Prophet's Ummah Envisions A Plural Society
By
Dr. Shujaat Quadri, New Age Islam
6 September
2022
Ummah, an
Arabic word, is defined by Oxford dictionary as the whole community of Muslims
bound together by ties of religion. However, the word Ummah in Arabic simply
means community or nation, with no emphasis on the commonality of religion or
kinship.
Unfortunately,
Muslims all across the world, some prominent Islamist outfits specifically,
have been viewing themselves as one Ummah by virtue of being of one faith.
Similarly, non-Muslim commentators reflect interpretation of the Ummah exactly
as the Oxford dictionary has mentioned.
The
historical facts however favour the Arabic meaning of the Ummah. At the time of
Prophet Muhammad, before the conception of the Ummah, Arab communities were
typically governed by kinship as was prevalent among the various tribal groups.
In other words, the political ideology of the Arabs centred on tribal
affiliations and blood-relations. In the midst of a tribal society, the
religion of Islam emerged and along with it the concept of the Ummah. The Ummah
emerged according to the idea that a Messenger or Prophet has been sent to a
community. Unlike earlier Messengers, who had been sent to various communities
in the past (as can be found among the Prophets in the Old Testament), Muhammad
sought to develop an Ummah that was universal and not only for Arabs. Muhammad
saw his purpose as the transmission of a divine message and the leadership of
the Islamic community. Islam sees Muhammad as the messenger to the Ummah,
transmitting a divine message, and implying that God is directing the life
affairs of the Ummah. Accordingly, the purpose of the Ummah was to be based on
religion by following the commands of God, rather than kinship.
Introduction
of Ummah in Medina
According
to Professor Juan Cole, the renowned historian of Early Islam and Middle East,
the usage is further clarified by the Constitution of Medina, an early document
said to have been negotiated by Prophet Muhammad in CE 622 with the leading
clans of Medina, which explicitly refers to Jewish, Christians and pagan
citizens of Medina as members of the Ummah.
Prof Cole’s
recent book Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires delves on the
question of Ummah in detail in order to ally western perception of the Ummah.
Based on the reading of some selected portions of his book, it can be inferred
that the first Ummah emerged in Medina. He describes Ummah as an encompassing
community of all, or a plural society.
After
Prophet Muhammad and the first converts to Islam were forced to leave Mecca,
the community was welcomed in Medina by the Ansar, a group of pagans who had
converted to Islam. Despite Medina already being occupied by numerous Jewish
and polytheistic tribes, the arrival of Muhammad and his followers provoked no
opposition from Medina’s residents. Upon arriving in Medina, Muhammad
established the Constitution of Medina with the various tribal leaders in order
to form the Meccan immigrants and the Medinan residents into a single
community, the Ummah. Rather than limiting members of the Ummah to a single
tribe or religious affiliation, the Constitution of Medina ensured that the
Ummah was composed of a variety of people and beliefs essentially making it to
be supra-tribal.
Historian
of the very early Islam, Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, suggests that Prophet
Muhammad’s initial intentions upon arriving in Medina was to establish a
mosque, however this is unlikely. Tabari also claims that Muhammad observed the
first Friday prayer in Medina. It occurred on Friday because Friday served as a
market day in Medina to enable Jews to observe the sabbath. Membership to the
Ummah, according to Tabari, was not restricted to adhering to the Muslim faith
but rather encompassed all of the tribes as long as they vowed to recognise
Muhammad as the community and political figure of authority. The Constitution
of Medina declared that the Jewish tribes and the Muslims from Medina formed
‘One Ummah.’ The Medinan Ummah was purely secular due to its variety of beliefs
and practices of its members.
Ummah In
The Words Of Quran
There are
62 instances in which the term Ummah is mentioned in the Quran, and they almost
always refer to ethical, linguistic, or religious bodies of people who are
subject to the divine plan of salvation. The Quran recognises that each Ummah
has a Messenger that has been sent to relay a divine message to the community
and that all Ummahs await God’s ultimate judgment.
A verse in
the Quran also mentions the Ummah in the context of all of the Messengers and
that their Ummah (nation) of theirs is one, and God is their Lord entirely:
O
Messengers, eat from the good foods and work righteousness. Indeed, I, of what
you do, am knowing. And indeed this, your Ummah (nation), is one Ummah
(nation), and I am your Lord, so fear Me. [Quran, Surah Al-Mu’minun (The Believers)
(23:51–52)]
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Dr.
Shujaat Quadri is the Chairman of Muslim Students Organisation of India and
Community Leader
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-pluralism/prophet-ummah-plural-society/d/127887
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