Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 55
55 Explanatory Notes This wonderful Hadith is a compendium of the philosophy of brotherhood and the philosophy of ethics. The philosophy of brotherhood postulates that a brother should be helped be he the oppressor or the oppressed; brotherliness is not a value that can be ignored or omitted in any circumstances. One who is our brother is always deserving of help: being the guilty or the injured party does not affect his right to receive help. As against this, the philosophy of morality postulates that whether we have to deal with a brother or a stranger, it is our duty in any case to cleanse this world of all injustice and vice and to establish virtue and justice. If a person happens to be a stranger, it does not mean that we are free to do him wrong, and if someone is our brother, it would not mean that we should, therefore, abet his injustice and be his accessories. Superficially, the two postulates appear to be out of harmony and in conflict with one another. If a wrongdoing brother is not aided, bonds of brotherhood break down. And if the wrongdoing brother is helped, justice goes by the board. But our chief (May my life be dedicated to his service) linked together these two parallel channels that do not apparently seem to meet. He linked the two by means of an intermediary channel in such a manner that they now flow like a single stream. He observed, in effect, that brotherhood was such a holy relationship that there was no cutting it asunder, under any circumstances: whether a brother is good or bad, an oppressor or oppressed, he remains a brother always, and there is no cutting off brotherly ties. But the God of Islam would not permit injustice and enjoins equity even to enemies. Therefore, the two postulates should be so harmonised that help should be rendered to the brother in any case but, if the brother is an oppressor, the form of help should be changed. If he is the oppressed party, stand by him to fight injustice,