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Having come to the end of my book, I must note that
the Islamic Movement at both regional and .levels should have a clear outlook into the
future, by which it draws a clear detailed plan aimed at specific objectives to be attained
by legitimate means. Such a plan should be based on modern concepts, divided into cohesive
phases and following academic methodologies. It should also be flexible, easy to
accomplish and practical, with its burdens equally divided among the competent bodies and
establishments and not dependent on certain individuals, staying alive only as long as
these individuals do. It should be built on documented information, accurate statistics,
detailed research, scientific analyses, objective comparisons and a comprehensive study of
all the available and potential material and human resources and all the psychological and
material obstacles, both from inside and outside and both existent and expected, without
underestimation or exaggeration.
Such a plan is to be drawn up by a specialized, integrated
body of competent experts of various fields of knowledge, each contributing his skill and
knowledge to the team. This team may also seek the help of whoever they may think able to
contribute an opinion or a piece of information.
It is necessary before and after drawing up the plan to pay
attention to three things: fulltime
work, specialization and information. We will
discuss the three of them in detail in this conclusion.
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The Movement should take every care in its
future planning to ensure that a number of competent individuals work full-time in all the
strategic and important positions, particularly in the fields of science, knowledge,
education, information and mass media, politics and planning. The Movement should not
remain dependent only on part-time volunteering by persons who have their own jobs that
monopolize their time, leaving only snatches on which no major undertaking can be based.
However, this does not go against the presence of volunteers who devote some of their time
and effort to the Movement for Allah's sake, for such contributions are vitally important
and greatly useful, as the volunteer base is expansive. All members of the Movement are
even supposed to be volunteers working without pay, except for those who have to work
fulltime for the interest of the Call.
Imam Hassan AlBanna continued to work as a teacher for some years of the Movement, until
he was forced by the demands of the Call and the development of the Movement to devote all
his time and effort to the Movement.
Many of the Movement's members and leaders in more than one country were university
professors, senior civil servants or tree businessmen or tradesmen.
But the best effort can be made only when the individual is working fulltime to serve
the Movement and promote its objective.
However, it is necessary when selecting fulltime workers that they should be of various
specializations that complement each other, so as to cover all specializations and plug
every hole without concentrating on certain specializations at the expense of others, for
there has never been undue expenditure without a right wasted in another place.
Money should be no problem in this respect, for spending money for this purpose is one of
the best ways for seeking Allah's pleasure. The necessary funding can be obtained from the
resources of zakat (compulsory religious tax) sadaqat, (supererogatory spending for
charity), awqaf (religious trusts) and similar funds.
The interest generated by capital deposited in local and foreign banks may even be spent
for this purpose, and we should not shrink from using it on the basis that it comes from a
haram source, for it is haram only against the depositor of the capital but halal for use
in promoting Islamic interests, at the forefront of which comes the fulltime employment
of workers for the Islamic movement.
Faithful workers should not be reluctant to accept an adequate pay that equals what their
counterparts draw in other places, so that they may continue to work with satisfaction and
not grumble because of the low pay they get. What should count is fair payment, with the
reward being neither too generous nor too meager.
However, it is necessary to choose elements and put the right man in the right place,
without favoring this or that, as competence and honesty alone should be the criteria for
selection (Truly the best of men for
you to employ is the [man] who is strong and trusty) [Surat AlQasas: 26].
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This effort should be augmented with the necessary
qualification and preparation of specialists in all walks of life.
We are living in the age of specializationeven accurate specialization as it is, not in
the age of knowall geniuses who are wellversed in all arts and can give an opinion in
every science.
Intelligence alone is not enough, neither are brilliance. genius or talent.
It is necessary to have specialized academic qualification that is able to run abreast
with time, cope with need and perfect the work assigned. It is said the in the sound
Hadith. (Verily Allah has prescribed
proficiency in all things ) and. ( It pleases Allah that any of you who does anything
should perfect it).
This perfection is only possible in this age of ours through specialization, and what
a necessary duty cannot be accomplished without becomes a necessity in itself.
Take, for instance, a field like mass communication and the many diversified
specializations that it requires.
Writing a script is a science, and writing it in the form of a screenplay is a science,
directing it is a science, and so is performing it and so is marketing it, and so on to
the bottom of the long list of specialized sciences.
Directing a production for radio is something and directing for television is another,
while directing for the stage and the cinema are two completely different things.
Massmedia work is a field that embraces scores of arts today, and there are institutes
and colleges for these sciences, in which students sit for high and postgraduate
studies.
If we want to "Islamize" these arts, we will never be able to accomplish that
without the help of specialized experts who can provide the Islamic alternatives to what
we have today.
The Islamic Movement is rich in talent, but its talented children are not properly
distributed in the fields and places where they are needed most.
We frequently see a concentration of members of certain specializations, such as medicine,
pharmacology or engineering, while the Islamic Movement can lay claim to only a few
specialists in rare scientific fields, and even none at all in some cases.
This applies to human and social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, economics,
political sciences, mass communication and the like, which the youth in shirk and head
only for appliedscience studies, despite the fact that these sciences are closer to the
community and affect it more, and that is why the Jews in the united States and other
countries have been careful monopolize them and get the lion's share of their positions so
that they may direct them to serve their interests at will.
Many a brilliant young man whose personal abilities and academic aptitude makes him good
for being a student of human and literary pursuits is forced by the pressure of society to
pursue appliedscience studies, while he would fare better and achieve much more
production if he was directed to where his abilities and tendencies made him best suited
for his studies.
In fact there is a very evident shortage [of Muslims] in the field of human sciences,
despite their importance and serious impact. There is even a shortage in the field of
literature, e.g. storywriting and criticism, where almost none of the brilliant young
men work, in several countries, and of them who do participate are not given the necessary
publicity, unlike the leftists and others, who give each other support.
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One of most pressing needs of the Islamic Movement in our
contemporary age is the establishment of a data bank, or a center for information and
research that can cope with this age the age of the "information revolution",
as some people like to call. This center should be staffed by trained, ski11ed
specialists, in accordance with what Allah says (And none (Oman!) can inform you like him who is All Aware) [Surat Fatir:
14], and supported by sophisticated equipment and
elements that suit the beginnings of the twentyfirst century.
The sources and means of collection of information have become diversified, so have the
means of storage, classification and retrieval of data. Have we made any step towards using all this advancement?
We do not have all or even half the information we need about ourselves, leave
alone knowing anything about others, friend and foe alike, while our enemies know all that
is to be known about us.
I was in Istanbul with some Arab brothers working in the Islamic banking field. We met
some brothers from the Turkmen Republic in the (former) Soviet Union, who asked us,
"Where is your help for your brethren in Turkmenistan and other republics that were
held captive behind the Iron Curtain and are now free to act and interact?" They need
help and expertise of every kind: religious, cultural, educational and economic! Where is this help and expertise? Who is
going to give it to them?" Who is
going to give it to them?"
"The Christian religious authorities were on the move as soon as glasnost and
perestroika started to have their effect. They had all the information and their maps were
ready and marked, and the statistics and data were all the. Bibles and books were
distributed at once, and the missionaries went a everywhere. In the short interval since
then to now, about 2000 churches were either built on new sites or refurbished and brought
back to life and activity from destruction and ruin. The Church and its men are still at
work there. Where, then, is Islamic
work in Muslim territories?
I turned to those around me, asking, "What do you know about our brothers there? About their number, their country, their history, their material
and cultural background about their need?" I discovered that we know very little
about them, and we did not know an Islamic quarter that had adequate and documented
information on them that could be of use, either.
The Islamic Movement at regional and world levels should line up to its age and develop
itself, recruiting all its efforts and mustering all the energies of Muslims around it
towards that end. It should take this prayer as its motto: O Allah! Make today for us
better than yesterday, and make tomorrow better than today, and grant us Your Blessing in
everything. Amen.
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