Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | THE BASIS OF INTER-COMMUNAL RELATIONSand God. It is the bond which unites all humanity. When this is severed, norelationships, ties or bonds may exist. “Those of you who take them for allies are indeedwrongdoers.” (Verse 23) The term `wrongdoers’ here means the idolaters, because tomaintain ties of loyalty and alliance with family and community when they preferunbelief to faith is a form of idolatry which believers may not entertain.The sūrah does not merely state the principle. It goes on to list all types of ties,ambitions and pleasures, grouping them all together and putting them in the scaleagainst faith and its requirements. Thus we have in the first group fathers, children,brothers, spouses and clan (i.e. ties of blood and family), property and business (i.e.the natural desire to have money), and comfortable houses and dwellings (i.e. thepleasures of affluence). Against all this is placed love of God and His Messenger andstriving for God’s cause. It is important to realize that striving here implies a greatdeal of hardship and sacrifice. It may mean suffering oppression, going to war andsacrificing one’s life altogether. Moreover, all this striving must be purged of anydesire to be known or to be publicly appreciated or recognized. Once this strivingaims at such recognition, it earns no reward from God.“Say: ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your spouses, your clan, and the propertyyou have acquired, and the business in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in whichyou take pleasure, are dearer to you than God and His Messenger and the struggle in Hiscause, then wait until God shall make manifest His will.’” (Verse 24) What is requiredhere is certainly hard, and it is certainly of great importance. But thus are God’srequirements. Otherwise, “wait until God shall make manifest His will.’’ (Verse 24) Theonly alternative is to have the same fate as those who perpetrate evil: “God does notprovide guidance to the evildoers.” (Verse 24) This requirement is not obligatory merelyon individuals. The whole Muslim community, and indeed the Muslim state, are alsorequired to make the same choice. There is no consideration or bond which may havepriority over those of faith and the struggle for God’s cause.God does not impose this obligation on the Muslim community unless He knowsthat its nature can cope with it. It is indeed an aspect of God’s grace that He hasgiven human nature this strong ability to cope with great demands when motivatedby dedication to a noble ideal. Indeed He has given it the ability to feel a moresublime pleasure which is far superior to all the pleasures of this world. This is thepleasure or the ecstasy of having a tie with God Himself and the hope of winning Hispleasure. It is also the pleasure of rising above human weaknesses, family and socialpressures while looking forward to a bright horizon. If human weakness sometimespulls us down, the bright horizon that looms large will give us a renewed desire tobreak loose of all worldly pressures to give faith its due importance.Reminder of a Great Event74