ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Islamic Society ~ 149 ~ well, and be like a close companion to them all the days of his life. If this could be the general attitude, no one would ever think it permissible to shed so much as a drop of another Muslim’s blood, no matter how great the wrong he had suffered at his hands. As for laying hands on another Muslim’s property, this would be sedulously avoided. In this way Muslim honour would remain inviolate, for each would guard the honour of his neighbour as if it were his very own. A society in which everyone is just in his behaviour towards others, and unfailingly wishes others well, is bound to be one of exceptional unity. The more pervasive the atmosphere of mutual goodwill, the higher the degree of unification. If we think of the members of a Muslim society as being the bricks which make up a massive building, we see how each separate brick, being inextricably linked to the other bricks, gives strength to those others and to the entire building. Each brick may be a separate entity, but the connection between it and the others—always close and never in conflict—is one of interdependence and harmony. It is the function