To THE READER

erhaps you have been hearing a lot about Islam andMuslims in the news and are interested in knowing, justifiably, just what this religion is all about. Or perhaps you know some Muslims and have been stirred to curiosity about the faith they profess. Or perhaps someone you know, maybe even someone in your own family, has decided to embrace Islam. If so, this book is meant for you. Its purpose is to set forth the Islamic concepts and beliefs in a clear, understandable manner and then to give you an idea about how Muslims are supposed to live. In short, it presents a summary of the Islamic beliefs, ways of worship, qualities, values, morals, standards of conduct, and, in concrete and practical terms, the Islamic way of life.

I think you will agree with me that a religion which does not demand anything of its followers, or which leaves those who have newly entered into it more or less where they were before they embraced it, is an ineffective religion, a mere set of "beliefs" or rituals which does not affect the conduct of living.

Islam does not fit this description. For Islam is not a mere belief-system, an ideology or a religion in the usual sense in which these words are understood. Rather it is a total way of life, a complete system governing all aspects of man's existence, both individual and collective. It is in fact a religion which, as I hope to demonstrate in the course of this book, frees the human being from domination by his material and animal aspects and makes him truly human.

vii

viii What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

The meaning of the word Islam is "submission" and "peace." In the course of making an individual muslim — that is, one who is in a state of islam or submission to the One True God—Islam profoundly affects his thinking and behavior. Indeed, there is noaspect of a person's life, nor of the life of the society which is made up of such people, which it does not touch and transformin keeping with its basic concept, that of the Lordship and Sovereignty of God and the human being's responsibility to Him.Islam's first requirement is belief and its second action. Out of its concepts and beliefs, a certain attitude toward life, toward one'sown self, toward other human beings, toward the universe; a certain kind of personality; a distinctive type of human interaction; a particular mode of worship, of family life, manners, living habits and so on in relation to all aspects of life,develops.

We live in an age of tremendous upheaval and uncertainty. People everywhere are groping anxiously for something that can save humanity, which has lost its way and is on the brink ofunprecedented disaster. It may be true that today we live in an era of the ultimate in material civilization and progress, but in the realm of values and morals mankind appears to be close to bankruptcy. In the Islamic view, these problems are fundamentally of a spiritual nature, the result of the human being's having lost sight of who he is in relation to himself, to other human beings, and above all to God, in Whom being itself, and all human relationships, originate. And until he is able to find meaningful and correct answers to the ultimate questions and solutions to his problems which are compatible with the fundamental realities of existence and his own nature, his life will remain adrift without a base and without a direction, his personality will be distorted and fragmented, his human nature abused by permitting its animal part to dominate, and his societies full of overwhelming problems.

Islam claims to provide such answers and solutions, ones which are compatible with reason, logic, the realities of the physical universe, and with human nature itself. For Islam is, above all, a view of the total Reality, encompassing the existence and attributes of the Creator, the human being's relationship with known and understood correctly as a faith which increasingly has more and more relevance to the religious community of the Western world.

I would like, therefore, to request the reader, for the sake of fairness and objectivity as he approaches this brief study of Islam, to try his best to clear his mind of any preconceptions he may have about Islam, whether these have been gathered fromthe news, movies or television programs, from newspaper or magazine articles, or simply the vague, piece-meal picture ofIslam and Muslims which one somehow picks up from here and there, or any combination of these. As a rule such presentationsdo not constitute reliable or authoritative sources of information about either Islam or Muslims and are, in fact, often the propagators of misconceptions, fallacies and prejudices rather than of accurate information. If, therefore, the reader can set aside temporarily whatever he may have gleaned from such sources concerning the subject, hopefully when he has finished reading this book (and, if he is interested, others from among the titles listed at the end of this volume) he will be in a much better position todetermine what part is accurate and what part is false and misleading.

In writing this book I have been all too keenly aware that to present Islam as it should be presented is at once a great challenge and an almost overwhelming responsibility. I have undertaken this responsibility with a great sense of inadequacy for the task, for there are countless other Muslims who are far better qualified for it both in terms of their knowledge and their practice of Islam. Nonetheless, to do so has been felt as a duty. Manybooks about Islam are available, but virtually all of them are either by non-Muslim authors who invariably reflect many blatant distortions and prejudices against Islam or by Muslims whose writings, although they may portray Islam correctly and indeed often with great depth and meaningfulness, are not really geared to a non-Muslim, Western readership. Since I havemyself, in the process of coming to an understanding of Islam, gone through the simultaneous process of asking and finding

To the Reader ix xii What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

answers to the questions which have been asked, and hopefully answered, in this volume, I have felt an obligation to share thisunderstanding with others who may be interested in knowingwhat Islam is or what it can offer to mankind It is my earnest prayer that God will accept this small effort and make it useful for a better understanding of Islam, the path of peace and submission to Him.

The Author Him, his role and purpose in this world, and the relationship between this life and the life of the Hereafter, which puts all that exists into proper perspective and gives balance and direction to the life of human beings and their societies.

However, Islam is so little known and understood in the Western world that to many people, especially in America, it is simply another strange religious cult or sect. Allah is some sortof a heathen deity, Muhammad is someone who is worshiped by hordes of pagans overseas, and Muslims are either militant sword-wielding bedouins mounted on camels, fanatical men of religion with long robes and beards, or rich, decadent playboys.Indeed, Islam has been so gravely misunderstood and misrepresented in the West that many people in America and Europe thinkof it as an enemy to any sort of stability, peace and progress; they mistrust it, fear it and regard it as a dire threat without as a rule knowing anything about it other than what the popular media convey, which almost invariably reflects grave inaccuracies and errors.

As these lines are written, the media are full of such "news" and views about Islam and Muslims; daily one can hear or readitem after item on the subject. Virtually without exception these misrepresent not only the details of the Islamic system and the motivations and characters of sincere Muslims, but also the fundamental concepts and teachings of the religion. They are oftenso gravely distorted that, indeed, a Muslim who encounters them may not even be able to recognize that they are concerned withthe religion he has known and practiced all his life. The Western world today is full of "experts" on Islam who consider themselves far more knowledgeable about it than the Muslims who are living it day by day, but who seldom if ever take the trouble to understand Islam, especially its central world-view and basic concepts, on a deeper level.

Why is all this so? First, it is due in part to the legacy of history. Islam and Christendom confronted each other as enemies during the Crusades and afterwards, and the propaganda against the enemy and its beliefs and way of life which is common dur-

To the Reader ix

x What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

ing times of conflict, whether it is true or false, has never yet been laid to rest in the Western world. Second, it is partly due to the confused and distorted picture of Islam which the behavior ofmany Muslims, those who profess this faith but do not live by it, often doing everything which it does not permit and doing nothing which it requires, very unfortunately presents. It is also due in part to the fact that many people in the Western world think of any religious system in terms of Christian concepts and values, or in terms of the concepts of Western civilization, which do notnecessarily fit with or apply to Islam. And finally, it is also undoubtedly due to the fact that many people in the West, particularly in America, have such an unquestioning conviction of the innate superiority and rightness of the American or Western way of life that they do not consider it necessary or important to be accurately informed about others' viewpoints and ways of life.To many of us Muslims remain, "those people over there," whose only possible utility or interest is in relation to whether or not they will sell us the oil we need or boost our economy by buying our goods. We often regard them, with secret satisfaction in our own superiority as the advanced people of the West, as simple, child-like beings whose world-view must also be wrong because ours is right.

All too few people in the Western world realize that the followers of Islam constitute the second largest religious community in the world today (the first being Christianity). It is the faith professed by over one billion people living in every part of theglobe, including the countries of the West, with the largest numbers concentrated in the region between North Africa and Malaysia. Hence, if for no reason other than its tremendous relevance to the contemporary world, Islam and its followers surely deserve to be represented accurately and understood correctly by anyone who desires to be well informed and aware. In addition, since today there are large numbers of people who profess Islam,both foreign-born Muslims and Western converts, living in America and in Europe where Islam is the second largest religious community at the present time, Islam also deserves to be

THE ISLAMIC CREED

La ilaha illa Llah, Muhammadun rasool Allah"—"There is

no deity except God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

This simple statement of a Muslim's basic beliefs is the starting point for all that follows. From this expression of belief in the Oneness and Uniqueness of God and the messengership of Muhammad stem all of Islam's concepts, attitudes, moral values and guidelines for human behavior and relationships. How canall this follow from this one simple and seemingly quite obvious statement?

The first part of this declaration, "La ilaha illa Llah," attests not only to the Oneness and Uniqueness of God, the Deity. It signifies, at the same time, the oneness of the lordship, the sovereignty and the authority in the universe and this world. For whenwe affirm that there is no deity except the One God, we are actually stating that as there is no other Creator and Sustainer of the universe, this world and all that is in them, there can likewise be no other Ruler, Law Giver and Supreme Authority for mankind God, the Lord of all creation, creates what He pleases, giving each of His creations the nature, function and role which He desires for it; in this He is accountable to no one. All things are under His absolute control. The purpose for which He created

3

4 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

human beings is to acknowledge, worship and obey Him alone, and at the same time to manage the affairs of this world and administer it with justice and righteousness according to His all- wise laws.

How do we know all this? How can a mere human being, a very limited and finite creature know about God—that is, aboutInfinity and His purposes for mankind, the answers to the multitude of basic questions which encompass God's nature and attributes, the human being's relationship to Him, and why he has been put into this world? We are living in an era in which we haveincreasingly lost the conviction of the meaning and purpose of existence; indeed, the entire complex of modern civilization seems to proclaim the utter purposelessness and meaninglessness of life. Then how can we know?

Indeed, these are the most vital and basic questions for any human being. Without satisfactory answers to them, life makes no sense. It has neither purpose nor meaning, and one is simplygoing through the motions of living without any reason other than the fact that he happens to be alive. Hence the essential taskfacing each individual is to search for the answers to these questions until he finds them and, when he has found them, to acknowledge their truth and to live by them as faithfully as he can. But the question remains: Where are the answers to them to be found?

Assuredly, if (as many people believe) religion were simply a device invented by the human being to explain the world of nature or for ordering human affairs, human beings would have been able to arrive at satisfactory answers to these questions through their own reasoning and observation and to guide their lives by them in a suitable manner: the worship of the forces of nature, spirits and demons, sticks and stones and gods made byhuman hands and mythological figures connected to the world of men by their semi-human nature represents various efforts on their part to do so throughout the course of history. But to arrive at the objective truth. at a correct knowledge of the meaning and purpose of existence, the nature and attributes of the Creator ofall things, and of the human being's role and ultimate destiny, by

To the Reader ix

I. Beliefs: The Islamic Creed 5

the human being's unaided efforts is an obvious impossibility since it concerns what is totally outside the realm of human observation or deductive faculties; even if some individuals should, by their own efforts succeed at grasping some part of these truths, they would have no certain or positive means of verifying them.

The only possible means by which human beings can have access to an unquestionably correct understanding of such matters is if the Source of everything, the willing, acting, sustaining Power Whom we call God, Himself imparts this knowledge to us by whatever means He may deem fit. And this is precisely the significance of the second part of Islam's declaration of faith, "Muhammadan rasool Allah" —Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

Since the dawn of true human consciousness, Islam asserts, the Creator not only implanted in human beings the awareness of His existence, the innate knowledge that there is a non-corporeal, transcendent Being Who created them and the world around them,¹ He also provided them with the answers to these vital questions which have occupied their minds since their emergenceas thinking questioning, problem solving beings on this planet, conveying His guidance to humankind through various individuals whom He chose as His message-bearers to different groups of people to be the connecting link between Himself and the humanbeing, so to speak. Through the passing of time and changes occasioned by human error, much of the message which theybrought was lost. However, enough remains of the earlier scriptures or the teachings of earlier messengers —of the revelationsentrusted by God to such prophets as Abraham, Moses, Jesus and many others (God's peace and blessings be on them all) —to make it very clear that this Message has been basically one and the same throughout history: that there is a single, unique Being Who is the Lord and Master of all creation; that this Being has made laws to govern the conduct of human beings; and that each individual is accountable to this Being for how he lives his life.

Thus Islam does not claim to be a new religion. Rather it is the original religion, that primordial faith which has had its roots

6 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

deep in human consciousness since the first true human beingwalked upon earth because the Creator Himself implanted it there, the faith revealed to and preached by all the prophets: the religion of submission and accountability to the One God. Islamteaches the divine origin of this message, pointing to the similarity and continuity of the teachings brought by the various messengers of God throughout history, but it makes it clear that in the course of time they were changed and grave distortions appearedamong them. Hence the divine origin of these messages is to be believed in but not necessarily their present form or contentssince their present condition makes it impossible to determinewhat part of them has been changed, either accidentally or deliberately by the hands of people.

Each one of the prophets was a man like other men, with the same human needs and feelings; Islam most emphatically denies any suggestion of the divinity or super-human nature of God's messengers. At the same time, they were men of special qualities whom God singled out from the rest of humanity for the task of conveying His guidance. The prophets are characterized by their total submission to God and their nearness to Him, their pure and upright natures, the extraordinary righteousness of their conduct, and their unruling commitment to the mission with which they were entrusted.

The guidance revealed suited the mentality and needs of the particular peoples to whom it was addressed. Consequently many earlier prophets were sent with miracles and signs since the people of their eras, whose belief in God was very weak or altogether lacking, were willing to acknowledge Him only when His existence and power were demonstrated by such proofs. At length, when the mind of the human being had developed to its full potential. God raised His last prophet, Muhammad, an Arab descended from Abraham, with the final and complete statement of His guidance for all time to come. And it is because Muslimsfollow the guidance which was conveyed through Muhammad (may God's peace and blessings be on him), the guidance whichcarries the complete and final proclamation of God's laws and commands for humankind, that "Muhammadan rasool Allah" —

I. Beliefs: The Islamic View of Reality 7

Muhammad is the Messenger of God—is so significant and vital as to form the second part of the Muslims statement of faith.

Far from being a state of degradation and servility, the human individual's exclusive submission to the Creator alone invests him with greatness and sublimity, for by means of it he is freed from obeying and serving anything less than God, the only Being Who can ever be worthy of his devotion and obedience. "La ilaha illa Llah, Muhammadun Rasool Allah" is therefore that powerful statement of faith which represents the liberation of the one who professes it from servitude and submission to anything or anyone other than God Most High. It is the denial of all other claimants to divinity and supreme authority, the affirmation of God's Oneness and Sovereignty, and the statement of belief inand acceptance of His guidance as revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), the last of God's messengers.

2. PRAYER (SALAH)

And be steadfast in prescribed prayer (salah) and regu

lar in poor-due (zakah ), and whatever good you send

forth for your souls before you, you shall find it with

God. Verily, God sees all that you do." (2:110)

"0 you who believe seek help in patience and prescribed prayer. Verily, God is with those who patiently persevere."

(2:153)

"What stands between a human being and disbelief is the abandonment of prescribed prayer." (hadith)

The second act of worship which Islam prescribes is the performance of prescribed prayers (salah) within certain established time periods five times a day.

Why have prayers been prescribed for Muslims five times a day? it may be asked. Would not once or twice, or whenever one happens to feel like it, be sufficient? In answering these questions, it must first be pointed out that the Islamic prayers (salah) are somewhat different from "prayer" as used in the Christian sense, although personal supplication and glorification of God (known as du'a) are also a very important part of the Muslim's worship in addition to prescribed prayer. Actually, the word "worship" in Arabic conveys the meaning of salah much more accurately than "prayer"; accordingly we have retained the word salah wherever possible in order to maintain this distinction.

Basically salah consists of recitations from the Holy Quran and glorification of God accompanied by various bodily postures. The five times of worship correspond to the five periods of the day: daybreak, noon, afternoon, the close of day, and night, corresponding to the organization of the human being's time around various activities. Keeping all this in mind, we can now proceed to answer the above question of "why?"

Salah is a multi-faceted act of worship. Performing it regularly serves as a repeated reminder to the Muslim during the day and night of his relationship with his Creator and his place in the

II. Acts of Worship: 2. Prayer (salah) 53

total scheme of Reality. Its purpose is to keep him from ever forgetting that he belongs, not to himself or even to the people whoare closest to him, but to God, and that he is His servant, obedient to His command. The remembrance of Him and glorificationof Him for a brief, concentrated period in the midst of his daily activities keeps this perspective always clear and intact. No matter how faithful or conscientious an individual may be, such reminders are essential, for a person's involvement in his human concerns and activities is so engrossing that it is very easy to lose sight of one's relationship with God, his place in the total schemeof things, his responsibilities, and his ultimate goal. The world around us is full of examples of persons who while they may be well-intentioned, have clearly forgotten who they are in relation to the total Reality and what their ultimate destiny will be.

This is achieved in part by the recitations from the Quranwhich are a part of every prescribed prayer.¹⁵ These bring tomind not only the basic Islamic teachings concerning God, the human being, the universe and the hereafter, but they also recallthe Muslim to his obligations to God, to other people and to himself, for as the Quran says,"Salah restrains from shameful and unjust deeds." (29:45) This continuous reminder keeps the conscience alive and functioning in a proper manner without the reconditioning it undergoes by the regular performance of salah, it is likely to become estranged from its Source, inactive and easily corrupted. It will be obvious that prayer once a^-week or even once or twice a day simply does not fulfill this purpose and is moreover only a partial and very inadequate expression of the human creature's relationship with his Sustainer Who, in the words of the Quran, is "nearer to him than his jugular vein."

(50:16)

In addition to this, through the bodily postures of the prescribed prayer, which consist of standing, bowing, prostratingand sitting, repeated a specified number of times in each prayer, the Muslim expresses submission, humility and adoration of God Most High with his entire being. The heart which is filled withthe love of God, the consciousness of its own creatureliness and God's greatness and beneficence, indeed has an urge to express

54 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

all these feelings in physical as well as verbal form. By means of salah, which enlists the participation of the human being's totalnature, Islam provides the means of expression in an extremely dignified and moving form, for these needs and feelings.

Indeed, the self-discipline which is needed to perform salah regularly and at the proper times—to perform the ablution whichprecedes the prescribed prayer, and to carry on these prayers inthe early morning when sleep is so attractive, during the busydaylight hours when one is preoccupied with work, family and other activities, and at night when one is tired and wants to relax or sleep—reaffirms the human being's total dependence on hisCreator and his position as His servant. Salah is truly the complete expression of the human being's voluntary submission to Him. Salah is so important in maintaining this attitude of submission that it is obligatory even during any type of illness (certain modifications have been permitted to those who are ill, traveling or fighting in battle). And it is to be performed with strict concentration, attention and presence of the heart, not simply asa mechanical verbal and physical exercise. Salah and its significance to the devout Muslim are best described in the inimitable language of the Quran:

"Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day there are signs for people of understanding—those who remember God standing and sitting and lying on their sides, and ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): 'Our Lord, You have not created this in vain. Glory be to You! Then save us from the punishment of the fire. Our Lord, indeed the one whom You admit to the fire You cover with shame, and for the wrongdoers there will be no helpers. Our Lord, we have heard the call of one calling us to faith: 'Believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord, then forgive us our sins and blot out from us our iniquities, and take us to You among the righteous. Our Lord, grant us what You did promise us through Your messengers , and do not shame us on the day of judgment; for indeed, You did not fail in Your promise.— (3:190-194)

II. Acts of Worship: 2. Prayer (salah) 55

A Muslim is required to pray at the prescribed times wherever he may be—whether in a mosque, in his home, at work, or in any other clean environment indoors or outside—but it is preferable and more meritorious to pray in congregation with his fellow Muslims if possible. In such a congregational prayer, in which Muslims stand in straight rows shoulder to shoulder as one body united in the worship of the One God, the elements of discipline, orderliness, brotherhood, equality and solidarity are very strongly exemplified. Non-Muslims who are seeing Muslims pray in congregation for the first time are often very much struck by thisliving expression of brotherhood, equality and discipline.

Because of all these aspects, salah is the principal meanswhereby the Muslim keeps his life in correct perspective, having always before his mind the limited, finite nature of this world'slife, with all its allurements and involvements, pleasures and pains, and the certainty of death and the life-to-come, attempting to maintain a sense of balance and proportion between the needs and claims of this world and the hereafter. Through worship atregular, fixed intervals marking the periods and divisions of the day, the individual voluntarily affirms the relationship existing between himself, the servant, and his Master, God Most High, acknowledging and maintaining God's rights and claims on him in the midst of his involvement with his worldly affairs.

"God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass; the glass is as it were a shining star, kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil is almost luminous although no fire has touched it. Light upon Light! God guides to His Light whom He wills, and God draws up parables for mankind for God is the Knower of all things. In the houses in which God is exalted and in which His name is remembered there are people who glorify Him at morning and evening—people whom neither merchandise nor trade takes away from the remembrance of God and constancy in salah and payment of zakah, who fear a day when the hearts and the sight still be overturned: that God may reward them

56 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

with the best for what they have done and increase the reward for them out of His bounty, for God provides for those whom He wills without measure." (24:35-38)

3. FASTING (SAWM)

0 you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you in order that you may be conscious of God . . . Ramadan is the (month) in which the Quran was revealed as a guide to mankind and as a clear evidence for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So whoever among you witnesses this month, let him spend it in fasting; but if anyone is ill or on a journey, the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. God intends ease for you and He does not intend hardship and (He desires) that you should complete the prescribed period, and that you may glorify God for guiding you and that You may be thank

ful." (2:183, 185)

Fasting is a practice common to many religions. Islam has also prescribed fasting for Muslim in the form of a month-long period of abstinence accompanied by intensive devotional activity which constitutes the third of the obligatory acts of worship.

Islam establishes a lunar calendar in which the months are all either twenty-nine or thirty days long. The ninth month, Ramadan, is the month in which the first revelation of the Quran came to the Prophet (peace be on him). The fast of Ramadan has been prescribed in order to train Muslims in self-discipline and scrupulous obedience to God's commands It is not related to penance for sins or regarded as a means of appeasing God's wrath as in some religions. Again, in distinction to the fasting of some religions, the fast of Ramadan involves total abstinence from all food, drink and sexual relations throughout the daylight hours; not even water may be taken. However, the fast must be broken at sunset each day, and it is also recommended to have a pre-dawn meal before resuming the fast the next day.

In addition to refraining from meeting these ordinarily lawful necessities, Muslims also engage in increased devotional

57 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

II. Acts of Worship: 3. Fasting (sawm) 57

activity throughout this month. Besides the usual five daily prayers, an additional salah called taraweeh, which is observed only during Ramadan, is performed either individually or in congregation each night. It is, moreover, a sunnah (practice) of the Prophet (peace be on him) to complete the recitation of the entire Quran during Ramadan and many present-day Muslims followthis tradition. The last ten days and nights of Ramadan are marked by especially intensive devotions, including the commemoration of the night during which the first revelation of the Quran came to the Prophet, known as the Night of Power. Giving charity is especially enjoined during Ramadan and restraining the tongue and temper are an additional aspect of fasting.

Fasting makes the Muslim disciplined, steadfast and resilient like a soldier who forgoes or postpones the satisfaction of his normal needs at the order of his Commander. This trains him to be flexible and adaptable in his habits, capable of enduring hardship, and not to take for granted the bounties of God which henormally enjoys. Fasting also enables the Muslim to feel with the poor who daily experience hunger and to be active in compassion and charity toward them.

Islam recognizes that physical needs and appetites, particularly those of food, drink and sex, are powerful factors in human life, tying the human being to dependence on and preoccupationwith his bodily needs and desires. Hence the Muslim is asked for one month out of the year to do without the satisfaction of these needs by day in order to develop his spiritual nature. The process of experiencing hunger, thirst and sexual abstinence —of imposing them on oneself voluntarily, so to speak—has the effect of weaning a human being away from dependence on physical satisfactions and the dominance of his animal needs, freeing him to pursue spiritual goals and values during this period. Ramadan is thus a month, out of the twelve months of the year, during whichthe Muslim— due to the lack of his usual involvement with his physical needs —has a unique opportunity (which of course depends on his own initiative to utilize or forgo) to devote himself to God and to his spiritual development.

While such fasting may sound difficult to those who are not

58 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

used to it, in practice it is generally tolerable and even easy for most people. In fact, it appears to have some therapeutic and beneficial effects on the body which are not yet clearly understoodin scientific terms. Indeed, Muslims often become so accustomed to the altered routine of Ramadan and experience such an intense spiritual life during it that when it ends they feel a poignant sense of loss and wait eagerly for the next Ramadan to attain the samehigh spiritual level again, carrying its experiences and lessonswith them throughout the coming year.

At the conclusion of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate one of the two major festivals of Islam-the Festival of Ending the Fast (eid al-fitr). This occasion, as well as the practical details of fastingwill be discussed under The Islamic Way of Life.

5. PILGRIMAGE (HAJJ)

And (remember) when We prepared for Abraham the site of the (Sacred) House, (saying): `Do not ascribe anything as associate with Me, and sanctify My House

for those who circumambulate it and those who stand and those who bow and those who prostrate themselves (there). And proclaim the hajj to people; they will come to you on foot and (mounted) on every kind of lean camel coming through deep ravines." (22:26-27)

"The first house (of worship of God) appointed for people was that at Bakka,¹⁷ full of blessings and of guidance for all kinds of beings. In it are signs manifest: the station of Abraham—whoever enters it attains sanctuary. Pilgrimage to

62 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

it is a duty people owe to God—those who can afford the journey. . . ." (3:96-97)

Hall— that is, pilgrimage to Mecca in Arabia—constitutesthe fifth and last of the acts of worship prescribed by Islam.Obligatory once in a life-time for those Muslims who can affordit —provided there is safety and security for travel and that provision is left behind for dependents—hajj constitutes a form of worship with the totality of the Muslim's being: with his body,mind and soul, with his time, possessions and the temporary sacrifice of all ordinary comforts, conveniences and tokens of statusand individuality which human beings normally enjoy, to assume for a few days the condition of a pilgrim totally at God's service and disposal, His servant who seeks only His pleasure.

Hail takes place during the first days of the lunar month of Dhul-Hijjah, with it's climax on the ninth of that month.¹⁸ The rites of hajj center on complete submission and devotion to God. At the same time they commemorate as an example of such totalsubmission and obedience the Prophet Abraham, especially in his willingness to sacrifice what he loved most in the world—his son Ishmael—at God's command. (See Quran 37:99-113)¹⁹

People often wonder what Muslims do during their pilgrimage, what hajj is actually like. What follows is a brief description of the principal rites and experiences of hajj and their meaning toa Muslim.

Pilgrims come for hall from all parts of the globe from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas even from Australia. The majority of them come by plane to Jeddah,Arabia's major seaport which is about forty-five miles west of Mecca. Others arrive in Jeddah by ship and still others travel by bus or private car from neighboring countries such as Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and other Persian Gulfstates as well as from various parts of Arabia itself.

As the pilgrims approach Mecca, at places designated by the Prophet himself where pilgrim facilities have been constructed, they enter into a state of consecration known as ihram. Ihram signifies divesting oneself temporarily of all marks of status and

II. Acts of Worship: 5. Pilgrimage (hajj) 63

individuality to assume the humble dress and condition of a pilgrim devoted wholly to God. One takes on ihram by expressinghis or her intention to enter into that state, making ablution ortaking a shower, and putting on the pilgrim's dress (which is alsocalled ihram). The dress of male pilgrims is a garment unique to hajj, consisting of two pieces of white, unsewn cloth which cover the lower and upper parts of the body. Although no specific garment is prescribed for women, they also enter ihram, wearingany garment which conceals the shape and covers them completely, leaving only their faces and hands exposed. Pilgrims in ihram, male or female, are to abstain from sexual relations, the use of perfume, quarreling, abusiveness and obscenity. They are also prohibited to harm any living thing, plant or animal (with theexception of dangerous insects, snakes, etc.) in the territory ofMecca, which, since the time of Prophet Abraham (peace be onhim) has been designated as a sanctuary for all creatures.Pilgrims may, however, engage in all other lawful activities suchas eating and drinking, sleeping, washing, commercial transactions, and so forth.

The pilgrim's first obligation when he arrives in Mecca afterhe has found his accommodation and taken care of his physical necessities, is to visit the Kabah and perform certain prescribedacts of worship following the example of the Prophet (peace by on him). Now just what is the Kabah?

Often referred to as the Sacred House (al-bait al-haram), the Kabah is a small rectangular stone structure²° which stands inside the compound of the Sacred Mosque (al-masjid al-Karam) in the center of the city of Mecca. The Kabah was originally built in antiquity by Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael, also a prophet (peace be on them both), as the first sanctuary on earthdedicated to the worship of the One God. The story of the building of the Kabah is related in the Quran thus:

"And remember Abraham and Ishmael raised the foundations of the (Sacred) House, (saying): 'Our Lord, accept it from us, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. Our Lord, make us those who submit to You and of our descendants

64 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

a people who submit to You. And show us our rites, and forgive us. Indeed, You are the Forgiving, the Compassionate.'"

(2:127-128)

And again,

"Remember We made the House a place of gathering for people, and of security. And you take the Station of Abraham21 as a place for prayer. And We convenanted with Abraham and Ishmael that they should sanctify My House for those who circumambulate it or use it as a retreat, or bow or prostrate themselves (there in worship)." (2:125)

During the three thousand years since it was first built, the Kabah was demolished several times by natural disasters or the hands of men but each time it was rebuilt at the same site and for the same purpose.²² The celebrated Black Stone, thought to be a meteorite, is known to be a part of the original structure: it is set into one corner of the Kabah and, following the Prophet's example, the pilgrim kisses, touches or points to it while he makes his circumambulations of the Kabah as a gesture of love and respect for the significance of the Sacred House of God. The Kabah is draped with a woven black covering embellished with Quranic verses embroidered in gold. This covering is replaced annually with a new one.

Because of its unique significance as the first house of worship of God, Islam prescribes that Muslims face the direction of the Kabah whenever then perform salah this direction of the Kabah from any place on earth is known as the qiblah.²³ Hence millions of Muslims in every part of the globe turn their faces toward the same central point five times a day as they offer their worship to God. Since at all times some people in some parts of the world are engaged in salah, the cycle of worship with its focus toward the Sacred House continues uninterrupted. The Kabah is the visible symbol of God's Unity, representing in concrete form His centrality in the life of the Muslim, the focal point for Muslims of all times and places to turn toward in their wor

II. Acts of Worship: 5. Pilgrimage (hajj) 65

ship as a symbol of their unity as one community submitting to the One God, a part of the endless stream of worshippers facing and circling around it unceasingly since remote antiquity in the glorification of God Most High.

For the Muslim, visiting the Kabah, whether it is for the first or for the tenth time, is a profound, awe-inspiring experience.The worshipper enters the Sacred Mosque by one of its doors with a supplication for God's peace and blessings. Looking beyond the throng of pilgrims and the patterns of columns and arches into the vast open courtyard around which the mosque isconstructed, he catches a glimpse, with a tremor of awe and excitement, of the solitary black draped Kabah which is the center of every Muslim's world. After performing a brief salah of "greeting" of the mosque, he makes his way toward the Kabah through the vast array of Muslims of every place and race onearth²⁴ in order to perform the first of the pilgrim's rites, that of tawaf or circumambulation.

Seeking out the corner of the Kabah in which the Black Stone is embedded, from which the circumambulation is to start, with words of praise to God, the worshipper joins the host of Muslims circling the House and pouring out their hearts in supplication to Him. A sense of timelessness sweeps over him as he realizes that he is one atom in an endless ocean of those who have worshiped at this House since nearly the beginning of recorded history. Moving in that sea of worshippers within the shadow of the Kabah, a deep sense of his smallness and insignificance comes to him. All the trappings and defenses of his ego fall away as he realizes that God alone is great and that none ofHis slaves can bring any of his worldly props and privileges with him to confront the glory and majesty of his Lord. Here, underthe blazing sun of Mecca, making his circuits around God's House as he repeats the solemn, moving supplications of the pilgrim, he comes face to face with his own nothingness, his creatureliness , his utter dependence on his Creator in the face of God's ineffable glory and sanctity grasping, in that brief yetintense encounter with the sublimity of God, that all the movements and efforts which people make on this earth are as noth-

66 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

ing. They and he will pass away, and then he will come alonebefore the One who gave him his life to receive His judgmentand the recompense for all he did.

After completing seven circuits of the Sacred House, the pilgrim may spend as much time as he wishes in making supplications to God in the immediate vicinity of the Kabah, and before he leaves he prays two cycles of salah. He will then probably goto the spring of Zamzam, situated underground within the compound of the Sacred Mosque very close to the Kabah,²⁵ to refresh himself with its water. He then goes to a nearby area within the compound of the Sacred Mosque to perform the next rite of hail. This is known as sa'i, that is, "hastening" between the two small hillocks of Safa and Marwah, separated now by a long, marble- lined corridor, in commemoration of Hagar's hurried search for water at this site.

While the circumambulation of the Kabah centers around God Most High, the center of the drama of the hastening betweenSafa and Marwah is the human being. This hastening is symbolic of the human being's efforts and movements in this life, of the human soul's ceaseless striving in his journey through the world, together with the host of his fellow human beings, The worshipper walks and during part of the way may break into a run, seven times between the two lava-rock mounds, situated about a quarter of a mile apart, glorifying and supplicating God. Between the marble arches he catches glimpses of the adjacent courtyard of the Sacred Mosque.

At the center of it, like a luminous jewel, stands the black- draped Kabah around which, like an endless river flowing on and on day and night since remote antiquity, supplicants from every corner of the world, clad in the simple pilgrim's dress, move in utter absorption with God, uttering His praises and calling on His name One who has visited the Sacred House leaves it with an intense longing to return to it again and again, and with a vivid understanding of why the Kabah is indeed the focal point of the earth for the worship of God, the Praised and Exalted, representing in concrete form His centrality in the life of the Muslim individual and community.

II. Acts of Worship: 5. Pilgrimage (hajj) 67

Pilgrims may arrive in Mecca to perform their circumambulation and hastening either immediately before the days of hajj or earlier, as they wish, in fact, thousands of pilgrims arrive in Mecca days or weeks before the immediate period of hajj in order to have more time to spend in devotion at the SacredMosque. However, the climax of the hajj occurs on the 9th day of Dhul-Hijjah, the day of Arafat.

Arafat is the name of a vast, empty plain some miles outside Mecca. It is treeless and barren, without any shelter from the blinding desert sun and encircled by stark, jagged purple-black lava peaks. It is to this plain that the entire assembly of pilgrims,numbering some two-and-a-half to three million people, moves during the morning of the 9th of Dhul-Hujjah in order to spend the afternoon up to sundown engaged in penitence and supplication to God. The pilgrims come by private car, by bus and on foot, in wave upon wave, an unbelievably vast gathering of human beings of amazing diversity, reciting in unison the fervent, moving pilgrim's call of response to his Lord. Thousands oftents have been erected on the plain for this occasion to shelter them.

After the noon and afternoon prescribed prayers have been performed together in the shortened form recommended for travelers and people have had a chance to eat and rest, the period of devotions begins. During the afternoon up to sundown, all these human beings, assembled here from every land and belonging to countless races and cultures, are completely absorbed in supplication to God Most High, glorifying Him, affirming their utter helplessness and dependence on Him, and yearning for His forgiveness and His pleasure, enduring all the fatigues and difficulties of travel and the pilgrimage itself, with its severe climate and hard conditions, for the sake of that intense, profound experienceof pouring out their souls before their Lord. The vast, otherwise empty plain is filled with tents and with thousands upon thousands of pilgrims, tired and disheveled and totally humble before their Creator, standing with hands raised in supplication, manyweeping in the intensity of their awe and devotion to Him. Some

68 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

climb up the Mount of Mercy, a hill in the middle of the plain from where the Prophet (peace be on him) delivered his last hajj address to his people, to make their supplications. The gathering of Arafat brings vividly to mind the immense gathering of that awesome day when people's bodies will be brought out of their graves and rejoined with their souls and all will stand in utterhumility before God Most High to await His judgment, a time when no soul will have anything to bring with it before God except its inner state and whatever little good it may have beenable to do in this quickly passing life.

As soon as the sun sets, the exodus of the pilgrims from Arafat begins: they go as they came by bus, car or on foot in an endless stream which continues for many hours. Their next station is Muzdalifah, a barren, inhospitable, lava-rock wasteland a few miles closer to Mecca, where they perform the sunset andnight prescribed prayers together, spending part of the night resting after the fatigue of the day and engaged in supplication toGod. Here they also gather a number of pebbles to be used for stoning three stone columns representing satan which have stoodsince ancient times in the village of Mina. After their brief halt in Muzdalifah, all the pilgrims go to live for the next two-and-a-half or three days in a vast tent city before they complete their pilgrims' rites and disperse.

These stone pillars stand at the sites where satan appeared toAbraham and Ishmael (God's peace and blessings be on them) in remote antiquity, tempting them to disobey God when Abrahamwas taking his son to be sacrificed at God's command On each of the three days of sojourn in Mina, countless numbers of pilgrims go to the columns, stoning the pebbles they have collected to symbolize their rejection of satan, in a stirring drama of the endless human struggle against evil promptings and temptations

After the first day's stoning (and after shaving or shorteningof hair by men and after cutting a short piece of hair by women), the pilgrim may shower and return to his ordinary dress. Most of the prohibitions applying in the state of ihram are now lifted. At this time, following the Prophet's example and injunction, manyof the pilgrims slaughter an animal in commemoration of Abraham's sacrifice of a sheep in the place of Ishmael. Part of the

II. Acts of Worship: 5. Pilgrimage (hajj) 69

meat is used to feed themselves and their group, and the rest is distributed among the poor. During this period the pilgrims also return briefly to Mecca to perform their final circumambulation of the Kabah. The pilgrim's home during the days in Mina is a tent shared with other pilgrims of the same sex or with his family, within specified camp compounds provided by pilgrim guides or by various governments or organizations. He spends the timein making daily trips for the stoning, praying and reading the Quran, listening to talks about various aspects of Islam, visitingwith his fellow pilgrims, or resting. Before sundown on the third day or the following morning he leaves Mina and his pilgrimageis now complete.

In addition to its unique spiritual aspects, hajj is also remarkable, as we have seen, for the fact that it brings together from every part of the earth such an immense diversity of human beings, who, in spite of vast differences of culture and language. form one community (ummah), all of them professing and livingby the same faith and all devoted to the worship of their singleCreator. One can see pilgrims from Turkey, from Indonesia, from India: Egyptians and Afghans, Tunisians and South Africans, Malaysians, Arabians, Iraqis, Sudanese, Libyans: old men with henna-dyed beards from Baluchistan or the frontier areas ofPakistan, Iranian women clad in chadors, men and women from the tropical areas of Africa with their distinctive dresses, and here and there such faces as can belong only to Europeans orAmericans. It was this aspect of hajj which Malcolm-X commented on so eloquently in his Autobiography, describing it as a tremendously moving and almost unbelievable experience to be, for the first time in his life, regarded and respected simple as a human being who was the equal of every other human being without consideration of the usual man-made distinctions and barriers such as race, color, nationality or social status. This isassuredly the ultimate experience in human brotherhood known to human beings. And what is required of a pilgrim during hajj is not merely to be present, but to behave with kindness and consideration to one's fellow pilgrims (although in practice there are unfortunately many deviations from this requirement): indeed, one's entire pilgrimage can be rendered void by acts of harshness

70 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

or hostility to others. As we have seen, hajj takes place each year

during the specified period of pilgrimage. However, Muslims

may visit the Kabah at any time to perform umrah, the "Lesser

Pilgrimage."

The rites of umrah consist simply of the assumption of the

sacred state, circumambulation around the Kabah, and hastening

between Safa and Marwah. Outside the season of hajj, countless

Muslims visit Mecca to perform umrah each year, and still oth

ers who live in Mecca or its vicinity visit the Sacred Mosque fre

quently for salah, meditation, reading the Quran, or to make

tawaf, which in itself is a complete act of worship without per

forming umrah or entering into the state of ihram.

Although it is not in any way related to the observances of

hail or umrah, those pilgrims who are able, visit the city of

Medina some three hundred miles north of Mecca during their

trip to Arabia. There they visit the Prophet's mosque to perform

prayers to God and visit the grave of the Prophet, which is situ

ated within the mosque which bears his name, to ask God to bless

and reward Prophet Muhammad for guiding us to God's only one

and true religion. The Prophet's Mosque stands at the site of the

small mosque where he prayed and preached, next to which he

had his home. Visitors spend as much time as possible in the

mosque engaged in salah, reading the Quran and meditation. It

radiates an atmosphere of the deepest serenity and peace. As in

Mecca, there are always visiting Muslims in Medina, and it pos

sesses the same unique flavor of peoples from all parts of the

world coming together for the worship of God Most High and

here for the love and remembrance of His Holy Prophet (may

God's peace and blessings be on him) as well.

II. Acts of Worship: 5. Pilgrimage (hajj) 71

PART Two:

VALUES AND MORALS

72 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims II. Acts of Worship: 5. Pilgrimage (hajj) 73

THE ISLAMIC PERSONALITY

Verily, men and women who submit, and men and women who believe, and men and women who are patient, and men and women who are truthful, and men

and women who are humble before God, and men and women who give in charity, and men and women who fast, and men and women who guard their chastity, and men and women who remember God much to them, God has promised forgiveness and a great reward." (33:35)

The goal of Islam of its concepts, acts of worship and teachings relating to values, attitudes, morals and behavior is to create an Islamic personality within the individual Muslim. Now just what is this "Islamic personality?"

Such a personality belongs to an individual who has rejected the supposition that there exists nothing but the material world, that the universe and one's own individual life, with all its circumstances and events, is the result of accident or blind chance,

and who has accepted and lives by the certainty that there is a

Being Who is responsible for all of creation and to Whom he, the human being, is in turn responsible. He acknowledges his dependence on this Being, accepts His laws as the rules which guide

73

74 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

his life, and surrenders himself to Him. He is always conscious of God, remembering Him in all his activities and concerns. Islamic values and attitudes are the base on which his personality is builtand Islamic criteria govern all aspects of his life.

Such an individual, together with others like himself, forms an Islamic society which, collectively submits and conforms to the guidance of Almighty God. Islam proclaims that such God-conscious individuals, obedient to their Lord's commands, are the ones who will attain God's pleasure and His reward in the hereafter. A society composed of such individuals is therefore one which is capable of and suited to fulfilling the trust which God has bestowed on the human being of administering the earth and its affairs in a righteous and God-fearing manner. We will now take a look at the attitudes and qualities which Islam enjoinsand which it fosters in the true Muslim—qualities which can be found, even in today's disturbed world, turned as it is away fromspiritual values and toward materialism and the worship of self, in a striking manner in countless devout Muslims in all parts ofthe earth.

GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS (TAQWA)

"Verily, the Believers are those whose hearts feel fear when

God is mentioned, and when His signs (or revelations) are

recited to them they increase their faith, and who put their

trust in their Lord." (8:2)

"Verily, those who live in awe for fear of their Lord, who

believe in their Lord's signs (or revelations), who do not

ascribe partners to their Lord, who give what they give in

charity with their hearts full of fear because they are to return

to their Lord: it is these who hasten in all good acts and they

are foremost in them." (23:57-61)

The Arabic word taqwa, denoting a quality which isabsolutely essential in the personality of the conscious Muslim,has no exact English equivalent. Taqwa refers to an attitude comprised of love and fear of God which we may translate, for want

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 75

of a better word, as "God-consciousness." More exactly it refers to the constant awareness that one is always before God and that He knows everything concerning him, even his most secretthoughts. This attitude produces within one such an intense love for God that he wants to do only what is pleasing to Him; suchgreat fear of God that he tries to avoid doing anything which He dislikes; and such a keen consciousness of God that he never for a single moment imagines His being unaware of what he does orthat he will not be held accountable for all his intentions and actions. In the words of the Quran, the pious are:

"Those who fear their Lord in their most secret thoughts and who hold the Hour (of Judgment) in awe." (21:49)

Taqwa is a vital attitude which develops little by little in the heart of the Muslim child as he is taught about the existence and omnipresence, the beneficence and kindness of God, his own total dependence upon Him, his Sustainer, and his personalresponsibility and accountability to Him. Gradually there grows within him a constant awareness of the fact that he is alwaysbefore God (As the Prophet said, "For if you do not see Him. He sees you,") a profound sense of personal responsibility, the habit of judging all matters by Islamic rather than by other criteria, and a love for God and for His way which guides all his actions. This is supplemented and enhanced by correct instruction in the principles and practices of Islam so that it becomes his total frame of reference; by an awareness of social, moral, political and other issues; and by the knowledge of the right and wrong of things so that he can fulfill his responsibilities to God, to other human beings and to society.

"The pious are those who spend (in God's way) in ease as well as in straitness, who restrain their anger and pardon people, for God loves those who do good; those who, when they commit an indecency or do injustice to their own souls, remember God and ask for forgiveness for their sins—and who can forgive sins except God? —and do not knowingly persist in

76 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

what they have done. For these the reward will be forgiveness from their Lord and Gardens underneath which rivers flow, to abide therein, and (God's) favor, the reward of those who strive." (3:134-146)

FAITH (IMAM)

"To God belong all things in the heavens and on earth,

and God is sufficient as a protector." (4:132)

"Say: 'He is my Lord; there is no deity except Him. In

Him do I put my trust and to Him do I turn."' (13:30)

Islam makes a distinction between a person who submits toGod's guidance by obeying His laws (a muslim) and one who has the deep inner certainty of faith (a mu 'min: one who possesses iman, faith, a believer), and indeed the difference is very significant. A muslim (submitter) may obey God's laws without realdepth of faith, while a believer both possesses this faith and acts on it.

Now, faith to the believer is a great deal more than merely "believing" that God "exists." Such faith is rather the realization that this little piece of Reality which we are able to grasp with our minds or senses is only a minute portion of the greater Reality which is known only to its Creator. And it is the certainty that God is in absolute control of the universe, including the human being and his world, and that, together with the rest of God's creation, each one of us is wholly dependent upon God and will return to Him for accounting.

But let us go back to the beginning, starting from the most basic views of life in order to understand the meaning of such a faith more clearly. There can be only two possible logically acceptable ways to explain the universe and all that takes place within it. Either it is, in totality, the result of randomness and chance interactions, the correct but completely accidental collusion of circumstances (which makes the earth nothing more than the accidentally "correct" combination of particles of matter andeach newborn infant merely a fortuitously "right" organization of chromosomes, cellular structures, nerve connections and bio-

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 77

chemical processes). In this case, the entire universe and all of human existence, including the events of each individual's life, can only be viewed as meaningless, purposeless accidentally interacting phenomena, the result of blind chance in the grip ofwhich a human being is simply a helpless, hopeless, struggling victim making motions which may or may not be of use. In the grip of such nothingness, he himself is a nothing, and his life has not the slightest sense or purpose: he simply is because he happens to have been born and has not yet died.

Such an explanation, which can produce nothing within the human soul except a despair too profound to be borne, is not only totally at variance with all the observed facts of the universe,which speak in endless volume of a planning, willing power, creative beyond human comprehension, negating randomness in their eloquent testimony to the incredible organizational Will behind all that exists;²⁶ it is also totally unacceptable to the human mind, itself an incredibly organized, purposeful entity which seeks meaning in everything. One who uses his reason therefore has no choice except to realize that all that exists must be the result of the will, the plan and the decision of a Supreme Power. And since this is so, likewise every circumstance andevent, either within the physical world or within the world of the human being, must also fit in with the will, the plan, the decreeof this Power. In short, nothing which either is or which takes place is outside God's plan and will and occurs only with His permission and decree, including the actions of people since the human being too is a part of the scheme of God's creation and a part of His plan. We will return to this point a little later.

It is easy enough to understand the meaningfulness and purposefulness of things in relation to phenomena or events which exhibit some logic, order or sense, some may say. But how are we to understand it in the face of natural disasters, unexpectedcatastrophes and human tragedies which seem to do violence to logic, to order, to meaning, crushing and destroying all that isgood in human life?

Again, we return to the two possibilities: that everything is the result of randomness and chance, or that it is the result,

78 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

although why may not always be apparent to our finite, limited human understanding, of God's all-wise plan. If the former iscorrect and we are dealing with random and consequently meaningless events, then logically everything must be accidental and meaningless, for it is not possible that part of existence is the result of a planning Will and has meaning and purpose but someother part is accidental. Either all of it must be an accident, which it is impossible for the mind to accept, or all of it must be part ofa plan and guided by the Planner. In either case the circumstances will of course be the same: whether we believe in the meaningfulness and purposefulness of all that takes place or we believe it to be the result of blind chance, we may equally in both instancesfrom time to time find ourselves in the grip of events which we are utterly powerless to control. But the difference between these two views is nothing less than the difference between confidence and despair, between serenity of heart and endless, crushing anxiety, between living with trusting acceptance of what comes as being meaningful, purposeful and ultimately a source of good as it is the result of the will of the Merciful God, or with bitterness, anger, rebellion, and the intolerable weight of belief in nothingness.

At the same time, it is also clear that the human being has been endowed with freedom of choice and freedom to act. Does this not mean that he is, at least to some extent, independent and in charge of his own affairs? How does Islam resolve this very fundamental question of God's will in relation to the human being's freedom of choice and action?

To begin with, Islam places great emphasis on action, repeatedly exhorting Muslims to strive, to make an effort, to do their best. Without action and effort nothing whatsoever can be attained or achieved. But at the same time, action and effort do not necessarily guarantee the results one desires.

Thus, for example, I make a decision, I choose a course of action, I act. To this extent I am free, within the range of choices available to me and depending on my capacity for action, whichis obviously limited by my physical and mental condition and bythe constraints of my environment. But what about the outcome

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 79

of my decision, my choice, my action? Can I guarantee what it will be? No, I cannot. However, most of the time one's action does lead to the desired results.

For example, I decide to get up out of my chair and I am ableto do it; I decide to go to work in my car and I go; I decide to get married, or to get a new job, or to invent a nuclear submarine or a Boeing 747 or to go to the moon, and I do all these things, dependent only on myself, on the cooperation of my fellowhuman beings, and on various machines and inventions. How then can one assert that I am not in control and that I do not determine the outcome of my actions? In short, where does God comeinto the picture?

Let us examine the matter in greater depth. It is obvious that to achieve the results I want I must will and act. I can hardly expect to get to work if I spend the morning lying in bed, to get a new job if I don't go out and look for one, or to get to the moon without the necessary efforts on my part to master the essential knowledge and skills. But even then my efforts do not guarantee the results I seek. All that may be said is that although the degree of effort has a direct relationship to the probability of achieving a desired outcome, nevertheless the outcome may turn out to bequite different than one intends. For example, I decide to get out of my chair as I've done thousands of times in the past butinstead of doing it I collapse with a heart attack. I leave my house to go to work, having no doubt that I'll get there as I've done day after day for many years but I have an accident on the way andnever arrive. I'm rich. famous and beloved but one day I learn that I have a fatal illness and in spite of all the medical skillsmoney can provide I die in the prime of my youth and career. I am about to be launched in a spacecraft similar to others whichhave carried out their missions brilliantly but something goes wrong and it burns up in the take-off— one could go on and on enumerating examples.

In earlier times when life was simpler, few people entertained any question about the existence of God and His controlling will. They knew that their lives were dependent upon crops which were dependent upon such factors as rainfall and sunshine,

80 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

which depended immediately upon what God willed. They knew,too, the limitations of their capacities to act, to shape their destinies, and these too were referred back to God's decision. But today, when our lives are run to such a large extent by the products of science and technology. It depends upon these as if they were gods themselves for the very control of our existence. We have totally lost sight of the fact that while we have been giventhe power— and indeed the obligation—to think, to plan, to choose and to act, we do not necessarily determine the outcome of our actions, which depends upon what God wills.

Nor do our existence, our faculties, our powers and capacities to act depend upon ourselves. Does any of us make ourselves so that we can determine our appearance or size or shape, our color or physical condition, our intellectual endowments and talents? And is there a single one of us who can by our own efforts control the beating of our hearts, the working of the cells and tissues in our bodies, the eventual process of disintegration and decline of old age, an accident or illness which overtakes us, orthe death which is our inevitable destiny? If not, then the assertion that we are in control of our lives and are self-sufficient, which is the proud boast of contemporary Western civilization, is merely wishful thinking and self-delusion.

This notion of the human being's self-sufficiency has unfortunately led the Westerner to the conclusion that because he is able to do most of what he wills and undertakes, it is solely his willing and doing, aided by the invention and utilization of high- powered technological devices, which determines the results heachieves. Both the person and his intentions are presumed independent of anything except each other, and the fact that there must be Someone who gives the human being his nature and the capacity, power and means to carry out what he undertakes, andWho, at the same time, determines the results of his undertakings, has been totally lost sight of. Consequently, although many people still profess belief in Him, God, as the sustaining, planning, willing, acting Power in the universe, has been largely discounted in explaining the phenomena of "nature," as well as in relation to human affairs, and hence He has been "retired" from

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 81

the lives of so many of us. In passage after passage, the Quran addresses itself to this point:

"It is He Who created for you ears and eyes and hearts. Little do you give thanks! And it is He Who spread you in the earth, and unto Him will you be gathered. And it is He Who gives life and death, and His is the alternation of night and day. Do you then have no intelligence? Nay, but they say the like of what was said by earlier peoples.

"They say: 'When we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then really be raised again? We were already promised this, we and our forefathers. Truly, this is nothing except tales of the ancients.'

"Say: 'Unto Whom belongs the earth and whatsoever is in

it, if you have knowledge.' "They will say: 'To God.' "Say: 'Will you not then remember?' Say: 'Who is Lord of

the seven heavens and Lord of the exalted throne (of authori

tY)? "They will say: `(They belong) to God.' "Say: 'Will you not then be dutiful to Him?' Say: 'In

whose hand is the dominion over all things, and He protects while there is no protection against Him, if you have knowledge?'

"They will say: belongs) to God.'

"Say: 'Then how are you deluded?"' (23:78-89)

And again:

"And among His signs is that He created you from dust, and then, behold, you are human beings scattered (far and wide). And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell with them in tranquillity, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts). Verily in that are signs for those who reflect. And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations of your languages and your colors. Verily in that are

82 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

signs for those who know. And among His signs is the sleep you take by night and by day, and your quest (for a livelihood) from His bounty. In that are signs for those who hearken. And among His signs He shows you the lightning in fear and hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead. Verily in that are signs for those who are wise. And among His signs is that the heavens and the earth stand by His command. Then when He calls you with a call, behold, from the earth you will come forth. To Him belongs every being in the heavens and the earth: all are obedient to Him. It is He Who begins creation, then repeats it, and this is easy for Him. To Him pertain the loftiest similitudes in the heavens and the earth, for He is the Exalted, the Wise." (30:20-27)

And yet again and again:

"All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifies God. Unto Him belongs the dominion and unto Him belongs the praise, and He has power over all things. It is He Who created you, yet one of you is a disbeliever and one of you is a believer, and God sees all that you do. He created the heavens and the earth in truth, and He shaped you and made you with good shapes, and unto Him is the journeying. He knows all that is in the heavens and the earth, and He knows all that you conceal and all that you reveal. And God is the Knower of what is in the hearts (of human beings)." (64:1-4)

"And with Him are the keys of the Unseen; none knows them but He. And He knows whatever is in the land and the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it, nor a seed grain grows in the darkness of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry but is (inscribed) in a clear Book. And it is He Who takes your souls by night and Who knows what you have done by day; then He revives you by day that a term appointed may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return, and then will He declare to you all that you did." (6:59-60)

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 83

"Say: 'Shall I take for my protector any other than God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth? And it is He that feed (His creatures) but is not fed . . . . If God touch you with affliction, none can remove it but He; and if He touch you with goods (know that) He has power over everything. He is the Irresistible, (high) above His servants; and He is the Wise. the Informed.' . . . . Say: 'Do you think that if God's punishment were to come upon you, or the last hour, you would then call upon something other than God. (Answer) if you are among the truthful! Nay, you would call upon Him, and if He willed. He would remorse what occasioned your call upon Him and you would forget those whom you had set up as partners with Him' . . . . Say: 'Do you think that if God took away your hearing and your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, there is a deity besides God who could restore them to you?' . . . . Say: `Who is it that delivers you from perils in the darkness of the land or sea, upon Whom you call humbly and in secret: "If He only delivers us from this (affliction), we will be among the grateful?"' Say: 'It is God Who delivers you from these and from all (other) distresses, and yet, you associate others with Him!" (6:14, 17-18, 40-41, 46, 63-64)

For indeed, when any of us is in a state of danger, terror or crisis, it is not other people or technology we call on; almostinstinctively, as a matter of course, we call upon God, even if we otherwise never think of Him or even deny His existence. Anyone who has ever been in a battle or a wreck at sea or a devastating flood or earthquake or tornado (an "act of God"), or inthe grip of a terrible illness or personal tragedy knows this andmany have become believers as a result of such experiences. Forat such a time each one of us recognizes the utter powerlessness of human beings and their inventions. We know unquestioningly that nothing can help or save us except the Supreme Power of the heavens and the earth, and quite unconsciously and without concern for our previous beliefs in the matter, we instinctively cry to Him for aid. And what about at the time of death? Is there a single one of us who then still entertains the illusion that the human

84 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

being is in control and has anything to say about his own destiny, or who calls upon anyone or anything except God. For that is the supreme moment of truth, the truth which has always been there before our eyes but from which many of us turned away, as ifdeaf and blind, time and time again during the span of our lives.

In Islam we find the correct perspective concerning the human being's freedom of choice and action and the limits of his capacity to control events. For Islam informs us that every single thing in the universe, every atom of creation, is always dependent on God not only for its very being but for its continuance and functioning as well. In this human beings are no different from the rest of creation; despite the illusion that we are in control, our being is dependent on Him and we are sustained by Him at every moment of our lives, whether we are peacefully relaxing in the security and comfort of our homes or are in a state of critical danger or affliction.

This state of dependency, helplessness and creatureliness inrelation to God is expressed in Arabic by the single concise word servanthood that is, the condition of being God's servant: one with whom God does as He pleases because he belongs to Him, who is totally at His disposal and in a state of utter dependence and humility before Him. To the devout Muslim, the highest honor and the fulfillment of his existence lies in being the abd ²⁷ of God Most High, and of no one and nothing except Him. And part of the condition of this servanthood consists of the realization that the human being's task is to choose, to will, to act and to strive his utmost but that it is God Who determines the results of this striving as He sees fit. Therefore, beyond his capacity toact and to shape events by his action, the sincere believer trusts in and depends on God completely for the outcome of his affairs,assured that nothing that happens to him or to any other creature is a random, chance event, an "accident" or "coincidence," but has a meaning and a purpose which are known to God.

But we must be careful not to misunderstand this point, as many people have done and sooner or later lost their "faith" as a result. It certainly does not mean that if a person trusts in and depends on God in all his affairs, God will in return keep all trou-

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 85

ble and suffering away from him; in other words, "If I'm good, God won't let anything bad happen to me." Indeed, this is not theway God has ordained this life, nor is this the attitude of a true believer. God sends both ease and suffering to all, the wicked andsaintly alike, and certainly the sincere believer, like every other descendant of Adam, has his share of troubles, illnesses and calamities; in truth, he is more likely to pass through suffering and adversity as a result of his unswerving commitment to theright and his consequent lack of concern for personal comfort and worldly advantage. The difference is not in the circumstances but in the attitude: for the believer possesses the absolute certainty that God is in complete control of everything, knowing what the human being with his finite, limited human understanding cannot know, and since he believes that whatever God seesfit to send has a meaning and a purpose, he accepts it with the hope and assurance that it may hold some good for him either inthis world or in the Hereafter.

For the whole of this life, both the good and the bad of it, constitutes a trial and a test for the human individual by means of which his quality and his state in the future existence are determined Again and again the Quran speaks of this:

"Every soul must taste death; and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial. And unto Us will you return." (21:35)

"Do people think that they will be left alone on saying,

`We believe and that they will not be tested.' And assuredly We

tested those before them. Thus God knows those who are sin

cere and knows those who are pretenders." (29:2-3)

But the test does not lie only in hardship and suffering. Therich, powerful and healthy individual is tested just as much by hiswealth, rank and good physical condition as is the poor one byhis poverty or the sick or handicapped by his affliction; indeed,the one to whom more has been given in the way of health orpossessions or talents or status or power will be held accountable for more. What is of ultimate importance is not how much or little one possesses of all these benefits but what he does with

86 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

whatever he has been given. For although a human being may not necessarily have a great deal to say concerning the conditions of his life or the outcome of a specific situation, nevertheless he is accountable both for his actions and for his inner response to the particular conditions in which he found himself.

The notion that a person's spirit and his deeds cannot rise above difficult or disadvantaged circumstances is one which Islam rejects, just as it rejects mechanistic views of any aspect of life. The human being is not a robot. Even in the worst of circumstances human beings have kept alive the spark of humanity and decency in their breasts and acted in ways which would do credit to the angels. Therefore, when faced with difficulties the sincere believer does all he can to deal with or to remove them, for he is not supposed to allow himself to be distressed or to bear suffering unnecessarily, and is expected to strive with all his strength to improve his situation. But if the desired results are not attained in spite of all his efforts, he does not despair nor does he dictate terms to God but rather tries to be patient and steadfast with what the Quran calls a "beautiful patience" (70:5). The Quran speaks in moving language of the way in which a sincere believer should bear trouble and affliction:

"And We shall undoubtedly test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss of wealth and lives and fruits. But give glad tidings to the patient, who say, when afflicted with calamity, To God we belong and to Him is our return.²⁸ 'They are those upon whom is God's blessing and mercy and they are the ones who are guided." (2:155-157)

"They who are patient, seeking the pleasure of their Lord, who are regular in prescribed prayer, who spend (in charity) secretly and openly out of what God has bestowed on them, and who repel evil with good: for them is the attainment of the final abode." (13:22)

.. And give good tidings to the humble, whose hearts tremble when God is mentioned and who are patient under that which afflicts them, and who are constant in prescribed

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 87

prayer and who spend (in charity) out of what We bestow on them." (22:34-35)

Indeed, as a rule the sincere believer does not ask God for the specific outcome of a situation, for he realizes that he cannot know with certainty what is best for him even in relation to thislife, much less in relation to the hereafter. Rather he asks God to guide him and make easy for him what is for his good in this world and in the future life, and to keep him away from whatever is bad or harmful to him in either. For the sincere believer, not knowing positively himself wherein his good lies, possesses the assurance that God, Who does know, is able to send good to him even through the greatest suffering and trial.

Moreover, he has the deep certainty that any trouble, pain oraffliction which he experiences even, as the Prophet (peace be on him) said, to the pricking of the foot of the believer by a thorn isan expiation for sins, a source of reward in the hereafter if it is borne with patience and endurance, and a means of coming nearer to God Most High through that ineffable softening of the heart which suffering brings through complete trust and reliance upon Him. In such a situation the sincere believer finds the greatestsolace and comfort of heart in the remembrance of God Most High, holding fast to Him, depending completely upon Him, andcontemplating His beneficence and exalted glory with words of praise and adoration in the total surrender of his will and his being to what He, the Praised and Exalted, sees fit to send. The Quran speaks of:

"Those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of God. Lo! in the remembrance of God do hearts find comfort." (13:28)

Thus even trouble and distress constitute great sources of good to the one whose heart is firmly fixed upon his Lord and contented with His decree. Such people are often able to remain uncomplaining, thankful and to experience deep peace of heart even in the midst of the greatest trials.

88 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

Then what does such a person feel about death, either of himself or of a near one? To the sincere believer death is simply the return of the soul to Him Who gave it, the last stage of the jour-

ney "from God to God." As such, it holds no tenors for him except the fear that he may not have deserved the pleasure of hisLord, Whose love he desires, Whose anger he dreads, and Whose mercy he hopes for with all his being. The inevitability of death and the hereafter is never far from his consciousness, serving to keep all his life and deeds in perspective as he tries at all times to live in preparedness for what is to come and to send ahead for his soul such deeds as will make heavy his balance of good when heappears before his Lord. And when death claims someone near him, he does not indulge in excesses of grief (for not only does Islam forbid this but its inappropriateness in one who believes isobvious) but prays for God's mercy and peace on the departed, and takes his living and dying as a lesson and example. Islam very strongly emphasizes the distinction between a believer and a nonbeliever, both in terms of their inner state and their true worth. The reason for this may now be apparent. A person devoid of belief and faith and a believer alike are both equally helpless and dependent on the Almighty Power in the universe, of course, but the nonbeliever is either unaware of this or denies, rejects and resents the fact of his servanthood vis-a-vis God. As he does not acknowledge the existence of a Reality other than that which he can perceive or comprehend, insisting on the supremacy of the material world and ascribing to it ultimate value and importance, he does not acknowledge any authority over his life except that of his own desires or the dictates of other human beings or "society."

Such an individual totally lacks accuracy of perspective concerning himself and his life in this world. He is in a state of forgetfulness and heedlessness concerning essential matters, while he preoccupies and busies himself with what is trivial. He is like one rushing blindly, pell-mell, in his intense involvement with the world with material things, activities or pleasures, no matter how shallow and meaningless often in a desperate effort to avoid having to come to grips with the emptiness, restlessness and dis-

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 89

satisfaction inside him which is the natural consequence of his deep alienation from his Creator, himself and the universe helives in. And yet such individual usually imagines that he is "free" and not the servant of anyone or anything! If we couldlook into the heart of the sincere believer by way of comparison, we would find an individual at peace and in harmony with hisplace in the universe, submitting to what God ordains for him and to His guidance willingly, gladly and with awe and fear of hisLord. We would find one who feels at home with all of God's creation because he knows his rightful place in it and hence does not fight with it or try to exploit or harm it.

We would find a person who, in times of trouble, resists disturbing his soul by asking, "Why?" or imagining all he "might have done" to avert it, for he possesses the deep certainty thatevery circumstance and happening in his life is the result of God's all-wise decree, coming to him as ordained no matter what anyone might or might not do, and that what is required of him in response is patience, steadfastness and complete trust in God. Conversely, if good comes to him, he responds by a profoundsense of humility and thankfulness to God from whom it came rather than with pride and preoccupation with his own powers ormerits. He maintains a constant perspective within himself: the awareness of the transitory and finite nature of this brief life in comparison with the enduring life of the hereafter, and the desire, which is greater than any other, to attain the good of that life by every means in his power.

Such an individual, by means of this perspective, never loses sight of where he is going or his ultimate goal: to merit God's mercy and pleasure, and thereby to attain the eternal home. Aspart of the means of attaining it, he is active in the world, taking his responsibilities seriously and trying to fulfill them to the best of his abilities, and being always conscious of his duty to society.

But he is not in love with this world and avoids becoming entangled with material preoccupations because there are more important concerns at the center of his life. His constant prayer is, "Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and

90 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

save us from the punishment of the fire." To him faith is life itself, without which he could not continue the struggle of existence for one single minute.

"...Verily, this world's life is transient, but the hereafter is the permanent abode." (40:39)

God-consciousness and faith are the two most basic and essential qualities of the one who submits to God's Will and the sincere believer. We will now continue our survey of the qualities and characteristics which Islam enjoins and which it considers essential in an Islamic personality.

SINCERITY

Without this quality the Muslim's relationship with both God and his fellow human being is null and void. Sincerity toward Goal should prompt him to wholeheartedness in worship, to absolute honesty with himself regarding his motives and intentions, and to striving continually to weed out of his character whatever has a trace of hypocrisy, greed, selfishness, envy or the desire for reputation or power, while sincerity toward his fellow human beings should lead him to behave in an open and straightforward manner with them. He should not use or manipulate them for his own purposes, and should genuinely desire their good, liking for them what he likes for himself. He should say what he means, refrain from saying what he does not mean, and should say whatever needs to be said to the other's face rather than behind his back. His relations with others are not to be superficial, casual or careless, and he is expected to interact with everyone responsible sincerely and in a meaningful fashion.

RESPONSIBILITY

This is the keynote of the Muslim's behavior-toward God, toward other human beings, and toward the rest of His creation, both animate and inanimate. His task is first to fulfill his own obligations to God and to other people, regardless of what others may do, and then to try to change, as far as is in his power, what-

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 91

ever he sees that is wrong and evil. His attitude should never be, "Am I my brother's keeper?" but, "I am responsible for doing whatever I can," for he knows that he will be held accountable not only for his own attitudes and actions but for anything else over which he had control or influence in the society and the world around him as well.

INTEGRITY

Because the Muslim has an ever-present consciousness of God and his responsibility to Him, every aspect and act of his life is to be constantly submitted to the standards and criteria of Islam. Nothing is outside the pale of it, from the most private and personal matters to the most public. The standards of Islam are supposed to be so much a part of his very nature that it is difficult for him to knowingly disregard and disobey them in any aspect. And if he does so, his inner attunement to himself and to God's guidance should be so keen that he is at once aware of his mistake and asks for God's forgiveness.

HONESTY, TRUTHFULNESS, KEEPING OF

COMMITMENTS , FAIR-DEALING

Since obedience to such principles is basic to mutual trust, responsibility and reliability among human beings as well as to integrity within the personality, these are among the most emphasized qualities in Islam. Such a scrupulous adherence to truth includes absolute honesty and fidelity in all personal relationships and interactions, in business dealings and transactions, and in the administration of justice. The Quran enjoins these qualities over and over again:

"0 you who believe, be conscious of God and be with the truthful." (9:119)

"(The virtuous are) those Who honor their trusts and promises and those who stand firm in their testimonies . . . ."

(70:32-33)

"0 you Who believe stand out firmly for justice, bearers

92 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

of unfitness for God, even though it be against yourselves or your parents or near relatives. Whether he is rich or poor, God's claim takes precedence over (the claims of) either of them. So do not follow your own desires lest you swerve from justice; and if you lapse or fall away (from truth), then verily,

God is aware of what you do." (4:135)

.. And keep (your) commitments: verily, concerning commitments (you) will be questioned. Fill the measure when you measure, and weigh with a right balance: that is good and right in the end." (17:34-35)

And among many hadith concerning these virtues, the following makes it very clear how essential such qualities are in the personality of the Muslim.

"There are three characteristics of a hypocrite: when he speaks he lies, when he makes a promise he acts treacherously against it, and when he is trusted he betrays."

DISCIPLINE AND SELF-CONTROL

As we have seen, to live the life of a Muslim with its five daily prayers, month of fasting each year, and obedience to all the injunctions of Islam, a considerable degree of self-discipline is needed. This discipline is fostered by the Muslim's continual awareness that he is not his own master but rather God's slave, who stands ever ready to hear and to obey his Lord's commands. Self-control in governing one's temper is very strongly stressed, and forbearance and making allowances for others' faults are enjoined. In the case of a personal injury, the Muslim is urged to forgive and, although retaliation is permitted, to forgo it for the sake of God out of mercy and compassion to the one who has wronged him. While Islam discourages asceticism and permits the enjoyment of God's good gifts, the Muslim is expected to keep his appetites and desires under control rather than allowing them to control him. Self-discipline and self-control are reflected in many aspects of both the private and the public life of

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 93

Muslims, from the degree of self-control shown by a Muslim to whom wrong has been done but who keeps his tongue and hand (and with them his heart) from vengefulness, to the orderly andcorrect manner in which Muslims line themselves up for a congregational prayer.

HUMILITY, PATIENCE, ENDURANCE, COURAGE, THANKFULNESS The true Muslim is under no illusions about his own greatness or importance; he is humble about his attainments and aware of his own limitations. He does not seek fame or power but rather the pleasure and approval of God, trying to be useful in whatever way he can. As we have seen, he tries to endure unavoidable trouble and suffering patiently and courageously, finding solace and comfort in the remembrance of God, and he is thankful for all good that comes his way. Phrases expressing his dependence on and praise of God form a vital part of his speech patterns 29 He does not despair in any situation, knowing that everything ispossible for God. In any case, the events of this life are not the most important thing to him, but rather to attain God's pleasure and His mercy in the life-to-come.

DIGNITY, HONOR AND SELF-RESPECT

A strong sense of honor and self-respect is an essential quality in the true Muslim. Even the most humble—an illiterate peasant or laborer—often demonstrates a striking degree of uprightness and dignity.

The Muslim's dignity stems from his being the slave of and fearing no one except his Creator; no one can threaten or intimidate him for he knows that what befalls him depends not on other people but on the Lord of the people. Thus he maintains his dignity and serenity even though his life may be full of hardships. His self-respect is the product of the innate straightness of hisworld-view, concepts and character, and he tries never to do anything which will lower him in his own estimation or that of others—and above all in his Lord's. He realizes that the only realdistinction he or any other human being can achieve is due to his

94 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

degree of God-consciousness, faith and knowledge rather than race, wealth, social status and the like. And as he has his honor, he recognizes and upholds the right of others to theirs, and tries to refrain from behavior which would violate it such as gossiping, prying into people's affairs, being suspicious or interfering with others' privacy.

PURITY, MODESTY AND CHASTITY

To the true Muslim, man and woman alike, anything impure or degrading is abhorrent and to be avoided at all costs. Sexual purity thus begins in the mind of the believer with the fear of God and the desire to maintain that state of inner balance and clean

ness which is essential to his or her integrity and well-being. Strict modesty of dress, manner and behavior, and absolute chastity both before and after marriage are required.

KINDNESS, HELPFULNESS, COOPERATION

Islam teaches that human beings are all equally creatures of God, all sharing the same condition. The Muslim's obligation is to live in cooperation, not competition, with his fellow men and to be helpful, kind, just and compassionate toward everyone, regardless of whether they are of the same or a different faith, race, culture or status, etc. Kindness to animals as well as to human beings is required, for abuse or cruelty of any of God's creatures is abhorrent to their Creator. Such virtues are stressed again and again in the Quran and in the Prophet's hadith, as for example the following:

"God still not show mercy to him who does not show mercy to others." (hadith)

The Prophet (peace be on him) said, "I swear by God he does not believe. I swear by God he does not believe. I swear by God he does not believe." He was asked who it was and replied, "The one from whose injurious conduct his neighbor is not safe." (hadith)

III. Islamic Values and Qualities: The Islamic Personality 95

"The believer is not one who eats his fill when his neighbor beside him is hungry." (hadith)

"All creatures are God's children, an those dearest to God are the ones who treat His children kindly." (hadith)

CHARITABLENESS, GENEROSITY AND HOSPITALITY

Our brief discussion of zakah has already given some idea of how much Islam stresses charitableness and generosity. Indeed, the emphasis is so great that charity is enjoined in verse after verse of the Quran, often together with the obligation of salah.

Numerous occasions hare been specified for the giving of charity for example, on the two festivals: as an expiation if one is unable to fast during Ramadan due to pregnancy, suckling an infant, a permanent illness, or old age by feeding one person for each day missed; by remitting a debt to a debtor; or by the ransoming or freeing of captives, etc. This repeated and continuous emphasis on charity in Islam does not allow the Muslim to forget the needs of his brothers and sisters who are less fortunate but to feel them as his own.

But in Islam charity does not consist merely of help to the needy. Rather it includes anything one does which is of good to others. A hadith of the Prophet (peace be on him) mentions that charity includes removing thorns from the road and smiling at one's brother. And open-handedness in spending and giving are to be practiced not only towards the poor but also toward one's family, relatives, friends, neighbors, guests, and even strangers. The good things the Muslim has are to be shared, not kept solely for himself. Generosity and hospitality are thus highly-valued qualities among Muslims in every part of the world.

CONSIDERATION AND GOOD MANNERS

Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was a living example of the finest and most beautiful manners, and he stressed politeness and consideration as an expression of the Muslim's faith. Basically this means to treat other human beings as they like to be treated and as one likes to be treated oneself, whether they are

96 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

Muslims or non-Muslims, relatives, friends, strangers. and even one's enemies.

Commands and Injunctions Prohibitions

Consciousness and fear of God A Muslim is never supposed to lose (taqwa) are to govern all a Muslim's sight of his relationship and responsi

essential to a Muslim's character and gence in physical appetites and luxubehavior. ries, uncontrolled passions, harshness and a bad temper are considered detestable.

Truthfulness, reliability and honesty, Lying, cheating, failing to keep both in character and in behavior, promises and trusts, and any type of and the keeping of promises, com dishonest dealing are strictly prohibit-mitments and trusts are required. ed.

To be just and fair, even at the Injustice and unfairness in any form expense of one's own self or one's are very strongly condemned. Islamic family is required on an individual society is not permitted to perpetrate level. Islamic society is also injustice upon human beings in any required to adhere very strictly to form. justice in all affairs.

106 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

Commands and Injunctions Prohibitions

All human life is sacred to Muslims Killing except in self-defense or in a

inflicted by others is enjoined. If the hibited and are considered serious sins. injured person or his immediate rela Equal retaliation constitutes justice tives choose not to forgive, however, while revenge is a willful transgression they have the right to retaliation. of justice and defiance of the authority This is not to exceed the injury done of the law.

and is not to be inflicted upon any

one except the guilty person himself A monetary settlement is also acceptable in place of physical retal- iation.

A Muslim is supposed to resist Tyranny and oppression of any of injustice, tyranny and oppression, God's creatures, including by a ruler both of himself and others, by every or government, are very strictly pro-means in his power: with his hand, hibited and constitute very grave sins. with his tongue, and within his

heart.

Respect for the property and posses Stealing is prohibited and is severely sions of others, as for one's own, is punished. However, the punishment is required. In a society in which zakah to be applied only in cases of deliberis in effect, and where widespread ate theft, not theft due to hunger or voluntary charity is practiced, steal want.

ing due to poverty becomes unnecessary and criminal.

Purity, modesty and decency in Free mixing between men and women behavior, appearance, dress and and any form of physical contact out-speech are required. The dignity and side marriage are prohibited. A honor of women is very strongly woman's beauty and sexual attributes stressed. Marriage is very much are not for public display. Fornication, encouraged, providing a permissible adultery, prostitution and homosexuali- and sanctioned outlet for sexual ty are not merely personal sins but also needs. very serious crimes which attack the

foundations of a wholesome society.

IV. Islamic Morals and Behavior 107

Commands and Injunctions

Responsible and harmonious relations between husband and wife, proper care, maintenance and training of children are stressed.

Obedience, respect and kind treatment of parents, and kindly, responsible relations with relatives are of the greatest importance.

Neighborliness, helpfulness and kindliness in all spheres of life and to all people are enjoined.

Respect for the honor, reputation

and privacy of others is required.

Kindness to animals, respect for all of God's creation are enjoined. If an animal is to be killed, it must be done swiftly and in a merciful manner.

Ownership of property, trade and business are permissible and encouraged. Money is to remain in circulation through useful investment or spending. Work and constructive effort of all kinds are encouraged.

Spending in a reasonable manner on oneself or one's family is permissible. Generosity and hospitality are strongly enjoined. The right of the poor and distressed on one's wealth is to be remembered.

Prohibitions

Lack of responsibility, cruelty or harshness toward one's spouse or children are condemned.

Disobedience, dishonor or harshness toward parents are among the worst of sins. Breaking ties of relationship with kin is prohibited.

Hard-heartedness, unkindness and bad behavior to others are detested.

Gossiping, back-biting, prying into others' affairs, suspicion, violating others' privacy are prohibited.

Torture or cruelty to animals of any kind, killing animals for sport and wanton destruction of nature are prohibited.

Gaining wealth by interest, bribery or gambling is prohibited. Society is to flourish through cooperation and mutual help, not by the exploitation of some people by others. Any economic practice which harms people or society, including working in prohibited trades is forbidden.

Excessive love of wealth or possessions, miserliness, hoarding, spending for unreasonable luxuries and wastefulness are all prohibited. Material things are not to become a preoccupation or one's goal in life.

108 What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims

Commands and Injunctions

Enjoyment, in moderation, of God's wholesome gifts of food and drink is permissible.

Cooperation for good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, are obligations. The Muslim of any walk of life or calling is to feel a sense of responsibility for the state of his society and its affairs.

Prohibitions

Gluttony and over-indulgence in food or drink are disliked. The use of alcohol, intoxicating drugs and pork is prohibited.

Cooperating for evil purposes is prohibited and lack of concern or failure to try to change what is wrong are breaches of responsibility.

IV. Islamic Morals and

Behavior 109