The Islamic Religion
The Islamic religion is a heavenly guidance sent by the Exalted Allah to the earth to lead man to his goodness and happiness in the present life and in the Hereafter.
To be acquainted with the aspects of the guidance of Islamic religion to man, we have to know that they are three:
First aspect: Islam adjusts man's behavior, his exterior deeds among people by discipling his outside appearance as well as his body, and leads him to the best conduct..
Second aspect: Islam purifies the interior of man and gets him out of confusion that brings him ease at heart, and bestows on him good manners.
Third aspect: Islam promotes man to the truth of the Oneness of the Exalted Allah, then it places him in a state of communication, love and intimacy with his Lord.
The history of religion began from the time of creating the first man, Adam. The Exalted Allah said: "And He taught Adam" (Al Baqarah, 31), and " Then Adam received words from his Lord " (Al Baqarah, 37).
Then Messengers (PBUTH) came, one by one, to remind man of this religion that he had forgotten.
The Exalted Allah said: "The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah the which We have sent by inspiration to thee and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus; namely, that ye should remain steadfast in Religion, and make no divisions therein: to those who worship other things than Allah, hard is the {way} to which thou callest them. Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides to Himself those who turn {to Him}" "Ash Shura, 13).
All Messengers (PBUTH) shared in directing man to the same contents of the two aspects, i.e., the second and the third, while the first aspect that implies rules disciplining man's behavior was different and developed among them according to the different circumstances in which man lived throughout the successive epochs. Consequently, man was addressed according to what befitted him in every period.
When the Exalted Allah wanted to guide man in the last period, He sent the Seal of Messengers, Muhammad (PBUH), and with him the Qur'an was sent so that this Holy Book continues in directing man on the earth to the last period. The first aspect of Allah's religion that disciplines man's behavior and his outward deeds indicates the rules of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh).
Man cannot be righteous, or performing his task in the best way unless he makes use of the three aspects of religion simultaneously.
The great confusion, weakness and loss of human task in the Islamic countries we witness today is the result of the Muslims' remoteness from being guided by the three aspects of religion simultaneously, for they accept some of them and abandon others.
Man should necessarily be guided by religious guidance in a community so that he realizes this benefit perfectly well. He should not seek this guidance individually.
The Exalted Allah created man as a social creature. Therefore prisons are established to separate the evil persons from other good ones.
The existence of man in a community, the members of which have common aim of benefiting from the guidance of this religion, is better than his individual attempts to attain that benefit.
Our Prophet (PBUH) said: "Being in a community is mercy, and separating from it is torment" (narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad).
He (PBUH) also said: "Allah's Hand is upon the community" (narrated by Nasa'I in his Sunan).
In another version: "Allah's Hand is with the community"
He (PBUH) also said: "The devil intends to allure the one and the two, but when they are three, he abstains from alluring them" (Narrated by Ad Dailami).
The following Hadith emphasizes the above mentioned: "The one is a devil (there is a devil with the one), and the two are two devils, but the three are a convoy" (transmitted by Al Hakem in his Mustadrak, from Abu Hurairah, and Assiyuti also mentioned it in his book, Al Jame' As Saghir).
He (PBUH) also said: "If one is pleased to live in the spaciousness of Paradise, let him adhere to the community, for the devil is with the one, but he is far from the two" (transmitted by Ad Dailami from Ibn Omar, in Kanz Al 'Ummal, Hadith No. 1-33, and by Ahmad in his Musnad in a long Hadith).
Some have the illusion that realization of religious guidance took place at the time of the Prophet (PBUH in a specific community and supporting circumstances, after which this realization becomes difficult to attain because of the emergence of novelties that surround man in the present time. But this wrong notion is refuted by the Prophet's (PBUH) ensured Hadith by many lines of transmission (transmission of the Hadith is mentioned in the Book, Iqtita' As Sirat Al Mustaqim):
" A group of my Ummah will continue to fight for truth until the Hour is established" (Transmitted by Muslim and other transmitters of the Sunan).
He (PBUH) also said: "My Ummah is like rain. the Exalted Allah makes goodness in its beginning as well as in its ending" (see index of Al Jame' As Saghir).
In another version: "My Ummah is like rain . You don't know whether its beginning or its end brings more goodness" (transmitted by At Tirmidhi).
He (PBUH) also said: "Islam initiated as something strange, and it would revert to its {old position} of being strange. so good tidings for the strangers who repair my Sunnah that people corrupt after me" (transmitted by At Tirmidhi).
The above mentioned indicates that the guidance of religion is verified at all times through an assembly that satisfies the Exalted Allah.
Al Miqdad Ibn As Aswad narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said:
"There will be no one on the earth, whether inhabitants of cities or Bedouins, but will be acquainted with the word of Islam" (transmitted by Ahmad, At Tabarani and others).
Tamim Ad Dari narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "This matter will reach as far as the night and the day reach, and the Exalted Allah will not leave people living in city houses or in desert tents but make them embrace this religion" (transmitted by Ahmad, At Tabarani, Al Hakem and others).
We might ask ourselves the following question: Where should man begin if he seeks guidance?
The answer is that man begins this process after he rises above the level of the material circle. The irreligious man is usually greatly interested in the material. Consequently, he seeks the satisfaction of bodily pleasures and self conceit by means of accumulating wealth, satisfying lusts in any possible way, and dominating people till this becomes his prior desire, and the major aim in his life.
There is a difference between man's getting his necessary needs after which he aspires to what is more sublime and ideal, and the one whose major and most important aim is getting these material gains. Marrying, drinking and eating, or living in a comfortable house does not mean that man is cut from being a perfect human being. But attaining human perfection is stipulated by the fact that man should not make realizing these matters his major aim in life.
Consequently, the way of promotion begins with the emergence of a human purpose that raises man above these material purposes.
In the Holy Qur'an, the Exalted Allah said: "Therefore shun those who turn away from Our Message and desire nothing but the life of this world" (An Najm, 29).
And:" If any do wish for the transitory things {of this life}, We readily grant them such things as We will, to such persons as We will; in the end We shall provide Hell for them; they will burn therein, disgraced and rejected" (Al Isra', 18).

This sublime aim that precedes the ordinary customary aims in man does not appear unless man believes that he has a Creator Who created him and has bestowed His favors upon him; when man believes that after this worldly life there is another life in which there is the House of bliss called Paradise, and there is also the House of misery called Hell Fire.
When the Exalted Allah sent our Master, Muhammad (PBUH) and charged him with the mission of calling people to the Exalted Allah, He said to him: "And verily the Hereafter will be better for thee than the present" (Ad Duha, 4).
Man cannot transcend his customary purposes to attain his new sublime purpose unless he sets out from the principle that says: the Hereafter into which he is going to depart is far better than the present life he lives in.
When a feeling of this invisible expected world in the inner heart of man arises, then man recognizes the good treatment of his Creator when He creates him as a sound human being, and bestows on him too many favors, and promises to give him many greater expected graces. After this recognition, he might find a higher and more sublime purpose than the purpose he gets when he is attached to the promised bliss of the Hereafter, and he might feel a kind of love towards that Benefactor Who created him and honored him. He might find eagerness in his heart to know Him. Consequently, he will be promoted into a purpose that will go past all worldly purposes as well as the purposes of the Hereafter. This might happen when man seeks his Lord..
The Exalted Allah said:
" So give what is due to kindred, the needy, and the wayfarer. That is best for those who seek the Countenance, of Allah, and it is they who will prosper" (Ar Rum, 38).
This testimony of perfect prosperity of those who seek Allah suffices. They are the type of human beings who are attached to absolute truth. Consequently, all their purposes become subordinated to this attachment.
Addressing our Master, Muhammad (PBUH), the Exalted Allah said: "And keep thy soul content with those who call on their Lord morning and evening, seeking his face" (Al Kahf, 28).
Imam Al Juneid (MBUH) said: "Most of the hindrances, obstacles and preventives are caused by corrupted beginning. In the beginning of his going into the path of Allah, the Disciple of the Creed needs determined intention by purifying this intention from the motives of the whim and whatever is connected with the worldly self-interests, so that his going out be purely for the sake of the Exalted Allah".
Abi Hurairah narrated that a man said to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH): "A man wants to fight in the cause of Allah, but he aims at some worldly interest".
The Prophet (PBUH) said: "He will not be rewarded".
People found this too hard and believed that the man did not make the Prophet (PBUH) understand his purpose, so they advised him to go back to the Prophet (PBUH) and repeat his question.
The man went back to the Prophet (PBUH) and repeated the same question, but the Prophet (PBUH) gave him the same answer. People advised him to go back for the third time, but the Prophet's answer was the same. (transmitted by Abu Dawud).
The Hadith does not mean that the holy fighter should not accept any booty. It rather means that the holy fighter should not be attached to the material. His purpose should be only to fight for the sake of Allah without any other purpose to share his first purpose.
In His Holy Book, the Exalted Allah said: "He is the living {One}; there is no god but He; call upon Him, giving Him sincere devotion" (Ghafer, 65).
In The Book of Wisdom, by Ibn 'Ata' As Sakandari, 'Ata' (MBUH), said: "In your despairing, you are a free man; but in your coveting, you are a slave".
Is it fitting for man to be a slave to other than his Lord? Consequently, his provision should not be from other than his Lord.
After all that, when man's purpose becomes pure and sound, and he is promoted above being attached to his material will, what are the practical steps in his way to perfect his humanity and become close to his Lord?
The answer is that the way to closeness is:
- Knowledge,
- good deeds,
- good manners,
- verification.
As for knowledge ( one of the stipulations in the way to closeness to Allah), it is advisable for the believer to be acquainted with the doctrines and the practical religious rules ordained by the Exalted Allah, some of which are:
Types of worship including dealings, the rules of the permitted and the unpermitted. After knowledge, there comes good deeds.
Thus, the believers should give up what the Exalted Allah prohibits, and do what the Exalted Allah orders and permits him to do. He should keep on performing congregational prayer, and abandon the bad fellow, call his heart to account if he finds himself inclined to them, and accompany the one who shares him this pure intention.
companionship means that one feels ease deep in his heart toward the one whom he accompanies. Sharing people in work, in dealings and in their invocation to the Exalted Allah is not considered companionship. Companionship is when one has an influence on the other's heart. In other words, when one's heart becomes inclined to the wrong-doer, he will be his companion, but if he denounces the other's deed, he will not be so. Consequently, companionship is based on agreement of the hearts.
If the Disciples of the Creed gather with agreement of the hearts, they will have good companionship, but if they gather without it, good comradeship will not be realized, in spite of the fact that their bodies are assembled in one place.
The best thing they gather for is the mentioning of: "There is no deity but Allah".
Imam Ahmad, At Tabarani and Al Bazzaz, from Shaddad, transmitted the following Hadith:
"We were at the Prophet (PBUH). He said: ' Is there any stranger among you'I. They said: 'No, Messenger of Allah'. Then he ordered us to close the door, and said: 'Raise your hands and say, 'There is no deity but Allah'. We raised our hands for an hour.
Then the Prophet (PBUH) lowered his hand and said:
"Thanks to Allah. Oh Allah, You sent me with this word, commanded me by it, and promised me Paradise for it, and You never break Your promise".
Then he (PBUH) said: "Shall I give you good tidings that Allah has forgiven your sins. Renew your faith by saying repeatedly: 'There is no deity but Allah'."
Al Haythami (NBUH) in Majma' Az Zawa'id said that his men were all well trusted.
Ahmad, in his Musnad, and Al Hakem in his Mustadrak transmitted the Hadith from Abi Hurairah who said:
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: 'Renew your faith by saying 'There is no deity but Allah repeatedly'.
In Al Jami' As Saghir, As Suyuti said it is a sound Hadith
In another version, the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Renew your faith".
They said: "Oh Messenger of Allah, how can we do that?".
He said: "Say repeatedly 'there is no deity but Allah'."
The believer should do that in addition to good deeds and good manners, i.e., by being humble to people, not arrogant with them. He should be with his fellows against himself, and not vice versa. He should ascribe fault to himself and never hurt the feelings of a brother by saying an abominable word or do him wrong by bad treatment.
The Messenger of Allah said: "You cannot win people by your wealth, so befriend them by smiling to them and (treating them in) good manners" (transmitted by Al Bazzaz, Abu Ya'la and At Tabarani.
The Prophet (PBUH) also said: " On the Doomsday, nothing is better in the Balance than good manners, and man can get the rank of the ever fasting and ever praying by his good manners".
In another version: "But the bad manners of a person leads him to the bottom of Hell Fire".
The Exalted Allah said:
" But those who before them, had homes {in Medina} and had adopted the Faith, show their affection to such as came to them for refuge, and entertain no desire in their hearts for things given to the {latter}, but give them preference over themselves, even though poverty was their {own lot}. And those saved from the covetousness of their own souls, they are the ones that achieve prosperity" (Al Hashr, 9).‏
If the believer is patient with his rough fellows; if he thanks them for their good deeds; and if he is satisfied with gathering with them on what pleases the Exalted Allah, this will be a door that would be open for him to lead him to the satisfaction of the Exalted Allah Who would make him patient at affliction that might befall him, thankful for the favors the Exalted Allah might bestow on him, and satisfied with what the Exalted Allah has allotted to him, after which, he would be promoted from acquiring good manners with his fellows in his treatment with them into acquiring good manners with his Lord in his treatment with Him, which is a door through which he would enter into verification.
The beginning of verification is constant awareness of Allah, i.e., he feels as if the Exalted Allah saw him in all situations.
The Exalted Allah said:" Who seeth thee standing forth (in prayer)" (Ash Shu'ara', 218).
He also said:" Knoweth he not that Allah doth see?" (Al 'Alaq, 14).
If this man is verified with the state of constant awareness of Allah, he will be in constant remembering of the Name of the Exalted Allah that includes the meaning: "But keep in remembrance the name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him wholeheartedly. {He is} Lord of the East and the West; there is no god but He; take Him therefore for {thy} Disposer of Affairs" (Al MUzzammel, 8-9).
Only then, the interior of the believer will be purified from every turbidity, and he will be acquainted with his Lord. Consequently, he will taste the meaning of the Exalted Allah's love and closeness. At this stage, the universe will be non-existing to him because of the great shining of the lights of monotheism on his heart. When he returns to see the universe again, he will realize it as stable by the support of Allah to it. In this state, love will flare up, and cordiality will become undisturbed, then he will understand the words of the lovers.
I shall choose some of the lovers' words for the reader from the tunes of Mawlana, Jalalid Din Ar Rumi. So listen to them by your heart and not by your ears:
In separation, the ardent lover is like a name that is void of meaning.

But the meaning of ardent love dispenses with names

Oh my beloved, you are like a sea and I am like a fish, so hold me in the way you like
Have you seen a fish become sated with this sea,? Have you seen an ardent lover ever become sated with this ardent love?
If an leader said: "Go this way", what do you want me to say. I shall stand before him holding my sword and say to him bending my head as an immolation and say to him: "I might be bothering, so cut my head".
I shall say: "You are my soul, without which I cannot know how to live. You are my eyes, and without You I have no eyes to see
Songs are straws on the surface of the sea, but the invaluable does not appear on the surface of the sea.
All the songs are nothing but a branch of eagerness.
And the branch and the stem are unequal.
Close your mouth, and open the window of your heart.
In this way, be the singer of the souls.
Yesterday, I gave a star a message to you
I said to it, give my greetings to that face of the illuminated moon.
I prostrated and said to it: "convey this prostration to that sun whose light changes the rock into gold
I said to it: "transmit my news to the beloved who will be delighted by the shedding of my blood
I swung right and left so that the baby of my heart be soothed.
The baby usually sleeps when you swing its cradle
So give the baby of the heart milk and free us from rotation and swinging.
Oh you, who in every instant you relieve a hundred poor like me.
(End of the chosen lines from Ar Rumai tunes) .