The Pact of the Virtuous
Abdullah ibn Judan, the chief of the Taym tribe and a member of one
the two great alliances of Meccan tribes, decided to invite to his home
all those who wanted to put an end to the conflicts and establish a
pact of honour and justice that would bind the tribes beyond alliances
based merely on tribal, political, or commercial interests. This alliance,
known as hilf al-fudul (the Pact of the Virtuous), was special
in that it placed respect for the principles of justice and support
of the oppressed above all other considerations of kinship or power.
Young Muhammad, like Abu Bakr, who was to become his lifelong friend,
took part in that historic meeting.
Long after Revelation had begun, Muhammad (peace be upon him) was to
remember the terms of that pact and say: "I
was present in Abdullah in Judan's house when a pact was concluded,
so excellent that I would not exchange my part in it even for a herd
of red camels; and if now, in Islam, I was asked to take part in it,
I would be glad to accept." This statement is of
particular significance for Muslims, and at least three major teachings
can be derived from it.
The first teaching is that the act of laying out those principles is
prior to and transcends belonging to Islam, because in fact
Islam and its message came to confirm the substance of a treaty
that human conscience had already independently formulated.
Here, the Prophet clearly acknowledges the validity of a principle of
justice and defence of the oppressed stipulated in a pact of the pre-Islamic
era.
The second teaching is no less essential: at a time when the message
was still being elaborated in the course of Revelation and of the Prophet's
experiences, he acknowledged the validity
of a pact established by non-Muslims seeking justice and the common
good of their society.
The third teaching is a direct consequence of this reflection: the
message of Islam is by no means a closed value system at variance or
conflicting with other value systems. Islam does not establish a closed
universe of reference but rather relies on a set of universal principles
that can coincide with the fundamentals and values of other beliefs
and religious traditions. Islam is a message
of justice that entails resisting oppression and protecting the dignity
of the oppressed and the poor, and Muslims must recognize
the moral value of a law or contract stipulating this requirement, whoever
its authors and whatever the society, Muslims or not.
Compiled From:
"In the Footsteps of the Prophet" - Tariq Ramadan, pp. 21-22
