Login to post comments | No account yet? Register here
Adverts
Please click on our sponsors to show your support
| My Britain, My Ummah: Responsibility to Oneself |
|
|
| Tuesday, 20 February 2007 | |
|
An important part of social responsibility within Islam’s ethical teaching highlights that every individual in society has a responsibility to himself. The individual is responsible for keeping himself safe, well mannered, healthy, doing well in society, learning from his mistakes and refraining from evil. The basic idea being that if one is responsible for himself he is not a burden for others.
God (Allah) says in the Quran:
Likewise, one is responsible for protecting himself and to maintaining his health. He must provide for himself in a lawful manner. God (Allah) says:
Gambling & Intoxicants: Islam has prohibited for an individual that which may harm his health or impair his ability to think. Preserving life, reason, and property are among the most important objectives of Islamic Law. God (Allah) says regarding intoxicants:
Within Islam then, one is expected to care for his whole body, mental and physical state alike. It is only when one treats himself with respect that one can do it to others in turn. Finding Solutions to our Individual Social Ills If our communities are to prosper in the field of social responsibility, one of the ways to identify our social problems is to assess the psychological condition of the individual as well as the society as a whole. Any quality which is found lacking is added and any condition which is found in excess is diminished, so that an appropriate temperance of abilities is produced. The result of ethical teachings should be that the weak become strong, the strong become just and equitable, the weak-hearted become strong willed, the strong-willed become the guardians of the others rights, the hopeless become hopeful, the greedy become contended, the contended become magnanimous, and the magnanimous become grateful to God (Allah). These teachings should nurture and encourage the development of good characters and change the direction of those with bad characters towards commendable purposes. Fighting the Two Modes Those who have knowledge of ancient philosophies of ethics are aware that human action is based on two modes namely, anger and desire. Anger is that strong, vengeful state which is produced in situations in which one needs to defend ones dignity or self-preservation. Desire is the name of the state which pushes one to gain appropriate wants and self-satisfaction. These two states, when used with self-restraint produce good results. Whereas, the unchecked and unbalanced use of these states produce bad results, which unfortunately our societies are suffering direly from. These good and bad results have their own individual names. For instance, if the anger is balanced and is under the control of intellect, it is called valour and depending on situations and conditions it takes different forms e.g. self-respect, courage, freedom, truthfulness, magnanimity, forbearance, steadfastness, determination, dignity, patience, demand for the truth, struggle, endeavour and jihad. On the other hand, if this anger deviates from temperance and inclines towards excess, it becomes an unreasonable force and produces vice such as pride, haughtiness, self-conceit, arrogance, self-elevation, contempt, oppression and murder (a bit like our foreign policy). Whereas, if this state becomes inclined towards deficiency it produces self-degradation, lack of ambition, powerlessness and fear. Similarly, if there is complete temperance, in desires, it is called modesty, This state also transforms itself into different forms, and is called by different names such as chastity, righteousness, munificence, contentment, selflessness, pleasantness; and it produces desire for progress, desire of progeny and desire for happiness of the family. When this state becomes unbalanced and inclines towards excess or deficiency, it produces such vices as greed, immodesty, extravagance, miserliness, hypocrisy, depravity and jealousy within ourselves and the wider community itself. Individual Responsibility the Key to Social Responsibility Within our society as individuals we have a big responsibility. If our responsibility towards ourselves is developed and always kept in balanced then the community at large can develop into a community filled with love, kindness and a sense of belonging. The Labour government has helped in destroying our society and the Tories will follow suit. The 24-Hour drinking sessions has placed a lot of pressure on the NHS, it is also destroying a generation of youth with the ill effects of alcoholism and gambling just to name a few. The Future We as British Muslims have an immense responsibility to help our community prosper. For far too long we have left the social ills of other communities to themselves. It is like over protected parents who did not want to blame their child of wrong doing instead they would blame someone else’s child for their own child’s misbehaviour. We have let the guns and drugs flourish in other communities, but now they have come to our communities and are destroying our communities as well as other communities to the core. If we are to be a great civilization based upon peace, justice and kindness, we have to fight for a strong socially responsible community throughout the country, we have to fight for what is right and fight against the evils which have sneaked into our communities also. We must stand together; every individual of every community has a role to play.
Readers have left 5 comments.
jack_maclean:
Quote
Although the Ummah may be in the UK,the
UK can never be in the Ummah. The two are ideologically exclusive;in perpetuity. To believe otherwise,is to stand outside of the unifying ethos of British society. Although nationality may be a precondion, it is not an absolute entitlement. (And like a religion,is not present at birth). However,if the Ummah saw itsef as an inherantly apolitical community forever happy to exist within the settled constitutional framework and dedicating itself to pastoral,social and cultural objectives,among others,and whenever necessary,making full use of the settled political process, then 'My British Ummah' could become an inspiration to others.
(1)
2007-02-21 08:17:03
Rob:
Quote
The word ummah means community and muslims are part of the communities they live in.
the current media onslaught against muslims is nothing new in the hsitory of britain,this is what immigrants over the decades have faced from the media in britian. if you go back to the early decades of the 20th century,you can see the same hatred against jews and things jewish being pedalled by parts of the media. its nothing new it seems some people need to degrade and humiliate others to make their sad lives worth living. B.T.W did you see the diffrence in reporting of the letter bomb terorist and his alleged capture,this terrorist actually carried out his terror attacks,yet not once was the word terorist or terror attack mentioned and neither were his relgious affliations mentioned either. what are organisation like M.C.B-M.A.B-MPAC and muslims MPs doing agaisnt this outright discrimantion by the media, are there no laws that are being broken by referring to one person as a terrorist and another not for the same offence.
(2)
2007-02-21 13:15:25
RSD:
Quote
It is clear that there needs to be a clear definition of what Ummah means. It is my understanding that it is an Islamic word corresponding to Christendom - the territorial area & community of Christians.
May I suggest that we need to be mindful that liberal secularism has led us to abandon ideas and terms that remain prevalent in Muslim countries, and that part of the problem sits in these barriers to communication. To make matters worse various spokespersons use terms, like Ummah, in different ways demonstrating that they have the capacity to be interpreted variously.
(3)
2007-02-22 20:18:34
R Walker:
Quote
I've read this and approve.
I'm no Muslim but with this work and what you declare you are clearly demarcating between tolerant, level-headed Muslims - who are free to believe / protest / be as political as they wish in the British democracy - and the nutters like Hizb ut Tahrir and Al Mujahiroun, who may technically be part of the Ummah, but like a psycho brother, are letting down the family so very badly.
(4)
2007-04-30 17:01:54
Luisetta Mudie:
Quote
I agree with both R Walker and jack_maclean. I am a non-Muslim and I am very happy to see a group like MPACUK start to make an impact. It is my personal view that not all paradoxes in life can be resolved by the human being (even if they have access to the Word of God, they will argue forever about how it should be interpreted!). To attempt to take on such a task is in a sense to imagine oneself godlike. I imagine that the divine intelligence is capable of carrying the very real tension between the desire for a universal Islamic civilisation, in which there are no non-Muslims, and the desire to empower Muslims in contemporary British society through the use of existing institutions which are supposed to ensure the civil rights of a plethora of different groups (implying that the values of those institutions are not exactly those of Islam, but can be a worthy partner in your peaceful jihad.) There must be many instances in history where Muslims have flourished alongside non-Muslims - that whole landmass was awash with different belief systems and rulers, conquerors and so on. What did those Muslims do about it? I wish you all the best with this exciting project.
(5)
2007-06-22 11:55:36
          |
With the recent launch of ‘MPACUK’s My Britain, My Ummah: British Muslims’ Social Responsibility’ insh’Allah (God willing) we shall continue with it, starting by looking at responsibility to oneself.
