The Road to 2014 appears to be getting shorter, with less than 20 months remaining. The great Sheikhs who preserved our beautiful Deen for 70 years from the jaws of the colonials and missionaries and the MCP regime for 30 years would never have dreamt of what we Muslims have today in terms of knowledge, political influence and material prosperity. Alhamdulillah for the past few decades Muslims in Malawi have made progress as we have had a president, vice president and several ministers in various Governments, a feat our ancestral fathers could never imagined or even dreamed of. In addition to this, we have very well educated sheikhs from various Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia itself and professionals in various fields such as law, accountancy, business administration, banking and finance just a few qualified in countries as far as Europe and Asia.
Unfortunately, while we celebrate advancement in knowledge, social and economic well being, it appears that this progress has come at a very great cost as we have become disunited and disillusion. Greed has plagued us and we have become a people without direction and proper unity. This is more so evident now when we are approaching the 2014 General Elections where squabbles among the community are emerging and there is no uniting front. Everyone is for himself and we are hell bent on outdoing each other. Our so called Muslim leaders have started to fight for the pulpit in order to spread political propaganda and serve the interests of their political ambitions. Lies, divide and rule and desires of the material world negative attributes which go against our beloved religion of Islam are becoming more prevalent.
It is always expected of our leaders to lead and live by example and principles set by the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Being the representatives of the Prophet today it’s incomprehensible that a Muslim would give up everything he stands for to petty and worldly materials. In our Islamic History Evil politics which is distinguished from the politics that is embedded in our religion of Islam since the time of the prophet Muhammad (SAW) leaves a lot to be desired and should not be tolerated. It is the main source of our disunity and division in the religion of Islam today.
Disunity and division have fragmented the Islamic world into small weak segments and divided us here in Malawi into different groups. Consequently, it is our duty to purify our society from this disease no so long as we understand the causes of the illness. Fortunately, it is not hard for Muslims who read the Holy Qur’an to know the reasons, because the Qur’an mentions them explicitly in many verses.
Of course every Muslim in Malawi has a right to associate themselves to any political party of their choice but this must be done as prescribed by Islam alone. This entails bearing in mind that the religion (din) is the same thing as politics and politics is the same thing as religion. Since Islam includes a system of government, it necessarily comprises of politics as well. Those who due to alien influence claim that religion and politics must be separated are in face stripping religion of the strength it gains by providing a system of government. We do therefore believe that those Muslims who are immensely dug into corruption, divide and rule, self aggrandizement, are nothing but misleading us as a community and themselves as individuals. Through many Qur’anic verses Allah (S.W.T.) laid down the most important basis for the Muslim ummah, to conduct their affairs, especially for those vital issues related to the Muslim ummah and the causes of division and disputes.
Allah (S.W.T.) says in "O you who believe! Obtain taqwah of Allah as His taqwah should be obtained, and do not die except in a state of Islam. And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favor on you, for you were enemies and He joined your hearts together, so that by His Grace, you became brethren and you were on the brink of a Pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat clear to you, that you may be guided."
And in the same surah, (Verses 105-107), Allah (S.W.T.) also says, what can be translated as,
"And do not be as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment. On the Day (Day of Judgment) when some faces will become bright and some faces will become dark; as for those whose faces will become dark (to them will be said): "Did you reject faith after accepting it? Then taste the torment for rejecting faith. And for those whose faces will become Bright, they will be in Allah’s Mercy, therein they shall dwell forever."
In the above verses, Allah lays down the basis of unity among Muslims, because disunity and division are characteristics of the disbelievers. Before the spread of Islam came to Malawi , the Muslim ummah was scattered among tribes such as Chewa, Yao , Sena Tumbuka and many more. However, Allah (S.W.T.) connected our hearts through Islam and we became loving brothers and sisters, all worshiping the same Allah, and all fearing the same Allah. Indeed Allah (S.W.T.) joined our hearts and moulded our differences into one united ummah, and Allah warns us from breaking down this unity that He created. And in the Day of Judgment, Allah (S.W.T.) will address those who fall into divisions and disputes saying, "Did you reject faith after accepting it?". Furthermore, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) said in his last sermon to the Muslims, reported by Imam Muslim thus: "After my death, don’t turn into kuffar infidels fighting and killing each other."
We as Malawian Muslims must free our Islamic faith from siyasat (politics) of a perilous nature .The evil politics referred above is the form of politics that from the first century of Islam and throughout the history of Islam has obstructed the path to unity. We do not need political leaders to be using our community for their ulterior and selfish motives. The tendency of dividing and ruling our community by people who profess to be Muslims must be done away with. Worse still, there are others among us who cohabit with those of other faiths and use the Muslim community as bait to achieve their political mileage. All this is done without properly rewarding the Muslims in sharing of the national economic cake. When the Muslims have helped such individuals into power, they are dumped as if they were rice husks with no reward at all. Therefore 2014 insha Allah is a different year and we warn such greedy individuals who want to use Muslims willy-nilly.
