Lecture No. 14
TOPIC: BROTHERHOOD
Definition of Brotherhood
Universal Brotherhood
As understood in the
Esoteric Philosophy, and which is a sublime natural fact of universal Nature,
does not signify merely sentimental unity, or a simple political or social
co-operation. Its meaning is incomparably wider and profounder than this.
The sense inherent in the words in their widest tenor or purport is the
Spiritual Brotherhood of all Beings; particularly, the doctrine implies that
all human beings are inseparably linked together, not merely by the bonds of
emotional thought or feeling, but by the very fabric of the universe itself,
all men, as well as all beings, both high and low and intermediate, spring
forth from the inner and spiritual Sun of the universe, as its hosts of
spiritual rays. We all come from this one source, that spiritual Sun, and are
all builded of the same life-atoms on all the various planes.
Brotherhood in Islam
Praise
be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our
Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Brotherhood
in Islam has a glorious meaning, Islam established deep roots for it. Allah
(S.W.T) says (Interpretation of the meaning): "The believers are nothing
else than brothers (in Islamic religion)."
A
Muslim always keeps a favorable judgment towards his Muslim brothers and works
hard to defend their honor. Abu Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him) said:
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is
the worst of false tales. Do not look for other's faults. Do not spy one
another, and do not practice Najsh (means to offer a high price for something
in order to allure another customer who is interested in the thing). Do not be
jealous of one another and do not nurse enmity against one another. Do not
sever ties with one another. Become the slaves of Allah, and be brothers to one
another as He commanded. A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. He should neither
oppress him nor humiliate him. The piety is here! The piety is here!".
While saying so he pointed towards his chest. "It is enough evil for a
Muslim to look down upon his Muslim brother. All things of a Muslim are
inviolable for his brother in Faith: his blood, his wealth and his honour.
Verily, Allah does not look to your bodies nor to your faces but He looks to
your hearts and your deeds."
A
Muslim does not have any priority on his Muslim brother, they are as equal as
the teeth of a comb. There is no superiority at all except on the basis of fear
of Allah (S.W.T) and good deeds. Prophet (Blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “The lives of all Muslims are equal, they are all one hand against
others, the lowliest of them can guarantee their protection. A Muslim must not
be killed for an infidel, nor must one who has been given covenant be killed
while his covenant holds. A Muslim always soft nature for a Muslim and will be
kind and humble to the believers. Allah says (Interpretation of the meaning):
"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are severe
against disbelievers, and merciful among themselves. Allah will bring a people
whom He will love and they will love Him, humble towards the believers, stern
towards the disbelievers."
Equality of Mankind
God
created a human pair to herald the beginning of the life of Mankind on the
earth and all persons inhabiting this world today have sprung from this pair.
For some time in the initial stage the progeny of this pair reminded a single
group. It had one religion and spoke the same language. There were little or no
differences among them.
But as their numbers gradually increased, they
spread all over the earth and as a natural result of their diversification and
growth were divided into various tribes, and nationalities. Their languages
became different; their modes of dress varied; and their manners of living also
became distinct from one another. The climate and environment of various places
altered their color and physical features. All these differences are natural
variations.
They do exist in the world of reality. Hence,
Islam recognize them as matters of fact. It does not seek to wipe out or to
ignore them but affirms that their advantages consists in affording the only
possible means of distinguishing one from the other. But the prejudices which
have arisen among mankind out of these differences in the shape of groupings
and organizations based on race, color, language, nationality, etc. are
disapproved by Islam. Islam regards all distinctions of birth, of high and low
among men, of upper and lower classes, of natives of the soil and aliens as the
manifestation of sheer ignorance. It declares that all men in the world have
sprung from the same parents and therefore are brothers and equal in their
status as human beings.
After
propounding this concept of equality and brotherhood of mankind, Islam adds
that if there can be any real difference between man and man it cannot be one
of race, color, country or language, but of ideas, beliefs and principles. Two
children of the same mother, though they may be equal from the point of view of
common ancestry, will have to go their different ways in life if their beliefs
and moral conduct differ from one another. On the contrary two persons, one
being in the East and the other in the West, even thought geographically and
outwardly separated from one another by vast distances, will tread the same
path in life if they have identified fundamental tenet. Islam seeks to build a
principled and ideological society as against the racial, national and
parochial societies existing in the world. The basis of co-operative effort
among men in such a society is not one's birth but a creed and a moral
principle. Anyone, if he beliefs in God as his Master and Lord and accepts the
guidance of the Prophets as the law of his life, can join this community,
whether he is a resident of American or Africa; whether he is black in color or
white-skinned; whether he speaks a European language or Arabic. All those who
join this community will have the same rights and social status. They will not
be subjected to any racial, national, or class distinctions of any kind. No one
will be regarded as high or low. There will be no unsociability among them;
none could be polluted by the touch of anyone's hand. There will be no
handicaps for them in the matter of material relations, eating and drinking,
and social contacts. None will be looked down as lowly or mean by reason of his
birth or profession. Nobody will claim any distinctive rights by virtue of his
caste, community or ancestry. Man's merit will not depend on his family
connections or riches, but only on whether he is better than others in moral
conduct or excels others in piety and righteousness.
Such
a social order, out stepping the geographical boundaries and limits of race,
color and language as it does, can spread itself in all parts of the world and
on its foundations can be raised the edifice of the universal brotherhood of
men.
In
societies based on race or nationality, only those people can join who belong
to a particular race or country and the door is closed in the face of all those
who do not belong to them. But in this ideological society anyone who accepts
the creed and its moral standard can become its member, possessing equal right
with everyone else. As for those who do not accept this creed, the community,
while it cannot receive them within its fold, is prepared to have relations of
tolerance and brotherhood with them and give them all the basic human rights.
It is evident that if two children of the same mother differ in their thoughts,
their ways of life will necessarily be different in any case; but this does
not, however, imply that they cease to be brothers. Exactly in the same manner,
if two groups of human beings or two groups of the people living in the same
country, differ in their fundamental beliefs and principles and ideology, their
social order will also certainly differ from one another, although they will
continue to share the common ties of humanity. Hence, the Islamic society
offers to non-Muslim societies and groups the maximum social and cultural
rights that can possibly be accorded on the basis of common bonds of humanity.
Human Rights in Islam
Since
God is the Absolute and the sole Master of men and the universe, He is the
Sovereign Lord, the Sustainer and Nourisher, the Merciful, Whose mercy
enshrines all beings. And since He has given each man human dignity and honor,
and breathed into him of His own spirit, it follows that, united in Him and
through Him, men are substantially the same and no tangible and actual
distinction can be made among them.
Although
an Islamic state may be set up in any part of the earth, Islam does not seek to
restrict human rights or privileges to the geographical limits of its own
state. Islam has laid down some universal fundamental rights for humanity as a
whole, which are to be observed and respected under all circumstances whether
he is at peace with the Islamic state or outside it, whether he is at peace
with the state or at war. The Qur'an very clearly states:
"O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for
Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you
make you swerve to wrong and depart from Justice. Be just: that is next to
piety." (5:8)
Human
blood is sacred in any case and cannot be spilled without justification. And if
anyone violates this sanctity of human blood by killing a soul without
justification, the Quran equates it to the killing of entire mankind:
" Who slays a soul not to retaliate for a
soul slain, nor for corruption done in the land, should be as if he had slain
mankind altogether." (5:32)
It
is not permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick or the
wounded. Women's honor and chastity are to be respected under all
circumstances. The hungry person must be feed, the naked clothed and the
wounded or diseased treated medically irrespective of whether they belong to
the Islamic community or are from amongst its enemies.
When
we speak of human rights in Islam we really mean that these rights have been
granted by God; they have not been granted by any king or by any legislative
assembly. The rights granted by the kings or the legislative assemblies can
also be withdrawn in the same manner in which they are conferred.
The
same is the case with the rights accepted and recognized by the dictators. They
can confer them when they please and withdraw them when they wish; and they can
openly violate them when they like. But since in Islam human rights have been
conferred by God, no legislative assembly in the world or any government on
earth has the right or authority to make any amendment or change in the rights
conferred by God.
No
one has the right to abrogate them or withdraw them. Nor are they basic human
rights, which are conferred on paper for the sake of show and exhibition and
denied in actual life when the show is over. Nor are they like philosophical
concepts, which have no sanctions behind them.
The
charter and the proclamations and the resolutions of the United Nations cannot
be compared with the rights sanctioned by God; because the former is not
applicable on anybody while the latter is applicable on every believer. They
are a part and parcel of the Islamic Faith.
Every
Muslim or administrators who claim themselves to be Muslims, will have to
accept, recognize and enforce them. If they fail to enforce them, and start
denying the rights that have been guaranteed by God or make amendments and
changes in them, or practically violate them while paying lip service to them,
the verdict of the Holy Quran for such government is clear and unequivocal;
"If any do fail to judge by what Allah
hath revealed, they are Unbelievers." (5:44)
Human Rights in an Islamic State:
The
Security of life and Property: In the address which the Prophet delivered on
the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, he said; "Your lives and properties are
forbidden to one another till you meet your Lord on the day of
Resurrection." The Prophet has also said about the zimmis (the non-Muslim
citizens of the Muslim state): "One who kills a man under covenant (i.e.,
zimmi) will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise."
The
Protection of Honor: The Holy Quran lays down:
i). "You, who believe, do not
let one (set of) people make fun of another set."
ii). "Do not defame one
another."
iii). "Do not insult by using
nicknames."
"Do not backbite or speak of
one another." (49:11-12)
Sanctity and Security of Private
Life:
The Qur'an has laid down the injunction.
i). "Do not spy on one
another." (49:12)
ii). "Do not enter any houses
unless you are sure of their occupant's consent."
(24:27)
The Security of Personal
Freedom: Islam has laid down the principle that no citizen can be imprisoned
unless his guilt has been proved in an open court. To arrest a man only on the
basis of suspicion and to throw him into a prison without proper court
proceedings and without providing him a reasonable opportunity to produce his
defense is not permissible in Islam.
The Right to Protest Against Tyranny:
Amongst the rights that Islam has conferred on
human beings is the right to protest against government's tyranny. Referring to
it the Quran says: "God does not love evil talk in public unless it is by
some one who has been injured thereby."
In
Islam, as has been argued earlier, all power and authority belongs to God, and
with man there is only delegated power which becomes a trust; everyone who
becomes a recipient or a donee of such a power has to stand in awful reverence
before his people towards whom and for whose sake he will be called upon to use
these powers.
Freedom of Expression:
Islam gives the right of freedom of the though
and expression to all citizens of the Islamic state on the condition that it
should be used for the propagation of virtue and truth and not for spreading
evil and wickedness. The Islamic concept of freedom of expression is many
superior to the concept prevalent in the West.
Freedom of Association:
Islam has also given people the right to
freedom of association and formation of parties or organizations. This right is
also subject to certain general rules.
Freedom of Conscience and
Conviction:
Islam
has laid down the injunction: There should be no coercion in the matter of
faith."
On
the contrary totalitarian societies totally deprive the individuals of their
freedom. Indeed this undue exaltation of the state authority curiously enough
postulates a sort of servitude, of slavishness on the part of man. Protection
of Religious Sentiments: Along with the freedom of conviction and freedom of
conscience Islam has given the right to the individual that his religious
sentiments will be given due respect and nothing will be said or done which may
encroach upon his right.
Protection from Arbitrary
Imprisonment:
Islam
also recognizes the right of the individual that he will not be arrested or
imprisoned for the offences of others. The Holy Quran has laid down this
principle clearly:
"No bearer of burdens shall be made to
bear the burden of another."
The Right to Basic Necessities of
Life:
Islam
has recognized the right of the needy people that help and assistance will be
provided to them:
"And in their wealth there is
acknowledged right for the needy and the destitute."
Equality Before Law:
Islam
gives its citizens the right to absolute and complete equality in the eyes of
the law.
Rulers Not Above the Law:
A woman belonging to a high and noble family
was arrested in connection with theft. The case was brought to the Prophet, and
it was recommended that she might be spared the punishment of theft. The
Prophet replied, "The nations that lived before you were destroyed by God
because they punished the common-man for their offences and let their
dignitaries go unpunished for their crimes; I swear by Him Who holds my life in
His hand that even if Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him), had committed this crime, I would have amputated her hand." The
Right to participate in the Affairs of State:
"And their business is (conducted)
through consultation among themselves." (42:38).
The
shura or the legislative assembly has no other meaning except that:
The
executive head of the government and the members of the assembly should be
elected by free and independent choice of the people.
Lastly,
it is to be made clear that Islam tries to achieve the above-mentioned human
rights and many others not only by providing certain legal safeguards but
mainly by inviting mankind to transcend the lower level of animal life to be
able to go beyond the mere ties fostered by the kinship of blood, racial
superiority, linguistic arrogance, and economic privileges. It invites mankind
to move on the plane of existence where, by reason of his inner excellence, man
can realize the ideal of the Brotherhood of man.
