When the Spirit Leaves: A Warning to the Seekers of Truth
The institutions remain. The robes remain. But the soul of Islam is slipping away — and the thinkers, not the followers, will carry the burden of restoration.
🟫 There’s a feeling I can’t shake anymore — and I know I’m not alone in it.
Something deeper than disappointment is setting in. Something far more disturbing than disagreement with a scholar or a school of thought. We are witnessing, with our own eyes, the very collapse of the spirit of Islam — while its institutions remain firmly in place.
We are now living in that warning.
When we were told in hadith that a time would come when nothing of Islam would remain but its name, we thought perhaps it referred to the general public, or to Western systems of life. But no — it's now clear that even within our religious institutions, something critical has departed: the ruh — the spirit.
🧱 Mockery in Place of Dialogue
Recently, when some of us emphasized that spiritual purification (tazkiyah) must precede true obedience — that obedience should rise from awakening, not just instruction — the response from a respected scholar wasn’t thoughtful critique.
It was mockery.
He reframed what we said into a caricature — suggesting that we believe in finishing spiritual purification first before even thinking about following leadership. He quoted me as though I had proposed some childish, disconnected formula. But that was not our argument.
We were responding to his hierarchical model, where leadership sits at the top of the spiritual ladder, and where self-purification is only acceptable if it reinforces obedience to the system. That’s what we challenged.
Rather than engage with that critique honestly, the narrative was shifted, and our voices were dismissed. This isn’t just disappointing. It’s a warning sign.
🔥 When Hikmah is Replaced by Hierarchy
This behavior doesn’t only distort one conversation. It signals a deeper crisis: a system where obedience is elevated above awakening, where submission to men is equated with submission to God, and where sincere seekers are shamed for asking spiritual questions that don’t fit into a political model.
The Qur’an, however, never calls us to obedience without purification:
“He is the one who sent among the unlettered a messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and wisdom…”
(Surah al-Jumu‘ah 62:2)
And our Imams (as) never placed themselves as intermediaries demanding loyalty. They were mirrors — guiding us to Allah, not to themselves. They never mocked the process of purification, nor placed it below politics.
So when purification is mocked — and hierarchy promoted — we must understand: the spirit has left the institution, even if the structure stands tall.
🧭 Blind Trust is No Longer an Option
Perhaps most painfully, we are being shown — clearly — that we can no longer blindly trust our scholars.
Not because we have become rebellious.
But because we are finally awake.
When ridicule replaces reasoning,
When politics replaces the Qur’an,
When control replaces care —
Then suspicion is not rebellion. It becomes spiritual survival.
And yes, this too was foretold.
🕯️ The Real Crisis: The Imam Will Not Return to a Sleeping Ummah
To those who insist that obedience to current leadership is the goal — let me say this clearly:
If you keep placing the leader above spiritual refinement,
If your system demands conformity before consciousness,
Then know this:
Our Imam (ajtf) will not return to a people like this.
He will not return to a hypnotized ummah.
He will not return to mockery of purification.
He will not return to an audience trained to follow power before truth.
He will return to the purified, the awakened, the sincere, the lovers of Qur’an — and those who recognized their duty to think.
🛡️ A Final Plea
This is not a rebellion. It is a restoration.
We are not rejecting scholars. We are rejecting the hollowing out of sacred trust.
We are not disobeying. We are awakening.
We are not lost. We are remembering.
May Allah return the spirit of Islam to its rightful place — in the heart of the seeker, not in the structure of the system.
And may we be among those who cleanse, reflect, awaken — and prepare, not just perform.
Because the Imam (ajtf) deserves nothing less than a people who see.
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