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A Charter of Islamic Alliance:
Just as the Prophet
had established a code of brotherhood amongst the believers, so too he was keen
on establishing friendly relations between the Muslims and non-Muslim tribes of
Arabia. He established a sort of treaty aiming at ruling out all pre-Islamic rancor
and inter-tribal feuds. He was so meticulous not to leave any area in
the charter that would allow pre-Islamic traditions to sneak in or violate the
new environment he wanted to establish. Herein, we look over some of its
provisions.
In the Name of Allâh, the Most
Beneficent, the Most Merciful. This is a document from Muhammad , the Messenger
of Allâh, concerning Emigrants and Helpers and those who followed and strove
with them.
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They are one nation to the
exclusion of other people.
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The Emigrants of Quraish
unite together and shall pay blood money among themselves, and shall ransom
honourably their prisoners. Every tribe of the Helpers unite together, as
they were at first, and every section among them will pay a ransom for
acquitting its relative prisoners.
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Believers shall not leave
anyone destitute among them by not paying his redemption money or blood
money in kind.
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Whoever is rebellious or
whoever seeks to spread enmity and sedition, the hand of every God-fearing
Muslim shall be against him, even if he be his son.
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A believer shall not kill
another believer, nor shall support a disbeliever against a believer.
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The protection of Allâh is
one (and is equally) extended to the humblest of the believers.
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The believers are supported
by each other.
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Whosoever of the Jews
follows us shall have aid and succor; they shall not be injured, nor any
enemy be aided against them.
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The peace of the believers
is indivisible. No separate peace shall be made when believers are fighting
in the way of Allâh. Conditions must be fair and equitable to all.
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It shall not be lawful for
a believer, who holds by what is in this document and believes in Allâh and
the Day of Judgement, to help a criminal nor give him refuge. Those who give
him refuge and render him help shall have the curse and anger of Allâh on
the Day of Resurrection. Their indemnity is not accepted.
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Whenever you differ about a
matter, it must be referred to Allâh and to Muhammad.
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Killing a believer
deliberately with no good reason entails killing the killer unless the
sponsor deems it otherwise.
It was solely by his wisdom and
dexterity, that the Prophet
erected the
pillars of the new society. This phenomenon no doubt left its mark on the
virtuous Muslims. He used to bring them up in the light of the Islamic
education, he sanctified their selves, enjoined them to observe righteousness
and praiseworthy manners and was keen on infusing into them the ethics of amity,
glory, honour, worship and first and foremost obedience to Allâh and His
Messenger.
The following is a cluster of
the virtues he used to inculcate in the minds of his followers: A man asked the Messenger of
Allâh
which of the merits is superior in Islaam. He (the Prophet ) remarked:
"That you provide food
and extend greetings to one whom you know or do not know."
‘Abdullah bin Salâm said:
When the Prophet
arrived in Madinah, I went
to see him and I immediately recognized through his features that he would
never be a liar. The first things he (the Prophet ) said was:
"Extend peace
greetings amongst yourselves, provide food to the needy, maintain uterine
relations, observe prayer at night while people are asleep, then you will
peacefully enter the Garden (Paradise)."
And he said: "The Muslim is that
one from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe."
And said: "None amongst you
believes (truly) till one likes for his brother that which he loves for
himself."
And said: "He will not enter
Paradise, he whose neighbour is not secure from his wrongful conduct."
And said: "A Muslim is the
brother of a Muslim; he neither oppresses him nor does he fail him.
Whosoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allâh will remove from
him one of the grief's of the Day of Judgement. Whosoever shields a Muslim,
Allâh will shield him on the Day of Resurrection."
And said: "Abusing a Muslim is
an outrage and fighting against him is disbelief."
And said: "To remove something
harmful from the road, is charity."
And said: "Charity erases sins
just as water extinguishes fire."
And said: "He is not a perfect
believer, who goes to bed full and knows that his neighbour is hungry."
And said: "Show mercy to people
on earth so that Allâh will have mercy on you in heaven."
And said: "Try to avert fire
even by half a date (in charity) if not by tendering a good word."
And said: "Clothing an
under-clad Muslim, entitles you to a garment from the Paradise; feeding a
hungry Muslim will make you eligible (by Allâh’s Will) for the fruit of
the Paradise, and if you provide water to a thirsty Muslim, Allâh will
provide you with a drink from ‘the Sealed Nectar’."
He used as well to exhort the
believers to spend in charity reminding them of relevant virtues for which the
hearts yearn.
He said: "The believers in
their mutual love, are like the human body where when the eye is in agony,
the entire body feels the pain; when the head aches, all the body will
suffer."
And said: "The bonds of
brotherhood between two Muslims are like parts of a house, one part
strengthens and holds the other."
And said: "Do not have malice
against a Muslim; do not be envious of other Muslims; do not go against a
Muslim and forsake him. O the slaves of Allâh! Be like brothers with each
other. It is not violable for a Muslim to desert his brother for over three
days."
The Prophet
used as well to promote that habit of abstention from asking
the others for help unless one is totally helpless. He used to talk to his
companions a lot about the merits, virtues and Divine reward implied in
observing the prescribed worships and rituals. He would always bring forth
corroborated proofs in order to link them physically and spiritually to the
Revelation sent to him, hence he would apprise them of their duties and
responsibilities in terms of the consequences of the Call of Islaam, and at the
same time emphasize the exigencies of comprehension and contemplation.
That was his practice of
maximizing their morale and imbuing them with the noble values and ideals so
that they could become models of virtue to be copied by subsequent generations.
‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ud (Ra) once said: If you are willing to follow a good example, then you
can have a recourse in the tradition of the deceased, because the living are
likely to fall an easy victim to oppression (so they might waver in faith).
Follow the steps of Muhammad ’s Companions. They were the best in this nation,
the most pious, the most learned and the least pretentious. Allâh chose them to
accompany the Prophet Õ and establish His
religion. Therefore, it is imperative to get to know their grace, follow their
righteous way and adhere as much as you can to their manners and assimilate
their biography. They were always on the orthodox path. There is then the great
Messenger of Allâh
whose moral visible
attributes, aspects of perfection, talents, virtues, noble manners and
praiseworthy deeds, entitle him to occupy the innermost cells of our hearts, and
become the dearest target that the self yearns for. Hardly did he utter a word
when his Companions would race to assimilate it and work in its light.
Those were the attributes and
qualities on whose basis the Prophet
wanted to
build a new society, the most wonderful and the most honourable society ever
known in history. On these grounds, he strove to resolve the longstanding
problems, and later gave mankind the chance to breathe a sigh of relief after a
long wearying journey in dark and gloomy avenues. Such lofty morale lay at the
very basis of creating a new society with integrated components immune to all
fluctuations of time, and powerful enough to change the whole course of
humanity.
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