ISLAM
Judaism
| Christianity
What does the religion teach about how members of the community
should treat one another?
by John Kaltner
It
has already been noted that Muhammad’s message challenged
and transformed the prevailing notions of group identity and allegiance
among the people of Arabia. Prior to the rise of Islam, in the period
Muslims refer to as jahiliyyah (“the time of ignorance”),
the tribe was the primary source of support and protection for a
person. Islam replaced that tribal-centered system with one in which
the Muslim community, or ummah, became the group with which
people most closely identified themselves. This led to a strong
sense of unity among Muslims that continues into the present day.
To be a Muslim is to be a member of a worldwide community that creates
bonds among all those affiliated with the group.
The
foundations of the Islamic ethical system are the Qur’an and
the hadith, which provide guidance for social interaction
and behavior. Despite the
complexity and diversity that exist throughout the Islamic world,
Muslims take to heart the Prophet Muhammad’s statement recorded
in a hadith that “my community is one community.”
They therefore view each other as equals, and this
understanding is the basis for how Muslims are to treat one another.
The
heart of Muslim morality is summed up in Qur’an 3:110, which
describes the ummah in glowing terms. “You are the
best community ever brought forth among people. You command what
is good, you forbid what is evil, and you worship Allah.”
As in all religions, Muslim theologians and philosophers throughout
history have debated long and hard over the details regarding how
members of their faith should behave toward one another. Countless
treatises and books have been written that address every aspect
of Islamic ethics. In the final analysis, however, it all boils
down to the Qur’an passage cited above—Muslims are to
do good and refrain from evil. In their day-to-day encounters and
interactions with one another, all actions should be guided by that
principle.
The
communal focus of Islam can be seen in some of the things we have
already considered, especially Muslim efforts to assist the poor
and needy. The fact that
almsgiving is one of the five pillars of the faith that are required
of all Muslims is a clear indication that obligations to others
are taken seriously. The food that is given to the
poor during the two great feasts of the year so that they can celebrate
with the rest of the community conveys the same message. These and
many similar good works Muslims perform suggest that there is a
strong sense of compassion within Islam and that Muslims care deeply
for each other.
As
essential as membership in the worldwide ummah is to Islamic
identity, it is primarily in the local arena that one’s commitment
to fellow Muslims is lived out and expressed. No other context is
more important in this regard than the family, which is the primary
social institution in Islam. In many Islamic societies family life
follows a more or less traditional model in which the husband has
the primary economic responsibility and the wife has authority over
domestic matters. The Qur’an (17:23) advises children to treat
their parents kindly, especially when they attain old age, and parents
are expected to provide for and care for their children.
The
term “family” often has a very different connotation
for Muslims than it does for non-Muslims, especially those living
in the West. In many Islamic countries, members of the extended
family—comprising grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins—are
a very significant and visible part of a person’s life. This
means there is a complex web of relationships that must be cultivated
and negotiated on a regular, often daily, basis. It is within this
context that Islam is lived out, and within it children are first
exposed to the morality and ethics of their religion.
Islamic
law has played a key role in the development of guidelines for Muslim
social interaction. Within the first few centuries of the Muslim
era, four main schools of Sunni law were established, in addition
to the legal system of Shi`a Islam. These schools are found throughout
the world, and Muslims are free to consult authorities within any
of them for rulings and legal advice. The four schools all appeal
to the same four sources to formulate law: the Qur’an, hadith,
consensus, and analogy. While they are usually not profound, differences
exist among the schools due to the varying ways they make use of
the sources.
Islamic
law, or shari`ah, is the law of the land in only a small
number of Muslim countries in the present day.
In most places, it is used only to decide family-related matters
like marriage, divorce, and inheritance. This means that certain
punishments mentioned in the Qur’an, like the amputation of
one’s hand for stealing or the stoning of adulterers, are
rarely enforced. Even though most Muslims do not live in a society
that is strictly governed by Islam, the ethos and morality that
emerge from the Qur’an and other Islamic sources exert a great
deal of influence over how they conduct their lives and relate to
one another.
Copyright
©2006 John Kaltner
John
Kaltner is a member of the Department of Religious Studies
at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee where he teaches courses
in Bible, Islam, and Arabic. Among his books are Islam:
What Non-Muslims Should Know (2003); Inquiring
of Joseph: Getting to Know a Biblical Character through the Qu’ran
(2003); Ishmael
Instructs Isaac: An Introduction to the Qur’an for Bible Readers
(Collegeville: Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 1999).
Excerpts
from What Do Our Neighbors Believe?: Questions and Answers on
Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Howard Greenstein, Kendra
Hotz, and John Kaltner are used by permission from Westminster John
Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky. The book will be available for
purchase in December 2006.
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