As war and genocide continue in West Asia, Sahib Mustaqim Bleher challenges Muslims in the west: where exactly is their moral compass.  Dissecting the muted responses of Muslim led groups and movements, Bleher unpacks the psychology of individuals and groups whose adherence to Islam, however vocal and apparent, is increasingly secular.

The one question the war on Iran should have put into sharp focus is: Which side are you on? For Muslims the answer should be obvious and without reservations, however, sadly this is not the case. Here, I am not talking about the hypocritical governments installed in Muslim lands by former colonial powers, whose subservience to their non-Muslim protectors goes as far as, in a most recent example, having Israeli military personnel operate an Iron Dome battery inside the UAE – needless to say it didn’t last long.

Surah an-Nisa’ (4), ayah 139: “Those who take the rejecters (of the truth) as protecting friends instead of the believers; do they seek strength from them, when all strength belongs to Allah?”

My focus in this article is on ordinary individuals like you and I, both in the East (now increasingly referred to as the global South) and the West (with many from the East longing to move to the West, whatever the cost).

In my introduction to “Conceptual Islam” I posited that “Most textbooks on Islam tell us that Islam is a way of life. The briefest of reality checks will tell us that Muslims’ way of life is today shaped by a plethora of other influences with Islam as an add-on. This apparent discrepancy has relegated the notion of true Islam into either the past as a praised, but lost historic example from the days of the prophet and his companions or into the future as a utopian dream of a return to the golden age “when the Mahdi comes”. Neither offers much solace or hope for the Muslim struggling with the here and now.”

First there is the sectarian type, like those who cheered on the “Glorious Revolution” in Syria, apparently oblivious to the fact that it resulted in the Israeli occupation of a large slice of the country’s territory and cut off the supply line to the resistance in Lebanon, described by the English writer and poet John Heywood in 1546 as “Who is so deafe or blynde as is hee that wilfully will nother heare nor see” (none is as deaf or blind as the one who refuses to hear or see). They will remain unmoved by the suffering of Muslims in Iran or Lebanon because they are of the wrong sect anyway. With their hostile aggression against other Muslims they compensate for the lack of courage to change their own mundane lives in which they aim to climb higher on the materialistic ladder of perceived success. Whilst slowly more and more Muslims are waking up to the fact I have been stating for decades, that al-Qaeda and Isis are subversion agents for the Zionist American empire, there remain large numbers of naïve followers who buy into their twisted ideology simply because it provides them with a measure of certainty and importance in a world where they are otherwise lost and insignificant. As the saying has it: Fanaticism is a sign of repressed doubt.

More worrying, however, is the ordinary Muslim who sympathises in principle with the cause of the resistance but is fearful of losing the limited affluence he/she has managed to achieve. For those, the rising cost of living driven by the rising cost of fuel is more worrying than whether America is being downsized through a war strategy which includes economic pressure. The war, be it in Gaza, Lebanon or Iran, remains a side show. They wish “them” well, but are primarily concerned with trying to maintain their own standard of living, banishing any idea of sacrificing for a greater good. It is those whom I label the “schizophrenic Muslim”.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe mental disorder characterised by disruptions in thought, perception, and behaviour, often involving hallucinations and delusions. Amongst its symptoms are confused thinking, incoherent speech, and bizarre behaviour, reduced emotional expression, lack of motivation, social withdrawal, and diminished energy, trouble focusing, memory issues, and difficulty in processing information.

The common layman’s understanding of schizophrenia is what today is termed “Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly split personality disorder, a complex mental health condition where the identity of a person fragments into two or more distinct alternating personalities. It is said to be primarily caused by early childhood trauma.

In Muslims socialised in Western societies, being different things to different people and in different situations is an early learned behaviour: the Muslim girl who removes her headscarf upon entering the school gate, the Muslim boy who speaks polite Urdu at home and excels in swearing in English at school etc. These later develop into the adult who is a Rajah at home and a slave at the workplace. Islam becomes both a refuge and a status symbol whilst most of daily life is governed by the rules of the surrounding society. The problems arise when the two worlds collide, when the non-Muslim society is forced to confront an Islamic reality and the schizophrenic Muslim is forced to take sides openly. More often than not he will choose to defend the “values” of the society he supports and distance himself from the values of Islam, perceived as outlandish or extreme. Islam only serves his purpose where it is of direct benefit, not when it gives rise to conflict.

Surah al-Hajj (22), ayāt 11-13: “And amongst people is he who serves Allah borderline, so if good befalls him, he is content with it, and if a trial befalls him, he turns away; he has lost the world and the hereafter – that is the clear loss. He calls besides Allah on what does neither harm nor benefit him – that is the extensive error. He calls on whose harm is more likely than his benefit – a bad protector and a bad friend.”

The ayāt neatly sum up the state of a large portion of Muslims today, explaining their apparent lack of effectiveness and inability to act. Unlike hypocrisy, which is a disease of the heart, the current state of Muslims is characterised by a confusion of the mind. Having lived in the West all their lives, or aspiring to live there, Muslim minds have been colonised by the West. Without a prior decolonisation of the mind liberation is improbable.

Amongst the Muslims socialised in the West some later embrace secularism completely, others continue to practice Islam to a greater or lesser degree. These soon learn to make excuses for why they do not permit the social and political demands of their faith to spur them to action: We have to work through the political process, we have to act from a position of strength, we can only make a difference when we have obtained a position within society, there is nothing the powerless can do but pray. The list goes on. At each stage, there is another hurdle to be overcome before conscience catches up. The time, it seems, is never quite right. In fact, events which mandate action are inconvenient. Why did they have to provoke war when there were other avenues open to them?

Surah an-Nisa’ (4), ayah 75: “And what is the matter with you that you do not fight in the way of Allah and for the weak amongst the men and women and children who say: our Lord, take us out from this town of wrongdoing people and assign us a protector from You and assign us a helper from You?”

Of course, there are valid excuses. Ayāt 98 and 99 of the same Surah state: “Except those who are weak amongst men, women and children and cannot do anything nor find a way. Those Allah may let off, and Allah is lenient, forgiving.” And Surah a-Taubah (9) ayah 91: “There is no blame on the weak nor the ill nor those who do not find anything to spend if they are sincere to Allah and His messenger. There is no way against those who do good, and Allah is forgiving and merciful.“

However, it puts us to shame collectively when a feeble female pensioner has more courage than a strong young Muslim man by risking arrest in order to protest the proscription of Palestine Action, a direct action group, again, more often than not supported by other than Muslims.

Hijrah is to move away from corrupting evil to a place where faith can flourish. The alternative is jihad by deed or word. It can never be acquiescence.

According to Hadith, the best form of jihad is to speak a word of truth in front of an oppressive ruler. Speaking truth to power, not trying to attain power before speaking the truth.

In recent years the term Resistance has gained widespread currency. Resistance means to oppose oppression, to stand up against injustice, to refuse the status quo, to refuse to normalise what is an affront to the human conscience. In the absence of a “state of Islam”, Islamic rule, a society guided and run by Islamic values, resistance is an obligation on Muslims. Those who do not resist falsehood are amongst its enablers. Not challenging a false narrative means silently promoting it.

As I noted in Conceptual Islam: “Like Moses, we have grown up in the dazzling world of Pharaoh’s magicians. Like Moses, we are suspicious of its pronouncements. But unlike Moses, we are unable to challenge their magic since we try to compete with them or beat them at their own game rather than expose and diminish the falsehood of their imposing achievement. Modern-day magic is not conjured by sticks and ropes, it is conveyed through words and images. Words are powerful, be they those of revelation or those of deception. Yet the two are not equal – one swallows up the other. Beating the swindler at his own game, therefore, is impossible and merely turns us all into pretenders.”

As our beloved prophet Muhammad, peace be with him, taught us: “Whoever of you sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand, and if he cannot do so, with his tongue, and if he cannot do so, with his heart – and that is the weakest of faith.” (Sahih Muslim, narrated by Abu Sa’id al-Khudri)

Looking around it appears that most Muslims today struggle to even hold on that weakest form of faith, where their hearts have grown so accustomed to the trappings of this world that they struggle to genuinely wish for change or even resent that change due to the sacrifices demanded of them in the process.

On the other end of the scale there is direct action: changing the status quo by our own hands. Only a few have risen to that level of commitment. However, all of us should have the courage to speak up and demand justice.

The disease plaguing the Muslim Ummah is not incurable. For the Ummah to heal, its constituents, individual Muslims, must heal and attune their hearts to the truth, purify their intentions and long for the truth to be established, cherishing the company, if only spiritually, of those who fight in Allah’s cause. There should be no hesitation of any kind when asked which side we are on in the current battle between freedom and oppression.

Collectively, the Ummah has lost its moral compass as a result of generational colonial conditioning. Three years of Gaza genocide broadcast live have not solicited a collective response. Nor has the suffering of Muslims in Sudan, Burma, Syria and countless other places. The suffering of Muslims around the world was not mentioned in a single word in the Khutbah at Arafat during this year’s Hajj, the one day when the gates for granting prayers are open (the crown prince got a mention, of course). Our situation today is akin to that when the crusaders occupied Palestine before Salahuddin al-Ayubi took charge. We may long for another strong leader or even the Mahdi, but the reality is that a competent leader also needs competent followers, which brings us back to the individual else we are in the same category as the Israelites who stubbornly defied Musa, peace be upon him:

Surah al-Ma’idah (25), aya 24: ”They said, oh Musa (Moses), we will never enter it while they are in it, so go you and your Lord and fight, we will stay here.”

Part of the problem is how Islam is taught today as a set of rituals, rules and regulations without first inculcating in the believers the guiding principles of their faith: the balance or equilibrium we are tasked to establish and maintain in our society and environment, the guardianship we were given which urges us to act responsibly, the justice which gives the law its purpose and cause.

Another stumbling block is the resurgence of tribalism in the guise of nation states with artificial borders drawn by former colonisers. These nations now compete with and even fight each other, dispensing with the sense of belonging to a single Ummah which, in the words of the prophet Muhammad, peace be with him:

“The likeness of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.” (related by al-Nu’man ibn Bashir in Bukhari and Muslim).

Of course, belonging to a family, a clan, a tribe, forms part of our identity, as the Qur’an states in Surah al-Hujurat (49), aya 13: “Oh mankind, We have created you from male and female and made you into clans and tribes so that you know each other. The most honoured amongst you before Allah is the most aware (of Him) amongst you, for Allah is knowing and informed.“

However, often we find the same tribe divided by an arbitrary national border and being indoctrinated to cherish their national identity above their natural belonging.

And then there is the internet which allows us to clear our conscience by leaving a comment here and there without ever having to get involved in the real-world battles between truth and falsehood whilst fooling ourselves that we are actively making a difference. Virtual Islam is probably the greatest impediment to the Ummah making progress and throwing off the shackles of control preventing it from advancing towards the destiny Allah has decreed for us:

Surah al-Imran (3), aya 10: “You are the best community brought forth for mankind: you command good conduct and forbid wrongdoing and believe in Allah…”

The qualitative superiority of the believer stems from the fact that (s)he stands up for what is right and stands in the way of wrongdoing thereby benefiting others and mankind at large. The healing process, therefore, begins with reflection and introspection: whom do we actually benefit, what side are we on, what can and can’t we do, what prevents us from doing what we could have done.

Focused individuals produce dynamic communities which work together to build a more equitable society. Throughout history, Palestine has been a barometer of whether Allah is pleased with His people. May Allah revive the Ummah and return Palestine to it, expelling the cancer that has spread within it. Palestinians have sacrificed and suffered so that the Ummah may heal. When we join the resistance, we do not help Palestine, we finally heed the call of Palestine to free ourselves.

Sahib Mustaqim Bleher was a founder member of the Islamic Party of Britain and served as its general secretary and education spokesman as well as editor of the party magazine ‘Common Sense’. He is a professor of applied linguistics and translation and works as a commercial translator and interpreter through his own translation company in the UK.  Amongst his work are the adaptations of the Qur’an translations of Muhammad Pickthall and Yusuf Ali into modern English and his own Qur’an translation into “plain English”, all published by IDCI in Birmingham.