York University, Canada, 4th Year Student
The urbanization of any city is important but what are the most important components of urbanization? Among the most important components to urbanizing any city are the following: peace, prosperity, reproduction, and multiculturalism. When it comes to peace, it goes without saying that safety is paramount. This is because if land becomes a warzone or a siege takes place then everything else that happens in that city is forced to stop and as a result, it is forced to focus on its own preservation.
Another important issue when it comes to establishing a city is prosperity. The reason prosperity is important is that it is not enough to have a city be safe and nothing going on. For instance, a city needs to have different activities taking place such as work, school, and hospital as well as food, drink, and shelter. Without these things then the reproduction system of any city would either come to a halt or enter into a state of extinction.
The reproduction system of any city is defined by the strength of its infrastructure, economic production, the sustaining of its labor force which in turn helps in its reproduction because it is not enough to produce a city and expect it to flourish without having a strong reproduction system in place to ensure its own preservation. For instance, Abraham Maslow mentioned in his work the hierarchy of needs, that for a one to reach the extent of its potential certain needs must be met. The most basic of them are physiological and safety needs. The purpose is, for the goal of self–actualization to be reached, basic issues must be taken care of and if they are not then it will not be long until the infant city goes into a state of extinction.
However, one of the things that facilitate the reproduction system of a city is multiculturalism. This is due to the fact, that one of the best ways for a city to have a strong reproduction system is for it to be multicultural. That is because one of the primary benefits of a multicultural city is the importing and exporting of its products/services which automatically helps its economy thus keeping its reproduction system strong.
Now the Qur’an (2:126) speaks on this issue in the following verse: “And remember when Ibrahim (Abraham) said: “O! My Lord, make this city (i.e., Makkah) a place of security and provide its people with fruits as for those of them who believe in Allah and the Last Day.” He (Allah) answered: “As for him who disbelieves, I shall supply him in but a little (as long as he is alive because his life is very short compared to the next life), then I shall compel him to the punishment of the Fire, and worst indeed is that destination!”
This verse speaks on many points when it comes to the establishment of any city. However, before mentioning these points, I will mention that the word “when” in this verse is specifically used to mention an incident that took place in the past. Moving forward, as mentioned before Ibrahim asked his lord for a few things, the first of them is safety and security as mentioned “make this city (Makkah) a place of security” because as mentioned before without safety a city could either fall into a state of extinction or enter into a screeching halt. The next thing that Ibrahim asked his lord was for this infant city to have prosperity as mentioned “provide its people with fruits” which has a few meanings.
The first of them is that the word “provide” in this verse is not only limited to food, drink, or shelter but also includes in it a system in which the city reproduces itself as the word “fruits” in this verse is not only referring to things harvested from planting, but it refers to the results. For instance, results may refer to its own production, infrastructure, labor force as well as the strength of its economic system. However, he only wanted this for those who followed his religion as stated “any from among them as believe in Allah and the Last Day” because he did not want to take responsibility for those who had a different religion from him.
Nonetheless, his lord decided to allow everyone to benefit from a city with all the
ositive characteristics regardless of religion thus proving the multicultural nature of the city as mentioned “as for him who disbelieves, I shall supply him but a little, then I shall compel him to the punishment of the Fire, and worst indeed is that destination” the word “supply” in this verse refers to utilities that people need in their everyday life such as food, drink, shelter transportation and other services used in the city.
It has been seen that some of those who are not Muslim benefit more from the services of a city than Muslims themselves as the ratio of wealth between those who follow Islam and those who do not follow Islam are disproportionate. In this case, the lord did not promise much to the one who disbelieved but instead, He over–delivered due to His generosity despite being reciprocated with the worst of manners. Despite all this, the reason he mentioned “but a little” in this verse is that compared to the life to come, the life of this world is very little. So much so that it is compared to less than even a wing of a mosquito.
In conclusion, the Quran answers the question of whether the issue of urbanization of a city is mentioned. It also speaks about the elements of a city such as peace, prosperity, reproduction, and multiculturalism. However, this article only speaks about the urbanization of a city in its infant stages. Hopefully, the future articles may elaborate more on the topic of how this Qur’an relates to urbanizing a city.
