Introduction
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah was a Prophet. He was a Messenger of God. He
was the Seal of the Prophets. This is something agreed upon by all
Muslims: La ilaha illa Allah / Muhammadan Rasul Allah: there is no god
but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Prophethood
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah was a nabi or a prophet, namely, a person
sent to preach the Word of God; a person who was following in the
footsteps of his prophetic predecessors. He did not preach a new
religion; he preached the primordial religion, Islam, submission and
surrender to the One and Only God, the Creator and Sustainer of the
Universe.
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah was also a rasul or a messenger, namely, a
person who was sent with a scripture, a book from God, a revelation, and
a code of law. He came forth, not only with ‘aqidah or beliefs but with
shari‘ah or law, a comprehensive social, political, and economic
system. Islam is a complete way of life.
Unlike the prophets and messengers who preceded him and unlike the
founders of other faith traditions, which focus on governing themselves,
Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, also focused on how Muslims should
interact with others.
If one reads the Old Testament, and one study the Halakha, one sees
that that Jewish Law was concerning primarily with regulating the lives
of Jewish people.
If one reads the New Testament, and studies Canon Law, one sees that
Christian law was concerned primarily with regulating the lives of
Christian people. There is little in the Judeo-Christian tradition
regarding the rights of non-Jews and non-Christians. There is little
with regards to the manner we should treat different faith communities.
For many religions, both Eastern and Western, it was pretty much:
“Follow my way or I will send you on the highway to Hell.” Although the
belief system and code of conduct of believers was clearly delineated,
the rights of unbelievers were often reduced to the right to die. In
many cases, it boiled down to “Convert the unbelievers or kill them
all.”
Pluralism
Islam, however, came to the scene with an entirely novel and unique
approach: pluralism. Unlike many other religions that insisted that
salvation was for them and them alone, Islam insisted that salvation was
within the reach of all righteous monotheists. So long as one believed
in God, and one did good deeds and avoided evil deeds, one had hope in
the mercy of Almighty God. As Almighty Allah, says in the Holy Qur’an:
Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians,
and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does
good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear
for them, nor shall they grieve. (2:62)
As Mustafa Akyol, the author of The Islamic Jesus, has observed:
The fact that the Qur’an promised salvation to [the Sabians],
along with Jews and Christians, reflects a theological liberality in
early Islam that most contemporary Muslims would have a hard time to
even consider. (i)
I have studied Islam for over three decades. I too was taught that
only Muslims were believers and that only Muslims went to Heaven. I was
taught that Christians were mushrikin or polytheists. I was taught that
the People of the Book were kuffar or infidels who were destined to
eternal damnation in Hell. I studied all the so-called Muslim
authorities who misrepresented and misinterpreted the Qur’an to suit
their intolerant purposes.
I read all the so-called “authentic” traditions that extremists use
to justify denying non-Muslims basic civil and human rights. I read all
the so-called authoritative commentaries of the Qur’an that present an
intolerant image of Islam. I can assert, openly, and unabashedly, that
the extremist, fundamentalist, exclusivist, absolutist, fascist and
supremacist interpretation of Islam is false. It represents a
re-invention of Islam. It is not the Islam of the Rightly-Guided
Caliphs. It is not the Islam of the Prophet Muhammad. And it most
certainly is not the Islam of the Qur’an and the Islam of Almighty
Allah.
Political Responsibility
When the Messenger of Allah established himself in Madinah, he
consulted with Jews, Muslims, and polytheists, and created a
constitution, the first of its kind in the political history of
humanity. Known as the Covenant of Madinah, it placed all citizens on
equal footing with equal rights and obligations. The citizens of the
city-state of Madinah consisted of Jews and Arab non-Muslims. They
numbered in the tens of thousands. Muslims, however were a minority
during the early days of Muhammad’s rule: they numbered in the hundreds.
Nonetheless, the Prophet proclaimed that they were a ummah wahidah, a
single community, a constitutional confederation.
The term mu’minin or believers is used almost a thousand times in the
Qur’an. As Mustafa Akyol recognizes, the term “was a broad umbrella
that could incorporate all monotheists” (i). In the Constitution of
Madinah and in the Covenants of the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah
described the People of the Book as mu’minin or believers. And this
makes perfect logical sense: anyone who believes in God is a believer.
When the Messenger of Allah referred to his followers, those who
embraced Islam, he used the term muslimin or Muslims. The Prophet
spearheaded a movement of believers and created a Confederation of
Believers. The rightly-guided Caliphs used the title Amir al-Mu’minin,
Leader of the Believers, not Amir al-Muslimin, Leader of the Muslims.
They were the leaders of all the citizens of the Ummah.
As Mustafa Akyol explains, “The existence of different religious
traditions on earth is not an aberration but, quite the contrary the
very will of God” (ii). As we read in the Holy Qur’an,
And we have sent down the Book to you [Muhammad] with truth,
confirming and conserving the previous Books. So judge between them by
what God has sent down and do not follow their whims and desires
deviating from the Truth that has come to you.
We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had
God willed, He would have made you a single community, but He wanted to
test you regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in
doing good. And every one of you will return to God and He will inform
you regarding the things about which you differed. (5:48)
This is pluralism plain and simple, a condition or system in which
various groups, principles, sources of authority or religious traditions
co-exist in respect and tolerance. It is pluralism as defined by Diana
L. Eck: energetic engagement with diversity; active seeking of
understanding across lines of difference; encounter of commitments; and
the language of dialogue.
One day, when the Prophet Muhammad was in Madinah, a delegation of
Christians visited him from Najran. They debated and discussed religious
matters. They agreed on some issues. They disagreed on other issues.
When it came time for the Christians to perform their prayers, they
excused themselves to leave the mosque. The Prophet Muhammad insisted
that they pray in his mosque as it was a place of prayer and a house of
God. And so the Christians prayed and celebrated mass in the mosque of
the Prophet. This event is meticulously documented in Muslim sources.
Not only is it authentic, it is exemplary. It is the very embodiment of
Islamic ethics. Compare that to the actions of ISIS.
There are two visions of Islam that confront us today: an Islam of
peace, mercy, tolerance, love, equality, and justice; and an Islam of
war, cruelty, intolerance, hatred, inequality, and injustice; an Islam
of terrorism, bloodshed, violence, misogyny, and bigotry. Forgive me if I
have enough sense of decency and humanity to side with the former, True
Islam, and repudiate all those who side with the latter which is
nothing less than Anti-Islam. Muslims, true Muslims, must agree to
disagree, not only with non-Muslims, but with each other. Had Allah
willed, He would have made us all the same. He did not decree uniformity
by means of barbarity, like ISIS wants to impose, but diversity and
plurality under the wings of mercy. As Almighty Allah says in the Holy
Qur’an:
O humankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and
made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the
most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.
Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (49:13)
The Qur’an abolishes sexism. The Qur’an abolishes racism. The Qur’an
abolishes absolutism. It calls upon different religious traditions to
“compete with each other in righteousness” (5:48). It calls upon
different religious traditions to defer their differences to the
ultimate judgment of God. It is what is known as irja or “postponement;”
namely, deferring religious differences to the afterlife.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, never converted people
by force. As Almighty Allah says in the Holy Qur’an, “There is no
compulsion in religion” (2:256). Consequently, the Messenger of Allah
invited people to Islam. If they accepted Islam, alhamdulillah, praise
be to Allah. If they preferred to keep their religion, masha’ Allah, it
was the will of Allah. Perhaps they would come into Islam in the future,
insha’ Allah, if it is the will of Allah. The Prophet was perfectly
clear on the subject. As he wrote in the Treaty with the Kings of
Himyar, cited in the Sirah of Ibn Ishaq:
If a Jew or a Christian becomes a Muslim, he is a believer with
his rights and obligations. He who holds fast to his religion, Jew or
Christian, is not to be turned from it. (iii)
As Abu al-Fath al-Samiri, wrote in the Continuation of his chronicle,
The Prophet of Islam did not cause anyone distress throughout his
life. He would present his belief before the people, accepting anyone
who came to him, [yet] not compelling one who did not.
According to this 14th century Samaritan scholar, “Muhammad never
mistreated any of the followers of the Law.” He also related a tradition
transmitted by Samaritan elders that stated that: “Muhammad was a good
and mighty person because he made a treaty of friendship with the Hebrew
People.”
If the People of the Book did not wish to embrace Islam, Almighty
Allah called upon them to follow their scripture firmly. As we read in
the Holy Qur’an: “So let the followers of the Gospel judge according to
what God has sent down in it” (5:47).
This is exactly what the Messenger of Allah did. He judged Jews on
basis of the Torah; Christians on the basis of the Gospel; and Muslims
on the basis of the Qur’an. And that is precisely what the
Rightly-Guided Caliphs did. As Imam ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him,
said when he assumed the Caliphate:
Question me before you lose me. Question me, for I have the
knowledge of those who came earlier and those who will come later. If
the cushion (on which a judge sits) was folded for me (to sit on), I
could give judgements to the people of the Torah by their Torah, to the
people of the Gospels by their Gospels, to the people of Psalms by their
Psalms and to the people of the Furqan (i.e. Qur’an) by their Furqan,
so that each one of these books will be fulfilled and will declare, “O
Lord, indeed ‘Ali has given judgement according to Your decree.
Conclusions
This is Islam, true Islam, the Islam of Allah, the Islam of the
Prophet, and the Islam of all true Muslims. It is a religion that
soothes the soul. It is a religion that satisfies the intellect with
certainty. It is a religion based on ethics and morality. It is a
religion of piety and righteousness. It is a religion that provides
people with rights as opposed to depriving people of rights. It is a
religion of personal growth and development; a religion of social
justice.
Notes:
i. The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslimsby Mustafa Akyol, Page68
ii.The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslimsby Mustafa Akyol, Page102
iii.The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslimsby Mustafa Akyol, Page643
Dr. John Andrew Morrow is an Amerindian Muslim leader and a proud
member of the Métis Nation. After embracing Islam at the age of 16, he
became both a Western academic and a traditional Muslim scholar. He is
the author of a large body of scholarly works, the most influential of
which is The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of
the World. His websites include covenantsoftheprophet.com and johnandrewmorrow.com. His videos and lectures can be found on The Covenants of the Prophet Channel on YouTube.His Facebook accounts include @johnandrewmorrow and @covenantsoftheprophet. He can be followed on Twitter @drjamorrow.