also chose the 14th

centuryas the turning point of decadence as it was

characterized by a moral, political and intellectualcollapse.


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TheThe UmmahUmmah & Intellectual Problem& Intellectual Problem

Through his study of reform and modernizationmovements, Bennabi concluded that the reformmovement initiated by al-Afghani and Abduh was

concerned only with providing Muslims with self-defensive and self-justifying shields.

The real problem was not to teach the Muslim hisfaith but rather how to restore its effectiveness andthe social impact of the faith.

He argues that the problem is not proving Godsexistence to Muslims but how to make them sensethat His existence fills up an individuals soul.


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He also argues that the Islah movement lackedmethodological and scientific thinking since itsintellectuals often criticized external enemies andignored internal factors of disintegration.

The modernization movement , or reformistslacked both a visualization of their goals andmeans. The main concern of the modernizers saving the Muslim world from its political disorders-was a political approach. Indeed, this concern was

itself borrowed from the European system andtherefore did not focus on the real problem of theindividual Muslim.


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ConclusionConclusion

the last four centuries have done us, the Muslim

Ummah, little credit. We have not reflected theessence of Islam which was once the pacesetter of

humanity. Our future must reflect a new approach, wemust have clearly crystalized ideas and well-articulated goals. We can carry out orderly andconstructive work only when the planning is thoroughand we labor toward recognized and acceptable goals.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Muslims, including

intellectuals and those involved in the Islamicmovements, have overlooked what to most builders is

obvious. They know they must go somewhere but theydo not know exactly where to go


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The two great challenges facing Muslims are torecreate a living civilization of Islam which was oncedynamic and thriving, and to make a positive

contribution to the predicament facing mankind.Muslim Civilization also is the only civilization thatstill preserves in tact its basic teaching and has thepotential to provide an alternative to what is calledthe modern world. It is also the only civilization thatcan provide the much-needed value structure and

spiritual needs that can lead mankind to happinesson this earth.


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The Muslim Ummah cannot continue lying inactivelike a stagnant lake- full of potential resources yetpolluted. The ummah must think about and plans

for its future. This is true to say, as does the bookIslamization of knowledge published by theInstitute, that today non-Muslims are theundisputed masters of all the disciplines,. Muslimacademicians should master all the moderndisciplines, understand them completely and

achieve an absolute command of all that they haveto offer.


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The Muslim ummah also require a bold effort tomake an Islamic stand, as well as intellectualcourage and a firm understanding of Muslim

societies and the true culture of Islam. The future ofMuslim societies is with Islam, for without Islam,they have no future.

the islamic concept of ‘ummah’week11

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