Translator: Farman Nawaz
1. Islam teaches lesson of harmony to human beings
The Holy Quran is the interpreter of the core philosophy of all humankind. This philosophy of values will be in the world till judgment day. The prime code of all religious convictions and truth-seekers is this philosophy of values. It may be entitled the temperament of divinity, faith or human conscious. This human conscious is represented by prophets, reformers and pious people. The philosophy of values is tarnished with the course of time, so again and again new interpreters and beatific were considerably required to put together it wholesome. This thought of values is universal, eternal, everlasting and undying. Of course in the Quran the outfits of this thinking are Arabic words. And attention is paid to the necessaries of surroundings to make clear explanation of the right and wrong. But humanitarian person identify what is whispered in this manuscript and what is ahead of the border line of terminologies? The Bible, The Githa and The Torah are also interpreters of human conscious. But their erroneous connotation can be atheism. The individual, who inaccurately interpreted the Bible and the Torah, were declared nonbeliever by Islam. In the same way the person who incorrectly explains the Quran, can be declared Atheist. The real and supreme intention of the Quran is the well-mannered and heartfelt humankind. The teachings which are ready to lend a hand in the superiority and growth of ordinary human beings are ultimate. And the teachings which are stumbling block in the evolution of humanity are erroneous. The expansion of genuine civilization is the faith of a Muslim. And this genuine civilization and humanity is the guardian of divine rule. This is called a true faith. Islam did not move toward to bulldoze other religions. It accepts as true the basic veracity of all religions and believes in the entity of all nations. When we study the past than we observe that one nation accepts any religion but with the passage of time it modifies the fundamental principles of the religion and lastly the religion of humanity is nationalized. And this nation insists that their religion is for the entire human race, they are the selected few to represent humanity and all other people are infidel and benighted. And at last time draw closer that the religion which comes as the symbol of unity for humanity, turn into the cause of severe diffusion and controversy for human beings. The Holy Quran declares this situation as atheism. The Holy Quran outcaste all those religions which break up the humanity into pieces. The Quran advocates that true religion is the one which pull in the humanity into inseparable association irrespective of beliefs and faction. The Quran brings together all those core points of all religion, nations and sects which can be helpful to make a strong human friendship. The Holy Quran is weighing scale through which Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims can be assessed. Any one, who is not fit in this assessment, will be interrogated. If Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims lack the spirit of humanity than they are breathing in the world of obscurity. To effort for humanity is the genuine religion and all others are rites and customs. The endeavor of the Quran is to make the human beings free from these rites and customs. Sorry to say, every nation believes their traditions as a true religion and struggle against each other. The true believer is the one who struggle against inhuman traditions. When customs become religious conviction then it is the responsibility of believers to fight against it. Life will have to dress up itself with rites, customs, possessions and circumstances. Without it life can’t exist in the sphere of circumvolution, vicissitude and abode. But when these rites, customs and traditions turn into religion then they become idols. Idols are not always made up of gold and silver, even our moral standards, living standards and so called statements of belief become idols like “Lath” and “Habal”. As “Lath” and “Habal” were broken down, so in the same way all these idols must be broken down in pieces. Unquestionably customs and traditions must be respected but till the time when they are filled with realism and wisdom. When rites become hallow and its essence is departed then its existence and nonexistence does not matter. Its rekindling is essential. It will always happen so that man may not fail to remember that all human beings are equal and their dissection is not pragmatism. In fact all have the same origin. Whole universe is one. And the things we observe in it have the same preliminary point. In the life of a nation, an era comes when rules regulation create barrier in between the creatures and the God. Civilization, theosophy, legalism and anthology become statues. Reality becomes absurdity and flapdoodle. Religion turns into traditions and humanity becomes mound of dust. It is the age when human nature revolts against it and new era is started in which every entity reconnects with the superior soul. This process will repeat again and again in history. When ever humanity is deprived of this experience it will breathe its last. As the diversity in nature does not disturb us, in the same way the splitting up of humanity in diverse races, religions, and cultures is natural. To get rid of this diversity is going against nature. It will never happen. An individual is a basic unit. Similarly a group is a unit consisting of individuals. A nation has permanent existence. And humanity encircles all nations. The goodness of a person depends upon his relation with his group. A good group is the one which is not against the nation. And a good nation is the one which cares for human race. Individualism is a curse in a sense when every body is struggling against each other and they are not worried for humanity. A superior human being is the one who acknowledges the fundamental values of humanity. The aim of the Quran is unity and the people must become practically Unitarian by creed and comprehension. Studding early Islamic history we come to know that an agreement was signed by all the inhabitants of Medina to protect the city against an undemocratic tribe of Mecca. The nations taking part in this agreement were called “Umma” i.e. one nation. It shows the true political view point of Islam. The unity of thoughts made those Muslim and non Muslim tribes’ one nation. The people who went against this accord were penalized not because that they were non Muslims but actually they were a threat to the solidarity of “Umma”. This conception of “Umma” i.e. one nation is the aim of Islam and it was because of this civilized approach that Islam became a super power afterwards. Islam eradicates the differences of races, color and groups. And it is the will of God. When we say that the Quran is just and righteous, it means that it gives the knowledge that is natural and helpful to all human beings irrespective of their creed and nationality. If the Quran is entitled as a book of one nation or group than it is very difficult to prove it everlasting and universal.
2. The Basic Moral standards of Humanity
It’s not well-known that how much centuries have been passed till man is breathing on this soil. And what type of route it has passed to get on to this day. In this long expedition man has prepared many civilizations. Gigantic philosophies were laid down. New standards of morality and ethnicity were shaped. Every new age brought new thoughts. And every nation proclaimed that the civilization like theirs was never there and even better than this is not possible. However the unique place of each nation is acknowledged and every thought occupy a vital position in its period. All human beings have the same origin irrespective of its differences. Match up the man of ten thousand years ago and of now, they have same provisions. The evolution has given them different shapes but still they have some common points. But disbelieving people will never be familiar with this reality. They have alienated them from the main stream. And this mental alienation has paralyzed the minds of nations. When the multiplicity in nature disturbs the mind of man then he is forced to find amalgamation in universe. When we study the history, we come to know that nations and civilizations were struggling against each other. Every nation was considering itself the ultimate. The Christians asserted that if a man is not Christian then he is not even human. The Jews and Iranian had alienated themselves. And the Hindus supposed that to cross the sea is contrary to faith. The humanity was stagnant and disintegrating. The Arabs appeared like cyclone and mixed them into the sea of civilization. All the streams of thoughts and intellect fell into this sea. The Arabs were illiterate and had no regular culture. They established awareness of all civilizations. And accepted their superior features. This was the universal revolution of Islam. All the thoughts and religions were allowed to get together in Bughdad and Qurtaba. A new shape of culture of humanity was developed from philosophy of Hindustan and Unan, Literature of Iranians, religious customs of Jews and Christians, Linguistics and faith of Arabs. It was the upshot of all the philosophies of the past. This historical accomplishment of Islam will never be forgotten. The Quran addressed to all nations and considered their cultures and religions as tributary of one spring. And presented all the prophets as building blocks of one chain. Every Nations has got the opportunity to lead the world of thoughts and actions. It was their climax. And they days of devastation came at that time they were narrow minded. And had no initiative for global integrity. They only concerned for their nation and at last for their sects. The Jews and Christians were caught up by this malady. And now Muslims are facing the same destiny. The lack of humanism is the first stride towards collapse. The Muslims were given a word of eternity on the basis of love for humankind irrespective of their beliefs. A person is considered to be a Muslim if he has a place in his heart for all human beings. In fact it is a belief in God. But when Muslims failed to remember this lesson they were deprived of their global leadership. In any era the pragmatic people were capable to identify the fact. Indeed their explanations poles apart according to the period, environment and temperament. The shallow people considered these clarifications as the ultimate teachings and those who held opposing views later on were declared infidels. Take the relationship of creator and creature. Some people gave it the name of father and son, while some thought that creator and creature are fused together. In fact all nations tried to clarify creator and creature according to their temperament. Their objectives were identical but means were different. With the passage of time these varying explanations covered the truth. At last when Quran was revealed, so it outcaste the superstition so that every group and nation could understand the relationship of God and creatures. It was not the aspiration of the Quran to eliminate the previous religions but it wanted to present a universal religion that can be rightly understood. Indeed the Quran discussed the prophets of Bani Israel. But this expedience and need was the demand of that era. The philosophy is always limited like human brainpower, so It is enclosed in special terminology and lingo respecting the time and abode, according to the requirements of audience. The idiosyncrasy of Quran is on the basis of these phenomena. But its comprehensiveness and universality is remarkable. By studying it, every nation can search out its salvation. Some people believe that only divination is the spring of human morality. And the nations which have no prophet are deprived of ethics and guidance. But they should keep in mind that at one side we have prophecy and on the other side we have receptiveness of prophecy. The broad facts which the prophet tells because of revelation, a sage can tell those facts on small scale because of his receptiveness of prophecy. If we accept this principle as true then we will see no contradiction in the philosophy of superior morality of Chinese, philosophy of Athens, expedience of Iranians, high standards of Hindus ethical system, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The people who believe that prophecy is the possession of one nation they are breathing in the world of obscurity. They regard as opposing groups even not human beings although the group may have superior moral standards. They have not studied the past as collectively. In fact every nation had a system of moral values. They lived their lives according to that system and performed massive efforts for human race. Originally all faiths, religions and legalisms are identical. The fundamental principles of all are determined. There are four basic characters of all religious conviction, that is (1) spotlessness (2) submission (3) bigheartedness (4) justice. Cleanness, purity and spotlessness have appeal to every human being. It should not give the wrong idea that these terminologies are only used for bathing and ablution. Rather it means that every one be fond of fair dealing and pure treatment of affairs. Cleanness, purity and spotlessness are like intuitionalism and theosophy. A person feels facilitation in his perception when he is spotless. A filthy person experience inconvenient in itself. Supernaturalism is an old observable fact. A person, who tries to solve the imbroglio and chaos of the universe, is truckled after some time. And in this situation he feels himself powerless against some supernatural thing. A physician considers this supernatural and mystical thing as matter, a philosopher and rationalizer declare it “Minerva” or absolute wisdom, and religious person name it simply God, Allah, Bagwan or Eshwar. Lastly a person is compelled to choice to submission to something mystic. The third character of human beings is bigheartedness. It encircles self control, hard work, patience, mercy, openhandedness, contentment, somberness and godliness. Fourth property of humans is justice. It encircles courteousness, civility, providence, liberalism, politics and graciousness. The comprehensiveness of these four characters develops humanity. All cultures, religions, laws, philosophies, customs, teachings made an effort to put these values in front of men to follow. These four facts are as old as men. With the passage of time and state of affairs they were developed and their practical shape was changed. Their practical shape is called legalism and system, while the gist is called faith. Theosophy is a practical shape of Humanism. Theosophs were sincere with their religions and legal system and at the same time they respected people of other religions. In the Mughal period in India, they were considered the ultimate foundation of laws. As we can determine the common view point of al religions, in the same way we can determine the common moral system of all religions. If we understand this principle then we will not sense any dissimilarity in the primary moral system of various religions. Of course we will observe twist in the lower social groups of various religions but it is just like disagree in the sects of same religion. A pious Muslim and pious Hindu will have a high regard for each other. Nowadays theosophy is getting momentum in corner of the world. Every nation wants to present its religion as interpreter of universal humanity. But sorry to say that Islam which was a religion of all nations became the possession of special sect. They don’t recognize the new dimensions of contemporary world, and made Islam the religion of terror, fear, panic and barbarism.
3. Theory of civilization
Civilization is the natural prerequisite of human beings. Its filaments sprout from inside men. A man is not dependent on outer help for the growth of civilization. If a couple is left in an island, it will raise the structure of civilization. A civilization will remain intact as long as it fulfills the collective and individual requirements of human beings. When ever a certain faction of people develops culturally and greater part of people remains uncultured and poor then it is the demand of the time to demolish that culture. Because it will result in the denial of vital needs of life to majority while a marginal people will take pleasure in prosperity. The capabilities of community are exhausted and no body thinks about for common cause. Every body tries filling his belly, even if the neighbors die of starvation. An uprising is the final remedy in this state of affairs. In this situation if all the groups of society are not paralyzed, one sect will come forward to replace the deserted part of society. They will detach the brutal group from politics. And a new civilization will be developed, leaving aside the earlier one like shabby dress. French, German, Russian and Turk revolutions, evolution of democratic government of England, are examples of domestic disagreements. But if all the segments of nation are paralyzed so that they are not competent to lead, then an outer nation will come forward to fill up the gap. And a new system is established for development. After a revolution a large group which was working only as supporter but did not played active part, it will have an effect on the revolution by their deeds and manners. But their effect is only outwardly. The leading party is always the active part of society. A revolution needs groundwork, durability and consistency of thoughts. In revolution some people will be our relatives but if they are sucking the blood of innocent people then their destiny is death. Death should be not misunderstood with bloodshed and killing but it means political, social and economical execution. The downfall of humanity always starts from injustice. When a large group of people will stave, it means that we are depriving certain group to play active part in the development of society. Because these people will constantly be concerned about their source of revenue. Otherwise they could do some creative work. So the evolution of society will be stopped. When a competent part f society, having superior moral character and judgment power, overlooks their responsibilities so they will waste their time in some disgraceful activities. They will always butter up their ruler to get more and more. This is the start of paganism. It destroys the fine qualities of humanity. The Nature always destroys this kind of civilization and prepares the ground for dwelling of righteous people on ruins of that society. Now if we come across at the early history of Islam, we will discover that at that time there were two powers in the world, one was Iran and second was Rome. A historian “Barzoma” writes in his book “Kalela Damna” about Iran in these words. “It seems that people have set aside truth. The stuff which is useful is not at hand and the existing stuff is ruinous. Lie is green and just is disgraced. Knowledge is considered inferior and thoughtlessness is measured superior. Hatred is famed and love is unfashionable. Corrupt are awarded and honest are isolated. The cruel are proud and oppressed are used to be comfortable over their situation. It seems that virtue is handcuffed and sin is set free”. The same was the case of Rome. At last the God revealed a new set of principles to follow and get rid of oppression. After a very few years life began to grow in Egypt, Africa and Iran. The goad of Quran was to criticize the manners of Iran and Rome and the demolition of their systems as well as to erect a new system of politics and economics. This goal was not specialized only for Iran and Rome; even if a Muslim state is against the soul of Islam i.e. Justice, it will be shattered to pieces. The Quran disagree with any justification for cruelty and give courage to block the way of cruel system. After the great Mughals, India was facing the fate of Rome and Iran. The Mughal dynasty was breathing its last. The new age brought miseries for Indians. They were deprived of profitable resources. If truth be told we were defeated. If our culture, philosophy of life and law were not defective then why our politics failed. Even today we should realize that we are a failed nation. But this failure is the defeat of our culture and system, not of philosophy. Our philosophy assumed a structure but that structure is demolished. If a ships is sink then it not wise to cling to the pieces of ship for life time. We tried our best to save it but in vain. Now we must have the cleverness to build a new ship in accordance with the new demands. Of course the design of old ship will facilitate us to outline a new one. Our past is now a history but life tries to make its level smooth. We should agree on the bad and good. The bad must be ancient history and the new good must be accepted around us. The values are old but its outfit is new. Defeat is natural but dishearten is a sin. Islam will have to erect a new building and it will be better for Muslims to do it almost immediately.
4. Survival of the fittest and Islam
The philosophers of contemporary world presented the theory of survival of the fittest for the pinnacle of existence. Some old religious conviction and theories also promulgated this sort of elucidation for evolution. But the comprehensible view point of Darwin has made this theory the pivotal point of all modern economics and political affairs. There are three feature of this theory. Mutual wrangle for life, assortment of all those bits and pieces which are indispensable for life and the last, survival of the fittest.
Darwin regards as this phenomenon the basis of the evolution of all things. Plants, animals and human beings, all come into being from immature living objects. Species differs from each other because of their life gap, and the life depends on the body structure of living beings. If their structure is not appropriate with varying atmosphere, they will vanish. In this respect every one is busy in life squabble. In this argue the living being which established fitting tools, will live to tell the tale and the others will fade away. On the basis of this hypothesis Man is declared an urbanized form of animal and it is duty-bound to subsist according to the altering state of affairs.
Islam have different point of view about survival. The standard in Islam for climax of life is cooperation and justice. Competence is measured in terms of mutual helpfulness. Those nations which prove helpful with the people of God will acquire climax. While those nations which because of their capability and performance, are not cooperative will disappear. Evolution is also supported here. Growth is started from human body and then it is linked with spiritual evolution. Man develops the values of God or nature in itself and becomes the statue of natural morals. Lastly it amalgamates with nature that is the never-ending thoroughfare of evolution.
Nature demands training and expansion in every bend of matter and non matter. Otherwise neither evolution nor system of the world will continue to exist. It is achievable only when destructive group or nation is replaced in government with constructive group or nation. Here are some Quranic verses explanations…
If Allah is not reinstating one group with another, globe will be devastated. God is generous to every single one. (Al-Baqara- 251)
If truth tags along the wishes of populace then what ever in earth and the heavens are present will fling. (Al-Momanoon- 71)
If God is not defending one nation against the other, then the sacred places of nations will not continue to exist in peace. (Al-Haj- 40)
From these explanations of Quranic verses it is proved that contest of nations will direct system to keep on to work. But question arises that what kind of nation God will prefer. Definitely the nation that is caring to humanity will be natural and God will have a preference for it.
If you are not dutiful than God will reinstate you with other nation and that will not like you. (Muhammad – 38).
It means that the nation which will come in authority will be more cooperative with humanity and it will do effort for justice, human rights and productive progression. Quran has affirmed two conditions for sustainable evolution. First is systemization of Morals at highest level and second is material or physical evolution. If any of these set of laws is overlooked the nation is not guaranteed to be the fittest. If only materialism is considered adequate and ethical structure is not developed than this materialism will cause the nation to vanish. On the other hand if only morality is given preference and materially it is not developing, so the nation will not be able to create a strong culture and civilization and there is no assurance of its existence.
“Up to achievable level produce tools of power and strength and put in order your horses to struggle against your rival”. (Al-Anfal – 60).
“Peace keepers be strong and give evidence for justice, the enmity of any group may not induce you prejudice. Be just in every state of affairs, it is very close to realism”. (Al-Maida – 8)
“Don’t deflect from justice while obeying your wishes”. (Al-Nisa- 135)
From these above explanations of Quranic verses it is clear that Islam is in favor of both, that is material progress as well as moral progress. Quran has emphasized on justice both in communal and national life. Looking closely the wrapping up of all the reality of manners is justice. According to Imam Ghazali the anthology of all preferences is justice. “Justice is the name of training of mental power and animal instinct in human beings. The development of justice means the development of expedience, self-effacing and courage”. (Ahya-ul-Aloom – Vol3 – p-48). Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah declares justice in these words,” Justice is a potential which facilitate us in supervision of state affairs”. (Hujjat Ul Balagha – Vol-1-p-98).
Regarding national and party life it is the duty of every individual to maintain justice. Preservation of justice means that each and every thing must be put on its own vicinity and perimeter. Every one should get his right and fulfill the rights of others with out any abatement. Plato is of the opinion that the very essence of justice is spiritual and matter of conscience. Man must be disciplined to such extent that he performs his own duty and not meddle in others. (Tarikh-e-Akhlaq- 33).
To sum up we can say that justice is so prolonged that it encircles each and every facet of life and turn out to be the very spirit of it. To what extent a nation attains this quality (Justice) it will be the fittest as compared to other nations. And it will be worthy of to carry on its subsistence. So according to Islam the fittest is the one, who is just and cooperative. Now if we evaluate Pakistan, where it is standing? Is it the fittest? Some questions can be raised. For instance, whether our neighbors are satisfied with us? What is our international ranking? On the inside whether our economical structure is well-built up to a degree that we can come up with the money for any upset in Pakistan? Our Political system is stable? Social equality is our polity? And at the last, the basic point of Quran for survival is justice but look at our judicial system, is it free? It is in black and white in Objective resolution that sovereignty belongs to Allah almighty and Judiciary will be free. But practically it is in chains. I leave this question upon the person who reads; they should come to a decision that whether Pakistan is fit or unfit in this modern world?
Farman Nawaz 