PART FIVE

Conclusion

In conclusion, on the basis of the explanation, arguments, and elaboration offered above, Islam – with its international logical mission, and with its values, principles, and standards – is qualified to meet, with full competence and responsibilities, the requirements of regional and international security.  It asserts

·        human security as one indivisible concern,

·        justice as an absolute right for all,

·        the sacredness of human life and dignity,

·        environmental safety with no corruption of the land, and

·        security, stability, and rational development.

Yes, the values, principles, controls, and standards discussed, and the evidence, arguments, and proofs cited in this book – which confirm that Islam’s mission is worthy and capable of meeting the aspirations of individuals, peoples, and nations to enjoy a decent life and a secure and prosperous future – are only a small chip of a great block, the words of which are endless and the benefits limitless.  Any one who desires more can refer to standard books of Islamic studies, such as the standard reference of Qur'an studies, Sunna studies, interpretation studies, biographies, and so on.  Bookcases and book shelves devoted to Islamic heritage are full of such noble treasures.  They can also refer to contemporary works, with the revival and development in their content, and the intellectual and cultural bright horizons they explore.  As for skeptics and deniers, I say if justice, freedom, and equality; the dignity of human beings and the sacredness of human life; the inviolability of lives and properties; solidarity with the poor and the weak; mutual support and compassion among human beings; guarding the safety of the environment; refraining from any corruption of the land; repulsion of wars and fighting; prohibition of the weapons of mass destruction; the invitation to dialogue and mutual acquaintance; the invitation to competition and cooperation to prevent any corruption of the land; the encouragement of mutual services and of competition in good deeds, in terms of address, and in social relations; the call for an equitable world order complemented with rational and benign globalization; and the call for the complementarity, coexistence, and the competition of civilizations in the search for better conditions—if all these things do not meet the requirements and accomplish security, peace, and coexistence, what does?  What meets the aspirations and hopes of nations for security, stability, dignity, and development? 

Is it the legalization of homosexuality and same-sex marriage? 

Is it the breaking down of the family and canceling of the ties of social belonging? 

Is it the production of human generations with unknown identity and lineage, which are so irresponsible that they tamper with social life and security? 

Is it the culture of theft, pillage, armed robbery, and murder, which have become features of major capitals and the majority of metropolises in the world? 

Is it monopoly and control of the destinies of peoples and nations? 

Is it the chaos of technological terrorism and the produced and distributed weapons of death, doom, and mass destruction?

Is it pollution of the air, land, and sea?

Is it cow madness, aviary flu, and the contamination of fish, vegetables, fruits, and all other types of food, against which warnings are issued by world research centers and human rights organizations?

Is it the madness of human beings, which is the source of all types of madness?

Is it domination and the abolishing of the world order to the advantage of authoritarian international groups?

Is it wayward, oppressive, and domineering globalization that seeks to serve the interests and supremacy of the world’s financial sharks, paid for with the hunger, disease, ignorance, and underdevelopment of people?

Is it the culture of militarization of international relations at the expense of the culture of dialogue, mutual acquaintance, security and peace?

Is it wars of mass destruction and genocide?

Is it ethnic and cultural cleansing against certain nations to serve the interests of another culture or civilization?

Or is it oppression and the absence or the double standards of justice?

If all these grave sins that are contradictory to human nature and disposition are regarded by some as part of the culture of peace and security, I neither believe in that culture nor promote it.  Nor do I recommend to such people to persist in their attitude.  Yet, together with the wise people and with male and female reformers of the world in all communities and countries, I will continue to follow the approach of mutual advice, I will insist to continue pursuing the courses of dialogue between people in a kindly manner to accomplish mutual acquaintance and cooperation and to work together with these wise people in an objective unbiased manner to clarify what is right and what is wrong in our human progress.  We will not get tired or bored as we purse this rational course until God illuminates the right course for us and for other people and all the routes of goodness and reason become clear to us all, so that all of us will work together to achieve the task entrusted to us by our Lord, which is to settle the earth and maintain justice among people.

In the system we, Muslims, follow and on the basis of Islam’s international mission, all people are creatures and servants of God, the Most Sublime, and the ones that God loves the most are the ones whom his other creatures and servants love the most.  A human being is honored for himself, regardless of his/her gender or religious or racial affiliation.  The earth is the dwelling place for all human beings, their common homeland, and the treasury of their earnings.  Its safety should be safeguarded and no corruption should take place in it.  Justice is the basis of the secure coexistence of individuals and communities, and affection and peace are qualities of the normal relationship between people.  Wars and clashes are tools of injustice and tyranny, and the results of temptations by the devil and his soldiers.  Mutual mercy and compassion among human beings complement faith.

The variety of religious laws and of approaches followed by people is something willed by God, the Most Sublime, in His great wisdom.  It is supposed to be a starting point for competition in good deeds, rather than a starting point or a cause for conflict and clashes between cultures and civilizations.  Equitable internationalism and rational globalization are two things that complement and are inseparable from the approach and mission of Islam, and are definite starting points for the accomplishment of common human interests, the circulation of benefits among all people, the laying of foundations for the culture of enjoining what is good, and the realization of everything that is definitely beneficial to human dignity and the sacredness of human life.  They are also essential to lay foundations for the culture of prohibiting what is wrong, the prevention of everything that is definitely bad and harmful to human life and dignity, that undermines the safety of the earth and the environments, and that impedes the equitable and secure coexistence of societies.

On the other hand, one of Islam’s objectives is to introduce and lay foundations for the principle of contract-making in human life.  The making of contracts and the observance of pledges and covenants are together the basic divine value in maintaining human life and managing human affairs.  Moreover, the making of contracts is the most guaranteed principle and the most powerful guard to protect the security of individuals and communities.  It is also the straightest and most equitable course in God’s consideration and the safest course to establish trust and confidence between individuals and communities.  Furthermore, the making of contracts is a basic starting point in asserting human dignity and freedom.  It stresses the principle of the equality of individuals and communities.  After all, a contract is a law and a binding covenant for the contracting parties.  They are responsible before God and religious and civic laws to observe it, without any advantage for one party over the other, or any bias towards a party outside the contract and its stipulation.

In Islam, the principle of contract-making is the foundation of life system, and the most trusted authority for the administration of justice among people.  To glorify and sanctify this principle, God, the Most Sublime, follows it Himself by establishing a covenant between Him and His creatures, as in His statement:

Your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their offspring and called them to bear witness about themselves.  “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes …” (Al-A'raaf VII: 172).

Belief in God as the One-and-Only deity is a contract, marriage is a contract, all types of sales and other business transactions as contracts, industry and agriculture involve contracts, mutual services are contracts, all other kinds of dealings between people are contracts, governance and politics involve contracts, leadership and subject obedience involve contracts, and powers of attorney and authorizations are contracts.  No one has absolute guardianship over someone else, for absolute guardian­ship in this universe is God’s alone.  He has no partner, and absolute submission is to Him.  His creatures and servants have guardianship over no one and owe obedience to no one, other than Him, except through contacts and covenants.

It is on the basis of contract-making that obedience to a leader or a ruler gains the same status as obedience to God, Who says:

Those who pledge allegiance to you, pledge allegiance to God.  God’s hand is above theirs (Al-Fattah XLVIII: 10).

The noble Messenger, our master Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, says:

A person who obeys me would be obeying God, a person  who disobeys me would be disobeying God, a person who obeys the ruler would be obeying me, and a person  who disobeys the ruler would be disobeying me.[1]

Islam emphasizes the importance of observing pledges and cove­nants between nations and communities, as evidenced in God’s words:

Believers, fulfill your contract obligations (Al-Maidah V: 1).

Meet the obligations of your pledges, for one is accountable for his pledge (Al-Israa XVII: 34).

These commands emphasize that the relationship between nations, countries, and communities are governed and controlled by equality and respect, and that contract-making, pledges, and covenants control and regulate the mechanisms of proper relations between them.  No nation, country, or community has guardianship over another.  By the command of their Lord, blessed be His names, all cooperate and compete in the fields of benevolence in accordance with God’s injunction:

Cooperate in charity and piety and not in sin and aggression, and fear God (Al-Maidah V: 2).

For each of you We have prescribed a law and a course.  Had God so willed, He would have made you all one nation, but His Will is to test you by means of that which He has bestowed on you.  Vie, then, with one another in doing good deeds  (Al-Maidah V:  48).

And had it not been for God using people to check each other, the Earth would have been corrupted.  God is limitless in His bounty to all the worlds (Al-Baqarah II: 251).

We promoted some of them in ranks, so that they would use each other in service (Al-Zukhruf XLIII: 32).

The cooperation, competition, mutual checking, exchange of benefits and of services, and contract making of nations, countries and societies is the basis for dealings between them; they are equals and partners in the task of settling the earth and realizing God’s desire for this life on earth.  Any nation, country or society that claims for itself guardianship or supremacy over others, and any nation or country that seeks to dominate and monopolize international decisions or attempts to control or manage, alone of all nations, the interests of other nations, countries, or societies, certainly disobeys God, it is rebellious against human will, it is hostile to the laws and conventions of the international community, and it contradicts the conventions of the cultural and civilization multiplicity of nations.  After all, we are, by the command of God, the Most Sublime, and in accordance with His Law, partners and not guardians.

It is regrettable that there are international parties today which, with audaciously and with indifference towards international conventions, seek to impose their control on international decisions.  They base their behavior in the international arena on their position as unconquerable powers and impose themselves as the authority that determines the fates of peoples and societies.  They have even gone further; with fire and iron, they wage regional and international wars, using the latest and most lethal and destructive weapons to impose their “democratic” system on all peoples and communities of the world, without any consideration or respect for the choices of these peoples, nor for their distinctive cultural and religious characteristics.  They have made the adoption of democracy the only criterion for friendship or enmity and for opting for peace or for war with every people and country of the world.

In their enthusiasm and indulgence in that bloody tyrannical approach, these aggressive parties forget the charge they have been advancing against Muslims; namely, that they have spread their creed and their system by the sword.

Probably, however, this charge against Muslims concerns the use of the sword per se, being a primitive weapon, while these parties are, according to their way of thinking, civilized in spreading their culture and their democracy, and use in imposing them on people the latest and most developed weapons, including nuclear and biological, as well as smart bombs, which are extremely “merciful” towards communities, if we think of mass destruction and instant collective fatalities as “mercy.”  This is an unprecedented stride taken by civilization in the field of the great death industry.  It seems to be in harmony with their golden rule: Be kind while destroying your victim.

Finally, I reaffirm what I have repeated constantly; namely, the ideas I advance and the reflections, insights, and orientations in this book are no more than considered intellectual views, offered to be contemplated, revised, and subjected to mutual discussion by scholars and people of learning in the hope of developing or improving them, modifying and rationalizing them, or else rejecting them and coming up with what is better and more appropriate.  The sought end remains, first and last, to find ways to cooperate and work jointly for the rationalization, development, and renovation of our cultural and intellectual discourse, making it in greater harmony with the approach of Islam and the objectives of its immortal, international mission.  The end of this, in turn, is a rational settlement of the earth, where justice is administered, human life and dignity are sanctified, the safety of the environment is guarded, and the equitable and secure coexistence of people is realized.

Prof. Dr. Hamid bin Ahmad Al-Rifaie

President, International Islamic Forum For Dialogue

    Assistant Secretary General, Muslim World League

From His Book (Partners ... not Guardians)  Part Five

All Rights Reserved For The Author Prof. Dr. Hamid Al-Rifaie