Act. Implement.

 بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

ثُمَّ جَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ خَلَـٰٓئِفَ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مِنۢ بَعۡدِهِمۡ لِنَنظُرَ كَيۡفَ تَعۡمَلُونَ

Thumma ja’alnaakum khalaaa’ifa fil ardi min ba’dihim li nanzura kaifa ta’maloon

Yunus (Jonah) 10:14- And thereupon We made you their successors on earth, so that We might behold how you act.  

Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi was among the notable scholars and political activists of South Asia. Among his many roles, he served as the Home Minister of the first Provisional Government of India established in Afghanistan in 1915. But that effort did not continue for long, and under indirect British pressure he was compelled to leave for Russia. It is sometimes mentioned that he met the ailing Lenin, though the evidence for such a meeting remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that his writings show a serious engagement with the socialist movement and its concern for justice.  

Before the Russian government, Maulana Ubaidullah made a passionate appeal. He urged them to consider the Qur'anic principles of social justice. He argued that despite so much sacrifice and so much bloodshed, the revolutionaries had still not established the justice they had set out to achieve. He spoke of natural law, of fairness, and of the just order reflected in the khilafah al-rashidah. He answered their questions with clarity and conviction. 

It is related that the head of the Russian government, or according to another narration Lenin himself, remarked that what Maulana Ubaidullah was saying was reasonable and appealing both to the intellect and to the demands of justice. But then came the question that left him with no answer: there are so many lands under Muslim rule, is there any place where these principles are actually being lived, so that we may go and see them?  

At that, Maulana had no choice but to lower his head in shame. He spent the remainder of his life grieving over this bitter reality, and it is a grief that should trouble us as well. When will Muslims stop contenting themselves with speaking about the ideals of Islam and begin to implement them, even in a small corner of life?

Let us begin now with our own selves. Let us bring into our homes, our dealings, and our communities the principles we so readily praise with our tongues. Otherwise, ideals remain only words. May Allah help us to live by what we claim to believe. Ameen.