The universality of islam eng

The Universality of Islam The Universality of Islam

The Universality ofIslam

Dr.AbdallahH.Al-Kahtany


© Dr. Abdallah H. Al-Kahtany 2009King Fahd National Library Cataloging in-Publication Data

Al-Kahtany, Abdallah H

The Universality of Islam

ISBN: 9960-9135-4-61 - Islam - General principles 1 - Title

L.D. No. 3053/21ISBN: 9960-9135-4-6

ISBN: 9960-9441-5-8

Cover Design & Layout by C.P. MuneerAhmed, Kerala

Right of reprinting this book is granted for non-profit purposes can begranted on the author�s written permission.

O Mankind! We have created you from maleand female and made you nations and tribesthat you may appreciate one another Indeed,the most noble of you in the Sight of Allah isthe most righteous [i.e., conscious of his].Indeed,Allah is knowing and [all] Acquainted.

(The Qur�an 49:13)


CONTENTS

Forward

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter I

Universality and Equality

1. Christianity and equality

2. The Jewish position towards other nations.

3. The socio-religious system of Hinduism

4. Capitalism

5. Islam and universal equality

Chapter II

1. The Crusaders Behavior in Palestine

2. Christians and Jews in Palestine under Muslim rule

3. Islam in Spain

4. Christianity during the era of colonization

5. Islam in Europe

6. Islam in the Indian Subcontinent

7. Tolerance of Islam

8. Concluding Remarks

Chapter III

Universality and Promotion of Science

1. Hinduism, Buddhism, and science

2. Islam and science

3. The impact of Muslim sciences on Europe

4. The shallowness of modern science

5.Why does Islam encourage science and advancement?

Chapter IV

Universality and Solving Problems of Humanity

1.Alcoholism and drug addiction

The Islamic solution

2.Crime


3.Abuse of children and women


Conclusion

ReferencesUniversality and Tolerance

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FORWARD

By the generosity of The Merciful, three different editions ofthe Universality of Islam have traveled worldwide. Read-ers had varying opinions towards it: some took the liberty ofcopying whole chapters in their website; others expressedtheir attitudes, critiques, and comments to me in person orin writing; and few expressed their displeasure and disagree-ment with it. My firm understanding of our human naturehelped me to understand such varying attitudes. However,among the numerous responses to the Universality of Is-lam no one questioned its originality and methodology. I amvery thankful to all those who took the time to analyze itsarguments and propositions regardless of what they thinkof it.

I NTRODUCT ION

I am tremendously thankful to Allah, The Omnipotent,for granting me the opportunity to extensively revise andpublish this fourth edition of the Universality of Islam aftermore than a decade since the appearance of the first edi-tion. I benefited greatly from the numerous comments, sug-gestions and corrections I have been receiving over theyears. Some thing I always had in mind since the first time Ithought of writing a book about the universality of Islam wasthe responsibility of handling this topic with utmost sincerityand objectivity. Nonetheless, any critiques, comments, sug-gestions and reviews will be welcomed. I am only a humblehuman being trying his best to contribute in clarifying someof the critical issues of universality in the era of globaliza-tion. Issues that I think we need to ponder upon with seri-ousness and open-mindedness.

It is my greatest pleasure to receive respected readers�comments, corrections and suggestions at the followingaddresses:

Address of the author:Abdallah H.Al-KahtanyP.O. Box: 9012King Khalid UniversityAbha, SaudiArabiaE-mail: [email protected]


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS�Those who do not thank people do not thankAllah.� Gratefulnessis a prophetic tradition; humanity at large needs to observe. Manyare thosewho contributed to the emergence of this book and hencedeserve the best of thanks. Among those who contributed signifi-cantly to the completion of this book are:

Dr.AbdallahAliAbu Ishi�s encouragement and brotherly supportwas verymotivating and inspiring.

My late brotherDr.AbdulrahmanAl-Jamhoor�s deathdid not sparehim to see this edition of a book he adored and supported greatly.May Allah shower him with His mercy.

The twoanonymous reviewers�-appointedbyal-MuntadaAl-Islamiin London- comments and suggestions on an earlier edition werevery constructive.

Professor William L. Tarvin�s and Razik Sammander�s reviewsof the earlier scripts were very helpful.

The respected sister, Mrs. Samira Van Fossen (OmMohamed),deserves the utmost thanks and sincerest du�a for her very accu-rate corrections and suggestions that reflected in-depth understand-ing and keen interest in the topic.

Dr. Iejaz M. Sheikh encouraging comments and suggestionswere very valuable.

My dear parents unlimited support, sincere supplications, over-whelming love and sacrifices can never be rewarded but byAllah,TheMerciful.

My wife�s and children�s forbearance and sacrifice during thecompilation of this book can never be forgotten.

You as a respected reader who gavemy words honor by takingsome of their valuable time to read them.

INTRODUCTION

In the 21st century, means of communication and transpor-tation have gone beyond all expectations and cross-culturalawareness has become widespread. After the collapse ofcommunism and consequently the Soviet Union and manyother communist countries, proposals were presented urg-ing the adoption of universal laws, values and morals withwhich relationships among the peoples of the world shouldbe governed.

Recently, the idea of a so-called NewWorld Order wasproposed through the United Nations in order to prescribevalues and impose laws on peoples of various cultures. Thequestion that will immediately emerge is whose values, lawsand ways of life should be adopted? Because the UnitedStates is, presently, the �only superpower� among all thenations of the world, as well as the largest financial con-


tributor to the United Nations, it seems a forgone conclusionthat the American way of life will be the only choice pre-sented to the globe. Charles Krauthammer, an influentialAmerican columnist, wrote in The Foreign Affairs that auni-polar moment had arrived and that a confident UnitedStates should learn to accept its new role, aggressively im-posing its own vision.1

Given the natural richness andmilitary power of theU.S.,why have its values not provided happiness and peace ofmind to the millions of Americans whose lives have beenwrecked by alcoholism, violence, drug use and other familyand social dilemmas? Can such a way of life that has failedto uproot discrimination against blacks and other minoritiesbring equality among the social castes of India? Can theAmerican way of life that has resulted in grave failure whenattempting to solve the problem of homelessness, providesolutions to the problems of poverty in South America orAfrica? Such questions should be raised against V. S.Naipau�ls claim that western civilization is the universal civi-lization that fits all men. David Gergen, editor at large of U.S.News & World Report has candidly uttered his doubts:

The United States cannot achieve order inits streets or even in its capital, much lessin the rest of the world.2

Some might say that the New World Order does nothave to be that of the Americans; it could be that of the Brit-ish, the French, the Russians or the Chinese; all are per-manent members of the Security Council. Nevertheless,these governments have never claimed to bring happinessnor security to their own nations or the rest of the world.Nonetheless, no nation in the whole world would willingly

choose or suggest a way of life detrimental to their own in-terests. Any system of life selected as the basis for a NewWorld Order is almost certain to serve the interests of thepeople proposing and sponsoring it. People can only ad-here willingly and peacefully to a system of their choice.

Gergen (1993) shows the level of self-interest felt bythe people of the world�s most dominant country regardingtheir care for other nations:

TheAmerican public told pollsters from theChicago Council on Foreign Relations thatthemost important priorities of U.S. foreignpolicy should be, first, protecting jobs ofAmerican workers; second, protecting theinterest of American workers abroad; andthird, securing adequate supplies ofenergy. Defending allies, preventing thespread of nuclear weapons and advancinghuman rights were seen as lessimportant. Helping to spread democracyto other nations was 15th on list of 15priorities.3

Samuel Huntington refers to the standards westernnations apply to their interests in the world:

The West in effect is using internationalinstitutions, military power and economicresources to run the world in ways thatwill maintain Western predominanceprotect Western interests and promoteWestern political and economical values4.

Accepting these New Order premises as a way of life

1 - David Gergen. American Missed Opportunities. Foreign Affairs,1993, p.1.2 - Gergen, 1993, p.1.

3 - Gergen. 1993.4 - Samuel Huntington. Clash of Civilizations. The Foreign Affairs, Sum-mer 1993.

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means full submission to the teachings and rules that sucha system puts forward. Naturally, the result of such accep-tance is a materialistic and secular view of life.

The probability that such a New World Order will beaccepted or applied is extremely remote. It has as muchchance as such old world orders as colonialism, commu-nism, dark ages theology, and modern capitalism.

The well-known American writer and senior advisor tothree American presidents, Patrick J. Buchanan, thinks thatdemanding that the Muslim world, with its great cultural andmoral treasures, should accept the western ideology is the�irony of ironies�. He writes:

Today, an aging, dying Christian West ispressing the Third World and the Islamicworld to accept contraception, abortion,and sterilization as theWest has done. Butwhy should they enter a suicide pact withus when they stand to inherit the earthwhen we are gone?5

There is a dire need among the majority of the world�spopulation for a way of life that can solve their problems andanswer their unanswered questions about existence and des-tiny. With escalating rates of immorality and violence in theworld, increasing numbers of people have been searchingfor a way out. Many have found suicide to be the easiest andprobably fastest solution. No wonder our world is wading ina state of chaos. It has tried so many ideologies and appliedcountless socioeconomic theories, but none have provento be quite right. That which has been tried has failed, andthat which has failed has been tried again . . . and again.Surely the time has come to ask questions if there is an-other way, an alternative system that could be adopted by

the whole world.Nominating a system to bind the people of all nations

into one nation is a serious undertaking. It is imperative thateveryone�s freedom of choice is safeguarded and that theirinherent beliefs and concerns are respected. Any universaldoctrine, law, system or way of life should take into consid-eration the natural characteristics of humankind. Such asystem should have the following attributes among its ma-jor principles:1. Non-Discriminatory:

It should emphasize equality and reject alltypes of racism and discrimination. Itsbasic teachings and values should bestable and should be equally and justlyapplied to all people with no discriminationbecause of their color, ethnicity, etc.

2. Tolerant:It should tolerate the existence ofdifference in belief, language, and culturaldiversity among peoples of the world.

3. Ethically progressive:It should not oppose advancements inscience and technology, but rather provideuniversal ethics to ensure theconsequences of such advancements arepositive.

4. Provide working solutions to pressing problems:It should provide solutions to humanity�sproblems such as: alcoholism, drugaddiction, the break down of family andsocial systems, unrestrained sexuality,rape, and the abuse and molestation ofwomen and children.

5 - Patrick J. Buchanan, The Death of the West. St. Martin�s Press:New York, 2002, p. 48.

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The principle of equality in dealing with people of differentcolors, socioeconomic status and cultures is absent fromthe dominant ideologies of today's world. Indian society hassuffered from a rigidly applied caste system for many cen-turies: some people are looked at as gods (avatars), whileothers are treated little better than slaves.

Although Christianity has seldom been applied as asystem for living, it contains, among its contemporary teach-ings doctrines that can be viewed as discriminatory. TheTalmud (the basis of contemporary Judaism) considers theJews to be privileged over all other people (the Gentiles).

The list could be expanded to include the communistslogan of equality-all people are equal- then never practiced,which, in reality, means that some are more equal than oth-ers. Capitalism, as applied in several Western societies, is

The beauty of Islam as the only universal alternativeway of life for humanity has been misrepresented by someof the un-islamic malpractices by some Muslims and themisconceptions brought up by people of little knowledgeabout Islam or through prejudiced views. Terrorist activitieslaunched by a very insignificant minority in the name of Is-lam is unjustly blamed on the over a billion Muslims whohave never approved of them. They themselves suffer suchirrational and irresponsible actions.

In the following chapters of this book, Islamic principlesof equality, tolerance, solutions to problems facing human-ity and position towards sciences and advancements willbe compared to a number of contemporary ideologies andreligions that may aspire for universality. The last chapterconcludes with some of the major inherent principles of Is-lam as part and parcel of its teachings for the betterment ofhumanity.

C H A P T E R I

Universality and Equality

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not geared theoretically to establishing equality, since it en-courages division between the rich and the poor. Socialism,which in theory is supposed to ameliorate the excesses ofcapitalism and communism, successfully highlighted theinherent weakness of communism and capitalism. Yet, couldnot prove itself as a more viable alternative.

Of all the existing ideological systems, only Islam re-mains the only option that appeals to all because it respectsthe rights of all people and regards all humans as membersof one nation living under God (Allah), in peace and harmony,in spite of their many differences. Historical and contempo-rary evidence stand as witness to the non-negotiable Islamicequality.1. Christianity and Equality

In this section, I will examine some of the teachings ofChristianity in order to determine if such views could appealto all people regardless of their differences. To be objective,reference will be made to the book of Christianity, The Bible,to document whether the message of Christ (pbuh) was for

the world or limited in time and space to his people, the Isra-elites. Hence, it does not have a universal appeal.

According to Matthew, the message Jesus (pbuh) re-ceived was limited to one nation. Jesus (pbuh) stated clearlyin his instructions to his disciples that they were not to spreadthe message beyond the tribes of Israel.

Go not into the way of the gentiles, andinto any town of the Samaritans enter yenot: but go rather to the lost sheep of thehouse of Israel .....6 (Matthew 10:5, 6)

Another incident narrated about Jesus (pbuh) furtherillustrates the point in question:7

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to theregion of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanitewoman from that vicinity came to him,crying out, Lord, Son of David, havemercyon me! My daughter is suffering terriblyfrom demon's possession. Jesus did notanswer a word. So his disciples came tohim and urged him, send her away, for shekeeps crying out after us.He answered, I was sent only to the lostsheep of Israel.The woman came and knelt before him.Lord, help me! she said.He replied, it is not right to take thechildren's bread and toss it to their dogs.

The communist slogan of equality-all peopleare equal- never practiced,which, in reality,means that some are more equal than oth-ers. Capitalism, as applied in several West-ern societies, is not geared theoretically toestablishing equality, since it encourages di-vision between the rich and the poor. Social-ism, which in theory is supposed to amelio-rate the excesses of capitalism and commu-nism, successfully highlighted the inherentweakness of communismand capitalism.

6 - Quotes were taken form The Holy Bible The Gideon�s Internationalin the British Isles, Western House,George Street, Luttersorth, Leics,LE17 4EE.7- ? ?

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(Matthew 15: 21 - 26).In these biblical excerpts, Jesus (pbuh) has clearly

stated that his message was to be spread among the peopleof Israel only and, not to the people of all nations. However,as a Muslim who believes that Jesus Christ (pbuh) was agreat Messenger of Allah, I am convinced that Jesus neversaid the underlined quote from the Bible (Matthew 15:26).

Hill and Cheadle (1996)mentioned that colored peoplehave been mistreated through out the history of people ofEuropean descendants. "Western European tradition hasgenerally segregated blacks and throughout history, movingtheir roles and contributions into the background or omittingthem completely"8.

Though the prophets of God can never preach hatredor discriminations, the continuous additions to the Bible bydifferent groups to manipulate its teachings for their owninterests, some passages denote discriminatory sense.

And Mariam and Aaron spoke againstMoses because of the Ethiopian womanwhom he had married: for he had marriedan Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1).

Such excerpts from the Old Testament might explainthe discriminatory treatment against the Jews of an Africanorigin in the State of Israel. The feeling of discriminationamong theAfrican ChristianAmerican led to the reactionaryfeeling of some predominantAfro-AmericanClergy. OnGoodFriday, 1993, Archbishop George Augustus Stallings, Jr. ofWashington D.C., burned an image of a white Jesus in thestreet as he proclaimed its "historical inaccuracy": "Jesuswas an 'Afro-Asiatic Jew'."9 To realize the extent the level of

racism in the world's most pow-erful country, there are around327 white supremacy groups inthe U.S.10

2. The Jewish Position To-wards Other Nations.

As we will see in this sec-tion, the true unashamedly dis-criminatory nature of Judaismmeans that it cannot be nomi-nated as a universal system forall humankind to follow. Despiteits nature or perhaps even be-cause of it- the Jewish lobby isvery powerful and plays a veryeffective role in shaping US for-eign policy; especially those inIsrael's interest.

The Jewish book of guid-ance, the Talmud, the preemi-nent authority for the Jews,11ranks them above all otherpeople. Jews are considered tobe the chosen people of God.They are supreme, and the mul-titude gentile (non-Jewish) sur-rounding them are considered

8 - Jim Hill and Rand Cheadle. The Bible Tells Me So. Anchor Books/Doubleday: New York, 1996, p. 13.9 - Hill and Cheadle, p.13.

The Jewish lobbyis very powerfuland plays a veryeffective role inshaping US for-eignpolicy; espe-cially those inIsrael's interest.

10 - Hill and Cheadle, p.12.11 - The modern Jewish writer Herman Wouk states very clearly in hisbook; This is My God that: �The Talmud is to this day the circulatingheart�s blood of the Jewish religion. Whatever we are, Orthodox, Con-servative, Reform or merely spasmodic sentimentalists, we follow theTalmud. It is our common law.� This statement was presented by T.Pike in his book Israel Our Duty. . Our Dilemma. 1984, P. 54.

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unclean and sub-humans.The reason that Jews claim selected by God and the

gentiles as unclean is that the Jews were present at Mt.Sinai, but gentiles were not.12

When the serpent came into Eve heinfused filthy lust into her . . . . When Israelstood in Sinai that lust was eliminated, butthe lust of idolaters, who did not stand onSinai, did not cease (Abodah Zarah 22b).13

Let's look in the Zohar, where the Jewish rabbis inter-preted the verse from Genesis: "Now the serpent is moresubtle than any beast of the field". Their interpretation is:

More subtle that is towards evil; than allthe beasts, that is, the idolatrous peopleof the earth. For they are the children ofthe ancient serpent which seduced Eve.(Zohar 1: 28b)

As amatter of fact, non-Jews (gentiles), whether Chris-tians, Buddhists or Hindus are not considered equal to theJews in any way; the Jewish doctrine regards them as ifthey were non-humans. The following excerpt from the Tal-mud would make any one puzzle over the way they dispar-age other people:

A gentile � is not a neighbor in the senseof reciprocating and being responsible fordamages caused by his negligence; nordoes he watch over his cattle. Even thebest gentile laws were too crude to admitof reciprocity. (Bek. 13b)

See how this conflicts with the true sense of justice inthe Qur'an:

O yewho believe! Stand out firmly forAllah,witness in justice, and let not the hatred ofothers make you depart from justice. Bejust: That is nearer to piety.And fearAllah,forAllah is well-acquainted with all that youdo. (Qur'an 5: 8)

Christians and other non-Jews (called heathens in theTalmud) were not exempted from the hatred and the dis-trust of Jews:

Where a suit arises between an Israeliteand a heathen, if you can satisfy the formeraccording to the laws of Israel, justify himand say: This is our law; so also if you canjustify him by the law of the heathens justifyhim and say (to the other party): This isyour law; but if this can't be done, we usesubterfuges to circumvent them. (BabaKama 113 a)

The Jewish Encyclopedia summarizes opinions of thesages about this law by stating:

The Mishnah . . . declares that if a gentilesues an Israelite, the verdict is for thedefendant; if the Israelite is the plaintiff, heobtains full damages.14

There are numerous citations in theTalmudwhere non-Jews are considered dirty or unworthy of living. It goes tothe extent that such people are not even worthy of beingaccepted in their religion, even if they so desired. In fact, theTalmud prohibits, under the threat of death, the teaching of

12 - References to the Talmudic verses were taken from the Talmudicauthority Rev. Theodore W. Pike. in his book Israel Our Duty .. OurDilemma. Big Sky Press, 1984.13 - Compare with what the Qur�an says about Adam and Eve in 7: 19-25.

14 - The Jewish Encyclopedia. ed. Cyrus Adler, Isidore Singer. NewYork, London: Funk-Wagnalls, 1901-1906. P. 620.

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non. One is really stunned by the Talmudic manner in whichthey spoke. An example of this was seen in the way Beginarrogantly informed the Americans about the massacre hehad committed:

We have no duty to explain our actions toothers - only to ourselves.17

In other words, the Jew is above criticism by a gentile.Observing the occupying Zionist policies against the

Palestinians reveals the real nature of the extreme brutalityand hatred they have against children, women and helplessold people. Israeli officials have become candid in their re-jection of the gentile's law when not favoring the Jews. Afterthe decision by the International Court of Justice that con-struction of the partition wall was against the internationallaw, Yousef Lapid, Israel's justice minister, told the state-controlled radio on July 10th, 2004 that Israel would pay at-tention to the ruling of the Hague-based ICJ: "We will heedthe ruling of our supreme court, not the ruling of ICJ". This isthe typical Talmudic Zionist view of contempt for everythingnon-Jewish. The whole world is always wrong, the tens ofUN resolutions condemning Israel are not fair, the manybloody and inhuman massacres in Palestinian camps arejust for self-defense, bombing UN-run refugee camps andkilling indiscriminately is a Zionist right. Mistreating and evenconstant killings of journalists and peace activists are justunintended mistakes, etc.

This attitude is not confined to politicians. MosheAntelman of Rehovot, Israel - a rabbi and a chemist - devel-oped a bullet containing pork fat.

Antelman, a rabbi and a chemist,

the Torah to any gentile:Hence the Talmud prohibited the teachingto a Gentile of the Torah, the inheritance ofthe congregation of Jacob R. Johannandeclares if one dared to do so such aperson deserves death.15

Certainly such a system, with its extreme discrimina-tory nature, was not designed to be a universal way of life.

Many Israeli leaders do not value the lives of non-Jew-ish people. Menachem Begin's response to the world out-rage over massacres in Sabra and Shatilla refugee campsin Lebanon is reflective of this attitude:

Goyim [meaning gentiles] are killingGoyimand they came to hang the Jews.16

Some might say that current Judaism is not built onsuch radical or racial ideas. Let's listen to the defense of theleading Israeli authority as to what they have done in Leba-

15- T. Pike, cited on page 61 that this information is cited fromTheJewish Encyclopedia., Article, Gentile, p. 623, where the reference isSanh. 59a, Hagigah 13a.16 - T. Pike, P. 53.

The occupying Zion-ist policies againstthe Palestinians re-veals the real na-ture of the extremebrutality and hatredthey have againstchildren, womenand helpless oldpeople.

17 - T. Pike , P. 72. For more information about Jewish atrocities look atthe New York Times, August 5,1985, P.1, and The National Geographic,April 1983, P. 514.

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developed the lard-laden ammo for useagainst devout Muslims, who believe anycontact with pig flesh robs the soul of itschance to enter paradise. . .18 The goodrabbi has offered his innovation to WestBank settlers, and he also hopes to interestthe Pentagon in this refined form ofmilitarypork.19

This is just one example of how the Jewish elite andleaders value people of other nations.

The Zionist nature of hatred for other nations and the

complex sense of superiority have led them to direct theirguns to their closest allies (the Americans) and kill manysolders; as exemplifies by their savage attack on theAmeri-can navy ship 'Liberty', in midday.20

In an interview with the prominent Jewish Americanthinker and MIT linguist, Prof. Noam Chomsky, respondedto a question about the Jewish view of other people by say-ing:

If you go back to traditional Jewish culturein either Eastern Europe or North Africa,being a Christian, a non-Jew, was adifferent species, below the level of Jews.For example, Jewish doctors are notsupposed to treat non-Jews unless Jewscan gain by it. So Maimonides21 could bethe doctor for the Sultan because Jewswould gain by it, but not otherwise.

When the following question was addressed toChomsky;

"Is this canonical or a cultural tradition?" He said:It's in the Halakah, the rabbinic tradition.There's plenty of stuff like this. They (theJews) were on the one hand an oppressedminority, but on the other hand very racist.The racism carried overwhen they becamea non-oppressed majority.22

The preceding section focused on the Jewish view ofother nations. The author depended heavily on Judaic

Thewholeworld is alwayswrong,the tens of UN resolutions con-demning Israel are not fair, themany bloody and inhumanmassacres in Palestiniancamps are just for self-de-fense, bombing UN-runrefugee camps and kill-ing indiscriminately is aZionist right.Mistreatingand even constant killingsof journalists and peace activ-ists are just unintendedmistakes.

18 - This is not true. Muslims are only forbidden from eating pork.According to the Old Testament, consumption of pork is forbidden:(Leviticus 11: 7-8)19 - Sunday. August 28, 1994, P. 18.

20 - For more details see Paul Findley�s book They Dare to Speak,published in first in 1985 by Lawrence Hill Books, pp (165- 179).21 - Refers to Sultan Salaahudeen�s (Saldin) Jewish physician.22 - David Barsamian and Noam Chomsky . Propaganda and thePublic Mind. South End Press: Cambridge. 2001, p. 85.

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sources that have left doubt that discriminating against otherpeoplewas an ideological and a religious duty of Zionist Jews.Since Jewish-ness is only inherited, other people of anynation can never be part of it. Other people are excludedand can never be part of that narrow system that favorsJews over all other nations, for no reason but because theyare Jews.3. The Socio-Religious System of Hinduism

In this section, we will see that just as its racist doc-trines exclude Judaismfrom being nominated asa candidate for the univer-sal way of life, so too doesHinduism eliminate itselffrom consideration for pre-cisely the same reason-racism. Hinduism is builtaround a racist apparatusincorporating a discrimina-tory caste system, whichis an integral part of thisreligion. The caste systemdivides Hindu society intofour major groups:

a. The Brahmans: the learned and the priestly class.b. The Kashattriyas: the fighting and ruling class.c. The Vaisyas: the trading and the agricultural people.d. The Suddras: the lowest caste whose only busi-

ness is to serve their superiors.23And the Dalits or the Untouchables who are outcaste

because they do not belong to any of the original fourfoldgrouping. They are untouchable because their touch is bondto pollute the other castes. Thus, they must remain at a suf-ficient distance from the other castes. These groups areonly the head of the very complicated social fabric of theHindu society, which contains about 2800 unique communi-ties.24

These castes are worlds apart from each other. Thisis one of the most outrageous manifestations of inequalitynow being practiced anywhere. One is born in one casteand dies in that caste. It is one, which even the present po-litical system of India repudiates.

This system was incorporated into the teachings ofHinduism during the time of Manu, during the heydays of theBrahman civilization. Since then, it has become an integralpart of the Hindu socioreligious system. It has becomemoreor less a hereditary system, subjugating the majority of thepopulation, and is exploited by the minority ruling class to

Hinduism is builtaround a racist appa-ratus incorporating adiscriminatory castesystem, which is anintegral part of thisreligion.

23 - Gustave le Bon. Les Civilization de lInde. P. 211.

The Brahmans

The Kashattriyas

The Vaisyas

The Suddras

Untouchables

Indian Caste System

24 - John Campbell Oman, The Brahmans, Theists and Muslims ofIndia. Delhi, 1973, p.50, and Dalit Voice, 15:4, p.20. In Fazlie, 1997,p.148-9.

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maintain its purity and su-periority.

Gustave le Bonmentioned some ofManu's (One of the majorauthors of the Hinduteachings, the Vedas)teachings:This law gave tothe Brahmansthe distinction,superiority andsanctity, which

raised their status, equal to that of the gods. . . Anyone who is born a Brahman is thenoblest creature on earth. He is themonarch of all the created things and hisduty is to defend the Shastras, the Hinduteachings that provides legitimacy to theirpower.25

Manu goes on to grant more rights to the Brahmans atthe expanse of all other people:

Whatever is on the earth belongs to theBrahman, for he is the highest among allcreatures. All things are for him.26

The Sudras have no rights whatsoever in Hindu soci-ety. They are considered lower than the animals.

A Sudra should never acquire property,even if he has the opportunity, for in sodoing he is causing pain to the Brahmans.Nothing can bemore honorable for a Sudra

than to serve the Brahman; nothingbesides this can earn him any reward . . .A Sudra who assaults a higher-caste manis liable to lose the limb with which theassault is made . . . 27And so it goes on, unceasinglycondescending:The atonement for killing a dog, a cat, afrog, a lizard, a crow, an owl and a Sudrais the same.28

This extremely discriminatory system is not a thing ofthe past, but also it has its manifestations on present daypolitics. It would be extremely difficult to believe, accept oradopt such an unjust system as a way of life, not to mentiona global system for humanity.4. Capitalism

Capitalism is not a religion but it has become a way oflife that millions of people aspire to and once achieved, de-fend with great enthusiasm. Millions of people have beenfooled by the symbols of American capitalism,29 such as theStatue of Liberty welcoming every newcomer to the land ofhappiness and opportunity. However, it seems as if manypeople have forgotten the history of slavery, the plantations,and the back-of-the-bus theory where blacks were not al-lowed to sit in the front seats of public transportation.

Few capitalists seem bothered by the dire conse-quences of the unbridled pursuit of possessions and wealthsuch as: escalating rates of crime, rape, child molestation,battered women, drug addiction, covert and overt discrimi-nation, homelessness, and the calamity facing old people.

25 - Ibid., P. 211.26 - Ibid., P. 211.

The caste system isnot a thing of the past,but also it has itsmanifestations onpresent day politics.

27 - Ibid., P. 211.28 - Ibid., P. 212.29 - Ibid., P. 212.

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As a result of unequal treatment and discrimination,the Afro-American community is facing a number of esca-lating problems. White America faces the same problems,but the alarming difference is of scale.

Phillipson (1992) referred to the key investigator forPhelps-Stokes Fund, Thomas Jesse Jones, aWelshAmeri-can who was closely associated with the policy of separateeducation for the blacks of the USA. The philosophy behindthe policy of providing appropriate education for the blackswas formulated clearly at the turn of the century on purelydiscriminatory grounds. The black people were viewed as alower race fit for lower education and good for humble jobsbecause they were not white:

the white people are to be the leaders �the Caucasian will rule � in the negro isthe opportunity of the South. Time hasproven that he is best fitted to perform theheavy labor in the Southern states � Hewill willingly fill the more menial positions,and do the heavywork, at less wages, thanthe American white man or any foreignrace" (quoted in Berman 1982: 180 andcited in Phillipson 1992: 199).30

Sixty-nine percent of all births of theAfrican-Americancommunity are out of wedlock. Two thirds of their childrenlive in single parent homes. About one third of Afro-Ameri-can boys can expect to serve a jail or prison sentence be-fore the age of sixteen. Four out of ten black males agedsixteen to thirty-five are in jail, in prison, on parole, or are onprobation. The highest rates of drug consumption, schooldropouts and rape are found also among blacks.31Buchanan referred to this and similar statistics regardingminorities in an accusatory manner rather than trying to findout the real reasons behind such alarming statistics. Minori-ties that in the past faced slavery and extreme forms of bru-tality and discrimination are now experiencing covert institu-tional negligence and discrimination. Little effort to restoreequality and justice is evident. Making retribution for the evilcenturies and shameful history is studiously avoided, butpinpointing fingers and blaming the oppressed is not. An un-suitable system at the local level can never meet the chal-lenges of a complicated and diverse world.

Capitalism is not a religion but it has becomeaway of life thatmillions of people aspire toand once achieved, defend with great en-thusiasm. Millions of people have beenfooled by the symbols of American capital-ism, such as the Statue of Liberty welcom-ing every newcomer to the land of happi-ness and opportunity.

30 - Robert Phillipson. Linguistic Imperialism. (Oxford University Press,1992), 119.31 - William J. Bennett, Index of Leading Cultural Indicators. (NewYork: Broadway Books, 2000), pp. 50, 27.

23


Basically, Capitalism results in economic inequality,particularly for minorities and 'non-producing segments',such as children and the elderly. Because of the greatchanges that have taken place in America and other west-ern societies during the last one hundred years, many so-cial problems have emerged. The huge corporate invasionof family farms and small family-centered enterprises haveresulted inmany socioeconomic tensions.Although the capi-talist system as a way of life has provided material gains fora small number of individuals, large segments of societysuffer: among them the senior citizens, single women, chil-dren born out of wedlock, and the non-white minorities.

A common sight in downtown areas of American cit-ies is the many elderly people among the homeless. Anum-ber ofAmerican sociologists forecast that the problems facedby the elderly will become even more severe in the nearfuture.32 Declining birthrates and increasing numbers of eld-erly people indicate that such trends will continue. It is ex-pected that the elderly will soon constitute a large proportionof society. In 1900, people over 65 constituted four percentof the American population (three million people); by 1976,they comprised over 10 percent of the populace (22 mil-lion). It is projected that by 2030 there will be more than 50million people over 65 in the United States - making about17 percent of the population.33 This is not just an American

problem, it is a capi-talist problem causedbecause individualwealth is valued overall things, includingpeople. According tothe UN statistics onthe depopulation ofcapitalist Europe, inthe year 2000, therewere 494 million Eu-ropeans aged fifteento sixty-five. That isprojected to plunge to365 million by 2050;however, the 107mil-lion Europeans oversixty-five today willsoar to 172 million inthe same period.34 Bythat time, more thana third of Europe's people will be over sixty.

Regardless of the miserable treatment that the eld-erly, the poor and the colored face in the form of covert andovert discrimination, western nations believe that their civili-zation and culture are superior, and that they have the rightto impose their rule and way of life on "inferior" civilizations,cultures and peoples.

Capitalism, in theory, calls for an equal treatment be-

32 - Sullivan, Thompson, Wright, Gross and Spady (1980) in theirbook Social Problems: Divergent Perspectives. (John Wiley & Sons,New York), discuss the great changes in the Socioeconomic life ofAmericans: The social status of the elderly has declined because theyno longer hold positions of economic power; their children are no longerdependent on them for their own livelihood; and they no longer performtasks that are viewed as essential for the group�s welfare (P. 340).33 - According to theAmerican Institute of Gerontology, Informationon Aging (Wayne State University / University of Michigan, no. 10,October 1,1976).

Western nations believethat their civilization andculture are superior, andthat they have the rightto impose their rule andway of life on "inferior"civilizations, culturesandpeoples.

34 - Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Af-fairs, United Nations Secretariat, Replacement Migration: Is It a Solu-tion to Declining and Aging Population? March 21,2000, p139. In P. J.Buchanan . Death of the West. St. Martin�s Press: New York. pp. 97-8

24


tween all the segmentsof society; in practice itcan never provide theright mechanism to doso. It institutes a differ-ent type of rigid socio-economic castes,which result in segre-gation and unequal ac-cess to social, healthand educational ser-vices. The rights of thestrong sectors of soci-ety are preserved- theyoung, the rich, thewhite, etc- while therights of the weak sec-tors -women, children,elderly people, singleparents, elderly people,etc. - are overlooked.

There is no pointin discussing the topic

of equality and communism here, since it has been discred-ited and abandoned by most of its own theoreticians andpractitioners, regardless of all rigorous modifications. Itbrought little or no good to the nations that have adopted it atthe point of the gun: only the ills of poverty, backwardnessand misery.

Capitalism is rooted in monopoly, the rich becomesricher while the poor gets poorer; otherwise, there will be nocapitalism. The world is not in need for more global eco-nomical exploitations at the hands of the multinational capi-

talist company. The dignity of the human has to be restoredthrough a universal way of life that is not discriminatory andthat views man the most dignified creature on earth. Thiswill lead us to our final destination in search of the only uni-versal system of life, which is mankind's only hope for anondiscriminatory treatment.5. Islam and Universal Equality

Any system that assumes universal applicability shouldappreciate its followers' potentials and recognize theirachievements, regardless of their ethnic, racial, geographi-cal or socioeconomic backgrounds. In other words, such asystem should only evaluate their potential (or their accom-plishment), and not what they have naturally been endowedwith in terms of such as, their color, race, country of origin,etc. Islam views people as equal. In fact, in Islam inherentdifferences have a greater wisdom that is worthy of appre-ciation. The religion, which views that all people are equal inthe eyes of their Creator, is Islam:

And of His signs is the creation of theheavens and the earth, and the diversityof your languages and colors. Indeed, inthat are signs for those of knowledge.

(The Qur'an 30:22)Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: NoArabhas any superiority over a non-Arab, nordoes a white man have any superiorityover a black man, or the black man anysuperiority over the white man. You are allthe children of Adam, and Adam wascreated from dust\earth.35

Islam rejects all forms of superiority complex based

The dignity of the hu-man has to be restoredthrough a universalway of life that is notdiscriminatory and thatviews man the mostdignified creature onearth. This will lead usto our final destinationin search of the onlyuniversal systemof life.

35 - Narrated by Bayhaqi and Bazzaar.

27


on racial, geographical, economical, linguistic or other in-herent factors. It considers righteousness and good con-duct as the basis for recognition. In relation to this principle,Allah TheAlmighty says:

O Mankind! We have created you frommale and female and made you nationsand tribes that you may appreciate oneanother. Indeed, the most noble of you inthe Sight ofAllah is themost righteous [i.e.,conscious of him]. Indeed,Allah is knowingand [all]Acquainted.

(The Qur'an 49:13)On the Plains of Arafat more than fourteen hundred

years ago, Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) declared the Islamiceternal principles of equality to a gathering of more than onehundred thousand. Therefore, every listener would passwhathe had heard to those who were not present:

O. People! Your Lord is one. Your father is

one.All of you came fromAdam andAdamwas created from dust. The noblestamong you before Allah is the mostrighteous. NoArab has any superiority overa non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab over anArab. Awhite man has no superiority overa black man, nor does a black man over awhite man but with righteousness. Have Iclearly conveyed the message? O. Allahyou are the Witness. Let the one who ispresent deliver the message to the absentones.

Prof. Ramakrishna Rao, a professing Hindu,36 quotedSarojini Naidu, the greatest Indian poetess, who spoke abouthow equality has been practiced in Islam by saying:

It was the first religion that preached andpracticed democracy; for, in the mosque,when the adhan (theMuslim call to prayer)is sounded and the worshippers aregathered together, the equality of Islam isembodied five times a day when thepeasant and the king kneel side by sideand proclaim, God alone is great.

The great poetess of India continues:I have been struck over and again by thisindivisible unity of Islam that makes amaninstinctively a brother. When you meet anEgyptian, anAlgerian, an Indian and aTurkin London, Egypt is themotherland for oneand India is the motherland for another.37

P r o p h e tMuhammad(pbuh) said:No Arab hasany superior-ity over anon -A r a b ,nor does awhite man

have any superiority over a black man, orthe blackmanany superiority over thewhiteman. You are all the children of Adam, andAdamwas created from dust\earth.

36 - Professor of Philosophy, University of Mysore, India.37 - K.S. Ramakrishna Rao. Mohammad: The Prophet of Islam. Al-FurqanAgency. P. 11.

29


If there is a unique attribute that our world has, it is diversityin both culture and belief. Therefore, any system, whichclaims universality, should have tolerance towards othercultural and religious practices as a non-negotiable principle.In this section of the book, light will be shed on the principleof tolerance based on historical evidence drawn from prac-tices of several religions and ideologies in

comparison to Islam. Since the previous section re-vealed the exclusive basis of Jewish intolerance, I will beginwith Christianity, which some believe manifests the kind-ness and gentility of Christ (pbuh). But when we apply anhistorical examination, the conclusion is completely the op-posite. Regardless of the teachings of Christianity and Ju-

Equality as an uncompromisedIslamic principle is not recognized asamere slogan to aspire for. It is prac-ticed on a daily basis through the fivedaily prayers, where Muslims submitto God standing on straight lines withno distinction between them. The ul-timate universal nature of Islam is ex-emplified during the Hajj (Pilgrimage)where about three million Muslimsfrom more than 70 countries gatherin one place with the same dress forthe sake of pleasing God and glorify-ing Him. All barriers including that of

race, color, language and status collapse.As some systems promote religious exclusiveness

and discrimination (Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity) and yetothers encourage economic; consequently social, inequal-ity (capitalism, communism and socialism), only Islam isan all-embracing and equalitarian system. This leads us toa second comparison between Islam and other existing ideo-logical systems in relation to tolerance, the second condi-tion for any proposed World Order.

Anysystem,whichclaimsuniversal-ity, should have tolerance towardsother cultural and religious prac-tices as a non-negotiable principle.

C H A P T E R II

Universality and Tolerance


daism that started at the hand of the most tolerant amongpeople, the prophets of Allah, a lot has emerged which cannever be part of their teachings but added over the ages.1. The Crusaders' Behavior in Palestine

Let's look at what the Christian Crusaders did to theMuslims when they waged wars against them and whenthey occupied Jerusalem. These wars were referred to asThe Holy Wars, which were conducted with the blessings ofthe Pope and under the banner of the Christian religiousleaders.

Although Jerusalem was surrounded for more than amonth, its inhabitants resisted the Crusaders' invasion cou-rageously. When the Crusaders finally won, they rushedthrough the streets killing, destroying and burning whateverthey saw in their way. They did not differentiate betweenmen,women or children. Themassacre lasted for the whole night.On Friday, 15th of June 1099, the Crusaders stormed thegates ofAl-AqsaaMosque and killed all those who were tak-ing refuge inside it. IbnAl-Atheer described the massacre inhis book Al-Kamil as follows:

The Crusaders killed more than 70thousand people. Some of thosewhowerekilled were Muslim scholars, erudites andadorationists who left their countries todwell near the holy places. They stolemore than 40 silver lanterns from the HolyRock, each costing at least 3600 (silverDirhams).

In his book, The Arab Civilization, the French histo-rian, Gustave Le Bon described the Crusaders' entry intoJerusalem, saying:

The Crusaders' behavior, when theyentered Jerusalem, was quite different

from that of the tolerant Caliph Omar binAl-Kattaab towards theChristians when heentered the city a few centuries earlier.38

In turn, the priest of Bolol City, Raymond Dagile, de-scribed this incident in history by saying:

What happened among the Arabs whenour people [the Christians] conqueredJerusalem's walls and towers was reallypuzzling; some of them [the Muslims]were head-cut, others were stabbed, sothat they were forced to throw themselvesdown the walls, others were burnt alive,so there could not be along Jerusalemroads except Arabs' heads, legs, andhands, so that we cannot avoid walking incorpses and this was just a sample ofwhat happened.39

Khalil Toutah and Bolous Shehadeh (Christian writers)recounted that massacre, declaring that:

What the Crusaders did in the place whereJesus was crucified and buried (accordingto the Christian Bible) is really shamefuland sinful. Jesus taught his disciples tolove their enemies; but the crusaders,whose ideal was the holy cross, killedwomen, children and the elderly people.Even those who escaped to Aqsaa werefollowed by Godephry who was known asthe protector of the Holy Tomb, and whenhe was in Java to fight the Egyptians, he

38 - Gustave le Bon TheArab Civilization. (tr. Adel Zueiter).39 - In Al-Quds History and Views. Pp.18 -19.

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became sick and asked his followers totake him back to Jerusalemwhere he died.He was buried in the Nativity Church.40

Unfortunately the crusade is not a thing of the past, assome might think. It continued with many influential Chris-tian influential personalities of the present. Though manyChristians positively regard it, Jews and Muslims, on theother hand, maintain very bitter memories about its bloodyhistory. Christian missionaries of the past and the presentview their work of seducing people to convert as a crusade.Politicians view their double standard policy against othernations as a crusade. In other words, tolerating others is notpart of the Christian agenda. It is not fair to deny the originalteachings of the prophets (PBUT). They taught toleranceand practiced it. They brought guidance and light. However,the grave distortions of their teachings resulted in crusades,inquisitions, slavery, discrimination, colonization and treat-ing people with double standards.2. Christians and Jews in Palestineunder Muslim rule

In contrast to the bleak history of the crusaders in Pal-estine, the Muslims have set a universal example for toler-ance and accommodation that no nation on earth can claimits like.Abu Ubaydah, theMuslim Commander, sent to Omarbin al-Khattab (the second Muslim Caliph) telling him thatthe citizens of Jerusalem wanted him to come to take thekeys of the city. Therefore, the caliph started his journey withhis steward heading towards Jerusalem. On his arrival, thecitizens of Elia (Jerusalem) received him with pleasure. Hesigned with them the famous peace document, which reads

as follows:In the name ofAllah, The Compassionate,The Merciful! This is what the Servant ofGod, Omar, Amir of the believers, gave toElia's inhabitants concerning the safety oftheir properties, money, churches, etc.Their churches should not be demolished.They should not be harmed or forced toaccept a religion against their will. Thisshould be guaranteed by the Khalifah andall Muslims, and monitored by Allah andHis Prophet (PBUH), as long as the otherside adheres to it and pays the Jezyah.

As a matter of fact, Omar was the first to liberateJerusalem from the Roman occupation.3. Islam in Spain

During the 7th century, the people of Spain were giventhe choice to accept Islam willingly and peacefully as hun-dreds of thousands of people around the world are accept-ing Islam today. However, with the papal approval in 1479,Prince Ferdinand and Princess Isabella executed theunimaginably bloody history of the Spanish Inquisition, wherenotorious and indescribable persecutions and torturesagainst Muslims and Jews took place. The purpose was toforce them to accept Christianity or be tortured to death.With the collapse of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold inSpain, into the hands of the Spaniards in 1492, Muslims werelike an unprotected herd of cattle that were attacked by hun-gry wolves. So, they were massacred, enslaved and com-pelled to embrace Christianity at the edge of the sword.

In his article "When the Moors Ruled Spain", ThomasJ.Abercrombie revealed many facts about the contributionswith which Muslims had presented the West. He also al-

40 - Khalil Toutah and Bolous Shehadeh. Jerusalem�s History andGuide. Jerusalem, 1480. P. 28.

34 35


luded to the justice of the Islamic rule: where Jews, Chris-tians andMuslims lived peacefully side by side for more thanseven centuries. Then he shifted 180 degrees to talk in briefabout atrocities committed by the Catholic Christians after-wards:

It was here, long after Alfonso VI that thefirst victims of a growing Christian bigotryperished at the stake. In 1469 PrinceFerdinand ofAragonwedPrincess Isabellaof Castile. While waging war against theMoors to the south, they would view as athreat the Muslims and Jews in their ownlands. In 1480, they established theSpanish Inquisition. Before it was over,three centuries later, thousands ofMuslims and Jews had died; an estimatedthreemillion people were driven into exile.Short of its leading businessmen, artists,agriculturalists, and scientists, Spainwould soon find itself a victim of its owncruelty.41

Iriving (1973) in his book The Falcon of Spain, de-scribed the position of Christians and Jews under the toler-ant Muslim rule as:

Side by side with the new rulers lived theChristians and Jews in peace. The latter,rich with commerce and industry, werecontent to let thememory of oppression bythe priest-ridden Goths sleep, [Jews hadbeen virtually eliminated from the SpanishPeninsula in the seventh century by the

Christians.] now that the prime authors of ithaddisappeared. Learned in all the arts andsciences, cultured and tolerant, they weretreatedby theMoors [MuslimsofSpain]withmarked respect, andmultiplied exceedinglyall over Spain; and, like the ChristianSpaniards under Moorish rule - who werecalledMozarabes - hadcaused to thank theirnewmasters for an eraof prosperity such asthey had never knownbefore.42

Such kind of tolerancehadmarked the relationship be-tween Muslims and Christiansand Jews. Muslims gave theChristians the chance to decideon their own. Gibbon (1823)stressed the fact that the Mus-lims of Spain abided by theteachings of Islam; they did notoppress the Christians and theJews and Spain, but rather treated them with unparalleledtolerance.

In times of tranquility and justice, theChristians have never been compelled torenounce the Gospel or to embrace theQur'an.43

Lea, the great historian, in his book The Moriscos of

41 - Thomas J. Abercrombie. When the Moors Ruled Spain. NationalGeographic, July 1988, P. 96.

42 - T. Irving. The Falcon of Spain. 1973, p. 72.43 - E. Gibbon. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire VI, 1823, p.453.

36 37


Spain, pointed out that the papal brief, which Pope ClementVII in 1524 issued, was a bill freeing Charles V from all obli-gations resulting from the binding promises he had made toprotect the life, religion, and the property of Muslims andJews. It reads as follows:

It recites the papal grief at learning that inValencia, Catalonia andArgon,Charles hasmany subjects who are Moors (Muslims)and with whom the faithful cannot holdintercourse without danger; they even livewith the temporal lords whomake no effortfor their conversion, all of which is ascandal to the faith and dishonor to theemperor, besides which they serve asspies, for those in Africa to whom theyreveal the design of the Christians. Ittherefore exhorts Charles to order theinquisitors to preach the word of God tothem and if they persist in their obstinacythe inquisitors shall designate a term andwarn them that on its expiration they shallbe exiled under pain of perpetual slavery,which shall be rigorously executed. Thetithes of their temporal possessions, whichthey have never hitherto paid, shall accrueto their lords in recompense for thedamage caused to them by the expulsion,under condition that the lords shall providethe churches with what is necessary fordivine service, while the revenues of themosques shall be converted intobenefices. The portentous documentconcludes with a formal release to Charles

from the oath sworn to the Cortes not toexpel the Moors; it absolved him from allcensures and penalties of perjury thencearising and grants him whateverdispensation is necessary for theexecution of the premises. Moreover, itconfers on the inquisitors ample facultiesto suppress all opposition with censuresand other remedies, invoking if necessarythe aid of the secular arm notwithstandingall apostolical constitutions and theprivileges and statues of the land.44

This consent from the supreme Catholic authority un-leashed the most indescribable form of savagery and intol-erance against the Muslims of Spain at the hands of dread-ful inquisitors.

The Muslims were given the choice ofeither accepting Christianity or death.When the village (Manices) surrendered,they were forcibly led to the church inbatches of twenty to twenty five, andbaptized, although they made it quiteobvious that they were not consenting totheir conversion.45

Those who resisted the barbaric compulsion faced aterrible fate.

They were all collected in a nearby castleand were 'massacred to man'46

It would be unfair to claim that all today's Christianswould approve of this. Nonetheless, the highest Christian

44 - H. C. Lea. 1901. The Moriscos of Spain. P.85.45 - Lea, p.6346 - Lea, p.64

38 39


authority of that time led its full support to such utmost atroci-ties. The Christian authorities of today are hesitant to can-didly renounce them, claim the responsibility, provide a pub-lic apology and stop all form of misinformation and distor-tions against Islam and Muslims.4. Christianity During the Era of Colonization

Many church leaders had indicated that non- Chris-tians do not have the right to live a good life and practice afaith of their own choice. Such premises have become non-negotiable principles in the minds of many. This very men-tality is clearly spelled out through the suggestion made bythe 'Bishop' of Winchester to Henry II of England:

Let these dogs (Mongols and Muslims)destroy one another and be utterlyexterminated and then we shall see theUniversal Catholic Church founded on theirruins and there will be one fold and oneshepherd.47

This was not only a singular attitude of this 13th cen-tury clergy, but rather that of some of the most prominentevangelists. Zwemer, who is looked to by Christian evange-lists as having been almost a prophet, said:

We must add to all this the utter collapseof Muslim political power inAfrica, Europeand Asia. We, however, believe when thecrescent wanes, the Cross will provedominant, and that the disintegration ofIslam is a divine preparation for theevangelization of Moslem lands....48

It might be argued by Christian apologists that suchare the ideas of a person who is not really a part of themainstream evangelists. But Zwemer is indeed consideredas one of the most prominent figures in theorizing theChristianization ofMuslims. In theColorado 1978 conference,hundreds of delegates suggested the establishment of aninstitute named after Zwemer inAltadena, California, for thesole purpose of researching how to attack the Muslims intheir belief.

While Muslims can invite people to the natural religionofAllah, The Supreme Being and the Creator of the universeand whatever therein, and believing in all the messengers ofAllah including Jesus (peace and blessings ofAllah be uponhim), Christian missionaries execute all means to seduceand buy the hearts of the needy, sick and illiterate peopleunder the cover of humanitarian aid while waging an unjustmedia campaign of misinformation and propaganda againstIslamic teachings. Don M. Mc Curry49 mentioned:

Many times wewere compelled to face theaccusation that we use [my bold] anymaterial, health and educational means tocreate [my bold] Christians among theMuslims who face very difficult anddesperate situations.50

5. Islam in Europe:To realize the standards and ethics that the Western

World Order is built upon, one must ponder on Huntington'sresponse in the Foreign Affairs regarding the Muslim's ac-

47 - Stephen Neill.AHistory of Christian Missions. Penguin Books Ltd.,New York, 1977, P. 118.48 - Lyle L. Van der Werff. Christian Missions to Muslims. WilliamCarey Library, California. 1977, P. 238.

49 - A leading evangelist and the current director of Samuel ZwemerInstitute.50 - In Robert C. Petkept andR. L. Macacaba.Food andHealthcare asMeans for Muslim Evangelism. The Gospel and Islam: A 1978 Com-pendium. Don M.Mc Curry (ed.). P. 826.

40 41


cusation of the WesternWorld Order-as being bi-ased and applying doublestandards,A world of clashingcivilizations, however,is inevitably a world ofdouble standards:people apply onestandard to their kin-countries and adifferent standard toothers.51

Such double stan-dards applied by thewestern world, the surro-gate father of the NewWorld Order, against theMuslims in Bosnia, Pal-estine, Chechnya,Azerbaijan and manyother places all over theworld are clear indicators

of the western unjust treatment of other, non-Christian soci-eties, including the Muslims.

As a matter of fact, it was the Vatican headed by thePope who was determined to provide strong backing to theoppressing Catholic country in the Bosnia conflict, Croatia.Hence, according to Huntington, the Vatican extended rec-ognition even before the European Community.52

Capricious actionsagainst hundreds ofthousands of oppressedpeoplewhowent throughvicious genocides andexperienced unheard-of-atrocities of rape in thehuman history werecarelessly dealt with bycountries carrying thebanners of the newworldorder.

I think it is one of the greatest tragedies and shamewritten with the blood of innocent people in the memory ofhistory for generations of Muslims and peace loving peopleto remember. Especially, when compared with the Islamicsystem of justice and tolerance that does not allow treatingeven one's enemies with injustice. Islam is innocent fromany malpractices that may be committed by ignorant Mus-lims, even if they claim that they are doing them in the nameof Islam.6. Islam in the Indian Subcontinent

Islam was firstly introduced into the Indian subconti-nent during the 7th century and the Muslim dominance con-tinued over India under the succeeding states until the Brit-ish invasion in 1857, lasting for more than 1100 years. Hadthe Christian method of inquisition and conversion at thepoint of the gun been practiced, not a single Hindu wouldhave been seen alive by the advent of the British colonialiststo India. However, the Islamic tolerance and understandingof the nature of man manifested itself in India. In the Qur'an,Allah has clearly declared tolerance to be an essential ethi-cal principle for mankind to follow.

A world of clashingcivilizations, how-ever, is inevitably aworld of doublestandards: peopleapply one standardto their kin-countriesand a different stan-dard to others.-Samuel P. Huntington. Clash of Civi-lizations.

51 - Samuel Huntington. Clash of Civilizations. (ForeignAffairs. Sum-mer, 1993, P.36).52 - Huntington. 1993. P.37.

Islam does not allowtreating even one'senemieswith injustice.Islam is innocent fromanymalpractices thatmay be committed byignorant Muslims,even if they claim thatthey are doing them inthe name of Islam.


Islam came to Indiaas well as to other partsof the world to transcendand elevate humanityabove racism, ignorance,superstitions and injus-tice. Therefore, there wasno need for forced con-version to the true religionof God. It is basically upto people to use the intel-lect with which God hasbestowed upon them andmake their choice. This isthe reason as to why hun-dreds of thousands ofpeople keep reverting toIslam as soon as they findout the truth about it.People embrace Islam bytheir own free will andwithout any seduction orcompulsion.Many among

themare scientists, politicians, lawyers, evangelists and evenpeople of fame: Cat Stephens (now Yusuf Islam), the formerfamous pop singer; M. Hoffman, the German Ambassadorto Morocco, who has recently written an eye-opening booktitled, Islam is theAlternative; Morris Bucaille, the well knownFrench scientist who accepted Islam after his long researchin science and religion that is summarized in his book, TheBible, The Qur'an and Science; Mr. Olson, the current Dan-ish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia who declared in a radiointerview that :

If the people know the reality of Islam,millions will embrace it.53

The list of those who have sought the truth of Islam istoo long to be mentioned here. It includes people from allwalks of life.7. Tolerance in Islam

When defining one of its important aspects, Islammeans complete submission to Allah by choice andconvicstion, not through seduction or compulsion. Islam ac-commodates and welcomes all people as brothers and sis-ters regardless of their distinctive/particular affiliations orbackgrounds. The Islamic attitude towards the followers ofother religions is not only to show tolerance towards theirbeliefs, but also to affirm a non-negotiable Islamic principleof tolerance and religious responsibility.

There is no compulsion in [accepting}religion. The right course has becomeclear from error. So whoever disbelievesin taghut [i.e. false deities] and believes inAllah has grasped the trustworthyhandhold with no break in it. And Allah isHearing and Knowing. (TheQur'an 2: 256)

In fact, through the course of history of Islam, it hasgranted the people of other faiths the highest degree of tol-erance by allowing them to follow their way, although someof their practices might have been in conflict with the reli-gion of the majority. It was this degree of tolerance that theMuslims adopted towards their non-Muslim citizens.

There is another aspect of this matter which cannotbe found in the written laws, nor can it be enforced by courtsor the governments: this is the spirit of tolerance which un-

Qutub Minar, Delhi, India

53 - The Islamic Magazine, The Qur�an radio station 16/2/1415.

45


except for those who commit injusticeamong them, and say we believe in thatwhich has been revealed to us andrevealed to you.And ourGod and yourGodis One; and we are Muslims [insubmission] to Him.

(The Qur'an 29: 46)In this context it seems appropriate to raise the ques-

tion: Is tolerance of other religions as preached by Islam amatter left to the Muslims to decide about? As a matter offact, tolerance in Islam has ideological basis in the Qur'anand the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and it isnot subject to any human interference. Therefore, it is a con-stant Islamic principle that does not change over time orplace. According to the Qur'an, every human being is to behonored as Allah has honored him/her:

Andwe have certainly honored the childrenofAdam, and carried them on the land andsea and provided for them of the goodthings and preferred them over much ofwhat We have created with [definite]preference.

(The Qur'an 17:70)Islam is the final revelation of Allah theAlmighty and

it is the religion of universal truth for all mankind. All of itsdoctrines can withstand any challenge. Therefore, the ex-istence of various religions--man-made or supposedly re-vealed religions--is only to allow the human intellect tochoose. The following verses of the Qur'an emphasize theseprinciples:

Allah witnesses that there is no deity exceptHim, and [so do] the angels and those ofknowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation]

derlies upright attitudes, benevolent dealings, respect forone's neighbors, and all the sincere sentiments of piety, com-passion, and courtesy. Execution and report of such atti-tudes are required of every Muslim and cannot be obtainedthrough constitutional legislation or court jurisdiction. Thespirit of tolerance which can only be found in Islam is exclu-sively practiced in a true Islamic society.54

ManyQur'anic verses have emphasized dealings withnon-Muslims with justice and respect, especially those wholive in peacewith theMuslims and do not raise enmity againstthem.

Allah does not forbid you concerning thosewho do not fight you because of religionand do not expel you from your homesfrom being righteous towards them andacting justly towards them. Indeed, Allahloves those who act justly.

(The Qur'an 60:8)And they give food in spite of their love forit to the poor, the orphan, and the captive,[Saying]: We feed you only for theacceptance ofAllah. We wish neither fromyou reward nor gratitude.

(The Qur'an 76: 8,9)Although Muslims might disagree with other ideologi-

cal systems and religious dogmas, it should not prevent themfrom demonstrating the correct manner of discussion andinteraction with non-Muslims:

And do not argue with the People of theScripture except in a way that is best,

54- Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Non-Muslims in the Islamic Society. (Tr. by K.M. Hamad and S.M.A. Shah)American Trust Publication, Indianapo-lis, 1985. P. 28.

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sins. Therefore, oppressing people because they have dif-ferent beliefs is rejected. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

The supplication of an oppressed person,even though he be a pagan, is heard (byAllah)directly, without any veil.56

8. Concluding RemarksTo sum it up, intolerance has been a permanent prac-

tice of those in power represents Judaism, Christianity andHinduism, and sometimes indoctrinated in their scriptures.They either shut off a segment of humanity or bring it in sim-ply to persecute it. To be killed or converted was, at leastuntil recently, the only choice confronting non-Christians ina Christian society or non-Hindus in a Hindu society. Peopleof different religions have lived in prosperity and enjoyed thefreedom to practice their faith. Some even sought asylum toescape religious persecution, as in the case of the Jews ofSpain.

Misery of people in the form of poverty or illness isinvested upon to change the belief of others. Stephen Neillhas illustrated the scope of such inhumane monopoly ofpeople suffering by saying:

It was often a short period of the arrival ofthe missionary Lavigari to Algeria thatcholera widespread. As a result of whicha famine took place. Hewas able to collect1800 orphan children after he had receivedpermission from the French authorities toconvert them to Christianity; then providethem with Christian education in somesettlements that were labeled The

in justice. There is nodeity except Him, theExalted in Might, theWise. Indeed, thereligion in the sight ofAllah is Islam. Andthose who were giventhe Scripture did notdiffer except afterknowledge had cometo them, out of jealousanimosity betweenthemselves and whoever disbelieves in theverses of Allah, thenindeed,Allah is swift in[taking] account.55(The Qur'an 3:18-19)

And had your Lord willed, those on earthwould have believed, all of thementirely. Thenwill you compel the people until they becomebelievers?

(The Qur'an 10: 99 )In Islam, injustice is regarded as one of the greatest

In Islam, injustice isregarded as one ofthe greatest sins.Therefore, oppress-ing people becausethey have differentbeliefs is rejected.ProphetMuhammad(PBUH) said: Thesupplication of anoppressed person,even though he be apagan, is heard (byAllah) directly,with-out any veil.

55 - In the actual world as it is, man has been endowed with variousfaculties and capacities, so that he should strive and explore and bringhimself into harmony with Allah�s will. Hence faith becomes a moralachievement, and to resist faith becomes a sin. As a complementaryproposition, men of faith must not be angry if they have to contendagainst disbelief. And most important of all, they must guard againstthe temptation of forcing faith, i.e. imposing it on others by physicalcompulsion. Forced faith is no faith (Part of the translator�s commenton the 10:99 verse, The Noble Qur�an, King Fahad Printing Complex,PP. 556,557).

56 -Related by ImamAhmed in hisMusnad. As reported in al-Qaradwi1985.

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Christian Villegas. Such steps encouragedother missionaries in other countries to dojust the same. They started by buyingchildren as slaves, and then gathered themin Christian Settlements.57

Neil continues talking about such incidents supportinghis arguments by statistics of buying the souls as well asthe beliefs of needy people by saying:

This process (buying children andChristianizing them) has succeeded to theexact that some missionaries by the year1902 were able to establish in one area,250 farms containing 5000 salve children.58Sigrid Hunke, the great German philosopher and his-

torian, referred in her book Allah ist ganz anders to part ofthe letter that Oliverous, the theological philosopher whowrote a letter in 1221 to Saladdin (SalahuDeen) expressinghis deep appreciation to the noble treatment the capturedcrusader soldiers received after their defeat in the battle ofHittin by writing:

For centuries, nobody has heard of suchmercy and generosity, especially towardsa brutal enemy's prisoners of war. WhenGod decreed that we should fall at yourhands, we did not see in you a ruthlesstyrant. Instead, we new you as mercifulfather who showered us with his kindnessand bounties as well as a supporter in hardtimes. And who would doubt that suchgenerosity and tolerancewas fromAllah?...

The men that we have killed their parents,sons, daughters, brothers and sisters; andmade them taste the most cruel torture,when we became their prisoners and wewere about to die out of hunger, theytreated us in the best way possible andpreferred us over themselves. They did sowhile we were helpless and powerless.59

Hunke went on to report some of the most unimagin-able atrocities that the crusaders have done against theMuslim civilians in Palestine. One of these incidents waswhen King Richard, The Lion's Heart, dishonored his repu-tation in the most demeaning way when he violated his oathto three thousand Muslim prisoners and ordered them to beslaughtered. The French king did the same.60

Provided to the reader below is a segment of an ar-ticle which has been written by one of the prominent Ameri-can thinkers, Professor John L. Esposito, in which he sum-marized the tolerance of Islam andMuslims during the peakof their power:

Christians and Jews were regarded asPeople of the Book (those who hadpossessed a Scripture (revelation fromGod). In exchange for allegiance to thestate and payment of a poll tax, theseprotected (dhimmi) peoples could practicetheir faith and be governed by their religiousleaders and law in matters of faith and

57 - Stephen Neill.AHistory of Christian Missionaries. Penguin Books,1979, PP. 42 - 429.58 - Neil, 1979. P.429

59 - Sigrid Hunke, Allah ist ganz anders. SKd Bavaria Verlag & HandelGmbh: Munchen, p. 25 (It was the author�s translation from the Ara-bic version into English)60 - Hunke, p.25-6.

50 51


any time in history, which is seldom, the word of the Creatorwill always prevail. Through the many random examples ofIslamic tolerance I selected from the writings of mostly non-Muslim writers, Islam has manifested an unparalleled formof tolerance. At a time when it asserts that it is the only sys-tem that contains the full truth as revealed and kept in tact inthe real words of the Creator 'The Qur'an". This tolerance inthe human sphere has allowed Islam to extend open-mindedness to the intellectual sphere, the topic of my nextsection.

private life (family laws).61Prince Charles was very candid in his speech about

Islam and the West at the Oxford center for Islamic Studieswhen he said:

Medieval Islam was a religion ofremarkable tolerance for its time, allowingJews and Christians the right to practicetheir inherited beliefs and setting anexample which was not, unfortunately,copied for many centuries in the West�62

Thus, Islam has proven to be more tolerant than theimperial Christianity, providing greater religious freedom forJews and Christians. Most local Christian Churches hadbeen persecuted as schematics heretics by a foreign Chris-tianOrthodoxy. Islam as a universal system tolerates peoplesof different religious backgrounds and protects the rights ofits diverse subjects against oppression and discrimination.At the same time, it emphasizes that it is the only absolutetruth with ample objective and logical evidence. Tritton ex-pressed his opinion regarding this very great attribute of tol-erance in Islam by saying "The picture of the Muslim soldieradvancing with a sword in one hand and the Qur'an in theother is quite false."63

Only Islam preaches and practices tolerance as partof its fundamental teachings that allows no second interpre-tation. Regardless of any deviation in part of the Muslims at

61 - John L. Esposito. Islam and Christianity Fact to Face: An oldconflict and prospects for a new ending. Commonwell. January 31st,1997, P.12.62 - Prince Charles, � Islam and the West.� Arab News, October 27,1993. In R. Hill Addulsalam. Women�s Ideal Liberation. Abul-QasimPublishing House: Jeddah, pp. 41-3.63 - A.S.Trittonin�Islam,�1951.inhttp://web.ionsys.com/~remedy/Islam%20and%20the%20Prophet%20God.htm

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one's time in complete seclusion and isolation from the sur-rounding world, which is full of injustice. Man, according toBuddhism, is viewed as a source of evil. In order for him toacquire righteousness, he must abandon this world and livein complete isolation. Such a philosophy can never succeedin bringing about peace of mind for its followers.

In both Hinduism and Buddhism, the world is regardedas evil, and salvation is understood as its rejection, namely,as freedom from the world. Moreover, these religions makesalvation a personal, individualistic affair, since they define itin terms of states of consciousness, which can be only per-sonal. Interaction with the outside world is viewed as evil.64

Whatever social order which has been developed bythe Hindus in terms of a state, an empire, a civilization or adistinctive human community was done in deviation fromtheir teachings. Today's India based its system of govern-ment on democracy, regardless of the Hindu parties thatplay a major role in Indian politics.

I think that such attitudes towards life cannot be ac-cepted in a world like ours where great advances in technol-ogy have taken place and become an integral part of ourlives. No doubt, many of these advances in industry havebrought many unwanted side effects in both social andhealth-related areas of society. A modern atheistic civiliza-tion, to the other extreme, givesman the full liberty to involvehimself in all aspects with no limits or respect to either na-ture or people. That can be seen in the irresponsible prac-tices in genetic engineering and the destruction of ecology.Purely material gains have blindfolded the eyes of the devel-opers against the devastating moral, social and health prob-lems that are posing unprecedented threats to humankind.

This section of the book is devoted first to examining someof the systems of life adopted in our world nowadays. Fol-lowing the examination we should be able to decide whichsystem best accommodates our needs for development andbetter life styles. It should also help us determine thosewhichhinder civilization and advancement, as well as those whichgive no priority to the values and ethics that underpin man'ssocial, psychological and physical well-being. For a univer-sal system to succeed, we need to adopt the one that isable to meet and balance our needs for a better life andprevent any transgression that may result in the destructionand extinction of mankind.1. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Science

If we take Buddhism into consideration as a proposeduniversal way of life, it is easily realized that true Buddhismmeans complete devotion to idol worshipping and spending

C H A P T E R III

Universality and Promotion of Science

64 - Al- Faruqi, 1404, P. 101.

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O Children of Adam! Wear your goodclothing at every masjid, but be notexcessive. Indeed, He [i.e., Allah] likes notthose who commit excess. Say, Who hasforbiddenAllah's adornment, whichHe hasproduced for His servants and the lawfulthings of provision?Say, They are for thosewho believe during worldly life [but]exclusively for them on the Day ofResurrection. Thus doWe explain in detailthe verses for a people who know.

Any system of life that hinders advancement of hu-manity in sciences and technology that are of the benefit ofhumanity is not worthy of being chosen as a way of life.Islam stands tall in this regard, since it is the only religionthat has opened the doors for great leaps in all fields of sci-ences. Muslims do not succeed in science and technologywhen they distance themselves from the pure teachings ofIslam. Colonialists and orientalists discovered that fact, andhence tried to distract Muslims away from the real source ofdevelopment. Many historians have recognized this fact.Among them, Philip Hitti, who says while referring to Al-Khawarzmi, a celebratedMuslim scholar in the field of math-ematics:

One of the best scientific minds of Islam,Al-Khwarizmi, is undoubtedly themanwhoexercised the most influence onmathematical thought during the whole ofthe MiddleAges.65

M. Charles, a French scientist, refers to the contribu-tion of another Muslimmathematician,Al-Battani, by saying:

The materialistic solutions that seldom succeed are alwayssought. Aids, cancer, poverty, illiteracy, smoking, drugs, al-cohol and many other social problems have grown at esca-lating rates. Materialistic gains have becomemajor goals atthe expense of values and morals. However, seceding atthe other extreme of rejecting any involvement in the worldlyaffairs goes against the true nature of man. The need isurgent for a system that is not manipulated by the narrowmaterialist interests of a careless greedy minority; and atthe same time striking a balance between man's needs foradvancement in science and technology.2. Islam and Science

Islam solves this dilemma by taking a moderatestance in relation to this issue. Man is not denied the right toenjoy life providing that he does not violate the rights of othercreations ofAllah as described by Him in theQur'an- 7: 31-32

The need is urgentfor a system that isnot manipulated bythe narrowmaterial-ist interests of acareless greedy mi-nority; and at thesame time striking abalance betweenman's needs for ad-vancement in scienceand technology.

65 - Philip K. Hitti. Precis deHistoire des Arabes. (Short History of theArabs). Payot, Paris,1950.

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Austrians, had sent for two Saracen Muslim scholars to actas tutors for his son and heir.

After conducting a rigorous comparative research ofthe Bible and the Qur'an to the major discoveries of modernscience, the French renowned scientist and member of theFrench Scientific Academy noticed the absence of any con-tradictions between the contents of the Qur'an and thesediscoveries. Furthermore, he found that theQur'an describesboth phenomenal and unseen worlds in a completely accu-rate way:

'The Qur'an follows on from the tworevelations that preceded it and is not onlyfree from contradictions in its narrations,the signs of the various humanmanipulations to be found in the Gospels,but provides a quality all of its own for thosewho examine it objectively and in the lightof science, i.e. its complete agreementwith modern scientific data. What is more,statements are to be found in it that areconnected with science: and yet it isunthinkable that a man of Muhammad'stime could have been the author of them.Modern scientific knowledge thereforeallows us to understand certain verses ofthe Qur'an, which, until now, it has beenimpossible to interpret.68

3. The Impact of Muslim Sciences on EuropeThe scientific renown of the Muslims had spread far

and wide, and attracted the intellectual elite of the WesternWorld to Andalusia, Sicily and to the south of Italy. At the

Al-Battani was the first to use in his worksthe expressions sine and cosine. Heintroduced it to geometric calculus andcalls it extended shadow. It is what is calledin modern trigonometry the tangent.66

Historians stress that modern sciences are indebtedto the Muslims for great advances in many of the scientificfields. As Fauriel (1846) states:

Contact between the two civilizations--Christian and Muslim-- had beenestablished by normal and well-foundedroutes. In this, commerce and pilgrimageplayed the principal role. Land and seatraffic between East andWest was alreadyflourishing well before the XIth century. Itwas through Spain, Sicily and the Southof France, which were under directSaracen rule that Islamic civilizationentered into Europe.67

By the middle of the IXth century, Muslim civilizationhad already prevailed in Spain. The Spaniards of that timeregarded Arabic as the only medium for science and litera-ture. Its importance was such that the Ecclesiastical Au-thorities had been compelled to have the collection of can-ons used in Spanish churches translated into the Romancelanguages, (the predecessors of modern Spanish) for thetwo languages were in current use throughout the whole ofMuslim Spain. Christian Spain recognized this superiority ofthe Muslims. In about 830, Alphonse the Great, King of the

66 - M. Charles. Apercu historique des methodes en geometrie. (His-torical Outline of Geometrical Methods). In Bammate.67 - In Haidar Bammate.Muslim Contribution to Civilization. AmericanTrust Publications, 1962. P. 16.

68 - Morris Bucaille. The Bible, the Qur�an and Science. 4th edition,p.268.

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papal authority70 reacted ruthlessly. Itestablished the inquisitions to discover,and bring to book, the heretics lurking intowns, houses, cellars, caves and fieldsThis institution performed its duty withsuch savage alacrity that a Christiantheologian exclaimed that it was hardlypossible for a man to be a Christian, anddie in his bed. It is estimated that between1481 and 1801 the Inquisition punishedthree hundred and forty thousand persons,nearly thirty-two thousands of whomwereburnt alive, including the great scientist,Bruno, whose only crime was that hetaught the plurality of the worlds. Brunowas delivered to the secular authorities tobe punished asmercifully as possible, andwithout the shedding of blood, which, infact was the horrible formula for burning aprisoner at stake. Galileo, another scientistof no less worth, contrary to the scriptures,was tortured by the Inquisitions formaintaining that the earth moved aroundthe sun.71

According to Draper in his book History of Conflictbetween Religion and Science, intellectual stagnation of theclergy and the atrocities perpetrated by the Inquisition ledthe enlightened sectors of the European society to revoltnot only against the clergy and the church, but also againstall the values and any type of truth that was not corrupted by

same time when the Muslim civilization was prospering dur-ing the Middle Ages, the Christian world was living in com-plete darkness. Philip Hitti remarked:

No other people made as important acontribution to human progress as did theArabs, if we take this term to mean allthose whose mother tongue was Arabicand not merely those living in the ArabianPeninsula. For centuries, Arabic was thelanguage of learning, culture andintellectual progress for the whole of thecivilized world, with the exception of theFar East. From the ninth to the twelfthcentury, there were more philosophical,medical, historical, religious, astronomicaland geographical works written in Arabicthan in any human language.69

It was the Muslims' advances in science and diffusionof knowledge that ignited the beginning of our contemporaryprogress in science and technology. Al-Nadawi commentson this by writing:

Meanwhile, owing to the Islamic andMuslim scientific influences, the volcanoof knowledge had burst in Europe. Itsthinkers and scientists had broken theintellectual slavery. They boldly refuted theecclesiastical theories, which were basedon preposterous evidence, andproclaimed their own investigations. The

70 - How can the things and writings of those clergymen be acceptedas the basis of today�s Christianity?71 - Al-Nadawi, P. 127.

69 - Philip K. Hitti. Pre,cis d Histoire des Arabes. (Short History of theArabs). Payot, Paris, 1950.

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Yet another result of this defection ofmodern science is that the world we livein has become devoid of all meaning andpurpose, with no higher order or power toguide it. Tension and conflict betweendifferent forces have become the order ofthe day.As a result everything in this worldis changing.73This misuse of science has affected all spheres of

life--the political, economical, educational, healthy, even thepresumably scientific world of facts. All these factors urgeman to look for a system in which he may find satisfaction,peace, tranquility, and freedom from contradictions.

An example of such misguided science is the preju-dice against blacks for a larger part of the USA. The rise ofpseudoscientific racism and the popularity of social-engi-neering ideas among Latin American white elites militatedagainst the social acceptance of the black population. Thepositivist followers of the French philosopherAuguste Comtethought Africans were far from ready for the stage of techni-cal modernity, and neglected them.Adherents of social Dar-winism considered the African dimension of the pluralisticsociety a sign of fundamental weakness because they as-sumed the natural superiority of the white race.74

5. Why does Islam Encourage Scienceand Advancement?

Why is it so that Islam is the only system of life that

the devious clergy.72

4. The Shallowness of Modern ScienceThe study of science, which Islam gave to the West,

was to a large extent perfectly in accord with Allah's teach-ings. However, from the 14th century until today, Westernsocieties have diverged from this Islamic scientific tradition.Islam requires that people take over the responsibility of de-veloping science that benefits all people with no harm toothers; while respecting nature. Islam also emphasizes avery important principle that science cannot be turned intogod, because of a very simple reason, which is that, ourknowledge is relative and conjectural, and therefore our sci-ences are also relative and conjunctural. Muhamed Qutbwrites:

The god of science has, however, turnedout to be extremely fickle, ever changingand constantly shifting positions, upholdingone thing as a fact and reality today andrejecting it the other day as false andspurious. Consequently its worshippersare doomed to a perpetual state ofrestlessness and anxiety, for how can theyfind rest and peace of mind under such acapricious god? That the modern West isafflicted with this uncertainty andrestlessness is born out by the largenumber of psychological and nervousdisorders that are so common in modernsocieties today.

He also adds:

72 - Detailed information about this topic is found in J. W. Draper.History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. London, 1927.

73 - Muhammad Qutb. Islam and the Crisis of the ModernWorld. Islamits Meaning and Message. Khushid Ahmed. The Islamic Foundation,London. 1980. P. 244.74 - Black in the Americas, Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) 96 Encyclopedia.(c) 1993-95Microsoft Corporation.All rights reserved. (c) Funk &WagnallCorporation. All rights reserved.

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can integrate man's needs for advancement and discoveryof the universe around him? The features that distinguishIslam from other beliefs led Gibb (a well-known orientalist)to write:

The kind of society that a community buildsfor itself depends fundamentally upon itsbelief as to the nature and purpose of theuniverse and the place of the human soulwithin it. This is a familiar enough doctrineand is reiterated from Christian pulpitsweek after week. But Islam possibly is theONLY religion, which has constantly aimedto build up a society on this principle. Theprime instrument was law (Shreia'h).75

Why is Islam the only religion that can meet the needs

of humanity and integrate and interact with the universe in aharmonious way? It is simply because all other religions anddogmas have never adopted a true monotheistic way of life.They emphasized the personification of god through nature.They also assumed that contradiction was a principle char-acteristic of knowledge. Therefore, during a period of morethan 1000 years, when Christianity, for example, took con-trol of peoples' minds, this era did not produce any naturalsciences. Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. could not adopta scientific attitude until Islam liberated them from their poly-theism76, which was imposed by religious authorities, anduntil they were exposed to the Muslim scientific revolution.Neither Hinduism, Buddhism nor Christianity could elevatetheir followers to engage in scientific thinking. Nevertheless,as soon as they became Muslims and worshipped the Al-mighty God alone, they became scientists and great think-ers side by side with the MuslimArabs of that era. Examplesfrom history as presented above are great witnesses.

Muslims were able to acquire the qualities needed forscientific thinking and advancement for two main reasons:firstly, theGloriousQur'an and theNoble traditions of ProphetMuhammad urged the people to contemplate and study theirown nature as well as themselves and the universe aroundthem.

Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might andForgiving.

(The Qur'an 35:28)

Why is Islam the only religion that canmeetthe needs of humanity and integrate andinteract with the universe in a harmoniousway? It is simply because all other religionsand dogmas have never adopted a truemonotheistic way of life. They emphasizedthe personification of god through nature.They also assumed that contradiction wasa principle characteristic of knowledge.

Why is Islam the only religion that canmeetthe needs of humanity and integrate andinteract with the universe in a harmoniousway? It is simply because all other religionsand dogmas have never adopted a truemonotheistic way of life. They emphasizedthe personification of god through nature.They also assumed that contradiction wasa principle characteristic of knowledge.

75 - H.A.R. Gibb. Modern Trends in Islam, pp. 86-7.

76 - Examples of this are Trinity in Christianity, andworship of Saintsand the great influence of priests. As for Hinduism, Gustave le Bonmentioned in his classic book Les Civilization de l Inde that The Vedasgive the number of Hindu gods as 33. During this period, asmany as33million gods were worshipped by Hindus. Almost everything thatpossessed any attractiveness or utility had been vestedwith divineattributes. pp. 440-1.

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waves, above which are waves, abovewhich are clouds. Darknesses, one aboveanother. If a man stretches out his hand,he cannot see it....

(Qu'ran, 24:40)This verse mentions the darkness found in deep seas

and oceans, where if a man stretches out his hand, he can-not see it. The darkness in deep seas and oceans is foundaround a depth of 200meters and below. At this depth, thereis almost no light (see the figure below). Below a depth of1000 meters there is no light at all. Human beings are notable to dive more than forty meters without the aid of sub-marines or special equipment. Human beings cannot sur-vive unaided in the deep dark part of the oceans, such as ata depth of 200 meters and deeper.

Figure: Between 3 and 30 percent of the sunlight is reflected at the seasurface. Then almost all of the seven colors of the light spectrum areabsorbed one after another in the first 200 meters, except the blue light.(Oceans, Elder and Pernetta, p. 27.)

Say, Are those who know equal to thosewho do not know?Only theywill remember[who are] people of understanding.

(The Qur'an 39:9)Allah will raise those who have believedamong you and those who were givenknowledge by degrees. And Allah isacquainted with what you do.

(The Qur'an 58:11)Then, do they not reflect upon the Qur'an?If it had been from [any] other than Allah,they would have found within it muchcontradiction.

(The Qur'an 4:82)Do those who disbelieve not see that theheavens and earth were a joined entity,then We separated them, and made fromwater every living thing? Then will they notbelieve?

(The Qur'an 21:30)We will show them Our Signs in thehorizons and within themselves until itbecomes clear to them that it is the truth.But is it not sufficient concerning your Lordthat He is over all things a Witness?

(The Qur'an 41: 53)Many of these signs have been thoroughly discussed

in the Qur'an and later on discovered by scientists as theyprogress in their knowledge and their scientific techniquesin research development. The following excerpt refers to asingle sign that scientist found great details in the Qur'an.

Or (the unbelievers' state) is like thedarkness in a deep sea. It is covered by

Figure:

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The internal waves cover the deep waters of seas andoceans because the deep waters have a higher density thanthe waters above them. Internal waves act like surfacewaves. They can also break, just like surface waves. Thehuman eye cannot see internal waves, but they can be de-tected by studying temperature or salinity changes at a givenlocation.77

As a matter of fact, this verse that talks about how theuniverse was created has the very information by which twophysicists were awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize. However,these scientific facts had already been revealed to ProphetMohammed more than 1400 years ago.78

Secondly, Tawheed (the worship of Allah alone) is theessence on which Islam is built. It rejects all types of mythsand superstitions, since they are the greatest enemies ofscience. Tawheed refers all aspects of causality to Allah.Therefore, scholars should be able to investigate and dis-cover these relationships, know them, and then put them tothe use of humanity.79

After the long and bitter struggle between science andother religions, Islam came to bring harmony between thereligion of Allah and science in this century of science. In

Scientists have recently discovered this darkness bymeans of special equipment and submarines that have en-abled them to dive into the depths of oceans

We can also understand from the following sentencesin the previous verse, "...in a deep sea. It is covered bywaves, above which are waves, above which are clouds....",that the deep waters of seas and oceans are covered bywaves, and above these waves are other waves. It is clearthat the second set of waves is the surface waves that wesee, because the verse mentions that above the secondwaves there are clouds. But, what about the first waves?Scientists have recently discovered that there are internalwaves, which "occur on density interfaces between layersof different densities." (See the figure below).

Internal waves at interface between two layers of water of different den-sities. One is dense (the lower one), the other one is less dense (theupper one). (Oceanography, Gross, p. 204.

Figure:

77 - The above large excerpt was taken in its entirety from I.A. Ibraheem.A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam. Darusalam: Houston,2002, pp.20-2278 -Gary Miller. TheAmazing Qur�an. Abul-Qasim Publishing House.PP. 33-34. Formore information about the recently discovered scien-tific miracles of the Qur�an, see Maurice Bucailles� book, The Bible,The Qur�an and Science. Kazi Publications: Lahore, Keith Moore, TheDeveloping Human. W.B. Saunders Company: Philadelphia, 1982.79 - Avery valuable book on this topic, entitled Tawheed and its Influ-ence on Thought and Life, was written by Dr. Isma�il al-Farouqi, thelate Chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at Temple Uni-versity.

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this regard, the Muslim World League has established acommission that is specialized in investigating the scientifi-cally proven facts as described in the Qur'an and Sunnah(teachings of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh).80

In summary, other ways of life (Christianity, Buddhism,Capitalism, Communism and Hinduism) have never cometo a unified understanding ofAllah, man or nature. Thus theirviews of science have been fallacious. The unity of Islamallows a proper scientific perspective, which promotes ad-vancement and development in the fields of science andtechnology. Such understanding of reality and the relationbetween the human being and nature in addition to the roleMuslims should play in science is clearly illustrated in thisquote from Dr. Mahathir Mohammed's speech at the OxfordIslamic Forum:

In this modern world Muslims have a realmission. Theymust bring back the spiritualvalues to a world that is fast becomingGodless and thoroughly materialistic, soarrogant that it thinks it knows all theanswers to everything; a world which willdevelop the ultimate means of destructionand place it on the hands of irresponsibleand insane individuals; a world tittering inthe brink of a man-made Apocalypse.

Presently, people want to create a world according totheir wishes. They forget that for all their brilliance, they canhardly answer the "why" questions. They cannot answer whyit works the way it does, why the universe operates in theway it does, why matter acts in the way it does, why oxygen

and hydrogen form water,etc. Our scientific endeavor mayprovide different mechanisms to achieve adequate obser-vation of and descriptive laws of the universe. Adequate ex-planatory ability will remainmost of the time beyond the reachof purely human science. If any answers would emerge, theywould only be conjectural.

The 21st Century is insignificant to the Muslims andnon-Muslims alike. It is just a period in time, which will seemany changes to which Muslims will be part of, regardlessof their stand towards them. It is better if they faced it withtheir eyes wide open and with a clear vision of what theywant to do and the role they wish to play.And if they chose toplay a constructive role while retaining their faith, the spiri-tual values and brotherhood, they would be able to contrib-ute positively to the development of humankind.81

I think it is appropriate to conclude this chapter withthe words of the great historian of sciences, V. Robinson, indescribing the situation ofMuslimSpain during theDarkAgesin Europe. It is a reminder regarding the function of Islam asa genuine drive for guiding and benefiting science which itsaim should be for the benefit of humanity:

Europe darkened at sunset, Cordovashonewith public lamps; Europe was dirty,Cordova built a thousand baths; Europewas covered with vermin, Cordovachanged its garments daily; Europe lay inmud, Cordova's streets were paved;Europe's palaces had smoke-holes in theceiling, Cordova's arabesques wereexquisite; Europe's nobility could not sign

80 - The address of this commission is Commission on ScientificMiracles of Qur�an and Sunnah, Muslim World League, Makkah, SaudiArabia.

81 -Mahathir Mohamad (TheMalaysian PrimeMinister) Muslims canbe Positive Force in the 21st Century. Islamic Future - Vol. XIII-No. 71

70 71


its name, Cordova's children went toschool; Europe's monks could not readthe baptismal service, Cordova's teacherscreated a library of Alexandriandimensions.82

This conclusion leads to the fourth principle towardswhich the universality of Islam points -- that it provides thebest solutions to the problems facing humankind rather thancreating new ones.

Humanity today faces numerous critical problems, fromindividual problems such as, alcoholism and sexual dis-eases, to social problems such as, the dire conditions ofthe elderly, abuse of children and women, and pervasiveglobal problems like wars of aggression. If any system oflife is proposed for humankind, it should be able to providepreventative measures for such problems. It should also beable to solve emerging problems. There is no doubt that theexistence of the majority of our problems in the world is theresult of the inability of the existing systems to neither pre-vent nor solve such problems. Indeed these systems oftenseem to encourage the manifestation of and root cause forthese problems.

82 - V. Robinson, The Story of Medicine, p. 164, in Thomson 1996, ForChrist�s Sake. Ta-Ha Publications: London, p.xi.

C H A P T E R IV

Universality andSolving Problems of Humanity

humanithumanithumanithumanithumanityyyyytoday facesnumerouscriti-cal problems, from indi-vidualproblemssuchas, al-coholism and sexual dis-eases, to social problemssuchas, thedire conditionsof the elderly, abuseof chil-dren and women, and per-vasive global problems likewars of aggression.

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1. Alcoholism and DrugAddictionAlthough some of the existing systems, especially the

secular ones, have achieved considerable scientific andmaterial success, which have brought positive changes andcomfort to some, their negative impact and pressures haveled for many people to resort to self-destructive actions andhabits. Consumption of narcotics, drugs and alcohol hasbecome a universal problem. The magnitude of these prob-lems has transcended health and social consequences re-sulting in war between drug smugglers and countries wheredrug trafficking takes place on the one hand and countriesof drug consumption on the other. The crimes of drug andalcohol users vary from public drunkenness or driving whileintoxicated to committing rape, manslaughter and homicide.

In the year 1979 alone, police in the U.S. reported2,137,999 alcohol-related crimes.83 In fact, the dire effectsof alcohol went far beyond this figure. In 1975, there wereabout 50,000,000moderate drinkers and 14,000,000 heavydrinkers in the United States alone.84 The reliance of manyAmericans on alcohol and drugs seems to have grownsubstantially and has emerged as one of the most costlysocial problems and the most difficult to control. One mightbe asked why has the problem of alcoholism become moreserious in recent years? The answer of five leadingAmericansociologists is:

The last decades inAmerica were referredto as the chemical age, in which people

utilize a myriad of substances in order tocope with whatever problems they face:physical pain, emotional upset, or blockedaspirations. Some have gone so far as toargue that America is a drug culture, andwhen we consider the enormous quantityand variety of drugs consumed byAmericans each year, there may be somecredence to this description.85

Realizing the magnitude of alcoholism and drug ad-diction, many countries have taken different measures. TheUnited States, for example, banned the consumption andthe selling of all forms of alcoholic beverages and other typesof drugs in 1920. This was known as the Prohibition law,which lasted from 1920 to 1933. However, despite the mightof the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, it resultedin great failure and perhaps could have never succeeded.As a matter of fact, the enactment of the National Prohibi-tion Act was followed by widespread disregard of it. Illegalmanufacturing, transportation and sale of alcoholic bever-ages became common. It provided organized criminals avery valuable source of business. The whole experimentresulted in a dismal failure.86

This very fatal problem is not peculiar to the US. In-deed, most societies of the world suffer greatly from alco-holism, more than any other drug.According to a report pub-lished in the year 2000 by the Russian daily news paperKommersant,87 two thirds of Russian men die drunk and

83 - Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, 1979Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980), PP. 196-197.84 -Carl D. Chambers, James A. Inciardi, Harvey A. Siegal. ChemicalCoping : A Report on Legal Drug Use in the United States. SpectrumPublications, Inc., NewYork, 1975.

85 - Sullivan, Thompson, Wright, Gross and Spady (1980), P. 612.86 - Henry W. Mannle and J. David Hirschel. Fundamentals of Crimi-nology. Delmar Publishing Inc.Albany, NewYork, 1982. P. 322.87 - Kommersant, Moscow, May 19, 2000, in BenAdam (2006) �Alcohol:The Devil�s Deadly Disease�. http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/454/

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more than half of that number dies in extreme stages ofalcoholic intoxication. At 57.4 years, Russian men have thelowest life expectancy rate in Europe. The paper reportedthe results of a three year study of men aged between 20and 55 in the cities of Moscow and Udmurita that:

"Everyone is drunk: Murderers and theirvictims, drowning victims, suicides, driversand pedestrians killed in traffic accidents,victims of heart attacks and ulcers."

Mr. Chernyenko, vice chairman of the National Orga-nization of Russian Muslims, remarks on the matter of alco-holism:

"One can say that drinking vodka or wineis a significant aspect of Russian culture,yet I can be a good Russian while notdrinking alcohol� Most of the socialproblems in Russia are caused by alcoholconsumption. If we can introduce someIslamic social values to Russia, the

society and the country will becomestronger."

It is beyond doubt that neither Judaism nor Christian-ity or any other system can provide a workable solution tosuch a problem, because alcohol consumption is an es-sential part of most if not all their religious and official occa-sions even though it is prohibited according to the teachingsof The Bible, the source of their teachings. As for drugs, it isevident that influential sectors of some nominally Christiangovernments do support the legalization of drugs or haveinitiated programs--such as the free distribution of syringesto addicts - which encourage drug addiction rather than con-taining it. During the last five years alone, the United Statesgovernment has spent $52 billion in fighting drugs with littleif any success.88

General Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander of theAllied Forces in the Gulf War addressed the US Congresson how the prohibition of alcohol consumption in SaudiArabiamade for better andmore disciplinedAmerican soldiers, June13, 1991):

"Our sick call rate went down, our accidentand injury rate went down, our incidentsof indiscipline went down, and health of theforces went up. So there were some verytherapeutic outcomes from the fact thatno alcohol was available whatsoever in theKingdom of Saudi Arabia."89

The Islamic SolutionAlcoholism and drug addiction have proven to be un-

According to a reportpublished in the year2000 by the Russiandaily news paperKommersant, twothirds ofRussianmendie drunk and morethan half of thatnumber dies in ex-treme stages of alco-holic intoxication.

88 - Family, Vol. 14. 14 August, 1994. P. 9.89 - Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf address to the US Congress, June 13,1991, in Ben Adam (2006) �Alcohol: The Devil�s Deadly Disease�. http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/454/

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solvable problems to many sociologists and social activ-ists, not to mention the police force and politicians. Unableto stem their use, the societies where alcoholism and drugabuse have become chronic have ceased addressing un-derlying root causes. Instead, they concentrate on control-ling the effects in a selective and piecemeal approach. Forinstance, there is not a law that prevents the manufacture,sale and the consumption of alcoholic beverages, thoughthere is one for driving while intoxicated. The effect, not theroot cause, is addressed here: the symptom, not the dis-ease. Pilots can drink any time they want but not when han-dling airplanes. Liquor advertising is so prevalent that it hasindoctrinated children. Children cannot wait to reach eigh-teen years of age, so that they can hastily rush to the clos-est liquor store to buy alcohol by themselves for the firsttime, as if it were a treat or 'the thing' to do.

All these contradictions and double standards are re-jected in Islam. If alcohol is harmful while driving, then it shouldbe harmful at all times. If it is harmful for young people underthe age of eighteen, then it should be harmful for the peopleat any age. The evidence to the contrary is the horrific num-ber of crimes that are being committed under the influenceof alcohol or drugs.

Islam, the divine teaching of God, came to eliminatethis problem altogether; therefore, it leaves no opportunityfor its grave consequences to destroy human beings andtheir societies.All avenues that lead to alcohol consumptionare legally blocked. So, instead of exploiting resources todeal with the symptomatic aspects, the whole disease isprevented. Islam aims, from the beginning, at raising theconsciousness of its followers. Thus, outside enforcementis not necessary. One findsmany places in the Qur'an whereAllah says:

O you who believe be aware of AllahO you who have believed, be upright [inresponsibility] for Allah, witnesses injustice, and do not let the hatred of a peopleprevent you from being just. Be just; thatis nearer to righteousness.And fearAllah.Indeed, Allah is acquainted with what youdo.

(The Qur'an 5:8)Islam has established a whole system of life so that

all its components work in harmony. Solutions that have beenproposed all over the world to solve the problems in ques-tion are not compatible with other systems of the same so-ciety. As a result, they have led to social chaos. Fasting, one

Islamhas established awhole systemoflife so that all its componentswork inhar-mony. Solutions that have been pro-posed all over the world to solve theproblems in question are not compatiblewith other systems of the same society.As a result, they have led to social chaos.

Islamhas established awhole systemoflife so that all its componentswork inhar-mony. Solutions that have been pro-posed all over the world to solve theproblems in question are not compatiblewith other systems of the same society.As a result, they have led to social chaos.

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cause between you enmity and hatredthrough intoxicants and gambling, and toobstruct you from the remembrance ofAllah and from prayer. So will you notresist? And obey Allah and obey theMessenger and beware. And if you turnaway, then know that uponOurMessengeris only [the responsibility for] clearnotification.

(The Qur'an 5: 90-92)People all overMadinah stopped drinking immediately.

They instantly got rid of their reserves of alcohol to the ex-tent that the roads of Madinah turned into streams of wine.They did not hesitate to respond immediately to the divinecommand. There was no need for the interference of highlytrained agents or the exploitation of billions of dollars to stopthis destructive habit. This is really where the strength of theIslamic system lies. The people themselves take the initia-tive and willingly submit, so that no course of action needsto be imposed on them. The welling submission to Allah isbehind the decision of millions of people to accept Islam asa way of life:

There is no compulsion in [accepting}religion. The right course has becomeclear from error. So whoever disbelievesin taghut [i.e. false deities] and believes inAllah has grasped the trustworthiesthandhold with no break in it. And Allah isHearing and Knowing.

(The Qur'an 2: 256)The willing submission in Islam should be contrasted

with the grudging social submission of secularist societies.When the Law of Prohibition was imposed by the United

of the five pillars of Islam, for example, is an institution inIslam that encourages self-consciousness and self-disci-pline on the part of the followers.

Muslims are taught that Allah has made all good com-modities permissible and all the bad commodities prohib-ited, describing the believers as:

Those who follow the Messenger, theunlettered prophet whom they findmentioned in what they have of the Torahand the Gospel [who] enjoins upon themwhat is right and forbids them from whatis wrong and makes lawful for them thegood things and prohibits them from theevil, and relieves them of their burden andthe shackles which were upon them.

(The Qur'an 7:157)When such a belief is established in the hearts of the

believers that the Creator of the universe has ordered peoplenot to engage in certain actions or consume certain things,then the law is accepted. Such compliance by Muslims istypical of the early days of Islam. Quraishies (Makkahans)and other existing pre-Islamic peoples used to engage indrinking alcohol as a common social behavior just like thecurrent non-Muslim societies. However, after submittingthemselves to the will of Allah the Almighty, they stoppedworshipping idols and drinking alcohol as soon as the callfrom Allah came, enjoining them:

O you who have believed, indeed,intoxicants, gambling [sacrificing on] stoneatters [to other than Allah] and divingarrows are but defilement from thehandiwork of Satan, so avoid it, that youmay be successful. Satan only wants to

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The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) issued by the U.S.Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that the num-ber of reported crimes in the U.S. (as in the table above)increased by 5.0 % in the years from 1976 to 1995. Arrestsin 1985 totaled 11.9 million, an increase of 3% over 1984.92Though the numbers presented are extremely high for themost prosperous nation that presumably has one of themostadvanced security systems, the UCR figures are widelybelieved by criminologists to be low.Amore reliable index isprobably theU. S. Bureau of Justice Statistics' National CrimeSurvey (NCS), an annual report on household crime victim-ization based on census surveyors. This survey coverscrimes not reported to police. Its 1985 survey showed that25% (1 in every 4 households in the U. S.) had experiencedcrimes against individual members of the household oragainst the household itself during that year.93

Regardless of the costly efforts by the FBI and thehigh loss of lives among police officers94 to reduce crimerates in the United States, the reversal is occurring. Accord-ing to FBI, Uniform Crime Reports (1995), the number oftotal reported offenses including murder, property crimes,rape, robbery, etc. has increased from 11,349,700 crimesin 1976 to 14,872,900 in 1992, an increase of 3,537,200 re-ported offenses.95 And according to the most recent statis-tics from the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statis-tics, at the end of 2006, roughly in 1 in ever 31 adults in the

90 - It refers to the period in history before Islam.91 - These statistics are based on the FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1995as presented by The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997.

States government in the 1920's, people were not preparedspiritually or psychologically to abide by it. In effect, therewas not a system of life in which such laws could be inte-grated. The force of a man-made law cannot go unchal-lenged when imposed on people who disagree with it. Whenthere is not a common denominator, things fall apart, be-cause the people live in Jahiliyah90 (devastating ignorance).2. Crime

Crime in its different forms - organized crime, streetcrimes, state crimes, social crimes, etc. - is considered amajor threat to peace and security in our world. However,discussing in detail the magnitude of the problem of crimeas a universal catastrophe is beyond the scope of this study.Asummary of statistics that describe the spread of somecrimes in the U.S., based on U.S. Government refer-ences, is presented below:

Year CrimeIndex

ViolentCrime

PropertyCrime Murder Rape

*Percentage of the increase in selected crimes be-tween 1976 and 1995.91

1976

1994

1976-95*

11,349,700

13,989,500

+5.0

1,004,210

1,857,670

+20.8

10,345,500

12,131,900

+2.9

18,780

23,330

+4.8

57,080

102,220

+6.6

92 - The New Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia, 1991 edition, P. 19.93 - Ibid, P. 20.94 - According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, during theyears (1988- 96) 1187 police officers were killed and 1040799 wereassaulted by firearms or other dangerous weapons.95- The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997 in Microsoft Book-shelf 98.

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United States was in prison or jail, or on parole or in super-vised release.96 After all these facts, can any sensible hu-man being claim that the prime superpower and the leaderof the New World Order that has gravely failed to reducecrime in its cities will succeed in restoring peace and secu-rity to the remainder of the world?

As these statistics show, crime,97 in its various forms,has become a major threat to societal and individual secu-rity. Crime from a Western perspective has been definedas: an act by a member of a given social group, which bythe rest of the members of that group regard as so injurious

or as showing such a degree of antisocial attitude in theperpetrator that the group publicly, overtly and collectivelyreacts by trying to abrogate (abolish) some of his rights-cited from the President's Commission on Law Enforce-ment and the Administration of Justice. Nevertheless, mostof the methods used to fight against crime have backfiredand are far short of meeting such a challenge. According tosome recent statistics from the Bureau of Justice, duringthe late 1970's there were about 268,000 prison inmates inall 50 states. By the end of 2006, there were over 2.4 million.Despite this drastic increase, crime rates remained high.98Most of the statistical data collected are about Western so-cieties, due to the availability of documentation on the mat-ter. The failure of the Western methods of combating crime--as attested by the continual rise of crime rates--leads oneto suggest a solution which treats criminal activity not piece-meal but within the total scheme of life: a system that hadrestored peace and security to the lives of people from allnations that were under its folds.The Islamic Solution

The Islamic concept of security is a very comprehen-sive one, more comprehensive than any of the other exist-ing systems. It looks at humankind in relation to the universeand its mass-influencing factors. It encompasses physical,mental, psychological, and spiritual domains as integralparts of an overall societal security system. Islamic teach-ings do not merely provide solutions to what is consideredto be exceptional behavior in the form of crime, but emphati-cally focus onmeasures that prevent its occurrence. In otherwords, Islam provides as many means as possible to averttemptation.While modern societies flaunt temptation (liquor,

According to FBI, Uni-form Crime Reports(1995), the number oftotal reported of-fenses includingmur-der, property crimes,rape, robbery, etc.has increased from11,349,700 crimes in1976 to 14,872,900 in1992, an increase of3,537,200 reported of-

fenses. After all these facts, can any sensible humanbeing claim that the prime superpower and the leaderof the New World Order that has gravely failed to re-duce crime in its cities will succeed in restoring peaceand security to the remainder of the world?

96 - http://www.realtruth.org/articles/071228-004-cm-print.html97 - The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society (Washington, D.C.: U.S.Government Printing Office, 1967), P. 33. 98 - http://www.realtruth.org/articles/071228-004-cm-print.html

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pornography, violence, etc.)before the people, a true Is-lamic society removes thesources of these tempta-tions, and when the need forcorrection emerges, the pun-ishment is serious and effec-tive.

In most modern societ-ies, crime has prospered be-cause a completely contra-dictory approach is followed.All forms of temptation areprevalent. When it comes tocorrection, it is done lenientlyand frivolously. It is often bi-ased and protective of thecriminal's rights over those ofthe victim.

Islamic teachings, through the various practical formsof worship like salah (the five daily prayers), fasting andzakah (poor-due), aim at fostering the feelings of inner peaceand security, responsibility towards others and mutual re-spect. In addition to their spiritual and moral functions theywork as prevention against committing all evil behaviors. Ina video film by the Christian Science Monitor about Islam inAmerica, a large portion was devoted to describing the livesof maximum-security prison inmates before and after be-coming Muslims. Before reverting to Islam, many were se-rial killers, drug smugglers and addicts, and professionalcriminals. When they embraced Islam while in prison, theyturned into dignified, secure and contributing citizens. West-ern statistical indexes show that in themajority of maximum-

security prisons, the criminals get involved in criminal actsand end up back in prison. Based on the Bureau of Justice(BJS), of all prisoners released in 1994 (the most recentnationwide study by the BJS), 67.5% were arrested with inthree years.99 As a matter of fact, in a recent article titled"Would God use prison to rehabilitate criminal minds?, theauthor emphasized that 'the problems inherent with this sys-tem have remained the same for years: recidivism (repeatedrelapse in criminal acts), overcrowding, cost and, mosttellingly-despite the large amount of funding-the utter inabil-ity to reduce crime. Such statistics are reversed when thoseinmates become Muslims, according to Christian ScienceMonitor.100 The success of Islam in providing the best solu-tion to crimes in the midst of the American society where alltypes of correction programs have failed is strong prevalentevidence for the universality of Islam and the pressing needfor the adoption of its teachings.3. Abuse of Children and Women

People tend to think of the family as a social institutionin which love and affection prosper.An establishment whosestockholders exchange support and care, in reality, the familyin most modern world societies has become completely theopposite of what it is assumed to be. The problem is morepervasive in most modern societies allover the world.101 Ac-cording to American official statistics of crime, 20 percent of

Islamic teachings,through the variouspractical forms ofworship like salah(the five dailyprayers), fasting andzakah (poor-due),aim at fostering thefeelings of innerpeace and security,responsibility towardsothers andmutual re-spect.

99 - http://www.realtruth.org/articles/071228-004-cm-print.html100 - Islam In America (video). The Christian Science Monitor Pub-lishing Society, Boston, Mass. 1992.101 - According to the FBI, between 1983 and 1987 arrests of thoseunder 18 for murder jumped 22.2%, for aggravated assault 18.6%, andfor rape 14.6%. By the age of 16, the typical American child has wit-nessed through TV and movies 200,000 acts of violence, including33,000 murders.

87


homicidal crimes take place within the family.102According to Russian government records, in the year

1993 alone, "14,500 Russian womenweremurdered by theirhusbands.Another 56.400were disabled or seriously injured."Domestic violence statistics of crimes against women inEngland and the United States are alarming." According toHome Office research, 18 percent of homicides in EnglandandWales are of wives killed by their husbands, with a quarterof all recorded violent crimes blamed on domestic vio-lence."103

And since children are the weakest members of thefamily, a greater rate of abuse is directed towards them.Child abuse is understood to cover a wide range of parentalactions that result in harm being inflicted on children of allages. The kind of abuse, however, varies with age. Infantsand preschool children are most likely to suffer deliberatelyinflicted fractures, burns, and bruises. This is known as thebattered child syndrome, firmly identified during the 1960s.Historically, reported cases of sexual abuse, ranging frommolestation to incest, primarily involvemale perpetrators andschool-aged or adolescent female victims. More recently,however, a growing number of pre-schooled victims andmalevictims have been identified.104 It has been estimated thatthe number of reported cases of child abuse has increasedat the rate of 30 percent a year. Between 1973 and 1982there were 1.5 million cases of child abuse; 50,000 resultedin death and 300,000 in permanent injuries.105 Child abuseis not restricted to the U.S. In Great Britain, for example, the

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Childrenreports that child abuse has increased by about 70% be-tween 1979 and 1984.106 Based a report in The Guardian,

In America, the number of crimes againstwomen is rising significantly faster thanany other crime. According to the lateststatistics, an estimated 3-4 million womenevery year are battered by their husbandsor the men they live with. A third of femalemurder victims were killed by theirhusbands or boyfriends."107

4. Rape and Sexual Harassment:An extensive report about crime in The Epsilon issue

of August 1991 reveals the magnitude of rape crimes com-mitted in the West. The report stated that in a country likeGreece whose population does not exceed 8 million, morethan 10,000 reported incidents of rape were committed be-tween 1978-1987. During 1982 alone, more than 4,000 inci-dents of rapewere committed in Italy alone.More than 55,000rape crimes took place in France during the 1980's. As fortheUnitedStates, about 102,000 rapes have been reported.108

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)reported a 70% increase of crimes of forcible rape and at-tempted incidents of rape from the year 1970 to 1997. In1970, only 37,990 incidents of rape were reported in com-parison to 109,060 incidents in 1992 alone.109

102- Sullivan, Thompson, Wright, Gross and Spady (1980), P. 548.103 - James Meek. � Moscow wakes up to the toll of violence in thehome� The Guardian, Thursday, June 22, 1995.104 - Child Abuse, Microsoft (R) Encarta 96 Encyclopedia105 - Sullivan, Thompson, Wright, Gross and Spady (1980), P. 549.

106 - Child Abuse, Microsoft (R) Encarta 96 Encyclopedia107 - The Gardian, Thuresday, June 22, 1995.108 - The Phenomenon of Rape. Epsilon, August 4, 1991. Such inci-dents of rape are only those that are reported and proven in court asgenuine rape. It does not include unreported incidents or those thatthe victims could not prove in court.109 - The Macmillan Visual Almanac. 1996 (PP. 370)

88 89


As it is for rape crimes, sexual harassment againstemployed women is on the rise too. According to the EqualEmployment Opportunity Commission, the number of com-plaints of female employees because of sexual harassmentis on the increase. In 1989, 5,603 incidents of sexual ha-rassment complaints were filed in comparison to 12,537 in1993.110

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commissionstated that reported sexual harassment complaints by fe-male employees were 10,578 cases during the year 1992.In 1993, the number increased to be 12,537 cases.111 Theproblem is not only restricted to the USA, but rather a globalone, especially in societies that put no restrictions in men/women relations. According to a recent report by The Inter-national LaborOrganization (ILO), entitled 'CombatingSexualHarassment at Work', November 1992, many thousands ofwomen are victims of sexual harassment at the workplacein the industrialized world every year. Between 15-30 per-cent of women questioned in surveys by the ILO say theyhave been subject to frequent, gross sexual harassment.Of all women surveyed in the United States, 42% of womenreported some kind of sexual harassment. The report in-cluded countries like Australia, Austria, Denmark, France,Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom where the LaborResearch Department made a survey in 1987 in which 75%of women responding to the questionnaire reported that theyhad undergone some form of sexual harassment in theirworkplaces.112

The Epsilon magazine continued by reporting the ob-servations of leading psychologists, sociologists and physi-

cians on the escalating incidents of rape crimes. Thesescientists have affirmed that this phenomenon does notoccur in the animal world and is not a part of their behavior.Moreover, they linked the emergence of such a devastatingproblem in the West and Western-like societies where suchhabits and values are reinforced due to several factorsamong which are:

1. The media: it is one of the main factorsfor sensationalizing rape. T.V. films andmovies show lots of violence, whichinclude rape crimes. Most of the moviesrevolve around sexual and violentepisodes, not just X-rated movies. Suchpresentations work as stimuli for imitationby the youth.2. Intoxication has been reported asanother reason, behind 37.6% of reportedrapes.3. Commercial factors were also behindthe increase of rape and related crimes.The design of clothes by InternationalHouses that show the attractive body partsof women results in many rape crimesagainst these women who exaggeraterevealing their private body parts for thesake of public approval and attraction. Agreat number of rapists mentioned that themajority of their victims were of this type.Many raped women have indicated thatthey were raped while they were wearingexposing and attractive clothes.4. An educational factor exemplifiedthrough mixed education where children

110 - The Macmillan Visual Almanac. 1996 (PP. 371)111 - The Macmillan Visual Almanac, 1996 p.37112 - The 1994 Information Please Almanac, InfoSoft Int�l, Inc.

90 91


of both sexes are taught how to developintimate relationswith each other. Learninghow to date is only one example. As amatter of fact, popular radio programs(such as the Dr. Ruth's infamous programin Canada and in the United States) aredevoted to advising the public on how toestablish sexual relationships.5. The collapse of the family has forcedyoung people at an early age to seek loveoutside the family. On many occasionsthis has led to very grave consequences.Hundreds of thousands of children in theWest do not have known fathers.6. Detaching the role of religion from thepublic life has brought about promiscuity.7. Since most Western societies are builton the basis of Christian values, someinaccurate religious attitudes towardswomen as evil personalities might havelead to such incidents of viewing womenas worthy of becoming the object ofrape.1138. Another reason that the scientists gavewas that the law in most Westerncountries does not take the crime of rape

very seriously. Rapists are not punishedseverely, usually a mild sentence of nomore than two years in prison, is given asa maximum judgment.114In Hindu society, on the other hand, the life of women

whose husbands have perished becomes unbearable to theextent that they have to commit suttee, a form of suicide.Gustave le Bon wrote about this aspect of the Indian societyby saying:115

The immolation of widows on the funeralof their husbands is not mentioned in theShastra, but it appears that the practicehad become quite common in India, for wefind references to it in the accounts ofGreek Chroniclers.

This disdain for females is also seen in reports by theIndianmedia, which report that great numbers of young girlsare buried alive because the females are viewed as an eco-nomic burden to their parents.

The Times reported the one-child-only policy appliedin China nowadays has led many Chinese to desire a malechild and either abort female babies or kill their female tod-dlers or sell their older girls to mobile slave merchants. Inthis regard, the Chinese police have recently arrested 49members of a gang whose job was to buy, smuggle, andsell girls all over China. As a result of this savage treatmentof female children in China, the Chinese Committee for StatePlanning reported that the number of males is 36 millionmore than the number of females.116

The treatment of women and children in present secu-

113 - Let�s look at what canonized Saints of Christianity have said aboutwomen: Woman is the daughter of falsehood, a sentinel of Hell, theenemy of peace; through herAdam lost Paradise (St. John Damascene).Woman is the instrument, which the devil uses to gain possession ofour souls (St. Cyprian).Woman has the poison of an asp, the malice of a dragon (St. Gregorythe Great).In Ulfat Aziz-us-Ssamad. Islam and Christianity. (I.I.F.S.O., 1982), P. 79.

114 - Epsilon, August 4, 1991.115 - Gustave le Bon. Les Civilization de Inde. P. 238.116 - In The Family, 15, September. P. 7.

92 93


larist societies - whetherin American, Europe,Russia, the UK, India orChina - is very similar tothat of the pre-Islamic so-ciety (jahiliyah). Islamcame to abolish theabuse of women and chil-dren and to restore dignityto women, young and oldalike.

Because of the so-cial chaos that is takingplace in many westernsocieties, abuse is notonly directed towards theweakmembers of the so-

ciety as indicated above but rather towards those in chargeof educating and disciplining. Based on a report by theCarnegie Foundation, the percentage of teachers in the U.S.who say that they have been verbally abused was 51%. Asfor those who have been threatened with injury was 16%but those who have been physically attacked were 7%.117

Away from what the law considers as rape or sexualharassment in western society, there is an alarming moraldecay. In the U.S., three out of every four unmarried whitewomen have affairs by the age of nineteen. The figure was6% in the year 1900.118 One out every four children is bornout of the wedlock, not including millions of children who areaborted.119 Europe is having a great resemblance to the U.S.

In Canada, the number of out-of-wedlock births escalatedfrom 4% in 1960 to 31% in 2000, from 5% to 38% in theU.K., from 6% to 36 in France.120

Thoughmost examples cited belong to western coun-tries, other non-western societies are not immune againstsuch social ills and problems. Many communities all overthe world imitated western ways of life aspiring for moder-nity and social advancements; instead they acquired theirills and wrongdoings. They were not able to acquire west-ern technology and material prosperity.The Islamic Solution

No doubt that there is a strong correlation between

The treatment ofwomen and childrenin present secularistsocieties - whetherin American, Europe,Russia, theUK, Indiaor China - is verysimilar to that of thepre-Islamic society(jahiliyah). Islamcame to abolish theabuse ofwomen andchildren and to re-store dignity towomen, young andold alike.

117 - The Macmilan Visual Almanac. 1996 (PP. 367)118 - Bennett, p. 72.119 - Bennett, p.48

Many communities all over the world imi-tated western ways of life aspiring for mo-dernity and social advancements; insteadthey acquired their ills and wrongdoings.They were not able to acquire westerntechnology andmaterial prosperity.

120 - Buchanan, p. 200.


the mistreatment of women all over the world and the atti-tude that these cultures have towards women. Women inIslam are not looked at as the source of evil or an object ofsexual gratification and abuse by men, as is the case inother cultures. Islam considers women as integral mem-bers of the family and the community. They are a source ofhappiness and peace.

And of His [i.e. Allah's] signs is that Hecreated for you from yourselves mates,which youmay find tranquility in them; andHe placed between you affection andmercy. Indeed, in that are signs for apeople who give thought.

(The Qur'an 30:21)Islam highly praises taking care of women, both old

and young. It urges fair and just treatment of women by allmembers of the society, whether they are daughters, wives,mothers or sisters.

Abu Hurairah (RAA) reported that ProphetMohammad (PBUH) said: Let him be aloser, let him be a loser, let him be a loser.Someone said, who is he, O Messengerof Allah? He said, one whose parents orone of them reached old age with him anddid not enter paradise.121

Jabir (RAA) said, I heard the Messengerof Allah saying: One who is deprived ofkindness is deprived of goodness.122

Anas bin Malik (RAA) reported that the

Messenger of Allah (PBUH) had said:Whoever brings up two girls, he and I willcome side by side in the Day ofJudgment... .123

By discussing these great Islamic values, I never in-tend to claim that all Muslim communities adhere to theseteachings and values. Many incidents of malpractices andmistreatment of women among Muslims emerge becauseof a very salient reason which is repelling against the au-thentic Islamic teaching.

The misery of aging124 in the West does not exist in atruly practicing Muslim society. The extended family in Islamhas worked effectively through history as a safe haven forits members, regardless of their sex or age. ProphetMohammed (PBUH) said:

Abu Hurairah (RAA) said that ProphetMohammad (PBUH) had said: Theguardian of a widow or a needy person isjust like a person who struggles for thecause of Allah...125

121 - Narrated by Muslim, 1758, P. 469.122 - Narrated by Muslim, 1783, P. 469.

123 - Narrated by Muslim, 1761, P. 465.124 - America�s population is aging; by the year 2030, if the currenttrends continue, there will be more than 50 million elderly - 1 out ofevery 6 Americans. (p.356) ... For some Americans, old age is the timeof poverty, failing health, and loneliness - a tragic irony in an affluentcountry such as the United States. (P.346) ... This means that manyelderly must live on incomes that are below the nationally establishedpoverty level. (P.346) The final solution to a lonely and dissatisfying lifeis, of course, to engineer one�s own demise. While suicide is an optionat any age, the elderly make greater use of it than does any other agegroup. (P. 354) The above quotations are taken from Sullivan, Thomp-son, Wright, Gross and Spady (1980). Read what Allah says abouttaking care of elderly parents in 17: 23- 25.125 - Narrated by Muslim, 1767, P. 466.

96 97


Anas Ibn Malik (RAA) reported that heheard Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)saying, He who would like that hissustenance should be expanded and hisage be lengthened should he join the tie ofkinship.126

The mixing of exposed women and men according tothe data collected by The Epsilon was a major factor in theescalating rate of rape and of battered women. The fact thatIslam has prohibited unrestrictedmingling betweenmen andwomen helps to prevent rape crimes in a practicing Muslimsociety. The rule of modesty applies to men as well aswomen. A brazen stare by a man at a woman (or even at aman) is a breach of refined manners. Where sex is con-cerned, modesty is not only good form- it is not only to guardthe weaker sex, but also to guard the spiritual good of thestronger sex.127

Say to the believing men that they shouldlower their gaze and guard their privateparts. That is purer for them. Verily, God isFamiliar with all that they do. And say tothe believingwomen that they should lowertheir gaze and guard their private parts andnot display their beauty [and adornment],except that which must ordinarily appearthereof, and that they should draw theirhead-covers over their chests and notdisplay their beauty except to theirhusbands, their fathers, their husbands'fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons,

their brothers, their brothers' sons, theirsisters' sons, their women, what their righthands possess [i.e., slaves] or thosemaleattendants without physical desire, or smallchildren who are not yet aware of women'sprivacy. And they should not stamp theirfeet to make known what they conceal oftheir adornment. And turn, all of you, Obelievers, to God in repentance that youmay succeed.

(The Qur'an 24:30, 31)The New York Times published, in May 1993, a report

which was entitled Separation Is Better.128 The report waswritten by Susan Ostrich who herself was a graduate of oneof the few women's colleges in the U.S. It was a shock tomost Americans to find that girls in female colleges achievebetter academically than their counterparts atmixed colleges.She supported her claim with the following statistics:

1. 80% of girls at female only collegesstudy science and math for four years, incomparison to two years of study in themixed colleges.2. Female school students achieve higherGPA than the girls in mixed schools. Thisleads a higher number of female studentsto be admitted to universities. In fact, morePhD's were acquired by such femalestudents.3.According to FortuneMagazine one thirdof the female members in the boards oftrustees in the largest 1000 American

126 - Narrated by Muslim, 1762, P. 465.127 - A comment by the translator, A. Yusuf Ali. 128 - The Family. August, 1994, 14, P. 7.

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companies are graduates of female onlycolleges. To realize the significance of thisnumber, we need to know that graduatesof female only colleges make only 4% ofthe number of female college studentsgraduating every year.4. 43% of female professors with PhDsinmath and 50%of female professors withPhDs in engineering were graduates offemale only colleges.

This is further evidence from the Western world itselfthat lends support to the validity and applicability of Islamicprinciples as universal laws guiding or regulating humanbehavior. The Indian politician and reporter, Kofhi Laljapa,concluded:

No other religion but Islam has the abilityto solve the problems of modern life. Islamis indeed unique for that...129

Separation between men and women is adapted byThe Pentagon as a solution to many problems includingsexual harassment, without given credit to Islam as the sys-tem of life that is propagating this practice to maintain mo-rality and social peace and security. Nevertheless, PrinceCharles has emphasized the great contributions Islam canprovide the west with to overcome their most serious moraland social problems, during a number of his speeches onIslam and the West.

William Cohen, the American Secretary of Defense,announced the first phase of a comprehensive plan to main-tain a reasonable level of morality among the male and fe-male soldiers. The plan stressed the importance of con-

structing permanent partitions to separate male and femalesoldiers in the current mixed buildings. This is only a tempo-rary solution until newly separate buildings are constructed.The Navy also issued a number of strict instructions thatprohibit the presence of female and male navy officers be-hind closed doors. These instructions were presented asrules that should be respected by all soldiers, especially onboard Navy ships. The Defense Secretary emphasized thatthe rationale behind such measures was to provide a rea-sonable level of privacy and security for members of thedifference sectors of Defense. Among these new regula-tions, the restriction of sleeping while wearing underwear ornaked and those doors should be tightly locked during sleep-ing hours. They also forbid watching pornographic films inthe presence of female soldiers, and imposed clearly de-tailed regulations regarding the type of clothes to be wornwhen swimming or when sun bathing.130

The question that we raise here is this: why are suchregulations that many would look at as radical and anti-mod-ernization imposed by themostmodern country in the world?The answer is very simple: sexual harassment has reachedan unbelievably alarming level and has become a threat tonational security and morality. Thousands of complaints ofsexual harassment by female employees rang an alarmingbell.

The guidelines of Islam provide the only solution forcriminal problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction, abuseof women and children, which are ravaging the world today.When western influences have encroached into a Muslimsociety, crime has spiraled, but where the reverse has hap-pened--Islamic values manifesting themselves in Western

129 - Emad Khalil. They SaidAbout Islam, 1994, in The Islamic Future, 27, May 1994. P. 12. 130 - The Family, June 1998, Issue No. 59,p.3.

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societies--crime has declined. In 1992 there were 847,271prisoners in the U.S., an increase of 7% from 1991 and awhopping 168% increase from 1980. At the same time, theviolent crime rate rose 27%.131

A 1994 Gallup Poll indicated that 80% of Americansfavor the death penalty for convicted murderers.132 Capitalpunishment is permitted in 38 states. In addition, some 60crimes are subject to the federal death penalty. About 3,000U.S. prisoners are currently on death row.133 Capital punish-ment was suspended in the U.S. from 1967-1977, but wasthen restored. Should not one conclude that the moral fateof the world depends on the spread of Islam? Such dra-matic change in the attitude of the majority of Americanstoward the application of the death penalty against viciouscriminals is a strong indicator of the tendency of movingtoward workable solutions to the ills of our societies as ex-plained by Islam.

After surveying some of the major existing religious andsecular systems, the probability for their application and ac-ceptability is extremely remote and unproductive; exactly asit was with such old World Orders as Hinduism, Dark Agestheology, colonialism, communism and modern capitalism.That is because of a number of reasons:

a. They failed to meet all the prerequisiteconditions discussed in previous sectionsof this book: tolerance, equality, solvingpressing problems or encouragingscience and advancement for the good ofhumanity, not for its destruction.b. Their inherent nature of egocentricityand exclusiveness.c. Their historical record of focusing on

131 - Bureau of Justice Statistics (PP. 393)132 - Bureau of Justice Statistics (PP. 390)133 - Bureau of Justice Statistics (PP. 390)

CONCLUSION

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self-interest while overlooking othernation's interests.To understand the spirit of Islam is to understand the

very essence of humanity. More than a religion, Islam is acomplete and comprehensive way of life leading to a bal-anced way of living. Islam brings civilization and happinessto man. Islamic principles and teachings can provide realis-tic, fair and objective solutions to the prevention of individual,familial, social and international problems, which are threat-ening the existence of human communities throughout theworld. As a Muslim famous scholar wrote:

A spiritual belief that does not deal withsocial behavior, economic relations andinternational organizations is as erroneousas the social doctrine that does notconsider spiritual belief, morality andbehavior. Such social doctrines areabortive attempts incapable of total humanguidance or of achieving any coherenceor accord among human beings.Both the individual and the society are indire need of a belief that accommodatesand directs all their vital activities towardsconstruction and growth. When theindividual and society adopt such a beliefand apply it to life, humanity canaccomplish seemingly miraculousachievements, which can only occur whenman unites himself with the Eternal Powerthat channels his personality-potential inthe right direction.History has shown that Islam is unique inits ability to provide guidance for the entire

range of human activity. It does notseparate spiritual and secular life asunrelated entities.134

Islam integrates all domains of human life, just like thedifferent systems in the human body integrate to provide acomplete human being. If one system does not work prop-erly, it is bound to affect the whole body. Likewise, Islamproposes systems of laws that integrate all parts of humansociety to bring happiness and peace to all its members.There is no other way or system that urges the active wor-ship of God in its general and most comprehensive senseother than Islam. For example, Islam teaches that Muslimsshould fast for a month every year (Ramadan) in order toacquire piety and self-discipline and to develop awarenessof the needs and problems of others who are starving or indesperate need of food. Such an awareness of the needs ofothers is not enough on its own. Therefore, zakah is pre-scribed to be distributed among the segments of societythat are in need of individual and communal assistance.

In the words of Prince Charles "� Islam can teach ustoday awayof understanding and living in aworldwhichChris-tianity itself is poorer for having lost. At the hart of Islam is itspreservation of an integral view of the universe. Islam refusesto separate man and nature, religion and science, mind andmatter, and has preserved ametaphysical and unified view ofourselves and the world around us.� But the west graduallylost this integrated vision of the world with Copernicus andDescartes and the coming of the scientific revolution."135

134 - Sayed Qutb. Islam and Universal Peace. American Trust Publi-cation, Indianapolis. 1977. P. 3.135 - Prince Charles, � Islam and the West.� Arab News, October 27,1993. In R. Hill Addulsalam. Women�s Ideal Liberation. Abul-QasimPublishing House: Jeddah, pp. 41-3.

104 105


A very important concept of universality in Islam is thatof the ummah (only partially translatable as nation). Ummahtranscends all limitations implied by the term nation by en-compassing all people regardless of race, color, or sex. Al-lah emphasizes this great Islamic principle in the Qur'an:

Mankind was one community and Allahsent Prophets with glad tidings andwarnings, and with them He sent theScripture in truth to judge between peoplein matters wherein they differed. And onlythose to whom (the Scripture) was givendiffered concerning it after clear proofs hadcome unto them through hatred, one toanother. Then Allah by His Leave guidedthose who believed to the truth of thatwherein they differed. And Allah guideswhom He wills to a Straight Path.

(The Qur'an 2:213)Moreover, Islam has a unique understanding of the

concept of Ummah. Ummah is the field for knowledge, eth-ics, government and positivism. Ummah in Islam is a sys-tem in which people integrate, even if they belong to differ-ent ideological systems. It is a system of universal justiceand peace that accommodates everyone who believes infreedom of thinking and in calling people to the truth, whetherthey are individuals or communities.

Indeed, Ummah in Islam is an apparatus which ismoreadvanced than that developed by theWest, theU.N., or thoseapparatuses established by the American-European blocmerely to bring about a new world order, but which in realityoften are geared only to maintainWestern control over ThirdWorld human and material resources.

Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) proposed a constitution

for the city of Madinah during the first days of his emigrationfromMakkah. He included the rights of both Jews and Chris-tians, thereby safeguarding their freedom and beliefs. His-tory has never known a constitution that represented mi-norities as this constitution of the Islamic state did. Ummahas an Islamic concept will, Allah willing, bring the advent ofuniversal peace as well as an internal social system. Ummahis the field ground for civilization to take place.136 Such anUmmah can be integrated and united, if it takes its doctrines,constitutions, morals, values and the whole perspective oflife from the same united source: belief in the only true God.This is known as the concept of Tawheed (pure monothe-ism).

The value systems of Western societies will continueto collapse, since they are built on shifting grounds. TheDailyMail of London reported the revolt by women against thevalues prevailing in Britain: British women seek new moral-ity in Islam, says the heading in its inside-page report writ-ten by its religious affairs senior correspondent Lesley Tho-mas.137 According to the report, this is not the case of Brit-ish women who are favoring Islam. Thousands of Britishwomen are becoming Muslims in a trend that baffles femi-nists and causes concern to Christians. The report contin-ues to disclose that of the estimated 10,000 British con-verts to Islam over the past decade; most are single, edu-cated women, doctors, college lecturers and lawyers. Theeducated in the West are beginning to see that the full life isfound only in Islam, the universal religion.

And what about the present day Muslim world? Unfor-tunately, some educated Muslims now pay only lip serviceto Islam. They think that Islam is a slogan to be raised or a

136 - Isma�il al- Faruqi. Jawhar al-hadharah al-Islamiyyah. P. 14.137 - Daily Mail, December 2, 1993, p.39.

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word to be uttered. Islam is a complete way of life that shouldpervade all spheres of human existence.Allah dislikes thosewho brag about things that they do not practice. Whenhumankind's deeds are not commensurate with words, con-duct is odious in the sight of Allah.

O you who have believed!Why do you saythat which you do not do? Great is thehatred in the sight ofAllah that you say thatwhich you do not do.

(The Qur'an 61:2,3)May Allah permit the Muslim World to be certain that

Islam provides a complete and comprehensive way of life.Islam creates harmony between the mind, the soul and thebody in amarvelous way that can never be achieved throughany other system. The need for Islam emerges fromhumanity's search for a constitution that provides guidanceand satisfaction in all spheres of life. It is a code of life that isnot limited to partial needs, but rather a way of life that pen-etrates all barriers to interact with peoples' needs in this lifeand beyond. It is the way of life where there is no discrimina-

tion between what is sacred and what is secular.Islam is unique among the religions and civilizations

the world has known. In contrast to the other religions of theworld, Islam defines religion itself as the very business oflife, the very matter of space-time, the very process of his-tory, and the gift of God.All these work together to constituteIslam.138

Islam is a divine guidance wherein humans of all na-tions, colors and tongues feel linked to a Supreme Powerand Supreme Justice. Its teachings are intact and authen-tic. It is the only way to happiness, dignity, and universalpeace. Islam is so unique in its method for solving the prob-lems of humanity that I can say with confidence that thetwenty-first century will be the century of Islam.

The everlastingmiracle of Islam, TheQur'an, is a stand-ing challenge to the intellect of all peoples at all times. InIslam's four abiding principles - equality, tolerance, promo-tion of sciences, and solution to the world's problems - itsuniversality asserts itself. It calls to all humankind, if onlyhumankind will listen.(The Qur'an 4:82)

Then, do they not reflect upon the Qur'an?If it had been from [any] other than Allahthey would have found within it muchcontradiction.

In fact, adoption of such universal Islamic principlesand their acceptance as a frame of reference for establish-ing a New World Order is partially, if not totally, contingenton how Muslims, themselves, view and apply its injunctionsin changing their behavior individually and collectively whileinteracting with one another or with the rest of the world com-

What about thepresent dayMuslimworld? Unfortu-nately, some edu-cated Muslims nowpay only lip serviceto Islam. They thinkthat Islam is a slo-

gan to be raised or aword to be uttered. Islamis a completeway of life that should pervade allspheresofhumanexistence.

138 - Dr. Isma�il al- Farouqi. Tawheed and its Influence on Thought andLife. International Islamic Publishing House, Riyadh. 1404. P. 98.

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munity. Also, a successful acceptance by the world com-munity of Islamic principles as a potential solution to thenumerously increasing unimaginable problems of today'sworld, depends on the rest of the world community's willing-ness to give a sympathetic ear to Islam and objectively studyits merits for solving the life-threatening problems whichhumanity is confronting nowadays. Sir George BernardShow, the renowned Irish writer, saliently expressed his viewabout Islam by writing:

If any religion had the chance of ruling overEngland- nay Europe - within the nexthundred years, it could be Islam.

The question that would be raised: Why would a greatEuropean writer of Shaw's caliber make this comment aboutIslam? He simply stated:

I have always held the religion ofMuhammad in high esteem because of itswonderful vitality. It is the only religionwhichappears to me to possess thatassimilating capacity to the changingphase of existence which can make itselfappeal to every age. I have studied him -the wonderful man - and in my opinion farfrom being an anti-Christ, he must becalled the Savior of Humanity.I believe that if a man like him were toassume the dictatorship of the modernworld he would succeed in solving itsproblems in a way that would bring it themuch needed peace and happiness: Ihave prophesied about the faith ofMuhammad that would be acceptable tothe Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning

to be acceptable to the Europe of today.139All worldly systems and ideological theories are tem-

porarily bound and are having great flaws. Only the mostauthentic and the pristine teachings of God can safeguardthe interest of humanity. The author holds the firm convic-tion that existing ideologies and unauthentic dogmas cannever appeal to human needs nor respond to their pressingquestions. Islam has proven to be singular in the purity of itseternal teachings and universal appeal that time does notoutdate. Nonetheless, nobody can claim that Muslims fullyabide by its teachings at all times and places. There weremany Muslim practices that Islam does not approve of.Blame should fall on those Muslims, not on Islam. It shouldnot be an excuse for non-Muslims to study Islam in its origi-nal and authentic sources and accept the challenge it posesfor any equal in what it asserts and calls for. It would bedisastrous to humanity, if major world influential political andmilitary powers continue their war of deception and propa-ganda against Islam. In the end of this ongoing research, itwould be unreasonable to claim that the four conditions foruniversality are exclusive. Other characteristics of univer-sality like authenticity, applicability and comprehensivenessto encompass all aspects of life require further study.

139 - Sir George Bernard Shaw in �The Genuine Islam,� Vol. 1, No. 8,1936�in http://web.ionsys.com/~remedy/Islam%20and%20the%20Prophet%20God.htm

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