“The bond of faith and ideology is a free one which human beings
choose by their own free-will, after proper consideration and study. The
other ties are not only more fitting for animals, but are also imposed
on man and he has no say in them.
No human being can change his family descent or the race to which he
belongs Nor does he have any choice of the colour of his skin. All these
matters are settled before he is even born. The same applies to the
land or the country of his birth and the language he speaks as a result
of being raised within his particular community. Man has certain
material interests and a common destiny with others, but these are also
very difficult to change, because they apply to him as well as to his
community. There is little room for man’s free-will in all these
matters. For this reason, Islam does not adopt any of these as the
basic bond uniting its community.
Faith, ideology and its practical approach of implementation are all
matters of free choice. At any moment, a human being can declare his
choice of these and determine the community to which he wishes to
belong. No restriction is imposed on this choice as a result of man’s
colour, language, race, descent, the land of his birth or his material
interests which may change from one community to another…
The concrete remarkable result of this attitude was that the Islamic society became an open and all inclusive community in which people of various races, nations, languages and colours were members. No obstacle prevented them from forming a coherent and open society. The rivers of higher talent and various abilities of all races of mankind flowed together into this vast ocean and worked in perfect harmony. Such a coherent mix gave rise to a high level of civilization in a very short period of time. It harnessed the capabilities, ideas and wisdom of all those people to produce a great civilization, in spite of the fact that in those times, travel was difficult and the means of communication were slow.
In this unique Islamic society Arabs, Persians, Syrians, Egyptians,
Moroccans, Turks, Chinese, Indians, Romans, Greeks, Indonesians,
Africans and people of other nations and races were gathered together.
Their various characteristics were united, and with mutual cooperation,
harmony and unity they took part in the construction of the Islamic
community and the Islamic culture. This marvelous civilization was not
an ‘Arab’ civilization but an Islamic one. At no time did it acquire a
nationalistic guise, but was instead always based on faith.
All these people came together on an equal footing in a relationship
of love, with their minds set on a single goal. They used their best
abilities, developed the qualities of their races to the fullest, and
brought the essence of their personal, national and historical
experiences for the development of this united community, to which they
all belonged as equal members and in which their common bond was through
their relationship with their Lord. In this community their ‘humanity’
developed without any hindrance. Such characteristics were never
witnessed in any other community in the entire history of mankind.”
[Fee Zhilaal Al-Quraan [English trans.], 7/217-218]
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