FIRST MATTER

Since the elevated truth expressed by the above verse concerns social life, I have been compelled to write it in the tongue, not of the New Said, who wants to withdraw from social life, but of the Old Said, who was involved in the social life of Islam; it is written with the intention of serving the Qur’an of Mighty Stature and forming a shield against the unjust attacks against it.

SECOND MATTER

In order to explain the principle of "knowing and assisting each other" which the verse indicates, we say this:

An army is divided into divisions, the divisions into regiments, the regiments lnto battallions, companies, and then into squads, so that every soldier may know his many different connections and their related duties; then the members of the army may truly perform a general duty governed by the principle of mutual assistance, and their social life be guarded against the attacks of the enemy. This arrangement is not so that divided and split up, one company should compete with another, one battalion be hostile to another, and one division act in opposition to another.

In just the same way, Islamic Society as a whole is a huge army which has been divided into tribes and groups.