The Unity of Man

Peace be with you.

This article is from a book called Basic Concepts of the Quran, by Mawlana Abul Kalam Azad. I don't think that it's perfect, but it's pretty good. Only god's perfect. Anyway, I found it very useful. It really helped me to open up to islam without thinking of it as a religion, but more a way of living, and I still feel reminded of the peaceful side of islam when I read this article.

I think all muslims have to read the quran itself to really please god, and they have to accept it, even the chapters about war, martyrdom, and so forth. Yet, as I mentioned, this article presents one of the sweeter aspects of islam, the way of submission to god. It shows a good distinction: the difference between 'living in devotion to god', or God's 'deen' in Arabic , and the rules of a society which are formed for achieving this, i.e, the legal laws, social codes, and so forth, which we see in Arabic as 'Shar'a' and 'Minhaj', according to the author.

This book chapter is from a 100 page summary of a larger work, the original work being a significant commentary on Surah al Fatihah, the opening chapter of the Quran.

Biography of the author from the back cover

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) - scholar, writer and statesman - was born in Makkah. In 1890, Azad's father moved to Calcutta, India, where he was educated in Arabic, Persian, and English. Azad later joined India's freedom struggle. In 1916, his mass circulated journal Al-Hilal was shut down by the British government. Azad then roused the Muslim community through the Khilafat Movement, and cooperated with Mohandas K. Gandhi's civil disobedience movement. In 1920, he joined the Indian National Congress and three years later ws elected its president. In 1930, he was jailed for his anti-British activities. Azad staunchly opposed the partition of India. After independence, he served as India's first minister of education.

The editor of the writing, Syed Abdul Latif (1891 - 1971) was born in Hyderabad, India and was a close associate of Mohandas Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Abul Kalam Azad. He translated this work into English.




Preface

October 2007

In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful.

Regarding my motive: I believe in god unseen, god’s angels, holy books, messengers, and I do not discriminate among his messengers. I hope for entry into god’s promised paradise on the day of judgement. I worship nothing but god and have no plan to ever worship anything but god. I fear the punishment of hellfire and I’m trying to avoid going there. I’ve copied this work onto the internet for the purpose of informing the people about the glory of god. I believe that there is no substitute for the Quran itself, and that a work such as this one can only serve to break down false ideas about the Quran in times of prejudice and nations of ignorance. I think that within ideal conditions, by which I mean a Quran-adhering nation and people, a text like this one is not needed – the recital of the Quran would be so commonplace and so accepted that there would be little benefit in reading a supplement such as this.

Regarding the format: When I was at university, professors and teachers told students that it was fair play in the world of science and study to copy one chapter of a book for study purposes, or up to 10 percent of the text, without contacting the publisher. Further, as a muslim, I agree with two contradicting principles: 1. all knowledge belongs to God and is free by birthright; 2. the honest work of an honest person should be rewarded with a material gain for his living’s sake (if necessary).
I’ve copied this chapter on to the internet without having contacted the publisher, and I hope that God accepts my action as righteous. If I’m wrong – if I’ve sinned by publishing this work online in this way, I hope I’ll be corrected by God quickly and mercifully so that I can repent and mend my ways.

Sebastian Reed

Basic Concepts of
the Qur’ān








Being a resume of the views advanced in the commentary of
Sūrah al-Fātihah, The Opening Chapter of the Qur’ān, by
Mawlana Abul Kalam Azad








Prepared by
Dr Syed Abdul Latif







Islamic Book Trust
Kuala Lumpur, 2003
First published 1958

6
UNITY OF MAN

‘Will they wrangle with you then in the presence of their Lord?’ is the admonition which the Qur’ān deals out to all those who had divided themselves into exclusive religious groups in the name of God. Belief in God, if entertained in sincerity, must, in the field of action, express itself in the Unity of man. That was the cry of the Qur’ān, its call to the Jews, the Christians and the Arab polytheists of the Prophet’s time. Its essential mission was to unite them in a common bond once again and pave the way to a wider unity of mankind. Such is the reading of the Quranic mission by Mawlana Azad.
The first item in the programme of unity which the Qur’ān envisaged was to proclaim to ane and all that mankind were at first but one community believing in but one God of all mankind, and must therefore pursue a Dīn or path of life in accordance with that belief. In the preceding chapter, it has been shown how strenuously the Qur’ān endeavoured to emphasize that this path of life could be but one and the same for one and all. In pursuance of this principle, the Qur’ān addressed itself to the Jews, Christians and Arabs of the day. The one thing common to them all was the respect which they all paid to the memory of Abraham as their common ancestor. A straightforward proposition was therefore advanced by the Qur’ān for their consideration. If the exclusiveness of each of their groups was identical with Truth, it asked, to what group did this common ancestor of theirs belong? In his time, there prevailed neither Judaism, nor Christianity. What then was the way or Din which he followed?

O people of the Book! Why do you dispute about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him? Do you not understand?
(Q. 3:58)

Or were you witnesses when death visited Jacob when he said to his sons: What will you worship after me? They said: We shall serve thy God And the God of thy fathers, Abraham and Ishmael And Issac, One God only, and to Him do we submit.
(Q. 2:127)

The Jews say: Be a Jew.
The Christians say: Be a Christian: You will be on the right course.
Say: Nay, (We follow) the Din of Abraham, the upright one, and he was not one of those who identified God with anything else.
(Q. 2:129)

The attempt here is to point out that the Jews, the Christians and the rest of the people in Western Asia followed in the time of their ancestor, Abraham, a religion which was neither Judaism nor Christianity nor any other groupism, as the two faiths arose after him in the name of Moses and Jesus who were born several centuries after him, and to show that the path of salvation which Abraham followed was meant not for any exclusive group but for all mankind, viz. the path of devotion to but one God and of righteous living. The message which Abraham and every other prophet delivered, states the Qur’ān, was that mankind were in reality one people or one community and that there was but one God for all of them and that on that account they should worship Him together and live as members of but one family. It quotes the utterances of the prophets gone before to show that every one of them had affirmed the unity of Divine Revelation and unjoined that mankind should live together as brothers unto each other, and not live divided. But to the regret of the Qur’ān, ‘men rent their great concern one among others into sects, every party rejoicing in that which was their own’.
(Q. 23:55)

THE QURANIC CALL

There is nothing in the Qur’ān, says Mawlana Azad, on which so great a stress is laid as on this view of life. It is repeatedly made clear that it does not favour any exclusive group religion. On the other hand, it asserts that it has come to put an end to every form of groupism and bring all mankind to one path of life, the path of truth which, by its very nature, has had to remain the same throughout the course of time, the path to which all prophets have invited.

‘To you (Prophet Mohammad) hath He presented the faith which we commended unto Noah, and which we have revealed to thee, and which we commended unto Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying, ‘Observe this faith, and be nto divided into sects therein’.
(Q. 42:11)

‘Verily we have revealed to thee as we revealed to Noah and the prophets after him, and as we revealed to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes and Jesus, and Job and Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon; and to David we gave the Psalms.
Of some apostles we have told thee before: of other apostles we have not told thee- Apostles charged to announce and to warn, that men, after those apostles, might have no plea against God.’
(Q. 4:161-163)

‘O Ye apostles! Truly this your religion is the one Religion, and I am your Lord.’
(Q. 23:54)

In the Surat-ul-Anam (Chapter 6) referring to the previous prophets, the Qur’ān addresses the prophet Muhammad in the following words:

‘These are those whom God has guided. So follow therefore their guidance.’
(Q. 6:90)

As part of the plan to bring the followers of all religions on a single platform, the Qur’ān recognised the founders of all religions as divinely inspired and endorsed their teaching.

‘Say: We believe in God, and in what hath been sent down to us, and what hath been sent down to Abraham, and Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and in what was given to Moses, and Jesus, and the Prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between them. And to Him we are resigned.’
(Q. 3:78)

The expression ‘we make no difference between them’ in the above verse recurs in various places in the Qur’ān just to mark its disapproval of the tendency of regarding one prophet as superior to another, or of accepting one prophet and rejecting another as the bearer of truth. The Qur’ān calls upon everyone who cares to follow the way laid down by God to accept without discrimination all the prophets and all the scriptures revealed to them and the basic truth which they all contain, and to accept wherever found and in whatever language expressed.

‘The apostle believeth in that which hath been sent down from his Lord, as do the faithful also. They all believe in God and His angels, and His Books, and His apostles: We make no distinction between any of his apostles. And they say ‘We have heard and obeyed. Thy mercy, Lord! for unto Thee must we return’.
(Q. 2:285)

The divine truth, says the Qur’ān, is an universal gift from God. It is not exclusive to any race or any people or religious group and is not exclusively delivered in any particular language. Men may create for themselves geographical and racial boundaries. But they cannot so divide the divine truth. That truth bears no national stamp, and recognises no racial or geographical loyalties or group affiliations. Like the Sun created of God, it shines in every corner of the globe, and shines equally well on every one. It is noticeable everywhere and has found expression in every age. The Truth of God wherever found and in whatever form is man’s treasure and man is heir to it.
The Qur’ān has repeatedly pronounced that discrimation between prophets amounts to a denial of the Dīn of God itself which recognises all of them without discrimination. There are therefore only but two ways open for man. One is the way of recognition of them all: the other is that of rejection. There is no third. The rejection of even one prophet means the rejection of every other as well.

‘Of a truth they who believe not in God and His apostles, and seek to separate God from his apostles, and say ‘some we believe and some we believe not’, and desire to take a middle course: These! they are veritable disbelievers! and for the disbelievers have we prepared a shameful punishment. And they who believe in God and His Apostles, and make no difference between them – these! we will bestow on them their reward at last.
God is Gracious, Merciful!’
(Q. 4:149)

In the second chapter of it, the Qur’ān points to the way of true believers.

‘And who believe in what hath been sent down to thee, and in what hath been sent down before thee, and full faith have they in the life to come:
These are those who follow the guidance of their Lord. It is they who prosper.’
(Q. 2:3-4)

The Qur’ān expresses its surprise to find that even those who hold the view that the Universe is the creation of but One Supreme Being, and that it is He who sustains it, should deny that the spiritual way of life prescribed by Him is but one or has been delivered to man in but one way?

‘Say: O people of the Book! Do ye not disavow us simply because we believe in God, and in what He hath sent down to us, and in what He sent down aforetime, while most of you are transgressers.’
(Q. 5:64)

‘And surely God is my Lord and your Lord; So serve Him. This is the right path.’
(Q. 19:37)
‘Say: Will ye dispute with us about God when He is our Lord and your Lord? We have the result of our deeds and ye have the result of your deeds, and we are sincerely His.’
(Q. 2:133)

It may be noted here that wherever forms of address as employed in the above verses occur, such as: ‘God is our and your God’ – ‘Our and your God is but one God’ – ‘Do you dispute with us about God, when your and our God is but one and the same God, and for you (the result of) your deeds and for us (the result of) our own’, the aim of the Qur’ān is to emphasize that for one and all there is but one God and that every action has a corresponding result. The Qur’ān therefore asks: Why then all this tension and quarrel in the name of God and religion? Repeatedly does the Qur’ān affirm that its teaching is nothing but this that it calls upon man to believe in God and practice righteous living in conformity with that belief and not to condemn anybody’s religion or reject its founder. It says that it confirms the basic message common to all religions and endorses it as its own message. When such is the Quranic attitude, why, asks the Qur’ān, do the followers of other religions declare war against the Qur’ān?
The Qur’ān, observes Maulana Azad, has never asked the followers of other religions to accept it as a new faith altogether. On the other hand, it asks them to return to their own religions by first clearing them of the accretions which have gathered around them, and revive their original faith and adhere to it. Should they do so, the purpose of the Qur’ān is served; for, if once one returns to his own religion in its pristine purity, he will find there is nothing therein but what the Qur’ān itself has come forward to re-present. It says that its message is no new message and that it is the same as the prophets of yore had delivered.

‘Say: O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand on, until ye observe the Law and the Evangel, and that which hath been sent down to you from your Lord.
The Book which hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord will certainly increase the rebellion and unbelief of many of them; but be not thou troubled for the unbelievers.
Verily, they who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeans, and the Christians – whoever of them believeth in God and in the last day, and doth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be put to grief.’
(Q. 5:72-73)

This is the reason why the Qur’ān has openly praised such of the followers of the other faiths as upheld at the time of the advent of the Qur’ān the spirit of their own faiths and lived up to their basic teachings. It only observes that their number was but small, the majority having strayed away from their original faith.

‘They are not alike. Of the people of the Scripture there is a staunch community who recite the revelations of Allāh in the night season, falling prostrate (before Him).
They believe in Allāh and the Last Day, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency, and vie with one another in good works. There are of the righteous.
And whatever good they do, they will not be denied the meed thereof. Allāh is aware of those who ward off (evil).’
(Q. 3:109-111)

‘Some there are among them who act aright. But many of them – how evil are their doings.’
(Q. 5:70)

Whenever the Qur’ān stresses that it has come only to confirm the previous revealed scriptures and not to deny them, and calls upon their followers to believe in the Qur’ān also, it does so only to emphasize that the Qur’ān does not present antagonistic to their faiths, nor does it aim to turn them away from their own faiths but that it in fact even aids them to remain staunch to them. It therefore asks in astonishment: Why then do they declare war against the Qur’ān or quarrel with it?
For the same reason the Qur’ān uses the term ‘Ma’rūf’ for goodness and ‘Munkar’ for evil. ‘Enjoin the ‘Ma’rūf’ and forbid the ‘munkar’ (31:17) is the injunction of the Qur’ān. The word ‘Ma’rūf’ is derived from ‘arafa’ meaning to know what is well-known. ‘Munkar’ means that which cannot be accepted on all hands. The Qur’ān has used those terms particularly because whatever the differences among mankind, there are certain things which are recognised on all hands to be good, and likewise there are certain things which are denied that appellation or are not good. For instance, all agree that to speak truth is right and to speak untruth is wrong. All agree that honesty is a virtue and dishonesty is a vice. All agree that service to parents, kindliness towards neighbours, care of the poor, and aiding of the oppressed are things good in themselves, and none holds a different view about them. All the religions of the world, all moral codes, all philosophies, all communities, whatever views they may severally advance in other matters, they all hold identical views in respect of these qualities. So asks the Qur’ān: Why then should there be any opposition to it when the Qur’ān enjoins the ‘ma’rūf’ and forbids the ‘munkar’?

The way of God
The Qur’ān says that the line of conduct prescribed here is a law of life as every other law of nature, and one has to conform to it if he cares to profit by it. That is the way of God, the right religion, the law that does not alter for any one, the religion which all the prophets followed and preached. It is this very religion which the Qur’ān styles as Islam, or the path of surrender or conformity to the Laws of life fixed by God:

‘Turn steadfastly to the path of devotion, to the ways of Allāh, for which He hath fitted man. There is no altering of the ways of Allāh. That is the right religion; but most people know it not. And ye be turned to Him, and fear Him and observe prayer, and be not of those who unite gods with God: or of those who have split up their religion and have become sects, where every party rejoices in what is their own.’
(Q. 30:29-30)

It is the Islam so continuously delivered throughout the ages which is the true religion or way of life as fixed by God, - the ‘Straight Path’ which the Qur’ān points to in the Sūrat-ul-Fātiha, by following which individuals, as well as, communities achieve goodness or success in life or, to use the Quranic phraseology ‘Win the approbation of God’, and by neglecting which, perish or receive in recompense His disapprobation. If the different groups into which mankind has divided itself should resolve to return to the path of devotion to God and of righteous living – the religion once vouch-safed to one and all – by discarduing all the sectarian touches given to it in the course of history, the purpose of the Qur’ān is fulfilled. It has no other aim.

‘The true religion with God is Islam: and they to whom the Scriptures had been given, differed not till after ‘the knowledge’ had come to them, and through mutual jealousy. But as for him who shall not believe in the signs of God – God will be prompt to reckon with him.
If they shall dispute with thee, then say: I have surrendered myself to God, as have they who follow me.
Say to those who have received the Book, and to the common folk: “Do ye surrender yourselves unto God?” If they surrender, they are those who are guided aright: but if they turn away – thy duty is only preaching; and God’s eye is on his servants.’
(Q. 3:17-19)

The Qur’ān points out that Religion lies in strictly following the moral law implicit in life. In fact, the entire creation rests on that basis. The slightest urge on the part of creation to stray away from the prescribed path will result in the collapse of the entire machinery of life.

‘Other ways than the way of God desire they? To Him doth everything that is in the heavens and in the earth submit willing or in forced obedience! and to Him do they return.’
(Q. 3:77)

When the Qur’ān states that Al-Islām or the path of acquiescence in the way of God, or of obedience or conformance to it, is the only religion favoured of God and was the religion which every Prophet delivered, every other way or religion is bound to be groupism of some sort and not the universal way of God.

‘And whose seeketh as religion other than the path of surrender (to God), it will not be accepted from him, and he will be a loser in consequence.’
(Q. 3:79)

It was why, the Qur’ān repeatedly called upon all those who had responded to its message not to cut their religion into sects again or return to the darkness from which the Qur’ān had rescued them. It pointed out that it had brought those who were fighting each other to the path of devotion to God, and welded them into a brotherhood. It had lined up in a single file those who had once hated each other – the Jews, the Christians, the Magians and the Sabeans – and made them recognise together the founders of the faiths which they severally professed.

‘And hold fast, all of you together, by the cable of God, and break not loose from it, and remember God’s goodness towards you, how when ye were enemies, He united your hearts and by His grace ye became brethren; and when ye were on the brink of an abyss of fire, He drew you back from it. Thus God clearly showeth you His signs, that ye may be guided.’
(Q. 3:98-99)

‘And be ye not like those who have formed divisions, and fallen to variance after the clear proofs had come to them. These! A terrible chastisement doth await them.’
(Q. 3:101)

‘And (He commandeth you, saying): ‘This is My straight path, so, follow it’. Follow not other ways, lest ye be parted from His way. This hath he enjoined that ye may ward off (evil).’
(Q. 6:154)

The Basis of Opposition to the Qur’ān:
To clarify the issue still further, Mawlana Azad proceeds to describe the nature of the opposition offered in the time of the Prophet to this message of the Qur’ān by the followers of the religions which then prevailed in Arabia. Some of them possessed revealed scriptures. Did the Qur’ān deny any scriptures? Did it claim that it alone was the repository of truth, and that therefore the followers of other faiths should give up the Prophets in whom they had believed until then? Did it present anything absolutely novel, so that they should hesitate to accept it? None of these questions could validly be leveled against it, observes Mawlana Azas. The Qur’ān offered its recognition, says he, not only to the Prophets in whom the followers of other faith specifically believed, but to all the prophets that ever arose to deliver the message of God. It did not discriminate between them. It never called upon any one to give up one’s religion. On the other hand, it persuaded every one to return to one’s original belief in the Unity of God and righteous living, since this was the basis of all religions. It neither presented a new principle of life, nor a new line of action unknown before. It only emphasized that all religions enjoined but one way of life, the way of devotion to God and of righteous living. It therefore called upon them to revive their own religions in the light of this common basic purpose and live in fraternal relations with each other. To do so was indeed to accept the message of the Qur’ān.
Why then was there any opposition at all to the Qur’ān? The Qur’āish of Mecca did not like it, because it expressed itself against idolatry. But what reason had the Jews to turn away from it when the Jews were not idolators? Why did the Christians go into opposition also when they never claimed to support idolatry. The followers of each faith desired that the Qur’ān should declare the faith of their rivals as false. And since the Qur’ān would not do it, no one was pleased with it. Of course, the Jews rejoiced to see that the Qur’ān openly endorsed recognition to their Prophet Moses. But since the Qur’ān at the same time accorded recognition to Christ, the Jews would necessarily oppose it. The Christians in their turn were happy to know from the Qur’ān that it upheld the purity of the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. But they were angry with it when it rested salvation on faith and righteous action and not on baptism or the atonement of Christ on the Cross. That was too much for the Christians to bear. Similarly, the Meccans were happy to know that the Qur’ān held in high estimation the prophets Abraham and Ishmael who belonged to their race. But they felt uncomfortable whenever the Qur’ān at the same time eulogized the Jewish Prophets who did not belong to them.
In short, there were three distinct principles of the Qur’ān which displeased the followers of the prevailing faiths of the time in Arabia.
Firstly, the Qur’ān was opposed to groupism. It proclaimed the unity of religion. If this was conceded, it would knock the bottom out of every form of groupism which emphasized that salvation truly lay with one’s own group and no other.
Secondly, the Quranic assertion was that salvation was the result of devotion to God and righteous living, and did not rest on any racial or group affiliation, or on the observance of any particular ceremonial. The acceptance of this principle would have opened the door of salvation to every human being, and this the followers of the faiths of that time would not concede.
And thirdly, the Qur’ān asserted that religion lay in direct devotion to God without any mediating agency. But the followers of the other faiths had in one form or other developed the institution of idolatry in the name of devotion to God. They did profess that true devotion was direct, but they would not give up the practice which they had inherited from their forbears and to which they were deeply attached.

To sum up
At the time of the advent of the Qur’ān, religious consciousness had not overstepped the group consciousness of the different peoples of the world. Each religious group claimed that its own religion was the true religion and that salvation was only for those who professed it. The criterion of truth was the character of the ceremonial and of the customs and manners which the followers of a religion observed, such as the form of worship or the ceremonial attendant on sacrifices, the type of food permitted or prohibited, and the outward mode of dress or manner of living. Since the outer form of faith and living of one group was different from that of every other, the follower of each group decried, on that account, the religion of every other. The claim of every religious group was not merely that it alone was the bearer of truth, but that the religion of every other group was false. The natural result of such an attitude was hatred of others and mutual warfare and bloodshed in the name of God.
The Qur’ān came forward to present to the world at large the principle of Unity in religion. It advanced the view that even as the laws of Nature regulated and sustained the machinery of the Universe, even so, there was a spiritual law of life to govern the life of man, and that this law was one and the same of every one. The greatest error into which mankind fell was to forget and disregard this spiritual law of life and to divide mankind into rival camps. The primary aim of this spiritual law of life or the way of God, the Dīn, was to keep mankind united and not to serve as a force for disunity. The greatest tragedy of man was that he turned an instrument of unity, viz., religion, into a weapon of disunity.
The Qur’ān came to distinguish religion proper from its outward observance. The former it called Dīn, and the latter Shar’a and Minhāj. Dīn was but one and the same everywhere and at all times, and was vouchsafed to one and all without discrimination. In respect of the outward observance of the Dīn, there was variation and this was inevitable. It varied from time to time and from people to people as warranted by varying situations. Variations of this nature could not alter the character of the Dīn or the basis of religion. That was the truth which the Qur’ān aimed to emphasise. Its complaint was that Dīn had been neglected and variation in Shar’a and Minhāj or the outward form of observance idealized and made the basis of differences among mankind.
The Qur’ān announced in very clear terms that its function was but to proclaim that all religions, as first delivered, upheld but one Truth, or to the principle of devotion to God and of righteous living, the mission of the Qur’ān was fulfilled. The act would be regarded as indeed the acceptance of the Qur’ān. The truth common to all of them was what was styled Ad-Dīn or Al-Islām. It observed that the Dīn of God was not meant to divide man from man, but that, on the other hand, it was there to inspire the feeling of fellowship between one and another and let them all live together bound by the common tie of devotion to God.
The evil of groupism is at work everywhere even today. But how to get rid of it? The evil has crept in because the basis of religion has been kept out of sight. It is now for the followers of each groupism to retrace their steps and return to the basic teaching of each religion, the Dīn common to all. If that were done, says the Qur’ān, all disputes will be set at rest, and every one will begin to see that the way of all religions is but one and the same viz., the Dīn or way meant for all mankind and to which the Qur’ān gives the name of Al-Islām, or the way of peace, as translated literally, or of devotion to God and of righteous living. That is the only way to restore the forsaken sense of humanity to mankind or revive the idea that for all of us there is but one Providence, and that we should all in unity bow our heads at his threshold only and develop a feeling of unity and solidarity such as shall overcome and dispel from our midst all differences coined by ourselves in the course of history. That such was the purpose of the Qur’ān is clear from the call which went forth to members of all faiths during the time of the Prophet.

‘O People of the Book (Revealed Scriptures) come to a word fair between us and you, that we worship God only and associate nothing with Him, and do not take each other as Lord to the exclusion of God.’
(Q. 3:57)

The Qur’ān here offers a federal principle for the unification of the human race. It may not be possible to weld the entire world into a single pattern by prescribing a common Shar’a or a code of social laws for one and all, or a common mode of worship. It only asks mankind to forge a nexus for human society so that believing in one God of all humanity, the several nations of the Earth might enter into fraternal or federal relations with one another and enjoy the good things of the Earth righteously as members of a single family, the ‘Family of God’, as described by the Prophet, or ‘a Fold every member of which shall be a shepherd unto every other and be accountable for the welfare of the entire fold’.
Such has been the standing message of the Qur’ān for over thirteen hundred years!