on the crumbling of battlefield lines

There are a lot of diseases afflicting our ummah, but today I would like to focus attention on one. In a lot of mosques that I've been to, there is a recurring syndrome:

"The Two-Saff Syndrome (TSS)"

Symptoms of TSS include:
- There would be only two lines of people praying behind the imam for Fajr,Zuhur,Asr,Maghrib,Isya', at most three lines
- The two lines consist of more or less the same people, day in and day out

And this is in malaysia, a country ranked 38 on the "Islamicity index", and which is a supposedly "islamic country"
(Footnote: we do not practise islam just to improve in world rankings. This is just an illustration)

Its the same almost everywhere. Go to KYUEM, its like that. Go to the mosque nearby my house, and its like that. But in the Kota Damansara mosque, there are encouraging signs. Its almost full for Fajr prayers, alhamdulillah. :-)

All diseases have outward symptoms. If you have lung disease, outward symptoms include breathing difficulties. Similarly, TSS is just a symptom of an underlying disease.

Our 'ulama say that going to the mosque is an expression of willingness to struggle in the way of Allah. When the muazzin calls,
"Hayya 'ala al-Falah" (Come towards victory)

We respond with vigour, saying
"We are in your service, O Allah, in your service"

And we hurry to the battlefield, to the frontlines, we are ready to strive in His way. So you see, our prayers, our fasts, they are not just rituals. They are training grounds for us to be Allah's servants in EVERY aspect of life. If we do not show to Allah that we are excited to be in His service, then we should not be appalled that Allah is not helping us like he helped Rasulullah and his companions

in a more ideal world

And its not an issue of how many people attend. In my opinion, one person going just for the sake of Allah is better than everyone going because its a cultural norm.

So going back to what we discussed previously. This is only a symptom of underlying afflictions. Is it because our spirit of jihad has decreased? Worldly pleasures have taken over us? Our hearts are not yearning for the pleasure of Allah? Or is it a symptom of the weakness that Rasulullah described:

"Loving this world, and dislike of death".

This is a time to look into our ourselves, and find the answer. Because we know ourselves better than anyone else.

The question is: why has the spirit of the ummah disappeared?

May Allah return this ummah to His pleasure. Amin.