Trusting Human Nature

During his 23-year movement, Prophet Muhammad brought about a revolution, which caused the entire political system of ancient times to be re-structured. But there was another event far greater than that and this took place at the level of human thought. People who had been idolaters prior to this revolution became monotheists; those who had been insolent became submissive, those whose thinking had been parochial became upholders of the international message; those who had known nothing but fighting and aggression became champions of peace and humanitarianism, spreading their message all over the world; those who had had no history of their own, rose to fashion a history of the nations of the world.

Now the question arises as to how the Prophet succeeded in bringing about this unique revolution. Again, the answer is that a huge amount of sacrifice was needed to bring it about. This sacrifice is what in today’s jargon we call as ‘taking risks.’ But the world is governed by the principle: the greater the risks the greater the success. Changing human beings is the most difficult task in this world. Therefore, one who aspires to do so cannot but imperil his own interests. As far as this world of cause and effect is concerned, Prophet Muhammad took the greatest of risks, and hence the success he achieved was also the greatest.

Here we present two examples to illustrate this point. The first example concerns the conquest of Makkah. The majority of the Makkans at the time of its conquest were still idolaters. These were the same people who had displayed the greatest antagonism towards the Prophet and his companions. They had expelled him and his companions from their homes. They had waged offensive battles against him. They had killed a large number of his companions and had made several attempts on his life. Their crimes were so great that the only fitting punishment according to the prevalent custom was to have all of them beheaded.

Their past crimes could be forgiven, but another danger lurked which was even greater: if these people were set free, they might re-organize themselves to plot against Islam and once again wage battles against the Muslims.

All these people were brought to the Kabah, the house of God. They stood there as if on the verge of death. But, instead of awarding punishment, the Prophet declared a general amnesty for all of them, saying, “Go, you are all free.” When the Prophet took such a great risk, he benefited equally as a result. This was setting an example of trust in human nature, although it had its dangers.

As a narrator puts it: “After this unexpected general amnesty, when these opponents came out of the House of God, they felt as if they had come out of their graves. And then all of them entered Islam.” (Sunan al-Kubara by Al-Baihaqi, Vol. 9, p. 199)

When these people came to Prophet Muhammad, after the conquest of Makkah, they were in a psychological state when death seemed certain; they felt sure that they were to be consigned to their graves. The moment the Prophet granted them pardon, it seemed as if they had been given a new lease of life. It was such a great favour to them that after this they could no longer remain obdurate, and psychologically it was no longer possible for them to remain insolent after such noble behaviour on the part of the Prophet. Ultimately, they all embraced the religion of the Prophet. The very people who had been the greatest of enemies now became his greatest companions and supporters. This is the most unique event in history, but this could come about only because the Prophet dared to take the most unique risk.

Another noteworthy incident which took place after the conquest of Makkah concerns the Hawazin tribe. The Prophet and his companions, heading for Taif by a route bordered by Hawazin settlements, avoided encounters with the tribesmen and did not so much as utter a word of criticism against them. Yet, when they were halfway along the floor of a valley running through Hawazin territory, the tribesmen rained down arrows upon them from the hilltops. At this sudden onslaught, the Muslims were stricken with panic. Many precious lives were lost. However, after an initial defeat, the Muslims won the battle. About 6,000 people were taken captive.

These prisoners of war, according to the prevalent custom, deserved the severest of punishment. Furthermore, their release again posed a severe threat to Islam. In this respect arriving at a decision to set them free was undoubtedly taking a great risk. But the Prophet of Islam did take this risk and liberated the prisoners without setting any conditions. They were even provided with mounts and provisions so that they might comfortably travel to their homes.

Again, the same miracle happened. They converted to Islam en masse. The truth is that the extraordinary magnanimity of the Prophet rid them entirely of their haughtiness.

There was no other path that they could have opted for: they had to accept the religion of the Prophet. Old enemies were now turned into friends.

In fact, if the deeds of the Prophet of Islam were to be subtracted from history, such examples would be eliminated, where not only the external political structure is transformed but also the very innermost recesses of human beings.

One important part of the sunnah of the Prophet of Islam is trust in human nature. We find examples of his following this principle throughout his entire life.

Man is not a statue made of stones. Rather he has a precious gift within him in the form of human nature. This nature is the most important part of a human personality. This is what is referred to in the Quran in the following verse:

By the soul and how He formed it, then inspired it to understand what was right and wrong for it. (The Quran, 91:7-8)

This shows that everyone by birth wants to know what is good and what is bad; what is wrong and what is right. This means that the dawah about to be presented by the dayee is already vaguely or unconsciously known to the madu. Therefore, when the dayee issues to man the call of truth, it is as if it is a known message for the madu and as if the dayee is trying to bring the message to the madu from the unconscious to the conscious.

This fact gives the dayee conviction that the message he is going to deliver to the madu had already been inculcated in his nature from the time of his birth. The madu, by his own inner nature, is compelled to acknowledge the truth. The realization of this fact saves the dayee from frustration. He is able to ignore the apparent recklessness or opposition on the part of the madu and continue to present the message with the conviction that, one-day or another, the madu will certainly welcome his words of wisdom.

The dawah life of the Prophet of Islam is replete with examples of such conviction and confidence. In spite of apparent antagonism, his conviction was never shaken, that one day or the other the hearts of his hearers would be opened, and their human nature would be compelled to accept the message.

That is the reason why, in spite of the worst opposition, he never cursed people who were apparently his enemies. Instead he always prayed for them. For instance, when Tufayl Ibn Amr Ad Dausi came to Makkah and accepted Islam, he was sent by the Prophet to his tribe to give them the call of Tawhid. Far from listening to him, they tormented him. Tufayl again came to the Prophet and said to him: ‘O Prophet, my tribe, the Daus has become an oppressor. So curse them.’ But the Prophet did not curse them. Instead he raised his hands and prayed in these words: ‘O God, give them guidance.’ (Seerah Ibn Hisham Vol. 1, p. 394)

After praying for them, the Prophet asked Tufayl to go back to his tribe and deal with them gently, in spite of their hardness towards him, and to be their well-wisher and speak to them reassuringly. The Prophet gave this advice, for he was convinced that the Daus tribe was no exception. They were also human beings like the others. They were also invested with the same God-given nature as others had. And it turned out that the Prophet had rightly trusted human nature. When Tufayl went back to his people and called them again to the call of monotheism, the miracle happened. Gradually all the men and women embraced the call of the faith of monotheism. Trust in human nature is a great sunnah of the Prophet of Islam, and we find examples of it in every stage of his life.

In the Madinan period when the call of Islam spread all over Arabia, delegations from different tribes in and around Arabia started coming to the Prophet and accepting Islam. One such incident of this period concerns the tribe of Thaqif. A delegation from this tribe came to Madinah in 9 AH. The Prophet of Islam conveyed to them the teachings of Islam. They were ready to accept Islam, but they insisted on many conditions being met. They said that they would say prayers, although it was an act of humiliation, but they would neither pay charity nor perform jihad. In spite of all these conditions, the Prophet accepted their oath of allegiance and admitted them into the fold of Islam.

Certain Muslims had reservations about this kind of conversion, but the Prophet said: After they have accepted Islam, they will pay charity as well as perform jihad (Seerah ibn Kathir, Vol. 4, p. 56).

If the Prophet of Islam had concentrated only on the utterances of the people of Thaqif, he would not have accepted their Islam. But the Prophet had full trust in human nature. Instead of seeing them in terms of the present, the Prophet saw them as they would be in the future. His estimate was proved entirely right. The people of Thaqif took no time in accepting and practicing all Islam’s teachings willingly and wholeheartedly.

It was a result of this policy that the Prophet never felt the need to resort to violence against opponents. He treated his enemies as if they were his friends. That is why for the first time in human history he was able to bring about an almost bloodless revolution throughout the whole nation.

The Quran tells us that God created all human beings with the same nature. “And follow the nature [constitution] as made by God, that nature in which He has created mankind. There is no altering the creation of God.” (The Quran, 30:30).

This same point has been made in a Hadith in these words: “Every child is born according to nature.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 1385)

There is another Hadith to this effect: “God has created human beings with an upright nature.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2865) This shows that all human beings are born with the same nature. There is no person in whom enmity to the truth has become an inseparable part of his nature.

From the dawah point of view, this is an extremely important reality. It means that if the dayee finds that some people are his antagonists and others his friends, then he should not consider this difference to be a real one. Trusting the nature man is born with; the dayee must think along the lines that if some people are his direct supporters, others who appear to be antagonists are his potential supporters. This thinking gives enormous hope to a dayee. He nurtures in his heart the same well-wishing for his opponent as he feels towards his friend. He is able to address his apparent enemies cool-mindedly, and without losing his balance, until the time comes when his enemies turn into his friends. This is the reality pointed out in the Quran:

Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is better; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend. (The Quran, 41: 34)

An enemy becoming a friend does not mean that earlier he was fire, then he became water. The truth is that he was water already, only some superficial layers had obscured his true personality. The dayee manages with his unilateral good behaviour to remove these superficial layers. After that the real man within comes out. And, at the level of the real, inner personality, every human being is predisposed to truth. No one is averse to it as far as his nature is concerned.

The Prophet of Islam availed of the services of non-Muslims many times in his life. After the death of Abu Talib, when he was deprived of the patronage of his tribe, he approached different tribes to seek their support, in spite of the fact that they were idolaters. Then after his return from Taif, he managed to enter Makkah once again under the patronage of Mutim ibn Adi, a leader of an idolatrous tribe. In his journey to Madinah, he chose a mushrik (idolater) Abdullah ibn Urayqit as his guide. There are many such incidents of this nature, which show that the Prophet repeatedly trusted non-Muslims and sought their help. Dividing people into friends and enemies is against the sunnah of the Prophet and against human nature as well.

A study of seerah shows that trusting human nature is a permanent principle of Islam. According to Islam the words uttered by people, or even their activities, are not worthy of great consideration. For all these things are ephemeral. While dealing with people, the actual factor worth considering is human nature. Man is basically subordinated to the temperament he is born with. All other things are only of a temporary nature. They do not enjoy the position of a decisive element in the matter of human behaviour.

This sunnah of the Prophet shows that in both individual or social affairs, we must always ignore superficial factors. It is the demand of human nature which has to be given the greatest importance and making concessions to it is a sure guarantee of all kinds of success.

If an individual or a group becomes provoked, then this provocation is not worthy of real consideration. What should be considered is that, despite apparent provocation, man’s nature should continue to remain unchanged.

In such a situation, if we are able to give concessions to human nature by avoiding provocation, problems will ultimately solve themselves. The provocation will vanish on its own and then what will be left will be the element of humanity, which is the nature with which God created us.