23 / 54
20
Spirit of Islam Issue 35 November 2015
Here it is necessary to clarify that the sequence of conditions and
events in the 23-year span of Muhammad’s prophethood is a part of
the history of Islam, and not a part of Islamic creed. For instance, the
Prophet engaged in peaceful
dawah
(conveying the message of God)
in Makkah. He then quietly migrated
(hijrat)
to Madinah. Thereafter,
there were incidents of
jihad
(in the sense of
qital
or war). Finally
there was the victory over Makkah. If someone takes this sequence
of events to argue that the Islamic movement is but a name for three
stages—
Dawah
,
Hijrat
and
Jihad
—it would be incorrect. This sequence
of events was not based on any sacred concept but was wholly a result
of temporal conditions, and not of any ideology. It is related to
minhaj
,
and not to the
deen;
to method, and not to religion. Its status is entirely
relative. It is an event of history that happened because of prevailing
conditions and there is nothing sacrosanct about it.
Differences in matters of method were not specific to earlier prophets.
This principle will continue to operate among the Muslim
ummah
even
after the last prophet, the Prophet Muhammad. This is because the
principle on which it is based is an eternal one—that is, of differences
arising in the external circumstances. Hence there will be repeated
need for differences in method.
In ancient times, much of the world was under despotic monarchism.
A single tyrannical ruler controlled all the affairs of a country. Given this,
one option for a God-worshipping people to
lead a life of faith was by departing from the
ruler’s domains, as the Prophet Moses did.
He could not lead a peaceful life worshipping
the One God in Egypt under the rule of the
Pharaoh. That is why, he left Egypt, taking the
entire community of the Children of Israel
with him, and went into the uninhabited Sinai
desert to establish a God-worshipping society.
Another example is provided by the
Companions of the Prophet. In their time, the
powerful Sassanid and Byzantine empires
ruled in the neighbourhood of Arabia. Both
these empires were based on political coercion. Under their rule, it was
not possible for the votaries of monotheism to fulfil their responsibilities.
The aggression of these rulers led the Prophet’s Companions to
confront them. With God’s special help, the Prophet’s Companions were
victorious. These oppressive empires were finished off and the votaries
of monotheism got the opportunity to lead a life pleasing to God on
God’s earth.
When stagnation sets
in and a community
loses the spirit
of worship, God
commands, through
His prophets to
changes in some
external forms of
worship.