Salaam Bhatti

Salaam is an attorney in New York. He hosts a weekly radio show (Fridays at 7 PM) called “The Real Revolution” on http://www.wlie540am.com which discusses religion in today’s society. He lectures on Islam in Long Island. Salaam serves as the National Faith Outreach Director for MKA USA, the leading Muslim Youth organization in America.

In Nigeria, a radical group claims Allah commands them to kidnap hundreds of girls and sell them into slavery. Egypt sentences over 500 people to death through speedy trials. A horrific civil war has killed over 140,000 in Syria, and displaced millions more. Iraq and Afghanistan sit in shambles — and let’s not even get into what’s wrong with Saudi Arabia.

Islamic society is fragmented and lost in the wilderness. Band-aid solutions in the guise of unification groups, coalitions and manuals have not helped. The problem is that Muslims have no leader to follow, and leadership matters. Leadership provides a rope for all to hold onto. And with no leader to unify Muslims, the future looks bleak.

But what would an Islamic leader even look like? Regardless of sect, all Muslims would agree that a true Muslim leader must reflect Prophet Muhammad’s power, compassion, and example. So how would Muhammad lead? Well, Prophet Muhammad advocated for all to pursue education. He said, “Seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim” and once you had that knowledge, “impart it to the people.” In the case of Nigeria, he would stand with the teachers, not the kidnappers, and he would instruct them: “It is neither lawful for you to inherit women against their will; nor should you detain them” (Quran 4:20).

Prophet Muhammad practiced absolute justice just as the… read more at muslimwriters.org