Saturday, April 20, 2013

Islamic moral values enshrine freedom of belief

When the religion of Islam that has been sent as a salvation from the
presence of Allah is explained to a person, he believes on his own
will and decides withoutbeing subjected to any kind of compulsion or
duress. People are free to choose truth or error. If they make the
wrong choice, they will face its consequence in the Hereafter.
In matters of belief, Islam offers people complete freedom with a very
open and clear language. This perception which was valid ever since
Islam was first revealed, forms the basis of the Islamic morality. The
verses on the subject are perfectly clear:
There is no compulsion where deen is concerned. Right guidance has
become clearly distinct from error. Anyone who rejects false deities
and believes in Allah has grasped the Firmest Handhold, which will
never give way. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Baqara,
256)
According to the Islamic morality, people are freeto choose whatever
beliefs they wish, and nobody can oblige anyone else in subjects of
belief. When a Muslim meets someone whom he wants to have faith, he
only has the liability to communicate Islam and to explain the
existence of Allah, to state that the Qur'an is the book of His
revelation, that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is His messenger, to
explain the existence of the Hereafter and the Day of Judgment and
thebeauties of the Islamic morality. However, such liability is only
restricted to communicating the religion. In one verse (Surat
an-Nahl), Allah informs us that our Prophet (pbuh) also is only a
messenger:
Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair admonition, and
argue with them in the kindest way. Your Lord knows best who is
misguided from His way.And He knows best who are guided. (Surat
an-Nahl, 125)
Another verse states, "... It is the truth from your Lord; so let
whoever wishes believe and whoever wishes do not believe..." (Surat
al-Kahf,29)
and our Lord addresses our Prophet (pbuh) as, "Perhaps you will
destroy yourself with grief because they will not become believers."
(Surat ash-Shu'ara',3) .In the Surah Qaf Allah issues our Prophet
(pbuh) this reminder:
We know best what theysay. You are not a dictator over them. So
remind, with the Qur'an, whoever fears My Threat. (Surah Qaf, 45)
When the religion of Islam that has been sent as a salvation from the
presence of Allah is explained to a person, he believes on his own
will and decides withoutbeing subjected to any kind of compulsion or
duress. People are free to choose truth or error. If they make the
wrong choice, they will face its consequence in the Hereafter.
People are free to choose correctly or wrongly. When Islam--the true
path that Allah has revealed--is explained, they come to believe of
their own freewill, reaching this decision with no pressure being put
on them. If they make wrong choices, they will face its consequences
in the Hereafter. On this subject, one verse of the Qur'an contains
the clearest command and reminder:
"If your Lord had willed, all the people on the earth would have
believed. Do you think you can force people to be believers?" (Surah
Yunus, 99)
For example, one personmay immediately come to believe in the face of
a believer's preaching, while another mocks and attacks it. One person
may use his conscience and decide to live in the way that is pleasing
to Allah, while the other may join the deniers and respond to fine
words with ugly ones. But that denial willnever inspire despair or
sorrow in the person issuing the call. In Surah Yusuf Allah says:
"But most people, for all your eagerness, are not muminun. You do not
ask them for any wage for it. It is only a reminder to all beings."
(Surah Yusuf, 103-104)
What's important is that no matter what reaction he meets with, the
person who abides by the Qur'an keeps on displaying the kind of
morality that is pleasing to Allah, refuses to make any concessions on
it, and puts his trust in Allah. Allah has told us that His religion
is to be explained "in the kindest way" as revealedin the Qur'an:
"Argue with the People of the Book only in the kindest way--except in
the case of those of them who do wrong--saying, "We believe in what
has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and
your God are One and we submit to Him." (Surat al-'Ankabut, 46)
We must not forget that all events, great or small,happen in the
framework of the destiny created by Allah. And it is Allah who bestows
salvation on someone who is invited to believe. For that reason,
believers are never troubled by deniers' behavior. There are many
instances of this in the Qur'an. In the verse "Perhaps you may destroy
yourself with grief, chasing after them, if they do not have iman in
these words"(Surat al-Kahf, 6) ,Allah tells the Prophet (saas) not to
be troubledif the people he calls on to believe in the Qur'an fail to
do so. In another verse we are told "You cannot guide those you would
like to but Allah guides those He wills. He has best knowledge of the
guided."(Surat al-Qasas, 56) Therefore, one's invitation, fine words
and all the details one set out will only have any effect in the event
that Allah so wills it. (Harun Yahya, Only Love Can Defeat Terrorism)
The only responsibility of a believer is to call people to the Qur'an.
He bears no responsibility for deniers persisting in their denial and
therefore earning punishment in the Hereafter. Our Lord reveals this
to the Prophet (pbuh) in the verse "We have sent you with the Truth,
bringing good news and giving warning. Do not ask about the
inhabitants of the Blazing Fire."(Surat al-Baqara, 119).
Allah has given mankind both reason and a conscience. His messengers
and the Divine books revealed tothem have shown the true path, and
people are responsible for their own choices. Islamic morality can be
lived only by a sincere decision to do so--by surrendering oneself to
Allah and listening to one's conscience, which always commands one to
do what is right. It is atotal violation of Islamic morality to force
anyoneto believe, because whatmatters is an individual'ssurrendering
himself to Allah with all his heart and believing sincerely. If a
system were to force people into a religion and worship, people would
appear to be religious because of their fear of the system.
From a religious perspective only religiosity lived for Allah and
based on free and conscious choice is acceptable. Allah says the
following to our Prophet (pbuh) in the Surat al-Ghashiyya:
"So remind them! You are only a reminder. Youare not in control of
them. But as for anyone who turns away and is unbeliever, Allah will
punish him with the Greatest Punishment. Certainly it is to Us they
will return. Then their Reckoning is Our concern. "(Surat
al-Ghashiyya: 21-26)
It also needs to be emphasized that Islam leaves people free to make
their own choices regarding religion and commands them to respect
other religions. Even if someone believesin a superstitious faith, as
the Qur'an describes it, still he can live in peace and security in
Muslim lands and freely perform his own religious obligations. In
verses Allah commanded our Prophet (pbuh) to tell those who denied
Him:
"I do not worship what you worship, and you donot worship what I
worship. Nor will I worship what you worship, nor will you worship
what I worship. You have your religion, and I have my religion."
(Surah Qaf, 2-6)
Under the morality of Islam, everyone is free tocarry out his
religious obligations in accord with his own particular belief. Nobody
can prevent any others from performing their particular religious
duties, nor can he obligethem to worship in the manner he desires.
That violates the morality of Islam, and is unacceptable to Allah. In
the Islamic history a model of society emerges in which everyone is
free to worship and perform the obligations attendant upon his
particular chosen beliefs.In the Qur'an Allah describes monasteries,
churches, synagogues, and the places of worship of the Peoples of the
Book as all under Allah's protection:
"... If Allah had not driven some people backby means of others,
[then] monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques, where Allah's
name is mentioned much, would have been pulled down and destroyed.
Allah will certainly help those whohelp Him--Allah is All-Strong,
Almighty." (Surat al-Hajj, 40)
Our Prophet's (pbuh) lifeis full of such examples. When Christians
came to see him, he left his own mosque for them to use and pray in
it. That kind of tolerance was maintained during the times of the Four
Rightly Guided Caliphs who succeeded the Prophet (pbuh). After
Damascus was captured, a church that had been turned into a mosque was
divided into two, so thatChristians might worshipin one half and
Muslims in the other. (You can obtain detailed information on the
subject from the web site www.harunyahya.com , which is based on the
works of Harun Yahya.)
Our Prophet (saas) Was Full of Love and Tolerance
In the Arabia of the time of our Prophet (pbuh) there were communities
with many different faiths, cultures and waysof thinking. Jews,
Christians, Sabaeans, Nestorians and pagans all lived side by side.
There were also many tribes that were hostile to one another despite
sharing the same faith. (Harun Yahya, The Prophet Muhammed (pbuh))
But our Prophet (pbuh) called everyone to the deen with the same
affection, patience, tolerance and love, no matter what their religion
or tribe is. This excellent attitude of the Prophet Muhammed (pubh) is
described thus in the Qur'an as:
"It is a mercy from Allah that you were gentle with them. If you had
been rough or hard of heart, they would have scattered from around
you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them, (Surat Al 'Imran,
159)
A Muslim only has a responsibility to describe the deen of Allah. The
other person will only come to belief and salvation by the will of
Allah. Nobody can compel anyone else to believe or to worship. Our
Prophet (pbuh) was punctilious about this command of Allah, and often
said that people could only live by the deen when they did so
voluntarily. In one hadith our Prophet (pbuh) says:
"I was sent as a tolerant,seeker after Allah (one from the faith of
the prophet Ibrahim(as)), and whoever opposes my Sunna is not one of
us." (El-Cami's Sağir, 1. 427)
Elsewhere he tells believers "I was sent to be compassionate and a
peace-maker..." (El-Cami's Sağir, 1. 427). This superior moral virtue
of the Prophet (pbuh) is expressed as follows: "Someone who responds
with gentleness (who controlshis earthly passion) when angered will
meritthe love of Allah!" (Esbahani: Hazrat Aysha)
There are many hadith concerning the compassionate, loving and
tolerant qualities of our Prophet (saas). For example, the Prophet
(pbuh) says: "Allah will have no compassion on he do has no compassion
for other people." (Buhari and Muslim) Other passages read: "Be
merciful, that you may be shown mercy. Forgive, that you may be
forgiven. Shame on those who speak too much. Shame on those who know
their sins but presist in them." (Ramuz El Hadis, Vol. 1)
"Allah is loving and me rciful, He loves gentleness, and what He gives
from gentleness Hegives with nothing else." (Kütübi Sitte
Translationand Commentary, Vol. 7)
The great Islamic scholarImam Gazali summarizes the information he
collected in the hadith regarding our Prophet's (saas) attitude to
those around him: "He was far from knowing anger and quickly showed
compassion for things. He was the most loving of men toward other
people. He was the most auspicious of men and did the most good to
others, and the most useful and beneficial to others." (Huccetül
Islam Imam Gazali, İhya'u Ulum'id-din, Vol. 2)
The human love, consideration and affection of our prophet (pbuh) that
bound thosearound him to the deen and warmed their heartsto faith is a
superior moral virtue that all Muslims must concentrate on. These
moral virtues of our Prophet (pbuh), a role model for all mankind, are
revealed in Surat at-Tawba: "Your suffering is distressing to him; he
is deeply concerned for you; he is gentle and merciful to the
muminun." (Surat at-Tawba, 128)
Love, affection, tolerance and compassion are shared virtues among the
envoys sent by Allah as guides to salvation. Allahreveals in the
Qur'an that He has bestowed "sensitivity to love" on other prophets,
and citesthe Prophet Yahya(as), on whom He bestowed knowledge from His
presence, as a model on this subject. He describesthis holy personage
as having "...tenderness and purity from Us - he had takwa." (Surah
Maryam, 13)

--
/-
-
- - ▓███▓ Translator:-> http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - - -
●▬►
-
I welcome, My Blog Readers Openions. So write your comments and
Suggetions any time, below each Posts or Write to my Email -
aydnajimudeen@gmail.com/-
Thanks my Readers.
-
*.*.*.*.*.
-
¤ Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa barakatuh ¤
●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●
-

No comments:

Post a Comment