ISLAM UMMAH AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Abstract

This article is written to clarify issues in my own way and style, pertaining to the views by some quarters who perceived that the challenges faced by the Muslim Ummah of this decade are the end results attributed by ways Islam was taught, influenced and propagated by the past and current Islamic preachers, scholars, thinkers and ulamaks who failed to provide connection to the real life situation. According to these school of thoughts, such predicament had created regression, negation, backwardness, insensitiveness towards global challenges, anti- modernisation, anti-establishment, oblivious to reality of life, creation of Al-Qaeda & Taliban and various other negative connotations that are labelled against the genuine Islamic preachers, scholars, thinkers and ulamaks alike.

As a layman and a responsible Muslim, I am prompted to write this article as a minute / small contribution to a bigger picture which had been or will be discussed and brain-stormed by experts or think tank groups on the subject matter. I’m not part of the groups, thus this article is written based on my personal opinion and perception of the challenges faced by Muslim Ummah. I am trying to position myself as part of the solution provider rather than part of the problem. There are so many people out there who considered themselves as scholars and thinkers but in actual fact they are part of the problem instead of the solution. They can talk and write in the most convincing ways, but talking and writing alone will not produce tangible results. They are good in creating approaches but failed in its deployment and producing results.

A glaring example is when our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi introduced Islam Hadhari, several people who consider themselves as Islamic scholars openly declared that Islam Hadhari as a step backward and an act of regression and even worst some people branded Islam Hadhari as unislamic and accused the Prime Minister as a creator of another Islamic sect or denomination.

The people who proclaimed themselves as Islamic scholars and thinkers with Ph.D and Masters Degrees behind their names are excellent writers with the ability to write in excellent English and producing convincing evidences to substantiate their opinions and claims to the extent that the readers are being lured to literally believing what was written by such writers. Nevertheless, not every reader is dumb stupid to swallow every thing written by such writers. There are great many people out there who are capable to use their grey matter to evaluate the whole situation and considered those opinions as an insult to their intelligence.

As I have declared in my blogs, I am not a writer, neither a columnist nor a journalist. I cannot write in excellent English with jargons and bombastic words but what I can do is to write in plain and simple English to express my opinion to be easily understood by the readers who are in the same level as my self. For those readers out there who think their IQ (intelligence quotient) is very much above, and then my advice is to leave now and look for something else commensurate with your degree of intelligence. This blog may just not a place for you.

Due to its vastness, this article will be divided into several series that will encompass topics of interest, which in my personal opinion are relevant to the title of this article namely ISLAM UMMAH AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES…..A.S. Kasah

Content

The content of this article will encompass the following topics: -

1. Introduction
2. Overview of the challenges facing the Islam Ummah;
3. Sunni and Shia Muslims
4. The four Mazhab
5. Backlashes and aftermath of the 9/11;
6. War on terror and weapon of mass destruction (WMD);
7. The plight of Palestinian people
8. U.S. Economy and its impact on global markets
9. The Way Forward

To be continued…….