Surah al-Ma'idah (The Table) 5 : 7

Overview (Verses 7- 8)

Justice Even When Dealing with Enemies
 
So far, the sūrah has outlined a number of instructions concerning the types of food believers are permitted to eat, purification and other matters. By way of commenting on these instructions, the sūrah reminds the believers of the blessings God has bestowed on them when they have accepted the faith and the covenant He has made with them that they will listen and obey. It is indeed this covenant that admits them into the fold of Islam. The next verses remind them to have fear of God and that He is aware of all thoughts people may entertain.
 
Remember always the blessings God has bestowed on you and the covenant with which He has bound you when you said: “We have heard and we obey.” Hence, remain God-fearing. Surely God has full knowledge of the secrets of people’s hearts. Believers, be steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity. Never allow your hatred of any people to lead you away from justice. Be just, this is closer to righteousness. And remain God- fearing. Surely, God is aware of all that you do. (Verses 7-8)
 
The first generation to be addressed by the Qur’ān were fully aware of the extent of God’s blessings bestowed on them by His revealing this religion. They felt the change within themselves, in their lives, community, and in the position they occupied among mankind. A simple reference to this blessing was always sufficient to turn their attentions to a great, undeniable fact of life. Similarly, a reference to the covenant with which God bound them to listen and to obey aroused in them feelings of dignity, since they were the other party in a contract made with God, the Almighty. To a believer who contemplates such a relationship, this is something great indeed. Hence, it is sufficient to remind them of their duty to remain God- fearing. They were ever conscious of God: “Hence, remain God-fearing. Surely God has full knowledge of the secrets of people’s hearts.” (Verse 7)
 
The Qur’ān often uses the highly expressive and evocative statement that God has full knowledge of people’s innermost thoughts, or the secrets of their hearts. In Arabic, this expression combines accuracy with inspiring beauty. It speaks of something that is always present in the heart. This is a reference to secret feelings and thoughts. Deep as a person may bury these secrets, they are known fully to God.
 
A Gulf Too Wide
 
Part of the covenant with which God has bound the Muslim community requires it to deal with other people on the basis of absolute justice, which is never affected by feelings of love or hatred, or by feelings, interests, or relations of any kind. It is justice based on the duty of remaining steadfast in devotion to God alone. No influences are ever allowed to tilt the balance of justice, especially when believers are mindful that God watches over them and knows what lies at the bottom of their hearts. They fully understand this address: “Believers, be steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity. Never allow your hatred of any people to lead you away from justice. Be just, this is closer to righteousness. And remain God-fearing. Surely, God is aware of all that you do.” (Verse 8)
 
Earlier in this sūrah, God forbade the believers to allow their hatred of those who prevented them from entering the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to turn into an act of aggression against them. This is indeed a tough standard of self-restraint and tolerance to which they were elevated by the Divine system. Now they are ordered that hatred must never lead them away from justice. This is an even higher standard which is much more difficult to attain. The first was a stage requiring them not to launch aggression. Here, they are required to maintain justice despite their feelings of hatred and hostility. The first stage stopped at a passive attitude requiring self- restraint. The second is a proactive attitude ensuring justice to people who are hostile to the believers and detested by them.
 
This Divine system, which brings out the best in man, realises that this is a very difficult objective. Hence, it gives a helping introduction: “Believers, be steadfast in your devotion to God...” The instructions are also concluded with a comment that helps in achieving the objective: “Remain God-fearing. Surely, God is fully aware of all that you do.”
 
No human being can attain this standard unless he deals in such a matter directly with God. This is the result that comes about when people are steadfast in their devotion to God, addressing their feelings purely to Him, fearing none but Him, and realising that He knows their innermost thoughts. No earthly consideration can lift human beings to such a high standard and keep them there. It is a standard achievable only through absolute dedication to God. Similarly, no faith or system on earth guarantees absolute justice to detested enemies in the same way as this religion does. This is because Islam addresses those who believe in it, making it clear to them that even when they have to administer justice to their enemies, they are dealing with God and they must rid themselves of any other consideration. With these basic elements in it, Islam has maintained its role as the last universal religion for humanity. Its system guarantees to all mankind, whether they believe in it or not, that they will have justice. For absolute justice is a duty incumbent on all Muslims and they fulfil this duty to God, no matter what hatred is shown to them by other people.
 
Difficult and hard as this duty is, it is binding on the Muslim community because of its leading role amongst mankind. The role of leadership was fulfilled by this community and all its conditions were met when the believers in this faith implemented it. To them, these instructions were not mere recommendations or ideals, but a reality they should practise in their daily lives. The history of mankind has never before, nor indeed ever since, witnessed any such standard being put into practice, becoming a reality, except during the shining periods in history when Islam was implemented as a way of life. History gives us numerous cases and examples which testify that these duties and commandments outlined by God were transformed into a practical system, fully implemented in the daily life of the Muslim community. They were not mere ideals to which homage was paid. Nor were they individual examples. They left their mark on life practices to the extent that people felt that that was the only way to live.
 
When we look from that high summit on human life in all periods of darkness, everywhere on earth, including the type of darkness we see in modern times, we realise how great is the gulf between a system devised by God to be implemented in human life and man-made systems. The gap between the effects on people’s lives of these manmade systems on the one hand and the Divine system on the other is too wide to bridge.
 
People may advocate certain principles, but such advocacy is one thing and practising these principles in reality is another. Indeed, it is often the case that people do not put into effect the principles they call on others to adopt. It is not merely that people should be told to implement certain principles, but more importantly where this call comes from and what kind of authority it has over consciences and feelings. Another hugely instrumental factor is people’s knowledge of the ultimate arbiter on the net result of the efforts they put into practising these principles. The true value of the call made by religion on people to implement its principles comes from the sway religion exercises over people. But when a call is only made by a certain person, we have to ask what support such a call has, and what authority it has over people’s minds, and what reward it can promise those who work hard to implement these principles? Thousands of people may call for justice, purity, liberation, self-denial, tolerance, love, sacrifice and so on. Their call, however, motivates no one because it lacks the proper support. It is not the call itself that is most important, but rather the power behind the call.
 
People may listen to others advocating certain ideals, but what is the practical outcome of all this? The fact is that they know by nature that the advocacy comes from people like them, who share with them the same degree of ignorance and weakness and who have similar prejudices of their own. At the end of the day, such advocacy has only a minimum effect on their lives.
 
Religious directives, on the other hand, are complemented by practical steps which aim to shape life in a certain fashion. If religion were to be confined to directives and rituals, then the directives would remain unimplemented, as we see today everywhere. A complete way of life on the basis of religion is necessary to allow its directives to be put into practice in life situations where directives and practices complement one another. This is the Islamic view of religion which makes it a complete system regulating all aspects of life.
 
When this concept of religion was put into practice by the Muslim community, that community occupied the top position in human society. It will do the same today, reducing this latter day ignorance to the same lowly level as it did the Arabian ignorance of the past. Conversely, when religion was reduced to mere directives given on a pulpit, and rituals practised in mosques, and when it no longer regulated the system of life, it lost its very existence in human life.