PEOPLE TODAY HAVE DEVIATED FROM ISLAM
At present, we Moslems have deviated from religion, as the religious code is not being observed. We pray and fast, yet the religious code is actually not observable in our deeds. Our Islamic code should not be confined to one side of our lives, while we do whatever we want on the other side. The Islamic code regulates all human activities, large and small. If religion is not observed in a single aspect of life, it is not observed at all. In the sense that if we perform well in our prayers, but we cheat people in the marketplace, our prayers are doing us no good at all. Yet, in fact, we do cheat and practice usury, making the crucial factor our moral values.
The point that must be made clear is that people today are not living Islam. There is, of course, a big disagreement on this point between us and the rest of the people. It is as if theologians want to tell us: “Here are the people praying, fasting, going on pilgrimage, and those who have money are paying alms, so there is nothing wrong with people, they are doing well.” In fact, people will not be ameliorated if it is not entirely clear to them that they are not doing well and need to change. People need to attest not only with their tongue but with their hearts, the attestation: “There is no deity but God.” Now the attestation “there is no deity but God” is only uttered by the mouth. The intent of the attestation “There is no deity but God”, is that it will enter the heart and cleanse the heart from grudges, hatred, greed, backbiting, and gossip. It will save them from deviating into the various ways of sin, in their social intercourse and manners. This means that unless the attestation “there is no deity but God” is internalized, it will remain a mere semblance of words. If people do not realize that they are missing the attestation “There is no deity but God”, because it is no longer in their hearts, then they will never change. You are not expected to say to someone that you are doing good and nothing is wrong with you, and then ask him (or her) to change! Why should he be changed if one is doing well? This matter was not held in perpetual abeyance. The Prophet has already foreshadowed it. He declared that people will cast aside and deviate from religion, and people will not be considered Moslems. But he also gave the good news that people will revert back to Islam.
Yesterday, at the beginning of our lecture, we discussed two hadiths. Therein the Prophet said: “‘Nations will call each other against you, just as people at a feast call each other to a bowl of food.’ They asked: ‘O Messenger of God! Will there be few from among us?’ He replied, ‘No, you will be many, but you’ll be like the scum on a flashflood. And God will not care about you.’” This means that nations will attack you from almost every side, just as hungry people rush upon a bowl of food in front of them, every one of them wanting a share. Then people asked: “‘O Messenger God! Will we then be few compared to other nations?’ He answered: ‘No. Then you will be too many (about a hundred or a hundred and twenty million, as is our case today).” We are now about a hundred or a hundred and twenty million. Now, the number of Arab Muslims and other Muslims in the world could be up to five hundred million. But all these Moslems, wherever they are, you will find impoverished and colonized, especially thirty years ago―they were all under the colonization of different nations. The Prophet asserted that you will then be many, and not a few, but you are like scum on the water―you will be weightless. Therefore, God will not honor you―God will not care about you. Why will we be weightless? Because our hearts are devoid of the attestation “There is no deity but God,” whereas the Prophet said: “An atom’s weight of the attestation ‘There is no deity but God’ is heavier than Mount Uhud on the scale of Judgment Day.” So, the lightness is the person whose heart is empty, as God is not present in their heart.
In the other hadith, which we have discussed, the Prophet said: “You will follow the paths of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit so that even if they entered a ruined burrow of a lizard, you would follow them.” It was asked: “Are they the Jews and the Christians?!” He replied, “Whom else?” The saying “You will follow the paths of those nations who were before you” means that you will exactly follow the footsteps of those who preceded you, imitating them by doing as they do. He then went on to say: “so that even if they entered a ruined burrow of a lizard,” meaning that if they entered into such a strange place, you also will enter just like them. They wondered who these people are. Are they the Jews and the Christians? He affirmed that they are the Jews and the Christians. Whom else? Obviously, this description currently applies to us. We go to God in the mosque and pray, and then we go out in the marketplace where we cheat, deal with interest, swindle, and do everything that will bring us money. The lives of the Jews and the Christians are also like that. They think as we now think—as if God has nothing to do with their daily lives. They go to God in the church, and once they get out of the service, they act according to their own shrewdness. We have found a very great similarity between us and them. The two hadiths that we cited, and also the reality of our lives today, confirm this fact. For example, in the Arab countries, as I told you, we are more than a hundred million, whereas the Jews, numbering two million and a half in Israel, have defeated us four times. The reason is that we are not with God. That is why God has let us down. God promised us when he said: “It is ever incumbent upon Us to support the Believers” (30:47). As we have strayed from His way and are no longer believers, God is no longer incumbent to support us. Because of all these considerations, we affirm that people have deviated from Islam.
