- Author:
- Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi
- Pages:
- 52
- Price:
- Free
- Publication date:
- 1423
- Note:
- Co-authored work
- Book file:
- emammahde.doc
About the book:
The book is about the Greatest Messenger (s). It was issued by the Islamic Risala Society on the occasion of the birth of the Messenger (s) in 1423 AH.
- His Eminence Shaykh Muhammad ʿAli al-Mahfuz wrote (The Simplicity of the Messenger (s) and the Wisdom of Strength).
- His Eminence Shaykh al-Muhtadi wrote (Muhammad, the Messenger of Mercy and Comprehensive Peace).
- And His Eminence Sayed ʿAdnan Al-Mosawi (The Messenger and Collective Work).
- And His Eminence Shaykh Muhammad ʿAli al-Salih (And I Am the Best of You to His Family).
- And Mahmoud Al-Mosawi (Pluralism in the Era of the Messenger… an Advanced Social Fabric).
The text of the study contributed to the book:
Pluralism in the Era of the Messenger (s): An Advanced Social Fabric
We should not doubt for a single moment the authenticity of the principle of Islamic unity and the extent of its effectiveness in concentrating the strength of the Muslims and in expressing their cohesion, so that they may be (like a single body: when one limb of it complains, all the other limbs respond to it with sleeplessness and fever), as the Greatest Messenger (s) said. It is the principle taken from the verse of unity, in the saying of the Exalted: “Indeed this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord. So worship Me.” (Qurʾan 21:92)
But within the framework of speaking about unity, we should not overlook the state of plurality and the extent of its effectiveness in the growth and prosperity of society, since some understandings may confuse the concept of plurality with the state of division and fragmentation in society; and how far apart those two concepts are! When we study the life of the Greatest Messenger (s), who came as an exemplar for the believers, in order to shed light on pluralism and how it was brought down to application in external reality, we will come out with a positive concept of pluralism; indeed, we will see it as complementing unifying projects, as it makes Islamic society a fabric that rises through its reform projects and its development institutions, and a fundamental support for all works of goodness and righteousness.
To explain the dimensions of pluralism, its implications and the ways of activating it in Islamic society, and how it supports the principle of the unity of faith, we must study the Messenger's (s) treatment of it and his ways of dealing with it. Diverse pluralities: The prevailing state of plurality in Arab society before Islam was the state of (tribal) plurality, which derived its strength from the tribe and lineage among the members of a single tribe. Among the well-known tribes in illumined Medina, for example, were the tribe of Banu ʿAwf, Banu Saʿida, Banu al-Najjar and others. When the Messenger (s) entered Medina as an emigrant to it, he did not abolish this state of plurality; rather, he organized it and gave each tribe rights to render and duties to observe. History even relates to us that the Messenger (s) came to the division that existed in Medina on a tribal basis, in which the tribes were distributed into districts and settlements, each tribe living on its own, away from the other tribes… so he (s) appointed for each tribe a chief (naqib), responsible for and supervising his tribe and representing it in an assembly that included all the chiefs of the tribes, and he appointed over them a chief, who was called the Chief of Chiefs.
The Messenger (s) made use of this state of plurality in spreading among the tribes the spirit of responsibility for their conduct and their relations with the other tribes; and on the other hand he made use of the state of organization among them in cooperating in piety and Godwariness among themselves, through coordination among the chiefs in situations of war, peace and others… The state of benefiting from this plurality and maintaining it, while spreading responsibility and the spirit of cooperation, was clear in the covenant and charter that the Messenger (s) wrote upon his first arrival in illumined Medina, establishing its clauses which demonstrate that organization. Among the clauses, for example, is that (Banu ʿAwf remain upon their established custom, dealing with one another according to their former dealings, and each group ransoms its captive with what is right and with justice among the believers… and Banu Saʿida remain upon their established custom, dealing with one another according to their former dealings, and each group ransoms its captive with what is right and with justice among the believers… and so on to the end of the covenant).
Another type of plurality arose, other than the tribal plurality which the Messenger made flow into the channel of the unity of faith. That type arose from the nature of the Islamic movement of the Messenger (s) against the faithless, and from the birth pangs of the movement of conveying the Muhammadan message: a group of Muslims emigrated in the way of Allah with the Messenger (s) from Mecca to Medina, leaving behind them everything they owned, and they were called the Emigrants (al-Muhajirun); the other section were called the Helpers (al-Ansar) because of their helping the Messenger (s); and a third section were those who followed in virtue, who entered Islam after the Hijra.
The Messenger, with his great wisdom, dealt with this type of plurality not by abolishing it and removing the names and distinctions, for example; rather, he resorted to brotherhood (muʾakhat), as our Lord, Almighty, says: “The faithful are indeed brothers” (Qurʾan 49:10). Brotherhood is only to show the common bond and unity upon the goal for which they set out, so that all their efforts, despite their difference and diversity, flow into a single channel, which is faith in Allah the Exalted. The Messenger (s) dealt with this pluralism with acceptance and approval, and employed it with all wisdom for the benefit of developing society and conveying the message. He organized the social situation of the Emigrants, the Helpers and those who followed them in virtue; he set a clause in the Covenant of Medina for the Emigrants, who were the newcomers to it, just as he set one for the Helpers and their tribes; and the Wise Reminder came with clear verses to reinforce that and to organize the social situation of the Emigrants while preserving the names and roles, as the Exalted said: “for the poor Emigrants who have been expelled from their homes and [wrested of] their possessions, who seek grace from Allah and [His] pleasure and help Allah and His Apostle. It is they who are the truthful. [They are as well] for those who were settled in the land and [abided] in faith before them, who love those who migrate toward them, and do not find in their breasts any privation for that which is given to them, but prefer [the Immigrants] to themselves, though poverty be their own lot. And those who are saved from their own greed—it is they who are the felicitous. And [also for] those who came in after them, who say, ‘Our Lord, forgive us and our brethren who were our forerunners in the faith, and do not put any rancour in our hearts toward the faithful. Our Lord, You are indeed most kind and merciful.’” (Qurʾan 59:8–10)
This verse relates the organization of the social and faith relationship among the three groups; it did not come to abolish them. The state of diversity in society and the plurality of groups and parties is not the negative state; rather, the negative state is moving away from the principle of brotherhood in faith that organizes the relationship among the multiple groups, which in turn causes the problem of dispute and division, so that the power of the Islamic society that the Messenger (s) wanted goes away, and failure piles upon failure; for the Exalted has said: “and do not dispute, or you will lose heart and your power will be gone” (Qurʾan 8:46).
Indeed, the Messenger made use of this type of plurality even in distributing the tasks of the mission. When the faithless besieged Medina economically so that goods would not reach the Muslims, the Messenger ordered the monitoring of the movement of caravans; and in this task the Messenger divided the mission between the Emigrants and the Helpers, each of them having a day on which they monitored the caravans. This was evidence of accepting plurality and benefiting from it in the field of Islamic work.
There is a third type of pluralism: the type that the Greatest Messenger (s) established in Islamic society while building it from within and while conveying the message outward. He (s) set about forming different groups and assigned each of them a task to carry out for the sake of building society, in order, on the one hand, to encompass the work at all its levels, and, on the other hand, to accomplish tasks with mastery through specialization. Thus there formed the group of military commanders who fought the wars and faced the campaigns of attack by the enemies; the group of propagation outside the borders of Medina, for the expeditions would go out to carry the Muhammadan call to other horizons; and another group made up of teachers who taught people writing, reading and the Qurʾan.
Through this division the Messenger (s) was able to achieve a renaissance in society unprecedented on the face of the earth… In a brief period there emerged skilled war commanders such as Imam ʿAli (a) and his brother Jaʿfar; among the teachers, even of other languages, there emerged ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿid and ʿUbada ibn Samit, who taught the people of Medina; among those versed in jurisprudence there emerged Imam ʿAli (a) and Ibn ʿAbbas; and among the commanders of expeditions, Musʿab ibn ʿUmayr; and many others… Among them were those who combined more than one specialization according to their abilities and skills, such as Imam ʿAli (a), who was the most learned of them in jurisprudence, the bravest of them and the wisest of them.
This state of plurality proceeded in the process of building society and did not stop: at the time when the expeditions went out for propagation outside Medina, the Muslims gathered around the teachers to receive knowledge, and one goal united them, namely conveying the Islamic message to the world.
Thanks to the genius of the Greatest Messenger (s) and his wisdom in harnessing the state of pluralism and making use of it in building, and making of it a cohesive and integrated fabric, he (s) was able through it to achieve a towering civilizational renaissance in a record time that had no equal. Allah the Exalted said in His Noble Book: “O mankind! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you nations and tribes that you may identify yourselves with one another. Indeed the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most Godwary among you. Indeed Allah is all-knowing, all-aware.” (Qurʾan 49:13)