Syed Qutb
The day Islam gave a new concept of values and standards
to mankind and showed the way to learn these values and
standards, it also provided it with a new concept of human
relationships. Islam came to return man to his Sustainer and
to make His guidance the only source from which values
and standards are to be obtained, as He is the Provider and
Originator. All relationships ought to be based through Him,
as we came into being through His will and shall return to
Him.
Islam came to establish only one relationship which binds
men together in the sight of God, and if this relationship is
firmly established, then all other relationships based on
blood or other considerations become eliminated. "You will
not find the people who believe in God and the Hereafter
taking as allies the enemies of God and
His Prophet, whether they be their fathers or sons or
brothers or fellow tribesmen." (58:22)
In the world there is only one party of God; all others are
parties of Satan and rebellion. "Those who believe fight in
the cause of God, and those who disbelieve fight in the
cause of rebellion. Then fight the allies of Satan; indeed,
Satan's strategy is weak." (3:78)
There is only one way to reach God; all other ways do not
lead to Him. "This is My straight path. Then follow it, and do
not follow other ways which will scatter you from His path."
(6:153)
For human life, there is only one true system, and that is
Islam; all other systems are Jahiliyyah. "Do they want a
judgment of the Days of Ignorance? Yet who is better
in judgment than God, for a people having sure faith?" (5:50)
There is only one law which ought to be followed, and that
is the Shari'ah from God; what is other than this is mere
caprice. "We have set thee on a way ordained (by
God); then follow it, and do not follow the desires of those
who have no knowledge." (45:18)
The truth is one and indivisible; anything different from it is
error. "Is anything left besides error, beyond the truth? Then
whither do you go?" (10:32)
There is only one place on earth which can be called the
home of Islam (Dar-ul-Islam), and it is that place where the
Islamic state is established and the Shari¹ah is the authority
and God's limits are observed, and where all the Muslims
administer the affairs of the state with mutual consultation.
The rest of the world is the home of hostility (Dar-ul-Harb). A
Muslim can have only two possible
relations with Dar-ul-Harb: peace with a contractual
agreement, or war. A country with which there is a treaty will
not be considered the home of Islam.
"Those who believed, and migrated, and strove with their
wealth and their persons in the cause of God, and those
who gave them refuge and helped them, are the protectors
of each other. As to those who believed but did not
emigrate, you have no responsibility for their protection until
they emigrate; but if they ask your help
in religion, it is your duty to help them, except against a
people between whom and you there is a treaty; and God
sees whatever you do. Those who disbelieve are the
allies of each other. If you do not do this, there will be
oppression in the earth and a great disturbance. Those who
believe, and migrate, and fight in the cause of
God, and those who give them refuge and help them, are in
truth Believers. For them is forgiveness and generous
provision. And those who accept Faith afterwards and
migrate and strive along with you, they are of you." (8:72-75)
Islam came with this total guidance and decisive teaching. It
came to elevate man above, and release him from, the
bonds of the earth and soil. A Muslim has no country except
that part of the earth where the Shari'ah of God is
established and human relationships are based on the
foundation of relationship with God; a Muslim has no
nationality except his belief, which makes him a member of
the Muslim community in Dar-ul-Islam; a Muslim has no
relatives except those who share the belief in God, and thus
a bond is established between him and other Believers
through their relationship with God.
A Muslim has no relationship with his mother, father,
brother, wife and other family members except through their
relationship with the Creator, and then they are also
joined through blood. "O mankind, remain conscious of
your Sustainer, Who created you from one soul and created
from it its mate, and from the two of them scattered a great
many men and women. Remain conscious of God, from
Whose authority you make
demands, and reverence the wombs which bore." (4:1)
However, Divine relationship does not prohibit a Muslim
from treating his parents with kindness and consideration,
inspite of differences of belief, as long as they do not join the
front lines of the enemies of Islam. However, if they openly
declare their alliance with the enemies of Islam, then all the
filial relationships of a Muslim are cut off and he is not bound
to be kind and considerate to them.
Abdullah, son of Abdullah bin Ubayy, has presented us with
a bright example in this respect.
Ibn Jarir, on the authority of Ibn Ziad, has reported that the
Prophet called Abdullah, son of Abdullah bin Ubayy, and
said, "Do you know what your father said?"
Abdullah asked, "May my parents be a ransom for you; what
did my father say?" The Prophet replied, "He said, "If we
return to Medina (from the battle), the one with
honor will throw out the one who is despised." Abdullah
then said, "O Messenger of God, by God, he told the truth.
You are the one with honor and he is the one who is
despised. O Messenger of God, the people of Medina know
that before you came to Medina, no one was more obedient
to his father than I was. But now, if it is the
pleasure of God and His Prophet that I cut off his head, then
I shall do so." The Prophet replied, "No". When the
Muslims returned to Medina, Abdullah stood in front
of the gate with his sword drawn over his father's head,
telling him, "Did you say that if we return to Medina then the
one with honor will throw out the one who is
despised? By God, now you will know whether you have
honor, or God¹s Messenger! By God, until God and His
Messenger give permission, you cannot enter Medina, nor
will you have refuge from me!? Ibn Ubayy cried aloud and
said twice, "People of Khazraj, see how my son is
preventing me from entering my home!" But his son
Abdullah kept repeating that unless the Prophet gave
permission, he would not let him enter Medina. Hearing this
noise, some people gathered around and started pleading
with Abdullah, but he stood his ground. Some people went
to the Prophet and reported this incident. He told them, "Tell
Abdullah to let his father enter". When
Abdullah got this message, he then told his father, "Since
the Prophet has given permission, you can enter now."
When the relationship of the belief is established, whether
there be any relationship of blood or not, the Believers
become like brothers. God Most high says, "Indeed, the
Believers are brothers", which is a limitation as well as a
prescription. He also says: "Those who believed and
migrated and strove with their wealth and their persons in
the cause of God, and those who gave them refuge and
helped them, are the protectors of each other." (8:72)
The protection which is referred to in this verse is not limited
to a single generation, but encompasses future generations
as well, thus linking the future generations with the past
generation in a sacred and eternal bond of love, loyalty and
kindness. "Those who lived (in Medina) before the
Emigrants and believed, love the Emigrants and do not find
in their hearts any grudge when thou givest them
something, but give them preference over themselves,
even though they may be poor. Indeed, the ones who
restrain themselves from greed, achieve prosperity. Those
who came after them (the Emigrants) say: 'Our Lord forgive
us and our brothers who
entered the faith before us, and leave not in our hearts any
grievance against those who believed. Our Lord Thou art
indeed Most Kind, Most Merciful.'" (59:10)
God Most High has related the stories of earlier Prophets in
the Qur'an as an example for the Believers. In various
periods the Prophets of God lighted the flame of faith and
guided the Believers. "And Noah called upon his Lord and
said, 'O my Lord, surely my son is of my family, and thy
promise is true, and thou art the Justest of Judges'. He said,
'O Noah, he is not of thy family, as his conduct is
unrighteous; so do not ask of me that of which thou hast no
knowledge. I give thee the counsel not to act like the
ignorant.' Noah said, 'O my Lord, I seek refuge
with Thee lest I ask Thee for that of which I have no
knowledge, and unless Thou forgive me and have mercy
on me, I shall be lost'". (1:124)
"And when Abraham said, 'My Lord! Make this a city of
peace and feed its people with fruits, such of them as
believe in God and the Last Day'. He said, 'And those who
reject faith, I will grant them their pleasure for a while, but will
eventually drive them to the chastisement of the Fire. What
an evil destination!'" (2:126)
When the Prophet Abraham saw his father and his people
persistent in their error, he turned away from them and said:
"I leave thee and those upon whom thou callest
besides God. I will only call upon my Sustainer, and hope
that my Lord will not disappoint me." (19:48)
In relating the story of Abraham and his people, God has
highlighted those aspects which are to be an example for
the Believers. "Indeed, Abraham and his companions
are an example for you, when they told their people, ŒWe
have nothing to do with you and with whatever you worship
besides God. We reject them; and now there is
perpetual enmity and danger between you and us, unless
you believe in One God." (60:4)
When those young and courageous friends who are known
as the Companions of the Cave found it impossible to live,
with their faith, among their family and tribe, they left them all,
migrated from their country, and ran toward their Sustainer
so that they could live as His servants. "They were youths
who believed in their Lord, and We advanced them in
guidance. We gave strength to hearts, so that they stood up
and said, 'Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth.
We shall not call upon
any god apart from Him. If we did, we should indeed have
said an awful thing. These our people have taken for
worship gods other than Him. Why do they not bring
a clear proof for what they do? Who can be more wrong
than such as invent a falsehood against God? So, when you
turn away from them and the things they worship
other than God, take refuge in the cave. Your Lord will
shower mercies on you and will provide ease and comfort
for your affairs!" (18:13-16)
the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot were separated from
their husbands only because their beliefs were different.
"God gives as an example for the unbelievers the wife
of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were married to two of
Our righteous servants; but they were false to their
husbands, and they profited nothing before God on
their account, but were told, 'Enter you both into the fire
along with those who enter it.'" (66:10) Then there is another
kind of example in the wife of Pharaoh.
"And God gives as an example to those who believe the
wife of Pharaoh. Behold, she said, 'My Lord, build for me in
nearness to Thee a mansion in heaven, and save me
from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me from those who
do wrong.'" (66:11)
Similarly, the Qur'an describes examples of different kinds of
relationships. In the story of Noah we have an example of
the paternal relationship; in the story of Abraham, an
example of the son and of the country; in the story of the
Companions of the Cave, a comprehensive example of
relatives, tribe and home country. In the stories of Noah, Lot
and Pharaoh there is an example of marital relationships.
After a description of the lives of the great Prophets and their
relationships, we not turn to the Middle Community, that is,
that of the early Muslims. We find similar examples and
experiences in this community in great numbers. This
community followed the Divine path which God has chosen
for the Believers. When the relationship of common belief
was broken-in other words, when the very first relationship
joining one man with another was broken-then persons of
the same family or tribe were divided into different groups.
God Most High says in praise of the Believers: "You will not
find any people who believe in God and the Last Day loving
those whop fight god and His Messenger, even though they
be their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their
kindred. These are the people on whose hearts God has
imprinted faith and strengthened them with a spirit from
Himself.
And He will admit them to Gardens beneath which rivers
flow, to dwell therein. God will be well-pleased with them
and they with Him. They are the party of God; truly
the party of God will prosper." (58:22)
We see that the blood relationships between
Muhammad-peace be on him-and his uncle
Abu Lahab and his cousin "Amr bin Hisham (Abu Jahl)
were broken and that the Emigrants from Mecca were
fighting against their families and relatives and were in
the front lines of Badr, while on the other hand, their
relations with the Helpers of Medina became strengthened
on the basis of a common faith. They became like brothers,
even more than blood relatives. This relationship
established a new brotherhood of Muslims in which were
included Arabs and non-Arabs. Suhaib from Rome and Bilal
from Abyssinia and Salman from Persia were all brothers.
There was no tribal partisanship among them. The pride of
lineage was ended, the voice of nationalism was silenced,
and the Messenger of God addressed them: "Get rid of
these
partisanships; these are foul things" and "He is not one of us
who calls toward partisanship, who fights for partisanship,
and who dies for partisanship."
Thus this partisanship-the partisanship of lineage-ended;
and this slogan-the slogan of race-died; and this pride-the
pride of nationality-vanished; and man's spirit soared to
higher horizons, freed from the bondage of flesh and blood
and the pride of soil and country. From that day, the
Muslim¹s country has not been a piece of land, but the
homeland of Islam (Dar-ul-Islam)-the homeland where faith
rules and the Shari'ah of Gold holds sway, the homeland in
which he took refuge and which he
defended, and in trying to extend it, he became martyred.
This Islamic homeland is a refuge for any who accepts the
Islamic Shari'ah to be the law of the state, as is the case with
the Dhimmies. But any place where the Islamic Shari'ah is
not enforced and where Islam is not dominant, becomes the
home of hostility (Dar-ul-Harb) for both the Muslim and the
Dhimmi. A Muslim will remain prepared to
fight against it, whether it be his birthplace or a place where
his relatives reside or where his property or any other
material interests are located.
And thus Muhammad-peace be on him-fought against the
city of Mecca, although it was his birthplace, and his
relatives lived there, and he and his Companions had
houses and property there, which they had left when they
migrated; yet the soil of Mecca did not become Dar-ul-Islam
for him and his followers until it surrendered to Islam and the
Shari'ah became operative in it.
This, and only this is Islam. Islam is not a few words
pronounced by the tongue or birth in a country called
Islamic or an inheritance from a Muslim father. "No, by
they Sustainer, they have not believed until they make thee
the arbiter of their disputes, and then do not find any
grievance against thy decision, but submit with full
submission." (4:65)
Only this is Islam, and only this is Dar-ul-Islam-not the soil,
not the race, not the lineage,. not the tribe, and not the
family.
Islam freed all humanity from the ties of the earth, so that
they might soar toward the skies and freed them from the
chains of blood relationships-the biological chains-so that
they might rise above the angels.
The homeland of the Muslim, in which he lives and which
he defends, is not a piece of land; the nationality of the
Muslim, by which he is identified, is not the nationality
determined by a government; the family of the Muslim, in
which he finds solace and which he defends, is not blood
relationships; the flag of the Muslim, which he honors and
under which he is martyred, is not the flag of a country; and
the victory of the Muslim, which he celebrates and for which
he is thankful to God, is not a military victory. It is what God
has described: "When God's help and
victory comes, and thou seest people entering into God's
religion in multitudes, then celebrate the praises of thy Lord
and ask His forgiveness. Indeed. He is the
Acceptor of Repentance." (110:1-3)
The victory is achieved under the banner of faith, and under
no other banners; the striving is purely for the sake of God,
for the success of His religion and His law,
for the protection of Dar-ul-Islam, the particulars of which we
have described above, and for no other purpose. It is not for
the spoils or for fame, nor for the honor of the country or
nation, nor for the mere protection of one's family except
when supporting them against religious persecution. Abu
Musa relates: "The Prophet-peace be upon him-was asked
about one, who fights for bravery, another for honor and
another for fame, which one of these is in the cause of God?
The Prophet replied, "Only he is for the cause of God who
fights so that the word of God may remain supreme."
The honor of martyrdom is achieved only when one is
fighting in the cause of God, and if one is killed for any other
purpose, this honor will not be attained. Any
country which fights the Muslim because of his belief and
prevents him from practicing his religion, and in which the
Shari`ah is suspended is Dar-ul-Harb, even though his
family or his relatives or his people live in it, or his capital is
invested and his trade or commerce is in that country; and
any county where the Islamic faith is dominant and its
shari¹ah is operative is Dar-ul-Islam, even though the
Muslim¹s family or relatives or his people do not live there,
and he does not have any commercial relations with it.
The fatherland is that place where the Islamic faith, the
Islamic way of life and the Shari`ah of God is dominant; only
this meaning of 'fatherland' is worth of the human being.
Similarly, 'nationality' means belief and a way of life, and only
this relationship is worth of man¹s dignity. Grouping
according to family and tribe and nation, and race and color
and country are residues of the primitive state of man; these
jahili groupings are from a period when man's spiritual
values were at a low stage. The Prophet-peace be on
him-has called them "dead things" against which man's
spirit should revolt. When the Jews claimed to be the
chosen people of God, on the basis of their race and
nationality, God Most High rejected their claim and declared
that in every period, in every race and in every nation, there
is only one criterion; that of faith. "And they say: 'Be Jews, or
Christians; then you will be
guided'. Say: 'Not so: the way of Abraham, the pure in faith;
and he was not among the polytheists.' Say: 'We believe in
God, and what has come down to us, and what
has come down to Abraham, Ismail and Isaac and Jacob
and the Tribes (of Israelites), and what was given to Moses
and Jesus and to other Prophets by their Sustainer. We do
not make any distinction among the, and we have submitted
to Him. If then they believe as you have believed, they are
guided; but if they turn away, then indeed they are stubborn.
Then God suffices for you, and He is All-Hearing,
All-Knowing. The baptism of God and who can baptize
better than God? And we worship Him alone.' (2:135-138)
The people who are really chosen by God are the Muslim
community which has gathered under God's banner without
regard to differences of races, nations, colors and
countries. "You are the best community raised for the good
of mankind. You enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil
and you believe in God." (3:110) This is that
community in the first generation of which there were Abu
Bakr from Arabia, Bilal from Abyssinia, Suhaib from Syria,
Salman from Persia, and their brothers in faith. The
generations which followed them were similar. Nationalism
here is belief, homeland here is Dar-ul-Islam, the ruler here
is God, and the constitution here is the Qur'an. This noble
conception of homeland, of nationality and of relationship
should become imprinted on the hearts of those who invite
others toward God. They should remove all influences of
Jahiliyyah which make this concept impure and which may
have the slightest element of hidden shirk, such as shirk in
relation to homeland, or in relation to race or nation, or in
relation to lineage or material interests. All these have been
mentioned by God Most High in one verse, in which He has
placed them in one side of the balance and the belief and
its responsibilities in the other side, and invites people to
choose: "Say: if your fathers and your sons and your
brothers and your spouses and your relatives, and the
wealth which you have acquired, and the commerce in
which you fear decline, and the homes in which
you take delight are dearer to you than God and His
Messenger and striving in His cause, then wait until God
brings His judgment; and God does not guide the rebellious
people." (9:24)
Similarly, the callers to Islam should not have any superficial
doubts in their hearts concerning the nature of Jahiliyyah
and the nature of Islam, and the characteristics of
Dar-ul-Harb and of Dar-ul-Islam, for through these doubts
many are led to confusion. Indeed, there is no Islam in a
land where Islam is not dominant and where its Shari`ah is
not established; and that place is not
Dar-ul-Islam where Islam's way of life and its laws are not
practiced. There is nothing beyond faith except unbelief,
nothing beyond Islam except Jahiliyyah, nothing beyond the
truth except falsehood.
