For well over a century, foreign ideologies such as Greek Philosophy, Secularism, and Nationalism have trickled into the minds of Muslim activists globally. The repercussions of this have been two-fold, whilst wearing away at classical Islamic principles, the rise of such ideologies have fragmented and disunited the Ummah at large.

Amid an erosion of classical Islamic thought, Muslims have remained an active part of the political sphere to uphold not only their rights but the rights of humanity in general. Undoubtedly, the current generation of young Muslims is amongst the most politically aware ever, owing largely to the rise of social media which has made the prospect of making a difference far more achievable. An example that clearly illustrates this was the #BlueforSudan campaign that took place last June in which thousands of students turned their profile picture blue to highlight the brutality taking place in Khartoum. Muslim participation in activism is by no means limited to the online scene, in recent years, university campuses have seen a boom in humanitarian projects led by sections of the Muslim community. Although it is clear that the intentions of the individuals involved in such projects are pure, the erosion of Islamic principles coupled with the inclusion of ideas that are inherently contradictory to the faith signals a dangerous shift in which political outcomes are deemed more important than steadfastness to the religion.

To expand my point further, I am going to use the analogy of trees to bring greater clarity as to why the above claim is a misconception.

Every ideology can be thought of as a tree. Each is made up of the usool (roots) which are the core principles and the furu’ (branches) which are the secondary matters that are derived from the roots. With many of these ideologies and Islam, an overlap can be seen with regards to the furu’ (branches). For example, the furu’ of Islam and feminism do align in certain areas; Islam too places an emphasis on treating women respectfully. Equally however, there are many instances in which the branches and more importantly the roots cannot overlap which showcases the inherent conflict between the two ideologies. In this way, the focus must always be on the roots (usool) rather than the furu’ (branches).

Unfortunately, the above distinction is one that is often unclear to many Muslims. We may very well be partaking in deeds that are deemed praiseworthy in Islam, for example, the act of participating in charitable causes. However, in our pursuit of doing ‘good’, there is sometimes a disregard for rooted Islamic principles or tacit support of ideas that are at complete odds with Islam.

As Muslims, we each have a role to play in alleviating the difficulties facing the Ummah. Allah SWT tells us in Surah Ar- Ra’d – “Verily, Allah will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah)”

In order to change our communal condition, we need to make an active effort to strengthen our connection with Allah so that He is at the centre of all the good that we do. Furthermore, with a culture of increased reading amongst Muslims, In’Sha’Allah we will see a rise of Islamically informed activism in which the adherence to Allah’s commandments takes centre stage in all the work we do.

We ask that Allah makes us sincere in our efforts, firm in our principles and deserving of his divine intervention. Ameen

الَّلهُمَّ إنْ كُنتُ فَعَلْتُ ذلِكَ ابِتِغَاءَ وَجْهِكَ فافْرُجْ عَنَّا مَا نَحنُ فِيهِ

“O Allah! If I did that for Your Sake only, then please relieve us from this suffering”.

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