By: Dr. Mohammed Hamidullah
- Perhaps the corollary of the same all-embracing conception of life is the fact that the Qur’an uses the double formula “believe and do good deeds,” The mere profession of faith, without application or practice does not have much value because Islam insists just as much on the one as on the other. In the interests of society, doing good deeds without belief in God is certainly preferable to the practice of evil deeds. But from the spiritual standpoint, a good deed without faith cannot bring salvation in the Hereafter.
- But how can one distinguish good from the evil? In the first instance, it is the revealed law which can be the criterion alone, but in the latter case, it is one’s conscience which can be one’s arbiter. When a problem is posed, one can refer to the text of the Islamic law, if necessary. Yet a jurisconsult can only reply on the basis of facts which have been brought to his attention. If certain material facts should have been concealed from him, whether intentionally or otherwise, the consequent injustice cannot be blamed on the law. We may recall a charming little discourse of the Prophet, who said one day: “People! in the complaints which come to me, I decide only on the basis of facts brought to my knowledge. If, by lack of full disclosure, I decide in favour of someone who has no right, let him know that I accord him a part of the Hell-fire.” An Islamic judicial maxim stresses the same point when it says: “Consult thy conscience even if the jurisconsults provide justification to thee” (contained in a Hadith reported by Ibn Hanbal and al-Darimi).
- To never think of others and instead think exclusively of one’s own self, is not only inhuman but beastly. However, to think of others after having satisfied one’s own needs is normal and permitted. Yet the Qur’an praises those “who prefer others above themselves though poverty become their lot” (59:9). Evidently this is only a recommendation and not an obligatory duty which has been laid upon the average man — if one does not observe it, one will neither be considered a criminal nor a sinner. We can cite the famous saying of the Prophet in the same vein of recommendation: “The best of men is the one who does good to others.”
- The Qur’anic direction may be considered as a characteristic train of Islam, to wit: “and of the bounty of thy Lord (on thee) by thy discourse) (93:11). A saying of the Prophet (cited by Tirmidhi) explains this in an impressive manner: “God likes to see the traces of His bounty on His creature.” It had so happened that one of his companions came to see him dressed in miserable attire, even though he was a well-to-do person. When the Prophet asked him the reason, he replied that he preferred to have a wretched look, not for miserliness but for piety, as he preferred the needy to his own self. The Prophet did not approve of it, and put a limit to self-sacrifice and ordered (cf. Abu Dawud): “When God has given you means, the traces of His bounty should be visible on you.” The Qur’an (28:77) further enjoins: “…and neglect not thy portion of this world.” Islam does not recommend that man should stop work and become a parasite. On the contrary, one must use all one’s gifts and talents in order to profit from God’s creations and acquire as much as possible and what exceeds one’s requirements may then go to aid those who lack the necessaries. The Prophet has unequivocally said: “It is better that you leave behind you relatives who are well off rather than obliging them to beg alms of others.” Notwithstanding the imposition of heavy daily practices, Islam does not demand mortification or voluntary misery. On the contrary, the Qur’an reproaches those who would develop such an attitude:
“Say: Who hath forbidden the adornment of God which He hath brought forth for His servants, and the delicious things of nourishment? Say: they are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, being exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection. Thus do We detail Our commands for people who have knowledge.”
(Qur’an 7/32)
There are things permitted by the Divine law and to deny for one’s self deliberately is not necessarily an act of piety, as would be the case of abstaining from things forbidden by the same law.
Belief in God - Man seems to have always sought to know his Creator for the sake of obeying Him. The best religious leaders of every epoch and civilization have established certain rules of conduct for this purpose. The primitive people worshipped the manifestations of power and beneficence of God, hoping thus to please Him. Some others believed in two separate gods, one of the good and the other of the evil. Yet they overlooked the logical consequences of such a distinction which implies a civil war between gods. Still others have enshrouded God with mysteries which mystify the person of God sometimes. And some others have felt the need of such symbols, formulas or gestures, which will hardly distinguish their theological conceptions from idolatry or Polytheism.
- In this field, Islam has its particularity. It believes in the absolute Oneness of God, and prescribes a form of worship and prayer which will admit neither images nor symbols (considering both to be the remnants of primitivism and idolatry). In Islam, God is not only transcendent and non-material, beyond any physical perception (cf. Qur’an 6/103: “Sight comprehends Him not”), but He is also Immanent, Omnipresent and Omnipotent (cf. Qur’an 50/16, 56/85, 58/7). The relation between man and his Creator are direct and personal, and do not require any intermediary. Even the saintliest of the saints, such as prophets, are only guides and messengers and it is left to the individual to make a choice and be directly responsible to God.
- Thus it will be seen that Islam seeks to develop the personality of the individual. It admits that man has his weaknesses, as he is constituted simultaneously of capacities for both good and evil. Yet it does not admit that there is original sin in him, because that would be an injustice. If Adam had committed a sin, this should create no responsibility on his posterity, and so each individual human being remains responsible for his personal account only.
- In his weakness, an individual may commit offences against God or against his fellow creatures. Each offence has, in principle, a proportionate liability (punishment). Yet Islam recognizes the possibility of pardon, the elements of which are repentance and reparation. As to offences against man, they should be amended, as far as possible, so that the victim may pardon either gratuitously, or at the restitution of the object taken away from him, or by having it replaced, or in any similar way. As regards offences against God, man may receive either a suitable punishment or a gracious pardon from the Lord. Islam does not admit that God needs to punish first some innocent person in order to accord His pardon to other repentant sinners, for this vicarious punishment would be unjust on the part of God.
Society - Even as Islam seeks to develop individuality in man, it seeks also social collectivity. This can be seen in all its prescriptions, be they religious or temporal. Thus, the service of worship is collective in principle ( in case of need, if there is some exemption regarding the five daily prayers, there is none regarding the weekly or annual prayer services); pilgrimage is even a more manifest example, since the believers assemble in the same place, and come from all points of the globe; the collective aspect of fasting manifests itself in the fact that it takes place in the same month for the faithful all over the world; the requirement of having a caliph, the obligation of paying the zakat-tax intended for the needs of the collectivity, etc. — all these things affirm the same objective. It goes without saying that in a collectivity, or society, there is a force which people do not possess individually.
- For reasons best known to God, He has endowed different individuals with different talents. Two children with the same parents, two students in the same class do not always have the same qualities or capacities. All lands are not equally fertile; climates differ; two trees of the same species do not produce the same quantity or quality. Every being, every part of a being has its own idiosyncrasies. On the basis of this natural phenomenon, Islam affirms the original equality of all on the one hand, whereas on the other hand, the superiority of individuals one over the other. We are all creatures of the same Lord, and material superiority does not count for obtaining the greater appreciation of God. Piety alone is the criterion of the greatness of the individual. After all, life in this world is but ephemeral, and there must be a difference between behaviour of a man and of a beast.
Nationality - It is in this sense that Islam rejects the narrow basis of birth and common blood as the element of solidarity. The attachment to parentage or to the soil on which one is born, is no doubt natural; yet the very interest of the human race demands a certain tolerance towards other similar groups. The distribution of the natural wealth in different parts of the world in varying quantities renders the world as interdependent. Inevitably one is forced to “live and let live.” Otherwise an incessant succession of vendettas would destroy all. Nationality on the basis of language, race, colour or birthplace is too primitive, and therein is a fatality – an impasse – something in which man has no choice. The Islamic notion is progressive and it is based solely on the choice of the individual, for it proposes the unity of all those who believe in the same ideology, without distinction of race, tongue, or place of abode. Since extermination or subjugation of others is excluded, the only valid possibility is assimilation. And what means can serve this assimilation better if not the belief in the same ideology? It may be repeated that Islamic ideology is a synthesis of the requirements both of body and soul. Moreover it inspires tolerance. Islam has proclaimed that God has always sent His messengers to different peoples in different epochs. Islam itself claims nothing more than the function of renewing and reviving the eternal message of God, so often repeated at the hands of prophets. It prohibits all compulsion in the matter of religious beliefs. Also, no matter how unbelievable it may sound, Islam is under the self-imposed religious dogmatic duty to give autonomy to non-Muslims who reside on the soil of the Islamic State. The Qur’an, the Hadith and the practice of all time demand that non-Muslims should have their own laws, administrated by their own tribunals, with their own judges, and without any interference on the part of Muslim authorities, whether it be in social or religious matters. (to be cont.)