The Islamic concept of brotherhood distinguishes Islam from other system in moral social and economic spheres of life.
The Quran says that Allah has divided mankind into tribes and nations for greater facility of intercourse. The true source of honour in the sight of God is a righteous life for the individual irrespective of his membership in any brace or tribe.
In his farewell address, the prophet said: “you are all brothers and are all equal. . Non of you can claim any privilege or any superiority over any other.”
Islamic concept of brotherhood?
It is stressed that true brotherhood can be established only by virtue of man’s relationship with one another through God. While stressing upon showing due kindness and proper affection toward children and other member of the family, the Quran lays great stress on kindness toward neighbours. The prophet emphasised on many occasions the duty owed to a neighbour, saying: “so repeatedly and so much had God impressed upon me the duty owed to a neighbour that it began to think that a neighbour might perhaps be named an heir.” In the same way , the needy and the wayfarer must be looked after. Orphan should not be dealt with to his prejudice by exchange or by being held in common with the property of the guardian.
Thus it follows that all men rich and poor alike must aid one another materially and personally. Isalm aims at merging all sections of society in to a single community so that persons may feel themselves to be members of the same family.
In the economic sphere the uniqueness of the Islamic concept of brotherhood lies in the fact that Islam abrogates all antisocial economic activities which are not conductive to communal welfare.
Thus all monopoly and speculative business are prohibited, because all these are opposed to beneficence and take the advantage of the need and or distress of their fellow beings. Hording is condemned, because it puts wealth out of circulation and deprives the owner as well as the rest of the community of its beneficent use. Again by condemning interest, Islam has not only helped expanding production and employment but placing the culture of brotherhood on a firm footing, because human brotherhood and sympathy evaporate when interest is charged for loans of money, positively , the payment to zakat has been made a vital part of the Islamic faith. The spiritual discipline included by “salat” would lose its practical significance if Muslims do not pay zakat to root out economic and social injustice.
More over in carrying out legitimate economic activities it is stressed that all contracts, whether involving large or small amount , must be reduced to writing setting out all the terms agreed upon fairly and as a further precution it is laid down that if the person on whose behalf the liability is undertaken is a minor or of unsound judgment then his guarding or the persons representing his interest should dictate the terms of the contract
. The point is that in all economic activities permitted by Islam there should not be an iota of exploitation or unfair dealing which may ultimately stand in the way of true human brotherhood. Islam recognises that absolute equality in economic terms is likely to remain a wholly unattainable object, what it has sought to prescribe is a system which if followed strictly reduces to minimum the danger of one individual or group exploiting another and perpetuating the exploitation.
Co-operation
Islam uphold human unity, brotherhood and cooperation and opposes discord and conflict. Hence it does not divide society into classes . on the other hand among the classes that naturally exist in society, it promotes sympathy and cooperation instead of class struggle. An analysis of human society will reveal that the existence of two types of classes in it. One type
of classes are those which are artificially and unjustly created and forcibly maintained by vicious political , social and economic systems. In this category fall the classes which were created by Brahamanism , Feudalism and the westerns capitalist system .
Islam creates no classes of this sort , nor envisages their perpetuation but eliminates them by its moral and legal reforms. The second types of classes are those which form and dissolve in a natural manner by difference in abilities and conditions of human beings. Islam does not wipeout these classes by force, nor transforms them into rigid classes, nor sets them against one another.On the other hand by its moral, political, social and economic programme, it promotes just cooperation among them, makes them the sympathies and ally of one another and by affording equality of opportunity to all creates such conditions in which these classes continue to dissolve and change in a natural manner