بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Nafsiya Reflections: Our Islamic Identity
Who are we as Muslims? What does it mean to say that we should have an Islamic identity? This is an important topic that is important to understand, especially as we see how the West has pledged a war on Islam. Sadly, we ourselves are distancing ourselves from Islam with temptations, chasing Dunya pleasures, culture, and media influence. The West is playing a crucial role to distort the image of Islam and what it means to be Muslims.
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him predicted the loss of Islamic identity when he mentioned in this famous hadith narrated by Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri:
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ « لَتَتْبَعُنَّ سَنَنَ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ شِبْرًا شِبْرًا وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ، حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا جُحْرَ ضَبٍّ تَبِعْتُمُوهُمْ». قُلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ الْيَهُودُ وَالنَّصَارَى قَالَ «فَمَنْ».
“You will follow the ways of the people before you step by step, cubits for cubit, for arms length for forearms length, even if they fall into a lizard hole, you will follow them. And then the companions asked: is it the Jews and Christians? He responded: who else?” — Bukhari
We need to have a clear understanding of our ultimate purpose in life as Muslims, success can directly follow because we are thoughtfully carrying out that very defined God conscious purpose (taqwa). Allah (swt) has clearly stated the purpose of our existence when He (swt) said,
[وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ]
“I created the jinn and humans for nothing else but that they may worship Me.” [TMQ 51:56].
The word worship in this verse has not been used in the sense of only prayer, fasting and other kinds of such worship so that one may understand that the jinn and men have been created only for performing the Prayer, observing the Fast in Ramadhan and for praising and glorifying Allah (swt). Although this sense is also included in it, this is not its complete sense. Today we see faith has been weakened which caused a crisis in the belief system.
The Muslim Ummah has been worked on to make them ignorant. The Arabic language is the language in which the Qur’an was revealed. The extinction of the Arabic language among Muslims is on the rise, even amongst the native Arabs. The great scholar and Imam Ibn Taymiyyah said, “The Arabic language is part of our religion. So knowing it should be an obligation as we read the Quran and pray in Arabic.” How many households speak the language fluently? How many households hold discussions or talks about religious knowledge?
How do we revive or rebuild our Islamic identity? We as Muslims need to strengthen our belief in our Aqeedah. We have to foremost know that man and jinn were created for the worship, obedience and carrying out of the orders of Allah (swt). In addition, it is very familiar for Muslims to understand the linguistic meaning of the word Islam to be that of surrendering, being obedient and submitting to Allah (swt) without any resistance. In fact, this is the very heart of what it means to be a Muslim. Submitting one’s very desires to Allah (swt) is the highest form of worship. Submission is what Allah (swt) asks of us and is the naturally sensible thing to do and the way in which this can naturally be achieved is by developing our unique Islamic personality.
Islamic identity includes many elements such as faith, morals, religious practices, traditions, social customs, language, history, and Islamic literature, representing the totality of Islamic culture that distinguishes the individual and characterizes society. Islamic identity is the sense of belonging to the Islamic Ummah, identifying its place in history and civilization, adhering to the values and teachings of Islam. Once we truly understand this we have to know why Islam is always distorted? Why are there traditions or beliefs that oppress women and girls?
This is why we should know our History? Islamic identity is not only the spiritual aspect. It is knowing your roots. It is empowering us, building the confidence and self-esteem we had before they were ripped from us. History is an essential part of building the Islamic identity, as it contains the events that have shaped the Islamic Ummah since its beginnings and represents a rich heritage for Muslims by studying Islamic history, an Islamic individual can strengthen his identity and understand its origins and development.
Starting in the 2nd century of the Islamic calendar (Hijri), foreign ideas from cultures like Indian, Persian, and Greek were introduced to some Muslims. These ideas were often at odds with Islam, but some tried to combine them with Islamic teachings, which caused confusion and wrong interpretations. Some people who didn’t truly believe in Islam also introduced foreign concepts that contradicted Islam, further distorting its understanding. By the 7th century Hijri, the Arabic language, which is central to understanding Islam, was being neglected. From the 17th century onwards, Western colonialism and cultural influence made things worse, causing even more confusion. As a result, many Muslims lost the true understanding of Islam.
Let us briefly look at some examples of how women were treated in Europe: Women were expected to be silent, chaste, and confined to domestic life, often having no legal identity separate from their husbands or fathers. Women had limited control over their property and earnings, could not vote or hold public office, and could be physically abused. Married women, in particular, had no legal identity of their own and were under their husband's authority. In many places, husbands were legally allowed to beat their wives. Women in Europe looked at women as deceitful, incompetent, too stupid to do anything right.
DOES this not anger you?! We as Muslims left our Islamic values to copy and imitate the West when they regarded a woman at an animal level beneath the man. Islam came and rescued women from this humiliated life. Islam taught us that both genders were created equally in their obligations to Allah, they also have rights and responsibilities towards Allah and how to gain HIS Jannah. Unlike Europe in how they treated women Islam came to protect the rights of women across all aspects of life, from prohibiting pre-Islamic injustices. Islam protects women and girls from all harm to the point that there was a time where Prophet Muhammad (saw) called the community to the mosque for a meeting. This time when he called the Muslims, it was to order an end to domestic violence.
Islam empowered girls to have rights for education. Europe did not give girls that privilege. Europe became obsessed with how to tarnish the image of Islam making it look backwards and oppressive. Europe gave the Muslims their backward traditions and took the Muslims way of life to make Europe look modernized. The Islamic identity is diverse, encompassing a set of values, principles, and traditions that distinguish Muslims and make them feel a sense of belonging to each other. In order to understand Islamic identity, it is necessary to look at the history and development of Islam, as well as the social and cultural factors that contributed to the construction of this identity. We also need to talk about the challenges facing Islamic identity today, and how to deal with them effectively.
Our Islamic values are now openly criticized. This is the underlying theme that underpins our beliefs and what we were obligated to do. Whether it is responding to oppression in the Muslim world, education, family-life or simply giving charity, Muslims are expected to conform to Western secular liberal values with little regard for Islam. They are being bullied into accepting a sanitized liberal version of Islam that will bend with the liberal public opinion and say anything contrary to this is ‘extremism’ or ‘radical’ Islam.
The aim of these attacks is to pressure Muslims into adopting ideas and stances that are often incompatible with Islam; to create a climate of fear that silences the Islamic call and any dissent against devastating Western policies in the Muslim world. Ordinary citizens too are constantly being bombarded by anti-Islamic sentiments, creating animosity between them and Muslims; the common person is being forced to take a stance against Islam and Muslims.
Let us rise from this and become a true Muslim who is alert, knowledgeable, true to yourself, and be a leader towards the Khayr. Islam has raised all of us to the highest level of honourable and respected femininity, free from the exhausting burden of having to fend for herself and earn a living; even if she is rich she does not have to provide for herself. Islam has made her independent, entitled to dispose of her own wealth - if she is wealthy - as she wishes, and equal with man in human worth and with regard to general religious duties. She has rights and duties, just as a man has rights and duties. Women and men are equal in the sight of Allah (swt) and may be rewarded or punished equally. We as Muslims should strive for the Islamic identity that Allah (swt) bestowed upon us making us the best of mankind.
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