Download Unity and Diversity in the Muslim Ummah: Some Reflections on the

Unity and Diversity in the Muslim Ummah: Some
Reflections on the Farewell Pilgrimage
Zafar Ishaq Ansari
Farewell Pilgrimage or H a j ~ aaalt Wada ' was the crowning event in the long
striving of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to bring man out of the
darkness of ignorance into the light of Divine Guidance. This Hajj, which
was the only one performed by the Prophet (peace be upon him) after the
Hijrah, and which took place just a few months before he met with his Real
companion', marked the full crystallisation of his Message and the glorious
success of his Mission. It meant that the call to tawbid had reached the
length and breadth of the vast Arabian Peninsula and had won over the
hearts of countless men and women. By the time of this Hajj, shirk lay
vanquished, rejected by its former votaries so that it was proclaimed that
never again would any polytheist be allowed to make Pilgrimage to the holy
land. It is no wonder that Allah chose the occasion to reveal the famous
verse:
"I have perfected for you your faith, have bestowed u p m you my favour
in full measure; and have chosen for you Islam as your religion". (5:3)
Making tawbid prevail was doubtlessly the most significant achievement of
the Prophet (peace be upon him). The doctrine of tawbid, however, also had
its socio-political implications. Great though the achievement of the Prophet
(peace be upon him) was in the doctrinal realm, it should not lead us to
overlook or underrate the transformation brought about in the social life
whose basic ethic and structure were radically changed and a new social
order was brought into existence.
This paper attempts to trace the rise of this new social order, and to
delineate the twin aspects of unity and diversity, which in our view,
characterize it.
I
In order to appreciate the achievement and contribution of the Prophet
(peace be upon him) in the social domain, it is essential to become
acquainted with its pre-Is!amic social order and the conceptual foundations.
Social life in pre-Islamic Arabia was premised on the principle of bloodkinship. A number of factors, especially the near impossibility of the
survival of individuals and even solitary nuclear families, in the harsh
terrain of Arabia, had led to the rise of clans and tribes whose members
were tied together by the idea of descent from a common ancestor, whether
real or fictitious. Even the religious life of the pre-Islamic Arabs was a
reflex of their social organization. For clans and tribes usually had their own
deities, a counterpart of the particularism which characterized their clans
and tribes. The position of the tribe (or its sub-division, the clan) was
buttressed by the fact that it was the main guarantee of whatever security
could be provided in that environment. One of the functions of the tribe was
to ensure the protection of a person's life and property against the
prevailing brutal conditions of life that prevailed. Moreover, nomadic
pastoralism, the dominant pattern of living at the time, could hardly be
camed on by individuals or small families. All this made the tribe
something of an economic necessity as well. All in all, to live
independently of a tribe or clan was hardly a practical proposition.
These tribes looked upon themselves as self-sufficient and independent.
Also, thanks to the rigorous conditions of life which often led to inter-tribal
feuding, there developed in them a strong particularism. The result was that
the main tribes had become, in the words of W. Montgomery Watt,
"sovereign and independent political entities".
The driving force of this social system was 'asabiyyah, the spirit of the clan
or tribe, a strong feeling of group solidarity. 'Asabiyyah meant boundless
and unconditional loyalty of fellow-clansmen and corresponded, in general,
to the patriotism of the passionate, chauvinistic type in our time. 'Asabijyah
meant giving constant support to one's brethren-in-clan or brethren-in-tribe,
whether they were the wrong-doers or the wronged. Their favourite motto
was: "My tribe: right or wrong" which reminds one of the motto of extreme
nationalists of our own time: "My country: right or wrong7'or "My nation:
right or wrong". A man was required to be always prepared to sink or swim
with the members of his clan or tribe. Regardless of the extent of sacrifice
demanded of a person by his clan or tribe, the pre-Islamic ethical code
required that he should not shirk making that sacrifice. Thus, in pre-Islamic
Arabia, loyalty to the tribe stood above all other loyalties. There were no
higher values to which this unqualified and unbounded loyalty to the tribe
could be subordinated.
The Message that the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave to his people,
whose religious beliefs were tainted with polytheistic ideas and practices
and whose social outlook was vitiated by a narrow tribalism, was the
following: believe in Allah, the One True God; submit to Him and worship
none but Him; believe in Muhammad as the Prophet and Messenger of
Allah; recognize the message that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) had brought to them as Divine Guidance, and live a life of
righteousness and benevolence in the light of that guidance. He also
emphasized that loyalty to Allah was above all loyalties; that duty to Allah
had priority over all other duties. Even the duty of obeying one's parents, a
duty which was frequently emphasized by the Prophet (peace be upon him)
in his own preaching and was quite often stressed in the Qur'an, was not
permitted to stand in the way of fulfilling one's duty to God, viz.,
worshipping none but Him. (29:s)
The teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) created a new focus of
loyalty, a loyalty to which all other loyalties had to be subordinated - man's
loyalty to his Creator. Later on, however, this idea was to result in the
destruction of the whole value-system on which the pre-Islamic social life
had rested, and eventually to the establishment of a social order on a
completely different set of principles.
The Prophet's opposition of idolatry and his appeal to the Quraysh to
submit to the discipline of a Divinely ordained moral and legal code were at
first greeted by his people with ridicule and contempt. In the course of time,
this gave way to severe opposition and active persecution of the Prophet
and his followers. This was done by the Prophet's own tribe, Quraysh. To
the Quraysh the followers of Muhammad (peace be upon him) were heretics
and apostates, the black sheep who had forsaken the faith of their own
pcople, who had abandoned the lifeways of their forefathers. On the
contrary, in the eyes of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his followers,
their own small group of the faithful were the elect; that they were the
fortunate few who had discovered the word of God and were trying to
respond to it by carrying out His Will; that they were the real elite who, by
God's grace, had been pulled out of the darkness of ignorance into the light
of Divine Guidance. Although most of these believers belonged to the
Quraysh, yet there were also men like Bilal and Salman, who were of
foreign origin. And as things developed, the faith preached by the Prophet
(peace be upon him) began to disrupt the rampant social order by unifying,
let us say, the Abyssinian BilHl and Persian Salman with the Qurayshite
Abu Bakr and making them members of one camp, and colleagues and coworkers in the cause of Islam, as against some of their own kin who were
opposed to it.
In the same way as tuwhid replaced shirk in the doctrinal sphere, a major
change was introduced in the socio-political domain as well. Hitherto blood
kinship or common ancestry was considered the basis of social life. This
was replaced by the idea of common faith. The factor that now unified
people and gave rise to a community was belief in the same God, in the
same Prophet, in the same Divine Book, and the shared commitment to be
guided by the principles enunciated by the Qur'an and elaborated and put
into practice by the Prophet (peace be upon him).
The Qur'an is full of statements to the effect that religious faith should lead
to forging brotherly ties between all those who believe in it:
"Indeed, the believers are none but brethren of one another" (49:lO).
Islam also emphasized the essential unity of all mankind in-so-far as their
ancestor was the same:
"[Allah] created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its
mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women"
(4: 1).
Thus, all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve are one family, and the
differences and diversities found among them do not negate their essential
unity. Their division into peoples and tribes, far from serving as a reason for
estrangement, let alone mutual bitterness and hostility, should facilitate their
interaction:
"0people! Verily We created you from a male and a female and made
you into peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed the
most honoured of you with Allah is he who is most pious" (49: 13).
There was, therefore, no justification for any group of people to boast that
they were inherently superior to others on grounds of ancestry, lineage, or
any other mundane considerations. Thus, the whole basis of the jahili social
ethic, which accorded the highest priority to a person's tribal allegiance, was
undermined. The driving force and core principle of the jclhili social order
was not only set aside in actual practice, but was also categorically
denounced as antithetical to Islam. In the words of the Prophet (peace be
upon him):
He who dies for the sake of 'asabijyah does not belong to us; he who
calls people to 'asabiyyah does not belong to us; he who fights in the
cause of 'apbijyah does not belong to us.'
Significantly, at the time of his triumphant entry into Makkah, the Prophet
(peace be upon him) emphatically proclaimed:
0 people of Quraysh! Verily Allah has taken away from you the
arrogance of the period of ignorance, and the pride of noble ancestry. 0
men! All of you are from Adam, and Adam was from dust.3
The exaggerated concern with the tribe as manifested in tribal 'agabiyyah
was an important factor in preventing the pre-Islamic Arabs from being
united. Hence, it was not easy for them to establish and sustain the
institution of state which would have been possible only if a considerable
number of tribes could be united under one banner. With the advent of
Islam, a unifying principle - religious faith - was provided and this enabled
the myriad of Arabian tribes to rise above their divisions and diversities,
making it possible for them to weld themselves into a strong religious
brotherhood.
Even during the Makkan period of the Prophet's life we notice the
emergence of an ummah on the basis of common faith. This was, to a large
extent, the result of the teachings of Islam which emphasized true faith as
the factor of paramount importance in man's life for it alone could ensure
his salvation. One can also see that the course of events in the early history
of the ummah also contributed to reinforcing the brotherhood of faith and to
weakening the hold of tribal asabiyyah which these early Muslims might
have inherited from their social surroundings. One can well imagine what
would have been the impact on the minds of the Makkan Muslims of the
persecution suffered by them at the hands of their own fellow-tribesmen,
even their blood relatives, during the Makkan period of the Prophet's life.
Their experience was bound to make them increasingly identify themselves
with their fellow-believers and to alienate them from their detractors and
opponents, who were often from their own clan or tribe. The sense of
belonging to this new identity of faith was further strengthened when, after
suffering persecution in their own home town, a good number of Makkan
Muslims who belonged to several sub-divisions of the Quraysh, took refuge
in Abyssinia.
This feeling of identity was even further strengthened when the Prophet
(peace be upon him) and his Makkan followers emigrated to Madinah.
What did that mean? It meant that the Muhdjirtm of Makkah and the An@r
of Madinah had become knit into a fraternal relationship. Another obvious
implication was that a wedge had been driven between the Makkan
believers and their unbelieving kinsmen. With all these developments, the
tribal unity of the Quraysh seemed to be on the verge of shambles. On the
other hand, the Prophet (peace be upon him) further cemented this unity by
what is known as rnuwdkhdh - fraternization. As we know, after arrival in
Madinah he took one person from the Muhdjiriin and one from the Ansdr
and declared that they were brothers. This meant that the two would
henceforth share each other's weal and woe, which indeed actually
happened. For some time they even shared each other's inheritance until
this was revoked by the Qur'm. And all this process was made possible by
the willing consent of these partners in fraternization without least recourse
to coercive means.
All this naturally widened the horizons of the Muslims and brought them
out of the narrow confines of tribalism. It was this broadening of outlook
which enabled them to establish a state in Madinah which gradually came to
embrace the whole of Arabia, and within just a few decades it had expanded
to cover a very large part of the then known civilized world, giving the
world a great state and a splendid civilization.
These developments testify to the great potential of Islamic concept of the
brotherhood founded on the commonality of religious faith. They also
testify to the great leadership qualities of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
But the fact that even in the first instance, the tribes of Arabia transcended
their extreme particularism and became part of the Islamic body-politic is a
phenomenon which, in order to comprehend it fully, a word of explanation
seems necessary.
The success of Islam in weaving the diversities which characterised the 7Ih
century Arabian life into one fabric was possible because of some of the
basic characteristics of Islam itself Islam has been described as having two
basic qualities: the qualities of hanlfiyyah and sarnrfhah. The hanlfiyyah of
Islam is reflected in its doctrine of tawhid. It would be a platitude to say that
as regards to tawhid Islam is absolutely uncompromising. It has no patience
for building any mid-way houses. God is One and unique: "There is
nothing like Him" (42:l I), declared the Q u r ' a in its categorical majesty.
And that's that.
However, when it comes to the practical matters of life, we find that the
Islamic shari'ah is characterized by a tolerant attitude which enables the
Islamic civilization to easily accommodate a wide variety of cultural
diversities. This was made possible because, while the rules of 'ibddat were
laid down and were considered fixed, the basic assumption about the
ordinary acts of life such as eating, drinking, dressing, is that of freedom. In
other words, Islam has provided man with a reasonably small list of what is
unlawful or undesirable. Everything else is to be considered to belong to
man's area of discretion wherein one could act as one may wish to.
This may be elaborated a bit even at the risk of sounding pedantic. Let us
t&e the most ordinary matter of human life - eating. Islam has prohibited a
few things which one may not eat, and they are very few indeed - carcasses,
flesh of swine, blood, and so on. The implication is that it is lawful to eat
anything other than these prohibited items. Moreover, one is free to cook
these lawful things in the manner one wishes. There is no particular formula
of cooking which might be called Islamic in an exclusive sense. If the food
items are lawhl, there could be innumerable ways in which one might
cook. Islam does not impose any particular cuisine, be it that of the Quraysh
or of the Arabs, or of any other Muslim people. Likewise, Islam has laid
down certain principles regarding dress: that a dress should properly cover
certain parts of the body, and in this connection it has enunciated the satr of
both the males and the females. Islam has also expressed disapproval of
extravagant dresses, or wearing dresses that give vent to arrogance and
haughtiness. Were one to comply with these basic principles, one might
dress as one would like to. Hence, the European, the Mexican, the Middle
Eastern, the Central Asian - all these dresses are authentically Islamic
provided the basic guidelines given by Islam have not been violated.
Thus, there is and has always been a unique mix of unity and diversity in
Muslim life. The element of unity is provided by our having a common
worldview, a common frame of reference, a common set of moral values,
and a common set of rules pertaining to bald and haram provided by the
Shari'ah. However, as we have shown, the shari'ah itself accommodates
diversities that are a natural characteristic of human life.
In his effort to build an Islamic ummah the Prophet (peace be upon him)
displayed a striking degree of sensitivity to the factors that would
strengthen the unity of Muslims. He urged people to develop the attitudes
and qualities which would cement their relations and strengthen their
brotherly ties. At the same time, he discouraged and denounced those
attitudes and qualities which were likely to weaken, and in some cases, even
undermine and destroy the unity and brotherhood of Muslims. In fact the
Qur'an itself had identified the attitudes and habits that were destructive of
the brotherly ties between Muslims - backbiting, calling names, subjecting
people to ridicule, looking upon oneself or one's group as superior and
others as inferior, attributing evil intent to the acts of others, and so on. The
Qur'an naturally urged the Muslims to eschew these attitudes and habits and
urged them to develop positive attitudes, attitudes that would conduce to a
healthy social life, attitudes that are likely to foster amity, cordiality and
brotherhood. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also made a great
contribution to this by his personal example, by the care that he took to
prevent tribal 'asabiyyah from being inflamed, and by inspiring the people
around him to become human beings of a much finer quality than the world
has ever witnessed. All this was bound to unify the ranks of his followers,
and turn the believers, as he himself described, into a wall each part of
which supports the other; or as he said on another occasion.
"As regards their mutual love and affection and compassion, the
believers are like a human body; if one part of it suffers pain, it
eventually extends to the whole body."4
The whole life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the entire gamut of
Islamic injunctions and institutions deserve to be studied in the context of
the question under discussion - how it was possible to build this wonderful
edifice of unity of the ummah which, in a natural and healthy manner,
accommodated ethnic, cultural and other diversities without allowing these
diversities to threaten the unity of the ummah. In our view, this was
possible because of the fact that Islam was prescribed by man's Creator and
hence all its teachings are in conformity with man's nature. And, of course,
who could understand this, in all its profundity, better than the Prophet
(peace be upon him)? In what follows is an attempt to draw attention to the
major landmarks in the life of the Prophet (peace on him) with a view to
illuminate the matter in hand.
After the Hijrah, as we know well, one of the first things that the Prophet
(peace be upon him) did, apart from rnuwdkhcih which has been mentioned
earlier, was to draw up the rules that would govern the relationship between
the different elements of the Madinian society. After Hijrah the main
components of Madinah were Muslims and Jews. The Muslims consisted of
the Muhiijirun and the Ansdr. The Anscir, in their turn, had a number of subdivisions. And the same was the case with the Jews.
A glance at this document, which is often called the Constitution of
Madinah, brings out several significant 'points. It shows that, apart from his
well-known ability to expound his religious message with great clarity and
force of persuasion, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was also blessed with
an outstanding political instinct, that he had the ability to comprehend the
complex situation which he faced and the capacity to promote his ideals and
objectives with rare wisdom. Nicholson describes this document as one
ostensibly embodying "a cautious and tactful reform". But he adds, "it was
in reality a revolution". Through this constitution, says Nicholson, the
Prophet shifted the centre of power from the tribe to the community.
Let us note some of the salient features of the Constitution of Madinah:
First, that the believers and those Jews who were their allies for common
defence, were declared one ummah (a political community) distinct from
all others. The Jews had the right to follow their religion and naturally
the Muslims too had the same right. However, this unity of Jews and
Muslims was based on specific terms and conditions on which the two
parties - the Muslims and the Jewish tribes "who follow them [i.e., the
Muslims] and are attached to them and crusade along with them-" were
agreed.
Second, that the separate entity of the believers as a community of faith,
transcending the tribal affiliations of the individual believers, was clearly
recognized. The believers were not allowed to forsake any debtor among
them; the peace of the believers was one; in case of any loss of the
believers' blood in the cause of God, all the believers would take
revenge; no believer could confederate with the client of another
believer.
Third, though the Muslims were divided internally into separate tribal
affiliations, yet unlike the pre-Islamic times, these tribes were not
independent and sovereign political entities. They were rather to function
merely as administrative units. As administrative units they remained
and discharged some useful functions. They still had a degree of
autonomy and were responsible for their internal affairs. The payment of
blood-money and the ransoming of their captives, according to the
provision of the constitution, was the joint responsibility of the members
of a clan as in former times. But gone was the former position of the clan
as the focus of supreme loyalty. The tribes and clans remained, but the
particularism and the chauvinistic attachment to them that would stand in
the way of subordinating this tribal association to any other higher
5
consideration, were destroyed.
Almost everything in the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) bespoke of
his full faith that Islam's message was universal, and that it was bound to be
accepted by people whose instincts were sound and healthy. This explains
his writing letters to the chiefs of innumerable tribes inviting them to Islam.
This also explains his sending emissaries to rulers even outside Arabia - to
Caesar, to Chosroes, to Muqawqis, and to many others. All these letters also
bespeak of his concem with his basic mission - that people submit to and
obey and worship their Creator and follow the Guidance that had been made
available to mankind through His last Messenger (peace be upon him). If
any were prepared to do so, he was not at all eager to change things upside
down. Again, this was in keeping with what we have said earlier: that the
Prophet's doctrinal concem was the affirmation of tawhid and his social
programme consisted of establishing a just and benevolent social order
which would provide the right social setting in which men may live as
God's servants and as brothers of one another. This called for establishing
the Muslim ummah on strong foundations, an ummah that was agreed on
fundamentals but was not inimical to the variety and diversity found in
human societies.
It was no wonder that this policy paid rich dividends. Gradually the more
inveterate enemies of Islam were overpowered on the battle-field. Their
military defeat was also indicative of the success of the Prophet (peace be
upon him) in persuading people to respond to his call, for it is these that
valiantly fought for the cause of Islam. It is also indicative of the inner
cohesion and solidarity of the Muslims, who stood like a solid rock despite
the efforts of the enemies to divide their ranks.
The natural consequence of all this was that eight years after the Prophet
(peace be upon him) and his followers had bid farewell to Makkah, he and
his followers returned to it and the city fell into their lap like a ripe fruit
without even as much as a skirmish. Here again the Prophet's magnanimity
shone in all its splendour and glory. The Makkans had not been conquered
militarily; it is their hearts that had been 'conquered' by he who had
suffered contempt and humiliation at their hands.
The year that followed - year 9 A.H. - which is known as the "Year of
Delegations" saw representatives of tribes from all the nooks and comers of
Arabia visit Madinah, to embrace Islam and to assure the Prophet (peace be
upon him) of their allegiance and loyalty. The total number of delegations
is reported to be close to 100.
All these developments gradually paved the way for what we have termed
as the crowning moment, the moment of supreme triumph of the Prophet's
struggle to make the Word of Allah prevail. We are referring to the Hujjat
al- Wadd '. This Hajj witnessed a surging sea of humanity consisting of close
to 150,000 souls - a figure that seems staggering for the Year I0 of Hjrah.
They had come from all across the Arabian Peninsula. These pilgrims had
surrendered themselves to the lordship of Allah, they were committed to
follow the directives of the Last Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
were willing to do his every behest. They had risen above all their
diversities and particularities and had become willing partners in the
collective enterprise of the umnzah - "to enjoin what is right and forbid
what is wrong and call Allah's creatures to their Lord".
This was the last opportunity that Allah had willed the Prophet (peace be
upon him) to avail of, the opportunity to give finishing touches to what he
had done for about twenty two or twenty three years. It would be instructive
to cast a glance at the valuable things he had to tell these souls who were
eager to know and to act upon what they would learn:
1. That every Muslim must honour the rights of other Muslims: he must
regard their blood, their property and their honour as inviolable.
2. That wrong and injustice and riha and all the evil customs of
Jdhilyyah were unlawful.
3. That special attention should be paid to the rights of women and that
they should be treated with compassion and tenderness. In like
manner, women were asked to be loyal to their marital ties.
That the laws of inheritance should be followed and should not be
tampered with by making testaments in favour of any of the legal
heirs.
That the custom of adoption and assigning false parentage to people
was unlawful.
That it did not become a Muslim to cause hurt to his brother by his
hand or tongue; that a true Muhiijir was he who would give up sins;
that a true rnujiihid was he who would subdue his own self to obey
Allah.
That no one should impute any false statement to the Prophet (peace
be upon him) for that would land him into Hell.
If people were to faithfully adhere to the Q u r ' a and the Sunnah, they
would never go astray.
That all Muslims were brethren and hence no one may forcefully take
possession of another's property. He may do so only with the owner's
willing consent.
10. That the rulers should be obeyed as long as they apply the Book of
Allah.
11. That none may be regarded as any better than another except in
consideration of piety.
12. That the slaves should be treated with kindness.
13. That no Muslim should shirk any of the following: to serve Allah with
absolute sincerity; to tender good counsel to the rulers; and to remain
vitally attached to the body of Muslims.
If anything had remained to be done, it was done during the H a j ~ a talWadii '. With all these directives, the edifice of the urnrnah had been erected
on firm foundations. Within a matter of ten years after, a sea-change had
been brought about in the whole of Arabia, and the ummah had become
equipped to start moving beyond the confines of Arabia with the last
Message of the Creator to His creatures.
Before concluding, it needs to be pointed that this miracle was not wrought
simply by legalistic brilliance or political sagacity. The true sources of the
unity of the ummah, on the one hand, have been its religious beliefs. On the
other hand were the set of 'ibiidiit which have sustained and reinforced,
albeit almost imperceptibly, the unity of the ummah. It is not insignificant
that almost the very first act of the Prophet (peace be upon him) after arrival
in Madinah was to build a mosque.
All 'ibadat have played an important role in the lives of Muslims. They
have been a potent means of bringing them closer to Allah and revitalizing
their faith. They have also provided them abundant moral and spiritual
nourishment. And last, but not the least, they have been a source of unifying
their ranks. While all this is true about all 'ibddat, the impact of Haji in all
these respects has radiated to all comers of the world, and during the last
fourteen centuries. It seems that of all 'ibadct the impact of Hajj has been
the greatest and the most abiding.
As I conclude, I can hardly resist reproducing out in extenso the impressions
of Hajj on the mind and soul of an outstanding convert to Islam,
Muhammad Asad. I have not read so far any statement which brings out, as
forcefully as this one, how deeply the Hajj experience links one with the
entire body of Muslim ummah, and how the little particularities of us
Muslims are subordinated to our sense of belonging to the ummah of Islam:
"And as I stand on the hillcrest and gaze down toward the invisible Plain
of Arafat, the moonlit blueness of the landscape before me, so dead a
moment ago, suddenly comes to life with the currents of all the human
lives that have passed through it and is filled with the eerie voices of the
millions of men and women who have walked or ridden between Mecca
and Arafat in over hundred pilgrimages for over thirteen hundred years.
Their voices and their steps and the voices and the steps of their animals
reawaken and resound anew; I see them walking and riding and
assembling - all those myriads of white-garbed pilgrims of thirteen
hundred years; I hear the sounds of their passed-away days; the wings of
the faith which has drawn them together to this land of rocks and sand
and seeming deadness beat again with the warmth of life over the arc of
centuries, and the mighty wingbeat draws me into its orbit and draws my
own passed-away days into the present, and once again I am riding over
the plain riding in a thundering gallop over the plain, amidst thousands and
thousands of ihr~m-cladbeduins, returning from Arafat to Mecca - a
tiny particle of that roaring, earth-shaking, irresistible wave of countless
galloping dromedaries and men, with the tribal banners on their high
-
poles beating like drums in the wind and their tribal war cries tearing
through the air: Yii Rawga, yii Rawga! by which the Atayba tribesmen
evoke their ancestor's name, answered by the Yii 'Awfj yii 'Awfr of the
Harb and echoed by the almost defiant, 'Shammdr, yii Shammdr'! from
the farthest right wing of the column.
We ride on, rushing, flying over the plain, and to me it seems that we are
flying with the wind, abandoned to a happiness that knows neither end
nor limit ... and the wind shouts a wild paean of joy into my ears: Never
again, never again, never again will you be a stranger'!
My brethren on the right and my brethren on the left, all of them
unknown to me but none a stranger: in the tumultuous joy of our chase,
we are one body in pursuit of one goal. Wide is the world before us, and
in our hearts glimmers a spark of the flame that burned in the hearts of
the Prophet's Companions. They know, my brethren on the right and my
brethren on the left, that they have fallen short of what was expected of
them, and that in the flight of centuries their hearts have grown small:
and yet, the promise of fulfillment has not been taken from them ... from
us ...
Someone in the surging host abandons his tribal cry for a cry of faith:
'We are the brethren of him who gives himself up to God!' - and another
joins in: 'Alliihu Akbar!'- God is the Greatest! - God alone Is Great'!
And all the tribal detachments take up this one cry. They are no longer
Najdi beduins revelling in their tribal pride: they are men who know that
the secrets of God are but waiting for them ... for us ... Amidst the din of
thousands of rushing camels' feet and the flapping of a hundred banners,
their cry grows into a roar of triumph: 'Allahu Akbar! '
It flows in mighty waves over the heads of the thousands of galloping
men, over the wide plain, to all the ends of the earth: 'Alliihu Akbar!'
These men have grown beyond their own little lives, and now their faith
sweeps them forward, in oneness, toward some uncharted horizon ...
Longing need no longer remain small and hidden; it has found its
awakening, a blinding sunrise of fulfillment. In this fulfillment, man
strides along in all his God-given splendor; his stride is joy, and his
knowledge is freedom, and his world a sphere without bounds.. .
996
End Notes
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Namely al-Rafiq al-'A12. See al-Bukhari, Sahib KitBb al-MaghBzi, BBb Marad alNabiyy wa Wafatuh.
See Abii DB'iid, Sunan, KitBb al-Adab, BBb fi aL6Apbiyyah.
See Abii DB' iid, Sunan, KitBb al-Adab, Bab fi al-Tafakhur bi al-Ahs8b
See al-Bukhsri, bahih Kitab al-Adab, B8b Rahmat al-NBs wa al-Baha'im.
For the full text of the Constitution see Muhammad Hamidullah, The First Written
Constitution in the World (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1968).
Muhammad Asad, The Road to Mecca (London: Max Reinhardt, 1954), pp. 373-375.