Islam, its True Meaning
Islam, its True Meaning
Now a days, Islam is described as submission "to the will of Allah". There is another type of people who say, Islam means peace; by this it is meant that Islam is peaceful, there is no violence, no conflict, no fight against others in Islam. The very meaning of the word Islam is peace so they argue; it cannot have anything, which is not peaceful. Wars, battles, conflict and clash with other are not peaceful hence these can have no place in Islam. This meaning of the word
Islam is the most favorite of the present day leaders of the populace called Muslims, and their ardent followers about whom Allah has said in His Qur'an - "I have blinded them though they have eyes, have made them deaf though they have ears and put seal on their hearts."35 These leaders and their followers don't understand that by giving that meaning to the word Islam they are not only denying the words of Allah where He is says - "Return the kind of injury they inflict on you in the same kind," but also the very biography of His Messenger and the history of his true Ummah, which is full of wars and battles against disbelief and ways of life based on sovereignties other than Allah's. When confronted with these facts they say, those were defensive fights which, as I proved to the hilt in this book, is not only wrong and false, but a lie. The leader and their followers love this meaning of the word as they are not only unable to oppose or resist their masters but are afraid to say or to do anything that may cause any displeasure to them, and the masters hate to see any sign of disobedience in the populace who call them Muslims. The masters of the leaders of this 'Muslim' populace and the section, which is with them, want to see that they believe and practice a kind of Islam, which produces a docile and spineless people, a people they love to called 'Moderate' Muslim people, a people who will be busy in saying prayers, paying Zakat, performing Hajj, fasting, grow long beards, clip away mustaches put caps or pugrees on their heads, obey them in all other 'worldly' matters, not Allah and His Messenger.
However, they wrongly interpret both the meaning of the word 'Islam' and this system of life; they perceive a meaning quite different from Allah and His Messenger. Firstly it is not submission to the will of Allah. There is nothing in the heaven and earth that can resist the will of Allah even minutely. If it is the will of Allah that mankind submits to His will, then there cannot be the second's delay in its happening and then the creation of Adam, the Man, blowing of the soul of Allah into him, ordering all Malaiks (Angels) to prostrate before Adam, Eblis's refusal to do so, Allah's permission to Eblis to enter Adam's body and mind to induce him to disobey, and most significantly his challenge to Allah that he will coerce Adam to be disobedient to Him, all these would be meaningless in an instant. That is why He says in His Qur'an that - "If I will all Mankind will become believers instantly."37 No, He will not impose His will on mankind as that will, as I have just said, render all these things waste, but He wants to see what we, Mankind do. As I have stated before in the chapter 'Creation of Man', when Allah blew into Adam from His Soul,38 His Free-will and ability to do or not to do a thing, along with all other qualities, attributes of Allah passed into Adam. Allah wants to see what Man does with that Free-will, whether he accepts the Hedayah (Guidance), sent through His Messengers or listens to the evil suggestions of Eblis and disobeys Him, ignores the Guidance, creates new sovereignties and conducts of life according to laws, rules, systems made by themselves. So Islam is not submission to His will but to obey Him, nor is the meaning of it as the kind of peace the present day 'Moderate Muslim' proclaim it to be.
To understand the true meaning of the word Islam we have to go back for a while to the Creation of Man. As I have discussed about it already, I shall confine myself within only as far as the meaning of this word.
When Allah declared to the Angels His decision to create His vice-gerent on earth, the opinion of the Angels was that vicegerent of His will cause Fasad and Safaquddima on the earth. This opinion of the Malaiks is not only very interesting but also demands serious thoughts and pondering. How did they predict the activities of a thing not yet created, I have explained in the Chapter Creation of Man. Now let us focus on what they predicted. They said this new creation, when created and placed on the earth would cause Fasad and Safaquddima.39 Like most other Arabic words these two words also imply and contain wide range of meaning.
Fasad means and implies unrest, turmoil, injustice, wrong, anxiety, worry etc. and Safaquddima means and implies fight, battles, wars, killing, murder and any flow of blood. It is to be noted that the Angels did not say that your new
creation will not say their prayers regularly, will not pay Zakat, will not perform pilgrimage, will not fast but will commit theft, will commit adultery, will lie, cheat other people etc. etc. They did not mention any one of these things but said it will cause Fasad and Safaquddima, two words that depict a condition, a state exactly opposite of peace. It also should be noted that Allah did not say to the Angels that they were wrong, that His vice-gerent will not cause Fasad and Safaquddima on the earth, or that His Vice-gerent will live on the earth in peace, nor did He contradict His Angels, but only said that yet I shall create My Vice-gerent, because you Angels do not know what I know.
We know that then He created His vice-gerent Adam and from him Hawa (Eve), and us. When challenged by Eblis He said - I shall send My Messengers to Bani-Adam (Children of Adam, the Mankind) with Guidance so that by abiding to that Guidance Mankind can live on earth in peace and security and not slither into the Fasad and Safaquddima as predicted by the Angels in which the Eblis was included. And those who will not accept the Guidance and the Deen (system of life) built on that foundation but make system of life founded on their own thinking will result in the Fasad and Safaquddima. So the system, which if established in life will result in wiping out all injustices, turmoil, unrest,
insecurities is named Islam, literally peace. This system has been named as Islam in this sense, and not in the sense used today by the religion's pundits, political leaders, so called intellectuals etc. which implies escaping from all Jihad (struggle) conflicts, fights which will be necessary to establish the system founded on the Guidance from Allah sent through His Messenger, which is Tawheed, deny every and any authority, every sovereignty other than Allah. This is the real meaning of the word Islam about which Allah has said that no other Deen (system of life) is acceptable to Him other than this.40 In short, Islam is that peace and security which is the inevitable result of conducting personal and collective lives of Mankind by the system based on the Guidance, i.e. the sovereignty of Allah, given to us by Him through the Messengers, not only through Mohammad s.a.s. but by all the Messengers from Adam (a.s.), Nooh (a.s.) (Noah), Ibrahim (a.s.) (Abraham), Musa (a.s.) (Moses), Isa (a.s.) (Jesus) and many others and lastly and most comprehensively through Mohammad (s.a.s).
ENDNOTES
35Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and ears; their sight is dimmed and grievous punishment awaits them. (Qur’an: Sura Baqarah- 7)
36If you punish, let your punishment be proportionate to the wrong that has been done you. But if you are patient, it is certainly best for the patient. (An Nahal 126)
37Had Allah pleased, He would given them guidance, one and all (Qur’an- Al An’am-35, Yunus- 99)
38And when I have formed him fully and breathed him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration. (Qur’an-Al Hijr-29)
39When your Lord said to the Angels: I am placing on the earth one that shall be My deputy, they replied: Will You put there one that will spread corruption and shed blood ? (Sura Baqarah-30)
40If one goes in search of a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him and in the life to come he shall be among the lost. (Qur’an: Sura Al Imran- 85)
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