According to a
Hadith a mysterious person came to the Prophet, apparently testing him about
the religion he was teaching. He went away satisfied when the Prophet described
it as having three levels:- (1) Al-islam - submission to the religious
discipline or law. (2) Al-iman - the faith and (3) Al-ihsan – righteousness,
which is described as behaviour based on the awareness and love of Allah.
The first refers
to actions, the second to purposes or motive and the third to a state of being.
Though all three are aspects of religion, interact and reinforce each other,
they may also be regarded as stages. Each previous stage can be regarded as a
preparation leading to the next stage, and the last refers to a Cosmic goal. It
is the righteous who enter eternal life in paradise and who will eventually
inherit the earth. The whole of the religious life may be regarded in a similar
light with respect to the ordinary unreligious or secular life - it is a stage
higher, a conscious, purposive life style as opposed to an automatic one.
Unfortunately,
many people, including religious ones, often mistake religion for politics, an
aspect of culture, a philosophy, an ideology, an institution or some other
aspect of the secular world and some use it to further their own ambitions,
their wealth, power or prestige or to confirm and establish their prejudices.
However, one does not enter the next stage by flouting the previous. On the
contrary, it is expanded, modified and reinforced. The previous stage can be
regarded as a foundation but also as a subset of the next. Unfortunately, a
large number of religious people form an addiction to the first level and
remain confined to it, or fall back into the attractions and temptations of the
secular life.
Regarding the
religious discipline the Quran says:-
"The desert Arabs say: We believe. Say
unto them: You believe not, but rather say: 'We submit'; for faith has not yet
entered into your hearts; and if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not
diminish aught of your deeds; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." 49:14
One of the
implications of this is that faith does not develop until one has undertaken a
discipline. It is the discipline that leads us into the actions and
interactions with reality which provide the experiences upon which faith can be
based. This is the case in religion as in science, politics and any craft
whatsoever. Faith refers not to knowing, but to the confidence with which
action is based on knowledge. It is the result of a process of sensitizing the mind
to perceive certain realities or truths and to behave in an appropriate manner.
Faith is not, therefore, "blind belief" as often defined in the West.
Nor is it mere intellectual belief or assent, but something on which life is
based. Belief based on desire is prejudice, which is condemned by the Quran. It
also condemns guesswork and speculation.
“Say: Allah's guidance is the (sufficient,
correct or only) guidance; and if you were to follow their lusts (desires,
prejudices, fantasies, superstitions) after the knowledge that has come to you,
you then have no protector or help from (or against) Allah .” 2:120
“Allah wishes to turn towards you in mercy, but
those who follow their own lusts (desires, prejudices, addictions,
superstitions) wish that ye should go far astray.” 4:27
“But if thou followest most of those who are in
the land, they will lead thee astray from the Way of Allah. They follow naught
but opinion (conjecture or suspicion) and they only guess.” 6:117
“But most of them follow naught but conjecture
(suspicion, fancy, guesswork, speculation); verily, conjecture can by no means
take the place of (or avail against) truth. Verily, Allah is Aware of what they
do.” 10:37
“And follow (or pursue) not that of which thou
hast no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart, of all of
these it shall be asked (to give an account).” 17:36
“What ails them that they believe not? And,
when the Quran is read to them, they fall not prostrate? On the contrary, the
unbelievers reject it. But Allah knows best what they hide.” 84:20-23
“Say (unto them): It is all from Allah. What
ails these people? They can hardly understand an event.” 4:78
“What ails us that we should not put our trust
in Allah when He has guided us in our paths? We will be surely endure the hurt
ye do us. In Allah let the trusting put their trust.” 14:12
“Have they not travelled through
the land? And have they not hearts wherewith to feel (understand), and ears
wherewith to hear? For, indeed, it is not their eyes that are blind, but it is
the hearts which are within their breasts that grow blind.” 22:46
We may
therefore, conclude that in Religion (a) Action must be based on (b) Faith and
Faith depends on (c) Perception. Perception depends on the capacity for
perception, which is a state of being. This can be modified (increased or
decreased or altered) by knowledge and experiences, preconceptions, motives and
attitudes, efforts and actions which elicit reactions. This is a fundamental
truth upon which the whole educational system is based. Human progress depends
on it.
But we see that
if faith depends on perception, and perception depends on appropriate efforts
which depends on faith, then we have a kind of spiral here:- Effort requires
faith and faith requires effort. The religious discipline may not be undertaken
unless there is already a spark of faith.
Religion is
concerned with the development of the state of being, often in a revolutionary
manner. To do this it provides (i) instructions for efforts, (ii) actions which
provide new experiences such as prayer, fasting etc., (iii) a set of motives
and values (iv) a body of basic ideas (v) a framework of reference within which
experiences are interpreted. (vi) A social system for mutual reinforcement with
its laws and institutions. (vii) Certain ceremonies and events designed to
stimulate awareness of the transcendental, to connect man to it and form a
bridge or ladder. Action can, of course, be instinctive, reflex, automatic,
habitual, impulsive, emotional, voluntary, rational or conscious. In religion
we are speaking of deliberate conscious actions based on faith.
“And that man shall have nothing but what he
strives for, and that his striving shall be seen. Then shall he be rewarded for
it with the fullest reward;” 53:39-41
Perception comes
in flashes of insight that are not directly linked to efforts, but efforts do
modify a person so that they might become receptive or able to recognize the
relevance of an insight. It is a question of data falling suddenly into a
self-consistent system. However, these Systems vary from very large to small
according to how much of reality they cover. Islam provides a Framework of
reference in which all the data of experience can be interpreted to form a
single self-consistent harmonious system, which also facilitates spiritual
integration, inner unity and peace.
People may enter
into Islam (or any other religion or system) for all kinds of sub-conscious
reasons and may profess all kinds of reasons or rationalisations for doing
this, but this is not real faith. Faith involves having conscious motives and
action. Religious people who do not behave consciously are not really any
better off in this respect than those who ignore religion, oppose it or are
hostile to it, also for sub-conscious reasons which might be quite irrelevant
and unreasonable, but they do not know this. But those who have accepted Islam
are better off in that they are now on the road that leads to faith, unless, of
course, they become addicted, and the discipline becomes an automatism or a form
of idolatry. .
This attitude
arises from the recognition that there is an Ideal, and that man is functioning
at far below the level he is capable of, and often in a perverse or diseased
manner, that he is malfunctioning. There is a distinction between his actual
conscious mind, and his potentialities, which lie dormant in his sub-conscious
mind. This is like a small circle, a prison, within a much larger circle. The
discipline has been created to provide the tools with which he can break out
into the greater world. Or like the baby projected from the womb into a greater
world. Or an educational system which prepares the child to leave the confines
of his family and enter as an adult into the life of the community and the
world.
Many people ask:
Why do you believe Muhammad and the Quran. Have you got any proof apart from
mere faith?
This question is
based on a misunderstanding.
We may well ask:
What do you mean by "mere faith"? Do you believe your own eyes or
your experiences or your capability for reason and understanding, or your
ability to see and accept a logical argument? Similar questions may be asked
about any religion or system - there is no difference basically between them in
this respect and Islam makes none. The only difference lies in this:- does it
lead to the awareness and adjustment to Reality, Allah, or not. If it does not
then it must lead ultimately to suffering and destruction and this itself is
contrary to our natural purposes, purposes which have themselves arisen because
we are part of the processes of the Cosmos, defined as the Will of Allah.
Human behaviour
and development depends on three factors:- (a) genetic inheritance, (b) the
affect of the physical, social and cultural environment and (c) the conscious
efforts made by the individual. Though selective breeding, genetic engineering,
manipulation of the environment, creating appropriate cultural and educational
conditions can be means for the improvement of human beings, these too require
human efforts. It is not at all guaranteed that these methods will produce
human beings who will make efforts and that these efforts will be good rather
than evil.
One can live
like an automaton, through instinct, conditioning or habit. This will bring
about no changes except accidental, undirected and non-purposive, unintelligent
ones. But human beings have been given consciousness, defined as a spark of the
divine. In order to lead a conscious life it is necessary to believe something.
A person needs to have faith in his own senses and abilities or in science or
logic, or in a scientist or politician or a saint or a prophet, or in a text
book or an expert of any kind or anything else if he is to believe it. If you
do not believe something then it cannot be truth or knowledge for you. But
there are causes and reasons for belief.
Faith, however,
is stronger than belief. Whereas belief refers only to intellectual assent,
faith involves thought, feeling and action. Faith belongs to a set of essential
interrelated impulses which connect man to the rest of existence – faith, love
and hope which correspond to the faculties of knowledge, motive and action. We
perform an action, if it is not an automatism, in the hope that it will lead to
certain results. This hope is not independent of our knowledge about how things
work. Love refers to a selfless interest in something, and it is this that
motivates us to obtain knowledge about it and act for its benefit – it connects
faith and hope. Faith is a state of partial identification with something and
refers to confidence in it. Nothing can be achieved without confidence, and the
degree of achievement is proportional to the amount of faith. Human beings not
only require knowledge to live but they must also have correct motives and the
ability to act. The one makes them dependent on what already is, on facts, the
other makes them change the world. It makes them create facts. These three can
be regarded as bridges leading to Surrender, which is a state of identification
in which the separate self is lost. It, therefore, transcends these three.
The power of
faith is coming to be increasingly appreciated, though reluctantly, owing to
medical evidence which shows that the predictions of doctors often proves wrong
– the belief of a person in some person, ritual, or doctrine can produce
diseases and even death or conversely postpone or heal diseases. It is,
however, important to realize that it is the quality of the faith rather than
that in which it is placed which determines its effectiveness. Faith in many
different things, anything whatever, can have the same effects. This is not
what is meant by Faith in the Quran. That in which faith is placed will
determine the quality of the faith. It is possible to place ones faith in
something which is limited or which flouts basic laws of nature. The former
limits the faith of the individual and latter will lead to disaster. However,
to say that faith must not be “unreasonable” cannot be admitted because that
which is regarded as “unreasonable” by a person depends on his knowledge,
framework of reference and capacity for reason. The Quran requires Faith in
Allah alone, the ultimate Reality, the Creator of all things, the Unlimited.
Faith may be
regarded as the power to actualize or bring into manifestation what exists as a
potentially, or what one desires, imagines or wills. In paradise, the Quran
tells us, a person will be able to fulfil all his desires directly. This may be
because he is composed of, recognizes and has access to, the very fundamental
forces of which all things are composed. But, it may also be the case that the
desires have changed and are more objective and in accord with world processes.
Otherwise contradictions would arise, and anything, which contradicts the basic
self-consistency of existence, suffers and is destroyed. Man should behave as a
true Vicegerent.
Faith is
something upon which a person's behaviour and his whole life is based. This
implies that experiences have been assimilated and have modified the person.
They have formed a self-consistent system such that a particular item fits into
the system with multiple links and other ideas can arise out of the system when
needed as if invented. And this, in its turn, implies that these ideas or
experiences are in conformity and harmony with a person's inherent nature -
arising from his genes and his real interactions with the real world most of
which he is not normally conscious of. But he is, in fact a bundle of
information formed by the materials, forces and laws of the Universe, and a
long process of interaction and adjustment to the Universe, created by Allah.
Faith is,
therefore, not something that is an opposite of experience, reason or
knowledge. It arises from experience and conscious attention and processing of
it. It is the lack of faith that is a disease.
"Have they not traveled through the land?
And have they not hearts wherewith to feel (understand), and ears wherewith to
hear? For, indeed, it is not their eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts
which are within their breasts that grow blind." Quran 22:46
"Verily, those who disbelieve, it is the
same to them if ye warn them or if ye warn them not, they will not believe.
Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and on their hearing; and on their eyes
is dimness, and for them is grievous woe..... In their hearts is a sickness,
and Allah has made them still more sick, and for them is grievous woe because
they lied. " 2:6-10
Here disbelief
implies not believing something that is true, where truth is defined as that
which Allah has said, created or commanded.
"Allah, He is the Real, and that which
they invoke besides Him is the False." 31:30
The further
implication is that it is not possible to believe in something that is untrue
or false. Such false beliefs should be defined as fantasies, conjectures, prejudices,
delusions or illusions. This should normally give rise to doubt unless
contradiction has been removed by suppressing the perception of the real.
Illusions and distortions are the result of insufficient information, the
filling of the gaps by fantasies caused by fear, dislikes or strong desires, or
a kind of hypnosis, fixation or fascination with certain kinds of data and the
exclusion of other kinds.
If you have
doubts then this arises because something conflicts with the system of
experiences within. The opposition so caused constitutes a stimulus that causes
discomfort. The purpose of this stimulus is to make a person conscious and to
activate him to remove the source of discomfort, to cause him to make the
necessary efforts to solve the problem so caused. This, in fact, may be defined
as the cosmic purpose of life - to remove the problems caused by the arising of
oppositions, by finding solutions, the reconciling factor that removes the
opposition and restores harmony and unity. This is also the purpose of Islam
and the discipline it brought. Striving (Jihad) is, therefore, its very
essence. Nothing either in the cosmos, or in a society or within a person can
change and evolve without it.
"Allah changes not the condition of a
people until they first change what is in their hearts." 13:11
"And that man shall have nothing but what
he strives for, and that his striving shall be seen. Then shall he be rewarded
for it with the fullest reward; and that your Lord is the final goal; " 53:39-42
"And whoso desires the Hereafter and
strives for it with the effort necessary, being a believer; for such, their
effort finds favour (with Allah)" 17:19
But an
opposition, a state of discomfort or pain, can be dealt with in three ways -
escape, defence, or attack. Any of these can be done in reality, fantasy or
substitution. Some people try to escape into fantasy; others construct
defensive barriers against perception of the truth inwardly, socially or even
physically; still others may attack something used as a substitute or scapegoat
also in thought or in actuality, especially those who remind them of their
inner conflict. But unless the problem is solved in reality it persists in the
sub-conscious. Persistent doubt is disintegrating and destructive.
In particular,
from the Islamic point of view, faith is connected with the basic tenets of
Islam because these refer to basic facts about existence. A conscious human
being should normally have an awareness of the unity underlying diversity, both
within himself and in the Cosmos – that is, he should have some awareness of
Allah and his relationship with Him. He is, therefore, regarded as inherently a
muslim, one who is in a state of surrender. But most people have lost this
awareness owing to involvement with, and fixations on, the particular sense
objects of the world. He should have some sense of the causal forces behind the
order in the Universe and the meaning and significance of Prophets and their
teachings. He should also have some awareness that his own consciousness lies
outside time (or that time and space lie within his consciousness), but that it
is affected by the alternating processes of sleep and awakening. These things
are not a matter of observation by the senses or of reason, but of something
that underlies them, of the consciousness of existence.
However, faith
is still a means and not itself the goal. It is a bridge or a gateway. The goal
is the transformation of a person's being - to create a new man who will
function at the higher level - to actualise inherent potentialities. This state
of being is known as Righteousness. Entry into religion is sometimes known as
"the new creation", but this new creation must also be protected and
appropriately nourished so that it will grow and mature.
“Then He fashioned him and breathed
into him of His spirit, and made for you the faculties of hearing, and sight
and hearts (feeling); little is it that you give thanks. And they say: What! When we have become lost in the earth, shall we
then certainly be a new creation? Nay! They are disbelievers in the meeting
with their Lord.” 32:9-10
“Were We then fatigued with the first creation?
Yet are they in doubt with regard to a new creation. And certainly We created
man, and We know what his soul suggests to him, and We are nearer to him than
his life-vein (Jugular and Carotid).” 50:15-16
“Is he who was dead and We have quickened
(given him life) him, and made for him a light, wherein walks amongst men, like
him whose likeness is one walking in utter darkness whence he cannot emerge?
Thus is their conduct made seemly to the misbelievers.” 6:123
“O ye who believe! Respond unto Allah and His
Messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you; and know that Allah
comes in between a man and his own heart; and that He it is unto Whom ye shall
be gathered.” 8:24
The novice is
one who has within his mind a new centre, an embryo, in which he places all the
new ideas and experiences that the religious discipline provides. By constant
effort and practice he learns to act consciously and deliberately from this centre
while controlling and channelling the impulses coming from the conditioned
automatic mind. This new "baby" steadily grows, feeding on the rest
of the mind, until it has absorbed, reorganized and transformed it. As this
mind provides the raw material, the source of nourishment, it is necessary to
ensure that the spiritual food supplied is of high nutritional quality, and
free from poisons. The individual can now be said to be constructing an inner
spiritual body, one that can survive his physical death.
It has been
noted by many people that religions often use sexual analogies. But this is
more than symbolism. Life arises from sexuality and provides most of its
energies and motives. It is the creative power of sexuality that is used in
sublimated form to construct the inner body. This was the justification for the
practice of celibacy. However, celibacy should probably be the result of the
transformation of sexual energy rather than a cause. The practice of it tends
to cause distortion of sexuality that leads to all kinds of perversions and
depravities as history shows. This includes sexual malpractices, sadism,
masochism, intolerance, fanaticism, irritability, nervousness, and it is a
contributory cause to many physical, moral and mental diseases. In Islam
celibacy is not recommended. Nor is its perversion or the frivolous squandering
of its energy allowed. The sexual faculty must work in according to its
inherent nature. It is meant for the binding of the spouses for mutual cooperation
and for reproduction. The transformation of sexuality is to be achieved in
marriage where it first creates love and is channelled into socially
constructive directions. It creates families, which create the stable
environments where the new generation can be brought up with the proper
spiritual, mental and physical nutrition. It also creates community which are a
network of families. This love is gradually transformed into the love of God
and finally, inner psychological integration, Unity and Surrender. Islam does
not use sexual symbolism, probably because it might lead to depravity.
Instead:-
"Is he who has laid his foundation upon
the fear of (or duty to) Allah and of His good pleasure better, or he who has
laid his foundation upon a crumbling undermined sand cliff, which crumbles away
with him into the fire of hell? Allah guides not a people who do wrong. The
building which they have built will not cease to be a source of doubt in their
hearts until their hearts are cut asunder; but Allah is Knowing, Wise."
9:109-110
This verse
outwardly refers to the construction of mosques (places of worship) but
inwardly, the real place of worship is in the heart, a symbol for the centre of
a person's being, not the head. But the building of the Mosque, as the building
of the Temple in Jerusalem
for the Jews, is itself a symbol for the creation of a social order which, in
Christianity, is called the Kingdom
of God on earth. The
three things are linked.
A question is
often asked as to what does Islam think will happen to non-Muslims in the
hereafter. Will they be condemned to Hell no matter what good deeds they have
done?
The Islamic
teaching is given in the following verse:-
"Verily, whether it be of those who
believe, or those who are Jews or Christians or Sabaeans, whosoever believes in
(a) Allah and (b) the Last Day and (c) acts righteously, they have their reward
with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve."
Quran 2:62
The implication
of this is that, no matter what religion a person professes or what prophet he
follows, if he believes in God and the Judgment and acts accordingly then he
will be saved from spiritual destruction. He will have a single unified
framework in which he can interpret and organize all the data of experience.
This will enable him to become psychologically and spiritually integrated.
Religion (regarded as a spiritual discipline) is a road, "The Straight
Way" (1:5). It is not the destination. People who follow it are
distributed along it in different places. There are many levels of Hell and Paradise and each person reaps according to his deeds,
based on his faith, which is based on his awareness of the Ultimate Unity.
A righteous
action is one (a) which is deliberately done, not an automatism; (b) which is
done for the sake of Allah, not for some personal worldly advantage; (c) this
requires that the concept of Allah be properly understood and that it does not
consist of an attachment or image that is less than Allah, in effect, an idol
The Mercy of
Allah is that He has shown us the Straight
Way through numerous Messengers. These Prophets
teach the same fundamental goal, though they come for different times and
places and formulate the message according to the language and understanding of
the people (14:4). The message is progressive. The message, however, comes to
be misunderstood owing to changes of time and mixing with worldly matters. It
is, therefore, necessary to follow the guidance of the last Messenger for three
reasons:- (a) He rectifies the misunderstandings, (b) restates the message in a
way which can be better understood by the people of the time, and (c) completes
the religion.
The teachings
brought by a Messenger usually brings reformation to the old dispensations.
Certainly Islam has caused reformation in Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.
The Islamic teaching has been preserved as the Quran, and Muhammad is regarded
as the Last of the Prophets, so that it is now up to human beings to make their
studies and expound the teaching in contemporary terms. So those who follow a
past Prophet will have to determine what he really taught and even then they
will have a partial knowledge. Like anyone else, including Muslims they will
follow the teaching only to various degrees. This will qualify them for the
appropriate consequence.
But it is
Allah who is the final judge and not man who only has partial knowledge.