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#                          WHAT IS ISLAM                            #

#      (Parts from "Islam in Focus" by Dr. Hammudah Abdal Ati)      #

#               The book is obtainable free from WAMY               #

#  INTRODUCTION                                                     #

#  -------------                                                    #

#                                                                   #

#  THE FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES OF FAITH IN ISLAM                       #

#  ------------------------------------------                       #

#                                                                   #

#  THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM                                        #

#  -------------------------                                        #

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                           WHAT IS ISLAM

                           =============



INTRODUCTION

-------------

Can we find an explanation of the great universe ?  Is there any

convincing interpretation of the secret of existence ?  We realize

that no family can function properly without a responsible head, that

no city can prosperously exist without sound administration, and that

no state can survive without a leader of some kind.  We also realize

that nothing comes into being on its own.  Moreover, we observe that

the universe exists and functions in the most orderly manner, and that

it has survived for hundreds of thousands of years.  Can we, then say

that all this is accidental and haphazard ?  Can we attribute the

existence of man and the whole world to mere chance.



Man represents only a very small portion of the great universe.  And

if he can make plans and appreciate the merits of planning, then his

own existence and the survival of the universe must also be based on

a planned policy.  This means that there is a Designing Will behind

our material existence, and there is an extraordinary power to bring

things into being and keep them moving in order.



In the world then there must be a Great Force in action to keep

everything in order.  In the beautiful nature there must be a Great

Creator who creates the most charming pieces of art and produces

everything for a special purpose in life.  The deeply enlightened

people recognize this creator and call him Allah 'God'.  He is not a

man because no man can create or make another man.  He is not an animal,

nor is He a statue of any kind because none of these things can make

itself or create any thing else.  He is different from all these things,

because He is the maker and keeper of them all.  The maker of anything

must be different from and greater than the things which he makes.



There are various ways to know God "ALLAH", and there are many things

to tell about him.  The great wonders and impressive marvels of the

world are like open books in which we can read about God.  Besides,

God Himself comes to our aid through many messengers and revelations

He has sent down to man.  These messengers and revelations tell us

everyting we need to know about God.



The complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of God 'Allah'

as revealed to His messenger Mohammad is the religion of Islam.

Islam enjoins faith in the oneness and sovereignty of Allah, which

makes man aware of the meaningfulness of the Universe and of his

place in it.  This belief frees him from all fears and superstitions

by making him conscious of the presence of the Almighty Allah and of

man's obligations towards Him.  This faith must be expressed and tested

in action.  Faith alone is not enough.  Belief in one God requires that

we look upon all humanity as one family under the universal Omnipotence

of God the Creator and Nourisher of all.  Islam rejects the idea of

chosen people, making belief in God and good action the only way to

heaven.  Thus, a direct relationship is established with God, without

any intercessor.



Islam is not a new religion.  It is, in essence, the same message and

guidance which Allah revealed to all prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham,

Ismael, Issac, David, Moses, Jesus (PBUT).  But the message which was

revealed to prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is Islam in its comprehensive,

complete and final.



The Quran is the last revealed word of Allah and the basic source of

Islamic teachings and laws.  The Quran deals with the basis of creeds,

morality, history of humanity, worship, knowledge, wisdom, good-man

relationship, and human relationship in all aspects.  Comprehensive

teaching on which can be built sound systems of social justice,

economics, politics, legislation, jurisprudence, law and international

relations, are important contents of the Quran.  Hadith, the teachings,

sayings and actions of prophet Mohammad (PBUH), meticulously reported

and collected by his devoted companions, explain and elaborate the

Quranic verses.





THE FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES OF FAITH IN ISLAM

------------------------------------------



The true faithful Muslim believes in the following Principal articles

of faith:



1.  He believes in One God 'Allah', Supreme and Eternal, Infinite and

    Mighty, Merciful and Compassionate, Creator and Provider.



2.  He believes in all messengers of God without any discrimination

    among them.  Every known nation had a warner or messenger from

    God.  They were chosen by God to teach mankind and deliver His

    Divine message.  The Quran mentions the name of twenty-five of

    them.  Among them Muhammad stands as the last messenger and the

    crowning glory of the foundation of prophethood.



3.  Muslim believes in all the scriptures and revelations of God.

    They were the guiding light which the messengers received to show

    their respective peoples the Right Path of God.  In the Quran a

    special reference is made to the books of Abraham, Moses, David

    and Jesus.  But long before the revelation of the Quran to Mohammad

    some of those books and revelations have been lost or corrupted.

    The only authentic and complete book of God in existence today is

    the Quran.



4.  The true Muslim believes in the Angels of Allah.  They are purely

spiritual and splendid beings whose nature requires no food or drink or

sleep.  They spend their days and nights in the worship of God.



5.  Muslim believes in the last Day of judgement.  This world will come

to an end someday, and the dead will rise to stand for their final and

fair trial.  People with good records will be generously rewarded and

warmly welcomed to the Heaven of Allah, and those with bad records will

be punished and cast into Hell.



6.  Muslim believes in the timeless knowledge of God and in His power

to plan and execute His plans and nothing could happen in his Kingdom

against his Will.  His knowledge and power are in action at all time

command over His creation.  He is wise and merciful, and whatever He

does must have a meaningful purpose.  If this is established in our

minds and hearts, we should accept with good Faith all that He does,

although we may fail to understand it fully, or think it is bad.





THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

-------------------------



Faith without action and practice is a dead end, as far as Islam is

concerned.  Faith by nature is very sensitive and can be most effective.

When it is out of practice or out of use, it quickly loses its

liveliness and motivation power.



There are five Pillars of Islam:



1.  The declaration of faith:  To bear witness that there is none

    worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad (PBUH) is His

    messenger to all human beings till the Day of judgement.  The

    prophethood of Muhammad obliges the Muslim to follow his exemplary

    life as a model.



2.  Prayers:  Daily prayers are offered five times a day as a duty

    towards Allah.  They strengthen and enliven the belief in Allah

    and inspire man to a higher morality.  They purify the heart and

    prevent temptation towards wrong-doings and evils.



3.  Fasting the month of Ramadan:  The Muslim during the month of

    Ramadan not only abstain from food drink and sexual intercourse

    from dawn to sunset but also from evil intentions and desires.

    It teaches love, sincerity and devotion.  It develops a sound

    social conscience, patience, unselfishness and will-power.



4.  Zakah:  The literal and simple meaning of Zakah is purity.  The

    technical meaning of this word designates the annual amount in

    kind or coin which a muslim with means must distribute among the

    rightful beneficiaries.  But the religious and spiritual

    significance of Zakah is much deeper and more lively.  So it has

    humanitarian and sociopolitical value.



5.  Haj (Pilgrimage to Makkah):  It is to be performed once in a

    lifetime, if one can afford it financially and physically.




11



(WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 3)



                        WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ISLAM

                        =========================



            IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL

                        WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ISLAM



The Islam that was revealed to Muhammad (PBUH), is the continuation and

culmination of all the preceding revealed religions and hence it is for

all times and all peoples.  This status of Islam is sustained by glaring

facts.  First, there is no other revealed book extant in the same form

and content as it was revealed.  Secondly, no other revealed religion

has any convincing claim to provide guidance in all walks of human life

for all times.  But Islam addresses humanity at large and offers basic

guidance regarding all human problems.  Moreover, it has withstood the

test of fourteen hundred years and has all the potentialities of

establishing an ideal society as it did under the leadership of the last

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

It was a miracle that Prophet Muhammad could win even his toughest

enemies to the fold of Islam without adequate material resources.

Worshippers of idols, blind followers of the ways of forefathers,

promoters of tribal feuds, abusers of human dignity and blood, became

the most disciplined nation under the guidance of Islam and its

Prophet.  Islam opened before them vistas of spiritual heights and human

dignity by declaring righteousness as the sole criterion on merit and

honour.  Islam shaped their social, cultural, moral and commercial life

with basic laws and principles which are most in conformity with human

nature and hence applicable in all times as human nature does not

change.

It is so unfortunate that the Christian West instead of sincerely

trying to understand the phenomenal success of Islam during its earlier

time, considered it as a rival religion.  During the centuries of the

Crusades this trend gained much force and impetus and huge literature

was produced to tarnish the image of Islam.  But Islam has begun to

unfold its genuineness to the modern scholars whose bold and objective

observations on Islam belie all the charges levelled against it by the

so-called unbiased orientalists.

Here we furnish some observations on Islam by great and acknowledged

non-Muslim scholars of modern time.  Truth needs no advocate to plead

on its behalf.  But the prolonged malicious propaganda against Islam

has created great confusion even in the minds of free and objective

thinkers.

We hope that the following observations would contribute to initiating

an objectived evaluation of Islam.



   If (Islam) replaced monkishness by manliness.  It gives hope to the

slave, brotherhood to mankind, and recognition of the fundamental facts

of human nature.



Cannon Taylor.

Paper read before the Chursh Congress at Walverhamton, Oct. 7, 1887,

Quoted by Arnond in the Preaching of Islam, p.p. 71-72.



11

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Sense of justice is one of the most wonderful ideals of Islam, because

as I read in the Qur'an I find those dynamic principles of life, not

mystic but practical ethics for the daily conduct of life suited to

the whole world.



Serojini Naidu,

Lectures on "The Ideal of Islam" see

Speeches and Writings of Sarojini Naidu, Madras, 1918, p. 167.



History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims

sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword

upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths

that historians have ever repeated.



De Lacy O'Leary,

Islam at the Crossroads, London, 1923 p. 8.



   But Islam has a still further service to render to the cause of

humanity.  It stands after all nearer to the real East than Europe does,

and it possesses a magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding

and cooperation.  No other society has such a record of success in

uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity, and of endeavours

so many and so various races of mankind... Islam has still the power

to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition.

If ever the opposition of the great societies of East and West is to be

replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable

condition.  In its hands lies very largely the solution of the problem

with which Europe is faced in its relation with East.  If they unite,

the hope of a peaceful issue is immeasurably enhanced.  But if Europe,

by rejecting the cooperation of Islam, throws it into the arms of its

rivals, the issue can only be disastrous for both.



H. A. R. Gibb, Whither Islam,

London, 1932, p. 379.



   I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation

because of its wonderful vitality.  It is the only religion which

appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing

phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age.  I have

studied him-the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an

anti-Christ, he must be called the Saviour of Humanity.  I believe that

if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world,

he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it

the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith

of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it

is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.



G. B. Shaw, The Genuine Islam,

Vol. 1, No. 81936.

   The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the

outstanding achievements of Islam and in the contemporary world there

is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic

virtue..



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(3)



A. J. Toynbee, Civilization on Trial,

New York, 1948, p. 205.



   The rise of Islam is perhaps the most amazing event in human history.

Springing from a land and a people like previously negligible, Islam

spread within a century over half the earth, shattering great empires,

overthrowing long-established religions, remoulding the souls of races,

and building up a whole new world - world of Islam.

   The closer we examine this development the more extraordinary does

it appear.  The other great religions won their way slowly, by painful

struggle and finally triumphed with the aid of powerful monarchs

converted to the new faith.  Christianity had its Constantine, Budhism

its Asoka, and Zoroastrianism its Cyrus, each lending to his chosen

cult the mighty force of secular authority, Not so Islam.  Arising

in a desert land sparsely inhabited by a nomad race previously

undistinguished in human annals.  Islam sallied forth on its great

adventure with the slenderest human backing and against the heaviest

material odds.  Yet Islam triumphed with seemingly miraculous ease, and

a couple of generations saw the Fiery Crescent borne victorious from

the Pyrenees to the Himalayas and from the desert of Central Asia to

the deserts of Central Africa.



A. M. L. Stoddard, quoted in Islam - The Region of All Prophets,

Begum Bawani Waqf, Karachi, Pakistan p. 56



   Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the widest

sense of this term considered etymologically and historically.  The

definition of rationalism as a system that bases religious belief on

principles furnished by the reason applies to it exactly.. It cannot be

denied that many doctrines and systems of theology and also many

superstitions, from the worship of saints to the use of rosaries and

amulets, have become grafted on the main trunk of Muslim creed.  But

inspite of the rich development, in every sense of the term, of the

teachings of the Prophet, the Quran has invariably kept its place as the

fundamental starting point, and the dogma of unity of God has always

been proclaimed therein with a grandeur, a majesty, an invariable purity

and with a note of sure conviction, which it is hard to find surpassed

outside the pale of Islam.  This fidelity to the fundamental dogma of

the religion, the elemental simplicity of the formula in which it is

enunciated, the proof that it gains from the fervid conviction of the

missionaries who propagate it, are so many causes to explain the success

of Muhammadan missionary efforts.  A creed so precise, so stripped of

all theological complexities and consequently so accessible to the

ordinary understanding might be expected to possess and does indeed

possess a marvellous power of winning its way into the consciences of

men.



Edward Montet,

"La Progpagande hretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans" Paris 1890.

quoted by T.W. Arnold in the Preaching of Islam London 1913,

pp. 413-414



   I am not a Muslim in the usual sense, though I hope I am a "Muslim"

as "one surrendered to God", I but believe that embedded in the Quran



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and other esxpressions of the Islamic vision are vast stores of divine

truth from which I and other occidentals have still much to learn; and

'Islam is certainly a strong contender for the supplying of the basic

framework of the one religion of the future.'



W. Montgomery Watt, Islam and Christianity Today

London 1983, p. IX



- T. B. Irving, et al. : The Quran : Basic Teachings

- Hamuda Abdulati : Islam in Focus

- M. Qutb  : Islam : The Misunderstood Religion

- Maudoodi  : Towards Understanding Islam

- Maurice Bucaille  : The Bible, The Quran and Science

- Suname Haneef : What Everyone Should Know About Islam and the Muslims.



                             ------------



11



(WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 4)



                   WHAT THEY SAYS ABOUT MUHAMMAD (PBUH)

                   ====================================



            IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL

                       WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MUHAMMAD



During the centuries of the crusades, all sorts of slanders were

invented against the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).  But with the birth of

the modern age, marked with religious tolerance and freedom of thought,

there has been a great change in the approach of Western authors in

their delineation of his life and character.  The views of some

non-Muslim scholars regarding Prophet Muhammad, given at the end,

justify this option.

But the West has still to go a step forward to discover the greatest

reality about Muhammad and that is his being the true and the last

Prophet of God for the whole humanity.  In spite of all its objectivity

and enlightenment there has been no sincere and objective attempt by the

West to understand the Prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh).  It is so strange

that very glowing tributes are paid to him for his integrity and

achievement but his claim of being the Prophet of God has been rejected

explicityy or implicitly.  It is here that a searching of the heart is

required, and a review of the so-called objectivity is needed.  The

following glaring facts from the life of Muhammad (pbuh) have been

furnished to facilitate an unbiased, logical and objective decision

regarding his Prophethood.

Up to the age of forty Mohammad was not known as a statesman, a preacher

or an orator.  He was never seen discussing the principles of

metaphysics, ethics, law, politics, economics or sociology.  No doubt

he possessed an excellent character, charming manners and was highly

cultured.  Yet there was nothing so deeply striking and so radically

extraordinary in him that would make men expect something great and

revolutionary from him in the future.  But when he came out of the

Cave (HIRA) with a new message, he was completely transformed.  It is

possible for such a person of the above qualities to turn all of a

sudden 'an imposter' and claim to be the Prophet of Allah and invite

all the rage of his people?  One might ask: for what reason did he

suffer all those hardships? His people offered to accept him as their

King and to lay all the riches of the land at his feet if only he would

leave the preaching of his religion.  But he chose to refuse their

offers and went on preaching his religion single-handedly in face of

all kinds of insults, social boycott and even physical assault by his own

people.  Was it not only God's support and his firm will to disseminate

the message of Allah and his deep-rooted belief that ultimately Islam

would emerge as the only way of life for the humanity, that he stood

like a mountain in the face of all oppositions and conspiracies to

eliminate him? Furthermore, had he come with a design of rivalry with

the Christians and the Jews, why should he have made belief in Jesus

Christ and Moses and other Prophets of God (peace be upon them), a basic

requirement of faith without which no one could be a Muslim?



It is not an incontrovertible proof of his Prophethood that in spite of

being unlettered and having led a very normal and quiet life for forty

years, when he began preaching his message, all of Arabia stood in awe



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(2)



and wonder and was bewitched by his wonderful eloquence and oratory?

It was so matchless that the whole legion of Arab poets, preachers and

orators of highest calibre failed to bring forth its equivalent.  And

above all, how could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature

contained in the Qur'an that no other human being could possibly have

developed at the time?

Last but not the least, why did he lead a hard life even after gaining

power and authority?  Just ponder over the words he uttered while dying:

"We the community of the Prophets are not inherited.  Whatever we leave

is for charity".

As a matter of fact Muhammad (Pbuh) is the last link of the chain of

Prophets sent in different lands and times since the very beginning of

the human life on this planet.



   If greatness of purpose, smallness of a means, and astounding results

are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any

great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created

arms, laws and empires only.  They founded, if anything at all, no more

than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes.  This

man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties,

but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more

than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the

beliefs and souls....his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which

was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an

empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his

death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture

but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma.

This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God;

the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not,

the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an

idea with the words.

   Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of

ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the

founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire,

that is Muhammad.  As regards all standards by which human greatness

may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?



Lamartine, Histoire de la Torquie,

Paris 1854

Vol II, pp. 276-77.



   It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that

deserves our wonder; the same pure and perfect impression which he

engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved, after the revolutions of

twelve centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes

of the Koran...  The Mohametans have uniformly withstood the temptation

of reducing the object of their faith and devotion to level with the

senses and imagination of man. 'I believe in One God and Mahomet the

Apostle of God' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam.  The

intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible

idol; the honours of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of

human virtue; and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of

his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion.



11

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Edward Gibbon Simon Ocklay,

History of the Saracen Empire,

London 1870, p. 54.



   He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's

pretentions, Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing

army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue;

if ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine.

it was Mohammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and

without its supports.



Bosworth Smith, Mohammad and Mohammadanism,

London 1874, p. 92.



   It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the

great Prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to

feel any thing but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great

messengers of the Supreme.  And although in what I put to you I shall

say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel

whenever I re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of

reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher.



Bennie Besant, The Life and Teachings of Muhammad,

Madras 1932, p. 4



   His readiness to undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high

moral character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him

as leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement - all argue

his fundamental integrity.  To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises

more problems than it solves.  Moreover, none of the great figures of

history is so poorly appreciated into the West as Muhammad.



W. Montgomery, Mohammad at Mecca,

Oxford, 1953, p. 52



   Muhammad, the inspired man who founded Islam, was born about A.D. 570

into an Arabian tribe that worshipped idols.  Orphaned at birth, he was

always particularly solicitous of the poor and needy, the widow and the

orphan, the slave and the downtrodden.  At twenty he was already a

successful businessman, and soon became director of camel caravans of

a wealthy widow.  When he reached twenty-five his employer, recognizing

his merit, proposed marriage.  Even though she was fifteen years older,

he married her, as a long as she lived remained a devoted husband.

   Like almost every major prophet before him, Muhammad fought shy of

serving as the transmitter of God's word, sensing his own inadequacy.

But the angel commanded 'Read'.  So far as we know, Muhammad was unable

to read or write, but he began to dictate those inspired words which

would soon revolutionize a large segment of the earth: "There is one

God".

   In all things Muhammad was profoundly practical.  When his beloved

son Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred and rumours of God's personal

condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced,

'An eclipse is a phenomenon of nature, it is foolish to attribute such

things to the death or birth of a human being'.

   At Muhammad's own death an attempt was made to deify him, but the man

who was to become his administrative successor killed the hysteria

with one of the noblest speeches to religious history: 'If there are

any among you who worshipped Muhammad, he is dead.  But if it is God

you worshipped, He lives for ever'.



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James A. Michener, 'Islam: The Misunderstood Religion',

in the Reader's Digest (American Edition) for May, 1955, pp. 68-70.



   My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most

influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by

others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful

on both the religious and secular level.

Michael H. Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Person in

History,



New York : Hart Publishing Company, Inc. 1978, p. 33.



Further Readings on Islam:

- T.B. Irving, et al. : The Quran : Basic Teachings

- Humuda Abdulati : Islam in Focus

- M. Qutb  : Islam : The Misunderstood Religion

- Moudoodi  : Towards Understanding Islam

- Maurice Bucaille  : The Bible, The Quran and Science About Islam and

                      the Muslims.



                            ---------------



11



(WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 6)



                           LIFE AFTER DEATH

                           ================



The question whether there is a life after death does not fall under

the jurisdiction of science as science is concerned only with

classification and analysis of sense data.  Moreover, man has been busy

with scientific enquires and research, in the modern sense of the term,

only for the last few centuries, while he has been familiar with the

concept of life after death since times immemorial.  All the prophets

of God called their people to worship God and to believe in life after

death.  They laid so much emphasis on the belief in life after death

that even a slight doubt in it meant denying God and made all other

beliefs meaningless.  The very fact that all the prophets of God have

dealt with this metaphysical question of life after death so

confidently and so uniformly - the gap between their ages being

thousands of years - goes to prove that the source of their knowledge

of life after death as proclaimed by them all, was the same, i.e.,

Divine revelation.  We also know that these prophets of God were greatly

opposed by their people, mainly on the issue of life after death as

their people thought it impossible.  But in spite of opposition the

prophets won so many sincere followers.  The question arises what made

those followers forsake the established beliefs, traditions and customs

of their forefathers notwithstanding the risk of being totally

alienated from their own community?  The simple answer is: they made use

of their faculties of mind and heart and realized the truth.  Did they

realize the truth through perceptual consciousness?  Not so, as

perceptual experience of life and death is impossible.  It is this

consciousness that guides man regarding realities that cannot be

verified through sensory data.  That is why all the prophets of God

while calling people to believe in God and life after death, appeal to

the aesthetic, moral and rational consciousness of man.  For example,

when the idolators of Makkah denied even the possibility of life after

death, the Quran exposed the weakness of their stand by advancing very

logical and rational arguments in support of it:

   And he has coined for us a similitude, and has forgotten the fact of

his creation, saying: who will revive these bones when they have rotten

away?

Say: He will revive them who produced them at the first, for He is the

knower of every creation.  Who has appointed for you fire from the green

tree, and behold! you kindle from it.

Is not He who created the heavens and the earth, able to create the

like of them?  Yes, and He is indeed the Supreme Creator, the

All-knowing. (36:79-81)

At another occasion the Quran very clearly says that the disbelievers

have no sound basis for their denial of life after death.  It is based

on pure conjectures:

They say, 'There is nothing about our present life; we die, and we live,

and nothing but Time destroys us'. Of that they have no knowledge; they

merely conjecture.  And when our relations are recited to them, their

only argument is that they sway, 'Bring us our fathers, if you speak

truly.' (45:25-25)



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Surely God will raise all the dead.  But God has His own plan of things.

A day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and then again

the dead will be resurrected to stand before God.  That day will be

beginning of the life that will never end, and that Day every person

will be rewarded by God according to his or her good or evil deed.

The explanation that the Quran gives about the necessity of life and

death is what moral consciousness of man demands.  Actually if there

is no life after death, the very belief in God becomes irrelevant and

even if one believes in God, that would be an unjust and indifferent

God: having once created man not concerned with his fate.  Surely, God

is just.  He will punish the Tyrants whose crimes are beyond count:

having killed hundreds of innocent persons, created great corruptions

in the society, enslaved numerous persons to serve their whims etc..

Man having a very short span of life in this world, and this physical

world too being not eternal, punishments or rewards equal to the evil

or noble deed needs of persons are not possible here.  The Quran very

emphatically states that the Day of Judgement must come and God

will decide about the fate of each soul according to his or her record

of deeds:

Those who disbelieve say: The Hour will never come unto us. Say: Nay,

by my Lord, but it is coming unto you surely. (He is) the Knower of the

Unseen.  Not an atom's weight, or less than that or greater, escapes Him

in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear Record.  That He

may reward those who believe and do good works.  For them in pardon and

a rich provision.  But those who strive against our relevations,

challenging(Us), their will be a painful doom of wrath. (34:3-6)

The Day of Resurrection will be the Day when God's attributes of Justice

and Mercy will be in full manifestation.  God will shower His Mercy on

those who suffered for His sake in the worldly life, believing that an

eternal bliss was awaiting them.  But those who abused the bounties of

God, caring nothing for the life to come, will be in the most miserable

state.  Drawing a comparison between them, the Quran says:

Is he, then, to whom we have promised a goodly promise the fulfilment

of which he will meet, like the one whom We have provided with the good

things of this life, and then on the day of Resurrection he will be of

those who will brought arraigned before God? (28:61)

The Quran also states that this worldly life is a preparation for the

eternal life after death.  But those who deny it become slaves of their

passions and desires, make fun of virtuous and God-conscious persons.

Such persons realize their folly only at the time of their death and

wish to be given a further chance in the world but in vain.  Their

miserable state at the time of death and the horror of the Day of

Judgement, and the eternal bliss guaranteed to the sincere believers

are very beautifully mentioned in the following verses of the Holy

Quran:

Until, when death comes unto one of them, he says. "My Lord send me

back, that I may do right in that which I have left behind!' But nay!

It is but a word that he speaks; and behind them is a barrier until

the day when they are raised.  And when the Trumpet is blown there will

be no kinships among them that day, nor will they ask of one another.

Then those whose scales are heavy, they are successful.  And those whose

scales are light are those who lose their souls, in hell abiding, the

fire burn their faces and they are glum therein. (23:99104).



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The belief in life after death not only guarantees success in the

Hereafter but also makes this world full of peace and happiness by

making individuals most responsible and dutiful in their activities.

Think of the people of Arabia.  Gambling, wine, tribal fueds, plundering

and murdering were their main traits when they had no belief in life

after death.  But as soon as they accepted the belief in the One God

and life after death they became the most disciplined nation of the

world.  They gave up their vices, helped each other in hours of need,

and settled all their disputes on the basis of justice and equality.

Similarly the denial of life after death has its consequences not only

in the Hereafter but also in this world.  When a nation as a whole

denines it, all kinds of evil and corrputions become rampant in that

society and ultimately it is destroyed.  The Quran mentions the terrible

end of 'Aad, Thamud and the Pharaoh in some detail:

(The tribes of) Thamud and 'Aad disbelieved in the lightning, and as for

'Aad, they were destroyed by a fierce roaring wind, which He imposed on

them for seven long nights and eight long days so that you might see the

people laid prostrate in it as if they were the stumps of fallen down

palm trees.

Now do you see remnant of them? Pharaoh likewise and those before him,

and the subverted cities.  They committed errors and they rebelled

against the Messenge of their Lord, and He seized them with a

surpassing grip.  Lo, when the waters rose, We bore you in the running

ship that We might make it a reminder for you and for heeding ears to

hold.  So when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast and the earth

and the mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow, then

on that day, the Terror shall come to pass, and the heaven shall be

split for upon that day it shall be very frail.  Then as for him who is

given his book in his right hand, he shall say 'Here take and read my

book! Certainly I thought that I should encounter my reckoning.' So he

shall be in a pleasing life in a lofty garden, it clusters nigh to

gather.

'Eat and drink with wholesome appetite for that you did long ago, in

the day gone by.'

But as for him who is given his book in his left hand, he shall say:

'Would that I had not been given my book and not known my reckoning!

would it had been the end!

My wealth has not availed me, my authority is gone from me.' (69: 4-39)

Thus there are very convincing reasons to believe in life after death.

FIRSTLY, all the prophets of God have called their people to believe

in it.

SECONDLY, whenever a human society is built on the basis of this belief,

it has been the most ideal and peaceful society, free of social and

moral evils.

THIRDLY, history bears witness that whenever this belief is rejected

collective by a group of people in spite of the repeated warning of

the prophet, the group as a whole has been punished by God even in this

world.

FOURTHLY, moral, aesthetic and rational faculties of man endorse the

possibility of life after death.

FIFTHLY, God's attributes of Justice and mercy have no meaning if there

is no life after death.



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Further Readings on Islam:

- T. B. Irving, et al. : The Quran : Basic Teachings

- Hamuda Abdulati : Islam in Focus

- M. Qutb  : Islam : The Misunderstood Religion

- Maudoodi  : Towards Understanding Islam

- Maurice Bucaille  : The Bible, The Quran and Science

- Suzanne Haneef  : What Everyone Should Know About Islam and the

                    Muslims.



                              ------------

11



(WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 7)



                          PROPHETHOOD IN ISLAM

                          ====================



Prophethood is not unknown to heavenly revealed religions, such as

Judaism and Christianity.  In Islam, however, it has a special status

and significance.



According to Islam, Allah created man for a noble purpose; to worship

Him and lead a virtuous life based on His teachings and guidance.

How man would know his role and the purpose of his existence unless

he received clear and practical instructions of what Allah wants him

to do?  Here comes the need for prophethood.  Thus Allah had chosen

from every nation a prophet or more to convey His Message to people.



One might ask: How were the prophets chosen and who were entitled to

this great honour?

Prophethood is Allah's blessing and favour that He may bestow on whom

He wills.  However, from surveyig the various messengers throughout

history, three features of a prophet may be recognized:



1.  He is the best in his community morally and intellectually.  This

    is necessary because the prophet's life serves as a model of his

    followers.  His personality should attract people to accept his

    message rather than drive them away by his imperfect character.

    After receiving the message he is infallible.  That is, he would

    not commit any sin.  He might do some minor mistakes which are

    usually corrected by revelation.



2.  He is supported by miracles to prove that he is not an impostor.

    Those miracles are granted by the power and permission of God and

    are usually in the field in which his people excel and are

    recognized as superiors.  We might illustrate this by quoting the

    major miracles of the three prophets of the major world religions:

    Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Moses' contemporaries were

    excellent in magic.  So his major miracle was to defeat the best

    magicians of Egypt of his days.  Jesus's contemporaries were

    recognized as skilful physicians.  Therefore his miracles were

    to raise the dead and cure the incurable diseases.  The Arabs,

    the contemporaries of the prophet Muhammad, were known for their

    eloquence and magnificent poetry.  So prophet Mohammad's major

    miracle was the Quran, the equivalent of which the whole legion of

    the Arab poets and orators could not produce despite the repeated

    challenge from the Quran itself.  Again Muhammad's miracle has

    something special about it.  All previous miracles were limited

    by time and place, i.e., they were shown to specific people at a

    specific time.  Not so the miracle of Muhammad -  the Quran.

    It is a universal and everlasting miracle.  Previous generations

    witnessed it and future generations will witness its miraculous

    nature in term of its style, content and spiritual uplifting.

    These still can be tested and will thereby prove the divine origin

    of the Quran.



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3.  Every prophet states clearly that what he receives is not of his

    own but from God for the well-being of mankind.  He also confirms

    what was revealed before him and what may be revealed after him.

    A prophet does this to show that he is simply conveying the message

    which is entrusted to him by the One True God of all people in all

    ages.  So the message is one in essence and for the same purpose.

    Therefore, it should not deviate from what was revealed before him

    or what might come after him.



Prophets are necessary for conveying God's instructions and guidance

to mankind.  We have no way to knowing why were we created?  What

will happen to us after death?  Is there any life after death?  Are

we accountable  for our actions?  In other words, is there any reward

or punishment for our deeds in this life?  These and so many other

questions about God, angels, paradise, hell etc., can not be answered

without direct revelation from the Creator and Knower of the unseen.

Those answers must be authentic and must be brought by individuals whom

we trust and respect.  That is why, messengers are the select of their

societies in terms of moral conduct and intellectual abilities.



Hence the slanderous Biblical stories about some of the great prophets

are not accepted by Muslims.  As for example, when Lot is reported to

have committed fornication while drunk, with his daughters, or that

David sent one of his leaders to death to marry his wife.  Prophets to

Muslims are greater than what these stories indicate.  These stories

can not be true from the Islamic point of view.



The prophets are also miraculously supported by God and instructed by

Him to affirm the continuity of the message.



The content of the prophets' message to mankind can be summarized as

follows:

   a) Clear concept about God: His attributes, His creation, what

      should and should not be ascribed to Him.

   b) Clear idea about the unseen world, the angels, jinn (spirits),

      Paradise and Hell.

   c) Why has God created us?  What does He want from us and what the

      reward or punishment for obeying or disobeying Him?

   d) How to run our societies according to His will?  That is, clear

      instructions and laws that, when applied correctly and honestly,

      will result into a happy and ideal society.



It is clear from the above discussion that there is no substitute

for prophets.  Even now-a-days with the advancement of science, the

only authentic source of information about the supernatural world is

revelation.  Guidance can not be obtained neither from science nor

from mystic experience.  The first is too materialistic and too

limited; the second is too subjective and frequently too misleading.



Now one might ask:

How many prophets has God sent to humanity?

We do not know for sure.  Some Muslim scholars have suggested 240

thousand prophets.  We are only sure of what is clearly mentioned in



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the Quran, that is, God has sent a messenger (or more) to every nation.

That is because it is one of God's principles that He will never call

a people to account unless He has made clear to them what to do and

what not to do.  The Quran mentions the names of 25 prophets and

indicates that there have been others who were not mentioned to the

prophet Muhammad.  These 25 include Noah, the man of the Ark, Abraham,

Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.  These five are the greatest among God's

messengers.  They are called (        ) 'the resolute' prophets.

An outstanding aspect of the Islamic belief in prophethood is that

Muslims believe in and respect all the messengers of God with no

exceptions.  Since all the prophets came from the same One God, for

the same purpose - to lead mankind to God - belief in them all is

essential and logical; accepting some and rejecting others has to be

based on misconception of the prophets' role or on racial bias.  The

Muslims are the only people in the world who consider the belief in

all the prophets of God an article of faith.  Thus the Jews reject

Jesus Christ and Muhammad (PBUT); the Christians reject Muhammad (PBUH)

and in reality reject Moses because they do not abide by his laws.  The

Muslims accept them all as messengers of God who brought guidance to

mankind.  However, the revelation which those prophets brought from

God had been tampered with in one way or the other.  The belief in all

the messengers of God is enjoined on the Muslims by the Quran:

Say (O Muslims) : we believe in Allah and that which is revealed to us

and that which was revealed to Abraham and Ismael, and Issac and Jacob,

and their children, and that which Mosses and Jesus received and that

prophets received from their Lord.  We make no distinction between any

one of them and unto Him we have surrendered. (2:136)

The Quran continues in the following verses to instruct the Muslims

that this is the true and impartial belief.  If other nations believe

in the same, they are following the right track.  If they do not, they

must be followed by their own whims and biases and God will take care

of them.  Thus we read:

  And if they believe in what you believe, then are they right guided.

But if they turn away, then they are in disunity, and Allah will suffice

you against them.  He is the Hearer, the Knower.  This is God's

religion and Who is better than God in religion? (2:137-38)

There are, at least, two important points related to prophethood that

need to be clarified.  These points concern the roles of Jesus and

Muhammad as prophets who are usually misunderstood.

The Quranic account of Jesus emphatically rejects the concept of his

'Divine Sonship' and presents him as one of th great prophets of God.

The Quran makes it clear that the birth of Jesus without a father does

not make him son of God and mentions in this respect Adam who was

created by God without a father and mother:

  Truly the likeness of Jesus, in God's sight, is as Adam's likeness;

He created him of dust, then said He unto him, "Be", and he was (3:59)

Like other prophets Jesus also performed miracles.  For example, he

raised the dead and cured the blind and the lepers, but while showing

these miracles he always made it clear that it was all from God.

Actually the misconceptions about the personality and mission of Jesus

found a way among his followers because the Divine message that he

peached was not recorded during his presence in the world, rather it

was recorded after a lapse of about hundred years.  According to the



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Quran he was sent to the children of Israel; he confirmed the validity

of the Torah which was revealed to Moses and he also brought the glad

tidings of a final messenger after him.

And when Jesus son of Mary said, 'children of Israel, I am indeeded the

Messenger to you, confirming the Torah that is before me, and giving

good tidings of a Messenger who shall come after me, whose name shall

                                                     ----------------

be the praised one. (61:6)

-------------------

(The underlined portion is the translation of Ahmed which is prophet

Muhammad's name).

However, the majority of the Jews rejected his ministry.  They plotted

against his life and in their opinion crucified him.  But the Quran

refutes this opinion and says that they neither killed him nor

crucified him, rather he was raised up to God.  There is a verse in

the Quran, which implies that Jesus will believe in him before he died.

This is also supported by authentic saying of the prophet Muhammad

(PBUH).

The last prophet of God, Muhammad, was born in Arabia in the sixth

century C.E.  Up to the age of  forty, people of Makkah knew him only

as a man of excellent character and cultured manners and called him

AL-AMEEN (the trustworthy).  He also did not know that he was soon to

be made a prophet and receiver of revelation from God.  He called the

idolators of Makkah to worship the only one God and accept him as

His prophet.  The revelation that he received was preserved in his

life-time in the memory of his companions and was also recorded on

pieces of palm leaves, leather etc..  Thus the Quran that is found

today is the same that was revealed to him, not a syllable of it has

been altered as God Himself has guaranteed its preservation.  The Quran

claims to be the book of guidance for whole humanity for all times,

and mentions Muhammad as the last prophet of God.



                             ----------

11



(WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 8)



                           CONCEPT OF WORSHIP

                                   IN

                                 ISLAM


                           ==================



The concept of worship in Islam is misunderstood by many people

including some Muslims.  Worship is commonly taken to mean performing

ritualist acts such as prayers, fasting, charity, etc.  This limited

understanding of worship is only one part of the meaning of worship

in Islam.  That is why the traditional definition of worship in Islam

is a comprehensive definition that includes almost everything in any

individual's activities.  The definition goes something like this:

"Worship is an all inclusive term of all that God loves of external and

internal sayings and actions of a person."  In other words, worship is

everything one says or does for the pleasure of Allah.  This of course,

includes rituals as well as beliefs, social activities, and personal

contributions to the welfare of one's fellow human beings.



Islam looks at the individual as a whole.  He is required to submit

himself completely to Allah, as the Quran instructed the prophet

Muhammad to do. "Say (O Muhammad) my prayer, my sacrifice, my life

and my death belong to Allah; He has no partner and I am ordered to

be among those who submit, i.e.; Muslim."  The natural results of

this submission is that all one's activities should conform to the

instruction of the one to whom the person is submitting.  Islam being

a way of life, requires that its followers model their life according

to its teachings in every aspect, religious or otherwise.  This might

sound strange to some people who think of religion as a personal

relation between the individual and God, having no impact on one's

activities outside rituals.



As a matter of fact Islam does not think much of mere rituals when they

are performed mechanically and have no influence on one's inner life.

The Quran addresses the believers and their neighbours from among the

people of the Book who were arguing with them about the change of the

direction of Qibla in the following verse:



IT IS NOT RIGHTEOUSNESS that you turn your faces toward the East or

West, but righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and

the angels and the Book and the prophets, and gives his beloved money

to the relatives and the orphans and the needy and for the ransoming

of the captives and who observes prayer and pays the door-due; and

those who fulfil their promises when they have made one, and the

patient in poverty and affliction and the steadfast in time of war;

it is those who have proved truthful and it is those who are the God-

fearing. (2:177)



The deeds in the above verse are the deeds of righteousness and they

are only a part of worship.  The prophet told us about faith, which is

the basis of worship, that it "is made up of sixty and some branches:

the highest of which is the belief in the Oneness of Allah, i.e.,



11

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there is no 'God but Allah and the lowest in the scale of worship is

removing obstacle and dirt from people's way."



Decent work is considered in Islam a type of worship.  The prophet

said: "Whoever finds himself at the nighfall tired on his work, God

will forgive his sins."  Seeking knowledge is one of the highest types

of worship.  The prophet told his companions that "seeking knowledge

is a (religious) duty  on every Muslim."  In another saying he said:

"Seeking knowledge for one hour is better than praying for seventy

years."  Social courtesy and cooperation are part of worship when done

for sake of Allah as the prophet told us: "Receiving your friend with

a smile is a type of a charity, helping a person to load his animal

is a charity and putting some water in your neighbour's bucket is a

charity."



It is worth noting that even performing one's duties is considered

a sort of worship.  The prophet told us that whatever one spends for

his family is a type of charity; he will be rewarded for it if he

acquires it through legal means.  Kindness to the members of one's

family is an act of worship as when one puts a piece of food in his

spouse's mouth as the prophet informed us.  Not only this but even

the acts we enjoy doing very much, when they are performed according

to the instructions of the prophet, they are considered as acts of

worship.  The prophet told his companions that they will be rewarded

even for having sexual intercourse with their wives.  The companions

were astonished and asked: "How are we going to be rewarded for doing

something we enjoy very much?"  The prophet asked them: "suppose you

satisfy your desires illegally, don't you think that you will be

punished for that?"  They replied, "yes."  "So" he said. "by satisfying

it legally with your wives you are rawarded for it."  This means they

are acts of worship.



Thus Islam does not consider sex a dirty thing that one should avoid.

It is dirty and sin only when it is satisfied outside marital life.



It is clear, from the previous discussion that the concept of worship

in Islam is a comprehensive concept that includes all the positive

activities of the individual.  This is of course is in agreement with

the all inclusive nature of Islam as a way of life.  It regulates the

human life on all levels; the individual, the social, the economic,

the political and the spiritual.  That is why Islam provides guidance

to the smallest details of one's life on all these levels.  Thus

following these details is following Islamic instructions in that

specific area.  It is a very encouraging element where one realises

that all his activities are considered by God as acts of worship.

This should lead the individual to seek Allah's pleasure in his

actions and always try to do them in the best possible manner whether

he is watched by his superiors or he is alone.  There is always the

permanent supervisor, namely, Allah who knows everything



Discussing the non-ritual worship in Islam first does not mean

underevaluating the importance of the ritual ones.  Actually ritual

worships, if performed in true spirit, elevate man morally and



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spiritually and enable him to carry on his activities in all walks

of life according to the Guidance of God.  Among ritual worships,

Salah (ritual prayer) occupies the key position for two reasons.

-----

Firstly, it is the distinctive mark of a believer.  Secondly, it

prevents an individual from all sorts of abdominations and vices by

providing him chances of direct communion with his Creator five times

a day, wherein he renews his covenant with God and seeks His guidance

again and again: "You alone we worship and do You along we turn for

help.  Guide us to the straight path" i:4-5).  Actually Salah is the

first practical manifestation of Faith and also the foremost of the

basic conditions for the success of the believers:

Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers.

(23:1-2)



The same fact has been emphasized by the prophet (PBUH) in a different

way.  He says:

Those who offer their Salah with great care and punctuality, will find

it a light, a proof of their Faith and cause of their salvation on the

day of Judgement.



After Salah Zakah (poor-due) is an important pillar of Islam.  In the

      ----- -----

Quran Salah and Zakah mostly have been mentioned together.  Like Salah

      -----     -----                                            -----

Zakah is a manifestation of faith that affirms that God is the sole

-----

owner of everything in that universe, and what men hold is a trust in

their over which God made them trustees to discharge it as He and laid

down:



Believe in Allah and His messenger and spend of that over which He made

you trustees. (57:7)



In this respect Zakah is an act of devotion which like prayer, brings

the believer nearer to his Lord.



Apart from this, Zakah is a means of redistribution of wealth in a way

that reduces differences between classes and groups.  It makes a fair

contribution to social stability.  By purging the soul of the rich

from selfishness and the soul of the poor from envy and resentment

against society, it stops up the channels leading to class hatred and

makes it possible for the springs of brotherhood and solidarity to gush

forth.  Such stability is not merely based on the personal feelings of

rich: it stands on a firmly established right which, if the rich denied

it, would be exacted by force, if necessary.



Siyam (fasting during the day time of the month of Ramadhan) is another

-----

pillar of Islam.  The main function of fasting is to make the Muslim

pure from "within" as other aspects of Shariah make him pure from

"without." By such purity he responded to what is true and good and

shuns what is false and evil.  This is what we can perceive in the

Quranic Verse: "O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as



11

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it was prescribed for those before you, that you may gain piety."

(2:183)  In an authentic tradition, the prophet reported Allah as

saying: "He suspends eating, drinking and gratification of his sexual

passion for My sake." Thus this reward is going to be according to

God's great bounty.



Fasting, then, awakenes the conscience of the individual and gives it

scope for exercise in a joint experience for all society at the same

time, thus adding further strength to each individual.  Moreover,

fasting offers a compulsory rest to the over-worked human machine for

the duration of one full month.  Similarly fasting reminds an individual

of those who are deprived of life necessities throughout the year or

throughout life.  It makes him realize the suffering of others, the less

fortunate brothers in Islam, and thus promotes in him a sence of

sympathy and kindness to them.



Lastly, we come to Al Hajj (pilgrimage to the House of God in Makkah).

                   -------

This very important pillar of Islam, manifests a unique unity,

dispelling all kinds of difference.  Muslims from all corners of the

world, wearing the same dress, respond to the call of Hajj in one voice

and language: LABBAIK ALLA HUMMA LABBAIK (Here I am at your service

O Lord!). In Hajj there is an exercise of strict self-discipline and

control where not only sacred things are revered, but even the life

of plants and birds is made inviolable so that everything lives in

safety: "And he that venerates the sacred things of God, it shall be

better for him his Lord" (22:30), "And he that venerates the waymarks

of God, it surely is from devotion of the heart." (22:32)



Pilgrimage gives an opportunity to all Muslims from all groups, classes,

organizations, and governments from all over the Muslim world to meet

annually in a great congress.  The time and venue of this congress has

been set by their one God.  Invitation to attend is open to every Muslim

who attends in guaranteed full safety and freedom as long as he himself

does not violate its safety.



Thus, worship in Islam, whether ritual or non-ritual, trains the

individual in such a way that he loves his Creator most and thereby

gains an unyielding will and spirit to wipe out all evil and oppression

from the human society and make the world of God dominant in the world.



                             ----------



11



(WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 9)



                           CONCEPT OF GOD

                                 IN

                               ISLAM



It is known fact that every language has one or more terms that are

used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities.  This is not

the case with Allah.  Allah is the personal name of the One true God.

Nothing else can be called Allah.  The term has no plural or gender.

This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god which can

be made plural, gods or feminine, goddess.  It is interesting to

notice that Allah is the personal name of God in Aramaic, the language

of Jesus and a sister language of Arabic.



The One true God is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam

associates with God.  To a Muslim Allah is the Almighty, Creator and

Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is

comparable to Him.  The prophet Muhammad was asked by his

contemporaries about Allah; the answer came directly from God Himself

in the form of a short chapter of the Quran, which is considered the

essence of the unity or the motto of monotheism.  This is chapter 12

which reads:



In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

Say (O Muhammad) He is God the One God, the Everlasting Refuge, who

has not begotten, nor has been begotten, and equal to Him is not

anyone.



Some non-Muslims allege that God in Islam is a stern and cruel God who

demands to be obeyed fully.  He is not loving and kind.  Nothing can

be farther from truth than this allegation.  It is enough to know

that, with the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Quran

begins with the verse: "In  the  name  of  God,  the  Merciful,  the

Compassionate."  In one of the sayings of prophet Muhammad (PBUH) we

are told that "God is more loving and kinder than a mother to her

dear child."



But God is also Just. Hence evildoers and sinners must have their

share of punishment and the virtuous His bounties and favours.

Actually God's attribute of Mercy has full manifestation in His

attribute of Justice.  People suffering throughout their life for

His sake and people oppressing and exploiting other people all their

life should not receive similar treatment from their Lord.  Expecting

similar treatment for them will amount to negating the very belief in

the accountability of man in the Hereafter and thereby negating all

the incentives for a moral and virtuous life in this world.  The

following Quranic verses are very clear and straightforward in this

respect.



Verily, for the Righteous are gardens of Delight, in the Presence of

their Lord.  Shall We then treat the people of Faith like the People

of Sin?  What is the matter with you?  How judge you? (68:34-36).



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Islam rejects characterizing God in many human form or depicting Him

as favouring certain individual or nations on the basis of wealth,

power or race.  He created the human beings as equals.  They may

distinguish themselves and get His favour through virtue and piety

only.



The concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God

wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter

against mankind or that God is incarnate in any human being are

considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view.



The unique usage of Allah as a personal name of God is a reflection

of Islam's emphasis on the purity of the belief in God which is the

essence of the message of all God's messengers.  Because of this,

Islam considers associating any deity or personality with God as a

deadly sin which God will never forgive, despite the fact He may

forgive all other sins.



The Creator must be of a different nature from the things created

because if he is of the same nature as they are, he will be temporal

and will therefore need a maker.  It follows that nothing is like Him.

If the maker is not temporal, then he must be eternal.  But if he is

eternal, he cannot be caused, and if nothing caused him to come into

existence, nothing outside him causes him to continue to exist, which

means that he must be self-sufficient.  And if he does not depend on

anything for the continuance of his own existence, then this existence

can have no end.  The Creator is therefore eternal and everlasting:

'He is the first and the last.'



He is self-sufficient or self-subsistent of, to use a Quranic term,

Al-Qayyum.  The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing

things into being, He also preserves them and takes them out of

existence and is the ultimate cause of whatever happens to them.



God is the Creator of everything.  He is the guardian over everything.

Unto Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth.

No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests

on God.  He knows its lodging-place and its repository.



God's Attributes

If the Creator is eternal and everlasting, then His attributes must

also be eternal and everlasting.  He should not lose any of His

attributes nor acquire new ones.   If this is so, then His attributes

are absolute.  Can there be more than one Creator with such absolute

attributes?  Can there be for example, two absolute powerful Creators?

A moment's thought shows that this is not feasible.



The Quran summarizes this argument in the following verses:

God has not taken to Himself any son, nor is there any god with Him:

For then each god would have taken off that which he created and some

of them would have risen up over others.  And Why, were there gods in

earth and heaven other than God, they (heaven and earth) would surely

go in ruin.



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The Oneness of God

The Quran reminds us of the falsity of all alleged gods.

To the worshippers of man-made objects it asks:  Do you worship what

you have carved yourself or have you taken unto you other beside Him

to be your protectors, even such as have no power to protect themselves?



To the worshippers of heavenly bodies it cites the story of Abrahim:

When night outspread over him he saw a star and said. "This is my Lord."

But when it set he said, "I love not the setters."  When he saw moon

rising, he said, "This is my Lord." But when it set he said: "If my Lord

does not guide me I shall surely be of the people gone astray."  When

he saw the sun rising, he said, "This is greater." But when it set he

said, "O my people, surely I quit that you associate.  I have turned

my face to Him who originated the heavens and the earth; a man of pure

faith, I am not of the idolators."



The Believer's Attitude

In order to be a Muslim i.e., to surrender oneself to God, it is

necessary to believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being

the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc.. But this belief - later

on called Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah is not enough.  Many of the idolators

knew and believed that only the Supreme God could do all this.  But

that was not enough to make them Muslims.  To tawhid-ar-rububiyah one

must add tawhid al'uluhiyyah i.e., one acknowledges the fact that it

is God alone who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstains from

worshipping any other thing or being.



Having achieved this knowledge of the one true God, man should

constantly have faith in Him, and should allow nothing to induce him

to deny truth.



When faith enters a person's heart, it causes certain mental states

which result in certain actions.  Taken together these mental states

and actions are the proof for true faith.  The prophet said, "Faith is

that which resides firmly in the heart and which is proved by deeds".



Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards

God, which could be said to be the essence of ibada (Worship).



The feeling of gratitude is so important that a non-believer is called

'kafir', which means 'one who denies a truth' and also 'one who is

ungrateful".



A believer loves, and is grateful to God for the bounties He bestowed

upon him, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether

mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favours,

he is always anxious lest God should punish him here or in the Hereafter.

He, therefore, fears Him, surrenders himself to Him and serves Him with

great humility.  One cannot be in such a mental state without being

almost all the time mindful of God.  Remembering God is thus the life

force of faith, without which it fades and withers away.



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The Quran tries to promote this feeling of gratitude by repeating the

attributes of God very frequently.  We find most of these attributes

mentioned together in the following verses of the Quran:




He is God; there is no god but He. He is the Knower of the unseen and

the visible; He is the All-merciful, the All-compassionate. He is God;

there is no god but He. He is the King, the All-holy, the All-peace,

the Guardian of Faith, the All-preserver, the All-mighty, the

All-compeller, the All-sublime.  Glory be to 'God, above that they

associate! He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper.  To Him

belong the Names Most Beautiful. All that is in the heavens and the

earth magnifies Him; He is the All-mighty, the All-wise. (59:22-24).



There is no god but He, the Living, the Everlasting.  Slumber seizes

Him not, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and

the earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His

leave? He knows what lies before them and what is after them, and they

comprehend not anything of His knowledge save such as He wills.  His

throne comprises the heavens and earth the preserving of them oppresses

Him not; He is the All-high, the All-glorious. (2:255).



People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion, and say

not as to God but the truth.  The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only

the Messenger of God, and His Word that He committed to Mary, and a

Spirit from Him.  So believe in God and His Messengers, and say not,

'Three.' Refrain; better is it for you.  God is only one God.  Glory

be to Him - that He should have a son. (4:171)



                           ------------

11



(WAMY SERIES ON ISLAM NO. 10)



                         HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM

                         =====================



Since God is the absolute and the sole master of men and the universe,

He is the sovereign Lord, the Sustainer and Nourisher, the Merciful,

Whose mercy enshrines all beings; and since He has given each an human

dignity and honour, and breathed into him of His own spirit, it follows

that, united in Him and through Him, and apart from their other human

attributes, men are substantially the same and no tangible and actual

distinction can be made among them, on account of their accidental

differences such as nationality, colour or race.  Every human being

is hereby related to all others and all become one community of

brotherhood in their honourable and pleasant servitude to the most

compassionate Lord of the Universe.  In such a heavenly atmosphere

the Islamic confession of the oneness of God stands dominant and

central, and necessarily entails the concept of the oneness of humanity

and the brotherhood and mankind.



Although an Islamic state may be set up in any part of the earth, Islam

does not seek to restrict human rights or privileges to the geogrpahical

limits of its own state.  Islam has laid down some universal

fundamental right for humanity as a whole, which are to be observed and

respected under all circumstances whether such a person is resident

within the territory of the Islamic states or outside it, whether he is

at peace with the state or at war.  The Quran very clearly states:



O believers, be you securers of justice, witness for God.

Let not detestation for a peoole move you not to be equitable; be

equitable - that is nearer to godfearing. (5:8)



Human blood is sacred in any case and cannot be spilled without

justification.  And if anyone violates this sanctity of human blood

by killing a soul without justification, the Quran equates it to the

killing of entire mankind:



..... Whose says a soul not to retaliate for a soul slain, nor for

corruption done in the land, should be as if he had slain mankind

altogether.



It is not permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick

or the wounded.  Women's honour and chastity are to be respected under

all circumstances.  The hungry person must be fed, the naked clothed

and the wounded or diseased treated medically irrespective of whether

they belong to the Islamic community or are from amongst its enemies.

When we speak of human rights in Islam we really mean that these

rights have been granted by God; they have not been granted by any king

or by any legislative assembly.  The rights granted by the Kings of the

legislative assemblies, can also be withdrawn in the same manner in

which they are conferred.  The same is the case with the rights accepted

and recognized by the dictators.  They can confer them when they please

and withdraw them when they wish; and they can openly violate them when

they like.  But since in Islam human rights have been conferred by God,

no legislative assembly in the world or any government on earth has the



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right or authority to make any amendment or change in the rights

conferred by God.  No one has the right to abrogate them or withdraw

them.  Nor are they  basic human rights which are conferred on paper

for the sake of show and exhibition and denied in actual life when the

show is over.  Nor are they like philosophical concepts which have no

sanctions behind them.



The charter and the proclamations and the resolutions of the United

Nations cannot be compared with the rights sanctioned by God; because

the former is not applicable on anybody while the latter is applicable

every believer.  They are a part and parcel of the Islamic Faith.

Every Muslim or administrator who claim on themselves to be Muslims,

will have to accept, recognize and enforce them.  If they fail to

enforce them, and start denying the rights that have been guaranteed

by God or make amendments and changes in them, or practically violate

them while paying lip service to them, the verdict of the Holy Quran

for such government is clear and unequivocal:



Human Rights in an Islamic State



1.  The Security of Life and Property: In the address which the Prophet

    delivered on the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, he said: "Your lives

    and properties are forbidden to one another till you meet your Lord

    on the Day of Resurrection."  The Prophet has also said about the

    dhimmis (the non-Muslim citizens of the Muslim state): "One who

    kills a man under covenant (i.e., Dhimmi) will not even smell the

    fragrance of Paradise."



2.  The Protection of Honour : The Holy Quran lays down-

i)   You who believe, do not let one (set of) people make fun of another

     set.

ii)  Do not defame one another

iii) Do not insult by using nickname

iv)  Do not backbite or speak ill of one another

     (49:11-12)



Sanctity and Security of Private Life: The Quran has laid down the

injunction-

i)   Do not spy on one another

ii)  Do not enter any houses unless you are sure of their occupant's

     consent.



4.  The Security of Personal Freedom: Islam has laid down the principle

    that no citizen can be imprisoned unless his guilt has been proved

    in an open court.  To arrest a man only on the basis of suspicion

    and to throw him into a prison without proper court proceedings

    and without providing him a reasonable opportunity to produce his

    defence is not permissible in Islam.



5.  The Right to Protest Against Tyranny: Amongst the rights that Islam

    has conferred on human beings is the right to protest against

    government's tyranny.  Referring to it the Quran says: "God does

    not love evil talk in public unless it is by some one who has been

    injured thereby."



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    In Islam, as has been argued earlier, all power and authority

    belongs to God, and with man there is only delegated power which

    becomes a trust; everyone who becomes a recipient or a donee of

    such a power has to stand in awful reverence before his people

    towards whom and for whose sake he will be called upon to use

    these powers.  This was acknowledged by Hazrat Abu Bakr who said

    in his very first address: "Cooperate with me when I am right

    but correct me when I commit error", obey me so long as I follow

    the commandments of Allah and his prophet; but turn away from me

    when I deviate."



6.  Freedom of Expression : Islam gives the right of a freedom of

    thought and expression to all citizens of the Islamic state on the

    condition that it should be used for the propagation of virtue and

    truth and not for spreading evil and wickedness.  The Islamic

    concept of freedom of expression is much superior to the concept

    prevalent in the West.  Under no circumstances would Islam allow

    evil and wickedness to be propagated.  It also does not give anybody

    the right to use abusive or offensive language in the name of

    criticism.  It was the practice of the Muslims to enquire from the

    Holy Prophet whether on a certain matter a divine injunction had

    been revealed to him.  If he said that he had received no devine

    injunction, the Muslims freely expressed their opinion on the matter.



7.  Freedom of Association : Islam has also given people the right to

    freedom of association and formation of parties or organizations.

    This right is also subject to certain general rules.



8.  Freedom of Conscience and Conviction:

    Islam has laid down the injunction: There should be no coercion in

    the matter of faith.

    On the contrary totalitarian societies totally deprive the

    individuals of their freedom.  Indeed this undue exaltation of the

    state authority curiously enough postulates a sort of servitude, of

    slavishness on the part of man.  At one time by slavery was meant

    total control of man over man - now that type of slavery has been

    legally abolished but in its place totalitarian societies impose

    a similar sort of control over individuals.



9.  Protection of Religious Sentiments : Alongwith the freedom of

    conviction and freedom of conscience Islam has given the right to

    the individual that his religious sentiments will be given due

    respect and nothing will be said or done which may encroach upon

    his right.



10. Protection from Arbitrary

    Imprisonment:  Islam also recognizes the right of the individual

    that he will not be arrested or imprisoned for the offences of

    others.  The Holy Quran has laid down this principle clearly:



    No bearer of burdens shall be made to bear the burden of another.



 11. The Right to Basic Necessities of Life:

    Islam has recognized the right of the needy people that help and

    assistance will be provided to them: And in their wealth there is

    acknowledged right for the needy and the destitute.



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12. Equality Before Law:  Islam gives its citizens the right to absolute

    and complete equality in the eyes of the law.



13. Rulers Not Above the Law:  A woman belonging to a high and noble

    family was arrested in connection with theft.  The case was brought

    to the Prophet, and it was recommended that she might be spared the

    punishment of theft.  The Prophet replied, "The nations that lived

    before you were destroyed by God before they punished the common man

    for their offences and let their dignitaries go unpunished for their

    crimes; I swear by Him Who holds my life in His hand that even if

    Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, the committed this crime, I would

    have amputated her hand."



14. The Right to Participate in the Affairs of State:

    And their business is (conducted) through consultation among

    themselves. (42:38).  The shura or the legislative assembly has no

    other meaning except that:  The executive head of the government

    and the members of the assembly should be elected by free and

    independent choice of the people.



Lastly, it is to be made clear that Islam tries to achieve the above-

mentioned human rights and many others not only by providing certain

safeguards but mainly by inviting mankind to transcend the lower level

of animal life to be able to go beyond the mere ties fostered by the

kinship of blood, racial superiority, linguistic arrogance, and economic

privileges.  It invites mankind to move on to a plane of existence

where, by reason of his inner excellence, man can realize the ideal of

the Brotherhood of man.

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