Question
44: What is the meaning of Islam?
Answer 44:
Islam is total surrendering to almighty God’s command and obeying Him in all
of His legislation and rules whose basis is the well-known five pillars: The
two words, prayer, zakat, fasting and pilgrimage.
The
perfect form of Islam is achieved when the Muslim’s life is completely involved
in Islam. almighty God said: “[Our sibghah (religion) is] the Sibghah
(religion) of God (Islam) and which Sibghah (religion) can be better than
God’s? And he is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower. (Holy Qur’an: 2: 138) and ‘Say
(O Muhammad) Verily, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for
God, the Lord of all that exists’.”) (Holy Qur’an: 6:162).
Question
45: What does faith mean?
Answer
45: Faith is the absolute belief in God, whose location is the
heart. It is associated with the saying
of the tongue and the observation of the senses. The basis of this faith is the belief in God,
His angels, books, messengers, the doom’s day, fate (both good and evil) are
all from almighty God. Therefore, the
saying of the tongue indicates this absolute belief in those fundamentals and
rules. The perfect action can best be
testified by the implementation of Islam in the private and public life.
Question
46: What is the meaning of “perfect worship”?
Answer
46: This means “to worship God as if you were seeing Him; as you
cannot see Him, He sees you”, as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) related. It is a high degree of emotional feeling to
the Muslim when dealing with God as if he were seeing Him before his own eyes
in terms of ability, greatness, authority and power, mercy, assistance and
generosity. One who feels these divine
qualities and other ones in all his conditions, will be whole-heartedly sincere
and good in all his acts, behavior, manners, and will not be affected by his
materialistic and personal interests and benefits. When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
was asked by `Uqbah bin Nafi’ about the perfect manners, he said, “O `Uqbah,
visit those who refrained from visiting you, be kind to whoever deprived you,
and do not harm those who have harmed you.” This kind of honesty makes the self
of the Muslim pure, immaculate privately and publicly, whether one is alone or
with others, in times of prevention and bounty, in loyalty, and in
integrity—indeed, in all matters, small and big, it is a self that believes in
God and attached to Him while looking at him all the time. If man’s eye may sleep sometimes, it
believes, nevertheless that God’s eye does not sleep and continues to see him,
that is perfect worship (ihsan).
Question 47:
When did man known faith for the first time?
Did people in ancient times believe in almighty God, or were they
unbelievers, as anthropologists claim?
Answer
47: Belief in God is deeply rooted in the human nature. It is intrinsic in people. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Every child is
born intrinsically believing in God, but his parents make him a Jew, a
Christian or a Magi,”[1] i.e. every
newborn is born with spontaneous belief in almighty God and surrendering to
him. Islam has its own concept about the
beginning of creation and human evolution. The gist is that almighty God
created Adam from earth and soul was then blown into him. Next Eve was created from Adam. Then marriage began and people multiplied and
populated the earth.
Adam
was the first believer. He recognized
God’s power and greatness. Therefore,
when he sinned, he soon regretted and asked God to pardon him: he prostrated
before Him implored for reconciliation and forgiveness. Almighty God said; “They said ‘Our Lord! We
have wronged ourselves. If you forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your
Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers”(Holy Qur’an: 7: 23). Almighty God has already said to them: “And
We said; ‘O Adam! Dwell you and your
wife in paradise, and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of
things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both
will be of thewrong-doers.’ Then Satan
made them slip therefrom (paradise), and got them out from that in which they
were. We said: O get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth
will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.” Then Adam
received from his Lord Words. And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his
repentance). Verily, he is the One Who forgives, the Most Merciful.”
It
is clear from the holy verses that Adam was a true believer in God. He lived in Paradise with his spouse, then he
sinned because of the insinuations of Satan.
But Adam soon repented, and God accepted his repentance. This incident indicates that faith occurred
before disobedience, unbelieving and polytheism took place. Prophet Muhammad confirmed this fact by
saying: “God created people to be intrinsically believing, but they were
deceived by the devils.”[2] This means that devils ornamented polytheism
for people and they deviated from the right path.
Question 48:
Since no one has able to see God, and since no dead person was resurrected
to tell us what happened to him after death, how could we believe in any
religion?
Answer
48: This question is based on the material world, where sense becomes
the reference to determine the facts of the universe. Fundamentally, this basis is a void one. In this life we believe in many things
without being able to see them or feel them tangibly. We do not know for example the essence of the
soul, its secrets, and where does it inhabit our bodies? So far this field has been immune to
scientists and scientific laboratories, fine radiology and microscopes, which
biologists and doctors use. We absolutely
believe in the presence of the soul although we do not see it. We also believe in the existence of many
other things like magnetism, electric current, air and many other things, which
we do not touch physically.
All
religions are based on miracles, which God performs on the hands of the
prophets. Ordinary human beings cannot
perform these miracles. Only prophets
could carry out these actions in order to confirm the fact that they are true
emissaries of God. All prophets were
sent to people and performed miracles in front of them, so that they believed
them. These are well-known historical
facts.
Prophet
Moses (pbuh) performed miracles: his club was transformed into a snake, the sea
was split into two parts through a hit with his club, and the bursting of the
water from the rock in the form of twelve springs good for drinking.
Prophet
Jesus (pbuh) healed the blind and the leprous, and gave life to the dead
through God’s will.
Prophet
Muhammad also had many miracles including the splitting apart of the moon, the
gushing of water from his hands and the night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem
and his ascension though the heaven. But
the most enduring and challenging miracle revealed through him is the Qur’an.
Belief
in almighty God and in the unseen is therefore an intuitive matter, without
which life cannot be right; without which the human self does not feel fully
contented. People’s lives, both today
and land in the past, testify this if only they are truthful about their
thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
Question
51: Is it possible that the whole system of this universe has
occurred by coincidence?
Answer
51: This can never be the case at all. In fact, no rational person
could ever envisage that this world has
come into existence without a wise
capable and knowing creator. With the
least contemplation, a rational person can recognize the invalidity of
coincidence in this case. When a person
looks at a beautiful building that is architecturally organized, wonderful and
firm, foe example, he intuitively believes that someone must have built,
organized and planned its plan and designed its foundations, lounges and
balconies. When we look at the watch on
our wrists, we cannot believe that its first maker found it by coincidence in
that shape. So how could we believe that
the creation of man to have come by coincidence? And how could this universe which runs
according to an absolute accurate system (in terms of night and day, stars,
planets and galaxies) how could it have come by pure coincidence? The idea of coincidence is something obsolete
and has become outside the rational circle in the world of science and
knowledge, and the world of reason and cause.
Question 49: Do people inherit the religion of Islam from their parents?
Answer 49: It has already been stated above that people are born to be intrinsically God believing, i.e. Muslims. Islam regards a child before puberty to be subordinate to his father in terms of religion and belief. Coming of age, he/she becomes responsible and will be held accountable for his/her deeds. This requires him/her to embrace the religion of Islam as a result of conviction, thinking and choice. However, if the child dies before puberty age (15 years) he/she will be considered as one of the escapees from Hell even though his parents are non-believers. This is a prerequisite of the justice of God who says: “… and no burdens shall bear the burden of another” (Holy Qur’an: 6: 164).
Question 50: Is Islam to be imposed on people or do people have to embrace it willingly?
Answer 50: Islam is the religion of God, He knows human self better than human beings themselves. He also knows what is good and what is bad for them. It is to the best interest and righteousness to man of mankind if they follow the right path revealed by God out of conviction, choice, love and desire, so that they could be salvaged. Almighty God made this clear in the holy book: “There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut (false deities) and believes in God, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And God is All-Hearer, All-Knower” (Holy Qur’an: 2: 256). It has never occurred in history that Muslims compelled anyone to embrace Islam even when they were at the height of their power.
Question 52:
If a person embraces Islam for mere secular benefits, like marriage, can
he/she be still be regarded as true Muslim?
Answer
52: Islam is the religion of almighty God. It should be embraced exclusively for His
sake. God says: “Surely the religion is
for God only” (Holy Qur’an: 39:3).
Almighty God does not accept anyone who converts for a particular
interest while implying infidelity, his Islam.
Prophet Muhammad reported that deeds will be judged by God according to
people’s intentions:
“Deeds
are rated according to the intentions of the people who carry them out. Each person is to be rewarded according to
his/her intention. Anyone who migrates for the sake of God and His prophet, his
migration will be to them then, and anyone who migrates for worldly interests,
or a woman he wants to marry, his migration will be to what he has migrated
to.”[3]
There
are, however, some people who embrace Islam for mere personal interests; but
after a while, they become committed and truthful in their intention of
faith. God will forgive this group of
people and grant them salvation.
Muslims
are required to deal with anyone who proclaims Islam publicly according to
his/her actions and/or deeds. Only God
can tell about people’s hearts and motivations.
The word Muslims scholars most use in such likely contexts is: “We have
to judge the apparent and only God judges the actual.” If this fake Muslim continues to be elusive,
then he/she is deceiving the community and God will count him/her among the
hypocrites. If the true character of
this “hypocrite” is revealed to the community, then he/she will be held
responsible and the divine rules of apostasy will apply upon him/her.
Question 53:
Is person’s intention sufficient for him/her to be a Muslim or does he/she
have to say the two testimonies: that there is no deity but God and that
Muhammad is His messenger?
Answer
53: Intention is not sufficient.
The two testimonies must be proclaimed, as announcing them is what
distinguishes a Muslim from a non-Muslim.
It is the proof of honesty and of being convinced of Islam, because it
is difficult to know that person is a Muslim if he/she does not claim so? How could a Muslim perform his duties towards
other Muslims if he does not know them and they do not know him? However, there are cases when intention
becomes sufficient, especially if this person is afraid of being killed in case
he/she announces Islam in a fanatic non-Muslim environment. In this case, he/she may practice Islam
secretly and say the two testimonies privately until he/she could move to a
safer environment and could perform their rituals in public.
Question 54:
Is it possible for a convert to say the two testimonies in a language other
than Arabic if he/she does not know this language?
Answer
54: Yes, it is possible to say the two testimonies in any
language. Arabic is not required at this
stage. However, once the convert is
able to say the two testimonies in Arabic, it is advisable that he/she does so,
in which case other Muslims could be more acquainted with him/her. If he cannot do that, it is not obligatory.
Question 55:
Is it obligatory for a sister wanting to embrace Islam to be dictated the
two testimonies by a Muslim female or should only a Muslim male achieve this?
Answer
55: Islam is the religion of God, it is an open invitation for
everybody to join in. Anyone who says
the two testimonies out of truthful intention has entered the gate of
Islam. A convert does not have to be
dictated how to become a Muslim if he/she knows how to. But in the likely case he/she does not know
what to do, instructions become indispensable for mere educational purposes.
A
convert is never required to have witnesses testifying his/her Islam. Embracing Islam starts with saying the two
testimonies, which are followed by manner and conduct: all rites, like prayer,
and fasting must be performed. These
acts of worship when are performed well become enough witness for someone’s
faith.
When
need is required that someone proves his/her Islamic faith, like the cases and
matters related to law and religious courts, then witnesses are rendered
necessary in this case.
Question
56: What is the meaning of polytheism? And why does Islam reject it?
Answer
56: Polytheism means worshipping something else with God whether this
thing is animate like a prophet, a messenger, a leader, a wealthy man, or a
prominent person; or inanimate, like a stone, a planet and the like. Islam rejects polytheism altogether. It is regarded as the antithesis of faith, as
there are different reasons that prove this, the most important of which are:
1.
Anyone who really knows God, through His most beautiful Names, Qualities, Acts
and Virtues, will despise having a peer to God.
2.
Polytheism does not go with the true nature that God gave to man. A God-believing person feels contented, safe
and psychologically settled, while a polytheist experiences an uneasy kind of
life. His/her feelings are mostly
distracted, and psychology unsettled.
The least social study will show the great differences between the
Islamic societies and other ones, the reason being the dogmas that direct each
of these societies.
3.
Polytheism contradicts reason. Rightful
minds do not place the creator and created on equal grounds. The same applies to learned and ignorant
persons, and the able and disable. When
contemplating the world around us, we realize it inevitable that there exists a
great, all-knowing and able creator of this universe, and all that it includes,
according to a very accurate and meticulous system. Normal minds absolutely believe that this
creator must be single and all alone, because if there were more than one
deity, conflict and difference would have emerged. If there had been more than one deity, things
would have gone wrong, and one of them would have dominated the other.
Question
57: What are the qualities of spirit?
Answer
57: Spirit is God’s most ambiguous and invisible secret. Only Him
knows and realizes its everlasting truth and essence. Almighty God relates: “And they ask you (O
Muhammad, concerning the spirit; say: ‘the spirit is one of the things, the
knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have
been given only a little’.” (Holy Qur’an: 17: 85).
Contemporary
scientists have attempted tom make some research on the truth of this
secret. They have held conferences for
the same purpose. But their conclusion
was that the spirit is an unknown secret which mankind has not known its truth
yet.
One
of the conferences is the one which was held in New York in 1959, when six
scientists from different parts of the world met at a round table in an attempt
to understand something about the origin and evolution of life on the surface
of this earth. The Russian scientist
Alexander Obarin, a biochemist in he Soviet Academy of Sciences, and greatly
interested in the evolution of life, was among the participants. The end of the conference was no better than
its beginning. It did not lead to any
findings, but confirmed the fact that the secret of life is unknown, and that
there is no hope that science will reach one day.
We
believe in the existence of the spirit because of its outstanding effects in a
tangible world, which is replete with life and living creatures. The difference between the life of human
beings and that of animals is that the life of the animal is instinctive and
confined to the world of concrete material of food, drink and desire, while the
life of man is distinguished to be above that, as it belongs to a world of
values, manners, ideals, virtues and noble feelings, and the life of science,
thought, and search for the secrets of the universe and benefiting from
them. If human beings try to do without
these values, they regresses into the world of animals. This fact is typically portrayed in the
Qur’an, God says: “while those who disbelieve enjoy themselves and eat as
cattle eat; and the Fire will be their abode” and “And surely, We have created
many of the jinn and mankind for Hell.
They have hearts wherewith they understand not, and they have eyes
wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth).
They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.” (Holy Qur’an: 7:179)
Question
58: What is the relationship between life, death and the
hereafter?
Answer
58: Almighty God is the one who created both life and death to see
who is better in terms of deeds. This is the core of the matter “to see who is
better in deeds” (Holy Qur’an: 67: 2). God has created this universe and showed
the wonders of His capability so that His creatures could really know Him, give
Him His due, and observe the system that He designed for them and live
according to His decree. The entire
universe is bound to show true submission due to God’s supreme power. This worldly life is the experimental
setting, God wanted to see on it the obedient and the disobedient, the deviant
and the straight, the just and the oppressive, the lost and the guided, the
believer and the infidel. This is why
God gave man wisdom and freedom, and granted him the authority and ability to
choose between good and evil, guidance and aberration. He sent messengers and supported them with
miracles in order to warn people and inform them that they should play the role
of His vicegerent on earth, and implement His law accordingly.
God
has provided man, through His prophets/messengers, with a complete system for
life that goes well with his/her mind and nature.
Almighty
God has announced to all people that this worldly life is an arena, or a
wrestling ring. Reward or punishment is
to be delayed to the hereafter, to which all people will go. This worldly life is limited and narrow, and
cannot be sufficient for obtaining rights according to God’s criteria. This
life is, therefore, a place for work.
Death is only a bridge across which human beings move to the eternal
life so that each could obtain his/her rights in accordance with fair judgment,
which saves nothing, however it is small or big. God said: “So whosoever does good equal to
the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight
of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it.” (Holy Qur’an: 100: 7-8). A poet expressed his view about the meaning
of life by saying: “Death is but a journey from this perishing abode to the
eternal one.”
Question
59: Will the other non-human creatures be
resurrected beside man?
Answer
59: On the Doom’s Day almighty God will resurrect all living creatures
and then will rule justly among them all.
He will obtain the right of the oppressed from the oppressor, even the
animals. Then He dignifies his honest
worshippers by allowing them into Paradise and granting them eternal stay in
it. He will punish the infidels and polytheists by forcing them into Hell and
granting them eternal stay in it.
What
indicates the resurrection of animals on the doom’s day is the prophet’s
saying: “(On the doom’s day) everybody will get his/her due, even the hornless
goat will be redressed from the one with horns.”
Question
60: Is man by nature sinful?
Answer
60: God created man and granted him an intrinsic nature of belief in
the true religion. He provided him with
a potential to do good or evil, right or wrong.
He gave him talents and abilities, which enable him to do all of that
completely at his own free will. God
then sent messengers for man’s guidance, to follow the straight path, and warn
people of the grave consequences in case they strayed off. With this perception, test and examination
become fair, and man eventually may either succeed this test or fail it; hence,
gain reward or punishment. If man had
been born to be good and infallible only, how does he/she deserve reward
then? On the other hand, if people were
created to be evil only, how could they deserve punishment for something they
themselves did not choose to do?
Question
61: If man dies as a non-Muslim, will he/she eternally stay in
paradise or hell?
Answer:
61: God’s true religion is Islam; all previous religions were no more
than preparations for this final and eternal religion, Islam. Before the advent of Islam, religions were
limited to a certain time and place, and they were deemed to prepare people for
the acceptance of the final divine religion embodied in the message of the last
and seal of prophets, Muhammad (pbuh).
God almighty says: “And whosoever seeks a religion other than Islam it
will never be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be one of the
losers” (Holy Qur’an: 3: 85).
Question
62: What does make man eligible to enter Paradise?
Answer
62: Paradise, in the concept of Islam, is a delightful abode prepared
for the believers to enter in the Hereafter.
Every true Muslim that dies will ultimately enter paradise. This means that if a Muslim commits sins but
who repents before his death, will be granted forgiveness by almighty God. God said: “And He it is who accepts
repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows that you do” (Holy
Qur’an: 42: 25). If, however, a sinful
Muslim dies before repenting, it will be up to God, whether He punishes or
forgives him/her. Prophet Muhammad
reported that no single Muslim would eternally stay in hell, so long as he/she
has the slightest amount of faith in his/her heart. The un-committed Muslims in this case will
have to be tortured in Hell for a period God knows; then they come out to enter
Heaven so that it could be their everlasting abode if God wills. Muslims believe that people would be admitted
into paradise not because of their good deeds as much as the mercy of almighty
God.
It
is reported that prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “None of you will enter Paradise
owing to his good deeds”. They asked: “Not even you, Messenger of God?” He
said: “Not even me, unless God has bestowed mercy and blessing upon me.”[4] However, the prophet confirmed the fact that
God does not neglect the good deeds of anyone—the ultimate goal being to
encourage Muslims to keep in touch with God, to resort to Him and plead Him. This helps to improve the conduct of Muslims
in both their private and public lives.
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