UNIVERSAL MESSAGE FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Who has revealed Al-Furqan (the Criterion) to His servant, so that He may be a warner to all mankind.” (25: 1). The universal approach can be seen in all the teachings of Islam. For instance, at the end of salat the faithful turn their heads towards the right and left and utter these words of greeting: “Assalam-o-Alaikum wa rahmatullah” which mean: “May peace and blessings be upon you”. This is meant for all mankind inhabiting the lands towards the east and the west, the north and the south. This is in fact a universal greeting. In this way one of the aims of salat is to instil in believers feelings of well-wishing for the whole world. The whole world should share in one’s prayers. This is a lesson in universal thinking, which is given daily to the believers. Similarly Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam takes the form of a universal gathering. Muslims belonging to all the nations of the world meet one another on this occasion. It is in fact an annual attempt to produce universality in believers. Conveying this universal divine and peaceful message to all the nations of the world is another important teaching of the Prophet. As a requirement of Islam this turns every believer into a universal ambassador for this activity. Coming out of the limited sphere of oneself, one is made to think at the level of all humanity. As a result, an activity like that of Dawah produces universal thinking among the faithful. The responsibility of Dawah takes the believer out of the local sphere and turns him into a global personality. The truth is that universality is an inseparable part of Quranic thinking. One who adopts the Quranic way will start thinking at the universal level. His personality will be linked with the entire human brotherhood. In spite of being located in a particular region, he becomes a citizen of the universe as far as his thinking is concerned. In this respect, it can rightly be said that Islam or the Quran promotes universal citizenship. o Conveying the universal divine and peaceful message to all the nations of the world is an important teaching of the Prophet. Learn Read even if you cannot read, learn even if you cannot learn.