Darulfatwa ﭑ ﭒ ﭓ Research articles 3 Harmony through mutual compassion between muslims and others especially in western societies الرمحة يف اتلعايش احلسن بني املسلمني وغريهم ّسيما يف املجتمعات الغربية Presented by His Eminence, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Shafie Deputy Chairman of Darulfatwa, Australia B. Islamic Studies. B. Arabic Language and Literature M. Islamic Studies Introduction: The Roots of Moderation in the Muslim World Many political and social dilemmas mostly inherited from generations of misguided convictions and behaviours have influenced the relationship between Muslims and others especially in Western societies. The inevitable feelings of insecurity, scepticism and uncertainty about what the future might bring, people of wisdom tend to resort to solutions rather than linger on the issues. This can be achieved by looking back and identifying the origin of mischief, finding the proper solutions to the resulting problems and implementing them. In this process, it is without a doubt that Islam is not the problem; it is part of the solution. Muslims believe that Islam started amongst mankind with Adam, the first prophet and messenger of God, and that it delivered the purest form of knowledge and civilised society. The people were taught the various languages, cultivation, minting currency, construction, the institution of marriage, and preservation of life, lineage, mind, money and family, alongside other aspects of their livelihood. Islam is a religion that recognises the rights of God upon his creation, and also a religion that identifies the human rights, such as the rights of the spouse, parents, neighbours, animals, nature, general public, human life, the enemy, the ruler, the subjects, the claimant and the defendant. Islam also instils good manners that Muslims use when socialising, traveling, eating and drinking, buying and selling, celebrating an event or mourning the loss of life. If we look back at Islamic history, there are various civil rights cases which when analysed can only crystallise and enhance the concept of the universality of human rights and its applications. From this view, Muslims are motivated and enabled to exercise their codes of human rights as part of having the correct creed and belief about God. Therefore, our religion teaches us that throughout history, when Muslims were at a pinnacle of prosperity, human excellence and the golden eras were in every instance attributed to the prevalence of the correct knowledge of the religion and the proper implementation of its laws. On the other hand, downfalls, tribulations and sedition have always been a consequence of attrition in the knowledge of the religion and negligence in applying its laws. We believe that when Cain chose to deviate from the law, he ended up killing Abel, thereby committing the first breach ever of this type of human rights code. Likewise, throughout history, many people have chosen to deviate from the Laws of Islam in various degrees, thereby disrupting the civil course of human life. This chain of events is driven by the core issue of decreased attention to knowledge and the breach of Islamic basics. 4 Today’s world is very complex indeed. The entire population of those who identify themselves as Muslims are categorised into those who are moderates and those who are extremists. The moderate Muslims, regardless of differences in the schools of Islamic Jurisprudence, can work, coexist and participate with each other in upholding basic human values, moral systems and human rights. These moderates, who constitute the vast majority of Muslims living today and mostly are Ash^ariyys or Maturidiyys, are themselves of two categories: 1. The first category of moderates are those who possess a good knowledge of the religion, adhere to the basic creed and implement the laws of jurisprudence; 2. And the second category of moderates are those who adhere to the correct creed, but whose religiosity is weak, in that they commit sins, whether minor or enormous. Such people require constant attention by the more knowledgeable people to teach them the tenets of the religion, to help them to excel and to protect their creed from deviation. Nevertheless, it is their commitment to living moderately and adhering to the true system of Islamic manners that allows them to successfully interact with others in society. Extremist groups however are on the other end of the spectrum and their objective is not associated in any sense with Islamic values. Rather, their crowd of audience is drawn from the pool of the moderate Muslims whose level of knowledge and religiosity is weak. They attract this pool of individuals by camouflaging as defenders of issues of strategic importance and concern to all Muslims, when in reality this is not the case. Hence, some people among the moderates, without being conscious of the ill dogma of extremists, appear to be following them because of the issues they pretend to defend. Such issues include protecting the religion from perversion, addressing the Palestinian cause, liberating invaded lands, propping up the failing leadership in the Muslim countries and their deteriorating economies, and pursuing vanishing dreams of future prosperity and freedom. These issues tap into the emotions of vulnerable individuals, and they are inclined to these sensitive matters that extremists often appear to be defending. The extremists, who constitute a negligible minority that consists of those who exceed the proper bounds of the religion through incorrect implementation of its laws, mainly characterised by unfounded strictness. Do not think that such radicals emerged solely because of abuses of political authority and economic resources in societies where average citizens increasingly feel alienated and powerless. Rather it is their dogma, based on an ill belief system, which makes them endeavour to dictate their hegemony, whether over prosperous societies or disadvantaged and abused ones. They indiscriminately practice takfir; that is, they deem all as blasphemers but themselves. This dogma of extremism goes back to the Kharijites more than 1400 years ago and to Ibn Taymiyah more than 700 years ago. History testifies that the many debates and forums that the scholars of the moderate Muslims held against them over the centuries, although these saved many people and protected others against the extremist menace, were not enough to eliminate the corrupt dogma from the hearts of those few who are true hardliners. These few are the ones who slay people and destroy their properties, be their victims Muslim Heads of State, Muslim or non-Muslim subjects of that state, children, elderly persons, males or females. Many groups that one hears of today are founded upon teachings that belong to this category, even though not all such groups are peopled solely by extremists, rather, there are religiously vulnerable individuals who have been recruited by such radicals. Examples of this most dangerous category of extremism include the Wahhabi movement, the followers of Sayyid Qutb and al-Mawdudi known as the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and many other splinter 5 factions. Dealing with these groups by submitting to them will eventually destroy the Muslims and non- Muslims alike, spread menace and mischief in society, and disrupt the rights of humanity. Thus, defeating and eliminating this dogma of extremism that leads to dreadful crimes and terror or to quieter forms of misguidance is a must. This entails exposing them on religious grounds, a natural role of the moderate knowledgeable Muslims, which they have been performing throughout history. The authenticity of the Knowledge in Islam is protected and preserved by the methods of transmission and chains of narrators since the time of Prophet Muhammad . The reputation and biographies of the ﷺ narrators are chronicled by many historians and verified through many scholars of jurisprudence and Hadith. The moderate Muslims can without hesitation refute and discredit the dogma of the extremist factions through authentically presenting the irrefutable religious proofs. This goes without saying that the authentic knowledge adopted by moderate Muslims is that which parallels a moderate way of life. Sadly, however, the impact of the unmasking of extremism has been largely unfelt in the past 200 years, due mostly to, but not limited to, the lack of support by leaders in the Muslim world, lack of access to resources, and an eroding level of Islamic knowledge because of poorly informed foreign influence. Although little noticed, the collective effort of moderate Muslims in instilling the sound concepts of Islam has been a bulwark of world security before and after September 11. The vast majority of Muslims who live in Australia, as in other countries, are moderates. Mercy in Islam: Allah has named Himself Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim, so He is the Most Merciful. Let us not forget that every surah of the Qur’an starts with basmalah except for Surat at-Tawbah, yet the basmalah was mentioned twice in Surat an-Naml. Moreover, Allah urged that mercy should accompany us in every setting and in every situation. Customarily, a Muslim begins his action by saying ‘Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim’ [in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful] so that Allah may bless him in his action. If the slaves of Allah show mercy towards one another, this would be a reason for the mercy to be sent down on them. The Prophet peace be upon him said: <<The Most Merciful [Allah] shows mercy to those who have mercy on others. Show mercy to those on earth, and Allah will show mercy to you>> [Narrated by Imam Ahmad]. In Islam, it is urged to show mercy to one another and to be compassionate to others. Al-Bukhariyy, may Allah raise his rank, narrated that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said: <<He who has no mercy towards others, will receive no mercy from Allah>>. Verse 17 of Surat Al-Balad means: [Then he was among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to mercy].