Islam and universal unity
By Muhammad Ali Alkhuli*
THROUGH the direct instructions of Islam, all the peoples of the world are brought closer to one another. According to Islam, Allah created different peoples not to fight one another, but to know one another. This means that peoples differ, but all should submit to the words of Allah.
The One Origin of All Humans
Islam emphasises the one origin of all human beings. According to Islam, all persons belong to Adam and Adam is from soil. No person is better than another because of his race, colour, family or wealth. The only criterion for preference is piety: a person who submits more to Allah is better than a person who submits less.
As a result, Islamic countries have never experienced any problem of racial discrimination. Further, in Islamic countries, there has been no religious discrimination: Muslims, Christians, Jews and others have been living together in peace since the rise of Islam. The Jews who were persecuted in different parts of the world have lived in peace in Islamic countries. The problems of the Jews in Islamic countries started when the Jews wanted to establish a state of their own in Palestine and forced the Muslim and Christian Arabs out from Palestine in 1948 and 1967.
One Language for All Believers
Prayer in Islam has to be performed in Arabic. This means that all the Muslims of the world must learn as much Arabic as they can in order to perform prayer and pilgrimage and to understand the Noble Qur’an, which is also in Arabic. This implies that Islam urges its followers to have a unified common language, ie, Arabic. The unity of language is certainly one step towards universal unity and international communication.
The Same Values and Ideals for All
Islam secures the world unity through its comprehensiveness. Islam deals with all the aspects of human life, gives answers to man’s main questions, and gives solutions to man’s main problems. Through this comprehensiveness, Islam leaves little room for dispute among its followers. In other words, there will be more reasons for conformity than for non-conformity. As a result, peoples will have common values, common norms and common ideals, which are essential for building world unity.
One God for All
Islam emphasises the oneness of Allah and the oneness of human beings. If our God is one, all of us should feel one: we have the same beginning, the same Adam, the same God, and the same end. This belief is emphasised in Islam in order to bring all humans closer together.
The Unity of All Revealed Books
Islam also emphasises that a Muslim should believe in all Revealed Books, ie, the Bible, the Gospel and the Qur’an. This aims at showing that all Revealed Books have the same purpose and the same source. All believers in Revealed Books must unite because all Revealed Books are in the same direction and the Qur’an is just the last Revealed Book. Because the Qur’an is the last Revealed Book, it confirms previous Revealed Books and completes the message of Allah to man.
The Unity of All Apostles
Islam also emphasises that a Muslim should believe in all apostles including Moses, Christ and Muhammad and that no apostle is better than another. A Muslim gives all prophets and all apostles equal respect. The effect of this is clear: a Muslim has no prejudice against the followers of other religions. This also means the unity of all revealed religions and the unity of all believers.
Submission to the One God as a Unifier
Even the word Islam is not connected with a nation or a country or a prophet or a person. The word Islam itself literally means submission to Allah. The word itself invites for world unity through the submission of all humans in all places and all times to Allah. This universal submission to Allah is certainly the best means to world unity.
Worship Timing as a Unity Factor
Islam achieves the unity of all believers through unifying the times of worship. All Muslims should perform the five prayers at certain times. Fasting is to be observed in a certain month. Pilgrimage must be performed at a certain place in a certain time. The festivals of Muslims are also fixed: one directly after fasting and one directly after pilgrimage. These times are fixed and have to be followed by all Muslims all over the world. These unified times of worship and of festivals reinforce the unity feeling.
Prayer as a Unity Factor
If we consider prayer more carefully, we notice that believers pray at the same time, preferably at the same place in a town or a village. Muslims during prayer say the same words in the same manner. They kneel to the same God. They face the same centre, ie, the Ka’aba in Makkah. They stand in the same lines behind the same leader of prayer worshipping the same Creator. Prayer itself is an actual exercise of unity.
Fasting as a Unity Factor
If we consider fasting, Muslims fast in the same month. They break their fasting at the same moment, ie, sunset. They start their fasting at the same moment, ie, dawn. During fasting, they submit to the orders of the same God and follow the same instructions. Fasting itself is a real exercise of unity, the unity of all believers.
Pilgrimage as a Unity Factor
If we consider pilgrimage, all able Muslims travel to one single place, ie, Makkah in Saudi Arabia. They travel to it at the same time. they wear the same kind of cloth, ie, two white seamless pieces of cloth for each male pilgrim. They repeat the same sentences in unison: millions of Muslims in white cloth repeating, “We are ready to obey, our Lord.” These millions go around the same place and run between the same two points. Pilgrimage is certainly a great practice of unity.
Zakat as a Unity Factor
Islam orders each rich Muslim to annually pay 2.5% of his wealth, according to certain conditions, to be distributed among the poor and the needy and other types of people specified in the Noble Qur’an. In addition, during the fasting month, each able Muslim must give a certain fixed quantity of some cereals to the poor. These practices of charity are necessary to consolidate social unity.
The Significance of Unity
The reason why unity is important is very simple. Unity actually implies equality and fraternity. The absence of unity usually means, as history tells, disputes and wars. Unity is the best guarantee of peace.
Therefore, Islam emphasises the unity of Muslims and the unity of all believers in Allah. This unity is necessary to save the world from racial discrimination, religious prejudices, border disputes, cold and hot wars, and all types of sources of hatred.
If Islam is followed properly and more and more people submit to Allah and become Muslims, the world goes nearer and nearer to unity, closer and closer to peace, and farther and farther away from war.
In fact, if we look at the present and the past, we find that wars took place between two sides each of which has different values, different ideals, and different purposes. Islam offers this solution to the world: all humans must submit to Allah and thus have unified ideals, unified values and unified purposes. When all the peoples of the world reach this stage, the world becomes a unity; peace takes the place of war, fraternity takes the place of hatred and equality takes the place of discrimination. Let us all hope that this time will not be far from today. (*Taken from his book The Light of Islam)
By Muhammad Ali Alkhuli*
THROUGH the direct instructions of Islam, all the peoples of the world are brought closer to one another. According to Islam, Allah created different peoples not to fight one another, but to know one another. This means that peoples differ, but all should submit to the words of Allah.
The One Origin of All Humans
Islam emphasises the one origin of all human beings. According to Islam, all persons belong to Adam and Adam is from soil. No person is better than another because of his race, colour, family or wealth. The only criterion for preference is piety: a person who submits more to Allah is better than a person who submits less.
As a result, Islamic countries have never experienced any problem of racial discrimination. Further, in Islamic countries, there has been no religious discrimination: Muslims, Christians, Jews and others have been living together in peace since the rise of Islam. The Jews who were persecuted in different parts of the world have lived in peace in Islamic countries. The problems of the Jews in Islamic countries started when the Jews wanted to establish a state of their own in Palestine and forced the Muslim and Christian Arabs out from Palestine in 1948 and 1967.
One Language for All Believers
Prayer in Islam has to be performed in Arabic. This means that all the Muslims of the world must learn as much Arabic as they can in order to perform prayer and pilgrimage and to understand the Noble Qur’an, which is also in Arabic. This implies that Islam urges its followers to have a unified common language, ie, Arabic. The unity of language is certainly one step towards universal unity and international communication.
The Same Values and Ideals for All
Islam secures the world unity through its comprehensiveness. Islam deals with all the aspects of human life, gives answers to man’s main questions, and gives solutions to man’s main problems. Through this comprehensiveness, Islam leaves little room for dispute among its followers. In other words, there will be more reasons for conformity than for non-conformity. As a result, peoples will have common values, common norms and common ideals, which are essential for building world unity.
One God for All
Islam emphasises the oneness of Allah and the oneness of human beings. If our God is one, all of us should feel one: we have the same beginning, the same Adam, the same God, and the same end. This belief is emphasised in Islam in order to bring all humans closer together.
The Unity of All Revealed Books
Islam also emphasises that a Muslim should believe in all Revealed Books, ie, the Bible, the Gospel and the Qur’an. This aims at showing that all Revealed Books have the same purpose and the same source. All believers in Revealed Books must unite because all Revealed Books are in the same direction and the Qur’an is just the last Revealed Book. Because the Qur’an is the last Revealed Book, it confirms previous Revealed Books and completes the message of Allah to man.
The Unity of All Apostles
Islam also emphasises that a Muslim should believe in all apostles including Moses, Christ and Muhammad and that no apostle is better than another. A Muslim gives all prophets and all apostles equal respect. The effect of this is clear: a Muslim has no prejudice against the followers of other religions. This also means the unity of all revealed religions and the unity of all believers.
Submission to the One God as a Unifier
Even the word Islam is not connected with a nation or a country or a prophet or a person. The word Islam itself literally means submission to Allah. The word itself invites for world unity through the submission of all humans in all places and all times to Allah. This universal submission to Allah is certainly the best means to world unity.
Worship Timing as a Unity Factor
Islam achieves the unity of all believers through unifying the times of worship. All Muslims should perform the five prayers at certain times. Fasting is to be observed in a certain month. Pilgrimage must be performed at a certain place in a certain time. The festivals of Muslims are also fixed: one directly after fasting and one directly after pilgrimage. These times are fixed and have to be followed by all Muslims all over the world. These unified times of worship and of festivals reinforce the unity feeling.
Prayer as a Unity Factor
If we consider prayer more carefully, we notice that believers pray at the same time, preferably at the same place in a town or a village. Muslims during prayer say the same words in the same manner. They kneel to the same God. They face the same centre, ie, the Ka’aba in Makkah. They stand in the same lines behind the same leader of prayer worshipping the same Creator. Prayer itself is an actual exercise of unity.
Fasting as a Unity Factor
If we consider fasting, Muslims fast in the same month. They break their fasting at the same moment, ie, sunset. They start their fasting at the same moment, ie, dawn. During fasting, they submit to the orders of the same God and follow the same instructions. Fasting itself is a real exercise of unity, the unity of all believers.
Pilgrimage as a Unity Factor
If we consider pilgrimage, all able Muslims travel to one single place, ie, Makkah in Saudi Arabia. They travel to it at the same time. they wear the same kind of cloth, ie, two white seamless pieces of cloth for each male pilgrim. They repeat the same sentences in unison: millions of Muslims in white cloth repeating, “We are ready to obey, our Lord.” These millions go around the same place and run between the same two points. Pilgrimage is certainly a great practice of unity.
Zakat as a Unity Factor
Islam orders each rich Muslim to annually pay 2.5% of his wealth, according to certain conditions, to be distributed among the poor and the needy and other types of people specified in the Noble Qur’an. In addition, during the fasting month, each able Muslim must give a certain fixed quantity of some cereals to the poor. These practices of charity are necessary to consolidate social unity.
The Significance of Unity
The reason why unity is important is very simple. Unity actually implies equality and fraternity. The absence of unity usually means, as history tells, disputes and wars. Unity is the best guarantee of peace.
Therefore, Islam emphasises the unity of Muslims and the unity of all believers in Allah. This unity is necessary to save the world from racial discrimination, religious prejudices, border disputes, cold and hot wars, and all types of sources of hatred.
If Islam is followed properly and more and more people submit to Allah and become Muslims, the world goes nearer and nearer to unity, closer and closer to peace, and farther and farther away from war.
In fact, if we look at the present and the past, we find that wars took place between two sides each of which has different values, different ideals, and different purposes. Islam offers this solution to the world: all humans must submit to Allah and thus have unified ideals, unified values and unified purposes. When all the peoples of the world reach this stage, the world becomes a unity; peace takes the place of war, fraternity takes the place of hatred and equality takes the place of discrimination. Let us all hope that this time will not be far from today. (*Taken from his book The Light of Islam)
Can I guarantee that you know the arabic language? I dont think so!
