HOW ISLAMIC ARE THE ISLAMIC COUNTRIES
A study conducted by Prof. Hussain Askari of George Washington
University entitled *“How Islamic are the Islamic Countries"* showed that
most of the countries that apply *Islamic Principles* in their daily lives are
not ones that are traditionally Muslim.
New Zealand ranked 1st, Luxembourg 2nd,
Ireland 3rd,
Iceland 4th,
Finland 5th,
Denmark 6th
Canada 7th.
Malaysia 38th,
Kuwait 48th,
Bahrain 64th
and the surprise
*Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked 131st*.
The study, published in the *Global Economy Journal* might be
shocking to most of us but when we look around us and see the reality of the
situation, we find that the results of the study are accurate and true.
As Muslims we seem to care only about performing religious
Obligations/Rituals/Sunnah (prayer, fasting, niqab, beards, etc), reading the
Qur’an and the Hadiths, but we don't practice what we espouse. We listen to
religious lessons and sermons more than the other people on the face of the
earth, but we are still not the best of Nations. In the last 60 years, we have
listened to 3,000 Friday sermons.
A Chinese merchant once said: “Muslim merchants come to me and
ask me to put fake international labels and brands on their goods. When I
invite them to eat, they refuse because the food is not Halal. So it is Halal
for them to sell fake goods?”
A Japanese Muslim said: “I traveled to the West and saw Islam in
practice applied in the daily life of non-Muslims. I traveled to the East, I
saw Islam but did not see any Muslims. I thank Allah I knew Islam before I knew
how Muslims act.”
Religion should not be reduced to Prayer and Fasting. It is a
way of life and it is about how we treat others.
Performing a religious obligation is up to you and it is
something between you and Allah. However, good ethics is something between you
and other people. In other words, if we do not put Islamic ethics into action
and practice, corruption will become rampant and disgrace will be our future.
We should not judge a person based on how he performs religious
obligations for he might be a hypocrite.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, the
bankrupt of my nation are those who come on the Day of Resurrection with
prayers, fasting and charity, but also with insults, slander, consuming wealth,
shedding and beating others.”
I believe *Islam* (external aspect of faith) is incomplete
without *Imaan* (internal aspect of faith) and *Ihsaan* (social aspect of
faith). Ponder, understand and realize this.
Lord Bernard Shaw is said to have said:
Islam is the best religion and Muslims are the worst followers.
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