Brothers and sisters! My khutba today is on the concept of Islamic civilization. What is the meaning of Islamic civilization? What are its distinctive characteristics? How did it emerge? What is its goal? In order to answer these questions, it is better to begin with an overview of the Islamic conception of man. This is very important because different civilizations are founded upon different philosophical and religious conceptions of man.
From the point of view of Islam, man is the noblest of all creatures on earth because he is the bearer of the trust (amanah) given to him by Allah (SWT) and the only creature chosen by Allah to be His vicegerent or khalifah on earth. Because man is the creature chosen to manage the affairs of the earth, everything has been made subservient to him. Thus, it is necessary that man shows gratitude to Allah (SWT), the Creator of the universe and everything in it and worships Him alone.
From the time of Adam (AS) until now there have been two kinds of civilizations: (1) the tawhidic civilizations, founded upon the worldview that regards God as One and everything else as His creation, and (2) the materialistic civilizations, founded upon the materialistic worldview that regards matter as the only reality. Allah (SWT) says:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدُونِ
“We never sent any messenger before you without revealing to him that “There is no God except Me, so worship Me.” (al-Anbiya’, 21:25).
Islamic civilization means a group of people or a nation whose way of life is based on Islam. It is a well-known historical fact that at the advent of Islam the Arabs were immersed in ignorance (jahiliyyah). They were not aware of the true principles of religion, ethics and social life. With the arrival of Islam, a new system of life based on the unique oneness of God, human brotherhood, social justice, moderation, and equality was introduced. Those who adhered to the new system of life became the ‘Muslim community’ or the ummah.
What are some of the distinctive characteristics of this ummah or the Islamic civilization? The most outstanding and distinctive feature of the Islamic civilization is at-tawhid, which denotes not only the oneness of Allah, but also the oneness of mankind, and the oneness of the Truth. The prime aim of Islam and of all revealed religions is to free mankind from slavery to anyone or to anything except Allah (SWT) alone. In Islam, Allah is recognized as the Sovereign because He alone is the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Provider.
A deviation from the principle of tawhid led to the formation of civilizations based on materialism; i.e. belief in matter and denial of metaphysical realities. The Qur’an mentions that the destruction of nations of the past was due to their denial of the Truth which includes the belief in at-tawhid (the oneness of God), ar-risalah (the institution of prophethood) and al-akhirah (the hereafter). It is this denial of Truth that is the main cause of sins including tyranny, injustice and oppression.
وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مِنْ بَعْدِ نُوحٍ وَكَفَى بِرَبِّكَ بِذُنُوبِ عِبَادِهِ خَبِيرًا بَصِيرًا
“How many generations have We destroyed after Noah? And enough is your Lord to observe and see the sins of His servants.” (al-Isra’, – 17:17)
From the principle of oneness of Allah, proceeds the principle of oneness of mankind. It is mentioned in the Qur’an that in the beginning mankind was a single nation, bound together by a single belief; that is, the belief in the oneness of Allah and the worship of Him.
كَانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً
“Mankind was one single nation…” (al-Baqarah”, 2:213). But later they split when they gradually deviated from this belief.
Islam is not only a historical religion and institutional framework, which was brought into existence by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the seventh century, but it is the original religion of mankind, revealed to Adam (AS) at the time of his creation. The deviation from tawhid subsequently led to the formation of human civilizations based on tyranny, injustice and oppression.
From the principle of tawhid also proceeds the principle of oneness of the truth. Allah is the Truth (al-Haqq) and from Him comes the truth.
ثُمَّ رُدُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ مَوْلَاهُمُ الْحَقِّ أَلَا لَهُ الْحُكْمُ وَهُوَ أَسْرَعُ الْحَاسِبِينَ
“Then they will be brought before Allah, their true Lord. Judgment is His alone. He is the swiftest in taking accounts.” (al-An’am, 6:62).
The Islamic civilization is regarded as the best civilization on the basis that the Muslim community is called the best community that has been raised up for mankind.
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ
“You are the best community ever to be produced before mankind. You enjoin the right, forbid the wrong and have iman in Allah.” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:110)
The Islamic civilization is built on fundamental Islamic ethical principles of justice, equality, tolerance, and moderation. Establishment of justice is the ultimate aim of Islam and the reason for sending Messengers.
لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ
“We sent Our Messengers with the clear signs and sent down the Book and the Balance with them so that mankind might establish justice” (al-Hadid, 57:25).
The Islamic civilization is built on justice. All Muslims are duty-bound to establish justice in their relations with Allah, with themselves, with their fellow human beings, and with the rest of creation. Justice in all these relations is done when a person performs what has been commanded by Allah and refrains from doing what has been forbidden by Allah. However, in order for justice to be well established, certain conditions need to be fulfilled. Firstly, people must have adequate knowledge of what is good and what is bad.
In Islam, the criterion of the good and the bad is the Qur’an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Islam places emphasis on the establishment of justice even if it involves one’s own self, one’s family, or one’s enemies. Allah says in the Qur’an:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ
“O You who believe, uphold justice and bear witness to Allah, even if it is against yourselves” (an-Nisa, 4:135).
The Islamic civilization is built on equality. In the pre-Islamic civilizations, differences in color, races, languages, and gender were regarded as natural signs of inequality among people and the basis of discrimination. Islam corrected this misconception. Firstly, it declared that all people are Allah’s creatures and that He has created them out of the same substance; namely, dust, to fulfill the same purpose which is to perform ‘‘ibadah to Him alone. According to an authentic hadith, everyone is born a believer in the true and natural faith (fitrah) and that it is the person’s parents who uproot him from the natural faith and transform him into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian. May Allah make us live and die on fitrah.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! Islamic civilization is built on tolerance. Since the emergence of Islam, Muslims have encountered other religious communities both in Arabia and in the conquered territories. The treatment of these communities has always been in accordance with the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW). No non-Muslim is reported to have been compelled to embrace Islam during the time of the Prophet and after him. The reason is because the Qur’an contains many ayat that command Muslims to refrain from forcible imposition of religion. For example, it stresses:
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error”(al-Baqarah, 2:256).
The Islamic civilization promotes moderation and balance. One of the aims of Islam is to balance between materialism and spirituality; between individualism and socialism; between theory and practice; and between extravagance and niggardliness. On the basis of the principle of moderation, Islam strongly condemns all extremes of either exaggeration or negligence in both religious and worldly matters. Thus, it is wrong to associate Islam with extremism or to call a Muslim an extremist.
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامًا
“Those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor mean, but maintain moderation” (al-Furqan, 25:67).
Islamic civilization is a knowledge-based civilization. At the advent of Islam, polytheistic beliefs had permeated the lives of the Arabs. Although they believed in Allah as the sole Creator of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, they did not worship Him as the Creator but instead they worshiped the created objects of different kinds. They worshiped stones, planets and stars.
It is obvious that the root cause of the idol-worship in Arabia and elsewhere was ‘ignorance’ and blind imitation. Thus, in the first revealed verses of the Qur’an, Allah instructed man to acquire knowledge as means to guidance. In many verses of the Qur’an Allah repeatedly instructs man to reflect deeply upon the verses He has revealed in the Qur’an and also to observe carefully the phenomena in nature, in history and also in one’s own self to expand the horizon of knowledge and learning.
The purpose of creating the things in the universe, referred to in the Qur’an as ayaat or signs, is for man to reflect upon them. It is an undeniable fact that by observing carefully the phenomena in the universe and deeply reflecting upon them one is able to arrive at a conclusion that there is an ultimate cause to everything and that is Allah, the Exalted. Hence, the ultimate aim of the search of knowledge in Islam is to know Allah so that one submits to Him just like the entire creation does.
Inspired by the teachings of the Qur’an early Muslims traveled extensively with a view to acquire more knowledge and to disseminate it. Their effort to acquire knowledge and their keenness to spread it paved the way for the most creative developments in the history of mankind.
Let me conclude by saying that today’s discussion focused on the main characteristics of the Islamic civilization. In a subsequent khutba inshaAllah, there will be discussion on the factors that led to the emergence and development of the Islamic civilization and also the goal of the Islamic civilization.
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*Based on the chapter: “Islamic Civilization: Meaning, Origin, and Distinctive Characteristics” authored by Kabuye Uthman Sulaiman in the book: ‘Islam Knowledge and Civilization” edited and co-authored by Munawar Haque at the International Islamic University Malaysia.
