Two Kinds of Movements
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

In any period of great religious or intellectual transformation, there are always two distinct  
kinds of movements.  One is launched positively, on the basis of some discovery which is 
held to be of great benefit of mankind, whereas the other is a negative process, set in motion 
out of a sense of deprivation, or in order to recover something which has been lost.  The 
Islamic movement, for its part, was certainly launched with a prior sense of having found 
something of inestimable value, but we have to ask ourselves in this day and age whether, as 
a movement, it has been gaining or losing momentum.          

The wonderful sense of discovery with which the companions of the Prophet were imbued 
was that of having become aware of the oneness of God, in contradiction to polytheism.  The 
realization had come to them that the life hereafter - man's entry into paradise - was the only 
goal worthy of man's endeavors.  They learned too that a life devoid of principle was one of 
utter degradation and that the highest human objective should be to become a man of 
principle.  They had been stirred to the very core of their beings by this thought.  Their very 
souls had been moved by it, their minds enlightened, and new doors to reality opened before 
them.  Their lives were so truly transformed by this idea, that it was kind of re-birth for them.  
Although whatever they had gained in the process was apparently non-material - a thing of 
the mind - it was so great a thing for them that it took precedence over all else.  This 
discovery gave them the strength to remain content, even when bereft of all their worldly 
possessions.  No sacrifice was then too great for them to make.          

Another benefit of their discovery was that it conferred upon them the position of da'is, 
conveyors of the divine message to the entire world.  Let me stress that it is important at this 
point to understand the essential difference between a da'i and a national leader.  The latter 
is one who, at the apex of the ruling party, expects to be able to command others and to 
make demands upon them, whereas the da'i is always the giver.  He never takes anything 
from other.          

What the companions of the Prophet had was greater than anything else in this world.  What 
they had discovered was a guarantee that they might stand before the world as givers, not 
takers.  It was this characteristic which endowed them with such irresistible power, and it 
was not long before the greater part of the inhabited world came under their sway, for their 
moral superiority was undeniable.          

But this, regrettably, cannot be said of present-day Muslims, who parrot the names of the 
Prophet's companions without their religion being in any sense a great discovery for them.  
Hence this desire of theirs is to appear before the world in the garb of national leader, and 
not as da'is.  The Muslim image in the world today is that of the taker, not of the giver.  And 
that being so, the man behind the image is utterly without value.  It is his sense of loss which 
motivates him, and not his sense of gain.  Propelled by such people, the Islamic movement is 
doomed to lose momentum, and it will not be long before it comes to a complete standstill 
unless we take measures to re-energize it.  We must surely undertake individual and mass 
reforms, returning to the basic tenets of Islam, if we are not to be swamped by total moral 
inertia.