What Is Islam?
Like I explained last Friday, the word ‘ISLAM’ comes from the Arabic root “silm” which means ‘peace’. But as far
as people in the different countries who have accepted Islam wholeheartedly are
concerned, as they are not well versed in the Arabic language, they may not
fully comprehend the exact extent and the exact denotation of Islam. So I have
been thinking that today in my sermon I shall continue on my explanation on
what is Islam?
My dear brothers and sisters, Islam is what makes the heart
pump and which reinvigorates both the body and soul of the human race, and
every creature which is found in the heavens and earth. The beautiful panorama
of the heavens and the earth which we see around us carries in its bosom the
testimony that it is the creation of a Great Creator.
The Universe' Set Pattern
The existence of order
and design in the universe which modern science, through intense researches,
has come to teach us leads us to believing in the existence of a Supreme power
and a Supreme Intelligence who is responsible for this complex but orderly
design, such a Supreme Being Who brought it into existence and supplied with it
all that is needed for its life and growth. New researches have also enabled
the discoveries of new galaxies which are sisters to our galaxy, such
discoveries which enrich all the more the knowledge of science in respect to
the grandeur of Allah and His vast power. Thus, we find that even modern
science through its innumerable researches have come to prove the words of
Allah, as established in the Holy Scriptures – especially the last Law, the Holy
Quran – as true.
The Universe, as we know it in science, is an organic whole
all of whose parts are beautifully and harmoniously interrelated. It is further
a domain of law in which every particle exists and moves in subjection to a
prescribed and unchangeable course of law. Neither the huge planets in our
solar system (and other galaxies for that matter!) nor the tiny particles of soil
which holds life within can deviate even slightly from that course. Their life
is a life of a complete submission, and they live strictly according to the
laws of Allah, never deviating from their course or purpose. So really
speaking, their life is the life of Islam which means submission to the Divine
Commands. In other words, they are Muslims. The Holy Quran refers to this truth
in the following words:
And to Him submits whatever is in the heaven and the earth
willingly or unwillingly and to Him shall they all be returned. (3: 84).
The Humans's Free Will
The sole exception to the general rule is man. He is unique
in the whole domain of creation in as much as he possesses not only the faculty
of reasoning but also his free will. This makes his course of action and the
pattern of his behaviour unpredictable. One can predict the action of the sun
because it functions under an established law and possesses no freedom to
deviate from it but one cannot predict the same thing in the case of man. The
activity of all things of the universe is strictly put in a designated order
and balance, but only man has received the permission to choose his course in
life. He can either construct or destroy himself, and this shall have
consequences for him in the afterlife.
So, compared to the rest of creation, man can choose his
ends and he can prescribe the means. For the purpose, he relies on his reason.
But in that way, he commits mistakes. Side by side he is achieving great things
and ultimately lends himself to confusion. The same faculty which is his asset
becomes the instrument of his undoing solely because of its wrong use. The
human intellect can guide him only to certain limits because it works on the
basis of known facts to discover the unknown things. It can serve efficiently
to some extent in the domain of the physical reality but when it enters the
realm of fundamental truth where the first requirement is the possession of a
comprehensive knowledge of the past, the present and the future, it can give us
only conjectures and inference.
The Soul's Quest for the Divine
In its very nature it is incapable of discovering ultimate
truths of life. The human soul is however in dead earnest to know those
ultimate truths because without them the real meaning of life remains
unexplained and the true code of human endeavour remains unfixed. Science
cannot supply us with that, because it deals only with the immediate physical
reality; philosophy cannot give it because it works on postulates and
inference.
It is at this stage the human soul cries for guidance from
the Allah, Almighty God, the Great Power, Unseen to the naked eye but Who
represents the source of all Life, for He is Life itself. Unable to proceed further without the support
of God, the soul yearns to have a torch which might illumine its path and a
Guide who might supply the guidance based on sure knowledge. Humanity needs
such a sure, positive and comprehensive guidance, and the same Loving Creator
who sustains us and the universe in the matter of physical needs has also taken
it upon Himself to supply this vital need.
The Long History of Prophethood
Human history bears testimony to the fact that religion has
existed since the beginning of life of humanity on this earth. This shows that
the Beneficent God supplies guidance to mankind simultaneously with its
creation so that it might not have to grope in the dark and might tread on the
path of the law in conformity with its nature. Those who are appointed by God
to deliver that guidance are in the terminology of religion known as Prophets
and Messengers and Apostles. They themselves receive that guidance in the form
of divine revelation and when they present it to the people in a written form,
it is known as a scripture or revealed book. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
was the last Law-bearing prophet who received the blessing of receiving the
final laws of Allah as contained in the Holy Quran. 
This is no case means that
Allah shall not speak to other of His servants within the Community of His
beloved Muhammad (pbuh) or that He shall not inspire His servants to write or
reveal to them such information from the unseen as to benefit mankind. No!
These books are but books of revelations, not Laws from Allah as it is for the
Holy Quran. All such books should be in line with the commandments of the Holy
Quran and should uphold its authenticity and holiness. Only Law-bearing
prophets were graced with Divine Laws or Divine Scriptures, and the contents of
those scriptures have always been laws which the Creator and the Sustainer of
the universe had appointed for the right life of man, the Holy Quran being the
last of such Laws, being a perfected set of Laws which shall remain alive and evergreen
till the Day of Judgement.
The aim of guidance had always been to teach man to submit
to the divine law which attitude is expressed in Arabic by the term Islam. Divine
Guidance wants man to act and behave in accordance with the law of its true
nature and to use his intellect and freedom to accept his nature as being a
submissive creature of Allah. Even if he is not made to conform to the laws of
nature in a mechanical way as the rest of the creation but he has the difficult
duty to seek the truth and abide to it, and thus compared to the rest of
creation, if he succeeds in his trials, his good rewards are innumerable in
number. In one word we can say that the Divine Guidance wants man to be Muslim.
The Holy Quran says:
The nature (fitra) made by God in which He has created man,
There is no altering of Allah's creation. That is the right religion; but most people
do not know. (30: 31).
This guidance from Almighty God was not confined to one
group or community but was sent to all nations and all races of the world. The
blessing of God was bestowed universally as the Holy Quran reports:
And there has not been a nation to whom a Warner was not sent. (35: 25).
So, history has preserved the names of some of them while
the names and works of many others have now been forgotten by the people. Among
those whose names are still remembered and specifically referred to in the Holy
Quran are: Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yacoob, Yusuf, Musa, Dawud,
Suleiman, Zakarriyya, Yahya, Isa and Muhammad (pbuh).
Islam: The Natural Way of Life
He that is the great Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) appeared in
the seventh century of the Christian era, called humanity back to the path of
the former prophets and presented to the world the Holy Quran which contains
the law taught by the former prophets in their perfect and most comprehensive
form. People had named the teachings of the previous teachers variously as
Judaism, Christianity etc. The Holy Prophet of Islam Muhammad (pbuh) reminded
them of the real and original and meaningful name, namely Islam. He declared in
the words of the Holy Quran:
Surely the religion with Allah is Islam, that is, the surrender
to His Will and Guidance. (3: 20).
Then again Almighty Allah says:
The faith of your father Ibrahim is yours. It is He (Allah) Who has named you Muslims. (22: 79)
Again, Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran:
Ibrahim was not a Jew nor yet a Christian but he was an upright man who surrendered to Allah (a Muslim). And he associated no gods with Allah. (3: 68).
We therefore perceive Islam as the religion, the natural
way of living of man ever since the creation of the human race. We are all
called by Allah to be Muslims, to be submissive to him. That is why in the
perfected and final code of life, that is, the Holy Quran, Allah has
highlighted that our true religion is Islam, and no other. That is the sanctity
of relation with Allah, for we need to submit to Him to reach the heights of
His mercy and be considered complete in His love and proximity.
May Allah enable each one of us to realise the true Islam
in his or her daily life, for that is our purpose in life. It is our Islam from
within us which shall illumine the whole world, and that Islam is a gift from
Allah to help us to perfect it so that we can act as true guides for the reform
of humanity and guide people back to Allah. Insha-Allah,
Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 06 May 2016
~(28 Rajab 1437 Hijri) delivered by Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.