WHAT IS ISLAM? Part 3
by Allama G.A. Parvez

contd from Part-2 Contrary to this class of people, there are the people for whom the Quran in Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 201 says: And there are people who say: Our Rabb ! Give us good in this world and the good in the Hereafter. The Quran calls them Momin. In other words, these are the people who obey the Laws of Allah: the physical laws and the permanent values both. On the other hand, there are people who obey His physical laws only, and do not follow His revealed permanent values. The Quran calls them Kafir i.e., the non-acceptor class of people. It makes it clear that accepting the physical laws, and acting according to them will bring their results. Whosoever will accept and act according to the physical laws will get the results of his efforts. The Quran has described this stark fact comprehensively, when it, in Surah Bani Israeel, Verse 18, said of the first group of people: Whosoever intends to derive the immediate gains of this physical life, We, according to Our Divine Laws, provide him these gains. But his future is doomed

to jahannam, where he will be condemned and forsaken. For the second group of people, the Momin, the Quran in Surah Bani Israeel, Verse 19 makes it clear, when it says: And whosoever (along with the worldly gains) intends to derive gains of the future, works to the optimum for these gains, and is committed to Allah's revealed permanent values, his efforts bring fruitful results. The Quran concludes the efforts of both these groups of the people, when it in Surah Bani Israeel, Verse 20 says: We let both of these groups go marching onward in accordance with the efforts they put forth. And the door leading to Our bestowed bounties is equally wide open for each and every one; We never wall up Our bounties to confine them to a selected few. Difference Between Momin and Kafir In Surah Al-Jaasia, Verse 13, the Quran said: And He has made subservient to you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, all from Himself. Lo! Herein verily are portents for people who reflect. In this verse the Quran has not addressed any particular group of people. It is a general address to all the humans. The nation that reflects and conquers the forces of nature will get the benefits from these forces. In this respect there will be no difference in the results of the efforts of the Momin and the Kafir. This difference will come into play at a later stage. Whosoever reflects and conquers the forces of nature will get benefit. The difference is that the Kafir conquers the forces of nature and uses this conquering according to his own decisions. This results in the form of hell of destruction. This is the trap the world is entangled today. The greater is the conquering of the forces of nature, the greater is the intensity of this destruction. On the other hand, the Momin conquers the forces of nature, and uses this harnessing in accordance with Allah's revealed permanent values. This makes the world a heavenly place to live. This is called 'living within the bonds of Allah'. In other words, it is the using of ones potentialities and the forces of nature within the limitations Allah has prescribed for the universal total gain of the humanity. The following example will make it clear. When "Nation of the Kafir" conquers the forces of nature, it uses this conquering for the benefits of its own nation on one hand, and for the destruction of other nations on the other hand. It is evident when different nations of the world use these forces for their benefits but for the destruction of other nations, it will wring universal chaos in the humanity. Contrary to it, when "nation of Momin" conquers the forces of nature, it will use the forces for the nourishment and growth of the entire humanity because 'nourishment of the entire humanity' is a permanent value. This nation can not ignore this value. Take another example. When "nation of Kafir" governs the people, it will create unevenness, chaos, and social disparity. Consequently it will give rise to different strata of haves and have-nots. It will blur justice, and mar economic equality. All the decisions will be made in favour of the ruling class. But when this same governance comes in the hands of "nation of Momin", it will create evenness in the society. Every one will be provided means of nourishment and growth according to the individual needs in the society. Every one will be respected as man. Irrespective of the position of the humans, every matter will be decided according to the Laws of Allah. It is because, those at the helm of affairs, will have conviction in the principles and laws of Allah. And living according to these principles will be the ultimate aim of their life. It will create Heaven in this world. It will help them develop their own personality to be capable of evolving to the higher evolutionary stages in the life Hereafter. In other words, it will be Heaven here on this globe and the Heaven there in the Hereafter. It is because the secret of development of the human personality lies in the nourishment of the entire humanity. It also lies in establishing the system of justice and the system of making up the deficiency in the humans. What is Islam? The above description has made it clear that ISLAM is the name of leading life in harmony with Allah's Laws pertaining to the physical world and the revealed permanent values and principles of life. In other words it can be said that conquering the forces of nature and then utilizing them for the benefit of mankind in accordance with Laws of Allah as revealed by Him, and thereby developing one's own self is ISLAM. This and this alone, can ensure a beautiful heavenly life in this as well as in the Hereafter. This way of life is called system of Islam. Now in the light of the above mentioned descriptions, we have three groups of the people: 1. The group of the people who achieve the conquest of the nature, (which are called the physical sciences) but use their power for purposes opposed to the revealed permanent values is rewarded with success in this world for the time being, but have nothing to hope for in the future. They get material gains but their society is hellish. Those who live hellish life in this world will have hell in their future. 2. People engaged in understanding and controlling the forces of nature, (which are called the physical sciences) and shaping their lives according to permanent values enjoy happiness in this world and will enjoy it in the next stage of life. 3. Those who turn away from nature and make no attempt to understand and conquer it, cannot attain human stature. They live a life of hardship and misery in this world and will find the way to progress blocked in the next world. For the means of nourishment, they will depend upon the other nations. The World and the Hereafter All this gives rise to one important question: "If the people of the above mentioned group 3 claim that they believe in God, Revelation, and the Hereafter, will their future life be a success?" Its answer is evident. The meanings of belief in God, Revelation, Hereafter, or Permanent Values etc. are 'conquering the forces of nature and then utilizing them for the benefit of mankind in accordance with Permanent Values as revealed by Allah, and thereby developing one's own self.' If any nation remains deprived of the forces of nature, how can it utilize these forces? The question of making use of these forces does not arise. Therefore its belief in God, Revelation, Hereafter, or Permanent Values etc. is just verbal, which does never translate into actions. How will this belief bring its results? The notion of 'simply believing verbally and doing nothing accordingly' is the idea of mysticism, -that mysticism, which is merely the creation of the human mind. This idea keeps the man in deception. And the deception is that 'the destruction and misery of this world has nothing to do with the life hereafter. On the contrary, the more a person lives a miserable life in this world, the more prosperous and lucky he will be in the Hereafter'. The teachings of the Quran oppose it openly. The Quran says the nation not well off in getting the means of nourishment of life in this world, will never find its future prosperous. It, in Surah Taahaa, Verse 124, openly says: Whosoever does not follow Our Laws, his economic condition becomes miserable. This is the miserable condition in this world. And for the life hereafter, the Quran in Surah Taahaa, Verse 124 holds: And We shall bring him blind on the Day of judgement. Its cause is self-explanatory: The Laws of Nature are Allah's prescribed Laws. The result of either moving against these laws or moving away from these laws is destruction and misery. A major portion of the Quran emphasizes the importance of these laws. If we refuse this portion of the Quran, the verbal belief on the second portion can be of no use for us. In the words of the Quran in Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 85, it is like this: Do you want to accept one part of Allah's code of laws and deny another? If you intend to act like this, then remember (The Quran, Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 85): Whosoever does it, its result would be nothing but suffering of failure and disgrace in this world and commitment to the most grievous suffering in the Hereafter. You have seen that the result of 'denying one part of the Divine Laws and believing in the second' is not only the ignominy and disgrace in this world, but also destruction and misery of the Hereafter. It is because (as has been described above) the belief in the second part (Permanent Values) means that these Values are enforced, acted upon practically in the society of the human world. The laws and the principles of the Quran are for transforming the life of this world in tone and tenor of Divine Revelation, which is in the Quran only. It also includes "Salat", which is for making this reality afresh in the heart that 'we will obey the Divine Laws in every walk of our life; we'll follow His Laws'. Therefore 'thinking that this life is worthless and we are obeying the Divine Laws' is a self-deception. It may always be remembered that whosoever does not enjoy the pleasant things of this world, or he does not try to achieve them, he does not follow the Laws of Allah. That is why he cannot get the pleasant things of this world. It is for this purpose that we have a beautiful proportional thinking in the Quran. It is in the form of supplication. The Quran in Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 201 mentions it for the right way of life of the Momin. Our Nourisher! Give us in the world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good. This supplication of the Momin makes it clear that these people yearn not only for the bliss in this world but also to be protected from disaster in the Hereafter. This is the right way of living of the Momin. If the way of living does not conform to it, it is not Islam; it is something else. It is because the result of conviction translated into action is prestige and honour. It is governance and dignity in this world. That is why the Quran in Surah Al-Noor, Verse 55 says: Allah has promised such of you as believe and do good that He will surely make them to succeed in the earth even as He caused those, who were before them to succeed. This verse of the Quran makes it very clear that Allah's firm promise is that 'the one whose world is bad, and does not try to remove this badness, has the Hereafter also wrecked and miserable.' Purpose of Deen Deen came to streamline the worldly matters. Streamlining of these matters makes one's Hereafter streamlined. If the worldly matters of any nation are not set right, and it does not try to set the chaotic matters of the humanity right, then understand it well that the Hereafter of this nation is not streamlined. Deen establishes a society, which creates beauty in human life. The history of mankind makes tragic reading. Down through the ages, a series of sequences of the rise, growth, decline, and hunter and the hunted will be visible. You will see every individual and every nation trying to disgrace every other individual and nation. You will find numerous mechanisms used for this purpose: traps of many kinds -some projecting the same illusions, some in the garb of sacredness. You will see the mighty sucking the lifeblood of the weak. You'll also see that every shrewd is befooling others to live in luxury on their hard earned livings. There are many types of these 'hunters'. You know it well. But principally there are three main categories: autocratic governance, false religious priesthood, and blood sucking system of capitalism. Deen uproots these three curses, and establishes a system, where no one is subordinate to any one else, where no one stands in need of any one else. It establishes a society where every one grows to be what he has the possibility to be. Wrong society ruins tens of thousands of the 'talented blooms of the mankind' ill-blossomed and ill-developed. But it is the Deen that establishes a society, which pays to develop the latent faculties of the individual. Just imagine what a great revolution Deen promotes in the mankind! It first of all establishes a society in a piece of land on this globe and then it goes on expanding its frontiers till it encompasses the entire mankind. It is because it has to finish exploitation and cruelty from the surface of the earth and has to establish the system of justice and the system of making up the deficiency in its stead. In this way it wants to inculcate universal brotherhood in the entire humanity. This is what Deen wants to achieve. Elaborating this concept, Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, a poet, a philosopher, and a world-renowned proponent of the Quran wrote to Maulana Hussain Ahmed Madani, a religious scholar in India: The purpose of Mohammad's Nabuwwat is to establish the mankind in a comprehensive concrete form on the basis of Divine Law that Mohammad's Nabuwwat brought from Allah. In other words it can be said that in lieu of accepting various differing tribes, races, clans, creeds and colours, the humans be made free of all such impurities, which get their names from time, space, nation, race, genealogy, country etc. And in this way this 'model of clay' -the man -be given the Divine Ideology that keeps him eternal irrespective of time, place and circumstances. This is the status of Mohammad (pbuh) and hence the aim of the Muslim World to be accomplished ultimately.

continued...to part-4

About the Author
Allama Chaudhry Ghulam Ahmad Parvez, one of the greatest Islamic scholars. Founder of Tolu-e-islam movement. Details available at www.parvez-video.com