What the world perceives an Islamic State to be and what is currently being mistakenly perceived to be one is wrongly represented by ISIL, the terrorizing group over there in the Middle East!
This sad situation is the result of many of those who are leaders of Muslim majority nations failing to adhere to and abide by the true Shariah Laws of Allah the Almighty is the reason for these misconceptions of what a proper Islamic State should be?
Many of us are born into Islam yet not that many amongst us grow up to be true Muslims.
Why do I say so? For these following reasons.
Let's check ourselves. We are all enjoined to follow the commandments of Allah Azza Wa Jalla which He has revealed to us, the Children of Adam Alaihis Salam through the Greatest of His Messengers, Muhammad Al Mustafa Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam in the verses of the Holy Qur'an.
In Surah An Nahl, Chapter 16 Verse 125, Allah the Almighty commands:
Transliteration
OdAAu ila sabeeli rabbika bilhikmatiwalmawAAithati alhasanati wajadilhumbillatee hiya ahsanu inna rabbaka huwa aAAlamubiman dalla AAan sabeelihi wahuwa aAAlamu bilmuhtadeenSahih International
Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided.By asking us to invite all members of Mankind to the Way of Allah with wisdom and good instruction, Allah is telling us to be wise and knowledgeable.
The wise one will also be kind and full of compassion. Be understanding. Be reasonable and rational. To practice what we preach. To be one who has the powers of reasoning and be able to make sense to those whom one reaches out to.
There's no way one can follow the commandments of Allah by being cruel and unkind as what those in ISIL are doing!
How can they claim themselves to be the advocates of an Islamic State when they kill and behead others whom they accuse to be their enemies when they have failed to deliver the rightful message of Islam in the proper manner of Dakwah as taught by Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam?
Far from it!
In an ideal Islamic State situation, those leading its formation should be enjoining what is good, forbidding what is bad and having true faith in Allah and be shining examples of the ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam.
You can't go around terrorizing others and expect yourselves to be hailed and heralded as the Champions of Islam!
What kind of the Prophet's followers can you be when you kill and behead people for the flimsiest of reasons?
Coercing Kaffirs to become Muslims by forced conversions doesn't help the faith of Islam at all. No way!
Such acts are detrimental to the wellbeing of our Ummah. Where does it say that you can do so in the Al Qur'an Al Karim?
Becoming and remaining a Muslim should be with full knowledge and willingness on the part of rational, knowledgeable human beings. Just appearing to be Muslim doesn't cut it. We do not need great pretenders amongst us.
In Surah Al imran, Chapter 3 Verse 110, Allah Azza Wa Jalla reveals :
Transliteration
Kuntum khayra ommatin okhrijat linnasita/muroona bilmaAAroofi watanhawna AAani almunkariwatu/minoona billahi walaw amana ahlu alkitabilakana khayran lahum minhumu almu/minoona waaktharuhumualfasiqoonSahih International
You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah . If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient.Enjoining what is right means to educate others using the righteous ways and manners. You do not use force. You don't have to. Use your wisdom.
To be one who has wisdom, you have to be wise and educated. Even if you are not an educated person and have a degree or diploma from a college or university, you can still be a wise person by using your common sense and experience.
Forbidding what is wrong has to be done by using crystal clear simple examples to show the one whom you are trying to protect or save from falling into error by sharing with them the consequences of doing such wrongs.
You can't do that if you yourselves are guilty of such wrongdoings in the first place. Can you?
To bring about an Islamic State into existence, you as a Muslim must be just! You have to be fair. You have to be truthful and honest.
Why do you think the people of Yathrib (now Madinah al Munawwarah) invited the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam to emigrate from his birthplace @ Makkah and set up his 'Islamic State' at their city?
For no other reasons than that he was known as a truthful and honest sincere person. No one can be a true Muslim and lead by example if he or she was dishonest, crooked and untrustworthy!
Would we entrust our lives and future to be ruled by anyone who is known to be full of lies, conceit, irresponsible, stupid, treacherous, etcetera?
No way, right?
No one in their right mind would invite someone who is bad, cruel and unjust to rule over them and terrorize their society by choice!
Fat chance of that happening in any educated and civilized society, regardless of what they believe in or live as?
No country or culture would want such irresponsible heartless fiends to rule over them in such a harsh and cruel manner.
In Surah Al 'Araf Chapter 7 Verse 146, Allah warns us:
Transliteration
Saasrifu AAan ayatiyaallatheena yatakabbaroona fee al-ardi bighayri alhaqqiwa-in yaraw kulla ayatin la yu/minoo bihawa-in yaraw sabeela arrushdi la yattakhithoohusabeelan wa-in yaraw sabeela alghayyi yattakhithoohusabeelan thalika bi-annahum kaththaboo bi-ayatinawakanoo AAanha ghafileenSahih International
I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right; and if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see the way of consciousness, they will not adopt it as a way; but if they see the way of error, they will adopt it as a way. That is because they have denied Our signs and they were heedless of them.Allah warns us that He will not guide those who choose to be arrogant upon this Earth without right and that those who do so will not be able to see their erroneous ways due to such behaviors.
Continuous acts of violence and arrogance in doing so will lead mankind who choose to be so to be not able to realize their folly even if righteous persons come and warn them against such acts of terror.
It comes about as a way of mental conditioning. Those who are used to rough behaviors are so steeped and indoctrinated in cruelty that their hearts turn harder than the hardest stone and become inhuman. They forget that they are supposed to be kind and caring as true Muslims and instead turn into the very aggressors that they were warned not to become by Allah in:
Surah Al Baqarah, Chapter 2 Verse 85:
Surah Al Baqarah, Chapter 2 Verse 85:
Transliteration
Thumma antum haola-itaqtuloona anfusakum watukhrijoona fareeqan minkum min diyarihimtathaharoona AAalayhim bil-ithmi walAAudwaniwa-in ya/tookum osara tufadoohum wahuwa muharramunAAalaykum ikhrajuhum afatu/minoona bibaAAdi alkitabiwatakfuroona bibaAAdin fama jazao manyafAAalu thalika minkum illa khizyun fee alhayatiaddunya wayawma alqiyamati yuraddoona ilaashaddi alAAathabi wama Allahu bighafilinAAamma taAAmaloonSahih International
Then, you are those [same ones who are] killing one another and evicting a party of your people from their homes, cooperating against them in sin and aggression. And if they come to you as captives, you ransom them, although their eviction was forbidden to you. So do you believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part? Then what is the recompense for those who do that among you except disgrace in worldly life; and on the Day of Resurrection they will be sent back to the severest of punishment. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.Another trait of a proper Islamic State is to bring about a climate of moderation. Allah does not condone those who force others to submit themselves to Allah in extreme ways and the use of excessive force and subjugation.
The human nature is such that if coerced or invited to partake in something by way of rational approaches and correct methods of persuasion, they will eventually succumb to such calls and out of their own free will choose to be this or that if their heart and soul is receptive to it.
Brutally subjugating someone to succumb to your will by force and fear of death if they refuse it brings about a climate of pretext and false worship lacking inner belief of true faith.
ISIL is wrong by using such accursed acts of violence and terrorism. Instead of drawing people to Islam, they will scare the hell out of those who were inclined towards their wish to learn and know more about Islam.
In Surah Al Fussilat, Chapter 41 Verse 34, Allah Azza Wa Jalla guides :
Transliteration
Wala tastawee alhasanatu walaassayyi-atu idfaAA billatee hiya ahsanufa-itha allathee baynaka wabaynahu AAadawatunkaannahu waliyyun hameemSahih International
And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend.ISIL needs to remember that whatever it does in Iraq and the neighboring countries will immediately be broadcasted in an instant throughout the world and it can't hide behind a cloak of anonymity. No way.
Those who are guilty of any wrong doing will soon be tracked and dealt with by others who have the means and ways to find them. Overhead satellites and military drones capable of tracking and destroying them will seek them out and destroy them no matter how hard they try to hide from their enemies.
We who are Muslims do not associate ourselves with those who use wrongful ways and methods to set up what they claim to be the Islamic State?
Will such false claims justify their dastardly acts of sin and injustice towards their victims of oppression and aggression in the name of Islam!
We will never accept or associate with such advocates of terrorism. Islam needs no such thugs to begin with. Those who are behind ISIL ought to realize their follies and return to the Fitrah of Al Islam which is Peace and Righteousness.
If they base their actions upon the Commandment of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala which is to invite all mankind to Islam with wisdom and beautiful preaching, chances are that they will be much more successful and accepted by everyone but this violent manner by which they murder and massacre their victims is surely leading them just to Hell both here on Earth and in the Hereafter!
Slaughtering innocents by beheading them before the video cameras and then uploading such heinous barbaric crimes to social media proclaiming that this is what the 'Islamic State' will do to those who are its enemies is just so bloody stupid and far from what true Islam is all about!
These terrorists cause more harm than good to the image of Islam and destroy the noble mission of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam who preached tolerance to the kuffars and won them over by his example and not by using the sword!
Surely the Prophet had engaged his enemies in wars that were fought to defend Islam but he didn't wage a terrorist campaign like what these so called 'Islamic State' fellows are doing!
These ISIL and ISIS fellows can do much better by building up their countries and not blast it to bits by destroying whatever little is left of their country's infrastructure.
The true Islamic State that was the vision and mission of Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam is truly not what that name has been made out to be by these wayward fellows hellbent on killing instead of healing!
Islam itself stands for peace but not what these deviant mercenaries have desecrated and smeared it with! No true Muslim will agree with the vile manner that these murderers and slaughterers have brought to Islam's noble intentions.
To those of you reading this who are not Muslims or do not know the stark difference between what true Islam is and what this bogus 'Islamic State' proponents are all about, I wish to advise you to do further studies and learn about the obvious differences between the two.
It's getting close to my Friday Prayers time , so I am sorry to have to end this article here. Insya Allah, I will get back to this subject in the near future.
Have a blessed day!
Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.