WHAT IS ISLAM? Part 4
contd from Part-3 Islamic Society This was ISLAM that Muhammad
(pbuh) presented to the world. He (pbuh) established it as a
system with his unprecedented practical deeds. The exposition of
this "unprecedented practical deeds" is that the Messenger
Muhammad (pbuh) used to present this Deen to the people on
argumentative reasoning. He (pbuh) used to make the people
understand its purpose and rationale. He (pbuh) used to answer
the objections of the opponents on pursuits of knowledge, wisdom
and intellect. He (pbuh) used to invite their reflective
thinking. Those who accepted it willingly -from the core of
their heart -he (pbuh) used to associate them in his group of
people. This was the party that established the society of Deen.
This was the modern society he (pbuh) developed. This society,
within a few days, brought bright and brilliant results. And the
results provided living proof of its truthfulness to the entire
world. Likewise its establishment, its frontiers expanded and
the world at large saw a system where 'no one was subordinate to
any one, nor was dependent; where every one used to live a life
of freedom and dignity operating within the boundary walls of
Laws of Allah'. This was the freedom that paid to develop the
human potentialities enabling the man to march on the higher
evolutionary stage of life. This is called the streamlining of
the Hereafter. In the system of Deen, there was no concept of
monarchy, capitalism, monasticism, or priesthood. On the
contrary, the attributes of this society were paying respect to
the man, keeping dignity and honour, and maintaining criterion
of status in the society. In such a society (in the words of
Hazrat Omar Farooque) 'the mightiest was the weakest till he is
made to pay the due to the oppressed' and 'the weakest among the
weak was the mightiest of the might till he gets his deprived
right'. This all leads us to conclude that Islam is the System
of life in which: 1. All the deficiencies of the human are made
good and he develops his potentialities to the optimum 2. The
human remains safe and secure from misery and devastation in
life 3. He goes on ascending to the higher planes of his
evolutionary stages of life 4. He remains at peace and
reconciled from within by living peaceably. 5. The human marches
forward as a pioneer for establishing peace and reconciliation
in the world. 6. In the journey of life he enjoy a walk in
perfect harmony with other members of the society and never
commits anything that excites or irritates others for disrupting
the balance of the society But this all can only be possible
when: * The human submits completely to the Laws of Allah; not
by his head but also by his heart * The human carries out this
all with optimal temperance and perfect balance, manifesting no
laxing or taxing. In this way all his efforts will bear fruit
and none of his actions will go waste * Balance and proportion
will develop not only in the fiber of his own personality but
also in the entire society This is the only style of life, of
which it has been said unequivocally in the Quran in Surah
Aal-e-Imran, Verse 85: Contrary to it, whosoever adopts a style
other than this, will never produce such results; and he will be
a loser in the long run. This style is the other name of
complying with the Qura'n. Surah Taahaa, Verse 47 in the Quran
says: And peace will be for him who follows Al Huda, the
Revelation. What Happened to Islam Later on? This was Islam that
Allah prescribed for the man as a system of life. What happened
with it? What did this "nation, the so called collection of
Muslims" do with this Islam? It ignored each and every article
of this system and replaced it with man made religion, where
monarchy, capitalism, monasticism, priesthood came in
full-blown. Very briefly it can be said that every element,
which Islam came to abolish, one by one paved way into it. Its
result was that the worldly matters of the people came in the
hands of those who were at the helm of affairs in the government
machinery and Islam was transformed into religion. This religion
became a collection of a few theoretical beliefs and a commotion
of traditions. Then started discussions on Beliefs. These
discussions included the following thematic issues (and the
differences on these issues led way to blood shed): - Is Adam's
soul, in real sense, Allah's soul or separate from Him? - Are
Allah's attributes old or new? - Is the Quran created or
non-created? - Can God intend against His own intentions or not?
- Are the humans the creators of their own deeds or not? - Can
God tell a lie or not? - Will the people of the Heaven see God
or not? - Is Allah eligible to decrease the blessings of the
people of Heaven and the chastisement of the people of Hell? -
Does belief increase or decrease? - Does reward and Sawaab rest
on the wish of God or on the deeds of the man? - What is the
length and breadth of Hauz-e-Kauser? - What is the volume of the
'cups' of the Heaven? - What is the length of the bunch of
grapes of the Heaven? These were the discussions of the beliefs.
Then started the academic issues. These included: -
Fist-equal-length of Miswak creates haemorrhoids (piles) -
Chewing Miswak makes man blind - How much water of the well is
to be drained out if a piece of tail of the mouse falls into it?
- Is the urine of the mouse sacred or not? - Should the swine
that falls in salt mine and turns-to-be salt is eaten or not? -
Is selling of slave girl's milk fair or not? - How many bowls of
water is used for taking Ghusal (necessary bath)? - To what
extent should the hands reach in doing Masah of the head? - Does
the prayer become unapproved if no difference is made in
pronouncing Zaad and zuaie, zuaie and saad, seen, tuaie and tay
in the recitation? These were the issues of beliefs, theoretical
in nature and meaningless in scope that wasted the nation's
energies, time and money. And the nation is still entangled in
these theoretical problems. Today the entangling in the
theoretical issues is named as 'service to the Deen' and a
'great jihad in the service of Deen'. Just gloss over the
situation that prevails today and compare 'what Islam was when
it was presented' and 'what it has become today'. But there is
nothing to worry. We have the Quran with us today. We can work
to establish Deen as a system of life. Then we can achieve the
greatness we, as Muslims, achieved in the past.
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