Last Friday, the Singaporean government decided to go ahead with the hanging of 25-year-old Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4490754.stm.
The Australian people and government were outraged by it. Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock described the punishment as being “barbaric”. Australian PM John Howard made five personal pleas to the Singaporean leadership. Such statements and actions are not surprising given the level of anger provoked in the Australian public opinion. The Australian government, however, rejected calls for boycotts of Singaporean companies, as well as trade and military sanctions with one of Australia’s closest Asian allies. But this is not the most astonishing. What comes as a greater surprise is that this same Australian government has fully supported the indefinite incarceration of 30-year-old Aussie citizen, David Hicks, in Guantanamo Bay. Hicks has been held in Guantanamo for almost four years. He was arrested in Afghanistan by Northern Alliance militia in late December 2001 and handed over to US forces in exchange for a $15,000 bounty payment.Such double standards show the inherent contradictions in the secular capitalist ideology espoused by Western governments. On one hand they preach democracy and rule of law to the Ummah and on the other hand they practice the very opposite. It is time for the Muslims, regardless of skin colour, ethnicity, culture to unite under one single political leadership, the Khilafah, which will protect her from such inhumane oppression and humiliation. The Prophet (saw) said in Hadith narrated by Muslim “Behold, the Imam (Khalif) is but a shield from behind whom the people fight and by whom they protect themselves.”And Allah (swt) knows best.
December 7th, 2005 at 2:49 pm
Brothers, a lot of people think that you should work first on your nafs.
December 7th, 2005 at 7:16 pm
A lot of people also believe in alien abductions, but there is no real evidence for that either.
December 7th, 2005 at 8:19 pm
[Nafsiyyah: Inclinations/desires]
JazakAllah khair, anonymous.
You are right; a lot of people do think that.
I would hate to think that any Muslims think that, however. I am yet to hear or read anything that suggests that they should.
Since the revelation of the Qur’an, Muhammad, saws, did not “first work on his nafs”, and neither did the sahabah. They did not do any one thing in isolation. In fact there is a plethora of evidence to show just how involved they were in life’s affairs and in ibadah.
I recall the example of a man who was known to have prayed all night for a number of days, and the beloved Prophet saws reminded him of his duty to his wife.
If, however, when you refer to working on nafs” you mean bringing your desires and inclinations in line with Islam, then I completely agree with you. This would apply to you as much as to me and anyone else who is alive. I hope that all who care to study this blog would see that we hold the same opinion on that matter.
Alas, some Muslims hold the corrupted notion that until a person has perfected their nafsiyyah that they cannot become involved in politics. This is not the example of our Prophet saws, or the sahabah, nor of any of the classical scholars.
Not only is it not their example, I happen to think that it is near impossible in the short time we have in this dunya. I very seriously doubt that any man or woman alive today can ever absolutely bring their nafsiyyah in line with Islam, and it is likely that the one who thinks he has is guilty of pride. We all know where a single atoms weight of pride leads. SubhanAllah.
I believe that even attempting to do this would be a sin. We all have a duty towards each other. Remember the hadith about the Ummah being one body? Imagine the person who first attempts to work on their nafs” before becoming involved in society. Can he really fulfil all of his fard?