All Praise is for Allah. We adore Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We have Faith and Trust in Him. We seek Allah’s refuge against evil tendencies of our Soul and our bad deeds.
He whom Allah guides no one can lead him astray. And he whom Allah lets go astray there is none to guide him. We bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, the One and without any Partner; and we also bear witness that Muhammad (SAW) is His servant and Messenger. Allah had sent him with Truth, to give good tidings and to warn before the Doomsday. Whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will be successful and well guided.
And whosoever disobeys either of them has gone astray. Such a person harms none save himself; he does no harm to Allah. The best Word is the Book of Allah. And the best Guidance is that given by Muhammad (SAW).
Good things are the firm (original) ones, and Bad things are those introduced later on. And everything introduced later (in religion) is innovation. And every innovation is Hell fire.
We all knew or have heard that Islam means Obedience to Allah. And it is common sense that this obedience cannot be complete unless man knows certain basics facts of life and places firm faith in them.
What are those facts? And what are the essentials which a man must know to fashion his life in accordance with the divine way? This Insha Allah we propose to discuss this week and the coming weeks because it will be in series.
This week we shall discuss Faith in the Unknown and Obedience and next series will focus on the Articles of Faith. To understand this week and the next topic, we implore you to read more from books on prophethood.
Perhaps one should have gotten an unshakable belief in the Existence of Allah; it is not a problem but reality because without this, obedience to Allah is clearly impossible.
Then, one must know the attributes of Allah, it is the knowledge of the attributes of Allah which enables man to cultivate the noblest human qualities and to fashion his life in virtue and Godliness. If a man does not know there is One and only One God who is the creator, the Ruler and Sustainer of the Universe and there is none else to share with HIM even a shred of Divine power and Authority, he may fall prey to false deities and offer his homage to them in search of favours.
But if a man knows the Divine attribute of Tawhid (Oneness of Allah), there is no possibility that such person will be misled. Similarly, if a man knows that Allah is Omnipresent and Omniscient and Sees, Hears and knows everything that we do in public or private; including our expressed thoughts.
I wonder then how can a man afford to disobey Allah? Because he will feel the he is under eternal vigil and will of Allah, therefore behave accordingly. But those who never ponder over this or not aware of these attributes of Allah may be led astray because of their ignorance into disobedience and it is the same with all other attributes of Allah.
Allah says: “Oh you who have believe, respond to Allah (by obeying Him) and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. And know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that to Him you will be gathered.” Q8:24.
The fact remains that the qualities and attributes of which a man must possess, if he wants to pursue the way of Islam, can be cultivated and developed only out of profound knowledge of the attributes of Allah. Mere knowledge is not enough here but must have full confidence and conviction that it is the Divine law and that his salvation lies in following this code alone. For knowledge without this conviction will fail to spur man to the right path and he may be lost in the blind alley of disobedience.
Finally man must know the consequences of both of belief and obedience and of the disbelief and disobedience. He must know what blessings will be showered upon him if he chooses Allah’s way and leads a life of purity, virtue and obedience. And he must also know the punishment of disbelief.
From these we could describe Iman (faith) as “Knowledge and Belief” the word Iman in Arabic literally means ‘to know’ ‘to believe’ and ‘to be convinced beyond the least shadow of doubt’.
Then we say Iman (faith) is the firm belief arising out of knowledge and conviction. And the man who knows and reposes unshakable belief in the unity of Allah, in His attributes, in His laws and the revealed guidance, and in the Divine code of reward and punishment is called Mu’min (faithful). This faith invariably leads man to a life of obedience and submission to the Will of Allah and one who lives this life of submission is known as Muslim. It is now clear that without Iman (faith) no one can be a true Muslim.
It is the indispensable essential; rather, the very starting point, without which no beginning can be made. The relation of Islam to Iman is the same as of a tree to its seed. A tree cannot sprout forth without its seed; in the same way it is not possible for a man who has no belief to start with, to become a Muslim. On the other hand, just as it can happen that, in spite of sowing the seed, the tree may, for many reasons, not grow, or if it does grow, its development may be impaired or retarded, likened to that, a man may have faith, but due to a number of weakness, he may not become a true and better Muslim.
One of our Shaykh told us that there are four categories of Men from the viewpoint of Islam:
1. Those who have faith, a faith that makes them submit to Allah wholeheartedly. They follow the Do's and Don’ts of Allah in order to seek His pleasure and in their devotion they are even more fervent than the common man in pursuit of wealth and glory. Such men are the True Muslims.
2. Those who do have faith believe in Allah, His Laws and the last Day, but whose faith is not deep and strong enough to make them submit to Allah wholeheartedly. They are far below in rank of true Muslims, and will be punish for their defaults and misdeeds but still they are Muslims. They are only wrong doers and not a Kafir nor rebels because they acknowledge the sovereignty of Allah, violating the laws does not make them a Kafir. For example men who commit fornication are wrong doers violating the Don’ts of Allah but not a Kafir.
3. Those who do not possess faith at all, these people refuse to acknowledge the sovereignty of Allah. Perhaps they have good conducts or possess good human behaviour, they do not spread fitnah or make any violence yet they are doomed because they revolt against the sovereignty of Allah. They are known to be outlaws and Allah can not compensate them for their disobedience and will be punish with Hell fire.
Allah says: “Indeed, those who disbelieve in our verses, we will drive them into a Fire. Every time their skins are roasted through, we will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted in Might and Wise”.Q4:56
4. The fourth categories are those who neither possess faith nor do good deeds. They spread fasad (corruption), disorder in the world and perpetrate all kinds of oppression. They are worst of men; for they are criminals, rebels and wrong doers.
“Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly gone far astray. They call upon instead of Him none but female [deities], and they [actually] call upon none but a rebellious Satan”. Q4:116-117
Well you will agree with me that it is an everyday experience that when you do not know a thing, you look for somebody who does know. If you are sick you go to a Doctor because you know nothing about your sickness and you do follow his instruction without questioning him. Why? Because you know he is given you an expert medical advise and knowing the fact that he has treated and cured numbers of patients. Similarly, in matters of Law you accept whatever a legal expert says and act accordingly.
In educational matters you trust in your Teacher for whatever he says in class. Also when you do not know places then you ask those who know and when you need advice you make every effort to select the best person and you do accept the advice unquestioningly. This kind of belief is called Iman-bi-l-ghayb (faith in the Unknown).
Iman-bi-l-ghayb signifies that you get knowledge of what was not known to you from one who knows. You do not know Allah and His attributes, you are not aware that His Angels are directing the machinery of the whole universe according to Allah’s orders, and that they surrounded you in all sides. You do not have the proper knowledge of the way of life through which you can seek the pleasure of your Creator. And you are in dark about the life to come; such knowledge is given to you by the prophets, who have had direct or indirect contact with Allah.
“Those messengers, some of them We caused to exceed others. Among them were those to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them in degree. And We gave Jesus, the Son of Mary, clear proofs, and We supported him with the Pure Spirit…..” Q2:253
They are the persons whose sincerity, integrity, trustworthiness, godliness and absolute purity stand irrevocable witnesses to the truth of their claim to knowledge. And above all, the wisdom and force of their message make you admit that they speak the truth and deserve to be believed and followed.
This conviction of yours is called Iman-bi-l ghayb. Such a truth discerning and truth acknowledging attitude is essential for obedience to Allah and for acting in accordance with His pleasure; for you have no other medium than Allah’s Messengers and prophets for the achievement of true , and without true knowledge you cannot proceed on the path of Islam.
Insha Allah our next series discussion will be the Articles of Faith, to have the Iman-bi-l-ghayb what do we need.
I ask for Allah forgiveness upon you and me, May He gives us the strength to be firm on the path of Islam.
Oh Allah! We implore your extended mercy that will forgive our sins and erase our misdeeds and errors. Oh Allah Forgive all our sins hidden and open, big and small. Oh Allah forgives all our dead love ones, our parents living and dead. Oh Allah preserve our teachers those that are dead and those that are living make them a great guide for us to Aljannah and not a distractor. Amin
Alahumma infa`ni bima `allamtani wa `allamni ma yanfa`uni!
OH ALLAH! Make useful for me what You taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me!
May Allah continue to Guide and Guard us aright.May Allah bless us to serve him in all aspects of our lives. Amin
“Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded". (6:90)
Wa Salaam Alaikum Waramotullahi Wabarakatuhu.
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