Islam and World Peace
A peace imposed by an imperialist power controlling the masses for its own benefit is no peace. "Divide and Rule" generates no peace. Conferences, agencies and idealist slogans beget no peace. The U.N. Security Council debates limitations of armaments and gets nowhere. The Eastern bloc and the Capitalist camp both say they want a world-system: but they cannot agree on its shape. Class differences rage in both their camps. Both err in thinking that economics is the sole cause of divisions, and in believing that economic measures will by themselves suffice to eradicate conflicts and substitute peace.
For Islam, peace is only one among many ingredients in the effective recipe for human happiness. People must be free to think what they will as they will, to weigh all possibilities, and, having thought them through in the light of reason, to decide on the best way to live together. This is the Qur'anic prescription as laid down, for instance, in verse 256 of the Sura II (Baqara —"The Heifer"): "In religion is no compulsion. Truth stands out clear from error," etc. or Sura VI: Ana'am — "The cattle" (verse 104): "Proofs from your Lord come to you. He that hath eyes to see, let him see. Whoso will see will do so for his soul: Whoso refuses, does so against himself. I am not your guard or warder." Or again in verse 22 of Sura LXXXVIII: Al-Ghashiyya —"The Overwhelming Events": "Admonish! Thou art for admonition, not for surveillance, of -them!"
Conviction and faith are matters of heart. No compulsion can force the font-family:mso-bidi-font-family: heart to conform. Education, training, instruction, logic, demonstration, font-family: can help. But whatever the lips say, the heart remains unmoved. Even Galileo murmured "Eppure si muove" after his recantation! or so we are told. Only his lips and his pen recanted, in effect.
Christian propagandists sedulously spread lying reports that Muhammad forced his religion on people by the sword. They cite the Prophet's proclamation of the Jihad, and his raids from Medina. We have shown how false is this misinterpretation.
What of their own religious wars and nationalist wars and imperialist font-family:mso-bidi-font-family: and expansionist wars? What of the pressure brought by the Inquisition font-family: on non-Christians and on Christians suspected of heresy? Were they better than the Tartar barbarism of the ant-like hordes of Genghiz and Tamurlane?
One item of the pact of Hudeibiyya made between the Prophet and the Qureishi idolaters of Mecca read: "Any Qureishi who shall flee from Mecca without the permission of his superior and join the Muslims and
accept Islam, the Prophet of Islam binds himself to send him back to the Qureish. But if a member of the Muslim forces flees to the Qureishi side, the Qureish are not obliged to return him to the Muslims."
Some of the Muslims, rendered uncomfortable by this clause, asked the Prophet: "Why do we have to return refugees from the Qureish while they are not obliged to return a fugitive to us?" The Prophet replied: "Any so-called Muslim who is ready to desert the banner of Islam in favour of idolatry, and to prefer an inhuman religion and idolatrous environment to the sound sane environment and religion of monotheistic Islam, simply proves that he had never entered into the inwardness of Islam and that his faith had never been so real as to satisfy his soul. Such are not the Muslims we need. Whereas we are quite sure that the Lord of Heaven will Himself take measures for the salvation of anyone whom we may hand back to the Qureish, if he was sincere in his flight from them."
So true was this prophecy, and so shaking the series of events which occurred amongst the Qureish on behalf of Muslims who had been sent back to them, that in terror the Qureish themselves very soon requested that this item he annulled, and that no more of their refugees be sent back to them to become conscious missionaries or unconscious instruments of divine action in this world.
Islam condemns the territorial and commercial wars of modern great powers, with their merciless involvements of the innocent. Islam demands that ethical values, humanity and respect for the rights of others, in submission to truth and to what is right, shall be made regnant over the thinking and living of all mankind, and insists that until that demand is realised the world can never find its way to peace and quiet.
The more progress technology and the material side of civilisation makes, the more men quote the maxim "Si vis pacem, para bellum" as a pretext for an arms race not merely in quantities but also in destructive ness, the more obvious is the truth made that humanity stands at a crossroads of choice between mass suicide or salvation by faith, annihilation or acceptance of ethical principles, the brutal dictatorship of a man or the merciful government of God. When man wakes up to this situation — and the very horrors which face him may themselves open his eyes—we pray that the light of reason and of heavenly wisdom will lead him onto "the good road, the road of those to whom God is gracious, hot the road of those who continue to grope in darkness." It is our conviction that mankind will choose this superior way.
On the warp of individual change Islam weaves the woof of social structure. It brings to human living the delicate feelings of brotherhood and of belonging together. It designs a beautiful pattern of longsuffering, gentleness and goodness in the hearts of people; and omits all the ugly tears and rents and weaknesses that injustice and the pulling and hauling of rival interests cause in a fabric. The result is a harmonious whole like that of the most beautiful carpet in which every colour and shape is fully itself and the ensemble so fitly joined together that it presents a perfect picture.
And Islam Today ?
What has happened to us, the heirs of so brilliant and magnificent a civilisation? What has reduced us to our present living conditions? Why have we ceded the hegemony of our world to others? What has caused the decline in our culture, in our science and our political power? What stopped our progress in its tracks? Why have we yielded our leadership in manufactures and science to Westerners so that we now need them where they once needed us? Why must Muslims, with all their splendid past in East and West, hang their heads in the modern world?
It was not blowing our own trumpet or banging our own drum that raised Islam to world pre-eminence in its time. It was our culture, our remarkable spiritual and social revolution. Shame that we should waste our strength in conflicts amongst ourselves and in internecine tugs-of-war which have reduced the glory of Unity to an empty phoneme.
A strong nation can only be built on firm principles of manners, morals, order —sole sources of progress. Islam never owed its power to cannons and tanks and weapons but to the pre-eminence in thought -amongst its Ulema, in character amongst its peoples and in following the guidance of God on the good road (for which we pray in the Fatihe 17 times a day), the road of justice, fellowship, brotherhood.
History demonstrates unmistakably that whenever the Muslims have constructed their philosophy of life in the spirit of the teachings revealed to them by Heaven, they have prospered: and whenever they have deserted those teachings, adversity and misfortune have been visited upon them. The Muslims who founded the brilliant culture and social wellbeing of the past followed those teachings more closely than we do, individual, society and nation alike.
The sun of culture shone while just measure and proportion was given to science, thought, matter and spirit. When we deserted those, the banner of endeavour, diligence and combat for right fell from our hands, only to be grabbed by the West in self-aggrandisement.
Where is the old Muslim sincerity, integrity, honesty and truthfulness? These were once the fences on either side of our path. When we transgressed across them we were lost in a trackless desert, and abandoned the holy calling, announced as God's purpose for us, of leading mankind to live as God wills. Abandoning that destiny, we sank in the quicksands of corruption, ignorance and wretchedness which engulf us today. Yet a truly united Islam could return to that heavenly vocation and lead mankind's feet on to the spiritual road. This would be a blessing for all.
Napoleon's companion in exile on the island of St. Helena wrote: "In Egypt Napoleon constantly repeated his amazement at the blessings which the Prophet of Islam and her other great men in history had brought to the foreign lands they took under their sway. He looked with hope to Islam as the force which might again confer such blessings on the world, even saying: 'I think I will take up Islam as my religion'."
A true Islamic society would be very different from that which obtains anywhere in the world. Its thinking and its living must once again incarnate those heavenly principles of its inception. As the poet said:
Our Muslims blame for any fault you see."
Conclusion
Let us sum up the topics treated in this volume and the conclusions to which they lead. We started with man's ascent from a primitive animal- like soul dwelling in holes and caves of the rocks up to the sophisticated denizen of the atomic space-age and its affluent technological society.
We evaluated that society as it manifests itself in the West, and studied its interaction with the more leisurely Orient, illustrating with an Iranian's reaction to his sojourn in Europe.
We examined the reasons for the growth of Christianity; and then scrutinised the history of its rise, its split into sects, and the effects of these things on the world, not least in anti-Islamic propaganda honoured with the ferocity only accorded to a rival who is truly feared. We saw Islam and Christianity face to face in Africa.
We considered the pursuit of happiness in a machine-made culture, its worship of sex, its wild seeking of sensations in materialistic ways, and the reaction of drop-outs who revolt against its drab monotony.
We saw the effects of permissiveness over alcohol; the desperate contrasts between the haves and the have-nots allowed in the world by the irresponsibility of those whose religion should make them care; the bloody wars conducted by partisans of the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals; race discrimination, and the breakdown of the -family; artificial shortages of vital goods engineered by vested interests in certain essential commodities.
Part 2 turned to look at what Islam has to offer this disturbed world; its doctrine of Man, of Eternity and Judgment, of social life on earth and the individual's duties therein; its emphasis on reason; its education programme; its political implications, and its demand for total self-alignment of each human will with the Supreme Will of the Creator of all things visible and invisible.
Part 3 dwelt on Islam's way of dealing with social problems: alcoholism, family life, racism, the class war and world peace.
Finally we asked: What is the position of Islam today, what is its task and what role should it and could it be playing in helping mankind out of the morass into which the divisive materialisms of East and West threaten to plunge us one and all?
The endeavour has been made to be scrupulously fair, to relate only known facts, to make deductions from such facts and to envisage the world as it might be. On a merely materialistic and human plane there may seem to be grounds for a disillusioned and despairing pessimism. But the marvels of renascence which have happened again and again in
mankind's history, the knowledge of the great gifts which the Creator has implanted within His creatures, the certainty of His pardoning and merciful compassion towards all those whom He has set upon this earth, and above all that faith which is given to those who set their trust in Him and seek in daily prayer to put themselves at His disposal to be guided on the straight road, provide us with the optimism of a sure hope.
We therefore end with "Insha'Allah all things shall be turned to good." The Muslim's "Insha'Allah" is not, as some Westerners have falsely claimed, a supine, faineant fatalism which accepts whatever comes without lifting a finger to shape the course of events: it is, on the contrary, an active enlistment in God's service, to serve with the obedience that a willing slave both owes and gives to a beneficent Master who owns him heart and soul. If enough men and women in the world adopt that militant obedience of the "Abedeen", who can doubt that Almighty Providence will once again pour forth the bounty of His grace upon a perishing world?
GLOSSARY
ALI (ibn Abu Taleb) : the Prophet's cousin, first convert and son-in-law, font-family: 4th Sunni Caliph and first Shi'a Imam from AD 656 until his death under -the assassin's poisoned sabre in AD 661.
FASKH : see TALAQ. A form of Divorce.
FEQH : Jurisprudence; like Roman jurisprudentia "rerum divinarum atque humana'rum notitia" it covers all aspects of religious, political, and civil life—Ritual, Fasts and Festivals, Family Law, Inheritance, Property, Contracts, Social Behaviour, Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional Law, Administration, Warfare.
HEJRA : "Migration": in particular the Prophet's abandoning Mecca because of its mounting hostility, and transferring himself and his followers to Yathrib, 200 miles north, whose people had invited him. He arrived on the 20th of September AD 622 and the city proudly changed its name to "Medinatu'l-Nabi" —"the Prophet's City". The 2nd Caliph, Omar, reproached for not dating documents, on Ali's advice took this event as the start of the Muslim era, dubbing the year of the Hejra "Year 1" and starting it on the Lunar New Year's Day, the 1st of Muharram AD 622. The Persian calendar accepted the Hejra year as Year 1 but refused to change their solar-year which begins at the Vernal Equinox, March 21st. (Root : H-J-R-). In this book, the Persian post Hejra 'Solar year is noted as AHS: the Arabic post-Hejra Lunar year AHL.
ISLAM : was revealed to the Prophet (Sura III: Al-i-Emran —"Emran's Family" verse 19): "The Religion of God is Al-Islam". And again (Sura V, Ma'ide —"The Table Spread" verse 3): "This day have I approved Al-Islam for you as a religion", etc. Islam is the verbal noun of
"aslama" — to submit oneself to God. Its adjective is "Muslim" — one submitted to God: also used in the form "Musalman". The basic root is -s-i m — which conveys the idea of peace and wellbeing, and reappears in the greeting "Salaam" or more fully "Salaam 'aleikum", corresponding to the Hebrew "Shalom aleicha".
JEHAD : "Holy War", a religious duty for all free adult male Muslims if called for by a Muslim sovereign or Imam, nowadays particularly if a Muslim land is invaded by unbelievers. The aim is to change "Dar-ulHarb" (Abode of War) into "Dar-ul-Islam" (Abode of Peace with God). The Prophet declared Nejran (a Christian State) "Dar-ul-Sulh" (Abode of Treaty).
KHUL' : see TALAQ. A form of Divorce.
MEDINA : the word means "city"; and from its root m-d-n is derived "tamaddun" —"civilisation". Medina today is par excellence Medinatu'lNabi ( = the city of the Prophet), the new name proudly taken by the citizens of Yathrib, the town 200 miles north of Mecca whose people -invited Muhammad and his followers when opposition in Mecca rendered his continued stay there impossible. QUR'AN : a verbal noun meaning "to read" or "recite" as in Sura .35pt'>LXXV (verse 17): "It is for us to collect It and recite It." The term originally meant each separate Revelation made to the Prophet, until the 3rd Caliph Uthman issued his authorised collection and used the name Qur'an for the whole. These Revelations are a part of al-Kitab, a book preserved in Heaven of which portions have been revealed to other "People of the Book", Jews and Christians in particular (root: q-r-'-).
SHARI'A : Canon Law, i.e. the totality of Allah's Commandments font-family: relating to the "forum externum" of man's activities: while "Akhlaq" (Ethics) is concerned with the "forum internum", the inner consciousness, motives and intentions of the heart.
SHI'A : the Muslim party which holds that succession to the Prophet should be by appointment. They relate that the Prophet, while resting at the Khumm Pool en route back to Medina after his farewell pilgrimage to Mecca in AD 632, said: "I shall soon be called to Heaven. I leave amongst you two important things, the first more important than the other. They are the Qur'an and my family." Shi'a Islam is the official state religion of Iran. It was led by "Imams" (not Caliphs) of whom Ali was first, succeeded by a generation of his descendants of whom the 12th Al-Mandi, was translated like Enoch and Elijah and will be revealed at -his second Advent. It is to this "Hidden Imam" Al-Mandi that this book is dedicated.
SUNNI : the Muslim party which holds that succession should be by election, and preferably of a "male member of the Qureish tribe, adult,
of good character, physically and mentally competent, knowing law, and font-family:mso-bidi-font-family: possessed of administrative ability, courage and energy." They claim to font-family: be Ahl-ul-Sunna wal-Jama'a — people of the Tradition and of the Community —i.e. catholic orthodox traditionalists in dogma and practice. "Khaleefe" means "Successor" i.e. "Caliph". On Muhammad's death, some held that Ali was his natural successor by appointment, but Omar insisted on a vote. Abu Bekr was elected 1st Caliph, Omar 2nd, Uthman 3rd, and Ali 4th. Uthman was murdered in AD 655 by malcontents who accused him of nepotism, greed in distribution of booty and suppressing local Qur'ans in favour of his "authorised version". Despite Ali's election, his rival Mu'aviyé claimed to be Uthman's avenger, and civil war broke out, ending in Ali's death, and the separation of his followers, the Shi'a, from Mu'aviyé's Sunni.
SURA : a sign, a revelation. The Prophet Muhammad insisted that he -was an ordinary man; distinguished only because he had been given and had accepted revelations. It is on the quality of these revelations that he -rested his argument with cavillers— on both their style and their subject, their manner and their matter. Thus Sura II, Al-Baqara "The Heifer" (verse 23) reads: "If you are in doubt what We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a Sura like it." And (Sura X, Yunnis— "Jonah" verse 38): "If they say, `he forged it', say: 'Then bring a Sura like it'." And (Sura XXIV, An-Nur "The Light" verse 50): "A Sura we have revealed and made obligatory and in it we have revealed clear 'Ayat", i.e., to start with, each revelation was called Sura; and was written down at the time on any material that might be to hand. The Caliph Uthman -collected an authorised version of these, not accepting any which did not have the attestation of at least two witnesses. His version was arranged in groups of Revelations, 114 in number, each called a Sura, ranged in order of length, the longest coming first except for Number I (al-Fatihe "an opening" prayer). Each Sura is named from some subject or word which is particularly striking. References to the Qur'an in this book are given by the name of the Sura and the number of the Ayat (originally sign of Divine truth, now = verse).
TALAQ : "Divorce: repudiation of a wife by the husband." Root: "T-L-Q-"— "getting free (from a bond); being set loose". Islamic law recognises several types, viz:
1. talaq proper; strictly regulated by the Prophet, e.g. in Sura IV (verse 20); Sura XXXIII (verse 49); Sura LXV (verse 1 sqq.);
2. khul'. Root: "KH-L-'-"—"doffing"; thus "the legal dissolution of the marriage contract", often by the wife returning a portion of the bridal gift;
3. font-family:faskh. Root: "F-S-KH-" — "rescind, annul". Also called "tafriq": root: "F-R-Q-" — "separation". Our author quotes rules for faskh.
'ULEMA : the plural of two Arabic nouns, 'aleem and 'alem, both meaning "possessor of the knowledge ('elm) of facts": hence expert in the
Qur'an, the Traditions, and the resultant Canon Law and Theology of Islam; and so the custodians of the same. Agreement of the 'Ulema on a point constitutes an Ejma'a or "consensus fidelium" and is one of the four " 'usul" or "root principles", the others being (1) the Qur'an itself, (2) the Sunna or traditions themselves, quoting what the Prophet said, did, and approved, and (3) 'Aql rational intelligence. Thus the 'Ulema once enjoyed a status in every Muslim land like that of the Supreme Court in the U.S.A., able to pronounce on the legality or otherwise of any decree or act of government. The Shi'a Mujtaheds still do so (root: '-l-m-).
'UMRA : the "little pilgrimage", performed in ritual purity wearing the -EHRAM, the seamless ceremonial garments (1) white sheet from navel to knees (2) white sheet covering left shoulder, back and breast, knotted on right. On assuming the Ehram the 'Umra-pilgrim (Mu'tamer) declares his niyat (vow of intent). If this is to perform the 'Umra and shortly after it the full Hajj, in the interval between in the Prophet's time a return to ordinary habits was allowed, but the Caliph Omar revoked this indulgence. The 'Umra involves the sevenfold circumambulation of the Ka'aba and certain other rites, all of which are involved also in the full Hajj, with the addition of the visit to Mount Arafat and some other spiritual exercises.
WAQF : the transfer of property in perpetuity for a charitable service either (1) Waqf-i-khairi --public or religious, e.g. a Mosque, a Madrasseh (School of Theology), a Hospital, a Bridge, Waterworks: or (2) Waqf-i-Ahli for relatives or the poor. P. vii lists some of the Waqfs instituted by our author Sayid Mujtaba Musawi.
