Whither then will you go?

[Muhammad]

Whither then will you go? 081.026 |

[Warrior of Light]

Only one way, To the Quraan and Sunnah for salvation. And to He is our return. Inshallah may our acts and deeds be accepted by the Almighty. Amin.

[Haneefah]

رَّبَّنَا عَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْنَا ÙˆÙŽØ¥Ùلَيْكَ أَنَبْنَا ÙˆÙŽØ¥Ùلَيْكَ الْمَصÙيرÙ

[Muhammad]

^^ Amiin, Amiin

 

The Way of Allah, to Whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth.

Behold (how) all affairs tend towards Allah.042.053 |

Whither then will you go? 081.026

[Yonis]

There is no other way, but to accept the oneness of Allah (swt), to follow the right path and we can’t will unless Almighty God wills that.

[S.O.S]

Brothers and sisters: Assalaamu Calaykum,

 

Below is an abstract I've taken from a letter I sent to a friend little while ago, I sensed that he/she didn't take it too well; so what do you poeple make of it?

 

It was I believe, prof Marwick who said “a society without history is as helpless as an individual without memory†and I couldn’t agree with him more. It is our historical recollection that shapes our identity and at the same time gives us a sense of direction and belonging. With that as a tool, we become conscious about the nature of our sociological, historical, psychological and religious realities of the past, so we can learn from it to correct the mistakes and to reorient our relative perspectives, on the highest standards we can judge ourselves.

 

That is different from culture which to me, is nothing more than an animalistic state of living, because it relates only to the habitual adjustments of societies to their respective environment for natural survival, and that, which later on becomes a tradition wherefrom generations have inherited from each other, be it by means folktales, profession, poetry or lifestyle. Therefore culture offers no direction and society with no direction is no civilisation, and civilisation with no footprints has no consciousness.

 

Islam is the direction, the civilisation and the filter of culture. But we need to examine our past in the way we (our ancestors and all other Islamic societies) deviated from the Islamic way of life and become conscious of it, so we may learns from it. Prof Arnold Toynbee concluded after an extensive study in histories of civilisations (especially/including the Islamic civilisations), that “civilisation is a movement not a condition, a voyage not a harbourâ€, I don’t know how in debt he understood his statement, but it is true. How many nations flourished and then perished again? There is an organic cycle that is subject to Allah’s decree; it is also equally valid for individuals who are but travellers in this world.

 

First of all, I praise Allah for I’m not influenced by the same dogmatic myths, which led to the moral bankruptcy of most generations in the past century, still continuously forming an imaginative source of degenerate decay beyond repair. The humiliation and degradation of values is made worst by the narrow-mindedness and collective amnesia of historical events. Have you yet wondered yourself, how it is possible for whole nations in the Greater Horn to have no historical identity going beyond the colonial era, which still plays a part in the ways their affaires are managed? Where do these countries and regions in pursuit of sovereignty and territorial markings come from? Since when, except from the arrival of the European infidels, did the “Ardul Xabash†and “Bilaadul Zinj†regions (starting from the Sudanic belt and expanding towards south as far as the Mozambique forests) ever known the divisions we have now taken for granted? Does anyone realise how many thousands martyred in the way of Allah, with no regard for ethnic, linguistic, social, economic, tribal, and the present day satanic invention of nationalistic divisions? How our great Imam Axmed Gurey defeated the Abyssinian orthodox church and almost wiped their power away until the Portuguese catholic crusade came to their rescue, and later how “we†in alliance with the sultanate of Cummaan defeated the crusaders in their last stronghold.

 

It was not until “they†(first crusaders, then imperialists, then colonisers and now we have the jokes of democracy, human rights and war on terror) came back with different face each time in the nineteenth/twentieth century, but the same objectives, that we deluded ourselves to what we now see is happening. Allah Exalted is He said “Nor will they cease fighting you until they succeed in turning you away from your Religion if they can†(2,217)

 

The current “clamities of linguistic and cultural chauvinism†as Nadwi called it, is not different from the generally experienced malaise in the Islamic world. Prof Axmed Zidan’s analysis on the disappearance of the necessary psychological barrier between the believing and unbelieving nations is a very interesting one. It was their failure (especially those who were/are in a position of rule) to regard their “leniency towards the enemies of Allahâ€, the enemies of Islam, and their enemies, as a serious Islamic violation with an unforeseen consequences in this life and the hereafter. The Somali tribal leaders behaved in the most shameful and foolish manner when they competed for the subjugation of their people, lives, wealth, dignity and not to mention religion. For instance, it began with the present-day Somaliland (though not such thing existed prior to British arrival) and their treaties with the British in 1884, 1885 and 1886. Swiftly followed by what is now Djibouti (again not such thing existed) in 1885 with the French, the folk in Puntland (need I say it) decided to introduce the Italian specie of the infidels with their treaty in 1889. The folk in ****** (again not such thing existed) felt suffocated and cried help in 1896 with their treaty with the British.

 

I ask myself the following questions and I can't help but getting the same beautifully simple answer!

 

Where from here?

Where's our future?

Where's our conscious?

Where's our collective identity?

Where's our collective direction?

Where's our historical perception?

 

Please share with us whatever conclusion you draw from these above questions.

 

Shams-ud-Din

[hodman]

Deep.....

So what exactly were you telling your friend???

did he/she find it confusing as well as annoying?

[hodman]

InshaAllah we are headed toward Allah on the right path

[S.O.S]

Brother,

 

He/she understood it perfectly, even though it's not very clear here, the above abstract was part of an ongoing dialogue (actually some of my answers to his/her incoherent questions) on the relationship between conscious and perception, loyalty and identity, and each of the latter's specific historical context.