The Priorities of the Muslim Ummah

Bismilla hirRahman nirRaheem,
Assalamu alaikum wr wb to all brothers n sisters in Islaam

What are "The Priorities of the Muslim Ummah ?"

Is it quite easy to simply list a set of priorities? Are the lofty & utopian words like "Unity", "Khilafa", "Islamic State" the right priorities? Or is it Economic and intellectual upliftment? Is self reliance in defence (military) more important than self reliance in energy (fuel) ?- or is making Justice and the Rule of Law reign supreme more important than changing the form of government - be it Kingship, Dictatorship, or Democracy ?

How do we go about selecting the priorities and in what order? Moreoever - what research do we do beforehand to first and foremost take a stock of where we are as an Ummah and where we need to be. If an severe road accident victim having multiple wounds comes into a hospital ER (Emergency Room), a good doctor identifies the most severe of the wound that can cause the most blood loss first and then works his way through the rest of the wounds to make sure that the patient can be saved. The doctors' goal is the to save the victim's life first even if it requires some painful amputation.

Just as knowing the Goal is very important - equally or possibly more important is the fact that we need to have a very clear and realistic understanding of our current state of affairs. Indeed - this question of "The Priorities of the Muslim Ummah" is something that requires serious contemplation (tadabbur).

Just like a pilot needs to know his starting point to be able to properly fly the airplane towards its destination with the right heading - taking all of the passengers along, those who want to be the pilots of the Muslim Ummah - need to understand the Ummah's starting point as well as its destination, so that hopefully they can set the Ummah's heading correctly.

Remember that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This means that if both the starting point and the destination is properly understood and mapped - the time taken for the journey will be the shortest. If the pilot does not know of the Starting point, or he misunderstands the destination or maps it incorrectly - the pilot can easily get lost and take the wrong route possibly consuming all the fuel (energy & drive) to get to the destination.

If you have ever tried to study and prepare for an exam - you would agree that if you properly organize yourself for this task - you need (i) a goal (passing the exam), (ii) a strategy (study the relevant course material), and (iii) Prioritize (your preparation for the exam). And hopefully if done right - you will achieve your goal (pass the exam).

However - if you have a team to take along with you and achieve a team goal - the team dynamics also comes into play and so you need a fourth element - (iv) Educating the team about the goal.

In every team - you would notice the following types of people:

• Leaders or "active" team members. These are typically in a minority
• Followers or "passive" team members. These are typically the majority, and finally
• Critics or those who are good at finding flaws.

A minority of the critics - I call them "positive critics" - could be quite helpful as long as you involve them in decision making and invite them to critique any draft plan you produce. However - a small minority of the critics will object simply for the sake of finding faults so it is better to be prepared to live with them but one should not concern oneself too much about any noises they make - as they can try to sabotage and side track any important work - you may be trying to do.

What is needed is to 1st and foremost seek help from Allah through prayers, & patience and then:

1. Identify the Goal
2. Come up with a Strategy, and
3. Prioritize the tasks (i.e. make mini-goals that lead towards the central/larger goal)

Without proper education - each active member, or positive critic of the Ummah can also become a negative critic and can potentially just be a burden and keep the Ummah occupied in umpteen arguments about why are we going this way, why are we doing this or that and at the very least - will keep others irritated by regularly repeating "Are we there yet?". Hence it is a must to also properly:

• Educate about the Goal, Strategy and Priority to the active members and positive critics of the Ummah

This education should be done with such organization and vigour that the goal, strategy, and priority is inculcated into the very heart and soul of the people and that their heart should begin to beat with its rhythm.
During all this exercise - the issue of "Seeking the pleasure of Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala)" must be kept paramount - in light of the purpose of our creation. The Qur'an calls us all - both muslims - as well as any human being to do tadabbur (contemplate) about the reasons for our creation and it informs us that neither this world nor anything in it has been created without a purpose. Instead it states quite clearly:

“…We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, for mere play. We created them not except with truth but most of them do not understand” (Qur’an 44:38-39)

In another place - the Qur'an states:

“And I (Allah) created not the jinn and men except they should worship Me (Alone).” (V. 51:56)

Worship here means that on an individual level - we need to humble and lower ourselves in front of Allah (swt) and to recognize Allah as the sole power and authority. Included in this meaning is that after recognizing the supremacy of Allah - we need to fully submit to His Will by being obedient to His commands.

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following:

The priority for Muslims at all times must be to educate themselves in the sound teachings of their religion and to act accordingly. Most of the confusion prevailing in the Ummah is due to lack of proper understanding of Islam. The Qur'an makes it imperative for us to educate ourselves first; that is why Imam Bukhari in his work, As-Sahih says, "Knowledge comes before speech or action!" The pious Caliph `Umar ibn `Abdul-`Aziz said, "Whoever acts without knowledge, he is bound to be more destructive in his approach rather than doing something constructively."

Having said this, I must also add: As an Ummah we need to consider the challenges facing us as a community and chalk out a program of action. Such an effort must be done by an Islamic think-tank consisting of Muslim intellectuals, scholars and leaders.

One lesson we could learn from the seerah (biography) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he was a planner par excellence; so we would only be following his footsteps if we plan out steps carefully after due thought, consultation, and discussion. May Allah guide our steps. Ameen

So knowing the purpose of our creation - what are the priorities of the Muslim Ummah?