Who Are You?

You claim that at your mere signal, lights are extinguished, lanterns go out, stars disappear, the moon enters eclipse, the sun sets, darkness spreads across the world, and an era of gloom begins. But had you lit a lamp, kindled a flame, protected it from the winds, wiped away the stains of night from the pages of time, brought tidings of a smiling dawn, illuminated hearts with tawḥīd, bestowed faith upon minds, enriched vision with insight, disseminated knowledge, and purified the world of ignorance—then it would be known who you truly are.

You boast of beating drums, clashing cymbals, causing uproar with the noise of dhols, dancing and singing, shouting sky-piercing slogans. But if you had learned silence, made your home in the stillness of the mountains, kept secrets locked within your chests, engaged in meditation, made solitude your refuge, remembered your Lord, embraced the night like Layla, cultivated the habit of rising at dawn, wept in prayer and supplication, and let your sighs shame the waves of Kawthar and Tasnīm—then it would be known who you truly are.

It is true that your ancestors built the Alhambra, constructed the Red Fort, erected the Taj Mahal, laid roads and built bridges, hospitals, astrolabes and observatories. But if you had refrained from vain pride, given up the habit of boastful arrogance, stopped lamenting at the grave of Ḥijāzī civilisation, and surpassed other nations in science and technology, setting your sights higher than the palaces of Europe—then it would be known who you truly are.

There is no denying that al-Risālah, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, al-Kitāb (of Sībawayh), al-Qānūn, al-Shifāʾ, the Muqaddimah (of Ibn Khaldūn), and Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bālighah are the achievements of your forefathers. The heavens kissed their foreheads. They were like Moses atop the Sinai of knowledge and cast the Greeks into bewilderment. But if you had preserved their traditions in the fields of knowledge and research, given free rein to your imagination, and produced an enduring contribution to transmitted, rational and literary sciences—then it would be known who you truly are.

It is perfectly valid that Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, Rabīʿah al-Raʾy, Abū Ḥanīfah, Sufyān al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, Mālik, al-Layth, al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Thawr, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh, Dāwūd, Ibn Ḥazm, and Ibn Taymiyyah held the rank of ijtihād—they were keen-sighted seers whose lofty stations conversed with the stars. But if you had emerged from the quagmire of blind following, used reflection and reason, made intellect and awareness your guides, and established any legacy of ijtihād—then it would be known who you truly are.

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This article was translated by AI.
Original article: https://t.me/DrAkramNadwi/6059