Call to wisdom: April 2008

PEACE HARMONY AND ISLAM
DR. H. N. RAFIABADI
READER AND FORMER DIRECTOR SH INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR SRINAGAR
CAN BE E-MAILED AT
hamid001@rediffmail.com
Peace indicates tranquility, mental calm, silence, serenity, reconciliation, amity, accord, concord, friendliness, harmony, on the one hand and, absence of or cessation of war, state of reconciliation after strife and enmity, freedom from mental agitation or anxiety, freedom from civil disorder, strife on the other.
Thus, peace has positive and negative dimensions. It implies that when there is no war, strife, enmity, mental agitation or anxiety, and civil disorder, peace prevails as a consequence. But, in the cases when personal or social problems and conflicts arise, there is no peace.
Therefore, to strive for changing these circumstances with the virtues of tranquillity, serenity, reconciliation, amity, harmony etc is tantamount to making peace or keeping peace at individual and societal levels. Thus, the natural harmony and law which prevails, when disturbed, leads to antithesis of peace i.e. strife, war, anxiety, enmity and disorder etc. but if the natural law which governs human life and human societies, is kept intact there will be peace.
There is a very close relation between peace and harmony at personal and societal levels. Peace creates concord, balance, consistency, unanimity, compatibility and stability at individual and collective levels and helps to effect accord in facts, views and it acts and helps in making sympathetic relationships and mutual similarities the focal point of human concern.
When peace and harmony is achieved in this real inter-related manner, the expectation for a trustful, promising, secure, and faithful existence of human beings becomes possible which, in other words, can be called hope in harmony and peace.
Now coming to Islam, when we observe this matter we are thrilled to know that the root of Islam is from Salimun and Silmun, which means peace, reconciliation, concord, and submission. The allied words are Salima, yaslamu, salematun, and salaman, meaning to be in a good condition, well, without a blemish, safe, secure, and Aslama means to make sound and safe, save and attain safety, tranquility and prosperity, deliver up, submit, obey. Aslama Amrahu Ilal-Allah, to resign one's self to the will of God, to submit .
Thus, the word peace, harmony and hope are very similar to the connotations of the terms like "Islam" and words allied to it. Islam is a religion, which is based on certain tenets and doctrines, and only after following these tenets and doctrines in letter and spirit, a man can be called a Muslim.
In the sense, it is qualitative name, which requires from its adherent a strict following of the teachings of it. By calling oneself Muslim will not make a person entitled to the status of a true believer, if his actions and deeds are in contradiction with the teachings of Islam. In this case, such a person will be called a hypocrite, not a Muslim. Since we believe as Muslims that all the prophets were themselves Muslims, ones who had submitted their whole hearts and beings before the will of Allah, even they have been opposed by such so-called custodians of religions, who claimed to be adherents to other and earlier prophets , as we find in case of the Jesus being opposed by the clergy class of his time and the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by the custodians of K¢aabah,claiming allegiance to Moses and Ibrahim respectively.
Since, submission before the Will of God has had been the religion of all the Prophets, a Muslim is enjoined to believe not only in one Prophet but also in all Prophets including those whose names occur in the Quran and those whose names do not occur there. In this matter of belief no discrimination is to be made against any Prophet. The Muslims are ordered to avow: -
"We do not make any distinction between one and another of His Prophets" (2:285) All the Prophets were in this sense, the Muslims. Ibrahim has been called a Muslim, in Quran, because he submitted his will before God. In the cases of other Prophets, the submission before the will of God has remained their hallmark. They were the first, who surrender before God. They called themselves "servants" of God. The Quran says about Jesus that:
"Neither did Jesus consider it beneath his dignity to be a slave of Allah,
Nor do the angels, and whosoever considers it beneath him to give himself in bondage to Allah, (then where can be escape from Him, and) He will gather them all the Himself. (4: 172)

11
UNIVERSE AND MAN BOTH SERVANTS OF GOD!
DR. H. N. RAFIABADI
READER AND FORMER DIRECTOR SH INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR SRINAGAR
CAN BE E-MAILED AT
hamid001@rediffmail.com

According to Islam man and the universe are both the servants of God. However, there is one glaring difference between man and the Universe in this respect. The Universe is following this law of submission unwillingly, as it has no other course available to it. But man as a free agent, who enjoys a choice, and will, is supposed to follow this law by exercising his free volition. This act of man should be voluntary. However, man, as far as the involuntary aspect of his being is concerned follows this law. He is born at a point of time and dies at a point of time. He cannot contravene the law of nature in the matter of breathing, drinking, eating and using his limbs for the biological purpose for which they have been designed. He has to breathe through his nose and hear through his ears. To this extent in the involuntary aspect of his being, man too is a Muslim, ‘an unconscious Muslim though’.
But his trial in this world consists in the fact that he has been granted a limited freedom to live his individual and collective life according to his choice. He may or may not follow the law of God in his voluntary aspect of his being. If he chooses to follow this law and surrenders his will before the will of God he becomes a conscious Muslim in the real sense of the term.
It is tantamount to be a Muslim and to be on the way of nature. The whole universe follows the laws, which have been prescribed for it by Allah. The sun, moon, stars, oceans, the wind, the heavens and the earth etc follow the established norms, which have been recommended for them by their Creator. They will never go against those norms. Even the numerous beings in the heavens and the earth are subservient to the commands of their lord. Thus, every single being in the heavens and the earth is just like a "bonded slave" of Allah.
The essence of the Universal way of life preached by all Prophets is the law of the Universe. All the objects in the Universe, the sun, the moon, the planets, the vast galaxies, and the earth all follow the law of their nature, ordained by Allah, the law of submission, i.e. Islam. The Quran says: -
"And all things in the heavens and on the earth bow to His will (Aslama), willingly or unwillingly" (3: 83)
This law of nature, which is governing all phenomena of the Universe, has been called as "Islam". "The sun and the moon both follow courses (exactly) computed; and the planets and the trees both (alike) bow in adoration and submission to Allah" (their creator) (55:5-6).
"And to Him belong all beings in the heavens and the earth, and all are subservient to His commands." (30:26) And
"There is not a single being in the heavens and the earth but will come to (God) most gracious as a bonded slave; He does take account of them (all), and has numbered them (all) exactly. And every one of them will come to Him singly on the Day of Judgment" (19:93-95).
When man also follows the same way, that is, the way of submission to the will of his lord, he willingly chooses to be a Muslim thus establishes, at once, a contact with the ultimate source of eternal peace (as-Slam). Moreover, he starts walking on the right tract, on which the whole Universe is moving. Further more, there is now no discord between the voluntary and involuntary, the conscious and unconscious aspects of his being and therefore he is at peace with the Universe as well as with his own self at one and the same time.

111
WHY THIS INCREASING CORRUPTION ON EARTH?
DR. H. N. RAFIABADI
READER AND FORMER DIRECTOR SH INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR SRINAGAR
CAN BE E-MAILED AT
hamid001@rediffmail.com

Islam envisages a believer to be harmonious with his natural environment. Because he is no longer the denizen of an alien Universe but follows the same path that all other objects and the beings of the Universe follow and feels at peace with this friendly Universe. He reaches to the harmonious relationship with the whole creation and evades all possibilities of discord. Thus Islam leads a man to a peace which is accessible in no other way. This peace permeates not only the mind and heart of the individual believer but also the collective life of man when the law of Islam is followed. The Quran says that the real peace and tranquility is attained by the remembrance of God.
“Say: Behold, God lets go astray him who wills [to go astray], just as He guides unto Himself all who turn into Him. O those who believe, and whose hearts find their rest in the remembrance of God, verily, in the remembrance of God [men's] heart's do find their rest...O [and so it is that] they who attain to faith and do righteous deeds are destined for happiness (in this world) and the most benovelous of all good (in the life to come)!" (13:27-29)
Yet from a different angle when the result of unbelief, and transgression from the path of submission before Will of God is seen in the context of the consequential fallout, the Quran says that the chaos which prevails on earth and elsewhere, its' origin lies in the deviation of man from the laws of God.
“ [Since they have become oblivious of God] corruption has appeared on land and in the sea as an outcome of what man’s hands have brought and so He will let them taste [the evil of] some of their doings, so that they might return [to the right path”]. (30:41).
This verse of the Quran indicates that the corruption and chaos which prevails on earth and in the sea is "a factual consequence" of the evil deeds of man, which are not approved of in the law of God.
Man has been made responsible for all such aberrations and misconduct, which ultimately leads to chaos, discord, disharmony or bloodshed on earth.
Thus, the growing corruption and destruction of our natural environment is "an outcome of what man's hands have wrought". i.e. of that self destructive - utterly materialistic - inventiveness of frenzied activity, which now threatens mankind with unimaginagned ecological disasters: an unbridled pollution of land, air and water through industrial and urban waste, a progressive poisoning of plant and marine life, all manner of genetic malformations in man's own bodies through an ever widening use of drugs and seemingly "beneficial" chemicals, and the gradual extinction of many animal species essential to human well-being.
To all this may be added the rapid deterioration and decomposition of man's social life, the all-round increase in sexual perversion, crime and violence, with, perhaps, nuclear annihilation as the ultimate stage: ally which is, in the last resort, an outcome of man's oblivion of God and, hence, of all absolute moral values, and this suppression by the belief that material "progress" is the only thing that matters.”
The Quran exhorts the believers and other people again and again that the peace, harmony and concord should be maintained at all costs once Allah has created everything with the natural order. Even the humans have been guided to the same "natural way" through the agency of the Prophets, so that peace may prevail on earth, as it prevails in the heavens.
"...Hence, do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered. And all unto Him with fear and longing: verily, God's grace is ever near into the doers of good!" (7:56)
The same fact has been highlighted in a different manner while enumerating the factors, which lead to corruption and disorder on earth. The Prophet Shuayb (AS) reminded people about the causes, which finally lead to such evil consequences.
"He said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your sustainer. Give therefore, full measure and weight [in all your dealings], and do not deprive people of what is rightfully theirs; and do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered: [all] this is for your own good, if you would but believe “(7:85-86).

1V

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND ISLAM
DR. H. N. RAFIABADI
READER AND FORMER DIRECTOR SH INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR SRINAGAR
CAN BE E-MAILED AT
hamid001@rediffmail.com

The Quran denounces the disorder that may arise out of religious fanaticism and dogmatism has also been in a very effective manner. The Quran says categorically that there should be no compulsion in the matters of religion. The Quran says: -
"There shall be no coercion in matters of faith" (2:256).
On the strength of the above categorical prohibition of coercion (Ikrah) in anything that pertains to faith or religion, all Islamic jurists, without any exception, hold that forcible conversion is under all circumstances null and void, and that any attempt at coercing a non-believer to accept the faith of Islam is a grievous sin: a verdict which disposes of the widespread fallacy that Islam places before the unbelievers the alternative of "conversion or the sword"
Islam even upholds the religious freedom of all people and calls it "the foremost cause for which arms may - and - indeed, must - be taken up" otherwise it warns that "corruption would surely overwhelm the earth."
The Quran says: "For if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another, [all] monasteries and Churches and Synagogues and Mosques - in [all of] which God's name is abundantly extolled - would surely have been destroyed..." (22:39).
Islam wants that arms may be raised when need arises for protecting religious freedom "until God can be worshiped without fear of persecution, and none is compelled to bow down in awe before another human being."
Islam, however, allows that the message of God may be conveyed to the people in the best way, adopting the most beautiful style. The Quran says:
"Call thee [all mankind] unto thy Sustainer's path with wisdom and good by exhortation, and argue with them in the most kindly manner, for behold, thy Sustainer knows best as to who strays from his path, and best knows He as to who are the right-guided" (16:125).
This stress on kindness and tact, and, hence, on the use of reason alone in all religious discussions with adherents of other creeds is fully in tune with the basic, categorical injunction, "there shall be no coercion in matters of faith" (2:256)
The Speech and the invitation towards the way of lord should be the best example of politeness and humility, and the words should match deeds as well. The Quran says: - "And who could be better of speech than he who calls [his fellow-men] unto God, and does what is just and right”, and says: -
"Verily, I am of those who have surrendered themselves to God" (41:33).
The Quran lays much emphasis on the commonalties between one religion and other rather than differences thereof especially, when followers of earlier revelations are to be addressed by the Muslims, they should start with the common "propositions" or "tenets", rather than differences .In other words, the similarities need to be highlighted rather than dissimilarities. The Quran says, for example: -
"Say: "O followers of earlier revelation! Come unto that tenet which we and you hold in common: that we shall worship none but God and we shall not ascribe divinity to ought beside Him, and that we shall not take human beings for our lords beside God"". (3:64).
But if despite the beautiful speech and wise admonitions, an invitee does not accept the call of Islam, he will not be compelled to accept faith under coercion. Rather they will be allowed to follower their own religion, and be obedient to a law which they deem suitable for them. The Quran indicates the attitude of a believer and a Muslim in such situation in the following ways: -
"Say: unbelievers, I do not worship what you worship, nor do you worship that I worship. I shall never worship what you worship, nor will your ever worship what I worship. You have your own religion, and I have mine" (109:6-1-6).

V
RELIGIOUS SENSIBILITIES TO BE RESPECTED AT ALL COST
DR. H. N. RAFIABADI
READER AND FORMER DIRECTOR SH INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR SRINAGAR
CAN BE E-MAILED AT
hamid001@rediffmail.com

Islam forbids Muslims to hurt religious sensibilities of others. True, a Muslim may invite others to the unity of God in the best possible polite and cultured parlance .But if the invitees don't shun idol worship and polytheism, still their "gods" or "goddesses" will not be vilified according to the teachings of Islam. The Quran says that no mortal has it in his power to cause another person to believe unless God graces that person with His guidance: -
"But do not revile those (beings) that they invoke instead of God, lest they revile God out of spite, and in ignorance: for, goodly indeed have we made their own doings appear into every community. In time, [however], unto their sustainer they must return: and then He will make them [truly] understand all that they were doing." (6:108).
These prohibitions of reviling anything that other people hold sacred –despite the fact that the important tenet that is at the centre of the teachings of Islam, i.e. the principle of God’s oneness are addressed to all believers. Thus, while Muslims are expected to argue with others and put forward their view point in face of the beliefs of others, they are not allowed to abuse the objects of those beliefs and to hurt thereby the feelings of their fellow men.
The reason which the Quran ascribes to this phenomenon is that it is in the nature of man to regard the beliefs which have been implanted in him from childhood, and which he shares with his social environment, as the only true and possible ones - with the result that a polemic against those beliefs often tends to provoke a hostile psychological reaction"
Apart from guaranteeing religious freedom, Islam declares that all men are born equal and nothing - race, color, language, nationality - but God - fearing can place one above the other: -
"O mankind, we created you from a single pair of a man and woman and made you into nations and tribes so that you know each other. Indeed the most honored of you in the sight of God is one who is most conscious of Him" (49:13),
Expounding this principle of the unity and brotherhood of mankind, the Prophet (SAW) remarked: -
"An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor has the non-Arab any superiority over the Arab. Similarly a black man is not superior to the red-complexioned one, nor is the red-complexioned person superior to the black men". (Baihaqi)
He also said: -
"All of you came from Adam and Adam came from clay" (Baihaqi, Tirmzi).
Respect for human life which is the bedrock of social harmony is one the cardinal tenets of the Islamic way. The Quran says:
"Whoever slew a person ... unless it be for murder or mischief on the earth ... it is as if he slew the whole mankind and whoever saved a person it is as if he saved the whole mankind." (5:32).
Mercy and fellow feeling is the important ingredient of Islamic religion. The Prophet (SAW) also said: -
"Be kind to those on earth, God above shall be kind to you”. (Bukhari)
Because according to Islam, the whole creation is Allah's family and He loves that person most who is most good to His family."
V1
RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE IN ISLAM
DR. H. N. RAFIABADI
READER AND FORMER DIRECTOR SH INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR SRINAGAR
CAN BE E-MAILED AT
hamid001@rediffmail.com
According to Islam human life is a sacred and inviolable and every effort shall be made to protect it. Man is born free. As Umar Ibn Khitab writing the governor of Egypt Umaru Ibn Aus (RA) remarked:
“When have you started making people to be your servants, when the matter of fact is that their mothers have given them birth as free people?”
Thus no inroads shall be made on man’s right to liberty except under the authority and in due process of the law. Every person is ensured the security, dignity and liberty in terms set out by methods approved and within the limits set by the law. Moreover, every person has the right to freedom of conscience and worship in accordance with his religious beliefs. No one shall hold in contempt or ridicule the religious beliefs of others or incite public hostility against them. Respect for the religious feelings of others is also obligatory on all Muslims. In a Muslim country, religious minorities shall have the choice to be governed in respect of their civil and personal matters by Islamic Law or by their own laws. Furthermore, every person has the right to express his thoughts and beliefs so long as he remains within the limits prescribed by law.
Moreover, the disorder that may arise out of religious fanaticism and dogmatism has also been denounced in a very effective way. The Quran maintains in categorical terms that there shall be no compulsion in the matter of religion. The Quran says: “There shall be no coercion in matters of faith.”(2:256). On the strength of the above categorical prohibition of coercion (ikrah) in anything that pertains to faith or religion, all Islamic jurists, without any exception, hold that forcible conversion is under all circumstances null and void, and that any attempt at coercing a non-believer to accept the faith of Islam is grievous sin: a verdict which disposes of the widespread fallacy that Islam places before the unbelievers the alternative of “conversion or the sword even.”
A British writer Karen Armstrong writes in her famous book about the same fact that “In the West, Mohammed has often been presented as a warlord, who imposed Islam on a reluctant world, by force of arms. The reality was quite different. Muhammad was fighting for his life, was evolving a theology of the just war in the Koran, with which most Christians would agree, and never forced any body to convert to his religion. Indeed the Koran is clear that there is to be “no compulsion in religion.” In the Koran war is held to be abhorrent; the only just war is a war of self-defence. Some times it is necessary to fight in order to preserve decent values, as Christians believed it necessary to fight against Hitler.”
Here this point needs to be explained that Karen has attributed the Quran to the genius of Muhammad (SAW) not only in this book but in her other famous book, Muhammad—The Biography of the Prophet, while as the Muslims believe that the Quran was the book sent to Muhammad (SAW) by Allah during the course of 23 years). She says further that in the new Empire of Islam, nobody was forced to embrace Islam; “indeed, for a century after Muhammad’s death, conversion was not encouraged and, in about 700, was actually forbidden by law. As “the people of the book” (Ahl al- Kitab), Jews and Christians were granted religious liberty as dhimmis, protected minority groups.”
V11
ECOLOGICAL CRISIS AND RELIGION
DR. H. N. RAFIABADI
READER AND FORMER DIRECTOR SH INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR SRINAGAR
CAN BE E-MAILED AT
hamid001@rediffmail.com
Thus, environment implies the complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors that act upon organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form of survival. Moreover, the environmentalism, in the social sciences, implies any theory that concerns the importance of environmental factors in the development of culture and society. Contemporary environmentalists recognize that physical surroundings are only part of a total environment that includes social and economic factors, cultural traditions and reciprocal influences between societies and their environments.
Thus, environment, covers not only the climatic and the geographical surroundings of man, but includes the realm of organic lives, ecosystem and cultural, social and economic aspects of man as a whole. Seen from this perspective, Islam provides a complete scheme to preserve the serenity and balance of the environment. The Quran extends the cantours of ‘Balance’ from the cosmic order to the social patterns. The Quran says” “He raised the heaven on high and set the balance, that you might not transgress the balance. Give just weight and full measure.” (55:7-8)
Since the decrease in weight and measures results in the chaos and injustice in the society, therefore, the Quran has linked the cosmic balance with the economic integrity of the society. Because, the economic factor of the people affects their spiritual life as well, therefore, an ideal society should be devoid of fraud and deception. The Quran says: “Woe to those that deal in fraud, who, when others measure for them, exact in full, but when they measure or weight for others, defraud them!” (83:1).
In the same way, the human beings have been instructed to respect other genuine rights of their neighbours, relatives and parents. There are complete details about such matters in the copious verses of the Quran and the traditions of the prophet. Moreover, the animals are to be treated with kindness as the Prophet (SAW) has once said:
“Verily are rewards for our doing good to quadrupeds and giving them water to drink? There are rewards for benefiting every animal having a moist liver”. Islam has suggested the measures to prevent the destruction of trees. It is for the same reason that the cutting of trees is prohibited even during war until their existence becomes advantageous to enemy. Abu Bakr (RA), the first Caliph of Islam while sending his troops to Syria and Iraq instructed the warriors not to destroy the towns and crops. The result of these measures was that every monastery of Sunnis sect of Sufis had a garden and perhaps the same spirit is reflected in the famous Mughal gardens too.
So far cleanliness is concerned; Islam has made it obligatory upon the Muslims to purify themselves, and their surroundings from all impurities. For example, washing the body is enjoined after each of the following impurities; sexual intercourse, breaking wind, menses, pollution, childbirth and miscarriage. Before washing, one must remove impurities such as urine, human excrement and blood. Islam also enjoins the ablution before prayer. The ablution is performed by washing ones hands, rinsing his mouth, taking water into his nostrils, washing his face and arms as high as elbows, drawing his wetted hand over his head, washing his ears and his feet. If a person is pressed by calls of nature, he should not sit in a meeting place of the people, urinate in stagnant water, under a fruit tree, or a in a hard surface and windy place. Moreover, the Prophet (SAW) has prohibited breathing inside the pot (while drinking water). In the same way, the Holy Prophet (SAW) has forbidden drinking water directly from a water-skin. Thus, Islam has systematically provided a complete scheme of measures, in order to display its environment-friendly gesture.
V111
The Quran is not a book of science, but according to the belief of the Muslims, the divine book to guide man in order to adopt the right course of thought and action, and to lead a virtuous life. However, there are about 1000 verses out of 6000 verses of the Quran which speak about various aspects of science Though gray areas, such as cloning, (which has been described by one Muslim scholar as “ the ultimate expression of human vain glory”), are not directory mentioned in the Quran, but in the light of over all teachings of the Quran, the Islamic scholars can answer its various aspects using the Quranic insights as a guide. The ethical aspects involved in the process of cloning humans can easily be discussed in the broader perspective of Islamic ethics.
Strong emphasis is laid on the point by Islam that besides man being the vicegerent of Allah, he has to shoulder the responsibility for safeguarding the resources both natural and has to strive for human and ecological preservation of biosphere. He has to maintain the balance in the creation, do right deeds and keep justice in nature. It is one of the cherished objectives of Islam that exploitation of man by man or exploitation of nature in any form has to be ended. Integration of Iman (faith), Ilm (knowledge) and action on the basis of Islamic methodology has to be achieved. According to Islam, natural sources are as ‘Amanah’ (Trust) to be used sagaciously.”
Islam has laid much emphasis on creating balance in the all acts of men, including scientific activities. Islam made vast inroads in to the development and promotion of garden. All these aspects can be found in the idyllic paradise’s descriptions contained in The Holy Quran. Instances can be collected of Islamic rulers of Central Asia, Mughal India and Islamic Spain promoting and basking in this type of aesthetic splendour. The Islamic concept of beauty lies in blending a profusion of botanical, floricultural and architectural elements in a happy mix, illustrating cleanly that the universe of man proceeds in a somewhat TAWHIDIC WHOLE’ (unity of God’s circle). Moreover, Islam has suggested the measures to prevent the destruction of trees. It is for the same reason that cutting of the trees is prohibited even during war until their existence becomes advantageous to enemy. Abu Bakr (the first Caliph of Islam) while sending troops to Syria and Iraq instructed the warriors not to destroy the towns and crops. The result of this was that every monastery of Sunni sect of Sufis had a garden.

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