There are two views regarding what has caused the recent tragic
catastrophe that the Muslim Ummah is facing. According to one view it is
primarily America, Jews, Bush, Tony Blair etc… who are responsible for our
woes. Once we get rid of them convincingly, the Ummah would regain its
past glory. Such people are resorting to all sorts of means to criticize,
condemn, and even ridicule these enemies of the Ummah. Thus we receive
through e-mails expert political and military analyses, slogans of
protestations, jokes about Bush showing him a born idiot, his photographs along
with those of monkeys proving that both belong to the same category etc… If
the view is correct, it is probable that the conclusion these people have drawn
as to what they should do is also logical, even though some of the stuff we
receive leaves a bad taste.
The other view is that whatever has happened to us owes
itself to our sins, both individual and collective. The Almighty is punishing us
for our inept behavior and even if we are able to get rid of America, Israel,
Bush, Blair etc… the Almighty will create others to inflict His punishment
upon us. Such people are urging Muslims to mend their ways and do individual and
collective repentance (Taubah) so that His displeasure gives way to His
grace. They are therefore asking Muslims to do serious soul searching to find
out where they have gone wrong. They are asking them to become more God-fearing,
knowledgeable about Islam, disciplined, patient etc…
These
are two different views about the prevailing situation that are bound to lead to
two different remedies.