The Family in Islam

Author’s Introduction

‘The family in Islam’ is the name of this short book, which I have written as a basic guide to an important aspect of life, which the laws of the West in Islamic countries have worked at destroying and continue to do so. I have witnessed from beginning to end a half-century of family matters and what I see latterly bears little or no resemblance to what I saw formerly. With the adoption by Muslims of Western laws, both their religion and their worldly life have disappeared, as Allah says in His book the Qur’an: ‘They lose both this world and the next: That is indeed the manifest loss.’1 Many Muslims, and not least their governments, have welcomed the West and lapped up its laws thinking that this was a path to liberation from the tyranny of the Ottoman and Qajar empires whose flawed Islam and complete isolation after the fall of their governments towards the West have been witnessed. They bring to mind the words of the poet:

‘He who seeks refuge in ‘Amr on being tortured is like one seeking refuge in fire from the burning sun’.

‘I complained about ‘Amr and when I left him and found other neighbours I wept for ‘Amr’.

There is no doubt that the Ottoman and Qajar empires acted out with the range of Islam and for this reason, the countries of Islam fell under the control of the West and the East. But there is also no doubt that the parable for Muslims in this respect became the example of the Ummayads and the Abbasids, as the poet also says: ‘Ah would that the tyranny of the sons of Marwan2 return to us, And would that the justice of the sons of ‘Abbas3 never was’.

Muslims had thus become an embodiment of one who has ‘forgotten both the paths'. For they were, under the Ummayads and the ‘Abbasids, diminished in matters of religion and of earthly life, but under the auspices of the West and the East, they were, except in a very few circumstances, completely bereft of both spheres. Allah alone knows how much we can bear of oppression and repression and deviation from His laws until the correct Islamic situation returns to us. However, we should realise that this return is not possible without awareness. By awareness we mean awareness of the laws of Islam, from the notion of ‘a single community without geographical borders’, through to fraternity whereby every Muslim in any province of Islam is treated in all his affairs as if he is from that province, and freedom, whereby every thing is free except that which is prescribed as illegal, through to all the other vital Islamic laws so profusive in number.

Each law in Islam is a vital entity promoting life, as the Qur’anic verse says: 'Respond to Allah and His messenger when He calls you to that which will enliven you'.4

This awareness, however, will only occur when Muslims have come together in organisations and political parties and groups whereby they will be in a state of utmost realism and direction, integrity and moral rectitude. Thus Allah may surround Muslims with His kindness and salvage them from this abyss the like of which they have not fallen into from the first light of Islam until this century. This is because Allah only conducts affairs by providing the ways and means to them. As He says in His book in the story of ‘Dhul-Qarnain5’, repeatedly: ‘Then he followed a way'6, or as happened to the people of Israel when they went against His commands, He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years. The aforesaid requires continuous effort and enduring patience. Do we not see that the Khums tax, given its importance, is only mentioned in the Qur’an once7, while the word ‘perseverance’ and its derivatives are mentioned seventy times. In the hadith or tradition of the prophet it is said: “As a part of faith, patience has the station of the head in relation to the body. Just as there is no good in a body without a head, there is no good in a faith that is not accompanied by patience”.

If then we work towards this and call upon Allah night and day, then it is hoped that the greatness of Muslims will be returned to them along with their independence and autonomy. Allah alone grants success and is the sole refuge.

The Holy City of Qum, Muhammad Shirazi 8th Jamadi-II, 1415 Hijra.