To Be A Muslim
Preface
All praises to Allah, and blessings and peace to His Messenger. This book is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the characteristics that every single Muslim should portray in order to fulfill the conditions of being a Muslim in both belief and practice. Many people are Muslim by identity, because they were "born Muslim" from Muslim parents. They may not know what Islam really means or its requirements, and so may lead a very secular life. The purpose of this first part is to explain the responsibility of every Muslim to become a knowledgeable and true believer in Islam.
The second part of this book discusses the responsibility to become an activist for Islam and participate in the Islamic Movement. It explains the nature of this movement and its goals, philosophy, strategy, and tactics, as well as the desirable characteristics of it members.
The failure of various movements in the Islamic world, and especially in the Arab countries, result from a spiritual emptiness in these movements as well as in society generally. In such a situation the principles and institutions of Islam are forgotten. The westernized leaders and movements collapse when they encounter serious challenges. These leaders and movements and the systems of government and economics they try to impose have fallen because they lacked a solid base. They fell because they were artificial constructs copied from alien cultures and did not represent the Muslim community. Therefore they were rejected by it. This situation is comparable to a kidney transplant in a human body. Although the body is able to tolerate it painfully for a short period of time, eventually the kidney will be rejected and die.
When the sickness of the Muslim Ummah became acute few Muslims thought of building a new society on Islamic principles. Instead many tried to import manmade systems and principles, which looked good but really were grossly defective and so could be easily toppled and crushed.
The first stage in this process of adaptation was the introduction of monopoly capitalism. This poisoned the values of society and the economy and politics, and destroyed the Muslim identity, as a culture. This led to the devastating defeat of Islam in 1948.
Despite this bitter experience the Muslims remained prisoners of the jahili, or pagan systems, introduced from abroad. If the 1948 defeat was caused by following the Westerners, the 1967 defeat was caused by following the left-wing proletariat of European, especially Soviet socialism. Bewildered by its falsities, they succumbed to successive defeats, abandoned by their socialist allies.
These very painful experiences caused Muslims to lose hope in their governments and their empty promises. These unbearable experiences awakened them to a realization that all the international powers are united to crush them, both the capitalist West of Euro-America and the socialist West of Russia, both "rightists" and "leftists." Muslims are finally learning that the void in their own midst can never be filled by White House programs, Kremlin plans, the thought of Marx, and Lenin, or the principles of Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh
The Muslim Ummah must recognize that Allah intends it to have its identity different from others, so that all peoples of the world may develop theirs by applying the universal din of truth and justice in personal and community life. Recognition of this Islamic identity is the first step for the Muslim Ummah to revolutionize the thought and politics of the world.