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people face changes. It is no longer their problem; it is our
problem. This philosophy is consistent with the teachings
of the Messenger a. Consider the following hadith:
Nu’man bin Bashir g narrates that the Messenger
of Allah a said, “The believers are similar to a single
body; if the head is in pain, the entire body will
experience fever and insomnia” (Muslim).
Abu Musa al-Asha‘ri g narrates that the Messenger
of Allah a said, “The (relationship) of one believer
with another is similar to that of a building;
one part strengthens the other” (Bukhari).
In the aforementioned hadith, Messenger a has clearly
framed the entire Muslim umma as one unit. Each one of
us are meant to strengthen the other, feel the pain of the
other, and support one another. The articulate wording
used in the simile used by the Messenger a sends such a
profound message: our success lies in the success of others.
A structure is only as strong as its weakest component. If
components of the structure are missing or damaged, the
entire structure suffers. Similarly, if our brothers and sisters
in our communities are not thriving or successful, their
lack of success will also affect us.
A View of Islam from the Lens of Communal
Responsibility
If a person was to go through the various rulings in Islam
and analyze them, they would find a common theme of
communal responsibility. The forms of worship in Islam all
have some feature of connecting or helping the community.
In the obligation of discharging zakat, a person is helping
the needy of his/her community. In the obligation of salat,
we find that the men are to congregate daily in the masjid
with other people of the community, giving them a chance
to know how everyone is doing. In the obligation of fasting,
people are to avoid food or drink throughout the day
giving them the chance to sympathize with those who are
needy and regularly experience starvation. In the obligation
of Hajj, a Muslim has the opportunity to see the situation
of other Muslims around the globe. Although these
communal benefits are not the primary purpose of these
modes of worship, it is clear that ensuring communal prosperity
is a key feature of Islam. Now if a person through the
same lens continues to look at the other teachings of Islam,
such as: enjoining good and forbidding evil, refraining
from verbally or physically harming others, the prohibition
of backbiting and spreading rumors, the virtues of removing
harmful items from a pathway, the virtues of building a
masjid, the virtues of building a well, etc., they would now
see all the rulings in Islam revolve around everyone fulfilling
his/her role to help the others succeed.
Importance of Understanding the
Interrelationship Between Us and Others
If a person fails to adopt and adhere to the aforementioned
Islamic philosophy of communal responsibility and begins
to look at each person with an individualist attitude, the
fabric of society begins to deteriorate. For example, one
can just look at spousal relationships. Any spousal relationship
in which responsibilities and rights must be litigated
(whether through a traditional court or a fatwa) is bound
to fail. Successful relationships are never dichotomous.
Rather, both individuals must work in harmony. The rights
and responsibilities of each spouse is meant to be complimentary
of the other. Most breakdowns in spousal relationships
is due to the spouses not understanding the complimentary
nature of their roles. For example, there is no
question that Islam puts most of the domestic responsibilities
on the wife and the primary bread-winning responsibilities
on the husband. However, these are not binary roles
completely unrelated to one another. Rather, this a system
set in place by Allah using the natural strengths of both
spouses to compliment the other. This does not mean that
a wife cannot or should not aid the husband in his responsibilities
nor that a husband cannot aid and assist his wife
in her domestic responsibilities. We find many examples of
female companions assisting their husbands in their labor
along with examples of men helping their wives at home.
‘Ayesha j was once asked what the Messenger of Allah a
would do at home. She replied, “He would be busy in helping
his family. Whenever salat time would start, he would
then leave to the masjid” (Bukhari).
It should also be noted that the Messenger a was not only
the bread-winner for his multiple homes; rather, he was
also the head of the Islamic world, the imam of his local
community, and carried the responsibility for fulfilling
the obligations of prophethood to ensure the religion of
Islam reaches the entire world and lasts until the Day of
Judgment. Despite all of this, he made sure to always take
out time to help at home. Once each spouse begins to look
at himself/herself and his/her role to be complimentary to
the other’s, the relationship will strengthen. Conversely, the
more a person views a spousal relationship as binary, the
relationship will weaken.
The Bottom Line
Similarly, the same can be said about any relationship.
Teacher/parent relationships, parent/children relationwww.
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