Fundamentals of Islam - part I

Fundamentals of Islam Part I
Iman
By Maulana Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi
http://www.al-islamforall.org/Prpmohd/PRPMOHD.ASP
Contents
1. Knowledge, the First Step
2. Between Islam and Kufr
3. How Muslims Treat the Qur’an
4. True Meaning of Iman
5. Why is the Kalimah Unique?
6. Why Believe in the Kalimah?
KNOWLEDGE
THE FIRST STEP
Allah’s Greatest Gift
Brothers in Islam! We all as Muslims sincerely believe that Islam is the greatest blessing that Allah has
given us in this world. We find our hearts filled with gratitude to Him for including us in the Ummah of
the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, and bestowing upon us this unique blessing.
Allah Himself describes Islam as His most invaluable gift to His servants: ‘Today I have perfected your
Din way of life for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have willed that Islam be the
Way for you’ (al-Ma’idah 5:3).
To be truly grateful for this greatest favour, you must therefore render to Allah His due. If you do not
do so, you are undoubtedly an ungrateful person. And what ingratitude can be worse than to forget
what you owe to your God.
How can we, you may ask, render these dues?
Since Allah has been gracious enough to include you in the Ummah of the Prophet Muhammed,
blessings and peace be on him, the best way of showing gratitude-and there is no other way-is to
become totally committed followers of the Prophet. And, since He has made you a part of the Muslim
Ummah, to become true Muslims. If you do not, the punishment for your ingratitude will be as great as
the original gift was. May Allah save us all from this great punishment! Amin.
You will now ask: How can we become Muslims in the true sense of the word? This question I shall
answer in considerable detail in my forthcoming addresses; but today I want to look at a point of
fundamental importance, without which we cannot hope to discover true faith. This, you must
understand, is the first essential step on your road to becoming a true Muslim.
Is Islam a Birthright?
But, first, think for a while: What does the word ‘Muslim’, which we all use so often, really mean? Can a
person a Muslim simply because he is the son or grandson of a Muslim? Is a Muslim born a Muslim just
as a Hindu Brahman’s son is a Brahman, or an Englishman’s son is born an Englishman, or a white
man’s son is born a white man, or a Negro’s son is born a Negro? Are ‘Muslims’ a race, a nationality or
a caste? Do Muslims belong to the Muslim Ummah like Aryans belong to the Aryan race? And, just as a
Japanese is a Japanese because he is born in Japan, is a Muslim similarly a Muslim by being born in a
Muslim country?
Your answer to these questions will surely be: No. A Muslim does not become truly a Muslim simply
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because he is born a Muslim. A Muslim is not a Muslim because he belongs to any particular race; he is
a Muslim because he follows Islam. If he renounces Islam, he ceases to be a Muslim. Any person,
whether a Brahman or a Rajput, an Englishman or a Japanese, a white or a black, will, on accepting
Islam, become a full member of the Muslim community; while a person born in a Muslim home may be
expelled from the Muslim community if he gives up following Islam, even though he may be a
descendant of the prophet, an Arab or Pathan.
Such will surely be your answer to my question. This establishes that the greatest gift of Allah which
you enjoy-that of being a Muslim-is not something automatically inherited from your parents, which
remains yours for life by right irrespective of your attitudes and behaviour. It is a gift which you must
continually strive to deserve if you want to retain it; if you are indifferent to it, it may be taken away
from you, God forbid.
No Mere Verbal Profession
You agree that we become Muslims only by accepting Islam. But what does acceptance of Islam mean?
Does it mean that whoever makes a verbal profession-‘I am a Muslim’ or ‘I have accepted Islam’-
becomes a true Muslim? Or does it mean that, just as a Brahman worshipper may recite a few words of
Sanskrit without understanding them, a man who utters some Arabic phrases without knowing their
meaning becomes a Muslim? What reply will you give to this question? You Cannot but answer that
accepting Islam means that Muslims should consciously and deliberately accept what has been taught
by the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, and act accordingly. People who do not so
behave are not Muslims in the true sense.
No Islam Without Knowledge
Islam, therefore, consists, firstly, of knowledge and, secondly, of putting that knowledge into practice. A
man can be white and have no knowledge; because he is born white he will remain so. Similarly, an
Englishman will remain an Englishman though he may have no knowledge, because he has been born
an Englishman. But no man becomes truly a Muslim without knowing the meaning of Islam, because he
becomes a Muslim not through birth but through knowledge. Unless you come to know the basic and
necessary teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, how can you believe in
him, have faith in him, and how can you act according to what he taught? And if you do not have faith
in him knowingly and consciously, as fully as you can, how can you become true Muslims?
Clearly it is impossible to become a Muslim and remain a Muslim in a state of ignorance. Being born in
Muslim homes, bearing Muslim names, dressing like Muslims and calling yourselves Muslims is not
enough to make you Muslims; true Muslims know what Islam stands for and believe in it with full
consciousness.
The real difference between a Kafir (who does not accept God’s guidance and is ungrateful to Him) and
a Muslim is not that of a name, that one is called Smith or Ram Lal and the other Abdullah. No one is a
Kafir or a Muslim simply because of his name. Nor does the real difference lie in the fact that one wears
a necktie and the other a turban. The real difference is that of knowledge. A Kafir does not understand
God’s relationship to him and his relationship to God. As he does not know the will of God he cannot
know the right path to follow in his life. If a Muslim, too, grows up ignorant of God’s will, what ground
can there be to continue calling him a Muslim rather than a Kafir?
Dangers of Ignorance
Listen carefully, brothers, to the point I am making. It is essential to understand that to remain in
possession of, or to be deprived of, the greatest gift of Allah-for which you are so overwhelmed with
gratitude-depends primarily on knowledge. Without knowledge, you cannot truly receive His gift of
Islam. If your knowledge is so little that you receive only a small portion of it, then you will constantly
run the risk of losing even that part of the magnificent gift which you have received unless you remain
vigilant in your fight against ignorance.
A person who is totally unaware of the difference between Islam and Kufr (rejection of God’s guidance
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and ingratitude) and the incongruity between Islam and Shirk (taking gods besides God) is like
someone walking along a track in complete darkness. Most likely his steps will wander aside or on to
another path without him being aware of what is happening. Maybe he will deceived by the sweet words
of the Devil, ‘You have lost your way in the darkness Come, let me lead you to your destination. The
poor traveler, not being able to see with his own eyes which is the right path, will grasp the Devil’s
hand and be led astray. He faces these dangers because he himself does not possess any light and is,
therefore, unable to observe the road signs. If he had light, he would neither lose his way nor be led
astray.
This example shows that your greatest danger lies in your ignorance of Islamic teachings and in your
unawareness of what the Qur’an teaches and what guidance has been given by the Prophet, blessings
and peace be on him. But if you are blessed with the light of knowledge you will be able to see plainly
the clear path of Islam at every step of your lives. You will also be able to identify and avoid the false
paths of Kufr, Shirk and immorality which may cross it. And, whenever a false guide meets you on the
way, a few words with him will quickly establish that he is not a guide who should be followed.
Acquire Knowledge:
Brothers! On this knowledge, whose absolute necessity I stress once again, depends whether you and
your children are true Muslim and remain true Muslims. It is, therefore, hardly a trivial matter to be
neglected. You do not neglect cultivating your land, irrigating and protecting your crops, supplying
fodder to your cattle or doing whatever else is essential to the well-being of your trades and
professions. Because you know that if you do you will starve to death and so lose the precious gift of
life. Why then should you be negligent in acquiring that knowledge on which depends whether you
become Muslims and remain Muslims? Does such negligence not entail the danger of losing an even
more precious gift—Your Iman (faith)? Is not Iman more precious than life itself? Most of your time and
labour is spent on things which sustain your physical existence in this life. Why can you not spend even
a tenth part of your time and energy on things which are necessary to protect your Iman, which only
can sustain your being in the present life and in the life to come?
I am not asking you to become scholars, read voluminous books or spend a large part of your lives in
the pursuit of knowledge. It is not necessary to study so extensively to become a Muslim. I only want
each one of you to spend about one hour of the twenty-four hours of the day and night in acquiring the
knowledge of his Din, the way of life, the Islam.
Every one of you, young or old, man or woman, should at least acquire sufficient knowledge to enable
him to understand the essence of the teachings of the Qur’an and the purpose for which it has been
sent down. You should also be able to understand clearly the mission which the Prophet, blessings and
peace be on him, came into this world to fulfil. You should also recognize the corrupt order and system
which he came to destroy. You should acquaint yourselves, too, with the way of life which Allah has
ordained for Muslims.
No great amount of time is required to acquire this simple knowledge. If you value Iman, it cannot be
too difficult to find one hour every day to devote to this.
BETWEEN ISLAM AND KUFR
Muslims or Kafirs?
Brothers in Islam! Every Muslim believes, as you too must surely believe, that Muslims are different
from Kafirs; that God likes Muslims and dislikes Kafirs; that Muslims will find God’s forgiveness, while
Kafirs will not; that Muslims will go to Heavend (Jannah) and Kafirs to Hell (Jahannum). I want you to
consider why there should be so much difference between Muslims and Kafirs.
Kafirs are as much offspring of Adam and Eve as you. They are human beings like yourselves. They
possess hands, feet, eyes and ears. They breathe the same air as you, drink the same water and inhabit
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the same land. The God who created you also created them. So why should they be ranked lower and
you higher? Why should you go to Heaven and why should they be cast into Hell?
Consider carefully. Such a vital difference between man and man cannot be simply due to the fact that
you have names like Abdullah and Abdur Rahman and they have names like Kartar Singh, Smith and
Robertson, or that you are circumcised and they are not, or that you eat meat and they avoid it, or that
they eat pork and you do not. Allah, who has created all human beings and who is the Sustainer of all,
cannot be so unjust as to decide on such petty grounds which of His creatures to send to Heaven and
which to Hell.
Where, then, does the real difference lie between Muslims and Kafirs? The answer is that it lies, simply,
in the very nature of Islam and Kufr. The meaning of Islam is submission to God while the meaning of
Kufr is denial and disobedience of God. Muslims and Kafirs are both human beings; both are slaves of
God. But one becomes exalted and meritorious by reason of recognizing his Master, obeying His orders
and fearing the consequences of disobeying Him; while the other disgraces himself by failing to
recognize his Master and carry out His orders. This is why Allah is pleased with Muslims and displeased
with unbelievers. That is why He promises true Muslims that they will be rewarded with Heaven and
warns unbelievers that they will be cast into Hell
Knowledge and Actions
The two things which separate Muslims and Kafirs are, therefore, knowledge and actions. That is, you
must first know who your Master is, what His orders are, how to follow His wishes, which deeds please
Him and which displease Him. When these things are known, the second step is to make yourselves
true slaves of your Master by giving up your own wishes in deference to what He desires.
If your heart desires to do a certain act and your Master’s order is against it, you should carry out that
order. If something seems good to you but your Master says that it is bad, you must accept it as bad.
And if something else seems bad but your Master says it is good, then you must accept it as good. If
you think a certain action will be harmful but your Master says that it must be done, then done, then
done it must indeed be, even though it may entail you in loss of life or property. Similarly, if you expect
to benefit from a certain action but your Master forbids it, you must refrain from it even though it
might have brought all the worldly treasures.
This is the knowledge and actions by which Muslims become true servants of Allah, on whom He
bestows His mercy and whom He rewards with honour and dignity. Conversely, Kafirs, since they do not
possess this knowledge, are Allah’s disobedient slaves and are denied His blessings.
Now, in all fairness, tell me: if you call yourselves Muslims but in fact are as ignorant and disobedient
as a Kafir, can you in reality be superior to the latter merely on the strength of bearing different
names, wearing different clothes and eating different foods? Can you on this basis be entitled to the
blessings of God in this world and in the Hereafter? Islam is not a race or family in which membership is
automatically passed on from father to son. A high caste priest’s son will not command respect in the
eyes of God, if he does wrong deeds, just because he is born into a priestly home; nor will He look
down on the son of a low caste family, disregarding his good deeds, simply because of his birth.
On this point God has explicitly stated in His Book: ‘Indeed the noblest among you in the sight of God is
the most God-fearing of you’ (Al-Hujurat 49:13). That is, the more you know God and the more you
obey His commandments, the more honourable you are in His sight, Ibrahim was into the home of an
idolator, but he came to know God and obeyed Him. That is why God made him Imam (leader) of the
whole world. The son of Nuh was born into a prophet’s home but he did not understand God and
disobeyed Him. Despite his high family connection, God so punished him that the punishment became
an object lesson for the world.
Understand, therefore, thoroughly that whatever differences there are in the sight of Allah between
man and man depend entirely on the state of their knowledge and actions. Both in this world and the
Hereafter, God’s blessing is reserved for those who recognize Him, accept the right path shown by Him,
and carry out His commandments. Those who do not do these things, whether their names are Abdullah
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and Abdur Rahman or Kartar Singh, Smith or Robertson, are identical in the sight of God. They are
unworthy of His blessings.
Why Are Muslims Humiliated Today?
Brothers! You call yourselves Muslims and you believe that Allah showers His blessings on Muslims. But
open your eyes and see if those blessings are in fact descending on you? You cannot know what will
happen to you in the Hereafter until after your physical death, but you can most certainly look around
you and see your condition here on earth.
There are so many hundreds of millions of you in the world that if each of you were to throw a single
pebble they would make a mountain. But even though there are so many Muslims and Muslim
governments, the world is in the hands of those who have rebelled against God. Your necks are in their
grip, to be turned to whichever side they like; your heads, which should not bow before anybody except
Allah, are now bowed before human beings. Your honour, which no one dared to touch, is now being
trampled upon. Your hands, which were once always held high, are now lowered and stretched out
before your enemies. Ignorance, dependence, poverty and indebtedness have subjected you to
ignominy everywhere.
Is this the blessing of Allah? If it is not—but rather a sign of anger—then how strange it is that it is
Muslims on whom it is descending! You are Muslims and yet are wallowing in ignominy! You are
Muslims and yet are slaves! This situation is impossible as it is for an object to be white and black. If
Muslims are the loved ones of God, how can they be treated disgracefully? Is your God (God forbid) so
unjust that—while you, for your part, acknowledge His due and obey His orders—He allows the
disobedient to rule over you, and punishes you for your obedience to Him?
If it is an article of faith with you that God is not unjust and obedience to God can never result in
disgrace, then you will have to concede that there is something wrong in your claim to be Muslims.
Although you may be registered as Muslims on your birth certificates, Allah does not base His
judgments on what is written on pieces of paper. God prepares his own list of obedient and disobedient
servants, and it is in this list that you must search to find your true position.
Allah sent you His Book so that you may know Him and learn how to obey Him. Have you ever tried to
discover what is written in it? Allah sent His Prophet to teach you how to become Muslims. Have you
ever tried to find out what His Prophet has taught? Allah explicitly informed you which behaviour
debases man in this world and the Hereafter. Do you avoid such behaviour? What answers do you have
to these questions? If you admit that you have neither sought knowledge from God’s Book and His
Prophet’s life nor followed the way shown by him, then how can you claim to be Muslims and to merit
His reward? The rewards you are getting now are in direct relation to how good Muslims you are; and
your rewards in the Hereafter will be calculated on the same basis.
We have already seen that the only difference between Muslims and Kafirs is in the matter of
knowledge and actions. Men who call themselves Muslims but whose knowledge and actions are the
same as those of Kafirs are guilty of blatant hypocrisy. Kafirs do not read the Qur’an and do not know
what is written in it. If so-called Muslims are equally ignorant, why should they be called Muslims?
Kafirs do not know the teachings of the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, and the straight path
he has shown to reach God. If Muslims? Kafirs follow their own desires instead of the commands of
Allah. If Muslims are similarly willful and undisciplined, setting their own ideas and opinions on a
pedestal, indifferent to God and a slave to lust, what rights have they to call themselves Muslims?
Kafirs do not distinguish between Halal (what is permitted by Allah) and Haram (what is prohibited by
Allah) and make indiscriminate use of everything and anything, irrespective of whether it is Halal or
Haram. If Muslims behave the same as non-Muslims, what difference is there between them and Kafirs?
Put simply: If Muslims are as devoid of knowledge about Islam as Kafirs, and if a Muslim does all those
things which a Kafir does, why should he be considered superior to a Kafir and why should his fate not
be the same as that of a Kafir? This is a question on which we must all reflect very seriously.
My dear brothers! Do not for a moment think that I am trying to brand Muslims as Kafirs. This is not my
purpose at all. I ask myself, and implore each one of you similarly to ask his own heart, as to why we
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are being denied the blessing of God. Why are tribulations of all sorts descending upon us from all
sides? Why are we disunited and shedding each Other’s blood? Why are those whom we call Kafirs (that
is, the disobedient slaves of God) everywhere dominating of us? And why are we, who claim to be His
obedient slaves, living in servitude in so many parts of the world?
The more I have reflected on the reason for this situation, the more I have become convinced that
almost the only difference now left between us and Kafirs is that of mere name; for we in no way lag
behind them in neglect of God, in being devoid of fear of Him and in being disobedient to Him.
I say ‘almost’ because there is, of course, a difference between us: we know that
The Qur’an is the Book of God, while Kafirs do not, yet we treat it as a Kafir treats it. And this makes us
all the more deserving of punishment. We know that Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, is the
Prophet of Allah and yet we are as unwilling as a Kafir to follow him. We know that God has cursed
liars, has positively declared Hell as the abode of all who give and take bribes, has denounced those
who borrow and lend at interest as the worst of sinners, has condemned slander as being as bad as
eating a brother’s flesh, and has warned that obscene behaviour, pornography and debauchery will
meet with the severest punishment. Yet despite knowing all this we freely indulge in all these vices as if
we had absolutely no fear of God’s displeasure.
This is why we are not rewarded: we are Muslims in appearance only. The fact that those who do not
accept God’s sovereignty rule over us and subject us to ignominy on every possible occasion shows that
we are being punished for ignoring Islam –God’s greatest gift to us.
Dear brothers! Nothing I have said today is intended as blame. I have not come to censure. My aim is
to kindle to desire in you to recover a treasure that has been lost. Such a desire arises when a man
realizes exactly what he has lost and how valuable it was. I have spoken sharp and pungent words only
to awaken you and compel you to think.
Desire for Knowledge
To become a real Muslim, as I said, the foremost requisite is knowledge of Islam. Every Muslim ought to
know the teaching of the Qur’an, which ways were shown by the Prophet, blessings and peace be on
him, what Islam, is and what those things are which really differentiate Islam from Kufr. Nobody can be
Muslim without this knowledge. The pity is that you show no desire to acquire this knowledge. This
indicates that still you do not realize what a great gift you are being deprived of.
My brothers! A mother does not give milk to her child until he cries and demands it. When a man feels
thirsty and he searches for water, God brings him to it. If you yourselves are not conscious of your
thirst it will be useless if even a well brimming with water appears before you. You must first
understand what a great loss you are suffering by remaining ignorant of Islam. The Book of God is with
you but you do not know what is written in it. You do not even know the meaning of the kalimah (La
ilaha illa’llah Muhammadu ‘r-rasulu ‘llah (There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger),
by reciting which you enter Islam; nor do you appreciate what responsibilities devolve on you after
reciting this Kalimah. Can there be a greater loss than this for a Muslim?
You know the damage caused if crops are burnt; you know the suffering which results from failure to
earn a livelihood; you know the harm resulting from loss of property. But you do not know the loss of
being ignorant of Islam. When you understand the nature of this loss, you will yourselves come and ask
to be spared it. And when you make this request then, insha’allah, means will be available to restore
this greatest of gifts to you.
HOW MUSLIMS TREAT THE QUR’AN
Brothers in Islam! Muslims are the only people in the world today fortunate enough to possess the word
of God preserved in its original form, free from all distortions, and precisely in the wording in which it
was sent down upon the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him. Paradoxically, these same Muslims
suffer the misfortune of being denied the countless blessings and benefits which the word of God must
give to those who believe in it. The Qur’an was sent to them for them to read it, understand it, act upon
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it, and, with its help, establish on God’s earth the rule of His law. The Qur’an came to grant them
dignity and power. It came to make them true vicegerents of God on earth. And history shows that
whenever they acted according to its guidance, it did make them the leaders of the world.
Irreverence and Misuse
But now the Qur’an’s usefulness, for many Muslims, consists only in keeping it in their houses to drive
away jinns and ghosts, in writing its verses on amulets to hang round their necks or washing those
amulets with water and then drinking it, or in reading its contents without comprehending their
meaning in the hope of receiving some reward. No longer do they seek guidance from it for their lives.
No longer do they ask it to tell then what should be their beliefs, morals and actions, nor how they
should conduct transactions, what principles they should observe while dealing with enemies and
friends, what the rights are of their fellow beings and of their own selves. Nor do they turn to it to find
what is true and what is false, whom they should obey and whom disobey, who their friends are and
who their enemies, where honour, well-being and benefit are to be found and where disgrace, failure
and loss.
We Muslims have given up looking for answers to these important questions in the Qur’an. Instead, we
now ask Kafirs, idolators, misguided, selfish people, even our own ego and desires—and follow what
they advise. What invariably happens to those who ignore Allah and follow the precepts of other has
happened to us too. We are reaping only what we have shown everywhere in the world—in Palestine,
the Middle East, Pakistan, Indonesia and many other places.
The Qur’an is the source of every good: it will give whatever and as much as you ask from it. If you
seek from it such trivial, frivolous and spurious things as how to scare away jinns and ghosts, how to
cure coughs and fevers, how to succeed in litigation and find a job—then you may get them, but only
them. If you seek supremacy on earth and the power to rule the world you may get that too. And if you
wish to reach near God’s Throne (‘Arsh), the Qur’an will take you there. If you receive only a few drops
from the ocean, do not blame the Qur’an, blame yourselves. For the whole ocean is there waiting for
him who knows how to take it.
Incomprehensible Contradictions
The cruel jokes, brothers, which we Muslims play with the Holy Book of Allah, are so inane that if we
saw someone else doing such things in any other sphere of life, we would mock them and even brand
them as lunatics.
Tell me, what would you say if somebody got a doctor’s prescription and hung it round his neck after
wrapping it in a piece of cloth or washed it in water and drank it? Would you not laugh at him and call
him a fool? Yet this is the very treatment being given before your eyes to the matchless prescription
written by the greatest of all doctors to provide a cure for all your ailments—and nobody laughs! No
one even reflects that a prescription is not meant to be hung round the neck nor are its words to be
washed in water and drunk.
Tell me, what would you think if some one who was ill picked up a book on medicine and began to read
it, believing, thinking that this would cure him? Would you not say that he was deranged? Yet this is
how we treat the Book which the supreme Healer has sent for the cure of our diseases. We think that
just by flicking through all its pages, our diseases will disappear without our following the directions
given in them or abstaining from the things which they pronounced harmful. Are we not in the same
situation as the man who considers that reading a book on medicine will cure his illness?
If you receive a business letter in a language you do not know, you go to a man who knows the
language to find out what it says. You remain anxious and restless until you have found out what the
letter says, even though it will bring only some partly worldly profit. But the letter sent to you by the
Lord of the worlds which can bring you all the benefits of this—world and the Eternal Life is carelessly
set aside. You do not show any uneasiness at not understanding its contents. Is this you astonishing?
I am not trying to make you laugh. Reflect for a while on these facts and your hearts will tell you that
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the greatest possible injustice is being done to the Book of Allah. Ironically, the culprits are the very
people who proclaim their faith in it and proclaim their readiness to sacrifice their lives for it. No doubt
they do have faith in it and love it more than their lives, but the pity is that it is they, more than
anyone else, who treat it outrageously. And the consequences of such treatment are quite plain to see.
The Consequences
Understand fully that Allah’s word does not come to bring misery, disgrace and suffering to man. ‘We
have not sent down the Qur’an upon you that you be wretched’ (Ta Ha 20: 1—2). On the contrary, the
Qur’an is the source of happiness and success. It is impossible for a people to possess God’s word and
yet suffer disgrace and ignominy, live under subjugation, be trampled on a kicked around, and carry
the yoke of slavery on their necks, being led by the nose like animals. A people meet this fate only
when they do injustice to the word of God.
Look at the fate of the Israelities. They were given the Tawrah and Injil, were told:
Had they established the Torah and Gospel and what was sent down to them by their Lord, they would
surely have partaken of all blessings from above them [heaven] and beneath their feet [earth]
(al-Ma’idah 5: 66).
But they adopted a wrong attitude towards these Books of Allah, and reaped the consequences:
An ignominy and helplessness were laid upon them, and they were laden with the burden of God’s
anger. That, because they used to disbelieve God’s messages and slay the Prophets against all right;
that, because they disobeyed and were transgressors (al-Baqarah 2: 61).
If people possess Allah’s Book and still live in disgrace and subjugation, they are surely being punished
for doing injustice to Allah’s word. The only way to save yourselves from Allah’s anger is to turn back
from this grave sin and start trying to render. His Book its due. Until you do, your condition will never
change—even if you open colleges in each and every village, all your children graduate from
universities, and you amass millions through unscrupulous means.
No Islam without Submitting To the Qur’an
Brothers! Two most important things every Muslim must know to do justice to the Book of God: who is
truly a Muslim and what the world ‘Muslim’ means.
Human beings who do not know what humanity is and what the difference is between man and animal
will inevitably indulge in behaviour unworthy of the human race and attach no value to being human.
Similarly, people who do not know the true meaning of being Muslims and how a Muslim is different
from a non-Muslim will behave like non-Muslims and will not be worthy of being Muslims.
Every Muslim, adult or child, should therefore know what it means to be a Muslim, what difference
being a Muslim must make to his life, what responsibilities devolve on him, and what limits are set by
Islam within which a man remains a Muslim and by transgressing which he ceases to be a Muslim.
Islam means submission and obedience to God. To entrust yourselves completely to God is Islam. To
relinquish all claims to absolute freedom and independence and to follow God’s will in Islam. To
surrender your selves before the sovereignty of God is Islam. If you bring all the affairs of your lives
under God you are Muslims and if you keep any of the affairs in your own hands or entrust them to
someone other than God you are not Muslims.
To bring your affairs under God means to accept unreservedly the guidance sent by God through His
Book and His Messengers. It, therefore, becomes necessary to follow only the Qur’an and Prophet’s
sunnah. Muslims follow no authority other than that of God, whether it be their reason or customs. In
every matter they seek guidance from God’s Book and His Messenger to find what they should do not
what they should not do. They accept without hesitation whatever guidance they get from there and
reject whatever they find opposed to it.
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Such total surrender to God is what makes one a Muslim. By contrast, people are certainly not Muslims
who, instead of following the Qur’an and the Sunnah, obey the dictates of their own reason and desires,
follow the practices of their own reason and desires, follow the practices of their forefathers, accept
what is happening in society, and never bother to ascertain from the Qur’an and Sunnah how to run
their affairs, or refuse to accept the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah by saying: ‘They do not appeal
to my reason’, or ‘They are against the ways of my forefathers’ or ‘The world is moving in an opposite
direction’. Such people are liars if they call themselves Muslims.
The moment you recite the Kalimah: ‘La ilaha illa’llah Muhammadu’ r-rasulu’ llah’, you accept that the
only law you recognize is the law of God, only God is your sovereign, only God is your ruler, only God
you will obey, and only the things given in God’s Book and by His Messengers are true and right. It
means that as soon as you become Muslims you must renounce your authority in favour of God’s
authority.
Consequently, you have no right to say, ‘My opinion is this, the prevalent custom is this, the family
tradition is this, that scholar and that holy person say this’. In the face of Allah’s word and His
Messenger’s Sunnah, you cannot argue in this manner. You should judge everything in the light of the
Qur’an and Sunnah; accept what is in conformity with them and reject what runs counter to them,
irrespective of the people who may be behind them. It is a contradiction in terms to call yourselves
Muslims on the one hand, and, on the other, follow your own opinions or the customs of society or
some person’s words or actions as against the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Just as a blind person cannot
claim to have eyes, nor a deaf person to have ears, so a person who refuses to subordinate the affairs
of his life to the dictates of the Qur’an and the Sunnah cannot call himself a Muslim.
No one who does not want to be a Muslim can be compelled to be one against his will. You are free to
adopt any religion you like and call yourselves by any names you like. But, once having called
yourselves Muslims, you must fully understand that you can remain Muslims only as long as you stay
within the bounds of Islam. These bounds are: to accept the word of God and His Messenger’s Sunnah
as the ultimate criteria of truth and justice and to consider everything opposed to them as wrong. If
you remain within these bounds you are Muslims, but if you overstep them you cease to be part of
Islam. To continue, in such circumstances, to consider yourselves and call yourselves Muslims is
tantamount to both self-deception of others. ‘Whose judges not according to what God has sent down,
they are the unbelievers’ (al-Ma’idah 5: 44).
TRUE MEANING OF IMAN
Difference the Kalimah Creates
Brothers in Islam! You become Muslims by reciting a few words called the Kalimah:
La ilaha illa ‘llah Muhammadu ‘r-rasulu ‘llah
There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
On pronouncing these words a man is supposed to have radically changed. He was Kafir, now he is a
Muslim; he was impure, now he is pure. He deserved Allah’s displeasure; now he deserves to be loved
by Him. He was going into Hell; now the gates of Heaven are open for him.
On a more concrete level, in social life, this Kalimah becomes the basis for differentiating one man from
another. Those who recite it constitute one nation, while those who reject it form another. If a father
recites it but his son refuses to, the father is no longer the same father, nor the son the same son. The
son will not inherit anything from the father, his mother and sisters may even observe purdah from
him. On the other hand, if a total stranger recites the Kalimah and marries into a Muslim family, he and
his children become eligible for inheritance.
The power of the Kalimah is thus so strong that it takes precedence even over blood ties; it can join
strangers together into a nation; it can cut members of the same family off from each other.
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Is Mere Utterance Enough?
Why should the Kalimah make such a big difference between man and man? What is so special about
it? After all, it contains only a few letters like ‘L’, ‘A’, ‘I’, ‘M’, ‘R’ and ‘S’. Joined together and
pronounced, do they somehow have the power to work magic so as to radically change a man? Can
merely saying a few words create such an enormous difference?
Brothers! A little reasoning will immediately tell you that merely opening your mouths and uttering a
few syllables can never have such an impact. Idol worshippers no doubt believe that by reciting some
formula of holy words mountains can be moved, earth can be split and fountains can gush out of it,
even though they do not know its meaning. This is because they ascribe supernatural powers to letters,
and believe that only uttering them is necessary to make their powers work.
This is not so in Islam. The effectiveness of words lies in their meaning. If they do not penetrate deep
into your hearts and have an impact powerful enough to effect a change in your thoughts, in your
morals, and in your actions, then their utterance is meaningless and ineffectual.
A simple example will illustrate this point. Suppose you are shivering in cold weather and you start
shouting, ‘cotton, quilt! Cotton, quilt’ The effect of cold will not be any less even if you repeat these
words all night a million times on beads or a rosary. But if you prepare a quilt stuffed with cotton and
cover your body with it, the cold will stop. Or suppose you feel thirsty and shout the whole day, ‘water,
water’; your thirst will not be quenched. What you need to do is to get some water and take a
mouthful. Or again, suppose you are suffering from cold and fever and you decide the best remedy is to
chant the name of medicines used to cure these illnesses. You will not get better; but if you actually
take these medicines, cold and fever will disappear, insha’allah.
This is exactly the position of the Kalimah. Mere utterance of six or seven words cannot conceivably
transform a Kafir into a Muslim, or an impure person into a pure one, or a damned person into a
favoured one, nor can it send a man to Paradise instead of Hell. This transformation is possible only
after you have understood the meaning of these words and made it penetrate your hearts and change
your lives.
So, when you recite these words, you should be conscious what an important commitment you are
making to your God, with the whole world as your witness, and what a great responsibility you are
taking on as a result of your commitment. Once you have made the affirmation consciously, the
Kalimah must inform all your thoughts and reign supreme in your whole lives: no idea contrary to it
should form part of your mental furniture. Whatever runs counter to the Kalimah alone true. After
affirming this Kalimah you are not at liberty, as are the unbelievers, to do as you like. You have to
follow what it prescribes and renounce what it forbids.
If you recite the Kalimah in this manner, only then can you become true Muslims, only then is created
that overwhelming difference between man and man that we have just been discussing.
Meaning of the Kalimah
What, let me tell now, is the meaning of the Kalimah. What do you in fact pledge through it?
The literal meaning of the Kalimah is simple: there is no God but Allah; and Muhammad, blessings and
peace be on him, is the Messenger of Allah.
Covenant with Allah
The word ‘ilah’ found in the Kalimah means God. Only that being can be our God who is the Master,
Creator, Nourisher and Sustainer, who listens to our prayers and grants them, and who alone is worthy
of our worship and obedience.
Saying La ilaha illa ‘llah means two things. First, you have acknowledged that the world has neither
come into being without a God nor has many gods. God is there; He alone is God, and there is no other
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being except Him which possess divinity. Second, you have accepted that this same God is your Lord
and Master as well as of the whole universe. You yourselves, and each and every thing that you have
or is found in the world, belong to Him alone. He is the Creator and the Provider. Life and death are
under His command. Both trouble and comfort come from Him. Whatever one receives is really given by
Him; whatever is taken away is taken away by His command. He alone should be feared. From Him
alone should we ask any and everything. Before Him alone should we bow our heads. He alone is
worthy of worship and service. We are slaves or servants of nobody save Him, nor is anyone else our
Master or Sovereign. Our duty is to obey Him abide by His laws---and His alone.
This is the covenant which you make with Allah as soon as you recite La ilaha illa ’llah, and while so
doing you make the whole world your witness.
If you violate this covenant, your hands and feet, and tiniest hair on your bodies and every particle on
earth and in the heavens, all that witnessed you breaking your pledge, will testify against you in God’s
court. You will find yourselves in such a hopeless position that not a single witness will be found to aid
you. No barrister or trial lawyers will be there to plead your case in fact barrister and trial lawyers who
in the courts of this world are themselves all too often guilty of bending the law to their own ends, will
themselves be standing there, like you, in the same hopeless position. That court will not acquit you on
the basis of forceful pleading, false witnesses, or forged documents. You can hide your crimes from the
police in this world, but not from God’s police. The police here may be bribed, but not there. A witness
in this world can give false evidence, but not Allah’s witness. The judges of this world can do injustices,
but God can never be unjust. And there is no escape from the jail to which Allah sends the guilty.
It is a great folly—the greatest of all follies—to enter into a false covenant with Allah. Before making
the covenant, think it through thoroughly and then scrupulously adhere to it. You are under no
compulsion to give a mere verbal pledge; but empty words shall not profit you.
Accepting the Prophet’s Leadership
After La ilaha illa ‘llah, you recite Muhammadu ‘r-rasulu ‘llah (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah).
This means that you accept Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, as the man through whom
Allah has sent you His guidance. If we acknowledge Allah as Master and Sovereign, it is essential to
know what His will is. What deeds should we perform that would please Him and what deeds should we
refrain from that would displease Him? What laws should we follow to receive His forgiveness and avoid
His punishment? To explain all this to us, God appointed Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, as
His Messenger; for this very purpose through him He sent His Book.
The Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, having lived according to God’s guidance, showed us the
way we should lead our lives. So, when you say Muhammadu ‘r-rasulu ‘llah, you pledge to follow the
way and law given by him and to reject anything which runs counter to it. If, after making this pledge,
you abandon the code of life brought by the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, and follow
different and conflicting law, however widely they may be accepted, there can hardly by any worse liars
and more dishonest people than you.
For you enter Islam only by solemnly affirming that you accept the code of life brought by him as the
only true law and that you will faithfully follow it. It is on the basis of this affirmation that you become
brothers unto Muslims, become eligible for inheritance from your Muslim fathers; on the same basis
you were married to Muslim women, your children became legitimate and you secured the right to ask
Muslims to help you, to give you alms and to be responsible for the protection of your lives, property,
honour and dignity. Nothing can be more dishonest if, in spite of all this, you break your pledge.
If you make the pledge of La ilaha illa ‘llah Muhammadu ‘r-rasulu ‘llah with a full understanding of its
meaning. Then it is inconceivable that you will not comply with the laws of God even though no police
or court forcing you to do so is visible in this world. To anybody who thinks that it is easy to break the
laws of God because God’s police, army, court and jail are unseen, and that it is difficult to break
earthly laws because of the undoubted presence of the police, army, court and jails of the Government,
I would clearly say: Your affirmation of La ilaha illa ‘llah Muhammadu ‘r-rasulu ‘llah is simply not
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truthful. You are trying to deceive your God, the whole world, all Muslims, and your own selves.
Obligations of Commitment
Brothers and friends! Now that we know the meaning of this Kalimah I wish to draw your attention to
the obligations that result from it.
What does it mean to say that Allah is the Master of everything? It means that your lives are not your
property; they belong to God. Your hands are not yours, nor do your eyes, your ears or any limb of
your bodies belong to you. The lands you plough, the animals who work for you, the wealth and goods
you derive benefit from—none of these is your own. Each and every thing belongs to god, and has been
given to you as a gift.
You, therefore, have no basis whatsoever to make claims like ‘life is mine, the body is mine, wealth is
mine’. It is absurd to claim ownership after having accepted some other being as the real owner. If you
sincerely believe that god is the Owner of all these things, then two things automatically follow.
First, since God is the real owner and you are merely trustees of things owned by Him, you must use
these things strictly as He has told you, If you do otherwise, you are abusing your trusteeship; this
would amount to cheating God. You have no right to move your hands and feet against His wish, nor to
make your eyes see what He dislikes. You may not stomach anything contrary to His command. You
possess no right over lands and properties against the wish of the Master. Your wives and children,
whom you assume belong to you, are yours only because they have been given to you by your Master.
Even they, therefore, must be treated not as you desire but as directed by Him. If you contravene His
directions, you make yourselves usurpers. Just as you call people dishonest who seize other people’s
belongings, you, too, will be dishonest if you look on the gifts of God as your own property, and utilize
them according to your own wishes or according to the wishes of someone other than God.
If you suffer hardship by acting according to the wish of your Master, so be it. If lives are lost, bodies
are injured, families are broken or money and property destroyed in the process, why should you be
grieved? If the Owner Himself decrees loss of His things, it is perfectly within His right. Of course, if you
act against the wish of the Master and suffer hardship, you will undoubtedly be guilty because you will
have damaged His property. For example: you do not own your lives. If you give away your lives
according to your Master’s wishes you will only be rendering His due. Giving your lives while working
against Him, however, would be criminal.
Second, you do no favour to your Master nor to anyone else, if you spend something given by Him in
His cause. You may give away anything, do any duty, or even sacrifice your lives—which to you are
very dear—but you are not doing Him a favour. The most you have done is to have rendered His due
for His favour done to you. Is this an achievement to boast about, to demand acclaim for? Should
people be praised just because they have repaid a favour? Remember that a true Muslim never gets
puffed up for spending something in his Master’s cause or for doing his duty to Him. On the contrary, he
remains humble. Boasting and pride destroy good acts. Anyone who seeks praise, or does good work in
order to earn praise, loses his right to receive any reward from God: ‘He has sought reward in this
world and has already received it here’.
Our Behaviour
Brothers! Imagine the extraordinary kindness shown you by your master! He asks you for things which
really belong to Him and yet promises that it is a purchase He will pay you for. What unbounded
generosity this is! ‘God has brought from the believers their lives and their possessions in return for
Paradise’ (al-Tawbah 9: 111).
Such is the kindness of your Master. Now look at your conduct. You re-sell things to others which were
given to you by your Master and which He had bought back from you. And what a paltry price you
accept for your precious things! The ‘buyers’ make you work against the wishes of the Master. You
serve them as if they are your sustainers. You sell your brains and your bodies—indeed, everything
that these rebels of God want to buy. Can anything be more immoral than this? To sell a thing already
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sold is a legal and moral crime, even in this world. Those guilty of such crimes are tried in courts for
cheating and fraud. Do you think you will escape trail in the court of God?
WHY IS THE KALIMAH UNIQUE?
Brothers in Islam! Let us consider further the meaning and essential implications of the Kalimah; for it
is the very foundation of Islam. Believe it and you enter Islam on its strength; understand it fully and
mould your lives in accordance with it and you become true Muslims. Without it you can neither enter
nor remain in Islam.
The Parable
Allah calls it Kalimah Tayyibah, a good, pure and wholesome ‘word’, and thus defines it:
Are you not aware how God sets forth the parable of kalimah tayyibah? It is like a good tree—firmly
rooted, its branches reaching into heaven. It gives its fruits every moment by the permission of its
Lord. So God sets forth parables unto men that they may bethink themselves. And the parable of
kalimah khabithah (evil word) is like a corrupt tree—uprooted from the earth, having no permanence.
God grants firmness unto those who have believed in the firm word, in the present life and in the world
to come, and wrongdoers He lets go astray, for God does whatever He wills (Ibrahim 14: 24---7).
Kalimah Tayyibah is here likened to a noble tree, whose roots are firmly fixed in the earth and whose
branches reach to the sky; and all the while it continues to yield abundant fruit, as commanded by its
Lord. Set against it is the kalimah Khabithah, that is, an evil or corrupt word, a false belief and a
baseless saying, which may be likened to a self-seeded plant growing in poor, shallow earth and easily
plucked out with a single pull because its roots have no firm base.
So striking and beautiful is the parable that the more you reflect on it the more you will come to absorb
the lessons that can be learnt from it.
Two Kinds of Trees
Consider examples of the two kinds of trees.
Look at an oak tree. How firmly it is rooted, to what great height it reaches, how extensively its
branches spread, what fine foliage it bears! How did this tree acquire such strength and magnificence?
From the nature of its fruit, the acorn. Its seed has an inherent right to become a great tree. And this
right was so self-evident that when it made its claim, the earth, the water, the air, the warm day and
the cool night, in fact, all the elements concerned, acknowledged it, and whatever it demanded from
them was given to it.
Thus by merit it developed into a great tree; by yielding beneficial fruit and by the nobility of its
dimensions it continued to demonstrate that it deserved to become a tree of mighty stature and that
the help given it by the combined forces of earth and heaven was totally justified. More! It was the duty
of the elements to give such help because the power that is possessed by the earth, water and air and
other elements to nourish, develop and mature trees is precisely meant for the purpose of helping trees
of noble species.
But what about wild, self-seeded plants? Where are their strengths and virtues? Their roots are so
shallow they can be pulled up by child. They are so weak they wither away in the wind. If you touch
them you may well be picked by thorns. If you taste them they may well bitter and harmful. God, only,
knows how many of these sprout every day, and wither away. Why are they as they are? The reason is
that they do not possess the intrinsic right to grow that the acorn does and which allows the growth of
the mighty oak.
When there are no trees of noble species to grow, the earth, which by its nature cannot remain fallow,
tolerates the growth of shrubs and weeds. Water does give nourishment, and some energy is supplied
by the air, but none of the elements accepts the right of existence of these plants as they do of the oak.
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That is why neither the earth allows their roots to spread themselves within itself, nor is water willing
wholeheartedly to give nourishment, nor is the air inclined to help them flourish. So when, with this
poor subsistence, these plants grow unhealthy, tasting bad, often bearing thorns and poisonous fruits, it
is conclusively demonstrated that earth and heaven are not crated to help the growth of such plants.
Keep these two examples before you and then think over the difference between the Kalimah Tayyibah
and kalimah khabithah.
Characteristics of the Kalimah Tayyibah
Kalimah Tayyibah is a true ‘word’; so true that there cannot possibly be anything truer in the entire
world; that the God of the whole universe is Allah alone. Each and every thing on earth and in heaven
bears witness to this. Human beings, animals, trees, stones, particles of sand, flowing streams, the
bright sun---is there a single thing out of all these which has been created by anybody but Allah, which
can survive through anyone’s care and sustenance but Allah’s, which can be destroyed by anybody but
Allah?
The whole universe has been created by Allah and its life and sustenance depend on His mercy; Allah
alone is its Master and Ruler. So when you declare: ‘In this world godhood and sovereignty belong to
none but the One God’, everything on earth and in heaven cries out: ‘You have told the truth. We all
bear witness to it’. When you bow before Him, everything in the universe bows with you because all
things are obedient to Him. When you obey His commandments, everything in the universe does
likewise. When you walk along His path, you are walk along His path, you are not alone. In fact, the
countless hosts of heaven and earth will be with you: from the sun in the sky to the smallest particle of
dust, everything is following the path He has laid down. When you trust Him, you are not putting your
trust in some insignificant power but in that greatest power which is the Master of the universe.
All the forces of earth and heaven, you can now understand, will support anyone who has faith in the
Kalimah Tayyibah and moulds his life in accordance with it. He will grow and prosper throughout his life
with it. He will grow and prosper throughout his life on earth and on into the world to come. Not for a
single moment will failure or defeat touch him. This is exactly what Allah has stated in the Ayah quoted
in the beginning: this Kalimah is like a tree whose roots are firmly embedded in the earth and whose
branches are spread over the heavens bearing fruit perpetually, by the command of Allah.
Characteristics of the Kalimah Khabithah
In contrast to this, what does kalimah khabithah mean? Only that either there is no God or that there is
someone else in addition to Him exercising Divine power. Just think! Can there be a more false and
empty proposition? Is there anything in the world which lends credence to it? The atheist says there is
no God, but everything on earth and in heaven denounces him as wrong: ‘Together with all of us, you
have been created by God, this very God has given you the tongue with which to utter this falsehood.’
The idolator says that there are partners in His Divine powers; they too provide sustenance, they too
have power over things; they too can determines our fates; they too can benefit or harm us; they too
can listen to prayers and grant wishes; they too deserve to be feared and trusted; their write too runs
on God’s earth and their commands and laws too should be obeyed alongside those of God. Yet
everything on earth and in heaven refutes this claim as an absolute lie and totally against reality.
Now consider how a person who believes in such a false proposition and leads a life in conformity with it
can ever prosper in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah has, in His mercy, allowed them freedom for a
certain duration and promised them sustenance. The elements of nature will, therefore, provide
nourishment to them for a while, but they will not concede it as their right. They will be like the
self-seeded shrubs and weeds I have just spoken of.
Contrasting Results
The same contrast is to be found between their fruits. Kalimah Tayyibah produces sweet fruits: it
establishes peace in the world. Goodness, truth and justice predominate and people benefit accordingly.
But what branches can you grow from an evil root like the kalimah khabithah? The more it grows the
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more it shoots out thorny branches; poison runs in its very arteries. And what fruit can grow on such
branches as these? Only such as are continually bitter and poisonous.
See with your own eyes what is happening in the world where Kufr, idolatry or secularism prevail: man
is bent on destruction of his fellow beings. Preparations for war are constantly being made. Nuclear
weapons and poisonous gases are being manufactured. Nations are set on destroying each other. The
powerful subjugate the weak simply to snatch away their bread. The weak are cowed by the armies and
police and threats of jail and execution. They can find no escape from the oppression of the strong.
And what of individuals? Their morals are so depraved that even satan would be ashamed. Human
beings are committing acts which even animals would hesitate to do. The rich suck the blood of the
poor through exploitation and usury and force the poor to work as if they were slaves born just to serve
them. Human dignity and rights are being trampled upon. Abortion is rife because people do not want
their physical pleasures to be interrupted. Even wife swapping is practiced.
Little wonder whenever a plant has grown anywhere from this kalimah khabithah, it is full of thorns,
and whatever fruit it produces is bitter and poisonous.
After giving the two parables, Allah says:
Thus God grants firmness unto those who have believed in the firm word in the present life and in the
world to come, and the wrongdoers He lets go astray (Ibrahim 14: 27).
Thus Allah will grant strength and endurance in this world and in the Hereafter to those who have faith
in the Kalimah Tayyibah. Conversely, He will set at naught all the endeavours of those wrongdoers who
put their faith in the kalimah khabithah. They will not do anything good which will bear fruit in this
world, or the next.
Why Are Believers in the Kalimah Not Flourishing?
You have heard, brothers, the difference between the Kalimah Tayyibah and the kalimah khabithah and
their results. You will now surely ask: We believe in the Kalimah Tayyibah. Then how is it that we do
not flourish and why are the unbelievers prospering?
I should answer this question, and I shall. But, rather than just becoming angry at my words, look into
your hearts to see if I am speaking the truth.
In the first place, your claim that you believe in the Kalimah is not true. Believing in the Kalimah does
not consist in its mere utterance. It must be rooted in the heart, it must drive out any belief opposed to
it, it should make any actions in contravention of it well-high impossible.
Tell me, brothers, in the name of God, is this true of you? Are not hundreds of idolatrous and
polytheistic beliefs prevalent among you – ideas totally opposed to the Kalimah Tayyibah? Are not the
heads of Muslims being bowed before objects other than God? Are not Muslims afraid of forces other
than Him? Do they not take others as their providers? Do they not sometimes put the laws of God aside
and follow other laws instead without any qualms? Do they not sometimes openly state in the courts
that they do not abide by the Shari’ah but by custom and usage? Are there not people among us who
do not hesitate to violate the law of God for the sake of trifling material benefit? Are there not those
who dread the anger of unbelievers but not the wrath of God? And those who are ready to go to any
lengths to curry the favour of Kafirs but are unwilling to do anything to secure God’s favour? And those
who take the supremacy of Kafirs to be real but the rule of God as imaginary?
Tell me, for the sake of God, if all this is not fact? And if it is, what justification have you complaining
that you are not prospering despite believing in the Kalimah Tayyibah? First you should become true
believers in the Kalimah Tayyibah, and model your lives on the pattern it lays down. If even then your
lives do not become like trees which have firm and deep roots in the earth and which spread their
luxuriant branches up to sky, then (I crave Allah’s pardon) you may consider your God a liar for having
made you false promises.
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Are Followers of the Kalimah Khabithah Prospering?
Again, your contention that believers in the kalimah khabithah are prospering in this world is not
correct. In the true sense, these people have never before prospered nor are they prospering now. You
judge by their excessive wealth, their abundance of luxury goods and their outward trappings of
splendour. Material prosperity is not real prosperity. Let their inner selves speak: how many of them
have peace of mind? They are laden with luxury but their hearts are fiery furnaces which keep them
anxious and restless. How has disobedience to the law of God turned homes into hell? How rampant is
suicide in Europe and America? How widespread is divorce? How, through genocide, birth control and
absorptions, is the human race being diminished? How are drugs and alcohol destroying the lives of
many thousands of people? What a terrible struggle for markets and economic prosperity is raging
among different nations and classes? How are jealousy, malice and enmity making men fight each
other? How has the mad race for possessions made life bitter for so many people? And today’s huge and
magnificent cities, which look like paradise from a distance, contain thousands and thousands of people
who are wallowing in misery. Do you call this prosperity? Is this what you are seeking so enviously?
Remember, my brothers, that the word of God can never be untrue. There is no Kalimah except the
Kalimah Tayyibah by following which man may achieve glory in this-world and happiness in the world-
to-come. Seek as you will, you will never be able to find any fault with it.
WHY BELIEVE IN THE KALIMAH?
Brothers in Islam! Why should we believe in the Kalimah, what benefits shall accrue to us by it? Let us
try to find an answer to this important question.
Whatever work we do is done with some purpose or some benefit in view. We never do anything
without some objective, goal or need. Why do you drink water? Because it quenches your thirst. If you
were to discover that drinking water failed to quench your thirst, you would not waste your time doing
it the next time you were thirsty. Why do you eat food? Simply because you want to satisfy your
hunger and keep your strength to live. If it made no difference whether you ate food or not, you would
naturally feel that it was a useless activity. Why do you take medicine when you are ill? Because you
want to get rid of your illness and regain your health. But you soon stop taking medicines which do not
work. Why do you work so hard cultivating land? So that crops, fruits and vegetables may be produced.
But if nothing grew after you had sown the seeds, you would not again exert yourselves to plough the
field, to sow the seed and water the ground.
Thus, whatever work you undertake always has an end in view. If the end is achieved, you consider the
work fruitful, and if not, you say it was pointless.
Success in the Hereafter
Bearing this in mind, let us now ask: Why should the Kalimah be recited? The obvious answer is : to
draw a distinction between a Kafir and a Muslim. But what is the nature of this distinction? Does it
mean that if a Kafir has two eyes, a Muslim will have four? Or that if a Kafir has one head, a Muslim
will have two? You will say: No. It does not mean that; it means that there should be a difference
between the end result of a Muslim’s life and a Kafir’s life. The end result of a Kafir’s life is failure: he
will be deprived of God’s mercy in that-world, in the Hereafter, and be totally wretched; while that of a
Muslim’s is success: he will win the pleasure of God and be happy and honoured there.
This-world and That-world
Your answer is correct. But now tell me: What is the nature of that-world? And, what is the meaning of
being a failure in the Heareafter? What does it mean to be successful and honoured there?
We need not delay ourselves working out the answer to the first question, for it has already been given
by the Prophet, blessings and peace be on him: ‘This-world is the cultivating ground of the Hereafter’.
This-world and the Hereafter are not two separate entities, but a continuous process. This process
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begins in this-world and ends in the Hereafter. The relationship between the two is the same as that
between cultivation and crop. You plough the land, sow the seeds, irrigate and tend field till such time
as the crop is ready. When you have reaped the harvest, you feed yourselves it throughout the year.
You will naturally reap whatever you have sown in the land. If nothing is sown, nothing will grow.
Whatever mistakes and errors you make in the course of ploughing, sowing irrigating and tending your
fields, the effect will become apparent at the time of reaping the crop. But if you have carried out all
the necessary preparations properly, you will get your reward at the time of reaping.
This is exactly the position in respect of this-world and that-world. This-world is like ground to be tilled.
Man has been sent into this field for the purpose of raising a crop for himself by his own efforts and
hard work. He has been allotted specific time---from birth till death---to do this task. Whatever type of
crop he sows will be reaped in his life beyond the grave, and that produce will be the mainstay of his
life in the Hereafter.
If you have sown good seed in the field of this-world throughout your lives and have nourished it with
water and careful supervision, you will find the fruits of your labours ready in the next life in the shape
of beautiful gardens. You will be able to live happily on the fruits of the garden you have cultivated so
assiduously throughout your earthly lives; you will not need to do any further hard work. This is
Paradise, this is the success, the state of gratification in the Hereafter.
In contrast to this, if you sow thorns and grow bitter and poisonous plants during your lives on earth,
you will reap a similar crop in the next life. You will not be given a second chance to grow a good crop
and will have no choice but to sustain yourselves on the bad crop. You will have to lie on the bed of
thorns which you have nurtured, and eat
The bitter, poisonous fruits you have grown. This is what is meant by being wretched and unsuccessful
in the Hereafter.
Success in That-world
The same meaning of the Hereafter as I have described is given in the Qur’an and the Hadith. This
shows that the success or failure of a man in the life after death depends on whether his knowledge and
actions have been correct during his life on earth.
From the above it follows that the difference between Muslims and Kafirs in the Hereafter is determined
by the difference which existed between them in the patterns of their lives on earth. Unless there is a
difference between the knowledge and actions of a Muslim and Kafir in this-world there can be no
difference between their ultimate states in the Hereafter. It is impossible that the knowledge and
actions of a Muslim be the same as those of a Kafir without his suffering the fate that is destined for a
Kafir.
True Purpose of the Kalimah
You said earlier that the purpose of reciting the Kalimah was to differentiate between the end results of
a Kafir and a Muslim. Now, having discussed further the nature of the end result and of the Hereafter,
we will have to rephrase your answer. Now you will have to say that the purpose of reciting the
Kalimah is to set right man’s knowledge and actions here in this-world so that ultimately he attains
happiness in that-world. This Kalimah teaches us to plant that garden whose fruits we will pick in the
Hereafter. If we do not believe in the Kalimah how can we plant the garden and from where will we pick
its fruits in the Hereafter? And if we merely utter the words of the Kalimah without it correcting our
knowledge and if our actions too remain the same as if we had not uttered it.
Would you, then, not agree that it is pointless to utter the Kalimah without letting it change our
thoughts and deeds? There is no reason why our fates in this case should be different from those of
Kafirs. We do not put God under any obligation by merely uttering the Kalimah. If we do not learn how
to plant a garden, and instead sow thorns all our lives, we cannot expect to inherit a flourishing garden
with fruits in the next world. Several examples are before you to show that it is meaningless to do
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something if an identical outcome would result if you had done nothing. Medicine is not medicine if a
patient’s condition remains the same after using it. In the same way, if a Kalimah reciter’s knowledge
and actions remain the same as those of a non-reciter, such a recital is meaningless. If no difference
exists between the lives of Kafirs and Muslims on earth, how can there be any difference between their
lives in the Hereafter?
What Does the Kalimah Teach Us?
What, then, is the nature of the knowledge which the Kalimah Tayyibah imparts to us? And what
difference takes place between the actions of a Muslim and a Kafir after acquiring this knowledge?
One: Submission to Allah. The first thing that you learn from this Kalimah is that you are slaves of
Allah, and of Allah alone. Fully understand this profound truth, and you will be automatically led to the
realization that, in this world, you must live according to the will be tantamount to rebellion against
your Master.
Two: Obedience to the Prophet. The second thing that you learn from the Kalimah is that Muhammad,
blessings and peace be on him, is the Messenger of Allah. Having learnt this, it immediately becomes
self-evident that, to grow flowers and fruits in this world instead of thorns and poisonous plants, you
have to plant your gardens as he has taught you. If you follow his way, you will reap a fine harvest in
the Hereafter; but if you act against his way, you will grow thorns in this world and reap only thorns in
the Hereafter.
Actions Must Accord With Knowledge
When you have acquired this knowledge it is essential that your actions should be in conformity with it.
If you believe that you have to die one day, that after death there is another life, and that in that life
you will have to sustain yourselves solely on that crop which you produced in this world before leaving
it, then it is scarcely possible for you to deviate from the path shown by the Prophet, blessings and
peace be on him. Why do you cultivate your fields in this world? Simply because no crops will grow
unless you do and that without a crop you will die of starvation. If you have not been certain of this, if
you had thought that a crop could grow without cultivation, or that you could satisfy your hunger
without crops, you would never have laboured to cultivate the fields. In other words, your actions
accorded with your knowledge.
Judge your position with respect to the Kalimah in like manner. You assert that you accept God as your
Master and the Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, as Gods’s Messenger. You also affirm belief
in life after death. Why should, then, your actions run counter to Quranic teachings and the Prophet’s
Sunnah? Such undoubtedly is the result of weak faith. If you really have faith that your fate in the
Hereafter depends on your behaviour in this life, you would never risk being negligent in living as God
wills you to live. Only someone who does not really believe that what he is sowing will produce thorns
and that these thorns will cause him harm would do such a thing. You never pick up embers in your
hand knowingly because you know that they will burn you. Only children put their hands in the fire
because they do not know what will happen.
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Fundamentals of Islam - part I

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Fundamentals of Islam - part I