“If thou obeyest most of
those on earth, they would
lead thee far from
Allah’s way.”
(The Qur’an, 6:117).
Our Topsy-Turvy World
Needs True Religion
Untold millions of our fellow-men are wandering in a daze of spiritual poverty. Many realize that money and sensual pleasure do not satisfy. Except for those who do have a living faith in God, all are obsessed by fear of the future.
A little girl in school expressed her consternation at what is happening in our world:
If I were the sun
And I saw the things that people had done
I would eclipse myself
Forever.1
The daily horror of murders, rapes, terrorist bombings and much more, is blood-chilling; and if the sun could feel, it would indeed want to hide its face from beholding this never-ending agony. And even where there is peace (if there is such a place left on earth?), there is often starvation and poverty.
The world dared once to hope that World War I would be “the war to end all wars.” Then the nations hoped that World War II would do the trick, but now many years after the United Nations was organized to do away with war, machine guns and bombs still shatter the security of people in almost every land. The atomic bomb in 1945 killed 87,000 people in a few seconds. Then, seven years later, came the hydrogen bomb that was a thousand times stronger. Only two years later came the cobalt bomb with radio-active clouds 300,000 times stronger than the deadly cloud resulting from the explosion of the first hydrogen bomb. Now we have the “clean” one, the neutron bomb, that will just kill the people but leave the buildings intact. It would be impossible to find more accurate words to describe the way people feel today than those spoken nearly 2,000 years ago in the Holy Injil:
On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.2
You have to be blind not to see the evidence: the fabric of society is tearing itself apart like the rotten threads of an old garment. Those who believe in Allah and respect his Word are amazed and afraid as they watch the world taking a nose-dive into a new Dark Age.
What will Allah do to help the situation? Will he lead forth his armies of righteousness in a new holy war (Jihad) to set the world’s wrongs right? Will a new world ruler arise somewhere on the horizon to guide the nations into conformity with Allah’s holy commandments? How can the wicked be put down and the righteous be exalted to power?
Will the Super-powers be allowed to go mad and destroy each other (and the rest of the world as well) with nuclear war or “clean” neutron bombs? Or is the world doomed to continue spending a million dollars a minute on sophisticated armaments? Must the great nations continue to create huge arsenals of weapons that often become obsolete before they are used, while hungry widows and children starve for the simple necessities that the money spent on these lethal weapons would easily provide?
Will the rich, luxury-accustomed nations continue to pile up treasures while the developing nations slide further back into poverty? How will the world’s poor and needy ever obtain justice?
For thousands of years history has record of much suffering and atrocity, but at no other time have more innocent people had to suffer than during this bloody century:
World War I (1914-1918) unleashed a horror the world had never before dreamed of — war on a massive scale of terror and cruelty. For the first time, aeroplanes fought in the sky and bombed cities, and submarines torpedoed ships without warning. The death toll for four years of this madness came to about 10 million, casualties totalled 33 million, and the monetary cost ran up to a massive $337,000,000,000. It came near to being world suicide.
The peace that followed the end of World War I was only a momentary lull, giving the nations a chance to catch their breath before rushing into the even more horrible events of World War II (1939-1945). The advantages that peace could have brought were foolishly squandered. Again, unspeakable sorrows were thrust upon millions of people. There were nearly 16 million deaths. The monetary cost far outstripped that of World War I, reaching $1,154,000,000,000, with property damage alone amounting to $239,000,000,000.
Thoughtful, innocent people beat their breasts and cried out, “Where is Allah?”
Since nuclear war was made possible by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki three days later, the entire world lives under the impending shadow of a holocaust that could wipe out civilization. Children have nightmares because of this constant dread. Since the end of World War II, the world has suffered 130 wars, in which millions more have lost their lives. The combined armed forces of Africa number more than 1,650,000, costing $9,269,000,000 a year to maintain. Africa’s military spending grows at the rate of 33 per cent a year, the fastest in the world!
At the same time, the Super-powers are stockpiling sufficient nuclear weapons to wipe each other out completely. Their motivation is the fear engendered by the bitter memories of World War II, but what would either side really gain?
Meanwhile the nations of the Middle East seethe with tension and animosity. Not only war, but also the most horrible atrocities involving helpless women and children, bring sorrow to every feeling heart. Even little children have been pressed into bearing arms, and exposed to the horrors of battle. And when the wars are over, what gains have been won?
Why does a loving, compassionate Allah permit this madness to continue? Half of the world’s 15 to 20 million destitute refugees are in Africa, and of all continents, Africa can least afford to feed them. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the average African has 10 per cent less to eat today than 10 years ago. This is due to rapidly increasing populations and constantly falling food production.
In the meantime, millions of people have become hardened to the threats of annihilation and say, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” “Let us enjoy the sensual pleasures of the moment” is their philosophy, for they think they see no evidence of the intervention, or even the existence, of an almighty, compassionate, caring Allah. Hence, immorality, pornography, divorce, sensuality, alcoholism, and drug abuse are increasing alarmingly. Massive corruption rots away the foundations of business and political structures.
Says the honoured Qur’an:
And who goes further astray than he who follows his lust in the place of guidance from Allah. Lo! Allah guides not such oppressors.3
Hast thou seen him who chooses for his god his own lust? Would thou be guardian over him? Or deem thou that most of them hear or understand? They are but as the cattle—nay, but they are farther astray.4
The earnest, sincere efforts of many dedicated government leaders to advance the prosperity of Third World peoples are held back by the tenacious tentacles of this godless corruption.
How true are these words from the honoured Qur’an:
There is not a nation but a warner hath passed among them.5
And for every nation there is a Messenger.6
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that our modern world desperately needs a spiritual revival and reformation in order to avoid moral and/or physical suicide.
Millions realize that the world needs a true religion. Allah is not asleep, or uncaring. He is speaking to the hearts of men, women, and youth all over the globe. There is a path to salvation—Allah has not forgotten us.
A well-known Hadith says: “If Allah causes you to lead a single person on the right path, it is better for you than to possess the world with all that it contains.”7 This book is a search for that true path, where we will find answers to our questions.
Index: In Search of the Treasure of Faith
References:
- Quoted in Pornography, the Longford Report (Coronet), p. 347.
- Luke 21:25, 26, NIV.
- The Qur’an, 28:50.
- The Qur’an, 25:43, 44.
- The Qur’an, 35:24.
- The Qur’an, 10:48.
- Quoted in Awake to the Call of Islam, Vol. 3, No. 6, p. 5.
