DUTIES RELATING TO THE SOCIETAL WHOLE

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

4. DUTIES RELATING TO THE SOCIETAL WHOLE

Duties relating to the Societal Whole split up into two categories, namely: (1) Duties to the Societal Whole; and (2) Duties of the Societal Whole. 

With reference to Duties to the Societal Whole, the Holy Qur’an has commanded thus:

“And hold fast, all together, by the Covenant of Allah (habl-Allah), and be not split up among yourselves.” (3:102). 

The word habl, translated here as Covenant, means primarily a rope or a cord, and hence a cause of union or a Covenant which renders one responsible for the safety of a person or a thing. (Lane’s Lexicon).

The habl-Allah (Covenant with God) is, abstractly, allegiance to the objectives of al-Deen, or, the Way of Collective Obedience to God, and, concretely, loyalty to the Islamic Society through loyalty & devotion to its Founder & Leader, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!), which loyalty should manifest itself basically in doing utmost to preserve the unity, the solidarity and the social, moral and spiritual health of the Islamic society. Hence the Duties to the Societal Whole.

 

Similarly, the Duties of the Societal Whole towards the Individual have been emphasized in the Holy Qur’an; for instance, in the following verse which bears comprehensive reference to the spiritual, economic, moral and social welfare of the individuals:

“(Muslims are) those who, if We establish them in the land, set up regular Prayer and give regular charity, enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong …” (22:41).

Now, every organized Societal Whole takes, whenever and wherever possible, the form of the State, which, as an institution, is an indispensable means for the realisation of the social ideal. As regards its structural ethics, the following observations may be made.

Organisation of the Societal Whole as a state gives rise to subordination and super-ordination, wherein the foremost duty of the subordinate becomes obedience to the super-ordinate (4:59) and of the super-ordinate to administer the state through coercive authority, or, al-Amarah (mentioned in 4:59),—and that in the interest of the subordinate. Besides the multifarious dimensions of positive administration, the duty of punishing offenders for all cognizable offences against life, honor, property, and ensuring the spiritual, moral and economic well-being of the people, also devolves on the super- ordinate. Then, a further duty of the super-ordinate is that of preserving or reclaiming, as the case may be, the autonomy of the state against internal turmoil and external aggression, and for that purpose to wage war against all hostile forces. 

An important fact should be noted here with respect to the State Authority. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!) is the founder of the Islamic society, as also of the Islamic state. As such, and as the Medium of Obedience to God—indeed, as the representative par excellence of the Authority of God on earth, he is the Super- Leader of the Islamic state for all time (4:80; etc.). Hence no State-Authority can claim Islamically the right of obedience to itself except as the representative of the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!).

 

Note on Penal Code:

In the perspective of the super-ordinate’s duty of punishing offenders of the Law, mentioned in the foregoing, emerges the Penal Code, to which we have devoted a separate section. As to the Qur’anic Philosophy of Punishment, readers should refer to Volume 1, Book II, Chapter IV  of the present book, where we have come to the following conclusion:

“Viewing the Qur’anic punishments in the light of ethics, the punishments relating to fornication, adultery and homosexuality are reformative in the sense that they imply the spiritual purification of the offenders; the punishments prescribed for theft, robbery and treason are of deterrent character; and the punishment in respect of murder is based on retribution which is tempered with mercy (2:178).

The guiding light in all cases, however, is the procurement of spiritual good of the individuals concerned and of the society.” 

 

Note on Tabligh:

The word tabligh means ‘to reach out the Message’. As a term it means ‘propagation of the Message of Islam’. The Holy Qur’an has given to it the status of an institution (3:104, etc.) and has ordained it as an important societal duty.

This duty has been conceived to function at two levels, i.e., within the Islamic social order, and outside the Islamic social order, where entire humanity comes under its purview.

The ends it serves are: (1) preservation, (2) development, and (3) perpetuation of the Islamic Community—and that in service to the cause of humanity (3:110). 

The dimensions of this duty are:

1.       education of new generations of Muslims in Islam;

2.       improvement in Islamic knowledge and inspiration of the grown-up Muslims;

3.       dissemination of the knowledge of Islam among non-Muslims—all the non-Muslims of the world wherever they may be found—in order that they may know the Divine Message that has come for them, and those among them who are seriously dedicated to Truth may accept it for their own good; while, in the case of others, correct knowledge about Islam may dissipate their ignorance and the consequent misunderstandings, finally bringing about among them goodwill for Islam—which, in  itself, forms a genuine contribution to the promotion of inter-communal and international goodwill. 

Thus, tabligh stands out as a duty towards other individuals in respect of their spiritual and moral progress. Also, it contributes simultaneously to the spiritual and moral development of the persons who undertake it, and thus it becomes a duty to Self.

Its role, however, as a collectivistic or societal duty, remains supreme. Indeed, from that point of view, it stands out as the foremost duty without which the very existence of Islam becomes jeopardized.

As the Holy Qur’an affirms, the Islamic Community is meant to continue to exist for all time—up to the Last Day. This is in the very nature of the case, because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!) is the last and final Divine Messenger, and the Muslims are the last divinely-raised religious Group. As such, disappearance of the Islamic Community at any time in human history is not conceivable. But, the dissipation of the energies of communities and nations—both ideological and non-ideological—being the Law of History, one of the most important instruments for keeping the Islamic community alive and functioning genuinely and truly is the repeated infusion of fresh blood into the body-politic of Islam. 

This has already happened in Islamic history, as, for instance, when towards the end of the Abbaside period, the Muslim world began to show signs of lassitude and weakness, the conversion of the Turko-Tartars revitalized the Islamic community to an extent that it could maintain its glory for several centuries more. The same seems to be the crying need today. But this need cannot be fulfilled without resort to an enlightened, dynamic and multi-dimensional movement in the field of tabligh, and not just a ritualistic or professional performance.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

 

BASIS OF SYSTEMATISATION OF THE QUR’ANIC MORAL CODE

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

2. BASIS OF SYSTEMATISATION OF THE QUR’ANIC MORAL CODE ─ THE QUR’ANIC IDEAL:

The effort to systematize the Moral Code has passed through several stages in the history of human thought. Among the ancients, it was Aristotle who gave a classification that is based on the main psychological aspects of human nature, viz., Knowing, Feeling and Willing. The highest virtue pertaining to Knowing is Wisdom, pertaining to Feeling is Temperance, and pertaining to willing is Courage, while Justice governs them all. But the Greek mind does not seem to have developed its moral consciousness properly, and that because of the fact that, as the historical account of Greek civilization available today shows, it was pagan in character and possessed no proper conception of ‘personality’; whereas morality is inseparably related to ‘personality’ and seems to have developed under the impact of the teachings of revealed religions and not otherwise.

 Among the philosophers of the modern age, it was Kant who made an important contribution. But his emphasis on the form of the Moral Law as the standard of morality and his attitude of leaving the contents of that Law to be traced from the established morality and the moral situation did not provide much lead in respect of the Moral Code, though the importance of his contribution to Moral Philosophy cannot be denied without injustice. Kent did furnish us with a classification of duties in order to complete his ethical system. But, the Code prescribed by him is through & through ideational and individualistic in character, because it does not attach importance to the duties of the moral agent towards the societal whole, nor is there any reference to the duties of the societal whole to its parts. This appears to be due to his limitation that he was born and lived in Christian environment,—the Christian point of view being that man’s socio-cultural yearnings are inherently incompatible with his spirituao-moral yearnings.

What, then, is the basis of systematization of the Qur’anic Moral Code? Answer to this question necessitates the statement of the Qur’anic Ideal, which emerges in the following terms:

 The Qur’an places equal emphasis on the sensate and the transcendental yearnings of man and harmonizes them; and thus it lays down for humanity a comprehensive Ideal, which consists in the cultivation of: 

(1) Holiness based on a dynamic, vibrant and living faith in God, an earnest and courageous pursuit of Truth, and an ever present consciousness of Final Accountability; 

(2) sound and comprehensive Morality; 

(3) social, economic and political Justice; 

(4) Knowledge in all its dimensions; and 

(5) Aesthetic Grace,

—all of these resulting in the conquest of harmful propensities within the individual, the conquest of evil within the society, and the conquest of the physical environment, or, Nature. In the pursuit of this Ideal, Holiness, Love for Humanity, Truth, Justice, Beauty, Discipline and Progress are the watchwords, while the concept of Unity permeates the entire movement towards the Ideal, and the motto of ‘simple living, hard labour and high thinking’ forms the wheel of progress.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

 

THE ISLAMIC CIVILISATION IN IT’S AGE OF GLORY 1-3

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

THE ISLAMIC CIVILISATION IN IT’S AGE OF GLORY 

 

Will Durant observes (The Age of Faith, pp. 179-343):

“In the Koran … are rules not only for manners and hygiene, marriage and divorce, and the treatment of children, slaves, and animals, but also for commerce and politics, interest and debts, contracts and wills, industry and finance, crime and punishment, war and peace. Mohammed did not disdain commerce … He threatened hell to lying or cheating merchants; denounced monopolists and speculators who ‘keep back grain to sell at a high rate’; and bade the employer ‘give the laborer his wage before his perspiration dries’. He prohibited the taking or giving of interest (2:275; 3:130). No reformer ever more actively taxed the rich to help the poor. Every will was expected to leave something to the poor; if a man died intestate his natural heirs were directed to give a part of their inheritance to charity (4:8) … he improved the position of woman… 

 

“Mohammed’s ethic transcended the limits of the tribe … Distinction of rank or race, so strong among the tribes, was diminished by similarity of belief. ‘If a negro slave is appointed to rule you, hear and obey him, though his head be like a dried grape’. It was a noble conception that made one people of diverse nations scattered over the continents … Mohammed (taught) … ‘Let there be no violence in religion’. ‘If they embrace Islam they are surely directed; but if they turn their backs, verily to you belongs preaching only’. ‘Give a respite to the disbelievers. Deal you gently with them’ … ‘Kill not the old man who cannot fight, nor young children, nor women’ … ‘Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Allah loveth not aggressors’.  

 

“… the Koran … gave to simple souls the simplest, least mystical, least ritualistic, of all creeds, free from idolatry and sacerdotalism. Its message raised the moral and cultural level of its followers, promoted social order and unity, inculcated hygiene, lessened superstition and cruelty, bettered the condition of slaves, lifted the lowly to dignity & pride, and produced among Moslems (barring the revels of some caliphs) a degree of sobriety and temperance unequaled elsewhere in the white man’s world. It gave men an uncomplaining acceptance of the hardships and limitations of life, and at the same time stimulated them to the most astonishing expansion in history. 

 

“Civilisation is a union of soil and soul—the resources of the earth transformed by the desire and discipline of men … All these were busy in Islam … The orange tree … the Arabs introduced it to Syria, Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt, and Spain, from which countries it pervaded southern Europe. The cultivation of sugar-cane and the refining of sugar were likewise spread by the Arabs … and were brought by Crusaders to their European states. Cotton was first cultivated in Europe by the Arabs. 

 

“These achievements on lands largely arid were made possible by organized irrigation; here the caliphs made an exception to their principle of leaving the economy to free enterprise; the government directed and financed the maintenance of the greater canals. 

 

“… Under Moslem rule western Asia attained a pitch of industrial and commercial prosperity unmatched by western Europe before the sixteenth century. 

 

“The state left industry and commerce free, and aided it with a relatively stable currency. Ibn Hawqal (c. 975) describes a kind of promissory note … from the Arabic word sakk for this form of credit is derive our word check. Investors shared in financing commercial voyages or caravans … Monopolies were illegal … 

 

“… in general the Moslem seems to have excelled the Christian in commercial morality, fidelity to his word, and loyalty to treaties signed normally, the Moslem was the soul of courtesy, humanity, and tolerance … In general Moslem society was one of excellent manners … 

 

“If we may believe the traditions, Mohammed, unlike most religious reformers, admired and urged the pursuit of knowledge … Education began as soon as the child could speak … At the age of six some slave children, some girls, and nearly all boys except the rich (who had private tutors) entered an elementary school … Tuition was normally free … Elementary education aimed to form character, secondary education to transmit knowledge … Tuition in these colleges was free, and in some cases government or philanthropy paid both the salaries of the professors and the expenses of the students … students would travel from one end of the Moslem world to another to meet the mind of a famous teacher … When a visitor entered a Moslem city he took it for granted that he could hear a scholarly lecture at the principal mosque at almost any hour of the day. 

 

“… The first paper-manufacturing plant in Islam was opened at Baghdad in 794 by al-Fadl, son of Harun’s vizier. The craft was brought by the Arabs to Sicily and Spain, and thence passed into Italy and France … The invention facilitated the making of books wherever it went. Yaqubi tells us that in his time (891) Baghdad had over a hundred booksellers.  

 

“Most mosques had libraries, and some cities had public libraries of considerable content and generous accessibility. About 950 Mosul had a library, established by private philanthropy, where students were supplied with paper as well as books. Ten large catalogues were required to list the volumes in the public library at Rayy. Basra’s library gave stipends to scholars working in it … When Baghdad was destroyed by the Mongols it had thirty-six public libraries. Private libraries were numberless; it was a fashion among the rich to have an ample collection of books … princes like Sahib ibn Abbas in the tenth century might own as many books as could then be found in all the libraries of Europe combined … In a thousand mosques from Cordova to Samarkand scholars were as numerous as pillars, and made the cloisters tremble with their eloquence; the roads for  of the realm were disturbed by innumerable geographers, historians, and theologians seeking knowledge and wisdom … the conquerors showed such tolerance that of the poets, scientists, and philosophers who now made Arabic the most learned and literary tongue in the world only a small minority were of Arab blood. 

 

“… Ibn Qutaiba (828-889) was one of many Moslems, who attempted to write a history of the world … Muhammad al-Nadim produced in 987 an Index of the Sciences (Fihrist al‘ulum), a bibliography of all books in Arabic, original or translated, on any branch of knowledge … we may estimate the wealth of Moslem literature in his time by noting that not one in a thousand of the volumes that he named is known to exist today. 

 

“… Abu-l-Hasan Ali al-Masudi, an Arab of Baghdad, traveled … He gathered his gleanings into a thirty-volume encyclopedia …Al-Masudi surveyed omnivorously the geography, biology, history, customs, religion, science, philosophy, and literature of all lands from China to France … he summarized his views on science, history, and philosophy in a Book of Information, in which he suggested an evolution ‘from mineral to plant, from plant to animal and from animal to man’.

“Algebra … owes its name to the Arabs, who extensively developed this detective science … Al-Khwarizmi contributed effectively to five sciences: he wrote on the Hindu numerals; compiled astronomical tables which, as revised in Moslem Spain, were for centuries standard among astronomers from Cordova to Chang-an; formulated the oldest trigonometrical tables known; collaborated with sixty-nine other scholars in drawing up for al-Mamun a geographical encyclopedia; and in his Calculation of Integration and Equation gave analytical and geometrical solutions of quadratic equations. This work, now lost in its Arabic form, was translated by Gerard of Cremona in the twelfth century, was used as a principal text in European universities until the sixteenth century, and introduced to the West the word algebra (al-jabr—‘restitution’, ‘completion’). Thabit ibn Qurra (826-901) … achieved fame in astronomy and medicine, and became the greatest of Moslem geometers … 

 

“The Caliph al-Mamun engaged a staff of astronomers to make observations and records, to test the findings of Ptolemy, and to study the spots on the sun. Taking for granted the sphericity of the earth, they measured a terrestrial degree by simultaneously taking the position of the sun from both Palmyra and the plain Sinjar; their measurement gave 56²/³ miles—half a mile more than our present calculation; and from their results they estimated the earth’s circumference to approximate 20,000 miles. These astronomers proceeded on completely scientific principles: they accepted nothing as true which was not confirmed by experience or experiment. One of them, Abu’l Farghani, of Transoxiana, wrote (c.860) an astronomical text which remained in authority in Europe and Western Asia for 700 years. Even more renowned was al-Battani; his astronomical observations, continued for forty-one years, were remarkable for their range and accuracy; he determined many astronomical coefficients with remarkable approximation to modern calculations—the precession of the equinoxes at 54.5” a year, and the inclination of the ecliptic at 23º55’. Working under the patronage of the early Buwayhid ruler of Baghdad, Abu’l-Wafa … discovered the third lunar vartiation 600 years before Tycho Brahe. Costly instruments were built for the Moslem astronomers: not only astrolabes and armillary spheres, and known to the Greeks, but quadrants with a radius of thirty feet, and sextants with a radius of eighty. The astrolabe, much improved by the Moslems reached Europe in the tenth century, and was widely used by mariners till the seventeenth. The Arabs designed and constructed it with aesthetic passion, making it at once an instrument of science and a work of art. 

 

“Even more important than the charting of the skies was mapping of the earth … Suleiman al-Tajir —i.e., the merchant —about 840 carried his wares to the Far East; an anonymous author (851) wrote a narrative of Suleiman’s journey; this oldest Arabic account of China antedated Marco Polo’s Travels by 425 years. In the same century Ibn Khordadhbeh wrote a description of India, Ceylon, the East Indies, and China, apparently from direct observation; and Ibn Hawqal described India and Africa. Ahmad al-Yaqubi, of Armenia and Khurasan, wrote in 891 a Book of the Countries, giving a reliable account of Islamic provinces and cities and of many foreign states. Muhammad al-Muqaddasi visited all the lands of Islam except Spain, suffered by countless vicissitudes, and in 985 wrote his Description of the Moslem Empire—the greatest work of Arabic geography before al-Biruni’s India. 

 

“Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973-1048) shows the Moslem scholar at his best. Philosopher, historian, traveler, geographer, linguist, mathematician, astronomer, poet, and physicist—and doing major and original work in all these fields … His first major work (c.1000) was a highly technical treatise — Vestiges of the Past … his attitude was that of the objective scholar, assiduous in research, critical in the scrutiny of traditions and texts (including the Gospels), precise and conscientious in statement, frequently admitting his ignorance, and promising to pursue his inquiries till the truth should emerge. In the preface to the Vestiges he wrote like Francis Bacon: ‘We must clear our minds … from all causes that blind people to the truth—old custom, party spirit, personal rivalry or passion, the desire for influence’ … In 1030 he published his masterpiece, History of India … His interest extended to nearly all the sciences. He gave the best medieval account of the Hindu numerals. He wrote treatises on the astrolable, the planisphere, the armillary sphere; and formulated astronomical tables for Sultan Masud. He took it for granted that the earth is round, noted ‘the attraction of all things towards the centre of the earth’, and remarked that astronomic data can be explained as well by supposing that the earth turns daily on its axis and annually around the sun, as by the reverse hypothesis. He speculated on the possibility that the Indus valley had been once the bottom of a sea. He composed an extensive lapidary, describing a great number of stones and metals from the natural, commercial, and medical points of view. He determined the specific gravity of eighteen precious stones, and laid down the principle that the specific gravity of an object corresponds to the volume of water it displaces. He found a method of calculating, without laborious additions, the result of the repeated doubling of a number … He contributed to geometry the solution of theorems that thereafter bore his name. He composed an encyclopedia of astronomy, a treatise on geography, and an epitome of astronomy, astrology, and mathematics. He explained the workings of natural springs and artesian wells by the hydrostatic principle of communicating vessels.

 

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times