The American Journal of Islamic Social Scielices Vol. 6. No. l, 1989 Guiding Light Selections From the Holy Qur'an Comments by :4bdullfamid A. AbuSulayman Translation In the name of A llah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful I. And those who Having done something To be ashamed of. Or wronged their own souls, Earnestly bring Allah to mind , And ask for forgiveness For their sins And who can forgive Sins except Allah? And are never obstinate In persisting knowingly In (the wrong) they have done. (3 :135) 2 . When they disregarded the warnings That had been given them, We rescued those who forbade Evil , but We visited The wrongdoers with a Grievous punishment. because They were given to transgression . (7:165) 3. If ye do it not, Take notice of war From Allah and His Messenger: But if ye turn back, Ye shall have Your capital sums ; Deal noc unjustly, And ye shall not Be dealt with unjustly. (2 :279) 4. We ordained therein for them : -Life for life, eye for eye, ix The American Journal of l~lamic Social Sciences Nose for nose. ear for ear, Tooth for tooth, and wounds Equal for equal:' But if Anyone remits the retaliation By way of charity, it is An act of atonement for himself. And if any fail to judge By (the light of) what Allah Hath revealed, they are (No beuer than) unbelievers. (5:45) 5. A divorce is only Permissible 1wice: after that. The panies should either hold Together on equitable tenns, Or separate with kindness. It is not lawful for you, (Men) 10 iake back Al)Y of your gifts (from your wives), Except when bolh parties Fear I.hat they would be Unable to keep the limits Ordained by Allah, lf ye (judges) do indeed Fear that they would be Unable to keep the limits Ordained by Allah. There is no blame on either Of them if she give Something for her freedom These are the limits Ordained by Allah: So do no1 transgress 1hem If any do transgress The limits ordained by Allah. Such persons wrong (Themselves as well as others). (2:229) 6. Behold. Luqman said To his son by way of Instruction: ~o my son! Join not in worship (Others) with Allah: for False worship is indeed The highest wrongdoing." (31:13) 7. And before them, The people of Noah, For that they were (all) Vol. 6, No. I, 1989 A • ''':.- ,. ,,, , , ,, ,,, ~ ,~ ~1-t. ..:,..c,\~~C~ )'i (. ~1;.·:,~~g.,~~ 'AbduJl:lamid AbiiSulaym:in Most unjust And most insolent transgressors. (53:52) 8. Say: "'See ye? If (this teaching) be From Allah, and ye reject it. And a witness from among The Children of Israel testifies To its similarity (With earlier scripture). And has believed While ye are arrogant, (How unjust ye are!) Trul y. AJlah guides not A people unjust.· (46:10) 9. But if the thief repents After his crime. And amends his conduct. AJlah tumeth to him In forgiveness for Allah ls Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. (5:39) 10. Generation~ before you We destroyed when they Did wrong: their Messengers Came to them with Clear Signs. But they would not believe! Thus do We requite Those who sin! (10: 13) 11. Nay, the wrongdoers (merely) Follow their OY1n lusts, Being devoid of knowledge But who will guide those Whom Allah leaves astray? For them there will be No helpers. (30:29) 12. And he giveth you Of all that ye ask for. But if ye count the favours Of Allah, never will ye Be able to number them. Verily, man is given up To injustice and ingratitude. (14:34) 13. He did indeed offer The Trust To the Heavens Guilling Light XI ,,. ., C ~_;.i.Hrfaf~~~~~~ 6ii1;.Jtf 0 .,. '-- ~ :;k;:, ,.;.~1~ !;.11 f .,., • ..:.r :..r- ~f J ,.,.,;.,1 z;~~;J 0'~~ ->i~_; , ,. ---r xii The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 6, No. I, 1989 And the Earth And the Mountains, But they refused To undertake it. Being afraid thereof: But man underto0k it - He was indeed unjust And foolish-(33:72) 14. And fear tumult or oppression Which affecteth not in particular (Only) those of you who do wrong: (8:25) 15. If anyone does evil Or wrongs his own soul But afterwMds seeks Allah's forgiveness . he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (4 :110) 16. If Allah were to punish Men for their wrongdoing, He would not leave, on the (eanh), A single living creature; But He gives them respite For a stated Term : When their Term expires, They would not be able To delay (the punishment) For a single hour, just as They would not be able To anticipate it {for a single hour). (16:61) 17. kit is those who believe And confuse not their beliefs With wrong - that are (Truly) in security, for they Are on (right) guidance." (6:82) ,,, > • .,,. ., .,, 0yj;- "-:'JJ ~ii_; .... ~~ &3'~~1:&J10 ,: .>-; ·~ _:;...- >.t ro,1.~ .J 1 uJ~,. ~ ~"'i'r- ... .J I have quoted above a few Qur'anic ayat (verses) from among the hundreds which deal with the word dhulm (injustice) and its various derivatives. The meaning and dimensions of this term are far reaching and comprehensive and the concept is of major importance to Islam. The verses dealing with this concept treat the different categories of dhulm, explore its meaning, in- dicate how to avoid it , warn against its serious consequences and open up the door of hope by giving guidance for a proper course for human life on this earth. The last verse quoted discusses the relationship of dhulm and amn (security) for if there is dhulm there can be no amn. This verse also tells us the identity 'Abdulf:iamid AbuSulayman Guiding Light xiii of truly guided people (al-mu}Jtadun). They are believers (al-mu'minun) who do not mix their belief with dhulm. This is an extremely important subject and the Qur'an once again draws man's attention to a key question in his life: in this case the need for the believers to attain security which will be impossible in the face of dhulm . The last verse, furthermore, touches on four major issues related to human life and destiny and the relationship bet- ween these issues: 1 . al-Iman (true belief in Allah) 2 . al- ad! or 'adam al dhulm (justice, non aggression or keeping to the right course of action 3 . al-amn (security) 4 . al-hidayah or al-huda (the straight path or the true and right way and direction) For man to achieve security is no doubt a prime goaJ and concern and for contemporary man and civilization this goal is of extreme urgency and importance but one which seems increasingly elusive and difficult to attain. Contemporary man is suffering from a lack of security in all aspects of life ; physically, financially, psychologically, morally and spiritually. Man's life is more and more fi.Jled with worries and fear from the moment he first sees the light of day, to life at home, in school and in the street. What constitutes security and bow can security be achieved? This is the significance of the above verse which deals with this issue. Mank.ind can achieve security by holding onto and accepting the true 'aqldah (belief) in Allah and by avoiding committing injustice and aggression which leads to true security. Muslim social scientists are invited to study and understand the meaning of these terms and issues in their various dimensions. They need to unders- tand the relationship between these issues in order to operationalize these factors in the service of mankind in general and Muslims in particular in their various capacities and functions as members of society, parents, educators, and legislators. By rendering the issues operational for Muslims, social scien- tists will allow them to understand these meaningful relationships in order to serve their people and humanity, and to help mankind achieve peace and security. They need to look at these revealed directions and statements of fact in the Qur'an as a paradigm and hypothesis - not to test their truthfulness and validity - for this is not a question in the mind of Muslims, but to enable them to understand and operationalize them in Muslim life. To do this, it is not enough to simply look at the linguistic meaning of these key concepts. The various philosophical and practical meanings and relations are equally important. This kind of approach will make revealed knowledge an integral part of the methodology of the Muslim social scientist and extend the benefits Tbe American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 6. No. I, 1989 xiv of methodology beyond the judicial, legal and formal approach without violating the scientific, analytic, and experimental approach of the social scientist. Revealed knowledge will enable the Muslim social scientist to unders- tand the most important issues regarding man's life on this earth and provide the right landmarks and directions. With this source of knowledge, the Muslim social scientist is equipped with a comprehensive and total vision and insight otherwise not readily available. This aspect of knowledge is important as it enables us to overcome the sharp differences in competing schools of thought in the social sciences. Without the input of revealed knowledge it is not possible to be sure if a particular approach will work or not as each approach will be subject to the whims and fancies of man and his limited and fragmented knowledge. Errors in the social sciences will be extremely costly in terms of human suffering and any mistakes will be difficult to rectify and will only become evident after several generations. For example, the attitude which completely forbids marital separation under any circumstances will not work but the opposite attitude which places no control on it will also result in many social problems. The permissive attitude towards child rearing which now has been abandoned by its founders has resulted in several generations of children with no self-discipline. The permissive attitude towards non-marital sexual relations either berween members of the opposite sex or the same sex has now come back to haunt modem man and women with the problems of single parent families, child abuse, AIDS and the destruction of the family and social structure. Theories in the social sciences seem to be going in opposite directions and there is no way that these competing positions can all be true. The non- Muslim social scientist has no way to judge betwpen the right and wrong way because he lacks direction as to the real, total nature of man and the ultimate goal of his existence. Revealed knowledge and guidance minimize such dangers and give guidelines as to the direction to be taken to achieve workable solutions to man's problems.