Naeem's Blog

Two of the most basic and powerful words of dhikr, known even to Muslim pre-schoolers, are the beautiful words SubhanAllah (سبحان الله ) and Alhamdul-Illah (الحمد لله) . Found sprinkled throughout the Quran and Prophetic sayings, the former is often translated as ‘Glory be to Allah’, while the latter as ‘Praise to Allah’.

And ever since ever, I’ve always had a difficult time internalizing these two most fundamental words of divine remembrance.

What does it really mean to Glorify Allah? After all, the entire heavens and earth are in a constant state of divine glorification. How can I join them, notwithstanding my mere vocalization of the term? Why are these two terms so often found interconnected? How are the two different from each other? Glory is in some ways similar to Praise, so aren’t these two adhkaar (pl. dhikr) somewhat redundant?

I felt that I needed a deeper connection with these two terms. And the common translations and explanations simply weren’t cutting it.

Until I heard a recent lecture where the speaker really broke it down in a most effective manner.

He explained that SubhanAllah is declaring Allah’s purity. Allah (swt) is pure from all negative qualities. He is free from all deficiencies. He is void of all defects - defects we may commonly associate with His creation. Thus, we are affirming Allah’s divinity by freeing Him of any and all anthropomorphic qualities.

He is free from all that is Evil.

And when we follow it with Alhamdul-Illah, we are praising Allah for all His positive traits. After having removed the possibility of any negative qualities, we are now declaring that He is perfect in all His positive qualities. He is perfect in His power, His knowledge, His mercy, His love, His sight, His hearing, and so on.

He is perfect in all that is Good.

While the former negates, the latter affirms.
While the former voids, the latter validates.
While the former empties, the latter fills.

Together, they form the perfect symbiotic relationship of words to describe and praise Allah (swt).

Now that Mubarak has decided to buy a Winnebago and cruise the streets of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptians can look forward to a democratic future. And if they wish to look deeper into the crystal ball and see where they’re heading, they needn’t look any further than Turkey and Pakistan.

Both of these heavily-populated pillars of the Muslim world have made bumpy transitions to a democratic system. However, these democracies survive not on any constitutionally-based principle, but on the mercy of the paternalistic, over-bearing military.

The Egyptian masses may eventually ‘wield the power’ to determine which crooked politician is the lesser of two evils, but Gold help them if they attempt to voice their frustrations on economic inequalities or a more just foreign policy. This is the dominion of the powerful elites and normal people are not allowed to meddle therein.

In the same manner that I give my son the freedom to choose his meal from a restaurant’s menu, stepping in when I feel that he’s getting out of control and too dessert-happy, the military has generously afforded the citizenry of these three Muslim nations the freedoms to choose from a political menu of controlled choices, ready to pounce in when the masses get too free with their freedoms.

After all folks, self-determination for the uncivilized has its limitations.

Egyptians can look forward to periods of civilian rule interrupted by military intervention whenever America the military elite feel the nation is headed in a direction antithetical to their private interests.

And that, my friends, is the future of Egypt: controlled democracy.

Undoubtedly it’s better than oppressive autocratic rule.

But why must our ceiling remain so low?

Amidst all the euphoria and jubilation running through the throngs of protesters as they sense the realization of their primary objective (the ousting of Mubarak), I find myself weary of the epilogue.

I remember back in 2007 and 2008, when another embattled ex-military general president, Pervez Musharraf, was similarly fighting for his political life. The movement calling for his removal had also gained considerable momentum and the public was looking forward to 'change'.

Major protests, led by Pakistani lawyers, against Musharraf's dismissal of the nation's top judges as well as a dubious alliance between Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto calling for his impeachment combined for a very uncomfortable situation for the man infamously referred to by W. Bush as 'the General'.

Finally, when the dust settled and Musharraf was sent scurrying to London on a 'self-imposed' exile, the Pakistani peoples finally had their day. So how did they celebrate their chance to decide their political future? They put their minds together and elected their knight in shining armor:

A sleazy used-car salesman, better known to the world as Asif Zardari.

(excuse me while I pick up my keyboard that I just threw against the wall)

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OK, I'm back.

So, my advice to the people of Egypt is to temper your emotions and focus not on who you were able to depose, but on who will replace him.

*That* is the real challenge.

And if history is any indicator, it doesn't bode well for my Misri brothers and sisters.

True revolutions aren't made by mass protests and Tweeting and checking out Facebook. They are made by changing the hearts and minds of the masses. Once this foundation is present, then the protests and and social movements and political machinations can lead to a successful change.

Until then, we're all suckers waiting to get ripped off by sleazy used-car salesmen.