The Islamic Ummah: THE ISLAMIC MODEL

The Sources of Islam

In this article we propose to study briefly the sources of Islam in order to find out whether or not there is an overall perspective of an Islamic model. The attempt here is made to search in these sources for universal references revealing universal relationships and defining meanings for man's existence. We maintain the idea that the Qur'anic text is ample enough to provide with such a framework. Its convincing power lies in the ‘content of ideas' and the ‘representation form'. This power level is not shared in any Arabic literature of the epoch, nor of the following epochs. The Hadith (Sayings of Muhammad) stands short of the Qur'an and is considered by Muslims as an ordinary human language.

The readings of such references can provide interpretations of general dimensions as we shall see in the following Qur'anic postulates.

In the following verses we read about what the Qur'an advances as a presentation of the idea of God:

‘Say: He is the one and only God, the eternal, He begets not nor is He begotten and no one can be equal to Him.'  112: 1-4

Reference to God as the origin of the Universe informs:

‘It is He who created the heavens and earth in truth.'  6: 73

‘To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and earth.'2: 107

Sura 35 informs us of God as the One who holds the Universe together:

‘God keeps heavens and earth from vanishing and should they vanish who can hold them together after Him?'  35: 41

In Sura 23 we are informed about the creation of Man:

‘Verily We have created Man from a lineage of clay.'  23:12

Creation of Man by an Act

After the creation of man God, we are told in the Qur'an, commanded the angels to prostrate unto him:

‘Your Lord said to the angels: ‘I am about to create man from clay, when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of my spirit, fall you down in prostration unto him'. 38: 71-72

The purpose of creating man, according to the Qur'an, is to worship God:

‘I have not created Djins and Humans except for worshiping Me.' 51:56

After the creation of Adam and his wife Eve they were commanded to dwell in the Garden, but not approach a certain tree (the tree is symbol of sexual relation in Islam and that of knowledge in the Bible). Adam's and Eve's disobedience to the command has led to their subsequent fall. The fall is followed by a message to mankind, progeny of Adam and Eve, sent at different times. People's reactions to the messages, in terms of belief and disbelief, will be dealt with, on a day of judgement, where reward and punishment will be administered according to human choice :

‘We said: ‘Get you down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes from Me guidance, those who follow My guidance shall have no fear and they shall have no grief. But those who reject and belie Our signs they shall be the dwellers of fire, therein they shall abide forever.'2: 38 - 39

Message of Islam

The Message comprises of:

a. belief and b. good deeds.

A. Belief: in one, indivisible God, His angels, His books, His apostles and the day of judgement:

‘He who denies God, His angels, His books, His apostles and the last day has indeed gone far astray.' 6: 136

The nature of the Message is expressed in the following verse:

‘This is a message for mankind and a warning to them that they ought to know He is only one God: Let men of understanding keep this in remembrance.' 14: 52

B. Righteous deeds: These are actions manifesting obedience to God:

‘And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteousness that they shall be dwellers in the gardens (of felicity).' 2: 25

‘Indeed! He who acquires evil-doing and found himself subject to his error, these shall be the dwellers of fire and shall abide therein forever.' 4. 2: 81

The worst act of evil-doing is to deny God or to associate with Him any other object of adoration:

‘He who denies God, His angels, His books, His apostles and the last day has indeed gone far astray.' 4: 136

‘God does not pardon to ascribe associates to Him but He pardons lesser (deeds) to whom He wills. He who associates anything with Him has effectively committed a great sin.' 4: 48.

Man's life is but a register where every thought and action is taken into consideration for his final judgement:

‘The Day where every person shall be presented with his righteous deeds and the person who has done evil shall find his deed present.' 3: 30

Freedom of Choice

Man has the freedom and the will of choice between belief and disbelief, good deeds and bad ones:

‘He who wills to believe can do so, and he who wills to disbelieve can do so.' 18: 29

The function of the Message, according to Islamic outlook, serves as a reminder:

‘Verily this is a reminder. He who wills keeps it in memory.' 74: 54-55.

‘This is surely an admonition. He who wills takes a path to his Lord.' 73: 19

The function of the apostles is to deliver a message:

‘But what is the mission of the apostles other than proclaiming the clear Message.' 16: 35

The apostles, according to Islam, are denied power and authority over men.

Muhammad is commanded to:

‘Therefore; remind, for you are one who only reminds. You are not one to have restrain over them.' 6. 88: 21-22

‘You are not one to overawe them by force. So admonish with the Qur'an such as fear My warning.' 7. 50: 45

Missionof Messenger: Admonition

The mission of the messenger is to remind men with the message and men have the choice to accept or reject the message. If they choose to reject the message then no apostle, or another man, stands a guard over men's rejection:

‘Should they turn away; we have not sent you as a guard over them. Your duty is but to convey the Message.' 4: 80

In these references the Qur'an defines precisely the role of men toward each other.

It defines also with more precision that Man is responsible to God and only God in his belief or disbelief. The following references indicate this clearly:

‘Remind them, for you are one who reminds only. You are not to overawe them; except for him who turns away and denies: God then shall punish him with the greatest punishment. To Us they shall return; then it is We who shall bring them to their account.' 88: 21-26

No Compulsion in Religion

Compulsion among men is strictly denied in Islam. In the Qur'anic text we read:

‘Let there not be compulsion in religion; truth stands out clear from error.' 2: 256

Islam invites man to look into the universe and reflect on the reality of the divine message:

‘O mankind! If you are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then verily, We have created you from dust, then from a drop of  seed,  then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We make (it) clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterward We do bring you out as babes, then foster you that you may reach your age of full strength and some of you are summoned to death and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known much. And you see the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred to life, it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful pairs.' 22: 5

From these above references we can conclude the following relationships within a framework of a vertical-horizontal conceptual model:

A.  Man-God relationship: Freedom, choice between belief and disbelief, thought, belief, acknowledgement, fear, obedience, worship, criteria of worship, unification of God.

B. Man-self relationship: Man's attitude vis-à-vis his own self.

C. Man-man relationship: Man's attitude towards others.

D. Man-universe relationship: Man's attitude towards the Universe as a creation of God.

Within this framework we can see the beginning of a spiritual structure of a community expressed in this a four-dimensional relationship. This entity is identified under the title of ‘Umma'. It can be defined as a ‘free and voluntarily coming togetherness of those who profess their faith in one God'.

This entity of humans is presented in the Islamic sources as a good nation, for two reasons. The first is that its members, the Muslims, believe in one God, council one another to do what is right and shun what is wrong:

‘You are the best of nations brought out to mankind. You proclaim uprightness and proscribe what is reproved.' 3: 110

The Middle Way Syndrome

The second criterion is that this Umma adjusts itself to the middle way and shun extremes:

‘Thus We have made of you an Umma justly balanced, that you shall be witnesses to men.' 2: 143

The divine Message, according to Islamic sources, invites mankind to confront with the universe and to use the mind in order to freely work out an individual choice between belief and disbelief in God. The final arbitrary judge for man is his own mind. Understanding through thought and judgement is made the criterion of man's existence.

Man is invited to look into the universe and conclude according to his own perception:

‘In the creation of heavens and earth, and the alteration of night and day, there are signs for those who understand, those who recall God… and contemplate the creation of the heavens and earth.' 3. 3: 190-191

The idea of creation is presented in the Qur'anic text as an example to be considered as a reference to God and a reference to resurrection.

The notion of free choice between belief and disbelief in the Qur'anic text is based on four criteria:

A. Man has the mind to make his own assessments and formulate his own conclusions.

B. He has the free will to act and behave in the way he wants.

C. By his very nature he is perceptive to distinguish between good and evil

D. He has a choice between two options: belief and disbelief, do what is good or do what is bad.

This idea is manifestly expressed in the following texts:

‘Say, ‘the truth is from your Lord', Let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject.' 18: 29

‘Verily We created Man… We showed him the way: whether he be grateful or disbeliever (rests on his will).' 76: 3

‘It is indeed a warning to mankind, for whom he will to advance and for whom he will to retreat back.' 74: 36-37

The choice is individual and personal and so is the responsibility:

‘On no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns.'

‘Every soul shall be held in pledge for its own deeds.' 2: 286

‘Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another.' 74: 38

Man's evil is part of his psychological constitution:

‘It was We who created man, and We know what his soul suggests to him (of evil thoughts): for We are nearer to him than his than his jugular vein.' 6: 164

The Day of Judgment

A day of judgement is prescribed where man shall be summoned to stand for account for his own deeds:

‘Every man's self acquired fate We have fastened on his own neck: on the day of judgement We shall bring out for him a book which he will see spread open before him: ‘Read your own record: Sufficient is yourself this day to make out an account against you'. Whoever receives guidance, receives it for his own benefit; and whoever goes astray does so to his own loss.' 17: 13-15

Man is subject to continual trial in order to verify between those who are true and those who are false:

‘Do men think that they shall be left alone on saying: ‘We believe' and that they shall not be tested? We did test those before them, and God shall certainly know those who are true from those who are false.' 29: 2-3

‘He who created death and life, that He may try which of you is best in deed.' 67: 2

Good and evil are the criterion of the trial:

‘And We test you by evil and by good by way of trial, and to Us is your return.' 21: 35

Life with all its attractions is made up as a temptation for trial:

‘We have made that which is on earth as a glittering show in order that We test them, as to which of them are best in conduct.' 18: 7

‘Surely We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, and some loss in goods and wealth, lives and fruits. But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.' 2: 155

Numerous examples of the trial and the reaction of people to it are cited in the Qur'anic text, e.g. the trial of Adam and Eve; Abraham sacrificing his son; the test of Joseph with the wife of a Pharaonic notable; Korah, Haman and the Pharaoh were tested with power, position, honours and wealth; the Israelites before and after the Exodus (test of the Golden Calf).

History as a Reference

The Qur'anic perspective draws constantly at history. The notion of history according to the Islamic perspective is meaningful only from the point of view of peoples' reaction (individually and collectively) at different times, to the divine message. Man is invited to study and examine history as an exemplarily way in order to understand and conclude lessons of  judgements.

According to the Qur'anic perspective can be classified in accordance to their reactions to the message, into two groups: those who chose to believe and perform good deeds and those who chose disbelief and perform bad deeds. Good deeds are not accepted if belief is rejected.

The ultimate good in Islam is belief in one and an indivisible God (where trinity or other forms of associating anything with God is a denial and rejection of the oneness of God and is considered as disbelief). The ultimate evil is to deny this belief. No proof or evidence is offered in the Qur'anic text or in the prophetic Tradition for the existence of God.

The question remains purely a belief system where man chooses for himself, freely and wilfully to take either way.

The Qur'an invites men to look into history and judge for themselves:

‘Say: ‘Contemplate the history of mankind on earth and see what was the destiny of those before you, most of them were associaters'.' 30. 42

‘So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the message of God).' 16: 36

‘Do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them, though they were superior to them in strength.' 35: 44

Islam: Submission unto God

Islam denotes submission unto God and obedience to His will. The message, Muslims believe, is sent to different peoples at different times. It is the same and one message. Its principle reclamation, as a reminder to mankind, is that there is one and only God, indivisible and eternal. It is this notion of oneness of an all-mighty omnipresent God who has brought creation into existence and unto him is the return of all creatures.

In the Qur'an we read in this respect:

‘The religion before God is Islam.' 3: 19

‘If anyone adopts a religion other than Islam, it will be never accepted of him; and in the hereafter he will be among those who have lost.' 3: 85

‘Then do not die except in the faith of Islam.' 2: 132

The Qur'an holds that Islam as a divine message has been sent to preceding peoples reaffirming the same principles:

‘It was We who revealed the Law, therein is guidance and light… And in their footsteps We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel, therein is guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him:

A guidance and admonition to those who fear God… To you We sent the Qur'an in truth confirming the Scriptures that came before it, and guarding it in safety.' 5: 44, 46, 48.

The consequences of man's own choice are described in the following Qur'anic reference:

‘For those who reject We have prepared chains, yokes and a blazing fire. As to the righteous… and because they were patient and constant (in their belief), He will reward them with the Garden.' 76: 4-5.

Man's Responsibility

The Islamic perspective is concerned with the message as a reminder proclaiming that there is one God. Man is invited to do good deeds and shun bad deeds. At the end of time there shall be a day of judgement where mankind shall be resurrected and judged according to their response to the divine message. Reward and punishment are the consequences of man's actions.

The responsibility of man's decisions is restricted to the individual himself.