Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim
Human being is caught within dogged loyalty and experiential choice the details of which gives him freedom and conditional reproach against selection of habits and undertakings. Between these extremes, his guidance comes in the level of intellectual
over and above all other creatures. The choice theory, though selective, defines where he belongs in the pedestal of success or otherwise in all ramifications. To this end, Allah (SubhanaHu Wa Ta'ala (SWT)) rhetorically puts to test man's intelligence, with unfounded and decided premise to which man takes priority. "Is then one who walks headlong, with his face grovelling, better guided, or one who walks evenly on a straight way? (Qur'an 67:22)." He is a lucky specie on the long run. Glory be to Allah in this respect and for the sustenance. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the noble Messenger Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam (SAW)) and his entire followers of truth till eternity.
The last edition in this forum treated us to several capable ways through which a Muslim's religious reward could be nullified. They all bother on human actions and reactions to which his interaction is direceted. In this edition, attention would be drawn to some factors responsible for why we remain where we are despite all efforts to excel in matters of mundane and spiritual. Taken that all actions of a Muslim is considered act of worship; heaven-directed worship and human-directed worship (Ibadatu Ilahiyyah and Ibadatu Khalqiyyah), most of them are capable of attracting recognition. Part of what gave the earlier Muslims (Sahabah in particular) the unequal position of honour is their ever-readiness to address life challenges with worship approach. Various forms of Adhkar (remembrance of Allah) never vacate their mind and pronounced with their mouth. Popular among this series of Adhkar is domiciled in warding off all machinations and drawing to themselves the underlining benefits at all time. To serve this purpose whenever they were confronted with a matter that appear ambiguous they always chant: 'Allahumma adra'u biKa min nuhuriha wa a'udhu biKa min shururiha', meaning: 'I seek Your protection from its eventuality and I seek Your refuge from its evil.'
In human circle the most dreaded situation is poverty...! What is poverty in the first place and what it is not? Poverty-minor of course, is the inability to measure up in terms of life security like feeding, clothing and shelter. Poverty in the major premise concerned in this edition is dearth of ideas, initiatives and clues which confound a man to inherent dogmatism التقليديةالفسد ة). This informs the Whiteman poser which portrays blackman as symbolic to poverty, mental infirmity, laziness, emotional incompetence and possible doing everything to his stupidity...! This edition may not intend to cast aspersion on anyone though, the manner of mentality capable of sustaining the creatures in this part of the clime is the watchword. This is not only peculiar to any religious formation, but the point of concern is for blackman to come out of his shell to pursue life challenges with great assertion necessary for corroborative achievements.
Professor Muhibuddin Opeloye, a veteran and reputable academic scholar of comparative religions long time ago asserted that: 'Muslims in this part of the clime are best described as 'Qur'an-intoxicated set of people', a view which had since been disproved by any scholarly postulation. The ground which this assertion gains include: I. Too much susceptibility to sentiment II. Selective morron tendency that opens them to condemn others, and III. Lack of moral courage as against cultivation of moral hypocrisy. These factors overt or covertly subject them to: I. being at the receiving end of plots and onslaughts from others. II. Being at the level of staging reactive protest which to a large extent hold no water. III. De-legitimizing those who refuse or stand on their way of such protest even if he is loyal to their course. IV. Ignoring others but fighting their course all alone. V. Under-reporting situations that pitch them, and VI. Blameless instinct cultivation. All these are mostly responsible for being where we are presently in the socio-political and religious terrain of the land.
To address these anomalies, lines of thought closer to right-thinking emanting from insiders who by all standards is involved in efforts to emplace dynamics in this socio-religious circle is deployed here for possible digestion. This involves the bid for re-conceptualization for development includes but not limited to: I. Pursueing and prioritizing knowledge of worth with open mind to develop. العلم يعلو ولا يعلى عليه meaning 'knowledge is capable of projecting man and it is not subjectible'. II. It is in the same manner that knowledge and wisdom are indispensable two sides of a coin and should be worked towards without anyone trampling on another. الحكمة ضالة المؤمن، حيثما وجدها اخذها. 'knowledge is a lost treasure of a believer, anywhere he finds it he amasses it.' As lucille as this statement appears, knowledge is cultivated through learning while wisdom is come-by only through observation, service and benefiting humanity.
III. Another factor in the house of re-conceptualization for development is posing for revolving and passing down the knowledge so far acquired to others. The noble Messenger (SAW) placed in record that: 'خيركم من تعلم القران وعلمه' meaning: 'The best of you men is he who learns the Qur'an and teaches it to others.' This is, however, contemporized to other forms of knowledge of worth from martial arts to farming methods. This invariable gives ovation to item IV which is lending one's efforts in good service to others. The power of sacrifice for others remains unquantifiable.
V. Being forward-looking in all aspects of human endeavour is a priority. This has to do with having a role model whose actions, reactions, mentorship and exhortations are followed as long as he remains on the genuine way. VI. Exploring more avenues for benefitting knowledge. It might be a form of repeating and revising what is acquired but also impacting same unto others. To this end, the Glorious Qur'an gives an underlining benefit of this factor when it says 'وفوق كل ذي علم عليم' meaning: 'Far on top of every knowledgeable is a continual seeker of knowledge (Qur'an 12:76).' In fact, a Veteran Mufassir in Okeho, Late Alhaji Ahmad Saruq Adedaresile (of blessed memory) used to interprete this verse as 'Gbogbo Ajitokewu, oga ni yoo maa je fun onimimo.' This shows 'a knowledge acquired but not utilized is likened unto a jwelry inside the canament whose beauty would remain unappreciated.
VII. Adaptive or convertible course taken to enhance more relevance in human circle is very important. A good instance is where you have been fed with more than enough foundational stuff. A new form of knowledge coming to your environment would only take you some little efforts to blend and gain more relevance in the scheme of things. Else, where do you want to be when the usefulness of your stuff eventually disappears? VIII. The last factor spells the main benefit of being visionary. A new Institution has new focus and it serves better to find a way of plugging into its focus to remain evergreen relevant. If it needs going back to the basis, it is a worthy undertaking.
IX. Time management and time wastage is another means of re-conceptualization bid for development. As part of three principalities whose intricacies debar progress i.e time wastage, argument and unnecessary jealous, slugging it out against them prides man as a worthy creature. X. Heritage preservation always serves in perpetuating family and cultural valour the absence of which renders man not only useless but also subservient to others. To this end, the popular line of poetry comes to the fore saying: 'خير الناس ذو نسب قديم # يقيم لنفسه نسبا جديدا meaning: 'The worth of a man is measured not only in meeting a legacy; rather his ability to preserve such and more honour cultivated.'
XI. In fact, what makes up for sporadic development across the climes is being receptive to knowledge of worth from whichever corner. 'There seems to be neither Eastern nor Western face to knowledge', the approach to its exploration and maximum utilization becomes essential. This taken along XII. Power of Taqwa (piety) which should strike at the bottom line of every human endeavour where development is considered. XIII. Here lies the final approach which is power of prayer as an unfailing generator. It is fervently hoped that if these are taken into proper consideration, the development of individuals and society in general around the corner economically, socially, politically and religiously as well will be achieved. We shall meet again in the second part of the topic, In Sha'a Allah.
#UNDERDEVELOPMENT
#REASONS ADVANCED
#RE-CONCEPTUALIZATION
DR. RAZAQ BOLAWAYE UTHMAN, IMAM & MISSIONER ANSAR-UD-DEEN SOCIETY OF NIGERIA IPAJA BRANCH LAGOS STATE NIGERIA. ©2025 https://www.slaipaclass.com
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