In the
Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Abu 'Iyaad as-Salafi
The belief of a Muslim is
summarised in the declaration of faith known as the kalimah (meaning: a word)
and this is:
Laa ilaaha illAllaaha
Muhammadur-Rasoolullaah
The meaning of this:
'There is nothing which has the right to be worshipped except Allaah[1] (alone)
and Muhammad is His Messenger."
Muslims believe that this
Universe, by necessity, has a Creator. It is hard for a person's common sense
to encompass that the Universe with all its order and regulation is a product
of mere chance. One of the scholars of Islaam, known as Abu Haneefah (d. 150H)
once debated some atheists. He asked them: "What do you say about someone
who tells you that he had seen a loaded ship without a captain and a crew
amidst a strong storm, but sailing well towards a safe harbour [ thereby saving
itself]? Do you intelligently accept this?" They said: "Our reasoning
cannot accept this". Abu Haneefah then commented: "If your reasoning
does not accept the story of a ship without a leading crew, then how do you
accept a whole universe with all its varied conditions and complex nature
running without a Creator in full charge?" So the atheists were
dumbfounded and came to believe in Allaah. Allaah says in the Qur'aan:
Verily, in the creation
of the Heavens and the Earth, and in the alternation of the night and day, and
the ships that sail through the sea with that which is of benefit to
human-kind, and the rain which Allaah sends down from the sky and makes the
earth alive therewith after its death, and the moving (living) creatures of all
kinds that He scatters therein, and in the changes in the direction of the
winds, and the clouds which are held between the sky and the earth, are indeed
Aayaat (proofs, signs, evidences) for a people of understanding [Baqarah 2:164]
Thus, Muslims believe in
the existence of Allaah, that He is the Originator and Creator of the Universe.
And it follows therefore, that Muslims hold that the universe and everything within
it has a definite purpose. As Allaah has said:
I have not created Men
and Jinn except that they may worship Me [Dhaariyaat 51:56]
In this one short
sentence, Allaah has explained clearly to human-kind the purpose of their
existence, something, for which philosophers, scientists and intellectuals have
never been able, in the duration of human-kind's existence, to provide a
conclusive and unanimous answer. Worship, here, is a comprehensive term,
covering every single aspect of life, whether related to one's personal life,
or related to the others.
It is also possible for
there to exist other 'gods' because the definition of a 'god' in Islaam, is
something that is adored or worshipped or given obedience, or which is the
centre of people's emotions - such as love, fear, hope, reliance, trust etc.
Therefore, many things can become 'gods' and can be made into 'gods' by people.
Such things include: money, status, power, leaders, parents, idols, music,
pop-stars, drugs and other created things. People make these things into 'gods'
because they believe that these things can give them whatever they want, that
they can find true satisfaction in these things, as well as honour and power.
So once they have decided that their goal in life is money, or drugs, or status
- they have made it their 'god' i.e. that thing they believe can provide them
with satisfaction and freedom from anxiety. And all the actions that they
perform in order to get these things or which will lead them to these things is
their form of 'worship' of these 'gods'. Allaah has said:
And they have taken (for
worship), besides Allaah, other gods, that they might give them honour, power
and glory [Maryam 19:81]
This is why Allaah has
forbidden the worship of other things since in that lies the greatest humiliation
and subjugation: The enslavement and worship of man (or material things), by
man. One of the generals of the Muslim army, in the earliest times of Islaam,
in approaching a certain district said to its people: "We have come to
liberate whomsoever Allaah wills from among His Servants, from the worship of
men by men to the worship of the Lord of all Men."
Muslims believe that
Allaah - the One True God - alone has control over life and death, that He
alone sends the rain and bestows sustenance, that He alone can save people when
in distress and in trouble, that He alone controls and owns whatever is upon
the Earth and in the Universe and may direct it in whichever way He wills. And
hence, for true satisfaction and peace or ease of mind, He alone should be made
the object of people's yearning and desire, and He alone, turned to for the
things that people seek and need. From this perspective the worship of other
things besides Allaah, can be seen to be futile and useless and this is why the
worshipping of saints, prophets, angels, idols and other created, material
things is considered the worst evil a human can commit.
Allaah mentions many
times that when people are in distress they know deep inside that there is one
thing alone that can save them or remove the harm from them, and that is
Allaah. Even an atheist, when his life is in danger and there is no other way
out will have a hope in his heart that something can save him. This 'something'
he has a hope in is actually Allaah, since the hearts have an instinctive
belief in and acknowledgement of a Supreme Creator and this is one of the
proofs that Allaah exists. Allaah explains this reality many times in the
Qur'aan:
It is He who enables you
to travel through the land and sea, till when you are in the ships and they
(the ships) sail with them (the people) while there is a favourable wind, they
are glad due to it. Then comes a stormy wind and the waves come to them from
all sides and they think that they will be engulfed by them - then - they call
upon Allaah, making their faith purely for Him alone, saying: "If you
deliver us from this, we shall truly be amongst the grateful." But when he
delivers them, behold they rebel (disobey Allaah) in the earth wrongfully.
[Yoonus 10:22-23]
So in times of dire
hardship and need people return to the only thing they know can help and
deliver them and that is the One True God - Allaah.
This, then is the meaning
of: "None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah (alone)", the
first part of a Muslim's declaration of his faith - that no created thing is
deserving of, or has the right to subservience and worship. Rather, Allaah
alone, by virtue of His being the Originator, Owner and Controller of the
Universe has this sole right.
The second part of a
Muslim's declaration is: "Muhammad is His Messenger". Muslim's
believe that from time to time Allaah sent Prophets to convey His Message - in
order to inform human-kind about the purpose of their existence and how to
fulfil that purpose. Thus, he sent Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and also
Muhammad (peace be upon them all), as well as all the other Prophets sent
throughout history. Allaah said:
And We have raised in
every community a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allaah alone, and
avoid false gods." [Nahl 16:36]
Muslim's believe that the
Message of all the Prophets is one and the same, namely, the call to the
worship of the One True God alone, and avoiding the worship of other things
besides Him, as has been explained above.
The role of the Prophet's
is to exemplify to human-kind how they are supposed to fulfil their duty to
their Lord and Creator, Allaah - the One True God and how they are to worship
Him alone - without associating or setting up partners with Him. Thus every
Prophet had with him a code, an example or a 'model of behaviour'. Muslim's
believe that the example of Prophet Muhammad who is the last of the Prophet's
sent by Allaah to human-kind is the practical and physical way to perform one's
worship of Allaah - and therefore, the way to live a meaningful and purposeful
life upon this earth. This code, termed the Sunnah (meaning: a way), is
comprehensive. It includes such things as how to eat, how to dress, how to do
business, how to pray, how to maintain a family, how to be an upright, decent
and moral person, how to behave with other humans, how to behave with nature,
how to govern a country or state. It includes every facet of life. And thus we
can understand the saying of Allaah:
He it is Who sent among
the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves, reciting to
them His Verses, purifying them (from the filth of disbelief and polytheism),
and teaching them the Book (this Qur'aan,) and the Wisdom (meaning the Sunnah:
legal ways, orders, acts of worship, etc. of Prophet Muhammad). And verily,
they had been before in manifest error. [Jumu'ah 62:2]
There is in the Messenger
of Allaah, a beautiful pattern of conduct for whoever hopes in (Meeting with)
Allaah and the Last Day and remembers Allaah much. [Ahzaab 33:21]
To a Muslim therefore,
the religion of Islaam is a complete and perfect way of life and hence the
saying of Allaah in the Qur'aan:
This day have I perfected
for you, your religion, completed My favour upon you and have chosen for you,
Islaam as your religion. [Maa'idah 5:3]
This is what ties more
than a billion Muslims - world-wide - together. This declaration of faith:
"Laa ilaaha illAllaaha Muhammadur-Rasoolullaah (There is nothing that has
the right to be worshipped except Allaah alone, and Muhammad is His
Messenger)", which consists of just a few words but has a comprehensive
meaning, touching upon every single aspect of a human's life.
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