the concept of Ummah & the theory of Assabiya

Ummah (Arabic: أمة‎) is an Arabic word meaning “community” or “nation”. In the context of Islam, the word Ummah is used to mean the “Community of the Believers” (ummat al-mu’minin), and thus it encompasses the entire Islamic world.  Prophet Muhammad   is the founder of the ummah as he is the one who inaugurated Islam.

 The term takes on a religious connotation in the Qur’an where God is said to have sent to each Ummah its own messenger. The messengers given special guidelines to their followers and founders of an Ummah are Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Jews are an Ummah based on the Torah which God gave to Moses, Christians an Ummah based on the Injil (gospel) which God gave to Jesus, and Muslims an Ummah based on the Qur’an, which God “sent down” to Muhammad. The three fold consensus of its members is required to form Ummah. They are consensus of the mind, consensus of the heart, and consensus of arms. The consensus of minds is members of the society share the same view of reality leads to the formation of ummah.    The consensus of hearts is members should share the same values to form ummah & the consensus of arms is members realize their values.
 Allah said in His Holy Quran:-

“To every ummah was sent a Messenger: when their Messenger comes before them, the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not be wronged. (10:47)

Mankind was one single ummah. And Allah sent Messengers with glad tidings and warnings; and with them He sent the Book in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein they differed; For Allah guides whom He will to a path that is straight. (2:213)

If Allah so willed, He could make you all one Ummah: but He leaves straying whom He pleases, and He guides whom He pleases: but you shall certainly be called to account for all your actions. (16:93)
Abu Hurairah narrated that Rasulullah (sal Allahu alaihi wasallam) said: “Everyone of my Ummah will enter Jannah except those who refuse & disobeys me”. [Al-Bukhari]  

The Prophet (peace be upon him) Said: "My intercession is for my community." "My community will come forth bright and radiant."

Ummah is a group of people that live together because of living in the same place at the same time through their own will or as a result of an obligation and following the same religion. Most of the scholars use the word ummah for the people who follow the same religion, that is, Muslims.  

The people on the way of kufr are an ummah and the people who believe in Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and follow his way are an ummah.

What Is Ibn Khaldun’s Theory of Asabiyyah

According to the  Arab-English Lexicon, the term ‘Asabiyyah emerged from the word “ta’asub” which literally means “bounding the turban round head”. Thus,  ‘Asabiyyah which refers to the action of ones in helping his people or his group against any aggressive action, the quality of a person who is angry for the sake of his group and protecting them, the action of ones who invites others to help his group, facing those who act hostility towards them whether they are wrongdoers or wronged, the action of an individual who associate with others or of him who protects others or  partisanship and a strong association with holds numbers of person closely bound based on the same interest and opinion...” .In the saying of the Prophet, ‘Asabiyyah was explained by him as “helping your own people in an unjust cause”, where the Prophet says, “He is not of us who proclaims the cause of tribal partisanship and he is not of us who fights in the cause of tribal partisanship; and he is not of us who dies in the cause of tribal partisanship” .When the Prophet was asked by the Companions about the meaning of ‘Asabiyyah (tribal partisanship), he explained :“(It means) your helping your own people in an unjust cause” .Interestingly, the term ‘Asabiyyah used by IbnKhaldun in his theory of social development has been translated in various ways by recent scholars.

Ibn Khaldun uses the term Asabiyyah to describe the bond of cohesion among humans in a group forming  community.  The bond, Asabiyyah, exists at any level of civilization, from nomadic society to states and empires.  Asabiyyah is most strong in the nomadic phase, and decreases as civilization advances. As this Asabiyyah declines, another more compelling Asabiyyah may take its place; thus, civilizations rise and fall, and history describes these cycles of Asabiyyah as they play out.

Ibn Khaldun argues that each dynasty or civilization has within itself the seeds of its own downfall. He explains that ruling houses tend to emerge on the peripheries of great empires and use the much stronger `asabiyya present in those areas to their advantage, in order to bring about a change in leadership. This implies that the new rulers are at first considered "barbarians" by comparison to the old ones. As they establish themselves at the center of their empire, they become increasingly lax, less coordinated, disciplined and watchful, and more concerned with maintaining their new power and lifestyle at the centre of the empire the `asabiyya, dissolves into factionalism and individualism, diminishing their capacity as a political unit. Thus, conditions are created wherein a new dynasty can emerge at the periphery of their control, grow strong, and effect a change in leadership, beginning the cycle anew.

Khaldun's central concept of ‘Asabiyyah, or "social cohesion", seems to anticipate modern conceptions of social capital arising in social networks.

This cohesion arises spontaneously in tribes and other small kinship groups; and it can be intensified and enlarged by a religious ideology. Khaldun's analysis looks at how this cohesion carries groups to power but contains within itself the seeds - psychological, sociological, economic, political - of the group's downfall, to be replaced by a new group, dynasty or empire bound by a stronger cohesion.

Mahbub Ratul
Jagannath University (JnU)
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