Iman of The Ummah

War. Famine. Liberalism. Deviance. Heedlessness. Sectarianism. Fahishah. Things seem all doom and gloom for the ummah. It appears true what our Prophet, peace be upon him, told us about more than 1400 years ago,

Anas bin Malik narrated:

"There shall come upon the people a time in which the one who is patient upon his religion will be like the one holding onto a burning ember"

Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2260

He, peace be upon him, has also mentioned that the quality of Muslims will decline over time:

Zahdam bin Mudrab narrated:

"... The best people are those living in my generation, then those coming after them, and then those coming after..."

Sahih al-Bukhari 2651

Not to mention the countless hadith concerning the end times, many of which has passed, such as the increase in wealth of the ummah and the competition of building skyscrapers, the prevalence of children who rule over their parents, widespread zina and the tens or even hundreds of thousands of lives lost each year due to the decisions of a few war-mongers.

Is The Day of Judgement just around the corner? Is it time to "pack our bags" and go into seclusion? Or is there hope yet still?

In my opinion, Muslims of every generation has faced their own trials and tribulations. We are not in a unique time in the sense that we are the only ones who are facing issues in the ummah. The many, many trials that occurred during the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs. The rise of innovations. The incarceration and torture of our biggest scholars. The countless deviant sects. The millions killed by the Mongols, and their destruction of Islamic libraries. The Ka'bah itself has also seen much bloodshed between Muslims, having been destroyed or damaged multiple times in the past. Every generation of the ummah - even the first (ie. our Prophet, peace be upon him, and his Companions) - have thought that they will witness the Day of Judgement.

Yes, each generation faces a new type of fitnah. And it is up to us to rise to the challenge. I would say the biggest fitnah of today is that of liberalism. While Islam is cited as the "fastest growing religion in the world", we see that a growing number of Muslims, under the influence of liberalism, are leaving Islam as well. Society has been numbed to religion and faith: it has become irrelevant to our everyday lives and a hassle to establish. The demonisation of our faith in particular is just a nail in the coffin. As such, it has become common for Muslims to adopt "foreign" cultures or principles, many of them infringing on that which is makruh or even haram. And because they are so distinctly un-Islamic, it is leading people to abandon their faith altogether.

I think a huge driving factor, really, is the ease of access to information and knowledge (ie. via the Internet). It has sped up the process at which people get exposed to ideas and philosophies, no matter how small or how big, no matter how near or how far. This has made society polarised, as it allows people to find their niches within the comfort of their homes. Linked by the internet, forming huge communities - albeit digital ones - has become easy, with members or subscribers of a particular ideology or following coming from every corner of the globe. This empowers people to be more comfortable and assured in their expressiveness rather than having to feel forced to blend into the values of their physical, social environment.

But polarisation and globalisation should be seen in a positive light. While we see the iman drop in traditional Muslim societies, we also see a rise in conversions in non-Muslim populations. In fact, many Muslims communities nowdays are led by Muslim reverts.

It is as though iman was taken out from people (or rather, they pushed it out) and put into others, either to strengthen the iman of Muslims or to bring non-Muslims into Islam. If it were to be collectively quantified, it would not seem to have decreased in the slightest. And here is a stern word of caution from Allah Himself, as He mentioned in the Qur'an:

"O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion - Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [who are] humble toward the believers, strong against the disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allah and do not fear the reproach of the reproacher. That is the favor of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and all-Knowing."

Translation of the Qur'an, Al-Maidah:54

It may seem that Islam is on an overall decline, but perhaps it just because we have been observing in the wrong places. Go to any masjid during prayer time and see how many rows are filled by dedicated Muslims who pray in congregation. Attend the masjid at night, and witness how filled it is with those who sacrifice their sleep and rest for the sake of Allah. Or even better still, turn your attention digitally, and be awed by the amount of Muslim chatter, and the extensiveness of da'wah content that exists online. Alhamdulillah, there is no excuse for not being educated in the religion, as Islamic knowledge is constantly being churned out - be it free or paid, physical or digital.

Masjid al-Haram is in constant upgrading, as it tries to accommodate of the millions upon millions of Muslims who make pilgrimage to it every year: it is a sight to behold. In a way, Islam is the largest religion in the world. It has entered the hearts of almost every race and every ethnicity, united under tawhid in our sects and our madhabs.

It does not affect Allah in the slightest (ie. zero), no matter how strong or weak the iman of his slaves are. As such, we should try our best not to get affected by those around us. But at the same time, we should not feel too discouraged as well. Nor should we feel isolated or cornered. Allah and His angels is with His believing servants, and Allah will not allow His religion to die or deviate until its decreed time. Allah also chooses from His righteous servants those that will uphold His religion after Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And they are the mujaddid, the ulema, the awliya and the imams of our communities. They can appear to be everyday people, but in truth they are like the pillars of our masajid and the stars of the night sky. What is only required of us is to seek them. Eventhough many of us live, work and interact with disbelievers (and there is nothing wrong with that), it is important to fill our time and our hearts around fellow Muslims, to think good of them, to overlook their misgivings and to avoid fighting excessively amongst ourselves - to love them for the sake of Allah.

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said "A man follows the religion of his friend; so each one should consider whom he makes his friend".

Sunan Abi Dawud 4833

and

Narrated by Abu Musa:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said "A faithful believer to a faithful believer is like the bricks of a wall, enforcing each other."

Sahih al-Bukhari 481

To conclude, we should not despair in our current times. Rather, we must stand and "fight". And that is by increasing in our taqwa, educating ourselves and calling our loved ones to Islam and righteousness.

There is no might or power except with Allah.

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