Service In The Cause Of Faith

By Maulana Manzur No'mani

Islam, as you would be knowing very well by now, stands for that wholesome way of life and that Divine guidance the inspired communication of which has been reaching mankind from God through his selected Apostles. The mission of the apostle in this behalf was comprised of two parts: to receive knowledge of that way of life and that guidance from God by means of the revealed word, and, then, to preach it to fellow-men, to instruct them in it, and to persuade them to put it into action in their daily life.

The first of the mission ended with the termination of the luminous line of the Apostles. The very term. Termination Apostleship, denotes that, after Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), no one is going to be raised up as the revealer and interpreter of the Divine will in the world, to aspect and to obey whom as a Divine Apostle might be an obligation for men. The law and guidance brought by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) sufficient since they are to meet the needs of humanity till the end of time, and guaranteed as their preservation is by God have permanently ruled out the necessity of another messenger above. But the second part of the Apostolic work, the preaching of Divine law and guidance and the persuading of men to enact them in their every day existence, continues as ever, and it is the unique privilege of Muslims that, as successors of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), the sacred duty of discharging this responsibility and carrying ahead the Holy mission of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to fulfillment has now finally fallen to their lot.

The Prophet had begun his historic task in Mecca with preaching and invitation. He used to call the people to the Divine faith that was his first step. Then, as by the mercy of God, a few persons responded to the Divine call and those for themselves the true religion and the life of virtue towards which he invited, the training and instruction of the faithful, their moral and spiritual cleansing and purification and the allowing of the lawful and the prohibiting of the forbidden were added to his duties. Later, there came a time when it became necessary for the defence and progress of the Divine mission and for enabling more and more men to drink and the well of right belief and virtuous conduct to grapple with the forces of darkness that were threatening to put the light of faith or to restrict its radiance. The taking up of arms in support of faith Jehad thenceforth, also came to be a part of the program of Prophetic endeavor. And these duties continued to grow and expand steadily with the progress of time. In addition to instructing those who embraced Islam in the fundamentals of faith, the Prophet (Peace be upon him), then, would also impress upon them that they had to participate along with him and according to their means and circumstances in the moral and spiritual resuscitation of humanity and make his struggle their own. As long as the Prophet (Peace be upon him) remained in the world, his followers, under his inspiration, spared themselves neither life nor money to have their full share, as staunch friends and associates, in the glorious task of bringing light to mankind through guidance and instruction and through service and assistance in the cause of faith. They marched under him, without demur or hesitation, to do their duty by the Divine religion in the realm of missionary activity, in the areas of human uplift, correction and reformation and in the field of battle. After the Prophet (Peace be upon him) death, the responsibility of keeping alive the lofty struggle, in all its aspects, fell upon the shoulders of the Ummat as a whole; which is now accountable for safeguarding and promoting the interests of faith as the successor of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), for all future time.

It is enough to know by way of the great sanctity and importance of this work that it is the work of the Prophets. We may, however, also take note of some of the pronouncements contained in relation to it in the Quran and the Traditions.

It would be apparent by now that there are many aspects to this endeavor including preaching and propagation of faith, religious instruction and reform, the sanctioning of what is right and the forbidding of what is wrong, and the taking up of arms in the cause of God. We will take the Quranic verses that exhort the Muslims to strive in the cause of faith in a general way and then those in which the various branches of the sacred duty are mentioned individually. We will begin with Sura-i-Maida:

" O ye who believe! Do your duty to God, seek the means of approach unto him, and strive with might and main in his cause: that ye may prosper." (Quran:Maida,6)

The concluding lines of Sura-i-Haj read:
"And strive in his cause as ye to strive, (with sincerity and discipline). He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the cult of your father Abraham. It is he who has named you Muslims both before and in this (revelation); that the Apostle may be a witness for you, and ye may be witness for mankind."
(Quran : Haj, 10)

In Sura-i-Saff, we find :
"O ye who believe! shall I lead you to a borgain that will save you from a grievous penalty? that ye believe in God and his Apostles, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the cause of God with your property and your persons; that will be best for you if ye but knew. He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to Gardens beneath which rivers flow and in beautiful mansions in Gardens of eternity: that is needed the supreme achivement. And another (favour will he bestow) which ye do love help from God and a speedy victory. So give the glade tidings to the believers. O ye who believe ! be ye helpers of God: as said Jesus, the son of Mary: "Who will my helper to (the work of) God?" said the disciples, "We are God's helpers!" (Quran : Saff, 2)

The manner of alluding to the stirring call of Jesus " who will be my helpers to (the work of) God? "response to it of his disciples " We are God's helper!" in the above Sura while enjoining the service of the faith on "those who believe" through the heart-warming slogan of "Be ye helpers of God" demonstrates it clearly that the Jehad (Struggle) and Nusrat (Help) spoken of in it the path os God since it is a well known fact about Jesus and his Apstles that they never took resort to arms. Their Jehad consisted exclusively of pain and suffering undergone willingly in the service of truth and faith.
In any case, the sevice and exertion spoken of in the above Suras as Jehad or Nusrat include every effort, endeavour or sacrifice made for the defence and promotion of the Holy cause and the moral and spiritual progress ad uplift of mankind whether in the shape of preaching and propagation or training and instruction or warfare.

We will now consider some of the verses that deal with an individual branch of religious endeavor and call out the people to it specifically. Read Sura-i-Aal-i-Imran:

"Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong: they are the one who will attain felicity." (Quran: Aal-e-Imran, 11)

It may be deduced from the phrase "out of you" in the verse we have just quoted that the duty of " inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong" is applicable not to the whole of the Ummat, but to action of it alone. But that would not be correct because, as we have seen, the verse itself adds that "they are the one who will attain felicity", and a matter on which depends the supreme issue of deliverence and salvation, cannot, obviously, be made the concern of any indevidual section or class. Moreover, four or five verses later, in the same Sura, it has been said that:
"Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God. (Quran : Aal-i-Imran, 12)

The very aim of raising up the Muslims, thus, is that they perform, in addition to bearing faith in God, the function of "enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong." such being the case, the responsibility for the discharge of this duty rests with the body of the Ummat, as a whole, but the nature of the wrong the generally rules out the necessity or the possibility of every member of the community taking a hand in it. A task of this nature is, as a rule, best accomplished of a body of persons with the right aptitude and ability comes forward to devote itself to it while the rest of the people extend to it their ready support and co-operation. I suggest that the phrase " out of you" has been used solely for that reason. We will take another Sura, Maida, It says;
" Curses were pronounced on those among the children of Israel who rejected faith, by the tongue of David and Jesus, the son of Mary,: because they disobeyed and persisted in excess. Nor did they (usually) forbid one another the inequities which they committed: evil indeed were the deeds which they did."
(Quran : Maida, 11)

The above verses reveal how vital to the enjoyment of faith the duty of "enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong" is. The disregard of it by the Israelites led to their damnation. The chief idea, in fact, in bringing it in here in this Sura was to warn the Muslims that the same fate awaited them too if they did not pay an adequate heed to their responsibilities in this regard.
After the Quranic verses we will reproduce a few of the sayings of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) on the subject. Here are three of them:

"By the Holy Being in whose power is my life, persevere with the task of 'enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong', otherwise God will surely send down upon you a punishment. Then you will supplicate to him (for deliverance from the punishment), and the supplication will avail you nothing."

"If any one among you sees a wrong or a sin being perpetrated then (should he be in a position to do so) he should try to eradicate it by force, and if that not be possible he should try to eradicate it by raising his voice against it, and if that, too, be not possible, he should feel sore about it in the heart (and think of possible ways of removing the evil) this last state is the weakest state of faith."

"If a person living in a community transgresses against the law of God and the community does not set right his ways although it has the power and the authority to do so, God's chastisement will overtake it in this very existence."

To take now the duties of the preaching and propagation of faith, religious training and instruction and moral and spiritual guidance and reformation, the Quran declares in Sura-i-Ha Mim Sajda:

"who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to God, works righteousness, and says, I am of those who bow in Islam?" (Quran : Ha Mim Sajda, 5)

In other words, the most pleasing thing with God is the conduct of a person who, while blessed himself with the wealth of faith and virtuous living, invites the other to the same and strives for their reformation.To quote the Sura, Al-Asr:
"By (the token of ) time (through the Ages), verily, man is in loss, except such as have faith and do righteous deeds and (join together) in the mutual teaching of truth, and of patience and constance." (Quran : Asr)

It is reported by Sahl bin Sa,ad (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) one observed: "By the Almighty, if a single person receives guidance through you, it is better (for you) than the red camels."
Abu Masood Ansari (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) relates it from the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that, "A person who guides another to a deed of virtue will have the same recompense for it as the doer of the deed."
Aas bin Malik (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) has narrated that, "The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) once asked, 'Do you know who is the best in charity?' 'God and his prophet alone (Peace be upon him) know', replied the Companions. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then explained, 'In charity the most high is God; then there is myself; after me is the man who having acquired the knowledge of Divine guidance strove to spread it and to take it on to others. Such a man will, on the day of Reckoning, arise as a chief and an officer,. (Or, that 'he by himself will rise up as a whole Ummat)

It is further reported by Abdul Rahiman bin abza that one day the Prophet (Peace be upon him) delivered a sermon, in the course of which he praised the deeds and achivements of some Muslim tribes in the cause of faith. He then asked, "(But) why is it that some other tribes do nothing by way of creating the consciousness and understanding of faith among their neighbors? They neither instruct nor inform them nor carry out among them the duty of 'enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong? And why is it that some tribes make no effort to learn the faith and acquire an awareness of it from their neighbors? They go not to them for instruction and guidance. I declare by God that it is the duty of every group, class or tribe possessed of religious knowledge and awareness to take steps for the instruction of its neighbours to counsel them, to elighten them, to check them from sinning and to pursued them to do good deeds. In the same way, it is the duty of groups, classes or tribes. Who are ignorant of the teachings of faith, to learn them from the neighbours who know and seek guidance and enlightement from them. (That is, it is religious obligation for those who don't learn from those who do). I will wee that the group which fails in the discharge of its part of the duty soon receives a sever punishment."

What grave responsibility rests with the Muslims in the spheres of the propagation of faith and religious instruction guidance and reformation of the ignorant and the uninformed is abundantly evident from the tradition we have just seen. They can ignore it only at their peril the peril of incurring the wrath of God and the Prophet (Peace be upon him). This responsibility has again been emphasized by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in this popular phrase of his, "Everyone of you is the keeper of his fold and he shall have to answer before God for the fold that he has in his keeping."

Jehad is another important from of religious endeavour. Before we studied the relevent Quranic verses and Traditions it is essential to know that war in itself is by no means a desirable thing. It is like a painful surgical operation which when occasion demands becomes the greatest measure of good-will to the patient. Thus, when it becomes unavoideable to take up arms for protection against a grave evil or mischief, or for the removal of some great hindrance between God and his servants or in the path of the seems to be a fair hope of success that way, the Divine faith, Islam, and Holy book, the Quran, sanction may, the prescribe the waging for war, under rules and conditions provided by them, to those of the faithful who possess the means necessary to the undertaking and the ability to acquite themselves of the responsibilities resulting from it.

Unfortunately, however, Jehad is one of the most misunderstood terms occurring in Islam. This arises out of the folly of confusing it with something of a Muslim national war, although all national wars and conflicts are strictly forbidden in Islam. A war will be considered on Islamic Jehad only if it is waged in the cause of God and with no other object than the Glory of his word, the attainment of his pleasure and the love of paradise, and iscontained within the bounds laid down it in the Shariat.

A war that is motivated by the urges of national self-interest or is fought purely for material or political ends, as the case usually is with the modern wars, can never be recognized by the Islamic faith and Shariat as a Jehad even though one of the parties to it may be Muslims. It will be condemned by Islam as a downright evil and its heroes and companions will stand in the eyes of God not a Mujahids (warriors in the defence of faith) but as criminals and the makers of mischief on the earth.

With this in the mind we proceed to examine some of the relevant Quranic texts and the Traditions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). We will being with a verse from Sura-i-Haj because it was through it that the Muslims were initially granted the permission to take recourse to arms.

"To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged; and verily, God is most powerful for their aid; (they are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defence of right, (for no cause) except that they say, 'Our Lord is God." (Quran : Haj,6)

The Sura goes on to explain the need and the wisdom of putting up brave resistance against oppression and injustice and to give assurance of the unchanging practice of God that he makes his help available to those who are the supporters of Truth. It declares that (about these oppressed people whom leave is given to make war in their defence, God is aware that):
(They are) those who, if we establish them the land. (will) establish regular prayer and regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong; with God rests the end (and decision) of (all affairs). (Quran : Haj, 6)

Two things emerge distinctly from the above verses. Firstly, the basic idea behind the mandate of Jehad that the might of the oppressors and tyrants who revel in creating obstacles in the way of the Truth and righteous doing and practice coercion and violence upon the seekers of faith may be destroyed and power may pass into the hands of the God-loving and the God-fearing who will establish goodness and piety in the land guard men against straying from the 'straight path'. In such an event, particularly when the situation be so gloomy that it cannot be altered without the employment of force, war will clearly prove to be a great blessing for mankind.
The second thing is that the Muslims who may take on the sacred responsibility of Jehad should be so staunch, earnest and well-conditioned in faith that if they came to rule over any part of the world as a result of the struggle they would utilize the opportunity establishment of God-worship and piety and the deliverance of mankind from untruth and tyranny.

But, tragically enough, the present-day Muslims, and, in particular, the ruling sections of the modern Muslim states, have shut their minds completely to this factor, and it is hard to imagine from the way they and the officers and men of the armed forces of their lands conduct themselves that they bear any relation to the high Islamic ideal of Jehad.

The following extract is from Sura-i-Tauba, in which, after eulogizing the role of those who fight in the way of God and extending to them the glad tidings of the Garden of paradise, a mention is made of some of the noble qualities they are expected to possess.

God hath purchased of the Believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return)is the Garden (of Paradise): they fight in his cause and slay and are slain; a promise binding on him in Truth, through the law, the Gospel and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his Covenant than God? Then rejoice in the Georgian which ye have concluded: that is the achivement supreme. Those that turn(to God) in repentance, that serve him and praise Him; that wander in devotion to the cause of God; that bow and prostrate themselves in prayer; that enjoin good and forbid evil; and observe the limits set by God; (those do rejoice). So proclaim the glad tidings to the believers. (Quran : Tauba, 14)

And, in Sura-i-Saff, these glorious fighters who make their lives cheap in the path of God have been spoken of in this inspiring manner.
"Truly God loes those who fight in his cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure." (Quran : Saff, 1)

Indeed, the Quran is full of passages extolling the magnificent virtuea of Jehad and enthusing the Muslims with the spirit and the love of it. We will refer to tow of them here. In these verses it is proclaimed that those who are slain in the Jehad should not be deemed or spoken of as deed; on them is conferred a very special existence by God in which they rejoice, exulting in the choicest favours of their Lord.
And say not of those who are slain in the way of God, "They are deed", Nay, they are living, though ye perceive (them) not. (Quran : Baqara, 19)

Think not of those who slain in God's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord: they rejoice in the bounty provided by God. (Quran : Aal-i-Imran , 170)

Coming to the Tradition, Hazrat Anas (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) relates that it was once observed by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that, "To set out in God's way once in the morning and once in the evening, is more precious than the whole world and all that is contained in it."
It is reported by Abdul Rahman bin jubair Ansari (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, "It will not be that a person whose feet are covered with dust in the path of God goes to Hell."

Abdullah bin Amr bin-Aas (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) narrated it from the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that, "To fall a martyr in the cause of God atones for everything except a debt."

Abu Huraira (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) relates that it was said by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that, "No one will want to be sent back to the world after he has found a place in the Paradise, even though all the worldly joys and riches may be his in that case, except he who has met his death in the path of God; such a man will want to be returned to the earth and killed in the cause of God ten times over because of the high honor and splendid ceremony with which he will be received in the Heaven on account of dying a martyr's death."

Abu Huraira (Razi Allah-o-Ta,ala) again relates that once after expressing his earnest desire to participate in each and every Jehad, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) remarked that, "By the Holy being in whose power lies my life, I wish that I was killed and God,s way and brought back to life and killed again and brought back to life once more and this happened over and over again."

This last Tradition alone is sufficient to bring home the subline significance of the Jehad and the unique privilege of meeting one's death in the course of it. Be that as it may, togather with preaching, guidance and reformation, Jehad is a part of the Apostolic mission of service and assistence to the faith, and now, by virtue of its being the vicegerent of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), the entire Muslim Millat has permanently to bear the responsibility of discharging all these duties.

The ideal way for the Ummat to carry them out was what was witnessed for sometime after the death of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) during the period known as Khilafat-i-Rashida, . It was in the nature of collective arrangment by the Ummat for the purpose of identifying itself, as completely as it could, with the most excellent way of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), both in aims and means.

The question of the appointment of the Caliph; that arose at the Prophet's (Peace be upon him) death, was not, as some people erroneously believe, similar to that of the appointment of theHead of a State. The real issue before the Holy Companions was to determine who among them was the most competent person to carry on the multitudinous work of the preaching and propagation of the faith, Spiritual instruction, guidance, Jehad and the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had bequeathed to the Ummat as a part of his Divine mission of the redemption of mankind and the orga-
nizatin and management of the world and accordance with the will of God. We have it from the most authentic sources that a sentence in the sermon delivered on the occasion by Hazrat Abu Bakr (Razi Allah-o-Ta'ala) ran as follows : "Mohammad (Peace be upon him) is dead; it is now necessary to chose a person who can take upon himself the responsibilities of the faith."

This, in brief, was the crux of the problem that confronted the muslims at critical hour. They were faced with the task of chossing a person who was most suited to lead the Ummat, as the Prophet's (Peace be upon him) deputy and successor, in his footsteps a person under whose guidance the caravan of the Ummat night continue to march forward steadily on the road on which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had set it forth.

During the reign of the first four Caliphs specially that of the first two, Hazrat Abu Bakr (Razi Allah-o-Ta'ala) and Hazrat Omar (Razi Allah-o-Ta'ala) fullest attention was paid to these functions and they were attended to most admirably. But, afterwards, as the process of decay set in and the institution of the Caliphate got transformed, under the stress of imperialistic and other worldly ambitions, from the lieutenancy of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to kingship, the Apostolic work also suffered a sever setback and receded from the mental horizons of the Caliphs we leave aside the exceptions here, The Ummat, on the whole, however, did remain alive, in a greater and lesser degree, to its duty during all the different phases of its history. It never ceased to send forth from its bosom determined and deep hearted men who did their bit to fulfil the great trust the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and charged it with, Jehad, by the very nature of its case, was the look-out of the rulers; the common people could do nothing about it on thier own, nor they were for that reason bound by the Shariat to take the initiative in the matter. But where the other aspects of religious endeavour were concerned, aspects that could be taken care of privately, some activity or another was always kept up at the individual level to strengthen and promote them, and what little stock of faith and piety the Ummat can boast of today is but the fruit of the exertions of its inspired sons who come forward to give up themselve to these lofty purposes. All such men, what ever might have been the nature of their service preaching or guidance, writing or the giving of sermons belong, without a question, to the halved circle of the 'Friends of God', and have a share in the deputy ship and lieutenancy of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), although they might have never had a hand in the exercise of the power and the authority of the state.

Shah Waliullah has stated very plainly in Fuyuzul Harmain that people who strive with all sincerity and with no other motive than to propitiate the favour of God through such branches of the Apostolic work as religious and moral preaching, instruction, guidance and reformation are as such the Caliphs of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) as those that engage themselves conscientiously and without any selfish considerations in the political and governmental section of it like Jehad and the establishment of peace, justice and equity. The only difference is that while the latter hold the 'outer' or the 'perceptible' part of the Caliphate, the former, the 'inner' or the 'transcendental' part of it the Shah having divided the office of the Caliphate into two parts, the 'outer' and the 'inner'.

The Caliphate, as a political and governmental institution ceased to exist a long time ago. The Muslim States of today and there are found quite a score of them largely, have nothing to do-with the aim and purpose of the prophet, and they also lay no prete-
nsions to it. Some of them are, on the other hand, as thoroughly indifferent to the faith as any of the mon-Muslim States of the World. But the other half of the Prophet's duputy ship the missionary half of it which appertains to the spreading of his message outside the instrumentality of the government is still very much there: its doors are open and the scope for it is greater today then it ever was. Its possibilities in the modern age are unlimited. Let more and more servants of God make this auspicious field, of work their own, let moer and more of them step down in this glorious arena of selfless service, and devote themselves, according to their capacity and merit, to the task of popularizing the way of life the the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had brought into the world. To strive and to struggle in this path and to make sacrifices in it is the greatest Jehad of the modern times, the truest form of loyalty and sincerity to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his most genuine deputy ship. Those who will set their feet on it will see that other avenues will also be opened out to them by God. It was in circumstances not far different to what we are faced with today that the following words of assurance and good cheer were spoken to the Muslim of Mecca through the last verse of Sura-i-Ankaboot:

And those who strive in Our (cause), We will certainly guide them to our paths; for verily, God is with those who do good(Extract From Islam Kiya Hey?)