Islam : the life of peace through submission to the Almighty
A. Reminiscing – my earliest views on Islam
When I left for England in 1984 to read law, it was with a sense of total disillusionment with Islam.
Why?
Islamic religious classes in school and on the odd Sunday at home, when my late father was able to get us to and keep us at the dining table long enough to deliver a sermon, left me with a sense that Islam was nothing more than a charter of some dos and many don’ts, with God lurking round every corner to punish you for every mistake you made.
God was to be feared, not loved.
Fearing God, though, was not enough.
If the prospect of the hell-fire in the hereafter could not secure obedience to the laws of God, the promise by state-appointed Islamic religious authorities of punishment and humiliation in this life for the disobedient was indoctrinated into young minds as the fulfillment of the duty owed to God by the Muslim community. Eat in public during the daylight hours of Ramadhan and you risk being paraded through town after Friday prayers in a cage!
The insistence that communion with God, in the form of prayer, had to be in a language that I did not understand nor was conversant in, seemed to me rather incredulous that during such intimacy with my God, I should be focused on the form of what I uttered rather than its ‘feel’ and substance.
Looking back, it is very possible that my perception of Islam then may have also been influenced by my exposure in my younger days, through my having Christian relatives, to the language of love so prevalent in the Christian faith, to the spirit of giving in which I celebrated Christmas with my Christian cousins, and the fun-filled fellowship ever present in the Sunday School programme for Christian youth that I had occasion to partake in.
It is also very probable that on account of my close ties with my Christian relatives that I had great difficulty accepting a precept that was always emphasized in religious classes in school and by my late father at home: only Muslims are going to heaven; everyone else is destined for hell. It seemed to me then rather unjust that I should get to heaven simply because I was born into a Muslim family whilst my cousins, however good they might be, were condemned to hell because of an accident of birth.
Until 1985, I was a person who professed Islam as my faith, not because I truly understood what it meant to be Muslim and believed in the same, but because I was born of a father who himself professed Islam as his faith. I accepted unquestioningly that my religion was that of my father’s and his forefathers.
“When it is said to them: ‘Follow what God has revealed’, they reply, ‘No, we shall follow the ways of our fathers’. What, even if your fathers were devoid of wisdom and guidance?” – Surah 2 verse 170.
B. Reminiscing – discovering Islam of the Holy Qur’an
I started to read the translation of the Holy Qur’an by Abdullah Yusuf Ali in early 1986. I had then just gone through a failed relationship with a Catholic woman and was devastated, and seemed to be fighting a losing battle in coming to terms with this. There was nowhere to turn to but God.
Truth be told, I turned first to Christianity. Try as I did, though, I was unable to overcome a huge difficulty I had long had with the foundational tenet of the Christian faith – ‘there is no salvation other than the blood of Christ’, a proposition not dissimilar with the precept drummed into my head in school and at home in relation to Islam referred to earlier.
To my brothers and sisters who have found their peace in Christianity, I hope that no offence is taken for my saying now that I did not find my comfort zone in the Christian faith.
Surah Al-Baqara is the second chapter in the Holy Qur’an. It is the longest, comprising 286 verses and is preceded by one of the shortest. This meant that soon after I started reading the Holy Qur’an, it did not take me long to reach verse 62 of Surah Al-Baqara.
“Those who believe, the Jews, Christians and Sabians - any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord. They need not fear, nor shall they grieve.”
God through the Holy Qur’an had just put paid to years of indoctrination in school and at home. My late father and the ustaz in school were wrong. Heaven was not open only to Muslims but was open to all who believed in God and the Day of Judgment and did good works.
Or so I thought.
My initial impression as stated above of Surah Al-Baqara verse 62 set me on a path to re-visit everything I had ever been taught about Islam and measure the same against the text of the Holy Qur’an. It is an ongoing effort.
“Surely this Quran guides to that which is most upright and gives good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a great reward.” – Surah17 verse 9.
Today, I realize that my late father and the ustaz in school were right. Heaven is indeed open only to Muslims. Where my late father and the ustaz erred was in profiling the Muslim, not on the Qur’anic call to believe in God and out of love for Him, to adhere to precepts of justice, equality, kindness, charity, forgiveness, compassion, love and humility and to live in peace with all of creation, but on rituals and dogma handed down through the ages, a great many of which, if not all, have no foundation in the Holy Qur’an.
Today, both ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslim’ are presented as pronouns rather than adjectives. They are labels appended in your official documents if you happen to be born of parents similarly labeled, or if you have uttered the requisite proclamation of faith, duly witnessed. That you do not have the faintest notion of the precepts of justice, equality, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, love and humility matters not.
Islam of the Holy Qur’an that enjoins the qualities I have mentioned above has long been displaced by Islam fashioned by man. This is the process of ‘Islamisation’ sought to be continued by Azmi.
I know now that my earlier perception of Islam was founded on an entirely erroneous approach and one which most non-Muslims, quite understandably, and a great many who profess Islam as their faith, similarly fall prey to – judging Islam based on the actions of those who profess a belief in the same rather than what is to be found in the foundational scripture of the faith: the Holy Qur’an.
I did not know it in 1986, but Surah Al-Baqara verse 62 has over the years proven to be the most significant influence in shaping my present understanding of the way of life that I am enjoined by the Holy Qur’an to embrace.
I have since ceased to follow the ways of my forefathers. I try to follow what God has revealed to me through the Holy Qur’an.
“I will withdraw from you and what you call on besides God, and I will call upon my Lord. Perhaps I shall not remain unblessed in calling upon my Lord.” – Surah 19 verse 48.
"Follow the revelation given unto you from God, and follow not, as friends or protectors, other than Him. Little it is that you remember of admonition." - Surah 7 verse 3.
C. Islam in the Holy Qur’an as I understand it today
“…This day have I perfected your way of life (ad-deen) for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you peace through submission to God (Islam) as your way of life (ad-deen).” – Surah 5 verse 3.
"If anyone desires a way of life (ad-deen) other than one of peace through submission to God (Islam), never will it be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost." - Surah 3 verse 85.
Surah 5 verse 3 bears out that God had perfected man’s way of life, that is, the attainment of peace through surrender and submission to God, during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet.
Surah 3 verse 85 makes it clear that God will not accept anything other than the way of life that He perfected.
“Let there be no compulsion in the way of life (ad-deen). Truth stands out clear from error. Whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks.” - Surah 2 verse 256.
“O, believers, enter into complete peace and do not follow in the footsteps of Satan; for he is truly your manifest enemy.” Surah 2 verse 208.
“O, you tranquil soul, come back to your Lord, well-pleased and well-pleasing Him. Enter then among my servants. Enter then My Heaven.” - Surah 89 verses 27-30.
My understanding of the 8 verses above is that even as God says He will not accept anything short of the way of life of peace through submission to God as He has ordained for us, adherence to the same by man must be of his own free will without any element of compulsion. If man is to submit to God, he must do so only through awe and love of God and a desire to be in harmony with God’s scheme of things, and not fear of his fellow man or of society, or the controls and potential sanctions that society might impose upon him. It is God, and not man, that will guide those who seek His guidance, to the path of peace.
“This is the guidance of God. He gives guidance to such of His servants as He pleases…” – Surah 6 verse 88.
What, then, is this path of peace?
“Come, I will tell you what God has made binding upon you. Make none the equal of God, be good to your parents, and do not abandon your children out of poverty, for He gives you food and He shall provide for them; and avoid what is shameful, whether open or hidden, and do not take a life which God has forbidden, unless for some just cause. This God has enjoined upon you. Hopefully you will understand. Do not spend the belongings of the orphans except for their wellbeing, until they come of age; and give full measure, and weigh justly on the balance. God does not burden a soul beyond capacity. When you say a thing, let it be just, even though the matter relate to a relative of yours, and fulfil a promise made to God. These are the things that He has enjoined, that you may take heed. This is my straight path, so walk along it, and do not follow other ways, lest you should turn away from the right one. All this God has commanded. You may perhaps take heed for yourselves” - Surah 6 verses 151 to 153.
"Righteousness does not lie in turning your face to east or west; righteousness lies in believing in God, the last day and the angels, the scriptures and the prophets, and disbursing your wealth out of love for God among your kin and the orphans, the wayfarers and those who ask, freeing the slaves, observing salat and self-purification, fulfilling a pledge you have given, and being patient in hardship, adversity and times of peril. These are the men who affirm the truth, and they are the God-conscious.”- Surah 2 verse 177.
Say: "O People of the Book! Come to common terms as between us and you: That we serve none but God; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than God." If then they turn back, say: "Bear witness that we are submitters.” – Surah 3 verse 64.
These 5 verses, in my understanding, succinctly sum up the path of peace, full details of which are to be found throughout the Holy Qur’an.
Could I be wrong?
“God alone has knowledge…” – Surah 67 verse 26.
Of course I could be wrong!
And if indeed I am wrong, what, in that situation, is enjoined upon another who professes a belief in the Holy Qur’an?
“You shall invite to the path of God with wisdom and compassionate enlightenment, and debate with them in the best possible manner. Your Lord knows best who is deviating from His path, and He knows best who are guided.” – Surah 16 verse 125.
And if, after enlightened debate in the best possible manner, I am still firm in my view as stated above, what then?
“Whatever it be on which you differ, the decision is with God. Such is God, my Lord. In Him I trust, and to Him I turn. – Surah 42 verse 10.
“Shall I seek as my Lord other than God, when He is the Cherisher of all things? Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your return in the end is to God. He will tell you the truth of the things which you disputed.” - Surah 6 verse 164.
“If they do wrangle with you, say ‘God knows best what you are doing. God will judge between you on the Day of Judgment concerning your differences’”. – Surah 22 verses 68 and 69.
“O God, Creator of the heavens and earth, Knower of all that is open and concealed, it is You that will judge between Your servants in matters on which they differed”. – Surah 39 verse 46.
“…God will Judge between them on the Day of Judgment on matters on which they differed”. – Surah 45 verse 17.
These 6 verses leave me with the clearest impression that where there is a difference of opinion as to what Islam entails, or the meaning and purport of any of the verses of the Holy Qur’an, believers of this holy scripture must leave the resolution of that difference to God. It is important to understand and realize this aspect of the Commands of God, for what it bears out is that divergences of views will occur and must be accommodated in Islam.
Indeed, it must mean that I am entitled, by God’s Leave, to hold to a view contrary to that of all other believers of the Holy Qur’an.
What if I now turn to disbelief in the Holy Qur’an and God’s chosen and perfected way of life? Am I to be forced to believe? And if I remain unrepentant, am I to be punished by others who profess a belief in the Holy Qur’an and God’s chosen and perfected way of life?
“If it had been God’s Will, all on earth would have believed. Will you then compel mankind, against their will, to believe?” – Surah 10 verse 99.
“Let there be no compulsion in the way of life (ad-deen). Truth stands out clear from error. Whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks.” - Surah 2 verse 256.
"Tell those who believe to forgive those who do not look forward to the Days of God. It is for Him to recompense each people according to what they have earned." – Surah 45 verse 14.
Premised on these 4 verses, I do not see how anyone who professes a belief in the Holy Qur’an could lay claim to divine authority to compel belief or inflict temporal punishment for renunciation of faith in the way of life as ordained by God.
This is the Islam that I have come to know from the Holy Qur’an.
Remember Al-Baqara verse 62?
“Those who believe, the Jews, Christians and Sabians - any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord. They need not fear, nor shall they grieve.”
Islam, the way of life of peace through submission to God, as I understand it, entails:-
· a sincere belief in God and the Day of Judgment and, premised on that belief alone and out of love for Him, without any compulsion from any quarter:-
· to not associate any with God;
· to not exalt any from amongst us as our lords;
· to be kind to parents,
· to not abandon our children on a plea of poverty;
· avoid all shameful deeds;
· respect all life forms;
· be just in your dealings with others and do not cheat;
· be trustworthy in dealing with the property of orphans;
· be just and honourable in speech;
· keep the covenants that you make with God;
· share God’s bounty bestowed upon you with your family, the orphans, the
traveler and those who ask;
· strive to free the oppressed;
· observe your salat and zakat;
· honour your pledges and promises; and
· exercise patience in the face of all adversity and hardship.
God says that these things he enjoins upon us “are surely difficult except for those who are humble, and who know that they shall meet their Lord and that they shall return to Him”. – Surah 2 verses 45 and 46.
When Islam is viewed in this way, I cannot in all honesty assert that I am Muslim. I profess a belief in the way of life of peace through submission to God alone. I would be Muslim only if I have attained and adhered to all that God enjoins upon me. Only God can confirm if indeed I am worthy of His Invitation to “Enter then My Heaven”.
Hence, these days, when I am asked if I am Muslim, my answer is that only God knows.
Similarly, when I observe the great many Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and Sikhs who daily give of themselves for the betterment of the less fortunate, the poor, the orphans and the oppressed, I ask myself if they may not be more “Muslim” in God’s reckoning than those who profess Islam as their professed belief yet do little of these things. Again, only God Knows and only God Judges.
“Is not God the most equitable of all judges?” – Surah 95 verse 8.
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