Pathetic state of the Ummah due to absence of Alawi spirit

The sad situation of the Muslim world which is wracked by divisions and torn by internecine wars and tensions, instigated by the US and the Zionists, is because of the drifting away from the essence of faith.

Stay with us a for a Viewpoint Column that appeared in this regard in Iran’s English language daily ‘Kayhan International’ on Tuesday, May 28, a day after the martyrdom anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), titled: “Pathetic State of the Ummah Due to Absence of Alawi Spirit”.

Kayhan International wrote: “The 21^st of Ramadhan, marked the 1400^th anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Ali ibn Taleb (AS) and with it the end of the model government of social justice, the like of which the world has yet to see.

“As history bears witness, the rulers that followed him, though they expanded the political frontiers of the Muslim world deep into Central Asia, North Africa and southwestern Europe, through wars, bloodshed, and plunders – which Imam Ali (AS) as the cousin, son-in-law and legitimate heir of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) never did – they caused sedition and divisions in the Ummah, since their hearts lacked any firm faith in Islam and its humanitarian values.

After him, the caliphate became the most scandalous institution and continues to be the cause of the current phase of takfiri terrorism as well as the internecine wars the heirs of the Khwarej, who worship today at the altar of Zionism and American imperialism, wage against fellow Muslims, by styling themselves ‘caliphs’ or ‘emirs’.

“Imam Ali (AS), whose martyrdom as the Symbol of Justice and the Barometer to discern faith from hypocrisy, was commemorated by both Shi’a and Sunni Muslims in this blessed fasting month from Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa till the length and breadth of the Subcontinent, and wherever Muslim communities are found around the world – except for his birthplace Mecca and the city of Medina where he spent the greater part of his 63-year old life, because Hijaz is presently under the illegal rule of those whose thoughts and policies resemble that of his assassin Ibn Moljam –  had warned Muslims of the dangers of divisions and extremist tendencies.”

Kayhan International noted: “The peerless personality of Imam Ali (AS) was the mirror of all Godly attributes. He neither preached violence nor discrimination, despite his proverbial physical strength as an indomitable swordsman who shattered the might of Arab paganism and Israelite intransigence. This was the reason many Jews, Arabs, atheists, Christians, Zoroastrians, and others, became attracted to the dynamic teachings of Islam on coming into direct contact with him.

“His flawlessly eloquent sermons which are indeed timeless bezels of wisdom, as vouched even by Christian literati of the Arabic language, such as Abdul-Masih al-Antaki and George Jordaq, are testimony to the humanitarian values he preached, to the extent that he felt shocked on hearing reports of the stripping of non-Muslim women of the region of Anbar of their jewelry by forces of the rebel Mu’awiya ibn Abu Sufyan who raided Iraq to kill and plunder people.

“His exact words in Sermon 27 of the book Nahj al-Balaghad read:

“I have come to know that every one of them entered upon Muslim women and other women under protection of Islam and took away their ornaments from legs, arms, necks and ears, and no woman could resist… If any Muslim dies of grief after all this he is not to be blamed but rather there is justification for him before me.”

“Imam Ali (AS), who during his brief rule as caliph, granted freedom of worship to Christian in Muslim lands, and whose portrait as the symbol of chivalry used to hang in the halls of the Christian knights of Byzantine, was the most ardent advocate of Islamic unity, to the extent that he not only did not bear grudge against those who had deprived him for 25 long years of his rights of political leadership, but was always there to assist them whenever they sought his advice in many a crucial matter.”

As pointed out by Kayhan International: “The epistle of Imam Ali (AS) to Malek al-Ashtar, his governor of the then Christian majority Egypt, with instructions to treat the population of that ancient cradle of civilization with fairness and justice without discriminating against the populace “who are all God’s creatures and fellow humans” is being hailed today as the finest charter of human rights and keys to proper administration.

“Wonder, how many Muslim rulers are willing to follow the instructions of this Great Man in governing the lands they rule, and protecting the rights of the citizens, without discrimination!

“If there was any iota of Islamic faith or sense of justice among the rulers of Muslim countries, then they would not have funded and armed terrorists to destabilize Syria and Iraq; Yemen would have been spared of almost five years of state terrorism by the Saudis; the people of Bahrain would have seen materialization of long-denied birthrights, the usurpation of Palestine would not have prolonged; ten million Nigerian people would not have been discriminated against for following the jurisprudential School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt; Afghanistan would not have been left to the mercy of the US; the Rohingya Muslims would not have been subjected to genocide; and last but not least Europe, Sri Lanka and other non-Muslim societies would not have witnessed ghastly acts of terrorism that definitely tarnish the image of Islam.

“The undeniable truth is that the absence of Alawi Spirit, which is the essence of Mohammadan Faith, is the cause of the pathetic state of the Ummah and the world in which the Islamic Republic of Iran’s calls for Muslim solidarity not only go unheeded, but oil-rich reactionary regimes shamelessly side with the enemies of Islam and humanity, such as the Zionist regime and the US, against their Iranian co-religionists.”

AS/SS