Consultations needed in all matters

The Holy Koran mentioned in more than one location the principle of mutual consultation (shura), extolled its sublime value in organising and regulating human dealings and relations, and alluded to its necessity for arranging private and public affairs, as relates to the minor affairs of family as well as determining the significant destiny of societies.

That is, it is mandatory under all the circumstances of the Muslim person. Islamic history is actually replete with luminous instances of applying wisely the principle of shura and the use of reason in managing the affairs of Muslims.

In the Koran, there is a clear elucidation of the importance of shura in the relationship between the ruler and the governed, and the soundness in the approach of engaging the opinion of others in public affairs, as is evidenced in the story of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon: “The Queen of Sheba said: ‘Counsellors, a gracious letter has been delivered to me. It is from Solomon, and it says, ‘in the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy, do not put yourselves above me, and come to me in submission to God’.”

She said: “Counsellors, give me your counsel in the matter I now face: I only ever decide on matters in your presence.”(Surah (27) Al Naml “The Ants”: Verses 29-32.)

Notwithstanding the fact that the message was manifestly clear in calling to worshipping God and surrendering to His Unicity, Balqis involved the notables and the wise from among her people, which represents an underlining of the value of mutual consultation between the ruler and the governed in all matters relating to the fate of the nation. 

Hence, it becomes evident that nations, since the oldest of ages, were eager to apply shura, recognised its significance, adhered to its methodologies, were convinced of its benefits for guiding opinion and its positive effects for decision making.

However, the question that begs itself is: If past nations adhered to it and benefited from it to attain superior judgement and practice, why is it that today we eschew it?

And if the (injunction) of shura applies to us — we, the Sunni orthodox community, the Shiites of the house of the prophet, and the Ibadis, who together constitute the seven Islamic schools of thought — why do we disagree rather than concur and converge?

Shura is a vital feature of the upright religion of Islam, and a fundamental principle for the Muslims of today, as it was a guiding principle for the earlier generations.

It actually helps open the gate wide for the methods and systematic forms of the process of consultation and dialogue, given that it bolsters the value of dialogue, brings viewpoints closer together and places a suitable framework for absorbing intellectual differences, which were a mercy for the umma, or so they should be.

Did the prophet not say “disagreements among my umma represent a mercy”, as an allusion to respect for diversity and pluralism, upon which the Islamic civilisation was built since its earliest manifestation in the age of the message and the Mohammedan call?

I remember well that a Shiite told me: If the artificial disagreement between the Sunnis and Shiites could be resolved by us becoming salafists, then we must remind ourselves that all of us respect the early generation of Muslims (Al Salaf Al Salih).

And as a Sunni once told me, if being Shiite connotes following the house of the prophet, then all of us are Shiites.

Imam Shafi`i said in this context: “One who does not invoke the prayers and blessings of God on Mohammad and His family then his prayer would be invalid.”

By quickly reviewing the global human scene today it becomes evident that things are not normal or tolerable: around 3,000 people died due to Ebola, and we hear of the spread of diseases and the forced migration of millions of people.

Seventy per cent of those refugees are Muslims coerced to leave their lands and having to flee their countries unjustly, leaving their properties behind, but for some personal possessions.

At an antique shop in the city of Athens, I noticed the presence of an elegant manuscript stating “God is omnipotent” and another with a beautiful calligraphic writing of the words of the Messenger of God peace be upon him: “Ali is the finest of men, and the finest of swords is Dhu’l Fiqar.”

I embarked on buying both pieces to bring them out of the shop, which markets what remains of the wealth of a displaced family forced to sell valuable possessions bequeathed to it by its forefathers.

As for the real effects of wars, most of which between believers, Muslims and non-Muslims, they render the voluntary convergence of the protagonists of the conflict in west Asia almost impossible, for, all respond to the call of the members of the Security Council.

We believed that after the passage of a century from the outbreak of World War I would be a thing of the past.

The United States intervenes continually under the pretext of supporting truth and combatting evil, as though evil existed only here.

Is not the issue of Ukraine a conflict of manifold causes?

If we, the Ahl Al Sunnah W`al Jama`a (the Orthodox Muslim community), or the House of the Prophet, or the adherents of the Ibadi school of thought, recognise that we are a single nation and meet on the day of the Eid to perform the rituals and religious observances we were commanded to observe, we should know that atrocities were committed in the name of jihad in Afghanistan, prior to the involvement of the armed groups such as Taliban and thereafter Al Qaeda.

We know what is good and what is evil, and based on such knowledge we say that we are at a crossroads: either tribes and nations where only piety is the differentiating factor, or coarseness that is repugnant to those around us.

So, shall we decide our fate in the light of the wisdom of the Eid (feast), which we are celebrating, and call for entrenching the consultative dialogue emanating from our beliefs and ideology, and for forging moral solidarity, which enjoins objectivity and the need of for benevolent institutions such as global zakat?

We ask those with dead hearts: Did the lord of creation honour man for him to deny the values of Islam while concurrently claiming to be Muslim?

I say to them: Either diversity, mutual respect and attaining common ground enabling coexistence, or a flooding of evil.

Every year on September 21 the world marks the day of world peace.

Peace in our lands is elusive. Palestine is being usurped and it is being burned within the sight and hearing of all. The occupier is not deterred by any law, for it is difficult to persuade the Christians and Muslims from an Arab culture, and the Palestinian Christians, characterised as Arameans, to distinguish between them and the Palestinians of 1948, when they are summoned to serve in the army of Israel, that they have entitlements with us, for they belong to their nation.

Honesty makes it incumbent upon us to espouse a new humanitarian order in which we would be at the forefront, and to behave humanely, in peace and in war, to avoid exaggerating the gravity of the situation and to refrain from blaming actions on deprivation.

And, above all, there should be sincerity with the creator who has made us his vicegerents on Earth, so we do not tarnish the trust of the message with which He entrusted us, and where shura prevails and none monopolises decision making.

Indeed, shura in the Holy Koran is mentioned jointly with prayer and benevolent expenditure: “Respond to their Lord; keep up the prayer; conduct their affairs by mutual consultation; give to others out of what We have provided for them.” (Surah (42) Al Shura “Consultation”: Verse 38.)