Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
The Role of Faith in Life
By Muhammad Faruq Khan, Author
Those who have reflected deeply on religion recognize that Allah demands of man only those obligations cognate with his essential nature. Likewise, Allah takes man to task for only those deeds that man himself regards as abhorrent. The Qur'an states:
(So set your face towards the True Faith uprightly. And follow the constitution of Allah according to which He has constituted mankind and let there be no alteration in Allah's creation. That is the right religion.) (Ar-Rum 30:30)
That every newborn child has such a pure nature is also affirmed by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Man draws naturally towards Allah, as iron is attracted towards a magnet or as a flame rises upward. All those things that prompt man to draw closer to Allah are therefore regarded as beneficial in that these bring immense blessings and ultimate felicity. In contrast, all that distracts man from Allah is regarded in Shari`ah as sinful, since it causes corruption. One committing a sin wrongs one's self.
If man is purged of his negative traits such as narrow-mindedness, parochialism, selfish desires and wickedness, his essentially good nature blossoms in full. He is characterized by such positive traits as large-heartedness, forbearance, insight, tolerance and concern for others. In this state man can draw heavily upon his Lord. This marks his perfection. Faith stands for perfecting man, and society is needed to enable man to attain this perfection. The construction of a society is not, however, a goal in itself. The Shari`ah focuses on individuals. On the Day of Judgment, all will have to render their accounts in their individual capacities. It is no doubt true that the way prescribed by the Qur'an for perfection involves society in that man cannot attain it on his own. Yet the goal is individual growth and perfection. Moreover, Islam's vision of society provides room for every individual to attain perfection; indeed, society contributes to his reaching that goal. This is a distinctive feature of the Islamic social system.
Allah's attributes are recurrently mentioned in the Qur'an, directing man to gain the understanding of divine attributes and appreciate the essence and spirit of divine commands. According to the Qur'an, Allah loves those who do good (Aal `Imran 3:148). Contained in the verse is the exhortation to do good to others and to love those persons who do good. The Qur'an further declares
(And be you generous as Allah has been generous to you, and seek not corruption in the land. Allah loves not corrupters.) (Al-Qasas 28:77)
If one abandons the way of doing good, it entails corruption on earth, and Allah abhors those responsible for causing disorder. At another place, the Qur'an instructs
(Do justice. Verily Allah loves those who do justice.) (Al-Hujurat 49:9)
Allah orders man to develop in himself a reflection of divine attributes, no matter however faint the reflection might be. By this grace alone man is endowed with sense perception: In that Allah is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, man is blessed by Him with the faculties of hearing and sight. Similarly, as He accomplishes whatever He wills, He has conferred upon some a measure of freedom of choice and volition. By the same token, He wills that man adorns himself with excellent morals and manners. The point is borne out by the hadith "Allah is gentle; He loves gentleness" (Muslim). It is recorded in another hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stated, "Allah is the most generous. Of all men I am the most generous one. Next to me are those who gain knowledge and impart it. Such will appear as leaders on the Day of Judgment, as a community unto themselves" (Bayhaqi).
One of the divine attributes is that Allah is independent of everyone. It therefore befits man to grow independent of everyone while reposing all trust in Allah alone. One should turn to Allah for all one's needs and depend wholly upon Him. Of course, man cannot become independent of Allah, for man's very existence and survival depend on Him Almighty. Likewise, he cannot turn away from Allah for meeting his needs. Man is the servant of Allah alone. It does not behoove him to serve anyone besides Him. Since Allah is Most Holy, man is obliged to follow the way of purity. By the same token, as He is Most Merciful, we should be merciful towards others. Without this we cannot serve Him adequately.
Those who have reflected deeply on religion recognize that Allah demands of man only those obligations cognate with his essential nature. Likewise, Allah takes man to task for only those deeds that man himself regards as abhorrent. The Qur'an states:
(So set your face towards the True Faith uprightly. And follow the constitution of Allah according to which He has constituted mankind and let there be no alteration in Allah's creation. That is the right religion.) (Ar-Rum 30:30)
That every newborn child has such a pure nature is also affirmed by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Man draws naturally towards Allah, as iron is attracted towards a magnet or as a flame rises upward. All those things that prompt man to draw closer to Allah are therefore regarded as beneficial in that these bring immense blessings and ultimate felicity. In contrast, all that distracts man from Allah is regarded in Shari`ah as sinful, since it causes corruption. One committing a sin wrongs one's self.
If man is purged of his negative traits such as narrow-mindedness, parochialism, selfish desires and wickedness, his essentially good nature blossoms in full. He is characterized by such positive traits as large-heartedness, forbearance, insight, tolerance and concern for others. In this state man can draw heavily upon his Lord. This marks his perfection. Faith stands for perfecting man, and society is needed to enable man to attain this perfection. The construction of a society is not, however, a goal in itself. The Shari`ah focuses on individuals. On the Day of Judgment, all will have to render their accounts in their individual capacities. It is no doubt true that the way prescribed by the Qur'an for perfection involves society in that man cannot attain it on his own. Yet the goal is individual growth and perfection. Moreover, Islam's vision of society provides room for every individual to attain perfection; indeed, society contributes to his reaching that goal. This is a distinctive feature of the Islamic social system.
Allah's attributes are recurrently mentioned in the Qur'an, directing man to gain the understanding of divine attributes and appreciate the essence and spirit of divine commands. According to the Qur'an, Allah loves those who do good (Aal `Imran 3:148). Contained in the verse is the exhortation to do good to others and to love those persons who do good. The Qur'an further declares
(And be you generous as Allah has been generous to you, and seek not corruption in the land. Allah loves not corrupters.) (Al-Qasas 28:77)
If one abandons the way of doing good, it entails corruption on earth, and Allah abhors those responsible for causing disorder. At another place, the Qur'an instructs
(Do justice. Verily Allah loves those who do justice.) (Al-Hujurat 49:9)
Allah orders man to develop in himself a reflection of divine attributes, no matter however faint the reflection might be. By this grace alone man is endowed with sense perception: In that Allah is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, man is blessed by Him with the faculties of hearing and sight. Similarly, as He accomplishes whatever He wills, He has conferred upon some a measure of freedom of choice and volition. By the same token, He wills that man adorns himself with excellent morals and manners. The point is borne out by the hadith "Allah is gentle; He loves gentleness" (Muslim). It is recorded in another hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stated, "Allah is the most generous. Of all men I am the most generous one. Next to me are those who gain knowledge and impart it. Such will appear as leaders on the Day of Judgment, as a community unto themselves" (Bayhaqi).
One of the divine attributes is that Allah is independent of everyone. It therefore befits man to grow independent of everyone while reposing all trust in Allah alone. One should turn to Allah for all one's needs and depend wholly upon Him. Of course, man cannot become independent of Allah, for man's very existence and survival depend on Him Almighty. Likewise, he cannot turn away from Allah for meeting his needs. Man is the servant of Allah alone. It does not behoove him to serve anyone besides Him. Since Allah is Most Holy, man is obliged to follow the way of purity. By the same token, as He is Most Merciful, we should be merciful towards others. Without this we cannot serve Him adequately.
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