Priorities of The Islamic Movement in The Coming Phase

Conclusion

Having come to the end of my book, I must note that the Islamic Movement at both regional and .levels should have a clear outlook into the future, by which it draws a clear detailed plan aimed at specific objectives to be attained by legitimate means. Such a plan should be based on modern concepts, divided into cohesive phases and following academic methodologies. It should also be flexible, easy to accomplish and practical, with its burdens equally divided among the competent bodies and establishments and not dependent on certain individuals, staying alive only as long as these individuals do. It should be built on documented information, accurate statistics, detailed research, scientific analyses, objective comparisons and a comprehensive study of all the available and potential material and human resources and all the psychological and material obstacles, both from inside and outside and both existent and expected, without underestimation or exaggeration.

Such a plan is to be drawn up by a specialized, integrated body of competent experts of various fields of knowledge, each contributing his skill and knowledge to the team. This team may also seek the help of whoever they may think able to contribute an opinion or a piece of information.

It is necessary before and after drawing up the plan to pay attention to three things: full­time work, specialization and information. We will discuss the three of them in detail in this conclusion.

 

The Necessity Of Full­Time Work On The Movement's Duties by Competent Individuals

The Movement should take every care in its future planning to ensure that a number of competent individuals work full-time in all the strategic and important positions, particularly in the fields of science, knowledge, education, information and mass media, politics and planning. The Movement should not remain dependent only on part-time volunteering by persons who have their own jobs that monopolize their time, leaving only snatches on which no major undertaking can be based.
However, this does not go against the presence of volunteers who devote some of their time and effort to the Movement for Allah's sake, for such contributions are vitally important and greatly useful, as the volunteer base is expansive. All members of the Movement are even supposed to be volunteers working without pay, except for those who have to work full­time for the interest of the Call.

Imam Hassan Al­Banna continued to work as a teacher for some years of the Movement, until he was forced by the demands of the Call and the development of the Movement to devote all his time and effort to the Movement.

Many of the Movement's members and leaders in more than one country were university professors, senior civil servants or tree businessmen or tradesmen.

But the best effort can be made only when the individual is working full­time to serve the Movement and promote its objective.

However, it is necessary when selecting full­time workers that they should be of various specializations that complement each other, so as to cover all specializations and plug every hole without concentrating on certain specializations at the expense of others, for there has never been undue expenditure without a right wasted in another place.

Money should be no problem in this respect, for spending money for this purpose is one of the best ways for seeking Allah's pleasure. The necessary funding can be obtained from the resources of zakat (compulsory religious tax) sadaqat, (supererogatory spending for charity), awqaf (religious trusts) and similar funds.

The interest generated by capital deposited in local and foreign banks may even be spent for this purpose, and we should not shrink from using it on the basis that it comes from a haram source, for it is haram only against the depositor of the capital but halal for use in promoting Islamic interests, at the forefront of which comes the full­time employment of workers for the Islamic movement.
Faithful workers should not be reluctant to accept an adequate pay that equals what their counterparts draw in other places, so that they may continue to work with satisfaction and not grumble because of the low pay they get. What should count is fair payment, with the reward being neither too generous nor too meager.

However, it is necessary to choose elements and put the right man in the right place, without favoring this or that, as competence and honesty alone should be the criteria for selection (Truly the best of men for you to employ is the [man] who is strong and trusty) [Surat Al­Qasas: 26].

 

The Qualification of Specialists

This effort should be augmented with the necessary qualification and preparation of specialists in all walks of life.

We are living in the age of specialization­even accurate specialization as it is, not in the age of know­all geniuses who are well­versed in all arts and can give an opinion in every science.
Intelligence alone is not enough, neither are brilliance. genius or talent.

It is necessary to have specialized academic qualification that is able to run abreast with time, cope with need and perfect the work assigned. It is said the in the sound Hadith. (Verily Allah has prescribed proficiency in all things ) and. ( It pleases Allah that any of you who does anything should perfect it).

This perfection is only possible in this age of ours through specialization, and what a necessary duty cannot be accomplished without becomes a necessity in itself.

Take, for instance, a field like mass communication and the many diversified specializations that it requires.

Writing a script is a science, and writing it in the form of a screenplay is a science, directing it is a science, and so is performing it and so is marketing it, and so on to the bottom of the long list of specialized sciences.

Directing a production for radio is something and directing for television is another, while directing for the stage and the cinema are two completely different things.

Mass­media work is a field that embraces scores of arts today, and there are institutes and colleges for these sciences, in which students sit for high and post­graduate studies.

If we want to "Islamize" these arts, we will never be able to accomplish that without the help of specialized experts who can provide the Islamic alternatives to what we have today.

The Islamic Movement is rich in talent, but its talented children are not properly distributed in the fields and places where they are needed most.

We frequently see a concentration of members of certain specializations, such as medicine, pharmacology or engineering, while the Islamic Movement can lay claim to only a few specialists in rare scientific fields, and even none at all in some cases.

This applies to human and social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, economics, political sciences, mass communication and the like, which the youth in shirk and head only for applied­science studies, despite the fact that these sciences are closer to the community and affect it more, and that is why the Jews in the united States and other countries have been careful monopolize them and get the lion's share of their positions so that they may direct them to serve their interests at will.

Many a brilliant young man whose personal abilities and academic aptitude makes him good for being a student of human and literary pursuits is forced by the pressure of society to pursue applied­science studies, while he would fare better and achieve much more production if he was directed to where his abilities and tendencies made him best suited for his studies.

In fact there is a very evident shortage [of Muslims] in the field of human sciences, despite their importance and serious impact. There is even a shortage in the field of literature, e.g. story­writing and criticism, where almost none of the brilliant young men work, in several countries, and of them who do participate are not given the necessary publicity, unlike the leftists and others, who give each other support.

 

A Center for Information and Research

One of most pressing needs of the Islamic Movement in our contemporary age is the establishment of a data bank, or a center for information and research that can cope with this age ­the age of the "information revolution", as some people like to call. This center should be staffed by trained, ski11ed specialists, in accordance with what Allah says (And none (Oman!) can inform you like him who is All ­ Aware) [Surat Fatir: 14], and supported by sophisticated equipment and elements that suit the beginnings of the twenty­first century.

The sources and means of collection of information have become diversified, so have the means of storage, classification and retrieval of data. Have we made any step towards using all this advancement?

We do not have all ­ or even half ­ the information we need about ourselves, leave alone knowing anything about others, friend and foe alike, while our enemies know all that is to be known about us.
I was in Istanbul with some Arab brothers working in the Islamic banking field. We met some brothers from the Turkmen Republic in the (former) Soviet Union, who asked us, "Where is your help for your brethren in Turkmenistan and other republics that were held captive behind the Iron Curtain and are now free to act and interact?" They need help and expertise of every kind: religious, cultural, educational and economic! Where is this help and expertise? Who is going to give it to them?" Who is going to give it to them?" 

"The Christian religious authorities were on the move as soon as glasnost and perestroika started to have their effect. They had all the information and their maps were ready and marked, and the statistics and data were all the. Bibles and books were distributed at once, and the missionaries went a everywhere. In the short interval since then to now, about 2000 churches were either built on new sites or refurbished and brought back to life and activity from destruction and ruin. The Church and its men are still at work there. Where, then, is Islamic work in Muslim territories?
I turned to those around me, asking, "What do you know about our brothers there? About their number, their country, their history, their material and cultural background about their need?" I discovered that we know very little about them, and we did not know an Islamic quarter that had adequate and documented information on them that could be of use, either.

The Islamic Movement at regional and world levels should line up to its age and develop itself, recruiting all its efforts and mustering all the energies of Muslims around it towards that end. It should take this prayer as its motto: O Allah! Make today for us better than yesterday, and make tomorrow better than today, and grant us Your Blessing in everything. Amen.

  
"The Christian religious authorities were on the move as soon as glasnost and perestroika started to have their effect. They had all the information and their maps were ready and marked, and the statistics and data were all the. Bibles and books were distributed at once, and the missionaries went a everywhere. In the short interval since then to now, about 2000 churches were either built on new sites or refurbished and brought back to life and activity from destruction and ruin. The Church and its men are still at work there. Where, then, is Islamic work in Muslim territories?
I turned to those around me, asking, "What do you know about our brothers there? About their number, their country, their history, their material and cultural background about their need?" I discovered that we know very little about them, and we did not know an Islamic quarter that had adequate and documented information on them that could be of use, either.

The Islamic Movement at regional and world levels should line up to its age and develop itself, recruiting all its efforts and mustering all the energies of Muslims around it towards that end. It should take this prayer as its motto: O Allah! Make today for us better than yesterday, and make tomorrow better than today, and grant us Your Blessing in everything. Amen.