Islamic brotherhood and Peaceful coexistence

Where will disorder lead us? Pondering over this question, I found a hint to the answer like what worship is in Islam; which is the rights of God and the rights of God’s creatures. As society mainly involves people from different backgrounds, more emphasis will be laid on the rights to God’s creatures. Peace is a crucial element in the social and economic progress, development and well-being of any society, and to achieve this peace brotherhood is needed.

Most fraternities agree that brotherhood is an important aspect of what fraternity life stands for. The bond between brothers is stronger than friendship. The soul of the fraternity binds its members together, allowing them to strive towards greater goals. Therefore, brotherhood is a key element in global peace; people who view others as brothers will unlikely cause harm to them.

Contemporary society demands that for any faith to fulfil man’s needs of today must therefore supersede tribal, national, racial and cultural limits, and must speak to man at a universal level. Islam does this. The Holy Qur’an opens with the verse:

لْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds (Al-Fatihah:2)

The message of Islam is not confined to any section of mankind. It embraces the whole of mankind and the universe, Muslims as the best nation should practically extend his brotherly gestures to the non-Muslims. The advent of the Holy Prophet saw is described in Qur’an as “a mercy for all peoples.” (Al-Anbiya:108)

Islam’s objective is to establish a balance in all aspect of human activities. Islam universally declares brotherhood of man:

وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَاۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

And hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah and be not divided; and remember the favour of Allah which He bestowed upon you when you were enemies and He united your hearts in love, so that by His grace you became as brothers; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah explain to you His commandments that you may be guided. (Aal-e-Imran 3:104)

In Islam, every distinction or privilege, whether about colour, race or caste or derived from family, rank or wealth, is abolished. Islam makes all mankind one great brotherhood and exhorts us all to seek and win the pleasure of God through the righteousness and beneficence of our conduct towards each other.

The exemplary brotherhood between the Ansars of Madinah and the migrants of Mecca cannot be overemphasised. The Ansars were ready to share everything with their pilgrim brothers

For example, Hazrat ‘Abdur-Raḥmān bin ‘Aufra was made a brother to Hazrat Sa‘d bin Ar-Rabī‘ Anṣārīra. Sa‘dra calculated all of his wealth and property and presented it to Hazrat ‘Abdur-Raḥmān bin ‘Aufra. In the fervour of his love, he even said that, “I have two wives. I shall divorce one, and when she completes her prescribed period, you can marry her.” This was the fervour of love expressed uncontrollably by Sa‘dra, for both knew that this was not possible. For this, ‘Abdur-Raḥmān bin ‘Aufra thanked him and prayed for him saying, “May Allah make all of this blessed for you, just tell me the way to the marketplace.” As such, Hazrat ‘Abdurrahman bin ‘Aufra began to do business and since he was a remarkably intelligent and prudent man, slowly his business prospered, and ultimately he became a wealthy man. This shows how the Ansar treated them with greater kindness than blood brother.

The love, sincerity and loyalty with which the parties of the Muhajireen [migrants] and Ansar acted upon this brotherhood put to shame even the blood brotherhood of today. Similarly, the Promised Messiah preached the same where he wrote in his book Noah’s Ark:

“If you desire that God should be pleased with you in heaven, unite with one another as though you were brothers from the same womb.”

One of the fundamental causes of unrest in society is greed, and the best way to counter this vice is contentment and being selfless. Relating to everyone like a brother will only promote love and affection.

The book of Ahadith is filled with numerous teachings about brothers.

لَا يُؤْمِنُ اَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيْهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسَهَ

“None of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” (Muslim)

As the word brother is not limited to Muslims only, the same way acting on this teaching is not.

لا تحقرن من المعروف شيئا ولو ان تلقى أخاك بوجه طليق

“Do not belittle any good deed (no matter how small it may seem), even if it is meeting your brother with a cheerful face.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا۟ بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

Surely all believers are brothers. So make peace between your brothers, and fear Allah that mercy may be shown to you. (Al-Hujurat 49:11)

The verse lays special stress on Islamic brotherhood. Islam tolerates no discord or dissensions between brothers. If there happens to arise a quarrel or dispute between two Muslim individuals or groups, other Muslims are bound at once to bring about reconciliation between the quarrelling parties. Islam’s real strength lies in this ideal of brotherhood which transcends all barriers of caste, colour or clime.” (Five Volume Commentary)

All others should share the pain of one; this is the true spirit of brotherhood. In addition, sharing other's grief or loss will ultimately promote a sense of belonging and concern. Brotherhood is to an extent the best way to counter crime and to fulfil others' rights. Brotherhood is a branch of justice and equality.

Religious tolerance

Peace can be achieved and promoted through different means, and of one those means is religious tolerance. Religious tolerance is one of the fundamental Islamic teachings for peaceful coexistence. In light of this beautiful teaching of Islam, as inhabitants of the same land, we are mutual neighbours. This requires that we become friends to each other, with purity of heart and sincerity of intentions. We should deal with each other kindly and be mutually helpful. In the difficulties about religious and worldly matters, we should exercise such sympathy towards each other as if we have become limbs of the same body.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas who was the Promised Messiah and the Imam of the age wrote in his last book regarding religious tolerance. He said, “My countrymen, a religion which does not inculcate universal compassion is no religion at all. Similarly, a human being without the faculty of compassion is no human at all.”

He furthermore elaborated, “Similarly, a human being without the faculty of compassion is no human at all. Our God has never discriminated between one person and another. This is illustrated by the fact that all the potentials and capabilities which have been granted to the Aryans have also been granted to the races inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria, China, Japan, Europe and America. The earth created by God provides a common floor for all people alike, and His sun, moon and many stars are a source of radiance and provide many other benefits to all alike. Likewise, all peoples benefit from the elements created by Him, such as air, water, fire and earth, and similarly from other products created by Him like grain, fruit, and healing agents, etc. These attributes of God teach us the lesson that we, too, should behave magnanimously and kindly towards our fellow human beings and should not be petty of heart and illiberal.”

A final thought brings us to say, if everyone is striving to relate with others like brothers, and religious tolerance is everyone’s goal, then the world will be a more peaceful place. The level of harmony in the society will unimaginable if everyone acts on the slogan “Love for all, hatred for none”

Abolaji Abdut-Tawwab O. Jamia Ahmadiyya International Ghana