AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL COHESION AND ITS CLASSIC DEMONSTRATION BY THE SOCIETY OF MEDINA

Abstract

Although social cohesion is a discourse of present-day social sciences yet its exemplary manifestation can be witnessed in the Society of Median where warring tribes of Yathrib turned into brothers and exhibited the spirit of sharing all living means – food, shelter, clothing and beyond with the emigrants of Mecca, a unique ‘social merger’ which does not bear its example in the world history. Social cohesion of Medina reached its climax when the needy faithful preferred others over their own genuine needs and thus merited mention of this trait with praise by Almighty in His book al-Quran. This article aims to explore the modern concept of social cohesion and its classical demonstration in the society of Medina. The study also attempts to analyze the golden principles and precedents upon which the social cohesion was developed by the Prophet of Arabia and to relate those precepts with the contemporary Muslim societies in particular, so that they can benefit from the model of the seventh century which gave birth to a civilization, equally flourished in spiritual and temporal domains, a feature which distinguishes it from all other civilizations of the world.