The Revival of Islam
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

There are many people in this world who would like to see the revival of 
Islam reduced to a program, rather than have it develop into a full-fledged 
movement springing naturally from a vital and personal sense of mission.  
But human life is just too vast - and complex - to be confined within such 
narrow limits.  It is indeed unfortunate that they feel they cannot 
understand what has to be done unless they have a definite plan outlined for 
them by someone else, for this, ultimately, means substituting the bare bones 
of a program for a real flesh-and-blood movement.  It also means underestimating
the potential magnitude of any such movement.  The truth is that if individuals 
must have a program, they themselves must actively become its makers, as opposed to 
being passive recipients.. They themselves must breathe life into it.          

This is the true function of Islamic d'awah: to arouse the minds of individuals,
and to inspire them to become the program-makers.  We must remember that all 
that the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, did was to call the people of 
Mecca to worship on God.  He did not give the people a "program" as it is 
understood in modern times.  Yet, whoever was influenced by that D'awah call, 
was able to fabricate the whole "program" for himself.  After imbibing the 
concept of monotheism from the Prophet, he would himself discover all 
the forms of practical action required.  It is especially noteworthy that 
although those Muslim who left Mecca for Abyssinia were given no actual 
"program", they were so successful in representing Islam in Abyssinia that, 
from there, the Islamic call became international in its scope.  Those Muslims 
who left Mecca for Medina before the Prophet's emigration were likewise 
able to launch the Islamic d'awah movement so effectively - with 
nothing other than the verses of the Quran to support them - that Medina 
eventually became the greatest focal point for Islam.          

Religion as a conscious option, as opposed to an inherited tradition.

The spreading of religion is the greatest revolutionary undertaking.  It brings 
into existence such people as are in themselves a complete program.  Such a 
mission makes its impact on a man's whole existence.  It stimulates his nature 
in such a way that a whole fountain of divine wisdom springs up within him.  
Once the Prophet had awakened this divine wisdom in his companions, they had 
no need of anything else in this world. Its effect is such as to make 
people hold God by the hand, walk with God's feet, hear with God's ears, see 
with God's eyes.  In the words of the Hadith, they became limitless, profound 
human beings, unsurpassed in wisdom.          

Such men become substitute for everything else.  No matter how difficult 
a problem they can always be relied upon to produce the best solution.  
Whatever the occasion, they can decide upon the most propitious course of 
action.  One should rightly tremble before the insight of a believer, for it is 
through God's eyes that he sees.          

God has indeed imbued human nature with everything that man needs in life.  
But it is only when man responds to the call of Islam that God's bounties stand 
revealed.  Before that, they remain concealed behind an impenetrable veil, 
causing man to be a prey to mental and moral stagnation, prejudice and 
thoughtlessness.  But once Islam removes these imperfections from 
man's psyche, human nature is at once illumined by that divine light which 
radiates upon the heavens and the earth.  After that man sees everything as it 
actually is.  And for one who can see things as they are, the problem of 
having no "program" is as easily solved as taking an elevator - and not a 
staircase - to the top of a very tall building.          

The following incident is an apt illustration of this point.

An Indian woman living in Tripoli with her husband once found herself in a 
terrible predicament.  One night her husband told her that he had a severe 
pain in the stomach and obviously needed a doctor.  Now, in Tripoli, there 
is no arrangement for a house telephone by means of which a doctor can be 
directly summoned from the house or the hospital.  Even if there had been, 
the wife knew no Arabic, and being a simple housewife, had no contact 
with anyone outside her own home.  But the sight of her own dear husband 
writhing in agony was enough to make her overcome all her drawbacks.  Out she 
went into the night, ignorant of the streets, and with no idea even of the 
names or addresses of any of the local doctors.  Her determination to save her 
husband drove her on and despite her unfamiliarity with the local language and 
topography, she eventually found herself on the doorstep of a 
Pakistani doctor to whom she could speak in Urdu.  To her great relief, 
he promptly agreed to come and see her husband.  On examining him, he found 
that it was a case of appendicitis which required an immediate operation.  
The doctor thereupon took him in his car to the hospital where he was operated 
on without delay.  The patient took only a few days to make a full recovery.           

Most people find themselves in similar straits at some time or the other in 
their lives.  Every individual is sooner or later confronted with situations 
for which he has made no advance preparations.  But he pulls himself together, 
faces up to whatever crisis it is and ultimately forges through.  Such 
situations, however, tend to be handled well only when they are of direct 
material interest to the person concerned, or to the members of  his family.  
If we were to develop the same personal interest in religion, it would be a 
simple matter to become familiar with the demands of religion and to make 
sacrifices for its cause. Problems relating to religion would in fact begin 
to solve themselves, just as non-religious problems are solved every day by 
the interested parties.  Then people would have no difficulty in finding their 
"program" or religion, just as the above-mentioned lady was able to find a 
doctor for her husband in the face of considerable odds.          

I am often questioned about our Islamic Center's program.  Ah! How does one 
tell our questioners that we need people - devoted workers not a program!  
Be the issue Islamic, or non-Islamic, it is, in any event, men who are needed, 
rather than a program, or a plan of action.  Revolution in congregational life 
is invariably brought about by those who are in themselves program-makers 
rather than by those who need to be given a set program to follow.          

On one occasion, when Aurangzeb (1618-1707), the last great Mughal emperor of 
India had just completed his prayers he again raised his hands in supplication, 
his eyes filling with tears.  In this state he continued to pray in silence for 
a very long time.  All the while, his minister stood by his side.  When the 
emperor's supplications finally came to an end, the minister, Sadullah addressed
him thus:  "Your Majesty, the flag of your empire can be seen flying everywhere,
right from Kashmir to the Deccan.  Is there still some wish in your heart 
which has been left unfulfilled and because of which you are so grief-stricken?"
Aurangzeb remained silent for a while, then, his voice changed with emotion, 
he replied, Sadullah, marde khwaham."  (Sadullah, I need a man.)          

Aurangzeb's plan of action lacked nothing, and he had all the resources 
necessary for good government.  Yet he failed to consolidate the Mughal rule, 
because he had no worthy successors to shoulder this responsibility.  If 
Aurangzeb had a team of true, sincere people, the course of history after his 
reign would have been very different from what it was, and what we see it as 
today.          

The mission of Islam means searching among the crowd - among the multitudes 
who are loquacious in the name of God, for a man whom fear of God has left 
speechless.  Amongst those who are in pursuit of the world, it is looking for 
one who has stopped dead in his tracks for the sake of the Hereafter; amongst 
those who revel in the name of God, it seeks those who are fighting for God's 
cause, it seeks those who have desisted from fighting and quarreling for the 
sake of His religion; amongst those who are bent on settling accounts with 
others, it awaits those souls who know how to reckon with themselves.  Such 
are the people of whom Islam has the greatest need.  It is through such 
people, and such people alone, that Islam will once again be able to resume 
its position of intellectual ascendancy.          

Today, Islam needs such people as can purify themselves, demolishing appearances
in order to penetrate to the reality, who have the foresight to steer clear of 
irrelevant problems; who have the patience to give their full attention to 
the real goal, who consider this world of paltry insignificance when compared 
to the Hereafter, so much so, that no sacrifice of worldly things appears too 
great for them; who are such great realists as can see greater virtues in others
than in themselves and who can in consequence, step down in their favor; who see
the truth so clearly that nothing can make them waver in its pursuit; who are 
so free of negative feelings that no personal grievances can make them deviate 
from the right path;  who cannot be made to feel jealous of others; who are in 
love with reality and not with appearances, having their eyes on the future 
rather than on the present.  To sum up, Islam is in need of those who live in 
the Hereafter rather than in this world; who have lost themselves, not in their 
own greatness, but in God's.  If it was people such as these who made Islam the 
dominant theology in its earliest stages, it will be people of like bent who 
will raise it to the highest position of honor in our time.          

The question of having a program, is in actual fact, the question of how man 
should be prepared for a specific way of life.  Individuals of the right mold 
cannot be formed only by training, and certainly not by exposure to the hue 
and cry of processions, speeches from platforms, and so on.  There is only one 
way to prepare individuals, and that is by launching an unadulterated movement 
based on pure established religion in such a manner as to influence human nature
and arouse the dormant, inner spiritual personality of man, striking some chord 
deep within him.  It should so color human thought that  man's being should 
become dyed in the hue of the Almighty.          

Such a movement cannot be launched in the negative spirit of reaction, for, 
in essence it should sing the eternal, divine melody to the rhythm of nature.  
It should be a model of the beauty of divine creation, emanating the fragrance 
of the flowers and the splendor of the sun.  Such a movement, in giving 
temporal expression to the prophetic message, should - in the idiom of our times
 - reveal the wisdom of the Book of God, thus presenting a medium of contact 
between God and man.          

The advent of such a movement in a society is the greatest guarantee that such 
divine souls will emerge as are able to `program' themselves.  For them, there 
will be no difficulty in discovering what their role ought to be.  The history 
of the prophets shows, however, that even after such a d'awah movement has been 
set in motion, it is only those whose soil is fertile who can receive its seeds.
In other words, only those will benefit who have the innate capacity to receive 
its message.  It is common knowledge that barren land will remain barren, even 
after it has been lashed by the rain.          

If Islam is to launch itself on a new phase of its history, its first 
prerequisite will be people so vital and responsive that when the call of Islam 
is addressed to them, they will feel the awakening of a vast potential.  When 
the seed of Islam is sown it must bring forth a blessed verdure - a great and 
wonderful crop: for that to happen the soil on which it falls must be sufficien-
tly fertile.  The call of Islam simply awaits the right people to receive it.          

If people of high spiritual vitality emerge from the Muslim community itself, 
that will be a matter of the greatest good fortune.  But if no such individuals 
make their appearance, we shall have to come to terms with the fact that God 
will eventually give His blessing to some other community.  It will then be for 
the members of that community to come forward, not only to bathe in the light 
of Islam, but also to devote themselves wholeheartedly to enabling the rest of 
the world to benefit from that enlightenment which only Islam can bring.