DR. S. AUSAF SAIED VASFI portrays a brief sketch of how Islam ushers in Just World Order in every sphere of life.
Equilibrium of a society depends upon two factors: relationship between individual and society and relationship between man and woman. It is the nature of this relationship that provides balance or otherwise in life. Balance guarantees poise while imbalance threatens with chaos and the resultant instability coupled with insecurity, which slams the doors in the face of peace, progress and prosperity.
Before dealing with how Islam creates a just world order, let us note how Islam contributes to the evolution of humankind and civilization.
REVOLUTIONARY STEP
The first revolutionary step Islam takes is the placement of man at the highest possible pedestal by crowning him with “the best among creatures” and “the vicegerent of Allah upon earth”.
A criterion, a touchstone, to test what is good or bad, what is vice or virtue, what is harmful or advantageous for man has been provided by Islam.
Islam provides satisfactory answers pertaining to this world and the hereafter. It leaves nothing to imagination what will happen after death.
Through the agency of Divine Prophets (may Allah be pleased with them all), the God Almighty Himself addressed humanity through His Messengers, leaving little doubt about the authenticity of His Message. The cases of the Jews and the Christians are different because they fiddled with the Divine Word by rejecting what they deemed unsuitable and incorporated what they thought was useful for them. The Last Message of Allah is absolutely intact and is totally free from human intervention. That is Al-Qur’ān.
The Divine Prophets were duty-bound to live the lives strictly in accordance with the scriptures they had been given. The Last Prophet’s life is there, called Sunnah or Seerah and is error-free to the minutest detail. The Last Prophet is the model for mankind. As he scrupulously lived up to the ideals bestowed upon him by Allah. His Sunnah is the beacon, nay leading light for all those who want to usher in a just world order in the currently wicked world. In the light of the Qur’ān and Sunnah, Muslims the world over are duty bound to usher in that model state and create that ideal society on earth. The Muslim Ummah has, in fact, been brought into existence for this very noble purpose.
How Islam creates the just world order? For a cogent reply, let us have a cursory glance at its various Islamic standpoints and systems.
Islam has its own view on the universe, which to it is not a result of any cosmic accident. It has been created under a plan by God Almighty for mankind. The Islamic view is that the basic need of human being is not the loaf of bread. It is Guidance regarding life.
Allah has not left man in the dark to devise his own way of life because the latter is incapable of creating a perfect system. From time to time, Allah has, through His Prophets, been revealing for man the Right Path. The Last Prophet was Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), who brought the Qur’ān as Guidance for the entire mankind. It is absolutely free from error. This life in the world, according to Islam, is not an end in itself. It is for trial of man. His good or bad actions would be judged by his Creator on the Day of Judgement. As reward or punishment He has made Paradise and Hell. Life after death would be eternal. Through this provision Allah wants to see the progeny of Adam as an accountable and responsible creature.
DEEP THOUGHT
Just have a deep thought over this Divine Scheme and ask yourself: Can a level-headed person afford to be rogue and an irresponsible freak in this background. If he has an iota of commonsense, he would find his future save only in discharging his obligations according to the commandments of Allah. This responsible behaviour ensures the prospect of a just world order. Wherever and whenever the Qur’ān has been followed in letter and spirit and in totality and the faithful have treaded the Islamic path with due caution, an ideal society has come into existence.
The Holy Book asks its divergent addressees to agree to what all, since ages, have been considering good and what all, since centuries, have been considering bad. It shows the Islamic system is in total conformity with human nature.
The moral system of Islam prohibits what all the civilized societies have, since ages, been prohibiting. For example, fornication, sodomy, cheating, untrustworthiness, disobedience to parents and disrespect to elders have always been considered vices of first order. For centuries, speaking the truth in all circumstances, magnanimity, catholicity, cooperation in beneficial causes, courtesy, dutifulness and fidelity, etc. etc. have always been considered noble values. Nobody or no society has ever praised bribery, thuggery, backbiting, black-marketing, levelling false allegations, etc. Similarly, no individual or group of people has ever condemned the keeping of promises, helping the needy, enquiring about the health of the ill, etc. The significance of Islam lies in the fact that the faithful have been exhorted to perform good acts for the pleasure of Allah and not for any other thing else like praise or popularity.
SPECIFIC DOS AND DONTS
Islam provides specific dos and donts and demands a cogent system that is based upon noble values. The unalloyed motive of the faithful should be securing the pleasure of Allah. This approach ensures the highest height of moral progress that constitutes the very sheet anchor of the just world order as envisaged by Islam.
The political system of Islam, which is based upon the concept of monotheism, prophethood and caliphate, negates the concept of human sovereignty. Sovereign is Allah and man is His vicegerent. To put it briefly, it is the all-Sovereign God Who does governance on earth through His vicegerent, man. The concept of human vicegerency, which is unique in Islam, establishes a state whose foundations are laid upon the Sovereignty of Allah.
Human vicegerency, it should be noted, does not mean the Divine Right of governance by any family or group or lineage. It simply means governance by the most pious and the most God-fearing. The very first condition of a Caliph’s election is that he does not aspire or canvass for the post. It is the majority wish that will prevail.
In the Westminster system, it is the ‘popular democracy’ while in the Islamic system, the monarch is Allah and the people who run the government are His vicegerents who work strictly within the limits of Shari’ah. The western democracy, at the end of the day, is virtually accountable to none while an ideal Islamic state sincerely follows the moral code as envisaged by the Qur’ān.
An Islamic dispensation does not pursue ‘scorch-the-earth’ policy. Pure justice is dispensed with there. Illegitimate and doubtful national interests are given a short shrift by the Islamic state. International treaties are signed with honest and constructive motives. Power is used for justice. An Islamic state respects the modesty and chastity of women. It protects the old and the infirm. The hungry and the naked are fed and clothed.
PASSPORT & VISA
Any person, in theory at least, whether an Algerian or a Sudanese or a Lebanese or an Iraqi or an Afghan, would be a natural citizen of a model Islamic state. There will be no passport and no visas for the entry of a Muslim in an Islamic state.
Instead of preferring to be technical, as the first and foremost step, Islam creates an atmosphere congenial for virtue. How? The Last Prophet has advised: Pour water into the cooking utensil so that your neighbour does not go to bed hungry. Cleanliness is half faith, said the Prophet. Just think which idiot would not keep his house clean after this holy tradition. Or, removing a stone, blocking the path is a pious act, so said the Last Prophet. In your income a traveller also has his part, so informs the Qur’ān and adds: virtue is feeding the hungry and getting free a prisoner. Thus a strong, salubrious ambience is created in an Islamic society.
They say, in the Arab Islamic world the judges and advocates are usually found unemployed. It is really very difficult to imagine what an Islamic society is in an atmosphere, saturated with corruption, depravity and lowness.
The economic system of Islam, leaving no place for interest and usury, sees to it that wealth remains in constant circulation. It prevents accumulation of money in a few hands. An ideal Islamic state does not envisage an “artificial economic equality”. It envisions an economy in which there is freedom and equality in the struggle for the procurement of money through just means. Avenues for struggle should not be restricted but kept open.
Having said that or referring to other similar provisions focus should be fixed on what the economic scene is in a model Islamic state. First and foremost, there is no quarter at all for interest and usury there. Juxtapose with this the ever-pouring money from the haves in the form of zakat. Then there are sadaquat and individual contributions to institutions busy in constructive work. Add to it the easy availability of interest-free debts from banks or governments. Further add to it the provision of qardh-e-hasana. According to a recent story in The Times of India (Jan. 15) Bharat has 230 million children who go hungry daily. Add to this a UN report, called People’s Health Movement Report. It informs the world that 13 lakh children die every year before they reach their first birthday.
SWEETER THAN HONEY
We are inclined to believe that these tragedies would be conspicuous by absence in an Islamic state or rare at least.
Islam, believing in balance, strikes a golden mean between two extremes. For example, communism is one extreme in which an individual loses his individuality at the expense of the state. Capitalism is another extreme in which the state loses its majesty at the expense of freedom-loving individuals. In this case, the state accommodates itself to each and every extent possible to all the demanded freedoms of individuals. In the earlier case the individual, at the end of the day, dies for the state, virtually.
In Islam both flourish, both help each other in the efflorescence of Islam. That is why, we believe, Islam is sweeter than honey.