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Islam as a Religion of Humanity : The Impact of Weak Bargaining Power of Islamic Political Instituti

Agama | Wednesday, 19 Jul 2023, 14:16 WIB

Islam is the religion of rahmatan lil'alamanin, which means that the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad as the perfection of human morality, which at that time was at the peak of severe chaos. Even in the Al-Quran it is mentioned that the situation of the world is damaged on land and sea (dzahara al-fasad fi al-barr wa al-bahr), manifest in misguidance (dlalalin mubin), dark-hearted (fi dzulumat), stupidity (jahiliyah), hostile (' ada'an), being on the edge of the abyss of hell (ala syafa hufratin min al naar), and so on so that Allah SWT sent a caliph on earth to be able to manage this natural world better and with compassion. The Prophet Muhammad carried out this mandate according to the Word of Allah SWT in surah Al-Anbiya 107 which states that: "We did not send you (Muhammad) except as a mercy for the whole world". Through this verse it is stated that Allah SWT raised the rank of the Prophet Muhammad to change the world order which was full of suffering into a life full of grace.

In interpreting the meaning of 'grace' must be very broad. Grace can mean favors, mercy, sustenance, a soft heart, peace, and so on. As a Messenger of Allah, there are many things that need to be corrected and perfected regarding human morals that have exceeded the limit. Therefore, to unite Muslims around the world, it is necessary to form strong bonds of brotherhood like blood relations. Then the term lil'alamin also has a broad meaning. Lil'alamin covers the entire world and its contents such as humans, animals, plants, even the jinn. Humans are related to how they carry out their daily life activities such as in the fields of politics, economics, social, culture, security, even with international relations. So that Islam is not only interpreted as a religion that examines the hereafter, but also all the elements in the world.

Allah SWT created humans to always do good wherever and to anyone without discriminating against ethnicity, religion, race, and culture. The Messenger of Allah was also sent to the world not only for Muslims or Arabs, but for all mankind to be tolerant of one another, not to bring each other down, and to love one another. Al-Islam is believed to be an ideal religion to become an inspiration and a life goal because it contains the deepest principles of peace and tranquility. But unfortunately, sometimes there are many Muslims who claim to be Muslim but have behaviors that do not represent their beliefs. This has implications for the perspective of other people towards Islam which is only seen based on the cover of its followers :

If viewed from the personality of the Prophet who is referred to as the bearer of a peace mission and truly represents Islamic teachings, then there are the following aspects:

1. Rationality

Many people think that the Prophet was able to win all the wars he went through because he was solely rahmatan lil'alamin who became God's lover so it was easy for him to do anything whether it was reasonable or beyond reason, without any effort, and it worked miraculously. Of course, this assumption is wrong because after all, the Messenger of Allah is also an ordinary human being and all the struggles that the Prophet did were the result of his efforts, hard work, prayer, and his reliance, which believes that Allah will surely help every servant who is in trouble and strives in the right way. Even the Prophet had lost the battle of Uhud because his troops were so complacent with the spoils of war and ignored the leader's orders. This proves that the Prophet's struggles have been very rational in accordance with how his efforts were. Other humans can follow in his footsteps if they believe in God Almighty.

2. Intelligence

One of the proofs of rahmatan lil'alamin Rasulullah is his intelligent role model. His intellectual ability is able to analyze and solve problems that most other people don't have. Rasulullah can do accurate decision making and realize the interests of his group. For example, in the event of the Hudaibiyah Agreement where he was able to make a policy when the contents of the agreement were deemed to be too detrimental to Muslims and to benefit the Quraysh infidels unilaterally. However, it turned out that the Muslims won the war, so that the Quraysh infidels were scared and the Prophet's troops were able to enter Mecca safely (Fath Al-Makkah). This proves the intelligence of the Prophet to bring mercy to Muslims.

3. Balance and equanimity, spirituality, morals, and reason

In making a decision must have a balance between the heart and mind. The Messenger of Allah himself had a calm personality and was not in a hurry to act because everything he wanted to say verbally was first carefully thought out by common sense, considered with his heart, and when it was appropriate then it was decided. This will minimize the occurrence of errors and regrets at the end of the action. This proves that what the Prophet issued always brings grace to his people.

Of the three things above, we as humans, especially Muslims, can learn and imitate the example of the Prophet Muhammad and apply it in everyday life, such as work ethic, never give up, trust, and so on. When viewed from the point of view of the western nation, the good and bad of Islam depends on how the character of its followers. Therefore, do not let the consequences of our own behavior worsen other people's views of our religion. There is a lot of bad stigma from western nations who are anti-Islam saying that Islam is a terrorist religion, radical, too strict, old-fashioned, curbs freedom, and only focuses on worship without caring about the human aspect.

In fact, Islam can also be studied as a social and political movement, especially in the context of international relations. Islam can create a massive movement that can shift western dominance on the world stage, especially western politics related to liberalism and capitalism. For example, when studying a case of conflict management, besides looking at it from the perspective of international relations theories such as realism and liberalism, Islam also uses the approach of morality, fiqh, Al-Qur'an and Hadith. Of course, the combination and interconnection of international law and Islamic law will produce a better output in a decision making process.

Author: Alya Maharani (Student of International Relations 2020 Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta)