Uprightness of the Ummah

A “community” is a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race, etc. But what I would like to discuss here is the case of a great number of people spread all over the world: the Muslim “Ummah”.

The terminology “Ummah” is used in the Qur’an to describe people who have the same interests, endeavors and goals, while upright in following God’s ordinances. Probably close to the term “fraternity”: “Surely, this ummah (= fraternity) of yours is a unique one, and I am your Lord, so worship Me (alone)” (21:92).

The Qur’an praises those people, who accepted the guidance of the last Prophet Muhammad (God’s blessings upon him), based on the revelation of God: “You are indeed the best ummah that has been brought forth for (the good of) mankind: you enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong; and you have faith in God .. “ (3:110).

When the Qur’an was revealed and the Prophet was spreading its message to all people around him, among them were “people of the Book” (meaning Christians and Jews) who claimed to follow the earlier revelations. They were all supposed to follow the Qur’an too, which is the last version of all God’s revelations.  God has already mentioned in the original Torah and Gospel, that when the last Prophet comes all followers of those Prophets have to follow him, and the earlier Prophets had given the pledge that they would (see Qur’an, 3:81).

In the Old Testament (Deut. Xviii.18) “Muhammad” is foretold and the rise of Arab nation is mentioned in Isiah.xii.11. for Kadar was a son of Ismail and the name is used for the Arab nation. In the New Testament as it now exists, “Muhammad” is also foretold (in the Gospel of St. John.xiv.16, xv.26, and xvi.7). The future “Comforter” translated from the Greek word “paracletos” which is an easy corruption from “periclytos”, which is almost a literal translation of “Muhammad” or “Ahmad” (See: Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s note on his Translation of the Qur’an).

But both Christians and Jews, except some of them, do not accept Islam. So the revelation came: “.. Now if the followers of earlier revelation had attained to (this) faith, it would have been for their own good, (but only few) among them are having the faith, while most of them are iniquitous” (3:110).

Only a small number of them accepted, others not only refused the call, but most of the Jews who were living in Medinah and the neighborhood, plotted with the pagans to attack the Prophet and his followers.

The Qur’an praised the Jews and the Christians who accepted the call of God as follows: “They are not all alike; some of the people of the Scripture are upright ones, they recite God’s verses in the watches of the night, prostrate themselves. They do have faith in God and in the Last Day, enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and vie with one another in doing good works: and these are among the righteous” (3:113-114).

The necessity of uprightness

What absolutely needed for the Muslim Ummah today is the necessity of uprightness in behavior. The Muslim Ummah should follow the footsteps of God’s messengers.

God says: “We have indeed sent Our messengers with clear signs, and We revealed with them the Scripture and (thus gave you) a Balance (wherewith to weigh right and wrong), so that mankind may uphold justice. And We sent down iron wherein is great might, and (many) uses for mankind, and so that God might mark out those who would stand up for Him and His messengers, even though (He Himself) is beyond the reach of human perception. Verily God is Powerful, Almighty!” (57:25).

God is calling those who have attained to faith to be upright and steadfast in upholding justice in all domains of life:

“O you who have attained to faith! Be ever upright in justice, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God; even though it be against yourselves, or parents and kinsmen; whether the person concerned be rich or poor, God is closer to the two. So do not follow your own whim, lest you swerve from justice, for if you twist, or refrain, surely God is aware of what you do” (4:135).

This uprightness needs perseverance from all members of the Ummah to be steadfast in exercising their duty towards God who entrusts them to implement His ordinances in all domains of life.

God says: “O you who have attained to faith! Surrender yourselves wholly unto God, and follow not Satan’s footsteps, for, verily, he is your open foe” (2:208).

Satan’s footsteps are all kinds of men-made rules or behavior, which are contradictory to God’s ordinances.

Certainly, all nations need to come up with rules for themselves to cover their needs for societies’ regulation, but for Muslims, everything should be within the frame of God’s ordinances and not out of it.

“The Light” We Need

              “O mankind! A manifestation of the truth has

                now come unto you from your Lord, and We

                have sent down unto you a clear Light”

                                                                        (Qur’an, 4:174)

The “light” mentioned in the above verse is the Qur’an.

Indeed the Qur’an is a spiritual illumination preeminent for mankind. It gives information about the creation as a whole, and about many of them in details. It gives us information about the spiritual entity of human being and all spiritual beings around us.

It also tells us about the Creator’s attributes and the way we communicate with Him: “God, there is no god except Him, the Ever-Living, the Eternal Sustainer. Slumber does not seize Him, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth; who is there, that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what lies before them, and what is after them; and they encompass nothing of His knowledge, save such as He wills. His Throne subsumes (or: His eternal power overspreads) the heavens and the earth; the preserving

 of them wearies Him not; He is the Sublime, the Tremendous”  (2:255).

The Qur’an clarifies the purpose of our existence and what will be after death. It illuminates mankind so that they may see, observe and search, to comprehend the nature of each creature, which can be of a benefit to them.

“Verily, this Qur’an guides to all that is most upright, and gives the believers who do righteous deeds the glad tiding that there is a great reward for them” (17:9).

The Qur’an “guides to all that is most upright” because there is no ordinance which was ordained by God and discovered unfit. On the contrary we know that in some countries, after legislating a law which was thought good, after sometime it was found out to be unfit for the society. For instance: some countries legislated the unlawfulness of divorce between a married couple, then, after a long bad experience they found out that in some circumstances divorce was inevitable. The Qur’an, with God’s wisdom, considers divorce, in certain circumstances, and after measures to reconcile have been exhausted, an “undesirable” but necessary solution.

All rituals including the prescribed washing, ablution, prayers, fasting, hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) and some other rituals are prescribed for very beneficial purposes, spiritually as well as socially or individually, and even physically.

The Qur’an insists that those who attained to faith have to act all their dealings with correctness, righteousness and justice: “O you who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God, and be among those who are true to their word!” (9:119).

And although justice and virtues are recommended, the Qur’an asks for something more human: the doing of good deeds and behaving correctly towards others: “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 runs counter to reason, as well as envy; (and) He exhorts you (repeatedly) so that you might bear (all this) in mind. And be true to your bond with God whenever you bind yourselves by a pledge, and do not break (your) oaths after having (freely) confirmed them and having called upon God to be witness to your good faith: behold God knows all that you do” (16:90-91).

There is a parable in the Qur’an illustrating this Light as follows: “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass; the glass as it were a glittering star kindled from a Blessed Tree, an olive neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon light. God is guiding to His Light whom He will. And God strikes similitudes for men, for God is Knower of all things” (24:35).

But we have to beware while reading “God is the Light...”. We should not define God as anything of His created being because “There is nothing like Him” (42:11), and “No vision can encompass Him, whereas He encompasses all visions” (6:103). It is only alluding to the light, which He, who is the Ultimate Truth, bestows upon the minds and the feelings of those who have attained to faith.

Then He tells us that Light as a lamp in a niche. This lamp is in a sparkling glass as if it were a glittering star, because it is kindled by very clear and bright oil, for it is from a blessed olive tree which is neither of the east nor of the west, so that it would shine intensely although no fire touched it.

At last God says: “Light upon light”, light of the faith which is in the heart and mind of a believer, and “Light” of the revealed verses of the Qur’an which could illuminate his mind and feelings.

Indeed all verses of the Qur’an are the Light we always need, yet it is worth here mentioning the following verse, which resembles a torch leading mankind in the darkness: “And your Lord has decreed that you worship none save Him and kindness to parents. If they should reach old age with you, one of them or both then do not say to them: ¨Fie¨ nor repulse them, but speak to them gracious words. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say (in prayer to God): My Lord, have mercy on them, just as they reared me when I was little. Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you are righteous, then truly, to those who are penitent He is Forgiving. And give the kinsman his due, and the needy and the traveller (as well); and do not squander. Indeed squanderers are brothers of devils, and the Devil was ever ungrateful to his Lord” (17:23-27).

Individual Freedom

Man’s formation

The creation of mankind was for a purpose: for mankind to act as the vicegerent of God on earth. As such, he is supposed to be in the best of formation (see: Qur’an, 95:4-9).

However, mankind is by nature weak in character (see: Qur’an, 4:28), hasty (see: Qur’an, 17:11), restless (see: Qur’an, 70:19), fretful (see: Qur’an, 70:20), niggardly (see: Qur’an, 70:21). But all these weaknesses can be swept away if man follows God’s ordinances correctly and indeed uses the faculties endowed to him, like “hearing” (faculty of receiving instructions) and “seeing” (faculty of intellectual and spiritual insight) (see: Qur’an, 76:2).

These negative traits of man’s formation make it clear that man’s freedom is not absolute. It is true that God has honored him over other creations (see: Qur’an, 17:70), as God’s vicegerent on earth, but that honor comes with great responsibility and trial. And for that reason he has been given freewill. This freedom is not absolute, because if it were absolute for individuals, it would certainly cause chaos in the society. Thus, God’s instructions are necessary to guide men, both individuals and societies.

Man’s inner power

The Qur’an talks about “nafs” (the self) of human being. This “nafs” inspired by God carries two contrasting features: moral failings and a consciousness of God. With all faculties given to him, human being deserves freewill, which has an inner power that gives him the ability to choose which path he wants to trace.

God says: “And consider “the self” and how it is formed (in accordance with what it is meant to be); so it was imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God. Indeed, successful will be the one who purifies it, and indeed will have to fail he who eclipses it” (91:7.10).

“Eclipsing” one’s self means disgracing the power given to him by God to resist against the negative “power” of Satan. Man is expected to resist by using all faculties in his possession (his inner power).

And “purifying” one’s self means to free it from sin, guilt or any other defilement, so that he is immune from Satan’s temptations, and courageously opposing it.

God says in the Qur’an: “As for him who shall have transgressed the bound of what is right, and preferred the life of this low-world, Hell-fire will indeed be the abode. But as for him who feared the stance before his Lord, and forbade the self from pursuing destructive desire, Paradise will indeed be the abode” (79:37-41).

Satan’s temptation

From the Qur’anic statements we can be certain that in God’s Plan, Satan is the eternal tempter by which man is tried between the Straight Path shown by God and the adorned devil’s temptation. Thus here is where man exercises his freewill. God has sent His messengers with the purpose of guiding people to endure with their faith and consciousness of God, so that they can be immune to the temptation and blandishment of Satan. God has given instructions and explained how individuals and societies can confront devil’s temptation.

The Qur’an recounts the capability of the devil to influence human being, but at the same time it states that devil cannot succeed in toppling down the strength of the freewill of a Godly-devoted person: (see: Qur’an, 15:28-44). God incites man to fight the allies of Satan and assures him that the “power” of the evil is always negative, thus weak: “… verily, Satan’s guile is feeble indeed” (4:76).

Satan is always tempting human beings by beautifying all kinds of means of comfort, like lust, children, wealth, luxuries, in order to attract them towards these temptations rather than to have them struggle for moral and higher ambitious values (see: Qur’an, 3: 14-17).

Potential meaning of life

After observing the real nature of human being and what kind of duties is entrusted to him by the Creator, we can grasp that human’s life is not for nothing. There must be meaning to it.

God says in the Qur’an: And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me” (51:56).

Worshiping God means developing one’s “cognition of the existence of God and, hence, his conscious willingness to conform his own existence to whatever he may perceive of His Will and Plan”(Muhammad Asad in his masterpiece: “The message of the Qur’an”). It is this twofold concept of cognition and willingness that gives the deepest meaning to what the Qur’an describes as “’ibadah” (= worship). And this spiritual call does not arise from any supposed “need” on the part of the Creator, who is Self-Sufficient and infinite in His power, but is designed as an instrument for the inner development of the worshiper, who by the act of his conscious self-surrender to the All-pervading Creative Will may hope to come closer to an understanding of that Will and, thus, closer to God Himself.

So it is safe to say that ‘ibadah (= worshiping God) can strengthen one’s inner power to use his individual freedom correctly and then make his life meaningful.

According to a well-known psychiatrist, Dr. Victor Frankl (1905-1997), even in the most absurd, painful, and dehumanized situation, life has potential meaning and, therefore, even suffering is meaningful. This conclusion served as a strong basis for his logotherapy and existential analysis. He is quoted as saying, “What is to give light must endure burning”! (See his book “Man’s Search for Meaning: An introduction to logotherapy”, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959).

Logotherapy is a highly directive existential psychotherapy that emphasizes the importance of meaning in the patient’s life especially as gained through spiritual value.

“Political” Islam?

Muslims have faith in God the Almighty and accept His supreme sovereignty over their private and public affairs. This faith is the source of a comprehensive vision of the world and life, and will provide the mold that shapes and regulates human relations.

The major social objectives of Muslims should be identified by a system of normative values spread out in the Qur’an as a criterion, and explained by the Messenger of God (God’s blessings upon him). So, this Islamic system of life – individual and social, economical and political –is all part of the Islamic-way-of-life. There is no “political” Islam and “non-political” Islam as such.

Rule and sovereignty in Islam are in the hands of God alone. God says in the Qur’an: “God is the Creator of all things, and He is the Guardian over all things. To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth..” (39:62-63).  “... Sovereignty belongs only to God. He has commanded that you worship (= follow the guidance) none but Him. That is the upright way-of-life, but most people do not know” (12:40).

The entire community is responsible to live according to the guidance of this system, the best way possible. God says: “And the faithful believers, both men and women, are allies of one another; they enjoin decency and forbid indecency; they observe prayer and pay zakat (= alms as purifier), and they obey God and His Messenger. Those God will have mercy on them. Truly God is Almighty, Wise” (9:71).

Consultation System

Administrating public affairs in the real Muslim Ummah is by a consultation system, the same as in a family affairs, or in business and also in State affairs, because God describes this in the Qur’an: “And they who respond to (the call of) their Lord and are constant in prayer; and whose rule (in all matters of common concern) is consultation among themselves; and who spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance” (42:38).

So if the majority of people in a country are faithful believers, they are all responsible to exercise consultation in their affairs. The responsibility of exercising God’s ordinances in the country, in all domains of life, is not only on those who rule the government, but the whole population is responsible. This is the wise democracy.

Earlier generations, after the Prophet’s, lived their life accordingly, between perfect and less perfect, but little by little, the “political” side of the system became less realized.

Instead of a “Consultation System State”, Muslim countries were ruled by dynasties: the Umayad, then the Abbasyd, and then the Ottoman Empire. And in-between, some Sultanates separated. Whatever the name of the system, it was in fact no more Islamic, even though most parts of the Shari’ah were more or less established. As time passed, Muslims became very weak and it became possible for European rulers to topple the Ottoman Empire with the help of their Arab and Turkish agents.

Later in 1923 Mustafa Kemal declared the demolishment of that “empire” and established the Turkish Republic. The Arab world divided into many states, which were ruled by Britain (i.e. Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and South Yemen), by France (i.e. Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia and Djibouti) and by Italy (i.e. Libya and Somalia) until after the Second World War, when officially these divided Arab countries got what they called their “freedom”, but in reality they were all under the sovereignty of those western colonialists. And Palestine was given to the International Zionist Organization (by the British) to establish a state in 1948, which they called “Israel”, and more than half of the Palestinians were kicked out of their homes in diaspora. This is the result of the secular “western moral, civilization and wisdom” when the Muslims themselves were weak in their faith in God’s ordinances!!!

The dilemma

Only a deep understanding and a strong faith in the majority of the population of a country can exercise the Islamic system of life, in all domains, including the political and administrative fields. There are, however, people who exercise terrorism in the name of jihad, whether by ignorance or by blind radicalism. Such acts spread a wrong understanding and a bad image of Islam. Among others, there are those crooks that claim having established a “caliphate” (“ISIS” in Iraq and Syria). Shamelessly, the first thing they did was to expulse Christians and Yazidis from their homes in Iraq, when those people and their forefathers lived there for thousands of years. This act is illegal in Islamic Shari’ah and is considered a flagrant crime.

The only way to establish an Islamic state, nowadays, is by an election, a kind of democracy.

A democracy, which is not fit for Muslims is the one “where the supreme power is vested in the people”. In Islam, the majority of people elect their deputies, who are faithful Muslims, and the minority elects their deputies too. But the supreme power rests in God’s ordinances. People’s deputies will select the competent candidates to lead the governmental institutions.

It is a pity that in Egypt, after the revolution of the 25^th of January 2011, when the majority of people elected - in a democratic way - about 70% of deputies who believe in an Islamic system of government, and elected a president from an Islamic party, many of the secular “intellectuals” conspired with the military leaders and toppled the democratic authority after a very big media propaganda, to overthrow the elected democratic President. Naturally all this happened with the approval of the United States and the European Union countries, in one way or another. The Coup d’état caused an oppression against the biggest Islamic party, killed more than one thousand persons, thousands of people were thrown in jail with severe persecution, and thousands of politicians fled the country and cannot come back. The Egyptian Court condemned to death more than thousand people accused of terrorism, only during a two-hours of so-called arbitration. Some of the condemned to death however were already deceased more than a year before that. This reveals such a great chaos and a pitiful situation.

We have seen several “Israeli” aggressions against Gaza, the last one started on the 7^th of July 2014, killing thousands of civilians, 40% of them children, injuring thousands more, and devastating hundreds of thousands of houses, mosques, schools and some hospitals. Yet the military regime in Egypt still kept the Rafah Crossing closed. Egyptian rulers consider Hamas in Gaza as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and that they are terrorists, while in fact they constitute the resistance. Israeli authority now considers Egypt as the best ally for Israel. Thus, we can understand that, in fact, both the anti-revolutionary actions in Syria and in Egypt, and the war against the resistance in Gaza, is a conspiracy against Islam lead by the Zionists and their allies (USA, EU and some Arab countries).