(Dr. Javed Jamil)
Unity
* Unity and brotherhood are the navigators of the same ship that brings peace to the shores. Qur’an reminds mankind of the unity of their origin, the unity of their Creator and the unity of their purpose.
* Unity is essential for every objective. If it is for a bad cause it spells doom; if it is for a good cause it augurs well for the posterity. Islam reminds mankind that its ultimate objective of unity must be to achieve, groom and sustain peace in its entirety, and that this grand aim can be realised only through total submission to God, His Last Prophet and His Last Book. Unity of mankind should be sought at every stratum of organisation — individual to individual, community to community and country to country.
* Islamic Constitution is three-dimensional with equal emphasis on rights, duties and prohibitions. In Islam there is no unlimited freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is limited to choice among the good, pure and healthy things and practices. The choices that endanger life, spread chaos or undue disparity in society or cause harm to self or others are either totally prohibited or restricted depending upon their relative impact. Except for Shirk, which is related to spiritual domain, all other prohibitions are related to health, family or social peace.
* In the edifice of Islamic society, duties form the foundation, rights the roof and prohibition the walls; a building cannot be a building without any of the three, and all the three must be adequately planned and built.
* Without rights, man would become inanimate matter, without duties wild beast, and without prohibitions fiend.
* Right to life is subject to the condition that it shall be only for those who respect others’ right to live.
Freedom of conscience
* Though Islam, like any other ideology, is desirous of the whole mankind entering its fold, it gives every individual freedom of conscience.
* Islam gives right to criticise and analyse, but not the right to slander, defame or injure the sentiments of any community.
Equality
* Islam is the regime of equality, Qur’an points to the biological equality of all human beings by informing them that they are the progeny of the same father, Adam and mother, Eve. Then Qur’an declares the fundamental equality of both genders telling mankind that all men and women are the progeny of one man and one woman as well as the sons and daughters of their respective fathers and mothers. Then Qur’an reminds mankind that all human beings are equally privileged as far as natural laws are concerned. Qur’an then categorically states that all human beings are equal in the eyes of God; He will judge not according to their linkages of various kinds but on the basis of their respective deeds and beliefs. The equality in the eyes of God is followed by the equality in the eyes of law. All persons get equal punishment for equal crimes, committed under similar circumstances.
* Some people allege that in an Islamic system, non-Muslims cannot hold the position of the Head of State or government. There is nothing weird about it. No non-communist can hold the highest position in a communist country; no declared communal person can head a secular state; and no avowed enemy of democracy can lead a democratic government.
Right to personal freedom
* They have the right to live but not the right to die; the right to wear whatever dress they choose but not the right to be naked in public, the right to eat and drink but not the right to eat forbidden foods and drink forbidden beverages; the right to earn but not through the prohibited trades; and the right to have sex but not outside the limits of a proper marriage.
Right to retaliation
* Islam promulgates the Law of equality, which does not only mean equal punishments for equal crimes in similar circumstances, but also punishments equal to crimes. Though Qur’an allows an injured party to seek equal retaliation, it exhorts forgiveness.
Legal System
* The new legal developments either completely seized or diluted all the rights of the offended party. Instead the culprits were bestowed upon ever-increasing rights and time and space for their successful defence in the court of law.
* In Islam, though the right to retaliation is a fundamental right of every individual, one is always free to exercise one’s discretion in pardoning the convict after the judge has pronounced the judgement. But the right to pardon remains an exclusive privilege of the offended or the heirs of the deceased.
* Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”, “Qur’anic Paradigms of Sciences & Society” (First Vol: Health), “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. Read more about him at http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/dr-javed-jamil. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/javedjamil2015/, also http://javedjamil.blogspot.in/. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com.