قَالَ رَسُولُ اﷲِ ﷺ ’’یُوْشِکُ الْاُمَمُ اَنْ تَدَاعیٰ عَلَیْکُمْ کَمَا تَدَاعیٰ الْاَکَلَۃُ اِلیٰ قَصْعَتِھَا فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ وَمِنْ قِلَّۃٍ نَحْنُ یَوْمَئِذٍ؟— قَاَ بَلْ اَنْتُمْ یَوْمَئِذٍ کَثِیْرٌ وَلٰکِنَّکُمْ غُثَآئٌ کَغُثَآئٍ السَّیْلِ وَ لَیَنْزِعَنَّ اﷲُ مِنْ صُدُوْرِعَدُوِّکُمُ الْمَھَابَۃَ مِنْکُمْ وَ لَیَقْذِفَنَّ اﷲُ فِیْ قُلُوْبِکُمُ الْوَھْنَ فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ یَا رَسُوْلَ اﷲِ وَ مَا الْوَھْنُ؟ قَالَ حُبُّ الدُّنْیَا وَ کَرَاھِیَّۃُ الْمَوْتِ‘‘ (ابوداؤد عن ثوبان کتاب الملاحم)
The Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said: “It is near that the nations will call one another against you just as the eaters call one another to their dishes.” Somebody asked: “Is this because we will be few in numbers that day?” He said: “Nay, but that day you shall be numerous, but you will be like the foam of the sea, and Allah will take the fear of you away from your enemies and will place weakness into your hearts.” Somebody asked: “What is this weakness?” He said: “The love of the world and the dislike of death.”
Explanation:
Actually, here, light has been focused on the real causes of the fall of Muslim Ummah. But, before dealing with these causes, it was deemed necessary to remove some misconceptions in this regard. They are as follows:
Geneally, the Muslims are found in a wrong notion that they are in minority and in little number (وَمِنْ قِلَّۃٍ نَحْنُ یَوْمَئِذٍ) and it is for this reason that they are dominated by the nations in majority, and, therefore, they have fallen prey to degeneration. But, the Prophetic Tradition cited above lays out the fact that it has nothing to do with minority and majority, since any nation is supposed to have a fall if it lacks in the desired merits which serve as awe for its enemies and makes it superior to others. No matter if it is in minority and little number, it may surely come over other nations provided it tries to develop the aforementioned characteristics in itself as the predominance of Muslims and English people on India stand to be the obvious examples in this regard.
Another misapprehension found in Muslims is that they think that a man is supposed to be valuable only when he possesses worldly power. Hence, a man’s all attempts aim at accomplishing the mundane objectives, and, as a result, he hankers after it. But, the same Tradition implies that a man’s value is supposed to be decreased rather than increasing due to being involved in the love of world, since he is always attached to it and pays no heed to other things. Consequently, many a moral demerits take place in him like being miser and avaricious. He also turns to be stone-hearted and cruel. He prefers luxury and comfort, and, therefore, he avoids struggling in the path of Allah, the Almighty. As a result, he ceases to have his awe in the hearts of his enemies. On the other hand, if a man has Allah’s fear and is concerned about the world Hereafter, he needs it no more. Thus, he has a lot of courage and daring and proves to an embodiment of good morals and excellent characters. Then, the whole world is afraid of him. Hence, rather than worldly life, one must attach more value to the world Hereafter and aim his all attempts for it.
Another point brought home to us through this tradition is that, may be, apparently, the enemies of Islam seem to be divided in different groups and parties. But, the fact is that they are together when it comes to the enmity against Islam (اَلْکُفْرُ مِلَّۃٌ وَاحِدَۃٌ) Thus, they come against Muslims unitedly and even they have the ability to do so as also pointed out in the tradition (یُوْشِکُ الْاُمَمُ اَنْ تَدَاعیٰ عَلَیْکُمْ …) hence, we should never deem them scattered and inferior. Rather, we must prepare an agenda having considered them united. In the background of the way the whole power and enemies of Islam of the entire world are united against believers, we can easily realize this reality.
Defining the word وَھْنُ, the addition of the phrase کَرَاھِیَّۃُ الْمَوْتِ with حُبُّ الدُّنْیَا is enough to make us understand the fact why a man dislikes death. The reason is that he desires to stay in this world permanently and enjoy it a lot. In such case, he avoids the things which cause his death, and as a result, he turns to be dastard and accepts defeat against anyone’s pressure while, in reality, leading a dastardly life is too dull. In such condition, a man of understanding should realize the fact that why he should be afraid of death when it is certain to take place and why not to be steadfast on Truth and sacrifice everything which guarantees success in the world Hereafter.
In fact, a man with such notion gets courage to sacrifice and struggle and becomes ready to sacrifice everything for accomplishing his goal. It is no doubt true that a man with such desire gets much power, and, as a result, rather than being of others, they are afraid of him based on the same passion as also illustrated in the same tradition with the word اَلْمَھَابَۃَ. Certainly, we need to struggle to instil in people the same courage and passion these days.