Say That Which Is Kindlier

                                 "And tell My servants to say that which

                                 is kindlier, verily, Satan is always ready

                                 to stir up discord between people – for,

                                 verily, Satan is man’s manifest enemy"

                                                                                (Qur’an, 17:53).

                                                                               

This verse of the Qur’an is directing human beings, mainly those who have faith in God to behave kindly towards others. It certainly directs the faithful believers to be fair and kind to each other, but also towards those who do not share their beliefs, especially when we see the context of this verse in the Qur’an. Let us see it together:

The preceding verses talk about those who do not believe in the Resurrection after death, and after they have become fragments of bone and dust. God revealed to His Messenger: “Say: (you will be raised from the dead even though) you be stones or iron or any (other) substance which to your minds, appears yet farther removed (from life!) say: He who has brought you into being in the first instance. And if they shake their heads at you (in disbelief) and ask: when shall this be? – Say: It may well be soon on a Day when He will call you, and you will respond praising Him and you will think you did not stay (on earth) only for a short while” (17:50-52).

To say that which is kindlier means to behave with people justly and nicely, far from what is blameworthy and oppressive (see: 16:90) and in case the believers are attacked by others, the response should be just as stated in this verse: “And if you have to respond to an attack, make your response proportionate, but it is best to stand fast” (16:126).

Here we have to stop and ask the question that has arisen lately, i.e. why is a certain so-called “religious” group causing terror in different countries?

In fact, the rise of “Alqaida” and the so-called “Islamic State “organization (ISIS) has come about as a political response to the unjust and devastating politics of the big powers in many Muslim countries and territories. It has begun with the long period of colonialism, then continued with the brutal expulsion of more than half of Palestinians from their own homes and country, the creation of “Israel” in their homeland and the constant massacres and subhuman treatment that West-supported “Israel” has been inflicting them. Last but not least, the big powers’ protection and support to their despot agents who rule brutally almost in all Muslim countries, ignoring the sufferings of the peoples concerned. A recent case is the cruel and vicious aggression on Afghanistan and Iraq (2001 and 2003), which has cost unbelievable destruction of those countries, killed millions of people, and left behind fatal traces and vestige through the widespread deceases caused by the phosphoric weapons used at that time and the division created among their peoples.

Then let us think of what happened recently in Libya, Egypt and Syria, when people rose against their tyrants: The western powers, far from helping the people, have firmly supported the tyrants and dictatorships in every way possible. For the sake of comparison, when similar uprisings against the tyrants took place in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Western Big powers helped the peoples of those countries militarily, politically and through the media. I say this is the reason of the rise of those ill-advised groups in Muslim countries. Therefore, their misguided and condemnable reaction has been caused by the terror of the big powers.

The real Islamic trend in Muslim countries is certainly a peaceful movement rejecting violence as a matter of principle and as a religious belief. It abhors violent actions and works hard to prevent them. That is why this Islamic trend is being denounced by those misguided groups and its adherents are now among the victims of both the terrorists and the tyrannical governments at the same time. Most of those who suffer the most from massacres, killings, detention, seizure of property and persecution of all sorts in Egypt, Syria and Libya, and in Palestine are the adherents of that true Islamic trend.

Of course God has given the permission to fight those who have been wronged and persecuted: “Permission to fight is given unto those who fight because they have been wronged; and verily, God has indeed the power to succour them. Those who have been driven from their homes unjustly, for no cause other than for their saying Our Lord is God. Were it not for God’s causing some people to drive back others, destruction would have befallen the monasteries, and churches, and synagogues, and mosques in which God’s Name is abundantly extoled. Assuredly God will help those who help His cause. God is truly Strong, Mighty” (22:39-40).

However, there are strict rules of fighting in this sense. It is absolutely forbidden to kill unarmed civilians, to destroy homes and infrastructure, cut trees and spoil agricultural fields. And when war prisoners are taken, they should be treated well, humanely and never be subjected to harm. The Qur’an says:

“(The truly virtuous are) they (who) fulfil their vows, and fear of a Day the evil of which is bound to spread far and wide, and who give food – in spite of their love of it – unto the needy, and the orphan, and the captive, (saying, in their hearts,): we feed you only for the sake of God, we do not desire any reward from you, nor any thanks. Indeed, we fear from our Lord a Day of frowning, calamitous!”  (76:7-10).

Strive Here, For The Abode In The Hereafter

                     “Seek with (the wealth) which God has given

                      you to obtain the abode of the Hereafter, and

                      do not forget your share of this world. And do

                      excellent deeds as God has done excellent

                      deeds to you. Do not seek to spread corruption

                      in the land, for surely God does not love the

                      spreaders of corruption” (Qur’an, 28:77).

This was part of the admonishment, which was addressed by certain good believers of the followers of Prophet Moses to Qaroun (one of their fellow men) when they were in Egypt. They addressed it to him because when God granted him riches abundantly he arrogantly exalted himself above his fellow men (see Qur’an, 28:76). His arrogance was clear when he replied to them saying: “This (wealth) has been given to me only by knowledge I possess” (28:78). One day the rich Qaroun went out before his people in all his pomp. Some of them (who cared only for the life of this world) said: “Oh if only we had been given like of what Qaroun has been given!” But to the contrary, those who had deep faith in God and in the Hereafter said: “Woe unto you! Merit in the sight of God is by far the best for any who attains to faith and does what is right!” Immediately after that God caused the earth to swallow Qaroun and his home (see 28:78-81).

It is indeed an excellent admonishment to all people, so that it deserved to be recorded in the Qur’an for those who may take lesson.

Our guide, the Messenger of God used to urge his followers to work hard, to benefit from what we can get, spend it for the cause of God, in order to get multiple reward in the Hereafter.

Abu Hurairah narrated the saying of the Prophet (may Peace and God’s blessings be upon him): “A believer who is strong is better and dearer to God than the believer who is weak although there is goodness in both of them. Be keen on what benefits you, and seek help from God, and do not give up. If anything afflicts you do not say “if I had done such and such things, such and such would have happened” but say: God has decreed that, and what He wills it must happen, for (the utterance) “if I had” provides an opening for the devil’s deed”. (Recorded by Muslim in his “Collection of Hadith”).

To be keen on doing good things, to invent and to invest for more benefits by fair means, to strive for a better life is the duty of every Muslim, according to the guidance of the Messenger of God. But a better life means a chance to strive for a better life in the Hereafter, by helping the needy, aiding the unable and fulfilling all kinds of devotion to God alone, and not by showing others and boasting.

The Qur’an guides Muslims to spend out of their wealth for the needy as a devotion to God, and it is called “the spending in the cause of God”. “Those who spend their wealth in God’s cause are like grain of corn that produce seven ears, each bearing a hundred grains. God gives multiple increases to whomever He wishes. He is limitless and all knowing. Those who spend their wealth in God’s cause, and do not follow their spending with reminder of their generosity and injury, their wage is with their Lord, and no fear shall befall them, neither shall they grieve” (2:261

-262).

One might ask why are we told not to forget our share of this life, while we love it by nature, without advice?

We need to understand that God’s advice to not forget this worldly life comes only after his urging us to devote ourselves to Him. This devotion means to use all means at hand in this life, to work together with others and for others, because a better Hereafter can only be attained through a worthy worldly life.

As the wise people used to say:

LIFE OF THIS WORLD IS MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN TO BE FORGOTTEN, BUT IT IS MORE TRIVIAL THAN TO BECOME OUR AIM.

The Boat Parable

In last week’s “Reflection”, I mentioned a hadith by the Prophet (may peace and God’s blessings be upon him), which was narrated as a parable, talking about a group of people who boarded a boat “some of them took the upper part, and the others sit in the lower deck”. One of those in the lower part took an ax and started making a hole in the bottom of the boat. Seeing this “foolish” and dangerous action, those in the upper part immediately prevented him to do so. If they did not prevent him, they all would have perished.

The person who tried to make a hole in the bottom of the boat may have wanted to do it with a good intention (not to disturb those in the upper part every time he has to get water which he and his fellows need). Whether with good intention or otherwise, such a big mistake can put the lives of all the passengers of the boat at risk of sinking. Hence, knowledgeable people who can foresee possible problems in some behavior should act responsibly to prevent dangerous actions to occur.

Then I said: the problem of the Muslim Ummah today is that they have lost the steer, so the boat is in real danger...

I have received a comment saying:

“I think that this discussion is really important and the hadith you mentioned is fundamental. In fact, it seems like it raises the not least critical issue of pluralism. How do people negotiate the navigation of the boat with all their diversity? Is the boat still one single boat? Or has it been broken down into smaller ones? Or do they still have any control over it? Is there even a pilot? Etc.

Let’s suppose that there’s still one boat, in the absence of one single captain (amir), how do we manage the presence of those who think differently in all the spectrum of the Islamic belonging, from one extreme to the other? Looking at the spectrum, how different or far am I from the norm (if any) or say the middle?”

Replying to that comment let us continue the discussion. The parable contains simple and specific points to be considered:

1.   There are people who are in the top part of the boat (we can say they are the more knowledgeable), and others on the lower deck (lower level of knowledge).

2.   The less knowledgeable people may do a great error, either because they are ignorant or they are irresponsible.

3.    A great error may cause some catastrophic consequences, so the knowledgeable people are the ones responsible to watch the situation and prevent dangerous errors perpetrated by less responsible ones.

Muslims in the world today consist of different groups; most of them have superficial knowledge of Islam.

Fortunately, there have always been personalities and even groups, of very learned persons here and there, who try to teach their students how Islam should be observed in the unceasingly fast evolution that occurred in the last decades, or how their perception should be in today’s mankind’s historical arena.

Confronting the harsh ideologies controversy of today, many Muslims are confused because of several elements:

·      low living standard;

·      lack of faith education, lack of Qur’anic teachings, and       

lack of general knowledge;

·      liberationist invasion through all kinds of modern media;

·      most Muslim countries governed by yielded agents of the

big powers.

One of the great errors that occurred to the Muslim Ummah, was that they did not react properly to prevent the cession and occupation of Palestine in 1948, which caused the expulsion of the majority of Palestinians from their homes to many countries in the world, and the implantation of so called “State of Israel”. That disaster has caused the world’s Muslim Community successively a lot of torment and agony. Many efforts were made by some eminent scholars in the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Indo-Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and North Africa, but have been wasted or damaged. When the Ikhwan in Egypt sent volunteers to aid the Palestinian resistance in 1948 they were forced to go back and were rewarded by persecution and jail. And in the election of 2012, when the Islamic parties succeeded with two thirds of the Parliament, the Military junta overthrew the legitimate government, abolished the Parliament and put the elected President and thousands of his supporters in jail. Thousands have been killed, and thousands fled out of the country.

The erudite Muslims everywhere today have a huge responsibility to teach and educate as much as possible the new generations. They should present to them Islamic teachings with appropriate and proper way, by widening their perspective to understand its canonical object.

For example, in today’s critical time Muslim scholars should make clear the errors and damage done by the group who claim to have established an “Islamic State” while they did in fact a lot of damage by their senseless and horrible actions. They fight here and there with the slogan “jihad”, while the real jihad can only be achieved within the Islamic Law.

At the same time, Muslim scholars should warn people to not be captives of those anti-Islam ideologists who pretend to renew Islam, so that it could fit “Modernism”. This is a false pretention. Islam is God’s guidance for humanity to live their life healthy, wealthy and wise. Islam urges its adherents to improve their material life to the best level possible, with the guidance given by their Lord, not by adapting their lifestyle to “Modernism”.

Islam does not allow Muslims to live outside the continuously developing civilization. They have to strive for mankind’s prosperity in this world and in the life to come. God says in the Qur’an:

“And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way, so that (with your lives) you might bear witness to the truth before all Mankind, and that the Messenger might bear witness to it before you..” (2:143).

The Muslim community should be active wherever it may be, in order to expand the Islamic civilization.

God has ordered His Messenger to tell his followers:

“Say (O Prophet): Act! And God will observe your deeds, and (so will) His Messenger, and the believers: and (in the end) you will be brought before Him Who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being’s perception as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature’s senses, and He will tell you what you used to do” (9:105).

If God has willed Muslims to be “a community of the middle way”, who might bear witness to the truth before all mankind, it means they have to be in a lofty level of wisdom and might. To reach that goal all Muslims must strive, individually and collectively, with the hope that in the end, the passengers of the boat will be in a safe position.