October 2003, Bulletin 1
Bulletin
October 2003 C.E
October 2003, Bulletin 1
News
United Kingdon
Open Meeting New Haw
Mr Azhar-ud-Din organised a very successful meeting at the New Haw Community Centre at which local politicians and dignitaries were invited. The theme of the meeting was: ‘Islam – The Religion of Peace’. The presentation was well received by the audience; many expressed surprise as they were unaware that Muslims are required to fight to protect the places of worship of all religions. Prof Angel spoke ofhis experience with Muslims. He found the post-graduate students, ranging from Pakistanis to Arabs, working under his guidance, to be tolerant and courteous. He recounted the experience of his travels in the Arab world where he was shown great hospitality and where people went out of their way to help him. Other local political leaders also spoke and expressed their appreciation for the presentation.
Over a sumptuous tea, provided by Mr and Mrs Azhar-ud-Din, the exchange of ideas continued. Members of the jamaat then retired to his house where they were served with dinner and where the discussion continued until late.
May Allah bless the whole family for their efforts on behalf of the jamaat. We hope that other members will arrange similar meetings in their areas so that local people and politicians may come to learn of the beauty of Islam and its message for humanity.
Indonesia
The Lahore Ahmadiyya International Convention is being held in Indonesia from the 24th to the 27th of September 2003. The Convention in Indonesia started on the 24th with a one-day International Symposium at Yogyakarta. The theme is “Civil Society - The Nature of Victory of Islam”. There will be a Convention or Jalsa on the 25th and 26th in which Hazrat Ameer and other members of his delegation will speak. On the 27th they will celebrate 56 years of the Islamic Education Foundation of the Republic of Indonesia that is being run by the Jamaat. Last year, the Indonesia jamaat announced a series of jalsas to commemorate the founding of the jamaat. This was to culminate in a huge international conference. The activities were thrown into doubt by the bombing in Bali and at one stage it seemed as if the international jalsa would be cancelled. Eventually, a decision was taken to continue with the programme. Hazrat Amir, Dr Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha, together with a large delegation has gone to Indonesia to par ticipate in the jalsa. Members will be informed of the details as and when we receive them. We pray for the success of their jalsa.
Requests for prayers
The following members of the jamaat are sick and they have asked us to remember them in our prayers.
UK:
Mrs Akhtar Jabeen Aziz, Dr Hami, both of whom underwent surgery, and Mr & Mrs Haroun’s son, Nayeb.
Fiji
Mother of Mr Mehboob Raza and Mr Abid Raza
USA:
Masud Akhtar Chaudry, who underwent surgery; and rehabilitation of Br. Rafi Shareef, who had a successful liver transplant last month and Maulana AbdulMannan
Surinam:
Mr. Rashid Pierkhan
Australia:
Dr. Habeeb Sahukhan
Holland
Mr Nur Sardar who underwent open heart surgery. The operation has been successful. Alhamdolilla.
The topic of today’s presentation is: Islam – The Religion of Peace. This is a vast topic and much can be said about each aspect of this topic.
Topics for the day
The two aspects, which I want to consider today, are:
How should a Muslim treat or interact with followers of other faiths in the country where he lives?
and
How should a Muslim nation interact with other nations?
Sources
The sources that I intend to use to support my thesis are these:
1: The Holy Quran which Muslims believe to be the directly revealed word of Allah, preserved in exactly the same words in which it was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s).
2: The Hadith that is a collection of the sayings and description of the actions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s).
3: The Arabic language in which the Holy Quran was revealed.
Fundamental Beliefs
Before dealing with the topic itself it will also be useful to look at the fundamental beliefs of the Muslims.
1: There is one God who created mankind.
2: Divine guidance was sent to all mankind through prophets raised by Allah.
3: The Last Prophet after whom there will be no other, new or old, was the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s).
4: The Last brotherhood to be established was that of the Muslims.
These beliefs are important in understanding Islam’s attitude to other religions. The unity of the humankind flows from the concept of the Unity of the Godhead. If there is one God who created all, then He will treat us all with justice and equity regardless of our beliefs. We are all His children. A father may find that one child is naughty, another lazy, yet a third one hard working and so on. But, he loves them all. He tries to do his best for all of them. He may punish one for breaking the rules or being disobedient but even the punishment is a reflection of his love.
Meaning of the word Islam
This takes us to the name of our religion, which is Islam. Islam means submission to Allah. It also means peace. The reason is that there cannot be peace unless we submit to a higher authority and that higher authority treats every one equally. For example, we have local councils and we find that people tend to move to those areas where these councils offer people greater facilities. If a local council provides better schools in its area, house prices in those areas go up because people want to move to that area. This leads to resentment and disharmony in the people who cannot avail those facilities. So, there will not be peace and harmony just because we all submit to a higher authority. Peace and harmony will only prevail in a society if we are all treated equally. And, just as in the earlier example, a father punishes a child for disobedience; the higher authority also punishes people who try to break the rules. If it does not then chaos is the result.
What does Allah tell us about other nations?
In the Holy Quran Allah instructs Muslim about how they must regard other nations and their founders.
“And when his Lord tried Abraham with certain commands he fulfilled them. He said: Surely I will make thee a leader of men. (Abraham) said: And of my offspring? My covenant does not include the wrongdoers, said He.” (2:124)
On the fact of it here we have the founder of another religion being recognised by the Holy Quran. Not only that, in response to his prayer for his offspring, he is being promised
that the righteous amongst his children will be made leaders of nations. What an astounding statement this is! Do we have any other scripture in which righteous of other religions are promised leadership of mankind?
Further on, Allah instructs Muslims how they are to regard the founders of other religions. Says the Holy Quran:
“(O Muslims say) We believe in Allah and (in) that which has been revealed to us, and (in) that which was revealed to Abraham, and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and (in) that which was given to Moses and Jesus, and (in) that which was given to the prophets from their Lord, we do not make any distinction between any of them and to Him do we submit.” (2:136)
Here belief in founders of other religions is made a matter of faith for a Muslim. A Muslim is told to declare that he believes that Allah guided founders of all religions. You may say that some prophets of Allah are mentioned here. These came to the Jews and to Christians, if you regard Christianity to be a separate religion from Judaism. What about other people? What about the people of China or Australia or the Americas? The point is that Allah specifically mentioned founders of those religions of which the Arabs knew. There were communities of Christians and the Jews in Arabia, so their prophets were specifically mentioned. Having done that Allah then sets out a general statement saying “and in that which was given to prophets from their Lord . . .” Who then are these prophets? They have to be different from the ones already mentioned in the first part of this verse and so this must mean that a Muslim, to remain in the faith of Islam, must believe that Allah provided guidance for all humanity, wherever it was located, not only those who appear in, what is now called, the Middle East.
The Holy Quran Glorifies All Prophets.
You may say that belief in other prophets was made a part of Islam to spare the feelings of the people of other religions who lived in Arabia and surrounding areas. But read the last verse quoted above. It instructs Muslims thus: “we do not make any distinctionbetween any of them” Here a Muslim is expressly forbidden to say that any prophet, and this includes the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s), is superior or inferior to any other prophet. As we all know this is not the case with other religions. Followers of every other religion say that their founder was better than the founders of all other religions.
As if this was not enough in the following verses the Holy Quran glorifies all the prophets.
“And peace on him (Jesus) the day he was born and the day he died, and the day he is raised to life! (19:15)
“Peace be to Abraham!” (37:109)
“Peace be to Moses and Aaron!” (37:120)
“Peace be to Elias!” (37:130)
“Peace be to Noah among the nations!” (37:79)
Remember that a Muslim recites the Holy Quran in his five daily prayers. Thus every time a Muslim prays and recites these verses, he is praying for founders of all other religions. How can this charge then be true that Muslims hate other religions or their followers?
But what about the followers of other religions?
You may object to this statement I have made. You may say that the verses I have quoted make no mention of the followers of other religions. It is one thing to venerate the founders of other religions and a different matter altogether to respect the followers of those religions. Let us then return to the Holy Quran and see if it has any instructions for the Muslims in this regard.
“Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.” (2:62)
“They are not all alike. Of the People of the Book there is an upright party who recite Allah’s messages in the nighttime and they adore (Him). They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they enjoin good and forbid evil and vie one with another in good deeds. And those are among the righteous. And whatever good they do, they will not be denied it. And Allah knows those who keep their duty.” (3:113-115)
So the Holy Quran tells Muslims to recognise goodness wherever it may be found. The reason that a Muslim should appreciate goodness in all nations is that Allah recognises goodness in all creatures. He will reward all those who do good deeds regardless of their faith. Allah does not discriminate between His creatures. He does not need a Race Discrimination Act. He does not need a Sexual Equality Act. In simple and in clear terms He tells us that whatever good any one does He shall not deny them the reward of that good. This is a far cry from other religions. In some you need to be born among the chosen few to receive Allah’s blessings, in others our efforts at being good and at being righteous are wasteful because we do not hold certain doctrinal views. It is only the Holy Scripture of Islam that declares that good people, righteous people are to be found in every nation and that Allah will reward them all for their deeds.
What about relations with non-Muslims in our day-to-day lives?
I can hear you thinking this is mere theory. It’s all very well to declare things as a matter of belief but there is nothing practical here about how Muslims should deal with or treat their non-Muslim neighbours, fri-ends or colleagues.
This is not correct for the Holy Quran instructs Muslims in these words:
“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but righteous is the one who believes in Allah, and the Last Day, and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and gives away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask and to set slaves free and keeps up prayer and pays the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in the time of conflict. These are they who are truthful; and these are they who keep their duty.” (2:177)
Notice that when Allah speaks of charity He says that we should give out our wealth to “the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask and to set slaves free”. It does not say we should give charity to our Muslim relatives or Muslim orphans or Muslim wayfarer or free Muslim slaves. It is an important point to remember that when these verses were being revealed all of Arabia had not embraced Islam. Muslims had non-Muslim relatives and friends and neighbours. Therefore, for Allah not to qualify the relatives and the needy etc is significant. Its significance lies in the fact that, in my view, Allah is instructing the Muslims to have regard only for a person’s need, not for his or her religion or nationality or colour. If Allah had wanted to restrict Muslims’ charity to their brothers in faith, it would have been easy to add that qualification. This shows that here Allah is Commanding Muslims not to discriminate between the people of different religions in this manner.
Does the duty to propagate Islam not imply intolerance?
It is true that it is a religious duty of every single Muslim to propagate Islam. But this does not mean that a Muslim is being intolerant towards other people for the Holy Quran sets out specific instructions about how propagation is to be carried out.
“There is no compulsion in religion – the right way is indeed clearly distinct from error.” (2:256)
How can propagation of Islam make one intolerant when Allah has clearly told us that we are not to try and force or coerce people into embracing Islam? Indeed, the corollary of this statement is also true and that is that we should not force any one to remain within the fold of Islam if their conscience dictates otherwise. Apart from it being a Divinely bestowed right that every person should be free to follow the path they consider to be correct, it is also a matter of common sense. If people are forced to remain within the fold of Islam when in their heart they do not accept its truth then we will have a party of hypocrites in our midst. And they can cause greater damage to Islam than any non-Muslim. This is supported by another verse of the Holy Quran, which is specifically directed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s). It says:
“And We have not appointed thee a keeper over them, and thou art not placed in charge of them.” (6:107)
Elsewhere the Holy Prophet is told that his duty is to deliver the message entrusted to him and no more. Whether people choose to follow him or not, it is up to them. History also supports this. Muslims were asked to invade Spain by a sect of Christians. The reason they gave for this request was that they were being persecuted by the rulers of Spain who belonged to a different sect and they had come to seek help from Muslims because they had heard that there was no compulsion in Islam!
The Holy Quran also tells us how to propagate Islam.
“Call to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner. Surely thy Lord knows best him who strays from His path, and He knows best those who go aright.” (16:125)
So the propagation is to be carried out by speaking to people in a respectful manner and not by taunting them or trying to humiliate them. Again, it is a matter of common sense, apart from being a Divine Decree, that if we speak to people nicely they are more likely to listen to us. And the Holy Quran is reminding us not to lose sight of common sense when propagating Islam. The following verse also supports what I have just said.