Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
PROFOUNDLY PRACTICAL AND
RATIONAL:
“In all things Muhammad was profoundly practical, When his
beloved son Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred, and rumours of God’s personal
condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced, ‘An
eclipse is a phenomenon of nature. It is foolish to attribute such things to
the death or birth of a human being’.”[1]
BROAD, LIBERAL AND UNIVERSALISTIC
CREED FOR THE WHOLE WORLD:
“His creed … necessarily connotes the existence of a
universal empire.”[2]
“The nobility and broad tolerance of this creed, which
accepts as God-inspired all the real religions of the world, will always be a
glorious heritage for mankind. On it could indeed be built a perfect world
religion.”[3]
“More pure than the system of Zoroaster, more liberal than
the law of Moses, the religion of Mahomet: might seem less inconsistent with
reason than the creed of mystery and superstition which, in the seventh
century, disgraced the simplicity of the gospels.”[4]
“Islam had the power of peacefully conquering souls by the
simplicity of its theology, the clearness of its dogma and principles, and the
definite number of the practices which it demands. In contrast to Christianity
which has been undergoing continual transformation since its origin, Islam has
remained identical with itself.”[5]
“As a religion the Mahomedan religion, it must be confessed,
is more suited to Africa than is the Christian religion: indeed, I would even
say that it is more suited to the world as a whole [6] …
the achievement of the Moslem faith enjoys, I maintain, a definite superiority,
in proof of which may be cited Moslem abstinence, sense of fraternity, take
condemnation of usury, and recognition of prophets other than its own. Its
quality may be summed up by saying that it takes a man as he is, and while it
does not pretend to make a god out of him, seeks to regulate his conduct so that
at least he shall become a good neighbour.”[7]
WISEST, MOST LEARNED AND MOST
ENLIGHTENED JURISPRUDENCE:
“The Muhammadan law which is binding on all from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law
interwoven, with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most
enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”[8]
NO COLOUR BAR:
“ ‘Take away that black man! I can have no discussion with
him’, exclaimed the Christian Archbishop Cyrus when the Arab conquerors had
sent a deputation of their ablest men to discuss terms of surrender of the
capital of Egypt, headed by Negro Ubadah as the ablest of them all.
“To the sacred archbishop’s astonishment, he was told that
this man was commissioned by General
Amr; that the Moslems held Negroes and white men in equal respect—judging a man
by his character and not by his colour.
“ ‘Well, if the Negro must lead, he must speak gently’,
ordered the prelate, so as not to frighten his white auditors.
“(Replied Ubadah:)
‘There are a thousand blacks, as black as myself, amongst our companions. I and
they would be ready to meet and fight a hundred enemies together. We live only
to fight for God, and to follow His will. We care naught for wealth, so long as
we have the wherewithal to stay our hunger and to clothe our bodies. This world
is naught for us, the next world is all’.
“Such a spirit … can any other appeal stand against that of
the Moslem who, in approaching the pagan, says to him, however obscure or
degraded he may be, ‘Embrace the faith, and you are at once an equal and a
brother’. Islam knows no ‘colour line’.”[9]
RESTORATION OF DIGNITY OF WOMANHOOD:
“That his (Muhammad’s) reforms enhanced the status of women
in general is universally admitted.”[10]
“You can find others stating that the religion (Islam) is
evil, because it sanctions a limited polygamy. But you do not hear as a rule
the criticism which I spoke out one day in a London hall where I knew that the
audience was entirely uninstructed. I pointed out to them that monogamy with
blended mass of prostitution was a hypocrisy and more degrading than a limited
polygamy. Naturally a statement like that gives offence, but it has to be made,
because it must be remembered that the law of Islam in relation to women was
until lately, when parts of it have been imitated in England, the most just
law, as far as women are concerned to be found in the world. Dealing with
property, dealing with rights of succession and so on, dealing with cases of
divorce, it was far beyond the law of the West, in the respect that was paid to
the rights of women. Those things are forgotten while people are hypnotised by
the words monogamy and polygamy and do not look at what lies behind it in the
West—the frightful degradation of women who are thrown into the streets when
their first protectors, weary of them, no longer give them any assistance …
“I often think that woman is more free in Islam than in
Christianity. Woman is more protected by Islam than by the faith which preaches
Monogamy. In Al-Quran the law about woman is more just and liberal. It is only
in the last twenty years that Christian England has recognized the right of
woman to property, while Islam has, allowed this right from all times … It is a
slander to say that Islam preaches that women have no souls.”55
WAR AGAINST THE INSTITUTION OF
SLAVERY:
“According to the Koran, no person can be made a slave except
after the conclusion of a sanguinary battle fought in the conduct of a religious
war (Jihad) in the country of infidels who try to suppress the true religion.
Indeed, wherever the word slave occurs in Koran it is ‘he
55 Annie Besant:
The Life and Teaching of Muhammad, Madras 1932, pp, 25-26
whom your right hand possesses’, or a
special equivalent for neck— ‘he whose neck has been spared’, thus clearly
indicating ‘a prisoner of war’ made by the action of not one man only, but of
many … the Arabian prophet recommended: ‘When the war has ended, restore them
(the slaves or prisoners) to liberty or give them up for ransom’ (Sura 47:57) …
“And elsewhere: ‘Alms (which procure righteousness) are
distined … to the redemption of slaves’ (Sura 9:60). Further (Sura 24:33): ‘If
any of your slaves asks for his manumission in writing give it to him, if you
think him worthy of it, and give him also some of the wealth which God has
given you’ … The reconciliation of a separated married couple should be
preceded by the ransom of a slave, and, if none can be found, the husband should
feed sixty poor, or else fast for two months (Sura 58:4-5). Whenever the sense
of happiness, including that of conjugal felicity, predisposes the heart to
gratitude towards the Creator, or whenever fear of God or a punishment, or the
desire of a blessing, affect, as such motives can and do affect the daily life
of a Mohammadan, the emancipation of a slave, as a most proper act of charity
is recommended. In short, the ‘Cliff’, or narrow path to salvation, is charity:
‘What is the cliff ? It is to free the captive (or slave)’ Sura 90:12-13).
“Descending to the second source of the Mohammadan Law, the
authenticated traditions of Hadis, we find Mohammad stating that ‘the worst of
men is he who sells men’: slaves who displeased their masters were to be forgiven
‘seventy times a day’: no believer can be made a slave; and ‘in proportion to
the number of redeemed slaves will members of the body of the releasing person
be rescued from the (eternal) fire’.”[11]
[1] Ibid.
[2] Joseph J. Nunan: Islam and
European Chivilizaion, Demerara 1912, p. 37.
[3] Duncan Greenless: The Gospel of Islam, Adyar 1948, p. 27.
[4] Edward Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, Vol. 5, p. 487.
[5] Jean L’heureux, Etude sur L’Islamisme. p. 35.
[6] Italics are the present writer’s
[7] Lancelot Lawton: The Sphere, London, 12th May, 1928.
[8] Edmund Burke: in his “Impeachment of Warren Hastings”.
[9] S. S. Leeder: Veiled Mysteries of Egypt, London 1912, pp 332-335.
[10] H.A.R. Gibb: Mohammedanism, London 1953. p. 33.
[11] Dr. G. W. Leitner; Mohammadanism, pp. 17-18. Cf. the observation:
“It is indeed an ‘abuse of words’ to apply the word slavery in the English
sense to any status known to the legislation of Islam.” (Syed Amir Ali : The
Spirit of Islam; p. 262).
to be continued . . . . .
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