Islam means surrendering oneself totally and unconditionally to Allah. In Islam the rules of religion are applicable to the whole life. This fact can be fully appreciated only when one properly understands the relationship of man with God as described in Islam.
According to the teachings of Islam, every Muslim is a faithful bondsman of Allah. His relationship with Allah is permanent and comprehensive. It is deep as well as wide, personal as well as general.
Allah says in the Quran:
“O you who believe, enter Islam completely, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Surely, he is an open enemy for you“. [2: 208]
In Islam there is no division in loyalty towards God. It does not entertain any divisions such as “this is mine and that is thine” or “one share for the state, the other for God, and the third for the family and tribe” or “one part for religion and one for politics”. In Islam all belongs to Allah.
In Islam all endeavors of a Muslim are essentially worship. A Muslim stands in front of his Lord as a bondsman who is totally dependent on His mercy. The teachings of Islam cover life in totality.
Nobody is allowed to introduce any change in Islamic teachings. Even the greatest scholar or Islamic leader of a time has no right to introduce a change in an Islamic injunction if it is explicitly laid down in the Quran as final.
Faith is Fundamental in Islam
The value of man’s bondsman-ship to his Lord is based on the correctness of his faith. If a person’s faith is incorrect, his deeds and even his worship are not acceptable to Allah. But if his faith is correct, even a small number of good deeds may suffice for his eternal salvation.
Thus, the most important obligation of a Muslim is to learn about things in which he has to believe and which he has to practice. These tenets of faith are fundamental in order for a person to qualify as a Muslim. They are commonly shared by Muslims throughout the world and are called the Five Pillars of Islam.
Suggested Reading: What are the Five Pillars of Islam.
Prophet’s Companions-Exemplary Muslims
The Companions of the Prophet of Allah who were groomed under the special disciplinary care of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), observed the teachings of Islam in total and emerged as true living models of Islam.
The lives, beliefs, worship, dealings, morals, celebrations, earnings, and ways of governing a state of Companions of Prophet were fully according to the injunctions of the Islamic Sharia.
All Muslims are required to follow the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad and his Companions and carefully observe the teachings of Islam in total.
Islamic Teachings vs Today’s Muslims
Allah requires from Muslims that they should practice Islam fully and not partially, as they do now-a-days. Unfortunately, Muslims in general have now moved quite far away from the teachings of Islam in many aspects such as codes of culture, customs of marriage, and traditions of inheritance.
There are Muslims whose understanding of the tenets of the Islamic faith is clear and correct, but they are negligent toward practicing even obligatory deeds of worship.
There are, on the other hand, others who observe Islamic injunctions both in matters of faith and worship, but they remain highly untrustworthy in morals and dealings. They do not miss an opportunity to deceive, they dishonestly measure and weigh their goods less while selling, cheat their business partners, and cause trouble to their neighbors.
The true teachings of Islam are, nevertheless, clearly expressed in the following traditions of the Prophet (blessings and peace be on him):
“A Muslim is he from whose hands and tongue other Muslims are safe.”
and
“None of you is a true believer unless his neighbor is safe from his mischief.”
Unfortunately, there are some Muslims who have wrongly excluded dealings and morals from religion. They think that Islam as a religion comprises only the tenets of belief and rituals of worship. Thus they remain heedless towards the value of honesty in dealings.
Fulfillment of a promise, carefulness in dealing with a trust, and honesty in giving due share to the rightful, which are essential teachings of Islam, have no meaning for them. They feel free in disregarding others just claims on them, they do not observe religious rules in dealings, and do whatever suits their mundane interest.
Islam has been misrepresented by its detractors for long. It is high time now that it should be studied objectively and judged on its own grounds. With this purpose in mind this blog has been created to introduce Islam as completely and objectively as possible for the benefit of interested readers.