Islam Great (Islam Online)

It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word God which can be made plural, Gods, or feminine, Goddess. It is interesting to notice that Allah is the personal name of God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and a sister language of Arabic.

The One true God is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam associates with God. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Allah. The Prophet Muhammad was asked by his contemporaries about Allah; the answer came directly from Allah Himself in the form of a short chapter of the Quran, which is considered the essence of the unity or the motto of monotheism. This is chapter 112 which reads:

“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Say (O Muhammad) Allah is God the One God, the Everlasting Refuge, who has not begotten, nor has been begotten, and equal to Him is not anyone.”

Some non-Muslims allege that God in Islam is a stern and cruel God who demands to be obeyed fully. He is not loving and kind. Nothing can be farther from truth than this allegation. It is enough to know that, with the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Quran begins with the verse: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” In one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) we are told that “God is more loving and kinder than a mother to her dear child.”

But God is also Just. Hence evildoers and sinners must have their share of punishment and the virtuous, His bounties and favors. Actually God’s attribute of Mercy has full manifestation in His attribute of Justice. People suffering throughout their lives for His sake and people oppressing and exploiting other people all their lives should not receive similar treatment from their Lord. Expecting similar treatment for them will amount to negating the very belief in the accountability of man in the Hereafter and thereby negating all the incentives for a moral and virtuous life in this world. The following Quranic verses are very clear and straightforward in this respect:

“Verily, for the Righteous are gardens of Delight, in the Presence of their Lord. Shall We then treat the people of Faith like the people of Sin? What is the matter with you? How judge you?” (68:34-36)

Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may distinguish themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only.

The concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter against mankind, or that God is incarnate in any human being are considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view.

The unique usage of Allah as a personal name of God is a reflection of Islam’s emphasis on the purity of the belief in God which is the essence of the message of all God’s messengers. Because of this, Islam considers associating any deity or personality with God as a deadly sin which God will never forgive, despite the fact He may forgive all other sins.

[Note that what is meant above applies ONLY to those people who die in a state wherein they are associating others with God. The repentance of those who yet live is acceptable to God if He wills. - MSA of USC]

The Creator must be of a different nature from the things created because if he is of the same nature as they are, he will be temporal and will therefore need a maker. It follows that nothing is like Him. If the maker is not temporal, then he must be eternal. But if he is eternal, he cannot be caused, and if nothing outside him causes him to continue to exist, which means that he must be self-sufficient. And if the does not depend on anything for the continuance of his own existence, then this existence can have no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and everlasting: “He is the First and the Last.”

He is Self-Sufficient or Self-Subsistent or, to use a Quranic term, Al-Qayyum. The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing things into being, He also preserves them and takes them out of existence and is the ultimate cause of whatever happens to them.

“God is the Creator of everything. God is the guardian over everything. Unto Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth.” (39:62, 63)

“No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God. He knows its lodging place and it repository.” (11:6)

God’s Attributes:

If the Creator is Eternal and Everlasting, then His attributes must also be eternal and everlasting. He should not lose any of His attributes nor acquire new ones. If this is so, then His attributes are absolute. Can there be more than one Creator with such absolute attributes? Can there be for example, two absolutely powerful Creators? A moment’s thought shows that this is not feasible.

The Quran summarizes this argument in the following verses:

“God has not taken to Himself any son, nor is there any God with Him: For then each God would have taken of that which he created and some of them would have risen up over others.” (23:91)

And Why, were there Gods in earth and heaven other than God, they (heaven and earth) would surely go to ruin.” (21:22)

The Oneness of God:

The Quran reminds us of the falsity of all alleged Gods. To the worshippers of man-made objects, it asks:

“Do you worship what you have carved yourself?” (37:95)

“Or have you taken unto you others beside Him to be your protectors, even such as have no power either for good or for harm to themselves?” (13:16)

To the worshippers of heavenly bodies it cites the story of Abraham:

“When night outspread over him he saw a star and said, ‘This is my Lord.’ But when it set he said, ‘I love not the setters.’ When he saw the moon rising, he said, ‘This is my Lord.’ But when it set he said, ‘If my Lord does not guide me I shall surely be of the people gone astray.’ When he saw the sun rising, he said, ‘This is my Lord; this is greater.’ But when it set he said, ‘O my people, surely I quit that which you associate, I have turned my face to Him Who originated the heavens and the earth; a man of pure faith, I am not of the idolaters.’” (6:76-79)

The Believer’s Attitude:

In order to be a Muslim, i.e., to surrender oneself to God, it is necessary to believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc. But this belief - later on called “Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah” - is not enough. Many of the idolaters knew and believed that only the Supreme God could do all this, but that was not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid ar-rububiyyah one must add tawhid al’uluhiyyah, i.e., one acknowledges the fact that is God alone Who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstains from worshipping any other thing or being.

Having achieved this knowledge of the one true God, man should constantly have faith in Him, and should allow nothing to induce him to deny truth.

When faith enters a person’s heart, it causes certain mental states which result in certain actions. Taken together these mental states and actions are the proof for the true faith. The Prophet said, “Faith is that which resides firmly in the heart and which is proved by deeds.” Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards God which could be said to be the essence of ‘ibada’ (worship).

The feeling of gratitude is so important that a non-believer is called ‘kafir’ which means ‘one who denies a truth’ and also ‘one who is ungrateful.’

A believer loves, and is grateful to God for the bounties He bestowed upon him, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favors, he is always anxious lest God should punish him, here or in the Hereafter. He, therefore, fears Him, surrenders himself to Him and serves Him with great humility. One cannot be in such a mental state without being almost all the time mindful of God. Remembering God is thus the life force of faith, without which it fades and withers away.

The Quran tries to promote this feeling of gratitude by repeating the attributes of God very frequently. We find most of these attributes mentioned together in the following verses of the Quran:

“Allah is God; there is no God but Allah, Allah is the Knower of the unseen and the visible; Allah is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. Allah is the King, the All-Holy, the All-Peace, the Guardian of Faith, the All-Preserver, the All-Mighty, the All-Compeller, the All-Sublime. Glory be to God, above that they associate! Allah is God the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper. To Allah belong the Names Most Beautiful. All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Allah; Allah is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” (59:22-24)

“There is no God but Allah, the Living, the Everlasting. To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Allah knows what lies before them and what is after them. His throne comprises the heavens and earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him not; Allah is the All-High, the All-Glorious.” (2:255)

“People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion, and say not as to God but the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only the Messenger of God, and His Word that He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers, and say not, ‘Three.’ Refrain; better is it for you. God is only one God. Glory be to Him.

Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, relates that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “Islam is based on five articles:

“A Muslim is one against whose tongue and hands other Muslims are secure, and an Emigrant is one who departs from what Allah has forbidden.” (Bukhari)

Fasting is another unique moral and spiritual characteristicof Islam. Literally defined, fasting means to abstain”completely” from foods, drinks, intimateintercourse and smoking, before the break of thedawn till sunset, during the entire month of Ramadan,the ninth month of the Islamic year. But if we restrictthe meaning of the Islamic Fasting to this literalsense, we would be sadly mistaken.

WhenIslam introduced this matchless institution, itplanted an ever-growing tree of infinite virtueand invaluable products. Here is an explanationof the spiritual meaning of the Islamic Fasting:

Itteaches man the principle of sincere Love: becausewhen he observes Fasting he does it out of deeplove for God. And the man who loves God truly isa man who really knows what love is.

Itequips man with a creative sense of hope and anoptimistic outlook on life; because when he fastshe is hoping to please God and is seeking His Grace

Itequips man with a creative sense of hope and anoptimistic outlook on life; because when he fastshe is hoping to please God and is seeking His Grace

Itcultivates in man a vigilant and sound conscience;because the fasting person keeps his fast in secretas well as in public. In fasting, especially, thereis no mundane authority to check man’s behavioror compel him to observe fasting. He keeps it toplease God and satisfy his own conscience by beingfaithful in secret and in public. There is no betterway to cultivate a sound conscience in man.

Itindoctrinates man in patience and selflessness,as through fasting, he feels the pains of deprivationbut he endures them patiently

Itis an effective lesson in applied moderation andwillpower.

Fastingalso provides man with a transparent soul, a clearmind and a light body.

Itshows man a new way of wise savings and sound budgeting

Itenables man to master the art of Mature Adaptability.We can easily understand the point once we realizethat fasting makes man change the entire courseof his daily life.

Itgrounds man in discipline and healthy survival

Itoriginates in man the real spirit of social belonging,unity and brotherhood, of equality before God aswell as before the law.

Itis a Godly prescription for self-reassurance andself-control.

Now,someone may be tempted to raise the objection: Ifthis is the case with the Islamic institution offasting, and if this is the picture of Islam inthis aspect, why are the Muslims not living in autopia? To such an objection we can only say thatMuslims have lived in and enjoyed a utopia in acertain epoch of their history. The realizationof that utopia was a phenomenon of a unique achievementin the history of man. We say unique, because noreligion or social system other than Islam has everbeen able to realize its ideals in reality.

Thereason why the Islamic utopia is not being establishednowadays is manifold and easily explicable. Butto restrict our discussion to the institution offasting we may say that some Muslims, unfortunatelyfor them, do not observe the fast or, at best, adoptthe attitude of indifference. On the other hand,some of those who observe it do not realize itstrue meaning and, as a result, derive very littlebenefit out of it or, in fact, no benefit at all.That is why some Muslims today, do not enjoy thereal privileges of fasting.

Ithas already been indicated that the period of obligatoryfasting is the month of Ramadan. The daily periodof observance starts before the break of the dawnant ends immediately after sunset. Normally thereare accurate calendars to toll the exact time, butin the absence of such facilities one should consultone’s watch and the sun’s positions, together withthe local newspapers, weather bureau, etc.

FastingRamadan is obligatory on every responsible and fitMuslim. But there are other times when it is recommendedto make voluntary fasting, after the Traditionsof Prophet Muhammad. Among these times are Mondaysand Thursdays of every week, a few days of eachmonth in the two months heralding the coming ofRamadan, i.e., Rajab and Sha’ban, six days afterRamadan following the ‘Eid-ul-Fitr Day. Besides,it is always compensating to fast any day of anymonth of the year, except the ‘Eid Days and Fridayswhen no Muslim should fast.

However,we may repeat that the only obligatory fasting isthat of Ramadan - which may be 29 or 30 days, dependingon the moon’s positions. This is a pillar of Islam,and any failure to observe it without reasonableexcuses is a grave sin in the sight of God.

WhoMust Fast?

FastingRamadan is compulsory upon every Muslim, male orfemale, who has these qualifications:

Tobe mentally and physically fit, which means to besane and able.

Tobe of full age, the age of puberty and discretion,which is normally about fourteen. Children underthis age should be encouraged to start this goodpractice on easy levels, so when they reach theage of puberty they will be mentally and physicallyprepared to observe fasting.

Tobe present at one’s permanent settlement, your hometown, one’s farm, and one’s business premises, etc.This means not to be on a journey of about fiftymiles or more

Tobe fairly certain that fasting is unlikely to causeyou any harm, physical or mental, other than thenormal reactions to hunger, thirst, etc.

ExemptionFrom Fasting

Thesesaid qualifications exclude the following categories:

Childrenunder the age of puberty and discretion.

Insanepeople who are unaccountable for their deeds. Peopleof these two categories are exempted from the dutyof fist, and no compensation or any other substituteis enjoined on them.

Menand women who are too old and feeble to undertakethe obligation of fast and bear its hardships. Suchpeople are exempted from this duty, but they mustoffer, at least, one needy poor Muslim an averagefull meal or its value per person per day.

Sickpeople whose health is likely to be severely affectedby the observance of fast. They may postpone thefast, as long as they are sick, to a later dateand make up for it, a day for a day.

Travelersmay break the fast temporarily during their travelonly and make up for it in later days, a day fora day

Pregnantwomen and women breast-feeding their children mayalso break the fast, if its observance is likelyto endanger their own health or that of their infants.But they must make up for the fast at a delayedtime, a day for a day.

Womenin the -period of menstruation (of a maximum often days or of confinement (of a maximum of fortydays).; They must postpone the fast till recoveryand then make up for it, a day for a day.

Itshould be understood that here, like in all otherIslamic undertakings, the intention must be madeclear that this action is undertaken in obedienceto God, in response to His command and out of loveof Him.

Thefast of any day of Ramadan becomes void by intentionaleating or drinking or smoking or indulgence in anyintimate intercourse, and by allowing anything toenter through the mouth into the interior partsof the body. And if this is done deliberately withoutany lawful reason, this is a major sin which onlyrenewed repentance can expiate.

Ifanyone, through forgetfulness, does something thatwould ordinarily break the fast, 0a observance isnot nullified, and his fast stands valid, providedhe stops doing that thing the moment he realizeswhat he is doing.

Oncompletion of the fast of Ramadan, the special charityknown as Sadagat-ul-Fitr (charity of ‘ Fast-breaking)must be distributed before ‘Eid-ul-Fitr (approximately),seven dollars per head.

GeneralRecommendations

Itis strongly recommended by Prophet Muhammad to observethese practices especially during Ramadan:

Tohave a light meal before the break of the dawn,known as Suhoor.

Toeat a few dates or start breaking the fast by plainwater right after sunset, saying this prayer Allahhumma laka sumna, wa ‘ala rizqika aftarna. (O God!for Your sake have we fasted and now we break thefast with the food You have given us).

Tomake your meals as light as possible because, asthe Prophet put it, the worst thing man can fillis his stomach.

Toobserve the supererogatory prayer known as Taraweeh.

Toexchange social visits and intensify humanitarianservices.

Toincrease the study ant recitation of the Qur’an.

Toexert the utmost in patience ant humbleness.

Tobe extraordinarily cautious in using one’s senses,one’s mind and, especially, the tongue; to abstainfrom careless gossip and avoid all suspicious motions.

A Muslim expresses his/her faith (Iman) in the following words:
Ash-hadu anla ilaha illal-Lahu Wahdahu la Sharika Lahu wa-ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu

The belief in the Prophet Muhammad (on whom be peace) as the servant and Messenger of Allah completes one’s faith. The Holy Prophet was the greatest of all the Prophets of Allah, yet he was only a human being with no share in Divinity. This is a very important belief that keeps Muslims from associating partners with Allah. This part of the Declaration of Faith where reinforces the first part of Allah being the only Supreme Being with no partners also establishes the absolute authority of the Holy Prophet as the Messenger of Allah, who must be obeyed as well in all the matters of faith. The Holy Prophet is the last prophet who brought us the last Book (the Holy Quran) to be followed. He lived among his people for a long time and his life is documented in utmost detail. He lead his followers by example. The way he lived his life and admonished his followers to live their lives is called Sunnah of the Holy Prophet. The second part of the Declaration of Faith makes obeying and following the advice of the Prophet Muhammad equally important to the belief in absolute Unity of Allah. This declaration make one to completely submit to the Will of Allah and that is why one who declares this belief is called a Muslim - one who completely submits to the will of Allah.

Along with salat, another important form of worship is fasting. It is obligatory for each Muslim, apart from some exemptions, to fast in the month of Ramadhan. During the hours of fasting, food and drink and conjugal relations between husband and wife are forbidden. It is enjoined that during fasting one should pay attention to remembrance of God and study the Holy Quran in abundance. One should try to curtail one’s worldly pastimes as much as possible during Ramadhan, and to be particularly inclined towards charity and alms giving.

Human life is dependent on food and drink and the continuation of the human race depends on the marital relationship. While fasting one refrains from them both, as if bearing witness to God that for His pleasure man gives up the factors (temporarily) upon which his very existence depends. The various other benefits of fasting are that man gets to exercise sacrificing physical comfort and to endure hunger and thirst. Fasting creates a sense of equality between the rich and the poor. By developing an appreciation of hunger and thirst, it makes the well-off think of the needs of the poor and impresses a feeling of compassion in their hearts. It makes them appreciate, through the practicality of it, the state a human being endures when hungry and thirsty. Ramadhan is a most effective and excellent means of spiritual development for mankind.