Capitalism Stops People From Thinking

Imaad Al-Islam

First, he spent seven days buried alive. Then he was encased for 58 hours in a six-tonne block of ice. Third in the list was a 34-hour endurance stunt - standing at the top of an 80-foot pole in New York. As if sanity had not already been redefined, the final feat to-date is a self-imposed regime of fasting for 44 days, suspended in a 7 square-foot Perspex box above the river Thames. As celebrity magician David Blaine continues in his spree of daring acts, numerous questions are posed about this stunt such as ?Why is he doing this?? or ?How long will he last?? and ?Will he succeed??. People find it entertaining to speculate about what will happen to him, and many have taken the time to actually visit the site of the stunt, merely to watch him sit in a box, doing nothing. Some people have taken their interest in him further and, thus far, Blaine has had golf balls, eggs and bananas tossed at his box, a burger flown up to him in a remote-controlled helicopter, laser-pointers shone onto him and he has even been flashed at by female spectators! Even a website has been used as a discussion point on ways of harassing the 30-year-old illusionist who has also become a hot subject at the bookies!

In reality, this stunt serves no more purpose than any other form of entertainment in the West. It has become trivial to see book after book, movie after movie and game after game being released into the market to constantly consume the attention of society, without the danger of this being realised by the people. So for example, with the hype of the blockbuster film ?Lord of the Rings I? not over, we saw the attentions of the people focus on its sequel ?Lord of the Rings II?. And without the hype surrounding that subsiding, we all now await the final in the trilogy, ?Lord of the Rings III?! It seems as if children will be forever living in a dream world, asking where characters such as ?Frodo Baggins? come from, and never have the time to ask important questions such as ?Where did I come from??

With the numerous books launched such as ‘Harry Potter’, the seemingly endless plethora of music releases, the multitude of channels on satellite and cable, it is only inevitable that people will have little time or interest in thinking about the more serious issues in life. They will be content in merely living in an unreal world. Additionally, the role models for people have also become characters from the entertainment world. People are obsessed with sports personalities like David Beckham, or musical personalities like 50 Cent or Jennifer Lopez. And if televisions, books and music were not enough to be occupying their minds, there is a whole world of sport waiting to pounce. Football, Cricket and Rugby, amongst others, are to be played, watched, and endlessly talked about with a passion that would almost equate them to a religion!

This constant preoccupation with entertainment in the West forces the mind to divert its attention away from the miseries of life and society. For example, it comes as a breath of fresh air for a people who have become sick of hearing about the Hutton inquiry and how the Government misled them into war with Iraq. And it allows people to forget about the worrying crime rates and the failing public infrastructure such as the NHS or the rail system. It allows the people to focus away from reflecting on why the problems they witness in everyday society occur, or why people in responsibility are unable to deal with them. It is tragic that people are addicted to attaining sensory gratification through entertainment, which keeps them from asking the fundamental questions in life.

These are but a few examples of distractions provided for people under Capitalism, where irrelevance replaces the most basic and necessary of questions such as ?How did I get here??, ?Who created me?? and ?What is my purpose in life??. Capitalism does not encourage such a high level of thinking, and the reality reveals that people believe and follow the mainstream ideas about life blindly, without sincere questioning them. Capitalism promotes the idea of secularism, the detachment of religion from life, which considers thoughts about the origins of life, and the hereafter to be personal thoughts, having no bearing in life. The preponderant idea in society has become ‘atheism’, which has been arrived at by trusting scientists and theories based on conjecture, irrational thought and an agenda to disprove Gods existence at all costs. In addition to the bombardment of media resources reinforcing these ideas, there is the almost fearful idea that man has ‘one life’ and ‘one chance’ to fully enjoy himself. The end-result is a society whose people are far from ?superior and civilised?, but instead preoccupied with trying to enjoy the short life they have, even though it is surrounded by misery, confusion and darkness.

On the other hand, Islam produces a society that is clear upon the Truth and which does not struggle to answer the most basic of questions that humans naturally demand answers for. Islam began by explaining the basis of life. It answered by stating that man and the universe are created, they did not appear at all by themselves. It stated that man has a purpose in this life, and that is to believe in Allah (SWT) and to remain obedient to His laws and commands. This life’s purpose is a test for man, for which he will duly be compensated in full on the Day of Reckoning. On that day he will learn whether he will be rewarded with Heaven, or punished in Hell. Islam also told us that the life of the hereafter is for eternity, whilst the present life is momentary. With these most basic, profound and necessary concepts man has a very particular view and goal of things in life. For a start he would not see the need in pursuing a life of sensory gratification, in the fear that life is short and death is final. Rather, pleasure for him is now directed by attaining the pleasure of his Creator, Allah (SWT), because ultimately the next life is where he will spend eternity, not this momentary life.

Hence, for the purpose of pleasure the Muslim will engage in good deeds, and personal worship (ibadat). Islamic scholars and Muslims of the past remembered the Prophet (SAW) through poems such as ?Al-kawaakib ad-durriya fi madh khair al-bariyya? (?The Poem of the Cloak?) by Imam Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Sa?id Al-Busiri. Others dedicated their lives to dawah, and facilitated it by trade. As a result, the whole of Indonesia was opened to Islam via Muslim traders. Others studied the sciences, medicine and astronomy to ease life’s problems for people. Many inventions such as mobile hospitals, heated public baths and surgical techniques originate from the Islamic history. The Muslims under the Islamic State did not view their daily actions as a chore, waiting for their day of rest in which they could further their pleasures. Rather they viewed all their actions, at home and at work, as worship. Additionally they viewed society and its problems as their personal responsibility. They were a politically active society, ensuring that the rulers ruled by Islam and its wisdom, and that the judges judged by Islam and its justice. Far from wanting to run from the problems of society, they made it the focus of their attention.

As for the Muslim youth under the Islamic State, they were a youth quite unlike western youth. They were a youth that were neither inebriated with alcohol, nor obsessed with irrelevant distractions in life. Being convinced about their purpose in life, and being unaware of their time in this world, they set about doing actions that would earn them the pleasure and reward of their Creator. Their role models were the scholars and the Mujahideen, and they would yearn to take responsibility and matured fast in life. Some of the most famous scholars in the Islamic history, such as Al Imam al Azam Abu Hanifah, were acknowledged to be scholars whilst still in their teens. Other youth were characterised with such qualities of leadership, and possessed such courage and valour, that entire armies were put at under their leadership. The Prophet (SAW) appointed Usama bin Zaid at the head of a powerful army, under whom many of the future Khulafah fought. Usama was a highly capable and effective military commander of the Muslim army. Yet he was just seventeen years old at the time, supposedly a child in western terms!

This is the difference between an Islamic society, and a western society. One is fully aware of the reality of life and its purpose, and is desperately trying to achieve success in the hereafter. Whilst the other lives life blindly, unaware of life’s meaning and trying to gain as much pleasure as it can from the short period in this world.

As Muslims living in Britain, we must exemplify the elevated level of thought and behaviour that Islam requires of us. We must be the standard bearers of the Islamic personality, and carry the dawa of Islam to people of this society, who have been nurtured to give up thought for pleasure. We have to take it upon ourselves to present the reality of the western way of life as it really is, without the smokescreen, gloss and spin that is presented in the media.

Additionally, working in unison with the dawa carriers in the Muslim world, Muslims in Britain can make a positive impact in altering the realities in the Muslim lands. Today Muslim lands exist, the Ummah exists, but the rules and systems that govern us are non-Islamic. These regimes teach the same mindless sensory gratification that the West teaches. By working for change with our brothers in the Muslim world, we can facilitate the removal of these non-Islamic systems, and the re-establishment of the Islamic State, the Khilafah. This state will fulfil the mercy and guidance of Islam, and open the world’s eyes to the reality of life and its real purpose.

Published Monday, September 29th, 2003 - 09:06pm GMT

Imaad Al-Islam writes for 1924.org

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Imaad Al-Islam

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