Have you ever seen a mirror in the hand of a blind man? He cannot see his face, fix his hair, or judge the truth that is coming into his eyes. Islam is in our hands, in our pockets, in books, in mosques, but our eyes have become blind. We are Muslims in name, but through our actions, character, and thoughts, we have made Islam just an ornament for our pockets, and have removed it from our hearts and minds. We are proud that we are the Ummah of Muhammad (SAAW), but instead of following in the footsteps of the Prophet (SAAW), we are proud only of our lineage.
We keep the Quran as a decoration piece, we do not read it, we do not understand it, and we have left acting in our dreams. Just as a blind man remains unaware even after holding a mirror, similarly, today’s Muslim is wandering in darkness even after having the light of religion. We have left Islam as a mere ornament for festivals, rituals, and politics. The call of prayer in our homes. It resonates, but hearts are mute in heedlessness. We fill the rows in mosques, but in the markets we reduce the measure and weight, we lie, and we earn unlawfully.
Islam called for justice, trust, morality, brotherhood, knowledge, service, and humanity. What have we done? We created sects, spread hatred in the name of religion, and turned religion into a market. Today, a Muslim performs Hajj, fasts, and gives Zakat, but his heart is full of arrogance, his tongue is full of poison, and his hands are stained with injustice. The mirror is with him, but his eyes are closed, and his soul is blind. We are proud that our Prophet Muhammad (SAAW) came as the greatest leader, the greatest mercy, but we ourselves became tyrants, oppressors, deceivers, and those who crush the weak.
Islam made knowledge obligatory, we made ignorance a pride. Islam honored women, we either imprisoned them or made them a market commodity. Islam says: “The best among you is the one who is best in morals.” We have turned morals into weakness and obscenity and bad language into freedom. The number of Muslims today is more than one and a half billion, but we have become the most oppressed, ineffective, and scattered nation in the world. We are oppressed because we have denied justice. We are powerless because we have abandoned knowledge, we are scattered because we have abandoned unity. What can we blame anyone else for today? We ourselves are blind, we have a mirror in our hands, but we have closed our eyes. We built a mosque, but we kept the intention of fame. We opened madrasas, but made religion a source of livelihood.
Islam says: “Read”, we burned books, forgot golden sayings, and accepted social media as teachers. Islam says: “Raise your voice against oppression”, we shut our mouths in front of the oppressors and blame the oppressed. I wish we could know that religion is not just prayer and fasting, religion is a complete system of life. But how can a blind person understand the importance of a mirror? And what kind of Muslim without the spirit of Islam is? We have limited religion to clothes, long beards, and words. We are afraid to look inside the heart, because desires, prejudice, hatred, and arrogance are hidden there.
Islam says: “Good character is half of faith.” But we have made belittling others and proclaiming ourselves superior the standard of faith. As long as we keep the mirror only in our pockets and keep our eyes closed, we cannot see our own faces. And what face will he show to the world that cannot see his reality? Islam is a mirror that shows truth, justice, fairness, light, knowledge, and light. And a Muslim is the one who looks into this mirror every day, examines himself, and corrects whatever is wrong. We have limited religion to monasteries and gatherings, while the real power of Islam was in the markets, courts, homes, and halls of government. We learned the Tajweed of the Quran, but forgot its meaning. We memorized the words of the Hadees, but left behind the morals of the Prophet Muhammad (SAAW).
Is this the same nation about which it was said: “You are the best nation, raised up for mankind?” Why has this nation become the most backward and interdependent nation in the world today? A nation that steals its eyes from the mirror can never see the reflection of truth on its face. And one that does not face the truth, does not progress, but goes towards destruction. Today we are in the pit of decline, but we should not look for the reason outside, but inside.
We are the same blind people who have a mirror, but we do not want to see. We do not want to remove the veils that have fallen on our hearts, because we are afraid of the truth. We live by supporting lies, and by the truth we run away. Islam is a living mirror, which can show the way in every era, provided there is an eye to see. This mirror will not bless you just by keeping it in your pocket, you will have to look into it; you will have to change yourself.
We will have to purify our hearts before building mosques. We will have to adopt an Islamic character before waving Islamic flags. Unless we see ourselves in the mirror, change is impossible. And change begins only with “self-accountability”. Islam is light, we have become accustomed to darkness. Islam is an eye, we have lost our sight. We will have to open our eyes, look in the mirror; otherwise our generations will also be lost in the darkness that we have considered to be light.
