Islam means submission. The religion of Islam is so named because it is based on obedience to God. A true believer in Islam is one who subordinates his thinking to God, who follows God’s dictates in all aspects of his life.
Islam is the religion of the entire universe. For the entire universe and all its parts are functioning in accordance with the law laid down by God.
Such behaviour is also desired of man. Man should also lead his life as God’s obedient servant just as the rest of the universe is fully subservient to God. The only difference is that the universe has submitted to God compulsorily, while man is required to submit to the will of God by his own choice.
When man adopts Islam, first of all it is his thinking, which comes under Islam, then his desires, his feelings, his interests, his relations, his loves and his hatred. All are coloured by his obedience to God’s will.
Source: The Spirit of Islam
What is spirituality? God has demonstrated it eternally in the form of the rose bush. The rose bush has thorns as well as flowers. Amidst sharp thorns God grows flowers on its branches which have beautifully shaped petals and which spread their fragrance all around.
This is an example of spirituality set by nature. Spirituality is the name of living like a flower amidst thorns. Spirituality is what prevents a person from embroiling himself in thorns. He is not provoked when goaded. Unpleasant experiences do not disturb his calm and composure. The unpleasant behaviour of others does not arouse in him feelings of anger and revenge. He lives according to his own principles. His intellectual level rises so high and is so sublime that a stone thrown at him does not reach him. In the Quran, spirituality is described as leading a God-oriented life (rabbaniyat). Those who lead God-oriented lives, do not become influenced by the people around them. The thinking of those who can rise above their mundane environment and live at a godly level, becomes independent of what people say about them. That is, they are not influenced by idle chatter. They find such great things in the state of spirituality that everything else pales into insignificance.
The spiritual person is so empowered that he can even smile at abuses hurled at him. He is able to forgive one who makes him angry, and can forget that person’s words and deeds. He is able to welcome the thorns which accompany the flowers.
The spiritual person finds such great things in his own spirituality (rabbaniyat) that he is not driven by desire. His spirituality banishes feelings of jealousy and selfishness, and he never feels exploited. His own spirituality is so fulfilling that he seeks nothing beyond that. When such spiritual people come together, they present a society which shines like the sun and blooms like the flowers in a garden.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
Man is an intellectual being. Being endowed with a mind – his greatest faculty – which is what differentiates him from inanimate things, plants and animals; true spirituality has to be able to address his mind. So, spirituality has to be based on contemplation or reflection or pondering – tafakkur and tadabbur as mentioned in the Quran – which has all to do with intellectual activity. Any kinds of spirituality attained at a level lesser than that of our minds is a reduced form of spirituality.
The existence of man is such a unique phenomenon that no other such example can be found throughout the vastness of the cosmos. Man is rightly called the ‘best of all creations’, which means the best and most meaningful ‘being’ among all the things created. Such a ‘meaningful being’ cannot have been created without a purpose.
We can say that the journey of spirituality begins with man’s urge to discover his purpose. Such spirituality is produced when man gives serious thought to questions pertaining to the ideology of life, such as, ‘Who am I?’, What is the purpose of my life?, What is this world around me?, Is my life governed by destiny or free will?, Why do I undergo negative experiences?, etc. In finding rational answers to his questions, a seeker receives spirituality at the mind or thinking level by obtaining a reason-based understanding of the plan that God has created man within.
The fact of the matter is that God – the Creator of man, has created man according to His plan. To become acquainted with this plan is necessary for a man to have a thorough understanding of himself – just as the workings of a machine can only be understood when we study the drawings of the engineer who made it. Besides the mind of the engineer, there is no other thing that can clarify what the machine is meant for. The case of man is the same.
The Creator of man has, therefore, created him according to a special Plan. His intention being that man must spend a period of trial in this present, imperfect world and subsequent to this, according to his deeds, he will earn the right to inhabit the perfect and eternal world, another name for which is Paradise.
The Creator of the world has created this world, as one half of a pair — the present limited world, in which we pass our lives after birth, is the first half; and the next eternal world where we live after death is the other half. The Creator of man has thus created him as an eternal creature and has divided his life into two stages — the pre-death period or the limited life in this world and the post death period or the eternal life after death. The limited period before death is meant to be a test for man, while the eternal period after his death will be the period for his reward or punishment, based on his performance in the test in this life. For the purpose of the test, God has given man freedom to do as he likes, as if there was no ‘free will’, the situation for the test could not have prevailed. God is getting all of man’s thoughts, speech and action recorded; and based on this record, which will be opened on the Day of Judgment; he will earn the right to either inhabit the perfect and eternal world, another name for which is Paradise or the eternal world of Hell. This is the scheme of existence for this world as devised by its Creator. The real aim of creation is to select those who are fit to inhabit the world of Paradise.
Those men and women who qualify in this test will be given a place in Paradise – where all their desires will be fulfilled. For those who fail in this test, they shall spend their lives in a state of eternal deprivation.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
I believe that the individual, to regain his spiritual character, has, therefore, to de-condition himself through a superior intellectual process. And it is spirituality, which makes it possible to de-condition the individual by training him in the Art of Deconditioning, so that he may revert to the natural state in which he was born. For this to happen, he has to re-engineer his mind. In this way, spirituality trains one to become positive. Man thus becomes disciplined and does not allow his personality to develop under the influence of external incentives. He, by his own decisions, constructs his personality on the basis of higher principles. Only then does he develop a divine character. He shakes and jolts and remoulds his personality to abide by the plan of the Creator. He thus turns himself into the kind of person who is shaped not by society, but by spirituality and thus lives a God-oriented life.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
Spirituality, in fact, is a mental condition, which teaches man the Art of Conversion or to convert everyday material events into spiritual experience, negative experiences into positive ones, non-spiritual matters into spiritual matters. Although such conversion takes place in the spiritual rather than in the physical sense, the principle by which this conversion operates governs the entire material world.
I believe that everyone may be born spiritual, that is, one may be spiritual by nature, but, after birth, one lives in a society, which, with its multiple influences conditions or shape man’s personality or nurture one based on negative feelings – just like the layers of the onion that cover its bulb. These negative feelings can be of anger, revenge, jealousy, hatred and rivalry.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
God-oriented spirituality is called Rabbaniat in the Quran. It involves focussing the mind on higher, non-material realities. Materialism is the opposite, indeed, the anathema of spirituality. For attaining spiritual states one has to rise above material things, and focus his attention on non-material things. Those who succeed in this are the spiritual or godly servants of God. As the Quran says: “Be godly servants of God.” (3:79).
The truly spiritual person does not enjoy material comforts and luxuries. He feels no desire to acquire them. They have no attraction for him. For he is engrossed in the higher realities of spiritual life. This spiritual experience that comes to him from reflecting upon the signs of God is far superior to what one experiences in leading a worldly life. The greatest source of pleasure for him is the remembrance of God. It is this reality, which finds expression in this verse of the Quran:
“It is only in the remembrance of God that hearts are comforted.” (13:28)
Here comfort means peace of mind that stems from God Almighty. For, true and lasting comfort can be achieved only through the Perfect Being. One who discovers the secret of living on an elevated plane of spirituality, has discovered a life of limitlessness. Thus if materialism is to live a life of limitations, spirituality is to live in limitlessness.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
What is spirituality?—or rabbaniyat, to use the Quranic term. It is the elevation of the human condition to a plane on which the mind is focused on the higher, non-material realities of a godly existence. The opposite of spirituality is materialism, a course followed all too often in this world.
There are two different concepts of spirituality: God-oriented spirituality which is based on the concept of God Almighty, and man-oriented spirituality, which is based on man’s soul itself being the treasure-house of spirituality. As for the former concept spirituality results in God-realisation while in the latter, spirituality results from self-realisation.
The concept of self-realisation is based on the assumption that the treasure of spirituality exists within man himself. And through meditation man can peep into his inner self and discover spirituality. This concept has been explained by Acharya Rajneesh in his book, “Kundalini Andar Base.” However this concept of man-oriented spirituality called “indwelling God” by Pandu Rang Shashtri, founder of the Swadhyaye Movement, is not corroborated by Islam. According to Islam man has no such spiritual treasure house existing independently. For man is a taker-creature. He receives everything from his Creator.
The concept of spirituality in Islam is based on the principle of God-realisation. God is the treasure house of all virtues. And when man’s contact with God is established, in the world of his feelings, at the psychological level, an unseen, inner revolution is brought about which is called spirituality. In this matter the relationship between God and man can be likened to an electric wire and the power house. When the wire is connected to the power house, electricity is produced, and the place is lit up. In this way, light is the result of the wire’s connection to the power house of God.
Source: Life and Teachings of the Prophet and Spirituality in Islam
A believing Muslim is bound to respect all the prophets. He cannot differentiate between the messengers of God. This is an article of the Islamic faith.
God had sent a prophet or messenger to every group and community of people in this world. All the messengers of God enjoy an equal status. In the chapter al-Baqarah (The Heifer), the Quran says:
We do not differentiate between any of His messengers. We hear and obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, Lord, to You we shall all return! (Quran 2:285)
The Prophet is recorded to have said, Do not give me superiority over other prophets. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 4638)
This Quranic verse and the hadith relate directly to the messengers or the prophets of God. But both also have a broader application, according to which, every person is worthy of respect, regardless of creed or culture. Such belief promotes a culture of equal respect among mankind. Difference in belief is necessarily subject to discussion, but not a reason for discrimination. If your belief system is different from that of others, you have every right to engage in discussion and dialogue on the subject, but in the process, you have no right to show disrespect to others. This holds true even if you believe that your ideology enshrines the supreme truth. The culture of discrimination is, after all, quite alien to a divine religion.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
A prophet is a person chosen by God as His representative. When God appoints someone as His Messenger, He sends His angel to him to inform him of his new status. In that way, the individual can have no doubts about his appointment as God’s apostle. Later, God reveals His message to him through His angels, so that he may communicate the divine teachings to all his fellow men.
God has given man a mind so that he may be endowed with understanding. But this mind can only grasp things that are apparent. It cannot go below the surface, and there are many things to be apprehended, for which a superficial knowledge is insufficient. The deeper realities of this world are beyond the scope of the human mind, and so far as God and the next world are concerned, they must remain forever invisible-beyond the reach of human perception.
What the prophet does is to enlighten people so that they may overcome this human inadequacy. He tells of the reality of things here and how, and also gives tidings of the next world. He thereby enables the individual to formulate a plan for his entire existence in the full light of knowledge and awareness so that he may carve out a successful life for himself.
Since the settlement of human beings on earth, the prophets have been coming one after another. In every age they have been the conveyors of God’s messages to human beings. However, whatever records of these ancient prophets have survived have been rendered historically unreliable by interpolations. The same is true of the books they brought to mankind. The sole exception was the case of the Prophet Muhammad, who had been chosen by God as His Final Messenger. The Prophet was born in an age when the history of the world was already being extensively chronicled. This in itself made circumstances conducive to authentic records being kept of God’s messages and the Prophet’s exemplary life. The relevant facts were passed on from one generation to the next by both oral and written tradition, and with the advent of the printing press came the modern guarantee that no changes would ever be made in the divine scriptures. This renders unassailable the position of the Prophet Muhammad as God’s Final Messenger and His sole representative on earth till Doomsday.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
The Quran is the word of God, the Creator of all mankind. As such, the Quran is revealed for all mankind to understand. This is why Muslim scholars, the Ulama, have held the translation of the Quran to be lawful, for those who do not know the Arabic language. Because according to the principle of Islamic fiqh, if something is obligatory (for example understanding the Quran) and cannot be performed without another thing (translation of the Quran in one’s understandable language), then the second thing also becomes obligatory. Translation of the Quran into any language is simply a translation; it is not a substitute for the text of the Quran. If someone claimed that his translation was a substitute for the Quranic text, then that would be objectionable. When the Arabic text is intact, there is no possibility that people would consider a translation to be the Quran itself, so the translation of the Quran is quite permissible if done for the purpose of acquainting those who have no access to the Arabic language with the message of the Quran.
Source: The Quran Introduction
According to the Quran, the deeper meaning of the Quran can be understood through contemplation (tadabbur) and such reading should be done with an open mind, not with a conditioned mind. Only if a person reflects objectively, he would be able to reach the deeper meaning of the verses of the Quran.
Source: Discovering the Quran
Every book has its objective and the objective of the Quran is to make man aware of the Creation plan of God. That is, to tell man why God created this world; what the purpose is of settling man on earth; what is required from man in his pre-death life span, and what he is going to confront after death. Man is born as an eternal creature. When God created man as such, He divided his life span into two periods, the pre-death period, which is a time of trial, and the post-death period, which is the time for receiving the rewards or punishment merited by one’s actions during one’s lifetime. These take the form of eternal paradise or eternal hell. The purpose of the Quran is to make man aware of this reality. This is the theme of this divine Book, which serves to guide man through his entire journey through life into the after-life.
It would be correct to say that man is a seeker by birth. The Quran is the answer to man’s quest. It presents this world as a testing ground, and the Hereafter as the place where the result of the test will be taken into account by the Almighty and whatever man receives in the life after death, by way of reward or punishment, will be commensurate with his deeds in this world. The secret of man’s success in this life is to understand God’s creation plan as given in the Quran, and map out his life accordingly.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
It is often believed that the Quran is a book only for the Muslims. But nothing could be farther from the truth. The Quran, which literally means, ‘to be read’, is in fact a book for the entire mankind. In its 114 chapters, the Quran addresses all of humanity. For example, the Quran says, “O Man, it is your Lord who is addressing you, listen to His words and follow Him.” It is as if God was addressing us directly. This compels man to take the Quran seriously.
Now where in the Quran, it refers that it is a book for Muslims. About the Prophet of Islam, the Quran says: ‘He has been sent as a mercy to all mankind.’ (21:107). So, both the Quran and the Prophet of Islam were sent for mankind and not one community as it is erroneously believed.
Secondly, Arabic understanding or reading is not necessary to understand the message and wisdom of the Quran. The same can be understood from different translations of the Quran.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
The Quran is the book of God. The Quran, having been preserved in its original form, is a completely reliable source of divine guidance.
There are 114 chapters in the Quran. Everything that has been laid down in the Quran can be summed up thus: an individual should believe in the one God, and hold himself accountable to Him alone. He should discover that the Prophet Muhammad was a messenger who conveyed God’s guidance to humanity.
The position of the Quran is not just that it is one of the many revealed scriptures but that it is the only authentic heavenly book, as all other books, due to human additions and deletions, have been rendered historically unreliable. When a believer in the previous revealed scripture turns to the Quran, it does not mean that he is rejecting his own belief, but rather amounts to his having re-discovered his own faith in an authentic form.
The Quran is a sacred book sent by God for everyone. It is a book for all because it has been sent by God, Who is the Creator of all mankind.
The Quran is not a new holy book. It is, in effect, a preserved version of the previous divine books. In this sense, the Quran is a book for all human beings and for all nations. The Quran manifests God’s mercy for all. It is the message of God sent by Him for everyone. The Quran is a light of guidance for the whole world, just as the sun is a source of light and heat for the whole world.
Source: The Spirit of Islam
Paradise is for those who have purified themselves. Purification means that man should abandon a life of heedlessness and adopt a life of awareness. He should be strong enough to overcome desires which come in the way of achieving this goal. He should save himself from the things that can deviate him from the Truth. If a matter of expediency comes before him, he should ignore it. If pride or resentment arise, he should bury them inside himself.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
Paradise is a beautiful divine colony. Therefore, only those souls who had subjected themselves to the process of purification in the present world will be admitted. What is the criterion for this?
The first criterion for admission into Paradise is that man attains the realisation of His Creator at the level of maarifah. He should discover the Truth amidst a jungle of thoughts, views, beliefs, and ideologies. He should develop the insight to see those not visible to the physical eye. He should feel those things that cannot be supposed at the physical level. Passing by the tumult of the external world, he should become a traveller of the inner world.
Likewise, a criterion for admission to Paradise is that man bows down before God while retaining the freedom to disobey. Ignoring all incentives of becoming self-centred, he becomes God-centred in the complete sense. He becomes genuinely devoted to God and God alone. Turning his face from innumerable centres of glitter and attraction, he devotes his full attention to God.
Admission to Paradise will be possible only for the person who, amid adverse conditions, always remains established in positive thinking. This person overcomes jealousy, pride, revenge, and other negative feelings. He unilaterally becomes the epitome of compassion and seeks the well-being of others. Even though he can resort to oppression and injustice, he never does so. In every condition and circumstance, he makes himself bound by justice.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
Man is born with total freedom. The only requirement for finding entry into Paradise is that he should use his freedom responsibly and avoid any kind of misuse of this freedom. It is the divine criterion that will decide whose case was one of proper use of freedom and whose was that of misuse. As the Quran tells us: “We have indeed created man in the best of mould, then We cast him down as the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do good deeds—theirs shall be an unending reward! What then after this, can make you deny the Last Judgement? Is not God the greatest of the judges?” (The Quran, 4-8)
It means that while man is born as a complete personality, his present abode, planet Earth, is incomplete. Because of this disparity, man’s condition on Earth becomes like that of a fish out of water. The disparity between man’s nature and the inability of the present-world to fulfil all his desires arouses the need in man to find his real habitat. This habitat is Paradise. Only those men and women will find entry into Paradise who qualify as deserving candidates for it. The planet Earth is a selection-ground for this purpose.
The Quran tells us about Paradise in these words: “Therein you shall have all that your souls desire, and therein you shall have all that you ask for.” (The Quran, 41:31)
The Quran mentions all aspects of Paradise in detail and then guides man in these words: “For the like of this, that all should strive.” (The Quran, 37:61)
Source: God’s Creation Plan
God has created this world as a place of trial for man. Salvation, from the Islamic perspective, is for those who prove themselves eligible for settling in the ideal world of Paradise in the Hereafter. God seeks those who manage to see God despite His invisibility, who obey God and devote their lives to Him; who tremble on remembering death; and realize that the present world is the place for action, while the next world is the place for reaping the reward for one's deeds. Those who display such character will be welcomed in Paradise in the Hereafter.
Salvation in the life Hereafter is only for those who prove themselves deserving. But, we should understand that Paradise will not be given to anyone purely based on the quantum of his good deeds. It will be provided, instead, by the mercy of God Almighty. The preferred ones are those unique people who, despite having done every kind of good deed, have attached no value to their actions. They realize that they will gain entry into Paradise only when God's mercy envelopes them.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
If a farmer wants to harvest a crop the day he plants the seeds, he will lose the seeds and be deprived of a harvest. The same is true of both the world of 'today' (this world) and the world of ‘tomorrow' (the Hereafter) after death. The world of 'today' is the place for engaging in action, while the world of 'tomorrow' is the place for receiving the results of one's actions. Therefore, if a person wants to obtain his 'reward' in this world, he will not be able to do the needed activities for a happy life in the world of 'tomorrow'. Thus, he will not only lose this world, but he will also lose his only opportunity to build his next world.
Few people realise this, however. In this world itself, they want to obtain things—such as complete fulfillment or ideal justice and peace—that can be had only in the next world. Because of this, they lose both. Wise is he who earns the world of' tomorrow' through the world of 'today'. He knows that if he gets stuck in the allurements and entanglements of the world of 'today', he will deprive himself of true success in the next world, the world of 'tomorrow'.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
In light of this creation plan, the root of all human problems is that the unenlightened want to make their Paradise in this world before death, whereas under the natural laws, the situation here on earth makes this impossible. Therefore, according to God’s creation plan, man has to be content in this limited world before death, so as to make himself eligible for Paradise in the eternal world after death.
Therefore, the right and proper thing for a man to do is acknowledge and accept this law of creation, and plan his life accordingly. His sole aim in this world should be to make himself acceptable in the eyes of God so that he may be held eligible for admission into Paradise in the eternal world after death. Successful is one who has realized the eternal world of Paradise in this temporary world, who has discovered in the failures of the present world, the secret to eternal success in the next eternal world.
Source: God’s Creation Plan
