صِبْغَةَ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللَّهِ صِبْغَةً (2:138) “Take on God's own dye. Who has a better dye than God's?”

What does this mean? Religion for you should not be like a piece of stone in water. Religion should be as dye mixed in water. The dye and water become one. In this way, you and religion become one. Your thought, speech and behaviour should be religious.

What does this mean? Everything has a spirit and a form. Islam also has spirit and form. If you only adopt the form, you have followed Islam superficially. For example, suppose that white colour clothes represent Islam. When you wear white clothes, you will think your life has become Islamic. But if you follow Islam in spirit, it will become part of your inner personality.

This is the meaning of following Islam in spirit. God doesn't like an Islam in which you only follow outward forms. These days Muslims all over the world are concerned with Islamic identity. In Arabic it is called, al-Hawiya al-Islamiya.

What is all this? One's identity is based on what can be seen from outside. Today Islamic identity is based on externals. They think these external aspects represent Islam. They have reduced Islam to a form. Islamic identity is given a lot of importance these days. This is a reduced form of Islam. Whatever is visible from outside will become your real identity. Clothes, beard, skull cap -- all these are visible from outside. These external things are only the form of Islam. Spiritless form is nothing. It has no value. This is same as throwing away the fruit and taking the peel.

People have left the spirit of Islam which is most essential, and have adopted the form thinking this is real Islam. The concept of Islamic identity, or al-Hawiya al-Islamiya, is a reduced form of Islam.