History

One thing that stands out is the way the Muslims view their history. Overall, there is a feeling among Muslims that the Islamic history is something to be ashamed of. On several occasions, whenever we are in a discussion with other Muslims and we mention the need to implement Islam, we are bombarded with replies at how Islam ceased to be implemented after the death of the Prophet (saaws) and what immediately followed was a period of turmoil and conflict where we were ruled by tyrannical despots. Thus, the question that must be asked, even before we discuss history, is: Why do Muslims have this picture, and how should we approach history?

When the colonial powers occupied the Muslim lands, they took several measures in order to ensure that Islam would never return again as a system of life that could challenge their own. One of the most significant measures they took was to impose an educational curricula that would develop a unique personality. The result of this education was the emergence of a mentality that possessed Islamic emotions but Western thoughts, one that would refer to Islam in the mosque and personal worship, but would refer to the Western culture and ideology for its outlook and behavior in life. One prominent feature of this educational curriculum was the manner in which Islamic history was presented to the Muslims.

The Islamic history that Muslims were fed with was one in which the typical story-line proceeds in the following manner: Islam as a system of life ceased to exist the moment the Prophet (saaws) died, the Sahabah fought amongst each other, three of the first four Khalifahs were killed, and after the Sahabah we had monarchs who busied themselves in wine, women, and all sorts of vices from A to Z. At the same time, those who designed this history cleverly praised and even beautified Islam as a religion; however, when it came to the application of Islam, the political system, and the Islamic system, they did not leave one aspect of the Islamic system immune from their attacks. They also fueled their attacks by gross exaggerations and stories that were either fabricated or had no credible source, relying upon the prevailing ignorance of Muslims for such stories and faulty information to pass unchecked.

This type of history had the effect of producing a mentality among Muslims that looked to Islam as a beautiful religion, but had a negative outlook towards Islam as a system of life. Such an outlook was further exasperated by some self-proclaimed Islamic regimes in the Muslim world that claim they are applying Islam. Such regimes are purposefully installed in order to serve the dual function of pacifying Muslims while attempting to create a public opinion among Muslims and non-Muslims that Islam in application is a total disaster. The combination of historical misinformation and the contemporary misrepresentation of Islam resulted in the outlook that exists among Muslims today. In addition, the Muslims were taught that the Islamic history is a measure of the correctness and validity of the Islamic system itself, which is incorrect. The correctness of a system is determined by the correctness of its Aqeedah that it is founded upon. Because the Islam Aqeedah (belief) is correct, then the system emanating from this Aqeedah is also correct. After all, the Islamic system is the system that was sent by Allah, the Creator of humanity. How can the system from the Creator have flaws?

Therefore, it is critical for the Muslims today to examine their history with extreme caution, keeping in mind that a great deal of information that exists today amounts to nothing more than fabricated stories, twisted facts, and gross distortions of the truth. On another note regarding history, there are many historical documentaries that discuss the history of Islam, among them are 'Islam: Empire of Faith' and 'Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet.' While the presentation itself is superb, the content of what was disseminated contains a great deal of faulty information, and such information is oftentimes disguised in an appealing or innocent manner to escape detection. Here are two examples that we should be aware of:

1). 'History' often states that the Prophet (saaws) decided to escape from Makkah to Madinah when his life was in danger. This is a very dangerous statement because it makes the entire Hijrah and all the succeeding events (including the formation of the Islamic State) as an accidental occurrence that was brought about by circumstances imposed upon the Prophet (saaws). The reality is that the Hijrah was a well-planned event that had its inception long before the Prophet (saaws) decided to leave, and it was only after the Quraysh were notified of his plans to leave that they decided to kill him. In Mecca, there was no reason to kill the Prophet (saaws) because both him and the Daw'ah were well-contained. Thus, the decision to kill the Prophet (saaw) was the result of the Hijrah and was not the cause of the Hijrah.

2. 'History' often states that the Prophet (saaws) conquered Makkah out of longing to return home or out of some tribal/nationalistic affiliation towards his homeland. In reality, the Prophet (saaws) had no such ambitions, and there is nothing in the Seerah mentioning this. Such a claim contradicts the 'Isma (infallibility) of the prophet because it implies that the Prophet (saaws) makes decisions out of his whims and desires, when Allah (swt) clearly mentions in the Qur'an that the prophets and messengers are guided by the revelation. In addition, the Prophet kept the capital at Madinah and did not relocate it to Makka, and none of the other Khulafaa or their descendents, even though they were from Makka, moved the capital of the Islamic State back.

Using Common Sense

we should analyze events and determine whether they make sense according to what is referred to as 'common sense'. And common sense is not only something that we are all capable of utilizing, but it is perhaps one of our most useful tools that we can utilize to siphon out the garbage. I will give you an example related to a very controversial event: the conflict between Ali and Muawiya. In most history books, this conflict is often blown out of proportion to make us believe that the entire Islamic world was in a state of upheaval, but simple common sense tells me otherwise. If this were true, then what were the Romans, the Persians, and the other major powers doing? If the entire Islamic world was in a state of upheaval, and they were just watching, then this means that they were stupid for not taking advantage of the situation. Or perhaps it means that they COULDN'T take advantage of the situation because the Islamic State was still intact, the Islamic armies were still functioning, and the Islamic world was, for the most part, intact. And, when you scrutinize the authentic reports related to the events, it turns out that the conflict between Ali and Muawiya was a minor conflict that was quickly resolved, and life in the Islamic State went on. And even during this episode, the Sahabah still managed to maintain the integrity of their behavior. For example, when the Romans approached Muawiya offering their assistance in his dispute with Ali, Muawiya rebuked the Roman emperor in the harshest terms and threatened him by saying that after I am finished with my brother Ali, we will both come after you. Thus, even during times of conflict, the Muslims understood their red lines, one of them being: No Kafirs allowed to intervene in the affairs of Muslims.

Another example is the assassination of Al-Hussein(ra).Al-Hussein rebelled against Yazid because he did not accept his Khilafah as legitimate. In fact, most of the Sahabah (not just Al-Hussein) took this stance, not because they did not like Yazid per se, but because they felt that his bay'ah(vote) was not legitimate. Therefore, their stance was a matter of Hukm Sharii and not just rebellion for its own sake. When Yazid was informed of this, he sent a battalion of soldiers to negotiate with Al-Hussein and quell the situation, but things got out of hand and fighting broke out, leading to Hussein's matrydom. Nowhere in any credible history book did I ever find that Yazid gave specific orders to his soldiers to kill Al-Hussein; the death of Al-Hussein was not the intended result but was rather an unintended consequence of the events.

Thus, we need to be careful because our history is taught to us in such a way that, at best, will make us lean towards Islam as a religion but will make us shun its application, and at worst, will make us ashamed of Islam altogether. At the same time, we must remember that the regimes today are not a correct representation of Islam in application; such regimes merely apply Kufr systems and sprinkle them with Islamic flavor and symbols. Most importantly, we should always keeping in mind that history is not a measure of the correctness of the Islamic system itself. Islam is proven to be correct because it is built upon the correct Aqeedah, and this by itself should be a source of motivation for us to work for the complete implementation of Islam (aside from the fact that this is a responsibility that Allah will question us about on the Day of Judgment). History is merely an account of the actions of human beings, and it is there to serve as a guide and a source of lessons, so that when we have the opportunity to implement Islam once again, inshaallah, we will have 1400 years of experience that we can use to do the job even better than before.

Islamic history is a history of the actions of Muslims, who are human beings, and we should expect ups and downs, like with any other history. The Islamic political system did exist as far as its basic structure. However, within this structure, there were rulers who were exceptional, rulers who were good, rulers who were not so good, and other rulers who were terrible. If the governments in the past were not Islamic, then this means that Muslims implemented Kufr (non-Islam) for the last 14 centuries, and no history book claims this.

Muslims are suffering today because they do not possess the correct Islamic thinking. Although they have an abundance of information, there is no mechanism that can filter this information correctly and generate concepts and ideas with this information. The Muslims are either devoid of thinking altogether, or when thinking is used, it is very superficial and is not based on Islam. The end result is that we continue to be in a state of decline. And the only way out is to reestablish the correct Islamic thinking. This takes even more priority than learning and acquiring new information.
 

May Allah (swt) help us understand Islam so that we can worship Him correctly and fulfill our responsibilities in the best possible manner.