LAST Thursday, Muslims all around the world commemorated the birthday of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad bin Abdullah.
His birth was a blessing to all mankind as the teaching of Islam is now being practised by over 1.1 billion people worldwide.
Many lessons can be learnt from this great man. His character was exemplary. His wife, Aishah, once said that Muhammad’s character is the Quran.
The Prophet’s mannerism and traits are reflected in the teaching found in the Holy Book.
Prophet Muhammad was also a great leader. Much has been written about his leadership skills.
This writer would like to focus on one aspect of the Prophet’s style of administration and leadership approach which is rarely, if ever, discussed, that is of “positive status quoism.”
The basic principle of Islamic activism is displaying restraint in adverse situations and forbearing from any negative reaction.This is clearly stated in verse 35 of Surah al-Ahqaf of the Quran to the effect that: “Therefore patiently persevere, as did (all) apostles of inflexible purpose; and be in no haste about the unbelievers.”
In other words, when confronted with unfavourable situations, actions to be taken should be based on the sociopolitical reality whereby no emotional move is taken.
Without actually meddling with the predominant state of affairs, one should instead try to ascertain the opportunities from the situation and benefit from these opportunities.
Challenging the status quo would, more often than not, result in a negative starting point for any kind of activism.
Antithetically, putting faith in the status quo and benefitting from the present opportunities would bring a positive starting point.
This is what Wahiduddin Khan calls “positive status quoism.”
A complete machination of positive status quoism can be traced in the biography of the Prophet of Islam.
Prophet Muhammad received his first prophetic call in 610AD in the city of Mecca.
The city was then dominated by idol-worshippers. The Prophet was, on the other hand, an upholder of monotheism.
Nonetheless, he did not upset the status quo. Instead he used whatever opportunities available to him.
The Kaabah was then the centre for the people of Mecca, where daily meetings were held.
The Prophet began to treat these gatherings for the purpose of dakwah. He visited the Kaabah daily and, rather than intruding on the idol-worshippers, he would recite Quranic verses to them.
This peaceful approach attracted many people to Islam and brought many positive results to the Prophet.
The calm environment, which was quintessential for dakwah activities, remained uninterrupted in Makkah.
As a result of the inspiring success of his dakwah efforts, the increasingly worried idol-worshippers issued a death warrant on the Prophet 13 years after his prophethood.
When the Prophet heard this, he did not seek either to repeal the decision of the Meccans or initiate a demonstration.The course of action he took was to quietly migrate to Yathrib (which was later renamed Medina).
Even after arriving in Medina, the Prophet did not plan any countermeasures. Rather, he focussed on the task of dakwah.
This was another illustration of positive status quoism. By evading a direct showdown with the status quo, the Prophet benefitted in that he found another avenue to proceed with his peaceful movement.
The community of Medina consisted of the Muslims (the Muhajirin from Mecca and the Ansar of Medina), the idol-worshippers and the Jews.
Welcoming the social equilibrium as it was, the Prophet instituted a system based on plurality, which was the first of its kind.
Under this unique system, Medina was a city-state with the Prophet as the head of state.
The other communities were granted the right to lead their lives and decide their disputes in accordance with their respective religions, beliefs and cultures.This is yet another classic example of status quoism as practised by the Prophet.
The result of this strategy was phenomenal. The initially multi-cultural society progressively metamorphosed into a united uni-cultural society.
The Meccans, meanwhile, did not put an end to their animosity towards the Prophet.
They launched two major battles, Badar and Uhud, against the Muslims. These wars disturbed the peaceful atmosphere needed to accomplish dakwah activities.Consequently, the Prophet negotiated with the Meccans and, accepting all their terms unilaterally, entered into a 10-year peace covenant, known as the Hudaibiyyah Treaty.
Many of the Prophet’s companions protested against this lopsided treaty but his wisdom prevailed.Again this was another excellent example of positive status quoism. While the terms of the Meccans seemed skewed and biased on the surface, the Prophet succeeded in utilising opportunities for dakwah under the existing status quo.
This resulted in a victory as stated in the first verse of Surah al-Fath of the Quran to the effect that: “Verily We have granted thee a manifest victory.”
After the Prophet’s death, the question of who should be chosen as the head of state was raised. This was decided with the aid of the Prophet’s own words: “The head of state will be selected from amongst the Quraish.”
This appeared to be a strange injunction as the teaching of Islam clearly stated that all mankind are equal.
This guideline seemed to be an apparent discrimination.
But, far from being a case of discrimination, this prophetic injunction was actually based on the sociopolitical reality of that time.
As a matter of fact, over the centuries, the Quraish had acquired the position of leadership in Hijjaz (present-day Saudi Arabia).
Any upset to this status quo would have resulted in insurmountable uncertainties.
This was the underlying reason that the Prophet advised the Muslims to accept the existing political system.
In due course with this wise policy, the unity of the Muslims had endured and, at the same time, dakwah efforts proceeded unobstructed even after the Prophet’s death.
Positive status quoism is thus viewed as a permanent and practical policy of Islam in sociopolitical matters.
Looking at our present state of affairs, it is, perhaps, wise for us to seriously study “positive status quoism” as practised by Prophet Muhammad.
We can learn much from this great man by analysing his way of thinking, particularly with regard to his sociopolitical pragmatism.
This way, we will not just regard the birth of Prophet Muhammad as another holiday in the calendar.Instead, we can translate his thinking into purposeful and practical actions for the betterment of our society.