During my college days, back in the early 90’s, I had the
very fortunate opportunity to attend a weekend conference featuring both Dr.
Israr Ahmed and Sh. Mokhtar Moghraoui. It
was organized by TINA (Tanzimi-Islam of North America), a branch of Dr. Israr’s
Pakistan-based Tanzimi-Islam movement. The 3-day conference was very small
(around 20 attendees) and offered an extremely intimate environment whereby
serious discussions and exchanges could be had.
The organizers had Dr. Israr presenting his political philosophies while
Sh. Mokhtar was asked to focus on the spiritual aspect of community development.
For anyone unfamiliar with Dr. Israr and his pro-khilafa movement, he preached an almost literal approach to the Prophetic model of state
development. He advocated for a
grassroots movement by which a critical mass of devoted followers would
accumulate, after which a confrontation with state authorities would inevitably ensue. At it's core it
wasn’t a violent message, but one which called for Muslims to
prepare for sacrifice if and when the need arose.
But in our private sittings with Sh. Mokhtar, he was respectfully
adamant in disagreeing with Dr. Israr’s approach. Instead of the need for a revolution, Sh.
Mokhtar believed in the need for an evolution.
He insisted that revolutions only bring about fleeting change, while the
Muslims are in dire need of an evolutionary change that is sustainable and enduring.
Years later, I’m convinced that both approaches are
required. We need an evolutionary change
to our spirits, but we need a revolution to initiate an upheaval to our
crumbling status quo.
This excellent article over at CommonDreams succinctly states the steps we need to take considering the
dire circumstances in which we find ourselves:
“We are going to need a revolution. An energy
revolution. A social revolution. And a revolution in international
relations -- waging war on climate change, instead of war on countries with the
misfortunate of sitting on top of oil and other coveted resources.
To achieve all this we are going to need to summon an
unprecedented collective will to take back the public sphere, including the
media, and we will have to re-imagine our democracy, our cities, our societies,
and our daily lives.”
I think Muslims have become too timid to discuss the need
for a revolution. Revolutions need not
involved bloodshed. Revolutions need not
result in outright chaos and anarchy.
Revolutions can take countless shapes and forms.
Must we restrict ourselves to the ‘revolution within’? In
the midst of all this global uncertainty, where are the Muslims to offer their
Divinely-inspired solutions?
