Thought for the Week: Justice and divine truth
David Bone reflects on the end of Ramadhan
As we have come to the end of Ramadhan, the end of the month of fasting for the world’s two billion Muslims, I want to reflect upon what it means to ordinary people, both Muslims and their non-Muslim neighbours.
Most people will have heard that Muslims fast in Ramadhan, but when we are overwhelmed by media reports of acts of violence and of British Muslims migrating to become so-called Jihadis or Jihadis’ brides, I would like to remind us all of the core teachings of Islam that we get from the Qur’an and the words of the Beloved Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
It is recorded in the collection of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (No. 6753) that the Messenger famously declared:
A true Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands, all other people are safe; And a true believer is one from whom people’s lives and wealth are secured; And a true mujāhid (one who does jihad) is one who subdues his inner self and forces it into God’s obedience; And a true muhājir (one who migrates for God) is one who leaves everything that God has disapproved. By Him, Who controls my life in His hand, no such person shall enter paradise, whose neighbour was not safe from his transgressions.
So when the media focus on the horrific acts of violence carried out in Tunisia and other countries, to the point of almost celebrating the barbaric acts and glorifying their perpetrators, we should really be focused on the selfless acts of heroism by the ordinary people, the common Muslims who placed themselves in harm’s way to protect the innocent. For every crazed killer there were many, many more who risked injury or death to protect their Muslim and non-Muslim neighbours. Those were the ones who had truly grasped the real meaning of fasting. Those were the ones who engaged in a real jihad, placing the service of their neighbours above their very lives. Those were the ones who genuinely drew closer to God during the month of Ramadhan and it is those people who we should remember and celebrate as role models for us all. The Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him, made it clear that, far from achieving a short cut to paradise, those who kill the innocent will be cut off from paradise and held accountable by God for their horrific deeds.
May God grant us all the patience, fortitude and sincerity to stand up for justice and divine truth in a world dominated by greed and selfishness and to call all those around us to a life of faith, piety and public service, for such is the clear command from God through the Qur’an and the teachings of His Beloved Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
David is a former director of the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations at the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths in Cambridge. This article was presented as the‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire on 12 July 2015.
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