Reverence for the Religious Leaders of Other Nations

At the heart of international contention, the sentiment which is primarily at work is that one nation does not respect the religious leaders of the other. Except for their own religious saints, they declare all others to be false, impostors and mischief makers in the earth. In this regard, Islām presents the teaching that God is not the God of a specific nation or country, rather, he is the God of the entire world. Hence, just as He has created means for the physical life of this world, which are not specific to one nation, so too, for the spiritual life of the world, His eternal Mercy has treated everyone equally. Allāh the Exalted states:

“By sending a Messenger to every nation, we have guided the people to worship God alone, and remain far from satanic paths; but it is unfortunate that only a few accepted our admonition, while others took the path of misguidance.1 However, we have treated everyone equally, because there is no people to whom we have not furnished a means of guidance by sending a warner.”2

In accordance with this verse of the Holy Qur’ān, the religious founder of every nation of the world becomes a holy person for a Muslim. A Muslim is thus compelled to accept the religious leader of every nation in the capacity of a Prophet and Messenger. For this reason, Krishan of the Hindus, Gautama Buddha of the Buddhists, Confucius of the Chinese, Zoroaster of the Magians, Moses of the Jews, the Messiah of the Christians (may peace be upon them all), are all sacred Messengers of the same One Heavenly God, from whom the world received the light of guidance in their respective eras.

In light of this blessed teaching, the Holy Prophet(sa) was so considerate of the honour of the religious leaders of other nations that on one occasion, when a Muslim expressed in a hurtful manner the superiority of the Holy Prophet(sa) over Moses(as) before a Jew, the Holy Prophet(sa) rebuked the Companion and said, “It is not your task to go about stating the superiority of certain prophets over others.” Then, the Holy Prophet(sa) alluded to a partial superiority of Moses(as) and consoled the Jew.3 On another occasion, when the Holy Prophet(sa) was returning from Ṭā’if to Makkah, he met a person named ‘Addās, who mentioned that he was a native of Ninevah. The Holy Prophet(sa) spontaneously responded, “Ninevah! The city of Jonah, the son of Matthew! Jonah was my brother. I am a Messenger raised by the same God who appointed Jonah.”4 How blessed, attractive, brotherly and replete with sentiments of harmony is a mindset of this nature! It is unfortunate, however, that the world has not given value to it.

This is a brief outline of the moral code of conduct which has been presented by the Holy Founder of Islām vis-à-vis maintaining relations with foreign nations. By practically adhering to this code, the Companions and Khulafā’ of the Holy Prophet(sa) have proven that this teaching is not a mere embellishment of paper or for the beautification of pulpits. Quite the contrary, it is a crucial and practical part of Islāmic political philosophy, without which any government that attributes itself to Islām cannot be referred to as a true Islāmic State.

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At this juncture, Volume II of Sīrat Khātamun-Nabiyyīn(sa) [The Life and Character of the Seal of Prophets] comes to an end.