What is Islam?

What is Islam?

Contents

* Religion of Unity
* Religion of "Submission To The Divine Will"
* Religion of Nature
* Religion of Discipline
* Religion of Truth
* Religion of Temperance
* Religion of Beauty
* Religion of Reason
* Religion of The Negation of Superstition
* Religion of Action
* Religion of Balanced Progress
* Religion of Scientific Quest
* Religion of The Sanctity of Labour
* Religion of The Highest Idealism In Ethics
* Religion of Peace And Goodwill
* Religion of Struggle (Jihad)
* Religion of "No Compulsion In Conversion"
* Religion of Brotherhood
* Religion of Spiritual Democracy
* Religion of Human Dignity
* Religion of Rational Sex Morality
* Religion of Salvation In This Life And The Hereafter
* Religion With Authentic And Perfect Divine Scripture
* Religion With The Simplest Creed
* Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) The Pinnacle of Human Perfection
* Absorption In The Love of God The Final Goal

(A) RELIGION OF UNITY

1)Unity of God
Islam
teaches the purest form of Monotheism and regards polytheism as the
deadliest sin. A Muslim addresses GOD by His Personal Name: ALLAH ---
the word "god" and its equivalents in other languages being unstable in
the matter of connotation. Allah, according to Islam, is the One God,
who is Indivisible in Person and Who has no partner: wife, son or
daughter. He is the Matchless and "naught is as His likeness". "He
begetteth not, nor was He begotten". He is the First, the Last, the
Eternal, the Infinite, the Almighty, the Omniscient, the Omnipresent.
He is the Creator, the Nourisher, the Cherisher of all things. He is
the All-just, the Avenger of the wrongs done to the weak and the
oppressed, the Compassionate, the Merciful and Loving, the Guide, the
Friend, the Magnificent, the Glorious, the Beautiful and the True. In
short, He is the Possessor of all Excellence.
Speaking of the
conception of God in Islam, Gibbon, the famous western historian, says:
"The Creed of Hazrat Muhammad is free from the suspicion of Ambiguity
and the Qur?an is a glorious testimony to the unity of God. The Prophet
of Mecca rejected the worship of idols and men, of stars and planets,
on the rational principle that whatever is corruptible must decay and
perish, that whatever is born must die, that whatever rises must set.
In the Author of the universe his rational enthusiasm confessed and
adored an infinite and Eternal Being, without form or place, without
issue or similitude, present to our secret thoughts, existing by the
necessity of His own nature, and deriving from Himself all moral and
intellectual perfections. These sublime truths ?are defined with
metaphysical precision by the interpreters of the Qur?an. A philosophic
theist might subscribe to the popular creed of the Muhammadans."

(2) Unity of the Universe
From
the Unity of the Creator, according to Islam, proceeds the Unity of the
Universe, i.e., Unity of Creation and Unity of Purpose. In other words,
the Cosmos is a Moral Order.

(3) Unity of Mankind
Islam
regards the whole of mankind as an "organic unity" --- a single family,
and emphatically says that the distinctions on the mundane plane, the
distinctions, namely, of race, colour, language or territory, cannot
form the ground for claims of superiority of one group over the other.
The only distinction that has "value" is that which arises at the moral
and spiritual planes ? namely, the distinction of "taqwa", or, "piety
and righteousness".
Prof. H.A.R. Gibb, the famous English critic
of Islam says, "?..Islam?..possesses a magnificent tradition of
inter-racial understanding and co-operation. No other society has such
a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity
and of endeavour so many and so various races of mankind? If ever the
opposition of the great societies of East is to be replaced by
co-operation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."
(Whither Islam? p.379).

(4) Unity of Religion
According
to Islam, the human intellect, though a great and powerful asset, has
its natural limits, and, therefore, neither the normative nor the
empirical sciences are capable of leading humanity to a sure knowledge
of ultimate truths and the code of life based upon them. The only
source of sure knowledge open to humanity is, consequently, Divine
Guidance, and that course has been actually open ever since the
beginnings of human life on earth. Allah raised His "Prophets" and
"Messengers" and revealed His Guidance to them for transmission to
humanity. Coming from the same Source, all revealed religions have,
therefore, been one, i.e., ISLAM.
Allah's Prophets and Messengers
continued to come to every country and community to work in their
respective limited fields. Time after time, the revealed Guidance was
either lost or corrupted through human interpolation, and new Prophets
with fresh Dispensations were sent, and humanity continued to advance
from infancy to maturity. At last, when the stage of maturity was
reached ? when humanity was practically to become one family ---
instead of sectional Guidance, a perfect, final and abiding Revelation,
addressed to entire mankind and for all time, was granted in the
seventh century of the Christian era. That Revelation, which
recapitulates all former Revelations and thus sets a seal on the Unity
of Religion, is ISLAM; the Scripture which enshrines it is the HOLY
QUR?AN; and the Prophet who brought it is the Leader of Humanity,
Hazrat Muhammad (Allah bless him!).
Thus all the Prophets of God,
from Adam down to Hazrat Noah, Hazrat Abraham, Hazrat Moses and Hazrat
Jesus (peace be upon them all), are the Prophets of a Muslim the Holy
Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him!) being the Last and Final
one, and all the Divine Scriptures are the Scriptures of a Muslim,
though he follows only the Holy Qur?an because it alone exists in its
original purity and it alone contains the religion of Islam which has
been followed by all rightly-guided people since the day the first
human being came into existence.

(5) Unity of Sexes
Differentiation
of functions have misled certain cultures of the world to regard woman
as a being who belongs, so to say, to a different and inferior species:
and to meet out to her inhuman treatment accordingly. Islam
emphatically repudiates that notion and teaches that both man and woman
have sprung from the same essence and the same source and consequently
possess the same human status. Their functions and interests, instead
of being antagonistic, are meant to be mplementary. The natural
relation between the sexes, in all its aspects, is therefore, that of
love and harmony, without which no true human progress can be possible.


(6) Unity of Classes
Islam aims at the creation of a
classless society by eliminating all possible social conflicts (through
revolving the different interests).
In the sphere of economics,
Islam lays down the principle that wealth should not be allowed to
circulate among the wealthy only, and envisages, through its laws and
institutions, a "Cooperative Common-wealth of Talents".
In the political sphere, Islam stands for the "Cooperative Commonwealth of the Pursuers of Righteousness".
Taken
as a whole, the Islamic state is a "welfare state" where sovereignty
belongs to Allah alone and no human being has a right to govern other
human beings except in the name of Allah and according to His Will, and
where nobody, not even the Head of the State, is above the law.
Absolute Justice is the watchword and the Establishment of
Righteousness is the goal.
The merits of Islam?s social ethics have elicited praise even from the otherwise hostile critics. For instance:
H.G.
Wells says: "Islam created a society more free from widespread cruelty
and social oppression than any society that had ever been in the world
before" (Outline of History, p.325).
H.A.R. Gibb says: "Within the
Western world Islam still maintains the balance between exaggerated
opposities. Opposed equally to the anarchy of European nationalism and
the regimentation of Russian communism, it has not yet succumbed to
that obsession with the economic side of life which is characteristic
of present-day Russia alike." (Whither Islam? p.378).
Prof. Louis
Massignon says: "Islam has the merit of standing for a very
equalitarian conception? It occupies an intermediate position between
the doctrines of bourgeois capitalism and Bolshevist communism."
(Whither Islam? p.378).

(7) Unity of Human Activity
Islam
conceives of the human personality as a "unity" and consequently
regards the distinction of "secular" and "religious" as unscientific,
irrational and absurd. The life of a Muslim, both in its individual and
social manifestation, is a life lived for God and God alone.
"Islam,"
says Dudley Wright, scholar of Comparative Religion, "is no mere creed;
it is a life to be lived. In the Qur?an may be found directions for
what are sometimes termed the minor details of daily life, but which
are not minor when it is considered that life has to be lived for God.
The Muslim lives for God alone. The aim of the Muslim is to become
God-bound, and to endeavour to advance the knowledge of God in all his
undertakings. From the cradle to the grave the true Muslim lives for
God and God alone."

(B) RELIGION OF "SUBMISSION TO THE DIVINE WILL"
The
word "Islam" means "submission" and, as a religious term, it connotes
"submission to the Divine Will and Commands". As such, ISLAM is
co-extensive with NATURE. For, everything in Nature submits to the
Divine Will without demur. The only exception is man. He has to choose
"Islam" through his free will and thus to attain his destiny by falling
in line with the rest of God?s Creation.
Goethe, the renowned poet-philosopher of Germany, says:
"Naerrisch,
dass jeder in seinem Falle Seine besomdere Meinung priest! Whenn Islam
Gott ergeben heisst, Im Islam leben und sterben wir alle"
viz:
"It
is lack of understanding that everyone praises own special
opinion;(for) Islam means submission to God and in Islam we all live
and die."
(C) RELIGION OF NATURE
The above statement brings out,
and the Holy Qur?an emphasises in clear terms, that to be a Muslim is
to live and grow in accordance with true human nature and in harmony
with the Nature around. Islam, thus, means conformity to the Natural
Law.

(D) RELIGION OF DISCIPLINE
The concepts of
Submission to the Divine Will and Conformity to the Natural Law, when
actively realized in human life, give rise to the healthiest form of
ISCIPLINE and Islam is the religion of Discipline par excellence.
In his famous book; First and Last Things, H.G. Wells says:
"The
aggression, discipline and submission of Muhammadanism makes, I think,?
fine and honourable religion for men. Its spirit, if not its formulae
is abundantly present in our modern world... I have no doubt that in
devotion to a virile? Deity and to the service of His Empire of stern
Law and Order, efficiently upheld, men have found and will find
salvation."
The German Orientalist Friedrich Delitzsch admits that
the Muslim shows "owing to his religious surrender to the Will of God
an exemplary patience under misfortune and he bears up under disastrous
accidents with an admirable strength of mind." (Die Welt des Islam,
p.28).

(E) RELIGION OF TRUTH
The concept of "Truth" forms
the keynote of Islamic ideology and pervades the entire universal order
presented by Islam. Not only is "truthfulness" a fundamental value in
the elaborate Islamic Moral Code ? a value which forms the
foundation-stone of Muslim character, but God Himself has been
mentioned in the Holy Qur?an as "The Truth", or "the True", the Holy
Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!) as the "Bearer of Truth", the
Qur?an itself as "the Truth", and the abode of the righteous after
death as the "Seat of Truth".

(F) RELIGION OF TEMPERANCE
Islam
is the religion of Purity and Temperance par excellence. It stresses
purity not only of the mind and the heart, which certain other
religions also stress, but also of the body, its fundamental principle
being the harmonious development of human personality. Consequently; it
strictly prohibits the use of all drinks and foods which might be
unhealthy and injurious to the body, or the mind or both. Thus its
prohibitive injunctions cover not only all the intoxicants, e.g., wine,
opium, etc., but also those foods which are harmful to healthy human
growth. Ultimately, Islamic Temperance covers all evil thoughts,
feelings and deeds.

(G) RELIGION OF BEAUTY
Unlike certain
religions, Islam is not the religion of contempt for the world, of the
negation of any fundamental value. It is positively and definitely a
religion of fulfilment ? fulfilment of all the faculties and positive
capabilities with which God has endowed man. Aesthetic culture,
therefore, forms part of Islamic life ? of course, governed and
controlled by Islam?s moral and spiritual principles. In Islam the
concept of "Beauty" permeates the entire human activity ? nay, the
whole cosmic order, "Allah," says the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad
(peace be with him!), "is Beautiful and loves what is beautiful."
Beauty in thought, words and deed, and beauty in all creative activity
is the Islamic ideal.
Islam permits the creation of Art, within
the limitations of its spiritual and moral framework. But its motto is
not "Art for the sake of Art" but "Art for the sake of Life", whereby
alone a true blending of spiritual, moral and physical beauty ? the
rational and harmonious goal of human life ? is achievable.

(H) RELIGION OF REASON
Islam
regards Reason as man?s distinctive privilege and God?s noble gift, and
the Holy Qur?an has repeatedly exhorted mankind to employ Reason in the
matters of social and natural phenomena and in understanding its
Message and practicing its Guidance, thus giving to "personal
judgment," its due place in the life of a Muslim.
"Intellectual
Culture" in general, forms one of the noblest pursuits of human life in
Islam and the acquisition and cultivation of knowledge has been made
obligatory upon every Muslim man and woman.

(I) RELIGION OF THE NEGATION OF SUPERSTITION
Islam
is a positively rational religion and stands opposed to the mystery
cults and religions of mysterious dogmas whose acceptance is generally
claimed on the basis of blind faith.
Speaking of the negation of
superstition and the affirmation of Reason in Islam, Godfrey Higgins
says: "No relic, no image, no picture, no mother of God disgrace his
(Hazrat Muhammad?s) religion. No such doctrines as the efficacy of
faith without works, or that of a death-bed repentance, plenary
indulgences, absolution or auricular confession, operate first to
corrupt, then to deliver up his followers into the power of a
priesthood, which would of course be always more corrupt and more
degraded than themselves. No indeed! The adoration of one God, without
mother, or mystery, or pretended miracle, and the acknowledgement that
he, a man, was sent to preach the duty of offering adoration to the
Creator alone, constituted the simple doctrinal part of the religion of
the Unitarian of Arabia." (Apology for Hazrat Muhammad).

(J) RELIGION OF ACTION
Islam
stands in sharp contrast with those religions which interpret the
Salvation of man in terms of the acceptance of certain intricate and
inexplicable formulae. Simplicity is its watch-word and rationality its
lifeblood, and as such it gives to both "Faith" and "Action" their due
place. Wherever the Holy Qur?an mentions the problem of human
salvation, it bases it on "right belief" as well as "righteous action",
emphasizing the former as the ground and the latter as the sequence.

(K) RELIGION OF BALANCED PROGRESS
Islamic
life is a life of the attainment of "Falah" which means, "The furrowing
out of latent faculties". A Muslim, therefore, has to continuously
strive for progress?. a progress controlled by righteousness and
illumined by Divine Guidance, a progress grounded in spirituality, a
progress balanced and comprehending all aspects of human life:
spiritual, mental, moral, aesthetic and physical.
Paying tribute
to the balanced character of Islam and the progress which it inspires,
the famous Orientalist Prof. H. A. R. Gibb says:
"Within the
Western world, Islam still maintains the balance between exaggerated
opposites...For the fullest development of its cultural life,
particularly of its spiritual life, Europe cannot do without the forces
and capacities which lie within Islamic society." (Whither Islam?
p.378).

(L) RELIGION OF SCIENTIFIC QUEST
While other
religions may feel shy of science Islam has made the scientific quest a
religious obligation. The aims of that quest, however, are not the
unbalanced indulgence in physical pleasures and the tyrannisation over
fellowbeings, but the advancement in the love of God through progress
in the knowledge of His works and the service of humanity through the
acquisition of control over the "forces of nature".
Speaking of
the role of Islam as the inaugurator of the modern scientific era,
Briffault, the reputed scholar of the history of civilisation,
says:?although there is not a single aspect of European growth in which
the decisive influence of Islamic culture is not traceable, nowhere is
it so clear and momentous as in the genesis of that power which
constitutes the permanent distinctive force of the modern world and the
supreme source of its victory ? natural science and the scientific
spirit ? The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist
in startling discoveries of revolutionary theories; science owes a
great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence. The ancient
world was, as we saw, pre-scientific. The Astronomy and Mathematics of
the Greeks were a foreign importation never thoroughly acclimatised in
Greek culture. The Greeks systematised, generalised and theorised; but
the patient ways of investigation, the accumulation of positive
knowledge, the minute methods of science, detailed and prolonged
observation and experimental inquiry were altogether alien to Greek
temperament... What we call science arose in Europe as the result of a
new spirit of inquiry, of new methods of investigation, of the method
of experiment, observation, measurement, of the development of
Mathematics in a form unknown to the Greeks. That spirit and those
methods were introduced into the European world by the Arabs? Neither
Roger Bacon nor his later namesake has any title to be credited with
having introduced the experimental method. Roger Bacon was no more than
one of the apostles of Muslim science and method to Christian Europe;
and he was never wearied of declaring that knowledge of Arabic and Arab
Science was for his contemporaries the only way to true knowledge.
Discussions as to who was the originator of the experimental method?are
part of the colossal misrepresentation of the origins of European
civilisation. The experimental method of the Arabs was by Bacon?s time
widespread and eagerly cultivated throughout Europe ? Science is the
most momentous contribution of Arab civilisation to the modern world?..
It was not science only which brought Europe back to life. Other and
manifold influences from the civilisation of Islam communicated its
first glow to European life. "(Making of Humanity, pp 190-202).
H.G.
Wells, another great Western authority, had to admit that: "Through the
Arabs it was, and not by the Latin route, that the modern world
received that gift of light and power (i.e., the Scientific Method)."
Because
of its deep-rooted hostility to Islam, implanted during the Middle
Ages, the West has been very slow in acknowledging the merits of Islam.
Admissions and confessions have, however, been gradually coming forth
grudgingly or ungrudgingly. Thus, as we have seen above, it has been
admitted that the Muslims gave to the West the Scientific Method as
well as the scientific inspiration. But the Muslims themselves received
them from the Holy Qur?an. This fact has also been admitted at last.
For instance, Stanislas Guyard observes: "In the seventh century of our
era, the Old World was in agony. The Arabian conquest infused into it
new blood ? Hazrat Muhammad gave them (the Arabs) the Qur?an, which was
the starting point of new culture. " (Encyclopedia des Sciences
Religieuses, Tome IX,p. 501). Challenging the adversaries of Islam and
referring to the Holy Qur?an, Dr. A Bertherand says: "Let them read and
meditate on this great Book: they will find in it, at every passage,
constant attack on idolatry and materialism; they will read that the
Prophet incessantly called the attention and the mediation of his
people to the splendid marvels, to the mysterious phenomena of
creation? those who have followed its counsels have been, as we have
described in the course of this study, the creators of a civilisation
which is astounding to this day." (Contribution des Arabs auprogres des
Sciences Medicales, p. 6).
Emmanuel Deutsch oberves: "By the aid
of the Qur?an the Arabs?came to Europe to hold up the light to
humanity, they alone, while darkness lay around,?to teach philosophy,
medicine, astronomy and the golden art of song to the West as to the
East, to stand at the cradle of modern science, and to cause us late
epigoni for ever to weep over the day when Granada fell."

(M) RELIGION OF THE SANCTITY OF LABOUR
In
Islam, all honest labour is sacred and forms the life-blood of human
progress. "For man is naught but what he strives for," says the Holy
Qur?an, and "the labourer is the beloved of God," says the Holy Prophet
Hazrat Muhammad (God bless him!). Thus "idleness" is a sin and
"industry" is a virtue in Islam.

(N) RELIGION OF THE HIGHEST IDEALISM IN ETHICS
Islam
lays the foundation of ethics on "submission to the Divine will" and
gives to humanity the ethical ideal of imitating the Divine Attributes,
even as we have been exhorted by the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God
bless him!) who says: "Imbue yourselves with Divine Attributes."
"The
highest form of religious ethic," observes Sir Richard Gregory, "is
that in which the aim of conduct is complete and implicit obedience to
what is conceived to be the Will of God ?(this obedience) may become a
joyous and spontaneous acceptance of a mode of life, such as it is
conceived would be consonant with the nature of God, subject to such
limitations of the flesh as are ineradicable ? the ideal of
saintliness. Hence arises the desire for uprightness as end-in-itself;
either with a view to reward, if not in this world, in the next, or
pursued selflessly for its own sake. This concept of religious ethic
has led to the highest idealism in human conduct." (Religion in Science
and Civilisation, p. 63).

(O) RELIGION OF PEACE AND GOODWILL
The
world "Salam", which means "peace", has close root-affinity with the
word "Islam". Thus the concept of PEACE forms an integral part of the
world ISLAM itself. Indeed, this concept permeates the Islamic religion
through and through. For, God, according to the Holy Qur?an, is
As-Salam, i.e. (the Source of) peace"; a Muslim?s Salutation, which
embodies the ideal of Muslim life, is As-Salam-o -alaikum,
i.e., "Peace be unto you"; and the abode of the righteous, towards
which the Holy Qur?an invites humanity, is Dar-us-Salam, i.e., "the
Abode of Peace".
One of the ideals of Muslim life, therefore, is
the attainment of peace on all fronts --- peace with self through
harmonious self-realisation, peace with fellow creatures through the
maintenance of the basic attitude of Goodwill, and peace with God
through submission to the Divine Will.

(P) RELIGION OF STRUGGLE (JIHAD)
The
Islamic concept of Peace is not, however, utopian, For, Islam is a
practical religion par excellence ?a religion of Struggle (Jihad) ---
and does not, therefore, prescribe any course of action which is
unnatural or impracticable. Thus, for instance, in international
relations, although basically committed to the promotion of Peace and
Goodwill, Islam does allow the participation of Muslims in war when it
becomes morally inevitable ? when no other course remains open for
safeguarding justice, nay, peace itself.
The word "Jihad", which
has been maligned much by the evil-minded misrepresenters of Islam in
connection with the wars of Islamic history, means "struggle" and,
according to Islam, it is of two kinds: (1) Struggle for subjugating
one?s lower self to the higher self. This is the higher form of "Jihad"
and its function is purely spiritual: (2) Struggle for defeating the
forces of evil on the collective plane. This is the collective Jihad.
The
collective Jihad may, again, be either of a peaceful character, namely,
propagation of Islam and its establishment in the collective life of
the people through preaching and reform, or it may be in the form of
war against an aggressor.
The Islamic permission of war is
basically for defensive purposes. And not only does Islam rule out all
immoral impulses to war but it also lays down a rigid ethics which in
its sublimity and humanness surpasses all other ethics of war which
humanity has ever known.
Says O. Houdas: " ? The Qur?an states:
?And fight for the cause of God against those who fight against you;
but commit not the injustice of attacking them first; verily God loveth
not the unjust? ? S.II 190?? Jihad had to be waged to defend Islam
against aggression? Once the war was terminated, the Muslims always
displayed a great tolerance towards the conquered peoples, leaving them
their legislation and religious beliefs." (La Grande Encyclopaedia,
Tome 20,p. 1006).
"In their wars of conquest," says E. Alexander
Powell, "the Muslims exhibited a degree of toleration which put many
Christian nations to shame." (The Struggle for Power in Moslem Asia, p.
48).

(Q) RELIGION OF "NO COMPULSION IN CONVERSION"
As
regards forcible proselytisation, it has been explicitly banned by
Islam with the Qur?anic declaration: "there is no compulsion in matters
of faith", and the propaganda that Muslims went out into the world with
the sword in one hand and the Qur?an in the other to convert the
non-Muslims forcibly is a pure fabrication. Indeed, it is so utterly
unfounded that even an enemy of Islam like Rev. Dr. O?Leary had to
admit:
"History makes it clear that the legend of fanatical
Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of
sword upon conquered races, is one of the most absurd myths that the
historians have ever repeated". (Islam at the Croos-Roads, page .

(R) RELIGION OF BROTHERHOOD
Islam
inculcates the love of God?s creation in general and of the human
family, in particular. "The best of you is he who is best to God?s
family (i.e., humanity)," says the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (God
bless him!) Islam regards humanity as ?one Fraternity inside which it
affirms the existence of the "Islamic Brotherhood", wherein all
distinctions of caste and tribe, race and colour, language and
territory are superseded and obliterated, and which has been allotted
the function of acting as the servant of, and the torch-bearer of
Divine Guidance for, the larger Human Brotherhood.
Side by side
with the code of conduct meant to be observed within the circle of
Islamic Brotherhood Islam also gives a definite code of Human Love
which relates to the dealings of Muslims with the larger human society.

"The brotherhood of Muhammadanism," says Dr. Leither, "is no mere
word. All believers are equal and their own high-priest."
(Muhammadanism. P.18).
The Dutch Orientalist Snouck Hurgronje
observes: "The ideal of a League of Human Races has been approached by
Islam more nearly than by any other ideology; for the League of nations
founded on Hazrat Muhammad?s religion takes the principle of the
equality of all human race so seriously as to put other communities to
shame." (Muslim World Today).

(S) RELIGION OF SPIRITUAL DEMOCRACY
In
the sphere of worship, Islam stands for the establishment of direct
relation between God and human being without the mediation of any
priest. Every Muslim man and woman is, therefore, his or her own priest
or priestess.
It is wrong to regard the scholars (Ulama) or the
leaders (Imams) of congregational prayers in the mosques as priests.
Any good Muslim who knows Islam can lead the prayers, while the ?Ulama?
are simply scholars and experts of Islamic knowledge and merely fulfil
a responsibility which rests on the shoulders of the entire Islamic
Brotherhood. For, Islam wants every Muslim man and woman to be a
scholar of its teachings, unlike, for instance, Hinduism, where those
belonging to the caste of Brahmins alone possess this privilege.
Rev.W.Wilson
Cash, the famous Christian missionary and hostile critic of Islam, had
to confess: "Islam endowed its people with a dignity peculiarly its
own? Direct access to God makes one of the strong appeals of Islam"
(The Expansion of Islam p. 177)

(T) RELIGION OF HUMAN DIGNITY
Problem of Slavery
By
emphasizing freedom as the birthright of all human beings, by
proclaiming human equality without distinctions of caste, colour or
clime, by denying the sin-innate theory and all other theories of the
evil origin of mankind by affirming that the progeny of Adam is the
noblest creation of God, by raising humanity to the status of the
Vicegerency of God on earth, by making imitation of the Divine
Attributes the ethical ideal of mankind, and by pointing out the
conquest of the universe as the human destiny, Islam has established
human dignity on the loftiest pinnacle conceivable.
Humanity was
suffering in various ways because of the wrong notions held by
pre-Islamic cultures and religions about human dignity, when Islam
appeared. Cruelty was being perpetrated in the name of caste, tribe and
race, large masses of humanity had been reduced to the status of serfs,
and slavery, which had been an age-old institution, was being practiced
by various races and peoples of Europe and Asia, including the Arabs,
with the sanction of such scriptures as the Bible and without the least
moral compunction. Islam raised its masculine voice of protest against
all those evils and gave to the world a philosophy and a legislation
which has made it the saviour of the downtrodden and the oppressed for
all time.
Among the many misconceptions spread about Islam by its
enemies, one is that which relates to slavery. For a proper
appreciation of the role of Islam in the abolition of slavery, the
reader is referred to the present writer?s "Islam and Slavery." Here,
in this brief brochure, we might confine ourselves to the brief
statement of a fair-minded non-Muslim scholar of the last century, who
said: "His (i.e., Hazrat Muhammad?s) law of slavery is, ?If slaves come
to you, you shall? --- not imprison and then sell by public sale,
though no claimant appears, as in the nineteenth century is the law of
Christian England in her provinces, but, --- ?redeem them, and it is
forbidden to you to send them forth? (Qur?an II, p.85). And this was a
man standing up in the wilds of Arabia in the seventh century."
(Westminster Review no. IX, p. 221).
Even the hostile and biased
Dutch critic of Islam, Prof. Snouck Hurgronje, had to say: "According
to the Muhammadan principle, slavery is an institution destined to
disappear."

(U) RELIGION OF RATIONAL SEX MORALITY
Problem of polygamy
The
Islamic view of the fundamental equality of sexes has been already
stated in the section on "Religion of Unity" and an impartial
historical appreciation of the problem proves beyond all doubt that it
was "Islam which removed the bondage in which women were held from the
very dawn of human history and gave them a social standing and legal
rights such as were not granted them in England till many centuries
later." (Lady Evelyn Cobbold, in "Pilgrimage to Mecca"). But the
widespread propaganda of the enemies of Islam in connection with
polygamy necessitates a specific statement in that connection.
In
the first instance, polygamy was not invented by Islam, nor was it made
in any way obligatory. It had existed in pre-Islamic societies since
time immemorial with the sanction of religion and had been practiced
even by those who were accepted as holy personages as for instance, we
find in the Old Testament. There it was governed by no law whatsoever,
and so also it was in the Arabian society at the advent of Islam. What
Islam did was to regulate it and to subject it to such severe
restrictions as to make it prohibitive except in cases of emergency.
Indeed, monogamy has been the ideal and polygamy only an exception in
Muslim Society. This fact is fully borne out by the present as well as
the past history of the Muslims and has been admitted by all
fair-minded critics of Islam. For instance, William Kelly Wright says:
"Most Mohammedans in all ages have had only one wife." (Philosophy of
Religion, New York, 1935).
Islam is a natural religion and it
takes a very serious view of sexual vices and social ills.
Consequently, it was very natural for Islam to permit limited and
restricted polygamy for the maintenance of social health in all those
situations where it is the only natural remedy. For instance, when war
alters the natural sex ratio, giving to women preponderance over men,
there are only two alternatives, namely, widespread prostitution or
polygamy. Islam prefers the latter to the former in the interests of
moral health and social wellbeing of womanhood. Similarly, if the first
wife is sterile or suffers from any incurable disease, there are only
two possible alternatives, namely, either the first wife should be
divorced and a fresh wife taken or she may continue in her status
undisturbed along with a second wife. The former course would mean
distressing, spinsterhood for the first wife while the latter course
would provide to her an honorable normal life without temptation to
evil. Polygamy can also become a necessity in a medically incurable
case of the hypersexed male who, in most cases, would look to more than
one woman for the satisfaction of his biological need. In all such
cases, the Islamic permission of polygamy with all its responsibilities
and restrictions would be a definitely healthier course than the
hypocritical adherence to the formal monogamy.
Polyandry (i.e.,
the marriage of one woman with several husbands) is not permitted in
Islam because psychologically it is unsound, sociologically it is
impracticable and biologically it is most dangerous for the physical
health of the persons concerned. Certain primitive tribes who practice
polyandry are infected with the plague of venereal diseases.
Speaking
on polygamy, Dr. Annie Besant says: "There is pretended monogamy in the
West, but there is really polygamy without responsibility; the
?mistress? is cast off when the man is weary of her and sinks gradually
to be the ?woman of the street?, for the first lover has no
responsibility for her future, and she is a hundred times worse off
than the sheltered wife and mother in the polygamous home. When we see
thousands of miserable women who crowed the streets of Western towns
during the night, we must surely feel that it does not lie in western
mouth to reproach Islam for polygamy. It is better for a woman, happier
for a woman, more respectable for a woman, to live in polygamy, united
to one man only, with the legitimate child in her arms, and surrounded
with respect, than to be seduced, cast out into the streets, perhaps
with an illegitimate child outside the pale of law, unsheltered and
uncared for, to become the victim of any passer-by, night after night,
rendered incapable of motherhood, despised of all."
Another critic
of Western social order observes: "The law of the state, based upon the
dogma of the Church, which makes it a criminal offence for a man to
marry more than one wife, by that same provision makes it illegal for
millions of women to have husbands or to bear children?It is untrue
that monogamy was advocated by Jesus Christ? whether the question is
considered socially, ethically or religiously, it can be demonstrated
that polygamy is not contrary to the highest standards of civilization
?.. The suggestion offers a practical remedy for the western problem of
the destitute and unwanted female: the alternative is continued and
increased prostitution, concubinage and distressing spinsterhood" (J.E.
Clare McFarlane: Case for Polygamy).

(V) RELIGION OF SALVATION IN THIS LIFE AND THE HEREAFTER
It
is the distinctive merit of Islam that it does not concern itself
merely with Salvation beyond the grave?salvation in the Hereafter, but
also gives full consideration to --- in fact, ensures --- human
salvation in this life. For that purpose, it provides comprehensive
Guidance which guarantees moral perfection, social progress, economic
justice and political health ? in short, all that is needed for the
practical realisation and attainment of true human happiness in earthly
life and all-round harmonious evolution of humanity.
Laura Veccia
Vaglieri says: "A religion which is not content with being a theory
adapted to the aspirations of our human nature, nor with fixing a code
of sublime precepts which may or may not be applied, but which also
provides a code of life, establishes the fundamental principles of our
morality on a systematic and positive base, precisely formulates the
duties of man towards himself and towards others by means of rules
which are capable of evolution and compatible with the widest
intellectual develo-pment, and which gives its laws a Divine sanction,
surely deserves our most profound admiration, as its influence is
continual and salutary on man." (Apologie de L? Islamisme, p. 88).

(W) RELIGION WITH AUTHENTIC AND PERFECT DIVINE SCRIPTURE
There
are three fundamental merits of the Holy Qur?an, the Scripture of
Islam, in which it stands unique among the scriptures of the world.
They are: (1) authenticity of its text: (2) perfection of its literary
form; (3) rational character, comprehensiveness and profoundness of its
guidance. Even a brief discussion of these merits is not possible in
the present introductory sketch. They are, however, so well-established
that even the non-Muslim western scholars, who are always ready to
attack Islam on the slightest pretext had to admit them in forceful
words.
Commenting on the beauty of form of the Holy Qur?an Paul
Casanova remarks: "Whenever Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) was asked a
miracle as a proof of the authenticity of his mission, he quoted the
composition of the Qur?an and its incomparable excellence as a proof of
its Divine origin. And, in fact, even for those who are non-Muslims
nothing is more marvelous than its language with such a prehensile
plenitude and a grasping sonority that its simple audition ravished
with admiration those primitive peoples so fond of eloquence! The
ampleness of its syllables with a grandiose cadence and with a
remarkable large rhythm have been of much moment in the conversion of
the most hostile and the most sceptic." (L? Enseignement de I?Arabe au
College de France, Lecon d?ouverture, April 26, 1909).
As regards
perfection in matter of guidance and the authenticity of its text,
Laura Veccia Vaglieri observes: "But besides the perfection of form and
method, the Book is also revealed inimitable by its very substance,
for, we read in it, among other things, previsions or future events and
of relations of fact accomplished since many centuries or which are
generally ignored, and allusions to the most different sciences,
religious or profane. On the whole we find in it a collection of wisdom
which can be adopted by the most intelligent of men, the greatest of
philosophers and the most skillful politicians?.. But there is another
proof of the Divinity of the Qur?an: it is the fact that it has been
preserved intact through the ages since the time of its Revelation till
the present day. And so it will always remain, with God?s Will, as long
as the universe exists. Read and re-read through out the Muslim world,
this book does not rouse in the Faithful any weariness; it rather,
through repetition, is found feeling of awe and respect in the one who
reads it or listens to it." (Apologie de L?Islamisme, pp.57-59).

(X) RELIGION WITH THE SIMPLEST CREED
The Islamic creed is as simple as the Islamic ideology is profound. Its first fundaments are:
(1) SEVEN ARTICLES OF FAITH
They are: Belief in:
Allah;
Angles;
Divine Scriptures;
Messengers of Allah;
the Hereafter;
the pre-measurement of Good and Evil;
Resurrection after death.
(2) THE "FIVE PILLARS"
They are:
Declaration
of faith in the One-ness of God and in the Divine Messengership of
Hazrat Muhammad: (Peace be upon him) La ilaha Illallah
Muhammadur-Rasulullah;
Obligatory Prayers;
Obligatory Fasts;
Zakat or Poor-tax;
Pilgrimage to Ka?aba at Meccaa by those who possess the means.
A
Christian critic of Islam makes the following confession: "Islam had
the power of peacefully conquering the souls by the simplicity of its
theology, the clearness of its dogma and principles, and the definite
number of practices which it demands. In contrast to Christianity which
has been undergoing continuous transformation since its origin, Islam
has remained identical with itself" (Jean Lheureux: Etude sur
L?Islamisme, p. 35).
For an appreciation of the Seven Articles and
the Five Pillars, the reader is referred to "The Principles of Islam"
written by His Eminence Muhammad Abdul Aleem Siddiqi and published in
the present series. Here it may be noted, however, that these Seven
Articles and Five Pillars constitute only the "first fundaments", while
the complete ideology of Islam, which shoots off from these fundaments
and which is enshrined in the Holy Qur?an and the Prophetic Traditions,
is so comprehensive as to cover the entire sweep of necessary guidance
on physical, moral, social and spiritual aspects of human life.

(Y) Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him)
THE PINNACLE OF HUMAN PERFECTION
A
code alone cannot, by its existence as such, inspire mankind to action.
Hence to love the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Allah bless him!) above
all human being and things of the world, to believe in him as the Most
Perfect Embodiment of Human Perfection and as the Absolute Leader and
the Last and the Final Prophet (after whom no new prophet of any
category, zilli, buruzi, tashri?ee, ghairtashri?ee --- shadowy or real
--- is to come), and to follow him as the "Best Example", form the
prerequisite of Islamic Belief.
This is the theological status of
the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be with him) in Islam. As
regards his refulgent personality, that would require volumes even to
do bare justice to it.
It is said that the best testimony is that
which comes from the enemy?s camp. Here, therefore, we might quote a
few statements of the Western scholars of Islam.
Hazrat Muhammad?s
(peace be with him) figure was highly majestic, his complexion and
features were extremely handsome, and "he was gifted", says the
renowned Orientalist Lane Poole, "with mighty powers of imagination,
elevation of mind, delicacy and refinement of feeling. ?He is more
modest than a virgin behind her curtain", it was said of him. He was
most indulgent to his inferiors, and would never allow his awkward
little page to be scolded whatever he did. ?Ten years,? said Anas, his
servant, ?was I about the Prophet and he never said as much as Uff to
me.? He was very affectionate towards his family. One of his boys died
on his breast in the smoky house of the nurse, a blacksmith?s wife. He
was very fond of children; he would stop them in the streets and pat
their little heads. He never struck anyone in his life. The worst
expression he ever made use of in conversation was, ?what has come to
him? May his forehead be darkened with mud!? When asked to curse
someone, he replied, ?I have not been sent to curse but to be a mercy
to mankind.? He visited the sick, followed any bier he met, accepted
the invitation of a slave to dinner, mended his own clothes, milked the
goats, and waited upon himself, relates summarily another tradition. He
never first withdrew his hand out of another man?s palm, and turned not
before the other had turned.
?He was the most faithful protector
of those he protected, ?the sweetest and most agreeable in
conversation. Those who saw him were suddenly filled with reverence;
those who came near him loved him; they who described him would say, ?I
have never seen his like either before or after.? ?He was of great
taciturnity, but when he spoke it was with emphasis and deliberation
and no one could forget what he said.
"He lived with his views in
a row of humble cottages separated from one another by palm branches
cemented together with mud. He would kindle the fire, sweep the floor,
and milk the goats himself. The little food he had was always shared
with those who dropped in to partake of it. Indeed, outside the
Prophet?s house was a bench or a gallery on which were always found a
number of poor who lived entirely upon his generosity, and were hence
called ?people of the bench?. His ordinary food was dates and water, or
barley bread; milk and honey were luxuries of which he was fond but
which he rarely allowed himself. The fare of the desert seemed most
congenial to him even when he was the sovereign of Arabia?
"There
is something so tender and womanly, and withal so heroic, about the man
that one is in peril of finding the judgement unconsciously blinded by
the feeling of reverence and well-nigh love that such a nature
inspires. He who, standing alone, braved for years the hatred of his
people, is the same who was never the first to withdraw his hand from
another?s clasp; the beloved of children who never passed a group of
little ones without a smile from his wonderful eyes and a kind word for
them, sounding all the kinder in that sweet-toned voice. The frank
friendship, the noble generosity, the dauntless courage and hope of the
man, all tend to melt criticism into admiration.
"He was an
enthusiast in that noblest sense when enthusiasm becomes the salt of
the earth, the one thing that keeps men from rotting whilst they live.
Enthusiasm is often used despitefully, because it is jointed to an
unworthy cause or falls upon barren ground and bears no fruit. So was
it not with Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be with him). He was an enthusiast
when enthusiasm was the one thing needed to set the world aflame, and
his enthusiasm was noble for a noble cause. He was one of those happy
few who have attained the supreme joy of making one great truth their
very lifespring. He was the Messenger of the one God, and never to his
life?s end did he forget who he was or the message which was the marrow
of his being. He brought his tidings with a dignity sprung from the
consciousness of his high office together with a most sweet humility."
(Speeches and Table-talk of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, Introduction?
XXVIII ? XXX).
"The essential sincerity of Hazrat Muhammad?s
(Peace be with him) nature," says Professor Nathaniel Schmidt, "cannot
be questioned; and historical criticism that blinks no fact, yields
nothing to credulity, weighs every testimony, has no partisan interest,
and seeks only the trust, must acknowledge his claim to belong to that
order of Prophets who, whatever the nature of their psychical
experience may have been, in diverse manners, have admonished, taught,
uttered austere and sublime thoughts, laid down principles of nobler
than they found, and devoted themselves fearlessly to their high
calling, being irresistibly impelled to their ministry be a power
within." (The New International Encyclopaedia. Vol. XVI, p. 72).
Speaking
of the glorious success which attended the Holy Prophet Hazrat
Muhammad?s (Peace be with him) mission, Caryle observes: "To the Arab
nation Islam was a birth from darkness into light; Arabia first became
alive by means of it. A poor, shepherd people, roaming unnoticed in its
deserts since the creation of the world; a Hero-Prophet was sent down
to them with a word they could believe: see the unnoticed becomes
world-notable, the small has grown worldgreat. Within one century
afterward Arabia is at Granada on this hand, at Delhi on that, glancing
in valuour and splendour and the light of genius, Arabia shines through
long ages over a great section of the world. These Arabs, the man
Hazrat Muhammad, (Peace be with him) and that one century --- is it not
as if a spark had fallen, one spark on what seemed black, unnoticeable
sand? But lo ! the sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high
from Delhi to Granada!" (Heroes and Hero-Worship: Chappter on "Hero as
Prophet").
O. Houdas, the French scholar, said half a century ago
about the inner vitality of the Holy Prophet?s Message: "Never has a
religion developed with parallel rapidity. In less than half a century
Islam spread from the banks of the Indus to the shores of the Atlantic
Ocean, and, if this movement slowed down, it still persists after
fourteen centuries of existence. After having penetrated in India, in
China and Malaysia, Islam continues its invading march in the African
Continent which will before long become entirely Muslim. Without
special missionaries and without resort to the force of arms, the
religion of Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be with him) has converted the Black
Continent, and it is not without some astonishment to point out the
existence in England and America of small white communities which?..
have adopted the Islamic doctrines and made efforts to propagate them.
This invasion of Europe, hardly visible today, will surely grow." (La
Grande Encyclopaedie, Tome 20, article: Islamisme).

(Z) ABSORPTION IN THE LOVE OF GOD THE FINAL GOAL
Cultivation
of and absorption in the love of Allah, and the permeation of the heart
with the sweet ecstasy of that love, until a person becomes virtually
incapable of acting against the Divine Commands, is the final goal,
which bestows upon a Muslim "Abiding Life" --- a life of Peach,
Progress and Perfection.