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the Message Continues ... 6/135
Newsletter for November 2012
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Article 6
Islam Beyond the Five Pillars
By: Charles Le Gai Eaton
Those who enquire about the basics of Islam are usually told
about the "Five Pillars" of the religion. These relate to faith
and to practice, but at a deeper level it might be said that
there are two great pillars which support the whole edifice.
These are Peace and Justice. They are clearly connected since
there can be no enduring peace without justice. The very word
Islam comes from the same verbal root as salaam meaning "peace"
and, since the religion is based upon total submission to the
will of God, Muslims believe that real peace is out of reach
unless it is based upon this submission within the universal
order. They believe equally that there can be no real justice
except as an aspect of submission to the source of all that is
just and well ordered. Although God in Himself is beyond
comprehension or analysis, the Qur'an gives us hints as to His
true nature through what are sometimes called "the 99 names" and
one of these is al-Adl, "the Just". Another of these names is
al-Muqsio, "the Dispenser of Justice" or "He who gives to each
thing its due".
The Quran praises those who always act "in the light of truth"
and tells us: "Perfected are the words of your Lord in truth and
justice". It tells us also: "Behold, God enjoins justice and
good actions and generosity to our fellows...", and it commands
us never to let hatred lead us into deviating from justice: "Be
just! That is closest to God consciousness". This, of course,
applies to all believers who must fear divine justice if
subjective factors or personal emotions lead them to deviate
from the path of justice which is also the path of Islam, but it
weighs heavily upon those who are required to adjudicate in
disputes or to give judgment in criminal cases. There were cases
in the early history of the religion when men whom the Ruler
intended to appoint as judges fled from Court rather than assume
this terrifying responsibility and we read of one who did accept
the burden that his whole body trembled when he was called upon
to give judgment, believing that a single mistake might carry
with it the threat of damnation. The divine Judge stands over
the human judge, observing all that he does, and human justice,
even at its best, can never be more than a poor imitation of
divine Justice. The Prophet Muhammad himself when he was called
upon to adjudicate in civil actions warned the litigants that
one of them might be more eloquent in putting his case than the
other and thereby achieve an unjust settlement. "In such a
case," said Muhammad, "I will have given him a portion of
hellfire". This is clearly a grave matter indicating that those
who seek justice must themselves practice it without deviation
even to their own hurt. Under all and any circumstances a
victory which is contrary to justice is a poisoned chalice.
Of special significance too is the relationship between justice
and wisdom in the Arabic language. The words Aukm, "judgment",
and Aikmah, "wisdom" come from the same root, and al-Aakim (the
"All-Wise" is another of the names of God in the Quran.
In the Christian tradition St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that, among
all human pursuits, "the pursuit of wisdom is more perfect, more
noble, more full of joy" than any other human enterprise. The
Muslim might amend this slightly by emphasizing that one cannot
"pursue" wisdom as one might a rare butterfly since it is a
divine quality and out of reach of the human seeker as such. It
is for us to lay ourselves open to this gracious gift by making
ourselves fit and ready to receive it.
It is commonly said that Justice is or should be "blind", in
other words rigidly objective, but a Judge is required to
possess the quality of insight in the most profound sense and
can deserve no higher praise than to be described as "wise",
participating, as it were, in "the wisdom of Solomon". Wisdom is
as much a quality of character as an attribute of the mind. It
has nothing to do with erudition which, however extensive, is
necessarily limited in scope. A learned man can still be a fool
when he steps outside the area of his expertise. The wise man is
protected by his insight from folly - although not always from
minor errors in the worldly context - because he possesses an
inner yardstick by which to assess the situations he encounters.
For the Muslim this yardstick is the Quran together with the
example of the Prophet and their reflection in the human heart.
There is no higher aim for the Muslim than the cultivation of
what is described as a "sound heart". From the sound heart comes
sound judgment. The same is true of sound governance and, in
Islam, this implies "ruling between" in accordance with wisdom
rather than "ruling over".
The Quran always emphasizes that Muhammad, though endowed with
the fullness of wisdom, was only "flesh and blood", capable like
other men of error except when inspired from above, but it was
his mission not only to convey with meticulous accuracy the
revelation which descended upon him but also to offer the
supreme example of what it meant to follow in his personal and
his public life the full implications of the revelation no less
meticulously. When he was dying and came for the last time to
the mosque in Medina he said to the assembled people: "If there
is anyone among you whom I have caused to be flogged unjustly,
here is my back. Strike in your turn. If I have damaged the
reputation of any among you, let him do the same to mine. To any
I may have injured, here is my purse... It is better to blush in
this world than in the hereafter". A man claimed a small debt
and was promptly paid.
Why is justice so important in Islam? The core article of faith
is the oneness of God, reflected in the unity of His creation in
its totality. This unity is reflected in harmony and balance.
Injustice destroys harmony and upsets balance thereby provoking
disorder. The Muslim is commanded to give primacy to prayer
throughout his life and, in all that he does, to remember God.
It is true that people can maintain prayer and remembrance under
all conditions, even in the midst of chaos, but the fact remains
that spiritual life prospers and flourishes when it has a stable
base, a firm platform from which the ascent to the knowledge of
God and the love of God can, as it were, take off. A disordered
society compounded of danger and distractions, unjust and
troubled, provides no such security. The man who has to watch
his back all the time is diverted from the remembrance of God as
is the one who has suffered injustice and must struggle to
eliminate feelings of anger and resentment. Moreover injustice
fractures the brotherhood and sisterhood of the believers which
is an essential element in an Islamic society. Above and beyond
this is the simple fact that He who is called "the Just"
commands justice both in society and in every aspect of human
relations. Since, in Islam, all things are inter-connected -
this is an aspect of unity - it might even be said that every
act of injustice jars on the cosmos as a whole like a discordant
note in a piece of music.
Islam is a very realistic religion and the Quran itself
recognizes the reality of human weakness. Those who are injured
are permitted to take retaliation but they are reminded at every
turn that it is better to forgive and to seek reconciliation.
Muslims are commanded to return good for evil, thus breaking the
vicious circle of animosity; "to do good to those who have
injured us" in the words of one of the classical commentators on
the Quran, but this requires human qualities which are by no
means universal although they were characteristic of Muhammad.
In his dealings with the pagans who tried by every means to
destroy him and his community he exemplified the rule of
forgiveness and reconciliation, forgiving even the most vicious
of his enemies when he finally re-entered Mecca in triumph,
providing them with gifts so that their hard hearts might be
softened and peace prevail after the years of conflict. Justice
might have required their punishment, but there is no
contradiction here since there is more than one way to achieve
balance which, after all, is the ultimate objective of justice.
Islam describes itself as "the middle way", a religion of
moderation in everything except the love and worship of God.
Muhammad condemned extremism with the greatest severity and
today's Muslims have a greater need to be reminded of this than
ever before as they do of his saying that "anger burns up good
deeds just as fire burns up dry wood".
Extremism and anger are both of them ugly in their
manifestations. In one of his inspired sayings (these are quite
separate from the revealed text of the Quran) the Prophet said:
"God is beautiful; He loves beauty". It is significant that the
Arabic word Aasan means both "good" and "beautiful". The
connection is clear since a good action or, for that matter, a
good character has a quality of beauty which, in its turn, is
related to the idea of harmony, just proportion and therefore of
justice as such. It is worth noting that the English word "fair"
means both just and beautiful. The Arabic verb adala, from the
same root as adl (Justice), is usually translated as "to
proportion", "to create in symmetry" or "to be equitable". Here
again we have the idea of harmony which is dependent upon
justice.
Muslim thinkers have always been interested in the science of
numbers and their significance, and each letter of the Arabic
alphabet has a particular number attached to it. Words derived
from the root ÔDL, including adl, occur 28 times in the Quran,
and, as it happens, there are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet.
These are related to the 28 "mansions of the moon" which
determine the Muslim calendar. This may seem somewhat esoteric
but, in the Islamic perspective, there are no chance
coincidences and, for Muslims, it is further proof of the
universal harmony which is the pattern of creation and a sign
that everything makes sense when it is closely examined.
In the Quran, which is for all Muslims the directly revealed
Word of God, He says: "We sent down the Book and the Balance so
that mankind might uphold justice". Here again the idea of
balance occurs, linked directly with the revelation itself. The
"scales of justice" are set up and our actions are to be weighed
in perfect equity. Regarding the Last Judgment, we read in the
Quran: "That day mankind will issue forth in scattered groups to
be shown their deeds, and whoso does an atom's weight of good
will see it then and whoso does an atom's weight of ill will see
it then".
Actions which may appear to us completely trivial are cast into
the balance, but good and ill are not alike in weight. The Quran
tells us also that a good action, however small in itself, will
be rewarded many times its own weight whereas the crimes or sins
we may have committed will weigh no more and no less than what
they are as such. It might even be said that the scales are
themselves weighted in favor of the good and since God is the
source of all that is good, all that is beautiful, all that is
harmonious, this is in the nature of things. So far as human
justice is concerned, the Prophet counseled all those who are
obliged to sit in judgment over their fellows to "avert
penalties by doubts" and this is clearly in accordance with the
requirement of the British legal system that guilt must be
proved "beyond reasonable doubt".
In the present age, at least in the West, the notion of justice
and, in particular, of rights has taken on a coloring that is
specifically modern. People are unwilling to accept that
misfortunes are a part of life and not necessarily the fault of
someone else or of the system. Earlier generations in the West
were taught the virtue of resignation, as are Muslims still to
this day. The cry "It's so unfair!" is heard now on every side
and the subjective conviction that one has suffered injustice or
that one's rights have been infringed is a source of bitterness
and unhappiness. The Muslim, while he must uphold justice so far
as he can, has no right to such self-indulgence or to suppose
that he can be judge in his own case. To complain against
destiny is, in effect, to enter a complaint against Him who
holds all destinies in His hand and whose justice is beyond
questioning. Here certain Qur'anic verses are particularly
apposite: "And surely We will try you with something of fear and
hunger and the loss of wealth and lives and crops. But give good
news to the steadfast who say, when misfortune strikes them:
ÔTruly we belong to God and truly to Him we return'. These are
they upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. Such are
the rightly guided". Life's vicissitudes test our metal and
reveal what we truly are in ourselves. The notion of "fair
shares" can be dangerous since few people today are ready to
accept that what life has given them is indeed fair. In the
Islamic perspective ultimate justice puts everything in its
appropriate place, whether high or low, and this is to be
accepted since there is no place from which the ascent to the
Creator - "seeking the Face of his Lord Most High" - may not be
undertaken. This, rather than wealth or good fortune, is the
priority of the Muslim who aims to fulfill the purpose of his
life.
Clearly the question of balance arises once again: on the one
hand the obligation to strive for justice in this world, on the
other to accept the injustices which are woven into our earthly
life in a spirit of resignation. Circumstances dictate which of
these alternatives is appropriate. The story is told of a
merchant in Muslim Spain who, when told that his ship had sunk
with all his goods aboard, looked down for a moment before
exclaiming: "Praise be to God!". Later a man came to tell him
that the ship had been saved. Once again he looked down before
exclaiming: "Praise be to God!". He was asked why he had looked
down. "I wanted," he said, "to be sure that my heart was
untroubled". Equanimity is a basic virtue in Islam. Here,
perhaps, there is a clue to the reconciliation of the
alternatives with which we are so often faced - to take up arms
against the injustice we have suffered or to accept it with
resignation. The right choice can only be made if we detach
ourselves from our emotions and from all subjectivism.
This, of course, is an ideal not easily attainable but what
matters is that the ideal stands clear of personal
entanglements, is respected and is seen as the goal for which
the good man should aim. History recounts that, during one of
the battles in defense of the Muslim community in Medina, the
Prophet's son-in-law Ali, engaged in combat with one of the
pagans, brought his enemy to his knees and was about to strike
the killing blow when the man spat in his face. Ali sheathed his
sword, knowing that to strike out of personal anger rather than
as an act of dispassionate justice would be a sin.
So justice is a basic principle of Islam since it has its roots
in God Himself. To the secular jurist who sees it as an end in
itself this may seem an alien concept but Islam is a
God-centered Faith which never permits anything to be detached
from its divine source, al-Aaqq, one of the "99 Names", which
means "The Truth" but can also be translated as "The Real",
ultimate Reality itself. There is therefore a principle which
over-masters justice and this is RaAmah, Mercy. According to
another of the Prophet's inspired sayings: "When God completed
the creation He wrote the following, which is with Him above His
Throne - My Mercy takes precedence over my Wrath". Justice is,
in a sense, a manifestation of Wrath unless it is tempered by
Mercy. All but one of the chapters of the Quran opens with the
words: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Dispenser of
Mercy", and, among Muslims, these same words initiate all human
actions. It is said that the instrument of creation was the
"breath of the Merciful" and therefore that existence itself is
a mercy for which we have a duty to be grateful. Indeed,
ingratitude and unbelief are almost synonymous in the Islamic
perspective.
Believers are warned again and again that if they hope for mercy
from their Lord - as all must - then they have to show mercy to
their fellows and to "every creature that has a living heart"
including the beasts and the birds. "God gives a reward for
gentleness which He will never give for harshness", said the
Prophet. It is clear that, for the Muslim, there is a powerful
restraint upon justice if justice is understood merely as a
weighing of relevant facts and that is why the human judge,
fallible and himself in need of mercy, trembles when he gives
judgment.
In Islam mercy always has the last word.
Charles Le Gai Eaton (Hassan Abdul Hakeem) was born in
Switzerland and educated at Charterhouse at King's College,
Cambridge. He worked for many years as a teacher and journalist
in Jamaica and Egypt (where he embraced Islam in 1951) before
joining the British Diplomatic Service. He is now a consultant
to the Islamic Cultural Centre in London.
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