EDITORIALS




9November

Disturbing development!

The Middle East, nay Muslim countries, are burning and in shambles. Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, and Palestine are devastated by wars. There is also the Saudi-Yemen conflict, the war in Afghanistan, the conflict involving several Muslims states such as Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi-Iran war of words. All these conflagrations put the future of the Muslim world in complete question mark.

Even Turkey and Iran, which possessed old civilizations and were once empires, are also under constant threat both from within and without.  Pakistan is not an exception. It is also beleaguered from all sides and is ceaselessly castigated for allegedly supporting the Taliban.  But the real reason is because it is a nuclear power.

There are thousands of leaders in this region, no doubt about it. But in the strict sense the Muslim world lacks real, nay effective, leaders; or maybe the enemies of Islam are so powerful that they effectively play one Muslim state against another.

Surely, the enemies of Islam will not cease until they take complete control of the Muslim world. This is evident everywhere. This explains also why Islam is also under non-stop demolition and attack.

Be this as it may, the most disturbing of all is the internal in-fighting involving the ruling Saudi family. Saudi Arabia is the centre of the Muslim world. The two holy places of Islam are here namely, the Kaaba in Mecca and the Prophet’s mosque in Madina. Every year, millions of Muslim all over the world perform their pilgrimage and visited these places.

The infighting is reportedly part of the sweeping purge, billed as a campaign against corruption. Dozens of senior figures including princes, ministers and a top business tycoon were already arrested. One of the princes arrested is the prominent billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal.  Separately, the head of the Saudi National Guard, once a leading contender to the throne, as well as the navy chief and the economy minister were replaced in a series of high-profile sackings that sent shock waves throughout the kingdom.

Of course, we have no right to dip our fingers into this controversy, because all our Muslims and it is their internal matter. The most that we can do is to pray to Allah that they would be able to settle their problems swiftly and justly.

The early settlement of this conflict is a collective interest of the Muslim world. The delay, on the other hand, would only benefit those who rejoice at Muslims’ sufferings!

And the saddest part, however, is that while the Arabs are cutting each other throats, Israel, the symbol of the Western world unjust foreign policy, is laughing to its heart full. What it cannot do it itself, the Arabs are doing it for them.

When will this disunity, so much bloodshed, and destruction in the Muslim world end? Will this situation last up to the coming of Imam Mahdi whom the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had prophesied to come when Muslims are severely oppressed in every corner of the world?

Imam Mahdi, the prophesy continued, will fight the oppressors, unite the Muslims, bring peace and justice to the world, rule over the Arabs, and lead a prayer in Mecca at which Jesus Christ (pbuh) will be present. (Muslims also believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ).