We date ourselves from the night that the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) began his journey from Makkah to Madinah, 1447 years ago. This journey is a turning point in the Islamic history in itself and has a message for humankind of historical proportions. This journey of the Prophet showed us that it is incumbent upon humankind to pursue the establishment of a Peaceful and Just society.
The Prophet through this migration taught us that physical migration and perseverance is an important milestone on the road to establish Peace and Justice. Intellectual migration from the subjugated minds to an awakened spirit is even more important. Prophet Muhammad was commanded and led to continue the struggle of establishing Peace and Justice for the entire humanity. It is inspiring indeed to see the clarity and purpose of his mission in spite of life-threatening challenges for himself and his handful of friends at the time of migration.
The message of One God is timeless and universal as started by Prophet Adam and continued by Ibrahim, Isa and Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon all of them. Although it is needed every day but specially as we mark the beginning of a new calendar year, it is all the more important, to renew the same call that was made by all of the prophets in their own times.
Through the Hijrah, the Prophet Muhammad taught us that Islam, as an ideology has a dynamic, revolutionary force that empowers the oppressed and drives social justice. This ideological form of religion as rooted in the prophetic tradition, particularly the lives of other prophets, like Moses, and Jesus, as liberators challenged the tyrannies of their time. In this view, Islam is not merely a personal faith but a social project aimed at ending exploitation, inequality, and imperialism. In our time, this distinction should resonate powerfully with disenfranchised youth and intellectuals, who were searching for a meaningful alternative to both Western secularism and traditionalist, state-aligned clericalism.
The human society deserves to marvel its scientific achievements but cannot afford to act like ostriches, which foolishly hide their heads in the sand at times of danger, ignoring their problem, while hoping it will magically vanish. Moral degradation, selective justice, purposeless life, meaningless pursuits are coveted principles of post-modern society. The world today refuses to understand the concept of justice.
Within this global system, the poor South had to “pay” the rich North approximate 264 billion in debt servicing. It is estimated that more than three millions of children die across the ‘Developing Countries, each year because of debt payments. It should also be noted that 20% of the world’s population who live in the richest countries had 40 times the income of the poorest and 90 times as much income.
What is even more distressing, “the world’s 100 richest people have a combined wealth of over US$2 Trillion, equal to the annual income of the poorest 47% of the world’s people (2.5 billion). The three richest people have assets that exceed the combined GDP of the 48 least developed countries.“
These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg and only the economic iceberg at that! If we examine the data on other structures from resource control and technology information to everything in between it is even more discriminatory. It is shocking that such severe iniquities have been allowed to persist for so long at the global level. The world is crying out silently for conscientious people to step up and stop the exploitation of weak and the inequitable distribution of wealth, disparities and the wide chasm that divides North and South.
In the migration of Prophet Muhammad, we learn of an amazing blend in the pursuit of establishing Peace and Justice without depriving any one or creating any disparities. Followers of his mission must examine the much too flexible approaches and compromising attitudes being adapted today. The timeless and universal call of One God must continue to be made but not by compromises. Migration of minds and thinking is the need of the day.
In fact, intellectual revolution is an essential pre-requisite before the socio-political order in a society can be changed. Some people still carry the intellectual baggage of the colonial era. This has prevented them from understanding the issues clearly and to bring about meaningful change in their societies.
The life of the Last Prophet offers an excellent example to follow in plotting the way out of the morass of inequities and injustices.
Bashir Nuckchady
