Dr. Javed Jamil underlines how the Qur’ān, the Final Book of God, the Creator and Sustainer, provides guidance in every sphere of human life and ensures universal peace and brotherhood by eradicating all forms of evils and showing the Established Path (Sirāt-al-Mustaqīm) of Peace.
The Qur’ān is not an ordinary work of an ordinary mortal but a Singular, Supreme and Majestic Work of a Singular, Supreme and Majestic Author, God the Creator and the Lord of the Multi-World. The Qur’ān itself categorically declares that it is for all times to come, for all parts of the world and for all future human generations. It is a comprehensive work with a unique and unparalleled prescription for a holistic system. It includes the articles of faith, law, history and morality with the twin aims of success in this life and the Hereafter.
When the Qur’ān comes to law, it points towards the Laws of Nature that govern the universe and its various constituents, both physical and biological; and lays down the principles of the holistic Constitution for mankind. The Qur’ān points to the functioning of the universe, every component of which, even if unconsciously due to its inherent nature, instead of free will, precisely follows the Laws of Nature, created and enforced by God. Then it tells humans, endowed with free will, to consciously commit themselves to Him, individually and collectively, for ensuring peace and harmony in the world.
The Kitāb is not a simple book for studying but is a binding Final Testament for those who commit to God and Muhammad ﷺ, the Last of a long series of Ambassadors of God.
The foremost aim of the Final Testament is to ensure the survival of human life with high standards of healthiness and peaceful co-existence of human beings, as individuals, parts of families and members of society. And of course, it guarantees a highly successful life in the Hereafter for those who follow it with total commitment. It has another unique quality; it beautifully captures the changing mood, the reactions and the repercussions, which marked the evolving stages of Islamic Revolution in the life time of the Final Ambassador ﷺ. The truth is that Qur’ān contains much more than what human brains can imagine, ponder or discover.
The Qur’ān is the greatest of all wonders, an “Eternal Wonder”, God’s biggest gift to mankind through Muhammad ﷺ, His Final Ambassador to the Earth; and its wonders will be becoming more and more manifest with every passing day in the onward march of the world civilisation. Being the Final Testament from God, man, the Final Product of the Creation, has no other option but to wholly commit to it if he wants to acknowledge his Lord and ensure a better life for himself, individually and collectively, in the world and the Hereafter.
The world today, despite its apparently advanced and sophisticated ways of living, is overpowered with chaos at every level. The current international system, which many proudly call New World Order, appears to be highly advanced in method but is a colossal failure in the results. At the individual level, notwithstanding huge advancement of healthcare system, physical, mental and spiritual illnesses are ever on the rise. At the family level, the disintegration of family is fast becoming the norm rather than an exception.
At the social level, the ever rising crime rate, social and economic exploitation, commercialisation of all forms of dangerous substances and practices including sexual deviations, addictions and crimes, and various kinds of extremist movements working in the interests of certain forces have almost completely destroyed the peace of life. It is in the background of this asphyxiating disruption of harmony that the Qur’ān needs to be understood and applied in all spheres of life.
SOCIAL SYSTEM OF ISLAM
In sharp contrast to the modern social system, which is driven chiefly by economic considerations, Islamic social system is governed by its primary objective of “peace” at all levels. In Islam, peace has three essential constituents: health (physical, mental, social and spiritual) of the individual; family peace and social order. All social principles are directly or indirectly related to the same three constituents. To achieve these objectives, the social system of Islam has made some extraordinary arrangements.
THREE TIERS OF SOCIETY: INDIVIDUAL, FAMILY AND SOCIETY
The first important feature of Islamic social system is a harmonious equilibrium between individual, family and society. These three may be regarded as the Three Tiers of Society. Islam safeguards all the three, without giving any one of them an overpowering status. An individual is an individual, which position cannot be compromised for family and society. But at the same time, one is a member of a family, and a member of a society. Society cannot trample upon one’s rights and duties as individual and member of family, which are as important as one’s rights and duties as a member of society.
At the individual level, Islam gives personal rights, right to birth, right to education and training, right to choose spouse, right to earn in whatever way one chooses, right to spend, right to own property, right to inherit and bequeath, right to justice, right to express allegiance (or vote), right to religious functions, and so on.
As a member of a family, one has the right to physical relationship with the spouse, right to divorce in accordance with the established procedure, right to decide in the matter of having or not having children (but not the right to kill them), right to kind treatment by the spouse and children, right to inherit and bequeath to and from the members of the family, right to get two years’ breastfeeding from mother, rights as wives of dower and maintenance, and right to loyalty of the spouse.
As a member of society, one has the right to security, right to contribute to administration by expressing one’s allegiance, right to equal opportunities, right to justice when wronged by others, right to associate with people, or groups of one’s choice, right to benefit from common resources, and right to be a part of any social institution.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL SOCIO-LEGAL SYSTEM: FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, DUTIES AND PROHIBITIONS
Another fundamentally important feature of Islamic social system distinguishing it from most of the modern systems is that, unlike the modern systems, which lay emphasis only on Rights and to some extent on Duties, it lays equal emphasis on Rights, Duties and Prohibitions. Islamic socio-legal system is three-dimensional in contradistinction with most of the contemporary systems, which are two-dimensional, with one dimension (Duties) considerably weaker than the other (Rights).
EQUALITY
Equality is inherent in Islamic social system. The Qur’ān speaks of the equality of whole mankind by stating that all men and women had the same father and mother, Ādam and Eve. The holy book shuns supremacy of man on any basis other than the superiority of deeds. Islam knows no races and castes. In religious matters, social obligations and in the eyes of law, all are equal. Contrary to the propaganda unleashed by the vested interests, Islam in fact paved the way for the eradication of slavery from the world, and the emancipation of women from the clutches of male chauvinism.
HEALTH, REPRODUCTIVE AND CHILD HEALTH, AND FAMILY PEACE IN QUR’ĀN
The Qur’ān establishes a system, which is health-protective, and on the basis of the guidelines provided by the Qur’ān, a Dynamic Paradigm of Health has been developed by this author. The main features of Dynamic Paradigm of Health inspired by Islam are as follows:
- In the present global system, health does not occupy the supreme position, and laws are made more in accordance with the demands of economics than the demands of health. In Islam, an overwhelming majority of injunctions regarding living have direct relationship with health. More than 80 million lives are lost just because the laws of God are not in force to health. The practices beneficial to health are promoted in Islam and those harmful are either prohibited or discouraged.
- Modern constitutions emphasise only ‘Fundamental Rights’ and to a lesser extent ‘Fundamental Duties’. There is no provision called ‘Fundamental Prohibitions’. In Islam, the constitution is three-dimensional, with equal emphasis on Rights, Duties and Prohibitions, and all these are aimed at ensuring a peaceful and healthy living – both in this world and in the Hereafter.
- In Islam, equal emphasis is given to individuals, family and society.
- Family system is the biggest safety wall against diseases as well as mental and social tensions. In Islam, no relationships outside a proper marriage between males and females are allowed. This is the biggest protection against diseases like HIV/AIDS, HPV/Cancer Cervix, Hepatitis B and most other Sexually Transmitted Diseases including Syphilis, Gonorrhoea and Herpes.
- In the modern world, the responsibility of maintaining health falls mainly on individuals themselves. Dynamic Paradigm talks of a health-protective family and social system where the system does not let the individuals get exposed to unhealthy substances and practices. The onus is not only on individuals, but also on the system.
- Islam promotes a ‘holistic concept of hygiene’, which is described below.
- The emphasis is more on natural prevention through avoidance of an unhealthy lifestyle; prevention through artificial methods like vaccines and condoms are only additional protections.
HOLISTIC REGIME OF HYGIENE
Islam has presented a ‘Holistic Regime of Hygiene’, which safeguards against a large number of diseases, including viral pandemics. That regime has the following components:
EXTERNAL PHYSICAL HYGIENE
- Istinja (washing of private parts after urinating): this has huge protective effects against urogenital infection;
- Keeping garments clean;
- Wudu (ablution): this involves washing of the exposed organs and mouth, reducing the risks of mouth infections, cardiovascular problems, skin infections and cancers and eye infections; it would of course be a big protection against diseases like Covid-19, which turned into a horrible pandemic in 2020;
- Washing of private parts after intercourse and bathing as soon as possible: this will decrease the chances of sex-related diseases, including HIV and HPV;
- Miswak (brushing of teeth) (highly promoted in the Prophet’s sayings: this has a remarkable preventive effect on infective diseases of teeth, gums and several internal organs;
- Ban on pork, and therefore, pig farming; discouraging keeping dogs in houses and in the vicinity; Cleaning of hands after touching any unclean things, including animals such as dogs. (All highly recommended in the Prophet’s sayings.
INTERNAL PHYSICAL HYGIENE
- Total ban on alcohol, drugs, tobacco (it should be declared Harām in accordance with the principles laid down by the Noble Qur’ān, which do not allow any khabith (harmful) activity;
- Ban on flesh of dead animals, carnivorous animals, pork, blood, etc;
SEXUAL HYGIENE
- Have sexual intercourse only with spouses. Sex during menses and immediate postnatal period are not allowed. Wash mouth and private parts soon after intercourse;
- Circumcision (a big protection against HIV, HPV and related cancer cervix and other sexually transmitted diseases): Highly recommended in the Prophet’s sayings);
MENTAL HYGIENE
Total ban on activities such as pornography, watching sex and violence, reading materials that can lead to corrupting thoughts, which can incite people to indulge in forbidden activities;
SPIRITUAL HYGIENE
Regular prayers: Tasbīhat (repeated rehearsing of God’s attributes); invocations; preaching to others; meditation; charity;
ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE
Cleaning of clothes;
Clean surroundings; not doing anything that pollutes air and water.
Almost all pandemics in the last 120 years have had direct relationship with non-compliance with Islamic guidelines. If pork had been banned, more than 80 million people would not have met premature deaths due to Swine flu; had there been strict laws in force against promiscuity and homosexuality, around 38 million lives would not have been lost to HIV/AIDS (another 50 million afflicted with the disease are languishing at present); millions of women would not have died of HPV-related Carcinoma Cervix had circumcision been a worldwide ritual; and millions of people would also not have lost their lives to Hepatitis B (spread through blood transfusion and sexual route); and millions again would not have succumbed to Rabies had dogs been not allowed in residential areas.
In addition to this, had alcohol been made totally illegal, hundreds of millions of lives would not have succumbed prematurely to various diseases, accidents and crimes related to drinking, in the last 50 years.
In the wake of Covid-19 outbreak, China has imposed ban on the meat of wild animals, specifically lions, bats, snakes and pangolins. The meat of all these animals has been prohibited in Islam. The injunctions of the noble Qur’ān and the system they seek to build are not just health-friendly; health is in fact the essential criterion of these injunctions. It is not just that Qur’ānic system is beneficial for health; health is, in fact, an inseparable part of its ultimate objectives. What is good for heath is promoted, and what is bad for health is prohibited.
Qur’ānic Paradigm of Health is uniquely different from the modern paradigm of health, which is unduly influenced by the forces of economics. It is time medical sciences declared freedom from the rules of the market forces and took cue from Islam’s ‘Dynamic Paradigm of Health’. It should develop a new policy based on the superiority of life and healthiness of life over everything else.
The world must know that if Islamic principles are allowed to be put into proper practice, every year more than 80 million lives can be saved. These include: two million murders; 2.2 million suicides; 2.5 million deaths due to AIDS; 5 million deaths due to smoking; 2 million deaths associated with alcohol; 2 million deaths associated with gambling and drugs; 70 million cases of foeticide; 60,000 deaths due to Rabies. And of course, deadly pandemics such as Covid-19 could have been avoided or effectively contained.
Moreover, more than 10 million people (excluding foeticide) could have been saved every year from falling prey to unwanted deaths had Islamic legal and socio-economic system been in force. These are no ordinary figures, but staggering statistics from all accounts. If we add the figures of foeticide, more than 80 million lives are lost, just because the laws of God are not in force.
We need a system in place, which decreases mortality and morbidity, reduces the global burden of diseases, increases total life and decreases the burden of the cost of maintaining health. Health sciences must now look to Islam to get things right.
THE FINAL DOCUMENT OF PEACE
This is not without significance that Islam literally means Peace and is defined as submission to God, which means that peace cannot be obtained without total submission to the Lord of the universe. If we develop an elaborate definition of Islam, keeping in mind its ideological framework and its ultimate objectives in the world and Hereafter, it will be as follows: Islam, literally meaning peace, can be defined as total submission to God, in order to establish a holistic system, in accordance with his Guidelines of Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Fundamental Prohibitions, throughout the world, which guarantees peace at every possible level, comprising physical, mental, spiritual and social health, family peace and social order, in this world, and after death in the Hereafter.
Similarly, Imān means total satisfaction, which again can be obtained only through Realisation of God and unshared devotion and commitment to Him. When the Qur’ān calls, “Enter Islam wholeheartedly”, it does not merely invite its adherents to follow the institutionalised system of Islam. It also beckons to them that the real, comprehensive and long-lasting peace can be achieved only through total acceptance of the System of God.
In Islam, peace is not just a state of absence of war or chaos in society. It has the broadest and the most comprehensive meaning, in terms of extent, depth and longevity. Thus, peace has to be not just personal, not just family and not just social; it has to be at all the three levels and in the widest discernible sense. At the individual level, it does not merely mean peace of mind; it encompasses physical, mental, spiritual and social health. At the family level, it comprises peaceful relationship between the husband and wife, between the parents and children, and between children themselves. At the social level, it does not only indicate absence of war or chaos; it also means absence of all forms of crimes and social tensions, and prevalence of mutual brotherhood and justice.
Peace is also not something bound by space or time. It is as much for this world as for the Hereafter; peace is eternal. The best way to achieve peace, the Qur’ān says, is to continuously engage in Jihād, which again has the most comprehensive meaning possible. Jihād is primarily aimed at achieving peace at all levels. It implies revolution: within the body, and outside. Endeavours to achieve peace, the regular (or major) Jihād, must obviously be chiefly through peaceful means. But if peaceful means are not enough to ensure peace, armed (or minor) Jihād must be used, whenever unavoidable, in order to quell aggression, violence and mischief.
Jihād is obligatory for every Muslim who must “promote good and campaign against evil”, individually as well as collectively through organised efforts. But before telling others to behave, one has to learn behaving oneself. This makes Jihād against “self” the best form of Jihād.
Internal revolution is a sine qua non for external revolution. Jihād through the Qur’ān, which means ideological and intellectual campaign in favour of the Mandated Truth, is the next important form of Jihād, Jihād through use of force being only the third and the last option.
However, the external revolution is not to be forgotten; it has to remain the ultimate goal. The external revolution too needs to be achieved mainly through peaceful means: propagation, campaign against evils and ideological war against the ideologies, which promote atheism, commercialisation of human susceptibilities and misguided concepts of peace and freedom. The combination of Internal and External Revolution alone can lead to real peace.
In short, the message of the Qur’ān, the Final Document of Peace, is unequivocal. Anything good, healthy and desirable in terms of health, peace and tranquillity, has to be promoted, and anything unhealthy and undesirable has to be discouraged. Both, short term and long-term benefits are allowed; but if short term benefits seriously endanger the long-term benefits, long term benefits have to be preferred. All possible means within the ambit of Islam are to be availed for achieving the goal.
The goal, however, cannot be achieved with perfection, unless there is unity of mankind; and mankind cannot unite unless it submits to One God, imitates One Prophet, follows One Book and faces One Direction. This is the real meaning of Wahdat (Unity), which is central to all the Islamic systems of affairs. Wahdat of God means, in effect, the Wahdat of mankind. The only way of achieving the real peace is, therefore, in accepting Wahdat, in principle as well as in practice.
The Wahdat of Muslim Community is also aimed at not against the Unbelieving world, but striving for the unity of the whole world, in accordance with the Mandate of God. But it is to be reminded again that this unity of mankind cannot be achieved through force. This requires Da’wah (Invitation towards Truth), intellectual and mass campaigns and demonstration of concern for the whole humanity, especially the underprivileged. Islam must emerge as the Solutions for the World; and Muslims must emerge as the Saviours of Mankind. Only then, we will achieve the purpose, for which man was created, and for which Islam was dispatched. Let us pray to the Lord of the Universe for the unity of mankind in total submission to His Law!
The Qur’ān is the Majestic Word of the Majestic Ruler of the Universe. If man makes an effort to understand it, it is because it is meant for him. Otherwise, it is impossible for man to do justice to the Wondrous Word of God. The greatest service to Him will be to respect His Word the way it deserves. It deserves not just to be read, understood or researched; it deserves to be applied in all the spheres of individual, family and collective social life.
Not only the individuals, families and society have to work for the larger aims of health, equality, justice and peace, the system must be in a position to protect and advance these goals. If mankind fails to apply it in this world, it will be a loser here and in the Hereafter. Individuals making sincere efforts in that direction, besides reaping some benefits in the world themselves, or causing them to fellow human beings, will earn the Pleasure of God. Ultimately, this is all that matters. This is likely to benefit the individuals here and, in the Hereafter, and this is likely to lead to a world, which is cleaner, purer, healthier and more peaceful as a whole.
Islam’s agenda, as shown by the Qur’ān and the Prophet ﷺ, is to establish Natural and Just Word Order. The agenda of the present world is to establish and sustain New World Order. The truth however is that New World Order is unstable by its very meaning; what is new now will become old tomorrow. The Order has only brought chaos at all levels. It has led to the development of a strange kind of world, which appears to be paradise from outside, but as one enters it, one finds nothing but hell. We are living in a world where, thanks to the designs of merchants, immorality reigns. The globe of New World Order is therefore rapidly developing into nothing but a fireball of chaos.
It is in the backdrop of this universal disharmony that Islam, in its final form established by the Last Prophet ﷺ, has to play its role. The whole social, legal, economic, administrative, scientific, health and educational set-up all over the world is founded on un-Islamic premises. Everything the Qur’ān expressly prohibits is destroying the social fabric everywhere. All international organisations including the UN, WHO, WTO and Amnesty have been dancing to the melody of globalisation, trampling, in the process, individual’s physical, mental and spiritual health, family peace and social order. We have to challenge New World Order and establish Natural Just World Order, in accordance with the principles laid down by the Book of God and the life of the Prophet ﷺ.
The contest today is not between different religions. The real contest is between religion and irreligion; between the scientific (or healthy) morality preached by Divine Messengers and the commercial morality propagated by the tyrannical monarchs of the business world; and between the ‘Comprehensive Peace’ propagated by the Scriptures and the ‘materialistic peace’ imposed by the forces and powers that rule the roost.
It is incumbent on the followers of the Qur’ān to campaign for the eradication of all forms of evils. They have to unite, not for the sake of fighting with any community or nation, but to strive for the ultimate purpose of the unity of the whole mankind, founded on the principles of universal peace and brotherhood through total commitment to God. This requires, as the first step, a proper understanding of the Final Testament. The principles of the Qur’ān will surely show them, provided they have the will to tread it, the Established Path (Sirāt-al-Mustaqīm) of Peace, the Path of God and His Ambassadors to the humanity.
[Excerpts from A Systematic Study of the Holy Qur’ān by Dr. Javed Jamil, an eminent Islamic scholar and author with over 20 books to his credit. He is currently Chair in Yenepoya University Mangalore. Email: [email protected]]