Whither Muslim Leadership?
Muhammad Aquil via e-mail

The Muslim community around the world today is in total disarray. There is a deep sense of insecurity and a feeling of helplessness and powerlessness. And resultantly the burden and hardship placed on the common man and woman is stupendous.

There are many reasons for the pitiful state of the Ummah. However, the most common denominator in almost all the Muslim countries is the failure of leadership. Muslim leaders for the most part are visionless and susceptible to manoeuvering by anti-Muslim forces or are mostly self-seeking and spineless figures. Many of the Muslim leaders are themselves in collusion with the aggressors.  Some may not be directly involved but remain silent or tare content with giving hollow statements.

Devoid of effective leadership and a vision of the future, the masses feel the twinge of despair and doom. The ruling elite has its own self-seeking motives. The massive bureaucracy and military establishment is build around the colonial pattern of divide-and-rule and absolute control strategies. And at the centre of it all is the petty ‘raja’ or  ‘rani’ living in a world of make-believe, wherein empty slogans and jingoistic proclamations are mass-produced. And where corruption and exploitation is the name of the game, the masses are engulfed in poverty and deprived of basic necessities of life. Small wonder than, there is a deepening social crisis in the Muslim world today. The injustices are visible and all around.

A generally hostile attitude towards Muslims has developed following the demise of communism. Now almost every act of freedom fighters from Muslim countries is labeled as terrorism. In short, the Muslims have become cheap and easy targets

Despite the fact that the Cold War is over and even though the West does not publicly announce who its next enemy is, they are spending trillions of dollars on weapons of mass destruction. Clearly, the warfare states are preparing for future wars even as they talk of peace. Surely, Muslims would be fools if they don’t get their house in order and get ready to face the challenges ahead.

Is it not time for reasonable people from the Ummah to speak out, protest and wake up from their slumber and stand up for truth and justice? Is it not time for the people from the Ummah to realize that some of their rulers are agents of foreign governments? Is it not time to end the cycle of exploitation and begin with the task of character and nation building and spiritual upliftment?