All the scholars agree that the time of Muhammad SAW and the early
Khalifah ArRashideen’s is the time of the Ideal Islamic Society.
Miracles of human nature
were seen everywhere. It had never happened before a large number of
people with such a character been together as a group. The numerous
accounts confirmed this time as a ‘Golden Age’ when an ideal society
based on the Tauhid’s philosophy existed. The philosophy of One God.
But
the society began to crumble as early as the reign of the third Caliph,
Uthman RA. Cracks began to appear in the solid foundation left by
Muhammad SAW. Many scholars have tried to explain the phenomena.
Numerous studies have been carried throughout the ages. The most famous
of the philosopher of History, Ibnu Khaldun had contributed a large
portion of the modern understanding of the collapse of the ideal
society.
On
hijrah, the core group of Muslims who emigrated to Madinah consists of
70+ men and women. This group of people has been through 13 years of
tarbiyyah (learning of the Deen) in Makkah, and has undergone terrible
trials and tribulations. Their faith has become firm and matured. They
were willing to forsake their wealth, family and kin, and their
homeland and went to an unknown place with no guarantee of safety and
peace just for the sake of protecting their belief.
There
in Madinah, with the concept of brotherhood in Islam, they were mixed
around with the Ansar. The Ansar were recent converts, they had only
learnt the Deen through Musab ibnu Umair, a year before. But their rate
of picking up the faith was astoundingly quick, due to close contact
with Muhammad and the inner circle of Sahabah. Just after two years,
they were ready for their first test, the Battle of Badr where the
Muslims were outnumbered 3 to 1.
In Madinah, the number of Muslims began to rise quickly. From 313 men during the battle of Badr (2nd after hijrah) their number swelled to 2000 during the battle of Khandaq(5th hijrah), 10,000 during Fathul Makkah, the opening of Makkah on the 8th hijrah. During the Hijjatul Wida’ or Farewell Hajj (10th
Hijrah), Muhammad gave a famous sermon which proclaimed the Message to
mankind which had been entrusted to him by God was finally complete.
This
day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon
you, and have chosen Islam as your deen. (Surah al-Maidah:3)
During the gathering at Arafah, 30,000 people were present.
The
number of Muslims rose rapidly, at the end of the reign of Uthman (34th
hijrah), the Muslim empire stretched from the Iran in the east to Egypt
in the west, covering about 2500k square miles. It was estimated the
number of Muslims at the time was 300,000. While the sahabah,
classified as those who were with Muhammad during the Fathul Makkah is
only 10,000, and the number has diminished even more with the constant
Jihad, and old ages.
The
rapid expansion of Islam backfired as there were simply not enough
teachers (Muslim who understand the Deen) to guide the new converts to
Islam. They lacked the proper tarbiyyah and
guidance unlike the sahabah who were taught Islam by Muhammad SAW, who
had received direct revelations from God Himself. As a result, they
still have within themselves the ‘jahilliyyah’ concept of assabiyyah
(or semangat kesukuan, which in today’s term known as nationalism). The
spirit of Islam which focuses not on this world but on the hereafter
has not been fully grasped by them.
To
them, Islam is merely another religion as what they have had before.
Before, they had prayed to the idols of the Kaabah, Latta,Uzza and
Manat. Now, they just changed the many gods to Allah, the One God. If
before they had to follow a set of rules set by traditions and the
powerful kabilah leader, now they have to obey another set of rules
called the Syaria’. The fact that the rules were different make no
point as to the untaught and simple Beduoin of Arabia, rules are still
rules. Even though the new converts proclaimed themselves as Muslim,
they lacked the roh and the spirit of tauhid, which is central to the
understanding of the Deen.
It
was not surprising then during the reign of Uthman, and Ali RA,
internal strife and conflicts began to rock the Muslim Empire. It
ultimately ended up in the battle of Siffin on the 37th
hijrah when the truthful Ali RA was defeated not on the battlefield,
but on the discussion table by Muawiyyah RA. Thus the reign of the
rightly guided khalifah ended, and began the age of kings and kingdoms
of Islam. When the Khalifah was not chosen by public opinion based on
the concept of faith, but on the trait of blood.
When
Ali RA was asked why during the reign of Abu Bakar and Umar RA, why
there no internal strife and wars unlike his time, he answered back
“Abu Bakar and Umar have people like me, while I have people like you”.
Majority of the Muslim at the time were just Muslim in names, but not
in the spirit and in the heart.
Yes
we were that far from the Prophet’s time. The ideal society, where
justice is uphold, human rights to speak was respected, the rich and
the poor has the same standing. Mus’ab ibnu Umair who was rich, good
looking and descended from a noble Quraishy’s family was considered as
equal with Bilal ibn Rabbah who was a negro from
Africa , a slave and did not own anything. Umar ibnu Khattab RA, the
Caliph who owned half of the land and riches of the known world of the
time, was living like the poorest his citizen. To many, it is only in
theory that such a Utopia society can exist. But history has proved
that it is not impossible.
We
have all the necessary resources to develop it. Muhammad SAW was only
given al-Quran, and a group of barbaric people, who might be at the
time the worst group of people on earth. There was no account from
anywhere in the history of mankind that a father is willing to kill his
own flesh and blood just for the sake that the child is a girl. Now, in
our time we have access to every single revelations that Muhammad had
received from God, couple with all his teachings and sayings in Sahih
Bukhari, and Muslim. With the technology that existed today, we could
reach every home on earth without even drawing a drop of blood.
Compared this to Muhammad SAW’s time, in order to preach Islam to the
people of Persia , and Roman, he has to wage costly war against hem.
The
only thing that is lacking in our time is the people like Abu Bakr,
Umar, and all the sahabah. Hassan Al-Banna, who many people considered
to be the Revivalist of Islam in the 20th century was
reported once said “ If I can have 12,000 youth which understand the
Deen, I can bring you the land after the mountains and beyond it” ( He
was referring to the mountains of Sinai and beyond, which means the
world). The problem with Muslims now days is the same as the problem of
Muslim during Uthman, and Ali time. We proclaim we are Muslim, but
treated our deen as part time, meaning we only attend to its obligation
after all other jobs are done. We go to mosque every Hari Raya to
celebrate the day, but on a normal day we never set our feet there.
Deep in our heart, we will cringe every time we heard on news that a
Palestinian was killed by the Jewish Regime, yet we do not contribute a
single cent to their struggle.
We are Muslim in name only, but not in the heart and in our actions.
The
key to Islam lies in understanding Tauhid, the message of One God. And
there is no instant button to comprehend it except by undergoing the
same process undergone by the sahabah during the early formation period
in Makkah. They struggled to hold tightly something that they believed
is the truth. The secret of Islam lies in front of us. They are books
on the deen, small classes or usrah where the Deen is taught, courses
in schools and universities where the Ulama’ teaches the religion.
Unlike the sahabah who have to face with every possible hardship, we
are free to learn the truth about this world, and the Creator.
"Read, in the Name of your Lord Who Created-
Created mankind from something which clings;
Read! And your Lord is the Most Noble;
Who taught by the pen;
Taught mankind what he did not know;"
Surah al-Alaq, 1-5
Do you ever wonder why in the first revelations to Muhammad, God asked him to read while he is illiterate? Let’s find it out..
