Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Islam and Muslims
Those who keep dairy cows are faced with the perennial problem of preventing the calves from drinking up all their mothers’ milk. This problem is often solved by tying a thorny piece of wood to the calves’ heads, so that when they go to drink milk, the thorns prick the udders, causing the cows to shy away.
This ‘thorny’ approach is reminiscent of the way present-day Muslims behave when they attempt to communicate the divine message with which they have been entrusted to other nations of the world. Although duty-bound to convey the message of Islam to others, they have chosen instead to pick political and economic quarrels with those to whom they should be bringing the word of God. They have simply become worldly rivals of other nations instead of being their religious guides and mentors. Their politics of confrontation are like thorns on the face of the Muslim community which drive non-Muslims away before they can drink the God-given milk of Islam.
If we truly believe in the advent of the Last Day, when people will be called to account for their actions, we must do our utmost to shed these ‘thorns’. If we fail to do so, there is a real danger of incurring the wrath of God and having to suffer punishment for the sins of others as well as for our own. We must at all times create an atmosphere which fosters receptivity to the message of Islam and encourages others to see it in its true perspective.