“I am convinced about the veracity of my opinions, but I do consider it likely that they may turn out to be incorrect. Likewise, I am convinced about the incorrectness of the views different from mine, but I do concede the possibility that they may turn out to be correct.” — Imam Shafai’

Prior to discussing the index ayah, let me quote another ayah on the same subject but in greater details:

“BEHOLD, We have inspired thee [O Prophet] just as We inspired Noah and all the prophets after him – as We inspired Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants, including Jesus and Job, and Jonah, and Aaron, and Solomon; and as We vouchsafed unto David a book of divine wisdom; and as [We inspired other] apostles whom We have mentioned to thee ere this, as well as apostles whom We have not mentioned to thee; and as God spoke His word unto Moses”^[3]

As I have stated earlier, most important topics are discussed at least twice in the Quran.

A very important and beautifully crafted ayah of the Holy Text. It declares that Islam, the religion of  the Holy Prophet is not a new religion; it had started with Prophet Adam. Quran is not the first Holy Text for mankind but the last. And lastly, the Holy Prophet is the last to come in the line of prophets. This is pointed out to assure the non-Believers of Hejaz that what they are being presented is not a novelty but  something of their own which they have been practicing all along : the deen of their father Abraham. They are assured, as explained by the research scholar and mentor Ghamdi in his tafseer Al Bayan, that Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not come up with a religion that is unique and unfamiliar to the Arabs of Hejaz. His beliefs are the same, his principles are the same, his moral teachings are the same, and with the exception of a few amendments and additions, his law is exactly the same. God’s Religion is the same in essence. The source of unity is the revelation from God. In Islam it is “established” as an institution, and does not remain merely a vague suggestion. Notably, the ayah includes the names of only five prominent prophets who conveyed to humanity the most well known codes of Divine law. The alphabet  “Al” on Deen is the same as on Al-Kitab. Just as Al-Kitab means the Book of Allah, so Al-Din means the religion of Allah which is Islam from the beginning of mankind.

Some commentators have tried to give a meaning to the sequence of the names of the prophets. For example, Mufti Muhammad Shafi in his tafseer Ma’aariful Quran states: “Perhaps this is to indicate that although the last of the Prophets was born and sent as a prophet after all others yet he preceded everyone else in the originally destined (azala ) distribution of prophethood and messenger-ship”.  He even quotes a hadith “I preceded all the other prophets in the original creation and I am last of all the prophets in being sent (Miskhat).” This hadith  is not mentioned in any of the first grade hadith texts.

The ayah starts as شَرَعَ لَكُم مِنَ الدّينِ ie He has ordained for you of religion ما وَصّىٰ بِهِ نوحًا  the same as WE ordained for Noah, وَالَّذي أَوحَينا إِلَيكَ and that which WE  revealed unto you وَما وَصَّينا بِهِ إِبراهيمَ وَموسىٰ وَعيسىٰ and that which WE enjoined on Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus. أَن أَقيمُوا الدّينَ saying establish the religion  وَلا تَتَفَرَّقوا فيهِ and not be divided therein.

This unity of the concept of religion, is emphasised in the Quran by categorical statements like:

 “Behold, the only (true) religion in the sight of God is (man’s) self-surrender unto Him (ie Islam) ^[4] and
“For, if one goes in search of a religion other than self-surrender unto God (Islam), it will never be accepted from him, and in the life to come he shall be among the lost”^[5]
In addition to this principle, enunciated by all of God’s apostles, the Quran declares emphatically:

“VERILY, [O you who believe in Me,] this community of yours is one single community, since I am the Sustainer of you all: worship, then, Me [alone]!^[6]

 Based on the opinion of Zamakhshari, Dr. Mohammad Asad states in his tafseer “Most of the great commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Kathir) understand this as an unequivocal reference to the ecumenical unity of all religions based on belief in the One God, notwithstanding all the differences with regard to “the [specific] statutes and practices enjoined for the benefit of the various communities in accordance with their [time-bound] conditions (‘ala hasab ahwaliha)”.

These ancillary differences in the Shariah are referred to in the Quran elsewhere:

“To each of you We have given a law and a way and a pattern of life. If God had pleased He could surely have made you one people (professing one faith). But He wished to try and test you by that which He gave you.” ^[7]
After declaring a single deen from Prophet Adam onwards in the index ayah, God Almighty enjoins and commands two ordinances for the Muslim Ummah:

First, a simple instruction أَن أَقيمُوا الدّينَ to establish the religion. Unfortunately this has been interpreted as two very different meanings; one of them with very radical and apparently  destructive consequences. As a PPK Muslim I am in no position to give a verdict between the two views. Let us consult some eminent commentators on this subject; we can then have our own pick.

It means “you should remain  steadfast in religion” according to Allaamaa Yousuf Ali in his popular and extensive tafseer. 

Quoting Qurtubi, Mufti Mohammad Shafi asserts “Establishing “deen” that has been obligated in this verse means to hold on to the rules of religion steadfastly, not to let any doubt or distrust creep into it and not to give it up in any case”. Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Al-Qurtubi (Arabic: أبوعبداللهالقرطبي) ( b. 1214)  was an Andalusian jurist, Islamic scholar and muhaddith. He is well known for his commentary of the Quran named Tafsir al-Qurtubi.

The research scholar Ghamdi is clear and eloquent “ That is, maintain it and stick to it. If any of its rules are related to the individual, then the individual should abide by it and if it is related to the society, then the rulers of the society should abide by it and maintain it completely. This is the true meaning of Iqamat-e-Deen”. 

Sayyid Nasr Hussain et al in their modern tafseer “The Study Quran” render this phrase as “that you uphold religion……to uphold religion means that to act in accord with or to hold fast to it, perform its obligations, remain faithful to it, and call others to it”.

Let us call this interpretation One. Next, the other meaning given to this phrase, interpretation Two:

Dr. Israr Ahmed, in his celebrated video series of his tafseer Bayan-ul-Quran thumps his clenched fist on the table while explaining this ayah and emphatically declares “deen ko kaim Karo” ie enforce and impose the deen over all humanity. He declared that it is “farz” on every Muslim to contribute in the struggle to overturn the prevalent false and fraudulent political system of the non-Muslims and replace it by the Shariah. Non-Muslims are free to follow their religion in their private lives. But collectively they have to live under Muslim suzerainty. He opined that it is haram to live gladly under this wrong structure of non-Muslims; we must live it out under protest. We must live most frugally and spare all our physical energies and financial resources for this larger goal. The aim is to strive for it; success is not the immediate goal. He does agree though, that in the present circumstances it seems a far cry.

The outstanding scholar Maulana Maudoodi has elaborated and emphasised this point of view in his tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran. See the footnotes for details. ^[8] He also asserts that to “establish” deen means  to “enforce and impose” it on humanity. Non-Muslims can follow their religion privately under the overall rule of Muslims.

He asserts that “The Arabic word “deen: contains several meanings:

(1) Domination and sovereignty, rule and political power and authority to enforce one’s decisions on others.

(2) Obedience, compliance with commands and servitude.

(3) The practice and the way that a man follows.

He poses two questions: First, what is the meaning of establishing the deen? Second, what is deen itself, which we have been enjoined to establish and then keep it established and then answers them. Since the word iqamat is used here for a spiritual thing, he asserts that the word means “introducing it and enforcing it practically”. He goes on to conclude “Whoever studies the Quran carefully will see that this Book does not envisage that its adherents will live as subjects of the disbelievers and will pass a religious life under them, but it openly proclaims that it will have its own rule established; it demands from its followers that they should struggle with their lives for the intellectual, cultural, legal and political supremacy of the true faith; and it gives them a program for the reformation of human life, the major part of which can be acted upon only when political power and authority is in the believers’ hand”.

I would like to spell out that the main basis of this interpretation Two is the broad meaning that has been given to the word أَقيمُوا الدّينَ. It does not call for any basis or premise in the Quran or Shari’ah.

As a rebuttal to this interpretation, the eminent scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamdi mentions that this interpretation is against the demands and style of the Arabic language and effectively cuts across the central message of Islam. To illustrate this point, he deliberates how the Quran uses this same phrase elsewhere in a different context as “iqamt-e-salat”. This certainly does not suggest to enforce salat all over the world; similarly therefore it is not meant to impose deen all over. The Quran itself clarifies what is meant by “establishing” prayers:

“[and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer”.^[9] And

“and who guard their prayers [from all worldly intent]. ^[10]
Thus” establishing” prayers suggests and specifies to take care of it, protect it and stay glued to it. The scholar concludes “Therefore, iqamat-e-din, as some scholars have understood, is not one of the duties of religion and one of its rulings, saying that it has been added to the duties by declaring it a “duty of iqamat-e-din”. In fact, this is a principled guidance about the whole religion”.

The last words of the ayah  وَلا تَتَفَرَّقوا فيهِ  “and do not break up your unity therein” are obviously of great import and consequence. 

“Faith, Duty, or Religion, is not a matter to dispute about. The formation of sects is against the very principle of Religion and Unity. What we should strive for is steadfastness in duty and faith, and unity among mankind” advises the great scholar Allaamaa Yousuf Ali.  

The research scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamdi very nicely elaborates on the methodology to achieve this goal: “That is, take full control of the whole, as it is and with the order given. Don’t overdo it on your own, or set your own priorities, or change it into some thing else  with your personal interpretations. Whatever you do out of these options, the inevitable result will be division”. Lastly, using the Quranic phrase dear to all of us “the deen is the rope of Allah” he illustrates this point. It is our duty to grip and cling to this rope.  A caveat here: A rope in the hands should not be regarded as the rope. It needs deliberation to avert this ugly blunder.

As we are closing, each one of us has to decide between interpretation One or Two.

I distinctly recall as a young college student when I read about this interpretation while studying the Tafheem-a-Quran, my immediate reaction was “how can that be”. It confronts and runs counter to one of the fundamental approaches of Islam which I had learnt, I felt. There is obvious contradiction: freedom to non-Muslims as individuals but collectively they are subordinate and inferior to Muslims. It is a prescription for a state of perpetual armed conflict for humanity. Muslims ruled over Spain for almost seven centuries. Then what; driven out to the last man. This interpretation runs diametrically opposite to the current political phylosophy and world order.

Over to you ,for your choice.

……..and Allah knows best. 

May Allah Ta’aala bless us with true understanding–“fahm”–of our Deen, Aameen.

Dr. Khalid Mitha