ISL201 Handouts Lectures 1-16

Table of Contents · Lecture # · Title · Page #

FAITH 1-4

TAQWA 5-7

OBEDIENCE OF GOD 8-9

OBEDIENCE OF PROPHETS AND EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY 10-12

SINCERITY (IKHLAAS) 13-14

MORALITY OF PROPHET 15-17

PRACTICAL LAW (Ibadat) 18-19

ISLAMIC PRACTICES 20-23

KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ISLAMIC CONCEPT 24-27

KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ISLAMIC CONCEPT 28-32

THE ISLAMIC SOCIAL SYSTEM 33-38

THE MANNERS OF MEATING AND TALKING 39-42

RESPECT OF PARENTS 43-49

BROTHERHOOD 50-54

HONESTY AND OBLIGATION 55-59

FORGIVENESS 60-62 LESSON 1

FAITH

1. Definition of faith
2. Basic principles of faith
3. The fruits of faith

Basic principles of faith

1. Faith in Allah (Tauheed / oneness of Allah )
2. Faith in prophets (Nubuwwat and Risalat )
3. The life in the Hereafter (Day of judgment )

Definition of faith

Belief in the special terminology of Islam, means to believe in the Prophets of God as such, that is to acknowledge that for our guidance God had vouchsafed to them knowledge that was beyond the range of our intelligence and understanding, and, on the basis of it, to affirm what was communicated to us by them as from God, and to accept religion brought by them as Divine religion.

Basic principles of faith

1.

“FAITH IN ALLAH” · ﴿ﻗﻞ ﻫﻮ اﷲ اﺣﺪ0اﷲ اﻟﺼﻤﺪ0 · ﻟﻢ ﻳﻠﺪ0 · وﻟﻢ ﻳﻮﻟﺪ0 وﻟﻢ ﻳﻜﻦ ﻟﻪ ﻛﻔﻮا اﺣﺪ0 · “Faith in Allah is based on four premises”

1. Allah exists and nobody created Him.

2. He alone is the Lord of the whole Universe.

3. He alone is the Master and He alone is authorized to make any modifications in the universe according to His will.

4. He alone is to be exclusively worshipped and He has no associates.

The existence of Allah

The Qur’an has clearly told us that the proof of the existence of Allah lies within our selves. How can we, then deny something which is writ large on our very foreheads as the proof of its veracity

ﻭﻓﻲ ﺍﻧﻔﺴﻜﻢ ﺍﻓﻼ ﺗﺒﺼﺮﻭﻥ

“Who have sure faith, and within your own selves, so do you not see?”

in the very depths of our hearts, it is etched that Allah exists. When struck with hardships and misfortune, we seek his shelter because of our faithful nature and religious instinct. There are, within us and all around us numerous proofs of His existence. Our sub conscious that is our heart, unconsciously in Him, but our conscious self, that is our reason, accepts His existence.

He alone is the Lord of the whole Universe.

The second dogma of faith is that Allah is the Sustainer of the whole Universe. It means that you have to believe from the depth of your heart that Allah alone is the Creator of the entire world. He alone created, out of nothing, the living organisms, the heavenly bodies and the entire visible as well as invisible world. He devised such marvelous canons for all these worlds that the Scholars of medicine, chemistry, physics and astronomy, have been able to discover only a few of them. He alone has the Full knowledge about every big or small thing of all these worlds. It is written with Him that how many leaves a tree has, what shape does a leaf carry, or how many germs float in this world and what is their size and volume and what are their constituents. He only knows how many rotating electrons an atom has, what transitory changes occur in them, what the nature of their statics and dynamics is, what forms they take and what the characteristic of their transformation are.

He alone is the Master and He alone is authorized to make any modifications in the universe according to His will.

Thus, He is the sustainer of the world. He gave from to everything and he looks after them. He makes alteration and changes in their conditions and character. He has predetermined every detail and has placed such proofs in each atom of this universe that every person with sufficient reason can trace Him and seek guidance from him. This is the second dogma of faith and it is obligatory to accept it and believe it.

But, does one become a believer by just accepting this as an article of faith? Someone declares before you that Allah alone is the creator of this universe and He alone is the sustainer of everything. Would you accept him as a believer just because of his declaration? Nay, this declaration alone is not enough to be a believer, because many nations of the antiquity made this declaration. The idolaters of the Quresh, whose fetishism the prophet Muhammad repudiated and those against whom he waged Jihad, also declared Allah the God of Gods and never denied his existence.

He alone is to be exclusively worshipped and He has no association.

When you admit that Allah exists, is the Sustainer of the worlds, is the lord of the incomparable Kingdom, then it follows out of necessity that there should be no associate with Him in worship nor should anyone besides him be worshipped in any form or shape to be construed as his adversary. By the Grace of Allah, I had the good fortune to arrive at a point in the interpretation of the Surah An-Nas(114), which no other exegesis carries for the guidance of those who admit that Allah exists is the master of all and is the lord of the worlds yet do not display that unadulterated belief in the unity of Allah which indeed is a requirement of the divinity of Allah this Surah says:

ﻗﻞ اﻋﻮذ ﺑﺮب اﻟﻨﺎس0 ﻣﻠﻚ اﻟﻨﺎس0 اﻟﻪ اﻟﻨﺎس0

Thou say: “I came under the shelter of the Lord of men, The King of men, The God of men (114, 1-3)

2.

Definition of Prophet:

The Prophets too are human beings; they are not endowed with divinity because Divinity merits only Allah the Peerless; The Prophets, however, have one distinctive feature that the Revelation descends upon them; Allah Almighty says:

وﻣﺎ ارﺳﻠﻨﺎﻗﺒﻠﻚ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺮﺳﻠﻴﻦ اﻻ اﻧﻬﻢ ﻟﻴﺎﻛﻠﻮن اﻟﻄﻌﺎ

م وﻳﻤﺸﻮن ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﻮاق

“And we sent not before thee Messengers but that they ate food and walked in the markets (bazaars).”

“Faith in the Prophets is based on three premises”

1. Islam does not discriminate between Prophets.

2. All Prophets are human beings.

3. Faith in the Miracles of Prophets.

Islam does not discriminate between Prophets.

There are people among the followers of other prophets who talk disparagingly about prophets other then the ones they follows, but Islam has made it incumbent that all prophets should be equally respected. If a person talks insolently of any prophet or reproaches him, he violates the dictates of Islam. Allah says:

" اﻤن اﻟرﺴوﻝ ﺒﻤﺎ اﻨزﻝ اﻟﻴﻪ ﻤن رﺒﻪ واﻟﻤؤﻤﻨون ﻛﻝ اﻤن ﺒﺎ ﷲ وﻤﻠﺌﻛﺘﻪ

" وﻛﺘﺒﻪ ورﺴﻠﻪ ﻻﻨﻔرق ﺒﻴن اﺤد ﻤن رﺴﻠﻪ وﻗﺎﻟوا ﺴﻤﻌﻨﺎ واطﻌﻨﺎ ﻏﻔراﻨك رﺒﻨﺎ واﻟﻴك اﻟﻤﺼﻴر

The Messenger accepted what was sent down on him from his Lord and the Muslims too. All of them believed in God and in His Angels and in His Books and His Messengers they say, “We