The Declaration
The Mecca Declaration is not the voice of the Muslim political leaders—poor Muslims as many of them are in their individual capacities. It’ is the voice of Islam and Muslims. It is as if the sentiments of the Muslims the world over have crept in stealthily to speak out the words their leaders signed under. It is as if the pain, the anguish, the frustrations and the hopes and fears of their masses the leaders could no longer suppress and involuntarily gave vent to them. They must have been under some kind of spell to say:
“We, the Kings, Presidents, Emirs and Heads of Government …. bow in gratitude . to Allah, the Almighty, Who has, in His Infinite Grace, enabled us to congregate in this Sacred City. “
Clearly it requires nothing less than a spell for Kings and Presidents to say that. And, as if this bowing of heads and paying of homage did not satisfy them, they went on to declare :
“We consider that the innate qualities of the Muslim ummah point the way to unity and solidarity, to progress through the Book of God and the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). In them can be found a complete way of life, leading us, guiding us along the path of goodness, righteousness and salvation. “
Look at these words again. They are not the words of Kings and Presidents who take delight in dictating their own ways and not that of the Book of God and the sunnah of the Prophet. And make note of the following words too :
“Taking note of the present state of international relations, which are characterised by the evils of bigotry and racism, dominated by the rule of force and the arms-race, by greed and injustice, colonialism and exploitation of weak nations, factors which threaten our civilization and disturb social and material equilibrium of the world, desirous of seeing that the forces of good throughout the world establish the human values of fraternity, humanity and justice; we call upon all states and peoples of the world to rebuild it anew, through sincere and concerted efforts, so that peace may prevail and conflicts and wars may be avoided. We call for the disputes to be settled peacefully, and for relations to be conducted constructively, for man’s capacities to be harnessed in the service of humanity instead of having wasted in a race for the acquisition of armaments and of weapons of death and destruction. Should this come to pass, justice would prevail and human relations would be established on the basis of equality, and not on the basis of discrimination and injustice. Thus would the oppressed people of the earth be liberated; thus would they avoid the mischief of war-mongers; thus would mankind be blessed with peace, and basic human rights be once again triumphant. “
Listen to this voice carefully. It is not the voice of Muslim political leaders. Surely not ! It is the voice of Islam.
“Pious but empty words” it will be said derisively ” Pious? ! ” Yes, we say. And we are rather proud of them- But not “empty”. Definitely not. You have to be biased to deny the spirit that pervades the Declaration through and through. And it is this spirit which counts and lends weight to words. No ! It is not the ‘act’ that goes with the word—the 3 billion aid-fund, the IDB, the centre for scientific studies, the grain godowns for emergencies, etc. These do not lend weight to the words. It is the spirit, the sincerity, the willingness to “believe and be righteous”. This spirit is there. Surely it is!
And, as long as the spirit is there, the “promise” is there too. No power on earth can alter that rule. The promise that the rulers have remembered and reminded :
Allah hath promised such of you as believe and do good works that He will surely make them to succeed (the present rulers) in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed, and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He hath approved for them, and will give them in exchange safety after their fear. They serve Me. They ascribe nothing as partner unto me. Those who disbelieve henceforth, they are the miscreants.
So while the world chooses to deride and grin, we choose to strive-to strengthen the spirit. No ! Not even the establishment of the “Kingdom of God” is our undertaking. Even that is an earthly purpose in the eye of Islam. We strive to create the spirit. The spirit of the believer in Islam who wants nothing but the recognition of right as right, of wrong as wrong, of just as just and of unjust as unjust. We know that the world expects this spirit to frustrate and die. Well I To that we can say nothing. We do not know what tomorrow has in store for us and for the world. To strive we consider our duty; success or failure is in the hands of God. So strive we shall and collect our wages in the evening.
