Islam is Arabic word that denotes submission,
surrender and obedience. The word Islam is from the root SLM (pronounced) which
means to surrender, to submit, to yield, to give one’s self over. Hence as a
religion Islam stands for complete and the unqualified submission to Allah-the
Creator, the Sustainer and the Evolver of the universe. The other major shade
of meaning in the root is to means ‘the religion of Islam’. Thus Islam means
entering to slam, and slam and silm both signify peace. This means that one can
achieve real peace of body and soul and in both the world, here and hereafter,
only through unqualified submission to Almighty Allah.
Islam is the religion of truth. This truth is the
perfect life that Allah in His infinite mercy has vouchsafed for the true
guidance of mankind so that they may never be led astray. The necessity for the
Diving guidance is attested by the very facts of life, the very condition of
finitude in which we find ourselves calls for Divine guidance. The Lord of the
universe in His infinite mercy has provided for this utmost need of mankind in
full measure. To provide for man’s spiritual, social and cultural needs Allah
raised from among men His prophets and revealed to them the code of life that
can provide right guidance and project light on the right path. In the short
span of our life, having regard to the limited range of scope and capability
and the limitation of the power of perception, it would be utterly impossible
for us without assistance and help from the Divine to understand our role here
in this ephemeral world and to plan wise and appropriate action with a view to
nourishing the essential needs of our being. The prophetic consciousness
mirrors for man the superior truth and the code of true guidance is utterly
incapable of attaining by the operations of unguided intellect and profane
reasons. Thus the prophets have brought guidance to man from the Divine in yet
various forms although the essence of their teachings was almost identical.
This process of Divine guidance has been consummated in the message that has
been brought to mankind by the holy prophet of Islam who is the seal of the
prophet hood and as such carries the final Divine code. And it is this
universal message now known as Islam and is enshrined in the holy scripture and
the life example of the holy prophet. A man joins the fold of Islam by honestly believing in and confessing faith
in the oneness of Allah and the prophet hood of
Muhammad(upon whom be peace and blessings of Allah). Both these
confessions are epitomized in the Kalima the
credo fo the faith of Islam
La
ilaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah( there in no deity
except Allah, Muhammad is His Apostle.)
The significant character of the Kalima is that the
two confessions constitute the integral conditions of the credo which also
denotes the unique and distinctive feature. For the first confession may be
assented to by may besides Muslims, whereas it is the second condition of the
credo that distinguishes Islam from all other religions and thus forms the
unique character of the faith.
To testify the confession of the Kalima by professing
faith in the oneness of Allah and the prophet hood of Muhammad (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) .
Is the cornerstone of Islam .The mode of this
profession bears obvious significance for it testifies the prophet hood of
Muhammad (sa) as an integral condition of confession of the credo. Apart from the spiritual aspect
of uniqueness of the credo .it also provide the necessary ideological
nourishment for the manifold revolutionary
magnificence of the Islamic thought which in course of its historical
evolution presents the spectacle of
widening of the religion into a
civilisation with unique tenacity of faith that is absent in other
civilisations . this outward uniqueness, apart from its spiritual, owes to the
sheer revolutionary character of the kalima . Belief in the kalima apart from a simple confession demands a
belief in the heart and an honest implementation of the contents of the credo
in every aspect of human existence, both this worldly and other worldly. As far
as the revolutionary character of the spirit of the kalima is concerned, it is
not a passive taith in the Merciful Allah Who is the Creator, Sustainer and the
Evolver of everything in both absolute and the relative realm of existence.
As a credo kalima stands for uncompromising
monotheism. Hence it is utterly opposed to polytheism. And as such kalimia also
negates pantheism which is the evolutionary outcome of polytheism and just the
positive counterpart of it. As the uncompromising is the cornerstone of Islam,
any deviation there from is be considered sheer heresy. The
uncompromising monotheistic character of the kalima becomes obvious from the
very literary exposition of its structure which is the outright negation of
other deity except Allah. Hence the oneness of Allah has no scope for any
polytheistic or pantheistic exposition of the credo. Pantheism, though not the
outright negation is fundamentally rooted in polytheism and therefore to be
carefully rejected. Any pantheistic philosophy undermines the purity of the uncompromising
monotheistic character of the fundamental confession of the faith of Islam.
Once the monotheism is undermined eventually the world again be plunged into
the darkness of infidelity. This uncompromising monotheistic nature of the kalima
constitutes its spiritual revolutionary character. The essence of the kalima
promotes the spiritual ascension of or soul and helps us to soar in the realm
of eternity. The spirit of the kalima
enables a man to get rid of his very state of finitude and pushes his soul
upward into the reality of infinite existence. Hence kalima is to be regarded
as the most powerful and effective means of man’s spiritual uplift and
attainment of perfection.
Perhaps the influence of polytheism developed the
innate tendency in man to worship everything that is visible in the nature and the cosmic world and consequently
pantheistic philosophy was rooted in the mind of man as an instinct. Kalima is
the negation of all such distortions of the purity of faith. Agnosticism generates from mental scepticism .
scepticism is the doubting state of
mind, the sceptical attitude of mind gives rise to atheism and nihilism.
Nihilism is the natural materialism is responsible for the moral sceoticism of
the present world. As a credo kalima
vehemently negates all these nuisance values that are the causes of man’s moral
anarchy.
The inmost truth of the kalima is not to be realised
by irdinary sense of perception
As it the miniature exposition of the whole truth
about ultimate reality. Hence belief in unseen in an obvious pre-requisite to grasp the nature of
the truth, it is necessary to take the help of some extra-material sense of
perception-above and beyond the ordinary means. This extra-material sense of
perception the intuitive faculty of man . This intuitive faculty helps man to
communicate with the metaphysical realm of existence even while in this world
of physical existence. One instinctive nature of this faculty of intuition is
that always gravitates to wards the ultimate reality with a craving to find
satisfactory answers to the fundamental question of life. Man achieves peace in
its real sense only when his soul can find some satisfactory answers to these
questions. This search for the ultimate truth could be successful only when man
surrenders himself totally to the will of Allah. In the process of such
spiritual ascension the spirit of kalima will guide him toward the cherished
goal by directing a spotlight on the true path that would eventually lead him
to the state of truth. After he reaches that state of spiritual achievement all
the mysteries begin to unfold the vision of his heart. Hence the belief in
unseen is a relative confession for what is unseen and hidden for the ordinary
man is not unknown to those who have experienced such spiritual ascension.
Freedom of man’s true being is to be achieved only when he submits himself
unconditionally to the one and Omnipotent Creator of the universe and thus
trees himself from the forces of nature. When man’s freedom of arbitrary choice
is chained in the absolute will of Allah only then man can move himself in a
parallel motion with the will of the Divine. Thus we may hope to realize that
the inmost spirit of the kalima is the fountain-head of all spiritual
ascensions.
As the vicegerent of Allah on earth, man is crated
with boundless spiritual potentiality. But this unlimited potentiality is
undermined when man deviates from his true nature and is caught by the clutches
of polytheism and infidelity and makes him subservient to the meanest of the creation. Kalima sets him free from all such illusive and
false bondage by unfolding before his heart the truth about the absolute
reality. Furthermore, kalima provides us the seed of an ethical code of most
perfectly co-ordinated principles of ethics. Hence the ethics of Islam is the
most perfect moral code that is
completely congenial to the very nature of human being. The ethics of
polytheism and infidelity, On the
contrary, is bound to end in social anarchy and moral scepticism and makes man,
the meanest of the mean. The ethical contents of the kalima liberate man from
the prejudicial views of vain creeds. By the influence of the kalima, the spiritual touchstone of
Islamic creed, man could be transformed into the noblest of creatures and prove
himself worthy of Allah’s vicegerent. Polytheism and atheism are natural
breeding ground of all social mischief’s ,
ignorance and superstitions,
ignorance and superstition limit the unlimited sptritual potentiality of
man and as such make him subservient to cosmic universe. By the perfect
realisation of the kalima man becomes conscious of his
unlimited potentialities and true status
in the realm of creation. Only then he can comprebend that from Allah he came and to Him be shall return. This is the
most important realisation
Of man’s essence and being his origin, nature
and destination Moreover the monotheistic culture of the kalima rendered the
Islamic society into a classes socity th in the true sense of the tern for in
the eye of Allah every man is created equal. And this is the basic postulate to
which the holy prophet asked humanity to adhere and that most satisfactorily
answers the riddles of the existence.
The nature of the trth is that it nerer compromises with any illusion.
The reuth of truth of the kalima.
Therefore possesses an uncompromising monotheistic exposition without having
any scope or provision for concession of distortion of any sort.
Polytheistic philosophy of unity existence holds
that there could be no creation ex nihilo. Hence it views that all forms of
existence. As such it makes no line of demarcation between the Creator Allah
and His creation. This is a sheer theosophical dilemma. But if we accept the omnipotence of Allah. We have
got to believe that Allah can create ex nihilo. Furthermore, as the essence of
Allah’s existence is above and beyond the ordinary mode of existence; the
existence of Allah vis-à-vis that of the whore creation is obviously different
entity. The relation between those entities is that of crater and creation. As
we have got to believe that Allah has the power to create ex nihilo so the
polytheistic philosophy of the unity of existence is fundamentally an
illusive one. The very contents of the
Kalima clarifies this theosophical dilemma. For the two confessions of the kalima. viz.., that of the
deityhood of one Allah and the prophet
hood of Muhammad (sm), are but the sheer
acknowledgement of the existence of two
different entities. One of these two entities is the entity of Allah and other
of the holy prophet. This exposition is of obvious significance. It affirms
that there can be more than one entity of existence and it further indicates
that Allah can create ex nihilo. If all existence was an unified entity, there could be no need of
confessing the prophet hood of Muhammad (sn) as distinguished from the deity
hood of only one Allah. Thus kalima, which is the basic
postulate of Islamic notm, is the outright negation of all pantheistic
philosophy of unity of existence. And here lies the uncompromising character of
monotheism of kalima this is the spiritual revolution kalima accomplishes.
The five basic postulates of Islam are:
I.
Faith(Iman)
II.
Prayer(Salat)
III.
Fasting(Sawm)
IV.
Charity(Zakat) and
V.
Pilgrimage to Mecca(Hajj).
As
a complete code of life Islam awakens in
man a moral vigilance and deals with every spheres of our life---both
individual and social. As already discussed this moral vigilance is moral out of
the spirit of faith. The characteristic condition and exposition of faith need
no further details. Islam makes no demarcation between man’s spiritual and
secular sphere. Rather it harmonizes these apparently and distinguished spheres
by spiritualizing the essence and being of man. In order to accomplish this
harmony Islam prescribes some formal rituals and prayers in addition to the
basic postulation of faith. these prescribed rituals are the basic pillars of
Islam and the performance of these rituals bears evidentiary testimony to one’s
sincerity and honesty of faith. Hence action, described in Arabic by the word
amal, is the outward conformity to the
credo.
Islam
integrates faith with action. The confession of the faith means bearing witness
to the statement that Allah alone is worthy of worship and that Muhammad (sm)
messenger of Allah Bearing witness to
the above testimony further implies that in Prophet Muhammad (sm) the series of
apostles reached its culmination and that the Quran revealed through him is the
final revelation of the Divine Will. Abrogation all previous records of
revelation.
The
performance of amal bears testimony to one’s whole and unmixed allegiance to
Allah. On the contrary, failure to conform to the rites of amal weakens the
basis of faith. That without the honest performance of formal rites of amal
faith becomes a vague confession of tongue. True existence is that of Allah
aline; hence man and the entire creation exist only Allah wills them to exist.
As man owes his very existence to Allah the ascribing of partners to Allah and
worship of any creature is to commit a monstrous sin.
Islamic
orthodoxy couples faith with action. The most important of duties that are
obligatory on Muslims is the observance of ritual prayers(salat). A Muslim has
to pray five times a day, before sunrise, between mid-day and afternoon, in the
afternoon, immediately after sunset and between the time when the twilight is
over and just before sawn. Each of these salats consists of a fixed number
of bowings’ It is preferential to perform the ritual
“prayers” congregationally in mosque. Additional or supererogatory prayers are
also recommended by the Islamic orthodoxy. The principal congregational prayer of the week is observed
on Friday between mid-day and afternoon. Further legislation on the of ritual
prayer concerns ritual ablution . The ritual prayer is a formal “act of
devotion” (inadat). Apart from its outward
posturing the salat has got an inward and deeper
implication. The tradition categorically holds that for the pious every time
prayer is an ascension(miraj).
However,
such spiritual elevation requires the realisation of
man’s relation to Allah. This aspect of realization is known in Arabic
as ihsan, concerning such realisation at
the time of prayer the holy prophet is reported to have said that “You should
worship Allah as if you are seeing Him” for He sees you though you do not see
Him. This implies that prayers should be
performed with Allah in the vision of
heart. The tradition further views that
no prayer is worthy of acceptance if observed wither such vision, Hence we may
conclude that this aspect of realization is the inmost implication of prayers
and acts of devotion. For it is by this realisation of man’s relation to Allah
that man moves nearer to Him and only then he identifies his will with the
Divine Will and then his every action is done in conformity with the Divine
Will. Guidance from those who have already experienced such spiritual elevation helps man to attain
similar achievement.
Fasting
is the second postulate of amal. Islamic orthodoxy enjoins that month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Arabic lunar
year, is to be observed as a period of fasting with complete abstinence from
food and drink as well as from evil thoughts, actions and sayings,the inmost
implication of Ramadan. Is that it
trains man to gain control over the carnal-self and to realise his true self,
Like prayers, supererogatory fastings
are also recommended.
Charity is the third postulate of amal. Charity implies that as Allah is
the real possessor of all wealth in the ultimate sense of the term. Thence the
needy members of the community has a moral right on the wealth of the rich of
the community. Therefore. Orthodoxy further enjoins, the rich Muslims to give
the prescribed amount of poor-tax or Zakat to those persons who are entitled to
such charity tax. Zakat is obligatory to the Muslims whose income is liable to
payment of such tax. Zakat bears the outward conformity with the stipulation
that as a perfect religion and complete code life Islam is the most ideal
ethical code par excellence .
The fourth postulate of amal is the pilgrimage
to Mecca which is denoted as Hajj in Islamic terminology. Pilgrimage is a
ceremonial act of devotion, through different ceremonial rites it symbolises
the unity of Muslim brother hood. It further implies that by temporary
suspension of worldly activities the pilgrim tries to realize his submission to
Almighty Allah. Here one thing needs to be clarified that the various external
rites of Hajj. viz…, kissing of the Black Stone and throwing stones at the symbolic Satan, are by
no means any sanction for the pagan mode of worship. The observance of these
rites merely implies the symbolic representation of some historical and
allegorical truth. So such rites cannot be identified with pagan practices.
From the above expositions of the basic tenets
of Islam we may summaries that Islam,
therefore, enjoins man to believe that there is no deity except Allah. And
further to believe that Muhammad (sm) is
the messenger of Allah. As Islam integrates faith with action these confessions
are to be supplemented by the complete and honest observance of amal for the perfection of the implications
of this basic faith. Through the true performance of Iman and amal man comes to
realise his true essence and his relation to the Creator Without such
realisation acts of devotion and mere
confession of tongue are but vague accomplishments. If we take iman as the root
and amal as the branches; Ihsan seems to
appear like the fruit or the result of the Iman and amal. Without this of
spiritual realization the purpose of a man’s mission into this world remains
unfulfilled and a fiasco.
