By: Dr. Mohammed Hamidullah
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.
Economic Outlook - The social importance of economic questions is self-evident. The Qur’an does not exaggerate when it declares (4:5) that material goods constitute the very means of the subsistence of humanity. If everyone were to think of no-one but himself, society will be in grave danger, because there are always very few rich and very many poor. In the struggle for existence, the vast majority of the starving will in the long run exterminate the small minority of the rich. One can bear many privations, but not basic sustenance. The Islamic conception on this subject is well known. It envisages the constant redistribution and dispersal of national wealth. Thus, the poor are exempt from taxation, whereas the rich are taxed to provide for the needy. Again, there are laws which require the obligatory distribution of the heritage; those which forbid the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few by banning interest on loans and prohibiting bequests to the detriment of near relatives, an so on; and those which prescribe rules for the expenditure of the State revenue, and which aim at a beneficial redistribution of this income among the beneficiaries among which the poor top the list. If this principle is kept in view, it tolerates differences in the means and method according to regions, epochs and circumstances, provided the goal is achieved. The competition of free enterprise may be tolerated as long as it does not degenerate into a cut-throat exploitation and ruin of those who are economically weak. The planning of the whole may equally be tolerated if that appears necessary, due to circumstances of economic and demographic evolution. In any case, wastage of goods and as well as of energy is to be avoided, and such means adopted which are better adapted to the needs of the moment.
Free Will and Predestination - This leads us to the philosophic question of the free-will. This eternal dilemma can never be resolved by logic alone. For, if man enjoys free-will with respect to all his acts, the omnipotence of God suffers thereby. Similarly, if God predestines, why should man be held responsible for his acts? The Prophet Muhammad had emphatically recommended that his adherents not to engage in discussions on this topic “which has led astray those peoples who preceded you” (as Ibn Hanbal, Tirmidhi and others report), and he has separated the two questions, viz., the omnipotence of God and the responsibility of man. In fact there is no logic in love, and the Muslim loves his Creator, i.e., he cannot admit that God should have defective attributes, for God is not only wise and powerful, but also just and merciful in the highest degree. Islam separates celestial affairs, which are the attributes of God, from human temporal matters, and insists on the faithful to act. And since the Divine will rests concealed from man, it is man’s duty never to despair after a preliminary failure, but to try again and again until the object is either realized or becomes impossible to attain. In this latter case, the Islamic concept of predestination comes to console man: that such and such was the will of God, and success or failure in this world has no importance in connection with eternal salvation. In this matter, God judges according to intention and effort and not according to whether it is successful or not.
- According to the Qur’an (53/36-42 among other passages), such is the truth always revealed by God to His successive messengers:
“Or hath he not news of what is in the leaves (Books) of Moses and of Abraham who paid his debt: That no laden one shall bear another’s load, and that man hath only that for which he maketh effort, and that his effort will be seen, and afterwards he will be repaid for it with the fullest payment; and that thy Lord. He is the goal…?”
We are rewarded only because we have accepted also to be punished for acts which are predestined. This seems to be the Divine Deposit [i.e. to place for safekeeping] with which we have been entrusted, when the Qur’an (33/72) reports: “We did indeed offer the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but Man undertook it; — he was indeed unjust and ignorant.” God said: “I shall predestine your acts, and want to reward or punish you according to whether they are good or evil. Other created beings said: How? Thou wilt create, and we have to be responsible for the same? They got afraid. Man believed in the limitless mercy of the Lord, and said: Yes Lord, I accept to take this responsibility and the Deposit of Thine. This pleased the Lord so much that He ordered even the angels to prostrate before Man. To sum up, since Islam separates completely the two questions, it is not difficult for it to admit simultaneously the requirement of man (effort, sense of responsibility) and the rights of God with all His attributes, including the power to predetermine. - Predetermination in Islam has another significance which is no less important. Namely, it is God alone Who ascribes to a human act the quality of good or evil. It is God Who is the source of all law. It is the Divine prescriptions which are to be observed in all our behaviour. He communicates to us through His chosen messengers. (Muhammad was the last of these also the one whose teachings have been the better preserved.) We do not possess originals of the ancient messages which have suffered damage in the unhappy fratricidal wars of human society. The Qur’an is not only the exception to the rule, but also constitutes the latest Divine message. It is commonplace that a law which is later in date, will abrogate former dispensations from the same legislator.
- In conclusion, let us refer to another trait of Islamic life: It is the duty of a Muslim not only to follow the Divine law in his daily behaviour in his life (in matters temporal as well as spiritual) as an individual as well as a part of the collectivity. Also he is to contribute according to his capacities and possibilities to the propagation of this ideology, which is based on Divine revelation and intended for the well-being of all.
- It will be seen that such a consolidated creed covers man’s entire life, materially and spiritually, and that one lives in this world in the preparation for the Hereafter. ***