Auron ka hai Payaam aur, mera Payaam aur hai, / Ishq key dardmand ka tarz-e-kalaam aur hai! (Iqbal)
Some people see life as a joyride. Some live it as drudgery and drag. In Islam, life is a trust from Allah. It is a blessed opportunity from God to humans so they will make of it what they will: a bed of roses or a pit fire. And life is an alternation of joys and sorrows, successes and disappointments – some more for some people as compared to some others.
Taking life as it comes and making the most of it in every situation and under all circumstances is what Islam is all about. Islam shows people the best ways of doing everything, both in theory and in practice. And it offers people a range of choices and alternatives, each one of them the best, with regard to what they should do and how.
But no matter how you view it, life is a test from Allah. And it is full of trials and tribulations, even for those who may think of themselves as being among the happiest and the most fortunate.
If you think you never faced a trial or a test in your life, think of all the time you spent in your mother’s womb; think of the process of your birth; and think of every little thing that you took for granted all your life from that point on.
How many narrow escapes do you think you may have had at every turn in your life’s journey? If you don’t think taking a breath is a test, or taking a step, or making gesture with your hands, or opening and closing your mouth, or doing any specific aspect or segment of anything associated with the unfolding process of your life on earth, then you have neither lived nor do you possess any understanding of any of the billions of biological components of your body or their mostly smooth and unhindered functioning.
In that case, you fit the profile of the proverbial animals, as portrayed in the Qur’an, that lack the capabilities for observation, analysis and reasoning human beings are given by their creator.
But life’s tests and trials take different forms and shapes for different people. For some people it is poverty and for some it is wealth. For some it is disease and for some it is good health. For some it is abundance of opportunity and for some others it is absence or lack of it. But it is all from Allah: adversity as well as abundance, health and leisure as well as absence of them. The question then becomes how you cope with each one of them, as they have been apportioned to you.
Sabr – patience and perseverance – in adversity and when faced with ill health is as critical as Shukr – gratefulness and appreciation – when blessed with wealth and opportunity. What counts is both the inner state of the mind and the heart as well as the external manifestation of the same through word and deed.
Accepting Allah’s dispensation and working to make the most of it is the secret to success – both in this world and in the next world. Allah does not like Fatalism. His way is one of continuing struggle with adversity and challenge.
In fact, that is what life is all about – at all levels. Life is an unending struggle to overcome odds and make good things happen – for yourself and for others. God’s name for such an ongoing struggle for life, for survival and for success is what the Qur’an refers to as Jihad.
Allah does not like self-induced weakness and helplessness in people, says Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. Allah does not like people to sit around and do nothing when they are faced with adversity, whether it is with regard to their health or wealth or any other situation or circumstance pertaining to their life. Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam calls it ‘Ajz and he teaches us repeatedly to ask Allah’s protection from becoming a victim of ‘Ajz. In the same way he also warns us against Kasl – laziness – and teaches us to ask God Almighty’s protection from it.
And when you are ill he asks you to go find a doctor. Tadaawow ya ibaadallah, he says.
The whole approach seems to be: with regard to every challenge in life, make the intention; invoke Allah’s name; move a muscle; lift a finger; take a step; make the effort; and watch the results unfold – as you never thought would be possible.
Min haithu laa yah-tasib: In ways you never imagined.
Thus, Islam’s whole approach to life is Jihad-based. It is based on the principle of tireless, unremitting and all-out toil and struggle on the part of every single one of us to make the best things happen for us – and of course for everyone else.
How can it be otherwise when Islam is a system designed by God for all human beings to shape, manage and guide their life on earth? It is a game in which everyone who enters wins and in which the only losers are those who refuse to participate.
Now read the Qur’an put this whole profound and complex thinking in the fewest and clearest words in its own inimitable way: Innaddeena ‘indallahil Islam.
And then ask yourself this: How can a system like Islam then be a private possession or prerogative of any particular sect or denomination or “religion” exclusive of all others?
That is why I call Islam a non-denominational, non-sectarian, and in Indian context a “non-communal” system of belief and behavior in its origin, nature, meaning and application. Islam is equally open, accessible and friendly to all and it seeks and promotes the wellbeing of everyone, regardless of race, creed, gender or status. Not just in this world but also in the next world. So, Islam is for Muslims as well as for non-Muslims. Just as Islam is for Whites as it is for Blacks and for all others in between.
Islam is by the creator of all things for all things that he created. And that is also why Islam is, by the sheer necessity of its own purpose and design and not simply by accident or through the mere assertion of some of its present-day adherents or practitioners, not just for men but it is also equally for women. That is because God is everyone’s God – and he is not the God of Muslims to the exclusion of all others.
Nor is he the God of just men to the exclusion of women. There is no room for madness or perversity of that kind in Islam. That is why God made this world for all of his creation – and not just for Muslim men and women. And that is why “Assalaamu Alaikum” is a non-denominational and finest form of human greeting that there is on the face of this earth – or for that matter, beyond the perimeter of this earth and earthly life.
And that is why Namaaz, Roza or Hajj or any of the other teachings and commandments of Islam are not just for this or that group – whether members of any of these groups are male or female – but they are for all those who believe in God and Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and the Day of Judgment.
Nothing is clearer on this subject than the text of the Qur’an itself.
In short, there is no system on earth or in heaven that has more open doors or broader boundaries, or is more dynamic and flexible in its approach to life and its challenges, than Islam.
So also, Islam is for the most macro of all macro things and just as it is for the most micro of them all. Islam pertains to every atom and subatomic particle in existence.
Yes, it is the Qur’an that talks about atoms and subatomic existences and possibilities. That is where I got these concepts from.
Islam pertains to the minutest cells in your body even as it pertains to not only the end of this world but also to all the worlds whose existence we cannot even imagine. And that is the first lesson of the Qur’an.
The Qur’an is not going to be of much use to those who have trouble imagining the universe at its most micro level such as the neurons in their own brains or stretching their mind from there on to include the most expansive dimensions of it beyond the stars and the farthest reaches of the most distant and fleeting galaxies.
That is why Iman bil Ghaib – believing in things that you cannot see or hear or suspect; things that lie beyond the purview of your senses and imagination – is a central prerequisite if you are going to derive any practical benefit from the Qur’an.
That is also why there is nothing in this world that is broader, more flexible, more dynamic, more open, more resilient and more accommodating than the mind and perception of a true Muslim.
Just check out this little passage from the poetry of Iqbal: “Sitaaron say aagay jahaan our bhee haiyn!” Paraphrase: “There are all kinds of worlds out there that stretch beyond the stars!”
That is why I keep telling the Muslims that their problem today is not that they are Muslims. It certainly is not Islam. It is not even all those people they think are their enemies, at least in some cases rightly so. The biggest problem Muslims have today is their near-total disconnect with the core teachings of the Qur’an. It is their pervasive unfamiliarity with the text and spirit of the book of Allah that came to move people from darkness to light.
Yukhrijuhum minaz zulumaati ilannoor.
Question: So, what should the Muslims do then?
Answer: How about starting out by addressing what is so patently and manifestly wrong with them? How about starting to become more familiar with the words and meaning of Allah’s word on earth?
Then let us see how the rest of the chips fall in place?
As a practical measure, how about every community and every mosque everywhere organizing a regular and recurrent – once or twice a week or even every day after Fajr or Maghrib – Qur’an session?