The Quran thus defines the qualities of the believers: “They give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and those who ask [for charity], and to set slaves free.” (2:177)
This verse shows in what ways the realization of faith finds expression in the family and in society.
The Quran tells us that the believer starts helping needy relatives since he is closely connected with them. But when there are many kinds of complaints there can be no expectation that the relatives will be grateful to him. That is why Islam strenuously encourages assistance for needy relatives.
Similarly, a believer loves to help orphans and the needy. His sensitive heart becomes a guarantee that he will not regard the weak as lowly but that he should rather rush to help them.
The same is true of the traveller. A traveller might be well off in his hometown. But when he is far away from his home on a journey, he can in many ways need help. Here the believer’s faith motivates him to help the traveller in whatever way is necessary. Similarly, if there are people who are beset by some problem because of social traditions such as slavery and they don’t have enough money to buy their freedom, it is one of the virtues of the believer that he will spend money to free them.
Source: The Spirit of Islam
Charity has been preached by every religion of the world. Islam has made charity obligatory, laying the greatest emphasis on the support of the needy and destitute members of the society.
It is thus a sacred duty of the affluent towards destitute members of society. It is incumbent upon the affluent to give part of their wealth to fulfil the needs of the deprived members of the community. A society can flourish only when its members do not spend all their wealth on the satisfaction of their own desires, but reserve a portion of it for relatives, neighbours, the poor and the needy. A true believer is thus always prepared, after meeting the needs of the family, to assist other people in need of help.
Charity in its broadest sense has been called sadaqah in Islam. Such great importance is attached to charity that the month of Ramazan has been fixed for individuals to be trained in the practice of charity. It has therefore been made into an institution in order to give it permanence and regularity. The law of zakat takes from the wealthy and gives to the poor, rotates wealth in such a way as to balance social inequality.
Islamic law empowers the Islamic government or community to collect the zakat and to keep separate account of it. Zakat funds must be spent on the categories specified in the Quran in chapter 2 verse 177. Zakat funds basically are to be used for the social welfare of the people which includes education and other essential services.
There are two forms of charity in Islam—obligatory and voluntary, which are respectively called Zakat and Sadaqah. Zakat is from the verb Zakat, which signifies “to thrive”, “to be wholesome”, “to be pure”, meaning purification. Giving up a portion of one’s wealth, which is in excess of what one needs for one’s own sustenance, is a purifying process.
Source: Spirit of Islam April 2018
Sadaqah or charity is the duty of acceding to others the right to share in one’s wealth. It makes one aware that if one’s own needs require the expenditure of money for their satisfaction, so also do the needs of others. One is never then oblivious to the needs of others.
Source: Spirit of Islam February 2018
Muslims should be able to revive the Islamic spirit by reading the Quran in a language they can understand. During one of my travels, I met a Muslim who used to carry a pocket Arabic Quran and used to keep reading it as and when he got some time. Upon enquiry he told me that he had been doing this for fourteen years. I asked him what he thought was the gist of the Quran. He said that he read the Quran for receiving heavenly reward and not to derive meaning by studying it. This is generally the case of those who read or recite the Quran. The true spirit of Islam would be inculcated in Muslims if they read the Quran so that they understand its meaning and follow its import.
Source: Spirit of Islam March 2020
The degeneration that we see in present Muslims had been predicted by the Prophet. According to a Hadith:
“A time will come when nothing except the name of Islam will remain [among Muslims] and nothing except the words of the Quran will remain [among Muslims]. (Shu'ab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi, Hadith No. 1908)
This is not surprising because every community undergoes degeneration, and Muslims are no exception to this principle.
This degeneration does not set in in the first generation, but in the generations that follow. This is why reformers are required to suggest what work needs to be done to revive degenerated people. To revive the original spirit of religion one must study of religion from its original sources—Quran and Sunnah.
Source: Spirit of Islam March 2020
Islam does not need reform; it needs revival. The authentic text of the Quran is available and needs no alteration or correction. The only need is to re-interpret Quranic teachings in the modern idiom. The original face of Islam is enshrined in its original sources: Quran, the word of God; and Sunnah, the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. However, interpretations of the religion have covered Islam’s original face.
What is needed is to discard the superficial and erroneous the militant and political interpretation of Islam, and to adopt the original version of Islam based on peace, mercy and the love of humankind. The so-called Muslim Mujahideen have been exhorting their coreligionists to do battle all over the world. But the Quran says: ‘God calls man to the home of peace.’ (10: 25) It is up to right-thinking people everywhere to disregard the call of the Mujahideen, and to start seeing and accepting Islam as it is truly represented by the Quran.
Source: Spirit of Islam September 2020
One who studies Islam, directly from its sacred scriptures, is astonished to find that the original Islam is totally different from what it is now generally held to be. Other religions are known to people as they are; hence the need to rediscover them does not arise. The problem of misapprehension applies therefore exclusively to Islam. There is a great need to study Islam from its original scriptures in order to re-discover it in its original form. In modern times many books have been published with the aim of removing misunderstandings about Islam. One title is as follows: ‘Islam, the Most Misunderstood Religion’.
But titles such as these are not in accordance with the actual state of affairs. These books start with the premise that non-Muslims have mistakenly come to regard Islam as a religion of intolerance and violence and then they attempt to remove these misapprehensions. But the actual question to be addressed is why there should ever have been such misunderstanding. It has to be conceded that it is based not on some allegation but rather on the fact that the Muslims of today, in almost every country, repeatedly display violence and intolerance towards others. They have adopted this course of action in the name of Islamic movements or Islamic Jihad. Were Muslims to do so in the name of their own communal interest and people attributed that to Islam, this would amount to misunderstanding based on an allegation. But when Muslims themselves attributed their activities to Islam, it becomes a case of proper understanding and not that of misunderstanding.
Furthermore, the educated class of modern times is obsessed with the concept of anthropology, which treats religion as a social phenomenon instead of as a vehicle for revealed truth.
Therefore, according to their way of thinking, they naturally come to regard the activities of Muslims to be Islam itself. And their thinking is further confirmed when they find that Muslims engage themselves in these activities in the very name of Islam.
Given this state of affairs, the real task to be performed is to rediscover Islam by differentiating between Islam as such and Muslims. It should be made clear that Islam and Muslims are not necessarily one and the same thing, so that one must differentiate between Islam and Muslims. Islam is an ideology. One who adopts this ideology in full is a Muslim; otherwise he is not a Muslim. It is essential that Muslims be judged in the light of Islamic ideals: Islam should not be judged in the light of what Muslims do in the name of Islam.
Source: Islam Rediscovered
For all human beings, Islam begins from the discovery of God, rather than the mere fact of being of Muslim lineage. When an individual discovers Islam as an absolute truth, he makes that his starting point. Being born into a Muslim family and thus having a Muslim name certainly makes one a member of the cultural society of the Muslims, but in no way does it entitle anyone to find his or her name on the list of the ‘guided ones’ in the true Quranic sense. This is called the rediscovery of Islam.
Source: Islam Rediscovered
Today, there are many misconceptions prevalent about Islam. The only way to rediscover Islam is by studying Islam from its original sources—Quran, the word of God, and the Sunnah, the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. When we undertake such an objective study of Islam, by making a distinction between the source of Islam and the practice of Muslims, we will be able to rediscover Islam.
Source: Spirit of Islam September 2019
Patience is the exercise of restraint in trying situations. It is a virtue, which enables the individual to proceed towards worthy goals, undeterred by adverse circumstances or repeated provocations. If he allows himself to become upset by opposition, taunts or other kinds of unpleasantness, he will never reach his goals. He will simply become enmeshed in irrelevancies.
The only way to deal with the irksome side of daily living is to exercise patience. Patience will ensure that whenever one has some bitter experience, he will opt for the way of tolerance rather than that of reaction to provocation. It will enable one to absorb shocks and to continue undeterred on one’s onward journey.
Sabr or Patience, as well as being a practical solution to the problems faced in the outside world, is also a means of positive character building. One who fails to exercise patience gives free rein to negative thoughts and feelings, and develops a personality, which is likewise negative; while one who remains patient is so morally bolstered by his own positive thoughts and feelings that he develops a positive personality.
Sabr is no retreat. Sabr only amounts to taking the initiative along the path of wisdom and reason as opposed to the path of emotions. Sabr gives one the strength to restrain one’s emotions in delicate situations and rather to use one’s brains to find a course of action along result-oriented lines.
The present world is fashioned in such a way that everyone is necessarily confronted with unpleasant matters at one time or another. Unbearable circumstances have to be borne somehow; harrowing events have to be witnessed and all kinds of pain have to be suffered. In such situations, succumbing to impatience leads to the kind of unnecessary emotional involvement which is counter-productive, while a demonstration of patience has a healing, beneficial effect, allowing one to tread the path of discreet avoidance.
Success in the present world is destined only for those who adopt the path of patience in adverse circumstances.
Source: Spirit of Islam June 2013
In mutual dealings in social life, it often happens that a person gives his word to another. There is apparently no third person or group between the two, yet there is always a third present and that is God who is the supreme witness. That is why every promise becomes a divine promise. Therefore, man should be extremely sensitive about giving his word. His conviction should be that every commitment made between two persons is under the watchful eyes of God, and that he will be accountable for its fulfilment in the court of God. This compels him to be highly responsible as regards his promises. Whenever he gives his word to anyone he should make it a point to keep it.
People who invariably fulfil their promises are predictable characters in a society, and give their society that particular quality which exists on a vast scale throughout the universe. Every part of this universe is functioning with the most exact precision. For instance, we can learn in advance about any star’s or planet’s rotation, and where it will be moving after a hundred or even a thousand years. Similarly, we know in advance what the boiling point of water will be. In this way the entire universe evinces a predictable character.
Many other virtues come in the wake of the regular fulfilment of promises. One of these is mutual trust. In a society where mutual trust exists, there is no discord and dissension between people; there is an atmosphere of confidence and peacefulness as there is no fear of promises being broken.
Readiness to fulfil promises is a commendable trait, and it is spirituality that makes man the possessor of this highest of human virtues.
Source: Spirit of Islam June 2013
Two basic source books of Islam are the Quran and the Hadith. The Quran is believed to be the word of God, and the Hadith is the compilation of the sayings of the Prophet of Islam. The Quran contains about 6,500 verses while the Hadith contains about 25,000 sayings of the Prophet of Islam. Islamic teachings cover almost all the aspects of human life like belief, worship, morality, spirituality, social structure, etc.
Here are ten references from the Quran and Hadith that may be considered universal principles suitable for every man and woman, irrespective of religion and/or culture. They are formulae for life or an art of life management.
Mutual Respect: How to live in a multi-religious society? The Quranic answer to this question is found in this verse: “For you your religion; for me mine.” This principle is based on religious tolerance. It may be formulated in a sentence as ‘Follow one and respect all.’
Reconciliation and Adjustment: How to behave at the time of conflict? The Quran says, “Reconciliation is the best.” It means that at the time of conflict, we have to adopt a conciliatory rather than confrontational course of action.
Peace: The Prophet of Islam said, “God grants to non-violence what He does not grant to violence.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 6766) In other words, peaceful methods are always far more effective than violent methods.
Practical Wisdom: According to a Hadith the general policy of the Prophet of Islam was that whenever the Prophet of Islam had to choose between two options he always chose the easier option rather than the harder one. This was the general policy of Islam in every matter.
Positive Response: A person once came to the Prophet of Islam and asked, “O Prophet, give me some master advice by which I may be able to manage all the affairs of my life.” The Prophet replied, “Do not be angry.” It means that we must not react with anger even when provoked. Respond positively to negative situations. Always adopt positive thinking.
Modesty: The Prophet of Islam said, “God elevates the modest.” In other words, modesty is the way to high success.
Result-oriented Action: The Prophet of Islam said, “The beauty of a man is to keep himself away from futile activities, which produce no results.” Our actions should be always result-oriented.
Friendly Behaviour: The Prophet of Islam said, “He is not a believer who creates problems for his neighbours.”
Unilateral Good Character: The Quran says: “Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is good, then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend.” Our behaviour in society should not be retaliatory but good under all circumstances.
Universal Brotherhood: The Prophet of Islam said, “I bear witness that all human beings are brothers and sisters to each other.” This concept inculcates the feeling of universal brotherhood in all of us, and it is on this basis that a better society can be formed.
Source: Spirit of Islam August 2013
Islamic culture is one of mercy (rahmat). The aspect of mercy in Islam is so prominent that it engulfs the entire lives of those who have fully adopted the principles of Islam.
Islam teaches its followers that, when they meet one another, they should address one another with such words as “May peace and God’s blessings be upon you.’ Even when one sneezes, he should say, ‘May God be praised’, and the others sitting with him will respond ‘May God bless you.’ When the believer enters the mosque, he should say: ‘May God open the gates of mercy to me.’ Similarly, when worshippers have concluded their prayer, they are to turn their faces sideways and say: ‘May God’s blessings and peace be upon you.’
In this way, on all occasions and at every stage, the phrases of peace and mercy come readily to the lips of the believer. Thinking and speaking in terms of mercy become the distinguishing features of the believers. Their whole life is moulded by the demands of mercy and compassion.
The Prophet often uttered such phrases as ‘May God bless the man, may God bless the woman.’ This goes to show what type of attitude Islam wants to develop in its adherents. This is the culture of Rahmat and Love. Islam demands that on all occasions human beings should be well intentioned towards one another; on all occasions man should offer the gifts of love and compassion to others. Even in moments of conflict, such words come to the lips of the believers: “May God have mercy on you, why did you say or do such and such a thing?”
God is All-Merciful. He desires his servants to live in this world as merciful creatures.
Source: Simple Wisdom
If the commandment to practice polygamy is seen in the abstract, it would appear to be biased in favour of men. But when placed in the context of social organization, it is actually in favour of women. Polygamy is both a proper and a natural solution to women’s problems.
The permission to practice polygamy in Islam was not given in order to enable men to satisfy their carnal urges. It was designed as a practical strategy to solve a particular problem. Marrying more than one woman is possible only when there are more women than men. Failing this, it is out of question. It is inconceivable that Islam, just to satisfy man’s desires, would give us a commandment that is neither possible nor practical.
To have more than one wife is not an ideal in Islam. It is, in essence, a practical solution to a social problem.
Source: Spirit of Islam March 2013
In terms of birth rate, men and women are almost equal in number. But subsequently, for a variety of reasons such as wars, the number of men in society decreases, leaving an excess of women. At such times the choice is not between monogamy and polygamy, but rather, between the lawful polygamy of Islam or the illicit polygamy of non-Islamic people. Such a situation emerged after the Battle of Uhud (3 A.H.) in which 70 Muslims were martyred and their widows and orphans were left without guardianship. At that time the following verse was revealed: ‘If you fear that you cannot deal fairly with orphan girls, you may marry women of your choice, two, three or four; but if you fear that you might not be able to treat them with equal fairness, then only one.’ (The Quran, 4:3) It asked people who could afford it, to take care of the orphans by marrying the widows and keeping their orphaned children under their guardianship. This commandment is only temporary in effect, covering a state of emergency when, due to the loss of men in battle, the number of women exceeded the available men.
Source: Polygamy and Islam
Chapter 4 of the Quran allows a man to have four wives (4:3). This does not mean that every man should have four wives. This rule is an exception, and not to be taken in a general sense. The general rule is to have only one wife; but in a case of real necessity, a man can have more than one wife.
This need refers to a situation where, by some unfortunate incident, there is disparity between the number of men and women in society. When there are more women than men, there is sexual anarchy. To overcome this inequality, in dire cases, men are allowed to have more than one wife.
The truth is that a natural way of marriage is between one man and one woman. For a man is naturally biased against the second wife in most cases. This suffices to prove that monogamy is the natural way, while polygamy is permitted in exceptional circumstances by the law of necessity. There are exceptional laws of this kind which cover other cases as well. But exceptional laws are exceptional laws, and they cannot be applied in general.
Source: The Sunday Guardian, September 24. 2022
One of the commandments given in the Quran as a matter of social organization concerning polygamy, is permission for a man to marry up to four women:
“If you fear that you cannot treat orphans with fairness, then you may marry such women (widowed) as seem good to you: two, three or four of them. But if you fear that you cannot do justice, marry one only.” (The Quran, 4:3)
This verse was revealed after the Battle of Uhud 625 CE, in which seventy Muslims were martyred. Suddenly, seventy homes in Madinah were bereft of all male members, and the question arose as to how all these widows and orphans were to be cared for. This was an acute social problem. It was solved by the revelation of this verse asking the people who could afford it to take care of the orphans, by marrying the widows and keeping their orphaned children under their guardianship.
The background and wording of this verse appear to express a commandment that should be only temporary in effect. That is to say that it applied only to a particular state of emergency when, due to loss of men in battle, the number of women exceeded the number of available men. But the Quran, despite its having been revealed at a particular time and place, is universal in its application. One of the great characteristics of the Quran is that it describes eternal realities, with reference to temporal issues, this commandment being typical of this special quality of the Quran.
Looked at from a practical angle, the above commandment of the Quran can be complied with only if that particular situation exists in society that existed in Madinah after the Battle of Uhud—that is, there is a disproportion in the ratio of men and women. In the absence of such a situation, this commandment of the Quran would be inapplicable. But studies of human society and its history have shown that the situation in ancient Madinah was not one that existed only at a particular point in time. It is a situation that had almost always been prevalent throughout the world. That situation of emergency is, in fact, the general situation of humankind. This commandment is yet another proof of God’s omniscience. His commandment, seemingly elicited by an emergency, became an eternal commandment for the whole of our world under similar circumstances.
Source: Spirit of Islam March 2019
This is not true. Referring to certain verses of the Quran, there are some who attempt to give the impression that Islam is a religion of war and violence. This is totally untrue. Such verses relate to a specific situation and are meant in a restricted sense; they are not of general applicability. Observe the following verse:
And fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression—for surely God does not love aggressors. Slay them wherever you find them [those who fight against you]. (Quran 2:190-91)
Fight them until there is no more fitna [religious persecution] and religion belongs to God alone. If the desist, then let there be no hostility, except towards aggressors. (Quran 2:193)
The above verses do not convey the general command of Islam. The truth of the matter is that the Quran was not revealed in the complete form in which it exists today. It was revealed from time to time, according to the circumstances, over a period of 23 years. If this is divided into years of war and peace, the period of peace amounts to 20 years, while that of war amounts only to 3 years. The revelations during these 20 peaceful years consisted of the peaceful teachings of Islam as are conveyed in the verses regarding the realization of God, worship, morality, piety, justice, etc.
In 13 years of Makkan period, the Prophet completely avoided conflict and killing. And migration to Madina, after giving up the native land, was also a kind of avoiding violence and that was super avoidance of violence. When the Prophet of Islam emigrated from Makkah to Madinah, his opponents became aggressive towards him. But the Prophet always averted their attacks by the exercise of patience and the strategy of avoidance. However, on certain occasions no other options existed, save that of retaliation. Therefore, he had to engage in defensive battle on certain occasions. It was these circumstances which occasioned the revelations relating to war. These commands, being specific to certain circumstances, had no general application. They were not meant to be valid for all time to come. That is why the permanent status of the Prophet has been termed: ‘a mercy to all mankind’. (Quran 21:107)
In principle, the Quran teaches peace and complete freedom of thought and religion, and does not, to any extent, advocate for the killing of people due to differences of ideology.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
In Islam, the Prophet Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad have an equal position in terms of respect. Both were sent as a mercy to mankind, to guide them to the right path and to spirituality. The Quran says:
“Say, ‘We believe in God and in what has been sent down to us and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes. We believe in what has been given to Moses, Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them. It is to Him that we have surrendered ourselves.’” (3:84)
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
Contrary to the common misconception that Islam denies religious freedom to others, Islam enjoins religious freedom to others. Religious freedom is the basic human right whose violation has caused conflicts, wars and bloodshed in both ancient and modern societies. The Quran, therefore, has declared for the first time in human history: “There shall be no coercion in matters of religion.” (2:256)
The Quran also states clearly, “To you your religion and to me mine.” (109: 6)
The principle that we obtain from the above verses of the Quran is generally referred to, in today’s context, as religious freedom. In view of this prohibition of coercion (Ikrah), all Islamic jurists (Fuqaha) without any exception hold that forcible conversion is under all circumstances null and void. Any attempt to coerce a non-believer to accept Islam is a grievous sin, (Ahkam al-Quran, al-Jassas, Vol. 1, p. 550). According to this principle of ‘non-coercion’, it is not permissible to exploit or manipulate personal weaknesses or calamities (e.g. poverty, sickness, famine, etc.) for religious conversion. That is why old and downtrodden non-Muslims were exempted from taxes and given all monetary support by the Islamic state without ever being asked to embrace Islam just for the advantages it would give them.
With the advent of Islam in the seventh century, however, it was declared for the benefit of mankind that all greatness was the exclusive prerogative of God, and that in the eyes of God, all human beings were equal. The Prophet Muhammad declared not once, but on many occasions that all were alike, all were brothers.
The Prophet not only stated the truth but also made it a reality by bringing about a total revolution based on the idea of human equality. On achieving political domination in Arabia, he was able to put this theory into practice in his capacity as ruler of a state. In this way, Islam put an end to discrimination between human beings on the basis of race, colour, status, etc. People were assigned a high or low status according to their moral worth.
Source: Spirit of Islam September 2013
