The Approach of Converting to Islam (4)

The Approach of Converting to Islam (4)

By Prof. Ja`far Sheikh Idris
The Source: The Publication of the Muslim student union in America in 1977.

The Islamic Theory For Social Change

Perhaps the best way to present the Islamic philosophy for the social change — in the light of the basis we should use to direct to the Islamic trend — is represented in our comment on the famous Qur’anic Ayah that reads: “Verily, Allâh will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allâh).” [Surat Ar-Ra`d: 11].
The main points that we find in this Ayah are:
1 – A god has an absolute power to do.
2 – Human beings with limited freedom of action.
3 – A change that a human does inside himself.
4 – A change in the human conditions caused by Allah as a result of that human change.
Those four points are the Islamic explanation and philosophy for the social change; therefore, we should examine these points briefly.

The first point distinguishes our concept of the social change from the material and natural theories that assume the inexistence of Allah. They hold the view of the self—sufficiency of the universe which says: It is possible to provide a full explanation of the phenomena in the universe, whether they are social or other phenomena by using its own laws. Unfortunately, that atheistic idea has been compatible with the scientific method that excludes Allah as the Maker or the reason behind those phenomena and considering that as something incompatible with science and not only with atheism.
It is our duty to warn the people against that unjustifiable disruption and to insist on the importance, necessity, and the desirability of understanding of the role of Allah in the interpretation of natural and social phenomena that take place in our world.
The point which distinguishes our concept from the atheistic views which entail that the Creator is just a key player whose only role is to begin the creation then leave it to take care with its affairs by its own.

The second point shows the superiority of our concept of the social change over the other inevitable theories that assume that man has no real or effective freedom of choice, and that everything he does is impose upon him by a divine force or by natural or social causes. In fact, man cannot do anything against the will of Allah, but Allah has willed to grant him the freedom of choice, and the freedom to achieve some of his intentions even if they are contradictory with the Divine guidance. One of the most important areas in which Allah granted for man the freedom of work is his inner self. Given that much of what happens to humans depends on their internal state, it can be said that man is largely responsible for his fate.

The third point tells us about a change that a human does within himself, so what kind of change is this? Is it a change from good to evil or vice versa, or it could be any of them? The explanation of the previous Ayah is the latter interpretation. However, most people understand that the meaning of the Ayah is when people change from good to evil, Allah punishes them by changing their conditions from good to evil and vice versa. However, this interpretation is different from the interpretation found in the old comments where the old commentators understand that the change referred to in the Ayah is a change from good to evil. It seems to me that this is the proper interpretation because it is the only compatible with the Islamic main principle that was supported with many other Ayahs.

— The fourth point tells us that when people change, Allah punishes them by taking away some of their spiritual and material blessings that he has given and thus makes them suffer distress.

Blessings are a grace from Allah:

However, why do I prefer that the best explanation of the Ayah is the change from good to evil?
The reason for this is mainly because blessings — According to the Qur’an — are not granted to people because of their good actions, but they are given to them as a bounty from Allah. Allah is the Most Merciful, therefore, He initiates with good and grants without return and does not wait until people do good actions to reward them. The blessings — whether spiritual or material — are given to the people from their Creator out of His Mercy and Bounty. If they are grateful, these blessings shall be saved for them and will increase, however, if they denied, Allah shall punish them by depriving them of some of those blessings, if not all of them, but if they repent and return to the right path, those blessings shall be given back to them.
The example that shows that exactly is the similitude of Adam. Allah has created Adam and placed him in the best conditions, granted him comfort, and provided him with the means of physical comfort, but when he ate from the forbidden tree (which was not the tree of knowledge), he has lost some of that.
The same principle applies to communities and other nations that were referred to in the Qur'an as the villages or the people of the villages. Let us begin with the universal laws that control the fall or the destruction of the ungrateful nations then we move to those laws that control the survival and the power of the grateful nations.