Among other things, what the socialist revolution did to their people was to wash them clean of ideological dogmas and cure them of the strabismus and myopia.

This, in turn, has gifted them with a sort of innocence, which can only be achieved when there is total lack of hypocrisy . It is too early to say whether this state of innocence can be turned to their moral advantage in the difficult time of struggle ahead. But one thing is certain. They are far more amenable to receiving the Message of truth and accepting it without prejudices than any other people in the world today.

Alas! The same cannot be said about the rising trends of individualism in the so-called ‘free’ people living in the world today. One can do practically anything by justifying freedom in the name of individual liberty . Being the leaders in this trend, America is largely and profoundly influencing not only the First World Europe an countries but also the people of the Second and Third World . The echo of this distorted concept of individual liberty rendering one free from the discipline of moral life is being heard far across the ideological curtains of scientific socialism .

The gay s, lesbians, drug addicts, skin-heads, punks and criminals of all sorts, all continue to grow in numbers and strength. Their audacity to defend their behaviour by simply asking their admonisher, ‘Why not?’, has become the ominous challenge to contemporary society.

Two Climates of Social Order

The Holy Quran describes two social climates :

One in which evil is free to flourish, and

The other in which the growth of evil is strongly inhibited.

If you take up Islam ic moral teachings piecemeal, it would be very difficult for the Western mind to understand the philosophy of its Message. This is because moral teachings must be studied as parts of a social climate . One must look at them in totality. You cannot understand the autumnal season just by looking at a fallen dry leaf or some foliage changing its colour. One has to visualise and feel the whole atmosphere and temperament of autumn to know what autumn is and what it does to plant life. Likewise, one swallow does not a summer make. Whereas autumn discourages life, spring encourages it. It is not just a change in temperature but a transformation in the whole atmosphere when the very wind seems to breathe life. Social systems are also like seasons with their own qualities and influences.

Vanity of a Materialistic Society and
Its Ultimate Destination

Islam deals with this subject in exactly the same manner. First, let me describe a society, which, according to the Quran, is un-Islamic.

Know that the life of this world is only a sport and a pastime, and an adornment, and source of boasting among yourselves, and of rivalry in multiplying riches and children. It is like the rain, the vegetation produced whereby rejoices the tillers. Then it dries up and thou sees it turn yellow; then it becomes worthless stubble. And in the Hereafter there is severe punishment for the wicked and also forgiveness from Allah, and His pleasure for the righteous. And the life of this world is nothing but temporary enjoyment of delusive things.3

Again, referring to the vanity of material life, the Holy Quran has this to say:

As to those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one thinks it to be water until, when he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing. And he finds Allah near him, Who fully pays him his account; and Allah is swift in reckoning.4

The Holy Quran depicts this as a mirage which tantalises the thirsty person by ever-running away from him until he becomes so exhausted that he can pursue it no more. That is when he is punished . He is made to realise that this is the goal of emptiness and void, which he had been following all along. Suddenly, the mirage stops running away and permits him to catch up only to make him understand the bitter meaning of pursuing nothingness. That is the punishment meted out to those who pursue the vanity of life, and that, according to the Holy Quran, is how all such societies end up.

As against this, religion advocates an ideology which declares that life on this earth is not the be-all and end-all of things but that there is a life to come hereafter .

If we do not die a permanent death here but continue to survive in one form or another, as Islam and many other religions would have us believe; if life on earth cannot be taken separately from the life Hereafter ; and if both lives must be understood as the continuation of the one to the other, then it will be extremely unwise to ignore the role of social influences on a person here on earth. Evil, immoral and unhealthy influences are bound to give birth to an unhealthy soul in the life to come.

Rejection of Life to Come

This is no place to discuss the Islamic philosophy about life after death in detail but let it suffice here to mention that, according to Islam, the way we lead our lives here on earth influences our souls in a manner as sometimes, certain diseases of a pregnant mother influence her child in the embryonic stage. The child may be so congenitally handicapped that it may prove to be a hell for it to live with its disabilities among healthy children in a state of utter helplessness. The torment would become more bitter and profound with the maturity of its consciousness. This, in a nutshell, according to Islam, is how we shape our own heaven or hell.

In this context, it should have become clear that any social order, which promotes irresponsible, disorder ly and evil behaviour, no matter how attractive or enticing it may seem to the casual observer, must be rejected.

It is all right for the believers to say things and make such claims as are otherworldly in nature. After all, who has returned from the so-called otherworld to testify to such claims or stand witness against them? Why not be content with a bird in hand than to barter it for two in the bush? This is the materialistic answer to the Islam ic philosophy regarding how society should be shaped and on what principles it should be based.

The Islam ic philosophy encompasses the life here on earth and the life in the Hereafter as a continuous flow broken momentarily on death , which, in fact, is only a transformational stage of one life to another. As against this, the materialistic philosophy visualises life as only a short, accidental span of consciousness, which drowns into nothingness at the moment of death . Therefore, the social system has only to cater for the needs related to this short span of life. The individual is answerable to the society only as long as he lives and only for that aspect of life which is visible and detectable; that which is hidden in the form of his thoughts, intentions, plans, conspiracies and evil crimes subtly perpetrated, goes undetected and unquestioned.

Again, the crimes against society are only adjudged as crimes when it is established beyond a reasonable shadow of doubt that a crime had been committed. There is the possibility of the miscarriage of justice . In such a social order, the dispensation of justice is not only superficial and limited but also becomes conducive to offences against society. It promotes the pursuit of vested interests and encourages extreme selfishness on the part of the individual.

It is also interesting to note that in a godless or semi-godless society where the concept of answerability after death is rejected entirely or treated so lightly and vaguely as to practically render it meaningless, it is very difficult indeed to find a definition of crime, which is fully supported, in a sound moral philosophy. It is very difficult to conceive that members of a godless society will be truly convinced of the wrong they commit when they break a law. After all, what is law? Is it the word of a despot or an absolute ruler, the decision of totalitarian regimes, or the dictate of a democratic majority? To a common man, which of the above should appear to be a just legislation based on sound moral philosophy? What moral philosophy indeed?

If he does not owe his existence to any Being, or if he has no fear of being questioned regarding his conduct during his earthly life in the life to come, since, according to him, there is no life Hereafter , then the answers to the questions raised above, from his vantage point, could be very different from the requirements of a responsible society. He has only this short life to live. He needs society only for his own benefit. He submits to the superior authority of the society only out of necessity. If he can run away with some self-appropriated benefit and snatch a few moments of pleasure here and there while remaining clever enough to escape detection, why not? What so-called ‘moral’ inhibition could stop his hand?

This psychological attitude towards crime begins to develop and become stronger with the passage of time in godless and materialistic societies.

This exactly has been mentioned in the Holy Quran as the essence of the materialistic society.

The disbelievers declare:

There is no life other than our present life; we shall die here and it is only here that we shall live and we shall not be raised again. (i.e., we reject the concept of life after death or life elsewhere.)5

Then, again, the disbelievers mockingly address earlier Prophets(as) by asking them:

They say, ‘When we shall have become bones and turned to dust, shall we really be raised again into a new form of creation?’6

They say, ‘Do you really mean to assert that when we are dead and have become mere dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised again?’7

This, according to the Holy Quran, is central to all evils of a materialistic society. That is why so much stress is laid on the life to come and on a Day of Reckoning .

In one of the traditions, Ibn Mas‘ud relates that the Holy Prophet(sa) drew a rectangle and in the middle of it he drew a line lengthwise the upper end of which portended beyond the rectangle. Across this middle line, he drew a number of short lines. He indicated that the figure represented man, the encircling rectangle was death , the middle line stood for his desires and the short lines across it were the trials and tribulations of life. He said: If one of these misses him, he falls a victim to one of the others.8 In another tradition, death is described as the terminator of pleasure.9

Four Characteristics of a Materialistic Society

‘What has brought you into the Fire of Hell?’ They will say. ‘We were not of those who worshipped God, nor did we feed the poor. And we indulged in vain talk with those who indulge therein. And we used to deny the Day of Judgement.’ 10

The features of a godless and materialistic society could not have been summed up more precisely and comprehensively. These are:

Failure to perform worship.

Failure to feed the poor .

Indulgence in vain pursuits .

Denial of the Day of Reckoning or accountability .

Before proceeding further, let us remove a confusion, which makes it difficult to truly diagnose the state of a society. Even in societies where the belief in God seems to be strong and prominent and the belief in the Hereafter is an integral part of their faith, such evils flourish as cannot be logically conceived to exist among believers of God and life after death with full accountability.

The question then arises as to why such societies believe in a God and the Hereafter , yet in all other characteristics remain materialistic through and through? The answer to this question is not difficult to find when we examine, in depth, the nature of the beliefs. In fact, just a remote theosophical belief in a God cannot influence the social behaviour of such believers . This is because such beliefs are only academic in nature and is never translated into responsible godly behaviour. How can genuine belief in God cohabit with lies, falsehood, extreme selfishness, usurpation of the rights of the others, corruption and cruelty? The concept of God in such societies is only cosmetic, too unreal and airy-fairy to play an active role in the After life, and accountability is reduced only to a pale shadow of a distant possibility. At every moment of choice, immediate interests always dominate and displace any consideration for the life to come.

When we speak of materialistic societies, we do not only mean societies, which have uprightly rebelled against the ideas of God and life after death . Most theistic and atheistic societies may appear to be diametrically opposed in their ideologies, yet, for all practical purposes, they have very close similarities.

Accountability

The Holy Quran , on the other hand, declares:

Everything which you find in the heavens and in the earth belongs to God. He is the Master. He has the right to shape your destinies and your social behaviour. Whether you conceal what is in your hearts or declare it, He would bring you to book and question you regarding your evil thoughts and evil doings, then will He forgive whomsoever He considers fit to be forgiven and punish whomsoever He considers fit to be punished and Allah has the power to do all that He wills.11

The Holy Quran adds:

Follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge. Verily, the ear and the eye and the heart—all these shall be called to account.12

Here, by heart, the Holy Quran means the ultimate life force which is behind every human act. Fu’ad, in the Holy Quran, means that ultimate decisive will in man which operates the brain as one operates computers. So that ultimate will is the source of all evil and good and it is that will in the form of a new life after death which, in addition to the ear and the eyes, shall be held answerable.

Let us now study the features of godless societies at a closer range. It so happens that atheism and disbelief in the Hereafter lie vague and undetected in a semi-conscious state. In beliefs, apparently one may continue to subscribe to the existence of God and the belief in the Hereafter , but for all practical purposes, they seem to be non-existent, sometimes it takes a crisis to bring these concealed realities to one’s conscious mind. Sometimes, even generations can live without truly realising the fickleness and fragility of their beliefs. It is at such times that atheism and disbelief in the Hereafter , which had lain undetected and unchallenged, begin to surface. In society already given to indiscriminate and incontinent pursuit of pleasure, the conscious rejection of God and the Hereafter brings the process of moral decay and erosion of values to a rapid head.

The direction of civilization, regardless of which region of the world or which era of human history, is always from the coarse to the refined. Human basic psychological urges, which work as underlying motive forces of human behaviour, remain unchangeable. What changes is the response to those changes. For instance, one’s hunger can be satiated by eating meat or vegetables. The quality and freshness of meat and vegetable varies. One can have them cooked and seasoned in so many ways or take them raw if one so prefers.

As society develops, responses to the fundamental urges begin to evolve and become more and more refined and sophisticated. This process goes on and on, though its pace may be determined to a large extent by economic and political factors of the people. But the vanguard of a society always moves on—sometimes slowly, sometimes at a faster pace.

When a civilization ripens or matures, over-sophistication and some other detrimental phenomenon begin to reverse the tide of this progressive trend. In decadent societies, the direction is reversed from the refined to the coarse. This is a subject of wide application and requires detailed study. I regret that it is beyond the scope of today’s address but I would like to elaborate a few points.

When societies begin to degenerate or become top-heavy and lopsided with over-sophistication, they begin to topple down and return to the same crude animal answer to their urges. This may not be visible in every social and cultural activity, but it is almost always pronounced in human relation and style in the pursuit of pleasure. A brief study of man in his responses to sex will demonstrate the case in point. Around the basic instinct to reproduce through sexual regeneration, pleasures are associated by nature in the entire animal Kingdom. What we find different in human society is a gradual departure from the mere satiation of crude desires to a gradually more refined attitude to the fulfilment of animal urges. Nature never desired sex as an ultimate object. The ultimate object has always been reproduction and propagation of species. Sex was only secondary to it. When societies become decadent, the role is almost reversed.

The gradual development of the institution of marriage , the rites associated with this institution and the taboos regarding the inter-play of male and female sexes, may be considered by a sociologist to be a phenomenon resulting from a natural growth of society and unrelated to religion. But, whether the growth is directed from on high or a random phenomenon moving forward by itself, there is no denying the fact that gradually the responses to satisfy the fundamental urge become more and more sophisticated and involved.

Growing promiscuousness in male and female relationships is again symptomatic of the same malady. It is not just a permissive, liberal attitude towards sexual relationships but there is, indeed, much more that goes with it to change the entire atmosphere of this extremely important sphere of human interest and activity. Debates about the legitimacy or illicitness of such relationships are looked down upon as a thing of the past. Of course, there are many staunch religious-minded groups, which go on discussing this issue. But during their discussions on the media , one cannot fail to observe that such old-fashioned, rigidly religious-minded people are being reduced to a minority of insignificance.

It is becoming much more fashionable in the West to consider sex as a natural urge which should be responded to without any inhibitions. A traditional coyness associated with talk amongst women is becoming a thing of the past. Nakedness, exposure, display, unabashed discussion and confession are considered only as public expressions of truth .

Nobody seems to take the trouble to extend the same argument to other natural human urges. Is it not a natural animal urge, common to humans as well, to possess that which one likes? Is it not, again a natural animal urge to feel angered and agitated and to release these emotions in the wildest possible terms? A weaker dog would be impelled by the same urges as the stronger but whereas the stronger would bite, the weaker one would bark at the least.

What are those taboos in society—the codes of civil behaviour, the concept of decency, etc, which keep interfering with the free expression of natural urges? Why must sex be the only motive force which should be given a free licence to express itself without regard to tradition, norms, decency, appropriateness, and the question of belonging or otherwise? What we observe today is a phenomenon, which has to be carefully discerned and analysed. What we call permissiveness in sexual relationship is being expressed in the form of a growing tendency to steal and rob in other areas of human activity, and to injure and hurt others. The uninhibited pursuit of pleasure with perverted tastes emanates from the same decadent tendencies which are demolishing the noblest edifices of civilization and returning mode of life back to square one.

Not only do we observe a prolific growth of rites, taboos and do’s and don’ts imposed upon individuals by societies, but also we find an indulgence in romance and courtship playing a vital role in this area. Poetry, literature, art, music , styles, fashions, displays, love of fragrance, and growth of decent and cultivated behaviour are all by-products, if not entirely, at least to a degree, of the same fundamental urge in the form of social responses. A time may come when a future generation begins to rebel against and reject the achievements of society attained after thousands of years of progress. This rebellion may not take the form of the total rejection of everything. Yet the discerning eye cannot fail to notice the movement in this direction. Hippyism, bohemianism, sadism, growing violence associated with sex and the return of sexual behaviour to its original, beastly, crude aspects are but a few examples of the reversal of trends mentioned before.

One only has to venture out to watch a group of rebellious, unkempt youths living in their communes to realise what is happening to the younger generation . Filth and stench seems to have replaced cleanliness and fragrance. Immaculate dress has given way to shabby, ‘couldn’t-care-less’ clothes. Gone are the days when a minute spec on one’s attire could cause immense embarrassment. Worn-out jeans, specially torn to reveal the flesh underneath, are becoming far more valuable than a new pair of trousers. Of course, not all of society shows such extreme signs of dissatisfaction with the past or traditional heritage, but when a disease sets in, the entire body may not always be ulcerated. A few ulcers appear here and there and these reveal the underlying diseased state or malady. Irresponsibility begins to grow. Indiscipline and disorderliness begin to be the order of the day. More signs of decadence begin to surface in different areas of human interest .

The pursuit of pleasure in every sphere of life requires change and novelty to provide a greater kick. Things, which used to satisfy in the past no longer, do now. Smoking and traditional intoxicants fail to provide the kick, which the progressively restless society requires. Drugs of all sorts begin to appear and no measure whatsoever taken to suppress the menacing trend of drug -addiction is enough. Yet, the drug addict requires a still greater kick. So a stronger, more addictive and lethal drug like crack is invented.

In the area of music , the same trends have gradually set in during the last few decades of this century. A study of the development of music over recent centuries, as against the rapid and decibel eruptive changes witnessed during the last few decades of this century provides interesting and intriguing data for comparison.

I do not personally know much of music and should be pardoned if some of my remarks are considered alien to the realities of the world of music . My intuition would make me believe, however, that the progressive development of music , during the last few centuries in the West, has been in the direction of the sublime, exquisite and noble. Such music brought peace to the mind and heart simultaneously. The best music was that which identified and submerged completely with the latent music of human mind and soul. Harmony and peace were the ultimate goals, which the evolution of music pursued. Of course, there were passages in the works of great composers and artistes, which created images of volcanic eruptions, typhoons, thunderbolts and a sense of commotion, which tallied, with the external phenomenon of nature. Its memories were stored and preserved indelibly in the memorising mechanism of life. At times, its climax reached such crescendos as if the whole universe was about to burst apart. Yet the audience sat motionless, drowning itself in the deluge of music , without moving a muscle or batting an eyelid, until, suddenly pin-drop silence fell. Only then would the hall explode into tremendous applause. Even the most powerful music , highly charged with emotion, would not turn the listener into a violent, eruptive, and rebellious being. The message of all music was sublime, peaceful and harmonious. The best in man was brought out and awakened; the worst was banished.

Alas! During the last few decades, we observe a different phenomenon altogether. The ears of the contemporary generation are deafened with music capable of arousing coarse and rudimentary passions of life. A disturbed and restless generation finds itself only attuned to such music as makes them go mad. The more violent the music , the more popular it would be. Again, I should be excused for any observation borne out of my ignorance of the world of classical and popular music , but of one thing I am sure and it is that violence, rebellion , madness and vandalism etc. are fast corrupt ing the noble human faculties.

Professor Bloom, who must be credited with some knowledge of Western music , seems to agree with me in his book The Closing of the America n Minds when he laments the erosion of the sensibilities of adolescents of the contemporary age who, in his words, are brutalised by constant exposure to rock music which he dismisses as junk food for the soul.

There are many visible and palpable signs of this diseased state of society, which are gradually making the life of man more disturbed and lacking in contentment, satisfaction, peace and security. Man may deny the existence of God as he pleases but he cannot deny the existence of an all-powerful nature, which knows well how to punish crimes committed against it.

In all materialistic societies , the major factors responsible for progressive growth and proliferation of evil are about the same. Some discussion has already preceded; so, we shall briefly enumerate the responsible factors to serve as reminders. These factors are:

Growing atheism ;

An enfeebling of the belief in a real powerful God Who takes live interest in human affairs and the way human beings shape their conduct;

A progressive weakness in the beliefs in traditional and ethical values; and,

A growing tendency to forget the end and to treat the means as ends in themselves.

This is a situation, which prevails, in all the so-called ‘civilized’ or ‘advanced’ societies of the world. Slowly, as moral and ethical values continue to wither, they begin to influence the legislative and executive process of governments. When there is no God-made law to be accepted, and absolute ethical values and noble traditions are challenged and defied daily, any legislation to discipline moral behaviour also becomes lax and more accommodating. The very platform, on which laws pertaining to moral behaviour are founded, begins to slip away.

A comparative study of legislation in this area over the last few centuries would effectively prove the case in point. Gone are the days of Oscar Wilde when homosexuality was considered a crime by society, which would most mercilessly punish it. Gone are the days of chastity not being just a virtue but a social trust which, if violated, would be brought to account. This softening on crime is no longer seen as alarming. That is the problem.

The definition of crime itself is undergoing fundamental change. That, which was considered a crime yesterday is no longer so. That which was concealed for fear of shame or reprimand is disclosed and displayed with great pride. If this philosophy was sound and worthy of survival then all the religious, ethical and moral philosophies may be considered obsolete and unwanted. They no longer serve any purpose in the contemporary age.

The driving force in nature, common to both the animate and inanimate world, is the universal and all-powerful principle of crime and punishment and goodness and reward . In the inanimate world, this principle can be discerned to be operational in the unconscious operation of the laws of nature. In the animate world, evolution prior to the creation of man , was driven by the same principle which acquired a semi-conscious or semi-dormant state. As one travels through the lowest rungs of evolutionary stages up to man, the journey seems to be from the less conscious to the more conscious. In evolutionary terms, the principle of crime and punishment and goodness and reward is described as survival of the fittest . Throughout the whole evolutionary process, this remains the driving and motive force, which constantly pushes evolution forward and upward.

It is inconceivable that when this process had reached its consummation in man, the best of creation , and consciousness had acquired horizons beyond the wildest fancies of sub-human fancies; suddenly the principle of crime and punishment should be lifted and rendered obsolete. If there is a higher goal for creation, there has to be some accountability without which the whole exercise would be rendered meaningless.

It is extremely surprising that sometimes the greatest of intellectuals and visionaries fail to see an obvious and self-evident truth like this. Such is the case of Albert Einstein , the architect of the theory of relativity, who observes:

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the object of his own creation , whose purposes are modelled after our own—a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty.13

If there is a God, the Lord Creator Whose existence Albert Einstein could not deny, and if all the scientific laws operating in His creation are devised, created and governed by the same creative Supreme Being, it is inconceivable for Him to abandon the ultimate object of His creation by lifting the principle of crime and punishment and leaving man to wander in the chaos of undisciplined and unaccountable behaviour.

As far as the second part of his observation is concerned, it is obvious that he failed to understand not only the role of crime and punishment in the progressive development of creation, but also completely misunderstood the meaning of man having been created in the image of God .

Man is created in the image of God not as a perfect model of God on earth. Were that so, the world would become more than a heaven on earth and all human beings would be exactly alike. It is debateable, of course, whether such a place would be worthy of being called heaven or boredom, where there is no variety, change or difference between odour, colour and hue—instead a calm, multitudinous sea of colourless identical drops. That is not the meaning and purpose of man having been created in the image of God .

This phrase is rich in profound wisdom and speaks of the potential with which man has been endowed. It speaks of the ultimate noble goal which man must constantly endeavour to achieve. That goal is to be as perfect as man can possibly be, by acquiring godly attributes and emerging more like God. It is not a fixed goal, which one can reach and then, basking in the glory of having become the image of God , stay put there. As God is unlimited or limitless in His attributes , so every journey to Him remains limitless. The perfection in this context only means moving towards perfection from a lower order of things to a higher order of things.

God is the Most Perfect , the Most Just, the Most Gracious, Ever Merciful, All-Seeing, All-Knowing, the Lord Creator and Master of the Day of Judgement. All praise belongs to God. The Holy Quran states:

Allah is He beside Whom there is no god, Knower of the unseen and the seen. He is the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful. Allah is He beside Whom there is no god, the Sovereign, the Most Holy, the Source of Peace, the Bestower of Security, the Protector, the Mighty, the Subduer, the Exalted. Holy is Allah, far above that which they associate with Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most perfect names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him. And He is the Mighty, the Wise.14

It is such a God Who created this universe. He does not suffer from human frailties. The Holy Quran repeatedly asks the believers to reflect on His Signs. For instance:

Blessed is He in Whose hand is the kingdom and He has the power to do all that He wills, Who has created death and life that He might try you—which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Most Forgiving, Who has created the seven heavens in order, one above the other. Thou canst not discover a flaw in the creation of the Gracious One. Then look again: Seest thou any disparity? Look again, and yet again, thy sight will return to thee frustrated and fatigued.15

Having understood the significance of the words the image of God, when one looks back at the entire forces of the creation of the universe—from the time of the Big Bang to the present day—the entire journey of creation from the unconscious to the conscious, in fact, is a journey to become the image of God and to develop in man godly attributes .

Islamic Social Climate

Islam , on the other hand, designs to create a climate, which is as different from the one described above, as spring is from autumn. Within the Islam ic concept of society, Islam moderates, disciplines and trims natural desires which, if left uncontrolled, would play havoc with the gamut of human emotions. It discourages or prohibits the fulfilment of desires which can, in the final analysis; result in more misery than pleasure in the society.

At the same time, Islam cultivates new tastes and develops the ability to derive pleasure and satisfaction from acts which may appear colourless, insipid and tasteless to the uncultured and untrained. Tastes are modified and coarse sensual cravings are trained and refined and turned into aspirations for the sublime.

But the question is how can we determine that the prevalent and contemporary social trends are unhealthy for a society? To me, the answer seems to be a simple one. The health of a society should be judged by the same symptoms as the health of an individual. When someone is in pain, restless, abnormal or sub-normal in his reactions or when anxiety seems to displace one’s content and peace of heart and mind, it does not require an exceptionally wise man or highly-proficient physician to adjudge or diagnose such an unhealthy person as being seriously ill. All these symptoms are manifest in contemporary society.

How true were the words of Jesus(as) when he said:

By their fruits you will recognise them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? Likewise every good tree bears fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; a good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit.16

People are crying themselves hoarse against the bitterness of the fruit today, but somehow they do not want to replace the tree with a better one. They fail to see that it is not the tree which is at fault nor the fruit it bears. The Islamic social order stands for the uprooting of the evil tree and the planting of a healthier one instead.

According to the Holy Quran , when Adam(as) was forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree, this is precisely what was meant:

Dost thou not see how Allah sets forth the similitude of a good word? It is like a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches reach into heaven. It brings forth its fruit at all times by the command of its Lord. And Allah sets forth similitudes for men that they may reflect.17

Here, the tree is just a symbol. The Quran clearly speaks of an unhealthy philosophy as against a healthy one in the same symbolic language. The evil tree and the condition of the disbeliever are described in the next two verses:

And the case of an evil word is like that of an evil tree, which is uprooted from above the earth and has no stability. Allah strengthens the believers with the word that is firmly established, both in the present life and in the Hereafter , and Allah lets the wrongdoers go astray. And Allah does what He wills.18

The word is used in this context in the connotation of a philosophy, system, and order just as the same word is also used in its much wider connotation in the opening verse of John:

In the beginning the Word was and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.19

Evil philosophies and orders are bound to meet the fate of an evil tree which fails to pass the test of survival of the fittest and is ultimately uprooted and tossed from place to place by the raging tempest.

On the other hand, the example of a healthy system and order of things is like that of a healthy tree which is firmly rooted in this earth but whose lofty stems and twigs reach out into a pure heavenly atmosphere. It is nourished by heavenly light and it bears good wholesome fruit in every season. The Holy Quran describes the believers as having a firm belief in God ; their entire ethical and moral structure is securely and firmly founded in this belief. This gives a quality of absoluteness to the Islam ic concept of morality and ethics, which does not permit discrimination on any known plane of social, religious or racial divisions.

The guiding principle applicable to all human activity is expressed in the following verse of the Holy Quran :

To Allah belong the hidden things of the heavens and the earth, and to Him shall the whole affair be referred. So worship Him and put thy faith in Him alone. And thy Lord is not unmindful of what you do.20

Likewise:

Verily, His is the creation and the command. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of the worlds.21

All Islamic philosophies start and end with the absolute authority of God, the Lord Creator of the universe.

Fundamentals of an Islamic Society

The Quranic verse, which is most central to this issue, is as follows: 22,23

Verily God enjoins justice, and more than justice ; to give people more than their dues—and to serve humanity with beneficent treatment as if they belong to you (like your near, kith and kin ) and God prohibits the display of evil, as observed nowadays so often on television, radio and streets of many societies of the world—and forbids all that is considered wrong not by religions but by human conscience, and everything that leads to ‘rebellion’ and chaos. God admonishes you—may you benefit from this admonishment.

The first part of this verse is applicable more to the economic sphere than the social order. It paints a clear image of the Islamic concept of justice , fair play and benevolence in treating the less fortunate sections of society. The second part applies to the social image of a society, which Islam is committed to create. In this part, God forbids all that is considered wrong by universal standards, like indecent behaviour, affront, insult and indeed all social evils which, without reference to any religious teachings, are condemned by the general consensus of human society at large.

In the end, a society is clearly warned that this admonition is for man’s own benefit. This completes the picture of the essential features of an Islamic social order . It may be added that the first part of this verse is also deeply intertwined with the Islamic social teachings. A society which is insensitive to the sufferings of other human beings and is not always inclined to serve the cause of humanity , cannot be described as an Islamic society howsoever it may adhere to other aspects of Islamic social teachings.

Let us now turn to some other features of Islam ic society envisaged in the Holy Quran . Islam emphasises integrity, loyalty, faithfulness and promotes all such measures as would create peace of mind and heart. It takes preventive measures against the society becoming lopsided in its pursuit of pleasure. Hence, any behaviour, howsoever innocent as it may appear in the beginning, which is likely to lead towards unrestrained permissiveness in the society, is discouraged. The damage done to society is immense and manifold. Such societies are bound to end up in the state of promiscuousness we find in the world today. In such societies, the unrestricted tendency to pursue pleasure leads, among other things, to the erosion and ultimate destruction of family ties. Contrary to this, Islam cherishes and zealously guards all fatherly, motherly, brotherly, sisterly and filial relationships. Islam wants to promote friendships, which are more platonic than sensual.

Chastity

Beginning with a plan for women in society, it is essential, according to Islam , to take all such measures to promote chastity , fidelity, and restraint and clean living. An emphasis on chaste living, well insulated against the dangers of a short-circuiting of sexual urges is an important feature of Islamic society . This aspect of Islamic social teachings is extremely important for the protection and survival of the family system. This is the dire need of the hour. Islam seeks to widen the unit of family rather than to squeeze it to a bare minimum: a family in which the human capacity to love and the desire to be loved is satiated not by the mere fulfilling of sexual urges, but by more sophisticated and refined friendship and association such as naturally prevails between close and distant blood relations.

It is surprising how the wise men of modern society fail to notice human weakness once sex-related pleasures are permitted to play an unbridled role in the society; indeed, they flourish at the expense of other refined values and draw their blood like parasites. Sigmund Freud , no doubt, was the product of such a society. He began to analyse every human motivation through the coloured eyeglass of sex. To him, the most pious child-mother relationship was sex-related. Even the father-daughter relationship had no sanctity but was sex-oriented or sex-generated. Almost everything that man did, irrespective of him being aware of it or not, was for the deeply subconscious sex urges. I wonder if in the time of Freud , society had achieved the degree of promiscuity, which prevails today, but it was enough to give birth to a completely sex-dominated understanding of the human psyche . But if Freud was right, it is even more essential not to permit society to play incautiously with such dangerous forces as may cause a short circuiting.

Alas! The present climate of modern societies would not even attempt to understand the nature and features of the Islamic social climate . Whether man agrees or does not agree with the concept of God playing a role in human affairs and shaping man’s destiny, and whether man is willing to modulate his social behaviour in accordance with the revealed word of God or not, one thing is most certain—man can neither defeat the Act of God (i.e., Nature) nor the Word of God (i.e., the revealed Truth ). Both the Act and Word must be found in harmony with each other to be considered valid. Any social behaviour which man adopts in direct contradiction of the Word of God is bound to end in disaster.

Man cannot have unlimited and unrestricted pleasure however he may desire it. All he can do is to swap certain values and options. A society which seeks to escape responsibility or the realities of life with the help of opiates and drugs ; a society which is obsessed by sex, vain excitement and exhilaration; a society where the tastes are wilfully perverted to suit an artificially created market for new instruments and toys of pleasure which are fit only to create excitement and thirst for more; a market masterminded by powerful syndicates whose sole purpose is to amass wealth ; such a society chooses all this at the cost of nobler human values, peace of mind and security in a society as a whole. You cannot possess both simultaneously. You cannot have your cake and eat it.

The emphasis of Islam is exactly the opposite. Pleasure indeed—but not at the cost of peace of mind and the security of society as a whole. All such tendencies, which if unchecked, are likely to lead to a gradual disintegration of family life and promote selfishness, irresponsibility, vulgarity, crime and violence, are strongly discouraged.

The climates created by the two philosophies are poles apart.

It astounds me how some people believe that by raising ambitions or giving free reign to desires in a society, they can ever hopefully promise peace of mind. No society in the world, however economically sound it may be, can support unlimited and unbridled generation of lustful desires.

Even in the richest societies of the world, there are always haves and have-nots. Those who are deprived of the most basic amenities of life make a much larger section of the society than the comparatively smaller number of those who can afford to pay for what they like. Even that is questionable because it seems that with the growth of wealth , desires also rise and perhaps even the richest cannot fully realise all their dreams. But the case of the comparatively poorer majority is worse. They cannot even have access to the basic amenities of life, not to speak of the luxuries the affluent society can afford. It is the poor with whose emotions and desires modern media plays havoc. Day in, day out it brings to their squalid dwellings, rosy images of a glorious lifestyle with palatial homes, fabulous gardens, fleets of luxury cars, helicopters, private planes and an army of attendants. The lifestyles of Hollywood and Beverly Hills with revelries, dances, merry-making parties, or the life in casinos, gambling houses, or all that soap operas can conjure up, are temptations to which the poorest have access. Yet few, even amongst the richest, can ever dream of achieving this heaven on earth. Such people would most certainly lose interest in their poor coarse surroundings. The home and hearth would no longer have any appeal to them. Lack of culture and civilisation stand juxtaposed to this rosy vision, and, in this context, the realities of their own life begin to lose all meaning. If this were the ultimate achievement of a society fed on vain pleasures and unreal visions, warmth and the peace of home and hearth all become increasingly illusionary. Then there would be nothing left for them to live for in the future.

It would take more than one measure to restore the traditional family unit so essential to bind its members together with mutual trust, reliance and warmth-generating peace . But, perhaps, we are already too late to talk of this.

Islam has a clear message. It has a well-defined plan to protect, guard and preserve a universal family system or to rebuild it wherever it has been totally demolished.

According to Islam , discipline must be inculcated through conviction and understanding in every sphere of social activity, and lost balances must be restored.

Segregation of Sexes

People in the West grossly misunderstand the Islam ic social system of purdah seen as the segregation between the two sexes . This misunderstanding partly arises out of a misapplication of the true teachings of Islam in many parts of the Muslim world and the negative role of the Western media . It has become a rule with Western media to associate the ugliness of behaviour wherever it occurs with Islam , but to refrain from associating Jewish , Christian , Buddhist or Hindu behaviour to their respective religions.

The Islam ic injunction of segregation is certainly not borne out of a narrow-minded attitude of the past dark ages. In fact, the question of promiscuousness or otherwise in a society, has no relationship whatsoever to the advancement or backwardness of time. Societies throughout history have either ridden along the crest or descended to the troughs of social or religious waves.

The concept of Women ’s Lib is not at all a progressive trend of human society. There is strong evidence that both in the remote past as well as in the closer period of human history, women as a class have held a very powerful and dominant position in human society in different parts of the world.

Free and uninhibited intercourse between the male and female sections of the society is nothing new and novel. Civilizations came and went. Behaviour patterns kept oscillating between one style and another. The myriads of social tendencies have been falling and settling down into different patterns only to go through new experimentation and formation at each twist of the kaleidoscope. Yet, no trend has ever been fixed by which we could conclude with certainty that throughout history, society travelled from segregation to promiscuity or from confinement to comparative emancipation and liberation of women .

The Dawn of a New Age in Women’s Rights

It is only fitting here to focus our attention to that dark period of time in the history of Arabia when Islam came to be born, through Divine instructions, as we Muslims believe, or as the personal teachings of Muhammad(sa), as the non-Muslims would have it. Whatever the view of some theologians, Islam ic teachings regarding the segregation of sexes did not represent Arab behaviour at all.

The society in Arabia at that time was extremely paradoxical in its attitude towards women . On the one hand, sexual permissiveness, the free mixing of men and women and mad orgies of wine, women and song were the highlights of Arab society. On the other hand, the birth of a girl was considered to be a matter of disgrace and extreme shame. Some ‘proud’ Arabs are even reported to have buried their newborn daughters with their own hands to escape this ignominy.

Women were treated as chattels and were deprived the right to oppose their husbands, fathers or other male members of the family . However, there were exceptions to the rule. Occasionally, a woman of outstanding leadership quality would play a significant role in the affairs of the tribe.

Islam changed all that, not as a natural progressive outcome of social tensions but as an arbiter of values. A social system was dictated from on high, which was unrelated to the normal forces, which shape a society.

Through the teachings of segregation , sexual anarchy was brought to a sudden halt. Order between male and female relationship was established on the basis of deep moral principles. The status of women was simultaneously raised to such high standards that they could no longer be treated as helpless commodities. They were given an equal share in the affairs of life. Whereas previously they were distributed as chattels of inheritance , now they could inherit not only the estate of their fathers but also of their husbands, children and next of kin. They could now stand up to their husbands and talk back to them. They could reason with them and, of course, had the full right to disagree. They could not only be divorced but they had equal rights to divorce their husbands if they so pleased.

As mothers , they were treated with such profound respect in Islam as is hard to find a similar example in other societies of the world. It was the Holy Founder(sa) of Islam who was to stand for the rights of women by declaring under Divine instructions, that, ‘Paradise lies under the feet of your mothers .’

He was not only referring to a promise to be fulfilled in life after death , but to the social paradise which was promised to a people who showed profound respect and reverence to their mothers , and were dedicated to please them and provide every possible comfort to them.

The teaching of segregation should be understood in this context. It was not the outcome of any male superiority but was designed to establish the sanctity of the home; to create greater trust between man and wife; bring temperance to basic human urges; and to harness and discipline them so that, instead of being released as powerful demons in the society, they play a constructive role, just as harnessed forces play a role in nature.

Segregation is grossly misunderstood when it is conceived as an imposition of restriction on female members of the Muslim society from fully participating in all spheres of human activities. This is not true. The Islamic concept of segregation is only to be understood in the context of measures to protect the sanctity of female chastity and the honour of women in society so that the dangers of violating these objectives are minimised.

Free mixing of both sexes and clandestine affairs between men and women are strongly discouraged. Men and women are both advised to abstain not only from casting covetous eyes at each other, but to abstain from such visual or physical contacts as may lead to uncontrollable temptations. Women are expected to cover themselves decently and are advised not to behave in a manner as to attract untoward attention from wayward men. The use of cosmetics and ornaments are not forbidden but they should not be worn when appearing in public to attract attention. We fully understand that in the present mood of societies all over the world, this teaching appears to be rather harsh, restrictive and colourless. However, a deeper study of the entire Islam ic social system may lead one to believe this judgement to be hasty and superficial. This teaching should, therefore, be understood as an integral part of the entire Islamic social climate .

The role which women play in the Islam ic social system is certainly not of concubines in harems nor of a society imprisoned in the four walls of their homes, barred from progress and deprived of the four walls of the light of knowledge. This ugly picture of the Islamic social system is only painted by internal or external enemies of Islam or by scholars who grossly misunderstand the Islamic way of life.

The only thing, which Islam would not endorse, would be to turn women into playthings, to be exploited or left at the mercy of male vulgarity. Islam does not promote such attitudes towards women .

Merely because society as a whole has become more and more demanding, it is sheer cruelty to women if it necessitates that they must always remain conscious of their looks, appearances, and the way they are dressed and made up. Feminine charms are always on display. Even selling an article of food or daily needs, such as a washing powder, requires advertisements with female models. Artificial, stylish and expensive ways of life are presented as essentials for a woman to realise her dreams. Such a society cannot remain balanced, sober and healthy for long.

According to Islam , women must be emancipated from exploitation and playing a role of being mere instruments of pleasure. They must have more time to themselves to discharge their responsibilities towards their homes and the future generation of mankind.

Equal Rights for Women

You hear so much about Women’s Lib and women’s rights, etc. Islam speaks of a comprehensive fundamental principle, which covers all situations:

And they (the women ) have rights similar and equal to those (of men) over them in equity; (i.e., for women , there are exactly equal rights as for men, as men have rights upon women . There is thus total equality and there is no difference whatsoever between the fundamental human rights of women and men.) But men have a degree of advantage over them. And Allah is Mighty and Wise.24

In another part of a verse of the Holy Quran, it is stated:

Men are appointed guardians over women because of that in respect of which Allah has made some of them excel others despite the fact that they spend of their wealth.25

From the Arabic word Qawwamun (guardians made responsible to keep their wards on the right path), some medieval -minded ulamas (doctors of religion) deduce and claim the superiority of men over women whereas the verse only refers to an advantage that the breadwinner has over his dependants. As such, the guardian is better qualified to exert moral pressure on the wards to continue to remain on the right path. As far as basic human rights are concerned, it does not in any way refer to women being unequal or to men’s superiority over women . The last part of the verse refers to the above-mentioned advantage and makes it manifestly clear that despite this advantage, the fundamental rights of women are exactly equal to those of men. The Arabic letters wa is to be translated as ‘despite the fact that’ or ‘while’ and in this context seems to be the only correct translation.

Polygamy

In the West it is quite common to confront a speaker on the subject of Islam with the question: does Islam permit one to marry four times and keep four wives simultaneously? I have had vast experience in addressing many public and select gatherings of intellectuals in the Western world. Seldom do I remember an occasion when this question was not raised.

More often than not a lady would stand up, and, of course, with due apologies, innocently enquire whether Islam permits four wives or not. Obviously, everybody knows the answer. But, perhaps, this is the only aspect of Islam which is so widely known in the West. The other well-known aspect is terrorism , but terrorism has nothing to do with Islam.26

What sort of equality between man and woman does Islam propound when man is permitted to have four wives and a woman can keep only one husband? This is another form of the same question, which I believe is only used as a ploy to wipe out any good impression about Islam, which may have been built by the speaker. In less formal assemblies, wherein civilities and courtesies are not meticulously adhered to, the same enquiry attains the nature of mockery rather than that of a simple question.

Many decades ago when I was at the SOAS (School of Oriental and Africa n Studies ), University of London , a Pakistan i student was plagued by an English fellow student with the same question repeatedly and somehow it never failed to elicit laughter. Once, I remember, he was pushed, perhaps too far, and he suddenly turned back and asked the young Englishman: Why do you object to us having four mothers when you have no objections against having forefathers (four fathers, sic.) A pun on the word ‘four’, which effectively turned the table against the teaser.

Apparently, it was a joke, but when you examine it closely, you will discover more than a joke, for it refers to a tragic situation prevailing in societies and offers a befitting case for comparing the attitude of Islam with that of modern society. It is not only a matter for carefree student assemblies but even the serious-minded highly respected members of society do not consider it unkind and discourteous to express their disapproval of this injunction with a joke.

Not long ago, I received a letter from a senior judge in Frankfurt, whom I personally know to be a very wise, open-minded, courteous and well-meaning person. He, too, objected to the Islamic provision on limited polygamy and could not suppress the temptations to drive the point home with the help of a crude joke, or, at least so I thought. For a fleeting moment I thought of returning the compliment of his joke with the joke about forefathers, but discretion had the better of me.

The brief answer I sent him was to the effect that first this provision in Islam of marrying more than once is not a generality . It pertains to certain situations when it becomes necessary for both preserving the health of society and the rights of women to have this provision available.

The Holy Quran is a logical book. As such, it could not have instructed Muslims to achieve the impossible. God has created men and women in almost equal numbers—with a few pluses and minuses here and there. How could a rational religion like Islam , which repeatedly emphasises the fact that there is no inconsistency between the Act of God and the Word of God , preach something so glaringly unnatural and unrealistic, which, if attempted, would create grave situations of imbalance, insurmountable difficulties and frustrations. Imagine a small country of one million men of marriageable age and almost the same number of women . If this provision was taken to be an injunction to be followed to the letter of the law by all, then, at best, 250,000 men will marry one million women and 750,000 men will be left without a wife.

Yet, among all the religions of the world, Islam stands out in its emphasis on marriage for every man and woman. The Holy Quran describes the relationship between a husband and wife as based on love by nature and providing a source of peace for each other:

And lawful for you are chaste believing women and chaste women from among those who were given the Book before you, when you give them their dowries, contracting valid marriage s, not committing fornication, nor taking secret paramours.27

At the same time, the Holy Quran rejects celibacy declaring it to be a man-made institution.28 There is nothing to be gained from shutting oneself from the rest of the world or from punishing oneself by denying natural desires. The institution of marriage is well established in Islam , but time does not permit me to digress and discuss the various requirements of choosing marriage partners, the remedies available and the regulations of divorce, etc.

To return to polygamy , it is evident from a study of the Holy Quran that a special situation of a post-war period is being discussed. It is a time when a society is left with a large number of orphans and young widows, and the balance of male and female population is severely disturbed. A similar situation prevailed in Germany after the Second World War . Islam not being the predominant religion of Germany , Germany was left with no solution for the problem. The strictly monogamous teaching of Christianity could offer no relief. As such, the people of Germany had to suffer the consequence of these imbalances. There were a large number of virgins, dejected spinsters and young widows for whom it was impossible to get married.

Germany was not the only country in the vast continent of Europe to experience such social problems of extremely dangerous and gigantic proportions. It was too great a challenge for the post-war Western society to stem the tide and check the growth of moral degradation and promiscuity, which so naturally and exuberantly thrived on the prevailing imbalances.

As can be plainly seen by every unbiased person, the only answer to all such problematic disturbances is to permit men to marry more than once. This is not proposed as a solution to satiate their sensual desires but to meet the genuine requirements of a large number of women . If this very logical and realistic solution is rejected, the only alternative left for society is to rapidly degenerate into a growingly corrupt and permissive society.

Alas! That seems to have been the option taken by the West.

When you re-examine more realistically and unemotionally the two attitudes, you cannot fail to notice that it is not a question of equality between men and women but it is simply a choice between responsibility and irresponsibility.

Islam only permits marriage more than once with the proviso that men accept the challenge of such difficult and specific situations with full responsibility and mete out the full measure of justice and equality to the second, third or fourth wives as well:

Should you apprehend that you will not be able to deal fairly with orphans , then marry of other women as may be agreeable to you, two or three, or four; but if you apprehend that you will not deal justly and equally between them, then marry only one, or out of those over whom you have authority. That is the best way for you to obviate injustice.29

The alternative is much uglier. An excessive number of women left without marriage cannot be blamed for attempting to entice and allure married men in societies, which are not deeply religious. After all, women are humans too. They have their own emotions and unfulfilled desires. Whilst the psychological traumas of war have enhanced the urge for finding someone to turn to, a life without security of marriage and home, with no life partner and no hope for children is a life which is empty. The future is as blank and bleak as the present.

If such women are not lawfully accommodated and assimilated on the principle of give and take, it can play havoc with the peace of society. They will, anyhow, illegally share the husbands of married women . The outcome is bound to be preposterous. Loyalties will be split. Married women will begin to lose faith in their husbands. Suspicions will grow. The increasing lack of mutual trust between husband and wife will rock the foundation of many homes. For unfaithful men to live with a sense of crime and guilt will further generate psychological complexes and propensity towards more crime. The noble concept of love and loyalty would be among the prime victims. Romance would begin to lose sublimity and descend to commonplace, transient infatuation.

Those who talk of equality in every sphere forget that the issue of equality becomes irrelevant in those areas where male and female are built differently.

It is only women who can give birth to children. It is they alone who can go through more than nine months of nourishing the seed of human generation for the future. It is women again who can look after their babies, at least during the early period of infancy and childhood, as no man ever could. Because of the long and extremely intimate blood relationships with their offspring, it is the women who have far more powerful psychological bonding with the children as compared to men.

If social and economic systems ignore this constitutional difference between man and woman and the corresponding difference in the role of the two sexes in society, then such a socio-economic system is bound to fail to produce a state of healthy equilibrium. It is mainly because of these constitutional differences between male and female that Islam proposes correspondingly different roles for each.

A woman must be kept free, as far as possible, from the responsibility of earning bread for the family . In principle, this responsibility must fall on the shoulders of men. Yet, there is no reason why women should be debarred from playing their part in turning the wheel of economy provided that they find themselves free to do so, i.e., without neglecting their prime responsibility of human reproduction, family care and concomitant involvements. This is exactly what Islam proposes.

Again, women in general have a weaker and comparatively frail constitution . Yet, surprisingly, God has provided them with tougher potentials in their physique. These attributes are mainly due to the presence of an extra half chromosome in their cells, which is responsible for the difference between men and women . This is obviously provided to meet the extra challenge placed on them during pregnancy, childbirth and the lactation period. All the same, this potential does not make a woman outwardly stronger and tougher. They should not be relegated to hard menial tasks in the productive economic field merely in the name of equality or any other name. This also requires that they should be treated with more tenderness and kindness. Women should have a lesser load to bear in daily life and should not be forced to bear equal load with men in public activities.

It emerges from the above that if the task of the running of a home is a special area of responsibility to be assigned to either man or woman, a woman has obviously much greater merit than a man to perform such responsibilities. Additionally, by nature women have been assigned the responsibility of looking after the children. Such responsibility can only be partly shared with men.

Women must be granted the right to remain at home far more than men; if, at the same time, they are absolved of the responsibility of earning their livelihood, the free time available to them must be employed for their own sake or for the sake of society as a whole. That is how the concept of ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ is born. There is no question of their being tied to their aprons or imprisoned in the four walls of the home. In no way does Islam infringe the rights of women to go out in their spare time to perform any task or to participate in any healthy pursuit they may choose, providing, again, that they do not jeopardise the interests and rights of the future generation of mankind entrusted to them. Among other reasons, this is why over-socialising or the free mixing of sexes is strongly discouraged by Islam. For Islam to propose that the home is the centre of a woman’s activities is a very wise and practical solution to most ills of modern times. When women shift their interests away from the home it has to be at the cost of family life and the neglect of children.

To build a family life around the pivotal figure of a mother requires the strengthening of other blood relationships and the restoration of a genuine affinity with kith and kin . Even though each unit may live separately, this larger family concept is supported and promoted by Islam for many reasons, some of which are as follows:

It prevents imbalances from occurring in society.

If strong love and affection were promoted in the family between brothers and sisters, father and daughters, mother and sons, etc., it would naturally lead to the consolidation and protection of a healthy family unit. This natural bonding is further strengthened by a system of relationships surrounding it in the form of genuine affinity and closeness between aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren and grandparents. New avenues of seeking warmth and healthy pleasure, derived from the consciousness of belonging, would open up for this larger family system.

The institution of family in such cases is less likely to be fragmented. To share a common roof in the name of a family would no longer be as meaningless as we generally find today. The members of the family would continue to gravitate towards the central beacon of family elders; most family activities would rotate around this axis. There would be no lone individuals, forgotten, dejected and relegated to the attic or basement of social order, or, knocked out of families as useless articles.

This exactly is the Islam ic concept of homes and families, which is regarded as the most important central unit in society. It is mainly because of this difference in attitudes that today we find in the modern societies of the world a much greater incidence of abandoned, old, or disabled parents considered as burdens on families.

Care of the Aged

The responsibility for care of the aged is gradually shifting to the state. Care of the aged represents a heavy burden on the national economy. However much a state is ready to spend, it can never buy them peace and contentment. The most terrible feeling of having been rejected, left out and abandoned, and the most painful realisation of a growing void of loneliness within, are problems beyond the reach of many to resolve. To consider that a comparatively remote relative would ever be taken care of by the rest of the family has become almost impossible to imagine.

In such societies, the need for homes for the aged grows with the passage of time. Yet, it is not always possible for a state to apportion enough money to provide for them even the minimum requirements of a decent life. Physical ailments are much easier to cure or alleviate, but the deep psychological traumas from which a considerable number of elderly members of modern societies are suffering, are far more difficult to treat.

In predominantly Muslim countries, however much values may have deteriorated, this condition, which prevails in the rest of contemporary society, is unthinkable. It is considered a disgrace and dishonour for the old and aged to be treated with such disrespect and callousness. It is a matter of shame for most Muslims to hand over the responsibilities of elderly relatives to the state even if the state is willing to look after them.

As such, the role of a Muslim woman amidst her home and family is far from over with the coming of age of the children. She remains deeply bonded to the past as well as to the future. It is her kind and humane concern, and her innate ability to look after those who stand in need of care, which comes to the rescue of the older members of society. They remain as precious and respected as before and continue to be integral members of the family . The mother plays a major part in looking after them and providing them with her company, not as drudgery and tedium, but as a live natural expression of human kinship. Thus, when she grows older she can rest assured that such a society will not eject her nor leave her abandoned as a relic of the past.

Of course, there are exceptions in every society; and there are old remnants of the past considered as tiresome burdens in some Muslim families living under the influences of the modern trends. But on the whole, Muslim societies are relatively free of homes for abandoned parents unlike other societies.

This reminds me of a joke, which may make some people laugh yet move, some others to tears. Once a child observed, with much pain and unease, the ill treatment of his grandfather at the hands of his father. He was gradually transferred from a well-provided and comfortable main bedroom to smaller and less convenient accommodation until it was finally decided to remove the grandfather to the servant’s quarters. During an exceptionally severe winter, the grandfather complained of his room being too chilly and his quilt being too thin to make him feel warm and comfortable. The father started looking for an extra blanket from a stock of old, useless rags. Observing this, the child turned to his father and requested: ‘Please do not give all the rags to grandpa. Keep some for me so that I may be able to give them to you when you grow old.’

In this innocent expression of a child’s displeasure is concentrated all the agony of the older generation in modern times.

In Muslim societies, it is as rare to find such exceptions, as it is rare and becoming more rare to find exceptions in modern societies amongst relatives in their treatment of the old. Muslims are taught:

Thy Lord has commanded, ‘Worship none but Him, and show kindness to parents . If one of them or both of them attain old age with thee, never say unto them any word expressive of disgust nor reproach them, but always address them with excellent speech. And lower to them the wing of humility out of tenderness.’ And say, ‘My Lord, have mercy on them even as they nourished me when I was a little child.’30

These verses are the most significant on this subject. After the Unity of God, human beings should, through their attitude of love, affection and kindness, give priority over all other things to their parents who have reached an old and difficult age.

Further, the verses speak of situations when the behaviour of one or both of the parents becomes extremely trying and sometimes offensive. In response to that, not even a mild expression of disgust or disapproval should pass one’s lips. On the contrary, they should be treated with profound respect.

The emphasis on the most excellent relationship between one generation and another, guarantees that no generation gaps appear. Such gaps always interrupt the transmission of traditional moral values. Islam ic social philosophy, therefore, teaches that no generation should permit a gap to appear between it and the outgoing generation and between it and the future generation . Generation gaps are totally alien to Islam.

As stated earlier, the family concept in Islam is not limited to members of a single home. The following verse instructs Muslims to spend not only on their parents , but also their kith and kin who are mentioned next to parents in order of preference so that their sense of dignity is not injured and mutual love is promoted.

Worship Allah and associate naught with Him, and show kindness to parents , and to kindred, orphans , the needy and to the neighbour who is a kinsman and the neighbour who is a stranger, and the companion by your side and the wayfarer and those who are under your authority. Surely, Allah loves not the arrogant and the boastful.31

The Holy Quran declares that you must be mindful of kindness to your parents .

If contemporary society learns the lesson from these injunctions, many problems which it faces today and which represent a blemish on an advanced society, would cease to exist. No homes for the aged would be needed, except for some aged people who, unfortunately, have no close relative to look after them. But in an Islamic society , the love between parents and children is so repeatedly emphasised that it is impossible for a child to abandon his parents when they grow old for the sake of his or her own pleasure.

The Future Generation

As for the future generation, the Holy Quran educates society in a unique way. It teaches that to achieve the best of relationships between you and your children, it is highly essential that the relationships between you and your wife should also be excellent.

In this regard, the verse cited earlier 32, which refers to guardians (Qawwamun), lays a very heavy responsibility on the shoulders of a husband. If his conduct is not conducive to the creation of an ideal atmosphere for a healthy family life, he would have failed in his responsibility to act as a guardian (Qawwam). It should be remembered that the best example of Qawwam was the Holy Founder(sa) of Islam himself. He was neither harsh nor dictator ial nor in any way offensive or over-assertive in relation to his family . To keep them on the right path was a grave responsibility, but the way that he discharged this responsibility serves as an excellent living example for all times to come for all those who want to investigate and comprehend the real meaning of the epithet Qawwam.

In a famous tradition, Abu Hurairah(ra) relates that the Holy Prophet(sa) said:

The most perfect of believers in the matter of faith is he whose behaviour is best; and the best of you are those who behave best towards their wives.33

If the parents really want their children to grow up into members of a righteous society, they should remember that mutual relationships between husbands and wives are going to play an important role in the making or breaking of the character of their children.

The Holy Quran teaches:

Those who bear not false witness, and when they pass by anything vain, they pass by with dignity; and those who, when they are reminded of the Signs of their Lord, fall not down thereat deaf and blind; and those who say, ‘Our Lord, grant us of our wives and children the delight of our eyes, and make us a model for the righteous.’34

This prayer possesses a unique charm and is filled with profound wisdom. Both partners in marriage are taught to pray for each other and their children that God may always provide them deep satisfaction and happiness from one another as well as from the children and to make their children the forerunners and leaders of a God-fearing, righteous generation.

It only takes one to apply this teaching to oneself to fully realise the significance of this verse. When you desire something vaguely, it may not influence your conduct significantly, but when you pray for it earnestly, then your conduct is bound to be influenced by that prayer . To illustrate this further, there are many amongst us who desire to be truthful but seldom is this desire translated into practice. Those who earnestly pray to God that He should make them become truthful , are influenced far more in their conduct by their prayer than those merely wishing for something vague. A genuine effort is made in moulding one’s behaviour for the better. A person would be acting very oddly indeed after such a prayer if he treats his wife and children in a manner inconsistent with the prayer .

Turning exclusively to the younger generation and their rights and obligations, the Holy Quran admonishes:

O ye who believe! Fear Allah and let every soul look to what it sends forth for the morrow. And fear Allah; verily Allah is Well-Aware of what you do.35

The Holy Quran warns the parents that if they fail to discharge the responsibility due to their offspring and leave behind a generation , which is not beyond censure in its conduct, then the parents will be held answerable before God.

Again, the parents are warned not to murder their own children in the sense that the parents become instrumental and responsible in some way in destroying their character.36

Not only one’s own children but that the younger generation as a whole must be treated with love, kindness and respect is the strong word of advice given by the Holy Prophet(sa) of Islam:

Always be kind to your children.37

One cannot help observing that this is exactly what the contemporary world needs today. There is a serious debate going on in Britain, nowadays, regarding possible legislation which would make parents vicariously responsible, in the eyes of the law, for crimes committed by their children and thus as delinquents dealt with by juvenile courts. It is strongly felt that had the parents discharged their responsibility to discipline their children more seriously, there would be much less crime seen in the streets of Great Britain . But the question is how far punitive and restrictive measures can improve the quality of society when there is no background of religious ethics at work in every sphere of life?

Wasteful, Vain Pursuits Discouraged

The Holy Quran goes on developing this subject of society by declaring:

And who shun all that which is vain.38

Those who are wise, shun the waste of their energies in useless and meaningless pursuits.

To find time for light entertainment is neither bad nor prohibited in Islam. But if the entertainment begins to exert a negative influence on society as a whole, it is certainly not recommended. Moreover, if instead of providing a genuine outlet for the stresses of life, entertainment becomes an objective in itself, it would be condemned as laghw (vain and wasteful) in the Quranic terminology. When entertainment begins to interfere in the daily pursuits of life or takes a toll upon one’s time which could be better spent otherwise, it too would be classified as vain according to the Arabic word laghw .

Television has done immense good for society. But children sit all day long with their eyes glued to the box. After returning from work, men continue to sit before the screen no matter what the TV programme might be. In doing so, they neglect their responsibilities to their children, wives, friends and society as a whole. TV has indeed become a modern curse. So much time is wasted in this age in watching television that it will be rather difficult and challenging for one to correctly weigh its pros and cons. But that is not all.

By screening films on crime, TV often presents the image of crime in a manner, which instead of creating a sense of repulsion in the hearts of children achieves the opposite. Even in programmes exclusive for children, it is not uncommon to find popular characters causing mischief by devising ingenious pranks that play havoc with the peace at home. However amusing and entertaining such programmes may be, they are certainly not educational. No doubt, many a difficult child is borne out of watching such programmes. The child grows with the potential of becoming a would-be criminal.

In the programmes for adults, innovative methods of committing crime are inadvertently taught. A leisurely life of fun and playfulness portraying what life should be is painted so rosily that it leaves a false impression on the mind. Alas! Little do they realise the distance between fantasy and realities and between what should be and what is.

The pursuit of vain pleasures forbidden in the Holy Quran is not that minor or inconsequential as most may consider it to be. This and many other modes of entertainment play an important role in the creation of an atmosphere where the level of frustration continues to rise. One wonders when the point of saturation may be reached.

Bridling of Desires

The Holy Quran requires the bridling of desires : envy may not be permitted to give birth to inordinate, insatiable desires.

This teaching contains a very important message regarding discipline and the trimming of desires. Islam, of course, is not a religion of escapism or denial by monasticism or asceticism whereby man is required to negate all his natural desires to achieve Nirvana or deliverance from material bondage. According to the philosophy of Nirvana, it is the desires, which bind us to matter and enslave us to materialism . The simple answer is to deny oneself all desires.

Islam rejects this philosophy as man-made, unnatural and inadequate to resolve problems. The concept of Nirvana is closer to death than peace . Islam has a completely different solution to offer. To kill desires is no answer, according to Islam , to solve the riddle of life.

Among many measures suggested to create social peace is the admonition that man should discipline and curtail his desires and keep them in check. Otherwise, it would be impossible for any man to achieve peace through the satiation of desire. As stated earlier, desires always run faster than one can pursue them. Small as these measures may appear, they are potentially very effective and important. For instance, the Holy Quran states:

Strain not thy eyes after what We have bestowed on some classes of them to enjoy for a short time—the splendour of the present world—that We may try them thereby. And the provision of thy Lord is better and more lasting.39

The Holy Quran prohibits thinking ill of others, or to be nosy and inquisitive or to backbite:

O ye who believe! avoid much suspicion; for suspicion in some cases is a sin. And spy not on one another, neither backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Certainly you would loathe it. And fear Allah, surely, Allah is oft-returning with compassion and is Merciful.40

Building of Trust and Inviolability of Trusts and Treaties

In the Islamic society, the building of trust plays a very important role. The inviolability of trusts and international treaties is considered fundamental to the concept of unity in Islamic society . Believers are described in the Holy Quran as:

Who are watchful of their trusts and their covenants.41

Eradication of Evil—A Collective Responsibility

The responsibility of educating people is not entrusted to governments but collectively to the people themselves to do good deeds and to abstain from evil .

In more developed societies, it is the job of refuse collectors to gather unwanted waste from homes and streets for disposal. In poorer countries , the housewives simply throw away the junk and refuse on to the streets till the streets become littered with filth and are no longer fit as passageways. Of course it is the responsibility of the inmates to clean the houses but there has to be some system of keeping the streets and pathways clean.

It is tragic that though the West has learned the importance of this social responsibility of keeping places frequented by the public clean, it has yet to recognise the dire need of acquiring the responsibility to purge society from the criminal human waste which daily spills over from homes to streets and public places.

Islam treats this question more comprehensively. The primary stress is on the elders of the family to minimise the social waste so that more goodness than evil is contributed towards society. Secondly, Islam fixes the responsibility on society to launch, individually as well as collectively, a holy war against evil , not with the help of the sword and restrictive legislation, but more so by constant admonition, advice and wise counsel. Admonition and persuasion with patience is the best instrument, according to the Holy Quran, to cleanse the society of social evils:

Let there be among you a body of men who are always devoted to admonishing people to do good and who invite to goodness, and enjoin equity and dissuade people from indulging in evil . And it is they who shall prosper, (i.e. such societies shall survive.42).43

It should not be inferred from the aforementioned verse that the Islamic approach of the maintenance of public health and well-being is entirely non-government al and the state has no part to play in it. Of course, the areas of legislation and its application are the prerogatives of states. But what I have been trying to emphasise is merely the fact that according to Islam , the state machinery alone is inadequate to suppress, discourage or minimise crime. Once criminal tendencies are permitted to grow and flourish in homes and societies in general, the best a government can do is to wipe out the symptoms from time to time. The root cause of evil is far too deep for the long arm of the law to reach. It is the primary job of families, religious leaders and leaders of public opinion in every society to eradicate evil .

Keeping this and many other similar verses in view, the Holy Prophet(sa), once declared that the people before you came to a tragic end because they disobeyed authority and were given to transgression. They did not restrain one another from the iniquity that they committed. Then he continued:

Indeed, by Allah, you must enjoin good and forbid evil ; seize the hand of the wrong-doer and persuade him to act justly; establish him firmly on the right, else Allah will involve the hearts of some of you with the hearts of others and will curse you as He cursed them.44

According to the Prophet(sa), one of the more serious signs of decline of a people is that they lose the courage to show their displeasure at the public display of indecency and misconduct. The Holy Prophet(sa), draws the parallel between such a society and travellers on a boat in the following tradition:

Nu‘man ibn Bashir relates that the Holy Prophet(sa) said: The case of those who observe the limits set by Allah and those who are careless about them is like passengers on a ship who cast lots to determine who should occupy the upper deck and who should be on the lower deck and disposed of themselves accordingly. Those who were on the lower deck passed through those of the upper deck whenever they had to fetch water. So they said to the occupants of the upper deck: If we were to bore a hole through our part, we would not then have to trouble you. Now if the occupants of the upper deck were to leave the others to carry out their design, they would all perish together, but if they were to stop them from carrying it out, they would all be saved.45

I am afraid this parable applies to a large degree to the contemporary societies of the world.

Do’s and Don’ts

Some verses from the Holy Quran on other social responsibilities , which promote peace , are:

The servants of the Gracious God are those who walk on the earth in a dignified manner, and when the ignorant address them, they say, ‘Peace!’.46

When you are greeted with a prayer, greet ye with a better prayer or at least return it. Surely, Allah takes account of all things.47

Turn not thy cheek away from men in pride nor walk in the earth haughtily; surely, Allah loves not any arrogant boaster. And walk thou at moderate pace and restrain thy voice; verily the most disagreeable sound is the bray of a donkey.48

The character, which Islam attempts to inculcate amongst Muslims, is in itself inhibitive to the growth of irresponsible behaviour and crime. Islam creates a healthy soil, which discourages the growth of parasites and weeds.

This objective is achieved by very detailed and comprehensive teachings of do’s and don’ts, which run into many hundreds. The central core of this teaching is common to almost all religions. Instead of highlighting the doctrinal differences between one religion and another, I set some of them before you with the relevant Quranic (Chapter: Verse) reference:

DO’S

Chastity : 17:33; 23:6–8; 24:31, 34, 61; 25:69; 33:36; 70:30–32.

Cleanliness : 2:223; 4:44; 5:7; 22:30; 74:5–6.

Controlling anger : 3:135.

Cooperation: 5:3.

Courage: 2:178; 3:173–175; 9:40; 20:73–74; 33:40; 46:14.

Doing good : 2:196; 3:135; 5:94; 7:57.

Enjoining good and forbidding evil : 3:111.

Excelling in doing good: 2:149.

Faithful discharge of trusts : 2:284; 4:59; 23:9; 70:33.

Feeding the hungry : 76:9; 90:15–7.

Forgiveness : 2:110; 3:135,160; 4:150; 5:7,90; 14:8; 39:8, 67; 46:16.

Giving of true evidence: 4:136; 5:9; 25:73.

Good treatment of employees: 4:37.

Good treatment of neighb ours: 4:37.

Good treatment of relatives : 2:178; 16:91; 30:39.

Gratefulness: 2:153, 173, 186, 244; 3:145; 5:7, 90; 14:8; 39:8, 67; 46:16.

Humility : 6:64; 7:14, 56, 147:16:24, 30; 17:38; 28:84; 31:19–20; 40:36.

Justice : 5:9; 6:153; 16:91; 49:10.

Making peace between people: 4:115; 49:10.

Patience : 2:46, 154, 156, 178; 11:12; 13:23; 16:127–128; 28:81 ;29:61; 39:11; 42:44; 103:4.

Perseverance : 13:23; 41:31–33.

Purity : 2:223; 5:7; 9:103, 108; 24:22; 33:34; 74:5; 87:15; 91:10–11.

Self Control: 4:136; 7:202; 18:29; 30:30; 38:27; 79:41–42.

Sincerity: 39:3–4; 98:6; 107:5–7.

Truthfulness : 4:136; 5:120; 9:119; 17:82; 22:31; 25:73; 33:25, 36, 71; 39:33.

Unselfishness: 2:208, 263; 11:52; 59:10; 64:17; 76:9–10; 92:20–21.

DON’TS

Adultery : 17:33.

Arrogance : 2:35, 88; 4:174; 7:37

Backbiting : 49:13.

Boasting : 57:24.

Defamation: 49:12.

Derision: 49:12.

Despair: 39:54.

Envy: 113:6.

Extravagance : 7:32; 17:27–28.

Following that of which one has no knowledge: 17:37.

Haughtiness: 17:38; 23:47; 31:19.

Giving short measure: 83:2–4.

Nicknaming: 49:12.

Niggardliness: 4:38; 47:39; 57:2–5; 59:10; 64:17.

Perfidy: 4:106,108; 8:28, 59.

Suspicion: 49:13.

Telling lies: 22:31; 25:73.

Theft: 5:39.

Islam invites leaders of all religions to join hands in an effort to promote and inculcate goodness and to admonish against the committing of evil deeds.

Were this to happen, the world would be better for it.

Rejection of Racialism

Of all the curses, which infest the contemporary age, racialism is the one that holds the greatest danger to world peace .

The Holy Quran reminds not only Muslims but also all mankind:

O ye people! Fear your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and created therefrom its mate, and from the two spread many men and women ; and fear Allah, in Whose name you appeal to one another, and fear Him particularly respecting ties of relationship. Verily, Allah watches over you.49

No one has superiority over others. Similarly, the Holy Quran states:

O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes for the sake of easy recognition. Verily, the most honourable among you, in the sight of Allah, is the most righteous among you. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.50

And:

O ye who believe! Let not one people deride another people, haply they may be better than they, nor let one group of women deride other women , haply they may be better than them. And do not defame your people nor call one another by nick-names. It is indeed bad to fall back into the malpractice of ignorant days after having believed; and those who repent not, such are the wrongdoers.51

Apparently, contemporary society seems to be moving away from racialism and apartheid and is becoming more conscious of the horrors related to them. But if you examine the issue more carefully and in depth, you will begin to realise that racialism exists everywhere.

One major difficulty is the definition of ‘racialism ’. It can appear different from various perspectives. It is difficult to draw hard and fast lines between racialism , consciousness of class or religious superiority, tribalism, fascism , imperialism and nationalism . The most tragic and inhumane treatment of the Jews at the hands of Christian s in Western Europe for more than a thousand years may be considered buried in the past, but the recent beastly treatment of the Jews during the 30s and 40s at the hand of Nazis is too fresh in our memories to be forgotten. Therefore, the moment we hear the word ‘racialism ’, our minds are inadvertently turned to anti-Semitism and the long history of the ill treatment of the Semitic race at the hands of the Gentiles.

This is a very limited understanding of racialism , of course. It is so limited that the other connotations of the same scenario completely miss our attention. We hardly stop to think of extremists among the Jews looking at the Gentiles with the same horrid prejudices of which they themselves have been the targets.

But that is not all. There is much more to racialism than meets the eye. Racialism, though not clearly identified as such, does exist under different guises, nationalism being one of them. Again, religious, tribal and regional prejudices are but a few examples where racialism is found at work under different names. The prejudices of white races against non-whites are also forms of racialism , but it is unjust to blame only the whites for harbouring prejudices against people who do not share their colour and complexion. There also exists black racialism , yellow racialism and the racialism of such people who cannot be so clearly defined into white, black or yellow but lie somewhere in between.

The essence of racialism is class prejudice. Perhaps this is the best definition of racialism . Whenever people begin to act prejudicially against another class of people on the pretext of their own class interests, racialism uncoils and raises its ugly and venomous head. No discretion is exercised in the expression of such hatred; no individual merit is taken into account; and, generality becomes the law.

Not many centuries ago, the Western hemisphere was divided mainly along the plane of Christianity versus Islam . Whatever role the Jews played during that age of strong religious prejudices towards the Muslim East is relatively obscure. What is known, however, is the fact that the Jews were a part of Christian Europe , which hated and mistrusted Muslim nations around the Mediterranean and were apprehensive of Muslim expansion westwards.

During that period of intense hostilities between Christian s and Muslims , there was an added element of racialism based on a difference in colour. At that time, the Muslims of Indonesia , Malaysia , China and India remained totally aloof and unconcerned. The conflict looked more like that of a Turko-Arab axis versus Christian Europe in general.

Although this history seems to be buried and forgotten, I can see it raising its head again. Human problems never seem to die permanently howsoever deeply buried they may appear. Returning to the present age, as long as the world was polarised by the two superpowers and their allies, it was vital for the interest of the West not to stir such issues or permit them to be stirred. But ever since the dawn of the new era of the East -West relationship, a dark night from the medieval ages is also about to cast its sinister shadow.

There is a real danger of revival of the historic Christian -Muslim religio-political rivalries in the new climate created by the momentous changes in the USSR and Eastern Europe . This could be further fanned by consideration of vested interests on both sides. I am afraid that in this regard, the clergy of both Christianity and Islam are very likely to play a sinister role in aggravating the situation and further destroying the prospects of peace and harmony between Muslims and Christian s. If this happens, it would certainly be of advantage to the cause of Israel . Israel cannot be conceived in the role of a disinterested and uninvolved observer.

Again, there are politico-economic dividing lines, which are giving birth to a new type of racialism i.e., the racialism between the rich North and the poorer South, and the East and West best expressed by:

East is East and West is West

And never the twain shall meet.

The recent rapprochement and détente between the superpowers may revive the historic religio-political controversies and rivalries between the Christian occident and the Muslim Orient. It should not at all be surprising if East and West begin to drift further apart as a result of the new imperialism and a broadly based racialism which is bound to be borne out of the recent détente between the superpowers .

According to the universally accepted terminology, I may appear to be out-stepping the definition of racialism and extending it to areas which are not understood to have any racial implications. But my observation is based on a detached and deeper study of human motives, which give birth to racialism . As long as the underlying motive forces remain the same, whether you name a certain expression of distorted human behaviour as racialism or call it by any other decent and civilised name, essentially the malady remains the same.

Racialism, in the broader sense, has to be understood as group prejudices as opposed to considerations of absolute justice and fair play.

The rapid waning of polarisation between the America n and Russian blocs has ushered us into a completely new era in which we are moving towards global readjustments rather than the disappearance of divisions. As ideological divisions fade, divisions already marked on different planes in international relations are bound to grow and become more sharply defined. The age-old traditional division between the Occident and the Orient was reduced to a comparatively insignificant second place during the era of heightened capitalist-socialist rivalries. That being no longer so, the East -West division will once again emerge as the most pronounced dividing line between the developed nations of the West and the underdeveloped nations of the East .

The emancipated East Europe an countries as well as Russia will gradually shift and ultimately merge with capitalist states adopting the same attitudes towards the Third World . Although new rivalries would result from a competition to capture and monopolise foreign markets, as a whole, the West will emerge as a much larger political-economic unit than ever before with the ultimate assimilation of the Eastern bloc . This will bring into greater relief and emphasise the traditional division between the Occident and the Orient.

Add to this the birth of neo-socialism, where nations will replace the individual and classes of individuals. The have-all and have-not polarisation will, therefore, not be between the rich of one nation and their interplay with the poor of another country . For some years to come this catastrophic polarisation may be kept subdued and blunt but ultimate large-scale confrontation cannot be averted forever.

I have deep-seated fears that we are entering a new era of global racialism of the most heinous type, which may be further aided and abetted, by a section of the Zionists’ political leadership. If Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi of the University of Haifa and author of The Israeli Connection: Whom Israel Arms and Why 52 is to be taken seriously, and if the evidence he has produced of the well-formed and well-defined political philosophy of the Zionists, is to be considered authentic it augurs ill indeed for the prospects of world peace .

The following picture of the role played and of that yet to be played by Israel in global affairs emerges:

David Ben-Gurion, Israel ’s founding father, said in January 1957:

From the point of view of our existence and security, the friendship of one Europe an country is more valuable than the view of all the people of Asia. (Medzini, 1976; p.75) p.5

. . . Israel’s own concern for regaining its superiority against the Arabs has come to coincide with the America n goal of halting imperial decline. p.205

What the modern right-winger loves is the Israel i—tall, tough, armed with an Uzi and killing dark-skinned natives in a triumph over the forces of Third World radicalism. That is how Argentine generals, Paraguayan colonels, and Afrikaner brigadiers have come to love Israel is. p.218

The new ‘down with the Third World’ rhetoric developing in the United States since the 1970’s was tied to Israel , and its champions such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jean Kirkpatrick have regarded Israel as an ally and an inspiration. p.222

Vladimir Jabotinsky, the leader of right wing Zionism before World War II , was quite blunt about the alliance between Zionism and imperialism . . . . Zionism has the unshakeable resolve to keep the whole Mediterranean in Europe an hands . . . . In every East -West conflict, we will always be on the side of the West, for the West has represented a more superior culture than the East over the last thousand years after the destruction of the Baghdad caliphate by the Mongols . . . . and we today are the most prominent loyal bearers of the culture . . . . We can never support the Arab movement which is at present opposed to us, and we are heartily pleased at every mishap to this movement . . . . (Brenner, 1984 pp.75–77) p.227

The idea of liberation for Third World group threatens the very essence of Zionism . Concepts of human rights are too dangerous for the Israel i political system . . . . The injustice done to the Palestinians is so clear and so striking that it cannot be openly discussed and any discussion of what Israel has been doing in the Third World is certain to lead to an examination of the rights of Palestinians . . . . They (Israel is) are quick to denounce the rest of the world as hypocritical when issues of human rights and universal justice are discussed. In that they are quite similar to white South Africa ns. p.236–237

From Manila in the Philippines to Tegucigalpa in Honduras to Windhoek in Namibia , Israel ’s emissaries have been involved in a continuous war , which is truly a world war . And what enemy is Israel fighting? It is the population of the Third World which cannot be allowed to win its revolution. p.243

Israel ’s prognosis looks good only as long as the Arab world, and the rest of the Third World , remains divided and weak. Any change in this picture bodes ill. p.247

What Israel has been exporting is the logic of the oppressor, the way of seeing the world that is tied to successful domination . What is exported is not just technology, armaments, and experience, not just expertise but a certain frame of mind. p.248

It is strongly hoped that against this battle cry of Zionism , the voice of the more sober section of Israel ’s leadership will prevail. Of all the Israel i writers who can perhaps be described to be moderate and logical, Harkabi appears to be a typical example. He does not only disapprove of the hawkish attitude of Zionist extremists but also genuinely considers it to be suicidal for the ultimate Zionist interest itself. The views expressed by Harkabi are not shared equally by other Jewish thinkers and intellectuals. Harkabi, for instance, takes a more pragmatic and realistic view to the same problem. Particularly, his ‘land for peace ’ proposal opens an avenue of hope for the Arabs .

I firmly believe that discrimination and any effort to divide mankind on any plane may yield short-lived dividends for some, but in the long run the consequences are bound to be evil for all concerned. In this contemporary scenario, Islam has a very positive message and an effective role to play.

Islam denounces racialism and class hatred in the strongest terms. To create disorder in any form is abhorred. The verses of the Holy Quran quoted earlier are a few of the many on this subject.

The character of the Holy Prophet(sa) of Islam, is described as the Light of God which belongs neither to the East nor to the West, i.e., equally shared by both.

Allah is the Light of the heavens and of the earth. His light is as if there were a lustrous niche, wherein is a lamp contained in a crystal globe, the globe as bright as a glittering star. The lamp is lit with the oil of a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the East nor of the West. The oil would well-nigh glow forth even though no fire were to touch it. Light upon light! Allah guides to His light whomsoever He wills. And Allah sets forth parables for men and Allah knows all things full well.53

He is further introduced as:

A Mercy (and source of blessings) for the whole world (and the whole of mankind).54

I am astounded to see many medieval-minded Muslim scholars, erroneously referred to as ‘fundamentalists’, subscribe to the view that Muslims must confront non-Muslims in an armed struggle and remain at war with them till either they are exterminated or they accept Islam . Islam, as found in the Holy Quran , has nothing whatsoever to do with this distorted and corrupt notion of a ‘holy war ’. As many verses have been quoted in the section dealing with religious peace , there is no need to repeat them.

Let me conclude by reaffirming that Islam truly advocates and suggests measures to bring mankind together through a peaceful process with the object of establishing world peace and the unification of mankind .

As far as the attitude of the Holy Founder(sa) of Islam is concerned, the following excerpts from the Last Sermon (known as the Farewell Sermon ) he delivered before his demise in front of the largest assembly of mankind he ever addressed should suffice:

O men, lend me an attentive ear for I know not whether I will stand before you again in this valley and address you as I address you now. Your lives and your possessions have been made immune by God to attacks by one another until the Day of Judgement. God has appointed for everyone a share in the inheritance . No testament shall now be admitted which is prejudicial to the interests of a rightful heir. A child born in any house will be regarded as the child of the father of that house. Whoever contests the parentage of such a child shall be liable to punishment under the Law of Islam . Anyone who attributes his birth to someone else’s father, or falsely claims someone to be his master, God, His angels and the whole of mankind will curse him.

O men, you have some rights against your wives, but your wives also have some rights against you. Your right against them is that they should live chaste lives, and not adopt ways which may bring disgrace to the husband in the sight of his people . . . . But if the behaviour of your wives is not such as would bring disgrace to their husbands, then your duty is to provide for them food and clothing and shelter , according to your own standard of living. Remember, you must always treat your wives well. God has charged you with the duty of looking after them. Woman is weak and cannot protect her own rights. When you married, God appointed you trustees of those rights. You brought your wives to your homes under the law of God. You must not, therefore, abuse the trust which God has placed in your hands.

O men, you still have in your possession some prisoners of war . I advise you, therefore, to feed them and to clothe them in the same way and style as you feed and clothe yourselves. If they do anything wrong which you are unable to forgive, then pass them on to someone else. They are part of God’s creation . To give them pain or cause them suffering can never be right.

O men, what I say to you, you must hear and remember. All Muslims are as brethren to one another. All of you are equal. All men, whatever nation or tribe they may belong to, and whatever station in life they may hold are equal. (Raising his hands, and joining the fingers of the one hand with those of the other, he added). Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal, so are human beings equal to one another. No one has any right, any superiority to claim over another. You are as brothers. O men, your God is One and your ancestor is one. An Arab possesses no superiority over a non-Arab , nor does a non-Arab over an Arab . A white man is in no way superior to a black nor for that matter, is a black man better than a white, but only to the extent to which he discharges his duty to God and man. The most honoured among you in the sight of God is the most righteous among you . . . .

Even as this month is sacred, this land inviolate, and this day holy, so has God made the lives, property and honour of every man sacred. To take any man’s life or his property, or attack his honour, is as unjust and wrong as to violate the sacredness of this day, this month, and this territory. What I command you today is not meant only for today. It is meant for all time. You are expected to remember it and to act upon it until you leave this world and go to the next to meet your Maker . . . .

What I have said to you, you should communicate to the ends of the earth. Maybe those who have not heard me may benefit by it more than those who have heard.55

The passage is very powerful and self-evident. But particularly noteworthy is the reminder by the Holy Prophet(sa), that we are children of the same father. This in fact, has the evident connotation that different religions should not be permitted to divide the universal brotherhood of mankind originating from a single parenthood.

1 Ch. 30: Al-Rum: 42

2 Ch. 103: Al-‘Asr: 2–4

3 Ch. 57: Al-Hadid: 21

4 Ch. 24: Al-Nur: 40

5 Ch. 23: Al-Mu’minun: 38

6 Ch. 17: Bani-Isra’il: 50

7 Ch. 23: Al-Mu’minun : 83

8 Bukhari, Kitabur Riqqaq, Babun fil ‘Amali wa Tulihi

9 Tirmidhi

10 Ch. 74: Al-Muddaththir: 43–47

11 Ch. 2: Al-Baqarah: 285

12 Ch. 17: Bani-Isra’il: 37

13 Albert Einstein

14 Ch. 59: Al-Hashr: 23–25

15 Ch. 67: Al-Mulk: 2–5

16 Matthew 7: 16–18

17 Ch. 14: Ibrahim: 25–26

18 Ch. 14: Ibrahim: 27–28

19 John: 1:1

20 Ch. 11: Hud: 124

21 Ch. 7: Al-A’raf: 55

22 Ch. 16: Al-Nahl: 91

23 Translation: ‘Verily, Allah requires you to abide by justice, and to treat with grace, and give like the giving of kin to kin; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil, and transgression. He admonishes you that you may take heed.’ [Publisher]

24 Ch. 2: Al-Baqarah: 229

25 Ch. 4: Al-Nisa’: 35

26 See Murder in the Name of Allah by the Author

27 Ch. 5: Al-Ma’idah: 6

28 e.g. see Ch. 57: Al-Hadid: 28

29 Ch. 4: Al-Nisa’: 4

30 Ch. 17: Bani-Isra’il: 24–25

31 Ch. 4: Al-Nisa’: 37

32 Ch. 4: Al-Nisa’: 35

33 Tirmidhi, Kitabun Nikah, Babu Haqqul Mar’ati ‘ala Zaujiha

34 Ch. 25: Al-Furqan: 73–75

35 Ch. 59: Al-Hashr: 19

36 e.g. Ch.6: Al-An‘am: 152

37 Sunan Ibni Majah, Abwabul Adab, Babu Birrilwalidi wal Ihsani Ilal Banati

38 Ch. 23: Al-Mu’minun: 4

39 Ch. 20: Ta-Ha: 132

40 Ch. 49: Al-Hujurat: 13

41 Ch. 23: Al-Mu’minun: 9

42 The word muflihun here could also be translated as those who are fittest for survival.

43 Ch. 3: Al-‘Imran: 105

44 Sunan Abu Da’ud, Awwalu Kitabil Malahimi, Babul ’Amri wan Nahyi

45 Bukhari, Kitabus Sharikah, Babun Hal Yuqra’u fil Qismati wal Istihami fihi

46 Ch. 25: Al-Furqan: 64

47 Ch. 4: Al-Nisa’: 87

48 Ch. 31: Luqman: 19–20

49 Ch. 4: Al-Nisa’: 2

50 Ch. 49: Al-Hujurat: 14

51 Ch. 49: Al-Hujurat: 12

52 Published 1988 by I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, London.

53 Ch. 24: Al-Nur: 36

54 Ch. 21: Al-Anbiya’: 108

55 Sihah Sitta, Tabari, Hisham, Khamis and Baihaqi