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We were talking about rights of neighbors
in the previous chapter. We have put it aside by considering it
unimportant, however even today in the civilized world when we
enquire about somebody, we always ask the neighbors about the
person. Here I will narrate an incident to make my point
clear. It was time of the caliph Omar (RA) when somebody wanted
to bail out a person. Omar (RA) asked the person whether he
ever lived in the person’s neighborhood, had he ever traveled
with him or if has ever dealt with him. His answer was in
negative for all these, so Omar (RA) did not accept his bond.
As you see, here the emphasis was on the significance of
neighborhood. As we have set aside other important orders, so
have we done with this duty of neighborhood. Prophet (PBUH) has
said that the worst person is the one from whom his neighbors
are not safe. I hope, you now understand the significance of
good neighborhood.
Now I come back to one of the most
significant needs of the time. This is the present situation
and our responsibilities. Islam has given us directions for
everything. ALLAH has said that “Obey Me”. The obedience of
leaders is conditional on that they do not hinder in practice of
Islam, if they do this then you are directed to emigrate. In
this background we have to do our duty. Here in Canada nobody
hinders your religious practices, so emigration is not needed.
If it was so then you have to contemplate on this. If you think
of emigrating from here then you would be supporting the designs
of enemies of Islam. On the other hand you have to live here
like responsible Canadians and take your responsibilities
seriously. If you do not do this, the enemies will become
successful in creating doubts in people’s minds about you. If
you confirm their doubts with your actions then there will be
negative opinion developed against both Islam and Muslims. Do
not provide this opportunity to the enemies of Islam and Muslims
and do not do anything that will strengthen these doubts. Take
part in activities here with enthusiasm and whoever is becoming
disheartened should revisit their opinions.
Islam is an international religion, so
Allah and Prophet (PUBH) have made it a duty to local evidence
for sighting of moon for Eid and Ramadan. This was done because
timings are different in different places of the world. We
quarrel over this every year in the name of Islamic unity. What
I mean to say is that until we have an international authority
acceptable to all we will have to make our decisions locally
otherwise we will not be able to be compatible with the world.
Whatever Islamic movements we had were based on various sects
who wanted to enforce their limited views over the rest of the
world. The others resisted this and so these movements died
away. These movements though were in the name of Islam but were
not Islamic in reality. These had neither love nor dedication,
instead these carried hate and extremism so most of these died
away after gaining some significance. Although in the beginning
some welcomed these and later on same people resisted these.
Without sincerity and love and accepting Allah and His prophet (PUBH)
no Islamic revolution can be successful. Allah says “none of
you can be considered pious until you follow Allah and His
prophet (PUBH) in his decisions”. Our welfare lies in
following Qur’an and Sunnah and not in any other school of
thought.
Listening to appeals for Jehad from some
people while most of the people are against it confuses us.
Jihad does not become obligatory by appeals
of an individual or a government. In the history, we have never
seen a whole nation going to jihad. There have been battles in
the past but these were regional. The world is shaped into a
global village now, so wherever something happens we all know it
moment by moment. Islamic fraternity and sympathy aside, each
country and region has its own integrity. A true believer is
one who has wisdom so Muslims of each region have to make
decisions taking local conditions into consideration and this is
basic requirement of their intelligence. Let us consider the
case of Pakistan and see whether its decisions are right or
wrong. In the past 20 years Pakistan has given the most
alliance to Afghanistan. The late Zia ul Haq gave his life to
maintain this and the country itself face numerous
difficulties. However as soon as the Russian aggression towards
Afghanistan was finished, the locals there started fighting
among themselves and are still fighting. The situation there
was such that Pakistan could not bear even a day’s blockade
except for the mountainous area adjacent to China. In such a
situation Pakistan was not in a position to pick a fight with
any country what to talk of a super power and the consequences
would have been dire. If its borders were open, there would
have been a flood of immigrants from Afghanistan. Pakistan did
not have capacity to feed them. On top of this all the foreign
exchange that Pakistanis all over world send back home would
have been stopped. Not only this, Pakistanis all over the world
would have been expatriated, as were the Palestinians of
Kuwait. For now, because of the intelligent steps taken by
General Musharaf, the situation is controlled. May Allah
protect us.
Here in Canada we are between the horns of
dilemma too. We live in the neighborhood of a super power and a
lot depends on keeping the borders open and having friendly
relation between these two countries. We must also not forget
that Canada is a member of G-7 states and NATO. Though prime
minister waited for a long time before joining the coalition
against Afghanistan because Canada wanted to maintain
impartiality, however it had no other way out but to join in.
Being citizens of this country it is our duty to support our
government fully and perform our duty wherever we live. Be
careful when giving donations to somebody and donate only
through reputed agencies like Red Cross.
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