Educate in the hope of regeneration

Many leaders of the Muslim world have caused great corruption Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Al’ As: I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray.” [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 3, Number 100]

Most leaders of the Muslim world today are irreligiously personified. There are the ones who are radical secularists, working in the (material) interests of the country, and then, there are the ones who, in words, express unfaltering faith in Islam, while their actions reject all such claims. Nationalism, in its materialistic tendency is evil enough, but these leaders are hypocritical even when it comes to nationalism. They seek power, not to provide flourishing agriculture and innovative industries; rather, they seek power to hoard wealth for themselves, as if, the life of this world is to be shaped with the thought that the Afterlife will be an exact mirror image.

The false promises and false hopes of such leaders have caused much poverty, destitution in the Muslim world. The income gaps keep increasing, and most of the inflicted majority tends to think they were destined for doom. Others tend to think that the tides can only be turned if they resort to violence. Some want to be the Robin Hoods of today.

But, it must be emphasized that such a course of action will only create anarchy and chaos in society, not to mention, grave punishments in the Afterlife. Killing, looting, plundering and raping are all enormous sins, and will be hard to get by. So why let the oppressors have an eternal effect of doom on the oppressed? The only things that should govern our lives and our course of action are the Quran and the example of our prophet, May peace be upon him. The Quran tells us to remain patient and tolerant in the face of adversity.

Rasulullah SAW exemplified the same. He was subjected to immense mental and physical torture, and yet, he never sought revenge from a single soul. Rather, he worked towards civility. He sought to establish a society based on morality. For the election of leaders, and in decision-making circumstances, he sought the counsel of a Shura. He emphasized democratic ideals as per the shari’ah, while acknowledging the absolute rule and dominance of the Almighty.

We need to make use of our rights to elect a candidate, who is well-scrutinized by the public and by authorities; a candidate who does not possess a criminal record or has not been involved in cases of fraudulency. All this, regardless of whether he claims otherwise. We have committed such mistakes in the past and we have paid the price. We cannot afford to risk it no more. We have to become conscious citizens, who are not driven by prospects of material gains only. We should fore mostly be bothered about the ethics of a certain candidate – one who can represent our urge for justice, freedom and religiosity.