Religion Islam - Basic of Islamic Ideology

Hi Folks

Adam, as the original human being or as the archetype human (Rashid: Human Development Theory: Islamic Vs. Western Perspective, P.4) has been bestowed potentialities to acquire knowledge of how everything else in the universe functions (2:33, The Quran). Now it is unto him to utilize these potentialities and conquer/ harness all that lies in the universe.

In this universe man is the only creature who is given choice and discretion. He may obey the laws of God (Allah Almighty) or may not; this discretion isn't given to any other creature. Man decides to disobey Allah Almighty 's laws when his feelings and emotions overpower him. These emotions instigate him for personal gains as against universal good. He bypasses the laws of Allah Almighty and starts following his own emotions. At this stage his intellect manipulates him the ways and means to achieve these objects. These emotions or feelings and the intellect which guides such feelings to achieve the objectives are given the name of Satan (Iblis) by the Quran allegorically. Because of this rebellious nature (define in Taj ul Uroos and Lane Lexicon), it was said that he was born out of fire (7:12 The Quran) and since feelings of human beings remain hidden, Iblis/Shaitan was also called a Jinn (18:50 - Quran) and Jinn means one who is hidden (Raghib). Along with the feelings or emotions the men is also given the discretion by virtue of which he is capable of disobedience at the time of his birth and these accompany him through his life span (15:36, The Quran).

A person who decides to follow the path of disobedience becomes deprived of the resultant benefits which accrue by virtue of following the laws of Allah Almighty, that is why Iblis is termed as the disappointed - the dejected or devoid. About those who follow Allah Almighty Almighty laws, the Quran says that they will not suffer any fear or sorrow (2:38, The Quran ) and Iblis will have no hold on them (15:42, The Quran).

The Quran has termed Iblis and Shaitan as the two faces of the same to the foreground. These are termed as projection, repression, fantasy, denial of reality, rationalization, intellectualization and reaction formation. All these varieties of adjustive mechanisms have the underlying roots in disappointment. And a feeling of rebellion or aggression closely follows this. In this way there is clearly a direct and deep-rooted connection between the feelings of rebellion and disappointment experienced by a person. This is also exemplified as "Iblis and Shaitan relationship".

The Quran supports the above deliberations that frustration leads to aggressiveness. When a person feels that he cannot achieve what he desires, he gets angry. If he gives vent to his anger against his own self, it results in worry, tension or depression. When he uses this anger against anyone else, which/ who in his opinion is responsible for this, it is called revenge. But if he is incapable of taking revenge from the person concerned then at times he gives vent to his feelings against unconcerned thing - which is madness. One can see the direct and deep contact between disappointment and rebellion. And this is the relationship of Iblis and Satan. In fact these are the psychological feelings of a human being. The Quran wants to establish such a social order, where chances of disappointments ain't occur (39:53, The Quran). Therefore Quranic Social Order, the feelings of Iblisiat cannot overcome anyone; particularly in respect of those who follow His laws (15:43, The Quran).

The Quran has described the results of misdeeds as the torturing fire! As the fire burns everything, so the bad deeds burn the human personality and stop its growth. According to the Quran life is a continuous process and has to go a long way. If life is led according to the laws given by its Creator Allah Almighty, then its latent potentialities are developed and enable it (life) to continue progressing and going from one stage to another. But if the potentialities/capacities are not developed, it doesn't have the strength to travel or grow further and stops at one stage or point. This process of stoppage is called al-jaheem in the Quranic terminology. Life is like an ever-flowing stream, the moment it stops it turns into a stagnant pond. Out of dust God rose Adam and out of good deeds would rise the man for the world hereafter.

How to overcome these thwarting forces? What to do? And who will think and reciprocate for the establishment of Islamic Social Order?

Regards
Nawaz
Religion Islam

As a cultural movement Islam rejects the old static view of the universe, and reaches a dynamic view. As an emotional system of unification it recognizes the worth of the individual as such, and rejects blood-relationship as a basis of human unity. Blood-relationship is earth-rooted ness. The search for a purely psychological foundation of human unity becomes possible only with the perception that all human life is spiritual in its origin. Such a perception is creative of fresh loyalties without any ceremonial to keep them alive, and makes it possible for man to emancipate himself from the earth. Christianity which had originally appeared as a monastic order was tried by Constantine as a system of unification. Its failure to work as such a system drove the Emperor Julian to return to the old gods of Rome on which he attempted to put philosophical interpretations. A modern historian of civilization has thus depicted the state of the civilized world about the time when Islam appeared on the stage of History: It seemed then that the great civilization that it had taken four thousand years to construct was on the verge of disintegration, and that mankind was likely to return to that condition of barbarism where every tribe and sect was against the next, and law and order were unknown . . . The old tribal sanctions had lost their power. Hence the old imperial methods would no longer operate. The new sanctions created by Christianity were working division and destruction instead of unity and order. It was a time fraught with tragedy. Civilization, like a gigantic tree whose foliage had overarched the world and whose branches had borne the golden fruits of art and science and literature, stood tottering, its trunk no longer alive with the flowing sap of devotion and reverence, but rotted to the core, riven by the storms of war, and held together only by the cords of ancient customs and laws, that might snap at any moment. Was there any emotional culture that could be brought in, to gather mankind once more into unity and to save civilization? This culture must be something of a new type, for the old sanctions and ceremonials were dead, and to build up others of the same kind would be the work of centuries.

By - Religion Islam

Preservation of life is an animal instinct; not so is the preservation of honor. The concept of honor is unknown to the animal world. In fact it forms the line of demarcation between the Animal and the Man. Honor is a specific human value. Preservation of human values elevates the level of life, from the animal to the human. Character may, therefore, be defined as who so preserves human values against animal instincts is a man of character. Human values might have different meanings. Take the word honour. “God has saved my honour,” means that I have not been disgraced before my friends. “She gave her life to save her honour” here honour signifies chastity. But the meaning of chastity itself might differ from people to people. In the East if some one casts an evil glance at a veiled lady, her father or brother would not hesitate to shoot him. In the West, however, if a girl flirts publicly, her father or brother, instead of having any qualms, would feel proud of her as a popular society girl! Again one society might attach the greatest importance to a particular value which in the estimation of another society might not be a value at all. We respect and honour our parents, but there have been tribes with whom eating them up constituted a sacred duty. The Puritans saw nothing wrong in stealing Negro children and shooting the Irishmen. The Jews thought it bad, even criminal, to levy interest among themselves but permitted it in the case of non-Jews. In an island of the Pacific there is a tribe with whom dishonesty is the best moral conduct and among whom the cleverest cheat is held in the highest esteem. Thugs felt proud of killing poor wayfarers. Nationalism is recognized the world over as a political and social creed and one who helps the well being of his nation by exploiting the other nations, is regarded a patriot worthy of being immortalized in metal and marble. In the words of Rumelin. “Self regard is its (State's) appointed duty; the maintenance and development of its own power and well-being is the supreme principle of all politics. The State can only have regard to the interest of any other State so far as this can be identified with its own interest. The maintenance of the State justified every sacrifice and is superior to every moral rule.

Since human values vary with different societies should character mean harmonizing oneself to the values which a society might stress for the time being? In days gone by Spartans viewed theft a virtue and held the smartest thief in the high-test esteem; today theft is a crime and a thief a criminal. With us conception of a virgin is a disgrace for the family, in the West sexual intercourse between a willing couple is neither an evil nor a criminal offense: even homosexuality between willing parties is condoned there. Is there then no universal standard of character?

In part 2 of the artilce, we will share that how Islam see and define character. It will give you the true picture for comparsion with the rest!

Thanks
Nawaz
Religion Islam

The knowledge of divine law relating to the external universe is derived from a close observation of nature, scientific experiments and discoveries, but not in the case of laws relating to human life and the regulation of its conduct which are communicated only through Revelation to the Messengers and conveyed by them as Messenger of God to mankind. It is this wherein Islam as a din also distinguishes itself from the Material concept of life which takes no cognizance of the Divine Guidance by means of revelation.

God did not merely create the universe, but has also laid down definite laws comprising it. The Law of Cause and Effect, and the Law of Uniformity in Nature, among others, being of basic importance, deal with the external nature of the universe. He has, besides, prescribed definite laws regulating human life and its activities. That is why the Quran speaks of those who study nature and try to discover the laws that govern it as men of knowledge and insight; because, says the Quran: The signs of His power and wisdom are spread out in the heavens and on earth, but only people who have conviction in the truthfulness of His Laws can perceive them - Quran chapter 45 verse 3-

In seeking knowledge, the believers are spurred on by their belief. His signs are not only in the outer universe but also in your own creation as well as that of other living beings who are istributed everywhere. But these signs are only for those who believe in the truthfulness of His Laws - Quran chapter 45 verse 4-. They know that; And in the rotation of night and day; in rain that comes down from the clouds and gives new life to dead land; and winds that change irection as per fixed timings. In all these there are signs showing truthfulness of the Divine Laws; but only for those who use their intellect and reason - Quran chapter 45 verse 5-

In this way faith in God does not follow from purely logical arguments; it springs from the direct experience of order, harmony,and beauty in nature. Along with that the Messenger has told: The Almighty , Whose Laws successfully function in outer universe, has also revealed for human society the Divine Code which is based on absolute truth.If they do not have Eiman in the Divine Laws revealed to you, even after pondering over His signs which are distributed throughout the universe, then O Messenger, ask them what other lore will they believe in -Quran chapter 45 verse 6

By - Religion Islam

It is a misunderstanding that Islam has permitted polygamy, to marry and keep four wives at a time(false concept). The fundamental principle is to have one wife at a time. The Quranic instructions that if one decides to marry another woman in place of his existing wife he has to divorce as per the given procedure and this itself clarifies that no one is allowed to have more than one wife at one time; Quran chapter 4 verse 20

This should not lead to think that whenever a person wants to marry another woman in place of his existing wife, he might divorce her and go for another marriage for sex enjoyment or for other reasons. Second marriage is not permitted until and unless differences between husband and wife have reached the climax, ending up by declaring talaq (divorce) and the wife is divorced. To have more than one wife up to a maximum of four at a time has been permitted under extra-ordinary circumstances and for valid reasons. For example as a result of war when a considerable number of women became widows including those of very young age, and large number of children become orphans, and when their economic, social, ethical, and other problems cannot be solved by any other satisfactory means then Islamic State can allow an exception to the general rule of monogamy. Such an exemption has to fulfill two conditions.

* Such a person will have to do justice and give equal treatment to all his wives.

* He should be economically sound enough to bear the burden of such a large family. Of course consent of the first wife in this matter is necessary.If anyone of these conditions is not fulfilled, permission to go for next marriage is not granted and one should stick to the rule of one wife; Quran chapter 4 Verse 3

Quran clearly discuss about the on going sujbect in this verse. Rather at another place the Quran says that despite their strong desire it would not be possible for a husband to be fair and just among women (wives). One should not be inclined wholly to one wife leaving the other in a state of suspension, like one who remains neither divorced nor undivorced; Quran chapter 4 Verse 129

By - Religion Islam
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