TENETS OF ISLAM

                                    

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.