– Dr Adekunle Mikail

Islam is a religion and a way of life. It is the religion of all the heavenly prophets sent to their nations hitherto until their messages were redacted, distorted and finally corrupted after their deaths! Though the corruption of Allah’s messages by those He had sent His messengers to has not deterred Him from sending the one that would complete the chain of prophets to the mankind in person of Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdullah ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam). This is contained in the glorious Qur’an as follows:

” Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is an apostle of Allah and the last of the prophets; and Allah is cognizant of all things” – Qur’an 33 vs 40.

Take Great Care Of Your Children’s Religious Education

While the other prophets had been sent to their respective nations, Muhammad salawatu-llah alehi, had been given to the whole world! In another words, while the rest of the prophets of Allah were national ones, prophet Muhammad, contrariwise, is an international one! This is vouchsafed in Qur’an 34 vs 28 as follows:

” And we have not sent you ( o Muhammad) but to all the men as bearer of good news and as a warner but most men do not know”

Prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) has also be sent as a blessing to the mankind through his tradition which is the interpretation of the glorious Qur’an! His ways are roads to divine mercy, benevolence and blessing here in this world and the world to come. We read this also in the glorious Qur’an:

” And we have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds”

The Islam brought by prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) is both theoretical and practical, easy to understand and logical, perfect in every respect , and an exemplary guide for humanity. ” And whoever follows my guidance , he shall not go astray nor be unhappy” – Qur’an 20 vs 123

It is a religion which preaches the use of human intellect in every endeavour before it commands man to resign to fate! Its first law is knowledge before worship and not the other way round! Essentially, man is called to know his Creator before venturing into His worship! Its creed is:

” So know there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your fault ” Qur’an 47vs 19

The connotation of this verse is an admonition to the prophet first, then to a -would -be Muslim, to first of all seek knowledge about God; strive to understand His ordinances and percepts, before venturing into seeking His face which is praying to Him!

Stand Up For Teachers And Pay Them Their Due Homage

It is a religion which does not call for its adherents to force others into its practices. It wants every one of his practitioner to experience it as well as to feel it. For he who engages himself in it without first of all realizing its knowledge will not be properly illuminated as the one who is conversant with its science.

” There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error …” – Qur’an 2 vs 256

And despite its preachment of the use of logic, it does not call for a blanket one devoid of rigour based on its revealed law. This what a poet is pointing to when he poetized thus :
” Allah cannot be worshipped with a blanket intellect but with a law revealed”

In it (Islam) , a child cannot inherit the sin of his father or forefathers nor a soul is born as a sinner. There is no original sin in its understanding nor the inheritance of that sin by every man born of woman! It is a religion which is free of unnecessary transferring of a soul’s sin to another who has not erred in its dealing with God or man!

This is clearly stated in Qur’an 35 vs 18 as follows:

” And a burdened soul ( a soul enmeshed in sin) cannot bear the burden of another and if one weighed down by burden should cry for another to carry its burden , not aught of it shall be carried, even though he be near of kin”

Nobody will be called to judgement nor invited to answer query in it ”except after a messenger has been sent to him”, he has been an unrepentant sinner or a supporter of the sinner who has deployed his wealth and time to aiding and abetting the sinner!

It is a religion of cleanness which has, in the truth sense of it ,exemplified the axiom ” cleanness is nearer to godliness” . This can be seen in its recommendations of water purification in forms of ablution and ritual bath before the canonical prayers proper; dry ablution with the use of any of the constituents of the surface of earth such as sand, clay, unpainted wall and leaves in lieu of both the ablution and ritual bath above!, in case of scarcity of water.

Indeed, the aforesaid bodily purifications are preceded by soul purification, I.e, the correct belief in Allah as the Creator of all things; the first and the last, the provider and the Lord of all universes; the only God worthy of being worshipped and the protector and saver of all! Likewise, one must believe in the messengership of all the prophet as well as that of prophet Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam)!

Not only this, he is to follow the tradition of prophet Muhammad for he is the last of all the messengers of God. The beliefs in the Angels; the creatures created from Light who do not eat, sleep ,eat or disobey Allah’s commandments! Rather ,they are in the services of Allah always; in the revealed Books; in the messengers, in the predestination and in the Day of Resurrection are also compulsory!

In the pre-Islamic days among the Arab, the remnants of Abrahamic religion were practising with disdain! An example of this was the Arab naked circumambulation of the Ka’bbah ( the House of Allah’s in Makkah)! They did see without shame and still believed they were in the right manners of worshipping the Almighty !

The relics of that manners of worshipping God were transported into Islam whenever the earlier Muslims had come to Ka’bbah to worship God the same way until they were called by God to grace His House, whenever they wanted to do so, with their ” beautiful apparels!” Therefore, it has become part of the purification types, a worshipper in Islam should make actionable so that his worship will be deemed complete !

” Beautiful Apparels” according to Allama Yusuf Aliy, are :” adornments or apparel for beautiful living; construed to mean not only clothes that add grace to the wearer , but toilet and cleanliness, attention to hair , and other small personal details which no self-respecting man or woman ought to neglect when going solemnly even before a great human dignitary, if only out of respect for the dignity of the occasion. How much more important it is to attend to these details when we solemnly apply our minds to the Presence of Allah. But the caution against excess applies: men must not go to prayer in silks or ornaments appropriate to women. Similarly sober food ,good and wholesome ,is not to be divorced from offices of religion; only the caution against excess applies strictly. A dirty, unkempt , slovenly Faqir could not claim sanctity in Islam!

In Islam, the beautiful things of life are to be enjoyed by those who have faith in Allah. Unguarded asceticism often means the negation of art and beauty , has no placed in the attainment of nearness with God. What Allah Has made lawful to His servants, no matter how lofty or beautiful they may appear in the faces of the servants, must not be construed as impediment to His nearness, rather they should be enjoyed legally as prescribed!

Same thing is demanded in Islam or forbidden things! They are to be abandoned in their totally without moving near them not to talk of engaging in them, for they cannot move man near his Creator no matter how lofty and beautiful they may appear in the face of the beholder! This is why Allah Has described in four categories, the forbidden things in accordance with the meanings derived from Qur’an 7 vs 33 as follows :

” (1) what is shameful or unbecoming: the short of things which have also legal and social sanctions, not of a local but a universal kind; they may be called offences against society: (2) Sins against self and trespasses or excesses of every short; these are against truth and reason; here would come in discipline, failure in doing intangible duties not clearly defined by law; selfishness or self- aggrandisement , which may condoned by custom and not punished by law, etc (3) erecting fetishes or false gods; this is treason against the true God ; and (4) corrupting religion by debasing superstitions, etc!

In the religion of inimitable Allah, there is no dichotomy between a man’s daily work and his worship of Allah! As man works or earns his daily living through his skill, education, trade or artisanship, he will still be rewarded for worshipping God whenever he makes intention noble in those activities! His daily toiling is an extension of his devotion to God in the Mosque. This is the reason he must do his daily job well with good intention, competence and the needed legality!

Our Neighborhoods Are Dirty!

And the same way he will be penalized for dereliction of duty for not performing his daily prayers at their prescribed times and with their conditions, he will be penalized too, for not doing his daily job with care; for not taking to the customer’s description and for abandoning the agreed contractual terms he had entered into in the beginning with the customers or clients!

The prophet of Islam, Muhammad ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) has raised the bar of earning a legal living through the effort of one’s labour, higher when he said:

” To try to earn a lawful livelihood is an obligation like the other obligations in Islam”

” No one has eaten better food than what he earns from the toil of his own hands”

” It is better for one of you to take a rope and bring a load of firewood on his back and sell it than that he should beg from people whether they give him anything or refuse him”

As an adult you need to provide these needs for yourself and those who naturally depend on you – like your parents if they are old or your children if they are young . Work – honest work – is an obligation like the the other obligations in Islam. Idleness, laziness, begging or waiting for handouts from the state or from charities – all destroy a person’s dignity and even his freedom. This does not mean in time of genuine difficulties we are not to seek help and support from others!

To Be Continued !

A male child is not better than a female one!