Volume 10 Surah 12 - 15 - Enjoy Islam

Ibrahīm (Abraham) | ONE MESSAGE FOR ALL MANKIND
existence, particularly when the faith based on submission to God alone, or Islam,
comes to be represented as a separate entity. Hence, jāhiliyyah society declares its
hostile attitude to Islam, in its general meaning of submission to God alone.
The conflict, then, is between two entities which cannot co-exist peacefully. It is a
conflict between two structures, each one of which has a basis that is totally opposed
to that of the other. One of them permits submission to human beings, while the
other rejects this totally. The Islamic grouping, particularly during its formative
period, takes its recruits from jāhiliyyah society. Later, it confronts that society to take
over leadership and liberate all mankind from submission to anyone other than God.
Such development is inevitable when the advocates of Islam follow the right course
defined by their faith. In view of this, jāhiliyyah society does not tolerate Islam right
from the beginning. With this being the case, we can readily understand the unity of
reaction by all jāhiliyyah societies to the messages of all God’s messengers. Jāhiliyyah
society is defending its own existence. It has usurped God’s sovereignty, and it wants
to keep it.
Since jāhiliyyah society senses the danger to its very existence represented by the
Islamic message, it confronts that message with an onslaught that accepts neither a
truce nor a modus vivendi. It is a war to the bitter end, since it is over survival. Neither
jāhiliyyah society nor God’s noble messengers indulge in any self-deception over the
nature of this confrontation. Nor did God’s messengers ever deceive their followers
over it. “The unbelievers said to their messengers: ‘We shall most certainly expel you from
our land, unless you return to our ways.’“ (Verse 13) They do not accept that the
messengers or their followers should have a separate faith, leadership or grouping.
They demand that they should return to their ways, integrating in their society, or
else they will be thrown out of their land altogether.
Likewise, God’s messengers do not accept any reverting to full integration into
jāhiliyyah society, or to shedding their independent personality or grouping. They
realize that their community is based on a totally different foundation to that of
jāhiliyyah society. Nor do they say, as do those who do not realize the true nature of
Islam or the nature of the organic structure of societies, “Let us integrate into that
society so that we can advocate our message and serve our cause from within it.” The
fact that a Muslim living in an un-Islamic society has his own distinct faith must
inevitably be followed by having an independent community that has its own
leadership and allegiance. This is not a matter of choice. It is absolutely inevitable. By
its very structure, un-Islamic society is highly sensitive to the Islamic faith which has
as its foundation belief in the oneness of God, to whom all people must submit
themselves. It removes all false deities from positions of leadership and authority.
Every Muslim who integrates into jāhiliyyah society becomes a servant of that society,
when he should be serving the cause of Islam only.
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