By, Md Maruf Hasan
Muslims in Palestine are being killed. The very first brutal Shahid of Islam was Sumayyah (RA). The leaders of Makkah define and justify the killing of Sumayyah (RA). The leaders of Israel define and justify the killing of Muslims in Palestine today. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions saw that Muslims were awarded Shahid. Muslims across the world subconsciously see that Palestinians are getting Shahid. Something seems ambiguous with the contemporary Muslim mindset.
The first major and noticeable division among Muslims in Islamic history started with Shiaa and Sunni conflicts. Muslims come to add the level as “Shia Muslim” or “Sunni Muslim.” We have witnessed so many sects of Muslims till today since the birth of Islam that started with the Tawhidic message of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Quranic term “Ummah” that was used during the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to understand Muslims.
The power of definitions changed Muslim Mindsets. Under current status quo, Israel attacked Iran killing the nuclear scientists as well as a revolutionary leader of Muslims. From Sunni Muslim’s perspective, it hurts not that much because it is Iran which is Shiaa based Muslim country. What about Israel? Do they think a similar way? No. They think Iran is a threat to Israel since Iranians are also Muslims. They use these Shiaa and Sunni Muslim terms when they meet Muslim leaders because they love to play with our weakness. The Collapse of Ottoman Khilafa was based on one simple theory which is nationalism. The core idea of nationalism for colonizers was “Divide and Rule.”
It is not like Muslim leaders and intellectuals do not understand these theories or Western conspiracy of diplomacy nowadays, rather they do understand, yet somehow, they got highly infected with these invisible definitional power in their mindsets and they cannot simply get rid of it. Imagine a lake full of mud in the jungle , you walk down the lake for swimming and taking shower. You swim till the middle of the lake. You reached there and suddenly you noticed that the lake is super shallow,and you can simply walk without needing to swim. You do understand the shallowness of the lake, yet you decide to swim because it is good to swim for your health. No doubt there are so many advantages of nationalism, yet nationalism is the shallow ideology which is not like Islamic ideology.
With all the definitional powers that are defined by the West, Muslims are swimming in the shallow water nowadays despite they know themselves that the lake is shallow. To cite some examples, we use the terms like “Multiculturalism,” “Religious Pluralism,” “Internationalization.” Who defines these terms in Oxford Dictionary? An Asian man? Or An Arab man? Or An African man? It is a British intellectual who defines this term in Oxford dictionary. Is he God? Or Is he Human? A Human. If you cannot accept a definition of a Shia Muslim as a Sunni Muslim, why do you accept this definition and act upon it consciously and subconsciously? The terms “Multiculturalism”, Religious Pluralism”, “Internationalization” should not be accepted within Muslim discourse. They look similar with Islamic terms, but they are shallow and highly problematic to affect Muslim Mindsets. Israel is killing Muslims in Palestine, and they are stating that they are killing for justice.
This is radical definition of justice in front of the Muslims and world media. Last few decades, they mention that they are only attacking Hamas terrorists and Muslims accepted their definition and now they see status quo that most of these dead people are kids, old people and women, Muslims are perhaps thinking these are Palestinians in subconscious minds. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught his companions to accept definitions of the Quran how to think and treat other fellow Muslims, the teaching was based on Tawhidic Paradigm at the first place and Muslims are wholeheartedly feel the core message and idea of Islam. The terms “Multiculturalism”, Religious Pluralism”, “Internationalization” etc. are completely foreign ideas injected in Muslim minds to systematically force Muslims to swim in shallow water.
The solution to this deep-rooted problem seems to lie within the teaching of the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Allah revealed early scriptures to each prophet in their native language. That means Islam does not want any human to swim in shallow water by deceiving , rather Islam wants to deliver clear message with understanding and without any confusion and doubt. This is lacking in Western political thought when they deal with the Muslim world. It seems we, the Muslim Ummah need to revisit the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in order to swim in deep waters independently.***
