There is so much hatred and animosity in the world today. We as Muslims are on the receiving end of most of the injustice. Why?

Did you ever wonder Why?

Our leaders have to read the biographies of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions (may Allah be pleased with them), especially the period of the Caliphate of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). His virtues made that period the most glorious period in Islam after the death of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). He was a man who handled matters through firmness that involved no coercion, coupled with lenience that involved no weakness. When he entered Jerusalem he was leading the mount as it was the turn of the servant to ride. Do we find such humbleness in our leaders today?

So how can we hope for Allah’s support when our desires have taken preference over His Pleasure? Our leaders do not have the interest of their subjects at heart, but rather they are leaders for personal power. By hook or by crook, they want to become presidents, kings, or prime ministers. Look at the history of presidents and prime ministers in recent history in Muslim countries, when a new one is elected the former one is tried for corruption etc. Is this, what leadership is about? Don’t our leaders know that they have to answer to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala for every subject under their care. If they only realised what punishment awaited them they will not rush to become leaders.

Let’s take a peer into an incident in the life of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). Zayd Ibn Aslam reports that his father said: "I accompanied Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, (may Allah be pleased with him) to Harat-Waqim. When we reached Sirraar, we saw blazing fire.

Umar said: 'O Aslam, I can see that travelers have been overwhelmed by the night and the cold. Let us hurry to them.' We rushed all the way till we came to them. We spotted a woman surrounded by her children and pot placed on fire; they were without food.

Umar said, ‘Peace be on you, people of the light.'

The woman answered Umar, ‘Peace be on you.’

Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) asked her, ‘Can I come closer?’ And the woman replied ‘Do if you mean well or else leave.’

Umar stepped closer and asked, ‘What is wrong with you?' The woman returned, 'We have been overwhelmed by the night and the cold.'

Umar again: ‘What is wrong with those boys?' She said, 'They are without food.’

Umar asked her, 'What is in this pot?' 'Only water so as to keep them quiet till they fall asleep;' the woman rejoined, 'may Allah punish Umar for that.'

Umar returned: ‘May Allah have mercy on you! How would `Umar know about you?’

The woman commented: 'How can he take charge of us then be heedless of our plight?' 'Umar returned to me and 'Let us go.' We hurried back till we arrived at the flour store. He took out a sack of flour and an amount of oil, then said to me, 'Put it on my back.’

I said, 'I will carry it for you.’ He repeated his command twice or three times and every time I

I said: ‘I will carry it for you.' He finally told me: 'Will you carry my sins for me on Judgment Day? May you be bereaved of your mother.'

I placed the load on his back, whereupon he left and I followed him. We hurried back to the woman. `Umar put down his load before her and helped her prepare the meal for the children and did not leave until the children had their fill. When Umar finally took his leave the woman said: ‘May you be handsomely rewarded! You ought to be in charge of our affairs instead of the Commander of the Faithful!’

To this Umar returned: ‘Should you go to the Commander of the Faithful, you will find me there!’”

With all the wealth pouring in from the different conquests. Umar ibn Al-Khattab and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) never lost sight of their true purpose in life and their rule extended to include Iraq, Syria (Sham), Egypt and Persia. Is there any leader who can come within a fraction on an inch of this humbleness displayed by our great leader? Our leaders don’t even know the meaning of the word humbleness. All they know is power, luxury, and greed.

Let’s look at another page from the history of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (Radi Allahu Anhu), showing his justice. When his own son Abdur-Rahman together with a friend got drunk in Egypt, they confessed to the governor of Egypt who punished them according to the law. But however, Abdur-Rahman being the Caliphate’s son, he (the governor) hated to defame him, so he punished him is private not in public as it should be done. When Umar ibn Al-Khattab (Radi Allahu Anhu) learned of this he became furious and demanded that his son return to Al-Madinah where he had his son punished again in public. Are there any leaders who administer such punishment to the letter? Today the rich and wealthy get away with any sins they may commit and the poor are punished not only for their sins but for the sins of their

masters has well.

It is noteworthy to mention that Umar ibn Al-Khattab’s Caliphate ushered in a new era in the history of Muslims, in which Islam boasted of an ideal ruler and a strong steadfast Muslim, the like of whom was never born again.

Furthermore we do not need the likes of Bin Laden and his party, killing innocent men, women and children in the name of Jihad. How can they justify their actions? We need men of the caliber of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Khalid ibn Al-Waleed, Abu Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarraah, Amr ibn ‘Aas, Al-Muthannah ibn Harithah (Radi Allahu Anhum) and of recent times Salahuddin Ayyubi (may Allah have mercy on him). We need a Muslim Army and Muslim Navy. If our leaders joined hands years ago the Palestinian problem could have been solved long ago. The Bosnia and Kashmir problems would not have appeared. We need a Muslim Army without Borders – a Multinational Muslim Army and Navy. Every Muslim youth who would like to serve in the Cause of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala can volunteer. We need an open policy, an open strategy announcing war on anyone who attacks a Muslim state without justification; not underhand work of killing innocent people in terrorist acts. We need to go back to our roots and learn from our beautiful history. We have to learn to apply the Glorious Qur'an and the Sunnah in our daily life as the early companions did.

No Muslim country should be a member of the United Nations because it is clearly ANTI-Muslim. This organization makes demands on the Muslims. These leaders also brand infants has terrorist because they are Muslims. Imagine a three year old is killed by the Israeli because he is a terrorist. How can our leaders tolerate such abuse? Are their personal interests greater than the interest of the Ummah as a whole?

So whose to blame for our present plight? Not the Americans or the Israelis or the UN. We have only ourselves to blame, because we do not act as an Ummah, our leaders who have failed us and our scholars who are too weak to stand up to our leaders. This weakness is the cause of our sufferings.

With the Blessed month of Ramadaan fast approaching lets sincerely pray to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala to guide us from this pit of darkness to His Siratal-Mustaqeem and pray that there rise from amongst us an Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Khalid ibn Al-Waleed, Abu Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarraah, Amr ibn ‘Aas, Al-Muthannah ibn Harithah (Radi Allahu Anhum) and Salahuddin Ayyubi (may Allah have mercy on him), to return us to our former glory. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala as stated in the Glorious Qur'an: