Time to stand up and take ownership of our condition

O you who have attained to faith! If you ever abandon your faith," God will in time bring forth [in your stead] people whom He loves and who love Him - humble towards the believers, proud towards all who deny the truth: [people] who strive hard in God's cause, and do not fear to be censured by anyone who might censure them: such is God's favour, which He grants unto whom He wills. And God is infinite, all-knowing.
[Al-Qur’an Chapter 5, verse 54]

It is probably for the first time that a president of USA has acknowledged the presence and indeed the relevance of the Muslim community in the USA (and in the world). President Barack Obama, in his inaugural speech said “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace”.
Further he was the first one to offer the Muslim world a hand of friendship, as equals “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”
This is indeed a moment of introspection for the Muslim community. We have, in a short span of less than about four hundred years, managed to fall from being the most powerful and richest community in the world, to the poorest, helpless and pathetic community in the world. Our people are dying of hunger, poverty and helplessness all over the world. More Muslims die at the hand of other Muslims than by any other community. Our women and children are helpless and at the mercy of the elements out of our control. When an earthquake devastates our areas, we look to others with begging eyes, hopeful that they will throw a few pieces our way. Our community lacks in education, knowledge and understanding (hikmah) of how the world works. Our leaders are the most corrupt and most self serving in the world. When a person musters enough courage to call our leaders to their duties as per Islam, they are brutally tortured and killed and rests of us are silent onlookers.
And yet when any misfortune befalls us, we are quick to point fingers at others. The Palestinian issue was a problem due to Israel and USA and Europe, even though right from 1946, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and even Saudi Arabia have only used this issue to flash their credentials as ‘leaders of the Islamic World’, failing miserably even at that.The ‘misfortunes’ of Pakistan is due to India, even though, right from the day it was formed, Pakistan failed to unite as a country. The Punjabis were always at loggerheads with the Sindhis. When a Bengali, sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman won the elections in 1970, the ‘western Pakistanis’ (mainly Sindhis and Punjabis) preferred to let the country break than to hand over power to an ‘outsider’. Similarly the people of the frontier areas were always too ‘backward’ for their taste rather than being considered as brothers and providing them an equal share in the resources. And to this day there is a fierce debate whether to consider the shariah as the basis of the constitution. Meanwhile, the Kashmiri movements, as the Al Qaeda related movements elsewhere, have readily adopted the practice of specifically targeting and killing unarmed civilians even though this was specifically prohibited. Bangladesh and Pakistan feature among the most corrupt nations in the world, but when asked, they blame that India is conspiring with the west to make them corrupt and poor. When India was trying to develop its own industries and military, Pakistan and Bangladesh, along with almost all other Muslim nations, were heavily dependent on the west for funds (hand downs) and almost all of its good.Saudi Arabia was the most blessed nation in the world; being blessed with the most amazing natural resources in the world. And what did they do with that? They proceeded to invite the west to drill for oils in their lands and ship crude to all over the world while they relaxed to enjoy their commissions out of the work done by others. They were rolling around in wealth yet they continued to be among the most uneducated societies in the world. They had a chance to lead the Muslim world back into prominence and all they did was lead them into darkness. One citizen of KSA famously told a friend of mine from India “even though we have all this wealth, you are luckier than any of us, since if we even have to fix a screw we have to call guys from outside and keep them on hefty salaries just for that; whereas India, with all its poverty, at least has the ability to fix its own problems”.
It is time we Muslims start taking ownership of our problems. We need to stop thinking in terms of Arabs, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, etc and start tackling our problems as Muslims. And we need to remember that we are the cause of our problems, and the solutions too have to come from within us.
Moreover we need to remember, USA is not going to change its foreign policy just because some irrelevant Muslim country feels bad about it. USA will not turn into an enemy of the Zionist government of Israel, just because it feels bad about a few thousand Palestinians were massacred in their homes. But we Muslims, united as one Ummah, hold sufficient sway as to be able to force USA to be an equitable friend of Israel, which can not only help protect its people, but also force its government towards a path of justice and righteousness.
In his recent interview with Al-Arabiya, President Obama said” "What we need to understand is, is that there are extremist organizations -- whether Muslim or any other faith in the past -- that will use faith as a justification for violence. We cannot paint with a broad brush a faith as a consequence of the violence that is done in that faith's name.”
"And so you will I think see our administration be very clear in distinguishing between organizations like al Qaeda -- that espouse violence, espouse terror and act on it -- and people who may disagree with my administration and certain actions, or may have a particular viewpoint in terms of how their countries should develop," he said. "We can have legitimate disagreements but still be respectful. I cannot respect terrorist organizations that would kill innocent civilians and we will hunt them down."
This is indeed an opening that we Muslims can take advantage and help him shepherd US towards a more equitable foreign policy. Muslim countries should learn to involve the US government in helping us resolve our problem and not blame the US for the mistakes we have committed in the past.
And always remember – God has never changed the condition of a community unless they themselves make an active effort to change their own condition.