booke

al-isl§m and al-Êm§n 67Until now, we have not gotten our priorities right. Absolute priorityis given to things that are, in fact, of minor importance, as a resultof which we let the top priorities slip into second place. Inexplicably,we have given absolute priority to the pillars of al-Êm§n rather thanto the pillars of al-isl§m, resulting in our minds being completelypreoccupied with the most insignificant details of ritual performances.A slip in the fast during Ramadan is to us more scandalous than thewidespread corruption in our society, and the question of how tomake up for a missed prayer is given more attention that the questionof how to stop the fraud and deceit that cripple our societiesand make life unbearable.Islamic Revival ( al-ßaÈwa al-isl§miyya) and the Reawakening of Faith( al-ßaÈwa al-Êm§niyya)Once we have accepted that al-isl§m is the natural religion of allhuman beings (dÊn al-fiãra), enjoying universal validity and applicability,we are able to sustain a true Islamic revival. The following observationswill help the reader to understand why the implementationof al-isl§m—a proper Islamic revival—will be beneficial to all societies.Since al-isl§m means wealth and welfare ( al-isl§m bi’l-khayr) for everyone,we observe that in every society on this globe:–––Employment is higher than unemployment. This shows thathuman societies advocate a culture of work ethics, a commitmentto labour, and striving for the better. The concept ofpredestination and fatalism by which individuals’ lives are onceand for all predetermined is utterly un-Islamic.Health care and medical treatment are provided in order toprolong life and sustain health. The thought that each individual’slife span has been predetermined, that the duration oflife should not be ‘artificially’ prolonged by medicine, is fundamentallyun-Islamic.The fight for justice is essential for the proper functioning ofhuman societies. The existence of fraud and deceit underminesthe social and moral fabric of society and, hence, committingthese things is relatively heavily sanctioned by the legal systemsof most countries.