wajiha’s Reviews > In the Shade of the Qur'an Vol. 2 > Status Update

Whenever the faith of Islam begins to establish itself in any environment of ignorance, in a hostile land, which could be any land, and among hostile people, any people, it then faces a bad reception because it stands up to people's illegitimate ambitions and greed. Its followers are persecuted and chased away.

The true history of Islam is not everything that Muslims have done or achieved in their life, but it is everything they have done and accomplished in total agreement with Islam and its firmly- established values and principles. The deviations and mistakes should not be attributed to Islam or associated with it, but should be credited to the individuals or societies that were responsible for them.

What has happened to you, to your surprise, has come from your own souls, because the laws of nature set into operation by God have to apply to you. The laws of nature apply to all human beings, believers and unbelievers alike. Such laws are not suspended for a believer's sake. His faith is not complete unless he conducts his life according to God's laws.

God has committed Himself to grant victory to those who support His cause and fight to defend His faith. He, however, has made the granting of victory conditional upon certain things: that the whole concept of faith be deeply entrenched in their hearts, that the practical implications of faith manifest themselves in their organisation and behaviour and

The idolaters ascribe divinity to deities other than God. The very concept of polytheism is based on giving certain fundamental qualities to beings other than God. One of the most important of these qualities and attributes is the right to issue legislation which may affect any aspect of human life, and the right to establish values which people should implement in their community and observe in their behaviour.

Restraining anger is only the first stage; it is not sufficient on its own. A person may restrain his anger but harbour a grudge. His outward fury becomes a deeply-seated, inward rancour. Needless to say anger and fury are preferable to harbouring grudges and rancour. The Qur'anic verse emphasises that the God-fearing do not allow their anger to become a grudge. They forgive others and do not harbour any ill feelings

Islam can never be confined to a mere mental acceptance of the truth of divinity and revelation, devoid of its practical effect. Nor can Islam be limited to a set of worship practices, contemplations, or moral & spiritual education unless these are followed by their practical correlative represented by a way of life derived from God.

We note here that the term they use to describe themselves is “Muslim”, which is a reference to Islam in its broad sense, i.e. surrender to God, which is the essence of true faith.

In practice, Islam means to consider God’s book as the final arbiter and to accept its judgement. Anyone who does not do this in practice cannot be considered a Muslim, even though he may claim to be so or may claim to follow God’s religion. It is God who defines and explains His own religion. His definition and explanation does not take into account the desires or personal concepts of human beings.

“He it is Who has sent down to you the Book, containing verses which are clear and precise — and these are the essence of the Book — and others are allegorical. Those whose hearts have swerved from the truth pursue that part of it which is allegorical, seeking to create dissension and trying to give it an arbitrary meaning. None save God knows its final meaning...”