Working Together: A Human Necessity and an Islamic Mandate

…Help one another in righteousness and piety; do not help one another towards sin and hostility. Be mindful of Allah, for Allah’s punishment is severe. (al-Ma’idah 5:2)
Human beings depend on each other. There are no creatures in this world that need each other as much as human beings need each other. Unless someone is living in a jungle, residing in caves and surviving on some wild fruits and vegetables, no one who lives in any village or city can survive without the help of others. The Arab poet said long time ago:
People, whether desert Bedouins or city dwellers, they are all servants of each other, even if they do not realize it.
The great historian ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) who is known in the world as the “Father of Historiography” and who was an acute observer of human nature, wrote in his famous “Muqaddimah” that “Social life is necessary for humankind. Without it their existence will not be complete and they cannot fulfill the purpose for which Allah created them and sent them to this earth.”
Working together is necessary for human survival and for human progress. In the terminology of the Qur’an it is called ‘ta’awun,’ which comes from the word ‘’awn’ meaning ‘help and support.’ Thus ‘ta’waun’ means ‘helping and supporting each other.’ However, Islam emphasizes that the cooperation must be to do what is right and good, not towards what is sinful and hostile.
The ethic of cooperation in Islam is that Muslims should cooperate with others, regardless whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, as long as the object of cooperation is right and good. On the other hand Muslims are not allowed to cooperate with any person or group, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, if the object of cooperation is sinful, unjust and hostile.
We have a beautiful example of this principle in the life of our beloved Prophet Muhammad – peace be upon him. It is reported that while he –peace be upon him- was living in Makkah before receiving the Prophethood, he joined an alliance known as “Hilf al-Fudul”. The Prophet and some good people of Makkah met at ‘Abdullah ibn Jud’an’s home and made an agreement:
“If they found any one either a native of Makkah or an outsider, had been wronged they would take his part against the aggressor and see that the stolen property was restored to him.” (Ibn Hisham, Sirah, vol. 1, pp. 133-134)
After he became the Prophet of Allah, the Prophet –peace be upon him- used to say:
“I witnessed in the house of Abdullah ibn Jud’an a covenant which I would not exchange for any number of fine camels: if I were invited to take part in it during Islam, I would indeed respond.” (Sirah of Ibn Hisham, vol. 1, p. 134)
Muslims must work together among themselves and with others. It is an irony of the situation that modern life with all its complexities, requires from us that we should work together; but at the same time there are so many pressures that make people very individualistic. We have to find a balance between our individual time and space and our need to work with others. Thus families need to work together. Spouses, children, older parents, in-laws, other relatives have to learn how to coop with each other. We have to learn how to work and get along with each other and how to support each other. We need to learn how to live with others with our ethnic and cultural differences, our differences in Schools of thoughts and jurisprudence (fiqh). We have to learn how to work with people of other faiths and backgrounds. We have to learn how to deal with civic and political leaders, how to deal with the media and how to be good Muslims and good citizens in this society. There is, unfortunately, growing misunderstanding and misperceptions of Islam and Muslims in this society or what is rightly called as “Islamophobia.” It is a reality and we have to learn how to deal with it and correct it in a positive and effective manner.
There are also many civic and interfaith groups in America that are working to promote health, good environment, care for the poor and needy and peace and justice for all people. We should know how to work with these groups as well for the benefit of all humanity. The world today is very much inter-connected. We are living in a “global village”. The problems that affect one group of people or one part of the world can very easily affect other people and other parts of the world. Allah says:
Beware of discord that harms not only the wrongdoers among you, and know that Allah is severe in His punishment. (al-Anfal 8:25)
There are about half million Muslims living in Southern California. We have more than seventy Masajid and Islamic organizations here. The Shura Council of Southern California is an umbrella organization representing most of the Masajid and Islamic organizations in this area. The main objective of this organization is to help Muslims work together among themselves and with others for the benefit of all people in this land and for the humanity at large. To emphasize this objective, to learn basic principles and ethics of ‘working together’ and to take concrete actions in this direction the Shura Council will be holding its annual conference this year on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at Ontario Convention Center. The theme of the conference is “Working together.” We hope that Muslim individuals and organizations of Southern California will take full advantage of this conference and will support it.

(Khutbah at ISOC – Rabi’ul Awwal 25. 1428/ April 13, 2007)

- DrSiddiqi@aol.com

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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