If Islam, as we have stated in previous papers, urges the members of the Muslim society, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, to co-exist in tolerance, it calls for seeking the path of peace with the members of non-Muslim societies. As some biased parties well know, Islam raises the banner of unity and monotheism, justice and equality, uprightness and good, guidance and mercy, security, serenity and stability, coexistence and tolerance. Hence, it is a religion of peace.(1)
The chief aim pursued by the Islamic message since its early stages in Makkah was to contribute to the reshaping of the personality of the adherents of Islam.
When the religion of Islam was still in its secret phase, i.e. at the dawn of Islam, the house of A1 Arqam Ibn Abi Al Arqam served as the first educational institution set up by the Messenger of Islam, peace and prayers be upon him.
Before Islam could extend across to the uttermost ends of the earth, and before the state of Islam emerged to change reality, set the rule of law and develop international relations, Muslims won hearts and minds with the guidance of the Holy Quran. The Quran established itself as both a code of conduct and a way of life for Muslims. In fact, the first city conquered by Muslims, prior to the Prophet's migration and the establishment of the Islamic State, was A1 Madinah A1 Munawwarah, a city conquered by Muslims with the Holy Quran only.
After the shaping of the Muslim persona through education came the achievements and conquests that extended to all aspects of civilization, science, culture and arts. These achievements came to represent in practical terms the process that had been followed in shaping the soul of the Muslim individual, in perfect agreement with the criteria set by Islam and first resorted to in molding the souls, minds and hearts of those who submitted themselves to Islam.
The message of Islam was not simply concerned with the spiritual aspects of human religiosity, nor was it confined to few rituals that have to be observed as a sign of man's relation with the Creator. The message of Islam went beyond that, seeking to achieve the cohesion and harmony of individuals within the Ummah and within society. In the heart of the Muslim individual, the spiritual and the tangible worlds came together, as coalesced within him the bonds he entertained with the community at the personal and public levels. Life became religion while remaining worldly when Islam spread in the hearts and souls of people in a way that brought together in perfect harmony Allah's signs in matters of revelation and His signs in matters of creation and extensive spread over large areas.
The religion of Islam is not merely idol worship and personal pursuit of salvation. In order to flourish and thrive Islam needs a nation, a homeland and a society . It needs collective duties where the Ummah is addressed as one entity and where the responsibility lies with the Ummah as a whole. These collective duties have greater importance and value in Islam than the individual ones since failure to fulfill an individual duty is a sin carried by the individual alone, while the default on a collective duty is shared by the whole Ummah.
The migration of the Prophet in the way of Allah is associated in Islam with the establishment of the state, the emergence of society, the application of the law, and the weaving of brotherly relations between the members of society, not only in the purely religious aspect, but also in matters of worldly life. This network expanded thanks to the criteria set for citizenship and to the guaranteed right to difference, even in religion. In fact, this early social fabric encompassed Muslims as well as non-Muslims.
The journey to the house of Allah is not a monastic one, nor does it mean that a Muslim individual should isolate himself from life and people. For the Muslim Ummah, monasticism takes the shape of jihad which is a collective duty that cannot be performed without nation, a homeland and a society.
The Islamic religious message had an educational impact on the shaping of the personality of the Muslim individual. It made possible the cohesion of the various components of the Muslim society, bringing together in one whole natural and legal matters, worldly and religious matters, logical reasoning and reasoning by the Quran, as well as material and abstract matters. The result of such cohesion was an Islamic civilization shaped by the individual who is the produce of the Islamic message. This is one of the main characteristics of the Islamic religion and the Islamic civilization. The other faiths that preceded Islam either coincided with civilizations that were not religious. They coexisted with them without affecting them or imparting to them any of their own characteristics, the reason being that these messages were either of a purely religious nature, or that the civilizations that preceded the Islamic civilization prospered at stages in history where there were no religious calls.
Islam is distinguished as a religion that gave birth to a civilization and shaped a model of citizenship. It gave rise to human cohesion and fostered in the individual's heart serenity and harmony that drove him to fashion a civilization with religious contours. The Islamic religion brought about cohesion, harmony, balance and serenity that unleashed the creativity of the Muslim individual into producing a civilization that concretized that which the religion of Islam had created in him.
مركز رفع الملفات
The Spirit of Islamic Civilization
العرض العادي
