TOWARDS ISLAM

WE would not spoil these beautiful lines of lqbal by translating them.

Wherever in the world, they say, there sprouts a new idea or ideal that pulsates with the stirrings of life, it is either borrowed from the Prophet’s light or is in quest of that light.             

This reading of the poet is borne out by every progressive step one comes across in contemporary history in all fields of life.

The cry of the Communist revolution for the uplift of the underdog partook of the substance of the Islamic concept of society based on universal human equality and social justice. Of the changes, it introduced in the Soviet Union’s economy and social life, only those survived which were in consonance with Islamic teachings. Those that aberrated from those teachings failed to stand the test of experiment and were one by one discarded. Even private ownership of land, that was abolished, is gradually coming back, though only in theory so far, as indispensable for increased output in agricultural produce.

The recognition of human rights, as embodied in the U. N. Charter, was a compliment that modern civilization had to pay to the teachings of Islam. So is the crusade in Africa and America against colour bar.

Then, the very cry of the soul of modern man to outlaw war and usher in an era of peace is an echo of the message of Islam, which literally means peace, and which did outlaw war centuries ago, except in self-defence or in the defence of the freedom of conscience.

 In the sphere of religion this Islam-ward trend is particularly strikingly noticeable. The abolition of caste system in India, even though on paper, is decidedly a big step in the direction of Islam. So is the abolition of untouchability.

Within the Church, one finds a special drift in the direction of Islamic teachings, even in the matter of doctrine and beliefs. Jesus never claimed to be God or the son of God. This is now the open cry raised within the Church itself. The whole idea of vicarious atonement, it is now openly said by prominent Bishops, smacks of crude magical cults of the primitive man. Resist not evil which has so far formed the sheet-anchor of Christian morality is now openly declared as something visionary and utopian and the new attitude sanctions full military preparedness for defending national freedom. All these are so many steps in the direction of Islam.

The latest trends in this direction come in the decisions of the Vatican Council to concede that truth is not the monopoly of Christianity, that Jews and Muslims who believe in the sovereignty of God are equally “people of God.” This is only a paraphrase of the Quranic verse:

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ وَٱلنَّصَـٰرَىٰ وَٱلصَّـٰبِـِٔينَ مَنْ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ

وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَاهُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

Al-Baqara (The Cow) 2:62

“Those who believe in Islam, and those who call themselves Jews or Christians or Sabaeans – whoever believes in God and leads a righteous life shall have nothing to fear.”

The ecumenical trend in the Church, which we noted in the last issue is a return to the Islamic teaching that we must look for good in others and show tolerance towards difference in religious views.

The crusade against segregation of the Negroes in America, under the auspices of the Church which denounces it as a sin against God, as reported elsewhere in this issue, is another big bold recognition of the principles of Islam.

The abolition of the evil of “indulgences,” which used to be in full swing in the Middle Ages and formed one big source of filling the coffers of the Church and consolidate its stranglehold on the people, even crowned heads, is a compliment to the Islamic teaching:

وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَىٰ حِمْلِهَا لَا يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَىٰٓ إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ ٱلَّذِينَ 

يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمَن تَزَكَّىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَتَزَكَّىٰ لِنَفْسِهِۦ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

Fatir (The Originator of Creation) 35:18

i.e. everybody shall have to carry his own burden, and nothing else will be accepted in lieu of deeds done in life by an individual…

What else is the dawn of the light of Islam in the West that was foretold in the Hadith Muslims have been guilty of a great betrayal of Islam and mankind by keeping the light of the Quran towards which human mind is drifting willy-nilly, under a bushel. Had they carried this light to the West when they ruled Spain the whole of Europe would today have been Muslims. That is the verdict of no less an authority than the historian H. G. Wells. He deplores that the grand march on which Islam embarked on the stage of contemporary history was soon drowned in the petty squabbles in the seat of the Caliphate.

Better late than never. Time and tide wait for none. Islam as a political force, thank God, is once more on the march, throughout the world. Shall we not put it on the march in the ideological arena, as well, as the only religion having the capacity to become the common religion of the whole of mankind?

Here is a challenge for the people of Pakistan, who have just witnessed the untold blessings that have flowed to them in the wake of their Jihad against India’s aggression. Propagation of the light of the Quran is equally a Jihad, indeed a greater Jihad, in the eyes of the Quran.

The cessation of hostilities on our borders, if it at all comes about, must not mean resting on our oars. The Jihad zeal and the spirit of national sacrifice it has evoked must be kept alive on this forgotten ideological front.

M.Y.Khan

The Light – December8,1965