Come to Common Terms

The world is divided today. People are divided into multiple groups by their identifying with particular religion, sect, nation and races. Almost every individual seems to be divided from others into a particular identity, a particular corner of his or her own making. There is very little common between people of same religious, national and ethnic background. However, irrespective of all the labels and discursive constructions, the truth is that in reality there are only two major groups in the world. One is the group of people that believe in God and the other is the one that does not believe.

Of the groups that identify with a religion, many are such that they exhibit more faith in their own personalized judgements and they try to make the religion say what they want it to say. Most often these people carelessly take liberties regarding God and fabricate concepts and beliefs regarding Him. These people arrive at false beliefs about God by means of their own reasoning and believe that all such understanding is from Him. Moreover, the common man is too afraid to think about death and afterlife to confront facts about God and His religion seriously. Although, as human beings we all sail in the same boat and we all have to die. The false priests or the leaders that are thinking for us today and modify our judgements are not going to die for us, neither are they going to come with us after our death. Since we have been provided with judgements and understanding, it appears strange that we remain confined to particular beliefs and groups without searching for the truth itself.

Among all the religions of the world, Islam is characteristically different and serious regarding its approach and applicability. It is not the religion of priests, however, it is the religion of the One who sent his very own words to us in a book form in shape of Quran. Every individual upon earth who fears the wrath of God and is serious in his or her search for the God, ought to read this book at least once in his lifetime because the wrath of God is not a thing to be taken lightly. All the believing people of the world, be they Christians, Muslims or Jews or any other sect ought to read this book because all the believers have the same goal, that is to seek the truth and die as the beloved of the God. A believing, God fearing person never fabricates things of his own making and never ascribes false beliefs to God. There are people that say all religions are true. Had those people that say all religions are true feared God, they would have sought a proof from the God itself wherein God would have said so to them. Nowhere upon earth does one find an authentic verified proof wherein God might have said that all religions are true and would have allowed us to do what we wish to do with our lives. However, Quran mentions that we ought to do only what Allah wants us to do and for that we have to see what his prophet Muhammad (pbuh) told us to do and told us as to how should we live our lives, both individually as well as socially. Although he was just a human being and did not claim divinity, but he was the messenger of Allah and Allah revealed to him all that he wanted us to follow and do. This is what Allah ordered him to tell the believers:

(Chapter 46 verse 9 & 10)

Al Quran Chapter 72- Verse 20-26

Besides this, prophet Muhammed (pbuh) was just a messenger and a human being like us. The difference being that he received the revelation of God just as all the prophets had received the same before him. He did not order us anything new to do, what he ordered was already there and every prophet before him had done the same. But since their messages had been corrupted by false priests, God would always send a new messenger and the last of them all is Muhammed (pbuh). In this way, there is very little difference between people of other religions and Muslims, since all believe in one God and believe in his prophets. The little difference that exists ought to be sorted out and resolved for the betterment of humanity. Not because I think so but because God warns us in Quran about difference and misconceptions about hereafter and warns us to refrain from having false hopes and beliefs about God.

Qur'an 3:19-20 Surah Ale-'Imran

3:64-71   Surah Ale-'Imran (The Family of 'Imran)

The beginning of Quranic revelation

Narrated `Aisha:

(the mother of the faithful believers) The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Apostle was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright day light, and then the love of seclusion was bestowed upon him. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship (Allah alone) continuously for many days before his desire to see his family. He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food likewise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read. The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, 'Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists) has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous." (96.1, 96.2, 96.3)

Then Allah's Apostle returned with the Inspiration and with

his heart beating severely. Then he went to Khadija bint

Khuwailid and said, "Cover me! Cover me!" They covered him till his fear was over and after that he told her everything

that had happened and said, "I fear that something may happen to me." Khadija replied, "Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your Kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist the deserving calamity.afflicted ones." Khadija then accompanied him to her cousin Waraqa bin Naufal bin Asad [??] bin `Abdul `Uzza, who, during the pre Islamic Period became a Christian and used to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write. He was an old man and had lost his eyesight. Khadija said to Waraqa, "Listen to the story of your nephew, O my cousin!" Waraqa asked, "O my nephew! What have you seen?" Allah's Apostle described whatever he had seen. Waraqa said, "This is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn you out." Allah's Apostle asked, "Will they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone (man) who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain Alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly." But after a few days Waraqa died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while. Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah Al.Ansari while talking about the period of pause in revelation reporting the speech of the Prophet "While I was

walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the sky. I looked up and saw the same angel who had visited me at the cave of Hira' sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I got afraid of him and came back home and said, 'Wrap me (in blankets).' And then Allah revealed the following Holy Verses (of Qur'an): 'O you (i.e. Muhammad)! wrapped up in garments!' Arise and warn (the people against Allah's Punishment),... up to 'and desert the idols.' (74.1.5) After this the revelation started coming strongly, frequently and regularly." 

This was the start of a revelation that was later on compiled into a book form called as Quran. Almost 1420 years have passed since the revelation of Quran and the world progressed immensely in all aspects of life. Science progressed immensely and so did human understanding. Is it not a sign clear enough for those that do not believe in Muhammed as God's messenger that even today we do not find a single conflict in Quran although when it was revealed so little was known about the world and universe. Can any human being write a book that could have stood this test.

Balancing between “Tawakkul” in Allah and human efforts

As Muslims, we are to completely trust Allah (have “Tawakkul”) for all our affairs. We also believe that Allah’s will can supersede our plans. However, this does not mean that we should not plan and work based on what Allah has blessed us in knowledge, intelligence, and free will. Common sense, as well as Islamic teachings, tells us that we are to fully employ those God-granted faculties thanking Allah of what he has provided us, without feeling proud and arrogant about those abilities. We see an example of this from the Quran where it tells us that when Prophet Yaqub sent his sons to Egypt, he advised them as a precautionary measure to enter from different gates of the city lest they be mistaken as a clan or a group raising suspicions amongst the inhabitants of the city. So, we see that even as a prophet, Prophet Yaqub took all the precautionary measures that he could to prevent his sons from getting into any trouble. However, later we also learn from Surah Yousuf in the Quran that his precautionary measures were overtaken by the divine decree.





Sheikh Modudi in his tafsir describes the matter of balancing one’s free will and judgment with Allah’s trust as follows:


“Most people do not understand how Prophet Jacob (Yaqub) was able to hold the balance between “trust in Allah” and the adoption of precautionary measures. This was because Allah had favored him with the real knowledge. That was why he took all those measures which were dictated by common sense, deep thinking and experience. He admonished his sons for their ill treatment of their brother (Prophet) Yousuf so that they should not dare repeat it in the case of Benjamin. He took a solemn pledge from them in the name of AIlah that they would take good care of the safety of their step-brother. Then he advised them to be on their guard against the dangerous political situation and to enter the capital by different gates so as not to give cause for alarm and suspicion. In short, as far as it was humanly possible, he took all the precautionary measures to avoid every possible risk. On the other hand, he always kept this thing in view (and expressed it) that no human precautionary measure could avert the enforcement of Allah’s will, and that the real protection was Allah’s protection, and that one should rely not on the precautionary measures but on the favor of AIlah. Obviously only that person who has the real knowledge can keep such a balance in his words and deeds, who knows what kind of efforts are demanded of his human faculties bestowed by Allah for the solution of worldly problems, and who also realizes that it is Allah alone who has the power to make them a success or a failure.

This is what most people do not understand. Some of them rely merely on their efforts and measures and discard trust in Allah while there are others who rely merely on ‘trust in AIlah’ and do not adopt any practical measure to solve their problems."





The lesson that we learn from the above is that we, as Muslims, should have complete faith in Allah to help us in our endeavors because without His will and help no results can come to fruition. When we completely put our trust in Allah believing that all success can come only when He intends it to be so, we can earn Allah’s pleasure. Allah tells us in the Quran:






“…Certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him).”


Quran (Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 159)


In parallel, we should also use all our God-granted faculties in every endeavor that we choose to pursue. As we know from the popular hadith that one day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin, “Why don’t you tie down your camel?” The Bedouin answered, “I put my trust in Allah.” The Prophet then said, “Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah” (At-Tirmidhi).


Finally, does the above guarantee that we will get our intended result? As Muslims, we should believe that Allah as the Lord of the worlds has far more knowledge than His creation, and out of His wisdom He may decide to supersede all our plans for reasons that only He knows. We should remind ourselves that believing in al-Qadr (Allah’s divine will and decree) is one of the pillars of Islamic faith.


Allah says in the Quran,






“No calamity befalls on the earth or in your selves but it is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfooz) before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allah.”


(Quran, Surah Al-Hadeed, Verse 22.)


So, before embarking on an effort, remind yourselves of the following:


§ Put your trust in Allah


§ Use your God-granted faculties to put in your best efforts


§ Believe in the divine decree (Qada wal-qadr)


– End