What Islam Stands For -- Part Two

We come now to our second most important belief - belief in Muhammad’s prophethood. God conveyed His message to man through Muhammad. This took forms - the Qur’an which God revealed to the Prophet in his own language, and the Sunnah of the Prophet which is an unerring guide to man in respect of all that is permissible and all that is prohibited in the eyes of God. Without this belief in the Prophet, belief in God (Allah) would become a mere theoretical proposition. It is the example of practical leadership, and the ideological guidance provided by the Prophet, which transforms belief in God into a culture and a civilization, and enables man to evolve a way of life. Through the Prophet we get not only rules of guidance, but a complete scheme of values and a practical code of conduct. No one can be a practising Muslim unless be believes in the Prophet as he believes in God. The position of the Prophet has been so clearly defined in Islam that we know exactly what he was and what he was not. The Prophet is no more than a servant of God. He was to make people servants of God and not servants of himself. At least seventeen times a day Muslims recite in their prayers: “I bear witness that Muhammad is a servant of God and is his Prophet”. The Qur’an leaves no doubt that the Prophet is but a human being and has no share whatever in Divinity. The Prophet is neither super-human nor is he free of human weakness. He owns no treasure of God, nor does he possess knowledge of the unknown that he should become all-knowing, like God Almighty. The Prophet can no more harm or benefit others than himself.
The precise task of the Prophet is to communicate the message of God. He has no powers to make people righteous and faithful; he cannot call to account those who refuse to believe; nor has he power to punish them for their disbelief. Should the Prophet himself choose to defy God, or fabricate things on behalf of God, or make any change in the message revealed to him, he will incur divine displeasure and punishment. Muhammad is one of the prophets of God, and above that he has no status. He cannot by himself prohibit or permit anything. Without a mandate from God, he cannot legislate for the people. He has to conform strictly to Divine commandments. Islam ensured that the believers should not turn the Prophet into a demi-god. Some of the earlier prophets suffered this fate at the hands of their followers who attributed all kinds of supernatural powers to their leaders and made them into God’s equals or progeny of incarnation. By discouraging such exaggeration Islam has established the true role of the prophet in relation to God and man.
No one can claim to be a believer without believing in the Prophet. He who disobeys the Prophet, in fact, obeys God. God has not designated any prophet except to be obeyed according to His will. The path of the Prophet is the path of divine guidance. Whatever the Prophet ordains must be accepted, and whatever he instructs to avoid, must be avoided. The Prophet clarified this when he said:
“I am a mortal like you. In matters revealed to me by God, you must obey my instructions. But you know more about your own worldly affairs than I do. So my advice in these matters is not binding..”
The Sunnah of Muhammad is an exposition of the purpose of the Qur’an, and this exposition too was conveyed to the Prophet by God Himself, as the Author of the Qur’an. The Prophet’s explanation of the Qur’an enjoys divine sanction, and no one else can interpret the Qur’an in a way which may be in conflict with, or repugnant to, the explanation given by the Prophet. God declared the life Muhammad as a model life. No one can be a true believer unless he accepts the decision of the Prophet. Muslims do not have an independent position in a matter determined by the Prophet. Before deciding any matter Muslims must first ascertain whether any analogous matter was decided earlier by God and his Prophet, and if a precedent exists they must follow it. God conveyed, through the Prophet to mankind, not only a supreme law but also a permanent scheme of values. Those values are absolute. That which is good, according to the Qur’an and the Sunnah, shall always be a duty. What is declared permissible is permissible for ever; what is prohibited is prohibited for all times. No amendment, deletion, addition, or abrogation, is possible in this law unless some person or community decides to renounce Islam. So long as Muslims remain Muslims, it is impossible in their social and legal system that something which was evil yesterday should turn into good today, and revert to evil tomorrow.
The third fundamental creed of Islam is belief in the hereafter - Akhirah. Denial of the hereafter is the denial of Islam even though one may have belief in God, in the Prophet, and in the Qur’an. In its detailed form, this belief is composed of the following essential elements. Man has not been unleashed on the earth as an irresponsible savage. He is accountable to God for his actions. Today’s life is only a test and an examination. At the end we will all be called upon to render a complete account of out acts of commission an omission to God. The time for accountability is fixed by God. The tenure allotted to mankind on this earth shall terminate on doomsday, when the present order will be annihilated and replaced by another. The whole human race will rise once again in the new world. Then they will appear before God Almighty, and every individual will face the consequences of his personal acts. Judgment will rest not on God’s own knowledge alone. The requirements of due process of justice will be fully observed. A complete record of the actions of every individual, without the slightest alteration, will be put in open court, and evidence of different categories will be presented to prove what was done by man in private or in public.

His motives too will be examined. There will be no undue intercession. Neither bribery, nor advocacy against the truth will be tolerated. No one will be able to shift his burden to another. Even the closest relations, friends, leaders, religious guides, or self-styled deities, will not be able to offer any help to anyone. Man will stand by himself - helpless and alone - to render his account, and await the pronouncement of judgment, which shall be in the power of God alone. Judgment will rest on one question: did man conduct himself, in submission to God, in strict conformity with the truth revealed to the prophets, and with the conviction that he would be held responsible for his conduct in life on the day of judgment? If the answer is in the affirmative, the reward will be paradise; if in the negative, the punishment will be hell.
Belief in the hereafter divides people into three distinct categories. First, there are those who do not believe in the hereafter and regard life on this earth as the only life. They judge good and evil by the results which manifest themselves in this world. If it produces beneficial results it is good; if it brings about harmful results it is evil. The end justifies the means and the same action can be quite differently regarded. Second, those people who do not deny the hereafter, but who depend on the intercession or atonement of someone to absolve them of their sins. Among these, there are some who regard themselves as God’s chosen people, and believe they will receive only nominal punishment, however grave their sins. This deprives them of the moral advantage which they could derive from their belief in the hereafter. As a result their position is very like that of those who deny the hereafter. Third, are those people who believe in the hereafter in the form in which Islam presents it. They do not delude themselves that they have any special relationship with God, or that anyone can intercede on their behalf. They know that they alone are responsible for their actions. For them they belief in the hereafter becomes a powerful moral constraint. A person who has the conviction that he is fully accountable for all his actions finds a permanent guard stationed within himself, who cautions him and admonishes him whenever he deviates from the right path. There may be no court to summon him, no policeman to apprehend him, no witnesses to accuse him, no public opinion to press him, but the guard within him is ever on the alert, ready to seize him whenever he transgresses. The consciousness of this inner presence makes man fear God even when he is alone. He discharges his duties honestly, and refrains from doing anything which is prohibited. Should he succumb to temptation and violate the law of God, he is ever ready to offer sincere regrets, and to enter into a firm contract with the future that he will not repeat the mistake. There can be no greater instrument of moral reformation, nor any better method to help man to develop a sound and stable character. It is the belief in the hereafter which helps man, under all circumstances, to conform to God’s scheme of permanent values. It is for this reason that Islam attaches great importance to belief in the hereafter. Without it even belief in God and the Prophet is not sufficient for man’s guidance.
Earlier, we noted that Islam represents a whole civilization, a complete culture, and a comprehensive world order. It provides moral guidance in all walks of life. This is why Islamic values are not solely for the ascetic who renounces the world, but for him who actively participates in different spheres of life, and works within them. The moral values which people look for in convents, monasteries, and cloisters, are placed by Islam right in the mainstream of life. Heads of governments, governors of states, judges, members of the armed forces and police services, elected representatives of the people in parliaments, leaders of finance, trade and industry, college and university teachers, and students alike receive guidance to organize their lives in accordance with the principles of Islam. There is no distinction in Islam between private and public conduct. The same moral code which one observes at home, applies to one’s conduct in public. This is true of every institution of society and every department of Government; all must conform to the laws of Islam. Politics must be based on truth and justice. Nations should deal with one another on the basis of mutual recognition of rights and due discharge of obligations. Even if there has to be war, those engaged in it should conduct themselves not as barbarians, but as civilized human beings. When man decides to submit to the will of God, and accepts His law as the supreme law, and organizes his life in accordance with the revealed moral code on the principle of accountability to God, the quality and character of his life cannot be limited to the precincts of church, chapel, masjid or temple. It must extend itself to every sphere of his work as a man of God: there is complete integrity in the life of Islam.
Briefly, this is what Islam stands for. This is no dream or Utopia. The Prophet of Islam and his Companions developed and established a complete model of Islam on this earth for mankind to follow.
From,
Your humble Servant in Islam, (Ahlus Sunnat ul Jamaat),
Mr. Abdurasheed Popo, CEO.