A New Crisis Confronts the Ummah

A recent phenomenon that has confronted the Muslim Ummah is cause for great alarm. It has been witnessed in several parts of South Africa that there is a rise in the number of Muslims become murtadd.

Though the ratio of non-Muslims reverting to Islam is far greater than that of people becoming Murtadd, and though such a phenomenon does not threaten Islam in the least, such is its power and might, yet it is cause for serious concern when people degenerate to the level of irtidaad (becoming murtadd). Just as it is a tribute to Islam’s dominance and independence that irtidaad does not constitute the least threat to its existence, in like manner it is a tribute to Islam’s ideological stability and intellectual might that people who abandon it never do so out of disillusion or lack of conviction in its teaching. When studying the causes of people becoming murtadd, it emerges that the chief reasons are financial, ignorance with regard to Islamic belief, succumbing to lust, marriage to a kaafier, disillusionment with family members, drugs, music, or a combination of all or some of these.

KUFR ASSOCIATION
One major factor that corrupts belief and action, and leads to apostasy, is evil company. There are known cases of teenagers losing their iemaan because they were influenced in this direction by corrupt people. Muslims get involved with atheistic groups who obviously do not believe in Allah. Others were discovered sharing sessions of meditation and forums of discussion with Hindu groups. These Muslims went on to adopt the kufr belief of re-incarnation.

KUFR OCCULT AND
RITUAL
Muslims should be wary of new forms of healing and exercise that actual stem from Hinduism or Paganism. They should avoid attending sessions of yoga, reiki, crystal healing, etc., for the ordinary Muslim will find it difficult to detect the kufr aspects of some of these rituals, as the example of re-incarnation illustrates. Muslims adopted this without even realizing that it is clear-cut kufr. Even if some of these practices appear harmless, it is best to exercise caution.

SECULAR INSTITUTES
The universities of today are ideal breeding grounds for atheism, agnosticism and similar heretical beliefs. Parents should be constantly and unrelentingly vigilant over their sons and daughters who attend varsities. It is already an established reality that our youth lose their Islamic identity and spiritual well-being in these secular institutes. The crisis we now face is loss of iemaan in its entirety.

THE HADITH ON EVIL
COMPANY
Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) made the following dua: “O Allah I seek your protection from an evil day, an evil night, an evil moment, and an evil friend.”
‘Ulema state that in this dua the consequences are mentioned before the actual cause, so as to impress the urgency of these matters on the mind of the listener. In other words, an evil day, an evil night and an evil moment are all consequences of an evil companion.
Evil company unconsciously induces evil thoughts and actions. Sometimes, these thoughts are so severe that they threaten the very roots of our iemaan. Many youth do not even know this, in spite of them being highly educated and intellectuals. Elders need to constantly advise the youth as to whose company they should keep. We have stated before and reiterate that even our adults become unwitting victims of bad company.

People who renegade on Islam have bartered away their Deen for the disillusionment of this Dunya. Allah Ta’ala says in the Holy Quran: “So let the world not deceive you, and let not the big deceiver (shaytaan) beguile you with regards to Allah!”

Notwithstanding all of this, our ieman demands that when one Muslim deviates from the straight path, we feel deeply hurt. The hadith describes the brotherhood and bond of this Ummat as the parts of one body. When a limb hurts, the rest of the body feels the effects and suffers accordingly. When even one member of the Ummat suffers spiritual damage (and there is no greater spiritual harm than irtidaad), the rest of the Ummah should feel it. Just as we cannot tolerate insensitivity towards the physical harm and hardship of a fellow Muslim, we, too, cannot tolerate complacency towards the spiritual disaster that befalls Muslims. When a Muslim becomes murtadd, we shall do everything in our power to bring that person back onto the Path of Deen. After having tried our best and failed, we resign ourselves to the Taqdeer of Allah The Almighty. It is then acknowledged that iemaan was not in the taqdeer of that Muslim. (May Allah grant all Muslims death on iemaan, aameen).

The major dilemma that confronts us when a person becomes murtadd is how to deal with such a person. Should he or she be ostracized from the community, or should effort be made to try and bring the person back into the fold? In an Islamic state a murtadd will be given time to consider re-entry into the fold of Islam. If the apostate does not revert within a particular time frame, which depends on circumstances, then such a person shall be executed. In other words, irtidaad or recanting Islam is akin to treachery in an Islamic State, and the same punishment that will be meted out to a (political) traitor or rebel will be ministered to a murtadd.
However, in a non Muslim state, we should firstly try our utmost to bring the murtadd back into Islam. We have to use wisdom, tact, and logical arguments in an attempt to win back this lost soul. If all this fails, then such a person must be totally ostracized. We shall have no more contact with the murtadd, be it our own kith and kin. It will not be permissible to take the life of a murtadd in a non-Muslim country.

COMBATTING THE MENACE OF IRTIDAAD
In order to fight this fitnah and safeguard the iemaan of our Muslim brothers and sisters, we need to look into the causes mentioned earlier. Once we familiarize ourselves with the causes, we can effectively combat this danger.
One cause mentioned was lack of proper Islamic Aqaa-id or Beliefs. This is of extreme importance. Some Muslims exit the fold of Islam because they hold corrupt or concocted beliefs about Islam. We, therefore, need to ensure our children acquire proper Islamic Aqaaid. For this the madresa and maktab system of education is vital. It is deeply disappointing to witness the indifference of parents towards their children’s Deeni education during the early years of a child’s life. We hate to think that failure to equip our children with proper Islamic knowledge when they were small, will one day result in the misery and heartache of irtidaad. We ourselves need to become versed in proper Islamic Aqaaid. Al-Farouq will, insha Allah, carry articles on Aqaaid in a future publication.

Another cause for irtidaad is financial difficulty. How true were the words of our Rasool (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) when he remarked: “Poverty is close to becoming kufr.” It is common in parts of our country as well as the rest of the African continent for Christian Missionaries to exploit the financial woes of Muslims by luring them towards Christianity with monetary incentives. Sometimes this is done overtly, and sometimes covertly. Well-to-do Muslims should form a think-tank and establish ways of assisting these poor Muslims and thus save them from the Missionary onslaught. This will indeed be a major financial sacrifice but, in the end, well worth it.

Marrying across religious barriers is another factor that sometimes leads to kufr. Sadly, Muslim women exit the fold of Islam just to marry a non-Muslim man whom they claim they love. Falling in love with a member of the opposite sex who happens to belong to an opposing religion has been identified as a common cause for irtidaad. Several Muslim women end up marrying their Christian or Hindi boyfriends in the Church or Temple. Some of them openly denounce Islam. (Allah Forbid!) Here the parents have to share some of the blame, for it was their negligence in the first place that allowed their daughters to end up in the arms of a Hindu or Christian. For the future, we need to wake up from our slumber and begin exercising more responsible control over our children. Regardless of how old our son or daughter is, strict supervision and close monitoring should continue. don’t take your child for granted, and never become complacent.

SHUKR FOR IEMAAN
It is a famous teaching of Quran that making shukr for the Bounties of Allah is a cause of protection and enhancement for those bounties. In like manner, making daily shukr for our iemaan will undoubtedly ensure its protection and become a means of strengthening our Islamic Faith. !
May Allah Azza Wa Jall grant us all death with Iemaan — aameen