The Disconnection from Allah (SWT) & the Calamity 

Dr. Firoz Mahboob Kamal

The connectivity from Allah SWT: the most crucial issue

The most important objective of Islam is to connect men and women with the All-Powerful and the All-Merciful Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la (SWT). Only this way Islam brings the greatest blessing of the Almighty Allah SWT to mankind. Since such a connection is the only way to get access to paradise, nothing can be more important than this. On the other hand, the disconnection from Allah SWT takes definitely to the hellfire. Therefore, nothing can be more disastrous than it either. In Islam, how to strengthen the connection with Allah SWT has always been an important issue; the Holy Qur’an and the tradition of Prophet Muhammad are very explicit on it. Such Divine connectivity comes only through full adherence to the siratul mustaqeem in every moment of life. Any deviation disconnects from Allah SWT and takes directly to the hellfire. Such a deviation is the path of the Devil. In fact, the connectivity with Allah SWT and the adherence to the siratul mustaqeem always run together. One can’t survive in the absence of another. In fact, only those who are connected with Allah SWT are guided onto siratul mustaqeem. The Holy Qur’an made this point clear in the following verse: “Whoever gets connected with Allah certainly gets guided onto the siratul mustaqeem (right path).”–(Sura Al-Imran, verse 101).

In order to follow siratul mustaqeem –the only heaven-bound path, one must know the roadmap and its identifying signposts. Only such knowledge can help differentiate it from numerous other paths created by the Devil and his followers. For such knowledge, one must understand the Holy Qur’an and the prophet (peace be upon him)’s life and traditions. Because the identifying markers of siratul mustaqeem are revealed only in the Holy Qur’an; and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has practically demonstrated it in all arenas of life. In fact, the siratul mustaqeem itself is the expression of the Holy Qur’an. In this regard, the defining statement of Allah SWT comes in the following verse: “This is the Book (the Holy Qur’an) which is free from doubt and it is the right path (siratul mustaqeem) for the Allah-fearing people.”–(Sura Baqara, verse 2).

Since siratul mustaqeem is the only route to the paradise, those who are guided onto this path are the most blessed people on earth. Such a blessing comes only to those who are deeply connected with Allah SWT. The five-time daily prayer, the month-long fasting, the charity of zakat and the haj are indeed the Divine curriculum to build up such connectivity. Since the guidance onto siratul mustaqeem comes only as of the mercy of Allah SWT, the supplication for it is crucial. Therefore, of all supplications, the most important supplication (dowa) is the one made for siratul mustaqeem. Such an invocation to Allah SWT is so much important that it has been made obligatory to say ih’dinas siratul mustaqeem (O Allah, show me the right path) in every unit of the daily prayers. Since the Divine blessing comes only through connectivity with of Allah SWT, nothing is more important in life than staying connected with Him. In fact, humans’ destiny in heaven or in hell, is solely decided on such connection or disconnection.

The Qur’an builds the connectivity

Since the Holy Qur’an itself is the siratul mustaqeem, the knowledge of the Holy Qur’an is crucial. The desired connectivity with Allah SWT can only be established by full adherence to the Qur’anic guideline. Any detachment from the Qur’an is indeed the disconnection from Allah SWT. The Prophet Muhammad described the Holy Qur’an as a strong rope of Allah SWT (hablillahil matin) that descends from heaven to the hands of the people on earth. Therefore whoever holds fast the Holy Qur’an, gets connected to Allah SWT. And whoever stands away from the Qur’an, is indeed disconnected from Allah SWT. This Qur’anic rope indeed pulls a human to His nearness and therefore to paradise. Otherwise one gets surely into the hellfire. Hence, even the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was advised, “(O Muhammad), Holdfast what has been revealed to you, (as a result of that) certainly you are on the siratul mustaqeem.”–(Sura Zukhruf, verse 43).                                                                                                                                      

The connection or the disconnection of a man with Allah SWT never stays hidden. A Muslim’s connectivity with Allah SWT gets duly expressed not only through his five-time prayers, month-long fasting, the charity of zakat and haj, but also through his deeds in social, political, behavioural and cultural arenas. Hence, one’s role in the field of the pan-Islamic Muslim unity, the establishment of an Islamic state, the practice of sharia in the judiciary, the eradication of evil and the implementation of right deeds and the jihad in the way of Allah SWT are also the distinctive markers of such connectivity with Allah SWT. The life of the prophet (peace be upon him) and the early Muslims indeed give the most authentic display of such makers. On the other hand, the rule of the evil, the absence of Islamic state, the abolition of sharia, the abhorrence of pan-Islamic brotherhood, the divisive walls in the name of the race, language and landmass and the ideological conversion to secularism, nationalism, and racism exactly depict the deep connectivity with the Devil. Today, the Muslim World stands as an exact replica of such connectivity with the Devil. Today, the Muslims’ morality and deeds, states and ideologies, politics and law, constitutions and judiciary, education and culture give clear testimony to the fact that they are far away from the Qur’anic roadmap -the siratul mustaqeem. With such a gross disconnection from Allah SWT, if 1.5 billion Muslims had achieved any success or glory that would have nullified the need for Islam. But such disconnection from Allah SWT didn’t bring any success in the Muslims’ life in any part of the World. Rather, it shows the opposite. More the disconnection from Allah SWT, more the disgrace and failure.

The calamity of spiritual death

The wellbeing of a man depends solely on his physical and spiritual health. The foods and drinks ensure physical health, but spiritual health comes only from the connection with Allah SWT. In its absence, a man or woman ends up with spiritual death. And the spiritual death robustly expresses through rebellion against the Qur’anic rule and deeper detachment from siratul mustaqeem. Hence, those who oppose the practice of sharia, hudud, khilafa, jihad, Muslim unity and other Qur’anic basics in a Muslim majority country are the spiritually dead Muslims. Because of such a state of spirituality, they fail to respond to the Qur’anic call of jihad. Rather, they helped the imperialists in the past to raise a huge army of the Muslim mercenaries to occupy the Muslim lands and kill the Muslims. For example, in the First World War, the western imperialists received the massive Arab Muslim help to dismantle Osmania Khilafa. Because of such internal enemies, the foreign enemies could easily prevent the resurgence of any powerful Islamic state in any part of the Muslim World.

It is significant to note that such a huge number of Arab Muslims never fought any war for Islam in any segment of the Muslim history –not even in Abbasid and Umayyad period, as they fought for the imperialists. Only in the First World War, about half a million Arabs got killed for the British cause.-(Source: Al Jazeera English, the First World War through Arab Eyes). The spiritual death of these so-called Muslims was so complete that they disliked investing their life –the Amanah of Allah SWT, in His cause in exchange of a deathless life in paradise. It beggars belief that they sold the same Amanah only for a few hundred pounds per month to the enemy of Islam! Therefore, the contribution of the Arabs in the disintegration of the Arab World and in the creation of Israel is immense. The state of the Indian Muslims wasn’t any different either. More than 200 hundred thousand Indian Muslims fought as mercenaries for the British only in the First World War. They helped the British in the occupation of Iraq, Syria and the holy city of Jerusalem. All the ruling military elites of Pakistan like General Ayub Khan, General Yahiya Khan and General Zia ul Huq started their life as the mercenary of the colonial kuffers. They fought the World War for them. They were even ready to die for them. Later on, these real Trojan Horses of the West could easily grab the highest seat of power in Pakistan and ruled the country as the worst despotic ruler. While in power, they caused a rapid and immense ideological meltdown of Pakistan. Their radical secular rule dismantled the pan-Islamic glue and could precipitate the breakdown of the country in 1971. As a result, the great passion for an Islamic civilizational state of the South Asian Muslims stands shattered.

Because of spiritual cum ideological ill-health of the Muslims, even the cow-worshipping Indians could deeply influence the Muslim politics. In 1971, they could recruit thousands of Bengali Muslims to train them on their soil to kill the Islamists and the non-Bengali Muslims and used them to dismember Pakistan. For the same reason, the USA could easily occupy and destroy Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Because of the moral death, the government of Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, UAE, Turkey, and others didn’t face any moral barrier to align with the USA to help its war on Islam. These Muslim countries spent hundreds of billions of dollars and sacrificed thousands of people in this pure American war.

Whereas the history of the early Muslims tells a different story. Their sacrifice was enormous. More than 70 percent of them sacrificed their own life to promote the agenda of Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. As a result, they could add a huge glory to Islam and caused a sea of civilizational changes over a huge part of the world. Such a passion for Allah SWT’s agenda is indeed the product of strong spiritual bondage with Him. Such a strong passion pulled the Muslims out of the hell-bound popular march and could drive them onto the siratul mustaqeem (straight path) towards the paradise. This is indeed the exact showcasing of the Qur’anic promise that whoever holds fast to Allah, is indeed guided onto the straight path and gets saved from the hellfire. 

The disconnection from Allah SWT and the catastrophe

The disconnection from Allah SWT never goes unpunished. In fact, it brings the worst consequences. It nullifies the ultimate purpose of humans’ survival and helps qualify for the hellfire. Such disconnection from Allah SWT means inviting Shaitan (Devil) on the shoulder that undo every effort to do any good and put a bar on the way towards the paradise. Allah warns about such an awful consequence in the following verse: “And whosoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Beneficent (Allah SWT), We appoint Shaitan upon him. And verily they (Shaitan) hinder them from the path (siratul mustaqeem), but they think they are guided aright.”–(Sura Zukhruf, verse 36-37). Such disconnection from Allah SWT causes other disasters, too. Apart from a Shaitan on the shoulder, such a man turns himself to a Shaitan. Then he works on other people to make them Shaitan, too. Thus the Army of Shaitans gets bigger and bigger. A man can pursue the right path and can avoid any disaster only if he stays constantly focussed on it –like driving a car on a motorway. But such awareness gets switched off if he stays off the remembrance of Allah SWT. Such a stern warning comes in the following verse: “And be not like those who forget Allah; (because of that), He caused them to forget their own selves. These are the people who establish themselves as fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” –(Sura Hashar, verse 19). 

The Divine connectivity cum spirituality of a Muslim does not mean mere remembrance or glorification (tasbeeh) of His holy name. Rather, along with His glorification, it is indeed the deep and unfaltering commitment to abide by His every command. The true faith of a believer gets expressed only through such commitment. Therefore, a true believer shows his uncompromising attitude to implement His prescribed code of life (deen) in every arena of life. He shows his commitment to run the judiciary only according to the sharia. Hence, he never shows any leniency in executing the sanctioned punishment (hudud) on the convicts. And establishing an Islamic state, Muslim unity and jihad (holy war) in His way become the parts of his life. Any amount of non-compliance or rebellion against any Qur’anic decree or sharia is a major sin. Such non-compliance or rebellion are incompatible with iman. It is indeed an indicator of total disrespect of Allah SWT. Only a man with total disconnection from Him can dare do that. No amount of religious rituals can repair such a disconnection. If a judge rejects sharia and gives judgment according to kufr law, how can his prayer, fasting, charity, and haj compensate such a rebellion against Allah SWT? Dividing a Muslim country –like killing a man, is a major sin in Islam. If a person takes part in dividing a Muslim country in the name of language, race or geopolitics, how can his prayer cover up such a huge crime? The ongoing downfall of the Muslims indeed owes to such disobedience, disconnection, and suicidal crimes. Instead of connection with Allah SWT, they showcase their deep connectivity with Devil. The supremacy of the kufr laws in the judiciary, riba in banking, prostitution in the society, and secularism, nationalism, racism, tribalism, and despotism in politics are indeed examples of such an evil connection.

How to build the connectivity with Allah SWT?

The connectivity with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la is very crucial. It is indeed the survival issue that helps to live as a true believer. But how to build such connectivity? How can one hold fast to Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la? The answer is simple. It is true that Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala is not visible. None of the prophets saw Him either. But that didn’t stop them to get strongly connected with Him. Even amidst His full invisibility, His vision, mission and agenda are distinctly visible to the public eyes in the Holy Qur’an. In true sense, connecting with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la means connecting with His vision, mission, and objective. The true spirituality of a man or woman indeed gets its nourishment only through such connectivity. Otherwise, he or she dies a quick spiritual death and lives only with utter disbelief or hypocrisy.

Therefore, whoever wants to connect himself or herself with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la, the Qur’anic methodology is clear. He or she hasn’t any option but to hold fast the Holy Qur’an and follow the embedded guidance in every step of his or her life. Only this way one can build up the true connectivity with Allah SWT and enrich the pure spirituality. A person may spend thousands of nights in Sufi khanqa, Darwish circles, shrines or caves but his spirituality is totally fake if he stays disconnected with the vision, mission, and objective of Allah SWT and doesn’t adhere to the Qur’anic guidance like performing obligatory prayers, establishing an Islamic State, implementing sharia, enjoining the right and eradicating the wrong, promoting the Muslim unity and engaging in jihad in His Way. Such a non-compliant man is indeed a disconnected man from Allah SWT and the ummah. And his disconnection expresses through his politics, culture, behaviour, attitude and worldviews. Such a man can enjoy a pain-free complacent life even after the enemy occupation of the Muslim lands. Deaths, rapes and brutality against the Muslim men, women and children in the occupied lands never touch his heart, nor does disturb his sleep and comfort. Because of such disconnection, the suffering of the Muslims in Kashmir, Palestine, Myanmar, Uighur, and India do not touch most of the ruling elites of the Muslim World. Although they claim to be Muslim, they prove fake in their claim by the actions. Because of such disconnection, such people even join the invading kuffar Army to celebrate their occupation of the Muslim lands. Such a scene was seen in the fallen Bengal capital of Murshidabad in 1757, in Dhaka in 1971, in Jerusalem and Damascus in 1917, in Kabul in 2001 and in Baghdad in 1917 and 2003. The disturbing pain that must generate from the absence of Islamic basics like Islamic State, sharia, hudud, jihad, khilafa, and Muslim unity doesn’t touch their hearts either.

Amidst a world of ideological warfare, only the infant, the insane and the dead stay neutral. Every sane man or woman takes a side.  Only a man who has the capacity to differentiate right from wrong can be a true Muslim. This way one has to prove his sanity. Moreover, those who fail to align with Almighty Allah SWT and His agenda, definitely align with the falsehood. These are the people who align with the army of evil forces. They differ only with the degree of involvement, but not in belief and intention. On the other hand, whoever gets connected with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la, receives strong inner motivation to work as His most obedient servant on earth. As connection grows strong, he feels the passion to invest all of his talent, energy, skills and even blood to fulfill the Wish of his Supreme Lord. The early Muslims could stand as the best people in human history only because of the strong connection with Allah SWT and the relentless passion.

Without a strong connection with the Allah SWT, a Muslim can’t survive as a true Muslim either; nor can be aligned with His vision, mission and the prescribed roadmap. Such a disconnected man can’t stand against the strong current of corruptive faiths, thoughts, and cultural cum political forces. Like floating leaves in the wind, he also gets quickly pulled away from the straight path and ultimately finds a place in the hellfire. A man can’t build a strong connection with Allah SWT by a mere pronouncement of faith in Him, His revealed books and the prophets. Belief needs to be reinforced with deeper understanding. Jaheliyah (ignorance) is the worst enemy of Islam. Seeds can’t grow on a stone, likewise, the Qur’anic Truth can’t grow in a man of jaheliyah. For a full revolution in character and deeds, it needs a total revolution in the conceptual premise –the birthplace of all revolutions.

Islam has its own methodology to build such a connection. In fact, Islam is the only religion that can successfully connect people with Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’la. And it owes to the methodology devised by Allah SWT Himself. All obligatory religious rituals like 5 times daily prayer, month-long fasting, charity, and haj are indeed the parts of that methodology. And the most powerful tool to build this connection is the Holy Qur’an. The word “Qur’an” means the act of recitation. It is itself a great ibadah. In the initial decade of prophethood, there was no obligatory five-time prayer like today. And there was no mosque to have any congregation. Standing in the middle of night and recitation of the Holy Qur’an was the recommended ibadah. So, in one of the earliest chapters of the Qur’an it is revealed: “Stand (to pray) all night except a little; half of it or a little less than that. Or a little more. And recite the Qur’an (aloud) in a slow (pleasant tone and) style. Indeed, We will send down to you heavy words (the obligatory prayers, establishing an Islamic State, jihad for protecting the state, practising sharia, and etc.). Verily, the rising by the night is the most potent way to govern one’s self and suitable for understanding the Word (of Allah).”–(Sura al-Mujammel, verses 2-6). Through slow and mindful recitation of the Holy Qur’an, the human mind gets the much-needed nutrition for his spiritual growth –crucial to grow as an all-time obedient slave of the Almighty Lord. An anemic patient needs a regular transfusion of blood for his survival. For the survival of iman, a believer, too needs a regular transfusion. It is the transfusion of the Qur’anic knowledge that builds his iman. It works through slow recitation and a deeper understanding of the Holy Qur’an. The Message, the Vision and the Mission of the Almighty Lord then get direct access to his heart.

The knowledge of the seen and the unseen worlds gets the most powerful expression only through Allah SWT’s Own vocabularies. While a man or woman recites the Holy Qur’an in prayers, indeed the message of the Almighty Lord dips down into his or her soul and recharges his or her iman. Hence in prayer, the best part is the qiyam (standing in prayer) when the Holy Qur’an is recited with the full understanding of its meaning. The understanding is so crucial that Allah SWT ordered not to come nearer to the prayer if one fails to know what is being recited. (It was revealed: “la takrabus salata hatta ta’lamu ma ta’kulun.” meaning: “don’t come near to the prayer if you don’t know what you say in the prayer”). The deeper understanding of the Holy Qur’an, the five-time prayer in congregation, the month-long fasting in Ramadan, haj and zakat are indeed the prescribed means to continuously strengthen the connection with the Almighty Allah SWT.

The worst scenario is looming 

In the early days of Islam, the Qur’anic prescription showed a tremendous amount of success to build the best people on earth. In fact, the five-time daily prayer worked as meeraj in believers’ life –as has been narrated by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Meeraj is a Qur’anic jargon and has a special meaning in Islam. It is indeed an ascension to the nearness of Allah SWT. In such a special context, meeraj causes transmission of the Divine message deeper down into the heart of a believer. Thus it causes the closest integration with the Qur’anic mission. Exactly it happens when a believer stands in prayer and slowly recites a good portion of the holy Qur’an with the full understanding of its meaning. Such a believer is appreciated as an ever-ready submissive Muslim. Whenever such Muslims listen to the Qur’anic command promptly say “sam’yena wa ata’na” (meaning: we listened and we obeyed).

But nowadays, the Muslims have reached the lowest low of their iman. And it is proven by their sheer absence of promptness or readiness to listen and obey Allah SWT. Hence, the Qur’anic commands fall on deaf ears. Their prayer has turned into thoughtless and life-less rituals. So it fails to integrate the Muslims with the vision, mission, and objective of Allah SWT. Such a failure has made them ready to integrate with the Devil and his armies. As a result, the Muslim World is inundated with nationalism, secularism, tribalism, fascism and other Devilish ideologies. And the Qur’anic law -known as sharia, doesn’t get practised in any of the 57 Muslim countries. They practise the kuffar law introduced by the British or French colonialists. What an ugly betrayal! In the golden days of Islam, even the known munafiqs didn’t show such overt rebellion against sharia. Prior to the colonial occupation, even none of the Muslim rulers –despite their multitude of failures, showed such betrayal either. Now, the whole process of listening and obeying –one of the best attributes of a true Muslim, looks non-functional. The people recite the Holy Qur’an, even memorize the whole text only for the reward and not to practise on its teachings. As a consequence, they fail to get the desired benefit from this greatest gift of Allah SWT. The question arises, with such a cold-blooded betrayal, how can they expect a reward in the hereafter?

Although the disease has already turned really serious, what an irony that no effort is being made to deploy the best prescription that has already been authenticated by the All-Wise Creator for a sure cure. Surprisingly, they still think they will recover without following Allah SWT’s prescription! What else could be the worst contempt of Allah SWT’s Wisdom? Here an extreme arrogance has taken over to undo the Almighty’s plan for bestowing the best blessing for mankind. So, amidst such Pharaonic arrogance, the calamity in the world shows no sign of abatement, rather gets day by day much deeper. 08.12.2019