Faith and Humanism – The road to salvation
Islam demands belief and submission to God who is absolutely, uncompromisingly and unconditionally Unique and One. But reason is as important as the Revelation in the path of God. The very first revelation of the Quran (crystallization of all ancient scriptures) invokes the name of God who ‘taught by the pen, taught humankind what it did not know’ (96:4,5). Pursuit of knowledge is obligatory to all’ (h*). When a man acquires knowledge, he
tends to be more rational and his mind becomes liberated. Our intellectual growth depends on how much we learn from an analysis of our experiences. This process necessitates the submission of our encounters with the outside world to the judgement of reason. Islam appreciates the outcome of this rational scrutiny. It does not demand blind faith. To be valid, faith should be based upon sound convictions. But it is an indisputable fact that a man entering into the realm of Islam would find the arguments put forth by the Quran too convincing to be disputed and that his qualified pessimism would turn out to be an unqualified submission to God in the end!
But faith alone will not suffice. ‘And whose religion is better than that of he who orients his face towards God and does the good?’(4:125), asks the Quran. Faith should have a humanistic manifestation. The religion of a man who is doing good is the best religion. Therein lies the universality of Islam. Being a Muslim, I understand, is not linked with parentage. I too could be considered a Muslim in so far as I believe in One God and do good to others. Conversely, anybody being or willing to be so need not bear the stamp of Islam in his name. Guru Gobind Singh believed in One God. gave the message fof ‘manas ki jaat eka pahchambo’ (all men are the same ) and championed the cause of ‘sarbat da bhala’ (welfare of all). Names are thus mere identities. Allah Himself is not very much concerned with them, because to Him belong the ‘most excellent names’ (asma al husna), (7:180). In fact, Islam defines righteousness in term so humanism. Thus the Quran reads:
‘It is not righteousness that you turn your faces (in Prayer) towards East or West:but they are righteous who believe in God and the Last Day and the Angel and the Book and the Messengers; and who donate goods and money for love of God, to relatives and orphans, and the poor and the wayfarer, and to the needy, and for emancipating slaves; and who are constant in prayer and give alms for welfare, and those who fulfill their promises when they make them and who are patient in suffering, adversity, and hard times. They are the truthful ones , and they are the conscientious’. (2:177)
The Straight path
The six articles of Islamic faith are (1) Unity of God, (2) The Angels, (3) the Prophets, (4) the Scriptures, (5) the Day of Judgment and (6) Divine Decree. Belief in each of these forms part of faith. To enable men to realize His Will, God has ‘sent to mankind messengers proclaiming the truth and warnings’(4:165). God has given a revealed Book (Scripture) to every age and ‘every nation will be judged according to its own record on the Day of Judgment’(45:28).
Belief in the scriptures is an article of faith in Islam. Regarding Scriptures, some of them are mentioned by name in the Quran, but not all of them. Therefore with regard to other existing religious Books, Muslims are not in a position to say with certainty whether they were originally revealed Scriptures or not. However, they do not deny them to be divine Books. They tacitly believe that whatever Books had been sent down by God were all true. They should accept the scriptures ‘that have been revealed in earlier times’ (4:136). Some of the ancient scriptures were divinely inspired and revealed through earlier Prophets and Muslims should ‘make no distinction between them’ (2:136) Muslims are to positively believe in those of the Prophets whose names have been mentioned in the Quran. Regarding the rest they are instructed to believe that all Prophets sent by God for guidance of mankind was true. The doctrine preached by all the prophets is essentially one and the same, although in matters of detail there has been a gradual evolution in their messages toward the final and perfect revelation.
The Quran containing 114 surahs, is the Word of God, written in the purest Arabic with its every surah, every verse, every word, every syllable and every letter deriving inspiration from God. A “Book…. Confirming the already given revelations’ (2:2,97). The Quran, in the words of Thoms Cleary, ‘speaks to humanity as a whole, to nations, communities, families and individuals, complete with both an outer teaching and an inner teaching, it speaks both to persons and to souls, individually and collectively’. And the hadiths, the traditions of the Prophet, form a categorical imperative for universal welfare.
The Quran delivers its message in simple rhapsodic style with full of poetic beauty and visionary zeal. It envisages a moderate and tolerant society. It warns against extremes. ‘We have you a middle (intermediate, balanced, moderate)people’. A proper balance between ardour and apathy, between sentimentally and insensitivity, between unlimited pleasure and renunciation, between unqualified spiritualism and exclusive materialism, and between blind orthodoxy and ultra liberalism is the ‘Right Path’ (sirat al-mustakim) recommended by the Quran, Fathiha, the first chapter of the Quran reads:
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Praise be to God, Lord of the Merciful;
You alone we worship;
You alone we implore for help.
Guide us unto the straight path, the path of those whom You have blessed, those who have not incurred Your displeasure, those who have not gone astray. (1:1-7)
It is interesting to note that this Path is not much different from the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism that encourages a moral, middle –way and well-ordered life!
‘In the messenger of God’, declares the Quran, ‘you have an excellent example’, ( uswatan hasana) (32:21)Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) is a role model. It was through him that the Quran was revealed. As mentioned before, although ‘there is no nation to whom a warner hasn’t been sent’ (35:24), there might be some messengers ‘not mentioned’ (4:164) and Muslim should not deny the existence of other Prophets not mentioned in the Quran. A Muslim begins and ends his life with the unexceptionable declaration of fatih – shahada : La ilaha illa Allah Muhammadu Rasool Allah- There is no God but Allah;
and Muhammad is His messenger’. This forms the essence of Islamic creed (kalima) and is one of the five Pillars of Islam.
When Mohammed (PBUH) received the first revelation, he was forty. He used to go to a mountain near Mecca for meditation. Though the experience (of revelation) baffled him at first, he later realized its significance and began his prophetic mission. His preaching based on faith, compassion, charity and morality was the very antithesis of the dominant Quraish patriarchs who abused Muhammed and his followers. Though he fled to Medina in 622 A.D., he later emerged triumphant over his opponents and came back victoriously to Mecca to refine Meccan society as a reformist leader. compassionate and courageous, tolerant and forthright he brought about the spiritual transformation of the Arabian society within a short span of about 23 years.
Heroes, going by dictionary definition, are those endowed with extraordinary abilities, strength and courage. Muhammad was a hero extraordinairy totally devoted to his mission. No other words could explain his commitment than the following: “Should they array against me the sun on my right hand, and the moon on my left, yet while Allah should command me, I would not renounce my purpose”. For Muslims, muhammadanism is an ideal worth imitating, the scripture (Quran) a guide worth following and together they lead the faithful in the Straight Path.
