FAITH AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
True Faith Explained
ISLAM can be summed up very briefly: Fear of God (taqwa) and
benevolence towards others. Taqwa means piety, which is, leading
a life of caution and restraint in this world. The object of all the
teachings of Islam is to produce the spirit of piety in every action.
Those imbued with taqwa always keep in view the will and pleasure of
God in every task they perform. Their lives are based on truthfulness
and honesty. No worldly loss diverts them from the path of truth. The
Quran describes those whose lives are marked by taqwa in these words:
‘Virtue means believing in God, the Last Day, the angels, the
Book and the prophets; the virtuous are those who, despite
their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and
to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and those who
ask [for charity], and to set slaves free, and who attend to their
prayers and pay the alms, and who keep their pledges when
they make them, and show patience in hardship and adversity,
and in times of distress. Such are the true believers; and such
are the God-fearing.’ ( 2: 177 )
Those who possess taqwa firmly believe that God sees everything. This
inspires in them a strong desire to perform good deeds and a hatred
for all things evil. Such thinking induces righteous conduct and taqwa
thus becomes the foundation of all good deeds.
Once an individual becomes a God-fearing
person, his life changes completely. He
becomes careful to avoid that which will lead
him to Hell, and is desirous of anything which
will make him deserving of Paradise. He loves
and fears God above all.
Faith in God Almighty
transforms the
believer completely.
It shakes his human
soul. His entire being
is engulfed in the fear
of God. This fear is
manifested in all his
dealings with others.
Fear of God and consciousness of the eternal
destiny of humankind make one extremely
cautious in dealing with fellow men. It is then
clear that mistreating others would mean
exposing oneself to the fire of Hell. Arrogance
is never an option, for in human interaction
every man is supported by the power of God and His angels. Neither is
injustice an option, for he knows that eventually he will have to answer to God for his actions. One does not see others as mere people; for one
realizes that Almighty God is also standing by their side.
Faith in God Almighty transforms the believer completely. It shakes
his soul. His entire being is engulfed in the fear of God. This fear is
manifested in all his dealings with others. He does not humiliate the
weak, for he sees that God is standing by the side of His servants. He
does not bow before the strong, because he sees that all are helpless
before God.
A man of faith has been likened to a tree in the Quran ( 14: 24 ). As we
all know, man receives shade, fruits and flowers from the tree. All such
qualities are found in God’s worshippers in the true sense of the word.
They give comfort to everyone. They have a soothing effect upon all.
There is a Hadith to this effect. The Prophet of Islam said: ‘The believer
is like a gentle plant. When the winds blow, it does not become rigid,
but rather sways to and fro with each gust, and when the winds are
not blowing it stands still once again.’ This
is exactly the case of the true believer.
He does not display arrogance. His way is
that of adjustment and not of clash and
confrontation. He follows the principle of
persuasion and avoids the way of violence.
A True believer
believes that every
commitment made
between two persons
is actually made
under the watchful
eyes of God, and
that he will be
accountable for its
fulfilment in the
court of God.
A true believer is one who is always conscious
of the presence of God. He feels that each
time he gives his word to another, it is a
divine promise. Therefore he is extremely
circumspect about giving his word. He
believes that every commitment is actually
made under the watchful eyes of God, and
that he will be accountable for its fulfilment
in the court of God. This compels him to be
highly responsible as regards his promises. Whenever he gives his
word to anyone, he makes a point of keeping it.
Many other virtues come in the wake of the fulfilment of promises.
One of these is mutual trust. In a society where mutual trust exists,
there is an atmosphere of confidence, as there is no fear of promises
being broken. It is therefore faith that makes man the possessor of this
highest of human virtues.
Another impact of faith upon the behaviour of the believer is that
he becomes a truth-loving person. He always speaks the truth. In all
matters he says only what is in accordance with reality.
Truth is the highest virtue of a believer’s character. A man of faith is
a man of principle. He finds it impossible to deny the truth. He thus
becomes totally free of falsehood or double-standards. His whole
existence is moulded by truth.
An important aspect of true God-worship is that the worshipper,
instead of living within the confines of the self, begins to live in the
world of reality. The truly pious person begins to look upon people with
love and compassion. He does not expect anything from anyone. That
is why, even if others do not behave well with him, he behaves well with
them and he continues to be tolerant towards them.
Then the Quran and the Hadith lay great stress on compassion. The
Prophet of Islam said:
“O people, be compassionate to others,
so that you may be granted compassion by God.”
In this way Islam makes compassion a matter of self-interest for
every man, as his own future depends on his
compassionate behaviour to his fellow men.
Thus, the Islamic faith motivates the faithful
to be compassionate in their dealings with
one another. Those who want to receive God’s
grace will have to show compassion to others.
Faith prepares a
person to lead a
worthy life in society
by adopting an
attitude of modesty,
sympathy and
goodwill in all his
dealings.
Faith makes the believer a responsible person
towards both God and man. His duty towards
God means believing in Him, worshipping
Him and carrying out all His commandments.
Duty towards man means giving him such
treatment as is in accordance with Islamic
teachings. A true believer therefore gives proper respect to others,
never humiliates them while giving them help, does not harm them,
fulfils trusts, never breaks his word, never usurps the wealth and
property of others and deals justly with others in all circumstances.
In short, when an individual adopts Islam, first of all it is his thinking,
which comes under its sway, then his desires, his feelings, his interests,
his relations, his likes and his dislikes—all are coloured by his obedience
to God’s will. When man comes under God’s command, in his daily life
his behaviour with others and his dealings, all are moulded by the
demands of Islam.
Faith prepares him to lead a worthy life in society by adopting an
attitude of modesty, sympathy and goodwill in all his dealings. In short,
faith perfects man’s relationship with God as well as with other human
beings.
Development of a Sense of Responsibility and Accountability
Accountability is one of the basic teachings of Islam. A perfect divine
arrangement preserves a complete record of every person’s words
and deeds. On the Day of Judgement, every single human being will
be faced with an entire and accurate record of his deeds on earth. The
Quran says about this fact: ‘Each word he utters shall be noted down
by a vigilant guardian.’ ( 50: 18 )
A careful study of the present world shows that there is an unerring
system of ‘recording’ in existence here on earth. The thinking of man
is being impressed on the nerve cells of his brain. Every utterance of
man is permanently preserved in the air in the shape of sound waves.
Man’s actions are preserved in the external world by means of heat
waves in such a way that they can be reproduced at any point in time.
All these are known facts today. It is these known facts that make the
Quran’s claim totally credible, that man’s intentions, his utterances
and his actions, are all in the knowledge of
his Creator. Every single thought or act of a
human being is being entered in the registers
of the angels.
Man will be held
accountable on the
Day of Judgement
for anything he does
on earth. On the Day
of Resurrection, an
exhaustive record of
an individual’s good
and bad deeds in
this world will come
before him.
Man will be held accountable on the Day of
Judgement for anything he does on earth.
On the Day of Resurrection, an exhaustive
record of an individual’s good and bad deeds
in this world will come before him. On seeing
this record, he will exclaim: ‘What can this
book mean? It omits nothing small or great;
everything is noted down.’ ( 18: 19 )
Whatsoever a man does is put on record by
God’s arrangement. Man’s intentions, his
sayings and his deeds are all imprinted on the screen of the universe.
Today this arrangement or system is not visible to us, but on the Day
of Judgement the curtain hiding it will be raised. At that moment man
will instantly be terrified to see that whatever he had been doing in
this world, under the misconception that nobody knew about it, is so
clearly recorded here that neither the smallest nor the greatest thing
has been left out.
On the Day of Judgement, the treatment meted out to a man by God
will be based on thoroughly established facts. For this reason, on that
Day, when he receives his reward or punishment for his deeds, he
will know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he is getting what he really
deserves—nothing more and nothing less.
The Prophet enjoined the believers: ‘Reckon
yourselves before being reckoned with.’
According to another teaching, on the Day of
Judgement no one can move until he has been
asked about five things: how he spent his life;
how he spent his youth; how he earned his
wealth; and how he spent his wealth. and
did he practice on his acquired knowledge.
(Tirmidhi)
A believer is always
aware of the fact
that all his dealings
are related directly
to God. So, he is
always conscious of
the presence of God
between him and the
other person.
Accountability is a basic and fundamental
concept in Islam. It governs man’s life on earth
and determines his fate in the Hereafter. That
is because, according to the Islamic viewpoint, man is not born into this
world only to make money and die after living here for a hundred years
or so. The truth is that human life is eternal and we live in this world
only for a small fraction of our real lives. The actual and eternal life is
to be lived in the next world. The present mundane world has been
created merely for human trial. The consequences of our deeds will be
reaped in the life of the next, eternal world. It is to gather this harvest
that we strive.
This way of understanding life makes it an extremely serious business.
It produces a strong incentive in man to take even the smallest matters
of life very seriously. An individual therefore should be alert at every
moment of his life. He should lead his life in this world in a manner
that, rather invite God’s wrath and the ensuing punishment, would
bring down His blessings upon him in the world to come.
Social Behaviour of the God-conscious Person
A pious person is one who is totally God-conscious. Such a person
leads life in this world with the feeling that all his works and deeds are
observed by the eyes of God. He is then accountable for all actions to
God, for nothing lies hidden from the All-Knowing God.
This type of conviction and feeling makes a man a responsible member
of society. His behaviour is totally different. He is always aware of the
fact, that all his dealings are related directly to God. So, he is always conscious of the presence of God between him and the other person.
The other person may be rich or poor, weak or strong, but he will always
treat him with justice, for he is conscious of the fact that God will take
him to task for any shortcoming on his part. This consciousness will
make him fully alert to the fact that he must take every step in this
world with great forethought of its consequences.
According to Islamic belief, everything in this world is designed as a
test for human beings. Even social dealings are meant to serve the
purpose of divine trial. Any dealings, pleasant or unpleasant, favourable
or unfavourable, are always a test paper for the participants. This
situation has been created because God wants to test individuals on
their behaviour towards others.
In Islam, relations in social life are based on total justice. According to
Islamic teachings, man must—in all possible situations in life—adhere
to justice, be the outcome favourable or unfavourable, beneficial or
detrimental. Whatever the issue, he has to observe the principles of
justice. This is the true basis of social ethics as far as Islam is concerned.
This belief is extremely important. It gives man the necessary courage
to do good deeds. He then rises above the mere expectation of reward
from his fellow human beings as the upshot of his dealings with them.
He has the conviction that God is constantly watching him and that He
will reward him for his virtuous deeds, whether or not society itself sets
any value on his deeds. The just man leads a principled life without
expecting any return from others.
Virtue does not consist in whether you face towards the East or the
West; virtue means believing in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book
and the prophets; the virtuous are those who, despite their love for it,
give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very
poor, and to travellers and those who ask (for charity), and to set slaves
free, and who attend to their prayers and pay the alms, and who keep
their pledges when they make them, and show patience in hardship
and adversity, and in times of distress. Such are the true believers; and
such are the God-fearing. (QURAN 2: 177)
Man needs to be clothed, but not just externally. He needs inner
raiment too: that of piety, fear of God, acceptance of truth, setting the
same standard for oneself as for others, regarding oneself as God’s
servant, remaining modest and humble, concentrating on the thoughts
of the Hereafter instead of being astray in the world. When an individual
adopts all these values, it is like a splendid accoutrement of his inner
existence, and when he adopts an attitude opposite to this, he divests
his inner existence of its entire moral apparel.
