What Are the Arabs Without Islam? By al-Ustaath Sayyid Qutb

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

By al-Ustaath Sayyid Qutb

...The third aspect the event refers to concerns the reality
of the Arabian situation at the time. The Arabs did not have any role to
play on the face of the earth; they did not have an identity of their
own before Islam. In the Yemen they were subjugated by either the
Persians or the Abyssinians. If they had any government of their own it
was under the protection of the Persians. In the north, Syria was
subject to the Byzantine rule which was either direct or in the shape of
an Arab government under the protection of the Byzantines. Only the
heartland of the Arabian Peninsula escaped foreign rule. But this also
was in a state of tribalism and division which deprived it of any weight
in world power politics. Tribal war could drag on for forty years or
morel but neither individually nor as a group did these tribes count as a
power in the eyes of the neighbouring mighty empires. What happened
with regard to the "Elephant" aggression was a correct assessment of the
real force of these tribes when faced with a foreign aggressor.
Under Islam the Arabs had, for the first time in history, an
international role to play. They also had a powerful state to be taken
into consideration by the world powers. They possessed a sweeping force
that destroys thrones, conquers empires, and brings down the false,
deviating and ignorant readerships in order to take over the leadership
of mankind. But what facilitated these achievements for the Arabs for
the first time in their history was that they forgot their Arabism. They
forgot the racial urges and fanaticism. They remembered that they were
Muslims, and Muslims only. They carried the message of a forceful and
allcomprehensive faith, which they delivered to humanity with mercy and
compassion. They did not uphold any sort of nationalism or factionalism.
They were the exponents of a Divine idea which gives mankind a Divine,
not earthly, doctrine to be applied as a way of life. They left their
homes to struggle for the cause of Allah alone. They were not after the
establishment of an Arab-empire under which they may live in luxury and
conceit. Their aim was not to subjugate other nations to their own rule
after freeing them from the rule of the Byzantines or the Persians. It
was an aim clearly defined by Rabaie ibn Amir, the Muslims' messenger to
the Persian commander, when he said in the latter's headquarters:
"Allah ordered us to set out in order to save humanity from the worship
of creatures and bring it to the worship of Allah alone, to save it from
the narrowness of this life so that it may look forward to the
broadness of the life hereafter, and from the oppression of other
religions so that it may enjoy the justice of Islam".
Then and only then, did the Arabs have an identity, a power and a
leadership. But all of these were devoted to Allah alone. They
possessed their power and leadership as long as they followed the right
path. But when they deviated and followed their narrow nationalistic
ideas, and when they substituted for the banner of Islam that of
factional bonds, they came under subjugation by other nations. For Allah
deserted them whenever they deserted Him; He neglected them as they
neglected Him.
What are the Arabs without Islam? What is the ideology that they
gave, or they can give to humanity if they abandon Islam? What value can
a nation have without an ideology which it may present to mankind?
Every nation which assumed the leadership of humanity in any period of
history advanced an ideology. Nations which did not, such as the Tartars
who swept over the east, or the Berbers who crushed the Roman Empire in
the west, could not survive for long. They were assimilated by the
nations they conquered. The only ideology the Arabs advanced for mankind
was the Islamic faith which raised them to the position of human
leadership. If they forsake it they will no longer have any function or
role to play in human history.
The Arabs should remember this well if they want to live and to
be powerful and to assume the leadership of mankind. It is Allah who
provides guidance for us lest we go astray.

Courtesy Of: Islaam.com

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