MUSLIM WORLD-VIEW — An Islamic Perspective

The believers, the Jews, the Christians and the Sabeans all those who believe in God and the Last day and do good deeds will be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. THE QURAN 2: 62 Muslims, Christians, Jews and all others are equal in the eyes of God. God will judge people based upon their deeds, rather than upon their belonging to a particular community. Determining the status of other groups in relation to Muslims is a sectarian viewpoint, which is contrary to the universal approach of Islam. It goes against the creation plan of God. God has made this world for all human beings, and not just for Muslims. Some Hadith reports have been similarly misread (in order to promote a wrong sense of Muslim supremacy). Once, when the Prophet of Islam was in Madinah, a funeral procession passed by. On seeing it, the Prophet stood up. His Companions said to him that it was the funeral of a Jew, indicating that, therefore, there was no need to stand up. The Prophet replied by asking them if the person was not a human being. This incident has been recorded by Al-Bukhari. This act of the Prophet of Islam clearly shows that every human being is worthy of respect and honour, regardless of his religion. This Hadith clearly shows that the way of Islam is to regard everyone as one regards oneself. The sight of a human being should remind us of the Creator who has created all human beings. It should remind us of God’s miraculous powers to grant life. Thus, it must bring us to Godrealization. This tradition clearly tells us of the practice of the Prophet of Islam regarding respect for all people. It is strange that none of the commentators of the Hadith have taken the main lesson from this. On the contrary, in their commentaries, they have interpreted it, for example, by saying that standing for the funeral of a non-Muslim is not obligatory, or that the Prophet stood only because he was reminded of death, or that the Prophet stood out of respect for the angels who accompanied the dead body, or that the Prophet did not want the funeral passing above his head, or even that the Prophet did stand before the funeral of a Jew but that this command has been abrogated and that Muslims are no longer required to do so.