enhances its quality, is only possible when the idea of democracy
prevails. Because democracy is a form of government under which
everyone enjoys social justice, equality, rights and freedoms, it is
a blessing that Almighty Allah has revealed to His servants in the
Divine Books by way of the prophets. A climate of liberty, love,
compassion and justice, in which everyone can live freely and speak
their own minds and live together in peace, is commanded in all the
Divine Books. That is why ancient Greece, regarded as the
birthplace of democracy, or Europe, regarded as the center of
democracy today, learned about it from the true faiths. However,
the most highly developed form of democracy will come with the
global dominion of Islamic moral values.
Some people who are unacquainted with Islamic moral values, or have
only just begun learning about it, may harbor false opinions and
prejudices about it because they have turned to incorrect sources
of information. These people fall prey to an error of thinking,
despite the fact that it is completelyuntrue, that Islam will
restrict their living space, obstruct their freedoms, control their
thoughts and put limitations on art and science. The truth is that
Islam is a faith that provides for freedom of worship and
expression, places rights of all kinds under protection and offers
people true liberty. In the Qur'an, verse 41 of Surah Yunus, "If
they deny you, say, ' I have my actions and you have your actions.
You are not responsible for what I do and I am not responsible for
what you do' ," is one of those verses in which Almighty Allah
enjoins democracy for His servants. In this verse Allah clearly
reveals the importance of everyone enjoying freedom of ideas and
belief, free of any pressure or compulsion.
All the Conditions of Democracy Can Only Be Met When People Live by
Islamic Moral Values
1-SOCIAL JUSTICE: Almighty Allah Commands Social Justice and Sharing
Social justice is one of the basic principles of democracy in true
democracies. People learned social justice from the Prophet Noah
(pbuh) and the Prophet Abraham (pbuh). According to religious
sources, when the Ark came to dry land after the flood, the Prophet
Noah (pbuh) boiled together the small quantities of remaining
chickpeas, lentils, raisins, figs, wheat and the like to make a kind
of sweet broth. Everyone on the Ark then ate it together. That is
social justice, because by this example Prophet Noah (pbuh) teaches
everyone equality, solidarity and generosity and the importance of
distributing food to all:
As revealed in verse 69 of Surah Hud, "Our messengers brought the
good news to Abraham. They said, 'Peace!' and he too said, 'Peace!'
and brought in a roasted calf without delay" the Prophet Abraham
(pbuh) immediately killed a calf when guests arrived and had it
prepared for them to eat. Almighty Allah notes that by offering food
to people whom he had never met, the Prophet Abraham (pbuh) was
behaving in the best way, and wisely stresses the importance of
feeding the poor and of social justice.
2-EQUALITY: Almighty Allah Reveals in the Qur'an That No Race Is
Superior to Any Other
As Almighty Allah reveals in one verse of the Qur'an, superiority
lies in piety alone. In this verse Allah tells us:
Mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into
peoples and tribes so that you might come to know each other. The
noblest among you in Allah's Sight is the one with the most piety.
Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (Surat al-Hujurat, 13)
Our Prophet (saas) expresses this truth commanded by Allah as
follows in the hadiths:
"You are sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust. Let the people
cease to boast about their ancestors." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41,
Number 5097)
"These genealogies of yours are not a reason to revile anyone. You
are all children of Adam. No one has any superiority over another
except in religion and taqwa (godliness)." (Ahmad, 158/4)
During his final sermon, the Prophet (saas) called on Muslims in these terms:
"There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a
non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the
black over the white except in piety. Verily the noblest among you
is he who is the most pious." (The Prophet Muhammad's Last Sermon;
http://www.stanford.ed u/~jamila/Sermon.html)
3-JUSTICE: Almighty Allah Commands Justice
Allah issues this commandment to believers in the Qur'an: "... You
who have faith! Be upholders of justice, bearing witness for Allah
alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives.
Whether they are rich or poor, Allah is well able to look after them.
Do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth. If you
twist or turn away, Allah is aware of what you do." (Surat al-Nisa',
135)
The commands that our Prophet (saas) issued among Muslims and his
just and affectionate attitude toward people of different religions,
languages, races and tribes, as well as the way he treated everyone
equally, making no distinction between rich and poor as Allah
revealed in the Qur'an, represents an excellent example of the
conception of democracy.
In one verse, Allah tells our Prophet (saas):
They are people who listen to lies and consume ill-gotten gains. If
they come to you, you can either judge between them or turn away
from them. If you turn away from them, they cannot harm you in any
way. But if you do judge, judge between them justly. Allah loves
the just. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 42)
Our Prophet (saas) adhered to Allah's commandment, even among
difficult people, and never made any concessions on justice. As
revealed, he always said, "My Lord has commanded justice..." (Surat
al-A'raf, 29), thus serving as a role model for all times.
Democracy Will Come about When People Are Living by the Moral
Values Commanded by Allah
As we have seen, in the essence of Islam, there is intellectual
freedom, freedom of faith and expression. Some people assume that
democracy entered the history of humanity with the ancient Greeks.
However, it is Allah Who teaches democracy to people. From the time
of the Prophet Adam (pbuh), all prophets have been the genuine
representatives of intellectual freedom and respect to views. The
essence of all the primary concepts – freedom of justice, not
putting any pressure upon anyone, treating everyone as a first class
citizens, respecting and trusting people, not judging anyone due to
his views- which are associated with democracy are present in the
morality of religion. Throughout history, people have learned these
concepts from the righteous religions revealed by Allah and
witnessed its most beautiful examples during the times when people
lived by the righteous religions.
When we look at the times when people were oppressed due to their
opinions and their different ideologies, members of various
religions were humiliated, while the arts, science and architecture
died out; times when people lost their joy in living and almost
turned into robots, or when book burnings, murders, massacres,
genocides became widespread, we see the influence of irreligious,
atheist ideologies or those who misinterpreted religious morality
with a radical mindset by distancing it from its essence.
Once Allah's righteous religion is lived in the form it is commanded
by Allah, the true justice, democracy, respect and love, that people
have been longing for, can be experienced. Very soon, democracy,
brotherhood, love, friendship and peace will, by Allah's leave,
dominate the world and people will experience the joy, bliss and
abundance of faith as much as they can. As one can clearly see from
the signs of the verses, hadiths of our Prophet (saas) and words of
great Islamic scholars, the time in which we live is the End Times.
The difficult and troublesome days of the End Times will, in this
century, come to end with the Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) and Hazrat
Mahdi's (pbuh) being instrumental, and the world will enter a brand
new, bright era. Communicating the Oneness and Unity of Allah in
the most beautiful and wise manner, and introducing people to
Islam as described in the Qur'an and lived in Age of Felicity lays a
very important foundation for the bright days that we will attain
in the near future. Our wish is that Allah will also render this
article instrumental in attaining the beauties in question. We
sincerely hope that the days when we see "people entering Allah's
religion in droves" come at once. Allah reveals these glad tidings as
follows in the Qur'an:
When Allah's help and victory have arrived and you have seen people
entering Allah's religion in droves, then glorify your Lord's praise
and ask His forgiveness. He is the Ever-Returning. (Surat an-Nasr,
1-3)
Freedom Is Important in Islam, and Compulsion and Pressure Are Prohibited
Every Muslim, as a requisite of the morality of the Qur'an, is
responsible for showing people the true path, enjoining the good and
forbidding that which is evil. But this never means to oblige
others to think, live, act and dress like oneself. A Muslim shows
the truth and leaves the choice to the person himself. This is the
commandment Allah informs us in the Qur'an in the verse, "There is
no compulsion in the religion..." (Surat al-Baqara: 256).
In line with Almighty Allah's commandment, our Prophet (saas) made
a contract with the Christians of Najran, who lived in the south of
Arabia. This makes it clear that Islam is the true source of freedom
of thought and belief in democracies. The contract included the
following article:
"The lives of the people of Najran and its surrounding area, their
religion, their land, property, cattle and those of them who are
present or absent, their messengers and their places of worship are
under the protection of Allah and guardianship of His Prophet." (The
Pact of Najran, Article 6, http://www.islamicreso urces.com
/Pact_of_Najran.htm.)
The Compact of Medina, signed by the Muslim immigrants from Mecca,
the indigenous Muslims of Medina, the Christians and the Jews of
Medina is one of the finest examples of the conception of
democracy in Islam. As a result of this constitution, which
established justice between communities with differing beliefs and
ensured the protection of their various interests, long years of
enmity were brought to an end. One of the most outstanding features
of the treaty is the freedom of belief it established. The relevant
article reads:
"The Jews of Banu 'Awf are one nation with the Muslims; the Jews
have their religion and the Muslims have theirs…" (The Constitution
of Madina, http://www.islamic- study.org/jews-prophet- p.-2.htm)
Article 16 of the treaty reads: "The Jew who follows us is surely
entitled to our support and the same equal rights as any one of us.
He shall not be wronged nor his enemy be assisted." (The
Constitution of Madina, http://www.islamic- study.org/jews-prophet-
p.-2.htm)
The Prophet's (saas) companions remained true to that article in the
treaty, even after his death, and even practiced it with regard to
Berbers, Buddhists, Brahmans and people of other beliefs.
Like all the other prophets, many events took place during the
course of Rasulullah's (saas) prophethood that manifested his
conception of democracy. Peoples of various races, religions,
languages and tribes lived together in the lands in which our
Prophet (saas) lived. It was not easy for these communities to live
together in peace and harmony and for those who wished to create
strife to be neutralized. One group could be angered and attack
another as the result of the slightest word or action. But our
Prophet's (saas) conception of justice, his just rule, represented a
source of peace and security for these communities as much as for
Muslims. During the Age of Felicity, everyone on the Arabian
Peninsula, Christians, Jews, pagans and everyone, without
distinction, was treated justly. In line with Almighty Allah's
commandment, "there is no compulsion in the religion..." our Prophet
(saas) told everyone of true religious moral values but left the
final decision up to them.
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