Bismillahhirrahmanirrahim…
Imagine, there’s an awesomely cool jet plane in front of you. Everyone else is boarding it, and it’s free. No tickets, no need to pay. FREE. For all you know, the plane would probably be going to Disneyland, Venice, Hawaii or perhaps someplace really lame. But then again, you just don’t know. So you let it took off, not knowing where the jet was heading to. And then, you realized the mistake you made for not asking where the plane was heading to in the first place. Bummer… and the only reason why you weren’t on that jet was because you didn’t know where it was heading, so you weren’t interested to board.
I (even for the slightest bit) was never interested in history. I loved reading science, general stuffs and perhaps, a dash of psychology. History, blergh… so I was like the in the situation mentioned above, oblivious of the absurdly huge vehicle revving its engine loudly up in my eardrums, ready to take off… UNTIL, I found out where it was heading (through history? You bet!);
History had a funny thing to it. It’s the freaking past, yet it is also the future. There’s a cycle to it. That future is “the destination”. And so how do we peek into the future in order to find out the destination? Simple, we dig into the past.
It will be horrendous for me to write a complete timeline of the rise and fall of the Islamic Civilization in such a short post, but mark my words, understanding the history of the rise and fall of Islam will make you realise the big picture (InsyaAllah). Sort of coming out of the matrix-ish incubator (if you catch my drift). So, I’ll let it settle with a very popular hadith.
Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad and many others.
“Prophet-hood shall last among you, for as long as Allah s.w.t wishes. Then Allah s.w.t. shall take it out when he wishes. Then, there shall come a Khilafah on the path of Prophet-hood. Then Allah s.w.t. shall take it out when he wishes”
“What comes after that O’ Prophet of Allah s.a.w.?”
“There shall come after that, biting kingdoms. It shall last among you for as long as Allah s.w.t. wishes. Then Allah s.w.t. shall take it out when he wishes”
“What is after that O’ Prophet of Allah s.a.w.”
“There shall come after that, military kingdoms. This military kingdom shall last among you for as long as Allah s.w.t wishes. And then, Allah s.w.t. shall take it away, when he wishes. There shall come after that, a Khilafah according to the path of Prophet-hood” and then Rasulullah s.a.w. remained silent.
This hadith mentioned about the age of Prophet-hood (an-Nubuwwah) which lasted for 23 years. The Khilafah (Khilafah ‘ala minhaj an-nubuwwah) took about 30 years. The biting kingdoms (Mulkan ‘Adhan), as translated from Arabic means kingdoms that last for long periods of time, or in another point of view, those that only pass their leadership within their bloodline (monarchy) [eg: Umaiyah (abt 130 years), Abbasiyah (abt 400 years), Uthmaniyah, Fatimiyah]. Military kingdoms (Mulkan Jabariyyan) are nations that are governed by military as we may see today. Other interpretation describe it as an age of fitnah. Where leaders lead with great pride (the bad pride not the good one) and arrogance. Which can also be applied to our current situation where we see Muslims are painfully segregated.
In short, this hadith is telling us about the future of Islam. And we are now at the very last phase of the hadith. Everywhere we go today, Islamic country or non-Islamic country; we are able to see the revival of the Ummah.
And the only reason you’re not part of it, the reason you didn’t take the ride of da’wah (the jet – in case you didn’t get the analogy given before... huhu) was because initially you never knew where the Ummah is heading to. But now you do. The jets are taking of, the engines are powering up, it’s gonna move, and it’s not gonna wait for you. You either are part of the revival of the ummah, or get left behind. So ask yourself, do you want to be left behind in the pursuit of Islamic revival which, its ultimate reward for those who fight for the Deen of Allah is Jannah?
“Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but Him ye would not harm in the least. For Allah hath power over all things” (At-taubah - 39)
This jet, will continue to take flight even if you refuse to board. As Allah will simply put another person in your seat. The fact that you refuse to join will not harm Allah one bit. It is us, who will be missing out. We need this this ride. SO TAKE IT!!!
My advice/opinion/suggestion (call it whatever you like) is that we analyse history. Sort of an awesome way to gouge our eyes out, so that we can see the ‘flight route’.
Ps: interested in a short crash course of history lectures audio and video? Feel free to contact me… :D I might be able to send over some files.