Peacock Without Feathers

By Abdulfattah Abdussalam

Allah (swt) creates His creatures as He pleases and for reasons best known to Him. In the avies family, the Peacock stands out as the most beautiful. Its quainter is remarkable, particularly if viewed with its displayed feathers. The finery of the feathers is an infinitesimal attestation to the wonders of creation and greatness of Allah (swt).Most often at the slightest prompting, the bird will display its feathers with a cynical dance as if to say I am beautiful!’ Allahu Akbar!

Beyond the semantics of describing the beauty of the peacock, perhaps we can ask ourselves whether the peacock will remain beautiful without its feathers? The answer is obvious because beauty is a combination of units making the whole. Let us also imagine our looks. What happens if our head or part of it is defaced? Glory be to Allah (swt) that created us in the best moulds. (Q95:4)

The allegory of the twin state of the peacock as presented, is to describe the present state of Al-Islam in our immediate environment. At the initial stage, Allah (swt) described Muslims as the best of people ever raised for mankind. But do we still merit the appellation “the best ever raised for mankind?”

A cursory look at Muslims in the modern time, reveals the bastardization Islam has gone through over the years. We now involve ourselves in innovations, abandoning our Islamic ways to the ways of the West. Some of our leaders have our fathers abandoned their duties and made Islam of our generation to become strange to what it was at the beginning.

Perhaps the present state is what the Prophet (saw) predicted when he said that, “Al-Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers.” Today, except for a few amongst us, we have become Muslims who see their brothers and sisters doing acts that are contrary to Islam or taking part in innovations that even sometimes relate to Kufr (apostasy); yet we do not have enough power or courage to stop them. Sometimes, especially for some that do not have enough Taqwa or Islamic Knowledge, we buckle under the pressure of peers or societal influence and join in these acts.

We are now like peacock without feathers; looking ordinary, thus allowing guinea fowls to dine and wine with us. Our actions now permit people like Livi Ajuonoma and his likes to use the media to cast aspersions on Islam. We have become princes tending the horses.

Islam means submission to the will of Allah (swt) which implies: faith in Allah (swt) enjoining what is right, being a good example to others in doing right, eschewing wrong and striving to see that wrong and injustice are defeated.

Furthermore, Islam preaches steadfastness, doggedness and sacrifice in our conducts. But alas, in our generation, many do not see Islam beyond the rites or perhaps beyond the four corners of the mosque.

We are now being viewed against the actions of wayward bus-drivers, touts, skin bleached Alhajas and shylock Alhajis. Our collective actions have continued to make Islam what it is today. But we give kudos to numerous Islamic organizations that are working assiduously to realign our thoughts back to the real thing – Islam.

May Allah bless us to be good, knowledgeable and pious Muslims.

May He forgive us our sins and bless us with His mercy so that we have peace (As-Salam) and enjoy the right to be called the best of mankind and not peacocks without feathers (amin).

“You true believers in Islamic Monotheism and followers of Propbet Muhammad and his Sunnah, are the best of people ever raised up for mankind” Q3:110

(From Principles of Islamic Banking)

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