Page 119 - The Vision of Islam
P. 119

The Vision of Isla m

          and every community received God-sent ‘warners’ who arrived in
          succession (23:44). The purpose of sending prophets was so that
          mankind might have no excuse before God. (4:165). It was not
          enough, therefore, for the prophets to obey God’s commandments
          in their personal lives; it was also essential for them to convey
          God’s message to the whole of mankind.  The Prophet  Yunus
          communicated God’s message to a hundred thousand people in
          Nineveh (Iraq), but he inadvertently committed the error of leaving
          his people before his task was fully completed. God considered
          this mistake so grave that he caused a fish to swallow him, and he
          was not released until the realization finally came to him that he
          must return to his people.
             The truth is that a prophet’s prophethood is not genuinely
          established until he has performed the duties of prophethood to
          the letter. (5:67) Similarly, a community (ummah) will be entitled
          to be called the people of a prophet only if they become his
          representatives, passing on God’s message to the world as brought
          by the prophet.  There is no doubt that the followers of the
          prophet have the same responsibility as the prophet has: the only
          difference is that the prophet is responsible as an individual, while
          his followers are responsible as a group. The prophet has personally
          to bear the burden of such responsibility.
             It is not incumbent upon each individual from amongst his
          followers to perform the duty of calling upon people to accept the
          Truth. If a group sets itself calling people to the path of God then
          the rest of the people may be exempted from this task. But these
          people will certainly be required to support the da‘i, in whatever
          way possible. If they, far from supporting the da‘i, create obstacles
          in their path, they will certainly be punished by God.
             The Quran asks: “Why, then, does not a party from every group
          come (to the Prophet) in order to acquire a deeper knowledge of
          religion and to warn their people …” (9:122)
             The responsibility of bearing witness to the truth before the
          world, under the guidance of the Prophet, is clearly established by
          the Quran:
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