FAITH AND HUMAN BEHAVIOURTrue 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

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

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

Book of God. The Quran is a scripture which gives us definite knowledge concerning the realities of life. Those who have tried to understand the universe without recourse to the guidance of God will be

reality, no one can understand the secret of life without the help of the original Keeper of the Secret—God. True, man has been given the capacity to think and understand. But this capacity is little better

light—the light of God’s revelation—if it is not to grope in the dark forever. Without God’s revelation, we can never arrive at the truth of things. The Quran presents to us the knowledge about God. It not only

is a test, and hence it is God’s responsibility to provide every one of us with the things that we need to undergo this test. But as far as life after death is concerned, God has not taken responsibility

make provision for you, and release you honourably. But if you seek God and His Messenger and the abode of the Hereafter, then know that God has prepared a great reward for those of you who do good deeds.’

commits a flagrant act of misconduct shall be doubly punished. That is easy enough for God. But those of you who obey God and His Messenger and do good deeds shall be doubly rewarded. For them, We have made

made an excellent provision. Wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women. If you fear God, do not be too soft-spoken in case the ill-intentioned should feel tempted. Speak in an appropriate manner

he is entering the domain of God. For us everyone is human. Declaring someone as Muslim or non-Muslim is a matter of Divine verdict, and no one can take the seat of God Almighty.  The negative implication

This leads to the erosion of the feeling of universal brotherhood. Everyone is a human being like us. God has given the responsibility to all Muslims to convey His creation plan to mankind. In order to do

person like Hitler—is limited, given that we live for a limited period of time. Is it likely that God would punish someone in Hell for an unlimited period of time—for eternity—for a limited evil he may

that there are many names of God Almighty. One of the names of God is As-Salam, that is, Peace. Thus, God Himself is peace. There is a prayer of the Prophet of Islam: “O God, You are peace, peace comes

There is a verse in the Quran: And God calls to the home of peace THE QURAN 10: 25 It means that God wants to establish a peaceful society. It is God’s plan. God has directed people that they must establish

universe, there are no accidents. There is movement, but there are no accidents. Why is this so? Because, God Almighty controls the universe. The universe is a divine demonstration telling us, ‘O men and women

are the ones whom God has guided, so from their guidance take an example”(QURAN 6:90). The key is never to be extreme in your religion, but to believe in the goodness and justice of God. Interfaith dialogue

working on this in the spirit of God, who is there for the entire humanity, even if we may understand God differently. We might learn to see a different face of God’s grace in the other’s eyes. How can

thankfulness to God for creating so many beneficial things for human beings. In this way, a believer would try to see the spiritual in every material event, causing him to develop God-consciousness. Accordingly

living. According to the Quran, the entire Universe is functioning under a set of laws established by God and does not deviate from these laws even one little bit. “The sun does not overtake the moon, nor

40). As the Universe is under the stringent and compulsive laws of God, it can only exhibit a predictable nature. On the other hand, God has bestowed man with a free will, the misuse of which results in

for the defeat at Badr.’ The Prophet was sent with the mission to convey God’s creation plan to mankind and to invite man towards God. The culture of tribal warfare was a huge obstacle in his path. Consequently

convention in Chicago. Besides Chicago, we visited Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and New York. With God’s grace, I got to speak at different venues and to meet people from different walks of life and backgrounds

these myriad opportunities in various fields—business, social work, education and inviting people to God—and using the freedom we have been blessed with, to avail of these opportunities. There is but one

ended in the early 20th century and then set about establishing a non- political educational ‘empire’! God selected them to tell the world not to lament the passing of an age, but recognize the new opportunities

humanity many valuable gifts. It ended the age of nature worship and brought in the worship of one God. With the passage of time, certain undesirable developments also occurred—hereditary monarchy replacing

developments that were a result of the exercise of human free-will. Spirit of Islam Issue 31 July 2015 21 The God given right of freedom of choice will not be abrogated till the Day of Judgment. or bad, significant

freedom. The result would be the classic case of throwing away the baby with the bathwater.   The God given right of freedom of choice will not be abrogated till the Day of Judgment. If this notion