He was born in Cordova in 52OAH (1126) and named after his grandfather Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rushd, who died in the same year. His grandfather was the Chief Judge in Cordova and the foremost authority in Maliki jurisprudence. To distinguish him from his illustrious ancestor, Ibn Rushd was later known as Ibn Rushd al-Hafid (the grandson).

Cordova, where Ibn Rushd grew up, was a thriving centre of all the diverse arts of civilization and culture attracting many great scholars from around the then known world to its wonderful libraries. Ibn Rushd studied and memorized the Qur’an and the Muwatta of Imam Malik. He was an excellent student of jurisprudence and quickly qualified to give legal opinions and sit as judge.

Following his work in the sciences of law, language and Hadith, he went on to study mathematics, astronomy and astrology and then medicine. He was a friend to the most prominent thinkers and writers of his age: Ibn al-Tufayl (d. 1186/6), author of the famous allegory Hayy ibn Yaqzan (said to have influenced Robinson Crusoe ); the philosopher, Ibn Bajja (Avempace in the West, d. 1139); the great jurist and judge Abu Bakr ibn al ‘Arabi (d. l148); the famous physician Abu Marwan ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar in the West, d. 1161) and his son Abu Bakr (d. 1198).

Ibn Rushd served as a judge in Ishbiliya (Seville) in 1171 and then in Cordova two years later. His reputation for wide knowledge, correctness and fairness in giving verdicts, led to his appointment as Chief Judge. His book Bidayat al-mujtahid wa nihayat al-muqtasid (The reference for the searcher and the resort for the fair) remains an important reference for students of jurisprudence and is still taught in universities to this day. Although he was a Maliki he used the ideas of other schools of thought. Because he had so many activities and interests besides his public duties, Ibn Rushd had to organize his time very fully: he spent his days working as a judge, teaching, and in academic discussion with other scholars; he reserved his nights for reading and writing.

His friend Ibn al-Tufayl wrote to invite him to visit Marrakech, the capital of the Muwahhidun (Almohades) who had established a powerful and stable state in North Africa after they took over from the Murabitun (Almoravides), and were famous for their patronage of scientists, physicians, theologians and philosophers. Ibn Rushd’s intelligence, learning and ideas so impressed the ruler, Abu Yusuf ‘Abd al-Mu’min, that he was appointed to reform the educational system. This he did successfully before returning to Cordova.

When Abu Ya‘qub ibn ‘Abd al-Mu’min came to power, he appointed Ibn Rushd as his personal physician after Ibn Tufayl. Ibn Rushd held this post for a year (1183) when he was appointed as Chief judge. His success provoked court envy and he was falsely accused of heresy, in particular that he adhered too closely to the doctrines of Aristotle. He was indeed a supporter of Aristotle’s doctrines after these were properly reformed and adapted to Islam. Ibn Rushd fell out of favour at the court and was ill-treated. His books on philosophy were burnt, though his works on medicine and theology were not censored. When Abu Ya‘qub discovered he had been misinformed, he tried to invite Ibn Rushd back to apologise to him, but he was too late. Ibn Rushd died on 9th Safar 595AH (December 1198).

His writings

Ibn Rushd was broadly cultured indeed and wrote on many different subjects. Here we can mention only the most famous of his great works. In jurisprudence, as noted above, he wrote Bidayat al-mujtahid wa nihayat al-muqtasid (The reference for the searcher and the resort for the fair). In philosophy, he wrote Tahafut al-tahafut (refutation of the refutation), his response to Imam al-Ghazali’s famous Tahafut al-falsafa (refutation of philosophy). Ibn Rushd combined both philosophy and religion in mainly two books: Fasl al-maqal wa taqrib ma bayna l-shari‘a wa l-hikma min al-ittisal (an authoritative treatise on the convergence between the religious law and philosophy), and Kitab al-kashf ‘an manahij al-adilla fi ‘aqa’id al-milla wa ta‘rif ma waqa‘a fiha bi hasb al-ta‘wil min al-subah al-muzayyifa wa 1-bida‘ al-mudilla (an exposition of the methodology of demonstrating the creeds and description of the confusions and innovations in interpretation which confound truth and lead to error). In medicine, Ibn Rushd wrote the Kitab al-kulliyyat fi al-tibb (a general reference on medicine) which was translated into Latin and Hebrew and European vernaculars. It was a major reference in medicine though it never reached the standard of al-Qanun fi al-Tibb of Ibn Sina (Avicenna, d. 1037) which was used everywhere as simply T he Canon of Medicine.

Ibn Rushd had prepared this book especially for practising physicians and students of medicine. He apologised for the work’s brevity, a limitation he attributed to his preoccupation with commitments to judging, political affairs and philosophy. He advised those who sought greater detail to consult al-Taysir (The simplification) of Abu Marwan ‘Abd Al-Malik ibn Zuhr. Al-Kulliyyat is organized under seven broad headings or chapters:

1. Anatomy
2. The function of the organs
3. Diseases (pathology)
4. Syndromes: a brief clinical review
5. Health care, especially sports, massage and sleep
6. Medication and diet
7. Healing (particularly of different types of fevers).

The chapter on anatomy in al-Kulliyat

Ibn Rushd criticized the physicians and students of medicine of his time for neglecting anatomy. His own presentation of the subject is both concise and precise. He divides it into two major areas:

a. Anatomy of ‘simple’ organs such as bones, flesh, and veins.

b. Anatomy of ‘compound’ organs-for example, the arm which comprises bones, flesh, veins, tendons, nerves etc.

His description starts with the bones of the head and the teeth. 

Bones

There are six bones in the cranium and 14 in the upper jaw (the maxilla) and the ear, and two in the lower jaw (the mandible). All these bones are attached by seams except the two bones of the mandible that are articulately joined. This was later established as untrue-the mandible in fact has a single bone not two. The first to discover this was the physician and linguist ‘Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (Ibn al-Labbad). He examined 10,000 cadavers removed from the hills of al-Muqattam, east of Cairo, during the construction of a road. He realized this fact after observing thousands of examples. This was revealed in his wonderful book al-Ifada wa l-i’tibar fi l-umur al-mushahada wa l-ahwal al-mu‘ayana fi ardi Misr, (review and lessons from examinations and experiences in Egypt).

Ibn Rushd wrote of the teeth that there are 16 in each jaw-two central incisors, two lateral incisors and two canines, and five molars and premolars on both right and left sides. There are three or four roots in the maxilla but only two in the mandible, the remaining teeth have only one root.

He also described the large aperture in the back part of the skull, the foramen magnum, and its relation with the seven vertebra of the neck (cervical vertebrae), which have apertures on the sides. The vertebrae of the chest region are twelve; in the lumbar there are five, linked to the sacrum in which he counted three bones (in fact there are five) attached to the bone of the coccyx which is also composed of three attached vertebrae.

Ibn Rushd said that all vertebrae are articulate except the first two from the neck, because the first vertebra is attached to two appendices ramified from the skull.

He also said the bone of the sacrum is attached from the sides of the hips, in each of which is the acetabulum (socket) which contains the ‘head’ of the thigh bone (femur), often referred to as the ‘pomegranate’.

Ibn Rushd described in detail the bones of the front side starting from the clavicles up to the pubic bone, passing by the ribs and the bones of the shoulders. He also described the upper and lower limbs very precisely. What he wrote is not different from what we know today except that, for the bones of the arm, he uses ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ zanad (forearm) to mean the radius and the ulna. He indicated the bones of the leg, nowadays known as the fibula and tibia, in the same terms.

Veins and arteries

In the old days, the arteries were called the ‘beating veins’ (dhawarib ), and jugular veins were the ‘non-beating’ veins (ghayr al-dhawarib ). Ibn Rushd made a precise distinction between the two types of veins which remains accurate and valid. He wrote:‘Arteries come out of the heart whereas the jugular veins come back to it.’ He also described the difference precisely, the arteries are more solid and have two similar layers: the fibres of the inner layer are crosswise while the outer layer fibres are length-ways-even by modern standards a very professional anatomical description.

Two arteries of different size come out of the heart, the smaller one goes to the lungs and ramifies into them (pulmonary artery). The other (aorta) is larger, divided into many sections and ramifies into the whole body, one section going up to the head and upper limbs, another going alongside the vertebral column with branches leading to the chest and abdomen; it ends in the lower body and feeds the two lower limbs.

Ibn Rushd’s fascinating description is confirmed as correct and accurate. However, he failed to observe the circulation of the blood accurately. This was not properly described until nearly a hundred years later by Ibn al-Nafis (d. 1288) a Damascus-born physician who worked in hospitals in Cairo, and many centuries before William Harvey (1578-1657). 

The nervous system

The nervous system is the most complicated organ in the human body and its anatomy has only gradually become known over recent centuries. Nevertheless, Ibn Rushd was able to describe the brain, its membranes and the cranial nerves. He describes the smelling nerve perfectly, pointing out that it ends with a nipple like that of the breast. He does not consider this nerve as the primary one, giving that distinction to the optical nerve. The first pair of nerves issue from the brain and form the sclera inside the cranium, then come out to the eyes each from its side. This is a wonderfully precise description.

Ibn Rushd then describes the nerves that feed the muscles of the eye. According to modern anatomy, these nerves are the third, fourth and sixth, but Ibn Rushd considers them all as the second pair that ramifies in the muscles of the eyes. He considers the third pair as related to the next (the fourth), and these feed areas of the face, the ear, the palate and the nose-in fact, he was writing about the fifth and seventh pair of nerves according to modern anatomy. As for the fifth, Ibn Rushd says that a part of it leads to the ears and the muscles of the cheeks, whereas this is identified as part of the seventh pair.

Ibn Rushd writes that the sixth nerve feeds the pharynx and the tongue and part of it leads to the muscles near and around the shoulder and another part deviates to the neck and a branch of that goes to the larynx. This is actually the eleventh nerve (the accessory nerve) and there is some confusion in Ibn Rushd’s account with the description of the tenth nerve (vagus; the wandering or confused nerve). Although he attributes many characteristics of the vagus nerve to the accessory one, Ibn Rushd is very accurate in the description of the characteristics themselves. He observes that some of the branches of this nerve lead to the chest and feed the heart, lungs, and esophagus; that it runs through the diaphragm and makes the link with the cardiac and liver membranes, the spleen and the rest of the intestines/bowels.

Ibn Rushd describes the seventh nerve as starting from the back of the brain and ramified in the tongue: he is describing accurately the twelfth nerve (hypo-glossal).

He describes as accurately as modern anatomy does, the nerves that go along the vertebrae. He mentions the eight pairs of cervical nerves, sixteen pairs of dorsal nerves, and five pairs of lumbar nerves.

He misses the correct number of the sacral nerves, they seemed only three to him because they are very closely attached-in fact they are five. Three nerves come from the bone of the coccyx and a single nerve comes out on the sides from the middle. This is absolutely accurate.

Ibn Rushd wrote;

‘The brain has two nipple-shaped appendices that grow from its two advanced abdomens (olfactory bulb). They reach the bone that resembles the cribrium (cribriform plate), which is perforated with many holes [i.e. like a sieve], not smooth but rough with its position in the cranium, where it reaches the end of the nose.’

It would be very hard to improve on the concision or accuracy of this account even today.

About the membranes of the brain, he wrote, again with wonderful, inspiring accuracy:

The brain has two membranes, one is hard and thick (dura mater), and the other is thin (pia mater), they cover the brain very closely and in some locations are completely joined. The thick one is adherent to the cranium. This membrane has many perforations in two places, the first at the canal at the end of the nose (cribriform plate), and the second at the bone of the palate. Under the brain on the thick cover, there is the mysterious net composed of veins that go up to the head.’

The structure of eye

Ibn Rushd’s ability and competence as an anatomist is most clearly demonstrated in his description of the eye and its layers, which compares most favorably with what is known today except some minor differences in terminology. Ibn Rushd had even established the original development of the layers of the eye in the fetus, and discovered that they appear to imitate the layers of the brain and its membranes. Ibn Rushd combined accurate observation with brilliant exposition, sight with insight, presenting the structures of the eye as well as any twentieth-century expert could, and did so many centuries ahead of any physician in Europe.

He wrote:

The eye is composed of seven layers and three liquid areas. The first, from the side of the cranium, is a membranous layer that develops from the thick layer (sclera). The next layer from outside develops from the thinner membrane of the brain; it is called al-mashima (choroid). The next is a layer similar to the net (retina). It grows from the same nerve that comes out of the brain. In the middle of this layer, there is a soft and liquid area called al-rutuba al-zujajiyya (vitreous humour). Inside it, there is another spherical body but with some minor flatness. It is as clear as the ice and called al-rutuba al-jalidiyya , and we call it nowadays al- ‘adasa (lens).’

Ibn Rushd continues this wonderful description, by mentioning al-rutuba al-ma’iyya al-amamiyya (aqueous humour), he also called it al-rutuba al-baydhiyya because its liquid is similar to the soft liquid egg-white:

‘On the outside of this liquid appears a soft body whose inner texture is velvet-like, that follows the al-rutuba of baydhiyya (aqueous humour); smooth from the outside its colour is different from the body of the other, it can be very black or less dark or even blue.’ This is an extremely precise description of the iris (quzahiyyatu al-‘ayn) and the ciliary body (al-jism al-hudhabi).

He adds:

‘Inside the ciliary body, next to the lens, a hole that widens and narrows depending on the extent of darkness that it needs, the hole is called hadaqa (pupil) and the membrane itself is called the inabiyya (grape- like) layer.

‘Next to this layer, a cover that has a hard and clear white and thin plate which is called al-qarniyya (cornea). It takes the colour of the layer below it. On the top of this rises a white body called al-multahim (conjunctiva).’

Ibn Rushd also wrote about the physiology of sight:

‘The sight is not a thing that comes out of the eye as Galinius used to think. The eye receives the colours through the reflecting objects in which they are held, in the same way as a mirror does. Once the colours are reflected in the eye, the object is then conceived by the visioning power.

‘This could well be proved in natural science (physics). That is why any of those parts of the eye is able to reflect the colours because of its very glossy surface. So that body is the special tool to the lens and the advantage of the qarniyya (cornea) is . . . [that] it is made clear and thin so that it does not prevent the ice-like liquid (lens) from receiving the images.’

This is an accurate description of the eye and the physiology of sight that does not differ much from what we know today.

From this brief dip into a chapter of al-Kulliyyat fi al-Tibb , we realize the importance of the work of Ibn Rushd-jurist, philosopher, physician. He was an expert in each of these fields and the most distinguished scholar in Spain and North Africa. He neither experienced nor discovered any contradiction between his religion and his science; rather, his quest for knowledge and excellence, his wonderful curiosity, enlightened and improved his faith. His famous observation- who practises autopsy, his faith in God increases -should silence the false allegation that Muslims never practised anatomy and that they are against applied sciences. What has been written by so many Muslims in all fields of knowledge refutes this allegations. Medicine and the other applied sciences are a necessary and essential contribution to the well-being of humankind. Therefore, to work in them is fard kifaya , a collective obligation upon the community of Muslims as a whole, an obligation which some members of the community must undertake on behalf of the others who cannot.

Islam is the guide for those who seek true and sound knowledge in every subject. All sciences, so long as they are directed to God and not to merely worldly ends or personal glory, bring their students closer to God and make easier the way to approach and please Him: Those who fear God, amongst his servants, are those who have knowledge. And God is the Guide to the straight path.

God Himself is the Most Compassionate of the compassionate (A‘raf, 7,15: Yusuf 12.64,92) and the best of those who forgive (Mu’minun, 23.109,118). This means that compassion is an emotion whose source and original is the Divine attributes, the Compassionate and the Merciful. Our beloved Prophet, upon him be peace, explains how even animals have compassion: ‘God divided His Mercy into a hundred portions. He held back with Himself ninety-nine portions and sent the other one down to earth. It is out of that one portion that living creatures find compassion for each other. Even an animal is careful with its leg so that its young are not hurt’ (Bukhari, Adab, 19; Muslim, Tawba, 17). The reason why compassion is a noble quality is that it is a portion of God’s infinite compassion.

Bearing this in mind Muslims are inspired to help one other and other living creatures, and treat them with mercy, as a religious and moral duty. Those who fail in this duty, who do not have compassion for others, are believed to remain deprived of God’s compassion and people’s forgiveness. The Prophet said: ‘The one who does not forgive is not forgiven’ (Bukhari, Adab, 106: Muslim, Fada’il, 65); ‘God does not forgive the one who has no mercy (Muslim, Fada’il, 66; Tirmidhi, Birr, 16).

We all know that Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, always treated children, the elderly and the sick, women, widows and orphans, indeed all people who might be in need, and even animals, with tolerance and mercy. Once he said: ‘Often I start my prayer intending to prolong it. However, when I hear a baby crying I feel myself urged to cut it short in order to ease the mother’s distress’ (Bukhari, Adhan, 163). He also instructed Muslims who lead prayers to keep the prayers short in order not to distress or tire the sick or the weak and elderly in the congregation (Bukhari, Ahkam, 13).

In Islam, compassion and mercy are a universal duty. The Prophet said: ‘God forgives those who forgive. You should have mercy for those on earth so that those in heaven shall have mercy for you’ (Abu Dawud, Adab, 58). Therefore, a Muslim must treat all people- Muslim or non-Muslim-and all living creatures with mercy and tolerance. The saying of the Prophet that a sinful woman obtained God’s pardon because she felt pity for a dog dying of thirst and troubled herself to draw water from a well and give it to the dog, is a clear message to people that they should have mercy for all creatures.

Once a man accompanied by a child came to the Prophet. When the man started to kiss and caress the child, the Prophet asked: ‘Do you feel mercy for the child?’ The man said, ‘Yes’. The Prophet said:

‘Because of your mercy for the child you also deserve God’s mercy, since He is the Most Compassionate of the compassionate.’

Mercy means a love that includes feelings of protection and guardianship. The saying of the Prophet just cited tells us that he loved children and instructed believers to treat children with care and mercy. We should remember that the Prophet used to greet children, give them food, hug and caress them, and let them ride on his camel. He also cherished non- Muslim children. When some children were killed by both sides in a battle, the Prophet became very sad. Some people tried to console him and said that he should not be so distressed for non-Muslim children. He replied: ‘These children, even though they are non-Muslims, are better than you [because they are sinless]. Be careful not to kill children. Do not kill children!’

During the caliphate of ‘Umar, the great Caliph was discussing the duties of a man he was about to appoint as governor. During their discussions a small boy came in. Caliph ‘Umar was merciful towards children. He took the boy on his lap and kissed him. The man was so struck by ‘Umar’s behaviour with the boy that he asked if he was the Caliph’s son. ‘Umar said: ‘No, he is an orphan of a man who was martyred in a battle.’ The man said:

‘O Commander of the Believers! You show such love for another man’s child, hugging and kissing him! I have three children and have never done the same with them.’ On hearing this, it was ‘Umar’s turn to be astonished. He said to the man: ‘The one who lacks love and mercy for his own children cannot have those feelings for other people. Therefore I have changed my mind and will not appoint you to that post.’ ‘Umar recognized that love and mercy are among our religious obligations and a means of spiritual nourishment. If we do not treat children with love and mercy, particularly orphans, their emotional and psychological growth may be stunted and their spiritual life damaged-lack of love can harden the human heart.

Love, compassion and mercy are three golden keys to deliverance and peace of mind and heart. We hope that humanity will regain their commitment to these values which are and always have been of the highest relevance and importance for our well-being.

The Qur’an, which contains the Divine guidance necessary for humankind, gives the social dimensions of human life the most importance. That is why Muslim scholars reflected upon and wrote about sociological matters long before sociology was recognized as a formal discipline in Europe. Even acts of individual worship commanded by Islam have an essentially social or collective aspect which is evidently beneficial to the community, enabling mutual care and solidarity as well as identity and cohesion. 

The principle of worship

Part of the rationale behind the duties of worship established by the Qur’an is to maintain social order by training individuals in submission to the One God of all. The Qur’anic concept of worship is inclusive-it means fulfilling the commands and avoiding the prohibited. Every aspect of a Muslim life is interrelated with every other and oriented to worship. Verses 21-22 of Chapter al-Baqara give the reason for calling human beings to worship:

O people! Worship your Guardian-Lord who created you and those who came before you, that you may have the chance to learn righteousness; who has made the earth your couch and the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from heavens; and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance. Do not then set up rivals to God when you know [the truth].

The comprehensiveness of worship reflects the comprehensiveness of the Divine attributes upon which human life depends and of which it is always needy. This is clear in the great opening chapter of the Qur’an, al-Fatiha. Before saying You we worship and to You we turn for help, we praise and glorify God as Lord and Sustainer of all creatures and creation, as the Most Merciful and Compassionate, as Master of the Day of Judgement.

As the Qur’an emphasizes in many verses, worship strengthens and matures the conscience making it individually and socially active on behalf of good. Without it, the Islamic virtues do not become a part of the normal character of either individual Muslims or of their communities. The present condition of Muslims in the world, in spite of their huge numbers, illustrates how, if worship is neglected, families and societies lapse into mutual distrust, feuding and internal wars, making them vulnerable to external manipulation and thereby weakening them further as Muslims.

Worship is the means to contentment both in this world and in the Hereafter. It harmonizes worldly and otherworldly aspirations and activities because it sustains a vigorous, honourable bond of each and all with their Lord and, through their worshipping as the creatures of One God, with each other. Just as people working for a highly regarded company or enterprise are proud to declare their association with it, so too are alert, practising Muslims proud to declare their belonging to God through the service of worship and say: inna li-llah – we are for God, we belong to God.

How worship provides for man’s worldly contentment can be explained as follows:

1. Man is privileged compared to other creatures by his subtle and complex senses and faculties. He is most selective and scrupulous and is born with an inclination towards living rightly and seeking perfection, and a corresponding aversion to what is bad, ugly and gross. The inclination towards perfection means that he has almost infinite needs. Indeed, even to satisfy the needs essential for survival, namely food, clothing and shelter (security), he is obliged to co-operate with fellow human beings. Therefore, man is, essentially a social creature.

The development of three basic faculties-thinking, desiring and using force to achieve objectives-are restrained in all creatures except man. Because man is uniquely charged with the duty of stewardship of the creation, God has put no restraints upon the development of these faculties in man. There is, in consequence, a potential in man to unjust and unruly conduct, to do wrong to his best nature, to live selfishly at the expense and in disregard of others. But social life requires some measure of discipline on the part of a society’s members if it is to function effectively to secure the basic needs for all.

However, though all people agree upon the need for justice, their understanding of justice will differ according to a number of factors such as cultural background and level, conscience, experience, interests and relationships. Hence the need for an overarching authority whose command is acceptable on account of its universality and impartiality. This authority is religion. As the laws of physics, set by Divine command, are constant in their operations and neutral as regards man’s interventions in the natural world, so too the ordinances of religion (the laws of human relationships and relationship with God) are constant, unchanging and impartial.

For man to consent to obey the commands of religion, he must be alert to the Divine Power which created him and all things. He must understand and remember the principles of belief, in particular that he is sent to this world to be tested and perfected, that the One who sent him observes him constantly and knows the condition of his innermost being and hears his every petition. Worship is the principal means to maintain this state of mind and to improve it.

2. Worship awakens conscience and therefore keeps people honest in their social relations and duties.

3. Worship, because of its social dimensions, maintains the quality of human relationships. Regular prayer enables meeting and interaction with other Muslims in the mosque; fasting at least one month each year reminds the prosperous and well-fed of the conditions of the less-fortunate and unites all in a shared discipline; the obligation to pay the alms-tax requires an effort to create prosperity and then share it to achieve distributive balance in the economy; the greater pilgrimage to Makka assembles all the diverse tribes and nations of Muslims in a great, public demonstration of unity and solidarity under One God.

It is hard to conceive of any more effective means of establishing social harmony and mutual responsibility than the duties of worship in Islam.

The principle of striving

One of the laws set in the universe by God is work or striving. As God is always active (Qur’an, 85.16) He commands human beings to be active also and renew themselves. The whole creation is constantly busy in glorifying and praising God (e.g. 59.1). The world of living organisms hums with the rhythms of labouring:

And your Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in [men’s] habitations… (Nahl, 56.68)

Many verses (e.g. 56.11-4) tell that day and night, sun and moon and stars etc., are for the service of human beings, to enable their striving in every dimension of human life.

Striving is so much a part of the structure of the universe that to resist it is more burdernsome than to go along with it. That is why a person who lies in bed all day making no effort is less happy than one who strives and struggles.

The principle of constancy in truth

The Qur’an tells us that God will help those who are constant in their adherence to and striving for the faith:

So neither lose heart nor fall into despair: for you must gain mastery if you are true in faith. (Al ‘lmran, 3.139)

The promised help is conditional:

1. There are two Ashari’ahs: the natural and the revealed, or the book of the universe and the Book of Revelation, the Qur’an.

The recompense for obedience or disobedience of the laws given in the Qur’an is seen mostly in the Hereafter whereas the recompense of following the laws given in the universe is mostly seen in this world. For example, the reward of perseverance in the laws of religion is ultimate victory, the reward of incompetence in understanding or applying the laws of nature is misery. It follows that a truthful person may be unsuccessful if he uses the wrong means and an untruthful person may be successful if he uses the right means.

2. Though a Muslim should be the bearer of all Islamic qualities it does not always happen so: a non-Muslim may be a better example of an Islamic quality. That’s why it can happen that an Islamic quality of a non-Muslim triumphs over the un-Islamic one of a Muslim.

Absence of the concept of ‘primitive’ peoples

Sociological and anthropological theory in the West still adheres to the notion that, at the beginning of human history, human beings and societies were ‘primitive’ and gradually evolved and progressed until they reached the ‘civilized’ state of societies as they are today.

The Qur’an does not teach any such notion of ‘primitiveness’. All human beings are descended from the Prophet Adam, who was taught the names of all things, and his wife, Eve. Neither their mode of life nor their relationships nor their religious worship were ‘primitive’.

Human societies frequently declined from their true or original state of recognizing and worshipping One God, and Prophets and Messengers were sent to teach them and guide them to righteousness. Throughout history, many societies and nations of so-called ‘high civilization’ were destroyed on account of their spiritual and moral decadence, and the Qur’an gives warning narratives about them. It is in part because of the absence of a concept of ‘primitiveness’ that Islamic rule over so many diverse peoples of the world has been, in general, tolerant, patient and assimilative with their diversity, whereas Western rule has been, in general, impatient, brutal and destructive.

All civilizations or cultures have a span of life, just as an individual human life has its determined span:

To every people is a term appointed: when their term is reached, not an hour can they delay it, nor advance it. (A’raf, 7.34)

Comparison with Western civilization

The Christian peoples by and large rejected the Qur’an’s offer to hold some common ground between themselves and the Muslims and to leave their differences to the Will of God (see. e.g., Al Imran, 3.64).

Though hard to believe now, at the time of the rise of Islam, the lands of the southern Mediterranean were the wealthiest part, in intellectual, cultural and economic terms, of the then Christian world. When these lands were conquered by Muslims and, with the passage of time, great numbers of Christians accepted Islam, many clerics became quite irrational in their attitude to Islam and presented it, willfully, in the most outrageously false manner. The early climax of this irrational hatred of Islam was the long wars of the Crusades. This dreadful campaign against Islam was formally abandoned seven centuries ago. However, an important part of it was the embedding of images which remain deep in the cultural attitudes (and the languages) of European peoples. Just as it is impossible, despite all the historical evidence to the contrary, to alter the image, created by centuries of Church propaganda, of witches or of Vikings, so too, it seems, it is impossible to alter the negative image of Muslims and Islam in popular Western consciousness.

After the Renaissance, civilization in Europe separated itself from the Christian religion and moved towards materialism and humanism. It took rather more of its inspiration from Greek philosophy and Roman political and administrative order and very little from Christianity. The Islamic civilisation which protects the Revelation continued to be regarded as the major threat and rival throughout the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods. When the military and economic balance had shifted, following the industrial revolution in Europe, overwhelmingly against the Islamic world, the Europeans tended to regard Muslims more with contempt than fear

Now, after the collapse of Communism, some authoritative Western figures have explicitly declared that the only enemy of the West is Islam. At this cross-roads, both parties, Western civilization and Qur’anic civilization, should state clearly what kind of people and society they want so that a choice can be made between them:

According to Western philosophy the basic rule in collective affairs is selfish conflict over who controls and profits from available resources. The outcome of this conflict is determined by power. The best that civilized society can offer is to balance powers within and between groups so that conflict is mitigated to some extent. Solidarity within the group has commonly been expressed as an extension of selfishness to embrace a particular nation or race. This means that the Western nations have felt free to exploit weaker peoples beyond their frontiers, to regard them as lesser beings who do not deserve the same rights and privileges, and should not expect the same share of the world’s goods, as themselves. The consequence of this philosophy has been continual tension between peoples expressed in overt or covert war. Within societies the same philosophy has been expressed in the conflict between economic classes and in ever-increasing levels of alienation and anxiety. In certain respects, community life, even family life, have ceased to function as a resource for people. Having no other status than as consumer units, and finding no other means of consolation, of belonging to society, the great mass of people are reduced to pointless consumption.

In absolute contrast, the Qur’an assures us that the basic rule in both individual and collective life is seeking the pleasure of God. Since God is the Most Merciful and Compassionate, seeking His pleasure means seeking virtue and contentment instead of pleasure and self-aggrandisement. It means that virtue is a practicable goal for a human society, that the governing principle of collective life is cooperation, not conflict. It means that what unites a people as a community is not primarily race or nationality but their shared status as servants of the One God and the bond of religion. That is why, in the Islamic world, by and large, mutual help and social welfare programmes were reasonably effective in spite of comparatively low levels of gross wealth. In the Western countries, expenditures on such programmes constitute a fraction of gross wealth and are under constant threat because the basic motive of these programmes is not mutual caring but the avoidance of class conflict: if gross wealth declines (as is happening at present) the level of ‘social spending’ is reduced in spite of the ‘social cost’ in civil unrest and crime.

Western civilization, for all its many splendid achievements is bound to fail, because of its radically unsound basic principles, to bring happiness to humankind. It can and does provide great material prosperity (amid great waste) to a segment of a segment of the human population. The Qur’an commands a balanced growth and development because it defines human beings, individually and collectively, as belonging to this world and the Hereafter, and as answerable, all equally, to their One Creator.

Genetics is commonly taken to refer to a part of biology that concerns itself with the study of the transmission of hereditary characters. This fascinating science would have remained quite benign if this was all that it was. However, recombinant DNA technology with all the power it offers for biological control has changed all that. By making it possible to manipulate the reproductive potential of an organism, modern genetics has the power to alter the course of development of living organisms. Life can be changed, for good or ill; it can be enhanced or retarded or mutilated. Moreover, whatever molecular genetics can do to the biological world can in principle, be done to human beings. Molecular genetics poses a grave threat to our notions of human life, its intent and its meanings.

In his book Responsible Science (1986), Robert Nelson wrote: 

The challenge of molecular biology to traditional humanistic and religious concepts of human life needs to be taken very seriously. Not only the nature of life, but its purpose and worth are called into question by the rapidly growing knowledge of DNA and cellular development. If the human organism can ostensibly be reduced to an assortment of proteins and amino acids, hardly distinguishable at molecular levels from those of other organisms, where is the distinctiveness of human life to he found? And if found, how explained?

Biology, especially in the form of using genetics and evolution to explain social phenomena, has become a reductionist exercise. Reductionism means trying to explain the properties of complex wholes-molecules, say or societies-in terms of the units of which those wholes are composed. Scientists who are reductionists would argue, for example that the properties of a protein molecule could be uniquely determined and predicted in terms of the properties of the electrons, protons, etc., of which it atoms are composed. In a similar way, they could (and some do) argue that the properties of a human society are no more than the sum of the behaviours and tendencies of the individual humans of which that society is composed.

Genetics and evolution, as indicated above, have been used to explain social phenomena. This is the area of science called sociobiology. It is a discipline that passes moral judgement on many social issues because it presents biology as the human fate, an inescapable reality of nature. Since it is natural, the implication is that it is immutable.

Sociobiologists equate the social with the biological and maintain that differences of class, race, colour, gender and even economic status originate in individual biology. This type of thinking could lead to dangerous conclusions of a sort most of us would regard as immoral and unethical. It can lead, for instance, to the belief that some races are born ‘inferior’ to others; that women are inferior’ to men; IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is genetically determined; that social inequalities (wealth and poverty) are biological in origin. The big problem with this is that political leaders could use such arguments to assert that the current social order must prevail because it is the law of nature.

Sociobiology reached its peak when some biologists claimed to have discovered absolute evidence for genetic determinants of human behaviour. In his popular book The Selfish Gene (1976), Richard Dawkins wrote:

We, and all other animals, are machines created by our genes. Like successful Chicago gangsters, our genes have survived, in some cases for millions of years, in a highly competitive world. This entitles us to expect certain qualities in our genes. I shall argue that a predominant quality to be expected in a successful gene is ruthless selfishness… Much as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts which simply do not make evolutionary sense … If you wish … to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously towards a common good; you can expect little help from biological nature.

The selfish gene thus operates to enhance its own selfish interests. The theory is based on the belief that genetic differences lead to behavioural differences, and that organisms are hosts to genes rather than the other way round. This provides the basis, as sociobiologists themselves claim, for the systematic study of the biological basis of all forms of social behavior, including sexual and parental behaviour, in all, kinds of organisms, including humans.

More and more human attributes are being subjected to a biological explanation. The Islamic view of human nature, however, does not consider biology as an inevitability. Human morality is the most important determinant, encompassing the spiritual dimension beautifully: The most honoured among you in the sight of God is the most righteous among you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted [with all things]. (Hujurat, 49.13)

Emphasis on bodily perfection while neglecting moral and spiritual development is not a part of Islamic tradition. Equally, emphasis on spiritual training based upon contempt or denial of the bodily life is not a part of Islamic tradition. Islam is, in almost every respect, characterized by the quest for balance, harmony and unity of means and ends. Therefore, Islam is not a way of either denial or indulgence, but a way of discipline.

Discipline and orderliness with sufficient flexibility to allow for spontaneity of actions and feelings are the defining general characteristics of an Islamic upbringing. Children who do not grow up in an atmosphere of orderliness and self-control are unlikely, as adults, to meet their responsibilities in a consistently calm and dignified manner. Rather, they are likely to lead strained and miserable lives, however successful they may become in their working lives.

By way of illustrating Islamic upbringing, we shall focus discussion here on the familiar areas of eating and sleeping habits and the importance of cleanliness.

In general, if a family’s daily routines are steady and consistent, the children’s lives and characters will follow a similarly ordered pattern, both within the home and outside. If not, they will most probably be disorganized, lacking in will and concentration, and tend to fits of antisocial behaviour. Children imbibe orderliness and discipline from the adults immediately around them and develop strong character. If, on the other hand, they grow up in a confused, unstable haphazard atmosphere, they too will become confused and unstable, liable to aimlessness and depressions and all the unhappy consequences of these.

In practice, orderliness means that children know when they are expected home, and how their time is normally spent when they are at home and outside the home. They should learn as early as possible how to allocate their time between work and play so that what they have to do gets done in time and they enjoy their lives. They should learn how to make moral choices, how to co-operate within the family and with others outside the family. They should learn the importance of regular prayer and be helped to mature a taste for contemplation and devotion to God. They should be brought up to be, as full human beings are, both active and reflective. They should understand the importance of their own lives while learning, through good manners and awareness of the needs and feelings of others, the value of humility. 

Eating habits

The eating habits of a family should be based on sound dietary principles. This means having regular eating times, avoiding excess, choosing as far as practicable to eat in company (rather than alone) and sharing with others (rather than preferring oneself); avoiding those things that are harmful to the mind, the will and the body (for example, rushing food in a disrespectful manner); and it means cleanliness, both of the food consumed and the way it is consumed.

In this respect, to start eating again without fully digesting what has already been eaten, that is, eating randomly and always keeping the mouth busy and the stomach full, is injurious to the body and poisonous, even lethal, to the will. The Creator has expressed strong dislike of such manners. Any food eaten in the wrong way is harmful, but worst of all is to eat harmful food in a harmful way.

Prodigality or wasteful excess is an act of disrespect and ingratitude for the Creator’s infinite blessings. Those who over-indulge themselves puzzle and confound their appetite, or they drown in food without ever tasting contentment or satisfaction. Wastefulness is such an offence and so ruinous to the heart and soul that the individual will, eventually, be prepared to eat anything and everything, regardless of whether it is permitted or prohibited, whether he needs it or not, even of whether he likes it or not,

Sensible diet is a matter of discipline and awareness of the nutritional and social values of good manners. A family who can teach their children self-control in what and how they eat must be considered most fortunate, for they have laid the foundations for their children’s spiritual progress as well as of the health of their bodies. Children should therefore be taught the aims and principles of sensible diet so that they begin to choose good habits for themselves and not simply copy the habits to which they are exposed. If parents are unable to articulate or explain the importance of diet and nutrition, they should ask a competent and knowledgeable person to do so for them. 

Sleeping hours

To discipline sleeping habits is of as much importance as disciplining eating habits. We need to rest at particular times in order to stay healthy and have command of all our resources, physical, mental, emotional and psychological. The balance and stability of our personalities depends upon non-disruptive patterns of working and resting. The greater part of the day should be set aside for working and the night for rest and sleep. It is not reasonable to change this order. Trying to change it means risking tensions and conflict in social relationships, contradicting the natural rhythm of the universe and ruining one’s health.

It will be useful to mention a few principles for resting and sleeping hours which might be suitable for everyone.

1. The routines of family members should he co-ordinated with each other. If resting and sleeping hours are orderly, most of the work needed to maintain a happy family has been done. Disorderly sleeping habits affect eating times, they affect mood and temperament, and give rise to many insoluble difficulties and disputes.

2. Similarly, the lives of neighbours should correspond with each other. Otherwise we disrupt each other’s working and resting periods.

3. Particular times should be allocated to resting and working. Randomly changing resting and working hours will disrupt sleeping patterns, which, in turn, negatively affects both one’s rest and work.

4. Whatever injures sleep should be avoided. Sometimes a few cups of tea, sometimes a little food, sometimes boredom, may ruin a night and therefore the working day that follows it.

Cleanliness

It is commonly accepted that habits of cleanliness are passed from parents to children. Imitation is a vital part of human development-it must be so as human beings have so much that they need to learn quickly in order to take their place in adult life. Children will believe in the importance of cleanliness if they see it in their immediate environment, if they see the adults around them keeping themselves clean, and if cleanliness is stressed as something necessary and desirable. Conversely, if they see no effort to maintain tidiness and cleanliness, they will grow up negligent of their responsibility to be personally clean and to keep their immediate surroundings in order

The importance of cleanliness could hardly be more emphasized in a culture than it is in Islam. Worship in Islam is a commitment of the body as well as the mind and spirit. A part of the dignity of being a Muslim worshipper is to do a partial ablution (washing the normally exposed parts of the body) before each of the five obligatory prayers and a full ablution (or bath) at least once a week. In addition, it is strongly commended, almost obligatory, to wash one’s hands before and after meals, not to touch the mouth as soon as one wakes from sleep but only after washing them, to keep one’s hair and nails properly trimmed and clean, etc.

In sum: orderliness and discipline are not social devices to burden the individual and enforce a rigidly patterned conformity. Rather, they are the means to ensure the health of body and mind and will, the stability of the whole character, so that the individual acquires the grace and dignity of person which can only come from strength based upon self-control. The role of the family in equipping children for such dignity with and in their lives is decisive.

Mary, the mother of Jesus belonged to the family of ‘Imran, one of the noble lineages mentioned in the Qur’an. Her father was from the line of the Prophets David and Solomon.

Mary’s father died before she was born. Her mother dedicated her child-to-be to the service of God:

I dedicate to You what is in my womb for Your special service: so accept this of me: for You hear and know all things. (Al ‘Imran, 3.35)

She had expected a son:

O my Lord! I am delivered of a female child!’-And God knew best what she brought forth-the male is not like the female. ‘I have named her Mary, and I beg Your protection for her and her offspring from Satan the accursed.’ (Al ‘Imran, 3.36)

Mary was favoured by God with nobility and virtue. A sura (chapter) of the Qur’an is named after her. Her motherhood to Prophet Jesus raises her rank. She was constant in prayer and remembrance of God, guarded her chastity, kept company with the righteous, and so attained moral perfection.

God protected Mary through her uncle, Prophet Zakariya, as He always protected His beloved slaves, albeit orphaned or poor:

Most graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty: she was assigned to the care of Zakariya. (Al Imran, 3.37)

Moreover, God provided her with sustenance:

Whenever he [Zakariya] entered the sanctuary to see her, he found her supplied with sustenance. ‘O Mary! Whence [comes] this to you?’ She said: ‘From God…’(Al ‘Imran, 3.37)

Mary’s answer inspired Zakariya to pray to God for the child he had so long desired (3.38). His prayer was answered with the promise of the birth of John (Yahya). In view of Zakariya’s being very old and his wife hitherto infertile, the birth of a son was a miracle of Divine power. There is a close parallel (not identity) in the words of the Our’an about the births of John and Jesus:

He said: ‘My Lord! How can I have a son when age has quite overtaken me and my wife is barren?’ He [the angel] said: ‘Just so. God does what He wills. (Al ‘Imran, 3.40)

She said: ‘My Lord! How can I have a child when no man has touched me? ‘He [the angel] said: ‘Just so. God creates what he wills….’ (Al ‘Imran. 3.47)

The announcement to Mary of Prophet Jesus

The angels reminded Mary of God’s favour to her and called her to obedient worship:

And when the angels said: ‘0 Mary! God has chosen you and purified you, and preferred you above the women of all nations.

O Mary! worship your Lord devoutly: prostrate yourself, and bow down [in worship] with those who how down.’…

And when the angels said: ‘O Mary! God gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name is the Messiah [Christ] Jesus son of Mary, honoured in this world and in the Hereafter, and among those nearest [to God]. (Al ‘Imran, 3.42-45) 

All the descendants of Prophet Adam, who was created from dust (3.59), were created from male and female spouses (49.13). The birth of a child without a father, as announced to Mary, was an event never yet witnessed. Therefore she exclaimed:

‘….O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me?’

The answer was short and absolute:

‘Just so. God creates what He wills. When He has decreed a matter, He but says to it, “Be!” and it is.’

God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary: he appeared to her in the form of a man (Maryam, 19.17). She said:

‘1 seek refuge from you in the Most Gracious: [Do not come near] if you fear God.’ He said: ‘No. I am only a messenger from your Lord, [to announce] to you the gift of a holy son.’ (Maryam, 19.18-19)

The Qur’an continues the narrative:

So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree. She cried out [in her pain]:‘Would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight.’ But [a voice] called to her from below [the palm-tree]: ‘Do not grieve! For your Lord has provided a rivulet beneath you; and shake towards yourself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you. (Maryam, 19.22-5)

When Mary came back to her people with the baby in her arms, she was met with words that accused her by implication of the gravest misconduct. She pointed to the child as if he would speak in her defence. They were amazed to be asked to converse with an infant in a cradle. But by Divine Power the infant did speak to them and silenced their calumny:

Then she brought him to her people carrying him. They said: O Mary! truly, you have brought an amazing thing! O sister of Aaron! Your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother unchaste!’ Then she pointed to him [the infant]. They said: ‘How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, an infant boy?’ He [the infant] spoke: ‘Surely I am a servant of God: He has given me Revelation and made me a Prophet; and He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and has enjoined on me prayer and charity as long as I live. And [He has made me] dutiful to my mother who carried me, and neither overbearing nor wretched. Peace is on me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life!’ Such [was] Jesus the son of Mary: [this is] a statement of truth about that of which they are in doubt. (Maryam, 19.30-4)

The Qur’an makes a comparison between Jesus and Adam, one born without a father and the other without father or mother:

The similitude of Jesus with God is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: ‘Be!’ and he was. (Al ‘Imran, 3.59)

The general principle of sound faith is that every human being is individuality the creature of God and that every person’s being human is dependent upon his being God’s creature. The fact that Adam had no father or mother does not make him God nor the son of God. The same is true for Jesus as well. God is not his father but his Creator, as he himself said (3.51, quoted below).

Prophet Jesus was supported with the Holy Spirit (ruh al-quds) (2.87). He knew the Scriptures and was literate (3.48). He was a most righteous and pious man (6.85) and blessed by God (5.113). In the Qur’an he is referred to as ‘the Messiah [Christ] son of Mary’, as ‘a Messenger from God and His word’, and as ‘a spirit from God’ (e.g. 4.171), but he is never referred to as ‘the son of God’. 

The Prophethood of Jesus

Jesus announced his Prophethood to the Israelites after it had been revealed to him (3.48):

[I have come to you] to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what used to be forbidden to you with a sign from your Lord. So fear God, and obey me. It is God who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a Way that is straight. (Al ‘Imran, 3.50-1)

However, the Israelities, against this invitation to faith, tried to defend the Torah which they had distorted and disregarded (3.93). They would not believe him. Then Jesus showed them some miracles and said:

I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s leave: and I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by God’s leave; and I declare to you what you have eaten, and what you store in your houses. Surely therein is a sign for you if you believe. (Al ‘Imran, 3.49)

The Israelites rejected the miracles as sorcery or illusion (5.113).

The miracles of Prophet Jesus, like his creation, were different from those of other Prophets. They can be regarded as reflections in his prophethood of his extraordinary creation. If one believes in the miracles of Jesus such as reviving the dead-which were related by many trustworthy sources-then it is not reasonable for one to doubt the manner of his birth without a father. 

His Disciples

In the face of the Israelites’ obstinacy and recalcitrance, Jesus called for helpers. Those who stepped forward were his disciples and, as they committed themselves to serve, they declared their submission to God:

When Jesus found unbelief on their part, he said: ‘Who will be my helpers toward God?’ Said the disciples: ‘We are God’s helpers. We believe in God, and bear you witness that we are Muslims. Our Lord! we believe in what You have revealed, and we follow the Messenger. Then, write us down among those who bear witness.’ (Al ‘Imran, 3.52)

The faith and support of the Apostles was a gift of God to Jesus as stated in the following verse:

I inspired the disciples to have faith in Me and My Apostle. They said: ‘We have faith, and do you bear witness that we surrender to God as Muslims.’ (Ma’ida, 5.114)

The disciples believed in Jesus and asked for a miracle from God:

The disciples said: ‘0 Jesus, son of Mary! Can your Lord send down to us from heaven a table set?’ Said Jesus: ‘Fear God if you have faith.’ They said: ‘We only wish to eat thereof and content our hearts, and to know that you have indeed told us the truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle.’ Said Jesus, son of Mary: ‘0 God our Lord! Send us from heaven a table set, that there may be for us-for the first and the last of us – a solemn festival and a sign from You; and provide for our sustenance, for You are the best Sustainer.’ God said: ‘I will send it down to you but if any of you afterwards refuses faith, I will punish him with a penalty such as I have not inflicted on any one among all the peoples.’ (Ma’ida, 5.115-8)

It is not clear weather the table came or not.

The ascension

The Israelites were resolute in their unbelief in Jesus and planned to have him assassinated. But God prevented their plans (3.54-5). Though they announced: ‘We killed the Messiah [Christ] Jesus the son of Mary’ (4.157), it was not the truth, which the Qur’an affirms as follows:

But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are frill of doubts with no [certain] knowledge but only conjecture to follow. For a certainty they killed him not. No! God raised him up to Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise. (Nisa’,4.157-8)

As the verse clarifies, Prophet Jesus was raised up without being killed. Prophet Muhammad, during the night of his ascension, saw him (see the hadith recorded in al-Bukhari, Anbiya’, 48). 

Distortions about the message

Only a few believed in Jesus during his lifetime. Many of those who believed in him afterwards were caught in misconceptions and distortions. The most widespread distortion was the doctrine of the ‘Trinity’ which accords to Jesus and Mary a form of divinity beside God. Some said: ‘Jesus, the son of Mary, is God’ (5.75); others said: ‘he is the son of God’ (9.30); others said: he is ‘one of three’ (5.76).

It is stated most explicitly and emphatically in the Qur’an that all such doctrines are without foundation in truth and amount to blasphemy and unbelief (kufr):

O People of the Book! Do not commit excesses in your religion: nor say of God anything but the truth. The Messiah [Christ] Jesus son of Mary was [no more than] a Messenger of God, and His word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him…. (4.171)

The Messiah [Christ] son of Mary was no more than a Messenger…. (Ma’ida, 5.78)

Once Prophet Jesus said to the Israelites:

‘O Children of Israel! Worship my Lord and your Lord’. Whoever joins other gods with God, God will forbid him the Garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will be for the wrong-doers none to help. They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a trinity: for there is no god except One God. (Ma’ida, 5.75-6) 

The questioning of Jesus on the Day of Judgement and his reply

Prophet Jesus had no part in nor carries any responsibility for the doctrine of the ‘Trinity’ believed by some Christians. This becomes clear from the following verses of the Qur’an:

And God will say: ‘O Jesus son of Mary! Did you say unto men: Worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of God’? He will say: ‘Glory be to You! Never could I say what I had no right [to say]. Had I said such a thing, You would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart, though I do not know what is in Yours. For You know in full all that is hidden. Never did I say to them anything except what You commanded me to say: ‘Worship God, my Lord and your Lord’. And I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them. When You took me up You were the Watcher over them, and You are a witness to all things.’ (Ma’ida, 5.119-20)

The Messenger foretold by Prophet Jesus

Prophet Jesus, son of Mary, completed his mission of proclaiming the true religion despite the Israelites’ efforts to prevent him. Before he was raised up, he announced the Messenger of God to come after him:

‘O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of God to you, confirming the Law before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.’ (Saff, 61.6)

Also, the Prophet Muhammad said about Jesus: ‘I am the closest person to Jesus, the son of Mary, both on earth and in the Hereafter’ (Tajrid, IX.180). ‘There is no Prophet between me and Jesus’ (Tajrid, IX.179).

That, in brief, is what the Qur’an and other Islamic sources tell us about Mary and Jesus, upon them be peace. In the light of these sources, we know that there is no relation between Jesus and Mary and God other than as His beloved and distinguished servants. Though Jesus brought in essence the same message as other Prophets, there is a parallel, as taught in the Islamic sources, between the creation of Adam and that of Jesus. The special feature of his Prophethood, different from all Prophets, is that the whole life of Jesus represents Divine Power to us in the form of extraordinary, supernatural miracle. The extraordinariness begins in his mother womb, continues through his birth and life and the miracles he did, and goes beyond the limitation of a lifetime with his ascension to God. However, despite all of that, Jesus was a creature of God, a man; in the words of the Qur’an, he was the Messenger and the servant of God.

Travel here and there seeking the seas they parted from.

They fall with the sound of plucked lute-strings;

And hearing it, the earth begins to breathe.

Drops of rain float down with the grace of butterflies,

As if arranging some meaning in most rhythmic verse.

They resonate in the ear like a sweet melody,

And skies seem to weep for the grass on earth.

Each drop has said farewell to its heavenly life,

And returns to its origin, which is a roaring ocean.

Everything on earth holds still to listen to rain;

Each drop descends to the ground like an angel.

Eyes seeing the rain fall in such thrilling harmony

See worlds beyond this world come into view.

The skies rejoice with smiles observed everywhere;

Everyone is enchanted by the heavenly rhapsody.

Vapour rises in masses as great as mountains,

Then it seeks the green, blue and orange on earth.

Rain always brings down a peculiar contentment;

And carries fragrance of Paradise and exhilaration.

That fragrance pervades everywhere, deep into the soul,

Earth awakens to life and flowers burst open.

The whole of creation finds peace and serenity,

The window open to the realms beyond becomes visible.

***

Like everybody else, you were settled in a safe, well-guarded place. The door of that place was closed immediately after you were admitted therein as a treasured guest. You began to develop in a certain direction. No one knew for certain that you would be able to come into the world, that you would develop into a male or female or exactly when and where you would be born, nor what you would be like, how long you would live, where or how you would spend your life, when and where you would die, and so on.

After you underwent certain stages of development, you entered into the world as a unique, living individual. Until then you had resembled every other embryo in the wombs of mothers. But once life was breathed into you, you entered a completely new, different stage of development. The food with which you were fed or the particles which entered your body from earth, air and water were in no way different from those which had been entering your body before, and which enter all other living bodies. But for all that sameness, out of all that sameness, you came into your individuality-distinguished in personality capabilities, ambitions, bodily characteristics down to your fingerprints and the lines on the palms of your hands.

The potential alternatives before you were only you were countless: whether you would be white or black or of some other complexion; what colour your eyes would be, what kind of hair you would have, and so on. And neither you nor your parents had any part in determining your sex, colour, date and place of your birth, and your nationality Also, no one and nothing had any part in arranging the immediate or general environment around you. Like everybody else, you found yourself in an environment suitable for sustaining your life: your physical belonging with the world had been arranged long before you or anyone else came into it.

Should you then not reflect on all these phenomena? Is it conceivable that you are quite unable to discern an absolute knowledge, an absolute will and an absolute power behind these phenomena? Is it possible for any power except one who knows all human beings in all the detail of the physical, biological, psychological and spiritual structures of each, who knows the whole of nature with all its parts from the minutest to the largest, to have brought you and your environment into existence? Is it conceivable that any being who lacks in an absolute will-power to determine every creature in all its aspects, every human being with all his or her characteristics, could have fashioned you and your environment? Does it befit one who has been granted some power of reasoning to attribute all these phenomena to other than one who disposes absolute power?

Despite the improvements, increased age, in general, coincides with an increased incidence of both mental and physical illness. This is made worse by a weakening of social contacts and a reduction of income. Thus increasing age is also characterized by a dramatic increase in the use of health and social services. The older the person, the more likely he or she is to be admitted to hospital and the longer the stay.

The increasing demands on the hospital service have not been met by an increase in the total number of hospital beds. Medical and surgical treatments previously thought to require a three- or four-week stay in hospital are treated within a week or ten days. Also more work is now undertaken in the outpatient department on a day-care basis without overnight stay. Many medical cases previously requiring hospital care are now dealt with by the family doctor with the patient at home.

The whole concept of care has changed dramatically in recent years, and this has affected the caring approach in hospitals, residential homes and in the community. In the past, caring involved an active carer looking after a passive patient. Although it seemed quite natural to look after the sick and disabled in this way, the process produced too much dependence of the patient or client on the carer. The modern approach in health and social services is a process of enabling. Carers enable patients (or clients) to do as much as they can for themselves. This approach reduces dependence and keeps down the total level of care required.

The idea is that illness is best treated at home, if possible. The new legislation on community care, which took effect on the 1st April 1993, is based on this principle. Pain is a burden on oneself, and being removed from home and family to the strange environment of a hospital ward adds to the stress. This is especially so for the very young and the very old.

However, not all homes are the most satisfactory places in which to be ill. Many lack the basic amenities of hot and cold water, indoor lavatory, and satisfactory heating. Also there may be no relative or friend to do the caring,-to prepare food, ensure and maintain good standards of hygiene, and to offer companionship. Often the problems can be overcome to a certain extent by the use of voluntary help from religious groups and the agencies of the Health Service and local authority (e.g. community nurses, home helps, and ‘meals on wheels’).

At present only about 6% of all elderly people are in institutional care of some sort (hospitals, residential homes, and private nursing homes). Even this small percentage imposes very heavy burdens on these institutions; present resources are simply not enough to meet even a small increase in numbers. There are waiting lists for most institutions caring for the elderly.

A further 12% of the elderly are enabled to manage in their own homes, with the help of the care agencies already mentioned. The new community care programme strongly encourages such help in the home. Only a reduction in the proportion of very old people in the total population and a healthier elderly population would result in some easing of the problem.

Care on a self help / family / neighbourhood basis backed up by the provisions of the health and social services appears to deliver good results. When husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbours, are involved together in the process of caring for the elderly, a very good sense of community develops. Children in particular have a special responsibility towards their parents. God says in the Qur’an:

Your lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to parents, whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility and say: ‘My lord! bestow on them Your mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.’ (al-Isra,17.23-4)

26% of elderly people have no children at all and so are especially vulnerable in times of crisis. In other cases the children may exist but are so far away as to be unable to help. Regular help to the elderly is best given by relatives, neighbours, and friends-shopping, housework, house maintenance, gardening and social visits. However, statutory and voluntary services are still required to take over-or at least plug the gaps-if the task proves to be too great for the community. It is, of course, best for society if people learn to care for one another in their own homes. 

The extent of the problem

In the last two decades, there has been a tremendous increase in alcohol consumption in the world, an all-time high (WHO, 1980, pp7-13). The way to estimate the marked increase is probably to look at total or per capita consumption in different countries over a certain period of time (see Graphs 1, 2).

The WHO committee on alcohol-induced problems found that per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages has been increasing throughout most of the world in the last 20 years. Between 1960 and 1972, for example recorded world-wide production increased by 19% for wines, 68% for beer, and 61% for distilled spirits. Both industrialised and developing countries in various regions of the world showed that the annual consumption of alcoholic beverages, in terms of 100% ethanol (ethyl alcohol), was above 8 litres per capita in only two countries in 1950, but by 1976 this level was found in 22 countries (ibid.). A 1982 WHO report showed that by 1982 beer production had increased by 124% world-wide. In some countries in Asia, the increase was a horrifying 500%; in some African countries beer consumption increased by as much as 400%. Even remote villages, in many third world countries, were consuming alcoholic beverages while they lacked clean water and sewage disposal and other primary health amenities (Medicine Digest, 1982, p.S7).

In the UK, the per capita spending on alcohol increased by 76% over 1960-70. The adult population of the UK drank about twice as much alcohol in 1984 as it did in 1950. Spirit consumption increased by 135% while wine consumption increased by 250% (RCGP, l986).

The negative consequences of alcohol consumption are so great that it is impossible to list them. In 1979, members of the Executive Board at its 63rd session and delegates of numerous countries at the 32nd World Health Assembly confirmed that alcohol problems now rank among the world’s major public health concerns (resolution WHO 32.40; WHO, 1980); that in many parts of the world, they constitute a serious obstacle to socio-economic development and threaten to overwhelm the health services. A summary of the major losses due to alcohol consumption will be given here. 

Socio-economic losses

Although the alcohol industry seems to benefit a few big international companies and provide jobs for many workers and even seems to increase state revenue from levying taxes on alcoholic beverages, the total socio-economic loss is so tremendous that these benefits become trivial. The deleterious effect on health, welfare and social consequences of alcohol consumption will more than tilt the balance towards the benefits of proscribing or at least limiting alcohol consumption.

The cost of alcohol abuse to a society is difficult to measure. In the USA, it was estimated that 30,000 million dollars were lost due to alcohol consumption in 1971 (Brunt, 1978). Table 3 gives some details. By 1979 these estimated costs were put at $43 billion dollars (WHO, 1980); and by 1986 at a staggering $120 billion dollars (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 1986, Nov.11).

The UK spent 3 billion on alcohol in 1971; the figure increased to 11.4 billion in 1984 (RCGP, 1986), while France, in 1971, was spending annually an equivalent of $7 billion (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, 1980. July 1). West Germany in 1971 was spending 27.5 million DM on alcohol compared with 12.75 for smoking.

Alcohol features prominently in traffic accidents. WHO statistics suggest that it is involved in about 50% of all traffic accidents. Even in countries where alcohol and addictive drugs are prohibited, like Saudi Arabia, the Director of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Control claims that about 50% of long road accidents are due to alcohol and drug abuse (reported in personal conversation). In the USA, 25,000 deaths occur annually due to accidents caused by alcohol consumption. Another 15,000 deaths occur due to diseases caused by alcohol and another 15.000 deaths occur due to murder crimes and suicide committed under the influence of alcohol (Harris, 1971, pp.138-42).

The risk of accidents rises exponentially above 50 mg of alcohol percent, and at 200 mgs, the risk is a hundred times above that of the non-drinker (Brunt, 1978). It is estimated that 250,000 USA citizens die annually due to tobacco and alcohol consumption.

In crimes of violence, alcohol plays a prominent role. Nearly 70% of murders are committed under the influence of alcohol (ibid. ). WHO, after studying violent crimes in thirty countries including the USA and the UK, concluded that 86% of murders and 50% of rapes and other crimes of violence were committed under the influence of alcohol-reported in the Daily Mai l, June 26, 1980, which also quoted Lord Harris whose commission on the prison population in the UK reported that the majority of criminals were suffering from alcohol related problems.

Industrial losses are tremendous. In Scotland alone losses reached 100 million annually (SCA, 1977). In the USSR alcohol abuse is the most important cause of absenteeism and loss of production. (Gulf Times, 1983, Jan.12).

WHO (1980) cites the following consequences of alcohol abuse: absenteeism, illness, decreased production and quality of work, difficulties in work relationships, accidents and loss of trained personnel. Many countries, especially in the Third World, soffer badly from loss of management and trained staff due to alcohol abuse.

A lot of other social problems arise due to alcohol abuse. 74% of wife and child batterers are heavy drinkers. Incest, rape and other sexual crimes are usually committed under the influence of alcohol.

Divorce and separation are the ultimate result of indulgence in alcohol.

The price paid in human misery, poverty, broken homes and social degradation is beyond calculation. 

Incidence of alcohol dependence

The term ‘alcohol dependence’ has replaced ‘alcoholism’ which is a denigratory unspecified term. Alcohol dependence is manifested by overt drinking behaviour, a continuation of drinking in a way not approved by one’s culture and in changed behavioural state. The dependent person’s control over his drinking becomes impaired, his craving for drink becomes relentless, and planning for drinking takes precedence over all other activities. Altered psychosomatic changes occur whereby the dependent person experiences the psychological and/or somatic signs of withdrawal during periods of abstinence. There is also increased tolerance whereby the effective dose of the intoxicant has to be increased in order to get the save pharmacological effect and satisfaction from the drug abused (Edwards et al.,1977, p.3; WHO, 1977, p.198).

It is estimated that at least one in ten of those who drink alcohol even occasionally will become alcohol dependent. In the USA the majority of the adult population drink. Some 100 million Americans drink alcoholic beverages at least occasionally (Miles, S., 1974, pp.10-14). The statistics show that practically every 17- or 18-year old will have experimented with at least one drink. As many as 50 to 85 percent of high school students drink at least occasionally. The average age at which youths begin to experiment is 13 to 14 (ibid.). In Scotland, 92% of boys and 85% of girls have experienced alcohol by age 14 (Jahoda & Crammond, 1972). In the age group 17-30 no less than 87% of men and 60% of women are regular drinkers (Dight, 1976).

Youngsters are more prone to heavy drinking when they are exposed to alcohol. In Scotland, 70% of boys and 61% of girls admitted to heavy drinking occasionally, while 40% of boys and 32% of girls (15-16 years) are regular heavy drinkers (Plant et al, 1980). 60% of Glasgow’s six-year-olds had tried alcohol (Jahoda & Crammond, 1972).

Increasing numbers of women are exposed to drinking. Heavy drinkers among women rose from 4% in 1972 to 11% in 1978 (Show, 1980). In the USA 93% of teenagers (12-17) have experienced alcohol; 1.2 million drink regularly (Strasburger, 1985).

In the USSR, the problem seems even worse. 90% of all cases of acute alcoholic intoxication being treated for the first time are under 15; one-third of them are under 10 (Al-Madina, 1984, Dec.13, quoting the Russian magazine Nash Supermenik ). 15% of the adult population are at present being treated for alcohol dependence.

There are hundreds of millions who suffer from alcohol abuse annually in the whole world. In the USA, it is estimated that 10 million are suffering from the deleterious effects of alcohol abuse (problem drinkers and alcohol dependents), with lens of millions being involved with alcohol dependent persons (Miles, 1974). In France and West Germany, there are 2.5 million alcohol dependents in the UK the figure is lower at 0.5 to 1 million, while those classed as ‘heavy’ drinkers (consuming more than 5I units weekly for males or 35 units for females), amounted to 3 million in England and Wales in 1981 (RCGP, 1986). In the USSR, its staggering figure of 25 million puts it at the top of the world as the first alcohol dependent country. In France, one-third of the electorate get some or all its income from the production and sale of alcoholic beverages (Badri, 1976, p.4l).

It is estimated that 40,000 deaths occur annually in the UK due to alcohol consumption. Though this figure is staggering, it is less than half those killed by smoking cigarettes (100,000). Heavy drinkers have a mortality rate over twice the normal population (RCGP, 1986).

WHO Technical Report on Alcohol, 1980, claims that in many countries the heavy drinkers and alcohol-dependents constitute 4-10 % of the whole population. The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence concluded that in many parts of the world, problems associated with the use of alcohol far exceed those associated with non-medical use of less socially accepted dependence producing drugs such as those of amphetamine, cannabis and morphine types (WHO, 1980). The reason for this widespread alcohol dependence emerges from the fact that many cultures look upon alcohol drinking, at least in moderation, as normal behaviour. ‘Alcohol is such a permissible and trusted poison, so easy of access for those who wish to escape from their troubles that it is resorted to in excess by the maladjusted person,’ as Sir Aubrey Lewis said in Price’s Textbook of Medicine (Lewis, 1966, pp.1172-4).

Alcohol is completely forbidden by Islam. However, even in Muslim countries, alcohol dependence is becoming a problem that has to be tackled. In Khartoum province (Sudan), Dr. Al-Bager (1976) studied the incidence of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence in 1975-76. He found the following important facts that: 1) females rarely drink alcohol; 2) most of those who drink alcohol started at the age of 16 or over; 3) the majority of alcohol drinkers do not drink at home as there is still strong refusal by the family; 4) the male adult population in Khartoum province in 1975 was 417,820-47% of them had tried intoxicating liquor at least once; 87% of those who drink are social drinkers while the remaining 13% are regular, daily drinkers who are starting to experience problems from their drink in habits; 5) divorce was high in those who drink compared with non-drinkers of alcohol, 20% and 4% respectively. 6) 22% of those who drink do so because of psychological problems while 9% do so because of problems at home; 7) 52% of all traffic accidents in 1975-76 were committed under the influence of alcohol; 8) the amount spent on alcoholic beverages (10 million Sudanese) was double the amount allocated to the Ministry of Health in 1975. In Bahrain, a small Gulf country, the consumption of alcohol is very high indeed. As much as 9 million kg of alcoholic beverages were consumed in 1981. The total annual cost was estimated at 3,195 million (Towajiri, 1985; Musaiger, 1985).

Medicine Digest (1982) summarised the 1982 WHO report on alcohol and its problems. Most Islamic countries had minor problems related to alcohol consumption:

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Libya and North Yemen were all prohibiting alcohol in 1982. By 1984, Pakistan and Sudan followed suit while Egypt and Bahrain allowed alcohol in tourist places, both for indigenous persons and foreigners.

,Unfortunately, many Muslim governments have sought to spread alcohol consumption against the will of the majority of their people. In Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, South Yemen, Indonesia, Iraq, Syria and many others, the governments not only encourage private enterprise of the brewing industry, but the governments themselves own outright or share ownership in the breweries and alcohol factories. They help spread alcohol consumption in their nations on the assumption that they will get more income and provide more jobs for the unemployed. The ill effects that ensue from this policy are well manifested by the staggering debt hills to the international banking system.

Though the vast majority of the people in Muslim countries abstain from alcohol despite incitement by governments, the elite, unfortunately, are entangled in all the problems of alcohol consumption. This is owed to the contradictory effects of Westernization of the elites who remain hypnotized by Western civilisation and try to promulgate its values to their own, different culture. 

REFERENCES

• AL-BAGER, O.S. (1979) Zahirat Taati al-Khamr, Military Press, Khartoum, pp.34-8.
• BADRI, M. (1976) Islam and Alcoholism, American Trust Publications, Muslim Student’s Association of USA and Canada.
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• DIGHT, S. (1976) Scottish Drinking Habits, OPCS, HMSO, London.
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