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| Brotherhood In Islam the relationship between people is
to be governed by the principle of brotherhood. This forms a true
community, the Ummat. "The believers are naught else than
brothers. Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty
to Allah that ye may haply obtain mercy." 49:10 Islam recognises that all human beings form
a single family in that they derive from a single soul (4:1), but owing to
the fact that they have spiritually degenerated (95:5) they have become
unaware of this. They, therefore, behave in a self-centered and selfish
manner. As it is the aim of Islam to bring about spiritual regeneration
then the cultivation of Brotherhood is an integral part of this Process.
Spiritual Brotherhood, therefore, applies only to Muslims. The notion of Brotherhood contains the
following ideas:- (a) equality (b) freedom, (c) responsibility and
obligation (d) compassion (e) empathy (f) truth (j) unity. Brother are
related not in abstract way but factually through the genes, belong to a
family, care and feel for one another, have duties towards one another, do
not oppress each other but respect their vicegerency, autonomy and
self-determination, cater for and anticipate their needs, advise, support,
defend and rescue each other. Because they have the same inheritance they
can also by looking into themselves know each other. All Human beings are, in fact, related by
genes and blood. But when they are also related externally by dependence
on a common environment, socially on a common or inter-connected economic
and political system and psychologically by a common culture and ideology,
then this principle becomes even more important. But spiritual brotherhood
goes deeper than the mental and even the physical or blood relationship.
It refers to the awareness that it is the same Spirit of Allah which is in
all and which makes them vicegerents (15:29). "O ye who believe! Choose neither your
fathers, nor your brothers for patrons if they love misbelief rather than
faith; for whosoever amongst you takes them for patrons these are the
wrongdoers. Say: If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and
your wives, and your clansmen, and the wealth which ye have gained, and
the commerce in which ye fear a decline, and the dwellings which ye love,
if all these are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving
in His way: then wait awhile, until Allah brings His command to pass.
Allah guides not wrong-doing (rebellious) people." 9:23-24 "Verily, this your brotherhood (or
religion) is a single brotherhood (or religion); and I am your Lord, so
serve Me alone." 21:92 This brotherhood transcends the kind of
unity that is involved in patriotism, nationalism, racialism or
identification with an ideology or cause. It is not a question of
sentimentality nor of thought, but of consciousness of a common purpose
and state of being. As Surrender to Allah unites the faithful to Allah,
then it also unites them to each other. "Hold fast, all together, to the cable
of Allah, and do not separate (divide or part in sects); but remember the
favours of Allah towards you, when ye were enemies and He made friendship
between your hearts, and on the morrow ye became brothers, by His grace.
Ye were on the edge of an abyss of fire, but He rescued you therefrom.
Thus does Allah show to you His revelations, perchance ye may be guided;
and that there may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness, and
bid right conduct, and forbid what is wrong (or indecent); these are the
successful. Be not like those who parted in sects and disagreed after
there came to them manifest signs; for them is mighty woe." 3:103-105 It may, therefore, be said that three
things are connected:- (a) Surrender to Allah, (b) Unity of the community
and (c) righteous behaviour. The further people are from Allah, the more
divided they become and the less virtuous. Sectarianism implies distance
from Allah and unrighteousness. Unrighteous behaviour causes distance from
Allah and social division. Indeed, unrighteous behaviour can be defined as
behaviour that leads to separation from Allah and causes social
disintegration. It is also that which causes internal psychological
disintegration and disharmony between man and his environment. The relationship between brothers should be
one of mutual trust and support. The Quran compares undermining behaviour
to cannibalism - the advantages of one are obtained by disadvantage to
others. No overall benefit arises. "O you who believe! Avoid most of
suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor
let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of
his dead brother? But you abhor it; and be careful of (your duty to)
Allah, surely Allah is Oft relenting, Merciful." 49:12 Brotherhood implies that there should be
mutual respect, co-operation, help, advice, and encouragement to do what
is good and to prevent the doing of evil. All have the same right as well
as duty to self-fulfillment, but also the obligation to aid others to
fulfill themselves and to be so aided. No Muslim should take advantage of
another for his own purposes. They should not coerce each other but
respect each other as independent individuals having their own function,
rights, responsibility, initiative, creativity, abilities, talents,
thoughts, knowledge, conscience and perception. The establishment of this
is not just a case of creating attitudes, but also of law, customs,
etiquette, manners, and conventions. They reinforce this attitude and form
part of the whole educational environment. Unfortunately, political events
conspired to prevent the establishment of this spirit except partially.
The times do not appear to have been ripe. But the seed had to be sown so
that it would germinate and grow later when the rains come. The Islamic community should, ideally,
function like a large extended family. Each person, ideally, sees himself
as part of a greater whole with respect to which he has a function. Each
person IS the other, but for certain physical, temperamental and
circumstantial differences. The Islamic Society is based on the Community,
the Umma, and not on territory, bureaucracy, or ideology. Nationalism and
patriotism are foreign to it. All affairs should, therefore, be conducted
by benevolence, mutual consultation, agreement and consent. Contracts and
treaties are, therefore, emphasised in Islam. It requires that those who
have greater talents and assets should use them to help those with less
rather than, as is normally the case, giving them a right to greater
personal rewards. But such rewards might be to the social advantage if the
resources are administered by the most able. They will, of course, have to
be the most virtuous. Brotherhood is part of Surrender, a method
of achieving Unity, and itself a step towards the final Unity, the return
unto Allah. There are in general four ways in which
individual items combine to form greater wholes:- Unity Level 1 - Things when they are
isolated from others. Though they may appear to be completely independent
but they are still part of the greater Whole and governed by its laws and
connected by forces. Examples are Cosmic bodies such as stars. We seldom
find human beings living in this state - there are few hermits. Unity Level 2 - Things may simply be loose
mixtures in which each item remains independent and can be easily detached
from the whole, but nevertheless the parts do affect each other. There is
no organisation. e.g. a handful of sand, a body of water, a cloud. When
humanity was scattered over the planet that was the state of mankind as a
whole, though each community was organised to various degrees as follows. Unity Level 3 - The parts adhere to each
other and their movement is restricted and influenced by the presence of
others. There are forces connecting the parts but no organisation can be
seen. We have amorphous masses such as stones. Some birds and fish form
flocks. This was also the condition of societies before the formation of
national governments. Unity level 4 - Things may be organised
together to form machines. Organisation is imposed on the parts that have
a function with respect to the whole, but the structure is rigid and
unintelligent. Crystals are of this kind. Humanity appears to be in this
level of organisation. Nations run by Bureaucracies behave in this
mechanical way. Unity Level 5 - Cells and multi-cellular
living organisms are also organised, but the organisation comes from the
nature of the cells and it is fluid, flexible and adaptable. Truly
democratic institutions would be of this type if the members of the
community consulted with one another, forming a network of inter-connected
assemblies that were also centrally organised. But in systems that call
themselves Democracies in this age, there is only a semblance of this in
the various Political Parties or in the Board of Directors. Unity Level 6 - There is also a higher form
of unity in which the whole acts as a single unit and all parts are
sensitive to each. The brain appears to behave in this way and there is
scientific evidence that there is a Quantum Field underlying all things,
which also behaves in this manner. Consciousness requires this.
Ultimately, the Islamic community should be like a single intelligent and
conscious entity rather than like a machine or organism. Unity of Level 7 - It is possible to think
of a Unity which has no organisation whatever but is completely uniform
and homogenous having no parts, an Ultimate and Final Whole, the Absolute.
This would be something akin to the Unified theory Science seeks,
explaining all but not itself explicable. Allah is such a Unity. All
things come from and return to Allah. But how multiplicity can come out of
Unity is a mystery that cannot be understood by a mind that can only deal
with relativities - that is, with comparisons and relationships requiring
more than one thing. And yet it is evident that in order to understand
multiplicity we must already assume that units exist. The ultimate part which science also seeks, is one that is indivisible into any other parts. It may be referred to as a Unity of Level 0. But it would be part of Unity of Level 7.
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