PEACE, THE MEANS FOR SECURITY
The Quran relates that the Prophet Shu‘ayb was addressed by his people thus: They replied, ‘Shu‘ayb, we do not understand much of what you say. In fact, we see that you are powerless among us. Were it not for your clan, we would have stoned you, for you are not strong against us.’ (11:91)
This verse refers to the protection provided by members of the Prophet Shu‘ayb’s clan, who, despite not being true believers, protected him on the basis of tribal custom. This same phenomenon is expressed in a hadith according to which God has sent every prophet along with the protecting power of his community. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 10903)
In ancient times, long before the rise of modern forms of governance, people were protected by fellow members of their respective tribes. According to tribal custom and tradition, it was the duty of the tribe to protect its members against other tribes. In those days, this served as a protecting power for the prophets, too. Thus, the Prophet Muhammad received such protection from Abu Talib, head of the Banu Hashim clan. Even though Abu Talib did not accept Islam, in accordance with tribal tradition he continued to protect the Prophet from his opponents. (see, Ibn Hisham, As-sirah Nabawiyyah, vol. 1, p. 164)
In the present age, the tribal system has, of course, disappeared. But the role of protective power that it once performed is now played by the secular system based on the modern conception of the state. This system now provides believers, including those engaged in introducing Islam to the world, with the same kind of protection. The modern secular state gives all its citizens the guarantee that they can follow, preach, and propagate the religion of their choice. No one can obstruct them from doing so, provided, of course, they do not engage in violence.
The protective shield that guarded the prophets in the past was based on the tribal system. It was a tribal protection mechanism, not a specifically Islamic one. Yet, despite this, the prophets accepted it. Likewise, in today’s world, the protection that Muslims enjoy is a secular one, and not a specifically Islamic one. Following the practice of the prophets, Muslims should accept this protective framework and engage peacefully in introducing Islam to the world. However, Muslim ‘leaders’ of the entire world branded secularism as ‘irreligiousness’ (la-deeniyat) and unleashed a verbal as well as physical war against it. In this way, they unnecessarily turned into enemies of secularism. Thereby, they left unused the valuable protection that the secular system provided them.
