ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Islamic Society ~ 143 ~ that of relative, neighbour, friend, vendor, customer, businessman, client, landlord or tenant— to state the position very broadly. But, all too often, bonds once formed in love and friendship’ are marred, or even broken, by hate, callousness, hostility, indifference, cunning, greed, envy, if not downright criminality. In living side by side with one another, and in serving each others needs, society’s members are constantly obliged to have dealings with one another, and it is in the matter of these everyday transactions that all kinds of issues arise which can call forth a negative human reaction. But this is only in the nature of things, for unlike stones, lying unmoved and unmoving, all together in a heap, human beings rub shoulders with each other, and that is when the sparks fly! That is when a streak comes to the surface which pushes them further and further into contentiousness, whereas what is needed is selfrestraint and refusal to enter into conflict. Greed, opportunism and the desire to dominate are to blame for much of the friction in society, while on the other side of the coin, there is over-sensitivity, inertia and ignorance. In the face of such human frailty, how can social relationships be expected to