Summarising
Islam
Question:-
How would you summarise the teachings of Islam
in modern language?
Answer:-
There are, of course, many ways of
summarising the teaching of Islam Some may even exclude others. The description
of Islam I am about to give may not be recognised by most or many Muslims. But
they need only study the Quran to realize that this description is accurate.
Islam, according to the Quran, is the
Religion of Truth (9:29,
9:33, 61:9). Allah is the fundamental Reality and His
Word, by which He created all things is Truth (6:74, 15:85). The Quran
emphasises Truth and is constantly pointing to the processes in the heavens and
earth and within human beings. "And it is naught but a reminder to
creation." 68:52
The Quran
requires:- “And follow (or pursue)
not that of which you have no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and
the heart, of all of these it shall be asked (to give an account). And walk not on the earth proudly
(insolently); verily, you can not rend the earth asunder, nor can you stretch
to the height of the mountains.” 17:36-37
Knowledge, as a
Hadith points out, does not refer to verbal knowledge, but to “awareness
of Truth”.
Firstly we need to distinguish between (1)
Reality, (2) Experience and (3) Description.
The ultimate, fundamental, self-existing
Reality is defined as Allah. The Real world is created by the Word of Allah.
Experience is partly the effect of Reality on us, and we are also real
creations, but we experience only a small part of Reality and it also contains
inventions and fantasies, though these are also realities of a different kind.
We only have partial knowledge. We are unaware of most of the forces and events
that affect us and even of things we can be aware of through our external and
internal senses in our bodies and minds, we are very selective. Awareness
depends on the strength and direction of attention, on our motives, interests,
expectations, presuppositions and values, and on the reactions to our actions.
Experience E is therefore a very small part of Reality R. Descriptions, which
tend to be verbal refer to tokens, signs and symbols which are not experiences
but substitutes for it. They are also experienced but they are different kind
of experience and they are often mistaken for the real experience. People form
attachment to words and react to them or use them as slogans. There is
difference between words used in this way and words used to convey meaning.
They convey meaning when they induce a real experience. Descriptions are
affected by prejudices, wishful thinking, fantasies and rationalisations caused
by selfishness, greed, pride, vanity, lust laziness, envy, rivalry, hate,
malevolence, vindictiveness and so on. We can describe only a small part of
what we can experience. Description D is, therefore, a very small part of
experience E. We therefore have R > E > D.
A World of
Illusions is created mainly by words. Verbal opinions and reports are based on
partial knowledge, biased selected observations and interpreted experiences
that depend on assumptions and motives and the tendency to form attachment to
the words themselves without considering meaning. This applies to everyone
generally and particularly to journalists and politicians, those who have a
strong personal agenda. The readers and listeners then interpret the words
according to their own biases that differ from the intended or unintended
effects. We live mostly in such a World of Illusion and are trapped in it.
(3:184, 6:70, 29:64, 47:36 and 57:20). One of the most widespread illusions is
that material wealth, social power or prestige bestow or indicate the objective
worth, qualities or success of a person. (104:3, 64:16, 59:7, 58:22, 30:38-39,
7:8,69,157, 3:104). Special techniques are required to extricate ourselves from
such a world. Religion provides these techniques. It comes through persons
called Messengers (of Reality), who are still in contact with the real world
through the Spirit within them. This refers to the capacity for consciousness,
conscience and will. These spiritual faculties correspond to the mental
faculties for knowing, motives and volitional action and the physical faculties
for sensation, instinct and motion.
We are urged to Surrender to Allah, that is,
to Reality, to seek knowledge, expand our awareness and behave in an objective
manner. That is the way we can benefit ourselves. If we do not then we come
into conflict with Reality and suffer and may be destroyed because Reality is
much greater than us. We have the spirit of Allah in us which implies that not
only are we part of Reality but we are capable of knowing Reality, behaving in
an objective manner and the capacity and desire to benefit ourselves is
built-in in us. What is more it makes us an agent of Allah and bestows on us
some of the divine powers of initiative, creativity and responsibility.
However, though we were made perfect and capable
of learning we were reduced to the lowest of the lowest (95:4-6) by our
attachments to sense objects, to worldly things, to experiences, to the parts
instead of the wholes, to illusions. The Spirit has become trapped in a shell
and has become dormant. It needs to be revived ad resurrected.
To Surrender to Allah is to surrender to the
divine spirit within. It implies the ability to behave objectively - to
cultivate, exercise and abide by the principles of Truth, Benevolence and
Justice etc that are the attributes of Allah.
One can think either in terms of concepts in
a formal but abstract manner or one can think in terms of conventions or one
can think in terms of natural forces and processes. The difference between
these is like that between people who think of Law (a) as referring to rules of
thought, and those who suppose that Law means (b) the social regulations that
are enforced by human authorities and those who think that Law (c) refers to
the forces and processes of Nature.
Objective thinking, therefore, from the
Islamic point of view is to think in Terms of natural forces - the Laws made by
Allah that derive from the Word of Allah. In the case of this article on the
family, for instance, I am concerned with the genetic and other forces that link
human beings. Remarks based on other criteria are irrelevant. A real
relationship between things refers to the interaction between natural forces.
The real relationship between people concerns the organic causal genetic
relationship - the transmission of genetic information. There are also other
kinds of real relationships owing to transmission of social or psychological
information.
But one finds that many of those brought up
in the Western intellectual tradition find it impossible or difficult to think
in terms of the realities of natural forces - they think in terms of words and
concepts. That would also make it impossible or difficult for them to
understand the Quran. In the past before the intellectualism people tended to
think in terms of experiences - the experience was taken as the real.
It is true, however, that the Quran also
consists of words. But we have to distinguish between different uses of words.
They can be used as slogans or to convey meaning or experiences or
symbolically. It is also necessary to understand that the Word of God is not
like human words. The former refers to truth - the natural order and signs of
God whereas the latter are symbols that stand for things, events or relations
and point to them. The significance of the Quran lies not so much in the words
as in the recitation designed to induce certain experiences. But even this is
not the aim of the Quran. The experience points to certain realities that we
are required to become aware of, absorb and incorporate in our lives - in
thought, motive and action. Conversely, Reality, through its forces, processes and interactions
affect all creatures, including human beings. (see Quran 2:31,37). Some of these, owing to the fact that we
have been given consciousness, penetrate into our awareness and become
experiences. Some of these experiences are translated into language and speech
for the purpose of communication and social life. This requires the development
of appropriate apparatus in the brain and body. The pressure for this development
comes from above and not from below i.e. from previous primitive sources by
accident. It is a question of reversing the process, of moving from words
towards Reality.
All this can also be explained in terms of
three worlds, each one a small part of another.
World P, the personal world can be described
as that in which we ordinarily live - that consisting of our immediate
surroundings, our family and friends, our homes and places or work, factory and
farm, our possessions, finances, careers and ambitions. This is embedded as a
small part within the next world.
World E, the Earth consists of the societies and nations and the materials and
events, the plants and animals, the planes, mountains, rivers, oceans and forests
that make up our planet; its history, ecology and politics. This is embedded as
a small part in the next world.
World U, the Universe, the World created by Allah which consists of all the
natural laws, forces and processes, constants, and all the order, interactions
and events that underlie existence.
Muslims are
required, especially in prayers, to enter World U and see all things in this
Universal context. A Muslim is a citizen of the Universe, has a Cosmic function
and must have supreme loyalty exclusively to Allah, the creator and maintainers
of the Universe and its purpose and goal.
Note that these Worlds or levels of Reality
correspond to the three levels at which human beings can function, namely the spiritual,
the mental and the physical. These give them access and allow them to interact
with the corresponding worlds. But people differ in their ability to do so at
each level.
This can be seen as
summarised in:-
“Say: I exhort you only to one thing that you
awake for Allah's sake (or stand up before Allah) in twos or singly, then
ponder: there is no madness in your companion (Muhammad); he is only a Warner
to you before a severe doom.” Quran 34:46
Human beings can be
regarded as having several layers of consciousness. They can be in a coma or
vegetative state, in deep sleep or in dreaming sleep. They can be in a
semi-conscious hypnotic state. And even when awake they can be in a sopor or
reverie or in an attentive state, or they can concentrate attention. We have
unconsciousness, sub-consciousness, pre-consciousness, ordinary waking
consciousness, self-consciousness, objective consciousness and cosmic
consciousness. To Awaken is to gradually pass from a lower state of
consciousness to a higher. The perceived world with which we must interact and
adjust to will change accordingly and so will our motives and behaviour.
Another way of
summarising Islam is in the following verses:-
“O mankind! There has come to you a direction
(guidance, exhortation) from your Lord, and a healing for the disease in your
breasts, and a guidance and a mercy for believers.” 10:58
“And We will send down of the Quran that which
is a healing and a mercy to the believers, though it only increases the
wrong-doers in ruin.” 17:82
“Say: It (the Quran) is to those who believe,
a guidance and a healing; and as for those who disbelieve, there is a deafness
in their ears and it is blindness (obscurity) to them; these shall be called to
from afar.” 41:44
Human beings,
though made perfect have fallen and become diseased because of attachments to
sense data, addictions that caused narrowing down of consciousness, conscience
and will, greed, egotism and illusions spun by their own fantasies and partial
knowledge. They have created an artificial world to which they are by nature
maladapted. They have created the world in three ways:- (a) They have changed
their physical environment causing wastage, of resources, adulteration,
pollution and ecological imbalance. This has created many kinds of chemical and
biological poisons that produce physical diseases, both infectious and organic,
and various allergies. (b) They have also created organisations, social
conditions and cultures based on illusions that stimulate and propagate
perceptions and values that are socially and psychologically harmful. (c) They
have also produced a world of ideologies and a psychological or mental world
that has increasingly departed from awareness of Reality. Man lives in a world
of ideas and sees the world through narrow distorting spectacles circumscribed
by blinkers. There are, therefore, an increasingly greater number of
psychological, social and environmental problems while the ability to perceive
and correct them progressively diminishes. The conditions of life depend on the
nature of the people who create them and:-
“…Verily, Allah changes not the
condition of a people until they change that which is in their heart (or in
their souls or change it for themselves). And when Allah wishes misfortune for
a people there is no averting it, nor have they a protector beside Him.” 13:11
Though there is
certainly a degree of tolerance built into nature by the mercy of Allah and a
period of grace before the consequences and judgement descends so that
amendment can be made (10:12, 50, 26:204-209, 29:53-55, 8:33 etc.), there is an
inevitable movement towards a major disaster. The purpose of the Messenger and
the Religion he brings is to warn and to provide the glad tidings of means of
rectification.
“O people of the Book! Now Our Messenger has
come to you to make things plain, after an interval in the succession of
Messengers, lest you say, "There came not to us a herald of glad tidings
nor a Warner." But now there has come to you a herald of glad tidings and
a Warner. Allah has power over all things!” 5:19
“Say (O Muhammad): For myself I have no power
to benefit, nor power to harm, save what Allah will. Had I knowledge of the
Unseen I should surely have multiplied all that is good, and no adversity would
touch me; I am but a Warner and a herald of good tidings unto a people who have
faith." 7:188
“And We have not sent you (Muhammad) but to
all mankind (or as a Universal Messenger) as a bearer of good news and as a
Warner, but most men know not.” 34:28. Also see 11:2, 13:7, 17:105, 25:56,
33:45 etc.
Another way of
Summarising Islam is to use the notion of Tauhid (Unity) and the following
verses:-
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only. Allah the
Absolute, (on whom all things
depend, and besought by all!) He
begets not and is not begotten! Nor is there like unto Him any one!" 112:1-4
“He (Allah) it is who created the heavens and
the earth in six days, and His Throne (or authority, control) was (first) upon
the Water that He might try you, which of you is best in conduct." 11:7
“Blessed is He in Whose hand is the
Sovereignty, and He has power to do all things, Who created death and life that He may
try you as to which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the
Forgiving, Who created the seven heavens one above the other in harmony.
“67:1-3
“O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your
Lord, who created you from one soul, and created there from its mate, and
scattered from the twain a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty
towards Allah, in whose name you claim rights of one another, and the wombs
that bore you; verily, Allah is Watcher over you.” 4:1
“Mankind were one nation once, and Allah sent
them prophets with good tidings and with warnings, and sent down with them the
Book in truth, to judge between men in that wherein they disagreed; but only
those unto whom the scripture was given disagreed therein after manifest signs
had come to them, through selfishness and stubborn pride (or hatred) amongst
themselves; and Allah guided by His Will the believers to the truth concerning
that wherein they disagreed, for Allah guides whom He will unto the straight
path.” 2:213
“And, verily, this your religion (or
brotherhood) is one religion (or brotherhood), and I am your Lord; so keep your
duty unto Me. But they (mankind) have broken their religion (or affair) between
them into sects, each sect rejoicing in its own tenets.” 23:52-53
“Lo! We have created every thing by
measure” 54:49
“And there is not a thing but with Us are the
stores thereof. And we send it not down save in appointed measure.” 15:21
“Work not confusion in the earth after the
fair ordering (thereof). and call on Him in fear and hope. Lo! the mercy of
Allah is nigh unto the good. “ 7:56 Also 7:85
And so on.
Ultimately, the
whole of Islam is summarised in the name – Islam - Surrender (to Allah).
Islam is at once a
doctrine, a goal derived from the doctrine and a technique for achieving the
goal. The doctrine is that all things are in a state of surrender to Allah; the
goal is that we should consciously surrender to Allah; and the method is to
surrender by obedience to the Word and instructions of Allah. Islam, therefore,
is concerned with facts, values and meanings which requires perception, motive
and action.
Surrender implies
three things:- (a) to give up, relinquish and sacrifice something, (b) to
accept, adopt or subordinate oneself to something, (c) to return something one
owes. We are required to give up the worldly life of selfishness, greed,
illusion and automatism. We are required to adopt the spiritual life of
consciousness, conscience and will. We are required to be aware that we owe our
life and all things to Allah, the Creator and therefore have an obligation
towards Him. (See 23:78, 32:9, 7:10-11,
9:111-112)
The reason for the
Fall of man, that is, his degenerate state, the consequences of which are the
troubles he is in, physically, socially and psychologically, is diagnosed by
the Quran in the verse:-
“Be not as those who forgot Allah, therefore
He caused them to forget their own souls. Such are the evil doers. ”
59:19
This condition is
also known as ‘spiritual death’.
“Is he who was dead, and We have raised him
unto life, and set for him a light wherein he walks among men, as him whose
similitude is in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge? Thus is their conduct
made fair seeming for the disbelievers.” 6:123
The major
obligations is, therefore, to Remember
Allah (13:28, 2:152,200, 3:191, 7:205, 18:29, 24:37, 29:45, 33:41, 57:16,
40:60, 62:10, 63:9-11). All other things flow from this. It includes knowing
His attributes, that He is the creator and maintainer of everything, that all
things have been created for a purpose, including mankind who therefore have a
function.
"Deemed ye then that We had created you for
naught, and that ye would not be returned to Us?" 23:11
"I
created the Jinn and humankind only that they may serve Me." 51:56
It is particularly
necessary to remember that we have been created as Agents of Allah (2:30, 6:166), that we have the
Spirit of Allah within us (15:29, 32:7-9, 38:73) which bestows
on us consciousness, conscience and will and some of His attributes of
initiative, creativity and responsibility. As the Prophet said “He knows
his Self knows Allah”. Surrender, therefore means Self-realisation,
Enlightenment and Awakening. It means self-identification with Allah, and,
therefore, to objective behaviour, the adoption of the attributes of Allah such
as Justice, Benevolence, Truth and so on, and the actualisation of the
potentialities built into us. That is the way to spiritual resurrection.
"Verily, we are Allah's and, verily, to Him is
our return." 2:156
“O
ye who believe; obey Allah and the messenger when He calls you to that which
quickens you, and know that Allah comes in between the man and his own heart,
and that He it is unto whom you will be gathered.” 8:24
“Say: Lo, my worship and my sacrifice and my
living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds.” 6:16
“Be mindful of your duty to Allah, and seek a
way of approach unto Him, and strive in His way in order that ye may be
successful.” 5:35
"He, indeed, is Successful who causes it (the
soul) to grow, and he, indeed, is a failure who stunts it." 91:9-10
Those who surrender
achieve Paradise which is a state of Self-fulfilment and nearness to Allah.
“But O, you soul in peace and fulfilment!
Return unto your Lord, well pleased and well pleasing unto Him! Enter you
amongst My servants, Enter you My Garden (Paradise)!” 89:27-30
There is also a
summary in the first chapter of the Quran, the Fatihah:-
The Opening, Al
Fatihah, the first chapter of the Quran contains the Essence of the Quran and
the rest of the Quran can be regarded as a commentary and elaboration of the
contents of this chapter. The Fatihah is mentioned in Quran 15:87 as "The
Seven Oft Repeated (verses)"
(1) It is (i) an
evocation, stimulation or reminder, (ii) a teaching, and (iii) a prayer and
worship.
(2) It is (i) a
statement of truth, of facts about the fundamental nature of existence and
draws out (ii) a meaning for life and (iii) a value system that informs motives
and gives purpose and direction.
(3) Corresponding
to the above it connects to and stimulates, or ought to stimulate (i)
consciousness (awareness, (ii) conscience and (iii) will respectively.
The Fatihah
contains 7 verses of which (i) the first three can be called the "Heavenly
Triad" because they refer to Allah, the Creator, the fundamental
self-existing Reality. (iii) the last three can be called the "Earthly or
Mundane Triad" because they refer to the creature man. (ii) The middle or
fourth verse connects the other two.
These three can be
called the Absolute Triad and they connect the Creator with the Creature. They
tell us about the nature of the Creator, of the Creature and the relation
between them. (A triad refers to relativity because it requires two relata and
a relating factor.)
There is a
correspondence between these three, the Absolute Triad and the Heavenly Triad
and the Earthly Triad. This also forms a triad.
The first verse
states: "All praise belongs to
Allah, the Lord of the Worlds." The word "Allah" means
"that which alone is worthy of worship." "All praise"
implies that (i) Allah is the only initiator and origin of all things; (ii)
that He is the one ultimately responsible; (iii) that all things he does are
good and praiseworthy.
The verse is (i) a
statement of fact, but by uttering it (ii) we also acknowledge that it is so
and give credit where it belongs, and (iii) we approve and are grateful. It is
a statement of surrender (Islam).
The word Lord is a
translation of the word Rabb which implies that Allah is not just the Creator
but also sustainer and cherisher and that He causes development and brings to
fruition. Evolution is implied.
“The
Worlds” implies that there are many worlds, Cosmoses or Spheres. It can
refer to many heavens, planets, galaxies, Universes, or to the world of
mankind, plants, animals, jinn, angels etc.; or the spiritual, mental and
physical worlds. Or it could even refer to the world of culture, politics,
economics, science etc.
The second verse states "The Most Benevolent, the Most
Merciful." The original words are Rahman and Rahim. Though both words
refer to a relationship between Creator and Creature, Rahman refers to the Nature
of Allah as the unlimited source of all things needed by the creatures, while
Rahim refers to the creature that has limitations and needs Allah's mercy,
tolerance and forgiveness.
The Third verse
states "Master of the Day of
Judgement". Master refers to the cause, the owner and controller. The
Day of Judgement implies that there is a purpose for the Universe and that it
has a direction of development and a goal, but also that there is not just a
beginning but also an end and that a separation or distillation is to be
achieved between that which fulfils the purpose and that which does not.
The fourth verse
states "Thee alone we worship and
Thee alone we ask for aid." Because this verse connects the upper and
lower triads it has two parts. The one tells us about the obligation of the
creature to the creator and other does the reverse - it tells us about the
dependence of the creature on the creator. These two are inter-dependent.
Worship implies (i) adoration, (ii) service and (iii) obedience and submission.
Note that there is a correspondence between this verse and the second (the
middle of the upper triad) which also has two aspects of Beneficence and Mercy.
The fifth verse
states:- "Show (or Guide) us in the
Straight Path". The Path has a beginning, a direction and a
destination. It has many points and stages. A straight line is the shortest
route from one point to another. The verse refers to a purpose in life, to a
goal, the focusing and channelling of physical and psychological effort. That
goal is spiritual development, the growth of the soul, an ascent and return to
Allah from whence we came having fulfilled the task for which we were created.
(Quran 89:27-30 and 91:7-10) But we may not be on the path or even know it. We
want to be shown the path and be guided along it.
The sixth verse
tells us about the Path. It states:
"The Path of those whom Thou has favoured (or on whom Thou has bestowed
Thy grace". There are people on the Path who are guided by Allah and
some are further along it than others. They can be guides to others. This verse
differentiates between the Path and what is not a path. In this respect this
middle verse of the Lower Triad connects with the middle verse of the Upper
Triad (verse 2) and the middle verse of the Absolute Triad (verse 4).
The seventh verse
states: "Not of those who earn Thy
wrath; nor of those who go astray." The Path creates a distinction
between itself and the rest of possibilities. There are two other
possibilities. One is that one goes backwards counter to ones own inherent
interests and this leads to self-contradiction and suffering, degeneration and
destruction. The other is to stray off the path and get lost and the physical
and psychological energy is squandered. The prayer asks for protection against
these two possibilities and uttering the words implies that we are committed to
avoid these fates. This third verse of the Lower Triad connects with the third
verse of the Upper Triad.
There are stages.
It is not merely a question of knowing the words, but also of understanding the
meaning and above that of comprehending the significance and acting
accordingly. And then it is a question of being constantly aware and finally of
Realisation - that is, of making it real in our being.
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