“And thus have We
willed you to be
a Moderate
Nation (justly balanced),
so that (with
your lives) you might
bear witness (to the truth) before
Mankind, and
that the Messenger
might bear
witness to it before you..”
(Qur’an, 2:143).
Genuine Muslim individuals
are collectively the best nation, a Moderate Nation, which should become a pattern
for all other nations, at any time, as God wanted them to be. This can only happen,
when they achieve a justly balanced standard in their conducts, like what took
place at the time of the Last Prophet (peace and God’s blessings be upon him),
and a few centuries after him. And God described it in the Qur’an as follows: “You
have become the best nation ever brought forth to men, (as long as you are firmly)
bidding to honor, and forbidding dishonor, and believing in God. And had the
people of the Scripture believed (in this last message) it would have been
better for them; some of them are believers, but the most of them are wicked” (3:110).
The best nation are people
who:
1.
firmly have faith
in God, in the Resurrection Day, in the Angels, in the Prophets, in the messengers
of God and in the messages they brought.
2. spend out of what have been provided to them for the
orphans, the needy, to free people from bondage etc.
3.
constantly observe
the obligatory prayers.
4.
pay the purifying
alms for people in need.
5.
fulfill their
covenant when they have engaged in a covenant.
6.
endure with
fortitude misfortune, hardship and peril (2:177).
7.
pay special
esteem to their parents (even if they are not of the same religion) (31:14-15).
8.
are upright
before God, are witnesses in equity, have no hatred towards people, which might
cause them not to be just (5:8); are upright in justice, are witnesses for God,
even though it be against themselves or parents and kinsmen (4:135).
9.
should treat
people of other religions kindly, as long as they are not enemies and cause no
peril (60:8).
To be given the opportunity to
become the Pattern of a Moderate Nation is indeed a great grace from God, and at
the same time it is a great task and responsibility.
Shamefully, the Muslim
“Ummah” (= Nation) has been absent from the world scene since centuries now.
They are no more the pattern, they are no more the example to follow. They are
just a marginalized nation, because they do not fulfill their duties. They are
heedless of God’s warning: “…and if you turn away (from God’s guidance),
He will replace you with another people, and they will not be the likes of you”
(47:38).
God wants to show Muslims that they must strive and fulfill all duties
correctly and use all their power (intellectually and materially) to deserve
God’s help. If they disobey God’s orders and reject His discipline, they must
attribute the defect and humiliation to themselves and not to God (3:165).
God has given many examples of various nations in ancient times, of
their conducts, of the result of their actions and of what happened to them: “Ways
of life have passed away before you; so travel in the land (study the history
of nations) and behold how was the end of those who denied (God’s guidance)! (3:137).
The Qur’an urges its readers to the necessity of learning from man’s
past experiences: “Verily there is in their stories a lesson for people of understanding”
(12:111).
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