The reality or the essence of faith is discovery of God. When a person becomes aware of God’s existence and apprehends divine realities that is true faith.

Such a discovery is no simple matter. God is the Creator and Lord of all things; He is the One who awards punishment and no one can escape His grasp. The discovery of such a God has a profound effect upon the whole life of the individual. His thinking is revolutionized to the extent that God becomes the centre of all his emotions.

As a consequence, the believer surrenders his being to God. God becomes the centre of all his attention. Now he becomes a person whose life and death are for God alone.

The result of such a faith is that a person’s behaviour throughout his life becomes dyed in the hue of God. When he speaks, he is conscious that God is hearing him and when he walks, he takes care that his way of walking is not of one who struts arrogantly. When he deals with people, he is fearful lest he do anything unjust such as would incur God’s punishment.

As a result of his faith, a person’s entire life becomes oriented towards the Hereafter. In all matters, his eyes are on the Hereafter. In this world, instead of temporary gains, he makes the gains of the Hereafter the centre of his attention. When there are two sides to any matter—the worldly side and the otherworldly side, he ignores the consideration of this world and chooses what would be of value in the life Hereafter.

For him his faith becomes a source of limitless trust in God. At all times and in all events, he puts his trust in God. Faith in essence is to have recognized the Lord, and then make Him a part and parcel of a person’s heart and mind. Then his whole personality, due to the realization of the Lord of the infinite Universe, is transformed into a humble personality. He becomes a new human being.

Source: The Spirit of Islam

In this, the mainspring is the concept of accountability. Islam brings man to the realization that God Almighty is omnipresent and omniscient so that he has the feeling that for all his words and deeds—even intentions, he is accountable before Him. And after death he will have to face the divine court of justice, where the whole record of his life will be examined. And then, according to its verdict, he will be sent either to eternal hell or eternal Heaven. This feeling surging within him is so powerful that it shakes the entire human personality. ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam, admonishes people with these words:

“Reckon yourself before being reckoned with. Weigh yourself before being weighed. And prepare yourself for the Great Appearance on Doomsday.” (Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2459)

The consciousness of the presence of God activates all of the brain cells of the individual. Therefore, by his own inner compulsion, the believer becomes a man of character and a staunch believer. For him, it becomes impossible to be immoral or unjust or dishonest in his conduct to his fellow men.

Source: The Man Islam Builds

One of the lessons the Prophet taught was that we should live among others like flowers, and not like thorns, without giving trouble to anybody. Another of the saying of the Prophet is noteworthy:

“If a believer is not able to benefit others, he must at least do them no harm.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 21331)

According to Islam, the person who becomes useful to others leads his life on a higher plane. But if he fails to do so, he should at least create no trouble for his fellow men. For a man to be a really faithful servant of God, he must live either as a giver or as a no-problem person. There is no third option.

Source: Spirit of Islam November 2018

The humanity of a person and the first criterion of his religiosity and spirituality are tested by the way he behaves towards his neighbours. A teaching of the Prophet has been worded thus:

“By God, he is not a believer, by God, he is not a believer, by God, he is not a believer, with whom his neighbours are not secure.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 46)

The relationship with a neighbour serves as a test of whether a person has human feelings or not, and whether he is sensitive to Islamic teachings or not. If a person’s neighbours are happy with him that is proof of his being a good man, but if his neighbours are unhappy with him that is proof that his behaviour leaves much to be desired.

Today we are living in an electronic age. With the click of a button, we can get in touch with people across the world, see them and hold discussions with them. In this light, we can say that the concept of neighbourhood has been revolutionized in the modern age—people around the globe are now our e-neighbours. Hence the rights that are due to our immediate neighbours, now extend over to our e-neighbours as well. The same concern and desire to aid others living in different parts of the world should well up inside of us when we observe that people are in need of support and sympathy.

This means one of the characteristics of a believer is that he should have love and care for all human beings.

Source: Spirit of Islam November 2018