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In The Name Of Allah
Most Gracious Most Merciful “Disturbing footage”
By Sharique Naeem
In the past week, some disturbing footages of film have been telecast. One shows the UK soldiers in Iraq disrupting protest by Iraqi youth and beating them. The other footage is that of our own country, the police beating up young protesters in Islamabad. The context may be somewhat dissimilar; however the similarities are profound. Both these footages show the deep divisions between the rulers and the ruled in the Muslim lands. Both show the grievances of the Muslim youth. Both show the passion of Muslim youth to raise their voice for the causes they believe in. The entire scenario is indeed tragic. The chaos, confusion and frustration that we see today didn't exist sometime back, about 80 years ago. There was, after all, a time when the Ummah united under Khilafah, was a civilization that was the greatest in the world. In the words of Carly Fiorina, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Hewlett-Packard Company: "This civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration". The Muslim youth were the pioneers in all fields, science and religion alike. The Universities of Muslims, in Baghdad, Cairo, and Damascus were the centers of Learning and guiding beckon for people across the world. Such that the Khaleefah of the Ummah, Khaleefah Hisham II, would receive letters from the George II, King of England, requesting: "...after greeting your majesty we wish to inform you that we have heard of the great progress which the institutes of knowledge and industry in your country enjoy its pure abundance....So, we wish that our sons learn of these virtues so that it serve as a good beginning in following your example for the sake of spreading the light of knowledge in our country which is surrounded by ignorance, from all sides...". Such was the state of the Ummah, under Khilafah. Unfortunately today, the situation is very much reversed. In times of such distress, it is a dire need of the hour that we contemplate, over the cause of our misery. And revive the Islamic Khilafah, which would once again uplift the Ummah.
-The Frontier Post (18th Feb. 2006)
Also Published as: The Islamic Renaissance The Nation (1st March 2006)
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