Bisham Shaheed
Part 14 (Final)
The first part of the solutions focused on the individual Muslim’s personal reform, faith and thought, and this part also focuses on reforming the social, political and economic structures, because a society can be balanced only when a righteous person has a place in a sound structure. Otherwise, even good people face limitations and failures in a corrupt system.
6. Strengthening the Unity of the Muslim Ummah and Fighting the Causes of Division
Unity is one of the basic pillars of the Muslim ummah’s strength and glory. On this matter, the Holy Quran has clearly forbidden Muslims from falling into division and disputes, because division causes weakness, defeat, backwardness and the loss of the Muslim ummah’s prestige. In the present age, unfortunately, various factors have weakened the unity of the Muslim ummah, such as ethnic prejudice, disagreements, discord, distance from the religious guidance of Islam and failure to act on it, party interests and political disputes.
To resolve this problem and crisis, which have weakened the Muslims, the following solutions are necessary:
– Strengthening the identity of the Islamic ummah and giving it priority over ethnic and linguistic identities.
– Establishing dialogue and cooperation between Islamic societies in academic and cultural fields.
– Staying away from media provocations that increase disagreements even more.
– Stressing shared religious values instead of stressing secondary disagreements.
– Giving scholars and learned people an active role in reducing intellectual and religious tensions.
Unity means the proper management of disagreements within a framework of respect and a shared goal. It doesn’t mean wiping out differences of opinion.
7. Reforming the Political System on the Basis of Justice and Trustworthiness
In Islam, power is a trust, not a tool for personal gain. One of the causes of the Muslim ummah’s weakness is that power has been turned into a tool of personal and group rivalries.
Reforming the political system needs the following:
– Choosing people on the basis of ability and merit instead of personal and ethnic ties.
– Holding officials accountable to the people.
– Fighting administrative corruption and the abuse of power in earnest.
– Enforcing justice without discrimination of any kind.
– Keeping political decisions independent and based on the interests of the Muslim ummah.
Whenever justice is established in the political system, people’s trust grows and social stability follows.
Now that an independent and free Islamic system rules our dear country Afghanistan, all those sinister aims of the enemies of Islam, which they had devised to wipe out Islam and the Muslims, have been ground into dust through the blessing of the Mujahideen and this same system. Alhamdulillah, the seeds that the enemies of the religion had planted in Afghanistan to divide and weaken this nation have all disappeared today, and their efforts have come to nothing. Ethnic and racial prejudice has also disappeared, through the blessing of the Islamic system.
8. Reforming the Economic System and Freedom From Dependence
The economy is one of the basic pillars of independence for the Muslim ummah and every other nation, and economic dependence also means political dependence.
The basic solutions in this area are as follows:
– Strengthening domestic production and reducing dependence on unnecessary imports.
– Making proper and effective use of the Muslim ummah’s natural resources.
– Fighting financial corruption, embezzlement and bribery.
– Creating a just economic system on the basis of Islamic principles such as Zakat, charity and the prohibition of oppression.
– Supporting employment, industry and business initiatives among young people.
An effort should also be made to move the economy from a consumption-driven state to a production-driven one. A society that doesn’t produce will always remain dependent on others.
9. Reviving Social Justice and Narrowing the Gap Between Social Classes
One of the important causes of social discontent is the severe gap between the poor and the rich. Islam counts social justice as the foundation of a society’s stability.
Solutions in this area:
– Properly implementing the Zakat system and expanding social assistance.
– Supporting the weaker sections of society.
– Creating equal opportunities in education and jobs.
– Preventing wealth from becoming a monopoly and not letting it gather in the hands of a small group.
– Strengthening the spirit of social cooperation and sympathy for one another.
A society without justice, even if it’s wealthy, will face an internal crisis.
10. Fighting Intellectual and Cultural Colonialism
Today’s colonialism works mostly through thought, the media and culture, and not just through military occupation.
The ways of countering it are as follows:
– Producing knowledge and thought inside the Islamic world.
– Strengthening sound media that are based on Islamic identity.
– Raising public awareness of the cultural influences that cause dependence on other cultures.
– Rebuilding the education system on the basis of Islamic values.
– Raising a generation that is knowledgeable, independent, intellectually strong and confident in its own thinking.
The aim of intellectual colonialism is to change the identity of nations, so the fight against it must be intellectual and cultural too.
In short, the way to save the Muslim Ummah can be summed up in one sentence: reforming the individual, reforming thought, reforming the system, reforming morals, bringing about justice and creating unity. Whenever all these elements come together, the Muslim Ummah can once again carry out its historical and civilizational role and return from weakness to honor and a leading position.
