(M) RELIGION OF THE SANCTITY OF LABOUR
In Islam, all honest labour is sacred and forms the life-blood of human progress. "For man is naught but what he strives for," says the Holy Qur’an, and "the labourer is the beloved of God," says the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!). Thus "idleness" is a sin and "industry" is a virtue in Islam.

(N) RELIGION OF THE HIGHEST IDEALISM IN ETHICS
Islam lays the foundation of ethics on "submission to the Divine will" and gives to humanity the ethical ideal of imitating the Divine Attributes, even as we have been exhorted by the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!) who says: "Imbue yourselves with Divine Attributes."

"The highest form of religious ethic," observes Sir Richard Gregory, "is that in which the aim of conduct is complete and implicit obedience to what is conceived to be the Will of God …(this obedience) may become a joyous and spontaneous acceptance of a mode of life, such as it is conceived would be consonant with the nature of God, subject to such limitations of the flesh as are ineradicable – the ideal of saintliness. Hence arises the desire for uprightness as end-in-itself; either with a view to reward, if not in this world, in the next, or pursued selflessly for its own sake. This concept of religious ethic has led to the highest idealism in human conduct." (Religion in Science and Civilisation, p. 63).

(O) RELIGION OF PEACE AND GOODWILL
The world "Salam", which means "peace", has close root-affinity with the word "Islam". Thus the concept of PEACE forms an integral part of the world ISLAM itself. Indeed, this concept permeates the Islamic religion through and through. For, God, according to the Holy Qur’an, is As-Salam, i.e. (the Source of) peace"; a Muslim’s Salutation, which embodies the ideal of Muslim life, is As-Salam-o -alaikum, i.e., "Peace be unto you"; and the abode of the righteous, towards which the Holy Qur’an invites humanity, is Dar-us-Salam, i.e., "the Abode of Peace".One of the ideals of Muslim life, therefore, is the attainment of peace on all fronts --- peace with self through harmonious self-realisation, peace with fellow creatures through the maintenance of the basic attitude of Goodwill, and peace with God through submission to the Divine Will.

(P) RELIGION OF STRUGGLE (JIHAD)
The Islamic concept of Peace is not, however, utopian, For, Islam is a practical religion par excellence –a religion of Struggle (Jihad) --- and does not, therefore, prescribe any course of action which is unnatural or impracticable. Thus, for instance, in international relations, although basically committed to the promotion of Peace and Goodwill, Islam does allow the participation of Muslims in war when it becomes morally inevitable – when no other course remains open for safeguarding justice, nay, peace itself.The word "Jihad", which has been maligned much by the evil-minded misrepresenters of Islam in connection with the wars of Islamic history, means "struggle" and, according to Islam, it is of two kinds: (1) Struggle for subjugating one’s lower self to the higher self. This is the higher form of "Jihad" and its function is purely spiritual: (2) Struggle for defeating the forces of evil on the collective plane. This is the collective Jihad.The collective Jihad may, again, be either of a peaceful character, namely, propagation of Islam and its establishment in the collective life of the people through preaching and reform, or it may be in the form of war against an aggressor.

The Islamic permission of war is basically for defensive purposes. And not only does Islam rule out all immoral impulses to war but it also lays down a rigid ethics which in its sublimity and humanness surpasses all other ethics of war which humanity has ever known.

Says O. Houdas: " … The Qur’an states: ‘And fight for the cause of God against those who fight against you; but commit not the injustice of attacking them first; verily God loveth not the unjust’ – S.II 190…… Jihad had to be waged to defend Islam against aggression… Once the war was terminated, the Muslims always displayed a great tolerance towards the conquered peoples, leaving them their legislation and religious beliefs." (La Grande Encyclopaedia, Tome 20,p. 1006)."In their wars of conquest," says E. Alexander Powell, "the Muslims exhibited a degree of toleration which put many Christian nations to shame." (The Struggle for Power in Moslem Asia, p. 48).

(Q) RELIGION OF "NO COMPULSION IN CONVERSION"
As regards forcible proselytisation, it has been explicitly banned by Islam with the Qur’anic declaration: "there is no compulsion in matters of faith", and the propaganda that Muslims went out into the world with the sword in one hand and the Qur’an in the other to convert the non-Muslims forcibly is a pure fabrication. Indeed, it is so utterly unfounded that even an enemy of Islam like Rev. Dr. O’Leary had to admit:"History makes it clear that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races, is one of the most absurd myths that the historians have ever repeated". (Islam at the Croos-Roads, page 8).

(R) RELIGION OF BROTHERHOOD
Islam inculcates the love of God’s creation in general and of the human family, in particular. "The best of you is he who is best to God’s family (i.e., humanity)," says the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!) Islam regards humanity as ‘one Fraternity inside which it affirms the existence of the "Islamic Brotherhood", wherein all distinctions of caste and tribe, race and colour, language and territory are superseded and obliterated, and which has been allotted the function of acting as the servant of, and the torch-bearer of Divine Guidance for, the larger Human Brotherhood.Side by side with the code of conduct meant to be observed within the circle of Islamic Brotherhood Islam also gives a definite code of Human Love which relates to the dealings of Muslims with the larger human society.

"The brotherhood of Muhammadanism," says Dr. Leither, "is no mere word. All believers are equal and their own high-priest." (Muhammadanism. P.18).
The Dutch Orientalist Snouck Hurgronje observes: "The ideal of a League of Human Races has been approached by Islam more nearly than by any other ideology; for the League of nations founded on Hazrat Muhammad’s religion takes the principle of the equality of all human race so seriously as to put other communities to shame." (Muslim World Today).

(S) RELIGION OF SPIRITUAL DEMOCRAY
In the sphere of worship, Islam stands for the establishment of direct relation between God and human being without the mediation of any priest. Every Muslim man and woman is, therefore, his or her own priest or priestess.

It is wrong to regard the scholars (Ulama) or the leaders (Imams) of congregational prayers in the mosques as priests. Any good Muslim who knows Islam can lead the prayers, while the ‘Ulama’ are simply scholars and experts of Islamic knowledge and merely fulfil a responsibility which rests on the shoulders of the entire Islamic Brotherhood. For, Islam wants every Muslim man and woman to be a scholar of its teachings, unlike, for instance, Hinduism, where those belonging to the caste of Brahmins alone possess this privilege.Rev.W.Wilson Cash, the famous Christian missionary and hostile critic of Islam, had to confess: "Islam endowed its people with a dignity peculiarly its own… Direct access to God makes one of the strong appeals of Islam" (The Expansion of Islam p. 177).

(T) RELIGION OF HUMAN DIGNITY
Problem of Slavery
By emphasizing freedom as the birthright of all human beings, by proclaiming human equality without distinctions of caste, colour or clime, by denying the sin-innate theory and all other theories of the evil origin of mankind by affirming that the progeny of Adam is the noblest creation of God, by raising humanity to the status of the Vicegerency of God on earth, by making imitation of the Divine Attributes the ethical ideal of mankind, and by pointing out the conquest of the universe as the human destiny, Islam has established human dignity on the loftiest pinnacle conceivable.

Humanity was suffering in various ways because of the wrong notions held by pre-Islamic cultures and religions about human dignity, when Islam appeared. Cruelty was being perpetrated in the name of caste, tribe and race, large masses of humanity had been reduced to the status of serfs, and slavery, which had been an age-old institution, was being practiced by various races and peoples of Europe and Asia, including the Arabs, with the sanction of such scriptures as the Bible and without the least moral compunction. Islam raised its masculine voice of protest against all those evils and gave to the world a philosophy and a legislation which has made it the saviour of the downtrodden and the oppressed for all time.

Among the many misconceptions spread about Islam by its enemies, one is that which relates to slavery. For a proper appreciation of the role of Islam in the abolition of slavery, the reader is referred to the present writer’s "Islam and Slavery." Here, in this brief brochure, we might confine ourselves to the brief statement of a fair-minded non-Muslim scholar of the last century, who said: "His (i.e., Hazrat Muhammad’s) law of slavery is, ‘If slaves come to you, you shall’ --- not imprison and then sell by public sale, though no claimant appears, as in the nineteenth century is the law of Christian England in her provinces, but, --- ‘redeem them, and it is forbidden to you to send them forth’ (Qur’an II, p.85). And this was a man standing up in the wilds of Arabia in the seventh century." (Westminster Review no. IX, p. 221).Even the hostile and biased Dutch critic of Islam, Prof. Snouck Hurgronje, had to say: "According to the Muhammadan principle, slavery is an institution destined to disappear."

(U) RELIGION OF RATIONAL SEX MORALITY

Problem of polygamy
The Islamic view of the fundamental equality of sexes has been already stated in the section on "Religion of Unity" and an impartial historical appreciation of the problem proves beyond all doubt that it was "Islam which removed the bondage in which women were held from the very dawn of human history and gave them a social standing and legal rights such as were not granted them in England till many centuries later." (Lady Evelyn Cobbold, in "Pilgrimage to Mecca"). But the widespread propaganda of the enemies of Islam in connection with polygamy necessitates a specific statement in that connection.

In the first instance, polygamy was not invented by Islam, nor was it made in any way obligatory. It had existed in pre-Islamic societies since time immemorial with the sanction of religion and had been practiced even by those who were accepted as holy personages as for instance, we find in the Old Testament. There it was governed by no law whatsoever, and so also it was in the Arabian society at the advent of Islam. What Islam did was to regulate it and to subject it to such severe restrictions as to make it prohibitive except in cases of emergency. Indeed, monogamy has been the ideal and polygamy only an exception in Muslim Society. This fact is fully borne out by the present as well as the past history of the Muslims and has been admitted by all fair-minded critics of Islam. For instance, William Kelly Wright says: "Most Mohammedans in all ages have had only one wife." (Philosophy of Religion, New York, 1935).

Islam is a natural religion and it takes a very serious view of sexual vices and social ills. Consequently, it was very natural for Islam to permit limited and restricted polygamy for the maintenance of social health in all those situations where it is the only natural remedy. For instance, when war alters the natural sex ratio, giving to women preponderance over men, there are only two alternatives, namely, widespread prostitution or polygamy. Islam prefers the latter to the former in the interests of moral health and social wellbeing of womanhood. Similarly, if the first wife is sterile or suffers from any incurable disease, there are only two possible alternatives, namely, either the first wife should be divorced and a fresh wife taken or she may continue in her status undisturbed along with a second wife. The former course would mean distressing, spinsterhood for the first wife while the latter course would provide to her an honourable normal life without temptation to evil. Polygamy can also become a necessity in a medically incurable case of the hypersexed male who, in most cases, would look to more than one woman for the satisfaction of his biological need. In all such cases, the Islamic permission of polygamy with all its responsibilities and restrictions would be a definitely healthier course than the hypocritical adherence to the formal monogamy.

Polyandry (i.e., the marriage of one woman with several husbands) is not permitted in Islam because psychologically it is unsound, sociologically it is impracticable and biologically it is most dangerous for the physical health of the persons concerned. Certain primitive tribes who practice polyandry are infected with the plague of venereal diseases.

Speaking on polygamy, Dr. Annie Besant says: "There is pretended monogamy in the West, but there is really polygamy without responsibility; the ‘mistress’ is cast off when the man is weary of her and sinks gradually to be the ‘woman of the street’, for the first lover has no responsibility for her future, and she is a hundred times worse off than the sheltered wife and mother in the polygamous home. When we see thousands of miserable women who crowed the streets of Western towns during the night, we must surely feel that it does not lie in western mouth to reproach Islam for polygamy. It is better for a woman, happier for a woman, more respectable for a woman, to live in polygamy, united to one man only, with the legitimate child in her arms, and surrounded with respect, than to be seduced, cast out into the streets, perhaps with an illegitimate child outside the pale of law, unsheltered and uncared for, to become the victim of any passer-by, night after night, rendered incapable of motherhood, despised of all."Another critic of Western social order observes: "The law of the state, based upon the dogma of the Church, which makes it a criminal offence for a man to marry more than one wife, by that same provision makes it illegal for millions of women to have husbands or to bear children…It is untrue that monogamy was advocated by Jesus Christ… whether the question is considered socially, ethically or religiously, it can be demonstrated that polygamy is not contrary to the highest standards of civilisation ….. The suggestion offers a practical remedy for the western problem of the destitute and unwanted female: the alternative is continued and increased prostitution, concubinage and distressing spinsterhood" (J.E. Clare McFarlane: Case for Polygamy).