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Publisher’s Note
Islam — The Religion of Humanity by Maulana Muhammad Ali (d. 1951) was first published in 1928, being a condensed version of the author’s introductory Preface in his monumental 1917 publication The English Translation of the Holy Quran, with Commentary. This popular booklet ran into numerous reprints, with hundreds of thousands of copies being distributed free all over the world. It was also translated into many languages including French, German, Dutch, Italian, Hungarian, Polish and Chinese.In view of the popularity of this booklet, it was felt that it should be expanded to give greater details of the noble teachings of Islam. Since its original publication, Maulana Muhammad Ali had produced such highly-acclaimed and invaluable books as The Religion of Islam (1936), The New World Order (1944), Living Thoughts of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (1947), and the revised edition of his Translation of the Holy Quran with Commentary (1951). It was also felt that the unique exposition of Islam contained in these books should be made available in a very concise form.
Islam — The Religion of Humanity has, therefore, been enlarged by incorporating suitable passages from the above and other books of the Maulana. While retaining the original form of the booklet, existing sections have been amplified and some new sections added. In making these additions, some minor editing was necessary to ensure continuity and balance in the text.
Such a revised edition was first published in 1980. The present edition contains further revision and addition of the same kind, and was first published in 1985. The work of revision was conceived and carried out by the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (U.K. branch), based in Wembley, London, through Dr. Zahid Aziz, who also did the typesetting and the preparation of the camera-ready copy for the 1985 edition.
Foreword to the Original Edition
by Lord Headley[1]
With very great pleasure I have read Maulana Muhammad Ali’s excellent epitome of Islamic teaching, and I am much impressed by the ability he has shown in condensing, within the space of a few pages, all the essentials of our religion: the simplicity and sincerity of the work cannot but commend it to all those who are earnestly searching for the truth. There is a distinct need of such a concise exposition of Islam, for, notwithstanding the march of education and intelligent reasoning on religious subjects, there still remains in this country a lamentable amount of ignorance respecting the Muslim religion.
To a great extent this is due to the misrepresentations of those who really know, but wilfully mislead the Western mind respecting our faith. Some of the fallacies resulting from this unworthy practice of misrepresentation are that Muslims worship Muhammad, that polygamy is part of the Islamic religion, and that women have no souls. Amazing and incredible as it may seem, I am certain that great many respectable and in other respects fairly educated people in England really believe that we worship Muhammad, are compelled to have great many wives, and that our womenfolk have no souls and cannot enter into Paradise! All these ideas are utterly mistaken. We worship Allah, the one and only God. “Thee only do we worship, and of Thee alone do we beg for assistance,” is part of the Muslim prayer, and we make no distinction between the prophets selected by the Almighty in various stages of the world’s history. There is but one God, and Muhammad is the Prophet, the last Prophet, of God. Polygamy was rampant throughout Arabia before the advent of Muhammad, who merely regulated and placed restrictions on the number of wives a man might have. He also entirely put a stop to female infanticide as practised in Arabia before his time. At the present time, very few Muslims have more than one wife, and woman’s position in the Muslim world is far better than it is in Christian countries.
I hope that steps may be taken to have this little work widely distributed, as I feel sure that a perusal of its pages will bring enlightenment and comfort to those who may as yet be unaware of the true spirit of Islam, and may still be labouring under the delusions brought about, either by want of correct information or by listening to those who should know better than to falsely represent a sister religion.
HEADLEY
1. Introduction
Islam is the name by which the religion preached by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, who appeared in Arabia more than thirteen hundred years ago,“The nature made by God in which He has created man — that is the right religion” (30:30).And since, according to the Quran, prophets were raised among different nations in different ages, and the religion of every prophet was, in its pristine purity, no other than Islam, the scope of this religion, in the true sense of the word, extends as far back, and is as wide, as humanity itself, the fundamental principles always remaining the same, the accidents changing with the changing needs of humanity. The latest phase of Islam is that which made its appearance in the world with the advent of the Holy Prophet Muhammad — may peace and the blessings of God be upon him!
Significance of the name
The name Islam was not invented, as in the case of other religions, by those who professed it. This name is, on the other hand, expressly given to this religion in the Holy Quran. It says:
“I (God) have chosen for you Islam as a religion” (5:3).
And in another place:
“Surely the religion with God is Islam” (3:19).
It is, moreover, a significant name; in fact, the word Islam indicates the very essence of the religious system known by that name. Its primary significance is the ‘making of peace’, and the idea of ‘peace’ is the dominant idea in Islam. A Muslim, according to the Holy Quran, is he who has made peace with God and man, with the Creator as well as His creatures. Peace with God implies complete submission to His will Who is the source of all purity and goodness, and peace with man implies the doing of good to fellow-man. Both these ideas are briefly, but beautifully, expressed in 2:112, which says:
“Nay, whoever submits himself entirely to God, and is the doer of good to others, he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for such, nor shall they grieve.”
That, and that only, is salvation according to the Holy Quran. And as the Muslim is in perfect peace, he enjoys peace of mind and contentment (16:106). “Peace” is the greeting of one Muslim to another, and “Peace” shall also be the greeting of those in paradise:
“And their greeting therein shall be, Peace” (10:10).
Nay, in the paradise which Islam depicts, no word shall be heard except “Peace, Peace”, as the Holy Quran says:
“They shall hear therein no vain or sinful talk, but only the saying, Peace! Peace!” (56:25,26).
The “Author of peace and safety” is also a name of God mentioned in the Holy Quran (59:23), and the goal to which Islam leads is the “Abode of Peace”, as is said in 10:25:
“And God invites to the abode of peace”.
Peace is, therefore, the essence of Islam, being the root from which it springs and the fruit which it yields, and Islam is thus pre-eminently the Religion of Peace.
New meaning introduced into religion
In Islam the concept of religion receives a new significance. Firstly, it is to be treated not as a dogma, which a man must accept if he is to escape everlasting damnation, but as a science based on the universal experience of humanity. Thus, according to Islam, Divine revelation (or God’s communicating with man) is a necessary factor in the evolution of man. And from its crudest form (that of true dreams and visions) to its highest form (that of religious truths and laws revealed to the great prophets of God), Divine revelation is the universal experience of humanity and a Divine gift bestowed upon all the nations of the world. Secondly, further strengthening the idea of the scientific in religion, Islam presents all its doctrines as principles of human conduct and action, and makes each point of belief the basis for action by man for his development to higher and yet higher stages of life.Thirdly, the sphere of religion is not confined to the next world; its primary concern is rather with this life, that man, through a righteous life here on earth, may attain to the consciousness of a higher existence. And so it is that the Quran deals not only with the means which make man attain communion with God, but also with the problems of the world around us, with important questions the proper understanding of which enables man to lead a happy life. It gives guidance for individual progress, and also for the advancement of society, the nation, and even humanity. It prepares man for another life, but only through making him capable of holding his own in the present one.
2. Some distinctive characteristics of Islam
Belief in all the prophets
The great characteristic of Islam is that it requires its followers to believe that all the great religions of the world that prevailed before it were revealed by God; and thus Islam lays down the basis of peace and harmony among the religions of the world. According to the Holy Quran, there is not one nation in the world in which a prophet has not appeared:
“There is not a people but a warner has gone among them” (35:24).
One is further told that there have been prophets besides those mentioned in the Quran:
“And We sent messengers We have mentioned to thee before, and messengers We have not mentioned to thee” (4:164).
The Quran, however, not only establishes the theory that prophets have appeared in all nations; it goes further and renders it necessary that a Muslim should believe in all those prophets (2:136, 177, 285), and though the faith of Islam is summed up in two brief sentences, There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Apostle, yet the person who confesses belief in Muhammad, in so doing, accepts all the prophets of the world, whether their names are mentioned in the Quran or not. Islam thus claims a universality to which no other religion can aspire, and lays the foundation of a brotherhood as vast as humanity itself.
Perfection of religion
The great mission of Islam was not, however, to preach this truth only, which, on account of the isolation from each other of the different nations of the earth, had not been preached before, but also to correct the errors which had found their way into various religions, to sift truth from error, to preach the truths which had not been preached before on account of the special circumstances of society or the early stage of its development, and most important of all, to gather together in one book the truths which were contained in any Divine revelation granted to any people for the guidance of man; and last of all, to meet all the spiritual and moral requirements of an ever-advancing humanity. Thus Islam claims to be the final and the most perfect expression of the will of God, as the Quran says:“This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favour to you and chosen for you Islam as a religion” (5:3).Accordingly, the Holy Quran is spoken of as “pure pages, wherein are (all) right books” (98:2,3), the meaning being that all those right directions necessary for the guidance of man, whether previously revealed or not, are to be met with in this Holy Book.
The unity of mankind
According to the Divine scheme whereby prophets were raised for the regeneration of the world, as disclosed in the Quran, every nation had its prophets, and thus, though prophethood was in one sense a universal fact, it was more or less a national institution, the scope of the teaching of every prophet being limited to his own nation. The final step, therefore, in the institution of prophethood was the coming of one prophet for all the nations, so that the grand idea of unifying the whole human race could be brought to perfection. The Holy Prophet Muhammad’s mission is thus described in the Holy Quran:
“Blessed is God Who sent down the Furqan (the Quran) upon His servant that he may be a warner to all the nations” (25:1);
and
“Say : O mankind, surely I am the Messenger of God to you all” (7:158).
The World-Prophet therefore took the place of the national prophets, all geographical limitations were swept away as were all bars of colour and race, and the basis of the unity of the human race was laid upon the grand principle that:
“mankind is a single nation” (2:213).
It should be added that such unity of mankind could not be accomplished unless the finality of prophethood was established, for if prophets continued to appear after the World-Prophet they would undoubtedly shatter the very foundations of the unity at which Islam aimed by giving a single prophet to the whole world. Hence it is that the Holy Prophet Muhammad is spoken of as:
“the Messenger of God and the last of the prophets” (33:40).
It may be further added that the object of sending a prophet to a people was to point out the ways by walking in which men could hold communion with God. That object was also brought to perfection through the great World Prophet, whose message was so perfect that it met the requirements not only of all contemporary nations, but of all future generations as well. This is plainly claimed by the Quran (see 5:3 quoted above), a claim not put forward by any other religion. Religion thus being made perfect, there remained no need for another religion after Islam or another prophet after the Prophet Muhammad.
An historical religion
I wish to notice one more peculiarity of Islam by way of introduction. Islam is beyond all doubt an historical religion, and its Holy Founder an historical personage. It is a fact which even an hostile critic of Islam has to admit. Every event of the Holy Prophet’s life can be read in the light of history, and the Holy Quran, which is the source of all the spiritual and social laws of Islam, is, as has been remarked by Bosworth Smith,Having a book of Divine revelation so safely preserved through
centuries to guide him for his spiritual and moral welfare, and
the example of such a great and noble Prophet whose varied experiences
in life furnish the best rules of conduct in all the different phases
of human life, a Muslim is sure that he has not rejected any truth
which was ever revealed by God to any nation, and that he has not
set at naught any good which was to be found in the life of any
good man. A Muslim thus not only believes in the truth of all Divine
revelations and accepts the sacred leaders of all peoples, but also
follows the lasting and permanent truths contained in those revelations
by following the last and most comprehensive of them, and imitates
all good men in all the good that is to be found in their lives
by taking for his model the most perfect exemplar. The five principles as already indicated are: (1) a belief in God,
the Great Unseen, (2) in Divine revelation, (3) in the life to come;
and on the practical side: (4) prayer to God, which is the source
from which springs the love of God, and (5) charity in its broadest
sense; indicating respectively the performance of our duties to
God and man. Now, these five principles of belief and action are
recognized by all nations of the earth, and these are the common
principles on which all religions are based. In fact, these five
fundamental principles of the holy religion of Islam are imprinted
on human nature. Here I take them separately as detailed in the
Holy Quran.
Among the numerous sublime attributes of the Divine Being to which
the Holy Quran gives expression, the attribute of mercy occupies
the highest place. It is with the names al-Rahman and al-Rahim
that every chapter of the Holy Book opens. The words Beneficent
and Merciful convey to the English reader of the Holy
Quran only a very imperfect idea of the deep and all-encompassing
love and mercy of God as indicated by the words al-Rahman and
al-Rahim. “My Mercy encompasses all things,” says
the Holy Quran (7:156). Hence the Messenger who preached this conception
of the Divine Being is rightly called in the Holy Quran “a
mercy to all the nations” (21:107). Again, God is the Author
of all that exists. A denial of His power of creation would have
given a death-blow to the very loftiness and sublimity of the conception
of the Divine Being. Here is but one description of His attributes:
God is above all limitations, and He cannot be likened to anything
known to man (42:11). While God comprehends all vision, man’s
vision cannot comprehend Him (6:104). He is One; duality or trinity
in Divine nature, or multiplicity of gods, being unthinkable (2:163;
16:51; 4:171); nor does He hold the relation of fatherhood or sonship
to anyone (112:3; 19:90–93). He is Omniscient (20:7), Omnipotent
(16:48–50), and Omnipresent (58:7), being nearer to man than
his own self (50:16; 56:85). There is a very large number of other
attributes of the Divine Being which give a loftiness to the conception
of God in the Quran not met with in any other revealed book.
1. Evidence is drawn from the material universe that there
must be a Creator and Controller of the universe. In the Holy Quran,
this evidence centres around the word Rabb, the first attribute
of the Divine Being to which Revelation draws attention:
“Read in the name of thy Rabb” (96:1) and with which the Holy Quran begins (1:1), being also the oftest
repeated attribute in the Holy Book. Rabb, usually translated
as Lord for the sake of brevity, means the Fosterer of
a thing in such a manner as to make it attain one condition after
another until it reaches its goal of perfection. Everything
created thus bears the impress of Divine creation in the characteristic
of moving on from lower to higher stages until it reaches completion.
Evolution, which has proved a stumbling block to other religions,
is thus made in Islam the very basis of belief in God, and serves
as an argument of purpose and wisdom in creation. The oneness of
law prevailing in the universe, notwithstanding the immensity of
its diversity (67:3,4), existence of the strictest control throughout
Nature from the tiniest particle to the mightiest sphere (36:38;
55:5,6), and similar other arguments run through every page of the
Holy Book.
2. The second group of arguments for the existence of God
relates to the human soul in which is implanted, according to the
Holy Quran, the consciousness of Divine existence. An appeal is
again and again made to man’s inner self:
“Were they created for nothing?” “Are they creators
of their own souls?” “Did they create the heavens and
the earth?” (52:35,36). “Am I not your Rabb?” (7:172). God-consciousness is thus shown to be part and parcel of human
nature. Sometimes this consciousness is mentioned in terms of the
unimaginable nearness of the human spirit to the Divine Spirit:
“We are nearer to man than his life-vein” (50:16); “We are nearer to your soul than you” (56:85). This is to show that the consciousness of the existence of God
in the human soul is even clearer than the consciousness of its
own existence. This consciousness undoubtedly differs in different
natures according as the inner light of man is bright or dim.
This argument is further strengthened by showing that there is
something more than mere consciousness of the existence of God.
The spirit of God has been breathed into man (15:29), and hence
it is that the soul of man yearns after God; there is in it the
instinct to serve God and to turn to Him for help (1:4). Every man,
even the polytheist, turns to God in affliction and distress, when
the full strength of human nature asserts itself (10:12,22; 39:8).
There is, further, implanted in man faith in God, by which he is
guided through darkness and difficulty (10:9); love of God, out
of which selfless service is rendered to humanity (2:177; 76:8);
trust in God, which is an unfailing source of strength to man in
times of failure (14:12).
3. The surest and clearest evidence of the existence of
God is, however, afforded by the spiritual — the higher —
experience of humanity, by God revealing Himself to man. The evidence
of wisdom and purpose in the universe only shows that there must
be a God, and does not lead to the certain conviction that God
is; the evidence of the inner self of man is also insufficient
to lead to this certain conviction and give man access to the Divine
Being; it is Divine revelation that not only establishes the greatest
reality of this life that God is, but also casts a flood
of light on the Divine attributes and sets man on the way by walking
in which he feels His existence as a reality in his own life and
which enables him to hold communion with Him. It is this realization
of the Divine Being that works a change in man’s life and gives
him an irresistible spiritual force through which he can bring about
a change even in others’ lives. God’s revealing Himself
to man is, according to Islam, the universal experience of humanity,
the experience of men in all nations, all countries and all ages.
It is this universal spiritual experience of mankind that has proved
a force of the first magnitude in lifting up humanity from the depths
of degradation to the greatest heights of moral and even material
advancement.
The Holy Quran not only produced this grand transformation, but
from the very start of the Holy Prophet’s career it announced
prophecy after prophecy, in the surest and most certain terms, to
the effect that the implacable opposition would perish and Islam
would be triumphant. These prophecies were declared at a time when
the Holy Prophet was quite alone and helpless, beset on all sides
by fierce opposition, and there was not the remotest prospect of
Islam ever making any headway. Yet they were fulfilled only a few
years afterwards in an astounding manner. No man could possibly
have foreseen what was so clearly foretold as certain to come about,
and no human power could have brought to utter failure a whole nation
ranged against a solitary man. Divine revelation thus affords the
clearest and surest proof of the existence of God, Whose infinite
knowledge comprehends the future as well as the past and present,
and Who controls both the forces of nature and the destiny of man.
The opposite of Unity is shirk (the associating of ‘gods’
with God, or ascribing Divine qualities to others than God), which
is said to be the gravest of all sins (31:13) due to the fact that
it demoralizes man, while Divine Unity brings about his moral elevation.
The various forms of shirk mentioned in the Quran include:
worship of things such as idols, animals, forces of nature, etc.,
supposing other things and beings to possess the same attributes
as God, as in the doctrine of trinity or of the co-eternity of matter
and soul, blindly following the behests of great men, and blind
submission to one’s own desires. These show that, in the doctrine
of Unity, the Quran gives to the world an ennobling message of advancement
all round, physical as well as moral and spiritual. Man is freed
not only from slavery to animate and inanimate objects, but also
from subservience to the wonderous forces of nature which, he is
told, he can subdue for his own benefit (45:12,13). It goes further
and delivers man from that greatest of slaveries — slavery
to man. It does not allow to any mortal the dignity of Godhead,
or of being more than a mortal; for the greatest of mortals (the
Holy Prophet) is commanded to say:
“I am only a mortal like you; it is revealed to me that
your God is One God” (18:110). Thus all the bonds which fettered the mind of man were broken,
and he was set on the road to progress.
According to the Holy Quran, revelation in its lower forms, in
the form of inspiration or that of dreams and visions, is the universal
experience of humanity. Similarly, in its highest form, that of
Divinely-revealed scriptures and laws, it is not limited to one
particular man or to one particular nation, but has been granted
to each and every nation. Without the assistance of revelation from
God, no people could have ever attained the communion with God,
and hence it was necessary that Almighty God, Who, being the Lord
of the whole world, supplied all men with their physical necessities,
should also have brought to them His spiritual blessings. Thus the
idea of revelation in Islam is as broad as humanity itself, and
a Muslim is required to believe, not in the Quran alone, but in
all the Books of God, granted to all the nations of the world.
Besides this, the Quran points out that the teachings of earlier
scriptures had undergone alterations, and therefore only a revelation
from God could separate the pure Divine teaching from the mass of
error which had grown around it. This the Quran did, and hence it
is called a “guardian” over the earlier scriptures. It
also claims to be a judge, deciding the differences between them.
All religions were from God, but even their basic doctrines had
come to differ from one another to such an extent that it had become
simply unthinkable that they could have proceeded from the same
Divine source; till the Quran pointed out the common ground, namely,
the Unity of God, and the universality of revelation.
There is also another aspect of the Islamic belief in Divine revelation
in which it differs from some other religions of the world. It refuses
to acknowledge the incarnation of the Divine Being. That the highest
aim of religion is communion with God is a fact universally recognized.
According to the Holy Quran, this communion is not attained by God
assuming a human shape in the sense of incarnation, but by man rising
gradually towards God by spiritual progress and the purification
of his life from all sensual desires and low motives. The perfect
one who reveals the face of God to the world is not the Divine Being
in human form, but the human being whose person has become a manifestation
of the Divine attributes by his own personality having been consumed
in the fire of love for God. His example serves as incentive and
is a model for others to follow. He shows by his example how a mortal
can attain to communion with God. Hence the broad principle of Islam
that no one is precluded from being fed from the source of Divine
revelation, and that anyone can attain it by following the Holy
Word of God as revealed in the Holy Quran.
The first of these quotations makes it clear that the great facts
which shall be brought to light on the day of Resurrection shall
not be anything new, but only a manifestation of what is hidden
from the physical eye here. The life after death is, therefore,
not a new life, but only a continuation of this life, bringing its
hidden realities to light. The other two quotations show that a
hellish and a heavenly life both begin in this world. The blindness
of the next life is hell, but according to the verse quoted only
those who are blind here shall be blind hereafter, thus making it
clear that the spiritual blindness of this life is the real hell,
and from here it is carried along to the next life. Similarly, it
is the soul that has found perfect peace and rest that is made to
enter into paradise at death, thus showing that the paradise of
the next life is only a continuation of the peace and rest which
a man enjoys spiritually in this life. Thus it is clear that, according
to the Holy Quran, the next life is a continuation of this, and
death is not an interruption but a connecting link, a door that
opens up the hidden realities of this life.
The following verse of the Holy Quran, which may ordinarily be
misunderstood, is far from describing the heavenly blessings as
being identical with the things of this world. It runs thus:
Now the fruits which the righteous are made to speak of as having
tasted in this life could not possibly be the fruits of trees or
the things of this life. The verse, in fact, tells us that those
who believe and do good deeds prepare a paradise with their own
hands for themselves, with their good deeds for fruits. It is of
the fruits of this garden that they are spiritually made to taste
here, and of the same, only in a more palpable form, shall they
eat in the next life. To the same effect we may quote another verse
of the Holy Quran: “On that day you will see the faithful men and the faithful
women, their light gleaming before them and on their right hand”
(57:12). This verse shows that the light of faith by which the righteous
men and women were guided in this life, and which could be seen
here only with the spiritual eye, shall be clearly seen going before
the believers on the day of Resurrection. As in the case of the blessings of paradise, the punishment of
hell is also an image of the spiritual tortures of this life. Hell
is said to be a place where one shall neither live nor die (20:74).
It should be remembered in this connection that the Quran describes
those who walk in error and wickedness as dead and lifeless, while
the good it calls living. The secret of this is that the means of
the life of those who are ignorant of God, being simply eating and
drinking and the satisfaction of physical desires, are entirely
cut off at their death. Of spiritual food they have no share, and
therefore, while devoid of true life, they shall be raised again
to taste of the evil consequences of their evil deeds.
Islam teaches that man is destined to make infinite progress in
the life after death. Underlying this is the principle that the
development of man’s faculties as it takes place in this life
is not sealed by finality; but a much wider vista of progress opens
out after death. Hell is meant only to purify a man of the dross
which he has accumulated with his own hands, in order to make him
fit for spiritual advancement in that life. Verses 106 and 107 of
the 11th chapter of the Quran show clearly that the punishment of
hell is not everlasting. There are also Sayings of the Holy Prophet
and his Companions which leave little doubt that hell is a temporary
place for the sinner, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, and that the
chastisement of hell is a remedy to heal his spiritual diseases
and to enable him to start again on the road to the higher life.
Nor is paradise a place for simple enjoyment; it is essentially
a place for advancement to higher and higher stages (39:20). Those
in paradise are spoken of as having an unceasing desire for attaining
to higher and higher excellences, their prayer therein being: “Our Lord, make perfect for us our light” (66:8). Just as our physical faculties are not by themselves sufficient
to enable us to attain any object in the physical world without
the assistance of other agents, so our own spiritual powers cannot
by themselves lead us to do good or evil deeds; but here too, intermediaries
which have an existence independent of our internal spiritual powers
are necessary to enable us to do good or evil deeds. In other words,
there are two attractions placed in the nature of man: the attraction
to good or to rise up to higher spheres of virtue, and the attraction
to evil, or to stoop down to a kind of low, bestial life; but to
bring these attractions into operation external agencies are needed,
as they are needed in the case of the physical powers of man. The
external agency which brings the attraction to good into work is
called an angel, and that which assists in the working of
the attraction to evil is called the devil. If we respond
to the attraction for good, we are following the Holy Spirit, and
if we respond to the attraction for evil, we are following the Satan.
The real significance of belief in angels is, therefore, that we
should follow the inviter to good or the attraction for good which
is placed within us.
The above remarks explain not only the significance of a Muslim’s
belief in angels, but also the meaning underlying the very word
belief. Belief, according to Islam, is not only a conviction
of the truth of a given proposition, but it is essentially the acceptance
of a proposition as the basis for action. As already shown, the
proposition of the existence of the devils is as true as that of
the existence of the angels; but while belief in angels is again
and again mentioned as part of a Muslim’s faith, nowhere are
we required to believe in the devils. Both facts are equally true,
and the Holy Quran speaks on numerous occasions of the misleadings
and insinuations of the devils, but while it requires belief in
the angels, it does not require belief in the devils. If belief
in angels were only an equivalent to an admission of their existence,
belief in devils was an equal necessity. But it is not so. The reason
is that whereas man is required to accept and follow the call of
the inviter to good, he is required not to follow the call of the
inviter to evil, and therefore, as the former gives a basis for
action which the latter does not, we believe in the angels but not
in the devils. On the other hand, the Holy Quran requires disbelief
in the devils: “So whoever disbelieves in the devil and believes in God,
he indeed lays hold on the firmest handle” (2:256). It can thus be seen that the principles of belief enumerated above,
as given in the Holy Quran, are really principles each of which
serves as the basis for action, and no other belief is known to
Islam. The word Allah — the Arabic word for God —
indicates that Being Who possesses all the perfect attributes, and
when a Muslim is required to believe in Allah, he is really required
to make himself the possessor of all those attributes of perfection.
The belief in Divine revelation makes him accept and imitate all
the good that is met with in the lives of righteous men, and the
belief in the hereafter is equivalent to the recognition of the
principle of accountability for one’s actions. Without a strong practical character any religion is likely to
pass into mere idealism, and it will cease to exercise influence
on the practical life of man. The precepts of Islam, which inculcate
duties towards God and duties towards man, are based on that deep
knowledge of the human nature which cannot be possessed but by the
Author of that nature. They cover the whole range of the development
of man, and are thus wonderfully adapted to the requirements of
different peoples. In the Holy Quran are found guiding rules for
the ordinary man of the world as well as the philosopher, and for
communities in the lower grade of civilization as well as the most
highly civilized nations of the world. Practicality is the keynote
of its precepts, and thus the same universality which marks its
principles of faith is met with in its practical ordinances, suiting
as they do the requirements of all ages and nations.
Islam, therefore, enjoins prayer as a means of the moral elevation
of man. Prayer degenerating into mere ritual, into a lifeless and
vapid ceremony gone through with insincerity of heart, is not the
prayer enjoined by Islam. Such prayer is expressly denounced: “Woe to the praying ones! who are unmindful of their prayers,
who do good to be seen” (107:4–6). It is also stated in the same passage that prayer is useless unless
it leads to the service of humanity. In Islam there is no Sabbath or a day of the week set apart for
worship. Prayer is made a part of the everyday affairs of man. It
is the first daily act of a Muslim and it is also his last one,
and between these two there are three other prayers during hours
of business or recreation. Thus Islam requires that, even when busiest,
a Muslim should still be able to disengage himself from all worldly
occupations for a short while and resort to prayer. Hence it is
also that Islam has done away with all institutions of monkery,
which require a man to give up all worldly occupations for the whole
of his life in order to hold communion with God. Islam makes communion
with God possible even when man is most busy with his worldly occupations,
thus making possible what was considered impossible before its advent.
The Islamic mode of worship is calculated to concentrate attention
on one object: the realization of the Divine presence. The ablution
preceding prayer, the reverential attitude in standing, the bowing
down, the prostration and the reverent sitting posture — all
help the mind to realize the Divine presence as a fact; and the
worshipper finds his heart’s joy in doing honour to the Great
Master, not only with his tongue but with his whole body.
In Islam, the daily congregational prayers are also the means of
levelling all differences of rank, colour and nationality, and the
means of bringing about a cohesion and unity among people which
is the necessary basis of a lasting civilization. Before their Maker,
all the worshippers stand shoulder to shoulder, the ruler along
with his humblest subject, the rich with the beggar, the white man
with the black. Nay, the king or the rich man in a back row will
have to lay his head, while prostrating himself before God, at the
feet of a poor man in the front. Differences of rank, wealth and
colour vanish within the mosque, and an atmosphere of brotherhood,
equality and love prevails within its precincts. In fact, the five
daily prayers are meant, among other things, to carry into practice
the theoretical lessons of equality and fraternity for which Islam
stands.
But while Islam has given permanence to the institution of prayer
by requiring its observance at stated times and in a particular
manner, it has also left ample scope for the individual himself,
particularly in the private portion of the prayer, to make any supplications
that he likes and in any language that he chooses, in any of the
four postures (standing, bowing, prostrating or sitting).
Fasting is one of those religious institutions which, though universally
recognized, have had quite a new meaning introduced into them by
Islam. It rejected totally the idea of appeasing Divine wrath, or
exciting Divine compassion through voluntary suffering, and introduced
in its place regular fasting as a spiritual, moral and physical
discipline of the highest order. The object of this institution
is clearly stated in the Holy Quran: “Fasting is prescribed for you … so that you may guard
against evil” (2:183). Islam has set apart the month of Ramadaan for this purpose.
Every day in this month, one is required to abstain from food and
drink and sexual intercourse from dawn till sunset. But fasting
also means refraining from every kind of evil. In fact, abstention
from food is only a step to make a man realize that if he can, in
obedience to God, abstain from that which is otherwise lawful, how
much more necessary it is that he should abstain from the evil ways
which are forbidden by God!
No temptation is greater than the temptation of satisfying one’s
thirst and hunger when food and drink are in one’s possession,
yet this temptation is overcome by the faster, not once or twice,
as if it were by chance, but day after day regularly for a whole
month, with a set purpose of drawing closer and closer to God. Whenever
a temptation comes before him, he overcomes it because there is
an inner voice, “God is with me,” “God sees me”;
so the Divine presence becomes a reality for him, and a new consciousness
of a higher life — a life above that which is maintained by
eating and drinking — is awakened in him, and this is the life
spiritual. At the annual occasion of the Pilgrimage, there is a unique assemblage
of humanity at Makka, hundreds of thousands of people all inspired
by the one idea of feeling the presence of the Divine Being, all
concentrating their minds on the One Supreme Being Who for the time
is their sole object. Added to this is the mighty effect of the
outward unity of them all, clad in the same two sheets, crying out
in one language what is understood by all: lubbaika Allahumma
lubbaika — “Here we are, O Allah! here we are in
Thy presence”. God is surely not in Makka to the exclusion
of other places, yet that vast assemblage feels His presence as
if He were actually there in their very midst. Such is the higher
spiritual experience of the pilgrims, the experience not of the
hermit shut up in his closet, but the experience of a mighty concourse
gathered together in one place.
The Pilgrimage also has a wonderful influence, like no other institution
in the world, in levelling all distinctions of race, colour, nation,
rank or wealth. Not only do people of all races and all countries
meet together as God’s servants, but there is nothing to distinguish
the high from the low. There is a vast concourse of human beings,
all clad in one dress, all moving in one way, all having but one
word to speak. Thus is every Muslim made to pass once in his life
through that narrow gate of equality that leads to broad brotherhood.
All men are equal in birth and death, but the Pilgrimage is the
only occasion on which they are taught how to live alike, how to
act alike and how to feel alike. It would thus be seen that all these Islamic precepts are only
meant for the moral elevation of man. Islam does not lay down any
institution which may be said to be a meaningless worship of God.
The aim and object of all the precepts it gives is the purification
of the heart, so that thus purified, man may enjoy communion with
the Holy One Who is the Fountain-head of all purity. It would also
be seen that Islam introduces workable ascetic formulae into the
daily life of man. The five daily prayers require the sacrifice
of a small part of his time and, without interfering with his everyday
life, enable him to realize the Divine that is within him. Fasting
requires the giving up of food and drink, but not in such a manner
as to make him unfit for carrying on his regular work. The Pilgrimage
is a function which one performs generally only once in a lifetime,
and therefore, while leading a man through the highest spiritual
experience, it does not interfere in any appreciable degree with
the regular course of his life. On the material side too, woman is recognized as on a par with
man. She can earn money and own property just as a man can do:
“For men is the benefit of what they earn, and for women
is the benefit of what they earn” (4:32). She has full control over her property and can dispose of it as
she likes. In Arabia, at the time of the advent of the Holy Prophet,
a woman had no rights of property; in fact, she herself was part
of the inheritance, and was taken possession of along with other
property. The Quran took her from this low position and raised her
to a position of perfect freedom as regards her property rights
and her right to inheritance, a position which, even in modern western
nations, she has attained only very recently after a long struggle.
To raise the moral status of society, Islam requires both sexes
to behave modestly and to develop the habit of keeping their looks
cast down in the presence of each other. When going out, or on other
occasions when there is intermingling of the sexes, women are required
to be properly dressed, As a wife, a woman does not lose any of the rights she possesses
as an individual member of society; nor is her individuality merged
in that of her husband. Her position as wife, according to a Saying
of the Holy Prophet, is that of “a ruler over the house of
her husband”. In the matter of divorce too, which may become
necessary if all means to effect reconciliation between husband
and wife are exhausted, the Quran places the two parties on a level
of perfect equality.
The principles of Islamic government were illustrated in practice
by the Holy Prophet Muhammad himself as founder-head of the Muslim
state; and after him, his first four successors are recognized as
following in his footsteps to exemplify true Islamic rule, combining
democracy with a display of high moral character. This model Islamic
state was democratic in the truest sense of the word. Each of these
successors (“Caliphs”) was elected head of state by the
agreement of all parties. The head was a servant of the state who
was paid a fixed salary out of the public treasury, like all other
public servants. He had no special privileges. Even the Holy Prophet
himself did not claim any rights beyond those which other Muslims
had. It was a democracy free from all differences of heredity, rank
or privilege. All people, including the ruler, had equal rights
and obligations and were subject to the same law.
Those entrusted with the work of government were required to work
for the good of the people, to lead simple lives and to be easily
accessible to the public, to provide for those who could not earn,
and to have as much regard for the rights of non-Muslims as for
those of the Muslims. The people’s responsibility to the state
is to respect and obey its laws as long as they do not involve disobedience
to God and His Messenger. Abu Bakr, the first successor to the Holy
Prophet, said in his very first address:
Every individual citizen of the state of Islam, Muslim or non-Muslim,
enjoyed the right to give his (or her) opinion and was perfectly
free to do so. Once when Umar was delivering a sermon, it was a
woman who stood up and objected to it. Far from resenting this,
Umar accepted her criticism and acknowledged his error in the words:
“The women of this city have more understanding than Umar”.
The position of the head of state was exactly that of a common subject.
Once, when sued, Umar appeared to defend himself in court just as
any other defendant. Thus under Umar the principle of democracy
was carried to a point to which even the modern world has not yet
attained.[11] There exists a great misconception regarding jihad (lit.
striving or struggle), one of the religious obligations
of a Muslim. In the terminology of Islam, jihad is applied
both to the purely missionary activities of a Muslim and to his
defence of the faith in a physical sense. The first duty, the duty
to invite people to Islam, is a permanent duty laid upon all Muslims
of all times, while the second is a duty which arises upon certain
contingencies. According to the Quran, a jihad which it calls jihad-an
kabir-an, or the great jihad, must be carried on against the
unbelievers by means of the Holy Book itself (see 25:52).
Islam’s greatest jihad is, therefore, not by means of the sword
but by means of the Quran, i.e., a missionary effort to carry the
message of Islam to all nations. Compulsion in religion is forbidden
in clear words: “There is no compulsion in religion” (2:256). And there is not a single instance in the Holy Prophet’s life
in which an individual was ever required to confess the faith of
Islam at the point of the sword. As regards war and fighting, it is allowed only as a defensive
measure against those who take up the sword to annihilate Islam:
“Permission to fight is granted to those upon whom war is
made, because they are oppressed” (22:39). “Fight in the way of God with those who fight with you,
and do not exceed this limit” (2:190). All the battles fought by the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the early
Muslims were purely defensive. He and his followers had been subjected
to the severest persecution, as Islam began to gain ground at Makka.
Even when they fled from their homes and took refuge in distant
Madina, the powerful warriors of Makka attacked them in their new
homes. Three times did the enemy attack Madina with strong forces
to annihilate the Muslim community there. The Quran, therefore,
allowed fighting only to save a persecuted community from powerful
oppressors.
The Holy Prophet was peace-loving by nature, and he believed that
making a generous peace was often a better remedy for aggression
than annihilation of the aggressor, because it may bring about a
real change of heart in the enemy. Hence it was that when, at last,
the time came to punish the brutal aggressors, who were at the mercy
of the Holy Prophet at the Muslim conquest of Makka, he not only
awarded them a general amnesty but let them off without even a reprimand.
This act of generosity towards one’s inveterate enemy stands
unique in the annals of the world.
Everyone who possesses property above a certain limit is required
to set apart a stated portion thereof. The portion so set apart
should be collected by the Muslim state, or the Muslim community
when there is no Muslim state, and the objects to which it must
be devoted are enumerated in the following verse:
Besides the contributions the payment of which has thus been made
obligatory by the Holy Quran and made as compulsory as the saying
of prayers, general charity is inculcated very forcibly throughout
the Holy Book. It not only lays stress on such great deeds of charity
as the emancipation of slaves (2:177, 90:13), the feeding of the
poor (69:34, etc.), taking care of the orphans (17:34, etc.), and
doing good to humanity in general, but gives equal prominence to
smaller acts of benevolence the withholding of which is stated to
be against the spirit of prayer (107:4-7).
In the Holy Prophet’s Sayings, charity is given the broadest
possible significance. “To remove from the road anything which
may cause harm”, or “to show someone the way”, or
even to give food to one’s family or oneself, are charitable
deeds. The doing of good to the dumb creation is also called charity:
“Whoever tills a field, and birds and beasts eat of it, it
is charity”. The Holy Quran also speaks of extending charity
not only to all men including believers and unbelievers (2:272),
but also to the dumb creation (51:19).
Charity must be given out of good things, out of things which a
man loves for himself:
The Holy Quran was not meant for one people or one age, and accordingly
the scope of its moral teachings is as wide as humanity itself.
It is a Book which offers guidance to all men in all conditions
of life, to the ignorant savage as well as to the wise philosopher,
to the man of business as well as to the recluse, to the rich as
well as to the poor. Accordingly, while giving varied rules of life,
it appeals to the individual to follow the best rules which are
applicable to the circumstances under which he lives (39:55). If
it contains directions on the one hand which are calculated to raise
men in the lowest grades of civilization and to teach them the crude
manners of society, it also furnishes rules of guidance to men in
the highest stages of moral and spiritual progress. High ideal moral
teachings are no doubt necessary to the progress of man, but only
those who can realize those ideals will be able to benefit by them.
But to this class do not belong the vast masses in any nation or
community, however high may be its standard of civilization. Hence
the Quran contains rules of guidance for all the stages through
which man has to pass in the onward march from the condition of
the savage to that of the highly spiritual man. They cover all the
branches of human activity and require the development of all the
faculties of man. Islam requires the display of every quality that has been placed
in man, and makes only one limitation, viz., that it should be displayed
on the proper occasion. It requires a man to show meekness as well
as courage, but each on its proper occasion. It teaches forgiveness,
but at the same time it requires that when the nature of an offence
requires punishment, punishment proportionate to the crime must
be administered. It says, “Forgive when you see that forgiveness
would be conducive to good.” Again, it teaches men to display
high morals under the most adverse circumstances, to be honest even
when honesty is likely to lead one into complications, to speak
truth even when one’s truthful statement is against those nearest
and dearest to one, to show sympathy even at the sacrifice of one’s
own interest, to be patient under the hardest afflictions, to be
good even to those who have done evil. At the same time it teaches
the middle path; it teaches men to exercise the noble qualities
which have been placed in their nature by God while transacting
their own affairs. It does not inculcate severance from one’s
worldly connections; it requires them to serve God, but not as monks;
it enjoins them to spend their wealth, but not in such a manner
as to sit down “blamed and straitened in means”; it teaches
them to be submissive, but not by losing self-respect; it exhorts
them to forgive, but not in such a manner as to embolden culprits;
it allows them to exercise all their rights, but not so as to violate
others’; and last of all, it requires them to preach their
own religion, but not by abusing others. (Click on the number of a note to return to the text which refers
to that note.)
3. The fundamental principles of Islam
The main principles of Islam are given in the very beginning of the
Holy Quran, which opens with the words:
“This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide
to those who keep their duty, who believe in the Unseen and keep
up prayer and spend (charitably) out of what We have given them,
and who believe in that which has been revealed to thee (O Muhammad)
and that which was revealed before thee, and of the Hereafter they
are sure” (2:2–4).
These verses point out the essential principles which must be accepted
by those who would follow the Holy Quran. Here we have three main
points of belief and two main points of practice, or three theoretical
and two practical ordinances. Before I take up these points separately,
I think it necessary to point out, as is indicated in these verses,
that in Islam mere belief counts for nothing if not carried into practice.
“Those who believe and do good” is the ever-recurring description
of the righteous as given in the Quran. Right belief is the good seed
which can only grow into a good tree if it receives nourishment from
the soil in which it is placed. That nourishment is given by good
deeds. Another point necessary to be borne in mind in connection with
the five principles of belief and practice mentioned in the verses
quoted above is that they are, in one form or another, universally
accepted by the human race.
4. The Divine Being
Conception of God in Islam
Of the three fundamental principles of belief, the first is a belief
in God. The belief in a power higher than man can be traced back to
the remotest antiquity, to the earliest times to which history can
take us, but different peoples in different ages and different countries
have had different conceptions of the Divine Being. Islam, in the
first place, preaches a God Who is above all tribal deities and national
gods. The God of Islam is not the God of a particular nation, so that
He should confine His blessings to it alone, but He is described in
the opening words of the Holy Quran to be the “Lord of all the
worlds” (1:1), and thus, while giving the highest conception
of the Divine Being, it also enlarges the circle of the brotherhood
of man so as to include all nations of the earth, thereby widening
the outlook and sympathies of man.
“He is Allah besides Whom there is no God, the Knower
of the unseen and the seen. He is the Beneficent, the Merciful.
He is Allah besides Whom there is no God, the King, the Holy, the
Author of peace, the Granter of security, Guardian over all, the
Mighty, the Supreme, the Possessor of greatness. Glory be to Allah
from that which they set up (as false gods) ! He is Allah, the Creator,
the Maker,
The Existence of God
Faith in God being the foundation of Islam, three kinds of arguments
are advanced relating to the existence of God:
Example of the Holy Quran
The Holy Quran provides the greatest example of the existence and
working of God being shown through Divine revelation. It discloses
sublime truths and principles which could not have been the human
knowledge of an unlettered Arab living in the seventh century, as
was the Holy Prophet Muhammad. It brought about a transformation unparalleled
in the history of the world. In no more than twenty-three years (609–632
C.E.) a complete change was wrought in the lives of the whole nation
inhabiting the Arabian peninsula, a land where centuries of previous
reformation work had proved fruitless. Deep-rooted idol-worship was
replaced by the worship of one God; all superstitions were swept away
and in their place came the most rational religion the world could
imagine; the people who prided themselves on ignorance became the
greatest lovers of knowledge, drinking deep at every fountain of learning
to which they could get access; oppression of the weak, the poor,
the slaves and women, gave place to justice and equality; and a nation
steeped in the deepest vices was thoroughly purified and became charged
with a burning desire for the noblest deeds in the service of humanity.
The Quran accomplished a transformation not just of the individual,
but equally of the family, of society, of an entire nation, and, through
that nation, of humanity itself. There is no other book which has
brought about a change so miraculous in the lives of men, raising
them from the depths of degradation to the highest pinnacle of civilization.
The Unity of God
Unity of God is the one great theme of the Holy Quran. Its best-known
expression is that contained in the declaration of la ilaha ill-Allah
(“there is no god but Allah”), which conveys the significance
that there is nothing which deserves to be worshipped except Allah.
The Unity of God means, firstly, that there is neither plurality of
gods nor plurality of persons in the Godhead, secondly that no other
being possesses any Divine attribute in perfection, and thirdly that
none can do that which God has done, or which God may do.
5. Divine Revelation
The second fundamental principle of faith in the Islamic religion
is belief in the Divine revelation, not only a belief in the truth
of the revealed Word of God as found in the Holy Quran, but a belief
in the truth of Divine revelation in all ages and to all nations of
the earth. Divine revelation is the basis of all revealed religions,
but the principle is accepted subject to various limitations. Some
religions consider revelation to have been granted to mankind only
once; others look upon it as limited to a particular people; while
still others close the door of revelation after a certain time. With
the advent of Islam, we find the same breadth of view introduced into
the conception of the Divine revelation as in the conception of the
Divine Being.
Belief in the Prophets
As the revelation of a Book of God must be communicated through a
man, faith in the messenger is a natural sequence, and is mentioned
in the Quran along with faith in the revealed books. The prophet is
not only the bearer of the Divine message, but he also shows how that
message is to be interpreted in practical life; and therefore he is
the model to be followed. It is his example that inspires a living
faith in the hearts of his followers and brings about a real transformation
in their lives. Hence there is a deeper significance underlying faith
in the prophets. As stated earlier (see Section 2), a belief in all
the prophets of the world is an essential principle of the religion
of Islam. The Holy Quran has plainly said that prophets appeared in
all nations and that it has not named all of them, which in fact was
unnecessary. Therefore, a Muslim may accept the great luminaries of
old venerated by any other nation as having brought it light and guidance,
as the prophets of that nation.
Perfection of Revelation
According to the teachings of Islam, revelation is not only universal
but also progressive, attaining perfection in the last of the Prophets,
the Holy Prophet Muhammad. A revelation was granted to each nation
according to its requirements, and in each age in accordance with
the capacity of the people of that age. And as the human brain became
more and more developed, more and yet more light was cast by revelation
on matters such as the existence and attributes of God, the nature
of revelation from Him, the requital of good and evil, the life after
death, and so on. The Quran, the final revealed scripture, shed complete
light on all the essentials of religion, made manifest what had hitherto
remained, of necessity, obscure, and brought religion to perfection.
Continuance of lower forms of revelation
Islam not only makes Divine revelation the universal experience of
humanity, but also considers its door as standing open for all time.
Though revelation was made perfect and prophethood came to a close
in the person of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, God still speaks to His
elect among the Muslims. Revelation in its lower forms — in the
form of true dreams, visions and inspiration — is common to both
prophets and those who are not prophets “Among the nations before you, there used to be
persons who were spoken to by God though they were not prophets;
if there is such a one among my people, it is Umar.”
This shows that, though there are to be no prophets after the Holy
Prophet Muhammad, religion and religious laws having been made perfect
at his advent, Divine revelation is still a fact and a true Muslim
can have access to it. It is through His word that real conviction
comes to the heart that God exists, and it is through the elect who
receive His revelation that a vital faith in God is restored.
6. Life after death
Belief in a future life, in one form or another, is also common to
all religions of the world, and it is the third fundamental article
of a Muslim’s faith. The mystery of the life after death has,
however, nowhere been solved so clearly as in Islam. The idea of a
life after death was so obscure till as late as the appearance of
the Jewish religion, that not only is there not much of it found in
the Old Testament but an important Jewish sect actually denied any
such state of existence. This was, however, due to the fact that much
light was not thrown upon it in earlier revelation. The belief in
transmigration (or reincarnation of souls) was also due to the undeveloped
mind of man mistaking spiritual realities for physical facts. In Islam,
the idea reached its perfection, as did other important fundamental
principles of religion. Belief in a future life implies the accountability
of man in another life for actions done in this. The belief is no
doubt a most valuable basis for the moral elevation of the world,
if properly understood. The following points are particularly emphasized
by the Holy Quran. Life after death is only a continuation of the life below
The gulf that is generally interposed between this life and the life
after death is the great obstacle in the solution of the mystery of
the hereafter. Islam makes that gulf disappear altogether: it makes
the next life as only a continuation of the present life. On this
point the Holy Quran is explicit. It says:
“We have (in this very life) made the consequences
of a man’s deeds cling to his neck, and these hidden consequences
We will bring to light on the Day of Resurrection in the form of
a book wide open” (17:13,14).
And again it says:
“Whoever is blind in this life, he will be blind
in the hereafter; nay, straying further away from the path”
(17:72).
And elsewhere we have:
“O soul that art at rest! return to thy Lord, He
being pleased with thee and thou being pleased with Him. So enter
among My servants and enter My Garden” (89:27–30).
State after death is an image of the spiritual state in this life
With Islam, the most significant truth with regard to the next life
has been brought to light. In the Christian teaching the corporeal
and the spiritual are melted together, weeping and wailing and gnashing
of teeth and the quenchless fire as the punishment of the wicked are
spoken of in the same breath with the kingdom of heaven, the treasure
in heaven and the life eternal as the reward of the righteous; but
there is no clear indication as to the sources of the one or the other.
The Holy Quran, on the other hand, makes it clear that the state after
death is a complete representation, a full and clear image, of our
spiritual state in this life. Here the good or bad conditions of the
deeds or beliefs of a man are latent within him, and their poison
or panacea casts its influence upon him only secretly, but in the
life to come they shall become manifest and clear as daylight. The
shape which our deeds and their consequences assume in this very life
is not visible to the eye of man in this life, but in the next life
it will be unrolled in all its clearness. The pleasures and pains
of the next life, therefore, though spiritual in reality, will not
be hidden from the ordinary eye as spiritual facts are in this life.
It is for this reason that while, on the one hand, the blessings of
the next life are mentioned by physical names as an evidence of their
clear representation to the eye, they are on the other hand spoken
of as things which “the eye has not seen, nor has the ear heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive of them”.
This description of the blessings of the next life is really an explanation
given by the Holy Prophet himself of the verse of the Quran which
says that no soul knows the blessings and joys which have been kept
secret for it (32:17).
“And give good news to those who believe and do
good deeds, that for them are gardens in which rivers flow. Whenever
they are given a portion of the fruits thereof, they shall say,
‘This is what was given to us before,’ and they are given
the like of it” (2:25).
Infinite progress in life after death
7. Significance of belief
Belief in angels and its significance
I have now briefly indicated the three fundamental principles of a
Muslim’s faith, but I may further add that belief in the “unseen”
also includes a belief in those agencies which we call angels. This
belief, though common to many religions, is not as widely accepted
as the three principles explained above, and therefore a few remarks
relating to the truth underlying this belief will not be out of place
here. In the physical world we find it as established law that we
stand in need of external agents, notwithstanding the faculties and
powers within us. The eye has been given to us to see things, and
it does see them, but not without the help of external light. The
ear receives the sound, but independently of the agency of air it
cannot serve that purpose. Man, therefore, essentially stands in need
of something besides what is within him, and as in the physical, so
also in the spiritual world.
Belief as basis for action
8. Principles of action
Next we take the practical side of the faith of Islam. As I have already
said, in Islam actions are essentially a component part of religion
as belief. In this respect Islam occupies a middle position between
religions which have ignored the practical side altogether and those
which bind their followers to a very minute ritual. It sees the necessity
of developing the faculties of man by giving general directions, and
then leaves ample scope for the individual to exercise his judiciousness.
9. Man’s duties towards God
Prayer
The verses of the Holy Quran quoted earlier (see Section 3) form,
as I have already said, the nucleus of the teachings of Islam. Taken
in the broadest sense, the two principles of action mentioned in these
verses stand for the fulfilment of man’s duties towards God and
his duties towards man. “Recite that which has been revealed to you of the
Book, and keep up prayer. Surely prayer keeps one away from indecency
and evil; and certainly the remembrance of God is the greatest (force)”
(29:45).
Fasting
Pilgrimage (Hajj)
The Pilgrimage to Makka, the performance of which is incumbent upon
every Muslim once in his life if he has the means, represents the
last stage in the progress of the spiritual pilgrim. It represents
the stage in which man completely surrenders himself to the Divine
will, and sacrifices all his interests and discards all his comforts
of life for the love of God. The first requirement of the Pilgrimage,
known as Ihram, in which all costly dresses are cast off and
the pilgrim has only two seamless wrappers to cover himself, represents
the severance of all worldly connections for the love of God. Another
prominent feature of the Pilgrimage is Tawaf, the circumambulation
of the Ka‘ba,Meaningful and practicable acts of worship
10. Man’s duties to man
The second branch of the Islamic precepts relates to man’s duties
towards man, but it should be borne in mind that both kinds of precepts
are very closely inter-related. The moral elevation of man is the
grand theme of the Holy Quran and the chief object which Islam has
in view throughout, and all its precepts are only meant to raise humanity
step by step to the highest moral elevation to which man can attain.
“The person who violates his brother’s right is not a believer
in the Unity of God”The Brotherhood of Islam
In the first place, Islam abolishes all invidious distinctions. “Surely
the noblest among you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous
of you” sounds the death-knell of all superiority or inferiority
based on rigid caste and social distinctions. Mankind is but one family
according to the Holy Quran which says:
“O mankind! Surely We have created you from a male
and a female and made you tribes and families that you may know
each other. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is
he who is the most righteous of you” (49:13).
Islam thus lays down the basis of a vast brotherhood in which all
men and women, to whatever tribe or nation or caste they may belong,
and whatever be their profession or rank in society, the wealthy and
the poor, have equal rights, and in which no one can trample upon
the rights of his brother. In this brotherhood all members should
treat each other as members of the same family. No one is to be deprived
of any right on the score of his race or profession or sex. Besides
being the only religion which enjoined the duty of freeing slaves,
and the only religion whose Founder set a personal example of obtaining
freedom for slaves, Islam also required a slave to be clothed with
the clothing and fed with the food of his master, and not to be treated
as a low or vile person. And this great brotherhood did not remain
a brotherhood in theory, but became an actual living force by the
noble example of the Holy Prophet and his worthy successors and companions.
The strict rule of brotherhood is laid down in the following words
of the Holy Prophet: “No one of you is a believer in God until
he loves for his brother what he loves for himself”.
Rights of women
No other religious book and no other reformer, religious or secular,
has done one-tenth of what the Holy Quran or the Holy Prophet Muhammad
has done to raise the position of women. From a material as well as
a spiritual point of view, Islam recognizes the position of woman
to be the same as that of man. The highest favour which God has bestowed
upon mankind is the gift of Divine revelation, and we find women,
as well as men, spoken of in the Quran as receiving revelation (see,
for example, 3:42 and 28:7). The Quran makes no difference between
man and woman in the bestowal of Divine reward for good deeds:
“Whoever does good, whether male or female, and
is a believer, these shall enter the Garden (of heaven)” (40:40;
see also 3:195, 4:124, 16:97 and 33:35).
Thus, according to the clearest teachings of Islam, men and women
can rise to the same eminence in the moral and spiritual spheres.
The State
The Holy Prophet Muhammad was not only the Founder of a religion but
also the Founder of a state. Like the religion he founded, his ideal
for a state was democratic, but it was a democracy based upon responsibility
to God in the first place. The following description of believers
shows how these two ideas of democratizing and spiritualizing the
state were blended:
“And those who respond to their Lord and keep up
prayer, and whose affairs are (decided) by counsel among themselves,
and who spend charitably out of what We have given them” (42:38).
This verse teaches Muslims the principle of democracy (“counsel
among themselves”) for conducting state affairs, and at the same
time urges them to acquire the qualities that spiritualize man and
draw him closer to God. Islam thus requires temporal authority to
be exercised with the fullest sense of responsibility towards the
Higher Divine Authority, making the physical force of the state subject
to moral considerations. Hence it is that, according to Islamic teachings,
the government is to be entrusted to persons who stand on a very high
moral and spiritual plane, the head of state being called both an
amir (lit. one who commands) and an imam (a person
whose high moral example is followed).
“Help me if I am in the right, and correct me if
I am in the wrong. Obey me as long as I obey God and His Messenger.
In case I disobey them, I have no right to obedience from you.”
People were thus also required to “correct” the authorities
when necessary. “One of the most meritorious deeds,” observed
the Holy Prophet, “is to address a word of remonstrance to an
unjust ruler”.
Some illustrations of true Islamic rule
The Caliphate of Umar (d. 644 C.E.), during whose rule the Muslim
dominion covered the vast territory of Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Palestine
and Egypt, provides a great many examples of true Islamic democracy
and rule in action. During his time, there were two consultative bodies:
a general assembly in which affairs of special national importance
were discussed, and a smaller committee for the conduct of daily business.
Non-Muslims were also invited to take part in these consultations.
As a rule, provincial governors were appointed after consulting the
local population. In case of a complaint against a governor by the
public, the governor was dismissed if found guilty. Pledges were taken
from high state officials that they would not wear fine clothes, that
they would ever keep their doors open to the needy, and that they
would never keep guards at their doors.
Jihad
This does not leave the slightest doubt that Islam does not allow
aggressive war, nor war for expansion or prestige. It only allows
war when a state has been attacked. And even then, if the enemy offers
peace, peace must be concluded:
“If they incline to peace, you should also incline
to it, and trust in God” (8:39).
Zakat and Charity
I shall note one more peculiarity of the brotherhood of Islam. Every
religion of the world has preached charity, but it is in Islam only
that it has been made obligatory and binding upon all those who accept
the Muslim faith. Here we have a brotherhood into which the rich man
cannot enter unless and until he is willing to give a part of his
possessions for the poorer members of the brotherhood. There is no
doubt that the rich man is not here confronted with the insuperable
difficulty of the ideal test of the camel passing through the eye
of the needle, but he is subjected to a practical test which not only
makes him stand on the same footing with his poorest brother, but
also requires him to pay a tax, known as Zakat, a tax which
is levied on the rich for the benefit of the poor. “Zakat is only for the poor and the needy,
and those employed to administer it, and those whose hearts are
made to incline to truth, and to free the captives, and (to help)
those in debt, and in the way of God, and for the wayfarer”
(9:60).
The words way of God include every charitable purpose. Zakat
stands unique both as charity and as tax. As charity it is obligatory,
but the obligation is moral. As tax, the sanction behind it is moral,
not the physical force of a state. Zakat, therefore, acts not
only as a levelling influence but also as a means of developing the
higher sentiments of man — the sentiments of love and sympathy
towards his fellow-man. It should be noted that, according to the
Quran, a charitable deed must be done as a duty which man owes to
man, so that it conveys no idea of superiority of the giver or inferiority
of the receiver (see 2:262-264).
“O you who believe! Give in charity out of the good
things that you earn … and do not aim at giving in charity
that which is bad, while you would not take it for yourself”
(2:267).
Love of God should be the motive in all charitable deeds:
“(The righteous) give food, out of love for Him,
to the poor and the orphan and the captive, saying, We feed you
for God’s pleasure only - we desire from you neither reward
nor thanks” (76:8,9).
11. Scope of moral teachings
Footnotes
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