THE MIDDLE NATION
A Role of Responsibility, not Superiority
THERE is a verse in the second chapter of the Quran that says, “We have made you a middle nation so that you may be as witnesses against mankind, and the Messenger may be a witness against you.” (THE QURAN 2: 143)
The word witness (shaheed) in this verse refers to the role of Muslims as dayee’s. By saying that the Messenger will be a witness against us, it signifies that the Messenger is the witness that the divine religion was given to us, and that we will have to bear witness that we communicated the same divine religion to the rest of humanity. It follows that it is now our duty to communicate God’s message to every person of every generation in every age.
It was the responsibility of the followers of the Prophet to pass on the message they had received from the Prophet to others. The same responsibility was given to the ancient peoples of the Book — the historical people of Moses, and those of Jesus. In the Quran, making the message of God clear to people is called tab’een. (THE QURAN 3: 187)
The task of being a witness is not a mark of superiority. It is a heavy responsibility, greater than all other responsibilities, commensurate with the great gift of faith.
This task of being a witness, or dawah, is not mystical in nature. It is also not a mark of superiority. It is a heavy responsibility, greater than all other responsibilities, commensurate with the great gift of faith. It is also a greater responsibility than that given to the followers of previous prophets, because the Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet. Until the Day of Judgement, it is the sole responsibility of Muslims to convey the message to other people. It is thus not only our responsibility to inform others of the message, but also to convey it in a manner that is clear, open, understandable and that will make a deep and lasting impression of truth, peace and spirituality on their minds.
Only by fulfilling this responsibility of dawah can we be held eligible, in God’s eyes, to be called the Middle Nation.
