Happy 2BA Muslim
Islamophilic
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Some people in the Muslim community become very leery when talk of coexistence comes up. This is because they think that coexistence implies that we have to do away with Islamic Law, or they see it as a deceptive ploy to totally strip Islam of its principles or to introduce into Islamic beliefs and principles from other faiths and creeds.
Another reason why some Muslims are skeptical about the topic of “coexistence” is that they see it as something originating in the West, something concocted by the Western world and promoted by it as a means to submerge Islamic culture and values and make the Muslim world a copy of the West.
Though we must respect these reservations and sentiments, it remains that the concept of coexistence is – itself – something that Islamic teachings uphold and that is attested to by the sacred texts.
We should not be wary of the term “coexistence” just because some people might use it for the wrong purposes. We should not become overly concerned about terminology. What concerns us is the meaning. We need to take a reasoned approach, look at what is actually being said, and then accept it if it is good or reject it if it is wrong.
We should adopt the principle that: “A true word is the object that the Muslims are looking for. Wherever a Muslim finds it, the Muslim has a greater right to accept it.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî – al-Tirmidhî declares it to be an unusual narration.]
The negative understanding of coexistence – which implies compromising on our essential religious beliefs, adopting some of our own and some of other faiths, though they might be contradictory – this is clearly wrong.
Allah says:
“So then do you believe in a part of the scripture and deny the rest?” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 85]
Yet, there is another, very positive meaning to coexistence that is essentially a moral value of the highest standing that applies to communication, dialogue, and agreeing to work together with others for peace and mutual prosperity. It necessitates respect for our differences, after acknowledging that those differences exist. It is an acknowledgement of pluralism.
It is this meaning of coexistence that Islam came with. The Qur’ân speaks about it in different terms, many of which might be better or clearer to us than the modern word “coexistence.”
For instance, Allah says:
“O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another.” [Sûrah al-Hujurât: 13]
Allah’s words “to know one another” are not confined in scope to knowing a certain name or tribe. It is an address to all humanity and has the broadest meaning, embracing the exchange of knowledge, learning, and all positive interactions.
This meaning is confirmed where Allah says:
“Let not the hatred of some people in their (once) shutting you out of the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgression (and hostility on your part). Help one another in righteousness and piety, but do not help one another in sin and rancor. Fear Allah: for Allah is strict in punishment.” [Sûrah al-Mâ’idah: 2]
Islam advances the concept of helping one another and cooperating in what is good and beneficial, regardless of whether the other party agrees with us on essential matters or disagrees. What matters is that what we cooperate in is something right – it should conform to the dictates if righteousness and not be an act of sin, injustice, or transgression. This concept of getting to know one another and helping one another augers well for all people. These are values that bring about the betterment of humanity. When we act upon them, it draws others nearer to us – and to Islam.
It is an established fact that people are different and their circumstances differ. Allah has willed it to be that way. He says:
“If your Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one people: but they will not cease to differ. Except those on whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy: and for this did He create them.” [Sûrah Hûd: 118-119]
Admitting to the existence of disagreement and a multiplicity of opinion does not mean that there is no right or wrong or that there is no distinction is to be made between good and evil. Indeed, the idea of disagreement implies that there is right and wrong. Coexistence does not mean that we cease to promote our values or that we abstain from arguing our case. We can still dispute with others in the best of manners, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong. These are among the essential to the values of our faith.
Coexistence means that we peacefully cooperate with others for the benefit of our mutual welfare, that we can live as neighbors on the strength of the universal values that we share and that afford us the opportunity for dialogue and the exchange of ideas.
A believer wants to improve circumstances. He is a person who enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong. He tries his best to promote the truth and refute falsehood, to spread knowledge and dispel ignorance, and to do so in the best, most well-reasoned manner.
One of the worst tendencies that people can be exhibit is for then to appoint themselves the sole custodians of the truth – using any name that they like – seeing their point of view as indisputably correct to the extent that they feel they can pass judgment over everybody else.
This attitude is, itself, a great wrong and something contrary to Islamic teachings. Islam holds sacred the lives of all people, whether they believe in Islam or not, as long as they agree to live in peace. This has been the case throughout history.
We have a great example of Islamic coexistence in the society of Madinah, the first city of the Muslim world, from which Islam spread far and wide.
It was Allah’s will that, on the very first occasion that Islam became strong and independent, Madinah would not be a place exclusively for Muslims, but a place shared with people of other faiths: Jews as well as pagans – and also by a large number of hypocrites and Muslims of weak faith. They all lived side by side in that small city.
Allah had even decreed that at the time of the Prophet’s death, his shield would be held in mortgage by a Jew. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim] This lets us all know that the principle of living together is something permanent, and established in our faith. No one can ever claim that it has been abrogated.
Coexistence is a way that the world’s people cooperate and exchange knowledge for our shared humanity and our shared civilized existence. We share the experiences that we have to enable us to better live on this Earth. It is a way that we can together promote the values that we all share and universally acknowledge. It is in this climate that we can have an opportunity to call others to the message of Islam. This does not just mean that one side gets to preach its faith and ideas to the other. It means that the opportunity for constructive dialogue exists – in the context of meaningful worldly coexistence – for matters of worldly as well as religious importance.
The Companions realized full well that they believed in a religion that was substantially different from the religions of those around them. These differences ran deep, embedded in matters of creed, written out in their scriptures, and expressed in their different modes of worship. Yet, all the same, there was some common ground in addition to the worldly interests that they sometimes shared.
We see that Allah says:
“Say: ‘O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah.’ And if they turn away, then say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims’.” [Sûrah آl `Imrân: 64]
Of all people who ever lived on Earth, the Messengers possessed the greatest faith. Nevertheless, they lived among their people in spite of their people’s categorical disbelief. Noah (peace be upon him) lived among his people for 950 years.
Allah says:
“He said: ‘O my Lord! I have called to my People night and day, but my call has only made them flee the more. And every time I have called to them, that You might forgive them, they have (only) thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, grown obstinate, and given themselves up to arrogance. And lo! I have called unto them aloud. And lo! I have made public proclamation unto them, and I have appealed to them in private. And I have said: “Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Lo! He was ever forgiving.” [Sûrah Nûh: 5-10]
We see that Noah (peace be upon him) invited them, argued with them in a reasoned and objective manner, and appealed to their good sense. This is all part of coexistence.
Coexistence does not man that you have to deny yourself the right to hold your own personal opinion. It certainly does not mean that you have to abandon your religious beliefs. Your personal opinion is part of who you are, and no one can force or oblige others to change their opinions. It remains, in the end, a personal opinion. What is desired is an end to suffocating bigotry and misguided agitation. What we need is open communication and to call people with what is best.
Coexistence means to refrain from obstinacy in our opinions and to refrain from compelling others to accept them. It does not mean to abandon what we believe or to consider all points of view to be equally correct. There is a big difference between one and the other.
Shaikh Salman AlOadah - Islamtoday
We Must Learn to Coexist
Some people in the Muslim community become very leery when talk of coexistence comes up. This is because they think that coexistence implies that we have to do away with Islamic Law, or they see it as a deceptive ploy to totally strip Islam of its principles or to introduce into Islamic beliefs and principles from other faiths and creeds.
Another reason why some Muslims are skeptical about the topic of “coexistence” is that they see it as something originating in the West, something concocted by the Western world and promoted by it as a means to submerge Islamic culture and values and make the Muslim world a copy of the West.
Though we must respect these reservations and sentiments, it remains that the concept of coexistence is – itself – something that Islamic teachings uphold and that is attested to by the sacred texts.
We should not be wary of the term “coexistence” just because some people might use it for the wrong purposes. We should not become overly concerned about terminology. What concerns us is the meaning. We need to take a reasoned approach, look at what is actually being said, and then accept it if it is good or reject it if it is wrong.
We should adopt the principle that: “A true word is the object that the Muslims are looking for. Wherever a Muslim finds it, the Muslim has a greater right to accept it.” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî – al-Tirmidhî declares it to be an unusual narration.]
The negative understanding of coexistence – which implies compromising on our essential religious beliefs, adopting some of our own and some of other faiths, though they might be contradictory – this is clearly wrong.
Allah says:
“So then do you believe in a part of the scripture and deny the rest?” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 85]
Yet, there is another, very positive meaning to coexistence that is essentially a moral value of the highest standing that applies to communication, dialogue, and agreeing to work together with others for peace and mutual prosperity. It necessitates respect for our differences, after acknowledging that those differences exist. It is an acknowledgement of pluralism.
It is this meaning of coexistence that Islam came with. The Qur’ân speaks about it in different terms, many of which might be better or clearer to us than the modern word “coexistence.”
For instance, Allah says:
“O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another.” [Sûrah al-Hujurât: 13]
Allah’s words “to know one another” are not confined in scope to knowing a certain name or tribe. It is an address to all humanity and has the broadest meaning, embracing the exchange of knowledge, learning, and all positive interactions.
This meaning is confirmed where Allah says:
“Let not the hatred of some people in their (once) shutting you out of the Sacred Mosque lead you to transgression (and hostility on your part). Help one another in righteousness and piety, but do not help one another in sin and rancor. Fear Allah: for Allah is strict in punishment.” [Sûrah al-Mâ’idah: 2]
Islam advances the concept of helping one another and cooperating in what is good and beneficial, regardless of whether the other party agrees with us on essential matters or disagrees. What matters is that what we cooperate in is something right – it should conform to the dictates if righteousness and not be an act of sin, injustice, or transgression. This concept of getting to know one another and helping one another augers well for all people. These are values that bring about the betterment of humanity. When we act upon them, it draws others nearer to us – and to Islam.
It is an established fact that people are different and their circumstances differ. Allah has willed it to be that way. He says:
“If your Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one people: but they will not cease to differ. Except those on whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy: and for this did He create them.” [Sûrah Hûd: 118-119]
Admitting to the existence of disagreement and a multiplicity of opinion does not mean that there is no right or wrong or that there is no distinction is to be made between good and evil. Indeed, the idea of disagreement implies that there is right and wrong. Coexistence does not mean that we cease to promote our values or that we abstain from arguing our case. We can still dispute with others in the best of manners, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong. These are among the essential to the values of our faith.
Coexistence means that we peacefully cooperate with others for the benefit of our mutual welfare, that we can live as neighbors on the strength of the universal values that we share and that afford us the opportunity for dialogue and the exchange of ideas.
A believer wants to improve circumstances. He is a person who enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong. He tries his best to promote the truth and refute falsehood, to spread knowledge and dispel ignorance, and to do so in the best, most well-reasoned manner.
One of the worst tendencies that people can be exhibit is for then to appoint themselves the sole custodians of the truth – using any name that they like – seeing their point of view as indisputably correct to the extent that they feel they can pass judgment over everybody else.
This attitude is, itself, a great wrong and something contrary to Islamic teachings. Islam holds sacred the lives of all people, whether they believe in Islam or not, as long as they agree to live in peace. This has been the case throughout history.
We have a great example of Islamic coexistence in the society of Madinah, the first city of the Muslim world, from which Islam spread far and wide.
It was Allah’s will that, on the very first occasion that Islam became strong and independent, Madinah would not be a place exclusively for Muslims, but a place shared with people of other faiths: Jews as well as pagans – and also by a large number of hypocrites and Muslims of weak faith. They all lived side by side in that small city.
Allah had even decreed that at the time of the Prophet’s death, his shield would be held in mortgage by a Jew. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim] This lets us all know that the principle of living together is something permanent, and established in our faith. No one can ever claim that it has been abrogated.
Coexistence is a way that the world’s people cooperate and exchange knowledge for our shared humanity and our shared civilized existence. We share the experiences that we have to enable us to better live on this Earth. It is a way that we can together promote the values that we all share and universally acknowledge. It is in this climate that we can have an opportunity to call others to the message of Islam. This does not just mean that one side gets to preach its faith and ideas to the other. It means that the opportunity for constructive dialogue exists – in the context of meaningful worldly coexistence – for matters of worldly as well as religious importance.
The Companions realized full well that they believed in a religion that was substantially different from the religions of those around them. These differences ran deep, embedded in matters of creed, written out in their scriptures, and expressed in their different modes of worship. Yet, all the same, there was some common ground in addition to the worldly interests that they sometimes shared.
We see that Allah says:
“Say: ‘O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah.’ And if they turn away, then say: ‘Bear witness that we are Muslims’.” [Sûrah آl `Imrân: 64]
Of all people who ever lived on Earth, the Messengers possessed the greatest faith. Nevertheless, they lived among their people in spite of their people’s categorical disbelief. Noah (peace be upon him) lived among his people for 950 years.
Allah says:
“He said: ‘O my Lord! I have called to my People night and day, but my call has only made them flee the more. And every time I have called to them, that You might forgive them, they have (only) thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, grown obstinate, and given themselves up to arrogance. And lo! I have called unto them aloud. And lo! I have made public proclamation unto them, and I have appealed to them in private. And I have said: “Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Lo! He was ever forgiving.” [Sûrah Nûh: 5-10]
We see that Noah (peace be upon him) invited them, argued with them in a reasoned and objective manner, and appealed to their good sense. This is all part of coexistence.
Coexistence does not man that you have to deny yourself the right to hold your own personal opinion. It certainly does not mean that you have to abandon your religious beliefs. Your personal opinion is part of who you are, and no one can force or oblige others to change their opinions. It remains, in the end, a personal opinion. What is desired is an end to suffocating bigotry and misguided agitation. What we need is open communication and to call people with what is best.
Coexistence means to refrain from obstinacy in our opinions and to refrain from compelling others to accept them. It does not mean to abandon what we believe or to consider all points of view to be equally correct. There is a big difference between one and the other.
Shaikh Salman AlOadah - Islamtoday
