Question: Hindu and Christian religions do not strictly insist that an individual adhere to moral codes and virtues. One religion attributes a person's deeds—whether sinful or virtuous—to the karma of past lives, effectively stepping aside from the issue of personal accountability. The other religion suggests that regardless of the wrong committed, obtaining forgiveness for sins is sufficient. Consequently, there is no likelihood of these religions failing or vanishing.
In contrast, the Islamic faith strictly mandates that an individual uphold moral codes and virtues. Yet, the number of Muslims who practice this to the letter may be extremely small. Others are merely Muslims in name or appearance; the vast majority of Muslims bear the name without embodying the faith. Considering all this, can it be concluded that the Islamic faith has fundamentally failed?
M.S. Ismail Hussain, Karungalpalayam.
Answer: The success or failure of an ideology should not be determined by the number of people who practice it; doing so would not be rational.
Instead, success or failure should be judged based on the impact and results it produces.
Let us assume there exists a potent medicine capable of curing various ailments.
Many people do not even bother to look at this medicine;
Some purchase it but leave it unused;
Others use it in a half-hearted or careless manner; while only a very few use it exactly as prescribed.
Even though their numbers may be small, those who used the medicine correctly are healthier than the others.
In such a scenario, we would not say that the medicine has failed. Rather, we would say that the people who failed to realize its true worth are the ones who have failed. Similarly, those who fully and correctly practice the remedy known as Islam exhibit numerous noble qualities—such as honesty, integrity, moral discipline, refined character, valor, courage, and a commitment to the public good.
Even among those who practice it only partially, one does not find the same level of superstition seen in other communities.
While scholars in other communities might even encourage the practice of untouchability, within this community, even the common person recognizes it as wrong.
This faith has instilled thousands of such virtues in people. It is by this standard that Islam should be evaluated, not merely by the number of its adherents.
This criterion applies not only to Islam but should be used to evaluate any ideology.
You are currently raising a question from a specific perspective; indeed, there are very few people in the world who ask questions based on such reasoned analysis. This does not mean that either your question or you have failed. Therefore, when evaluated against the proper standard, one can only conclude that Islam has achieved tremendous success.