Self-criticism: The True Criterion of the Believer and the Unbeliever
Self-criticism: The True Criterion of the Believer and the Unbeliever
In the eyes of Allah, there are two types of people - believers (Mo’men) and disbelievers (Kafir). Allah has said, "I created mankind. Then among them, some are believers, and some are disbelievers" (Surah Taghabun, 2). Therefore, the hereafter for humans also has two outcomes - Paradise and Hell. Similarly, in this world, people's conditions are of two kinds - peace and unrest. Since the beginning of humanity until today, mankind has been journeying through the
conflict of two matters: the struggle between justice and injustice, the clash between truth and falsehood, and the conflict of perceptions of what is lawful and unlawful. Let us see who the true believers are.
In Surah Al-Hujurat, verse 15, Allah defines the true believers. He says, “The true believers are only those who have faith in Allah and His Messenger, and then do not doubt, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. It is they who are the truthful.”
It must be remembered that faith in Allah and His Messenger means accepting the truth they have presented to humanity and embodying that truth in life. Striving in the cause of Allah with one’s life and wealth means dedicating one's life and resources for the welfare of humanity. Allah and His Messenger (SAW) are the bearers of truth, the source of truth. Therefore, those who embrace the truth and dedicate themselves to the welfare of humanity, striving to establish that truth, and stand by it are the true believers.
Now let us see who the disbelievers (Kafir) are. Allah defines the disbelievers in Surah Al-Ma'idah, verse 44. He says, “Those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are disbelievers.” This is an eternal truth. A disbeliever is someone who rejects or denies the truth. Throughout the ages, Allah has sent numerous messengers to convey the truth to humanity, and those who reject this truth are disbelievers. Those who stand against the truth, support falsehood, embrace lies, conceal the truth, and create obstacles in the path of truth are the disbelievers. Their actions will establish injustice in society, meaning kufr will prevail. Even in ancient religions, terms like Asura and Rakshasa are used to denote these kufri forces.
This is the distinction between believers (Mo’men) and disbelievers (Kafir). A Mo’men stands with the truth and a Kafir stands with falsehood. Regardless of their ancestral religion, the scriptures they read, or the places of worship they attend, there is no division before Allah based on these aspects(referring to ancestral religion, scripture etc). The division of humanity into believers and disbelievers is based solely on the acceptance or rejection of the truth, and any other division is outside the scope of Islam, meaning it is prohibited. There is no connection in Islam with the worldly distinctions of white and black, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, Bengali and non-Bengali, Bangladeshi and Indian, Eastern and Western, Aryan and non-Aryan, Arab and non-Arab, majority and minority, etc.
Allah says, "O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one who has the most Taqwa" (Surah Al-Hujurat, 13). Who are the Muttaqi? The word Muttaqi comes from Taqwa. Taqwa means to carefully choose the path of justice and injustice, good and bad, truth and falsehood. The more a person discriminates between right and wrong while walking this path, the greater Muttaqi they are. In his Farewell Sermon, the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (SAW) said that there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab. This teaching has now been lost, and Arabs are currently claiming religious superiority over non-Arabs based solely on birthright.
Throughout the ages, under the influence of demonic and satanic forces, self-serving groups and bourgeois classes have arisen among humans, creating walls of division between people for their vested interests. To demolish these walls, prophets, messengers, and avatars have been sent by Allah to every community. They came in times of sinfulness, just as Allah's last Messenger (SAW) came during the age of ignorance (Jahiliyyah) in Arabia. At that time, numerous walls of division were created among humanity, not only in Arabia but across the entire world. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) struggled to establish a society based on justice and truth by breaking down these walls. He
demonstrated that human dignity is not determined by lineage but by the ideals one upholds, as shown when he had Bilal (RA), a former slave, stand atop the Kaaba to proclaim the azan from it after the conquest of Makhah.
The purpose of Islam was to eliminate unjust human-created divisions and unite all of humanity on the side of truth and justice. To achieve this objective, Allah's Messenger Muhammad (SAW) formed a dedicated and self-sacrificing community. After his passing, this community devoted their lives and wealth, leaving their homeland to bring about a great revolution. This revolution swept away the two superpowers of the time, the Roman and Persian Empires, like feathers in a storm. They established equality, justice, and fair treatment across half the world.
However, today the Muslim community seems to lack that specific goal. The universal characteristic of Islam that called for unity among all people—regardless of race, tribe, language, color, or belief—above all lines of division, has been lost. Islam has become almost confined within the personal life of people. Due to forgetting the true creed and engaging in extremism and over-analysis regarding the religion, Islam's universal characteristic has gradually faded over the past 1300 years. As a result, the religion that Allah gave, vast like the ocean and dynamic like a storm, is now covered in a shroud of stagnation and narrow-mindedness.
Like any other religion, Islam has today turned into a faith reliant on rituals and formalities. The very religion whose goal was to eradicate all forms of communalism has itself become a center of new forms of communalism. Muslims, like the followers of other religions, have been confined to a single community, and within this community, further subdivisions have emerged such as Shia-Sunni, Hanafi-Hanbali, Shariati-Ma'rifati, and Qawmi-Aliyah. However, like all other divisions, these divisions are undoubtedly contrary to the principles of Islam.
Muslims, have for the most part returned to that pre-Islamic ignorance. Since embracing Western slavery, make no distinction between truth and falsehood. They do not prioritize Allah's commands. We must break down these walls of ignorance. If we cannot abolish the division of nations and castes, then no one will stop our destruction. May Allah help us to break down these artificial walls and return us the gift of truth, Ameen.
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