Thinking

"Thoughts, in any nation, are the greatest fortune the nation gains in her life if the nation is newly born; and they are the greatest gift that any generation can receive from the preceding generation, provided the nation is deep-rooted in the enlightened thought" - The Economic System of Islam

"If the material wealth of a nation is destroyed, it is possible for it to be restored quickly as long as the nation preserves its intellectual wealth" - The Economic System of Islam

The greatest wealth of a nation are their thoughts.

The reference to "thoughts" in this context are those thoughts that are the foundation of any ideology or civilisation. This is in reference to the highest levels of thinking - i.e. the core thoughts that govern all other thoughts and actions. These are the thoughts that direct the entire vision of a civilisation and ideology.

In this context, there are three types of thinking that need to be built within the Ummah:
 
1.       Political thinking

2.       Ideological thinking

3.       Legislative thinking

The corruption of thinking on any of these levels is a sign of decline.

Corruption and confusion has entered into the hearts and minds of the Ummah in all three of these aspects.

These three levels of thinking are interwoven and they cannot be separated from each other. We only categorize and distinguish between them in order that we can identify the exact components of that which has lead to our decline.

This is the same way that the subject of Economics cannot be separated from the philosophy, politics and ideology of a state or civilisation. Much of the time, each area will delve into its counterpart and there are no strict boundaries between these levels of thinking.

The categorisation is less important than our ability to identify the actual problem with our thinking.    

Political thinking is the highest level of thinking. This is the art of possibilities. Political thinking is fluid and there are no rules or dominating consistencies. It is subjective in its essence while there is only one objective truth.

This is analysis of key events and deductions made using previous information and previous decisions which have been executed in the past. Political truths are found less often in the speeches of influential figures but more often in their actions and the realities that are imposed as a result of these actions; from this, the true intent becomes clear.

Decision making is a key aspect and the ability to make the best politically astute decision is the result of enlightened deep analysis. The best politically astute decisions can only be made by the politicians that are aware of the main components that form a society.

This is the most strenuous level of thinking and it requires the highest level of mental and emotional intelligence; it requires the best and most creative methods to reach a conclusion in a paradigm where there are no limits.

Politics is to look after the affairs of the people and political thinking consists of those principles required to manage the affairs of a society.

Much of the Ummah today do not understand Politics and we are unable to comprehend that Islam has any involvement in global affairs. There are a number of reasons for this decline. Adding to this problem is the inability to see Islam as an ideology – this causes a further paradox in the actions of the Muslims; much of the time Muslims would involve themselves in secular politics while ignoring the political methods from the Seerah.

This is a result in the failure to see Islam as an ideology that offers a method and solution to every problem.

Our discussions with the Ummah on the platform of political thinking will reveal the true extent of this decline and the paradoxical reference points Muslims seem to use in an attempt to implement change. This manifests as calls to lobby MPs, sign petitions, vote as active citizens and join the current political process that aims only to protect and propagate its own values.

Our legislative process (Usool) and deriving of law (Fiqh) is restricted for the Fiqh of Ibadaat (in the context of rituals) and we have made Islam redundant for all political matters, as we were instructed by those who performed surgery on our education curriculums.

We are politically naive and this is a result of being unable to understand our own history and the history of those that colonized the hearts, minds and lands of our people.

The greatest revelations of the future are extracted from the events and treachery of the past – this analysis and "agenda identification" is crucial in order to produce the most accurate well informed deductions of future events. This is the essence of political analysis.

Successful "agenda identification" can only be reached by those beyond shallow level thinking. They are the ones who are able to distinguish between the so called anti-terror policies, the banning of "religious symbols" in workplaces and the layers of grey that are immersed in between the political lies. They are experts in seeing beyond the fog of politics and it is difficult to deceive the politically astute.

The mention of some EDL extremism in the midst of a Prevent training session or the banning of the so called "other" religious symbols are only to keep the politically naïve at bay; these subtleties are nothing but marketing strategies for oppressive policies and further surveillance.

The core focus of the attack is against Islam – any call to deploy our energy and resources on the granular aspects of a wider problem exclusively are a waste of our mental and emotional capital.

The fog of politics should not render us incapable in identifying the actual political agenda. The fact that western policies are now targeting both women and children should be an alarming sign for those who have vision. These are the exact political strategies to deploy, should a government aim to destroy the very roots and future of the next generation of Muslims.

When the governments resort to these means to fulfil their objectives, it is clear that the stick will now play a greater role than the carrot. The targeting of the most vulnerable in society is an act of desperation and a clear change in strategy.

The Muslims think for tomorrow and the governments think for the next decade. Our greatest achievement is to have a Masjid amongst many other Masjids while their greatest achievement would be to coconut an entire generation. The politician is the one who possesses long term vision.

It is incumbent upon us to understand that this pressure will only increase and it takes a state to protect the values of a minority with a different way of life. The failure to understand this crucial reality is the loss of perspective and it is the opening for calls to deploy our efforts on the symptoms more than the disease.

At times we will meet individuals who will attempt to use ayat and misapplied evidences to justify political inactivity. They will bring Zuhd (seclusion) and the cultures of the east as a replacement for the methods that are mandated by the deen of Islam.

The failure to understand the roots of this type of thinking will lead many of us to claim that this secular individualistic thinking, extracted from other cultures is indeed Islamic and it is then that we would passively work against the efforts for revival, by propagating that which is an obstacle for revival.

Political problems require political solutions sought through political means.

Surah Al-Anfal, Verse 30:
وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ

"And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners"

We will offer every technicality and every subtlety in the political agenda of our enemies, yet we will receive an expression of passiveness and an attempt to justify this passiveness through the ayat of Allah(swt). We will surrender our sphere of control and actions in exchange for passiveness and we will fail to see the inconsistency in this, especially when compared to the choices and actions we actively make in our own lives. The Ummah chooses to surrender its ability to choose and act. 

We outsource victory to Allah(swt) and we relieve ourselves of our own responsibilities. The armies that reached as far as Africa, Europe and China did not think like this. The burial sites of the Sahabah(ra) in distant lands do not reflect this type of defeatist thinking.

It is not fitting for the Ummah to receive the ayat of Allah(swt), which demonstrate his grandeur, only then to form a fatalistic passive mind-set. It is not for the Ummah to become redundant while Allah(swt) plans. Allah(swt) grants victory through the actions and efforts of people.

Although the textual evidences of Islam are clear that Siyasah is a dominating aspect of the deen, political thinking itself is not extracted from the textual evidences of Islam. The implementation of political strategy is deployed after in depth analysis of the reality.

Legislative thinking is to refer back to the sources and principles that are used to derive legislation. In a secular liberal democracy, core principles would essential be the rule of law, man being sovereign, the mind being fit to legislate and policies agreed in parliament to ensure that the greatest level of benefit is sought with the least harm (in principle).

From an Islamic perspective, legislative thinking is the reference to the principles of Usool for the deriving of Fiqh – these would all be established from the Quran and Sunnah.   

Even our legislative thinking is being corrupted, as we borrow aspects of benefit and harm from the secular liberal legislative process. The Muslims have began to claim that their fasting in the month of Ramadan is to regulate their cholesterol levels and the offering of Salah is to take advantage of a dozen health benefits for the back pain they suffer from.

Our entire Usool is being limited to Maslaha (public benefit) and this is the sneaking corruption of our deen. The entire purpose of Usool is being overlooked for the sake of personal benefit. Through the corruption of Usool, the gates of Modernist Islam have been open. The preservation of life has become more important than the preservation of Islam.  

Politics can never be separated from Islam and the agenda for this secularization can only be fuelled by either a misunderstanding of the deen or a government pay check. There is a complete inability to meet the ambitions of Islam solely from the perspective of legislative thinking. The understanding of the permissible and the impermissible is not sufficient to carry Islam to the rest of the world.

Therefore, the removal of political thinking from the minds of Muslims is the paralysis of Islam – Islam can neither be implemented, expanded or maintained in the absence of political thinking.

There is no confidence achieved from those who are exclusive in stating the Fiqh of Islam while offering no strategy for implementation.

The work for the implementation of Islam is not merely an academic struggle. The brain drain we have experienced will need to be reversed and the thinkers we have lost will need to return home. A great deal of capital will need to be re-invested to destroy and rebuild the hearts and minds of our future.

If the Sahabah(ra) remained politically redundant they would not have initiated projects to preserve the text of Quran and they would not have moved to distant lands to teach the people Usool and Fiqh. The four schools of thought would not exist.

They were not a people to sit at home only to say "Allah plans and plots".

Ideological thinking is to approach matters from the perspective of the ideology whether this be political decisions made from the highest aspects of society; or the ability to read the intended purpose of key events, attacks or strategies.

Once ideological thinking is established in the minds of Muslims, the Ummah is no longer misled by what she perceives as isolated randomised attacks but rather, she is able to comprehend the wider strategies, which can be traced all the way back to the ideological reference point. Ideological thinking can only be present in the one who understands that the role of any ideology is to propagate, implement and protect its values.
 
For the Muslims who understand both Islam and Secularism as separate ideologies – there is no such thing as Islamophobia, as the majority of Muslims perceive it today. There is no such thing as an isolated hatred for Islam that is disconnected from the ideology that senses an opposition. There is no such thing as hatred for the sake of hatred except for the ignorant, sheep and pawns of society.

The constant attack on Islam today is nothing other than ideological from the highest levels of society. It should be known that the intent is one that is driven from the clash of civilisations and ideologies; the understanding and viewing of Islam as a comprehensive ideology instantly agitates attack and onslaught from every system that it threatens and contradicts.

There is no victim mentality for the one who understands that Islam is an ideology – it is not fitting for the one who is agitated to develop a victim mentality.

In reality, Islamophobia does not exist, as those who propagate this mind-set fail to trace the hatred and attack back to the secular liberal ideology and the highest levels of a society. The calls of victimhood can only be achieved through campaigns that fail to trace the intent right to the very ideological roots of Capitalism. The failure to understand the motive for attack is the loss of perspective altogether.

There is no such thing as Islamophobia. This call itself is a clear evidence that the Ummah are weak on the platform of ideological thinking and we have been unable to exercise deep enlightened thinking on this matter.

As these three platforms of thinking are of the highest level and they dominate every aspect of any civilisation or ideology - this matter cannot be done justice without introducing multiple perspectives, application of one's own experience and a refusal to separate its core components, as the elites in society order for us to do.