Islam means obedience to God. And it is common sense that
this obedience cannot be complete unless man knows certain basic facts of life
and places firm faith in them. What are those facts? And what are the
essentials which a man must know to fashion his life in accordance with the
Divine Way? This we propose to discuss in the present chapter.
First of all,
one should have an unshakable belief in the existence of God; without this, obedience
to Him is clearly impossible.
Then, one must know the attributes of God. It is
the knowledge of the attributes of God which enables man to cultivate the
noblest of human qualities and to fashion his life in virtue and godliness. If
a man does not know that there is One and only One God who is the Creator, the
Ruler and the Sustainer of the Universe and there is none else to share with
Him even a shred of Divine power and authority, he may fall prey to false gods,
and offer his homage to them in search of favours.
But if he knows the divine
attribute of tawhid (Oneness of God), there is no possibility of this.
Similarly, if a man knows that God is Omnipresent and Omniscient and sees,
hears and knows everything that we do in public or private - including our
unexpressed thoughts! - then how can he afford to be disobedient to God? He
will feel that he is under eternal vigil and will, therefore, behave
accordingly. But he who is not aware of these attributes of God may be led,
because of his ignorance, into disobedience. It is the same with all the other
attributes of God.
The fact is that the qualities and attributes which a man
must possess, if he wants to pursue the way of Islam, can be cultivated and
developed only out of profound knowledge of the attributes of God. It is the
knowledge of God’s attributes which purifies a man’s mind and soul, his
beliefs, morals and actions. And a mere cursory acquaintance with or just an academic
knowledge of these attributes is not sufficient - there must be an unflinching
conviction firmly rooted in the mind and heart of man so that he may remain
immune from insidious doubts and perversions.
Moreover, one must know in detail
the way of living by following which one can seek the pleasure of God. Unless a
man knows the likes and dislikes of God, how can he choose the one and reject
the other? If a man has no knowledge of the Divine Law, how can he follow it? Thus
knowledge of the Divine Law and the Revealed Code of Life is essential. But
here, again, mere knowledge is not enough. Man must have full confidence and
conviction that it is the Divine Law and that his salvation lies in following
this code alone. For knowledge without this conviction will fail to spur man to
the Right Path and he may be lost in the blind alley of disobedience.
Finally, man must also know the consequences
both of belief and obedience and of disbelief and disobedience. He must know
what blessings will be showered upon him if he chooses God’s way and leads a
life of purity, virtue and obedience. And he must also know what consequences
follow if he adopts the way of disobedience and revolt. Thus, knowledge of life
after death is absolutely essential for this purpose. Man must have an
unwavering belief in the fact that death does not mean the end of life; that
there will be resurrection and he will be brought to the highest court of
justice, to be presided over by God Himself; that on the Day of Judgement
complete justice will prevail; and that good deeds will be rewarded and
misdeeds punished. Everybody will get his due; there will be no escape. This is
bound to happen. A sense of accountability is essential for fully-fledged
obedience to the Law of God.
A man who has no knowledge of the world to come
may consider obedience and disobedience quite immaterial. He may think that the
obedient and the disobedient will both meet a similar end: after death, both
will be reduced to mere dust. With this attitude of mind, how can he be
expected to submit to all the inconveniences and troubles that are inextricably
associated with the life of active obedience, and avoid committing those sins
which do not apparently bring him any moral or material loss in this world?
With this mental attitude a man cannot acknowledge and submit to God’s Law.
Nor
can a man, who lacks firm belief in the life hereafter and in the Divine Court
of Judgement, remain steadfast in the turbulent waters of life with its
temptation to sin, crime and evil; for doubt and hesitancy rob a man of his will
to action. You can remain consistent in your behaviour only if you are firm in
your beliefs. You can whole - heartedly follow a course only if you are sure of
the benefits that will accrue to you by following it and of the losses that
will engulf you if you disobey it. Thus, a profound knowledge of the
consequences of belief and disbelief and of the life after death is crucial.
These
are the essential facts which one must know if one wants to live the life of
obedience, that is, Islam. Faith -
What Does it Mean?
Faith is what we have
described in the foregoing discussion as ‘Knowledge and Belief’. The Arabic
word Iman, which we have rendered in English as faith, literally means ‘to
know’, ‘to believe’ and ‘to be convinced beyond the least shadow of doubt’.
Faith, thus, is firm belief arising out of knowledge and conviction. And the
man who knows and reposes unshakable belief in the Unity of God, in His
Attributes, in His Law and the Revealed Guidance, and in the Divine Code of
Reward and Punishment is called Mu'min (faithful). This faith invariably leads man
to a life of obedience and submission to the Will of God. And one who lives
this life of submission is known as Muslim.
It is therefore clear that without
faith (Iman) no man can be a true Muslim. It is the indispensable essential;
rather, the very starting point, without which no beginning can be made. The relation of Islam to Iman is the same as
of a tree to its seed. As a tree cannot sprout forth without its seed, in the
same way it is not possible for a man who has no belief to start with, to
become a ‘Muslim’. On the other hand, just as it can happen that, in spite of
sowing the seed, the tree may, for many reasons, not grow, or if it does grow,
its development may be impaired or retarded, in the same way, a man may have
faith, but due to a number of weaknesses, he may not become a true and staunch
Muslim.
From the viewpoint of Islam and Iman, men may be classified into four
categories:
1. Those who have firm faith - a faith that makes them
whole-heartedly submit to God. They follow the way of God and devote themselves
heart and soul to seeking His pleasure by doing all that He likes and by
avoiding all that He dislikes. In their devotion they are even more fervent
than is the common man in pursuit of wealth and glory. Such men are true
Muslims.
2. Those who do have faith, who believe in God, His Law and the Day of
Judgement, but whose faith is not deep and strong enough to make them totally
submit to God. They are far below the rank of true Muslims, deserve Punishment
for their defaults and misdeeds, but are still Muslims. They are wrongdoers but
not rebels. They acknowledge the Sovereign and His Law and, although they are
violating the Law, they have not revolted against the Sovereign. They admit His
supremacy and their own guilt. Thus they are guilty and deserve punishment, but
Muslims they remain.
3. Those who do not possess faith at all. These people
refuse to acknowledge the sovereignty of God and are rebels. Even if their
conduct is not bad and even if they are not spreading corruption and violence,
they remain rebels and their apparent good deeds are of little value. Such men
are like outlaws. Sometimes outlaws may act in accordance with the laws of the
land, but this does not make them loyal and obedient citizens; in the same way
the apparent good deeds of those who revolt against God cannot compensate for
the gravity of the real wrongs, revolt and disobedience.
4. Those who neither
possess faith nor do good deeds. They spread disorder in the world and
perpetrate all kinds of violence and oppression. They are the worst of the
people; for they are both rebels and wrongdoers and criminals.
The above
classification of mankind shows that the real success and salvation of man depends
on faith (Iman). The life of obedience (Islam) takes its birth from the seed of
Iman. This Islam of a person may be flawless or defective. But without Iman
there can be no Islam. Where there is no Iman there is no Islam. Where there is
no Islam there is Kufr. Its form and nature may vary, but it remains Kufr and
nothing but Kufr.
How to Acquire
Knowledge of God? Now the question arises of how to acquire knowledge of and
belief in God, His Attributes, His Law and the Day of Judgement?
We have
already referred to the countless manifestations of God around us and in our
own selves, which bear witness to the fact that there is One and only One
Creator and Governor of this Universe and it is He Who controls and directs it.
These manifestations reflect the divine attributes of the Creator: His great
wisdom, His all-embracing knowledge, His omnipotence, His mercy, His
all-sustaining power - in short His attributes can be traced everywhere in His works.
But man’s intellect and capacity for knowledge have erred in observing and understanding
them. Some men have argued that there are two gods, others have professed belief
in a trinity, and still others have succumbed to polytheism. Some have
worshipped nature and others divided the Creator into the gods of rain, air,
fire, life, death and so on.
Similarly, men have put forward many erroneous
notions about life after death; for instance, that man is reduced to dust after
death and will not rise to life again; or that man is subject to a process of
continuous regeneration in this world and is punished or rewarded in future
cycles of life.
Even greater difficulty arises when we come to the question of
a code of living. To formulate a complete and balanced code that conforms to
God’s pleasure merely using human reason is an extremely difficult task. Even
if a man is equipped with the highest faculties of reason and intellect and
possesses matchless wisdom and experience, the chances of his formulating the correct
views on existence are slight. And even if, after a lifetime of reflection, he
does in fact succeed he will still lack the confidence that he has really
discovered the truth and adopted the right path.
The fullest and fairest test
of man’s wisdom, reason and knowledge might have been to have left him to his
own resources without any external guidance. But this would have meant that
only those with the determination and ability to find the path of truth would
find salvation. God, therefore, spared His human creatures such a hard test.
Through His Grace and Benevolence He raised for mankind men from among
themselves to whom He imparted the true knowledge of His attributes, revealed
to them His Law and the Right Code of Living, gave them the knowledge of the
meaning and purpose of life and of life after death and thus showed them the way
by which man can achieve success and eternal bliss.
These chosen men are the
Messengers of God - His Prophets. God has communicated knowledge and wisdom to
them by means of revelation (Wahi), and the book containing the Divine
Communications is called the Book of God, or the Word of God. The test of man’s
wisdom and intellect therefore lies in this: does he recognise God’s Messengers
after observing their pure and pious lives and carefully studying their noble
and flawless teachings? A man of wisdom and common sense would accept
instructions given by the Messengers of truth. If he denies the Messengers of
God and their teachings, his denial would
signify that he was devoid of the capacity to discover truth and
righteousness. He would fail his test. Such a man will never be able to
discover the truth about God and His Law and life after death.
Faith in the Unknown
It is an everyday experience that when you do not know a thing, you
look for somebody who does know. If you get ill and you cannot treat and cure
yourself, you go to a doctor and follow his instructions without question. Why?
Because he is properly qualified to give medical advice, possesses experience
and has treated and cured a number of patients. Similarly, in matters of law
you accept whatever a legal expert says and act accordingly.
In educational
matters you trust in your teacher. When you want to go to some place and do not
know the way, you ask somebody who knows it, and follow the way he points out.
In short, the course that you adopt in your day-to-day life about matters which
you do not or cannot know is that you approach someone who does know about
them, accept his advice and act accordingly. You make every effort to select
the proper person. But from then on you accept
his advice unquestioningly. This kind of belief is called “belief in the
unknown” (Iman- bi’l-ghayb).
Iman-bi'l-ghayb
signifies that you get knowledge of what was not known to you from one who knows.
You do not know God and His real attributes. You are not aware that His angels are
directing the machinery of the whole Universe according to His orders, and that
they surround you on all sides. You have not the proper knowledge of the way of
life through which you can seek the pleasure of your Creator. And you are in
the dark about the life to come. Such knowledge is given to you by the
Prophets, who have had direct contact with the Divine Being. They are the
persons whose sincerity, integrity, trustworthiness, godliness and absolute purity
stand as irrevocable witnesses to the truth of their claim to knowledge. And
above all, the wisdom and force of their message makes you admit that they
speak the truth and deserve to be believed and followed.
This conviction of yours is lman-bi’l-ghayb.
Such a truth-discerning and truth- acknowledging attitude is essential for
obedience to God and for acting in accordance with His pleasure; for you have no other medium
than God’s Messengers for the achievement of true knowledge, and without true
knowledge you cannot proceed on the path of Islam.
