Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
PART 5
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
Chapter 1
THE IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT
FOR THE Qur’ânIC REVOLUTION
The Holy Qur’an emerged in Arabia and, though it claimed to be the Message of God for entire humanity, very naturally its immediate encounter was with the Arabs, who possessed a religious philosophy, a system of religious rituals, a social structure, an ethical outlook and a moral code; along with the Ka‘bah at Makka—which had been established in hoary antiquity as the House of Worship for the One True God—still enjoying the status of Arabia’s central holy place under the control of the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael, though no longer for monotheism but only for idolatry.
In that encounter, Arab paganism, with all its material resources, fought against Islam tooth and nail until, tottering step by step in the process, it finally vanished lock, stock and barrel.
One of the aspects of that bloody conflict was that, even in the worst crisis—and crises were many, Islam did not compromise in the slightest measure,—and in this its reform movement stands in human history as radically different from other known reform movements which crystallised into distinct religions, as they exist today; because the latter built on the existing material, some of which alone was discarded for projecting new dimensions. This is what we find, for instance, in the teachings of Gautama Buddha, who came forward to reform Hinduism—as a result of which Buddhism came into existence; and in the teachings of Christ, who stood up to reform Judaism—as a result of which the Christian religion was born.
Thus, Islam is neither a reaction brought about by the theoretical or the practical dimensions of Arab life, nor is it in any way a product of Arab environment.
Hence it cannot be called Arab religion. Nor can it be called Muhammadanism, because unlike Gautama Buddha, for instance, Muhammad has not claimed to be the author of Islam. Rather, he has emphatically renounced all such claim, proclaiming God as its Author.
To come to the religion, social structure and ethics of the pagan Arabs:
As accepted on all hands, the Arab ‘cult of worship’ was a magical cult based on sheer polydaemonism. and fetish-worship, possessing not even the faintest semblance of any civilised features. The Qur’an confronted it with the purest form of Monotheism and wiped it out completely.
The outlook in respect of human life was based on a thoroughgoing Pessimism. The present world was regarded as the only world that existed, and Time was considered to be the great Destroyer. The existence of human beings was believed to be confined to the span of earthly life commencing with birth and terminating in death. Thus, the worldly relations were ephemeral, life was an empty dream, and struggle for anything idealistic was vanity. This crude materialistic view of the world and human life led to the establishment of Nihilism as the ‘religious philosophy’.[1] As for the Qur’an, it agreed in respect of the transient character of the worldly joys, which forms an incontrovertible truth. But, then, it gave a philosophy which was the very opposite of the Arab pagan view. It taught: (a) the earthly life possesses reality—as opposed to vanity, and meaningfulness—as opposed to ‘emptiness’; (b) only to regard it as the be-all and end-all of human existence is wrong, because (c) it is actually a means to a higher end,—the end being evolution of the human personality, and it being only a stage in the stages of that evolution; (d) as means, however, it has to be pursued and cared for with all earnestness; and, therefore, (e) Pessimism is a false view, and Optimism alone deserves to be adopted.
In respect of social structure, the most ferocious and inhuman form of tribalism [2] constituted its foundation—a tribalism that had led to prolonged internecine wars and tremendous social mischief. The Holy Qur’an challenged it and uprooted it on the basis of its principles of Human Unity and Brotherhood of the Believers, which cuts right across all ties of tribal & racial kinship and establishes the social structure on ethico-religious foundations.
The pessimistic nihilistic outlook had very naturally led the pagan Arabs to full-blooded Hedonism in the domain of morality. For them, it was a bad world, and life was a ‘bad bargain’. The pursuit of ‘wealth, wine and woman’ had, therefore, become their greatest passion, to which the praises of voluptuousness in pre-Islamic poetry bear full testimony.* Indeed, the pagan Arabs were a godless, thoughtless, reckless people, whom only a miracle could change,— and the miracle came in the person of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!) who, with his unique personality and his unique message in the form of the Qur’an, as his weapons, blew up the sands of pagan morality and built up the edifice of the morals of godliness.
*For this purpose, even the
reference to the famous Seven Mu‘allaqat alone is enough. In his Literary History of the Arabs (p. 136), Prof.
R. A. Nicholson has projected the pagan hedonistic conception of life in the
words of a preIslamic poet thus:
Roast meat and wine, the swinging ride
On a camel sure and tried,
Which her master speeds amain
Over low dales and level plain:
Women marble-white and fair
Trailing gold-fringed raiments rare:
Opulence, luxurious ease,
With lute’s soft melodies—
Such delights hath our brief span;
Time is change, Time’s fool is man:
Wealth or want, great store or small,
All is one, since death’s are all !
To revert to Arab morality: Along with hedonism as their basic moral philosophy, the pagan Arabs possessed certain moral concepts like loyalty, generosity, courage, patience, veracity and regard for honour. Unfortunately for them, however, they possessed no refined moral sense. nor did they have any idea of ethical norms and principles. Hence, their notions of those virtues were either defective or positively vicious. A brief examination will suffice.
Loyalty:
The pagan virtue of loyalty was grounded purely in materialistic considerations, with absolutely no idea of anything higher. It was rooted in tribalism—in kinship by blood, and as such it could induce the pagan Arabs to demonstrate the highest self-sacrifice and to undergo the worst sufferings in upholding it, whether the cause was morally right or wrong. In consequence: Based on the outlook: ‘My tribe, right or wrong’, it was no more than an irrational and immoral passion; as we find plainly expressed, for instance, by Durayd b. alSimmah, in a verse quoted by Nicholson: “I am of Ghaziyya: if she be in error, then I will err; and if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go with her.”[3] To enter into a solemn covenant with someone outside one’s tribe, for safeguarding any of his specific interests, was rare. Such a covenant was, however, honoured with full loyalty. But, the pagan spirit being one of overbearing haughtiness and show of vulgar ‘manliness’, the practice of loyalty in this respect also was not based on any considerations of humanitarian moral obligation but on crude self-esteem.
As opposed to the above pagan view, the Holy Qur’an establishes the virtue of loyalty on principles: spiritual and moral. A Muslim should be loyal to God and to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!)—a bond of loyalty which exists in the form of an explicit and solemn Covenant that comes into being simultaneously with the acceptance of Islam (48:10). Besides that, he has to practise loyalty in the entire sweep of social relations on the principle of upholding all that is good and striving against all that is evil for humanity (3:110),— on the basis of the universalistic Divine Law and not on petty tribalism or racialism.
Generosity:
It was intimately related to the pagan view of ‘honour’, as Zuhair b. Abi Sulma projects it in terms of ‘a shield for his personal honour’.[4] It was more a demonstration of self-projection than of benevolence. In other words, it was motivated purely by the spirit of ostentation and vainglory, the notion of its role as a moral virtue being conspicuously absent from the pagan consciousness. This fact becomes evident when we find the pre-Islamic poets boasting of even their excessive drinking of wine as a hall-mark of generosity! Thus Arab paganism stood not for generosity as such, but for thoughtless prodigality.
The Holy Qur’an, too, gives a high place to generosity in its moral code. But it denounces vehemently the pagan notions connected with it, namely: lavish wasteful spending (17:27), and spending for ostentation and vainglory (2:264). Indeed, thoughtless extravagancy is regarded as no less a vice than niggardliness (4:36-37; 17:27,29; etc.); and Muslims have been commanded to practise disciplined generosity (25:67; etc.), and that with the purest of motives, i.e., love of God (2:177; etc.). Hence, generosity is a purely moral act in Islam—well- balanced and consequential for its executor as well as of for its recipient.
Courage:
Military prowess was the demand of the vicissitudes attendant on the cult of tribalism, wherein reckless courage constituted the very means of survival; and it was meant to be practised indiscriminately and without any ethical considerations, namely, as a brute passion—as an uncontrolled & irresistible animal impulse, employed for plunder or for destroying the members of a rival tribe. Indeed, the sages of paganism preached openly that the courage of an Arab consisted not merely in striking dauntlessly at the enemy who had committed aggression, but basically in the attitude whereby ‘he should rather take the initiative (of murdering people) and perpetrate aggression (even) when no one does him any wrong’.[5] Thus, for Arab paganism bravery was only another name for the practice of brute and barbaric ferocity.
The Holy Qur’an, too, commends & commands courage (8:45; etc.) and deprecates cowardice (8:15; etc.). But therein courage has been projected as a noble and thoroughly-disciplined trait of human character; and it has been emphasised in both of its aspects, namely, physical courage and moral courage. As physical courage, or, military prowess, it has been firmly grounded in justice (5:8), mercy (90:17) and peace (8:61), on the one hand, and in the highest ideals of fighting in the ‘Way of God’ (4:73; etc.) and of attaining the sublime blessing of martyrdom (2:154; etc.), on the other—which makes a Muslim absolutely fearless of death. As Moral courage, it has been affirmed as an inseparable part of Islamic character (5:54).
Patience:
The rough and difficult conditions of life, with scarcity, pestilence, famine and fratricidal wars always haunting them, had made extraordinary endurance and patience eminent virtues in the sight of the desert Arabs, for whom it was essentially a vital part of courage to face hardships dauntlessly on the battlefield and elsewhere. As such, it was not actually a moral virtue with an idealistic content but a bare necessity relating to their physical existence and survival.
As compared with that view, the Holy Qur’an has filled the concept of patience (sabr) with a rich spirituo-moral content (2:153, 155; etc.), elevating it to the status of a high moral principle and an eminent constituent of godliness (2:177), whereby the promotion of the best in man as well as the advancement of the cause of Truth & Goodness in the life of humanity are ensured (2:156; 3:146-148).
Veracity:
The qualities of rugged straightforwardness, courage and vigour which the desert life breeds, establish an appreciation of the virtue of veracity, or, truthfulness, as a manly trait of character. Moreover, simple truthfulness is a virtue which has been appreciated throughout human history, among the most primitive as well as the civilized communities, as an admirable mode of human expression. Thus, the pagan Arabs also regarded veracity, or, truthfulness, as an eminent virtue.
As compared with the simple Arab pagan view, the Holy Qur’an has projected the concept of ‘Truth’ comprehensively in terms of, so to say, both of its poles: subjective and objective, namely, as Sidq and Haqq, and has presented an elaborate philosophy of Truth with its spiritual, moral, social, cosmic and supra-cosmic dimensions.[6] Similarly, it has given an elaborate exposition of the concept of Falsehood (Batil).
Regard for Honour:
The pagan Arabs possessed a deep sense of honour. Its entire concept revolved, however, around their philosophy of tribalism. It was embedded in the notion of exultation in ancestral virtues (hasab), which formed the criterion of the excellence to which the tribes laid their claim, as also the real source of personal glory for every member of a tribe. The honour of the tribe was thus the honour of every individual, and the greatest virtue of the individual was to cultivate and maintain a violent & blind passion for defending & promoting it, and finally bequeathing it to posterity,—regarding no sacrifice and no suffering as too great in that regard.[7]
It was this peculiar sense of honour that had created in the pagan Arabs the spirit of violent arrogance (iba’),—a spirit that caused them to regard submission to the authority of man,[8] or even of God,[9] as highly dishonourable for themselves. Also, it was this vulgar sense of honor that had given birth to, and nourished for centuries, the spirit of blind and persistent vengeance, which Nicholson calls “a tormenting thirst which nothing could quench except blood, a disease of honour which might be described as madness”.[10]
Again, it was this blind sense of honour that was responsible for the practice of female infanticide,[11] the womenfolk being regarded as nothing more than chattels in the pagan Arab society. Still again, it was this irrational sense of honour which was responsible for the existence of a feudalistic aristocratic social order in which honour belonged only to those of noble descent (nasab), namely, the aristocracy, and not to the ‘base-born’, i.e., those who could not trace their lineage to any heroic person: the serfs and the slaves.[12]
[1] Ref: The Holy Qur’an, 6:29; 23:84-85; 45:23-24; 50:2-3; etc. Also: ‘Abid b. al-Abras: Diwan; and the Seven Mu‘allaqat.
[2] Dozy names it as ‘a violent and terrible passion’ (Histoire des Musulmans d’Espagne, 1,7. Leiden, 1932).
[3] op. cit., p, 83.
[4] Mu‘allaqah, 5:51.
[5] Zuhair b. Abi SulmÉ: Mu‘allaqah, 5:38-39,
[6] We have dealt with it elaborately in our “Dynamics of Moral Revolution”.
[7] Ref: Mufaddaliyat and the Seven Mu‘allaqat.
[8] ‘Abid b. al-Abras: DiwÉn: 4:20; etc.
[9] The Holy Qur’an, 2:206; 97:6-7; 16:22; etc.
[10] op. cit., p. 93.
[11] The Holy Qur’an, 81:8-9; etc.
[12] For references, see Ibn Ishaq: Sirat al-Nabi.
to be continued . . . . .
Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times
