MUSLIM WORLD

This article was published in Asia Times Online.

Yes, I am a Muslim. Yes, I am a Pakistani. I am proud of my religion, my race and my country. I have written about British Imperialism; I have written about US Imperialism. But today, I am going to write about the ignorance and weaknesses in the Muslim world itself. Why? Because we, the Muslims, cannot improve until we look more deeply into ourselves and have a self-critique, which till today, we have been shy to do so. Yes, our ancestors were great people. They were great thinkers, excellent preachers, meticulous teachers, first-rate scientists, admirable healers, thorough explorers, fabulous leaders, splendid warriors and above all, God-fearing humans. Some of them did make mistakes and some did cross the line. But to err is human. And there are also black sheep in every community during all ages. Overall, their mettle and abilities were recognized by the world over time.

The question is: Are we the same people? Past is past. We have basked a lot under the glorious sunshine of our history. But, it's time to move on. If we do not realize our mistakes now, it might be too late tomorrow.

In the past several hundred years, apart from a few exceptions, we failed to produce great thinkers, notable architecture, any distinguished pieces of art etc. We did not discover and we did not invent. We did not even take forward our religious and cultural thoughts and stopped thinking "out of the box". The result is that we do not have any notable leader in the Muslim world, while extremism within is on the rise. We look to the West to get inspired. Yes, the same West many of us have grown to hate. We despise them, yet we love them. We want to stay away from them, yet we wish to immigrate and reach their land. We criticize them for their dressing, yet we dress like them. We condemn them for immorality, yet we indulge in sins equivalent, if not graver, than those committed by them. We criticize their rulers for oppressing the Muslims, yet our own rulers oppress us. We disapprove them for being hungry for money and yet, there is no account of the amount of corruption prevailing in our own societies. We loathe them for using their women as sex symbols, and yet our own women are scared to go out into the streets alone. And finally, we detest them for racism, and yet our own minorities are tyrannized by us.

What are we? Who are we? Are we clear in our thoughts? Are we focused? We know where we are coming from, but do we know where we are headed? We call ourselves Muslims but we do exactly opposite to what Islam preaches. The truth is that we are just Muslims by birth and that itself is no achievement at all. How many of us have read the Quran and understood it? Apart from saying a few prayers, that for some become a routine exercise with time and lose the real essence, how many of us really understand why we are bound to pray five times a day? How many of us have tried to practically implement Islam into our lives? Had we done all that, we would have been a lot different than what we are now.

The solution is simple, yet hard to achieve: Muslims must change. Yes, we must change in our thoughts and in our actions. We must stop pointing out the worst in others and begin cleaning up our own backyard. We should take what best others have to offer to us, and share with them the finest that we have. In short, Muslims must try to become Muslims first.