To Save Mankind’s Boat ...!

Nu’man bin Bashir narrated the following

parable given by Prophet Muhammad (may

peace and God’s blessings be upon him):

“The likeness of the person who observes

God’s ordinances and that of the person

who transgresses them is like a group

of people who share a boat:

some of them have seats in the upper deck,

while the others sit the lower deck. Those in

lower part have to pass by those in the upper

part to get water, and they think that by doing 

that, they are troubling them. One of those

in the lower part took an ax and started

making a hole in the bottom of the boat.

People of the upper part came and said:

What is wrong with you? He said: You have

been much troubled by my coming up to you,

and I have to get water. Now if they prevent

him from doing that, they will save him and

save themselves, and if they let him to do

what he wants, they will all perish”.

(Recorded by Al-Bukhari in his “Collection

of Hadith”)

All mankind, since the first human being, are newcomers in this planet. God has made them responsible, to be the main actors in exploiting its goods and governing all its inhabitants. The last Prophet (may peace and God’s blessings be upon him) has illustrated their condition in the above mentioned parable. He described them as being together, passengers of a boat crossing the ocean. For the safety of those passengers, they need regulations, cooperation and a harmonious relation. Their errors can put them all in danger. Small errors should immediately be repaired. Discipline should be guarded seriously to prevent senseless actions from any of the occupiers of that boat.

In reality, we should understand that, for the sake of peace and prosperity for all mankind, an awareness of the necessity of cooperation and the acceptance of rules should exist in everyone’s mind.

To be realistic, Muslims in the world today are like being on a boat, crossing the international arena. They need to be aware that even personal errors can affect the whole community and cause bad consequences; so if the errors are seen as normal in the wider circle of society, this will bring a terrible danger.

All Muslims in the world today are suffering, and it seems paradoxical to say that the hardship in the so-called Muslim countries is greater (Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, among others). The main reason is that people do not heed God’s advice: to cooperate with each other in righteousness and in defending themselves against any aggression coming from the outside. The “big powers” with their mighty influence maintain their aim to divide people in groups, and to govern them with tyranny. The wise people have no power, many of them are in jail, persecuted and under oppression.

I think the main problem of the world Muslim Ummah (= community) today is that they have lost the steer, so the boat is in real danger. And the passengers  instead of being concerned and acting cooperatively

to adjust the steer, are busy quarrelling between themselves for less important things.

God has admonished the believers in this way: “And obey God and His Messenger, and do not quarrel with one another, lest you lose heart and your spirit may desert you. And be steadfast, for, verily, God is with those who steadfast” (8:46).

We see now the majority of the Muslim nation lives under tyrannical authorities, and the society is divided in rigid chauvinist groups, although all of them adhere to Islam. And as Muslims, they are supposed to behave with tolerance, not only within the Muslim community, but also with others. Let us see how the Qur’an guides the believers to act towards non-Muslims:

“God does not forbid you to treat kindly and deal justly with anyone who has not fought you for your faith or driven you out of your homes. Assuredly God loves the just. God only forbids you to take allies those who have fought against you for your faith, and driven you out of your homes, and supported others in your expulsion. And whoever takes them as allies will truly be wrongdoers” (60:8-9).

So this is the real Islamic way that should be traced: steadfastness in fairness, and kindness and tolerance in behaviour. This is not chauvinism.

Those authoritative tyrants in Muslim countries think they are so brave confronting their own people, but are in fact cowards in facing the enemies. Since after the second world-war, they are subjugated to the “big powers” who have planted a base in the heart of the vast Muslim World, in Palestine, by encouraging the Zionists to mobilize Jews from all over the world and established an entity called “Israel”. In addition to that, those “big powers” obliged Muslim governors to put their huge wealth under their supremacy. And this tragedy has been continuing ever since, by so many ways and means. Among these malicious means, they created the so-called United Nations Organization with its affiliates. Through this big organization the big powers can control everything and everywhere.

We have never seen justice occurring through those big whales in the so-called United Nations Organization. When any small country afflicted by oppression from any member of the UNO and complains, either it will be ignored, or even if the concerned body of that organization has taken a decision in the benefit of the complainer, no sanctions will take place.

But also we should not lessen the wickedness of those in the Muslim “boat” who call themselves the liberalists, who consider Islam like the Church in the middle age in Europe, and attempt to keep the new generation at a distance from the Islamic teachings. They are little by little trying to remove a lot of the religious curriculums in public schools. And we find this trend in certain political campaigns in many Arab and “Muslim” countries, sometimes they use glittering slogans like “new religion presentation” or “the renewal of religion”. Of course it is normal that from a century to another we can have a renewed presentation, but it should be done by the qualified knowledgeable people in the field, not by greedy and ill intentioned politicians. And this has been done all over Muslim history.

To conclude I would say, that aboard the “Muslim Boat” we have many different strange trends of people, even though they are not the majority, but it is not easy to escape their danger. May God intensify the real Islamic trend over the others.

The Fleeing People

It indeed brings pity and deep grief to talk about people forcefully fleeing their own homes in Syria, because of the brutal oppression they suffered from. It seems that some people blame them, as they do not try to imagine the great pain of those unfortunates.

The Assad Clan has been dominating Syrian politics by oppression, humiliating the population for over forty years, mostly by making alliances with big powers, namely Russia and Iran.
When in 2011 people showed their anger through huge peaceful demonstrations all over the country, demanding the government to meet their wishes with dignity, democracy and freedom, the Assad regime confronted them with brutal violence. Peaceful demonstrations continued for around eight months, but the oppression continued and escalated, which urged some groups of the army to revolt against the orders of shooting peaceful demonstrators. They created The Free Syrian Army in response to people’s demand, and to the increased violence. The Assad regime called its allies for help; Russia forwarded arms to them, and Iran sent armed militias to suppress the people’s will for freedom and dignity.

More than eleven million people left their homes (half of them because their houses were destroyed), more than four million of them fled and were scattered in different countries, about three hundred thousand were killed (half of them were children and women), and tens of thousands are in prisons (tortured).

To make the situation worse, the Assad’s regime and its allies, indirectly, have given possibilities for ISIS to enter the field and act as a group of fighters, as they are fighting Assad’s opposition itself. And now in September 2015 Russia officially sent its forces, built a military base in Syria and started its bombardments. Surprisingly the Russian Orthodox Church issued the following declaration: “Russia took a responsible decision to use military forces to protect the Syrian people from the woes brought on by the tyranny of terrorists. The Orthodox people have noticed many acts of violence against Christians in the area. Any fight against terrorism is moral; we can even call it a holy fight”. This declaration reminds us of the Crusade against Muslims in Jerusalem in the 11th century.

The Free Syrian Army asked help from other countries, namely the USA and some European countries, and also Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar (all these countries made a declaration as being Friends of the Syrian People). But it is clear that all those countries, despite their talk about liberty and their slogans about protecting democracy, in fact gave very little support to the Syrian people, because of other political considerations linked to the allies of Assad’s regime, like the USA and Europe who are taking into account Israel’s concern of who will come after Assad. It is evident that the brutal Russian’s intervention is raising more tension in the region, especially now that the Military Regime in Egypt and the pro-Iran Iraqi regime declared their support to Assad’s regime.

To conclude, I would say that those fleeing people, who left their homes and were scattered in the world with distress, are without any doubt victims of the Assad’s tyranny and the immorality and dirty politics of the politicians of the big powers. It is very astonishing that a moral power like the Russian Orthodox Church, which should defend the rights for life, for freedom and dignity, supports and encourages the actions of politicians of the calibre of Mr. Putin.

The Third Covenant

It is narrated on the authority of Tamim ad-Dari that the Messenger of God (May peace and blessings be upon him) said: Devotion is an act of sincerity. The audience asked him: Towards whom? He replied: Towards God, His Book, His Messenger and the leaders and the general Muslims.

(Registered by Muslim in his “Collection of Hadith”).

In one of my previous articles, I mentioned that there are three kinds of covenants included in God’s Covenant (the first is between God and man, the second is between man and his own self, and the third is between a person and others).

In the Hadith quoted above the Great Prophet (peace and God’s blessings be upon him) stressed the necessity of one being sincere in all aspects of his/her conduct and behavior.

Reflecting over ordinances we find in the Qur’an and the Prophet’s guidance, we could discover four circles around every person, among which the nearest circle should get priority over the other circles in terms of observing them: family and kinfolks, the neighborhood, the national circle, and the Ummah (Religious Community as a whole).

The first circle (the family and kinfolks)

Although we are ordered to treat all people excellently, yet parents and grand parents should have the priority. Then the spouse and the children, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, and all relations and kinfolks. The Qur’an in so many chapters, and the Prophet on so many occasions, indicated this matter. In addition, there are rules given to control and guide all members of the family to exercise the righteous relations between one and another.

When a member of the family dies, his/her heritage should be given to his/her relatives according to the degree of kinship, and there is a very strict regulation (in the Qur’an and Hadith), which rules the distribution of it. Moreover, before his/her death, one has no right to give out in terms of his/her testament more than one third of his wealth outside the bounds of that distribution. In addition, this portion of testament cannot be given to those who have the right of receiving heritage.

The second circle (the neighborhood)

Good relations between neighbors gets a highly importance place in Islam. Both the Qur’an and Prophet’s guidance give a strong consideration neighbors that should be observed by Muslims, even if their neighbors are non-Muslims.

The third circle (the national citizenship)

When a country includes more than one ethnic or religious community, there should be a common agreement to give every citizen equal rights with the Muslim majority and every citizen has a fair dignity.

The fourth circle (The Ummah)

The Ummah comprises all adherents of Islam wherever they are, even as minorities in different countries. They all have the same faith and they share the same wishes and goals. If anyone of them is religiously oppressed s/he has the right to get help and support from other Muslims wherever they are, especially from Muslim countries.

Social Relations

Muslims are ordered to be good in their conduct with all kinds of people, and they are advised to disregard any thing that could possibly create problems. They are required not to concern themselves with anything regarding which they have no knowledge: “And never concern yourselves with anything of which you have no knowledge: verily, the hearing and the sight and the heart – all of them – will be called to account for it (on Judgment Day)” (17:36).

Islam urges people to be sincere in all their dealings. Any sexual relation between a man and a woman should be only possible through legal marriage. Sincerity must prevail at all times: before marriage, during marriage, and even (if happens) after the dissolution of marriage.

In the Qur’an we find a chapter called “The Light”, which clarifies several regulations for the Muslim community, that deal mainly with marriage, modesty, and appropriate behavior in the household. In this chapter God warns the believers not to involve in slander. Those, who accuse honorable, unwary believing women of adultery, are rejected by God in this life and the next one.

A painful punishment awaits them on the Day when their own tongues, hands, and feet will testify against them about what they have done (see 24:23-24).

And to protect individuals against possible slander, God forbids them to enter houses of other people unless they have obtained permission, and they have to greet their inmates (see 24:27).

The rule of modesty applies to men as well as women: they should “lower their gaze” and “guard their chastity”, both in the literal sense of “covering one’s private parts” (as modesty in dress) and in the metonymical sense of “restraining one’s sexual urges” restricting them to what is lawful, namely, marital intercourse (see 24:30-31).

There is also a chapter called “Al-Hujurat” (= The Private Rooms). It guides the believers as to how to behave with respect towards their leader, and with mutual respect and trust towards each other. This chapter stresses the unity of mankind and God’s intention that people should live together in harmony.

Business Interactions

In their business interactions, Muslims are urged to be sincere and far from cheating others: “Woe to those who give short measure: those who, when they are to receive their due from (other) people, demand that it be given in full – but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due. Do they not know that they are bound to be raised from the dead (and called to account) on a mighty Day – the Day when all human beings shall stand before the Lord of all the worlds?!” (83:1-6).

This paragraph refers certainly to commercial dealings, yet it touches also upon every aspect of social relations, both practical and moral, applying to every individual’s rights and obligations.

This is briefly to conclude the talk about one aspect of God’s Covenant, which is the Covenant between a person and other people, and which every believer is urged to fulfill.

God’s Covenant: How To Deal With It

                        “Is he who knows that what was revealed

                         to you from your Lord is the truth, like him

                         who is blind? Only those who exploit their                        

                         hearts will understand it: those who fulfill

                         God’s Covenant and do not break the Pact”

                                                                        (Qur’an, 13:19-20)

  

In the last Reflection I have concluded that it is essential for human beings to properly exploit the faculties endowed to them by God. Here I will try to reflect on God’s statement that those who can understand the truth of the Qur’an are only the people who exploit their hearts properly. And the consequence: they fulfill God’s Covenant.

Human being has moral and social responsibilities. For this purpose, God ordains every person who believes in Him to be true to his covenants. And there are three kinds of covenants to be fulfilled: covenant between God and man, covenant between man and his own soul and covenant between man and his fellow-men: “O you who have attained to faith, be true to your covenants!” (5:1).

The first Covenant

According to the Qur’an the ability to perceive the existence of the Supreme Power as the Lord (who cherishes and sustains him) is inborn in every individual of Mankind: “And when your Lord took out the offspring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness about themselves: Am I not your Lord? And they replied: Yes, indeed, we bear witness. So you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection: we were not aware of this; or: it was our forefathers who, before us, ascribed partners to God, and we are only the descendants who came after them, will You destroy us because of falsehoods they invented?” (7:172-173).

Because of His mercy, God sent His revelations to Mankind through messengers chosen among every nation to remind their people of God’s covenant, and revive the concealed cognition of the lordship of God in their deep insight.

God says in the Qur’an: “This (message) is no less than a reminder to all mankind, to every one of you who wills to take the straight way. But you cannot will it unless God, the Lord of all the worlds, wills” (81:27-29).

The second Covenant

Between man and his own soul. This is very important to be reflected on, because one is often inattentive to what his existence is for. The Qur’an says: “Verily, We have created human being into (a life of) pain, toil, and trial. Does he, then, think that no one has power over him? He boasts: I have spent wealth abundant. Does he, then, think that no one sees him? Have We not given him two eyes, and a tongue, and a pair of lips, and shown him the two highways (of good and evil)? Yet he has not attempted the steep path!” (90:4-11).

The Qur’an reminds us that on the Day of Resurrection each person will be apprised of what he has done and what he left undone, and his body particles shall be eye-witnesses (see: 24:24), even though he may veil himself in excuses (see 75: 14-15).

The third Covenant

Between man and his fellow-men. God has ordained the relationship between husband and wife, which the Qur’an considers as intimate and privy, so that each of them lives in serenity with the other, and considers their bond a solemn pledge (see: 30:29 and 4:21). And God asks every person (man or woman) not to covet that what God has preferred some above others, because God wants to examine all of them by His will (see 4:32). He also ordered every one to do good to one’s parents, next of kin, orphans, the needy, the neighbor from among one’s own people, the neighbor who is a stranger, the friend by one’s side and the wayfarer (see 4:36).

Furthermore: “Behold, God enjoins justice, and the doing of good, and generosity towards (one’s) fellow-men; and He forbids all that is shameful, and all that is blameworthy, and oppressive. He exhorts you so that you might bear (all this) in mind” (16:90).

To conclude and reflect on what is mentioned above, we can say that God’s Covenant also includes the importance of good relations between people, as it is a part of the great Covenant:

“O mankind, be mindful of your Lord who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women. And remain mindful of God, in whose Name you demand (your rights) from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily God is ever watchful over you” (4:1). “and fulfill the Covenant; surely the Covenant shall be asked about (on the Day of Resurrection)” (17:34).