Islam: An Idea!
Of course no Muslim could accept Islam merely as an idea. As the survey itself
mentions, Islam is based on the "word of God, revealed syllable by syllable
to Muhammad fourteen hundred years ago" (p.4 c.2). Thus it is no mere idea,
rather it is the idea, the ideology, the truth, exclusive of all others. As
the Quran states:
"Indeed the religion before Allah is Islam"
[Noble Quran 3:19]
"Whoever wishes for a way of life other that Islam, never will it be accepted
from them and in the hereafter they will be amongst the losers".[Noble Quran 3:85]
The religion has been completed and perfected, and has no need for alteration
or adjustment:
"This day we have completed your religion for you and perfected our favor
upon you and chosen for your way of life Islam".[Noble Quran 5:3]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: "There is not one thing that shall
bring you closer to the Paradise and away from the Fire without me having
informed you of it, and there is not one thing that will take you away from
paradise and towards the fire except that I have warned you about it." It
is indeed true that Islam does not allow its followers to draw a distinction
between the "inner" and "outer" aspects of life, between belief and actions,
religion and politics, because in reality such distinctions are totally fallacious.
Man's beliefs are the foundations and prime motivators for actions, for what
is held to be true on the inside must manifest itself outwardly. Indeed the
very first task given to Muhammad (peace be upon him) was to correct the false
beliefs. It was not that the pagan Arabs did not believe in Allah, or God
the Creator. In fact the Quran tells Muhammad (peace be upon him):
"If you ask them who sends down rain from the sky, and gives life therewith
to the earth after its death? They would certainly say 'Allah!' Say: 'All
the praise and thanks be to Allah!' Nay! Most of them have no sense".[Noble Quran 29:63]
"Say: 'Who provides for you from the sky and from the earth? Or who owns
hearing and sight? And who brings out the living from the dead and the dead
from the living? And who disposes the affairs?' They will say: 'Allah.'
Say: 'Will you not them be afraid of Allah's Punishment (for setting up
rivals in worship with Allah)?'".[Noble Quran 10:31]
Indeed the pagan Arabs used to worship Allah, pray to Him and sacrifice to
Him in times of need and distress, as did the Jews and Christians, and they
even claimed to love Him, but Allah rejected all of this from them and referred
to them as senseless, and astray, and as disbelievers. So this is the reality
concerning most of the men and jinn, that they claim to believe in Allah,
and worship Allah, but what they believe about Him is incorrect, and the way
they worship Him is incorrect...
"Most of them do not believe in Allah except while joining partners with
Him"[Noble Quran 12:106]
And its manifestations are many and the evil consequences numerous.
All of this has one common cause, or origin, and that is thinking and speaking
about Allah without knowledge, and thus ascribing to Him that which should
not be ascribed to Him, such as sons, or daughters, or human qualities and
weaknesses, or claiming that some of the creation possess His powers and abilities,
or by claiming that He, the Majestic, is pleased by some action that in fact
angers Him, or that He is angered by some action that in fact pleases Him.
So thus the idol worshippers call upon that which can neither benefit nor
harm them, and the Christians call upon Jesus, and the Jews believe their
racial origins guarantee His good pleasure, and those who believe that power,
wealth and the such are means of success; all have put their faith and trust
in something vain. This in itself is a great evil, for they have only wasted
their time and effort, yet this is least of the evil consequences. As for
that which is most severe... those who have fallen into associating partners
with Allah have earned His anger and wrath, and upon them shall fall humiliation
in this life and a most terrible fate in the next:
"Surely Allah will not forgive as-shirk (the association of partners
with Him), but He forgives sins less than that of whomever He wishes".[Noble Quran 4:48]
So "as-shirk", or ascribing partners to Allah (in whatever form it may take)
is the unforgivable sin, because it is in reality the source of all evil,
the greatest injustice, the worst oppression and wrongdoing. For if one is
unafraid of speaking about Allah without knowledge, and this is a knowledge
unattainable except through Him, for He is the best knower of Himself and
His will, and that which pleases and displeases Him, then about what and about
whom will one be afraid of speaking about ignorantly? For truly, as is obvious
to anyone witnessing the destructive forces of nature, and untold misfortunes
and miseries over which Allah alone has ultimate power and control, both in
this life and the next, Allah is the most terrifying and most worthy of being
feared. And also anyone witnessing the miraculous order, and precision, and
symbiosis within the earth and universe, must realize the unparalleled knowledge
and wisdom of its Creator. So if one is heedless of transgressing the laws
of Allah, and thinks them of little or no importance, or worse considers them
bad, evil, and outdated, then what of the laws conceived in the limited minds
of men? If one is ungrateful to his Lord, the provider of all, then of what
little consequence to such a one is ingratitude to the creation? If one denies
the rights and dues of Allah, which are the most worthy of being fulfilled,
then what rights and dues will such one be fearful of denying then? Thus imagine
the case of a worker in a company run by yourself, who believes you are the
lavatory cleaner, and the lavatory cleaner is the director! Would there not
be evil results? Would you tolerate such a person? If so, for how long? Now
envisage this fool teaching this to others, and insisting on it, so that the
majority of the company came to believe it, ignoring your orders and prohibitions,
and inventing them for themselves, and making their guide the lavatory cleaner
who is moreover deaf and dumb!
The true causes of the evils that beset mankind are disbelief, sinfulness
and ingratitude to Allah:
"And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands
have earned. And He pardons much".
[Noble Quran 42:30]
"Evil has appeared on the land and sea, because of what your hands have
earned. That Allah may make them taste a part of that which they have done,
in order that they may return".[Noble Quran 30:41]
As the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him):
"There is none who has a greater sense of ghira (a feeling of great fury
and anger when one's honor and prestige is injured or challenged) than
Allah, and so He has forbidden shameful deeds and sins. And there is none
who likes to be praised more than Allah does"[Reported in Sahih Al Bukhari]
Allah is more infuriated by the disobedience of His slave than a man of honor
is finding his wife fornicating with another man. So how is His fury with
those who insult Him by ascribing rivals, and partners with Him, while He
is glorious above such things! And the evil consequences are not limited to
this life:
"Verily, those who disbelieved, and die while they are disbelievers, the
whole earth full of gold will not be accepted from anyone of them even if
they offered it as a ransom. For them is a painful torment and they will
have no helpers".
[Noble Quran 3:91]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) explained:
"On the day of judgement a disbeliever will be asked: 'Suppose you had as
much gold as to fill the earth, would you offer it to ransom yourself from
the hell-fire?' He will reply: 'Yes!' Then it will be said to him: 'You were
asked for something easier than that, that you should join none in worship
with Allah, and submit yourself to Him, but you refused'".[Reported in Sahih al-Bukhari]
Indeed the message of all the prophets is one and the same:
"Verily, We have sent to every nation a messenger saying: 'Worship Allah
and avoid false objects of worship'".
[Noble Quran 16:36]
and indeed this is the very purpose for which Allah created mankind:
"I did not create the jinn and mankind except for My worship".
[Noble Quran 51:56]
So "as-shirk" (i.e. ascribing partners to Allah) is in contradiction to that
reason for which Allah has created us, and the purpose for which we exist,
which is to choose to single out Allah for worship, avoiding all false deities,
and to worship Him completely, with sacrifice, supplication, submission, subjugation,
obedience and compliance, and with love, fear, hope, trust and reliance upon
Him, seeking only His pleasure and not the admiration of His creatures, and
to do all of that according to that which was revealed to His last and final
Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him), and not according to whims and desires
and mere conjecture.
Furthermore, and of immediate relevance to the discussion, are those qualities,
unique to Allah, that single Him out, such as "al-Hakim", the Judge; "al-Hakim",
the Wise; "al-'Alim", the All Knowing and "as-Shariy", the Legislator. Not
only is Allah the Creator and Controller and Sustainer, but also the sole
possessor of the wisdom and knowledge to legislate for mankind and to determine
what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong, what is lawful
and what is prohibited, and thus what laws we should judge by, what social,
economic and political system we should utilize...
"Indeed, the ruling is Allah's"
[Noble Quran 12:40]
Allah admonished the Jews and Christians, and called them disbelievers, for
"... taking their priests and rabbis as lords besides Allah"
[Noble Quran 9:31]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) went on to explain that the priest and rabbis
"made lawful that which Allah had made unlawful, and made unlawful that which
Allah had made lawful and the people accepted it...So that was their (i.e.
the people's) worship of them." Thus to ascribe legislative power to people
is a clear and obvious form of disbelief, and "shirk", or setting up rivals
to Allah, and is the unforgivable sin, and a contradiction of the purpose
of creation. If Allah blamed the people from the Jews and Christians for accepting
from those among them who were learned in the Scripture and Divine legislation
changes and alterations, and the making the forbidden allowed and visa versa,
as we see them doing until this day, then how about those who accept such
actions from every Tom, Dick and Harry, who have no scripture, and no wisdom
and only pure speculation, whims and desires, as is the case of Democracy?!?
So the The Economist magazine's survey admits that Islam makes no distinction
between outward and inner, private and public life, yet goes on to suggest
Muslims should abandon this, and adopt the ways of the worst error: disobedience
to and rebellion against Allah, and commit the unforgivable sin of ascribing
partners to Him. Truly Allah speaks the truth when He says:
"Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with thee unless
thou follow their form of religion"[Noble Quran 2:120]
and we seek refuge with Allah from that, for surely we would be of the losers.Important note to learn and read quran online
Learn Quran Online is one of the contemporary styles of reading and learning Quran online. If you have been facing issues in teaching Quran to your young ones, you have your problems solved now learning Quran online is easy for yourself as well and at the same time, your kids can also benefit from it. and listen quran online from online quran reciter and practice to learn holy quran online with the tajweed and be perfect to reading quran online its not a wonder now its on your door step just a click away and you are there
No comments:
Post a Comment