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political islam 477is experienced and sustained according to the prevailing culturaltraditions and inherited customs. Successive messengers, beginningwith Noah (#a) and ending with MuÈammad (ß), with Abraham,Moses, Jesus, and others in between, have issued revelations thatgradually purified these family-based forms of al-wal§", refining themwithin the divine parameters of mutual support, coexistence, andcooperation—as 49:13 puts it. 141 The phrase ‘verily the most honouredof you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous ofyou’ again stresses the necessity of doing good deeds for God’s blessingand deliverance. Based on this gradual improvement of familybasedwal§", God’s messengers were then eventually allowed toproduce a new type of wal§" that goes beyond blood-related affiliations,because it is based on an intellectu al-doctrinal commitmentthat requests a higher form of loyalty. The Book says:Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates,or your kindred; the wealth that you have gained; the commerce inwhich you fear a decline; or the dwellings in which you delight—aredearer to you than God, or His Apostle, or the striving in His cause;then wait until God brings about His decision. And God guides notthe rebellious. ( Al-Tawba 9:24)Verse 49:13 states that Allah ‘made [us] into nations (shu#åb an ) andtribes’, indicating a level of social organisation that is superior to theinstitutions of family, clan, and tribe. The nation (sha#b, pl. shu#åb,derived from the root sh-#-b, meaning ‘to gather’ or ‘to assemble’), isdefined as a body of people who share the same form of social systembut who may differ in their ethnic and tribal origins. This is in contrastto ‘people’ ( al-qaum), which is characterised by sharing the samelanguage and hence a similar way of thinking and expressing thoughts.We are told that Allah ‘sent not an apostle except (to teach) in thelanguage of his (own) people (bi-lis§n qaumihi), in order to make(things) clear to them…’ (Ibr§hÊm 14:4). In contrast with the wal§"to families, clans, and tribes, which is based on blood relationshipand ethnic identity, the wal§" to a nation or a people is based onaspects of identity that are not determined by one’s birth. In some141‘O [humankind]! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female,and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that youmay despise (each other)). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (hewho is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted(with all things)’ ( Al-\ujur§t 49:13).