The Essence of Religion
The only true religion in God’s sight is complete submission to God. And those who were given the Book disagreed only out of rivalry, after knowledge had been given to them—he who denies God’s signs should know that God is swift in His reckoning.
—The Quran, 3:19
WORSHIP
What God most earnestly desires from human beings is worship. The Quran says: “I have not created jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (51:56) There are numerous such verses in the Quran which elaborate on how the prophets were sent for this very purpose, that is, to warn or to remind man of this responsibility. (16:36). This is so important a matter that if a man cannot find opportunities for worship in his own country, he is enjoined to leave it for some other place (4:97).
The dictionary defines worship as bowing before someone and humbling oneself. “The essence of worship is fearfulness and humility,” says Lisan al-Arab. The dictionary meaning of the word is also its canonical meaning. Abu Hayyan says: “Prayer means humility: this is the consensus of religious scholars”
(Al Bahr al Muhit, Vol. 1, p. 23). That is why the Quran uses the word “arrogance” as the antonym of worship. It says, “Those who are too arrogant to worship Me will certainly enter Hell.” (40:60).
Although worship’s real connotations are humility and fearfulness, when the word is used in relation to God, it also includes the concept of love. Ibn Kathir writes: “According to the dictionary, worship stands for lowliness. In the Islamic Shari‘ah it is used to express a condition of extreme love coupled with extreme humbleness and apprehension.” (Tafsir al Quran, Vol. 1, p. 25). Ibn Taymiyah says: “The word worship expresses a mixture of extreme humility and extreme love.” (Pamphlet on Ubudiyah, p. 28) Ibn Qayyem also writes:
“There are two components of worship: extreme love and extreme humility” (Tafsir Ibn Qayyem, p. 65).
The essence of worship then is the adoption of an attitude of humility before God. In the Quran, this is expressed by different Arabic words, such as Khashiyyah, Tadhurru, Ikhbat, Inabat, Khushu, Khudu and Qunut, etc. Enshrined in each of these words is the concept of God-consciousness. To worship God means utter prostration of oneself before Him. The Being before whom the act of worship is performed is no tyrant or tormentor but an extremely kind and compassionate Being, to whom we owe limitless blessings. So this expression of lowliness before Him is necessarily tinged with love.
The relation of man to God is the relation of extreme humility with an extremely beloved Being. At the very moment when man is shivering in awe of God, when his eyes fill with tears at the thought of Him, his best feelings are even then reserved for his Lord, and he draws closer to God in great attachment. Man, then, finds himself rapt in a love of the greatest poignancy. Though his humility in the presence of God is undoubtedly the result of fear, this fear is not of the kind produced by the sight of a fearful object. It is a feeling which no single word can properly convey. It is a mixed feeling of extreme hope and extreme apprehension, and man is never able to decide which of the two is to be preferred—hope or apprehension. It is a situation of love and fear in which man runs towards the very Being he fears, hoping to receive from Him His divine blessings. It is a state of mental anguish, yet at the same time it is a state of complete solace.
Thus we learn that prayer is basically a psychological experience rather than an external event. Man, in the last analysis, is a sensitive thinking being: so in its definitive form, prayer in relation to man, is the expression of an inner state rather than of an external happening. The Prophet has clearly stated that “righeousness is a thing of the heart.” According to the Quran, the essence of worship is to be God-fearing. This finds expression in a hadith. Once the Prophet observed pointing to his heart, ‘The fear of God lies here,’ (At Taqwa ha huna) (Bukhari).
The Quran states: ‘O men, serve your Lord Who has created you and those who have gone before you, so that you may guard yourselves against evil’ (2:21).
Worship, in terms of external expression, means bowing before the Sustainer, while in its inner sense it stands for that deep realization of and strong attachment to God in which man is so involved that he can experience the very presence of God. The Prophet is reported to have said, “Pray to God as if you are seeing Him.” (Mishkat, Chapter on Faith). According to this saying, the most sublime form of worship is that in which the worshipper is so lost in thoughts of God that he finds himself very close to Him. His apprehension of the divine presence should be as keen as if God were actually seeing him. This state of psychological proximity is the most sublime state of prayer.
All rites of worship are aimed at arriving at that state. The postures to be adopted in the performance of these rites are ordained by God Himself. Anyone who asserts that it is possible to pray to God independently of these God-ordained rites, is making a false claim. Without performing these rites, no one can become a worshipper, in the real sense of the word. Although man is another name for that particular soul which is not visible to us, it is also a fact that man’s existence cannot be conceived of in this world without a human body. Similarly, worship may be a psychological reality, but it cannot be conceived of without external, God-ordained religious rites.
Although the word ‘worship’ covers the entire Shari‘ah, in the sense that it embraces whatever man does to follow God’s commandments and to seek His pleasure, it is his adoration for God which provides the stimulus for all of his actions. Basically and primarily, worship (Ibadat) denotes this particular relationship between man and God. When a man is saying salat he is directly engaged in the worship of God. He bows before the Almighty Who has no equal. Whereas, when he obeys God’s commandments relating to moral and social dealings with his fellowmen, he fulfils his duties in relation to his fellowmen. From the point of view of performance, these requirements are as obligatory as particular acts of worship. But the difference in nature between the two must be kept in view, for otherwise the true concept of religion cannot be properly understood. While human duties are always contingent upon circumstances, religious duties are absolute.
Let us take an example to clarify the above statement. If, according to God’s law, it is the duty of a Muslim to distribute to certain entitled people whatever he receives in inheritance, this does not mean that everyone must strive to acquire property so that this religious obligation may be fulfilled. It means rather that if a Muslim should receive an inheritance—some property or wealth—his faith demands that he deals with it according to the commandment regarding inheritance. It is a duty which is obligatory only on having inherited something, far from it being incumbent on every individual in an absolute sense, as worship is.
This explanation of worship makes it clear that the relationship of love and fear of God is not just to serve as an “incentive” in practical life, but is rather the actual goal that we must strive to achieve in this world. All our acts have one aim—to become the means to the psychological discovery which is known as ‘entering into a relationship with God’ and ‘reaching God.’ That is to say that the relation between God and man is not just one of supposition (e.g. if we repeat certain words and actions, God in heaven will be pleased with us). Far and beyond this there is a direct link between God and man. This attitude of adoring servitude, in its external form, is obedience to God’s commandments, but its inner reality means carrying man to the point where he can ‘meet’ God, where he may whisper to his Lord, where he may cry and break down in His presence, where he may feel that he is prostrate at the feet of his Creator. To find God thus in this life is the highest and most sublime reality of religion. The aim of all rites and commandments of religion is to raise man to this level. One who finds God thus in this world, will surely find Him in the next world; one who has failed to find Him on earth should not expect to find Him in the world hereafter.
What are the signs of having found this spiritual wealth? One of the signs is that man begins to receive divine provision (20:131). In complying with God’s commandments, whatever you do is apparently a matter of your own choice: you may or may not carry them out. But during the performance of these acts, or rites of worship, one experiences particular inner feelings which are not a matter of one’s own choice, that is, one cannot produce them on one’s own.
Then where do these inner feelings come from? These actually come from God. This is ‘food’ for the believer without which his spiritual personality could not be developed. It is like the divine provision which Mary received directly from God when living in the care of the Prophet Zakariya (Quran 3:37). When you observe a religious practice, you become aware of a special kind of feeling within you. This feeling is a reward from God for your good deeds. God does not give His best reward on credit! He gives it on cash payment. The believer receives it the very moment he makes himself deserving of it. When our Lord accepts any of our deeds, we surprisingly experience spiritual, nay angelic, feelings within ourselves. This is the introduction to Paradise that God has promised to righteous believers. It is the fragrance of the Garden of Paradise which believers find in this world. Although these inner feelings take the form of a spiritual anguish, they are more piquant by far than anything in this world. They cannot be compared with worldly delights. Intuition tells us that these inner feelings are reflections of that superior, divine reward which is called Heaven. It is said, therefore, in the Quran that the Heaven into which the believers will enter in the Hereafter will be a “known provision” (37:41) to them. It will not be a thing unknown, but a thing with which they were already acquainted in the life of this world:
“He will admit them to Paradise He has made known to them” (47:6).
According to Abu Saeed Khudri, the Prophet once said: “The man who goes to Heaven will recognize his home even better than he recognized his house on earth.” (Bukhari).
When men give charity “with their hearts filled with awe…” (23:61); when they are able to recite the Quran in such a way that their eyes are “filled with tears” (5:86); when, while intensely remembering God, they “forsake their beds to pray to their Lord in fear and hope” (32:16); when they experience such painful moments as realizing the truth of what is stated in the Quran: “…and the love of God is stronger in the faithful” (2:165); when they have the most sublime spiritual experiences; when some hidden truths are unveiled before them; when, with restless hearts and quivering lips, they call their Lord with such inspired words as had never before come to their lips, then they are actually receiving divine provision from their Lord. They are tasting one of the many fruits that their Lord has reserved for them. In this world these fruits take the form of spiritual experiences; in the next world they will take the form of heavenly rewards. Then the faithful will feel that these are the very things of which they had been given a foretaste on earth: “Whenever they are given fruit to eat, they will say: ‘This is what we were given before,’ for they shall be given the like.” (2:25)
What the people of Paradise are going to receive in the life hereafter has already been introduced to them in the life they left behind. How foolish it would be if they imagined that in the next life they would be introduced to tastes, with which they had been previously unacquainted. Similarly, if in this life you have not previously passed through phases of feeling yourself to be nearer to God than to all others, how can you expect proximity with God in the Hereafter? Surely, prayer deserves such a great reward as will cool the eyes of the worshippers in the Hereafter. But this reward will be shared only by those who had known in the world such prayers as had been alluded to by the Prophet: “I found the balm of my eyes in worship” (Nasai).
THE DEMANDS OF WORSHIP
What God desires of man, first and foremost, is that he display humility in His presence. It is this attitude which is called worship. But man has not been created in a vacuum; he has rather been placed in a world full of diverse circumstances. It is necessary that this spirit of worship should be evinced, no matter what circumstances he faces in this world.
- The first aspect of this relates to his own person. In the course of normal living, whenever he is faced with two options, one path leading to God and the other leading to self, his spirit of worship compels him at that point to renounce the latter path and take the one which is pointed out to him by God. This happens when he has surrendered his being in all respects, in the physical as well as the spiritual, before the God to whom he has already bowed psychologically. This manifestation of worship is related to one’s own self, another name for which is submission. Occasions for such submission will occur at home, in the office, in the market, and in all other such places where the faithful may be faced with making a choice between godly and ungodly ways.
- The second aspect of worship relates to the external world, that is, to non-Muslims. The precarious conditions of all those inhabitants of this world who have not yet established contact with their Lord, and, as a result, are drifting to a dangerous end in the hereafter, forces the believer to bring them to that path of worship which he has chosen for himself. It is the aspect of worship which manifests itself in relation to the common man. Another name for this duty of the believer is bearing witness to the truth or conveying the message of the Lord. The faithful are expected to obey the commandments of God so far as they themselves are concerned. And in relation to non-Muslims they are responsible for conveying God’s message to them.
Now let us take the first manifestation of worship, i.e. submission. It can be divided into two major categories: the individual and collective (or social). Individual obedience means obeying God in those matters which are related to the personal lives of the faithful. It covers all those commandments which pertain to morals and dealings with others, like speaking the truth, keeping one’s promises, being honest and trustworthy, upholding justice and equality, being humble, giving full measure, paying everyone his due, being a well-wisher of all, in short, all those virtues which are related to man’s personal life and all those situations in which man must make his own decisions. In all such cases, compliance with divine injunctions means submitting individually, surrendering to the will of God in one’s own personal affairs. A Muslim is not allowed to disobey God once he knows God’s commandments in relation to his personal life, and once he is in a position to obey them. The Quran states:
It is not fitting for a believing man or woman to exercise any choice in his or her own affairs once God and His Messenger have reached a decision upon them. Anyone who disobeys God and His Messenger is in manifest error (33:36).
This individual obedience to God is an obligation which every believer must fulfil. No man can ever be regarded as a worshipper in the eyes of God unless in his practical life he obeys the commandments imposed upon him by God which relate to his life and his circumstances. If “worship” in essence means submission of the inner self then, in external respects, man is required to make a complete surrender to God of his outward self. In other words, man should mould his external life entirely on the pattern indicated by God. It is the duty of all believing men and all believing women to reject other inducements and to submit totally to God in all matters that they face in this life:
O believers, submit all of you wholeheartedly, and do not walk in Satan’s footsteps; he is your sworn enemy (2:208).
The second category of commandments, for which we have chosen the title Ita‘ah (submission), may be termed social commandments. These are commandments the obeying of which does not depend upon the will of an individual believer. These can be carried out only when the whole of society is prepared to accept them. That is why such commandments have always been sent by God only when the believers had already established a political organization among themselves, and when they were in a position to enforce such social laws. Thus the social laws of the Shari‘ah are addressed to any Muslim society which is invested with authority, rather than to individual believers who have no political power.
We find in the history of the Israelites that so long as they were under the rule of the Copts of Egypt, they were not given the legal commandments which appear in the Old Testament. Only when they had left Egypt for the Sinai desert and acquired the status of an independent, authority-invested group, did God send His laws to them (Exodus 15:25). Exactly the same course was adopted in Arabia. During the Makkan period, when the faithful were a minority with no authority, only the basic part of the Shari‘ah was revealed, for the establishment of which no political power was required. Every Muslim could adopt those laws in his life by his own personal decision. The rest of the Shari‘ah continued to be revealed according to the circumstances. That is to say, detailed commandments regarding social life were given in Madinah once the faithful had acquired temporal authority there.
The order in which these laws arrived shows that ordinarily the faithful are bound to follow only those Islamic laws which were revealed before their having reached political power. The carrying out of the rest of the laws becomes obligatory only when the faithful can, from the seat of government, enforce these laws with authority. The revelation of the Shari‘ah laws, in accordance with the gradual expansion of the Islamic field of activity, itself shows that these laws are not required to be obeyed in the absolute sense, but only in relation to circumstances. These are always determined in relation to the actual circumstances of the individual or group addressed.
The truth is that social and political commandments are directed only at those groups of believers who are in a position to carry them out. Believers with a limited sphere of power are not required to enforce religious laws on a social or national level. A system can be implemented in practice only by those who have already accepted it. This implementation, moreover, will be according to their capacity of acceptance.
One clear principle of the Shari‘ah is that “God does not charge a soul with more than it can bear” (2:286). That is to say, no one is charged with a responsibility which is beyond his capacity to fufill. To assign responsibility to anyone which is beyond his capacity is not God’s way. Then how can believers be asked to obey laws, which they are not in a position to comply with? If, taking into account all the details of religious laws, the claim is made that it is obligatory for believers to carry out and enforce all these laws in all circumstances, it will amount to saying, for example, that it is the responsibility of each and every Muslim to try to acquire all those financial assets on which Zakat (almsgiving) has been fixed, so that he may carry out the duties in relation to Zakat.
All the commands of religion are of equal value in terms of form, but their applicability is determined by circumstances. For instance, one command of the Quran is to “pray regularly,” another is to ‘pay Zakat.’ Apparently both these commands are equal in importance just as both are in the imperative tense. But their relevance to different individuals is not always the same. The command to pray regularly is an absolute command which is obligatory on each and every believer, while the command regarding Zakat is conditional, that is, it is obligatory only when one possesses enough wealth to come under the law of Zakat. That is, if a person possesses items taxable under Zakat law, this obligation to pay Zakat will be applicable to him in the absolute sense, just as the order to pray is obligatory for all. But a person who is not in possession of items taxable under Zakat is neither required to pay Zakat nor is he ordered to acquire taxable items so that he may be able to obey the law on Zakat. What is desirable is that the believer should be active in carrying out duties which are applicable in the present rather than engaging in such activities which may be applicable to him in the future, in different sets of circumstances.
We learn, therefore, that there are a number of religious duties that are not to be enforced in the absolute sense, being applicable only in relation to circumstances. As the circle of believers goes on expanding, so also do the demands of religion. If there were only one single believer, only that part of religion would be obligatory upon him which related to his person. In this instance, the sole object of divine commandments would be his own person. When the believers increase in numbers to one or several families, then this whole group will be the addressee of the divine commandments. And when a group of believers attain the status of an independent, autonomous society, then it becomes the duty of the whole society to fully carry out the commandments of God regarding social matters. Since such commands cannot be carried out without authority at the social level, whenever these social commands become applicable to a society of believers, it becomes the duty of the believers to select a political leader in order to carry out the divine laws governing social life under his leadership.
All Islamic commandments are the expression of some inner reality. When faith is rooted in the heart, it reflects on the human personality. Yet its external expression is in proportion to the scope offered by external circumstances. Interrelationships between believers is also of a similar nature. Though it is not possible to structure them in a hierarchical way, they may still be broadly divided into three main stages, for the sake of understanding it.
The first stage is that of exhortation. The crux of it is that every Muslim should have in his heart sincerity and well-wishing for every other Muslim (Bukhari, Muslim). In the words of the Bible, he should become his brother’s keeper. (Genesis, 4:9).
A Companion named Jarir once came to the Prophet. The latter said, “O, Jarir, extend your hand.” Jarir asked him the reason. The Prophet said: “So that you may surrender yourself to God and be a well-wisher to every Muslim.” (Kanzul Ummal, Vol. 1, p. 82).
That is, your attitude in social intercourse should be beneficial to your brother in both the present world and the hereafter. And you should avoid any such act as could possibly lead to division and dissension among Muslims.
It is this attitude which is alluded to in the Quran in chapter 103 (revealed in Makkah): ‘Exhort one another to truth and patience.’ This exemplifies the spirit of worship which marks one Muslim’s dealings with another. Thus God has highlighted two important aspects of this demand made by faith. One is that we induce believers in Islam to opt for the courses of action which God finds desirable. The other is that we unite so that we may staunchly face any worldly hurdles which could bar our carrying out the will of God or our remaining steadfast on the path of God, regardless of the difficulties.
The second stage is that of organization. That is, Muslims should not remain like scattered groups, but, to the degree possible, should establish discipline among themselves, and regulate social matters by consultation. We find one example of this in the course taken by the Prophet Moses. On reaching the Sinai desert, he divided the Israelites into twelve tribes with a leader (naqueeb) for every group. During the early Makkan days, this social organization existed around the person of the Prophet, Dar al-Arqam (the house of Arqam) being its centre. The same system was adopted for the Ansar of Madinah before the Emigration. At the time of the second oath of allegiance (623 a.d.), when 75 people of Madinah (73 men and 2 women) came to the Prophet and accepted Islam, they were told by the Prophet to appoint twelve leaders (Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Vol. 3, p. 160). So they chose twelve responsible persons from among themselves. Three belonged to the Aws tribe and nine to the Khazraj tribe. Then the Prophet addressed them thus:
“You are the guardians of the believers of Madinah” (Zarqani, Vol. 1, p. 382). The leadership of Jafar, who was appointed leader of the emigrants to Abyssinia was also of this nature (Seerat ibn Hisham). Similarly, whenever Muslims spread out from Arabia across the world, they endeavoured to establish their social structures. In addition to leading an Islamic life and calling others to Islam, they gave basic importance to organization, so that they were able to perform their religious duties under one leader.
The last stage of Islamic organization is the formation of a political setup which, in religious terminology, is called Nasb-e-Imamat, the appointment of an Imam. According to all schools of religious thought, the establishment of a political and social leader of Muslims is obligatory. This matter is so important that there is not a single book on religious law and creeds which has not dealt with this issue.
It is specially stated in Sharh al-Mawaqif, Sharh Maqasid and Aqaaide al-Nasafi that it is compulsory for Muslims to have an Imam. With one minor exception, no group disagrees over this issue. Ibn Hazm writes:
All Sunnis, Murjea, Shia, and Khawarij (except the now extinct Najdat sect) agree on the obligatory nature of the Imamat (Al Melal wa al Nehal, p. 72).
The only difference of opinion on this matter is that the people of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al Jama’a take this to be a canonical order, while some other groups, such as Zaidiya and Mutazela, consider it necessary as being the demand of reason. But, as mentioned above, the matter of appointing a political leader is relevant only in a Muslim society which has acquired an independent status as a social group and, as such, is in a position to set up its own separate political organization. The question just does not arise of appointing a political leader over a scattered group of believers. That is to say, this commandment is not absolute. It means simply that when a group of Muslims has a social organization, it is incumbent upon it to organize its social life on the foundations of religion and to appoint a political leader in order to lead an organized life under his leadership. Political leadership is a manifestation of the social authority of a definable group. Where no social authority exists, on what basis can one be ordained to carry out the commandment of Imamat?
The above statement has been made from the point of view of the feasibility of enforcing commandments. But there is an equally important requirement of Islam: the principle of gradualness to be observed when enforcing the commandments.
Viewed from this angle, a Muslim minority, however religiously aware, is not required to begin launching its Islamic mission as a campaign for the enforcement of Islamic laws. The same will hold true for a Muslim society which has degenerated into religious apathy, if not apostasy. Such a campaign as a first step would be tantamount to a deviation from the Islamic method of gradualness.
The correct way to reform a Muslim society is to spread the basic teachings and initial commandments of religion, so that to the necessary extent, Islam’s legal and social laws become generally acceptable. Only after this stage will the time be ripe for starting a movement for the enforcement of God’s commandments.
The importance of gradualness in enforcing commandments is stressed in a famous tradition of the Prophet’s wife ‘Aishah, according to which gradualness was so essential in the eyes of God that, in many instances, He did not send the believers His commandments in their full and final form. On the contrary, most of the commandments were sent in instalments. The principle of Naskh (abrogation) came into operation due to this concession as mentioned in the Quran (2:106, 16:101). According to Hudhaifah, it is impermissible for anyone who is not conversant with this principle of Naskh to preach or to explain the verses of the Quran.
WITNESS TO TRUTH
Our responsibility towards non-Muslims is to bring the truth to them in the form of the message of Islam. God’s message must reach all His creatures, so that none may say in the Hereafter that he was left in a state of unawareness of the truth.
Man has been placed in this world so that he may be tested. The Quran says: “He created life and death that He might put you to the test and find out which of you acquitted himself best. He is the Mighty, the Forgiving one” (67:2).
This is a very serious situation, for it means that man’s end in the hereafter will depend on his attitude in his worldly life, his end being either Heaven or eternal Hell. Owing to the seriousness of the situation, God made two special arrangements to warn mankind. First, He gave everyone the ability to discriminate between right and wrong. “And inspired it (man’s soul) with knowledge of right and wrong.” (91:8).
This consciousness of Truth was instilled into man’s nature on the very first day of creation:
When your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of Adam’s children, and made them testify themselves, (He said): ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They replied: ‘We bear witness that You are.’ This He did lest you should say on the Day of Ressurrection: ‘We had no knowledge of that’ (7:172).
Then after this initial measure at the level of nature He sent to mankind a series of prophets, so that a knowledge of reality might be conveyed to every man by a human being who had been chosen by God for this purpose. These prophets were “messengers who brought good news to mankind and admonished them, so that they might have no plea against God after their coming.” (4:165).
This chain of prophets started with the beginning of life. Adam was not only the first man but also the first prophet. In the seventh century a.d., God willed that the chain of prophethood be terminated. Muhammad, on him be peace, was the last of God’s messengers. But so far as the delivering of God’s message is concerned, it is still as essential to do so as before. For this task now the followers of Muhammad on him be peace, have been chosen. As the Quran says, “He has chosen you… He has given you the name of Muslims so that His Messenger may testify you, and that you yourselves may testify your fellowmen” (22:78). The final prophet has borne full witness to the Truth, and now it is our responsibility to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet, in testifying to the Truth to the nations of the world, until the Day of Judgement.
This is not a subsidiary task but the very raison d’etre of the Muslim Ummah. According to the Quran, the establishment of Muhammad’s prophethood rested in the eyes of God on the fact that he scrupulously fulfilled his duty, i.e., he conveyed the message of God to his hearers. Had the prophet failed to perform this task, the duty of prophethood would have been left incomplete.
“O Messenger, proclaim what is revealed to you from your Lord; if you do not, you will not have conveyed His message” (5:67). This responsibility which the Prophet bore, is also the responsibility of his followers (12:108).
Just as the establishment of Muhammad’s prophethood rested on his conveying God’s guidance to the people, similarly the followers of Muhammad are entitled to be called Ummah of the Prophet Muhammad only if they continue to pass on God’s message to posterity. So we shall deserve the title of being the Prophet’s Ummah only if we continue to perform his task, i.e. carry his message from generation to generation till the Last Day. A believer must follow Islam (submission to God) till his last breath. Failing to do so tantamounts to risking hellfire. This not only compels one to follow the true religion oneself, but also gives one the zeal to struggle to save other human beings from this danger. Ibn Abd Al-Bar relates that, according to Muawiyah ibn Heeda Qushayri, when the Prophet invited the latter to Islam, he also said:
“Why should I have held you by the waist to save you from the fire if not that my God will call me and will surely ask me, ‘Did you convey My message to My servants? Then I shall be able to say, ‘Yes, my God, I conveyed it to them.’ Listen, those of you who are present must convey this message to those who are absent.” (Al-Istiab)
The most important responsibility of the followers of Muhammad (on whom be peace), is to end all kinds of differences. According to Miswar bin Makhrama, Tabarani relates that:
“The Prophet came to his companions and said, ‘God has sent me as a blessing to all mankind. So you people—may God have mercy on you—fulfil this obligation on my behalf and do not have differences as did the followers of Jesus (on him be peace).”
Just as the Prophet was ordained by God for this purpose, likewise the Muslim Ummah has been ordained till Doomsday to perform this duty. During the Caliphate of Umar Faruq when Rabi ibn ‘Amir was sent as the representative of Islam to the court of the Iranian rulers, a part of the conversation recorded is as follows: ‘The latter asked him why they (he and other Muslims) had come to their country? Rabi ibn ‘Amir replied: “God has sent us so that He may take away those whom He likes, from the worship of His creatures to the worship of the Creator; from the narrowness of the world to its vastness. Thus God has sent us with His religion to His creatures, so that we may invite people to come to Him.”
(Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah)
That this responsibility is a universal one, which does not stop at any geographical boundaries is illustrated by the speech Noman bin Muqrin gave in the Court of Caesar. Here is an extract from the speech where Noman answers one of Caesar’s questions:
“When Islam had spread in Arabia, the Prophet commanded us to go to the neighbouring nations and invite them to justice, so we invite you to Islam. What is good has been described by this religion as good, and what is bad has been described by this religion as bad” (Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Vol. 7, p. 41).
This responsibility was quite clear to the companions of the Prophet. During the Caliphate of Umar Faruq, when ‘Amr ibn al ‘As invited the religious leaders of Egypt to enter the fold of Islam, he said: God has sent our Prophet with a message for mankind. He has fully carried out his responsibility, and has left behind a clear example, according to which we have to convey the divine message to mankind.” (Ibn Jarir, Vol. 4, p. 227)
First and foremost, the aim of sending prophets into the world is to inform people of the message of Truth in public and in private (71:9). This is to enable them to learn about the scheme of creation of the universe and its ultimate end; so that what is unseen they may have foreknowledge of before the present world comes to an end, when the unseen will become the seen. It is our responsibility to make people aware of the life hereafter, and to warn them—they being the creations of the one God—that all of them are bound to appear before Him to give an account of their deeds.
Some people believe in presenting Islam to non-Muslims as a better worldly system. But this assumption is based on false premise. For, if Islam were presented fundamentally in the form of a better worldly system, acceptance of Islam would appear to the addressee as simply a way of solving the problems of this world. That is to say, the aim of Islam would appear to be to offer the means to save people from political and financial sufferings, whereas what the prophets actually came to do was to make people aware of God’s Creation Plan for man.
“He lets the spirit descend at His behest on those of His servants whom He chooses, that He may warn (them) of the Day of Meeting.” (40:15)
The final stage of this Dawah task, from the point of view of the mad‘u (congregation) is his acceptance of the invitation and his moulding of his life accordingly. But from the point of view of the da‘i, the final stage of his task is his delivering the divine message to the people and, his conveying the truth with complete clarity to his listeners so that there should be no excuse left for anyone to plead ignorance. Thus the standard criterion for the fulfilment of Dawah work for the prophets was only this. They were not held responsible for anything further. All those nations who are mentioned in the Quran as having rejected the message of the prophets and as having incurred the punishment of God for their disobedience, were those very nations to whose subjects the Prophet had particularly addressed himself through speeches, and by interacting, with both individuals and groups.
Beyond conveying the message to them, nothing further was attempted. That is why all the expressions, used in the Quran for the order to convey God’s message fully, are synonymous with making them aware of God’s Creation Plan for man. (Quran 15:94, 16:44, 21:109, 7:79, 7:35, 17:106, 29:51, 34:28, 3:193, 61:7, 5:67, 14:5).
Baihaqi relates that, according to Mughira ibn Shuba, one day when the Prophet was explaining Islam to Abu Jahl, the latter said: “Muhammad, won’t you stop criticizing our idols? What you want is that we testify to the fact that you have conveyed the message, so we do bear witness that you have conveyed it!”
The Prophet repeatedly asked his companions to bear witness to the fact that he had fully conveyed God’s message to them. Imam Ahmad relates that, according to Tha‘alaba bin Ibad Al-Abdari, once when the Prophet stood up to give a speech, after praising God, he said:
“O, people, I ask you on God’s oath to point out to me if I have fallen short, to any degree, in conveying God’s message to you.’ People stood up and said, ‘We testify that you have delivered God’s message to us. You have done full justice to the task as a well-wisher of your Ummah, and you have fulfilled your responsibility.”
The da‘i starts his Dawah work in this very spirit, keeping in view all the requirements of wisdom and well-wishing. He wants to convey his message to the people to the maximum possible extent. The events that unfold subsequently do not depend on the Dawah work but depend rather on the response of the madu for whom this task of bearing witness has been performed. This is why we cannot determine what sets of circumstances will prevail after the Dawah work has been done. Neither can we hold any particular example to be the absolute model for bearing witness. The da‘i may breathe his last, having invited people to accept the Truth all his life, without achieving any positive result.
There may also be a confrontation between the da‘i and mad‘u (congregation), and the latter may, individually, or with the aid of some political power, contrive to destroy the da‘i’s movement. Another possibility is that God may create such circumstances as may help either the da‘i or his successors to acquire authority in the land. Then acquisition of authority may take various forms. It may be just political control; or the movement may receive such extensive support from the public that an organized society may come into existence on the basis of Islam. All the above results are probable, and instances of all of them are recorded in the long history of the Dawah struggle of the prophets.
However, none of these forms serve as a condition for bearing witness to truth or a standard formula for it. The only valid form of bearing witness is communication of God’s message to the people in total honesty and sincerity (7:68) and in such a manner as to touch the heart (4:63). This conveying of the message has to be continued, whatever the hurdles which may arise. Whatever follows after that, will be the worldly results of the Dawah struggle or, to put it another way, the outcome of the history of Dawah which assumes different forms in different circumstances. Thus, all that is required of the preacher is that he should convey God’s message to the fullest possible extent and that he should continue to perform this duty all his life. Any further developments depend upon the response of the madu. It is obvious that no fixed list of the outcomes of Dawah can be foretold nor can difference in the nature of the response determine the completeness or incompleteness of the work of the da‘i.
The next important consideration is that, in the carrying out of dawah work, there is no need to present all aspects of the religion on a single occasion to non-Muslims. The proper way is to start with the basic teachings of Islam. God, prophethood, the Life Hereafter are the concepts which are first put to non-Muslim addressees. And these are matters which have to be regularly explained to them from various angles. Effective logical explanation has to be resorted to solve any problems they may face in understanding these points and, once they have come to accept these concepts, they are taught the remainder of God’s commands for the faithful. In the tenth year of Hijrah, when the Prophet sent Mu‘adh ibn Jabal to Yemen to call people to Islam, he told Mu‘adh that he would meet a number of people of the Book, and that he should first explain to them the article of faith i.e., the concept of the oneness of God, and when they had accepted this, then he should gradually teach them how to say prayers and observe other commands.
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas relates that the Prophet said to Muadh ibn Jabal, before sending him on a dawah mission to Yemen: “You are going to a nation who are People of the Book. When you reach there, first ask them to testify to the oneness of God and to Muhammad being His messenger. When they have accepted this, tell them further that God has ordained that they worship five times a day. After they have accepted this also, explain to them that God has made almsgiving obligatory and this zakat will be taken from their rich and distributed among their poor. When they agree to that also, you should refrain from showing any interest in their most valued possessions.” (Bukhari)
That is why the prophets were given only basic teachings at the initial stage, so that they propagated these teachings for long periods. Thereafter, such detailed instructions were revealed as were consistent with the prevailing circumstances. It has never happened that a prophet has introduced in the first stages of Dawah work the whole social and cultural system to any community, and demanded that they establish an Islamic state immediately or enforce all Islamic laws in all spheres of life.
Although all of the commandments, in the above mentioned Hadith, had already been revealed, the Prophet advised the da‘i not to impart all of them to the mad‘u at the same time, but rather to put them to the people gradually, according to their circumstances. This reveals the fact that just as the commandments were originally sent by God gradually in instalments, even now it is desirable that they be presented with gradualness. The order of their revelation tells us that they are meant to be presented to people step by step at all times. It would be wrong to say that although they were originally revealed gradually, after the completion of their revelation, the policy of gradualness had been discarded, and that they should now be presented all at one time in their entirety.
