107. Al-Ma'un/Small Kindnesses
I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah
The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.
107:01
a. Have you ever considered the one who denies and belies the coming of the Time of
Resurrection and Final Judgment?
107:02
a. He is the one who pushes away and mistreats the orphan,
107:03
a. and does not encourage or motivate others in feeding and clothing the needy.
107:04
a. So woe to those who Pray just out of custom,
107:05
a. but who – they are knowingly unmindful of the meanings and demands of their Salat//
Prayers,
107:06
a. who – they do some good but wish to be noticed and be considered pious and reverent,
107:07
a. and yet refuse to extend the smallest of kindness to ordinary people.
Almighty Allah commanded preserving the dignity of health and wealth of every Muslim. Islam too, emphasises protection of these very elements and guarantees protection of minority's rights in Muslim societies. This prohibits any one, who grabs the property of any other. Injunction of Holy Quran and hadith in this matter are very much clear, which are described in the following lines. The sacred shariah also issued severe punishment to siphon off the waye for these crimes against human dignity by maintaining fool proof surveillance at the doors of all such vulnerabilities. Even the Holy prophet, in his last surmon warned in these words: "Beware! Maintaining the dignity of your blood, property and respect is as important for you as the dignity of this month, this sity and this day (9th zilhaj). In the following discussion all these injunctions of Holy Quran and Hadith would be analyzed.
This analysis of the religious thought of the Indian subcontinent focuses upon the nature of earliest contacts between Islam and Hinduism and also discusses the early Hindu response and resistance to Islam and Muslims. These early contacts resulted in development of some theological and social issues within Hinduism; like the theological interpretation of destruction of age old deities and temples and defeat of Hindu rulers by the Muslim armies, issue of social interaction with the Muslims was a taboo for the Hindu society, likewise the development of monotheistic tendencies in the religious thought of Hindus. The Muslim theologians, intellectuals and Sufis interpreted, categorized and comprehended the religious beliefs and practices of Hindus in different ways. These interactions developed in much divergent ways over the centuries and there emerged a variety of ideological, theological, doctrinal and mystical tendencies as a result of these interactions. For an analysis of the nature of these tendencies the issue of religious freedom and conversion activity is discussed in detail. The religious thought of sixteenth century Indian Subcontinent presents an array of different sects and movements that developed as a result of Hindu-Muslim interactions. Some of the sects and movements that emerged as a result of convergence of Hindu- Muslim thought during the sixteenth century were attempts at synthesis between both Islamic and Hindu beliefs and practices while majority of these sects and movements were syncretistic. Synthesis and syncretism are used as two analytical categories; synthesis is an attempt at putting together of common elements while syncretism is an attempt to combine ideas that are disparate and may even be contrary to one another such as the notions of polytheism and monotheism.