THE QURAN AND SUNNAH

in whatever circumstances they find themselves. On the contrary, the prerequisite for the enforcement of these commands is that first of all they should be acceptable in society. As long as they remain unacceptable they will remain in abeyance. Then there is Minhaj, that is, method. In this field also there is no clash between Islam and modern times. For, in social matters Islam will adopt whatever method is worthy of being implemented according to the spirit of the age. For instance, no attempt will be made to impose the system of caliphate by force in a country which has a democratic system. Rather by cooperating with the times, peaceful Islamic dawah work will be performed. That is demonstrated in the lives of the various prophets. In such matters, there is no single method which emerged among the prophets or the pious Caliphs. We deduce an important principle from an incident in the life of the Prophet of Islam. A person named Musaylama rose in Yemen, who falsely claimed to be God’s prophet and to have been appointed as co-prophet along with the Prophet Muhammad. Musaylama sent a two-member delegation to Madinah to meet the Prophet of Islam and asked him to acknowledge his prophethood. The Prophet asked the delegates what opinion they had about Musaylama regarding his claim to prophethood. They said that they believed in his claim. At this the Prophet of Islam replied that, had there been no rule in this world that envoys should not be harmed, he would have had both of them killed. (Seerat ibn Hisham) From this incident in the life of the Prophet of Islam, we learn a very important principle of Shariah. That is, if a principle is generally accepted, at the international level, then the relevant Islamic principle will also be the same as that of other nations. This decision of the Prophet of Islam shows that in matters of age-old customs, the law of the believers as well as of other nations would not be separate, provided the matter in hand did not pertain to some unlawful act, for instance, the eating of pork. It is obvious that if Islam followed this principle in international matters, then there would be no conflict or clash in the practical sense between Islam and other nations in respect of changing times. One important teaching of Islam is that, with the exception of matters of worship and beliefs, no command is absolute so far as social matters The real and basic demand of Islam is that man should believe in one God. He should worship Him alone.