Bani Isra'il punishment and Muslims' punishment identical

[Syed Yusuf]

Bismillahir Rahmaneer Raheem

In my earlier essay on Bosnia and western hypocrisy, I mentioned that
Muslims are going through a very difficult period and there are very
few occasions in the entire history of Islam where we have encountered
as much suffering as we do today. It seems that all the demonic forces
have now come out of their hide outs, unmasking their hatred for
Muslims and Islam, by exterminating our people in various parts of the
world. Their frenzy reminds me of a saying of our prophet Muhammad
sallal-lahu alaihe wa-sallam (SAW), the best warner of mankind, as
narrated by Saoban (R):

"It is near that nations will call one another against you just
as the eaters call one another at their dishes." Someone
enquired: "Shall we be few at that time?" He (SAW) said: "No,
you will be numerous at that time, but you will be so many
rubbishes like the rubbishes of a torrent. Allah will then
certainly take away the fear of you from the hearts of your
enemies and will certainly throw weakness in your hearts."
Somebody enquired: "O Rasulullah, what will be the (cause of)
weakness?" He (SAW) replied, "Love of this world and dislike
of death." (Abu Daud)

Look at us. We comprise approximately 25% of world population, more
than a billion. But look at the suffering of our people, in the hands
of non- Muslims and even non-Islamic governments ruling over us. Our
collective strength is now 0+0+0+.........+0= 0. How true was the
prophecy of our Rasul (SAW): As to the tyrannies perpetrated by our
own non-Islamic governments, acting as stooges for non-Muslim
governments, I am reminded by a prophetic tradition, as narrated by
Umar ibn al-Khattab (R):

"Trouble will afflict my people (Muslims) in later days from
their kings. None will escape therefrom except a person who
recognises Allah's religion and then fights for it with his
tongue, hands and heart....." (Bukhari)

In a similar hadith, narrated on the authority of Nu'man bin-Bashir
(R), Rasulullah (SAW) was reported saying:

"Prophethood will last among you till Allah wishes it to last,
and then Allah, the Almighty, will raise it up. Afterwards
there will be khilafat according to the ways of prophethood
(i.e., following the model of prophethood) so long as Allah
wishes it to last. And then Allah, the Almighty, will raise
it up. Afterwards there will be oppressive kingdom and it
will last so long as Allah wishes it to last, and then Allah,
the Almighty, will raise it up. Afterwards there will be
imperialistic kingdom, and it will last so long as Allah
wishes it to last, and then Allah, the Almighty, will raise
it up. Afterwards there will be khilafat according to the
ways of prophethood." And then he (Muhammad SAW) remained
silent. (Ahmad)
It is also reported through Abu Ubaidah (R) and Muadh ibn-Jabal
(R) that Rasulullah (SAW) said:

"This affair (Islam) began as prophethood and mercy. Afterwards it
will become khilafat and mercy, and then tyrannical kingdom and then
there will appear imperialism, rebellion and dissension in the
world...." (Baihaqi)

Which student of Islamic history can deny the truth of these prophetic
traditions?

What went wrong? Did we love duniya at the expense of akhira so much
so that we neglected our duty to obey Allah and His messenger? Why did
not we benefit from the lessons of history, esp. the ones related to
the ummah of other prophets? Did not our prophet (SAW) warn that if we
did not follow Allah's commandments, then we would repeat the mistakes
of other folks; as narrated by Abu Sayeed (R):

"You (Muslims) shall follow the practices of those who were
before you, span by span and cubit by cubit, so much so that
if they entered the hole of a lizard, you will follow them."
(Ahmad)

And how true was Rasulullah (SAW):

Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aas (R) reported Rasulullah (SAW) as
saying, "My Ummah will undergo and experience all those
conditions which were suffered by Bani-Israel in a manner of
resemblance in which a shoe of a pair resembles the other
shoe." (Tirmidhi)

Is there some parallel between what is happening today to our folks
with those of children of Israel? I have hinted on such similarities
in my essay on Bosnia and Western Hypocrisy, posted earlier (in SRI).
In the following I shall provide enough evidence to support such an
assertion. To do that, I shall start with a minor historical
background of Bani-Israel.

First, we notice that the key ingredient for success as a community
lies in following the commandments of Allah Subhana wa 'ta-^Ala (SWT),
esp., in encouraging each other to goodness and in fighting evil. As
long as Bani-Israel followed these commandments, they were showered
with enormous bounties from Allah. But when they rebelled, they were
punished vehemently.

After the establishment of the Davidic (Da'ud (AS)) dynasty in
Palestine, gradually Bani-Israel started drifting away from their
religion, brought by their Prophets. The kindom got divided into two,
each vying for supremacy, even by collaborating with the heathens. Not
only that: in their selfish desire of material happiness, Bani-Israel
ascribed partners to Allah (SWT), by worshipping a multitude of gods.
(Note: there is a psychological phenomenon linked to inferiority
complex. When Bani-Israel became weak, and realized that polytheists
were stronger they started believing the idols of polytheists (pagan
gods) to have more power than their God - YHWH, and that YHWH was
weak.) A multitude of prophets came and warned them of their
abominable acts. But by then false prophets had also emerged,
misguiding them against the true prophets of Allah. There was hardly a
sin that Bani-Israel did not indulge into. As a result, Allah's wrath
fell upon them.

In Surah Bani-Israel, Allah says:

"And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: Ye
verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and ye will
become great tyrants. So when the time for the first of the
two came, We roused against you slaves of Ours of great might
who ravaged (your) country, and it was a threat performed.
Then We gave you once again your turn against them, and We
aided you with wealth and children and made you more in
soldiery, (Saying): if ye do good, ye do good for your own
souls, and if ye do evil, it is for them (in like manner). So
when the time for the second (of the judgements) came (We
roused against you others of Our slaves) to ravage you, and
to enter the Temple even as they entered it the first time,
and to lay waste all that they conquered with an wasting. It
may be that your Lord will have mercy on you, but if ye
repeat (the crime) We shall repeat (the punishment), and We
have appointed hell a dungeon for the disbelievers."

+++reference

The first of these great chastisements came with the annexation of the
northern kingdom (Israel) in 722 B.C.E. by the Assyrians. Most of the
Israelites (lost tribes) were exiled. This process of chastisement
con- tinued with the annexation of the southern kingdom (Judah) in 586
B.C.E. by the Babylonians, under the leadership of King
Nebuchadnezzar. He ravaged the Temple of Solomon and exiled all Jews
to Babylon. The first period of chastisement came to an end with the
fall of Babylon to Dzul Qarnain (King Cyrus) of Persia in 538 B.C.E,
when he permitted Bani-Israel to return home. Dzul Qarnain was indeed
a messiah to them. (Ref: Isaiah 45:1, Bible) (Note: Dzul Qarnain was a
rightly guided King, a Muslim (in the original sense) who believed in
Allah, much in difference to Zoroastrians of the later days. Today's
Zoroastrianism has retained little of the original teachings, brought
by true prophet(s) of Allah.) The rebuilding of the Solomon's Temple
(later came to be known as the Second Temple or the Temple of
Zerubbabel) was completed in 516 B.C.E. Bani-Israel remained a strong
religious community during the subsequent period and regained
political freedom briefly only under the Maccabees.

The second period of their great chastisement came after &Icircsa (AS)
was rejected as a prophet of Allah. The Temple was demolished in 70
C.E. and Bani-Israel banned from entering Jerusalem. Since then, until
the establishment of the modern state of Israel, they remained the
"wander- ing Jews", persecuted everywhere by the Trinitarians (Note:
Modern world Jewry has two essential components: Ashkenazim and
Sephar- dim. The first of these, Ashkenazim, traces its root to the
Khazar king- dom, once thriving between the Caspian and Black Seas, to
the north of Caucasus mountains. Its people converted to Judaism ca.
740 C.E. Read: Arthur Koestler's "The Thirteenth Tribe"; and Prof.
Abraham Polliak's (of Hebrew University, Jerusalem) writings.)

The Ummah of Muhammad (SAW) has also two components - the Arabs and
non-Arabs. The Islamic world was initially extended through the
Umayyads and the Abbasids, both Arabs. But with the worldly power of
Islam increasing at a faster pace, the spiritual part of Islam could
not keep up with such a pace, and, instead, declined leading to
weakening of the central power structure. As a result of this vacuum
in power among the Arabs, non-Arab tribes arose from north-east and
penetrated to the center of the Islamic world. These were the Kurds
and Seljuk Turks of the eleventh century who revived the Islamic world
at a time when the political power of Islam was defeated by the
Crusaders. Similarly, the Afghans marched into India.

The Ummah of Muhammad (SAW) has also undergone two periods of
chastisement.

The first chastisement of the Muslims came in the late 11th century
(1099 C.E.), and continued to the 13th century. First, it was in the
hands of the christian Crusaders (just as Allah had chastised the
Israelites before with Kafir Assyrians). More than 70,000 unarmed
Muslim civilians, mostly elderly men, women and children, were
massacred by the savage christian crusaders in Jerusalem. (Read:
Anthony Nutting's account on christian cruelties in "The Arabs.") This
was the time when the Abbasid Caliphate was already in its death-bed.
Eventually, the non-Arab leadership of Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi (RA)
rescued the Muslims. Then came the Mongol invasion. The Mongols, after
ravaging initially Afghanistan and Iran, and finally the capital city
of Baghdad, in 1258 C.E., massacred millions of Muslims. (This was
very similar to Nebuchadnezzar's invasion and destruction of Jerusalem
in 586 B.C.E.) The heart of the Muslim land was so much devastated
that it reminded us of that person among Bani-Israel who while passing
through the ruins of Jerusalem remarked: "Who is going to revive this
dead city?" At the end, Allah showed His mercy on us.

The Abbasid Caliphate collapsed with the fall of Malik Mu'tassim, the
Muslim Caliph. In 1260 C.E. the non-Arab Muslims checked the Tartar
invasion of the western Islamic world. Since then the leadership of
the Muslim Ummah has been transferred to the non-Arabs, especially to
the posterities of Tartars. One branch of Tartars - the Taimuri Turks
took control over India, the other branch - Uthmaniya Turks, took
control over the Asia Minor and the northern Africa. This second
branch revived the institution of the Caliphate (Khilafat).

With the birth of European Imperialism and colonization of non-
European territories, the wings of the vast Muslim empire (to the east
and the west) were first lost, while the heart (central) land managed
to survive. This process of colonization began the second period of
chastisement of the Ummah. First, the feeble Andalusia (Spain) was
lost to the Catholics. With the Spanish Inquisition not a single
Muslim soul survived in Andalusia. In subsequent centuries Indonesia,
the Philippines (Mindanao), Malaysia and India were lost. So were lost
the entire North Africa, including Muslim countries of West and East
Africa. During this period, although the Uthmaniya Empire managed to
keep its central (Turkey and West Asiatic) territories, it became the
"Sick Man of Europe", with a total incompetency to protect its once
held vast territories. The last days of Uthmaniya Empire were similar
to those experienced by the Abbasids nearly eight centuries ago.
Muslims were once again without any leader or guide.

One interesting feature of the Islamic Khilafah is about the capital
city of the Islamic Empire. During Rasulullah's (SAW) time, it was in
Madinah. It was then moved to Kufa during Ali's (R) Caliphate. During
the Umayyad period, the capital moved further away to Damascus. It
moved to Baghdad during the Abbasid period, and finally to Istanbul
during the Uthmaniya period, moving further away from the heartlands
of Islam - Makkah and Madinah.

After the World War I, a ruthless surgery was done on the body of
Muslim Ummah. With the single exception of the Turkish mainland, the
entire Middle East was divided among the European marauding invaders.
It was the fulfillment of our Prophet, Muhammad's (SAW) saying:
"There will come a time in which the nations of the world will
invite one another to invade you (Muslims) in the same manner
as a person who prepares a feast, calls his guests to partake
of the slaughtered"

The greatest blow to the Ummah came with the establishment of the
state of Israel in Palestine and the capture of Jerusalem by the
Zionists at the end of the Six-day war in 1967. This alone resulted in
the uprooting of millions of Palestinian Muslims. In this way, the
second retribution upon the Muslims (similar to the experience of the
Jews, when they were totally displaced from Jerusalem and its
neighboring territories after 70 C.E.) was completed.

In the post-colonial period, the entire Muslim world was fragmented
into pieces, with artificial boundaries. People, who have for
centuries lived as brothers, were, all on a sudden, forced to believe
that they were ethnically different. Thanks to the Divide and Rule
policy of the European Imperialists; Even an ethnic community was
divided up among many nation-states. Thanks also to the western
education system, and the destruction of Islamic Institutions of
learning during the imperialistic rule of our territories. The entire
political, economic, social system was replaced with an alien system
in direct conflict with previously established institutions within the
Islamic world.

European military and economic adventurism left in its wake a trail of
blood and human misery. The once powerful Islamic world was reduced to
"backward", "poor" countries, always at the mercy of the West for
their mere survival. What a tragedy! What a price we are paying for
the mistakes/blunders of our ancestors. (Read: Prof. Ali Mazrui's (of
the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) books for the dire effects of
colonization.)

In the newly emerged nation-states, power was given to those who
either had previously collaborated with the imperialistic governments,
or to those who were culturally "French-fried" (western, secularised
groups of individuals). (I am aware of the fact that in certain cases,
Muslims earned their independence through bloody revolution, e.g.,
Algeria. Yet, the French-Algerian war was, in the end, a battle of
will power. I dare say that were the Franks not satisfied with the
credentials of the Algerian secular, revolutionaries, they would have
prolonged the war.) In a nutshell, power was given to every John Doe
except the ones to whom it truly belongs, namely the Islamists. (Read:
William Hunter's, and Lord Cromer's reports submitted to the English
Crown; Maryam Jameelah's books; Dr. Kaleem Siddiqui's essays.)

As a result of this western imposed political surgery and the
artificial implantation of foreign, atheistic, materialistic, bankrupt
philosophies in our body of the Ummah, our leaders have tried
everything that the West had produced, from western style democracy
(parliamentary or Presidential forms) to socialism/communism to
military oligarchy, but Islam. The end result has been a dismal
performance in all of our nation- states. Behind the facade of
modernization/westernization/urbanization/ progress we have turned our
countries into consumer-markets for the western goods. We have
obviously failed to earn true independence for our people. Thanks to
our western masters and their psychotic stooges. (Read: Dr. Ali
Shariati's and Prof. Mazrui's books.)

With the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971 (as a result of our failure
to live as brothers under western pretext), many amongst our Umma
mistakenly thought that the worst was over and there remains only
hopes for Islamic revitalization. Their hope was not without
justification since according to the law of Providence, when our
condition had become so degraded, radical attempts to revive Islam
were always initiated. One cannot ignore the struggle of Iranian
masses to establish an Islamic government, which culminated in the
overthrow of the despotic, playboy ruler in 1979, and the struggle of
the Afghan Mujahidins in their desire to live under Islam, and many
others. And what a price our people had to pay through the imposed war
on our territories by the evil empires and their servants. Millions of
our people were killed by the Russians and the Baathists. Several
millions were uprooted from their soil creating the largest refugee
problem the world has ever known. With the defeat of the Russian
savages by Muslim Mujahidin in Afghanistan (which was mostly
responsible for the collapse of the Soviet empire) many expected the
end of foreign incursion into our territories.

Unfortunately, with the genocide of Muslims in Bosnia, the recent
killings of more than 5000 Muslims in India (after the destruction of
the Babri Mosque) in the hands of Hindus, the burning of Muslim
villagers by Tamil Hindus in Srilanka, the carnage in Kashmir by the
Indian Military, the gang rape of tens of thousands of Muslim women in
Bosnia and destruction of their homes and properties by the Christian
forces, the uprooting of Rohinga Muslims from Miyanmar by the
Buddhists, the killings of Muslims in Lebanon and the Occupied
territories by the Phalangists and the Zionists in Israel, the
destruction of (memorable) Baghdad by non-Muslim armies and their
hosts in the Arabian peninsula, the killings of tens of thousands of
Azeri Muslims by the Armenian Christians, [and now in 1996 the
slaughter of the Chechens in the Caucas] it is crystal clear that our
second major chastisement has not yet ended. And much more may be in
the comeing. May Allah protect us. It is true that most of these
sufferings could have been avoided had we genuine leaders in our
midst, rather than lackeys of the "East" or the "West", who are
sometimes worst than our non-Muslim enemies.

The process of revitalization, therefore, may take a long time.

In the past, the process of revitalization was always aimed at the
defence and protection of the Muslim land. The religion of Islam in
itself was not much threatened (with the possible exception of our
intellectual demise, caused as a result of destruction of Baghdad with
its many libraries of higher learnings by the Mongols). During this
century alone, what we are witnessing is something new - vicious
attacks against our very deen, Islam. (One does not have to be an
expert to come to this conclusion. (Shaytan) Rushdie's "Satanic
Verses" is one such attempt to mock whatever Islam stands for. Even
one can see such attacks by browsing the computer nets, esp.
soc.culture.india, where the (cow- worshipping) spiteful, polytheistic
hindus have been displaying their demented lowliness.

These vicious attacks against the very religion of Islam is very
sadden- ing for any Muslim. Many have tried to alienate by distancing
themselves from Islam, fear of being labelled as "fundamentalists" (a
term dragged from deranged christianity and has nothing to do with
Islam). Some are trying to assimilate like the Diaspora Jews of old.
This reminds me the attempt of a crow who tried to become a peacock by
putting some feathers of it. They forget the lessons of history: those
experienced through the Diaspora Jews of Europe for about two
millennia, and the more recent one involving the Bosnian Muslims. Read
their history and learn from their experiences. (Education is the best
medicine for all, esp. those suffering from amnesia. Every possession
that you have (including your very self) can be enslaved, except your
mind, unless you let it happen. Know that once you allow your mind to
be controlled, there is nothing left of you to be controlled.
Therefore, let us not allow our mind to be controlled by others.)
Assimilation has NEVER worked. Pure and simple.

Muhammad (SAW) once remarked:

"A time will come to men when the patient of them in his religion
will be like the one who holds burning coal in his hand."
(Tirmidhi)

Yes, I am sure that Islam, in recent years, has become like a "burning
coal", too difficult to hold onto or nurture. Yet, it is necessary for
all Muslims to hold on to it. Because, it is in Islam there lies hopes
for Muslims, in particular, and for humanity, in general. The Western
society can gain a lot through its contact with Islam. Islam can truly
solve many man-made problems haunting the western society. That is why
it has become more important than ever before to work towards
revitalization of our nation.

We need to form an Islamic society which protects the rights of our
people and those of non-Muslims, so that every individual is free to
practice their religion in their own ways. Let that society be a safe
haven for all who wants to lead a moral life. Let that society be a
model for the rest of humanity to copy. No, friend it is no eutopia.
Our forefathers brought about that society and we can Inshallah do it,
too. Don't forget that is what Allah intended for us through the
teachings of all the prophets/messengers: establishment of peace and
justice. Despite the conspiracy of our enemies, no power can resist
what Allah has intended for us. "They scheme and Allah doth scheme,
and Allah is the Best of the schemers." Inshallah, tomorrow will be a
better day for our children. Rasulullah stated that no matter what the
kafirs do, they can NEVER succeed in annihilating us. (This hadith is
narrated through Thauban (R) and is compiled by Imam Muslim (RA).) All
the current sufferings will, Inshallah, end soon. We have already
passed many obstacles (from imperialism) and are going through the
last phase of the trouble arising out of dictatorship/dissension, etc.
What is left is the establishment of Khilafat (as stated by the
hadith, already quoted above). Let us work for it. Inshallah, those
days are not far, when we, Muslims, retake control over our own
affairs and Khilafa will again be established in the model of
Rasulullah (SAW) and his rightly guided companions (R).

Know that kuffar is ever weak. Therefore, we should never give up hope
in Allah, Let our goodness surpass the goodness of every other human
beings on the face of the earth. Let us command the respect of others
through our good deeds. Know that Muhammad (SAW) said, as reported by
Abu Umama (R):

"When your good deed pleases you and evil deed grieves you, you
are a Muslim (believer)." (Ahmad)

Abu Hurayra (R) reported from Rasulullah (SAW):
"Like for others whatever you like for yourself. You will
become a perfect Muslim." (Tirmizi; Ahmad)

Abu Shuraih Khuzai' (R) related: "I asked, 'O Rasulullah (SAW),
who is not a true believer?' He (SAW) replied: 'The man whose
neighbors are in constant fear of his mischiefs and
machinations." (Bukhari)

May Allah guide us to follow His deen and shun falsehood. May Allah
weaken the hands of kuffar and ease our task in carrying out His
commands.


---
H. Siddiqui. Further suggested reading:
1. The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fannon.
2. Civilization and Modernization by Dr. Ali Shariati.
3. Society and History by Murtaza Mutahari.
4. The sick Nations of the Modern Age by Maududi.
5. Introduction to Islamic World Outlook by Maududi.
6. Revival of Islam in Modern Turkey by Prof. Uriel Heyd.
7. Westernization of Muslims by Maryam Jameelah.
8. Rise and Fall of the Muslim Nation by Dr. Israr Ahmed.
9. Al-Muqaddimah by Ibn-Khaldun.

<a href=http://www.uidaho.edu/~yusuf921">My home page</a>

--
Syed Yusuf
http://www.uidaho.edu/~yusuf921