The Greatest Sunna

 

 

THE LEAST KNOWN BUT GREATEST SUNNA

 

Ask almost any muslim who claims some respectable knowledge of Islam about some examples of the Prophet’s (sws) sunnas.  “Yea, he wore a silver ring on his left hand”,   “Hmm,  he ate his food squatting with his left foot under him and the right leg up with the foot on the ground”,  “He used the mithwaq (tooth-brush made from a twig) often”,   “He  saluted  everyone, young or old”.   His dress,  his grooming, his breaking his fast with dates or water…  all are studied meticulously and if possible, emulated. The emulators’ eyes shine with shine and self-satisfaction and many cannot wait to catch another muslim in breach of a single item of such sunnas of habit or climate.  Once the culprit is caught he may be in for a long lecture if not censure. “Brother, what you are doing/wearing is against the sunna” the critic will rattle with indignation “If you do not follow the sunna you will not enjoy the shafaa (intercession) of the Prophet sws on the Day of Judgment”.   Alims of course can quote hundreds of sunnas and tell us of the category of each like ‘muakkada’ (confirmed),  ‘ghaira muakkada’ (not confirmed),  ‘mustahabb’ (favored) etc.  All of course are well and good.

 

But compare these quotations with the Prophet’s sws own declaration of his mission “I have not been sent but for me to complete the noblest traits of character”.   And both the Qur’an and the Hadith overflows with the examples of the Prophet’s ways (sunnas) of high moral conduct and greatly endearing and kind manners.  Aren’t these sunnas?  In fact aren’t these almost exclusively THE Sunna which could save us totally with or without the others?  What would we say about a man who,  in full and sincere emulation of the Prophet’s (sws) character sticks to awe and veneration of Allah,  constant remembrance and contemplation and consideration of Allah,  truthfulness and honesty, kindness and politeness, charity and generosity,  strong family ties and dutifulness towards all community and in fact all humankind and all living beings,  courage in the way of Allah tempered by caution and realism…  all those golden and sterling traits and qualities of that  Messenger of Allah (sws) who walks, talks, prays, sleeps, awakes,  rides, fights, commiserates, mourns, gives and receives gifts…  never putting a step wrong in civility and chivalry as in heroism and sacrifice…  as we leaf through the hundreds of pages of our books on Hadith and Siyar (histories) of the Messenger of Allah (sws)?  Think about how well this believer will approach the Prophet’s ideal and how pathetically far behind will remain those who are only concerned with forms and externals while unconcerned and perhaps also unaware of the noblest traits of character which are the only real saviors.  You want proof that they are the only saviors?  Then let the Prophet sws inform you:

 

“Allah does not look at your forms and deeds but he looks at your hearts and intentions”.   Which means what the Prophet sws dressed and looked like is not his message although emulating them out of infatuation must be rewardable;  his real message is his magnificent character (‘huluqun adheem’ as Allah puts in Surat al Qalam, v.4) which character was the Qur’an in flesh.  Read the hadith from our mother Aisha RA in Muslim:

 

“I (Sa’d b. Hisham) asked Aisha RA ‘tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah’.  She said ‘Do you not read the Qur’an? ‘yes’ said I.  ‘His character was the Qur’an’ she said”. 

 

For a start let us see his humility.  Despite being the greatest men ever to visit this earth he displayed none of the pride and arrogance, even if occasionally, which let others down.  Except when it would break their heart he refused to be treated as a superior, a lord,  a feared great under any circumstances.  Aisha RA tells us that if anybody, repeat anybody, great or small, male or female called out to the Prophet sws he would respond with a ‘labbayk’ which means ‘I am at your service, I am rushing’! When he arrived at a meeting he did not want others to rise or make special room for him but would sit any place he found.  He would variously allow his hands and even feet being kissed by others whom he felt needed to do it too badly but otherwise avoided it by saying ‘non-Arabs do this to their kings,  I do not want that’.   He visited the market place personally to do shopping for his family and when somebody asked him to carry his goods he would refuse it saying “man is more entitled to carry his own things himself than  others”.  

 

His generosity has never been equalled. Anything that came to his hand went only in a very frugal way to his own and family upkeep and the rest reached the hands of the needy almot at no time.  He would even borrow to pay charity to an asker and when he was dying an armor of his was with a jewish lender for a long time as security against a debt the Prophet (sws) had borrowed from him.  In fact he was saintlier than all saints of all faiths so proudly chronicled in hagiographic literature without falling into their silly mistakes along with their saintly deeds and habits.  Compromising his health by excessive hunger or deliberately filthy habits (like not washing or grooming) was out of question.  Abandoning social responsibilities like marrying and raising new generations and working for his bread was in,  shunning them and for example begging was out.  Because he was a true prophet he was fully guided by his Creator, hence the balance and perfection in his ways (sunnas) about everything. 

 

Other saints not being prophet’s had to rely on their defective and fallible minds and do as much wrong as right in their spiritual careers.  For example all Christian saints did atrocious acts asceticism on themselves and went out of their way doing charitable deeds but at the same time had no pity on anybody who, in their fanatical opinion,  did a doctrinal ‘mistake’, like interpreting a verse of the Bible slightly different than the Church, which many a time was not a mistake at all but the explicit and obvious meaning.  The ‘blasphemer’ was consigned to excruciating torture and eventually bonfires with the avid support of the ‘saint’.  For such saints not only the church laws were to be fully and literally implemented but also people had to be espied upon and all information however  malicious against anybody was to be taken up and a confession was to be extracted from the accused by hellish torture at all costs. Nobody including the ‘saint’ considered that under such torture people would confess to anything.  Those so executed owed cosmic scale thanks to their tormentor-executioners because the pain they inflicted on their charges cleansed their the executed’s souls.  Such brutality in the name of piety could only disgust the True Prophet of Allah (sws).  Look instead how he treated his own accused.

 

Fasting of Ramadan is strictly obligatory on those who can fast.  Underage, sick, infirm and insane are exempt. Temporary illness and travel exempts a person temporarily;  as soon as he gets better or arrives back at home he fasts the number of days he missed.  Deliberate abandonment of fasting is punished by fasting for 61 (60 for expiation and 1 for the missed day) days after Ramadan for each day of Ramadan abandoned.  If that proves too difficult (old or weak person) then a day’s provision of average meals to 60  poor persons for each day missed and fast 1 day after Ramadan for each day missed.  So, one day a man came to the Prophet sws for breaking his fast for a day sexual reasons asking as to what to do for absolution from his sin.  The Prophet sws said to him to fast 61 days after the Ramadan. The man moaned piteously and protested his weakness. “Then feed sixty poor people for a day” said the Prophet sws.  The man said “I myself am very poor, I cannot afford it”.   The Prophet sws said to those around him “collect for him asmuch provisions as necessary and hand them to him to go around the town and distribute to 60 poor persons he finds”.  He was duly given a big sack full of dates, raisins, bread etc and left.  After some hours he came back with the sack the same as before saying “O Messenger of Allah (sws),  by Allah I found no house poorer than mine”.  The Prophet (sws) broke into a wide grin and a wink in the eye and said “Then take it home and eat it with your  family”.   

At various times thieves and adulterers were brought to the Prophet (sws) to be punished.  The Punishment for theft in the Qur’an is chopping of the hand (it was hanging and even at times chopping to pieces in Europe until as late as the 18th century. The corpses then were abandoned on the trees or gallows for them to be eaten or rot over several months; medical students stole some for dissections- Islam honourably buried the executed soon afterwards). 

For adultery and fornication the Qur’anic punishment is one hundred lashes. Unable to stomach such leniency out of their ingrained excessive sexual prejudices and jealousies, some companions almost rebelled  against the Prophet sws and he therefore had to unwillingly to give ground and approve the neighboring jews’ method of stoning the culprit to death.  But in both cases however, namely the thief and the adulterer, the Prophet (sws) tried to dissuade the confessors to retract their confession and go away and repent in private with the promise of Allah’s forgiveness. Those who still insisted on being punished out of excess zeal for piety were then reluctantly delivered to the vengeful public who then carried out the penalties with gusto.  For his part the Prophet sws was greatly shaken,  his holy face assumed a deathly pallor and could not help criticising his companions for not being kind enough to fake reasons to let the accused off the hook.  About the thieves for example he said “You should find or invent reasons for not accusing your brother with theft and let him off.  Once the case reaches me then I (or the ruler) cannot afford to appear to let the criminals go unpunished” because then the law loses all its credibility.  The same leniency was shown by Ali RA and some other enlightened companions.  All of which means the Prophet (sws) was centuries ahead of his times in humanitarian sensibilities and couldn’t do more for those who erred not for being personally evil but as fallible but otherwise decent human beings.

 

His treatment of women his or in general was also superbly humane and also very affectionate. As a young child he was starved of motherly love (he lost her when he was 6) and at 25 he had married lady Khatija 15 years his senior, who provided him with both motherly and wifely love. Of his 7 children only the 4 girls survived babyhood and his love for and commitment to these daughters were incredibly eager and strong.  He hugged and kissed them and they him heartily, took all their complaints very seriously and scolded their husbands if his daughters  had cause for complaint.  Normally an Arab father could only be contemptful to his daughters and regarded marrying them off a great relief whatever happened to them afterwards.

 

He later in life married several women (all except one a virgin) for various wise and charitable reasons and too all of them he showed great respect and provided unfailing affection and kindness.  All his life he did not shout out or hit out to anybody, young or old, male or female.  What is more he never accused anybody for failing him in anything but bore their neglects and lapses with infinite kindness.  Anas b. Malik RA for example was given to him by his parents to help in his household.  He reports “ I joined the household of the Messenger of Allah sws when I was 10 and served him for 10 years until his death.  I never remember him to ask me ‘why did you this?’  or ‘why you did not do that?”.


He simply adored children and would kiss and hug them heartily,  weep over their afflictions as if he was a very merciful woman and would play with them under all circumstances if they needed playing with.  For example his grandchildren would walk into him into the mosque and climb up his shoulders or into his arms even when he was leading prayers or giving sermon- he simply couldn’t be angry with them but accommodated them.  He would allow a child to ride on his back or sit in his arms while he was standing, bowing or prostrating in prayer and also put them down is they wanted to do something else.  The Prophet’s (sws)companions just looked on and marvelled at his immense parental love and tolerance.

 

The word ‘no’ did not exist in his vocabulary as far as people’s requests from him were concerned and would even borrow debt over debt to satisfy the demands of askers. 
He ate the simplest food, at times went hungry preferring others to himself, put on humblest and simplest dress and went barefoot- but always clean and well-groomed. If food was plenty and good dress available he would then not fake asceticism but eat his fill of things like meat o honey and wear his fancy with profuse thanks to Allah.


All reports agree that whatever state he was in and whatever he wore or was doing he was unbearabably beautiful to look at;  he was both physically handsome and beautiful in every respect for a man and reacted to all situations with reactions which couldn’t be more just and appropriate.

 

It is said that he never avenged a personal hurt whatever the hurt and forgave everything and everybody on the first instance of asking forgiveness.

 

His goodwill towards all mankind was too explicit and obvious desired their salvation only too badly.  Allah coyly scolded him “Wilt thou destroy thyself  just because people are not believing?” (26: 3) or “However hard thou triest most of people are not going to become believers” (12: 103). Still all who came to him with peace, whatever his religion, race or status, he received them with extreme hospitality and treated them royally.  Some could not help trembling with awe in his presence.  He would then hurry to reassure them saying “Don’t be like that. I am a human being like you, I am the son of a woman who could only afford eating dried meat”.   The following story I thinks needs no comment.

 

There was a bit shameless woman in Medina who had an obscene language, mixed with men, joked with them and made them laugh (Imagine such a woman be tolerated in any muslim country  with a fundamentalist regime-  see the Prophet’s sws tolerance and good humor).  One day the Prophet sws, sitting on a low wall, was eating some broth (apparently with pieces of bread in it).  This woman came by and remarked “Look  how he is sitting and eating like  slaves”.  The Prophet sws hearing her said “Is there any other slave more obedient than me to Allah?”.   Beaten at her challenge the woman tries again “he is eating but not giving us of it”.  “Come and eat” the Prophet sws said matter-of-factly.  She went to it again “Make me eat from your hand, will you?”.  The Prophet (sws) began giving food to her mouth (look at the casual and humorous if innocent mixing of sexes in Prophet’s Medina).  “Put what you are eating in my mouth” the woman tried again.  The Prophet sws did as she asked.  Once the woman ate this morsel her sense of shame returned to her and from then on she never talked obscenities. 

 

Lasly he also did plenty of house chores and especially looked after himself without burdening his wives with his washings or mending of clothes.

 

His last acts on earth sealed his right to be seen the holiest and most perfect person to have visited mankind.

 

His illness which eventually led to his death lasted several days. He ran very high fewer and he went out and came back into consciousness many times in the course of it.  On his last day he felt a bit better and asked to be washed, dressed and taken to the mosque.  He ascended the pulpit (a low and crude one  of only 3 steps) and after thanking and praising Allah he intimated that it was about time he was going.  He asked the people filling the mosque “If any of you have any claims against me let them now come forward.  If I have hit any of you with anything let him come and hit me likewise.  If I owe anything to any of you let him ask for it back now”.  A man rose and asked for the two coins something owed to him and he was given them.  Another rose and claimed that he was hit in the abdomen by the Prophet sws with a tree branch stick and it had made a mark which incident was in the course of the Prophet’s (sws) tidying up ranks before a battle when he would use his stick to show people where to stand.  The people were incensed with this person’s apparent vindictiveness but the Prophet (sws) admonished them about the importance of justice whoever is involved.   But he also reminded the claimant that he would have to come home with him for the Prophet sws to bare his belly for the retaliation. Once there the man hugged the Prophet’s blessed torso and kissing it ardently seeked out and found the peculiar mole on the left scapular region of his body which the Prophet (sws) had said was his seal of prophethood.  “It was this I was after o Messenger of Allah” the man sobbed with happiness and the Prophet sws gave him the good news of his salvation.  He then went to bed for the last time, fainting and coming to as before and enquiring in between “have you paid away in charity those coins under my bed?  I do  not want to meet my Lord while money lies under my mattress”.   His last words were “To the Highest Friend” and he gave up his blessed soul.  Sallallahu alaihi wa sellem afdal assalatu wassalam.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Since Allah cannot be seen or talked with by us our only means of knowing His glory and perfection and His favors for demands from us is studying His Last, Final and Greatest Prophet and Messenger Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alaihi wa sellem in every detail and from every aspect with the light of faith and zeal of greatest love and respect.  In his magnificent character are all the keys of seven heavens and even beyond and all the secrets of our salvation and attainment of Allah’s eternal company.   This is the full and exact aim of the launch of the PROPHET’S ACADEMY and as such is the top institution in the whole world for those who seek Allah’s pleasure.

And finally, we remind all believers of all schools of thought to look deeper into the character and conduct of the Prophet sws and especially urge the various ISLAMIC STATE enthusiasts to see that the Prophet’s sws character and the social ethos of his Medina were far too lenient, tolerant and democratic than they are planning to build or have already did.  Muslim societies should live like in Medina as modified by the demands of our modern age, which means equality of all citizens,  involvement of women in public life and the social scene within the bounds of decency which cannot be as narrow as chadors and strict indoors and also cheerful  loving relations between man and woman instead of terror and domination and kindness and indulgence in legal and penal matters as the Prophet (sws) intended but was not allowed to practice given the barbarity of times and savagery of attitudes, admitting however that the people couldn’t help it at the time.   May Allah forgive us for our any mistakes and misjudgements and teach and make us better than we are. Amen

 

 

THE WISDOM OF THE PROPHET SWS

 

All praises be to Allah our Lord and the Lord of All Existence and greatest blessings and choicest greetings on our master and Allah’s most beloved servant Muhammad the Messenger of Allah and on all those who followed and will follow him until the Last Day.  Amen.

 

 

WHAT WE MEAN BY  WISDOM

 

We are translating the Arabic word HIKMAH as WISDOM.  As always is the case Arabic words are richer in connotations than their near synonyms in other languages simply because the rules of derivation of Arabic words give the words derived more plentiful and richer connections to other words from the same root. What is more each root is capable of generating more words than in any other language. We believe that is why Allah chose Arabic as the medium for His Last and Final Message to mankind and raised His Last and Final Messenger from among the Arabs.

 

I am inspired to define WISDOM as follows which I believe is the only adequate definition in terms of man’s salvation which can only be highest and noblest of all goals.
“Wisdom is that quality in a man which enables him to say and do things which takes him closer to Allah and thereby brings about good instead of evil he and sometimes also others could otherwise fall into”.  It is based on instinctive or unconscious gnosis of ‘al Haqq’ (Allah as underlying all truth and reality) as and may therefore exist in any man created for and born with it.  What Islam does is to focus, hone and perfect it without which it may largely be wasted and only sporadically and imperfectly used.  The Prophet sws was the one most fully and perfectly  created for and born with it as his incomparable success story proves.  True Sufis (not mere hopefuls, ineffective imitators and non-starters) are similarly created and born but are not as of a high order as the prophets and are therefore inspired to pursue a path of development which will take them as near as possible to prophets.  Eventually they merge into them in the world to come and that makes them even more grateful to Allah and His prophets and fellow saints who helped them to it. Salvation is the realized fruit of wisdom and consists of nothing  but irreversibly attaining the ability for consistently producing good and staying away from evil.  Good one causes to himself as well as others.  And good (khair) only means what Allah approves.  Evil (sherr) then means what Allah disapproves.  A believer (mu’min) is who approves what Allah approves and who disapproves what Allah disapproves.

 

We shall see insha Allah how important it is to see things this way in a moment.  
We should not confuse either intelligence or cleverness with wisdom.  Intelligence is a neutral power and helps to solve a problem whatever its merits. It can equally help to find a way to rob the world’s best guarded bank as rescuing innocents from the clutches of the world’s most powerful criminal.  Cleverness is a bit different. It applies to solving instant problems in unconventional ways and is again neutral.  One can cleverly swindle a man without making him even suspicious.  One can also silence an malicious speaker  by making a remark he cannot argue with and thereby prevent an evil.  What we must realize is that both intelligence and its special form cleverness  can be used for both good and evil.

 

That is where WISDOM is different.  Wisdom is when intelligence is consistently put to good use.  Good use is when what is said or done causes the greatest possible amount of good to greatest possible number of people for the greatest length of time together with none of minimum possible harm done to minimum possible number of people for shortest possible time and even that minimums unintended but deplored.  The other day I took my son to my hospital minor injuries department for a bad thumb which was infected and swollen.  Two nurses treated him for it.  It needed lancing. They did an excellent job.  That may be seen as their duty. But what about their going all their way out to reassure the boy, to apologise to him at every step and try to cheer him up.  They took great efforts to minimize the pain as if he was their son and nobody else’s.  This is a good example of intending good and only good and trying one’s best to minimize hurt and harm if those are unavoidable.  Wisdom is like that.

 

 

THE PROPHET’S (sws) WISDOM

 

If that is the case may we ask.  Who has been wisest ever person who said and did most things  which caused the greatest possible good to greatest number of people for greatest length of time together with the no or minimal harm to minimal number of people for shortest length of time and that unintended and deplored?  We shall see that it has been none other than the beloved Muhammad (sws) the Last and Final Prophet and Messenger of Allah (sws)!  His every word and move took more people to Allah’s good and away from Devil’s evil with minimum possible hurts and casualties all of which hurts and casualties he did not like but deplored.

 

 

WHAT OR WHO IS ALLAH (swt)?

 

If our age needs a name in my humble opinion the aptest name can only be the Age of Atheism.  Most people talk about and may boast of so much good-doing but Allah does not come into it.  For most moderns He is irrelevant as an agent and redundant as a concept. It is no use to try to prove them the existence of Allah by philosophical arguments. As always is the case with  philosophy every argument, however unanswerable looking, can be countered.  It is in fact in the nature of philosophy that it can neither prove nor disprove any metaphysical argument.  What is taken as true entirely depends on the inclinations of each party.  Those who need to believe in Allah are persuaded by pro-Allah arguments while those who want to evade Allah are persuaded by arguments denying Him.  There is no way out of this dilemma.

 

For gnostics however (in Islam’s case the real sufi masters) Allah is more than explicit because they found a way of by-passing the incompetent conceptual argument route and accessing the spiritual depths of the mind where realities simply stand out and get perceived without explanation. The difference between the two routes is like the difference between talking about a never seen but heard about substance called honey and personally eating honey unaware that others are holding learned debates about this substance they have never seen let alone tasted.  The eater may not even know the name of what he is eating but that does not do a bt harm to his enjoyment of it.  A baby greedily eating his first ever chunk of chocolate need know nothing about it.  The heavenly taste he is getting is everything as far as he is concerned.

 

But I think I found a middle way.  I think that it is a good and will be a fruitful hypothesis to take the matter as follows.

 

Allah may be taken to mean three things taken at three levels.  First it is the ontological meaning which is defining His existence and nature as best as possible for the human mind.  This is amply done in the Qur’an. He is One, Eternal, Perfect, Self-Sufficient, All-Powerful and utterly unlike anything etc.  In fact Surat al Ikhlas (no. 112) in the Qur’an does the job perfectly.  It says “Say: Allah is Unique. Allah is Full (perfect and self-sufficient). He never begat nor was He begotten.  None can ever be an equal to Him”.  The actual realization of this ontological truth awaits our spiritual development and only Allah knows how much we can attain it after how long. 

 

The second meaning is the psychological sense. In our psychology we may have a strong yearning to taste the most perfect satisfaction possible for us as human beings.  Nothing we enjoy promises us permanence, too many hurts spoil or interrupt our enjoying anything for long if at all and we frequently feel empty and futile. Allah, if believed strongly enough goes some way to assuage our despair and provide some intangible yet filling satisfaction with a promise of permanence.  Again some people are uninterested in that as well.  They are only interested in tangible satisfactions and face stoically what interruptions and killjoys of experiences may come.   Such people simply lack the delicacy of those more sensitive and imaginative souls who yearn for a more perfect order of things based on some ultimate victorious goodness.  A morally indifferent order of being simply chokes and disgusts them.  Allah fills all the gaps and overlays all the imperfections and delivers all good which look temporarily missing.  Nobody can argue with different psychological sensibilities and needs can they?

 

The third meaning is spiritual.  In fact the psychological and spiritual overlap a lot.  The difference is that all spirituality is psychological but not every psychological experience has spiritual content.  If your eyes are dazzled by a car’s headlights or a medicine you put on your tongue tastes a bit like salty that does not affect your moral values.  You see, spiritual has got to do with our VALUES.  The things we regard precious are our values. For some they are things more like money and fame while for other’s they are more like love and loyal friendship.  Spiritual values we have determine what and whom we worship. 

 

Worshipping means prayerful slavery.  A miser worships money and maintains a perhaps subconscious prayerful attitude towards getting more and keeping what he gets more. One who is obsessed with and ruthlessly pursues sexual or political conquests no matter whose rights may be infringed is said to worship the Devil. He is his own devil and he worships the devil that he is.  He cannot tolerate any disrespect towards his god and enforces his god’s will. Which brings us to this:  A man who is obsessed with values like love, loyal friendship, charity and honesty etc. worships something entirely different. He worships the One True God.  For that is exactly what the Prophet did and asked us to do.  Which in turn brings us to yet this: that ALLAH IS THE VERY BEST IN EVERY SANE AND CONSCIENTIOUS MAN AND WOMAN- their best selves in every department of life and behaviour! 

 

The Prophet sws worshipped that very best in himself which very best was the very  best of all human bests.  That is the MINIMUM Allah means in a moral-spiritual sense. The ontological maximum has no limit and heavens and earth cannot contain its majesty or weigh its value. Allahu Akbar wa lillahul hamd!

 

 

WHAT THE PROPHET (sws) DID NOBODY COULD

 

Every culture boast of its gods and prophets.  Indians boasted of Brahmas and celberated Krishnas,  Buddhists worshipped their Buddha,  Persians worshipped Ahriman, feared Ahura Mazda and celebrated Zoroaster,  Jews had one God but many prophets and Christians adopted jewish prophets but semi-dropped the Jewish God Jehovah in favour of their evolved Triune God personified by Jesus for all practical intents and purposes. Whether real or legendary or somewhere in between these gods and their prophets left behind them a lot to be thankful for but none left something fuller,purer and more authentic than the last and best of them Muhammad (sws) the Messenger of Allah.  All except him suffered varying but in every case substantial obscuration and left behind them an increasing obscurantism which could not be remedied thanks to the loss of authenticity and accumulation of innovation and falsification. 

 

Now there is a rather uniform objection on the part of many free-thinkers who usually dismiss religion as a product of ignorance even when some goodwill was behind it is that all are roughly equal and believers in each should stop seeing theirs good and others bad and each mind his own pious delusions.  Secular states preach and legalize and impose this mutual toleration and frown upon mutual accusations and ban mutual persecution which is very well with Islam.   Although Islam is a proselytising faith it is not a compelling one.  The Qur’anic rule is that “There is no compulsion in the matter of religion” (2: 256). 

 

Those religions (or rather religious communities) which accept peaceful co-existence with Islam are left alone and treated justly and honourably.  Those who attack or prepare to attack are tackled with equal response until peace is imposed.  Of course in the olden times Islam offered its non-muslims either of the two-  embracing it and become brothers in faith and arms (i.e., one political/faith community) or paying a light poll tax, in fact much lighter than they would pay to their non-muslim governments.  This intelligent policy helped Islam both to spread  quickly, gain converts and keep its gains.  So, within less than a century after Muhammad sws Islam reached to China in the East and Spain in the West,  Caucasia in the North and Sudan and Zanzibar in the South enriching itself enormously in all three:   sincere and well-integrated converts,  safely prosperous non-muslim tax-paying subjects and an ideal and seamless amalgmation of all great cultures that preceded it -  Indian, Persian, Greek and Roman. Arabic became a lingua franca all over the Islamic commonwealth and Persian language nearly so in the Eastern half of it. 

 

Great works of science, philosophy and literature were produced and great works of art and industry built up.  No other religion before Islam could inaugurate such vast and great revolution in human prosperity and development with so uniform, egalitarian and durable way. But this undeniable objective fact was augmented by another and even more appreciable success:  Islam excelled all its past sisters not only in its scriptural authenticity and purity and the preservation of its founders full memory and effective legacy (the Sunna) but all its values and practices reflected realism, reasonableness, practicality and justice modern man should have if humanity was to achieve universal equality, justice and peace only all of which could kindle love and charity among all decent men and make them permanent.

 

Let me explain.  Islamic faith is the simplest and most rational and logical of all faiths.  Even a 5 year old, a complete illiterate and rustic can understand and appreciate it.  It effectively means “There is only one God for everything and all people, He is essentially good and only good and a man called Muhammad is His messenger to us all”.  The next thing it teaches is the equality of all men in principle- race, color or region do not create distinction and caste system is evil and cancelled.  The still next is: Everybody is responsible for his acts alone and reward and punishment is the same for equal acts from anybody.  Then comes another blessing: Anybody who embraces Islam immediately becomes an equal of all muslims, all his past sins are immediately forgiven except those infringements of other’s civil rights which remain payable.  For example if Mr A fights against muslims, kills many of them  in battle and keeps denouncing Islam and blaspheming against Allah and in the meantime also stole a goat from a muslim, Mr B, his conversion to Islam absolves him from all his wrongdoings except that he has to compensate  for Mr B’s goat although Mr B usually waives that in thanksgiving to Allah for Mr A’s stepping into the path of salvation.  We shall see examples of this egalitarianism and blanket amnesty later. 

 

But there is more to Islam’s naturalness and healthiness.  It is a religion of cleanliness in every sense:  it enjoins personal hygiene, a clean environment from houses to streets and waters and air and even the prevention of noise.  Muslims are to wash themselves, their clothes and all the surfaces they can touch and remove all impediments and nuisances from paths and roads etc.  The Prophet said “Removing any dangerous object from the path of people is one of the seventy departments of faith”. So he and his disciples would push aside stones, broken glass, thorns etc  from footpaths as acts of nonchalant charity.   Sharing needed things helps salvation. “Let each of you try to save himself from hell even with by giving half of a date in charity to another who needs it” he said. “One who sleeps with a full stomach while his neighbor passes the night hungry is not a believer at all” he said.  In fact there is not a single commandment or recommendation in Islam which is not totally intelligible as a piece of practicable wisdom and charity meant to benefit both the doer and others in a material sense, one way or another.  There are no cows to hold in awe and respect,  no castes to pile upon each other and crush those lower down, no privileges whatsoever are born into, even no priesthood to mediate between anybody and God. 

 

If a college of learned utilitarian logicians and humanists who believed in the necessity of having a religion for mankind had sat down to hammer out one they could not come up with anything better than Islam!  All the simplicity, rationality, practicality, naturality and universal equality they could wish for Islam could give them the better. Let’s take naturality. It is only Islam among all great religions which attach no sense of shame to the satisfaction of biological needs and lets people satisfy all their natural necessities within decency and reason. On the contrary eating and having sex lawfully and thanking Allah for them are praised as well as promised rewards in here and herafter!  Allah says in His Qur’an “Who banned the good things and the embellishments Allah put out for his servants?  They all are for believer’s in this world and exclusive to them in the next” ().  

 

The Prophet sws said “When a husband and wife look at each other with affection ten of the sins of each are forgiven and ten good deeds are written for them each.  When they clasp hands with love a hundred is forgiven and a hundred good deeds written. When they lie down (to make love) a thousand are forgiven from each all their sins vanish and a thousand good deeds written”.  “How come o messenger of Allah that we are rewarded for satisfying our egos? “ his disciples wondered.  “Had you satisfied your egos with their unlawful alternatives wouldn’t you be liable?.  Hence the reward- you are choosing to satisfy yourselves only way Allah allowed you”.  What religion, what prophet has been or can be so tolerant, realistic, full of good humor and enlightened and  totally human-centered under the guise of being God-centered.  Islam does not distinguish between decent men and Allah and regard all believing decent men and women as members of Allah’s family (ahl Allah) and Allah’s friends (awliya Allah).  He Almighty, All Gracious says: “Believing men and believing women, they are friends of each other.   They enjoin good and banish evil…” (9: 71).  He Almighty adds  “They are pleased with Allah (the very best in themselves) and Allah with them. They are the party of Allah.  Beware! It is the party of Allah who are the (spiritually) successful” (58: 22).  Lastly the Prophet says “Human beings are all equal in the Sight of Allah like the teeth of a comb”.  What prophet could do better?  When we consider the incomparably poorer features of other religions as they stand the debt owed to Muhammad sws by humanity is simply incalculable and they better hear and obey him.  So we must study the wisdom of this greatest and most useful of men.

 

 

 
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