THE PATH
Only the travellers in the path of truth are able to reach the right destination. The greatest of all assets – satisfaction of Allah is achieved through this path.
This is the path to Islam. The holy prophet (sm.) described elaborately the outlines of this path during his long twenty three years of prophethood. Hazrat Mohammad (sm.) is the messenger of Allah for all ages- past, present and future. He is also the prophet of all prophets- of zins and angles too. In fact, he is the prophet of all creations of Allah.
Prophet Mohammad (sm.) is the darling of Allah- His most loving and dearest beloved. Success in both in this world and the next is subject to following him earnestly and devotedly. There is no other alternative path to reach Allah except through the path introduced and prescribed by him. The only wise is he who dedicates himself unto death in the pursuits of his ideals totally and unconditionally.
Islam is a complete religion- a perfect code of life. This is such a perfection that it neither requires nor has any scope of any addition, substitution or renovation. This faith of Islam originating at the time of Hazrat Adam (as.) grew, developed and prospered through the ages by the other prophets and saw its culmination at the time of our noble prophet. The Almighty Allah spoke thus “This day I grant perfection to your faith.”
The sole purpose of our mortal life is to reflect on and fully practise this religion in our life. This is also the command of Allah as He declares, “Oh, Believer! embrace Islam firmly and rigidly.”
This was also emphasised by the holy prophet during his last address to the faithfuls and implored thus, “Adhere strictly to two things after my departure from this world. You shall only then protect yourselves from distortion and distraction. These two things are the Holy Quran and the Hadith”(sayings and doings of the holy prophet).
We should seek the essence of our faith only from these two sources. There is no further scope to devote our heart and soul beyond these sources as dictated by the noble prophet. We are to accept only those interpretations and elucidations of the Quran and the Hadith as enunciated and propounded by and derived from the leaders of Ahle Sunnatul Jamat (devout and staunchest followers of the prophet). This is so as other astrayed groups like Shia, Motajila, Khawreji, Kadiani and Maududee also draw analogy, put up logic and evidences from the Holy Quran and the Hadith in support of their views and substantiate their contentions. Their commentary and interpretations of the Holy Quran and Hadith are devoid of truth and an outcome of their ill passions and mundane desire. Only the devout followers of the prophet strive to understand correctly and interpret the Holy Quran and Hadith fully and perfectly. The education, training and teachings of these followers are in complete accord with that of the revered companions of the holy prophet (sm.). They are also shining example of the follower of Salfe Salehin. This group is the leader of the human race in guiding them to the path of Allah. They are also the emancipated. Therefore, the most essential (farz) thing for every muslim is to correct, rectify and strengthen his basic creeds (Akida) in the light of this Jamat (Sunni jamat).
A short but precise account of these fundamental tenets and beliefs are given as under:
1. Allah is self existent. All others owe their existence to Him.
2. He is unique in His Essence (jaat), divine Attributes (seefat) and Actions (afwal). He shares these with none in any manner.
3. Like His Essence, His divine Attributes and Actions are without equivalent. As for an example, let us consider the attribute of Elm(knowledge). From the inception till the end of this world this Elm is endless, indivisible and having no substitute. All knowledge form dawn to doomsday emanate form this attribute. Allah knows everything in a single moment all the different aspects and manifestations of things both collectively as well as partly. His knowledge is free from any splitting or fragmentation and safe from being analogous to other beings. Similar is the case with other divine attributes and be considered as such. Another example is His attribute of Kalama (expression). This Seefat too is indivisible, unparallel and a lone entity. He expresses Himself in a single expression from beginning until the end of the world. Whether it is His commands, injunctions or pronoun-cement or even narration of anything –all are part of the same lone expression. Holy books like the Taurat, the Engil, the Jabbur and even the Quran, all are part and parcel of that single expression. The remainder of the divine attributes of Almighty Allah are one, indivisible, inseparable and has no parallel like His Essence(Jaat). Similarly the activities (Afwal) of Allah are one, indivisible, incomparable and unique and All His activities (creation, destruction, life, death, rise and fall) eversince the beginning to the end of this world are the manifestation of this quality.
4. Allah is neither from within nor from without anything. He encompasses, pervades and prevails in all things without associating with anyone. The concept of such association is beyond any normal human comprehension and perception. He is beyond all imagination and above any conception within the contingent world.
5. No changes or transformation take place in His Jaat (essence), Seefat (divine attributes) or Afwal (actions).
6. Allah is affluent without bounds and He is above all wants. He is so in all respects i.e. in His Jaat, Seefat, and Afwal (essence, attributes and actions respectively). He is independent of all things and depends on none. He is also absolute in all spheres i.e. existence, qualities and actions.
7. Allah is free from the clutches of harm or novelty. He has no physical existence and free from and above the influence of time, space and place. He is complete in Himself in all entirety in respect of everything.
8. Allah is without beginning and end. None qualifies or equals Him in these qualities.
9. Allah is Almighty and all wilful. He is absolutely free to exercise His will power. He is free from any compulsion. All creations are dependent on His will and power. He Himself brought all things into beings from absolute non-existence. Therefore creations are dependent on Him in respect of their existence, sustenance as well as for permanency and stability.
10. As all creations are created by Allah, so also the causes and effects in them. Let us consider the burning power of fire or curative potential of medicine. Here Allah created fire and its effect-the power of burning. In general, it is imperative to acknowledge the different potentialities inherent in matter. In the same breadth, we should assume that without the will of Allah; neither the things can exist nor their causes, effects or actions.
11. Deriving benefit from properties of matters or creations is not contradictory to the principle of absolute reliance on Allah (Tawakkal). Rather it is in the very nature of the wise to do so. As an illustration of this concept-the use of medicine to cure a disease, efforts to procure armaments to win a war or say earning to raise a family-all these are not opposed to the concept of total reliance or dependence on Allah.
12. Allah is creator of both good and evil. He is pleased with good thing and evil earns His displeasure. Human beings can only cherish and yearn. When a man wishes to do good or bad work, Allah only creates either of these according to his desire. So the act of creation is related to Allah but the choice of selection of any act depends on the free will of a man.
13. Faith in takdir (fate) is mandatory (farz). Takdir means pre-destination. Since Allah is omniscient, He certainly knows the consequences and outcomes of all actions and recorded them in advance. Advance records of consequences of all His known things are called Takdir.
14. Heaven and hell do exist. In order to be qualified for heaven, it is essential to be a true believer. In fact, entrance into heaven is dependent on the magnanimity and generousity of Almighty Allah. And true faith is His greatest gift of mankind.
15. Kufr (rejection of truth) leads to hell. Allah forgives a believer committing sin by punishing to undergo worldly sufferings. Or He pardons him by causing him to suffer at the time of death for his sins. If there is any sin after his death, He may punish him in his grave. Even after this if there remains any, Allah condones him through suffering on the day of Resurrection. If this does not suffice, man will be allowed to enter heaven after undergoing punishment proportionate to his commissions. But one who is a disbeliever or makes partner with Allah or Ahle ketab-like idolators, Jews, Christians etc. will suffer in the hell till eternity.
16. Believers will have vision of Allah in the next world. But such a vision will take place without reference and relation to any direction, illustration and conceptual bearing. Since Allah is above and beyond our apprehension so is our conception of His vision with us. Like the concept of Allah His audience with us also is beyond our comprehension and perception.
17. Advent of prophets and messengers are blessings from Allah. Men have been able to distinguish right from wrong through them. Divine communications with them are real. Anything disputing or contradicting divine revelations are nothing but self deception and amounts to kufr.
18. Prophets and Rasuls (prophets with divine books) are the chosen personalities of Allah. In all eventualities they are protected and guarded by Allah Himself against committing any sin. If by any chance a mistake is committed or wrong is done, Allah amends and remedies the same. They are never left out in mistake for good.
19. Hazrat Mohammad (sm.) is the last prophet. There is none to follow him.
20. The punishments in the grave is true. Questioning inside the grave by the two angels Mankir and Nakir is true.
21. Resurrection is true. All the creations will perish with the blowing of whistle by Israfil (as.). Everybody will come to life with another whistle and gather at a place of final deliverance.
22. Allah will take accounts of men at the time of Last Judgement (hasar). Every good and evil acts will be weighed in a balance called Mizan. All will be ordered to cross a subtle but real bridge called Pulseerat.
23. Angels are created by Allah. They are innocent and free from acts of omissions and commissions. They neither eat nor drink. They are neither male nor female. They are pioneer in terms of closeness to Allah. But not so in respect of prophethood. Prophethood (Nabuwaat) is superior to Belayet (nearness to Allah). Belayet-e-chhogra (of saints), Belayet-e-Kobra (of prophets), Belayet-e-Uliya (of angels) are like a drop of water in a vast ocean compared to prophethood. Nay! it is even less than said above. By virtue of being honoured with the exalted position of prophethood, outstanding personalities are superior to distinguished angles.
24. True faith (iman) means believing wholeheartedly whatever has been correctly reported to us in respect of religion. It also means to testify openly and prove it through deeds.
25. Iman (perfect faith in religion) does not increase or decrease quantitatively. But it does qualitatively and so in respect of brightness. For instance, the Iman of the prophets are of superlative degree and considered the brightest, that of saints brighter compared to ordinary persons. The true faithfuls should emphatically assert and proclaim aloud “ I am a true believer (imander)”.Thus spoke the great Imam Abu Hanifa (ra.).
26. The supernatural acts (Mozeza) of prophets and similar feats of the saints (karamat) are true. Mozezais prerequisite to prophethood. But karamat can not claim as such. Rather, karamat is secondary derivative of Mozeza and is obtained as a reflection of the same.
27. The order of superiority of the greatness of the viceregents of the prophet (four principal companions of the prophet) are according to the order of their regime. As for example, Hazrat Abu Bakar (ra.) is superior to Hazrat Omar Faruq (ra.). Hazrat Omar Faruq (ra.) is superior to Hazrat Osman Ghani (ra.). He is superior to Hazrat Ali (ra.).
28. Only the best meanings and interpretations of the disputes and infightings among the noble companions of the holy Prophet are to be accepted. Quarrels and disputes among them were not committed out of whims and caprices or passions. These incidents occurred owing to misunderstandings among themselves. An interpreter earns a single reward for his wrong exposition and commentary but rewarded doubly for doing so correctly. The noble companions and followers of the holy prophet were free from mundane passions and all evil aspirations through their long and close association and prolonged companionship with the prophet (sm.). The greatest of all saints can never match or be equal to the lowest ranking companion (sahaba) of the noble prophet. Only the most vicious and wicked people engage themselves in criticising the revered companions of the greatest of all prophets.
Having set aright the basic articles of faith, it is necessary to occupy our minds for the implementation of shariah in our daily life. Success both in this as well as in the next world lies in the strict adherence and compliance of the dictates of shariah.
Three principal elements constitute shariah. These are Elm (knowledge), Amol (practice), and Ekhlas(sacred intention). These three elements are complementary to each other. Discarding one of these, make the others superfluous and redundant. It is imperative therefore to try and gain mastery over all these elements.