In the present book, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan explains that everything in the universe—the sun, the moon, the stars—have all completely subjugated themselves to God’s will; they cannot make the slightest deviation from the path He has ordained for them. Similarly, all other elements in nature function in obedience to the laws of nature, laid d...

88. WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?According to Islam, domestic violence is a crime.89.PEOPLE GO TO PERFORM HAJJ MULTIPLE TIMES BECAUSE THEY CAN AFFORD

IS CONVERSION THE PURPOSE OF ISLAMConversion is not at all a goal of Islam; there is no point of converting others. According to Islam, religion is a matter of self-discovery. Conversion has no value.

28. A New Dawah PossibilityHistorically, Islam was founded in 610 AD. That time, Islam was not only a religion in the simple sense of the word rather it was an ideological reform in its reality. But under

the law of nature, many realities of the Quran remained hidden until the twentieth century. What this Islamic movement of the first period did was that it opened the doors to a new process which ultimately

ultimately culminated in the end of the twentieth century. Even, today, the ideological reform of Islam has turned into a reality. The fact is that in ancient times the people had only the superstitious frame

which every individual has the conviction that a certain woman is his mother. What is Islam? T he literal meaning of Islam is submission, that is, submission to God’s will. Submission, in fact, is the

of God. It is with this submission that that life has developed which is called a religious life. What is realization of God? The realization of God is the realization of that Being who has created man

51.WHAT IS ISLAMIC SHARIAH AND WHO DECIDES IT?Shir‘a or Shariah literally means ‘method’. It is not equivalent to law or political injunction. Even when there is only one believer, he needs to follow the

constitution of Pakistan would not be modelled entirely on a European pattern, but on the ideology of Islam. The resolution, in its entirety, has been made part of the Constitution of Pakistan under Article

added injunction introduced in the Constitution of Pakistan was that anyone who goes astray from Islam should be killed. This was a clear innovation in religion and was not mentioned in the Quran. The

phenomenon ‘Islamic extremism,’ rather than ‘Islamic fundamentalism,’ although those engaged in extremist activities would, like the fundamentalists, prefer not to be called extremists. However, what is important

phenomenon of Islamic extremism can be explained from a Quranic verse. It says: “Do not transgress the bounds of your religion (4:17).” One modern form of transgression, as forbidden in the Quran, is what is now

now called Islamic fundamentalism. There are certain Muslims who say: “Yes, we are fundamentalists. And what is wrong with being fundamentalists?” They take the word “fundamentalist” in its literal sense

to Islam attributed it. The truth is that this is a misuse of Islam. It has nothing to do with Islam. Those Muslims who are engaged in terrorism or extremism in the name of Islam are certainly misusing

misusing Islam. Islam is a scheme of spiritual development. The goal of Islam is to establish direct communion between God and man in order that man may become the recipient of divine inspiration. In such a

which is of the utmost importance and not violence. From this we can understand what is and what is not included in Islamic fundamentalism.

yourself in adoration and bring yourself closer (to God)” (96:19). The Prophet Muhammad was once asked ‘What is the essence of ibadah? He replied: “The worship of God as though you are seeing Him. Or if you

you are not seeing Him, He is seeing you.” There are two kinds of ibadah, or worship, in Islam, the first kind of ibadah have been prescribed at specified times—salat, sawm, zakat, hajj, (prayer, fasting

fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimage) These forms of devotion are called the pillars of Islam. Then there are unspecified forms of ibadah, which consists of dhikr and fikr (3:191), meaning to remember God with

misunderstandings. People have come to take Islam as a militant religion. Since modern man is in search of peace, he finds no appeal in a religion which, as presented by the media, is one of hatred and

to introduce Islam as it is. It calls for a distinction to be made between Islam and the practices of Muslims. Taking a scientific attitude, you have to see Islam in the light of the Islamic scriptures and

and not judge it by Muslim conduct. For surely, if you want to know what democracy is, you will examine the ideology of democracy as established by its champions. You will not form an opinion about the

regarded as being fraught with difficulties for Islam. But the actual state of affairs is quite the opposite. In fact, Islam has done for the present age what the annual monsoon rains do for agriculture.

able to turn Islamic potential to good account. What is called religious ascendancy in the Quran was not of a temporary nature but was rather a proclamation of the eternal domination of Islam. This meant

meant that, in the world of ideology, such a revolution would take place as would lead to Islam remaining in the forefront forever. Such potential is produced by God, but the task of putting it to the proper