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Some incidents in our life force us to sit up and take stock of ourselves, our choices, our way of life, our beliefs, and, most importantly, our intentions. This credo applies to everyone – young, old, fat, thin, black, white, vegan, carnivore, scavenger, or monarch. You could be a kippah-sporting Jew, a fire-walking mystic, a tree-worshipping pantheist – these points of forced introspection cut across religious, social, cultural and linguistic delineations. No one is spared nor ignored. In Arabic, these trials are known as Fitan (sing.Fitna). Although a literal transliteration is not possible, it loosely refers to the tests that humankind are put through – both as a group and on a personal level.
It is through Fitna that one’s faith truly comes to the fray. The man who vehemently denies the existence of God his entire life is suddenly known to have called out to a higher being in moments of utter crises. As Allah describes in the Quran:
Islam is referred to as one of the major world religions, the fastest growing religion in the world. I find the need to strongly refute the claim. Islam does not and should not stake a claim to being a religion. To cut it a bit clearer, Islam is NOT a religion. Critics of Islam say that Islam is not religion, but a political movement, an ideology set to conquer.
For me Islam is none of that – not a set of beliefs, not a political movement, not a window to the world. Islam is a way of life. Islam is not the rose-tinted glasses through which I see the world; it is both the eyes that see, and the world that it sees. Ironically, through this world that we see, we earn the worlds “that no eye has ever seen”.
Through the word Aslama, “to accept, to surrender, to submit”, the verbal noun Islam is derived. For those who believe that the basic duties of a Muslim are just fluff, and Allah, in his infinite power and mercy, will save them from the hellfire even though they didn’t bother about him all their lives, really only sit around in their state of infinite denial. Infinite denial and infinite power are not directly proportional to each other; rather one cancels the other out.
The next time you put that juicy piece of chicken to your lips, think about the one who gave you the teeth to bite into it, the throat to swallow it, the stomach to digest it, the eyes to see it, the brain that tells you that you want it. Close your eyes, which Allah gave you, for one second and think about Him who gave them to you. That’s not too much for Him to ask, is it? Just contemplate... one blinking-of-an-eye at a time.
It is through Fitna that one’s faith truly comes to the fray. The man who vehemently denies the existence of God his entire life is suddenly known to have called out to a higher being in moments of utter crises. As Allah describes in the Quran:
“And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him (Allah Alone). But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away (from Him). And man is ever ungrateful.
Do you then feel secure that He will not cause a side of the land to swallow you up, or that He will not send against you a violent sandstorm? Then, you shall find no Wakil (guardian – one to guard you from the torment).” (Qur'an 17:67-68)
Islam is referred to as one of the major world religions, the fastest growing religion in the world. I find the need to strongly refute the claim. Islam does not and should not stake a claim to being a religion. To cut it a bit clearer, Islam is NOT a religion. Critics of Islam say that Islam is not religion, but a political movement, an ideology set to conquer.
For me Islam is none of that – not a set of beliefs, not a political movement, not a window to the world. Islam is a way of life. Islam is not the rose-tinted glasses through which I see the world; it is both the eyes that see, and the world that it sees. Ironically, through this world that we see, we earn the worlds “that no eye has ever seen”.
Through the word Aslama, “to accept, to surrender, to submit”, the verbal noun Islam is derived. For those who believe that the basic duties of a Muslim are just fluff, and Allah, in his infinite power and mercy, will save them from the hellfire even though they didn’t bother about him all their lives, really only sit around in their state of infinite denial. Infinite denial and infinite power are not directly proportional to each other; rather one cancels the other out.
The next time you put that juicy piece of chicken to your lips, think about the one who gave you the teeth to bite into it, the throat to swallow it, the stomach to digest it, the eyes to see it, the brain that tells you that you want it. Close your eyes, which Allah gave you, for one second and think about Him who gave them to you. That’s not too much for Him to ask, is it? Just contemplate... one blinking-of-an-eye at a time.
posted by Farzana Kader at
3:30 PM
1 Comments
