Politics or Deen?

People are unfortunately now much more concerned with the apparent practices of Deen such as Political, Economic and Cultural part of  this way of life rather than  the formal  practices or devotion. Well of course this has to do with the environment which we find ourselves. Muslims, non Muslims a like everyone is much more curious or interested in something such as the capture of a certain famous political figure because of his importance in politics rather than his Islam or his way of life.
This as I said has got something to do with politics, because he is a politician himself. This is why the whole world were all involved and paid so much attention to it, pious and impious alike.
Every Muslim knows that the most honourable amongst them in the sight of Allah is he who has got Taqwa, but unfortunately now we do not judge people by their Taqwa but by their Duniya influence. If somebody for instance is a Governor, Minister, Senator or an MP he is much more respected than a common Alim or Religious Scholar or even a Hafiz (one who memorises the whole Quran). So where is the Sharia? Are we really serious about it as a non-Muslim Leader challenged Muslims once saying it was a Political Sharia which would soon fizzle out. Alhamdu Lillahi it has not yet fizzled out as predicted yet it is sad to see that our Leaders are not so keen in the implementation of Sharia nor do our journalists so curious about the coverage of the real implementation of this natural way of life. What everyone is so interested is what a leader says not what he does weather it conforms to the Deen or not. It is not uncommon to find people not saying their five times Daily Prayers and yet no body bothers about it and the so called  Models  give the responsibility of implementing the Sharia to such unfortunate misguided miscreants who daily transgress the limits set by Allah.
  This reminds me of one of the saying's of Rasulullah in which He was quoted to have said a time will come when people would aspire for leadership. Well as we can see everybody in our Country wants be something great weather he is trustworthy or not. He does not care about the ordinary people. All he cares is to rule them despite the fact that he is not trustworthy and is such a compulsive liar at the same time he does not fulfil his promise and yet we regard him as a good Muslim. Well we know Rasulullah (S.A.W) said if anybody has got these three evil characteristics i.e. When he talks he tells lies, if you trust him you find he is not trustworthy and when he promises abjures then and then even if he prays, fasts and calls himself a true Muslim do not believe him as he is not, he is rather dubious Munafik or hypocrite. May Allah save us from such evil habits.
   What brings about all these in our Society? It is lack of Imaan or faith as our brothers in Tabligh have daily been reminding us but we are not curious about the activities of these people as politics is not involved so we have no time to sit with them in the Mosques and listen to their lectures .We rather abhor them as they have big beards that are synonymous with the current Political Islamic Activists who are being pursued all over the world for apparent political activities. So therefore you find The Amanah or trust will be taken away from the hearts of people to such an extent that you will find not a single person who is trustworthy in the whole of a village or a community except so and so as predicted by Rasulullah (S.A.W). Another factor which leads to this degeneration is due to lack of Daawah or invitation toward Allah. It is not uncommon today to find those who are involved in the activities of propagating the Deen are not being patronised simply because they either shun worldly pursuits or not toying the lines of the Duniya people.
     Due to this lack of Daawah activities you see people who do not care about Deen and not even the main basic Principles pillars of Deen such as Salah and yet they are Regarded as the Champions of the Sharia and extended their influence in our Society although Allah said Inna Akaramakum Indal Laahi Ataqakum. We only respect people according to their Duniya influence and not according to how much Deen they have in their lives. If you even try to remind such people about the consequence of their sinister activities you will be told to mind your own business or you will be dubbed ignorant fanatic who should be shunned by all. So what do we expect to get from Allah If we sincerely want His Rahmah and Pleasure we have to turn to Him in repentance and act according to the Sunnah Way of His beloved Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.). Why are we instructed to avoid evil by all means such as the use of force if we cannot by our tongues otherwise we should all feel it evil in our hearts which is the weakest degree of Imaan.
How many of us avoid such evil? We have to take stock of ourselves in this matter. Sharia cannot progress if we are not willing to follow Shari?a sincerely from the core of our hearts thus making sacrifice as demanded by the Deen... So therefore if we do not follow the tenets of the Deen we will not be deceiving anybody but ourselves.
    If I may ask how many of us sincerely care to learn about the Deen since the introduction of Sharia in our Country? How many of us have put into practice  what we have learnt and how many of us are willing to propagate this Deen which unfortunately is regarded as burden by the vast majority of our so called intellectuals who do not know anything about Sharia except stoning an adulterer and adulteress and the chopping of hands of a thief that are being given prominence  in the front pages of our Dailies.
Muslims have now been safely sub-divided into three  political sectors i.e., the so called sincere practicing Muslims who are regarded with suspicion as the potential danger and enemies that should be shun by one and all, the moderate Muslims who do not practice the Deen on regular basis as the Models of the Society and then the non-practicing Muslims who are  in between these two samples above.
       Unfortunately it has become part of our habits to pick and choose about Deen. We normally take the easiest form that brings benefit to our material gains such as aspiring for political leadership that included becoming a Governor, a Minister or an MP, Senator or even a Councillor in our Local Government. But if we really know the implication of aspiring for such a position on the Day of judgement we would never have dreamt of having such a aspiration. So this is why as Rasulullah has rightly predicted a time will come when people will aspire for Leadership. Abu Zar (Radiyallahu Anhu) or another Sahabah once asked Rasulullah to appoint him as Governor, but Rasulullah patted his chest and told him not ask people to appoint him as Leader because he could not carry it or discharge the responsibility successfully. So what is our situation now? Alas we reach a stage where by it was predicted that people will regard so and so as intelligent and yet he has no grain of Imaan in his heart. Allahu Akbar May Allah guide us show us the truth as truth and give us the ability to follow it and show us falsehood as false and give us the ability to shun it, amin. Deen is Naseeha or advice, and the Companions asked Rasulullah to whom and He said to Allah His Book, His Prophet the Muslim Leaders and the Muslim Community as a whole.
      The Naseeha to our Leaders is for them to be just and the Ulamah to guide the misguided and preach the truth irrespective of adverse criticism. It is the duty of the followers to act according to the Commands of Allah and the Sunnah of Rasulullah if we really want Sharia to succeed otherwise it will only be in name and not in practice.
Allah help us, amin.

Babandi Abubakar Gumel.