A Matter of Introspection
THE manner of Muslims’ reaction in the face of provocations is counterproductive. This reaction can even be described as senseless and unnecessary. Perhaps the reason for this can be traced back to their pride psychology. It comes into being when religion is no longer treated as a matter of responsibility, but as a matter of pride. Such an attitude towards religion plays a fair share in contributing to the degradation of the Ummah, i.e. the community of believers.
The Quran says: “The faithful servants of God are they who walk upon the earth modestly and, when the foolish ones address them, answer: Peace.” (25: 63). However, the attitude is reversed when religious teachings cease to inspire people to do good deeds and a moral decline sets in. People then become proud and haughty. Whether or not they act upon the teachings of their religion, they believe that they are the chosen people of God. Their attachment to their religion is reduced to lip service: it exists in theory but not in practice; it can be seen in outward form but not in spirit. When religion serves only to show one’s superiority over others, a high degree of moral perversion has been reached. The faithful servants of God are they who walk upon the earth modestly and, when the foolish ones address them, answer: Peace.
People hold their heads high and declare that they are the upholders of a religion which has retained the pure and original form of monotheism. However, they contradict themselves by manifesting such reverence for personalities both alive and dead as should be accorded only to the Lord, their God. They take pride in saying that Islam teaches one complete equality, but they continue to discriminate between man and man. They are the first to pronounce in public that Islam exhorts one to do good and shun bad in all circumstances, but in private they disregard this. If their attention is drawn to this contradiction in their words and deeds, they will turn hostile to anyone daring to criticize them.
They take immense pride in describing the sublime character of the Prophet, for instance, his resistance to provocation; yet they themselves become annoyed about quite trivial matters and even justify their negative attitude by asking why they should not react in the face of provocations.
Source: The Spirit Of Islam