The Seeker's Guide

THE

SEEKER’S

 GUIDE

Questions on God, Islam,
 Peace, Spirituality and Wisdom

 

 

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

 

 

Editorial Team:

Prof. Farida Khanam

Raazia Siddiqui

Mohammad Asad Pervez

Maria Khan

Foreword

The remedy for ignorance is asking questions. (Prophet Muhammad; Sunan Abu Dawud)

The spirit of enquiry is the hallmark of an open society and the above saying of the Prophet aptly illustrates this principle. A culture of curiosity and open-mindedness will foster development in any society by motivating its members to learn enthusiastically and enrich their knowledge. This is because awareness of one’s ignorance is half of knowledge, as it becomes the stepping-stone to seeking and finding answers.

A questioning mind is like a flowing river that is replenished with fresh thoughts and ideas and continues on its journey. This is the idea that has motivated this compilation of Maulana’s answers to various questions people have asked him. The book invites its readers to explore with an objective mind, formulate opinions and learn meaningful lessons from life’s experiences. The Maulana often reminisces that the first learning he had as a student was about the significance of the spirit of enquiry. Ever since, not only has he himself been inquisitive to know more, he has also continued to encourage others to develop this spirit to widen their intellectual horizons. Those who have met the Maulana would agree that in their very first interaction with him, he definitely asked them: “Do you have any question?”

In this book, the Maulana offers his reflections on a myriad of questions put to him by readers. The reader will observe that Maulana’s approach to answering questions, particularly those of fundamental importance, is marked by precision. His explanations are concise, clear and yet comprehensive. In today’s age when people have less time to spend on reading lengthy extracts, this book comes as a much-needed alternative which presents rational and pragmatic solutions.

In the book’s first section, titled ‘God and His Creation Plan’, the Maulana answers questions pertaining to atheism, issues arising out of the problem of evil, God’s existence, man’s relationship with God, the concept of prayer and God’s help, the criterion for salvation and the nature of Paradise.

In the second section, ‘Inter-faith Dialogue in Islam’, there is a discussion on the relations between religious communities, the way of coexistence and how Muslims can learn from people of other religions.

The section ‘Islam and the Quran’ comprises both short and detailed answers. Many questions pertain to current issues such as the concept of the caliphate, the problem of re-applying or re-interpreting Islamic teachings in the present age, reforms in Muslim society and the theory of political Islam. Many questions focus on the issues of divorce, polygamy, the hijab, the issuing of fatwas, terrorism and the use of the terms kafir and jizya. Other subjects touched upon are the life and character of the Prophet Muhammad, the compilation of the Quran and women in Islam.

In the fourth section, ‘Peace: The Summum Bonum’, the Maulana takes up several questions on how to resolve certain contemporary disputes and conflicts, for instance, the situation of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the issues of Kashmir and the Babri Masjid in India, the phenomenon of Islamophobia and awarding capital punishment for blasphemy. The Maulana also throws light on cultivating tolerance, the Prophet’s policy of non-confrontation and war in self-defense.

The last section, ‘The Wisdom of Life’, is devoted to Maulana’s advice on anger management, acceptance of defeat, drawing lessons from nature, dealing with loss and grief, the way to convert negative thoughts into positive ones, how to put the culture of complaint behind one and live a life full of gratitude, developing patience, and learning from life’s hardships and challenges.

Since the book focuses on issues that are basic to the individual and society, it can be utilized as an all-encompassing source of enlightenment. Seekers of knowledge, students, scholars and people in general can use this book for their own intellectual development. It will acquaint them with the Maulana’s position on critical matters relating to religion, the nation and the world and how to deal in a practical way with the situations they face on a daily basis.

Raazia Siddiqui
Mohammad Asad Pervez
September 23, 2018

God and His Creation Plan

1 if there is a God, who created God?

The answer to this question is in what the French philosopher Rene Descartes had said, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ To prove God’s existence, I extend this logic to say, ‘If I am, therefore, God is.’ This is because a human being is like a mini-god, one who possesses all divine qualities in a smaller magnitude. If a mini-god’s existence is possible, the Almighty God’s existence is possible too. The choice before us is not between ‘a universe with God’ and ‘a universe without God’, the real choice instead is between ‘a universe with God’ and ‘no universe at all’. The rationale is that when there is no option for you, the available option becomes the only choice.

Creation cannot be traced back endlessly. At some point, we will have to agree that there is someone who has brought creation into existence. If we do not accept this, the phenomenon of creation would be rendered endless and hence non-workable. Somewhere, we will have to put a full-stop, and agree that there is one all-powerful Creator.

2 Why does God not send His angels to stop evil in this world?

This question hinges on a fundamental issue in which ‘problem’ is termed as ‘evil’. In reality, evil has no existence in this world. It is only problems that exist and a ‘problem’ is another name for a ‘challenge’. God has placed us in a world of challenge so that we develop. I found the answer to this through Arnold Toynbee’s 12-volume book A Study of History, in which he studied and analyzed for thirty years nineteen civilizations of the world. In his words, the development and evolution of civilizations have challenges at the root. When a group faces a challenge, it begins to work to respond to it and thus a ‘challenge-response mechanism’ unfolds.

I came to Delhi in 1967 and became the editor of a fortnightly magazine Al-Jamiat. The magazine became very successful, but due to some difference of opinion the magazine’s secretary developed complaints against me and to finish me off, he ceased the publication of the magazine. It was apparently an instance of ‘evil’. But because of this incident I gained the incentive to start my own magazine Al-Risala. This became a huge success and enjoyed great popularity among readers both in the Indian subcontinent and abroad.

So, I did not consider my experience with the secretary of Al-Jamiat as an occasion of evil, rather I took whatever happened as a challenge. My response to this challenge has brought me where I am today. I learnt the lesson that when others do not give you a chance, this becomes an opportunity for you to create a chance for yourself.

3 What should be my attitude so that I can enter heaven?

Before the advent of Islam, there lived a person in Arabia who was very generous. The Prophet of Islam was once asked if this person would go to Paradise? The Prophet replied saying:

No, he would not because he never asked for it. (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 214)

It must be clarified that the Creator is not doing mass distribution of the ticket to Paradise. A person will not be settled in Paradise irrespective of whether or not he desired so. This is sheer underestimation of the Creator and His neighbourhood. One needs to first become extremely desirous of Paradise to gain entry to the list of those who can be considered deserving candidate for the eternal heavenly abode. This is the attitude one needs to develop in the first place. Those who want to enter Paradise need to develop the kind of personality which yearns and aims for Paradise in the true sense of word and all their efforts should thus be directed toward the achievement of this one goal.

4 What should be the right prayer that we should make to God?

In this world, every person is born to lead a different life, each with its own set of opportunities and challenges. Hence, one cannot follow a ‘one-prayer-fits-all’ policy in life.

A believer may pray to his Creator regarding anything, without any constraints. However, the manner in which the prayer is answered shall be governed by divine will. At times, prayer is answered instantly and at other times, there passes a long time before one’s request is fulfilled. A verse in the Quran gives us the prayer of the virtuous in these words:

Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as good in the world to come, and protect us from the torment of the Fire. (Quran 2:201)

The essence of a true prayer is patience. A believer must submit to the divine will and entrust his matters to his Creator. He should pray to God for guidance and sustenance. Prayer is not the mere repetition or usage of specific words, rather it is the expression of the believer’s deep sentiment, entreating divine succour. The Quran mentions several expressions of prayers through which divine guidance is sought.

5 Can I ask God for death?

No, this is completely forbidden according to Islamic teachings. This has been alluded to in the following hadith:

Sad ibn Ubaid narrated that the Prophet once said, ‘None of you should long for death, for if he is a good man, he may increase his good deeds and if he is an evil doer, he may stop the evil deeds and repent.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 7235)

Hence, the longer you live, the more opportunities you get to do good deeds, or repent if you have committed any bad ones. Keeping this wisdom in mind, one should always pray for well-being and happiness and not anything negative. According to the creation plan of God, the hour of death for every individual has been appointed by God Himself. We should accept our natural time of death, as God knows what is best for us.

6 If Allah is with Muslims then why are Muslim countries falling down? If  Islam is true, should not Muslims be winning?

God does not differentiate between His creations. In order to become acquainted with the creation plan of God, it is necessary for a person 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 human beings is the same.

The existence of a human being is such a unique phenomenon that no other such example can be found throughout the vastness of the cosmos. In the first phase, man was physically brought into existence by the Creator. In the second phase, man must accomplish the task of creating himself. That is, he chooses to follow a course in life, makes decisions and is consequently accountable for the result of his actions. Any unwise decision may cause him to pay the price. While God has discharged His role in the first phase, man must discharge the responsibility of developing himself in the second phase. It is the manner in which one manages and plans with what he has in life that determines the level of his personality development.

Let me explain this with an illustrative example. In the aftermath of the Second World War, countries like Japan and Germany were left devastated. However, they planned sincerely and emerged successful as economic superpowers. Germany’s planning was based on the principle – begin from what has remained with after the War. The same was the case of Japan.

Japan was under American occupation. Yet the Japanese began their planning what still remained with them and they emerged successful. Today Japan leads the world in technology, innovation and development. India was left crippled by the British colonization, but made the best of what it had after Independence and today’s India is an emerging superpower, which has also successfully stepped into space exploration. Israel acquiesced to the 1947 UN General Assembly resolution 181(ll) and despite facing several difficulties from its neighbours, today it is a tourist destination and has a high Human Development Index (HDI).

The Muslim countries did not, however, adopt this wisdom of planning on the basis of what remains. As an example, consider the case of Palestine – Arab nations attacked Israel in order to regain what they had lost, and in the process they only added to the devastation of Palestine. Palestine, therefore, is not a case of oppression but rather one of repercussion of the actions taken by Arab states. Similarly, Pakistan kept fighting for the province of Hyderabad and the state of Kashmir, and in consequence has destroyed its own economy. The regions where these violent activities were undertaken are no longer flourishing – be it Palestine, Kashmir, Xinjiang, Chechen or any other conflict-ridden area. The quality and standard of life at these places have been severely impacted as a result of the unwise policies of confrontation adopted by its leaders.

In the struggle for Kashmir and Palestine, both Pakistan and the Arab world should have realized that planning for success starts with what is in hand and not with what is beyond one’s reach. The approach of the leaders of both places was wrong right from the beginning.

In his address, Mohammad Ali Jinnah had once said, ‘We were given a truncated Pakistan.’ Mr. Jinnah could not discover that even the Prophet Muhammad had been given a truncated Kabah and he had accepted it. This is the principle of life: in this world, we do not get the ‘whole’, we only get a ‘part’ of the whole. It is our responsibility to make the best out of whatever we get.

It is also true that every person loses his first chance, but wise is one who plans and avails of the second chance. In other words, a person must plan by availing of what still remains with him. This wisdom has been mentioned in the Quran thus:

…give good news to the humble whose hearts are filled with awe at the mention of God; who endure adversity with fortitude, say their prayers regularly and spend out of what We have given them (Quran 22:34-35)

Through the examples set by countries such as Japan and Germany, the above wisdom has been made manifest in this world by the Creator. In order to receive the help of the Creator, one needs to follow the divine laws set for this world by Creator. Present-day Muslims are no longer following the creation plan of God and are therefore paying the price.

7 Why did God allow Satan to tempt us when He knew Satan could tempt us into Hell?

This is a negative approach to the subject. In reality, Satan is a source of struggle for human beings. If there were no struggle, there would be no development at all. The development of a person’s mind is a result of his response to challenging situations. If there were no Satan, there would be no field of struggle left for an individual, his mind would not unfold and he would not be able to tap into his potential.

Satanic temptations give a person the opportunity to develop resilience and patience by not succumbing to them. According to a verse of the Quran, man is asked to seek refuge from the temptation caused by both Satan and man’s own soul. The verse is as follows:

Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of people, the King of people, the God of people, from the mischief of every sneaking whisperer, who whispers into the hearts of people, from jinn and men.’ (Quran 114: 1-6)

8 If only belief in Allah grants salvation, then how do Muslims think that one could enter heaven before Muhammad and Islam existed?

God is the same as He was before the coming of the Prophet Muhammad. The word ‘Allah’ was used by the Arabs even before the advent of Islam, that is, even before the revelation of the Quran. Muhammad was not the first prophet of Islam, rather he was the last. Muhammad preached the same religion, as all the prophets who came before him, for example, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jesus, Moses, etc. This has been mentioned in a verse in the Quran:

God has ordained for you the same religion which He enjoined on Noah, and which We have revealed to you, and which We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus (Quran 42:13)

So, the God of the Torah, the Bible and the Quran is the same. God sent His prophets to every community in history to give guidance and only terminated His plan of sending prophets after the Book revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran, became preserved for later generations.

We raised among every people a messenger who enjoined, ‘Worship God alone and shun the evil one.’ (Quran 16:36)

Hence, it is not the case that only the followers of Islam will be granted salvation and Paradise. The Quran states:

The believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabaeans—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds—will be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Quran 2:62)

9 Why does everyone talk about fearing God?

We do love God. He is our supreme benefactor, the most gracious and the most merciful. Piety in human beings is a manifestation of the love they have for God. Having fear of God is not in the same sense as having fear of a ferocious animal. Rather, fear of God is positive fear and can be understood in the context of obedience to God. While God is compassionate and benevolent toward human beings, He is also very just. Thus, fear of God is a result of the realization that God has the ability of punishing wrongdoers for their evil deeds. God is all-knowing and nothing is, or can be, hidden from Him. A person who has fear of God constantly lives with the sense of being accountable to Him. Even if his fellow human beings do not have the power to implicate him for his wrongful actions, a person who has fear of God knows that in the Hereafter he will surely be answerable to the Almighty for his actions, big or small. It is this that causes a believer to naturally fear God, a concept which serves as a source of reform in his life.

10 How do we understand God’s omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience?

God is omnipresent on the basis of His knowledge of things. It does not mean that God is physically present everywhere but that nothing escapes his knowledge. This also explains his omniscience. His being omnipotent means that he has set the laws of nature and without any exception, every human being is bound by it. No one can eliminate or alter these laws, we can only discover them and work according to the principles God has set for this world. His being omnipotent also implies that it is only He who can truly reward, punish or forgive us for our actions.

11 Will all Muslims eventually go to Paradise, even if they temporarily have to go to Hell?

This is not true. According to the Quran, after the creation, God Almighty settled man on the planet earth. The planet earth is a selection ground. Here man is constantly under divine watch, and God Almighty will select those men and women, on the basis of merit, who prove to be deserving candidates for Paradise.

Being a candidate for Paradise is not a matter of being a ‘Muslim’. When we use the term ‘Muslim’, it connotes a person who is a member of a certain community. According to Islam, the selection for Paradise depends completely on an individual’s personal record and not on his or her being a member of a particular community.

A common misconception is that those who are not practicing Muslims, God shall temporarily keep them away from Paradise and later wipe out their sins. Eventually, they too shall be made to enter into Paradise. I, however, do not subscribe to this notion, as it is not validated from the Quran. Some unauthentic traditions are the basis of this misconception.

The Jewish community also held this misconception during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, in which context God sent the following revelation:

They say, ‘The Fire is not going to touch us, and [even if it does], it will only be for a few days!’ Say [to them], ‘Have you received a promise from God—for God never breaks His promise—or do you attribute something to God which you do not know?’ Truly, those who do evil and are encompassed by their misdeeds, shall be the inmates of the Fire. Therein they shall abide forever, but those who believe and do good works are the heirs of Paradise; there they shall abide forever. (Quran 2:80-82)

These verses of the Quran clarify this misconception held by many Muslims.

The sole concern of Islam is to inculcate piety and God-realization in human beings. It is this that will qualify them in the category of those deserving of the eternal abode of the Hereafter. There is no exception to this rule, even for one who is born in a Muslim family. God Almighty shall judge all human beings with the same yardstick.

12 How can we know that the hardship that we are going through is a test rather than a punishment?

No hardship in this world is a form of punishment; it is only a test. There are several examples of extreme hardships, for example, the death of several Companions of the Prophet in the Battle of Uhud, or other great difficulties faced by the Prophet Muhammad. However, these were not punishments.

In this world, hardship is part of a law of nature. According to past historical records, punishment was inflicted upon some contemporaries of various prophets, but that was limited to the prophetic age and is not applicable anymore. Hardship is a test for the person who experiences it.

13 In Islam, what makes an individual eligible for salvation?

The Islamic concept of salvation is based on tazkiya, or purification of soul. In other words, salvation in Islam is dependent on the process of purifying one’s personality and only such purified personalities shall find entry to Paradise. A purified personality is free of hate and violence and is devoid of malice.

14 The Quran says, ‘God guides whoever He wants, and misguides whoever He wants.’ (35:8). What makes God want to guide or misguide someone?

This is a matter of expression in language. It simply conveys that a person who wants to be guided will be able to draw guidance from the Book of God, whereas one who does not want to seek guidance will not receive it.

The Creator revealed the Quran so that it serves as a Book of Guidance for mankind. The responsibility of extracting wisdom and guidance lies with those who read it. There is a verse in the Quran which states:

This is the truth from your Lord. Let him who will, believe in it, and him who will, deny it. (Quran 18:29)

15 If God knows and controls everything, is the concept of ‘freewill in religion’ valid?

There is no doubt that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. However, since He has decided to put human beings to the test, He has given them the freedom to do as whatever they wish. If there were no free will, there would have been no test. So, in order to test people, God has withheld His power when it comes to man and given him freedom to respond in any way that he wants. In granting freedom to man, God has chosen to not enforce His Power on him.

God is all knowing, but He has not fixed people’s destinies. Justice is meted out on the basis of evidence, which in this case would be the record of use or misuse of freedom that a person is building up. On the Day of Judgement, God shall hold a person accountable for his thoughts, speech and deeds and on that day, all of mankind will see God’s justice.

16 What is the Islamic concept of Paradise?

Paradise is the name of the ideal world, the desire for which is lodged in the hearts of every man and woman. Paradise is a place where people will have no sorrow. It is Paradise where the personality of a human being shall achieve fulfilment in the complete sense.

Paradise is that world in which a creation such as man attains his complete fulfilment, where he thinks the way he wants to think; where he sees what he desires to see; where he listens to the sounds that give pleasure to his ears in the real sense; where he has the company of those people who make his life highly meaningful.

Paradise shall be a world that would have everything that a person can think of and more. It would be a world devoid of limitations, disadvantage, illness and unfortunate circumstances. The same concept of Paradise is also found in the Bible.

17 Who is God? Why do we pray to Him?

God is the Creator. When I see my existence, it is but natural for me to think how this existence came into being. The renowned French philosopher Rene Descartes said, ‘I think, therefore, I exist.’ Following this dictum, I would say, ‘I exist, therefore, God also exists.’ Because when there is a creation, a Creator is also bound to exist. Modern science tells us that our universe is vast, proportional and continuously expanding. It is an intelligent universe, but a right approach would be to say that the universe is the work of an Intelligent Creator.

In order to better understand the idea of creation, let us also reflect on the development of human knowledge. Human knowledge has two different phases—the pre-Einstein period and the post-Einstein period. In the pre-Einstein period, knowledge was confined to the macro world, which was observable and measurable. It was believed that matter was eternal and had not been created. But, in the post-Einstein period, with the development of quantum physics and discovery of the phenomenon of the Big Bang, this thinking changed.

When the atom was split, the world of logic underwent a colossal change. Splitting of the atom revealed the micro world. It came to be known that subatomic particles, which constitute matter at the most fundamental level, cannot be observed even by the most powerful microscope. The question is when we cannot see then, how do we believe that they exist? They cannot be visually seen, but every scientist believes in their existence, for the reason that although we cannot see these things directly, we can measure their effects. We believe in the existence of all of these things, not by observation but by the effects they produce. In other words, the existence of these unobservable particles of the micro world can be proved by way inferential argument – they cannot be seen, but can be known by way of their effects. And if inferential argument is valid with regard to the unseen elements of the micro world, it is also valid with regard to the existence of God or the Creator.

Moreover, scientific studies of today tell us that about 13 billion years ago there occurred a big bang in space. After this, our universe came into existence. Scientists have found evidence to believe that in the beginning there was what they call a cosmic ball. All the particles now present in the universe were tightly bound to each other in this cosmic ball in a highly compressed and dense state. Then, according to astronomical studies, this cosmic ball suddenly exploded. The compact particles scattered outwardly and as they were moving away they started interacting and the present universe as we see it (galaxies, stars, etc.) came into existence. This was the beginning of matter, but the question was which external source caused the intervention so that the compact particles scattered outwardly?

Worship

Worship means acknowledgement. It is inherent in human nature to acknowledge the Benefactor. Our Creator is our biggest benefactor who brought into existence the entire universe, which is custom-made to human needs and has a life support system to ensure our sustenance. How can we then not acknowledge the greatest of all Benefactors? Man, as a creation, has his limitations; no human being is all-powerful. When a person seeks to do something, he often finds out that he has limitations. It is this helplessness which leads him to pray to and seek help from God.

18 Should we follow humanity or God?

These are both different issues. We believe in God because He is the Creator. Humanity is not a creator; it is a social phenomenon. It is a known fact that nature is an enormous reservoir of facts and knowledge and according to science, man—in his limited lifetime—can acquire only a partial knowledge of reality. If science has a limited scope, then the question arises as to how should one attain wisdom?

Let me take an example from the life of the Prophet Muhammad. He was dealing with a grave situation in Makkah where the Kabah, the most sacred place for Muslims built by the Prophet Abraham as the House of the One God had become, after a period of about two thousand years, a house where more than three hundred idols were placed. The mission of the Prophet Muhammad was to revive the religion of the Prophet Abraham, and the first course to follow should have been cleansing of the Kabah from the hundreds of idols. But the Prophet did not do so. It was divine wisdom due to which he did not react for many years. This was because he had realized that it was the idols that brought people from the whole of Arabia to the Kabah for pilgrimage. The Prophet Muhammad was able to de-link the presence of idols from the gathering at the Kabah. The Prophet would utilize this gathering as an audience and would preach the message of Islam to them in the most peaceful way. As a result of following this wisdom, the crème-de-la-crème of Arabia became a part of the prophetic mission within a span of thirteen years. Khalid ibn al-Walid who accepted Islam after the Treaty of Hudaybiyah said before embracing Islam:

The best people have entered the fold of Islam, now we do not find any man of taste in Makkah. (Al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah, vol. 4, p. 237)

In the entire history of mankind, no thinker ever made mention of the policy of de-linking. This was because people undoubtedly had only limited knowledge of things. It must be understood that problems of this world are sometimes so many and so grave that support in the form of wisdom and guidance comes from God. The Quran says that

It gives man divine wisdom. (Quran 2:269)

In the above case, a conflict would have ensued between the people of Makkah and the Prophet had the Prophet made efforts to remove the idols in the initial period of his preaching in Makkah. Moreover, for obtaining the audience that he was getting in Makkah due to the presence of the Kabah, the Prophet would have had to travel across Arabia to meet those people and convey the message to them. This wisdom of the Prophet is nowhere mentioned in words and can be derived by inferring from the method adopted by the Prophet during his years in Makkah.

So belief in God is essential because there are many times we require wisdom to deal with the situations in our life. This wisdom can be procured from the Book of God and the life of the Prophet who lived under divine guidance. Belief in humanity is only one aspect of belief in God. It is because of our belief in God that we can inculcate human values in ourselves.

19 How can I converse with God when it seems that all the doors are closed?

I would say that those who are engaged in table talk cannot converse with God. If you are really serious about it, then you will have to pay a price, that is, you will have to become very keen on what you want. Let me give you an example. At a very young age, I had some problem with my eyesight and for this I visited several eye specialists – from Sitapur to Rome to the United States – I consulted doctors everywhere but I never became comfortable with any doctor.

For the first time, I became comfortable with Dr. Choudhary who had a clinic in Noida, India, but he recently passed away. I was quite worried and I prayed to God. When Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of India, he had kept the portfolio of Kashmir to himself instead of placing it under the Home Minister (which was the protocol). On being asked the reason for his action, he replied that the issue of Kashmir was very complex, and that he alone could deal with it. With this reference point in mind, I prayed to God:

O God, You alone can deal with my problem, so please take my problem into your Hands!

Then situations took such a turn that I was introduced to an able eye specialist, Dr. Safeena Tabassum, my current doctor from Ajmer, who has shifted to Delhi. I am fully satisfied with her treatment. God helped me. So, a believer can certainly have a conversation with God, but only when he is very keen and serious about it. There are many things in your life that will work out if you are dedicated and keen. God provides for His creation.

20How do people reach atheism?

Becoming an atheist is more an outcome of being against theism than a self-discovery of the non-existence of God. Atheism was earlier backed on scientific validation, however, it has now lost its foundations and has become anachronistic in nature. For those who still claim scientific backing for atheism should learn about what some of the authorities in science have said about the topic.

Once Einstein was asked if he was an atheist. He said:

You may call me an agnostic, but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional atheist whose fervor is mostly due to a painful act of liberation from the fetters of religious indoctrination received in youth. (Sept. 28, 1949 letter to Guy Raner Jr.)

This means scientists are not in a position to say that there is no God, they can just take a sceptical stand on the existence of God. This is because the accepted base for belief in something in the intellectual world is scientific, but since there is no scientific discovery about the non-existence of God, this is still subject to interpretation.

Towards the end of the 19th century, there was a strong wave of what was popularly called ‘scientific atheism’. The argument often offered to negate the existence of God was His being invisible. But new scientific investigations carried out at the beginning of the 20th century started turning the tide against the credibility of this position, it becoming accepted that there are many aspects of nature that are invisible yet they exist. One of the books written on this new world discovered by science is Science and the Unseen World by Sir Arthur Eddington.

At the beginning of the 20th century Sir James Jeans declared that the universe which had been discovered by modern science was not compatible with the mechanical interpretation that had gained ground since past several decades. The age of quantum mechanics has established that nothing is fully observable. Contrary to previous belief, it was not the atom that was the last fundamental particle that constituted matter, rather there were unobservable subatomic particles that served as the building blocks of atoms. In a book published in 1988, entitled A Brief History of Time, Stephen W. Hawking (one of the foremost physicists of present times) explains the Big Bang Theory, according to which the universe is constantly expanding. After working out the relevant mathematical equations, Hawking has reached the conclusion that the expansion of the universe is taking place according to a well-calculated scheme. The initial rate of expansion must have been fixed with great accuracy so that it would always be less than the critical rate, i.e. the rate at which the universe would begin to collapse again. This view cannot be explained unless it is accepted that the rate of expansion of the universe has been determined with the utmost precision. Stephen Hawking writes:

It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us. (p. 127)

One of the most amazing qualities of the universe is that there is no interpretation or explanation of it, other than that which allows for God’s existence, despite the fact that the best brains in every age have attempted to unravel its mysteries. It has been claimed that the universe has always been in existence in its present form. It has also been claimed that it came into being on its own and that it goes on on its own. Cause and effect have been said to have created everything, and attempts have also been made to prove the law of evolution to be the creator of the universe; which however can be only a process of nature, but never its creator. The more a man learns about the universe, the more absurd do these theories appear to him; the stranger does it seem that something, or some being other than God Almighty should be the Lord and Master of the Universe. The universe, by its very existence, testifies to the fact that God is its Creator. I find other claims to be without concrete foundation. Whatever arguments or opposing opinions have been expressed to propagate this theory have proved erroneous by the knowledge acquired to date through human research.

One of my early works on this subject include the book God Arises: Evidence of God in Nature and Science. It establishes the existence of God according to modern scientific findings. It has been translated into several languages.

21 What is actually within man’s control?

Natural laws will always remain as God has ordained them. These are laws which God has defined. They are every physical law known to man, and man cannot alter them. What a human being does have is the freedom of choice. This is our test. For example, a person cannot change the natural laws governing water. But he can choose whether or not to drink water. It is not within a person’s control to remove the cloud between him and the sun, but he would be held accountable for the choices he made in life, something entirely in his control.

22 The Quran says that those who dwell in Paradise would say that in Paradise what we got was similar to what we received in the world. (Quran 2:25) What does this mean?

We should be a seeker of Paradise in this world and we should be able to discover Paradise in everything we have here. We are sitting here – around us is pleasant weather, green meadows, nice people – a small sample of Paradise can be seen by us here in this world itself. When you have this realization in the present world, it would make you a deserving candidate for Paradise. If you live in this world with complaints, you will risk your entry to Paradise. Everything in this world gives you a glimpse of Paradise. A person must understand that he has to discover Paradise before he can be settled in Paradise. Complaining, stooping to negative thinking and developing hatred are not simple matters. By doing all of this, you are risking Paradise in the world Hereafter. The Quran says about those who will find a place in Paradise:

He will admit them into the Garden He has already made known to them. (Quran 47:6)

If in this world you discover only negativity, then you are risking Paradise.

23 I want to develop strong conviction in God, but find myself lacking in it. How can I develop it?

There is just one formula – save yourself from distraction. People remain engaged in and distracted by other-than-God and at the same time desire to attain conviction in God. Till the time you do not steer yourself away from distractions, you will not be able to focus on God.

24 After doing wrong, the power of repentance becomes low. How should we repent?

This is against the nature of a human being. It is interwoven in human nature that when a person does a wrong, his conscience calls out to him. The power of repentance only becomes stronger in such cases.

25 How can we regain our enthusiasm towards something?

This is not a problem. Fluctuation in enthusiasm is part of human nature and will surely happen. The feeling that my enthusiasm has fallen low re-energizes the mind and strengthens the incentive to carry on the work.

26 How important is it to convey the message of God to humanity?

Without conveying the message of God, faith remains incomplete. This is because a believer is to be a well-wisher, so, a true believer who has discovered that entry to Paradise will be for those who believe in God will not be able to remain silent. His sense of well-wishing and desire that others also enter Paradise will undoubtedly cause him to make God’s message known to people.

27 If there is a probability that God exists, isn’t there also an equal probability that God does not exist?

Probability means the likelihood of the occurrence of an event – that is, either the event is probable or it is not. For example, if there is probability that the universe is intelligent, it implies that the notion that the universe is not intelligent is not probable. So, when the proposition of the existence of a God is probable, then the probability that God does not exist is rejected.

28 Our focus remains on this world. How should we shift it to the Hereafter and make Paradise our sole concern?

We must think about the meaning of the present world – will it have any meaningfulness until the concept of a world Hereafter is added to it? Only when we include the Hereafter will we able to find meaning.

29 What is the best act to thank God?

According to the Quran, Those who believe love God most. (Quran 2:165)

What is love? Love is a result of discovery. When you discover that God has already given me great reward in this world in the form of His numerous bounties, you become immersed in a sea of gratitude for Him, which in turn produces love for God.

30 How should the creation plan of God be conveyed without giving an impression that it is some sort of propaganda?

You should not aim to do everything in one sitting. This work is a process. You should discuss with the audience only as per their ability to accept. For the remainder, you should share books. During discussion, often a person’s ego comes to the fore, while when he is reading a book, he is able to absorb a lot more. So, there are two aspects to presenting the creation plan of God to a person: one aspect is through discussion and the other aspect is conveyed through giving of books.

31 After realizing God, I do not want to study professional books. What should I do?

Job is your need and God is the goal of your life; so, both are important. If you do not study the books that give you job, who will fulfil your needs? The one who created you has Himself put in place the mechanism of your continuing to work for your livelihood without troubling anyone else. Dualism is a part of our life and we cannot dispense with it. Walt Whitman once said, ‘I am large enough to contain all these contradictions.’

32 How do we discover God’s powerfulness?

The secret of this discovery lies in comparison. We should compare God’s power of bringing about rain with our powerlessness and inability to bring about rain, grow grain and make the sun shine. And if a person cannot do it, he should think how all this is happening on a universal level? If I could not put in place the life support system, how did it come about? If we make this comparison, then on the one hand we will discover that we are all powerless and that God is all-powerful. If you become sick, you should not become a victim of frustration, rather discover that I am powerless and there is a Creator above me who is powerful. Then you will discover both the Creator and yourself.

33 Is being too optimistic in life a bad idea?

There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ when it comes to optimism. Being optimistic is a part of life. You must always live in hope; this is a teaching of Islam. Optimism is a part of nature and a part of the creation plan of God.

34 How do I measure whether I am progressing in spirituality or not?

There is a simple criterion: when you do not become happy with people praising you and do not feel bad on being criticised, it implies that you are gaining spirituality.

35 How would one get God’s help if one feels completely helpless?

The state of helplessness makes you competent to pray. When a person is in the state of helplessness, he calls out to God with prayers that invoke divine help.

36 How could one achieve a high level of spirituality?

Spirituality is interwoven in the nature of a human being. What really deviates a person from spirituality is distraction. If we are able to save ourselves from distractions, what would prevail is spirituality.

37 How can we develop a strong personality that God shall like?

I have a formula I follow: ‘If you have a good excuse, don’t use it.’ This is the formula for building a strong personality. When you take an excuse, it develops a weak personality while not taking an excuse builds a strong personality.

38 What is the Plan of God for the mentally disabled people?

As a young person when I started working, I used to see often see written in places ‘For Disabled Persons’, but now we come across the words ‘Differently-abled persons’. It has been found out that disability is not disability alone, rather one who is disabled in a certain way is abled in a different manner. Louis Braille, who invented the Braille system of writing for the visually impaired, was blind. When John Milton wrote his magnum-opus Paradise Lost, he too was blind.

There are newer ways of providing education for the mentally-challenged children. The parents of such children should be aware of the world they are living in. Parents only know of pampering; they should rather discover the quality their children possess and should nurture that particular quality. And if a person is disabled on one account, he is super-abled on other accounts.

39 The journey of a human being is replete with all kinds of misuse of freedom by him. Does this not show that it is inherent in man’s nature to cause atrocities?

When man was granted freedom, it was implicit that there would be misuse. The Quran says:

When your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am putting a successor on earth,’ they said, ‘Will You place someone there who will cause corruption on it and shed blood?’ (Quran 2:30)

But God also placed a check in human nature which was a guarantee that man would not take to 100% evil and would take a U-turn to make a situation positive. This check is the conscience, which is the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

40 I feel all the time that I am falling short of God’s expectations and I feel guilty.

This attitude describes the sunnah, or the way, of the Companions of the Prophet. All the Companions used to lead their lives with a feeling of deficiency. It is this feeling that gives you the motivation to do more. If you feel satisfied with yourself, your development will hit a roadblock.

41 Why should the Quran be distributed to all mankind?

The Quran is not a religious book in the limited sense of the term. It is a Book that tells people about the creation plan of God, and the scheme of things of the One who has created the entire Universe. This is not a matter of religion alone. For example, the Quran has a verse:

Surely, with every hardship there is ease. (Quran 94:6)

This means that if a problem befalls one, one should not get hassled; rather one should do peaceful planning. Nations like Germany, for example, could enjoy success because they planned on the basis of what remained with them and not on what they had lost. Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad had lost Makkah, but gained Madinah – so he planned on the basis of Madinah and not on the basis of Makkah.

The Quran is not a book of jurisprudence or a book of dos and don’ts about rituals. The Quran informs people about the laws of nature. It is not a book of Muslims, it is a Book of God. So, it becomes imperative that it be taken to all mankind.

42 How can I save myself from committing sins despite seeking true repentance?

The term ‘true repentance’ is not accurate here. If a person repents from the bottom of one’s heart, his repentance would surely have its effects. If your repentance is false, it would never have its impact in reforming you as a person.

43 What is honest repentance?

When a person does something wrong, he feels guilty. We make a mistake as a result of succumbing to emotions. But emotions do not last for long. When emotions subside, conscience emerges and when this happens, one must not neglect to pay heed to one’s inner voice.

The Creator has placed a special feature in human psyche—and that is what is called ‘repentance’. Repentance is a wonderful means of mercy for human beings. For those who repent, the Quran says:

God will change the evil deeds of such people into good ones. (Quran 25:70)

The transformation that this Quranic verse refers to takes place if sincere repentance wells up inside a person after he does something wrong. A positive aspect of repentance is that it engenders a strong determination in a person to reform himself, and, after having done something wrong, to firmly walk on the path of goodness thereafter. It is this positive enthusiasm that follows from repentance that changes an evil deed into a good one.

If you make a mistake that arouses anger in another, but then you repent and say, ‘Please forgive me, I was wrong,’ this will certainly cause the aggrieved person to undergo a change of heart. Such an apology will, on the one hand, inculcate positivity in your soul and, on the other hand, it will promote a culture of love among people you are living with. In family life as well as social life, untoward events are unavoidable. Such happenings sour relations and create distance between people. The best solution is to repent sincerely. Do not wait for others to take the lead.

If, after doing an evil deed, one chooses to continue on the same path, it makes a person even more inclined to evil. On the contrary, engaging in introspection would cause him to make up his mind not to indulge in evil again. If he does so, the evil deed he commits becomes a cause of leading him to goodness.

Repentance is an instrument of self-correction, initiating a process of self-assessment. This process is vital, as it enhances your intellectual calibre and leads to spiritual development. Repentance is an inner spirit, a readiness to atone for every kind of mistake.

The source of repentance is one’s conscience (zameer). It is not possible that a person does something wrong and that his conscience does not get affected by it. The only condition is that a person should be honest with his conscience so that he does not neglect the voice of his conscience. Gandhi used to say, “Thus my inner sight speaks”, and when this inner sight speaks, one must pay heed to it. There is no other criterion for sincere repentance.

44 What to do if we have wronged someone?

If you have wronged another person, the foremost thing to do is to seek earnest forgiveness but if it is not accepted, the one repenting must pray for the betterment of the person he has wronged.

45 How would we get to know that God has accepted our repentance?

Repentance is not a temporary act. A person keeps thinking about the mistake he made and this feeling of having made a mistake remains alive. Repentance is a continuous process. It is a completely unilateral act, because granting of forgiveness lies in the domain of God. When something is in God’s domain, man can never demand bilateralism.

Honest repentance stays in your heart your entire life and one always reflects on it. If a person considers that his repentance has been accepted fully but continues to lead life as before, he will make no reform in his lifestyle. It will not be true repentance. True repentance transforms an individual.

46 How do we see God as most-kind, most-merciful, most-powerful and most-loving, given the current state of the world?

This is a very old question. I feel it is a very short-sighted approach to look at some events transpiring in the world and formulate an opinion based on them. We should first develop an understanding of the creation plan of God and then evaluate events in the light of this Plan.

History shows that difficulties and hardships have also played a vital role in the progress of many countries and have been their maximum contributor. For example, one of the greatest calamities to have hit the human race was the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the aftermath of this event had a great lesson for humanity, that is, the discovery of the principle of positive planning. The Second World War had created a compulsion for Japan as its defeat in the war was so grave that Japanese were left with only one way to plan for their future, and that was, to plan on the basis of what remained with them. The Japanese had no resources to forcibly retrieve what they had lost and as a result, they were compelled to plan on the basis of what was left with them. Thus, Japanese adopted a diligent program of nation-building and worked hard towards it to emerge as a global leader. Today it is a nation known for its most dedicated and ethical work culture in the world. The tragedy, consequently paved way for Japan to develop its prowess as a global giant in the area of innovation and technology. Another example of such intense nation-building is Germany, which revived its strength to become the most powerful European country.

The negative events of the Second World War culminated in setting successful examples of re-planning. It taught people the way forward after having incurred losses and defeat. Any disadvantageous situation creates a compulsion, which leads to new and positive developments. I can cite my own personal example. My ancestral land in my home village of Azamgarh was unjustly taken away by a person. Due to this usurpation of my property, I had nothing left to do in the village. This was when I was compelled to shift to Delhi. It was here that I was able to initiate my mission of peace, which has now spread across the whole world.

God creates compulsions to guide people in the right direction for people to learn and take heed. Many communities have risen to great heights starting from utter distress.

Another point often raised in this issue is that innocent children become victims of natural disaster, which is plainly unjust and abhorrent. As far as Islam is concerned, children who die in youth age will be rewarded with Paradise in the Hereafter. The prayer read at the funeral of these children is:

O God! Cause this child to become a means of salvation for us and cause him to become a means of reward and recompense for us [in the Hereafter]. (Mishkat al-Masabih, hadith no. 1690)

The prayer means that in the Hereafter when these children see their parents, they will come towards them and hold on to them. Thus, the prayer is an invocation to God to make these children – to whom Paradise has already been granted – a means to take their families also to Paradise.

47 Does God want us to have the spirit of enquiry so that we discover Him?

God wants that people should stand on self-discovered faith and does not want faith to be imposed upon them. He has given intelligence to human beings so that they can evaluate and make a self-discovery of the truth. The spirit of enquiry is essential for this self-discovery.

48 How do we develop the personality that helps us recover from our misfortunes?

This question is very easy and very difficult at the same time. It is easy because our Creator has not created anyone to become a case of failure, not even an ant!

We have two examples from history through which God has shown us this principle. The principle is to admit one’s mistake and then plan for the future. Thus, the starting point is ‘I am wrong’, or in other words, you blame yourself and not anyone else for what you experience. Generally, people do no admit that they were at fault. When one has the ability to admit one’s mistake, then things change for the better.

The King of Japan, Emperor Hirohito, had said at the time of the Japanese defeat in WWII:

It is according to the dictates of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable. (The Gyokuon-hoso broadcast, on accepting the Potsdam Declaration)

This is an example of the last extent of admitting our mistake.

49 What is the meaning of prayer? Why should I pray to God?

Prayer is the compensation of a person’s helplessness. An individual, again and again, experiences helplessness and prayer is his response to such occasions. He calls out to a Being that is above and beyond him.

The Second World War was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers. During the war, there was a time when it was not sure who would win. The victor side became clear after the atom bomb was dropped. In the famous Yalta Conference, heads of three countries, Russia, Great Britain and the US, had gathered to find a strategy to contain the Axis Powers. Joseph Stalin was representing Soviet Russia. He was given to read the draft of the strategy and after reading it, he exclaimed suddenly: ‘May God prosper this undertaking!’

At the point where man feels helpless, his nature is bound to call out to the One who is beyond human beings. Therefore, though there is no scientific proof of prayer, it is undoubtedly the experience of every person to call out to the Supreme Being when he feels utterly helpless.

In the sea, when a ship is on voyage and a storm strikes, there is nothing that a person sees except huge waves of water ready to engulf the ship any moment. It is in such times of helplessness that one spontaneously calls out to God. I had once read that a Russian pilot, who was an atheist, was as usual flying a plane. When his plane got stuck in thunderstorm, he was heard saying, ‘Peter, save us!’

50Is there a positive aspect of the phenomenon of death?

Yes, the positive aspect of death is the sense of urgency that it creates in a person. That is, the thought of death makes a person realize that whatever needs to be done should be done at the present moment. Whether or not a person believes in religion, the concept of death would still instil a sense of urgency in him.

Interfaith Dialogue in Islam

1 What is the real message of the Quran, the Bible and the Torah?

The common message of these three religious scriptures is monotheism, or the concept of unity of God. There is a verse in the Quran that reads:

The believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabaeans, all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds, will be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Quran 2:62)

2 What is the significance of Jerusalem for Jews, Christians and Muslims?

Jerusalem holds utmost importance for Jews because an important prophet of Judaism, Solomon, was born there. He established Jerusalem as the capital state of his kingdom. He built a Jewish Synagogue (or Solomon’s Haykal) in 975 BC. For Jews therefore, Jerusalem holds direct significance. Solomon’s Haykal has been razed down twice in history. The first incident was in 586 BC when the King of Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed it. After a long period of time, the Jews re-built their place of worship. This was again brought to ruins in 70 AD by the Romans. Today certain groups of Jews have made it their duty to restore and re-build the Haykal as it was originally built by Solomon. However, according to the Torah, Solomon’s Haykal can be re-built only by a prophet born in their midst.

Jerusalem holds an important historical significance for the Christians since after being born in Bethlehem (Palestine), Jesus Christ, once came to Jerusalem where he lived and preached.

Muslims attach importance to Jerusalem on account of the spiritual journey, Isra, that the Prophet Muhammad had undertaken and also due to his changing of the direction of prayer from the Kabah in Makkah towards Jerusalem for a temporary period while he was in Madinah.

What bridges the gap between followers of these faiths is that they have common prophets. Hence, from a historical perspective, the Kingdom of Solomon and the birthplace of Jesus Christ are indirectly significant for Muslims.

3 What is Sufism?

Islamic spiritualism has come to have two schools of thought. One may be called the Quranic school of thought, according to which the spiritual quest is a means for an individual to contact his Creator. The other school of thought is commonly known as Sufism or Tasawwuf, or the form which mysticism has taken in Islam. The term ‘Sufism’ embraces the philosophy and practices in Islam that aim at direct communion between God and man.

The book Sufism: An Introduction by Dr. Farida Khanam is a historical study of Sufism (Tasawwuf) with specific reference to its spread throughout the Indian subcontinent. It deals with the major Sufi orders, their distinguishing features and the ideology and method of Sufism. The aim of Tasawwuf, to put it briefly, is to attain the realization of God. The realization of God produces all kinds of spiritual qualities. Although the term ‘Tasawwuf’ came into vogue as late as the 8th century AD, Tasawwuf, in its spirit, was actually integral to the believer’s life from the very beginning. Tasawwuf is, in fact, another name for one’s spiritual journey of the discovery and realization of God. In later periods of Islamic history, the propagation of Islam all over the world was due less to the spread of the Muslim empire than to the efforts made by the Sufis.

The greatest feat of the Sufis has been the development, by dint of great striving, of a version of Islam which has been found acceptable to all. This version of Islam is free of all negative features such as hatred, the desire for revenge, and the urge to perpetrate violence. It is characterized rather by love, compassion and charitableness. This is why Sufism became so popular in the medieval world. If the ruling class can take credit for the political expansion of Islam, the Sufis can take credit for the spiritual spread of Islam. In respect of method, Tasawwuf places great emphasis on meditation. Originally, the Sufis held that meditation was a form of reflection, contemplation and pondering over the world and nature, as was the case in the days of the Prophet and his Companions. However, later the Sufis developed it into a discipline. Generally, religious scholars regard it as a deviation from real Islam, but the Sufis do not subscribe to their views. They think that meditation facilitates the attainment of the higher stages of tazkiya (purification of the self), ihsan (excellence in worship) and marefat (realization of God)—the goals of Islam.

4 Do Muslims love Jesus?

In Islam, the Prophet Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad have an equal position in terms of respect. Both were sent as a mercy to mankind, to guide them to the right path and to spirituality. The Quran says:

Say, ‘We believe in God and in what has been sent down to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes. We believe in what has been given to Moses, Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them. It is to Him that we have surrendered ourselves.’ (Quran 3:84)

5 As a Muslim what is your view on Hinduism?

Every religion has special characteristics. Hinduism has a unique tradition of accepting plurality of truth without seeking to enforce change of belief system. The composite nature of the Indian society today is not by accident. It is directly due to the monistic way of thinking held by the majority of the Indian population. India believes in plurality, or in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, ‘the manyness of reality’.

According to this religious philosophy, the Hindus believe that everything in the cosmos is an ansh, or part, of divinity. They believe in the concept of an indwelling god, that is, every human being has a content of divinity. Due to this concept, the Hindu mind accords the position of divinity to every man and woman. This is the genesis of the culture of tolerance in India. Hinduism does not advocate change of faith. It believes in the principle of mutual acceptance, that is, according to them, they are on the true path and so are others.

6 Why are non-Muslims not allowed in Makkah and Madinah? What would happen if they enter these places?

This is an administrative decision. This practice arose to safeguard the purified sanctuary of Makkah. The Kabah was created by Abraham as a place of worship of the One God. At the time there was no such restriction on the entry of non-Muslims to the Kabah. It had free entry for all for over 1,300 years. But the idol-worshiping visitors started placing their idols in the Kabah, and the number of idols reached 360. After this experience, the above restriction was imposed at the time of Prophet Muhammad.

There are many big and popular mosques around the world, such as the Blue Mosque in Turkey and Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which are open to tourists and visitors and to non-Muslims. If the visitors start placing idols inside these mosques which were built for a certain religious practice, it is but natural for the government, or the authority of the mosque, to put in place a check for such visitors in the future.

In today’s advanced security era, it may not be possible that the previous experience pertaining to the Kabah be repeated. Therefore, in principle it may be argued that the Saudi Arabian government can lift the ban on the visit of non-Muslims. But pragmatically this may not seem as an option because once a practice becomes an established tradition over centuries, changing it becomes a very complicated matter. The current focus of the government is to use its resources to manage the annual pilgrimage, an event for which Muslims around the world are on waiting-list. Most people get only one opportunity to perform the pilgrimage in their lifetime.

7 What are some things Muslims can learn from non-Muslims?

Life is all about mutual learning. All of us should interact and learn from one other. Learning is a process and is not restricted only to some specific issues. This is the age of knowledge explosion and learning. One should imbibe the spirit of learning and must learn from one and all. By virtue of being different, each person has experiences to share and learnings to offer to another.

Learning is to be had from everyone, it is not a question of Muslim or non-Muslim. Just as two stones create sparking when rubbed against each other, similarly mutual learning causes brainstorming and leads to emergence of new ideas.

8 Why is the Quran interpreted differently, unlike the Bhagwad Gita, which is inferred the same among Hindus across the world?

The issue of different interpretations exists everywhere in the religious discipline. This is not simply a matter of the Quran, rather it is a matter which pertains to all religious books.

In the Gita, Krishna urges Arjun in these words: ‘O Arjun, go ahead and fight!’ In these scriptures too, there is an injunction to engage in battle. When you study different religions, you will realize that they do speak about war. You will also realize that every religion is basically a religion of love, compassion and peace. However, as an exception, every religion allows for war for the purpose of defence.

While Gandhi interpreted the words ‘O Arjun, go ahead and fight’ to mean a peaceful ‘internal struggle’, the same text was interpreted by Bal Gangadhar Tilak to mean a violent and concerted action to end injustice.

Religion is not a mathematical discipline; it is a subject of humanities, which is open to interpretation.  For example, political science has more than ten interpretations of the term ‘sovereign’ and ‘sovereignty’. Any subject that is based on mathematics is less likely to have conflicting interpretations, but this is not the same in disciplines of humanities. For example, lawyers contest the same case from two different perspectives based on the same constitution.

9 Are Sunni books of Hadith more authentic than Shia books of Hadith?

In the personal library of every Islamic scholar and academic (from any school of thought), all the books of Hadith exist. It is not that a certain book of Hadith is more authentic than another, the case is of certain traditions being more authentic than others. Some traditions have been repeated in many books of Hadith in the same manner, while there are some accounts which have been narrated by different people, differently.

The only difference between different scholars throughout history has been their approach of validating the authenticity of a hadith or a tradition of the Prophet. Validating a hadith is an entirely different field in itself and many books have been written on the subject.

The same holds true for Shia scholars – they have their own approach to validate a certain hadith. Generally among Shia scholars, if a hadith can be traced back to, or has been narrated by one of their Imams who succeeded Hazrat Ali, then that hadith is considered authentic. The authors of different books of Hadith just have different approaches in compiling and verifying the traditions they gather.

According to my way of study, if I am satisfied that a hadith is authentic then I quote it, irrespective of the book of Hadith it is part of.

10 Why do you have a soft corner for Hindus?

I have a soft corner for everyone, even those who harbour ill-feelings for me. Hatred does not have any positive outcome, in fact, hating another person makes me the first victim and causes mental and spiritual agony for my own self. However, having a soft corner or well-wishing for others encourages and fosters the process of personality and intellectual development in me. This process has been going on since the time of birth for every human being and will come to a halt only at the time of death.

11 Christianity prohibits divorce unlike Islam. Does this mean Christianity is better of the two?

In principle, divorce is neither encouraged by Christianity nor by Islam. The Bible does not have a literal commandment prohibiting divorce, which should have been the case going by the premise of the question. According to a tradition, the Prophet Muhammad said:

Of all things permitted, divorce is the most hateful in the sight of God. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitab at-Talaq, vol. 2, p. 255)

According to Quranic teaching, marriage is the rule of life, and divorce only an exception. But the latter must also be accepted as a reality. Indeed, there exist commandments to deal with such cases in both religious and secular laws. Although Islam permits divorce, it lays great emphasis on it being used a last resort—a measure to be taken when all attempts at reconciliation have failed.

12 The Hindu religion has Vedas which were written by saints. But how did Islam originate? How did Muhammad connect to ‘Allah’ as there was no proof of Allah’s existence during that time? How did he  start this new religion?

The Veda is supposed to have been transmitted as Shruti (oral tradition). That is, the one who wrote the Vedas was not the ‘author’ of the scripture, instead he wrote what he had heard from others. Before being written, the Vedas existed only as oral tradition.

According to Islam, the Quran is the revelation from God that came down to the Prophet Muhammad by means of the angel Gabriel. Whenever the Prophet received a revelation which the angel Gabriel brought to him, he would immediately recite it to one of his companion scribes. These scribes would write down the words recited by the Prophet on leaves, pieces of paper and other material. Many of the Companions of the Prophet also committed the entire Quran to memory. The Quran was not revealed all at once in the form of a book, rather it was revealed in parts depending upon the circumstances and the situations faced by the Prophet and Muslims. Towards the end of the life of the Prophet, the Quran, in written form, was compiled together in its current form. So the whole of the Quran was preserved in two ways: first, in writing and second, in the memory of many Muslims at the time of the Prophet.

The Prophet Muhammad did not author the Quran. He was the receiver of the message that God had sent to him. The message of the Quran was not from the Prophet Muhammad, but from God.

The Prophet did not start a new religion. The religion he conveyed was the same as that which was revealed to the earlier prophets Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, as has been mentioned in the Quran. Muhammad is only the Last Prophet and the Seal of Messengers.

The word ‘Allah’ is simply an Arabic word for ‘God’. When the Bible is translated in Arabic, ‘God’ is written as ‘Allah’ and when the Quran is translated in English ‘Allah’ is written as ‘God’. The Prophet Muhammad did not introduce a new God, he rather referred to the same One God, which in the Arabic language of his time was known as Allah.

13 Can Muslims and followers of other religions live peacefully in the long term, considering the fact that wherever Islam exists there is always a potential for conflict?

There is conflict even between two members of a family. This is because conflict is inherent in human nature; it has got nothing to do with the religion one follows. If people have the right thinking and are able to tolerate, then peace will prevail. What we see in the media regarding Islam is an outcome of selective reporting which is meant to capture only sensational news, so that viewers can get interested. There are many societies and cultures around the world where inter-faith harmony exists and a free secular atmosphere has been established.

14 How can trust be built between Muslims and other communities?

Trust does not happen simply by saying ‘trust each other’. We have to remove the obstruction in this matter, which is rujz, or negativity. The wisdom behind this is that every person is free in this world to use his or her freedom. You too can use your freedom. If you want no unwanted discussions to take place in the world and that only trust should remain, then we need to remove negativity for others from our hearts. Once these negative emotions are removed, feelings of trust will blossoms out.

15 How should Muslims treat non-Muslims living in Muslim countries?

Today we live in a world of equal citizenship. Any such categorization of people as ‘Muslim’ or ‘non-Muslim’ is wrong and no longer valid. So, a person is either an immigrant to a country or a citizen of the country. This is the universal norm and Muslim countries should also adopt this principle. They should not differentiate people on the basis of religion, because this would be unacceptable to the modern mind.

16 Should we not encourage Muslims to open communication with other communities?

Yes, this is definitely required. When the Prophet went to Madinah, half of the population comprised of Jews. The direction of prayer for the Jews was not the Kabah, rather it was facing Jerusalem. The Prophet adopted the Jewish qiblah for the Muslim prayer as well. Today, education is secular and the state too is administered along secular principles. Why do Muslims not accept this? If you do not change now, you shall have to pay the price of being called backward.

17 Does Islam allow Muslims to wish non-Muslims on their festivals?

Absolutely! Opportunities for engaging in interaction should never be lost. Greeting others is a part of social ethics, and not a part of belief system. One must strive to live peacefully and humbly in society. A society is the sub-unit of a nation, which is diverse yet interconnected. When the members of a society acknowledge their diversity despite having different beliefs, they nurture a healthy atmosphere of open interaction, mutual learning and peaceful coexistence.

18 All religions believe they are right, then how can they co-exist?

The workable formula for social harmony and co-existence is not that every religion is right. This will create conflict of interest. The real formula lies in mutual respect. The correct principle in this regard is that every religion is respectable. You cannot change the belief of a person, you can only offer your respect.

19 Can a Muslim be secular?

Yes. First, let us understand that secularism is not an anti-religious idea. There is a book in 20 volumes called Religion and Ethics. It is a compendium of the writings of some great scholars and is considered to be a very authentic and authoritative compilation. There is an article on secularism in this book which runs into twenty pages. It says that secularism is another name for the policy of non-interference. Secularism in itself is not anti-religion, but rather it is following the principle of non-interference in matters of religion. A secular person is one who practices his own religion and does not interfere with the religious practice of other people.

Islam and the Quran

1 How can busy people find time for dawah work (the task of conveying God’s message to others)?

Today, we are living in the age of social and print media. I had found an answer to this question way back, even before I had shifted to Delhi. I had once gone to South India in a train. When I alighted, a Christian father and I started walking together towards our nearby destination. I was carrying a suitcase with me. The father told me that he had to go in the same direction. At a crossroad, when I turned to go in a different direction, he opened his suitcase and gave me a small leaflet which was very well printed and had been published in Ohio. At that time, I had discovered that doing dawah work is very easy in today’s world – all you have to do is carry literature with you and give it to people around.

2 Why did Muslims not win in the Battle of Uhud?

You will certainly have to pay the price of your mistakes, even if you are a prophet. Muslims had made a mistake during the Battle of Uhud.

‘Uhud’ is the name of a mountain in Arabia and the battle was fought in the shadow of this mountain in the year 624 AD. The commander had instructed the archers positioned at the top of the mountain to not leave their places at any cost, as that would cause the enemy to attack from the rear. During the course of battle, the archers positioned at the top of the mountain felt that the Muslim side had won and so they left their positions early in spite of being instructed to not do so. This gave the opponents an opportunity to come from the rear and attack the Muslims. So, when the Muslim archers left their spot, the armies of the opposite side attacked from behind and decimated the Muslim forces. The Muslim defeat was bound to happen, as it was the consequence of a mistake made by few Muslims themselves. The occurrence of loss or defeat is a way of instilling the sense of responsibility in a person, so that he can assume full ownership for his actions.

3 According to Islam, who is the father of Jesus Christ?

According to Islamic belief, Jesus was born without a father. Muslim scholars are unanimous on this. It may sound unnatural at first but the Quran explains that just as Adam had no father, Jesus too did not have a father. For the omnipotent Creator, His creation of Jesus was the same as that of Adam’s:

Jesus in the sight of God is like Adam. He created him from dust; then said to him, ‘Be!’ and he was. (Quran 3:59)

It must be understood that though Islam and Christianity hold the same position on the miraculous birth of Jesus, Islam, however does not associate divinity with Jesus Christ. Muslims do not believe Jesus to be the son of God, but rather a prophet just like Abraham, Moses and Muhammad. According to Islamic belief, God has clearly stated in the Quran that He did not beget a son as is believed in the Christian tradition. There is another verse to this effect:

Such was Jesus, the son of Mary. That is the whole truth, about which they still dispute: it does not befit the majesty of God that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! He is far above that: when He decrees something, He says only, ‘Be!’ and it is. (Quran 19:34-35)

The Quran describes the events that took place before Jesus’ birth. An angel appeared to Mary and gave her the glad tiding of the birth of a son. Mary replied that she had no husband and asked how she could have a son. The angel told her that this was what God had ordained:

Recount in the Book how Mary withdrew from her people to an eastern place and kept herself in seclusion from them. We sent her Our angel, who presented himself to her as a full-grown human being. When she saw him, she said, ‘I seek refuge in the compassionate God from you; [do not come near] if you fear the Lord.’ ‘I am only the messenger of your Lord,’ he replied. ‘I shall bestow upon you the gift of a son endowed with purity.’ She said, ‘How can I have a son when no man has touched me; and neither have I been unchaste?’ [The angel] replied, ‘So shall it be; your Lord says, “This is easy for Me; and We shall make him a sign to people and a blessing, from Us. This has been decreed.”’ (Quran 19:16-21)

At another place the Quran says that God breathed His Spirit into Mary before she gave birth to Jesus:

Remember the one who guarded her chastity; so We breathed Our Spirit into her, and made her and her son a sign for all people. (Quran 21:91)

This is why in Islam, Jesus is referred to as ruhullah, or ‘the Spirit of God’ and not ibnullah, or ‘the son of God’.

4 What is the circumstance of this phrase Lakum deenukum waliya deen?

The verse referred to in the question is from Chapter 109 and is as follows:

You have your religion and I have mine (Quran 109:6)

This verse was revealed towards the end of the Makkan phase of Islam, which lasted for 13 years. Several Islamic scholars believe that this verse served as a last admonition to the Prophet’s opponents (the Quraysh tribe). It means that the verse came down at a point when the Prophet had fulfilled his responsibility of dawah (conveying the message of God) with respect to the Quraysh.

It is commonly held by scholars that if a community persists in its denial of the messenger, it shall suffer consequences. However, in my opinion, this verse of the Quran was in the language of ‘divine hammering.’ Its purpose is to invoke in the reader a sense of seriousness towards the message and to make him ponder over its meaning. As we learn from the history of Islam, the Makkans who had become dire opponents of the Prophet (and also the immediate reference of this verse) eventually embraced Islam.

I derive an extended meaning from the words of the above verse, which pertains to peaceful co-existence. The verse means that a believer must follow one and respect all religions.

5 What is ijtihad in today’s world?

Ijtihad is a principle to be followed in every age. It was used even at the time of the Prophet. Ijtihad means to reapply the teachings of Islam to a new situation. We have an example of this during the life of the Prophet.

Once, the Prophet sent a group of his Companions to the tribe of Banu Qurayzah. Before sending them off, he advised them:

Do not offer the Asr prayer until you have reached Banu Qurayzah. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 946)

Asr is the afternoon daily prayer, the time for which ends at the beginning of sunset. The group of Companions had not yet reached Banu Qurayzah when the sun began to set. Some of the Companions said that they should offer prayer as the time for Asr would end by the time they reached Banu Qurayzah. Certain other Companions said that they would strictly follow the Prophet’s advice and would not pray until they reached the camp of Banu Qurayzah. The former group of Companions explained to the latter that the Prophet’s words should not be taken literally, as he had actually wanted them to walk fast so that they reached their destination before the time of the Asr prayer came to an end. The Prophet did not mean that they should offer the Asr prayer only after having reached the destination, come what may. So, the Companions eventually offered prayer before reaching the Banu Qurayzah, which was contrary to the literal advice of the Prophet. Thus, on this occasion they re-interpreted the words of the Prophet. This incident is an example of doing ijtihad or reapplying a teaching of Islam in a changed situation.

In today’s age also, ijtihad is a necessity. For example, the Quran says:

Call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to you, on foot, and on every kind of lean camel, by every distant track. (Quran 22:27)

This verse calls on all Muslims to perform the pilgrimage to Makkah on camelback. In today’s times, this command cannot be followed literally, and is taken to mean: ‘Use the available means of transportation for the pilgrimage.’

In life, situations and circumstances always change and thus there is a need to re-study and re-apply the original teachings of Islam.

6 What is the duty of Muslims towards Al-Aqsa Mosque?

According to Islam, there is no duty that Muslims have towards the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Mosque which can be seen in Jerusalem today with the name of ‘Al-Aqsa’ was actually built many years after the death of Prophet Muhammad by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik and later finished and expanded by his son al-Walid in 705 AD. It was originally erected as a small prayer house by the second caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab.

The name ‘Masjid al-Aqsa’ was given to the newly-built monument by Muslims because of the reference found in the following verse of the Quran:

Holy is He who took His servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-masjid al-aqsa. (Quran 17:1)

The misconception many have today is that they think that the present-day Masjid Al-Aqsa is the same ‘masjid al-aqsa’ mentioned in the Quran. In reality, Masjid al-Aqsa did not have any physical existence at the time of the Prophet. In the verse quoted above, ‘Masjid al-Haram’ is a proper noun and refers to the Kabah in Makkah, while ‘masjid al-aqsa’ is only used as an adverb. The literal meaning of the term ‘masjid al-aqsa’ in this verse is ‘a far-off masjid’ (‘far’, because it was far from Makkah – the place from where the Prophet started his night journey). This far-off masjid was the sight at Jerusalem where the Prophet was taken during his night journey and is said to have prayed. So, the place where he prayed was just a space and had no physical building in the form of a mosque. This is why the term ‘masjid al-aqsa’ in the above verse is not a proper noun, referring to a physical mosque which existed when the Prophet went there, rather, it means a far-off place (which was Jerusalem) where the Prophet prayed.

It was only later on, after the death of the Prophet, that Muslims constructed a physical mosque at this sight in Jerusalem where the Prophet had prayed during his night journey. After construction, Muslims gave it the name ‘Masjid Al-Aqsa’. Thus, the accurate translation of the verse would be:

Holy is He who took His servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to a far-off masjid.

The above verse just refers to a far-off place where the Prophet prayed during his night journey, it does not refer to the particular physical structure of the mosque that presently exists in Jerusalem. God has bestowed no duty to Muslims towards the present Masjid Al-Aqsa.

7 Is it true that the Quran did not come in book form during the life of Prophet Muhammad?

The Quran, according to Muslim belief, is a book revealed by God. Today, it exists in the form of a book, but all of its 114 chapters were not revealed at once. They were sent part by part, according to circumstances, over a period of 23 years. The present order of arrangement of the chapters of the Quran is not the same as the order of their revelation.

In ancient times information used to be preserved in human memory. Oral traditions in those days functioned as libraries do today. This system made it possible for the revelations of the Quran to be preserved in the memory of a large number of Muslim companions of the Prophet. And to this day, and in spite of the invention of the press, the institution of memorizing the Quran is still alive all over the Muslim world.

But the message of the Quran was not transmitted purely by oral tradition even during the lifetime of the Prophet. Among his companions were a select group of about half a dozen katib-e-wahy, or transcribers of the revelations. A few of these scribes were always present with the Prophet and whenever any passage of the Quran was revealed, the Prophet would recite it to them. Thereupon, at the exact moment of revelation, they would not only commit it to memory, but would also write it down on any available material, such as paper, bones, leather or skin. In former times, when the accepted way of disseminating the subject matter of a book was to memorize it and then recite it, it was quite exceptional that the Quran should have been both memorized and preserved in writing.

The second point concerns the arrangement of the verses and chapters of the Quran. When the Quran was revealed in parts, at different times according to the demand of circumstances, how did it come to be arranged in its present form? We find the answer in books of Hadith. It has been proved from authentic traditions that the angel Gabriel, who conveyed the revelations of God to the Prophet, himself arranged these verses in their present order. Each year during the month of Ramadan, the angel Gabriel would come to the Prophet and recite before him all the Quranic verses revealed up till that time. And after listening to the angel, the Prophet would repeat the verses in the order in which he had heard them. This dual process has been termed as al-Irza, or mutual presentation, in the books of Hadith:

In the last year of the Prophet’s life, when the revelations were complete, Gabriel came to the Prophet and recited the entire Quran in the existing order twice, and the Prophet also recited to Gabriel the entire Quran twice. This final presentation is called al-Arz al-Akhirah in the Hadith. (Fathul Bari, pp. 659-663)

And in this way the Quran came to be in the form we are familiar with today, preserved in memories of tens of thousands of the Prophet’s companions even during his lifetime. When the Prophet died in 632 AD, at the age of 63, the Quran existed in two forms: first, in the memory of these companions, who had learned it by rote in what is now its present order; second, in writing — on pieces of paper and other materials, preserved by the companions. What must be noted here is that the order existed in memory, not in writing, though all the parts existed at that time in written form.

After the death of the Prophet, Abu Bakr became the first caliph. In his time, the Quran not only existed in written form on the bark of date palms, stones, leather, etc., but was also preserved in the memory of the companions. The Qur’an, when made into a book, was arranged in the order memorized by the companions, and the verses have been preserved in that same order right up to the present day. Zayd ibn Thabit’s work was more a process of collection than of compilation. That is, the scattered bits and pieces of the Quran in written form were collected by him, not just to be assembled and bound in one volume, but to be used to verify the authenticity of the Quran as memorized and passed on in oral tradition by countless individuals. Once this exact correspondence between the oral and written forms of the Quran had been established beyond any reasonable doubt, Zayd proceeded to put the verses of the Quran down on paper in their correct order.

In former times, when the accepted way of disseminating the subject matter of a book was to memorize it, then recite it, it was quite exceptional that the Qur’an should have been preserved in writing as well as memorized. This was like having a ‘double checking’ system, whereby memory plus written words and written words plus memory could be constantly compared for verification. In his book, The Bible, the Qur’an and Science (1970), the French author Dr. Maurice Bucaille, says about the process of preservation of the Quran, ‘This process of recitation afforded a considerable advantage as far as an uncorrupted text was concerned, for it provided a system of double-checking at the time the definitive text was written down.’

After Zayd ibn Thabit had prepared the entire Quran and bound it in the form of a book, all other materials collected from different companions, for the purpose of checking and rechecking, were all burnt. Now this volume was handed over to the caliph. After Abu Bakr’s death it remained with Umar, the second caliph. After the death of Caliph Umar it remained in the custody of Hafsa, daughter of Umar and wife of the Prophet.

The third caliph Uthman, as advised by Huzayfa ibn Yaman, had copies made of the volume prepared by Abu Bakr, then sent one copy each to all cities. This task was again entrusted to Zayd ibn Thabit Ansari, who was provided with eleven people to assist him. As per the order of the third caliph, the committee wrote down the Quran in accordance with the spelling of the Quraysh, so that it should conform to the accent (lehja) of the Prophet of Islam. Caliph Uthman subsequently ordered that all other copies of the Qur’an, which people had written on their own, should be handed over to the government. These were all then burnt by his order. By this method, all the copies of the Quran were made uniform as far as writing was concerned.

These copies of the Quran, made with extraordinary care and precision, were passed on from generation to generation until the age of the press dawned. Many printing presses were then established in the Muslim world, where the beautiful calligraphy of the scriptures was reproduced after its content had been certified by memorizers of the Quran. Thus, once again, with the help of the memorized versions and written texts, correct, authentic copies were prepared; then with the publication of these copies on a large scale, the Quran spread all over the world.

Any copy of the Quran found in any part of the world at any time will be exactly the same as that handed down to the Muslims by the Prophet in his last days, arranged in the form still extant today.

8 Does spirituality exist in Islam?

Yes. Our world is a dual world – a world of ‘material things’, and a world of ‘inner meanings’. When one raises oneself to a level where material things become secondary and inner meanings become of prime importance, then one is a spiritual person. There are two major schools of spiritual discipline: one based on meditation and the other on contemplation. The former relates to the heart and the latter relates to the mind.

Meditation-based spirituality

Spirituality of the heart is generally taken to mean the opposite of worldliness. It advocates only one way to preserve one’s spirituality, and that is to retire to a desolate place, leaving behind one’s homes and worldly life, where there is nothing to divert one’s attention. Here one is required to completely focus on meditation. It is this viewpoint, which is presented in the well-known book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

‘Heart-based spirituality’ takes one to a level, which is, in fact, one of ecstasy. Particular practices and chants produce an ecstatic feeling within the practitioner. There are many methods of meditation in the spiritual discipline, which have been prevalent in one form or the other since ancient times. Whenever a person raises himself above worldly matters and devotes his life to becoming one with the non-material world through meditation, he experiences a very different kind of feeling. When he enters this state of ecstasy, he experiences an unknown pleasure. On the basis of this experience, people associate ecstasy with spirituality. However, ecstasy is nothing but a reduced form of spirituality. Personally, I subscribe to the school of contemplation, rather than meditation.

Contemplation-based spirituality

A human being is an intellectual being. He is endowed with a mind, which is his greatest faculty. Real spirituality or contemplative spirituality is that which has the power to address our minds. Any kind of spirituality attained at a level lesser than that of our minds is not true spirituality.

According to me, true spirituality is based on contemplation or reflection or pondering, which has to do with intellectual activity. Such spirituality is produced when one gives serious thought to such questions pertaining to life, for example: Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? What is this world around me? What is the creation plan of the Creator? Is my life governed by destiny or free will? What is my purpose in life? A seeker is able to find true spirituality by finding rational answers to such questions, whereby he receives spirituality at the mind or thinking level.

Indeed, the journey of spirituality begins with the urge to search for the truth. When a seeker discovers the truth and learns the creation plan of the Creator, his life enters a new phase, i.e. that of building of the human personality according to spiritual principles. This journey is entirely intellectual in nature. Its quest is two-fold, one is to solve the riddle of why, all men and women undergo negative experiences in this world and the other is to offer positive solutions. It addresses the paradox of human beings having been given the freedom to make their own moral choices, and their frequent misuse of this freedom - a course of action which causes them to repeatedly face situations in which people do each other harm; losses are incurred because of others’ injustice; severe provocations are suffered because of untoward experiences. At such times spirituality teaches us to convert negativity into positivity through the art of conversion. This is the ideology of spirituality as presented in Islam.

When a scientist discovers the scientific world, he doesn’t leave the material world, but rather stays here, studies and makes discoveries in this very world. Spirituality is also a science. Consequently, in spiritual science the same method is valid, i.e. undergoing spiritual experiences while remaining in the material world. Spirituality, in fact, is a process of converting our everyday material events into spiritual experiences. While living his social life, man is affected by events, which trigger negative thoughts such as malice, lust, anger, arrogance, greed, etc. But when man raises himself above his immediate surroundings, i.e. from the material level to a higher level of thinking, he experiences real spirituality. At this elevated level, man is able to eradicate his negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. In this state, he learns to convert non-spiritual matters into spiritual matters.

This is the principle on which the entire material world is based. It may be called the principle or art of conversion. For instance, let us take the case of water. Two gases separately are not water, but, when they combine and convert into another form, they take the form of water. The same is true of the tree. A tree is, in fact, the result of the conversion of non-botanical matter.

All these processes use the principle of conversion. In the same way contemplative spirituality through the principle of conversion makes man spiritual. True spirituality, an intellectual activity, is a science of inner development and material things indirectly contribute towards that development. In fact, material life is made more meaningful by the pro-active role played by spirituality in intellectual refinement and the consequent progress of humanity. Spirituality does not, as some may imagine, arrest the thinking process, but rather enhances intellectual activity in the complete sense of the word.

9 What are the five daily prayers in Islam?

Prayer is form of worship of God. Prayer has been enjoined on believers five times a day at appointed hours:

Believers are under the obligation to say their prayers at the appointed hours. (Quran 4:103)

These prayers are performed either individually at home or in congregation in mosques. A believer begins his prayer by uttering the words “God is Great”. These words acknowledge that all greatness belongs to God and that the worshipper will lead a life of modesty and humility. Each prayer is segmented into several rak’ah, or units. In each rak’ah a person stands, bows and prostrates, reciting verses from the Quran and other prayers. These are the five obligatory prayers:

1. Early morning prayer (Fajr): two rak’ahs between dawn and sunrise

2. Noon prayer (Zuhr): four rak’ahs, between noon and mid-afternoon 

3. Afternoon prayer (Asr): four rak’ahs. The time for prayer starts when the length of any object’s shadow reaches a factor (usually 1 or 2) of the length of the object itself plus the length of that object’s shadow at noon. The time for the prayer ends at sunset.

4. Sunset prayer (Maghrib): three rak’ahs between sunset and early evening

5. Evening prayer (Ishaa): four rak’ah from the disappearance of twilight until dawn

During the prayer, a believer refreshes his memory about God’s commandments regarding himself. Then he kneels and prostrates himself before God, in physical expression of the idea that the only course that befits him is to lead his life according to the creation plan of God. The prayer is concluded by turning the face first to the right side, then to the left, and uttering the words Assalamu-alaykum, which means, ‘May the peace and blessings of God be upon you!’ This is a demonstration that spiritually conditioned by prayer, the worshipper is now entering into the world with no other thoughts and feelings in his mind but those of mercy towards others and peace for all mankind.

Prayer strengthens a believer’s resolve to remain a peaceful member of the society, and to harbour no ill-feelings towards anyone. Prayer in one respect is to surrender before God, attributing all kinds of greatness to Him alone. In yet another respect, prayer prepares the individual to lead a worthy life among fellow human-beings, adopting an attitude of modesty, sympathy and good-will in all his dealings. In short, prayer perfects a person’s relation with God as well as with other human beings. According to a verse, a believer is enjoined thus:  

Prostrate yourself and come closer to God. (Quran 96:19)

The cadence of praying five times formally was prescribed so that congregational prayers could be undertaken. A believer otherwise must engage in prayer in an informal way throughout the day, whereby he remembers the blessings of God and shows gratefulness to his Creator. This has been alluded to in the Quran in the following words:

When you have finished the prayer, remember God while standing, and sitting, and lying on your sides. When you feel secure, say your prayers in the prescribed form. (Quran 4:103)

10 How and when did Muhammad (the Muslim prophet) die?

Prophet Muhammad died in 632 A.D under natural circumstances. According to the Quran, a prophet is normal human being who receives wahy, or revelation from God. There is nothing mysterious about prophethood. The Prophet’s last words before he died were:

O God, the noblest companion! (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 4463)

When the Prophet Muhammad passed away, some of his companions could not reconcile with the fact that he was no more. The senior companion Umar ibn al-Khattab was ready to kill anyone who would state that the Prophet had died. At the time of Prophet’s demise, Abu Bakr (one of the Prophet’s closest companions) was not in Madinah. Upon his return, when he saw the reaction of some of the companions, he said the following to counsel them to overcome the emotional turmoil:

For those of you who worshipped Muhammad, know that he was a man and is dead and for those of you who worshipped God, know that He is alive and eternal. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 1241, 1242)

Afterwards, the companions realized that they were denying the reality and accepted the fact of the death of the Prophet, and that he was not going to return. The same message has been alluded to in the following verse of the Quran:

Muhammad is only a messenger. Messengers have passed away before him. If he should die, or be killed, will you turn back on your heels? Those who turn on their heels do not harm the Lord in the least. God will reward the grateful. (Quran 3:144)

Death is not a negative event in the life of a believer; it is a part of the creation plan of God. If one consciously realizes that death means meeting God, he would become positive in thought and character and will prepare himself for it.

11 Can a woman be a Qazi?

The position of a Qazi (jurist) is a matter of competence and not of gender. Yes, a woman could become a Qazi; it is not a taboo for women to become so. If a woman is competent, she could perform the role of a jurist (Qazi).

12 In Islam, how can a woman divorce a man?

Islamic law on marriage and divorce provides for almost all eventualities including a woman’s right to divorce her husband. Islam has two provisions through which a woman may give divorce, however, we must first understand that marriage is the rule of life and divorce is only an exception. But the latter must also be accepted as a reality. Separation is strongly advised against in case of minor provocations. It is meant only as a last resort, when it has become truly unavoidable.

The first method of divorce for a woman is to present her case before a religious scholar, or a body of religious scholars. They give consideration to her circumstances in the light of the Quran and the Hadith, and on reasonable grounds for separation, they decide in her favour. This is termed as khula.

The second method is called talaq-e-tafweez (or delegated divorce) in which a husband may delegate to the wife the authority to pronounce talaq or divorce. It works when a prenuptial clause is inserted in the marriage document. The woman can tell her husband any time in her life that she wants to divorce him for certain reasons. The husband is bound to agree if she seeks separation. The parents of the woman can secure this right for their daughter at the time of her marriage. But the elders of both families are expected to advise and oversee that the rights of neither party are being misused.

13 What is your interpretation of hijab or the veil mentioned in the Quran?

Burqa, or purdah is generally looked upon as an integral part of Islam, but this is not so. In reality, the burqa is a part of Muslim culture and not a part of Islamic teaching. There is a great difference between Muslims and Islam. If it is claimed that the burqa is a part of Muslim culture, then I would say yes to that, but if it is claimed that the wearing of it is a part of Quranic teaching, then I would say no. The source of Islam is the Quran and not Muslim culture. Muslim culture is a social phenomenon, while the Quran is the Book of God as revealed to the Prophet of Islam.

According to linguistic history, the word burqa was in use in Arabia before the advent of Islam in the first quarter of the seventh century. At that time the word burqa meant a piece of clothing that was used as a protection, especially in winters. The well-known Arabic dictionary Lisan al-Arab gives us two examples of its use during the pre-Islamic period: the first, as a cover for animals during the winter season and the second, as a covering or chaadar, like a shawl, for village women. Although the word burqa existed in the Arabic vocabulary at that time, the Quran did not use this word for women’s purdah.

History shows that the present veil or burqa first came into vogue in Persia. When Islam entered Persia, a complete civilization was already in existence there. Many things were introduced into Muslim culture from the Persian culture. As per the pre-Islamic Persian culture, even the Iranian kings used to keep their women separately and would make them wear a veil. Under the influence of Iranian culture burqa was adopted by Muslims. Gradually, it became a part of Muslim culture.

At present Muslims use the term hijab as equivalent to burqa, but the word hijab is likewise not used in the Quran in this sense. Hijab literally means curtain. Hijab is used in the Quran seven times, but not in the sense that is prevalent among the Muslims today, rather it is used in its literal sense of ‘curtain’.

Regarding women’s purdah, two words have been used in the Quran: jilbab (33:59) and khimar (24:31). But again, these words are not used in their present connotation. It is a fact that both words have a similar meaning, that is, chaadar or duppatta, that is, something which covers the body of a woman and not her face. So, it is very clear that the present burqa or hijab are not Quranic terms; both are part of Muslim culture and not part of Quranic commandments. The concept of hijab as understood in the popular sense today has emerged from Fiqh.

In reality, Islam talks about adopting simplicity and modesty.

In terms of outfit, the Shariah prescribes women to cover their body with clothing which is not tight fitting and not meant to attract others. (Quran 24:31, Tafsir Usmani)

It is noteworthy that the well-known Arab scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, clearly endorses the above-mentioned position of the Shariah in his book on this subject, Jilbab al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah fil Kitab was-Sunnah (The Veil of a Muslim Woman in the Light of the Quran and Sunnah). He goes on to say that it is clear from the Quran, the Hadith and the practice of the Companions and the Tabiun (Companions of the Prophet’s Companions) that whenever a woman steps out of her home she should cover herself completely so as not to show any part of her body except the face and the hands.

During the Prophet’s time, Muslim women were active in different fields, such as agriculture, horticulture and social work. Islamic literature mentions some pious women who have played a highly creative role in their society, like Hajira, the wife of the Prophet Abraham; Maryam, the mother of Jesus; Khadija, the wife of the Prophet of Islam and Aishah, the wife of the Prophet of Islam. According to books of Hadith, Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter, used to take part in campaigns, undertake the work of providing first-aid and giving the injured water to drink and food to eat.

These women, accepted as models in the society of believers, are good examples for the women of today. There are many such incidents which show that Islam accords equal freedom to a woman and a man. The Prophet of Islam said:

Men and women are two equal halves of a single unit. (Sunan Abi Dawud, hadith no. 236)

This is the best expression of gender equality.

14 As an Islamic scholar, how would you defend Islam and the Quran from the ill reputation they have garnered from terrorists who base their actions in Islam?

One does not need to defend Islam. We need to spread the right teachings of Islam to create an understanding of the peaceful message of Islam.

Terrorism has no linkage to Islam. It is an undeniable fact that due to wrong interpretations of Islam, some sections of our society are today engaged in hate and violence. As a consequence, on the one hand, the authorities are trying to crush the terror menace through legal action, and on the other hand, reformers are trying to curb it by engaging in condemnation. However, both of these methods are, apparently, proving to be ineffective. Then what is the solution?

The present problem of terrorism is based on an ideology and that cannot be countered or killed through legal action or by mere condemnation. We have to develop a counter-ideology to overcome it. Violence begins from the mind. It must, therefore, be uprooted from the mind itself. This goes directly to the root cause of terrorism. Therefore, in order to eliminate this root cause, we need to initiate our efforts by beginning from the right starting point. And, that is, the re-engineering of minds of individuals by taking them away from the culture of violence and bringing them closer to the culture of peace.

15 How can we understand and convey the true essence of Islam?

The essence of Islam is tawhid. That is, to believe in One all-powerful God who in the future shall hold us accountable for our actions here on earth. This belief makes one self-conscious about one’s actions. It instils in a person the virtues of honesty, modesty, just and fair dealing.

The best way to convey the true essence of Islam is to become an embodiment of these traits and let your character speak louder than your words.

16 How does the Quran explain God?

Fundamental to the religious structure of Islam is the concept of tawhid, or monotheism. As the seed is to tree, so is tawhid to Islam. For monotheism in Islam does not mean simply belief in one God, but in God’s oneness in all respects. No one shares in this oneness of God.

As proof of the Creator’s existence, the Quran advances the fact of the very existence of the universe. All studies of the universe show it cannot be sui genesis: some other agent is essential for the universe to have come into existence. This means the choice is not between a universe with God and one without God, rather it is between a universe with God, and no universe at all. And so, we are left with only the option of a universe with God — a condition also necessary for the existence of human beings.

As the Quran expresses it:

God; there is no deity save Him, the Living, the Eternal One. Neither slumber nor sleep overtake Him. To Him belong whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Who can intercede with Him, except by His permission? He knows all that is before them and all that is behind them. They can grasp only that part of His knowledge, which He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth; and their upholding does not weary Him. He is the Sublime, the Almighty One. (Quran 2:255)

God acquires a very prominent position in the Quran. Every chapter in the Quran begins in the name of God. People often believe that in Islam belief in God is a matter of blind faith, but if you read the Quran you will find that the Quran treats belief in God as a matter of realization resulting from thinking and pondering over the world around us. Throughout the Quran there are numerous verses enjoining the reader to observe and reflect on the universe and the phenomena of nature. A verse in chapter 3 says:

There are signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day for people of understanding. (Quran 3:191)

This is because the Quran wants people to discover God through study and contemplation. God should be an intellectual discovery for believers.

It is also generally believed that God of the Quran is cruel and punishes sinners for every minor sin. But contrary to this, every chapter of the Quran begins with these words:

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. (Quran 1:1)

In the Quran, God Himself says:

O My servants, who have committed excesses against their own souls, do not despair of God’s mercy, for God surely forgives all sins. He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. (Quran 39:53)

17 Why did the Prophet Muhammad destroy the idols in Makkah?

Every religion has an institutional place of worship. The Kabah was built by the Prophet Abraham for the worship of One God (monotheism). Neither Abraham nor his followers ever placed an idol inside the Kabah. In later times, since it was open for all, some visitors placed idols inside the Kabah, thereby causing intrusion or unauthorized trespassing.

When the whole of Makkah came within the fold of Islam, the presence of these idols became irrelevant and therefore they were removed. This was not done as a mark of disrespect. Had there still been worshippers of these idols, they would not have been destroyed but simply relocated to their rightful temples.

18 Is it true that the Quran teaches killing of all non-believers?

Referring to certain verses of the Quran, there are some who attempt to give the impression that Islam is a religion of war and violence. This is totally untrue. Such verses relate to a specific situation and are meant in a restricted sense; they are not of general applicability. Observe the following verse:

And fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression – for surely God does not love aggressors. Slay them wherever you find them [those who fight against you]. (Quran 2:190-91)

Fight them until there is no more fitna [religious persecution] and religion belongs to God alone. If the desist, then let there be no hostility, except towards aggressors. (Quran 2:193)

The above verses do not convey the general command of Islam. The truth of the matter is that the Quran was not revealed in the complete form in which it exists today. It was revealed from time to time, according to the circumstances, over a period of 23 years. If this is divided into years of war and peace, the period of peace amounts to 20 years, while that of war amounts only to 3 years. The revelations during these 20 peaceful years consisted of the peaceful teachings of Islam as are conveyed in the verses regarding the realization of God, worship, morality, piety, justice, etc.

This division of commands into different categories is a natural one and is found in all religious books. For instance, the Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, pertains to wisdom and moral values. Yet along with there is also an exhortation by Krishna to Arjuna, encouraging him to fight (Bhagavad Gita 3:30). This does not mean that believers in the Gita should wage war all the time. Mahatma Gandhi, after all, derived his philosophy of non-violence from the same Gita. The exhortation to wage war in the Gita applies only to exceptional cases where circumstances leave no choice. But for general day-to-day existence it gives the same peaceful commands as derived from it by Mahatma Gandhi.

Similarly, Jesus Christ said:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)

It would not be right to conclude that the religion preached by Christ was one of war and violence, for such utterances relate purely to particular occasions. So far as general life is concerned, Christ taught peaceful values, such as the building up of a good character, loving each other, helping the poor and needy, etc. The same is true of the Quran. When the Prophet of Islam emigrated from Makkah to Madinah, the idolatrous tribes became aggressive towards him. But the Prophet always averted their attacks by the exercise of patience and the strategy of avoidance. However, on certain occasions no other options existed, save that of retaliation. Therefore, he had to engage in defensive battle on certain occasions. It was these circumstances which occasioned the revelations relating to war. These commands, being specific to certain circumstances, had no general application. They were not meant to be valid for all time to come. That is why the permanent status of the Prophet has been termed:

‘a mercy to all mankind’. (Quran 21:107)

In principle, the Quran teaches peace and complete freedom of thought and religion, and does not, to any extent, advocate for the unjust killing of non-believers.

19 Is doing yoga daily against Islam?

Yoga has many health benefits and Islam has no negative ruling about doing yoga. To those whom it suits, may do it. If there is anything in yoga that you feel uncomfortable about, then you can simply opt out from doing it. The roots of yoga are not in any particular religion, therefore, Muslims need not avoid it.

20 How different is Islam today than what the Prophet Muhammad intended it to be?

There is no difference between what Islam is today and that which was brought by the Prophet Muhammad. Islam is still the same. The difference is only that many present-day Muslims have become misguided. For instance, the Prophet Muhammad had said, as mentioned in the Quran:

I am your sincere and honest adviser. (Quran 7:68)

Despite the clear teaching of Islam that advocates well-wishing for others and a human-friendly behaviour, a large number of present-day Muslims have strayed from this course. It is the spirit of well-wishing which is required to maintain normalcy in a society. All constructive and creative endeavours can be fulfilled only when people engage in human-friendly behaviour and do not follow the policy of antagonism.

This example shows how it is some Muslims who have deviated from the path of Islam.

21 Why do Muslim clerics reject the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam?

Islam has a traditional established model according to which Muhammad is:

God’s Messenger and the seal of the Prophets. (Quran 33:40)

The Ahmadiyya sect deviated from this established model and claimed that their founder was a prophet. When Muslims informed them that Muhammad was the final Prophet according to Islam, they said that their founder was in reality Zil-e-Nabi (Shadow of Prophet). This concept is prima facie baseless since it has no valid basis in the Quran and the Hadith. This is why the Ahmadiyya sect is rejected by every Muslim cleric outside the Ahmadiyya School of Thought.

However, the violent reaction of Muslims against people belonging to this sect is not justified. Topics of these sort are subject of intellectual discussion and peaceful persuasion. By no means should any form of violence or boycotting be used against them.

22 Why do most Muslims have a tendency to try to convert people to their religion?

Islam does not subscribe to the concept of conversion. It believes that religion is a matter of individual choice. The search for the truth should be every person’s individual effort and the decisions one then takes in the matter of religion is completely personal.

The concept of religious conversion is alien to the Quran. It has no basis in the Quran. The Quran speaks of marefat, which means God-realization or the discovery of God. So, the truth is your own discovery, your own realization. It is a personal choice. If you want to know what the purpose of life is, what life and death are about, and so on, you have to study, reflect and discuss with learned people. And after that, you may reach some conclusion. And that is your religion. So, your religion is your own discovery.

In religious ‘conversion’, there are two parties: the converter and the converted. But this is not the concept in Islam. In Islam, there is only one party—and that is you. If you want to find the truth, you have to reflect and study on your own. And when you discover something as the truth, you opt for it.

23 How are the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet Abraham related?

The Prophet Abraham was born in Ur (Iraq). His sons, the Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) and Prophet Ishaq (Isaac) were ancestors to two streams of prophets. The Prophet Isaac was the forefather of the line of prophets starting from the Prophet Jacob until the Prophet Jesus. The Prophet Muhammad belonged to the tribe of Quraysh, which traced its origin to the Prophet Ishmael.

The period between the era of the Prophet Abraham and that of the Prophet Muhammad is over two thousand years. But all the prophets from Ishmael and Isaac to Muhammad (including Jesus and Moses) share a common lineage going back to the Prophet Abraham. This is why Judaism, Christianity and Islam are called Abrahamic religions.

24 Except the Prophet Muhammad, which were the other prophets who took political positions?

In the modern sense of ‘politics’, the Prophet Muhammad did not occupy any political position. He was only the chief of a tribal system. It was the Prophet Dawud (David) and the Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon) who held positions of head of state during their period of prophethood.

The Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) was also only in charge of the food and agricultural ‘ministry’, while the Hyksos king who ruled Egypt during his time prevailed upon the law. It is clearly outlined in the Quran and the Torah that the law of the land in the time of the Prophet Joseph was in the hands of the non-believing king under whom Joseph only served as a minister:

He could not have detained his brother under the King’s law. (Quran 12:76)

25 What was the character of the Prophet Muhammad really like?

The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, was born in Arabia on 22 April 570 AD, and died on 8 June 632 AD. He grew up orphaned and his childhood gave indications of the sublime and dynamic personality that was to emerge. As he grew up, the nobility of his personality, soft-spoken and genial disposition made him a benevolent member of the society. A balanced personality—tolerant, truthful, perspicacious and magnanimous—he presented the highest example of human nobility. According to Daud ibn Husayn, he became known as the most chivalrous among his people, tolerant and forbearing, truthful and trustworthy, always an epitome of good behaviour. He would stay aloof from all quarrels and quibbles and never indulged in foul utterances, abuse or invective. People even left their valuables in his custody, for they knew that he would never betray them. His unimpeachable trustworthiness won for him the title of al-Amin, an unfailing trustee, and of al-Sadiq, the truthful.

As a Prophet, he was an embodiment of virtues a true believer must imbibe and uphold. A prophet is a well-wisher for mankind and the entire life of the Prophet Muhammad is a testament to this fact. He never discriminated between people on the basis of their colour, creed or social status; in the heydays of slavery, he advocated freedom of slaves; in an environment full of resentment and staunch opposition, he always adopted a forgiving approach, never avenging any wrong done to him.

His experience at Taif is an example. The leaders of the Thaqif tribe in Taif refused to extend their support to his mission and let loose street urchins after the Prophet who continued pelting stones at him until the cover of night made him invisible. Despite being humiliated, injured and wearied, the Prophet did not resort to cursing the people of the Thaqif tribe, rather books of tradition tell us that

He prayed for their guidance. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3231)

His wife Ayisha said about the Prophet Muhammad, “He would not follow an evil with an evil, rather he would pardon and forgive.” (Musnad Ahmad (vol. 6, p. 174)

He once was asked by the people to curse an aggressor and he replied:

I have not been sent as the invoker of curse, but I have been sent as mercy. (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2599)

The Prophet Muhammad taught the believers to become conscientious members of society. He advised that, ‘A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand people are safe.’ (Sunan al-Nasai, hadith no. 4998)

He propagated caring and supporting the sick, feeding the hungry and being kind, living as no-problem persons for neighbours, refraining from using offensive names and caring for animals. He encouraged responsible living and judicious utilization of natural resources, such as water, even if has limitless access to them. Once the Prophet passed by a Companion when he was performing ablutions and said to him:

‘What is this extravagance?’ The Companion asked, ‘Can there be extravagance in ablutions?’ The Prophet replied, ‘Yes, even if you are on the bank of a flowing river!’ (Sunan ibn Majah, hadith no. 460)

The Prophet Muhammad exemplified peace and tolerance throughout his life. Once, on being asked for a master advice, he replied: ‘Don’t be angry.’ He said that the strongest among us is the one who can control his anger. He propagated the pursuit of the easier choice of peace and tolerance as against being intolerant or violent.

During the course of his lifetime, there were certain defensive skirmishes that took place. Even during these, Prophet Muhammad strictly prohibited the ill treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war. For example, the Prophet did not approve of any ill treatment of prisoners of war that were taken after the Battle of Badr:

He instructed Muslims to share equal food with the prisoners. (Majma ul Zawaid, hadith no. 10007)

He declared that any prisoner who could teach ten children of Madinah to read and write would be set free. (Musnad Ahmad, hadith no. 2216)

It is also worth noting that in future battles, no prisoners of war were taken in by the Muslims.

The Prophet Muhammad taught believers to be virtuous and compassionate towards fellow human beings. He preached selfless service and development of piety and modesty amongst individuals. He believed that a Muslim is soft, simple and lenient. He cautioned Muslims from falling into extremism:

Those who go to extremes are doomed. (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2670)

26 Why do Muslims only respect the Prophet Muhammad?

A believing Muslim is bound to respect all the prophets. He cannot differentiate between the messengers of God.

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.

27 What is jizya?

Jizya was only a temporary kind of punitive tax levied upon a group of Arabs who had rebelled at the time of the Prophet of Islam. Despite their pact of allegiance to the Prophet of Islam, this group of Arabs had joined hands with the antagonists against the Prophet and his Companions.

After jizya was abrogated, only the practice of Kharaj (land-tax) remained applicable to all (Muslims and non-Muslims) alike. The practice of collecting jizya by Muslim rulers in later times from the non-Muslim minority has no grounds in Islam.

28 Who is a kafir?

The word kafir has never been used in the Quran to mean either a non-Muslim or an infidel. In fact, this term was applied solely to contemporaries of the Prophet. Kafir (pl. kuffar) was used to refer to those people who had completely understood the true message of Islam and refused to believe in it due to stubbornness. The Prophet peacefully conveyed to them the divine message over a long period of time, but they refused to follow the truth of his words. God, therefore, declared those people, the contemporaries of the Prophet as kuffar that is, the deniers. The use of the word kafir for anyone other than the contemporaries of the Prophet is not permissible.

The most important point to be grasped on this subject is that the word kafir denotes an individual rather than a certain race or community. It is in no way a group appellation. However, the generally held view is that one who is not a Muslim is kafir. This is an entirely baseless supposition. The word kafir is not synonymous with non-Muslim or a non-Muslim community.

Being a kafir is a matter of the heart, which God alone knows and therefore no person has any right to accuse a fellow human as being kafir. Kafir was a term of reference, restricted in place and time, and which is no longer relevant today. Now all are equally human beings and they have to be dealt with as human beings.

There is a relevant story in the life of the Prophet of Islam that aptly illustrates this principle. The Prophet of Islam migrated from Makkah to Madinah in 622 AD at which time there were some Jewish tribes living in Madinah. One day it happened that the Prophet of Islam, seated at that time, saw a funeral procession passing through a street in Madinah. On seeing the funeral, he stood up in deference.

One of his Companions said, ‘O Prophet! That was the funeral of a Jew, not a Muslim.’ The Prophet replied: ‘Was he not a human being?’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 1312, 1313)

The Prophet could discover a commonality between himself and a Jew, because both were human beings and creations of God.

Present-day Muslims often callously use the term kafir. They must bear in mind the following hadith of the Prophet of Islam where he condemned mindless usage of this term and said:

If one accuses another of being a kafir and the accused is not one, then the word will return to the accuser. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 6045)

Muslims must therefore absolutely refrain from alleging anyone as being a kafir or a denier.

29 Does Islam have a concept similar to karma?

No, Islam does not believe in the concept of karma. The concept of karma rests on the notion of the perpetual re-birth of a person until the soul is cleansed, after which it finally joins the divine. According to this concept, it is the outcome of the karma of a person that determines his next form in his re-birth and this cycle continues.

According to Islam, a person’s life is eternal, a fraction of which he spends on the planet earth. The time he spends on earth is a test. How he has performed in this test will be evaluated after his death on the Judgment Day. The Quran says:

On that Day people will come forward in separate groups to be shown their deeds: whoever has done the smallest particle of good will see it; while whoever has done the smallest particle of evil will see it. (Quran 99:6-8)

30 Can a caliph put an end to the turmoil in the Muslim world today?

Problems are a part of nature and no one is capable of eliminating them, not even a caliph. Even the period described as the Golden Era of Islam (of the Prophet, the Companions of the Prophet and the Followers of the Companions), was not devoid of problems.

It must, however, be noted that the world is created in such a manner that it is not possible that a difficulty be present without the presence of ease or opportunities. Ease is always present along with a difficulty. The Prophet said that a believer relies on patience. This means that in difficult situations, we should keep patience. The Quran says:

With every hardship, there is ease (Quran 94:5-6)

31 What are some things Muslims agree that Muhammed did wrong?

On this topic, there is nothing much listed in books of Hadith or Sunnah. There are some decisions which could be referred to as Ijtihadi khata (Interpretational Error).

Here is an example. When the Prophet of Islam migrated from Makkah to Madinah, he witnessed practices like agriculture and horticulture — in particular, the growing of date palms. Being raised in Makkah, the Prophet had no experience of either farming or fruit growing. One day, as the Prophet was passing through the outskirts of Madinah, he noticed that some people, who had climbed up the date palm trees, were engaged in some activity. On inquiring what they were busy with, they explained that they were aiding pollination in trees.

Traditionally, they did this by artificial pollination of the date flowers, and this experience had ensured a good crop yield. But when their actions were explained to the Prophet, he said, “What if you don’t do it?” The people, in deference to his judgement climbed down the trees without completing their task. That year the yield was very low. When the Prophet inquired why the yield was so low that particular year, the orchard keepers replied that the yield depended on pollination, which they had abandoned as the Prophet had asked them not to do. On hearing this, the Prophet replied:

You have better knowledge in the affairs of the world. (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2363)

This incident illustrates how the Prophet separated religious knowledge from worldly matters such as horticulture. In fact, the principle evident in this was applicable not just to horticulture, but to all mundane, worldly matters not related to religion. The Prophet always sought out advice and suggestions from the more learned and experienced while taking decision in these matters.

32 Is it my right as a Muslim man to force my wife to wear a hijab?

No, the husband cannot impose hijab on his wife. In fact, a husband must not impose anything on his wife. Islam accords equal status to women as that to men. The Quran says:

You are members, one of another. (Quran 3:195)

This means that there is no difference between the two as regards status, rights and blessings both in this world and in the Hereafter.

In case a man requires something out-of-ordinary from his wife, a special provision has to be agreed upon between the two – husband and wife. It should be done at the time of or before marriage itself and with mutual consent. This special provision works both ways and the wife can ask for something out-of-ordinary from her husband as well.

33 What are your views on India’s Supreme Court ruling of Triple Talaq?

As an Islamic scholar, I would say that the Supreme Court’s judgment delivered on August 22 – striking down instant triple talaq as being unconstitutional – is totally right. Triple talaq is not a principle of Islam, but is rather a ruling of certain Muslim jurists, adopted in the later period of Islam. In this matter, Muslim jurists need to correct themselves instead of wrongly justifying triple talaq.

In Islam, talaq is seen as an undesirable practice. But in rare cases, a couple may feel that their marriage is not working, and in this situation, divorce is allowed. However, there is a prescribed method laid down by the Quran (2:229). That is, a divorce is finalized over a period of three months. In the first month, the husband tells his wife that he has given her one talaq. Both then wait for a month during which they could reconcile. After the first month, he may either take back the talaq or pronounce it a second time. Both wait for another month, at the end of which, if he pronounces a third talaq, the divorce becomes final.

This pattern was adhered to during the time of the Prophet and the first caliph Abu Bakr. There were rare cases, when a man would come to the Prophet or Abu Bakr, saying that he had divorced his wife by saying talaq three times in one go. Then the Prophet and Abu Bakr would consider this an instance of talaq being said in anger and so would not finalize the divorce. Rather, they would tell him that his uttering ‘talaq’ three times in one instance would be regarded as only one pronouncement of talaq.

During the time of the second caliph Umar, the number of people who began to pronounce talaq in one sitting increased. Umar, in a few cases, ruled the saying of talaq three times in one go as final and annulled the marriage. But he would also flog such men as deterrent punishment. This helped in curbing instances of saying talaq in one go. Certainly, Umar’s practice was not a Sharia law. His step was rather an example of hukm al-hakim, or an executive order. His annulment of marriage in cases where men said talaq three times in one go was an exercise of the discretionary power of a ruler. Such executive orders are applicable to particular cases and do not have the status of Sharia law.

In the British period, men again began to divorce their wives in one sitting. Now Muslim jurists belonging to the Hanafi school of law revived Umar’s order and made instant triple talaq valid. The Hanafi jurists cited Umar’s precedent, but this reference was unwarranted, because Umar had done so by way of an executive order while, in the later period, Hanafi jurists did so by issuing a fatwa. Moreover, Umar would also flog men as deterrent punishment, while Hanafi jurists were not in a position to flog anyone.

In such a scenario, my advice to Hanafi Muslims is to take the Supreme Court’s verdict as a reminder and review their practice. They should consider uttering talaq thrice in one go as a case of a decision having been taken in anger and consider it only one as talaq – as had been done during the time of the Prophet.

34 Why is there difference among scholars when it comes to the commentary (tafsir) or interpretation of the Quran?

Tafsir involves application of the Quran. When you do commentary of a verse in an applied way, there will naturally be differences in interpretation. For example, the Quran says, ‘Do not worship idols’. (31:13) About this, one commentator would say it means one should not worship stone idols, while another would say it also means that one should not give excessive importance to human beings, as that would mean making them one’s idols (object of veneration) instead of God. So, wherever there is an issue of application of the verses of the Quran, there will be differences.

Consider another example. The Quran says at one place:

Fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you. (Quran 2:190)

A certain commentator would say this verse means that fighting is an eternal teaching of the Quran. However, another would say this is a temporary injunction and the verse relates to a period when there were no world bodies such as the United Nations, no pacts between countries and no universal norms governing relations between nations. But now since we have all of these, there is no need for going to war. The only option before people and nations today is that of peaceful negotiation. So, two different commentators would give different interpretations of this verse.

Even in the Gita there are differences in commentary. For example, Mahatma Gandhi has said that war mentioned in the Gita is meant in the spiritual sense, that is one should engage in ‘spiritual war’, while there are some other scholars who say that war in the Gita is real physical war on the battlefield. So, there will always be such differences. This is the case even when it comes to the interpretation of the Constitution of India.

One has to study oneself to know which interpretation is correct. There will never be compulsion in this matter – that is, never will it become absolutely clear as to which interpretation is right and which is wrong. One will have to do deep study to understand this. Only in physical sciences are there no such differences, but there will be differences in social sciences or humanities. In physical sciences, mathematics provides certainty. But in the field of humanities, there would always be subjectivity.

35 Should religious figures give public or political comment?

No, they should not. Politics is not the subject of religious figures. Religious figures have a different domain of expertise, and so they should comment only on what they have knowledge of.

36 According to you, in the present situation what is the most important fatwa or comment that should be made by the ulema?

I think they should unanimously say that violence, in every form, perpetrated by Muslims should immediately be put to an end.

37 If some verses of the Quran were for only a specific time or age, how can the Quran be meant for every generation?

The teachings of the Quran and every other book have to be re-applied according to changing situations. This is applicable to every book and constitution. In the matter of belief, there will be no change. However, in the matter of application there can be temporary modifications.

38 What is the Islamic way – debate or peaceful dialogue?

The way of Islam is peaceful dawah or dialogue, not debate. A believer should never engage in a debate. Islam does not make you a debater, but rather a dayee, that is one who peacefully conveys the message of Islam to others.

39 Can women travel without mahram?

According to popular fiqh, Muslim women cannot travel without mahram. But in today’s age, travel has become so convenient, safe and secure that I think it is lawful for women to travel without mahram. The Prophet once said in this regard:

If you should live for a long time, you will certainly see that a lady in a Howdah travelling from Al-Hira will (safely reach Makkah and) perform the Tawaf of the Kabah, fearing none but Allah. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3595)

It means that at the time of peace and convenience, the condition of mahram is optional. Islam however, does not permit the free mixing of men and women. For instance, in the view of Islam, it is not suitable for a man to share a room with a woman if they both are unrelated. Islam asks its followers to maintain a distance of respect, dignity and modesty with each other. This is a safeguard for the personal and private spaces of both genders.

40 Who is a pure Muslim?

There is no such term as ‘pure Muslim’. A true believer is one whose heart is pure, and only God knows the state of one’s heart. We, humans, do not know what a person is in his heart and so we cannot determine a person’s purity. This matter is solely between God and man. 

41 How was the Prophet Muhammad able to influence so many people to accept Islam? What did he want to achieve by promoting it?

The Prophet Muhammad had sent his messengers to heads of tribes, states and kingdoms inviting them to the message of Islam. The heads of states in return sent their delegations and scholars to the Prophet to confirm if his claim of being a prophet sent by God was correct. The delegations used to ask him questions which would seek to confirm the veracity of Islam. For this reason, several verses in the Quran regarding Jesus and Moses were revealed during this time. It was these peaceful and intellectual means that led to the spread of the message of Islam.

This was a phenomenon of that age. It was an age where if a king or tribal chief adopted a religion, it was cascaded to the entire population in that area. If the head of the tribe accepted Muhammad as a prophet, then everyone in his tribe would embrace Islam as per tradition. Just as, when Constantinople had adopted Christianity, it had led to a mass conversion of all his subjects to Christianity.

In the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the primitive society was a tribal society and the chief of the community was the head for the whole of the community. But this age has now come to an end and this phenomenon shall not repeat itself.

It is common that every truthful person, who has attained realization, wants to spread the truth to others. The truth is a motivating spirit and anyone who believes in it shall leave no stone unturned to convey it to people around him. For example, Swami Vivekananda reached the US without any wherewithal and despite great difficulty only so as to transmit the message he believed in.

42 What sort of reforms do you suggest in Islam to adapt to the today’s world? Can we adopt a thousand years’ old religious model?

Islam does not need reform; it needs revival. The authentic text of the Quran is available and needs no alteration or correction. The only need is to re-interpret Quranic teachings in the modern idiom.

Some Muslims scholars consider Islam to be a complete socio-political system, which is the root cause of many problems. Islam is a religion of individual following and not of forceful implementation of a particular system or state in society.

43 Should I be Shia or Sunni?

It depends on an individual’s freedom of choice. A person should do self-study and follow the conclusion he arrives at after a thorough analysis.

Every religion has a set of basic tenets and some differing non-basic tenets. In case of Shia and Sunni, differences are only in matters of non-basic tenets. It is extremism in non-basic matters which usually causes confrontation. The basic tenets of the oneness of God and belief in the Quran as a revealed divine message are common across different schools of thought in Islam.

44 Is negativity towards Ahmadi Muslims justified?

Negative thinking towards Ahmadi Muslims is a case of extremism exercised by the ulema. It should be understood that calling oneself a Muslim is a prerogative the individual alone. No person has the authority to designate another person as ‘Muslim’, nor does anyone have the right to excommunicate someone from Islam. According to a tradition, narrated on the authority of Anas ibn Malik, the Prophet of Islam said:

Whoever prays like us and faces our qiblah … is a Muslim and is under God’s and His Apostle’s protection. So, do not betray God by betraying those who are in His protection. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 391)

If a person performs prayer facing the Kabah, then according to the above tradition he will be regarded as a Muslim. The claims of the beliefs of Ahmadi Muslims are subject to academic discussion and should be discussed in a peaceful, intellectual and academic manner. Unfortunately, the ulema have made this issue a topic of confrontation instead of using it as an opportunity for intellectual exchange.

45 Can I read the English translation of the Quran without wudu (ablutions)? Can I gift a non-Muslim friend the English translation of the Quran knowing the fact that he’s going to read it without wudu?

Yes, absolutely! The misconception of not reciting the Quran without performing ablutions comes from a misunderstood hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab.

According to a tradition in Musnad al Bazzar (hadith no. 279), when Umar heard the recitation of the Quran from his sister’s house, he went inside and asked for the pages from which the Quran was being read. At this, his sister asked Umar to first perform wudu (ablutions) before he could read the Quran. This was a psychological gesture from a sister who requested his brother to clean himself before he read the Book of God.

The fact that one does not need to perform ablutions is affirmed by another incident of Umar ibn al-Khattab. During the days when Umar was caliph, he was once sitting with some persons and discussing a verse from the Quran. During discussion, Caliph Umar stood up and took out a copy of the Quran from a shelf and starting reading the verse being discussed. One of the onlookers asked if Caliph Umar had performed ablutions before reading the Quran. Caliph Umar became furious at this and he strongly condemned it by saying:

Did Musaylama (the false prophet) give you a fatwa in this regard? (Musanaf Abdul Razzaq, hadith no. 1318)

In other words, he meant: ‘Which hypocrite told you of this wrong practice?’

When Umar’s sister had asked him to clean himself, she said it out of the leverage she had over her brother. We may not have the same leverage over others in our life. Cleanliness is a form of respect a reader gives to God’s word, however, imposing this practice keeps people away from comfortably reading or gifting the Quran and above all prevents people from knowing the message of God.

46 In Islam, can we see Allah if we go to heaven?

Yes. According to a hadith, the Companions once asked the Prophet if we would see God in Paradise. The hadith is as follows:

During the lifetime of the Prophet some people asked, ‘O God’s Messenger! Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?’ The Prophet said, ‘Yes. Do you have any difficulty in seeing the sun at midday when it is bright and there is no cloud in the sky?’ They replied, ‘No.’ He then said, ‘Do you have any difficulty in seeing the moon on a full moon night when it is bright and there is no cloud in the sky?” They again replied, ‘No.’ The Prophet said, ‘(Similarly), you will have no difficulty in seeing God on the Day of Resurrection, just as you have no difficulty in seeing either the sun or the moon.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 4581)

47 Does the Quran permit slavery?

Islam does not promote slavery. According to Islamic teachings, all human beings are alike. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, in the first half of the seventh century, industrial revolution had not taken place and thus slavery was a means for the poor to live in shelter and have regular meals for themselves. It was a social phenomenon and not something introduced by Islam.

It was due to the age factor that slavery was not radically abolished, as this would have made people devoid of their means of livelihood. The Prophet had taken several steps to abolish slavery. Islam discourages the taking of a free person into slavery. There are several hadith in this regard, such as:

The Prophet said, ‘God said, “I will be an opponent to three types of people on the Day of Resurrection. One of them is the one who sells a free person and eats his price.”’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 2270)

The Prophet said: ‘There are three types of people whose prayer is not accepted by God. One of them is a man who takes into slavery a free person.’ (Sunan ibn Majah, hadith no. 970)

There was great wisdom in not instantaneously abolishing slavery. Islam made the removal of slavery from society a gradual process, so that on the one hand, the society could be made free of this practice and on the other hand, in the process, the poor and would not suffer.

Let me cite an example to put this into perspective. I once met an activist in Delhi who told me how he had freed some youth and allowed them to be set free. He was accompanied by one such youth who later told me that while they had become free, there was nothing for them to earn their livelihood from. It was this social atmosphere that made slavery thrive.

When the world changed, people got employment and there was no reason for slavery to continue.

The Quran and Islam have always advocated for the freeing of slaves. This is evident from the verses below:

What will explain to you what the ascent is? It is the freeing of a slave; or the feeding in times of famine of an orphaned relative or some needy person in distress, and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfastness and compassion. (Quran 90:12-17)

Quran has stated the freeing of slaves as one of the definitions of charity:

Alms are only for: the poor and the destitute, for those who collect zakat, for conciliating people’s hearts, for freeing slaves, for those in debt, for spending for God’s cause, and for travellers in need. It is a legal obligation enjoined by God. God is all-knowing and wise. (Quran 9:60)

48 What is a fatwa?

Fatwa literally means an ‘opinion’ and it is not legally binding. A fatwa is applicable only to the person who has asked for it, and it is he or she who can decide whether or not to accept it.

If a believer wants to know about his personal behaviour, for example, if he wants to know about his way of worship or whether his personal choices are in accordance with Islam, then he may visit an Islamic scholar and put these personal questions to him. And, that scholar may give him his opinion according to his knowledge of Islam. That is a fatwa. That is all there is to it.

Fatwa is non-binding and can only be solicited for one’s personal matters. For instance, a person cannot solicit a fatwa on the outfit worn by another person such as Sania Mirza. Fatwa cannot be solicited for another person. Doing this is unacceptable and forbidden in Islam.

The Sharia distinguishes between fatwa and qaza. The former refers to the opinion given by a mufti when someone consults him on a personal matter. Qaza, on the other hand, refers to a judicial verdict. No mufti is allowed to issue a qaza, which is the prerogative of only a state-authorized court and is binding on everyone. Qaza is given on an issue which is in the domain of a judge. In such matters a mufti is not supposed to issue fatwas on his own. In this case, either the government appoints a judge or someone gets a special sanction for issuing binding awards on the parties involved. In modern English language, qaza is equivalent to legislation.

49 What is the value of a mother in Islam?

A mother solely bears the burden of her child for at least two years, hence there is a special regard given to a mother. She is the most respectable family member. According to a tradition:

Abu Hurayra reported that a person came to God’s Messenger and said: ‘Who among the people is most deserving of a fine treatment from my hand?’ The Prophet replied: ‘Your mother.’ He again said: ‘Then who (is the next one)?’ He said: ‘Again, it is your mother (who deserves the best treatment from you).’ He said: ‘Then who (is the next one)?’ He (the Prophet) said: ‘Again, it is your mother.’ He (again) said: ‘Then who?” Thereupon the Prophet said: ‘Then it is your father.’ (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2548)

According to another tradition:

Abdullah ibn Amr said, ‘A man came to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, wanting to do jihad. The Prophet asked, ‘Are your parents alive? ‘Yes,’ he replied. The Prophet then said, ‘Then exert yourself on their behalf.’ Then your jihad would be with them’ (i.e., in looking after them and being at their service). (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3004)

The Quran instructs us to be kind to our parents and pray for them and this is looked at as among the best of deeds:

We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: his mother bore him, in pain and in pain she gave birth to him, and his bearing and weaning takes thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full maturity and attains forty years, he says, ‘O my Lord! Help me to be grateful for Your favours which You have bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and to do good deeds that will please You. Grant me righteousness in my offspring. Truly, I have turned to You and, truly, I submit to You.’ We accept from such people the best of what they do and We overlook their bad deeds. They will be among the people of Paradise—this is a true promise that has been given to them. (Quran 46:15-16)

The Quran also talks about how we should treat our parents:

Your Lord has commanded that you should worship none but Him and show kindness to your parents. If either or both of them attain old age with you, say no word of contempt to them and do not rebuke them, but always speak gently to them and treat them with humility and tenderness and say, ‘Lord, be merciful to them both, as they raised me up when I was little.’ (Quran 17:23-24)

50 How can I convert haram (unlawful) money to halal (lawful)?

If by haram money you mean money that you have usurped from someone, then you must return it and apologise to the one from whom you have taken it. If that person has passed away or there is no means of doing so, they should seek repentance and ask for forgiveness from God. You must pray and give away the money in charity. You must not keep the money with yourself.

51 What is Islamic Shariah and who decides it?

Shir‘a or Shariah literally means ‘method’. It is not equivalent to law or political injunction. Even when there is only one believer, he needs to follow the Shariah in his private life, way of worship, ethical behaviour and personal dealings with other fellowmen. This is Shariah and in this sense, the word ‘Shariah’ has no political connotation at all.

The Shariah in its present form was an innovation of the later-day Muslims; it was not revealed in the Quran. Let me share an example. The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan adopted the Objectives Resolution soon after Pakistan became an independent nation. The resolution proclaimed that the future constitution of Pakistan would not be modelled entirely on a European pattern, but on the ideology of Islam. The resolution, in its entirety, has been made part of the Constitution of Pakistan under Article 2(A), which meant that the legislation of Pakistan would be in the light of the Quran and Sunnah. The added injunction introduced in the Constitution of Pakistan was that anyone who goes astray from Islam should be killed. This was a clear innovation in religion and was not mentioned in the Quran. The Quran states about those who would turn away from the revealed religion:

Whoever of you turns back from his faith and dies as a denier of the truth will have his deeds come to nothing in this world and in the Hereafter, and he will be an inhabitant of the Fire, to abide therein forever. (Quran 22:27)

Here, it is clear that the act of going astray from Islam is a matter that lies between man and God, and God alone shall deal with such a person. A person who commits a sin has his entire life to repent for his actions. So, anyone who takes such a person’s life on account of apostasy or blasphemy commits a heinous sin, as by killing the person they also take away his opportunity for doing repentance.

It is important to understand that the Shariah is a self-managed system and an optional framework. It is to support the organized working in a Muslim society and is not to be enforced upon. This is because in Islam, an action becomes rewardable when it is done without any compulsion and under self-decision. That which is done out of compulsion or is done under an imposition from an authority is not worthy of being rewarded.

It is the role of the ulema is to clarify this and interpret the Shariah in the modern idiom. For instance, there is a verse in the Quran:

Call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to you, on foot and on every kind of lean camel. (Quran 27:22)

There is consensus among ulema that the reference in the above verse is to a mode of transportation (camel) that was used in earlier times. This mode of transportation is now no longer in use, so whatever is prevalent (cars, buses, airplanes, etc.) will be used to go for the pilgrimage. This example signifies the only role the ulema have to play is in clarifying the Quranic verses and making them understandable in today’s age. The ulema do not have the responsibility to provide a political framework based on the Shariah.

52 What are the Islamic directives for clothing?

Islam has only one direction with regards to clothing: it prohibits nudity. An outfit which does not promote nudity is allowed. A revealing or transparent dress must be avoided. Hijab, in the sense of burqah or veil, is not prescribed in Islam; burqah is in fact a cultural phenomenon seen in Muslim society. Islam supports a simple sense of dressing. According to a verse in the Quran:

Do not flaunt your charms as they used to flaunt them in the old days of pagan ignorance. (Quran 33:33)

A kind of dressing which represents pride is also not preferred in Islam. Islam aims to make its followers modest and humble, and not to have pride in their hearts. Clothing which flaunts the social status of a person is not an Islamic type of clothing.

53 When the Prophet Muhammad died he left behind nine widows. Who then ordered Muslims to marry just four wives?

One of the commandments given in the Quran as a matter of social organization concerns polygamy, that is, permission for a man to marry up to four women:

If you fear that you cannot treat orphans with fairness, then you may marry such women (widowed) as seem good to you: two, three or four of them. But if you fear that you cannot do justice, marry one only. (Quran 4:3)

The background and wording of this verse appear to express a commandment that should be only temporary in effect. That is to say, it applied only to a particular state of emergency when, for example, due to a loss of men in battle, the number of women exceeded the number of available men.

All the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, except Hazrat Ayesha, were divorcees or widows. The Arab custom at that time was such that marrying in a certain tribe ensured the tribe’s allegiance to the son-in-law. In case of the Prophet therefore, these marriages were a form of war management which eventually culminated in a bloodless revolution. It was a measure taken in order to manage the potential tribal conflicts that could have emerged in the hostile environment of Arabia of that time.

54 What is bid‘ah in Islam? What sort of bid‘ah can be accepted?

Bid‘ah refers to innovation in religion. According to a hadith, every innovation in the religion of Islam must be rejected:

Aisha has reported that God’s Messenger said: ‘He who innovates things in our affairs something, which does not belong to it, then it will be rejected.’ (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 1718)

No one has the authority to change the religion of God. Cultural aspects are subject to change, but this is not the case with religious matters. Bid‘ah is to introduce in Islam a religious practice which was originally not a part of Islam.

55 Can a Muslim sell alcohol and other haram products?

There are two aspects to this situation. Firstly, if you are a businessman and are making these items available for sale, then you are doing so voluntarily to augment your profits. Such an approach is not advisable. Secondly, if you are a part of an organization (hospitality or aviation) where you are required to serve such items, and there is no choice, then as a worker you should follow the norm until you get a chance to change your situation.

56 Is it mandatory to say sallallah alayhi wasallam (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) after the Prophet’s name?

It is not mandatory, as your love and respect for the Prophet lies in your heart. Let me explain this through an incident which had taken place in Madinah after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad. When Abu Bakr (Prophet’s closest companion and the first caliph of Islam) arrived in Madinah and saw the inconsolable state of the other Companions, he said the following:

No doubt! Whoever worshipped Muhammad, then Muhammad is dead, but whoever worshipped God, then God is alive and shall never die. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3667)

Abu Bakr did not use any suffix with the name of the Prophet because the respect one has in one’s heart cannot be measured by the use of prefixes or suffixes. It is important to distinguish between true respect and paying lip service. Respect comes from within and does not have to become a matter of ritualistic lip service.

57 I was raised a Muslim, but I committed a lot of sins carelessly and feel more like an agnostic. What do I do?

Becoming an agnostic on account of one’s past mistakes, and with the thought that there was no place for them in Islam, is not right. Islam allows an honourable return for a believer anytime. There is always forgiveness in Islam; a true seeker could return to the fold of belief anytime. God loves those who repent.

58 I hate the idea of being restricted. Why should I follow Islam that has so many restrictions?

The teachings of Islam are not restrictions, but principles which are in line with the laws of nature. For example, on the pretext of availing one’s freedom if someone becomes a drug addict, then one would not be able to continue such unhealthy behaviour because one’s health would not be able to withstand its ill-effects. In other words, even if one theoretically does not agree to follow restrictions, what would prevail practically would be the law of nature. In reality, therefore, we do not have any other option apart from adopting a realistic approach in life. Islam teaches this realism, which is not a matter of restriction but a matter of choosing a workable option in life.

59 Is it against Quranic teaching if a Muslim chooses to be vegetarian?

I am a vegetarian. This is entirely a matter of one’s personal choice. The Quran holds no compulsion on Muslims to eat meat. It is simply an individual’s own choice.

60 How can the Quran be considered perfect if it requires Hadith (the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad) to clarify it?

Nothing in life is self-explanatory. It must be understood that as a book of wisdom and guidance, the Quran principally deals with basics. It is the Hadith which gives the details and necessary explanations of Quranic injunctions. It is as if the Quran is the text and the Hadith its commentary, the Quran being the theory and the Hadith the practice. Both are equally essential for the following of religion.

61 Do you think political Islam is compatible with Western values?

Political Islam is based on a self-interpretation and has nothing to do with Islam. Political Islam rests on authoritarianism and is certainly not compatible with Western values, which are based on freedom and democracy. Islam is a religion of nature and operates on the principle of freedom. Just as nature does not follow the course of authoritarianism, similarly Islam does not encourage authoritarianism. Islam recognizes individual freedom. But this also means that everyone is free to misuse their freedom. It is this misuse of freedom that creates problems. In such a scenario, those who misuse their freedom may be made to understand and persuaded with reason. However, abolishing their freedom is not the solution advocated by Islam.

62 Can someone be an Islamic scholar but not a Muslim?

Yes, it is possible. The prerequisite for a non-Muslim would be to be totally objective in his pursuit of knowledge and the prerequisite for a Muslim would be to be completely God-fearing and unbiased as he treads the path of knowledge. These are conditions for both kinds of Islamic scholars. Without these conditions neither Muslims nor non-Muslims can become scholars of Islam, in the real sense.

63 Is Wahhabism true Islam?

No, it is not Islam. Wahhabism is extremism and extremism is not permitted in Islam. An example of this extremism is that there were several houses of the Companions of the Prophet in Makkah and Madinah, the most important one being that of Hazarat Khadija in Makkah where the Prophet had spent his early life. People used to visit these places to experience the early history of Islam and the life of the Prophet. When Wahhabis came into power, they razed down these houses on the plea that people would start holding these places sacred or associating sanctity to them. The Wahhabis thought that such sacred veneration of objects other than God was equivalent to shirk or associating partners with God. This they believed would go contrary to monotheism, or the belief in the oneness of God.

However, in razing down these houses, the Wahhabis deprived future generations of Muslims from having an experiential realization of prophetic history which they would have gained by seeing these historic places.

64 Is democracy unlawful in Islam?

Democracy is completely Islamic. Let me share two references. According to the Quran, believers are those

who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation. (Quran 42:38)

According to a hadith:

As you (society) are, so would your rulers be. (Shuab al-Iman, hadith no. 7006)

These are the premises of democracy. Democracy is government of the people, for the people and by the people. Unlike dictatorship or monarchy, in a democracy it is the society which dictates the events.

65 Can one practice polygamy in today’s age?

Monogamy is the rule in Islam and polygamy only an exception. In terms of birth rate, the number of men and women in a given society is approximately equal. But often, for a variety of reasons, especially during war, the number of men in society decreases, leaving an excess of women. Now the question arises as to what the solution to this problem should be. In view of the inevitability of this imbalance, how is a healthy relationship between the two to be established? The choice for us, therefore, is not between monogamy and polygamy, but rather, between lawful polygamy or illicit polygamy. Secondly, Islam permits polygamy on the precondition that a man be able to justly treat all the women he marries.

66 What is the difference between Islam and Muslims?

Islam is the name of an ideology of life given by the Quran. It means ‘to submit’. An adherent of Islam (or a Muslim) is expected to imbibe the tenets of this ideology and lead life in accordance with its principles. The word ‘Muslim’ translates to ‘one who submits’.

However, given the freedom a person enjoys, one may sometimes follow the principles of Islam and at other times, may simply follow free will. Therefore, it must be understood that Islam and Muslims are different. The actions of Muslims must be judged in the light of Islamic teachings, but Islam must never be judged on the basis of actions of Muslims.

67 Which reforms are most required among the Indian Muslim community?

I have studied this issue in detail and have written about it extensively. There are two reasons for the overall backwardness of the Indian Muslims: their backwardness in education and the prevalence of the mindset of loss. By education, here, I mean secular education. There are madrasas (Islamic seminaries) in every Muslim locality, but madrasas only educate you about religion, about how to pray and so on. But to understand how to live in this world, how to live in society, requires more than madrasa education. It requires secular education, in the true sense of the word, such as what prevails in countries like Japan and Germany. This does not mean that the Indian Muslim community needs to completely give up on religious education, but that it needs to go ahead in secular education. Future religious scholars and leaders of the Indian Muslim community need to be well updated with the developing world and receive secular education today so that they can help extricate the Indian Muslim community from their current state of backwardness.

There is no discrimination against the Muslim community in today’s society. The fact is that Muslims are backward in secular education, because of which they have become incompetent to thrive in the modern world. And therefore, they are unable to avail opportunities. Almost all the jobs and other opportunities are for those who are trained in modern disciplines, and especially for those who have professional education. Some Muslims have now started entering the field of secular education. They began setting up modern schools and have even started to update the traditional madrasa curriculum. This is the correct approach, but one should make sure that these schools are not ghettoized to just one community but have admissions open to all. History is replete with examples of communities that supported and invested in education to progress and meet the modern standards of development.

Secondly, the mindset of loss is a major roadblock to the progressive Muslim mind. The granting of the minority reservation was a great disservice to the community because it fostered in them a perennial sense of loss or deprivation. Once the term ‘minority’ is labelled over a community, a natural sense of loss gets inculcated in their minds. It makes them feel that they have lost out on something important for their progress. This, along with lack of interaction with the outside world and the receiving of selective information over the news toxically combines into a feeling of being unwelcomed in their own domicile country. No community could progress with such a mindset. They need to realize that there is an equal opportunity for everyone in this country – from primary education to jobs – it needs to be availed through hard work.

68 Does Islam prohibit art and music?

Art and music are your personal choices. Islam does not interfere with this, as it is not in the domain of faith. Islam neither prescribes these as lawful nor unlawful.

69 If someone committed shirk, is it punishable and do we have the right to implement this punishment. Is this what Allah desires from us?

This is entirely wrong. Nowhere in the Quran is it written in the Quran that one who does shirk (associate partners with God) should be killed or punished. This is highly baseless. This is a deviation from the freedom that human beings have been given by God in this world. Crime is the name of a social harm – like committing murder in society. Such a crime deserves punishment, but holding a certain belief or idea is not something that invites punishment. The Quran teaches:

So exhort them: your task is only to exhort, you are not their keeper. (Quran 88:21-22)

No person is accountable to another person, he is accountable only to God. Implementing punishment in matters of thought or belief is to position oneself on the throne of the Creator.

70 Why is the spirit of Islam being lost in Muslims?

The degeneration that we see in present Muslims had been predicted by the Prophet. According to a hadith:

A time will come when nothing except the name of Islam will remain [among Muslims] and nothing except the words of the Quran will remain [among Muslims]. (Shuab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi, hadith no. 1763)

This is not surprising because every community undergoes degeneration and Muslims are no exception to this principle. This degeneration does not set in in the first generation, but in the generations that follow. This is why reformers are required to suggest what work needs to be done to revive degenerated people. To regain the spirit of Islam, we need to identify the right reformers from the wrong ones.

71 What is the full scope of religious freedom in Islam?

Islam has total freedom. Only one thing is taboo in Islam, that is, violence. Once the Prophet was sitting in the mosque and an Arab who had not accepted Islam came to him. He said to the Prophet:

You are a condemned person. I deny you. (Musnad Abu Yala, hadith no. 53)

The Prophet simply smiled at these words. Why did he do so? Because the Prophet knew that this man has the freedom to say whatever he chooses. He was not hitting the Prophet with stones, but only expressing his ideas. If a person is peaceful, he has the right to say anything. If he does violence, then that will be considered a criminal act. Peaceful expression of thought is totally allowed in Islam. In Islam, whenever there is a negative statement, it must be made a point of discussion.  Muslims often get irate on the concept of freedom of expression. But freedom is a bilateral concept, it is not unilateral—the other party enjoys as much freedom as we do. This is a very conducive concept of freedom as it allows for as much right to freedom to us as it does to the other party.

72 What is the mission of Islam?

The Islamic mission is tazkiya (purification) of an individual. The target is that every person should discover God, develop spiritually and be devoid of malice in his heart.

73 How will unity come about when so many different sects exist in Muslims?

Difference is not an exuse. It is a part of life – it leads to discussion, dialogue and helps in intellectual development. The problem does not lie in differences, but in ghulu or extremism. It was said:

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much! (Walter Lippman, The Stakes of Diplomacy (1915), page 51)

Unity in times of differences can only come through unilateral adjustment.

74 Every Muslim sect considers itself to be right. How can a simple Muslim differentiate between sects and understand them?

Thinking that a sect is right is not an issue. The problem arises is when people tend to adopt extremism and think that they shall get into Paradise and the rest would be cast into Hell. Till the time a person becomes an extremist, all sects are acceptable in society.

75 What is the best way of doing dawah work (conveying God’s word to people)?

The best way is to become a well-wisher for mankind. This should be the motto of a dayee, or a person who engages in dawah. He should be positive to the last extent, not get offended and be empty of negative thoughts for others.

I once met an ultra modern person who had studied philosophy and history. He said during conversation, “If Muhammad is removed from history, what shall be lost from history?” Apparently, it was a provocative statement but I did not get provoked. I kept thinking and increased my study. After this study, I published the book, Islam: The Creator of Modern Age. The book was a result of the thinking that developed in me due to the comment made by the above person. Dawah work should be done purely on the basis of the Quran and Hadith and not on the basis of communal or national sentiment.

76 How can people start to learn about Islam?

Islam is that which you have discovered on your own. Islam is the name of marefat or self-discovery of truth. One must discover the creation plan of God and the laws of nature. If one only follows Islam because others have told him to do so and has not questioned or discovered it himself, then his conviction would not be of the highest quality.

77 Do we need to preserve our Islamic identity?

Identity is nothing in Islam. Islam is the name of the Quran, Sunnah and worship of God – buildings, costume and culture are different in different countries. Those who think that to keep Islam alive, all these aspects shall have to be revived or established as ‘Islamic identity’ have got it wrong.

78 Dawah mission seems to be an overwhelming task – how can we stay stress free?

Once Jesus Christ spoke to a man about the divine mission. The man said to Jesus that it was a very difficult task, but he replied:

What is impossible with man is possible with God. (Luke 18:27)

We need to simply keep our faith in God and pray to Him in tough times.

79 What is the difference between the Companions of the Prophet and present-day Muslims?

The real spirit of the Islamic faith was not paid heed to in later times. The emphasis was shifted to the outward form of religion instead of the spirit which is the inner kernel of religion. Also, the Companions of the Prophet were well-wishers for mankind, something which we do not generally see in present-day Muslims.

80 How can you explain the notion of life being a test to a secular, non-religious mind?

The word ‘test’ is not religious; it only explains why our world is full of experiences. ‘Namaz’ and ‘Hajj’ are religious words unlike the word ‘test’. The concept of test tells us why problems exist in our life and explains why success, failure, happiness and sadness exist in this world. Test is not a negative word – it means that whatever situation we face gives us an opportunity to undertake personality and spiritual development. In other words, these situations put us to the test in that they are meant to determine our response.

The word ‘test’ is used only for the purpose of explaining the nature of life. Instead of ‘test’, another term such as ‘training’ or ‘learning’ can also be used.

81 Please explain this Quranic verse: ‘Indeed, man shall be a witness against himself.’ (75:14)

This verse means that every human being has a conscience or an inner voice. A person desires that his conscience should justify his actions, but one’s conscience will never do such a thing. In this sense, it would be a witness against one’s deeds.

82 The whole life of the Prophet of Islam was based on dawah mission, but the entire Muslim world is not aware of this. What led to the shift of emphasis?

I often experienced this when I spoke to several educated Muslims and asked them why do they not do dawah work? They said that dawah work was only the Prophet’s work, while their own work was to pray, fast and establish seminaries. This is wrong thinking. The Prophet had to spread his message to his contemporaries, but what will have to be done with the generations that follow? The importance of doing dawah work was almost deleted from recent Muslim history. Some focused on the revival of the Muslim community, while others on different aspects of religion. However, nobody worked for revival of dawah work.

This should raise our sense of responsibility. We should understand that we must now rigorously work for dawah, which the Muslim community has least focused on.

83 Often people return the Quran presented to them saying it may be a book of magic. What should be done in such a case?

People in this world have spirit of enquiry. It should be left to the choice of the receiver to read the book you present to him. You can at best tell them that they if they want they could read and that the book is not being enforced upon them. Misunderstandings should be made a point of discussion and not of offensive feeling.

84 How can we revive Islamic spirit among Muslims?

Muslims should be able to revive the Islamic spirit by reading the Quran in a language they would understand. I was once travelling with a Muslim who used to carry a pocket Arabic Quran and used to keep reading it as and when he got time. He told me that he had been doing this for fourteen years. I asked him what he thought was the gist of the Quran. He said that he read the Quran for receiving reward and not to derive meaning by studying it. This is generally the case of those who read or recite the Quran. To tell Muslims that they must read the Quran so that they understand its meaning would inculcate the spirit of Islam in them.

85 How to keep our belief alive at all times?

The concept of iman, or faith, that people generally have is wrong. They think that the mere recitation of the kalimah (Islamic creed) gives a person iman. This is a wrong concept.  Iman is another name for discovery of the truth. When you observe and study the universe, reflect on the creation and ponder over the phenomena of nature, you are led to the discovery of the Creator. This realization is really faith. This is such a significant event that it transforms your entire personality. Imagine if you are able to observe the solar system from space! This would be a very compelling scene – so many planets are orbiting around the sun – in the middle there is the tiny earth where we have our tiny houses. This will be a mind-boggling thought! Iman, or faith, is another name of discovery of the Creator and His creations. When this happens, the personality of such a person will be completely transformed. His belief will remain alive at all times as he has discovered it himself.

86 Dissent quickly leads to violence and terrorism. Is dissent advantageous in religion?

The biggest shortcoming of present Muslims is that they have lost tolerance. They do not know how to engage in a peaceful discussion on any issue. Muslims only know how to debate, if any issue emerges. Issues of difference should make way for peaceful discussion.

87 How should we strive to understand the undeclared meaning of the verses of the Quran?

The Quran has its own style. The Quran is not narration of history nor is it a novel. The truth is that the Quran is a book of wisdom. In the language of wisdom, some things are between the lines or undeclared. Thus you have to reflect to understand the message that lies between the lines. For example, at the time of the Battle of Uhud, seventy Companions of the Prophet were killed. The verses that were revealed afterwards, did not tell Muslims that the opponents were their enemies and that they should invoke curse on them. Instead the verse that was revealed on this occasion said:

He [God] paid you back with one sorrow after another, so that you might not grieve for what you lost. (Quran 3:153)

The wisdom behind this verse of the Quran is that after every loss, we need to adopt the attitude of re-planning instead of becoming hopeless or engaging in complaints against others.

88 What does Islam say about domestic violence?

According to Islam, domestic violence is a crime.

89 People go to perform Hajj multiple times because they can afford it. Does it mean that they will get more reward?

Performing Hajj multiple times only because you can afford it is not the right attitude. If you are a person of means, you should divert the money towards other work such as dawah. The Prophet performed only one Hajj in his lifetime.

90 Is conversion the purpose of Islam?

Conversion is not at all a goal of Islam; there is no point of converting others. According to Islam, religion is a matter of self-discovery. Conversion has no value.

91 Can prayer be offered in languages other than Arabic?

All ulema have said that salah (prayer) should be performed in Arabic. However, some scholars (such as Abu Hanifa) have given this exception for those who are yet to learn the language. So on a temporary basis they can perform salah in their own language until they learn Arabic, after which they are required to pray in Arabic. This is the practice followed in all other religions as well, that is, worship is generally performed in religious language.

92 How can we understand the deeper meaning of the Quran?

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.

93 What do you have to say about those who believe that offering prayer makes people virtuous and will take them to Paradise?

Worship has a certain form and a spirit. If you carry out the form alone, then that will not be of any value. The real value is of the spirit of worship. Once a person performed salah (prayer) in the mosque. When on completion he came to the Prophet, he said to him:

Go and read namaz again. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 757)

The reason was that the Prophet had observed that the person had prayed without any spirit and had simply repeated the form of prayer. Today the crowds we see in mosques is a fulfilment of a prediction made by the Prophet:

A time will come when mosques will be full of people, but empty of guidance. (Shuab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi, hadith no. 1763)

94 Is it obligatory upon Muslims to establish an Islamic empire?

No, this is a totally false concept. There is no such teaching in Islam that Muslims are duty-bound to establish an Islamic empire.

95 I have suffered a huge loss in my business. I feel weighed down by my condition and pray to God. Please let me know how can I find a solution in my faith.

Islamic way of finding a way out is to do introspection. I have guessed that your circumstances may have been good earlier, which made you an easy-goer, making you lose your seriousness and sincerity. This may have caused you to start wasting money. So you did not make better use of the time when you were prosperous. Now you need to re-plan and resolve not to repeat your mistake. You should take every penny you receive with gratitude and spend it with a lot of planning. No mysterious chanting of religious words would solve your problem. All you need to do is to admit your previous mistakes, accept your losing of opportunity and re-plan to make a new beginning.

96 Are there special places where dua (prayer) is accepted more often?

I do not subscribe to this notion. The acceptance of prayer is not dependent on a certain location. The spirit behind one’s prayer is what makes it relevant. The Prophet and his Companions made dua from various locations and their prayers were answered.

97 I work as a mechanic and my duty time is such that I end up missing my Asr prayer. What should I do?

I will tell you a saying of Imam Abu Hanifa which gives a very appropriate answer to this question. He was once asked, ‘If I am hungry and food has been served before me, but it is also the time to pray, then what should I do?’ He replied:

I will prefer being concerned about my prayers while eating than being concerned of food while praying. (Al-Arf al-Shazi, Anwar Shah Kashmiri, vol. 1, p. 344, hadith no. 353)

Similarly, if you are doing office work, it is better to remember and worry about your prayers during your work instead of worrying about your work while you are praying.

98 Is there any reward for the mere recitation of the Quran?

The giving of reward is entirely upon God, but mere recitation of the Quran is not the right way to seek reward. No Companion of the Prophet believed in this concept. You must either understand Arabic or read along with the translation so that you can understand the Quran, follow its teachings and become deserving of rewards.

99 With so many different sects in Islam today, could there be a convergence point?

This is the approach that the Companions adopted. When there is no difference amongst you and others, you must work together. If you realize that a difference has come about between you and others, then deal with it through peaceful discussion. When there is a difference, it calls for discussion. This would help in preserving unity.

100 Did the Prophet Muhammad fight only in self-defense? What led to the Battle of Khandaq (the Battle of the Trench)?

All skirmishes that we see in the life of the Prophet were in self-defense. None was done as offensive action directed against others.

The Battle of the Trench happened in 627 AD. When the Prophet came to know that people were coming from Makkah to attack the Muslims of Madinah, he gathered all of his Companions and asked them how to deal with the situation in a non-confrontational manner. One of them, Salman Farsi who was from Persia, said that in Iran whenever kings have to avoid a battle, they dig a trench around their area. The Prophet liked this idea and all of the Muslims together dug a trench around Madinah. Madinah was covered from three sides: on one side there were dense date palm trees and on two sides there were mountains. So only one side of the city was exposed to entry, while three sides of the city had natural obstructions. On the exposed side, the Muslims dug a trench so that the army of the opponents could not reach Madinah. When the leader of Quraysh saw the trench, he exclaimed:

By God, this is a strategy which the Arabs know not of! (Sirah ibn Kathir, vol. 3, p. 202)

The digging of the trench was a matter of strategy. A few skirmishes did take place at the time of the Battle of Khandaq when some people from the other side tried to get over the trench, but these were only one-to-one engagements.

101 Should certain verses in the Quran be updated?

If the text of a book is compromised fully or partially, then the veracity of the book becomes doubtful. This was conveyed by the advocate Nani Palkhivala in the context of the Indian Constitution. He said that the Constitution had been lengthened unnecessarily by hundreds of amendments, the result of which was that in the present day no longer any sanctity is attached to the Constitution of India. In my younger days, people were very fearful of lawlessness. First of all, it was Gandhi who broke the law by Namak Satyagraha. He forgot that he was not breaking the law of salt, but the sanctity of law itself. For this reason, in Britain there is no written constitution rather laws are made only based on tradition. Similarly in the US extremely few amendments are made. The reason for this is that both the British and the American know that the Constitution signifies a sanctified code of law. If you separate sanctity from law, law is reduced to being nothing.

In India, each time there is a new government, a new bill that is passed. Palkhivala had written that the British had ruled India for two hundred years and made only 500 acts, while our governments in fifty years after Independence had made 5,000 bills! Hence no one knows how many acts and bills there are.

The Quran was given the status of a religious sanctity and its text was preserved for all eternity; had this not been the case, people would have changed the very text of the Quran.

If certain situations arise then an ‘executive order’ can be issued by the head of state and whatever changes are required should be implemented as executive order of the ruler, while the text of the Quran should not be altered.

For instance, Umar ibn al-Khattab during his time as caliph had issued an executive order of validating the utterance triple talaq in one go, thus finalizing the divorce of a man who pronounces the word ‘talaq’ to his wife thrice in one sitting. This was a temporary ruling and did not have permanent applicability. If people knew that Umar was a caliph with the power of giving out an executive order, they would have taken his ruling in the matter of divorce as applicable only to his time. But our ulema made Umar’s executive order as a part of the Shariah. This was a mistake, as Umar’s directive was different from the method of divorce prescribed in the Quran. The Quran asks a man to divorce his wife by pronouncing the word ‘talaq’ on three separate occasions over a period of three months and not instantly in one go.

The law as has been laid down in the Quran must not be changed, although there should always remain scope for interpretation. Interpretation of law does not create problem, but if you change the text, then that would be tantamount to creating problems.

Sanctity of law is more important than the law itself. This why the entire British legal system is based on tradition, there being no written Constitution. The reason is that they are aware that sanctity is very important. If sanctity is compromised, respect for law will also be gone.

102 Belief in angels is a part of the Islamic religion. Man can discover God by observing creations, but how can he discover angels?

The quantum theory made inferential argument as valid as direct argument. For example, subatomic particles are not visible and can be known only through their effects. Their effects lead scientists to conclude that subatomic particles do exist. The same argument is applicable to religious matters. That is, although we do not see angels directly, we can believe in them indirectly by their effects.

How do things around us function? How does photosynthesis take place in the leaves? How does cow take in grass and make milk? How does the salty water of seas get converted into fresh water in the rain? How is everything in nature so systematic? These effects would lead to an inference that there is someone who is controlling all these natural processes. God has His angles positioned to take care of these processes. One may say that these processes are ‘automatic processes’ or ‘self-occurring processes’, but I would say these are just another name of ‘angelic processes’. Someone may use the word ‘automatic’, I use the word ‘angelic’. Thus, the concept remains the same.

103 What is charity and what is the Islamic concept of charity?

Charity in Islam (zakat) is the giving of alms out of one’s own private means at a minimum fixed rate. This money is given in the name of God and is to be spent on worthy causes and on meeting the needs of the poor and the helpless. Charity is a reminder to a person that everything he possesses belongs to God.

A person himself plays only a very small part in obtaining whatever he owns in this world. Were he not to have the benefit of God’s endless bounty, he would neither be able to grow grain, raise cattle, set up industries nor accomplish any other work of a useful nature. The system of life created for him by God, meeting as it does all of his requirements from those of his inner being to those of external environment, is one of greatest perfection. Were God to withdraw even a single one of His blessings, all of man’s schemes would lie in ruins and all his efforts would be in vain. All productivity would come to a grinding halt and life itself would come to a standstill. Charity is a way of acknowledging this fact of life. Islam desires that private wealth should be considered as belonging to God.

In so doing, no one should consider that he is conferring a great favour upon those less well-endowed than himself and should in no way be condescending to the recipients of his charity. When a man gives alms to others, he should do so in the knowledge that they have a rightful share in his wealth, for this is as God has ordained. He is doing no more than give others their due.

Everyone is required to recognize the rights of others, just as everyone is expected to sympathize with those afflicted by adversity. This feeling should be so well developed that one has no hesitancy about sharing one’s possessions with others, or coming to their assistance, even when it is clear that nothing can be expected in return. Even where there are no ties of friendship, one should wish others well and guard their honour as if it were one’s own. According to a hadith:

Charity (zakat) should be collected from their rich and distributed among their poor. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 1395 and Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 19)

One unfortunate aspect of human relationships is that people tend to give to others only when they hope to gain something in return. Money, they feel, should be returned with interest. When such an understanding becomes a factor in our social organization, exploitation becomes rampant; everyone is ready to plunder everyone else. This results in society falling a prey to oppression and disorder.

Society should be so ordered that the ‘haves’ are able to assist the ‘have-nots’. Believers have the assurance of God that if they give to others, whatever they give will be returned to them many times over in the next world; their trust in God’s promise is complete. In a society ordered in this way, feelings of antagonism and indifference are not allowed to develop: people are not bent on exploiting one another. There is never an atmosphere of mutual resentment and dissatisfaction, for everyone lives in peace with his neighbour. Such a society, in short, is a haven of contentment and well-being.

104 Did the Prophet Muhammad live a simple and humble life, or did he have limited means and live a poor man’s life? For short, what was his wealth status?

The word used in the Quran for money is qiyam, which literally means a place to settle down. God has made wealth a means of qiyam for people, that is, it works to provide a base to people for their livelihood. We need money as a base for what we do in this world; we do not require money for luxury. Here, ‘base’ means that money forms a kind of material support for the purpose we have to achieve in life. For example, installation of an elevator in a house could be done as a display of wealth, or it could be done to facilitate movement of the elderly and those who may not be able to use the staircase. The former approach would be against the teaching of Islam. But the latter approach, which is to facilitate movement, shall be looked upon favourably. Everyone is allowed to earn money to acquire a base for the work they have to do in life. The quantum of wealth earned by an individual is not the concern of Islam; the individual must simply earn his livelihood honestly and spend it on utility rather than on vanities.

Once Umar ibn al-Khattab came to the Prophet’s house and saw the latter lying down on a mat. The Prophet’s body had marks from the substance the mat was made of. This made Umar weep, as he realized that the Prophet, being a messenger of God, was living in difficulty while his contemporary kings were leading luxurious lives. The Prophet explained to Umar that we must be satisfied with what fulfils our need. Kings and emperors are concerned about living in luxury, but for the Prophet whatever fulfilled his need was enough. In today’s age, several things have become our need, such as a phone for communication and other gadgets to get our work done. All these are classified as needs and Islam does not prohibit acquiring them.

Also, the definition of ‘need’ may vary. Something that may be the need of one may not be the need of another. So, there could never be a universal yardstick defining ‘need’; a conscientious individual is the best judge of his needs and well understands when it becomes greed.

105 Does Islam support the concept of organ donation after death?

Yes, undoubtedly Islam supports donation of organs after death. This is because there is a concept in Islam, called sadqah-e-jariyah, which means continued charity or on-going charity – this is charity which comes to benefit people even after the person who made the donation has passed away. Other examples of this form of charity may be to open a school which continues to benefit people after one’s death, or planting of a tree, the shade of which may be used by travellers in future.

Moreover, the fact that our body accepts organs from another’s body is because our body has been naturally made in this way. That is, it is a natural law. If organ donation was unnatural then it would not have been possible for us to donate in the first place. If God has made our body in this way – that is, it can accept organs from others, then it means that it is part of God’s will that one person should donate to another. Hence, there is no question of lawful or unlawful when it comes to the act of organ donation. God has Himself kept the possibility in human body to accept organs from others. Therefore, those who have discovered the principle of organ donation have done an Islamic act indeed. When you add fertilizers to soil, it accepts it. This means that soil already had acceptability for fertilizers; this acceptability was not created in it by anyone external to it. It is a natural law. Similarly, the acceptability of others’ organs by a particular person shows that receiving of donated organs is normal. Organ donation is thus availing of a natural opportunity and highly rewarding.

106 What do you think about the following verse: “And the Messenger has said, ‘O my Lord, indeed my people have taken this Quran as [a thing] abandoned.’” (Quran 25:30)?

This verse is about the Day of Judgment. These are the words the Prophet will say on the Day of Judgment about his community of later times. After the death of the Prophet and the passing of several generations, the followers of the Prophet went into a state of religious degeneration, thus abandoning their revealed Book.

Today we see that Muslims respect the Quran by kissing it and keeping it in sacred places, but they do not really follow its guidance in their lives. Instead of being a source of guidance, it seems to have acquired the status of being a display article.

This verse of the Quran is a warning or admonition for the Muslim community. They are forewarned that they should save themselves from developing the tendency of simply reciting the Quran while heeding to the dictates of their own desires.

107 What is the concept of Judgement Day according to Islam?

According to Islam, God created man as an eternal being, but divided his lifespan into two: the worldly life and the post-death life. While the pre-death period is temporary, the post-death one is eternal. To illustrate this, let us compare human life with an iceberg. The iceberg is a huge mass of ice floating in the ocean, but only about 10 per cent of it is above the surface of water, and the rest of it is under water.

God has created a world called Paradise — an ideal world, a perfect world. According to the Quran, it is a place where man will find fulfilment of all his desires:

Therein, you shall have all that your soul desires. (Quran 41:31)

[Paradise] is a place where people shall not fear, nor shall they grieve. (Quran 2:112)

Our life on earth is just a preparation for the eternal afterlife. In this world, there are different kinds of situations and challenges. Man is here to face those challenges and prepare himself to be a deserving candidate for Paradise. In this sense, our life on earth is a world of opportunities. Those who avail of these opportunities and prepare themselves accordingly, will be chosen and will be settled in Paradise after death.

In this life, there are all kinds of problematic and unwanted situations. But they have a purpose. They constitute a training ground that gives us a chance to cope with adversity, thus preparing us for eternal entry into Paradise. The Quran introduces Paradise thus:

God calls man to the home of peace. (Quran 10:25)

According to Islam, the present world is a place of work, while the world Hereafter is a place of reward. When one dies, life does not come to an end. One simply enters the second phase of life, that is, the world Hereafter. It is only in the present world that one can prove that one is deserving of Paradise in the world Hereafter. This opportunity ends at the time of death; after death, there is no opportunity to prepare oneself. Success and failure are both determined by one’s deeds in this world, in the pre-death period.

The basic theme of the Quran is to make the reader aware of the creation plan of God, according to which the present world has been created for a limited period of time. When this time is over and this world shall be brought to an end, the Day of Judgement shall take place. According to Islamic belief, it would be a Day of Justice where the deeds of every individual – good or bad – shall be laid bare and according to the deeds in the pre-death period, their final destination shall be decreed.

Entry into Paradise is not based on any kind of recommendation, and it is not anyone’s birthright. It depends totally on one’s deeds and how one uses one’s God-given freedom. The Quran is very clear on this point:

Man shall have only that for which he strives. (Quran 53:39)

If a person has true faith in God, then such a faith makes him modest. His speech and his conduct reflect his living faith in God. He thinks of God constantly watching over him. Some commentators on the Quran have defined a true believer as one who believes in the unseen in the manner in which he believes what is seen. A believer lives in this world in the same state that will overcome people when they will directly see God on the Day of Judgement. A believer surrenders to God in the present world itself.

108 Is it not a crime to demolish a mosque?

There are four schools of jurisprudence: Shafi, Maliki, Hanbali and Hanafi. There is a book in Hanbali School where the clerics had given the fatwa that if a mosque has to be demolished for a valid reason, it would be considered justified. If a mosque is demolished in a country by non-state actors, it is a matter of administrative concern which would have to be sorted out by the administration. People must accept whatever the administration of the country decides.

109 Can we interpret Islam in any way we prefer? How open to interpretation is Islam?

One is to change the accepted norm of religion which have been established by the Quran and the Hadith. For example, if Islam is a monotheistic religion and if someone claims that godhead can by multiple, it is not acceptable. In other words, change of interpretation is not accepted in the matter of the fundamental principles of Islam. For instance, there are five pillars of Islam: namaz (prayer), sawm (fasting), Hajj (annual pilgrimage), zakat (obligatory almsgiving) and shahada (belief in the Islamic creed that there is one God and that Muhammad, pbuh, is the messenger of God). There cannot be any changes in these basic principles.

The other aspect of Islam is where there is possibility of interpretation, for example, the Quran says about those who come to perform the pilgrimage in Makkah:

Call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to you, on foot, and on every kind of lean camel, by every distant track. (Quran 22:27)

In earlier days, people used to tread on camels but after the development of aviation, people started using aeroplanes. This is a reinterpretation of the above Quranic verse, which is allowed.

However, no one gets the permission to interpret arbitrarily – this will have to be preceded by deep study which only a scholar (alim) is qualified to do. A common man can interpret in non-basic matters of religion or matters which do not constitute the core of religion. In matters which are fundamental to religion, we have to listen to the scholars.

110 Muslims break idols and cite what had happened during the days of the Prophet – is this justified?

No, this is not at all justified. The demolishing of Bamyan statues and the propaganda to demolish the Pyramids are all examples of extremism. According to Islam, there is no one except God that you should worship but if someone else worships others, you cannot go about killing them or harming their deities. Haram (the Kabah, and Makkah and Madinah in the extended sense) is an exception and is a preserved sanctuary where any encroachment is prohibited. Thus no idols are kept in this area. But what is applicable to this area is not a general rule that can be applied elsewhere – the idols in the rest of the world do not have to be broken down. Mahmud Ghazanvi broke down the idols of the Somnath Temple, which according to me was an un-Islamic act.

At the time of the caliph Umar, Muslim rule extended to Palestine and a written treaty was signed between Umar and the rulers of Palestine. One of the clauses of the treaty read:

Christian churches will not be broken down. (Tarikh al-Tabari, vol. 3, p. 609)

This injunction is permanent and applies to all religions.

111 Is it Satan or us who are responsible for our sins?

According to religious belief in Islam, Satan has a role to play. A person’s mind has ego and desires. Each desire is an entry point for Satan wherefrom it enters. When Satan enters one’s mind, the Quran says:

When any evil suggestion from Satan touches those who fear God, they are instantly alerted and become watchful. (Quran 7:201)

The final decision rests with man and man alone is accountable for his actions. Satan cannot make a person commit sins. He can only act as a catalyst.