Finding a different way to rule, a different way of life

The British painted a picture of the Malays as lazy and preferred a simple village life. However, the Malays do not need to fit into that stereotype. We can determine our own identity and the best identity in the eyes of Allah is to be a Muslim; a Mukmin (true believer), one that believes completely in Allah and His Messenger and adheres to the command of the Creator. The identity that we are part of a larger ummah and that we are equal in the eyes of Allah except in taqwa (obedience)


So, the British ruled over us in the past. They used and abused our hospitality, extracted and robbed the richness of the land, they sidelined us, deprived us and then, accused us of being passive about the country’s progress. Whatever reasons or mistakes made by the Malays...the past is the past but what is important is our progress today. We do not need to continue with the same system that the British dictated for us. We can determine our own future and we have the political will to make a change.

The British established secular rule and western-style constitution in Malaya and gave the impression this was the only way, that there was no alternative to their parliamentary democratic system. The idea of ‘the Islamic Caliphate’ was far from the people’s minds.

There’s been a lot of work to try and ‘better’ the Malay situation with different economic initiatives and models, the struggle to ‘right’ the ‘wrongs’ of the British mistreatment of the Malay people and despite, the rise in skilled Malay workers, professionals and business people; the Malays as a Nation have been unable to elevate their mentality. Urbanization and modernization has led to other problems such as social ills amongst the youth, breakdown in family values, unethical practices in business dealings and corruptions.

Despite the ‘yes colonial sir’ attitude, the Malays are far from leading the world in a major way...we are constantly playing ‘catch with the West. The current status quo constantly works against us to change our situation. It will not allow us to achieve true success in this life and the akhirah. The only way that we can be great again is through the re-igniting of our Islamic Aqeedah, to build a strong foundation of Islam in the future generations, to start solving our problems according to Islamic text without having to refer to Western solutions

We all know about the great history of Malacca and how the Malay language was once the lingua franca. When Islam came to the Malay Peninsula, it increased the greatness of the people and elevated their thinking. The Malay kings who were treated as ‘gods’ had to lower their position as rulers because Islam made everybody equal in the sight of God. The people learned the Arabic language, they traveled far and wide to seek knowledge to non-bordered lands. The Malays formed the Arabic-based writings in Jawi and adopted many Arabic words into their vocabulary. Islam turned people into civilized nations as it did the Arab Quraysh. Whenever the Islamic state conquered a land, it enriched the land and the people with wealth and knowledge. This is evident in history as places conquered by Islam turned into capital cities of the Khilafah, such as Damascus in Syria, Baghdad during the time of the Abbasids, Constantinople (Istanbul) during the time of the Ottoman, Granada in Spain during the rule of Umayyad.

Would Britain have made Malacca into its Capital city, turning Malacca into a place of knowledge and centre for commerce and industry? No! Instead under British rule Malacca’s status as a popular and prosperous port was utterly ruined.

Hence, it is imperative for Muslims in Malaysia to realize that it is only through Islam and the re-establishment of the Islamic system that we shall be great again. The establishment of the Islamic system will not be achieved through a 5-yearly electoral process. This is because if an Islamic party were to win an election, it has 5 years to rule and if it loses the next election, the rule will be transferred to some other form of non-Islamic rule. The objective of the Islamic party would then be purely to win the election every 5 years...by pleasing the people and presenting sweet tokens by popular policies.

Besides, a few Islamic laws does not make a country an Islamic state when the constitution of the country and the overall system are non-Islamic.

Another issue is as one struggles to win an election, campaigning every 5 years...one lose sight of the bigger picture which is the establishment of a comprehensive Islamic system, one that can unite Muslims and to form a strong, ideological Islamic state...the Prophet (saw) worked tirelessly for 14 years before Madinah was born, the British worked tireless for a 100 years or more to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, The communist struggled for more than 40 years to establish the Soviet Union, the idea of the State of Israel was coined by Theodor Hertz in 1896 before materializing in 1947. Great achievements do not occur through short term objectives rather they occur through a clear and comprehensive objective.

Campaigning every 5 years to form a government, under constrains of a secular constitution within restricted borders is not going to produce a great Islamic state. It will only produce a pseudo-Islamic state, struggling to keep itself alive, amidst pressures from the west, economic blockade and internal resentments.

The Prophet (saw) was promised victory and so are we. The Prophet (saw) said "There will be Prophethood for as long as Allah wills it to be, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be Khilafah on the Prophetic method and it will be for as long as Allah wills, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be biting Kingship for as long as Allah Wills, then He will remove it when He wills, then there will be oppressive kingship for as long as Allah wills, then he will remove it when He wills, and then there will be Khilafah upon the Prophetic method" and then he remained silent.


(Ahmed)

We need to hold fast to our belief in Allah, have a clear objective of re-establishing the Islamic way of life, and a vision of re-unification of Islamic lands, a strong force to be reckoned with that this land will be great again, and the people will be efficient and productive because they will strive for the sake of Allah, to be the best in everything that they do according to Qur’an and Sunnah; not for profit, not for personal self-interest but for the pleasure of Allah.