ISLAM AS A FAITH

There are many ways to understand Islam. Each of these ways has a perspective behind it which in most cases is tied to some sectarian bias or other vested interest motivations. So one may have a Sunni, Shiite or Sufi version of Islam. Sometimes these perspectives are also tied to the vested interests of political groups trying to legitimise their positions of power. So in many Muslim states, such as Saudi Arabia, one can come across propagation of "state" Islam which is needed to justify the existence of the Saudi dynasty. There are also Orientalist versions of Islam - which is the way Western academics have interpreted Islam for their colonial governments of contemporary Western powers. In the last century and early 20th century, there was also a missionary interpretation which sought to discredit it in order to propagate Christianity. Their forebears in early medieval times considered it a heresy and initiated the Crusades. Some of these trends are still found - particularly the sectarian, state Islam and orientalist versions.

The sectarian approach weaves Islam round the interpretation of some scholar, state Islam exposes interpretations of its state funded Ulama which propagates the "5 pillar approach" - which advocates separation of religion from state power and the orientalists who label Islam as "fundamentalist " because it opposes Western exploitation of Muslim states. What is needed is an interpretation which is above such vested interests. Such an approach must encompass both the micro-level aspects (rituals) as well as the macro-level aspects (objectives) of Islam' secondly, both these aspects must contain within themselves the substance (essential core of Islam) and its methodology (how it is attained). Thirdly, such an approach must be based not on some vested interest, but on the primary and secondary sources of Islam. These are:

(a) The Qur'an: The Qur'an is the holy book containing revelations to the Prophet during the 23 years before his death.

The Sunnah: This is the practice of the Prophet showing the way he behaved in different situations.

(c) The Hadith: These are the sayings of the Prophet on all aspects of human existence.

Fourthly, the approach must be such that it is beyond doubt of its Islamic credentials from the sources stated above.

The Conceptual Approach

The approach taken to understand Islam as a religion is a conceptual approach. It revolves around five core concepts of Islam: Iman (faith), Amal (Islamic Action), Ummah (Community of Islam), Adl Oustice) and jihad (struggle). Faith (Iman) is the vertical dimension and represents the individual's relationship with God (Allah) while Amal (Islamic action) represents the horizontal dimension, i.e. the individual's relationship with fellow humans, society and humanity at large, encompassing Ummah, Adl and jihad. The vertical and horizontal are connected as the structural frame of Islam giving rise to the basic principle of Islam; that an individual's relationship with Allah (God) is determined by his/her relationship with fellow humans/society.

Iman and Beliefs
A Muslim is a person who has Iman. The foundation of Iman is in the Kalima ash Shadadah (Creed of the faith) which states: I witness there is no god but God and I witness Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Belief in God and Muhammad automatically leads to belief in the Qur'an - the Holy Book sent through Muhammad as revelation (Waby) for mankind. Anyone who believes in these three is a Muslim.

Iman in Allah also implies belief in Tawbid (oneness of God). It is a covenant which Muslims made with God (16: 91) and only death can end this bond in this world. In Tawbid, Muslims surrender to God which is the meaning of Islam (3: 19) and show a loving obedience to God through their lives until death (7: 160).

Belief in the Qur'an is a commitment to what is contained in the book. In addition to Tawhid, the Muslim also believes in (1) the angels of God, (2) the books of God, (3) the Prophets mentioned in Bible and Torah, (4) the Day of Resurrection, (5) the Day o judgement. Belief in the Qur'an also is belief in the Prophethood (Risalat) of Muhammad. This belie entails acknowledgement that Muhammad was the last Prophet and that with him religion was perfected and prophethood ended. No more prophets would come after him.

Iman and Rituals

To reinforce Iman, four important rituals have been prescribed. Prayers (Salab), Fasting (Sawm), welfare contribution (Zakah) and pilgrimage (Hajj).

Prayers: Every Muslim has to remember God by offering prayers at dawn (Fajr), after midday (Zuhr), late afternoon (Asr), after sunset (Maghrib) and night prayer (Isha).

Fasting: This is prescribed from dawn to sunset during the ninth month of Ramadan of the Islamic calendar. The fast ends through the festival Idd ul-Fitr - a happy occasion for Muslim families and children.

Welfare contribution: Compulsory payment of 2.5 % from one's annual savings is prescribed.

Pilgrimage: This is obligatory on Muslims who can afford it once in a lifetime. It commemorates the sacrifice of Abraham when he was asked by God to sacrifice his son Ishmael.During the festival of Idd ulAdba animals are sacrificed to mark the occasion and food distributed to the poor.

These four rituals are to be treated not as ends in themselves but as means to an end. As a means to an end, the rituals, by reinforcing Irnan, expresses itself through Amal. A Muslim is not a person who says his/her prayers and that is all. A Muslim is much more than that for prayer is a means to give him/her the strength to execute the action prescribed in the Qur'an. Prayer is communion with God to grant success in the world of action. Fasting is to experience hunger itself in order to help others who are less fortunate than oneself. Welfare contribution is to support the less fortunate in one's community. These can be widows, the orphans, poor, the sick, the wayfarer, the homeless, etc. The last ritual, the pilgrimage (Hajj), is most important. The various acts performed in the Hajj collectively are to reinforce the Islamic bond among Muslims who come to perform Hajj from all over the world. By collectively gathering in one place - the ritual reinforces the solidarity and unity of Muslims irrespective of their status and different experiences in life.

Amal as social empowerment

Irnan without Amal (Islamic action) is not Islam. Amal empowers Muslims through Iman to act for the welfare of Muslims, society and humanity at large for Islam is a universal religion. The Qur'an empowers each Muslim by appointing them as the viceregent of Allah on earth (2: 30). As viceregents (Khalifas) "the believers" men and women, are protecting friends, one another, they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong" (9: 71). If only Ibadat of Allah was the goal, then Islam would have sanctioned priesthood and monkhood. Amal is the social arena of good deeds. The Qur'anic message regarding good deeds is clear. Good deeds annul bad deeds (1 1: 114). Intervention in a good cause is recommended (4: 85). Neither wealth nor children will bring the Muslim closer to God but only good deeds (35: 37). Prophet Muhammad's Hadith brings out clearly the relationship between Irnan and Arnal when he says: "None of you has Iman unless the Muslim desires for his brother what he desires for himself'.

Iman must therefore lead to Amal in the social arena. Muslims may tend to do things for Islam but fail to realise that Islam is an organised system as a blueprint of life encompassing all areas. By empowerment Islam does not mean to do one's own thing. Such actions will not be effective if done without organised effort. The Sunnah of the Prophet shows he organised the first group of Muslims (Sahaba - companions) after receiving revelation (Waby).

Ummah as the social unit of action

The formation of the Ummah is the first duty of Muslims. It is the unifying force. It creates solidarity in the group through Iman. The Qur'an strongly enjoins "Hold tight to the rope of Allah and never separate" (3: 103). Through social interaction with other Muslims, the Muslim's Iman is being constantly perfected.

The Ummah can be small, comprising two or more persons or can be as large as a society. The Ummah can be local (doing good deeds within the locality), national (doing good deeds within the state) and global (helping Muslims across the boundaries of one's state). As a unit of action, it aims to push Islamic social change with objectives which will bring about Islamic renewal locally, nationally and globally. Ummah therefore is the methodology of Islamic change.

The Qur'an recognises that Muslim societies can become corrupted internally through munafiqs (hypocrites), through secular forces (Kafirs). In the current state of the Muslim societies, the picture is not rosy for both the munafiqs and kafirs are subverting Muslims. These subversions have created a crisis in Muslim societies: the crisis of social justice.

Adl as justice for all

The Ummah as the action of social unit has to have a central agenda, the agenda for it has been spelled out in the Qur'an:

"And there may spring from you a nation (Ummah) who invite to goodness, and enjoy right conduct andforbid indecency. Such are they who are successful" (3: 104).

"And if Allah had not repelled some men by others the earth would have been corrupted" (2: 251).

"How should ye not fight for the cause of Allah and of the feeble among men and of the women and the children when they are crying: Our Lord! Bring us forth from out of this town of which the people are oppressors! Oh, give us from thy presence some protecting friend..." (4: 75).

What these verses are pointing out is that the Ummah's foremost purpose is to advocate justice (Adl) in Muslim societies. In fact the Qur'an advocates taking up the cause of justice when it states "And of those whom we created there is a nation (Ummah) who guide with the Truth and establish justice (Adi) therewith"(7:181). The Qur'an asks Muslims to he "staunch in justice" (4: 135). In the face of any injustices the Qur'an demands justice (7: 29). Such injustices which have created a crisis in Muslim society are of a political, economic education, legal nature, etc.

The contrast is between the rich and the poor. Poverty, malnutrition, etc. are the lot of the oppressed. Islam does not compromise with such oppression. justice is the hallmark of Muslim society and if it does not manifest itself, it reflects on the nature of Iman and the Amal of the Muslims in that society. It is not surprising then that a hadith depicts such people by the observation: "As you are so will you have rulers placed over you". The Ummah groups in Muslim societies which advocate social justice more often than not conflict with the hidden agendas of the state authorities. They pose a threat to the political elites who then try to persecute or purge such groups. Such actions are confusing to many non-Muslims given the conceptual frame of Islam which is being explained through the five concepts - it should be clear that each of these concepts has the force of a doctrine for human existence.

All religions are confronted with kinds of social injustice in their societies. Such injustices are not peculiar to Muslim societies only. The question therefore posed before the adherents of each religion is: should they stand by as spectators in the face of such injustices or should they come to the rescue of victims? In Western societies, religions have been separated from the state and find it difficult to intervene. In Islam, they. have been empowered to intervene. Goodness comes from God and corruption on earth comes from human beings (4: 79) and such corruption has to be overcome through good deeds (11: 114). The quality of Iman is judged by the effectiveness of action (amal) when the Qur'an states: "Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts ".

jihad as the dynamics of the faith

If the advocacy of injustices has not brought results -then Islam fights back. The concept of jibad (struggle) is the dynamics of the faith. The strength of the Muslims' Iman is tested for the Qur'an states very clearly: "These who believe do battle for the cause of Allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols, so fight the minions of the devil!" (4: 76). This is just one of the verses in the Qur'an sending the message of resistance.

jihad can be of many kinds. The struggle for justice can be fought on many fronts or levels, such as the political, the economic, the educational, the intellectual, etc. That is why acquiring knowledge (ilm) is important and the Qur'an advocates it (20: 114). But equally such jihad can be engaged in an armed conflict to redress the wrongs done to the people (22: 39) by waging war. jihad as war is of course the last resort for Muslims. But it is an option open to every Muslim to give one's life for his faith and achieve the status of Shaheed (martyr) (2:154).

jihad is one aspect of Islam which has been misrepresented in the West throughout the centuries. It was commonly interpreted as "holy war". There is no such thing as holy war in Islam. The concept of jihad if forced to engage in offensive or defensive warfare can be likened to the "'just war" concept. It cannot be engaged in for any other reason and if the enemy tilts towards peace, all hostilities must cease. It is not a war for war's sake, nor is killing permissible unless Muslims are being killed. Taking of life is treated with extreme seriousness as the Qur'an states: "Whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind" (5: 32). Equally, Islam does not permit anyone to go on a rampage of tyranny, oppression, pillage and murder of innocents.

The Qur'an expects the Muslims to be the best example for mankind when it says: You are the best community that has been raised up for mankind" (3: 1 10). But the Muslims cannot become the best unless their faith is constantly renewed. As a religion the whole dynamic of Islam is through the transition from Iman to Amal.

Asaf Hussain