important pillar among the five foundation pillars of Islam. Pilgrimage to the House is a duty to God for anyone who is able to undertake it. (3: 97) A true pilgrim cannot afford to differentiate between

a Muslim act of worship, performed annually, in which the worshipper circumambulates the House of God in Makkah, stays awhile in the plain of Arafat and performs other rites which together constitute Hajj—the

the sacred spot, and to join with this mass of humanity, in all humility, in the glorification of God, is to have one’s consciousness impressed by full significance of the Islamic ideal. It is to be privileged

to the Quran, ‘the call to God.’ (41:33) is called dawah ilallah. Calling people to God means communicating the message of God—Quran and Islam—to all mankind. The call to God aims at bringing people closer

Sustainer, and therefore, inviting them to adopt the God- oriented life, and warning man of the consequences of the self-oriented life. Calling people to God is telling them that the only right way of life

become true believers in God. Primarily, the purpose of dawah ilallah is to acquaint man with the creation plan of God. As we learn from the Islamic history, calling people to God was the greatest goal of

situations. For man, happiness seems to be an unachievable goal. If God is perfect and all-powerful then why this contradiction in nature? If God is perfect and powerful, the world ought to be a world in which

observation as noted above is based on appearances, but if one tried to explain nature according to God’s scheme of things, we would discover that the apparent contradiction is a part of the different aspects

created according to a special scheme. God Almighty created Paradise as man's eternal abode. But this Paradise will be given to mankind on a purely selective basis. God will watch man's behaviour in the present

may enter the higher realms of piety. The month which encourages all to ask for higher things from God; to ask for His forgiveness; for His blessings and for success in the Hereafter. Ramadan is also the

serves as a training course in humility. Humility refers to fear of God which means realization of a person’s helplessness vis-a-vis God’s greatness. This ensures the spiritual growth of a person thereby

thereby cleansing him of feelings of pride and ego which lead to his being distanced from God. The above aspects of the month of fasting were fully observed by the Prophet and his Companions. Today, if we compare

is the gist of fasting. When one involves himself in a mission, that is, of spreading the word of God, he has no time, except for fulfilling his bare necessities. This is the mission culture. Abstaining

it. OBSTACLE IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF TRUTH CALLING people to God is a solemn responsibility of a Muslim. This noble task of calling people to God is performed directly as well as indirectly. The direct means

it is only half, not the whole, truth. Indeed, the only words which have any value in the sight of God are those which are backed up by actions. From this point of view, one who preaches the message of

his actions back up his words, people will immediately flock to him in droves. Every prophet sent by God was an ideal individual on a practical level. Seeing the prophets, and their exemplary actions, did

mind but God knows full well what a man’s thought processes and feelings are. People can be deluded by appearances, but God has complete knowledge of everything. He will deal with people according to His

performed with ill intention or with no good intention, has no value—neither in the eyes of man, nor of God. Things are of value only when they are pure, without any adulteration. An act done with right intention

impure act.AUGUST 15 AkhiratMan is an eternal creature. However, his life-span has been divided by God into two parts. A very tiny part of it has been placed in this world, while all of the remainder has

manifestation of God’s attributes. There is food for God realization in everything in this universe. Man, under the guidance of the Prophet, can attain realization of God by pondering upon God’s creation. But

Quran tells us that God’s signs are so numerous that, even if all the trees could become pens and all the seas, or even the double of all the seas, could become ink, the signs of God could not be enumerated

find that the signs of God have yet to be written, that is, have yet to be discovered. Why is this so? We find the answer to this in the Creation Plan of God. According to God’s Creation Plan, human life

countries. He is the founder of the Centre for Peace and Spirituality based in New Delhi. VIRTUAL MEETING GOD says, “It is obligatory for Me to love those who love each other and meet each other for My sake.”

not mean material love, but it means meeting each other for the mission of God, i.e. those who are united for the sake of God’s mission; whose missionary spirit is so strong that every member of the mission

becomes a beloved companion to them. If such people come together, then they deserve to be loved by God. But it turns out that human beings, despite sharing the zeal for one mission, sometimes don’t come

carbon cycle at all in the stars?’ A true believer discovers this great secret in the form of God. Faith in God is a discovery that is greater than all other discoveries. But it is so strange that when a

have discovered the greatest reality – God – but yet he experiences no emotional upheaval. Perhaps, then, those who claim to have faith in God have not discovered God as yet!