- Religion of Unity
- Religion of "Submission To The Divine Will"
- Religion of Nature
- Religion of Discipline
- Religion of Truth
- Religion of Temperance
- Religion of Beauty
- Religion of Reason
- Religion of The Negation of Superstition
- Religion of Action
- Religion of Balanced Progress
- Religion of Scientific Quest
- Religion of The Sanctity of Labour
- Religion of The Highest Idealism In Ethics
- Religion of Peace And Goodwill
- Religion of Struggle (Jihad)
- Religion of "No Compulsion In Conversion"
- Religion of Brotherhood
- Religion of Spiritual Democracy
- Religion of Human Dignity
- Religion of Rational Sex Morality
- Religion of Salvation In This Life And The Hereafter
- Religion With Authentic And Perfect Divine Scripture
- Religion With The Simplest Creed
- Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) The Pinnacle of
Human Perfection
- Absorption In The Love of God The Final Goal
Islam teaches the purest form of Monotheism and regards polytheism as
the deadliest sin. A Muslim addresses GOD by His Personal Name: ALLAH --- the
word "god" and its equivalents in other languages being unstable in the matter
of connotation. Allah, according to Islam, is the One God, who is Indivisible in
Person and Who has no partner: wife, son or daughter. He is the Matchless and
"naught is as His likeness". "He begetteth not, nor was He begotten". He is the
First, the Last, the Eternal, the Infinite, the Almighty, the Omniscient, the
Omnipresent. He is the Creator, the Nourisher, the Cherisher of all things. He
is the All-just, the Avenger of the wrongs done to the weak and the oppressed,
the Compassionate, the Merciful and Loving, the Guide, the Friend, the
Magnificent, the Glorious, the Beautiful and the True. In short, He is the
Possessor of all Excellence.
Speaking of the conception of God in Islam, Gibbon, the famous western
historian, says: "The Creed of Hazrat Muhammad is free from the suspicion of
Ambiguity and the Quran is a glorious testimony to the unity of God. The
Prophet of Mecca rejected the worship of idols and men, of stars and planets, on
the rational principle that whatever is corruptible must decay and perish, that
whatever is born must die, that whatever rises must set. In the Author of the
universe his rational enthusiasm confessed and adored an infinite and Eternal
Being, without form or place, without issue or similitude, present to our secret
thoughts, existing by the necessity of His own nature, and deriving from Himself
all moral and intellectual perfections. These sublime truths are defined with
metaphysical precision by the interpreters of the Quran. A philosophic theist
might subscribe to the popular creed of the Muhammadans."
From the Unity of the Creator, according to Islam, proceeds the Unity
of the Universe, i.e., Unity of Creation and Unity of Purpose. In other words,
the Cosmos is a Moral Order.
Islam regards the whole of mankind as an "organic unity" --- a single
family, and emphatically says that the distinctions on the mundane plane, the
distinctions, namely, of race, colour, language or territory, cannot form the
ground for claims of superiority of one group over the other. The only
distinction that has "value" is that which arises at the moral and spiritual
planes namely, the distinction of "taqwa", or, "piety and righteousness".
Prof. H.A.R. Gibb, the famous English critic of Islam says,
"..Islam..possesses a magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and
co-operation. No other society has such a record of success in
uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and of endeavour so many and so
various races of mankind If ever the opposition of the great societies of
East is to be replaced by co-operation, the mediation of Islam is an
indispensable condition." (Whither Islam? p.379).
According to Islam, the human intellect, though a great and powerful
asset, has its natural limits, and, therefore, neither the normative nor the
empirical sciences are capable of leading humanity to a sure knowledge of
ultimate truths and the code of life based upon them. The only source of sure
knowledge open to humanity is, consequently, Divine Guidance, and that course
has been actually open ever since the beginnings of human life on earth. Allah
raised His "Prophets" and "Messengers" and revealed His Guidance to them for
transmission to humanity. Coming from the same Source, all revealed religions
have, therefore, been one, i.e., ISLAM.
Allah's Prophets and Messengers continued to come to every country and
community to work in their respective limited fields. Time after time, the
revealed Guidance was either lost or corrupted through human interpolation, and
new Prophets with fresh Dispensations were sent, and humanity continued to
advance from infancy to maturity. At last, when the stage of maturity was
reached when humanity was practically to become one family --- instead of
sectional Guidance, a perfect, final and abiding Revelation, addressed to entire
mankind and for all time, was granted in the seventh century of the Christian
era. That Revelation, which recapitulates all former Revelations and thus sets a
seal on the Unity of Religion, is ISLAM; the Scripture which enshrines it is the
HOLY QURAN; and the Prophet who brought it is the Leader of Humanity, Hazrat
Muhammad (Allah bless him!).
Thus all the Prophets of God, from Adam down to Hazrat Noah, Hazrat Abraham,
Hazrat Moses and Hazrat Jesus (peace be upon them all), are the Prophets of a
Muslim the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him!) being the Last and
Final one, and all the Divine Scriptures are the Scriptures of a Muslim, though
he follows only the Holy Quran because it alone exists in its original purity
and it alone contains the religion of Islam which has been followed by all
rightly-guided people since the day the first human being came into existence.
Differentiation of functions have misled certain cultures of the world
to regard woman as a being who belongs, so to say, to a different and inferior
species: and to meet out to her inhuman treatment accordingly. Islam
emphatically repudiates that notion and teaches that both man and woman have
sprung from the same essence and the same source and consequently possess the
same human status. Their functions and interests, instead of being antagonistic,
are meant to be mplementary. The natural relation between the sexes, in all its
aspects, is therefore, that of love and harmony, without which no true human
progress can be possible.
Islam aims at the creation of a classless society by eliminating all
possible social conflicts (through revolving the different interests).
In the sphere of economics, Islam lays down the principle that wealth should
not be allowed to circulate among the wealthy only, and envisages, through its
laws and institutions, a "Cooperative Common-wealth of Talents".
In the political sphere, Islam stands for the "Cooperative Commonwealth of
the Pursuers of Righteousness".
Taken as a whole, the Islamic state is a "welfare state" where sovereignty
belongs to Allah alone and no human being has a right to govern other human
beings except in the name of Allah and according to His Will, and where nobody,
not even the Head of the State, is above the law. Absolute Justice is the
watchword and the Establishment of Righteousness is the goal.
The merits of Islams social ethics have elicited praise even from the
otherwise hostile critics. For instance:
H.G. Wells says: "Islam created a society more free from widespread cruelty
and social oppression than any society that had ever been in the world before"
(Outline of History, p.325).
H.A.R. Gibb says: "Within the Western world Islam still maintains the balance
between exaggerated opposities. Opposed equally to the anarchy of European
nationalism and the regimentation of Russian communism, it has not yet succumbed
to that obsession with the economic side of life which is characteristic of
present-day Russia alike." (Whither Islam? p.378).
Prof. Louis Massignon says: "Islam has the merit of standing for a very
equalitarian conception It occupies an intermediate position between the
doctrines of bourgeois capitalism and Bolshevist communism." (Whither Islam?
p.378).
Islam conceives of the human personality as a "unity" and consequently
regards the distinction of "secular" and "religious" as unscientific, irrational
and absurd. The life of a Muslim, both in its individual and social
manifestation, is a life lived for God and God alone.
"Islam," says Dudley Wright, scholar of Comparative Religion, "is no mere
creed; it is a life to be lived. In the Quran may be found directions for what
are sometimes termed the minor details of daily life, but which are not minor
when it is considered that life has to be lived for God. The Muslim lives for
God alone. The aim of the Muslim is to become God-bound, and to endeavour to
advance the knowledge of God in all his undertakings. From the cradle to the
grave the true Muslim lives for God and God alone."
The word "Islam" means "submission" and, as a religious term, it
connotes "submission to the Divine Will and Commands". As such, ISLAM is
co-extensive with NATURE. For, everything in Nature submits to the Divine Will
without demur. The only exception is man. He has to choose "Islam" through his
free will and thus to attain his destiny by falling in line with the rest of
Gods Creation.
Goethe, the renowned poet-philosopher of Germany, says:
"Naerrisch, dass jeder in seinem Falle Seine besomdere Meinung priest!
Whenn Islam Gott ergeben heisst, Im Islam leben und sterben wir alle"
viz:
"It is lack of understanding that everyone praises own special
opinion;(for) Islam means submission to God and in Islam we all live and
die."
The above statement brings out, and the Holy Quran emphasises in clear
terms, that to be a Muslim is to live and grow in accordance with true human
nature and in harmony with the Nature around. Islam, thus, means conformity to
the Natural Law.
The concepts of Submission to the Divine Will and Conformity to the
Natural Law, when actively realized in human life, give rise to the healthiest
form of ISCIPLINE and Islam is the religion of Discipline par excellence.
In his famous book; First and Last Things, H.G. Wells says:
"The aggression, discipline and submission of Muhammadanism makes, I think,
fine and honourable religion for men. Its spirit, if not its formulae is
abundantly present in our modern world... I have no doubt that in devotion to a
virile Deity and to the service of His Empire of stern Law and Order,
efficiently upheld, men have found and will find salvation."
The German Orientalist Friedrich Delitzsch admits that the Muslim shows
"owing to his religious surrender to the Will of God an exemplary patience under
misfortune and he bears up under disastrous accidents with an admirable strength
of mind." (Die Welt des Islam, p.28).
The concept of "Truth" forms the keynote of Islamic ideology and
pervades the entire universal order presented by Islam. Not only is
"truthfulness" a fundamental value in the elaborate Islamic Moral Code a value
which forms the foundation-stone of Muslim character, but God Himself has been
mentioned in the Holy Quran as "The Truth", or "the True", the Holy Prophet
Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!) as the "Bearer of Truth", the Quran itself as
"the Truth", and the abode of the righteous after death as the "Seat of Truth".
Islam is the religion of Purity and Temperance par excellence.
It stresses purity not only of the mind and the heart, which certain other
religions also stress, but also of the body, its fundamental principle being the
harmonious development of human personality. Consequently; it strictly prohibits
the use of all drinks and foods which might be unhealthy and injurious to the
body, or the mind or both. Thus its prohibitive injunctions cover not only all
the intoxicants, e.g., wine, opium, etc., but also those foods which are harmful
to healthy human growth. Ultimately, Islamic Temperance covers all evil
thoughts, feelings and deeds.
Unlike certain religions, Islam is not the religion of contempt for the
world, of the negation of any fundamental value. It is positively and definitely
a religion of fulfilment fulfilment of all the faculties and positive
capabilities with which God has endowed man. Aesthetic culture, therefore, forms
part of Islamic life of course, governed and controlled by Islams moral and
spiritual principles. In Islam the concept of "Beauty" permeates the entire
human activity nay, the whole cosmic order, "Allah," says the Holy Prophet
Hazrat Muhammad (peace be with him!), "is Beautiful and loves what is
beautiful." Beauty in thought, words and deed, and beauty in all creative
activity is the Islamic ideal.
Islam permits the creation of Art, within the limitations of its spiritual
and moral framework. But its motto is not "Art for the sake of Art" but "Art for
the sake of Life", whereby alone a true blending of spiritual, moral and
physical beauty the rational and harmonious goal of human life is
achievable.
Islam regards Reason as mans distinctive privilege and Gods noble
gift, and the Holy Quran has repeatedly exhorted mankind to employ Reason in
the matters of social and natural phenomena and in understanding its Message and
practicing its Guidance, thus giving to "personal judgment," its due place in
the life of a Muslim.
"Intellectual Culture" in general, forms one of the noblest pursuits of human
life in Islam and the acquisition and cultivation of knowledge has been made
obligatory upon every Muslim man and woman.
Islam is a positively rational religion and stands opposed to the
mystery cults and religions of mysterious dogmas whose acceptance is generally
claimed on the basis of blind faith.
Speaking of the negation of superstition and the affirmation of Reason in
Islam, Godfrey Higgins says: "No relic, no image, no picture, no mother of God
disgrace his (Hazrat Muhammads) religion. No such doctrines as the efficacy of
faith without works, or that of a death-bed repentance, plenary indulgences,
absolution or auricular confession, operate first to corrupt, then to deliver up
his followers into the power of a priesthood, which would of course be always
more corrupt and more degraded than themselves. No indeed! The adoration of one
God, without mother, or mystery, or pretended miracle, and the acknowledgement
that he, a man, was sent to preach the duty of offering adoration to the Creator
alone, constituted the simple doctrinal part of the religion of the Unitarian of
Arabia." (Apology for Hazrat Muhammad).
Islam stands in sharp contrast with those religions which interpret the
Salvation of man in terms of the acceptance of certain intricate and
inexplicable formulae. Simplicity is its watch-word and rationality its
lifeblood, and as such it gives to both "Faith" and "Action" their due place.
Wherever the Holy Quran mentions the problem of human salvation, it bases it on
"right belief" as well as "righteous action", emphasizing the former as the
ground and the latter as the sequence.
Islamic life is a life of the attainment of "Falah" which means,
"The furrowing out of latent faculties". A Muslim, therefore, has to
continuously strive for progress. a progress controlled by righteousness and
illumined by Divine Guidance, a progress grounded in spirituality, a progress
balanced and comprehending all aspects of human life: spiritual, mental, moral,
aesthetic and physical.
Paying tribute to the balanced character of Islam and the progress which it
inspires, the famous Orientalist Prof. H. A. R. Gibb says:
"Within the Western world, Islam still maintains the balance between
exaggerated opposites...For the fullest development of its cultural life,
particularly of its spiritual life, Europe cannot do without the forces and
capacities which lie within Islamic society." (Whither Islam? p.378).
While other religions may feel shy of science Islam has made the
scientific quest a religious obligation. The aims of that quest, however, are
not the unbalanced indulgence in physical pleasures and the tyrannisation over
fellowbeings, but the advancement in the love of God through progress in the
knowledge of His works and the service of humanity through the acquisition of
control over the "forces of nature".
Speaking of the role of Islam as the inaugurator of the modern scientific
era, Briffault, the reputed scholar of the history of civilisation,
says:although there is not a single aspect of European growth in which the
decisive influence of Islamic culture is not traceable, nowhere is it so clear
and momentous as in the genesis of that power which constitutes the permanent
distinctive force of the modern world and the supreme source of its victory
natural science and the scientific spirit The debt of our science to that of
the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries of revolutionary theories;
science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence. The
ancient world was, as we saw, pre-scientific. The Astronomy and Mathematics of
the Greeks were a foreign importation never thoroughly acclimatised in Greek
culture. The Greeks systematised, generalised and theorised; but the patient
ways of investigation, the accumulation of positive knowledge, the minute
methods of science, detailed and prolonged observation and experimental inquiry
were altogether alien to Greek temperament... What we call science arose in
Europe as the result of a new spirit of inquiry, of new methods of
investigation, of the method of experiment, observation, measurement, of the
development of Mathematics in a form unknown to the Greeks. That spirit and
those methods were introduced into the European world by the Arabs Neither
Roger Bacon nor his later namesake has any title to be credited with having
introduced the experimental method. Roger Bacon was no more than one of the
apostles of Muslim science and method to Christian Europe; and he was never
wearied of declaring that knowledge of Arabic and Arab Science was for his
contemporaries the only way to true knowledge. Discussions as to who was the
originator of the experimental methodare part of the colossal misrepresentation
of the origins of European civilisation. The experimental method of the Arabs
was by Bacons time widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe
Science is the most momentous contribution of Arab civilisation to the modern
world.. It was not science only which brought Europe back to life. Other and
manifold influences from the civilisation of Islam communicated its first glow
to European life. "(Making of Humanity, pp 190-202).
H.G. Wells, another great Western authority, had to admit that: "Through the
Arabs it was, and not by the Latin route, that the modern world received that
gift of light and power (i.e., the Scientific Method)."
Because of its deep-rooted hostility to Islam, implanted during the Middle
Ages, the West has been very slow in acknowledging the merits of Islam.
Admissions and confessions have, however, been gradually coming forth grudgingly
or ungrudgingly. Thus, as we have seen above, it has been admitted that the
Muslims gave to the West the Scientific Method as well as the scientific
inspiration. But the Muslims themselves received them from the Holy Quran. This
fact has also been admitted at last. For instance, Stanislas Guyard observes:
"In the seventh century of our era, the Old World was in agony. The Arabian
conquest infused into it new blood Hazrat Muhammad gave them (the Arabs) the
Quran, which was the starting point of new culture. " (Encyclopedia des
Sciences Religieuses, Tome IX,p. 501). Challenging the adversaries of Islam and
referring to the Holy Quran, Dr. A Bertherand says: "Let them read and meditate
on this great Book: they will find in it, at every passage, constant attack on
idolatry and materialism; they will read that the Prophet incessantly called the
attention and the mediation of his people to the splendid marvels, to the
mysterious phenomena of creation those who have followed its counsels have
been, as we have described in the course of this study, the creators of a
civilisation which is astounding to this day." (Contribution des Arabs auprogres
des Sciences Medicales, p. 6).
Emmanuel Deutsch oberves: "By the aid of the Quran the Arabscame to Europe
to hold up the light to humanity, they alone, while darkness lay around,to
teach philosophy, medicine, astronomy and the golden art of song to the West as
to the East, to stand at the cradle of modern science, and to cause us late
epigoni for ever to weep over the day when Granada fell."
In Islam, all honest labour is sacred and forms the life-blood of human
progress. "For man is naught but what he strives for," says the Holy Quran, and
"the labourer is the beloved of God," says the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God
bless him!). Thus "idleness" is a sin and "industry" is a virtue in Islam.
Islam lays the foundation of ethics on "submission to the Divine will"
and gives to humanity the ethical ideal of imitating the Divine Attributes, even
as we have been exhorted by the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!)
who says: "Imbue yourselves with Divine Attributes."
"The highest form of religious ethic," observes Sir Richard Gregory, "is that
in which the aim of conduct is complete and implicit obedience to what is
conceived to be the Will of God (this obedience) may become a joyous and
spontaneous acceptance of a mode of life, such as it is conceived would be
consonant with the nature of God, subject to such limitations of the flesh as
are ineradicable the ideal of saintliness. Hence arises the desire for
uprightness as end-in-itself; either with a view to reward, if not in this
world, in the next, or pursued selflessly for its own sake. This concept of
religious ethic has led to the highest idealism in human conduct." (Religion in
Science and Civilisation, p. 63).
The world "Salam", which means "peace", has close root-affinity with
the word "Islam". Thus the concept of PEACE forms an integral part of the world
ISLAM itself. Indeed, this concept permeates the Islamic religion through and
through. For, God, according to the Holy Quran, is As-Salam, i.e. (the Source
of) peace"; a Muslims Salutation, which embodies the ideal of Muslim life, is
As-Salam-o -alaikum, i.e., "Peace be unto you"; and the abode of the
righteous, towards which the Holy Quran invites humanity, is Dar-us-Salam,
i.e., "the Abode of Peace".
One of the ideals of Muslim life, therefore, is the attainment of peace on
all fronts --- peace with self through harmonious self-realisation, peace with
fellow creatures through the maintenance of the basic attitude of Goodwill, and
peace with God through submission to the Divine Will.
The Islamic concept of Peace is not, however, utopian, For, Islam is a
practical religion par excellence a religion of Struggle (Jihad) --- and does
not, therefore, prescribe any course of action which is unnatural or
impracticable. Thus, for instance, in international relations, although
basically committed to the promotion of Peace and Goodwill, Islam does allow the
participation of Muslims in war when it becomes morally inevitable when no
other course remains open for safeguarding justice, nay, peace itself.
The word "Jihad", which has been maligned much by the evil-minded
misrepresenters of Islam in connection with the wars of Islamic history, means
"struggle" and, according to Islam, it is of two kinds: (1) Struggle for
subjugating ones lower self to the higher self. This is the higher form of
"Jihad" and its function is purely spiritual: (2) Struggle for defeating the
forces of evil on the collective plane. This is the collective Jihad.
The collective Jihad may, again, be either of a peaceful character, namely,
propagation of Islam and its establishment in the collective life of the people
through preaching and reform, or it may be in the form of war against an
aggressor.
The Islamic permission of war is basically for defensive purposes. And not
only does Islam rule out all immoral impulses to war but it also lays down a
rigid ethics which in its sublimity and humanness surpasses all other ethics of
war which humanity has ever known.
Says O. Houdas: " The Quran states: And fight for the cause of God
against those who fight against you; but commit not the injustice of attacking
them first; verily God loveth not the unjust S.II 190 Jihad had to be waged
to defend Islam against aggression Once the war was terminated, the Muslims
always displayed a great tolerance towards the conquered peoples, leaving them
their legislation and religious beliefs." (La Grande Encyclopaedia, Tome 20,p.
1006).
"In their wars of conquest," says E. Alexander Powell, "the Muslims exhibited
a degree of toleration which put many Christian nations to shame." (The Struggle
for Power in Moslem Asia, p. 48).
As regards forcible proselytisation, it has been explicitly banned by
Islam with the Quranic declaration: "there is no compulsion in matters of
faith", and the propaganda that Muslims went out into the world with the sword
in one hand and the Quran in the other to convert the non-Muslims forcibly is a
pure fabrication. Indeed, it is so utterly unfounded that even an enemy of Islam
like Rev. Dr. OLeary had to admit:
"History makes it clear that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through
the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races, is one
of the most absurd myths that the historians have ever repeated". (Islam at the
Croos-Roads, page 8).
Islam inculcates the love of Gods creation in general and of the human
family, in particular. "The best of you is he who is best to Gods family (i.e.,
humanity)," says the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!) Islam regards
humanity as one Fraternity inside which it affirms the existence of the
"Islamic Brotherhood", wherein all distinctions of caste and tribe, race and
colour, language and territory are superseded and obliterated, and which has
been allotted the function of acting as the servant of, and the torch-bearer of
Divine Guidance for, the larger Human Brotherhood.
Side by side with the code of conduct meant to be observed within the circle
of Islamic Brotherhood Islam also gives a definite code of Human Love which
relates to the dealings of Muslims with the larger human society.
"The brotherhood of Muhammadanism," says Dr. Leither, "is no mere word. All
believers are equal and their own high-priest." (Muhammadanism. P.18).
The Dutch Orientalist Snouck Hurgronje observes: "The ideal of a League of
Human Races has been approached by Islam more nearly than by any other ideology;
for the League of nations founded on Hazrat Muhammads religion takes the
principle of the equality of all human race so seriously as to put other
communities to shame." (Muslim World Today).
In the sphere of worship, Islam stands for the establishment of direct
relation between God and human being without the mediation of any priest. Every
Muslim man and woman is, therefore, his or her own priest or priestess.
It is wrong to regard the scholars (Ulama) or the leaders (Imams) of
congregational prayers in the mosques as priests. Any good Muslim who knows
Islam can lead the prayers, while the Ulama are simply scholars and experts of
Islamic knowledge and merely fulfil a responsibility which rests on the
shoulders of the entire Islamic Brotherhood. For, Islam wants every Muslim man
and woman to be a scholar of its teachings, unlike, for instance, Hinduism,
where those belonging to the caste of Brahmins alone possess this privilege.
Rev.W.Wilson Cash, the famous Christian missionary and hostile critic of
Islam, had to confess: "Islam endowed its people with a dignity peculiarly its
own Direct access to God makes one of the strong appeals of Islam" (The
Expansion of Islam p. 177)
By emphasizing freedom as the birthright of all human beings, by
proclaiming human equality without distinctions of caste, colour or clime, by
denying the sin-innate theory and all other theories of the evil origin of
mankind by affirming that the progeny of Adam is the noblest creation of God, by
raising humanity to the status of the Vicegerency of God on earth, by making
imitation of the Divine Attributes the ethical ideal of mankind, and by pointing
out the conquest of the universe as the human destiny, Islam has established
human dignity on the loftiest pinnacle conceivable.
Humanity was suffering in various ways because of the wrong notions held by
pre-Islamic cultures and religions about human dignity, when Islam appeared.
Cruelty was being perpetrated in the name of caste, tribe and race, large masses
of humanity had been reduced to the status of serfs, and slavery, which had been
an age-old institution, was being practiced by various races and peoples of
Europe and Asia, including the Arabs, with the sanction of such scriptures as
the Bible and without the least moral compunction. Islam raised its masculine
voice of protest against all those evils and gave to the world a philosophy and
a legislation which has made it the saviour of the downtrodden and the oppressed
for all time.
Among the many misconceptions spread about Islam by its enemies, one is that
which relates to slavery. For a proper appreciation of the role of Islam in the
abolition of slavery, the reader is referred to the present writers "Islam and
Slavery." Here, in this brief brochure, we might confine ourselves to the brief
statement of a fair-minded non-Muslim scholar of the last century, who said:
"His (i.e., Hazrat Muhammads) law of slavery is, If slaves come to you, you
shall --- not imprison and then sell by public sale, though no claimant
appears, as in the nineteenth century is the law of Christian England in her
provinces, but, --- redeem them, and it is forbidden to you to send them forth
(Quran II, p.85). And this was a man standing up in the wilds of Arabia in the
seventh century." (Westminster Review no. IX, p. 221).
Even the hostile and biased Dutch critic of Islam, Prof. Snouck Hurgronje,
had to say: "According to the Muhammadan principle, slavery is an institution
destined to disappear."
The Islamic view of the fundamental equality of sexes has been already
stated in the section on "Religion of Unity" and an impartial historical
appreciation of the problem proves beyond all doubt that it was "Islam which
removed the bondage in which women were held from the very dawn of human history
and gave them a social standing and legal rights such as were not granted them
in England till many centuries later." (Lady Evelyn Cobbold, in "Pilgrimage to
Mecca"). But the widespread propaganda of the enemies of Islam in connection
with polygamy necessitates a specific statement in that connection.
In the first instance, polygamy was not invented by Islam, nor was it made in
any way obligatory. It had existed in pre-Islamic societies since time
immemorial with the sanction of religion and had been practiced even by those
who were accepted as holy personages as for instance, we find in the Old
Testament. There it was governed by no law whatsoever, and so also it was in the
Arabian society at the advent of Islam. What Islam did was to regulate it and to
subject it to such severe restrictions as to make it prohibitive except in cases
of emergency. Indeed, monogamy has been the ideal and polygamy only an exception
in Muslim Society. This fact is fully borne out by the present as well as the
past history of the Muslims and has been admitted by all fair-minded critics of
Islam. For instance, William Kelly Wright says: "Most Mohammedans in all ages
have had only one wife." (Philosophy of Religion, New York, 1935).
Islam is a natural religion and it takes a very serious view of sexual vices
and social ills. Consequently, it was very natural for Islam to permit limited
and restricted polygamy for the maintenance of social health in all those
situations where it is the only natural remedy. For instance, when war alters
the natural sex ratio, giving to women preponderance over men, there are only
two alternatives, namely, widespread prostitution or polygamy. Islam prefers the
latter to the former in the interests of moral health and social wellbeing of
womanhood. Similarly, if the first wife is sterile or suffers from any incurable
disease, there are only two possible alternatives, namely, either the first wife
should be divorced and a fresh wife taken or she may continue in her status
undisturbed along with a second wife. The former course would mean distressing,
spinsterhood for the first wife while the latter course would provide to her an
honorable normal life without temptation to evil. Polygamy can also become a
necessity in a medically incurable case of the hypersexed male who, in most
cases, would look to more than one woman for the satisfaction of his biological
need. In all such cases, the Islamic permission of polygamy with all its
responsibilities and restrictions would be a definitely healthier course than
the hypocritical adherence to the formal monogamy.
Polyandry (i.e., the marriage of one woman with several husbands) is not
permitted in Islam because psychologically it is unsound, sociologically it is
impracticable and biologically it is most dangerous for the physical health of
the persons concerned. Certain primitive tribes who practice polyandry are
infected with the plague of venereal diseases.
Speaking on polygamy, Dr. Annie Besant says: "There is pretended monogamy in
the West, but there is really polygamy without responsibility; the mistress is
cast off when the man is weary of her and sinks gradually to be the woman of
the street, for the first lover has no responsibility for her future, and she
is a hundred times worse off than the sheltered wife and mother in the
polygamous home. When we see thousands of miserable women who crowed the streets
of Western towns during the night, we must surely feel that it does not lie in
western mouth to reproach Islam for polygamy. It is better for a woman, happier
for a woman, more respectable for a woman, to live in polygamy, united to one
man only, with the legitimate child in her arms, and surrounded with respect,
than to be seduced, cast out into the streets, perhaps with an illegitimate
child outside the pale of law, unsheltered and uncared for, to become the victim
of any passer-by, night after night, rendered incapable of motherhood, despised
of all."
Another critic of Western social order observes: "The law of the state, based
upon the dogma of the Church, which makes it a criminal offence for a man to
marry more than one wife, by that same provision makes it illegal for millions
of women to have husbands or to bear childrenIt is untrue that monogamy was
advocated by Jesus Christ whether the question is considered socially,
ethically or religiously, it can be demonstrated that polygamy is not contrary
to the highest standards of civilization .. The suggestion offers a practical
remedy for the western problem of the destitute and unwanted female: the
alternative is continued and increased prostitution, concubinage and distressing
spinsterhood" (J.E. Clare McFarlane: Case for Polygamy).
It is the distinctive merit of Islam that it does not concern itself
merely with Salvation beyond the gravesalvation in the Hereafter, but also
gives full consideration to --- in fact, ensures --- human salvation in this
life. For that purpose, it provides comprehensive Guidance which guarantees
moral perfection, social progress, economic justice and political health in
short, all that is needed for the practical realisation and attainment of true
human happiness in earthly life and all-round harmonious evolution of humanity.
Laura Veccia Vaglieri says: "A religion which is not content with being a
theory adapted to the aspirations of our human nature, nor with fixing a code of
sublime precepts which may or may not be applied, but which also provides a code
of life, establishes the fundamental principles of our morality on a systematic
and positive base, precisely formulates the duties of man towards himself and
towards others by means of rules which are capable of evolution and compatible
with the widest intellectual develo-pment, and which gives its laws a Divine
sanction, surely deserves our most profound admiration, as its influence is
continual and salutary on man." (Apologie de L Islamisme, p. 88).
There are three fundamental merits of the Holy Quran, the Scripture of
Islam, in which it stands unique among the scriptures of the world. They are:
(1) authenticity of its text: (2) perfection of its literary form; (3) rational
character, comprehensiveness and profoundness of its guidance. Even a brief
discussion of these merits is not possible in the present introductory sketch.
They are, however, so well-established that even the non-Muslim western
scholars, who are always ready to attack Islam on the slightest pretext had to
admit them in forceful words.
Commenting on the beauty of form of the Holy Quran Paul Casanova remarks:
"Whenever Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) was asked a miracle as a proof of the
authenticity of his mission, he quoted the composition of the Quran and its
incomparable excellence as a proof of its Divine origin. And, in fact, even for
those who are non-Muslims nothing is more marvelous than its language with such
a prehensile plenitude and a grasping sonority that its simple audition ravished
with admiration those primitive peoples so fond of eloquence! The ampleness of
its syllables with a grandiose cadence and with a remarkable large rhythm have
been of much moment in the conversion of the most hostile and the most sceptic."
(L Enseignement de IArabe au College de France, Lecon douverture, April 26,
1909).
As regards perfection in matter of guidance and the authenticity of its text,
Laura Veccia Vaglieri observes: "But besides the perfection of form and method,
the Book is also revealed inimitable by its very substance, for, we read in it,
among other things, previsions or future events and of relations of fact
accomplished since many centuries or which are generally ignored, and allusions
to the most different sciences, religious or profane. On the whole we find in it
a collection of wisdom which can be adopted by the most intelligent of men, the
greatest of philosophers and the most skillful politicians.. But there is
another proof of the Divinity of the Quran: it is the fact that it has been
preserved intact through the ages since the time of its Revelation till the
present day. And so it will always remain, with Gods Will, as long as the
universe exists. Read and re-read through out the Muslim world, this book does
not rouse in the Faithful any weariness; it rather, through repetition, is found
feeling of awe and respect in the one who reads it or listens to it." (Apologie
de LIslamisme, pp.57-59).
The Islamic creed is as simple as the Islamic ideology is profound. Its
first fundaments are:
They are: Belief in:
- Allah;
- Angles;
- Divine Scriptures;
- Messengers of Allah;
- the Hereafter;
- the pre-measurement of Good and Evil;
- Resurrection after death.
They are:
- Declaration of faith in the One-ness of God and in the Divine
Messengership of Hazrat Muhammad: (Peace be upon him) La ilaha Illallah
Muhammadur-Rasulullah;
- Obligatory Prayers;
- Obligatory Fasts;
- Zakat or Poor-tax;
- Pilgrimage to Kaaba at Meccaa by those who possess the means.
A Christian critic of Islam makes the following confession: "Islam had the power
of peacefully conquering the souls by the simplicity of its theology, the
clearness of its dogma and principles, and the definite number of practices
which it demands. In contrast to Christianity which has been undergoing
continuous transformation since its origin, Islam has remained identical with
itself" (Jean Lheureux: Etude sur LIslamisme, p. 35).
For an appreciation of the Seven Articles and the Five Pillars, the reader is
referred to "The Principles of Islam" written by His Eminence Muhammad Abdul
Aleem Siddiqi and published in the present series. Here it may be noted,
however, that these Seven Articles and Five Pillars constitute only the "first
fundaments", while the complete ideology of Islam, which shoots off from these
fundaments and which is enshrined in the Holy Quran and the Prophetic
Traditions, is so comprehensive as to cover the entire sweep of necessary
guidance on physical, moral, social and spiritual aspects of human life.
A code alone cannot, by its existence as such, inspire mankind to
action. Hence to love the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Allah bless him!) above
all human being and things of the world, to believe in him as the Most Perfect
Embodiment of Human Perfection and as the Absolute Leader and the Last and the
Final Prophet (after whom no new prophet of any category, zilli, buruzi,
tashriee, ghairtashriee --- shadowy or real --- is to come), and to follow him
as the "Best Example", form the prerequisite of Islamic Belief.
This is the theological status of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be
with him) in Islam. As regards his refulgent personality, that would require
volumes even to do bare justice to it.
It is said that the best testimony is that which comes from the enemys camp.
Here, therefore, we might quote a few statements of the Western scholars of
Islam.
Hazrat Muhammads (peace be with him) figure was highly majestic, his
complexion and features were extremely handsome, and "he was gifted", says the
renowned Orientalist Lane Poole, "with mighty powers of imagination, elevation
of mind, delicacy and refinement of feeling. He is more modest than a virgin
behind her curtain", it was said of him. He was most indulgent to his inferiors,
and would never allow his awkward little page to be scolded whatever he did.
Ten years, said Anas, his servant, was I about the Prophet and he never said
as much as Uff to me. He was very affectionate towards his family. One of his
boys died on his breast in the smoky house of the nurse, a blacksmiths wife. He
was very fond of children; he would stop them in the streets and pat their
little heads. He never struck anyone in his life. The worst expression he ever
made use of in conversation was, what has come to him? May his forehead be
darkened with mud! When asked to curse someone, he replied, I have not been
sent to curse but to be a mercy to mankind. He visited the sick, followed any
bier he met, accepted the invitation of a slave to dinner, mended his own
clothes, milked the goats, and waited upon himself, relates summarily another
tradition. He never first withdrew his hand out of another mans palm, and
turned not before the other had turned.
He was the most faithful protector of those he protected, the sweetest and
most agreeable in conversation. Those who saw him were suddenly filled with
reverence; those who came near him loved him; they who described him would say,
I have never seen his like either before or after. He was of great
taciturnity, but when he spoke it was with emphasis and deliberation and no one
could forget what he said.
"He lived with his views in a row of humble cottages separated from one
another by palm branches cemented together with mud. He would kindle the fire,
sweep the floor, and milk the goats himself. The little food he had was always
shared with those who dropped in to partake of it. Indeed, outside the Prophets
house was a bench or a gallery on which were always found a number of poor who
lived entirely upon his generosity, and were hence called people of the bench.
His ordinary food was dates and water, or barley bread; milk and honey were
luxuries of which he was fond but which he rarely allowed himself. The fare of
the desert seemed most congenial to him even when he was the sovereign of
Arabia
"There is something so tender and womanly, and withal so heroic, about the
man that one is in peril of finding the judgement unconsciously blinded by the
feeling of reverence and well-nigh love that such a nature inspires. He who,
standing alone, braved for years the hatred of his people, is the same who was
never the first to withdraw his hand from anothers clasp; the beloved of
children who never passed a group of little ones without a smile from his
wonderful eyes and a kind word for them, sounding all the kinder in that
sweet-toned voice. The frank friendship, the noble generosity, the dauntless
courage and hope of the man, all tend to melt criticism into admiration.
"He was an enthusiast in that noblest sense when enthusiasm becomes the salt
of the earth, the one thing that keeps men from rotting whilst they live.
Enthusiasm is often used despitefully, because it is jointed to an unworthy
cause or falls upon barren ground and bears no fruit. So was it not with Hazrat
Muhammad (Peace be with him). He was an enthusiast when enthusiasm was the one
thing needed to set the world aflame, and his enthusiasm was noble for a noble
cause. He was one of those happy few who have attained the supreme joy of making
one great truth their very lifespring. He was the Messenger of the one God, and
never to his lifes end did he forget who he was or the message which was the
marrow of his being. He brought his tidings with a dignity sprung from the
consciousness of his high office together with a most sweet humility." (Speeches
and Table-talk of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, Introduction XXVIII XXX).
"The essential sincerity of Hazrat Muhammads (Peace be with him) nature,"
says Professor Nathaniel Schmidt, "cannot be questioned; and historical
criticism that blinks no fact, yields nothing to credulity, weighs every
testimony, has no partisan interest, and seeks only the trust, must acknowledge
his claim to belong to that order of Prophets who, whatever the nature of their
psychical experience may have been, in diverse manners, have admonished, taught,
uttered austere and sublime thoughts, laid down principles of nobler than they
found, and devoted themselves fearlessly to their high calling, being
irresistibly impelled to their ministry be a power within." (The New
International Encyclopaedia. Vol. XVI, p. 72).
Speaking of the glorious success which attended the Holy Prophet Hazrat
Muhammads (Peace be with him) mission, Caryle observes: "To the Arab nation
Islam was a birth from darkness into light; Arabia first became alive by means
of it. A poor, shepherd people, roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the
creation of the world; a Hero-Prophet was sent down to them with a word they
could believe: see the unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has grown
worldgreat. Within one century afterward Arabia is at Granada on this hand, at
Delhi on that, glancing in valuour and splendour and the light of genius, Arabia
shines through long ages over a great section of the world. These Arabs, the man
Hazrat Muhammad, (Peace be with him) and that one century --- is it not as if a
spark had fallen, one spark on what seemed black, unnoticeable sand? But lo !
the sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Granada!"
(Heroes and Hero-Worship: Chappter on "Hero as Prophet").
O. Houdas, the French scholar, said half a century ago about the inner
vitality of the Holy Prophets Message: "Never has a religion developed with
parallel rapidity. In less than half a century Islam spread from the banks of
the Indus to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and, if this movement slowed
down, it still persists after fourteen centuries of existence. After having
penetrated in India, in China and Malaysia, Islam continues its invading march
in the African Continent which will before long become entirely Muslim. Without
special missionaries and without resort to the force of arms, the religion of
Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be with him) has converted the Black Continent, and it is
not without some astonishment to point out the existence in England and America
of small white communities which.. have adopted the Islamic doctrines and made
efforts to propagate them. This invasion of Europe, hardly visible today, will
surely grow." (La Grande Encyclopaedie, Tome 20, article: Islamisme).
Cultivation of and absorption in the love of Allah, and the permeation
of the heart with the sweet ecstasy of that love, until a person becomes
virtually incapable of acting against the Divine Commands, is the final goal,
which bestows upon a Muslim "Abiding Life" --- a life of Peach, Progress and
Perfection.
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