Live together; don’t turn against each other
Islam preaches moderation and balance in everything; in relationships, acts of worship, customs, transactions, social life and human desires.”
A unique feature of Islam is that it establishes a balance between individualism and collectivism.
It believes in the individual personality of man and holds everyone accountable to God. It guarantees the fundamental rights of the individual and does not permit anyone to tamper with them.
It does not subscribe to the view that man must lose his individuality in society or in the state.
It also awakens a sense of social responsibility in man, organises human beings in a society and a state, and enjoins the individual to subscribe to the social good. Prayer, in Islam, is offered in congregation, a situation that inculcates social discipline among Muslims.
The Prophet said: “All mankind is a fold, each member of which shall be a keeper or shepherd to every other, and be accountable for the entire fold...Live together; do not turn against each other; make things easy for others and do not put obstacles in each other’s way.”
“He is not a believer who takes his fill while his neighbour starves.”
“The believer in God is he who is not a danger to the life and property of any other.”
In short, Islam neglects neither the individual nor society — it establishes a harmony and a balance between the two and assigns to each its proper due.
Islam’s social ethic has been admirably summed up by Professor Massignon: ‘Islam has the merit of standing for a very egalitarian conception of the contribution of each citizen by the ti the to the resources of the community.
The message of Islam is for the whole of the human race. Islam says all men are equal, regardless of colour, language, race, or nationality. It addresses itself to the conscience of humanity and banishes all false barriers of race, status, and wealth.
Islam removes all of these impediments and proclaims the idea of the whole of humanity being one family of God.
In our lifestyle, too, Islam recommends moderation and balance in everything; in relationships, acts of worship, customs, transactions, social life and human desires. It is a sublime divine approach that protects man from leaning to one of the two extremes as it sets up all kinds of relationships on the basis of equilibrium and moderation.
Moderation means avoiding ex- travagance and exaggeration, sticking to moderation and balance and keeping away from abnormality in all areas of human behavior. It is a general approach that governs all relations and covers all walks of life.