Continued acts of global terrorism by militants in the name of Islam, questions have been raised and charges made regarding the relationship of Islam to religious extremism, violence, suicide bombing and terrorism. A common question often raised is: Why haven’t more Muslims, especially Muslim religious leaders, spoken out and aggressively condemned the acts of terrorism?

The relationship of Islam to extremism and terrorism, at home and abroad, remains critical in the twenty-first century.

Islam, the religion of tolerance, holds the human soul in high esteem, and considers the attack against innocent human beings a grave sin; this is backed by the Qur’anic verse which reads: ‘Whoever kills a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and who so ever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind’. [Qur'an 5:32]. . .

We should understand the gravity of current time as it is revealed and mentioned in many revelations, this period of time named as Dour-e-Fitan, a time of serious distress and religious ignorance.

We have turned away from Teachings of Allah (SWT) and the teachings of The Holy Prophet (ﷺ). The whole world suffers from shame and humiliation. There is a trend of misleading, ignorance, insurgency, bloodshed and dissatisfaction that rules most of the Muslim countries around the world. This is a result of our actions. In this verse Allah (SWT) clarified our worst state of affairs.

سَتَکُوْنُ فِتَنٌ يصْبِحُ الرَّجُلَ فِيها مُؤْمِناً وَّ يمْسِي کَافِراً اِلَّا مَنْ اَحْياه الله بِالْعِلْمِ

(ابن ماجه، السنن، کتاب الفتن، 2 / 1305، رقم الحديث: 3954)

Soon there will be many fitnahs in which a person will be Muslim in the morning and non-Muslim in the evening, except a person whom ALLAH saves through knowledge.

The above Ahadith mentions the reasons of the current time of distress and also describe the path of Salvation. Surah Nahal verse number: 112 accentuates that appreciating ALLAH’s blessings increases His generosity. We have to repent for being ungrateful and disobedient. According to the Ahadith there are two acts that are the path of salvation.

1. Struggle to spread knowledge and awareness. (اِلَّا مَنْ اَحْيا ه الله بِالْعِلْمِ)

2. Propagation calls towards the Truth. (لَتَاْمُرُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوْفِ وَلَتَنْهوُنَّ عَنِ الْمُنْکَرِ)

Those who have knowledge and those who struggle to order others to do good deeds and avoid sins can save their faith in the time of fitnah. So, only the struggle which is based upon the correct knowledge can be successful. Struggle with ignorance and misguidance cannot protect the faith.

Minhaj Ul Quran invites you to meditate, because if we want to protect our and our next generation’s Iman in this time of fitnah, we must struggle for Amr-Bil-Maroof Wa Nahi ‘Anil-Munkar (order for acknowledged virtues and forbid from sins) in the light of knowledge.

To eradicate this catastrophic situation we need a demanding struggle, this effort can be on two levels,

1. National or International Level
2. Individual or Personal Level

This struggle is more effective on a collective level rather than individual. ALLAH (SWT) says:

وَلْتَكُنْ مِّنْكُمْ أمَّة يَّدْعُوْنَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأمُرُوْنَ بِالْمَعْرُوْفِ وَيَنْهوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ ^ج وَأولَـٰئِكَ همُ الْمُفْلِحُوْنَ –

(آل عمران، 3 : 104)

And from amongst you there must be a community comprising the people who invite mankind towards piety, enjoin righteousness and forbid evil. And they are the successful people.

Describing the benefit of collective struggle, The Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

لَا يَجْمَعُ الله هٰذِه الْاُمَّة عَلَى الضَّلَالَة اَبَدًا، يدُ الله عَلَى الْجَمَاعَة فَاتَّبِعُوْا السَّوَادَ الْاَعْظَمَ فَاِنَّه مَنْ شَذَّ شُذَّ فِى النَّارِ-

(حاکم، المستدرک، 1 / 99، رقم الحديث، 391)

We as Muslim Ummah suffering from this big calamity of Terrorism, extremism and rigidness, Minhaj Ul Quran International Launched Peace Education Program Through (On Field Courses) and (Online Courses) . We hope that this struggle will bring real change in the Societies of Muslims.