Islam is based on “La Ilaha
Illalah” meaning there is no God, but Allah Almighty. This is the crux of final
revelation that has been repeated several times in the holy Quran. A Muslim is
the one who believes in the oneness of Allah Almighty, Muhammad (PBUH) as a last
messenger and is expected to obey all His commandments.
As per our prophet Muhammad (PBUH), {Each child is born as a Muslim and then his
parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Polytheist. (Sahih Muslim, Book 033,
Number 6426)}.
Now lets analyse this hades in the literal sense; as per the holy Quran, {Allah
created the man” (Chapter 55 Surah Ar-Rehman, Verse 3)}.
This implies that Allah created all the organs of the human body, i.e. eyes,
ears, nose, tongue, brain, heart, lungs, hands, feet, etc. Each organ has been
assigned a specific role in the human body by Allah Almighty. The duty of an eye
is to see, if it is performing its duty properly, then eye is a Muslim entity in
its capacity. Similarly, duty of an ear is to listen, if it is performing its
duty properly, then ear is also a Muslim entity in its capacity, and so forth.
When each body organ is distinctly a Muslim, then the combination of all these
organs surely constitutes a complete Muslim body physically.
Moreover, an infant is innocent and at this stage his senses are not developed
enough to think about this world or its pleasures, goods or bads, rights or
wrongs, nor he has any authority to take decisions for himself, so he is
mentally a Muslim as well, as he is naturally bound to remain within the defined
limits by Allah Almighty.
Being an IT professional, I would like to correlate the functioning of a
computer system with a human body. A working computer is composed of different
hardware and software. Hardware consists of physical parts like keyboard, mouse,
LCD, camera, mic, speaker, printer, RAM, CPU, hard disk, etc. while software
consists of operating system and other related applications. Similarly a living
human body is composed of physical body and his psyche.
Now if any peripheral (hardware) of computer is worn off, it is either
physically repaired or physically replaced with the same compatible device; for
example, keyboard is replaced with other keyboard, printer with other printer,
camera with other camera, and so forth. The repairing/ replacement activity
won’t harm software end of the computer. Same goes with human body, if any organ
is infected, it is either physically cured or physically transplanted; for
example, eye is replaced with other eye, kidney with other kidney, heart with
other heart, and so forth. The curing/ transplantation treatment would have
nothing to do with the spoiling of human psyche.
The things get relatively sensitive to understand, when we analyse software end
of the computer or psyche of the person. Whenever a computer is hit by any
malfunction or virus, it is always fixed with other instructions/ other software
utilities/ antivirus that may counter/ mitigate the problem. There is no
PHYSICAL replacement possible for software problems. Contrary to hardware, the
software end is so powerful that it controls all the hardware working like what
to do or what not. Even the hardware of excellent quality is considered failed,
if the software is not doing what it is supposed to do. Wrong software yields
incorrect results from the right hardware and hence makes the entire system
useless. The best way to deal software problems is to follow users’ guide of the
system.
Similarly, any problem with human psyche can only be cured with discussions/
advices/ negotiations. There is no transplantation treatment available for
psyche disorders. The human psyche controls entire body operations and reactions
after coordinating with environmental inputs from the senses. It’s the human
psyche that tells the body what to see and what not, what to speak and what not,
how to behave and how not, and so forth. It is powerful enough that it can drive
the human body either in a right or wrong direction, and hence branding him
either virtuous or evil for the society. For all the human psyche problems, the
ultimate guide from Allah Almighty (in its pure form) is the holy Quran.
Whenever hardware is installed together to form a computer system, some basic
instructions can be found on ROM (prewritten from the manufacturer) that are
un-editable and are used in the overall installation process. Irrespective of
your choice platform (operating system), the ROM remains the same. Similarly,
when it comes to human beings, we can find “La Ilaha Illalah” prewritten on each
psyche by Allah Almighty.
In the holy Quran, Allah Almighty reminds the oath taken by the entire mankind,
{And remember when your Lord brought forth the generations from the backs of the
Descendants of Adam, and made them their own witness; “Am I not your Lord?”;
they all said, “Yes surely You are, why not? We testify”; for you may say on the
Day of Resurrection that, “We were unaware of this.”(Chapter 7 Surah Al Araf,
Verse 172)}.
Irrespective of any human beliefs, this prewritten “La Ilaha Illalah” allows us
to explore and learn any knowledge of the world (just like installing other
software applications), but at the same time keeps prompting us internally to
search and recognize our Lord. That’s the reason there is so much disparity in
the beliefs, some worship stones, some worship sun, moon and stars, some worship
other creatures and so forth. The ultimate objective is to respect God somehow,
through blind following of their ancestors.
Right after verse 172 of Chapter 7 Surah Al-Araf, Allah rules out the possible
excuse of people, i.e. {Or you may say, “It is our ancestors who first ascribed
partners (to Allah) and we were (their) children after them; so will You destroy
us on account of the deeds of the followers of falsehood?”(Chapter 7 Surah Al
Araf, Verse 173)}
This indicates that Allah is shaking the mankind to recognize and worship the
real Lord, and don’t plunge into the false beliefs by following your ancestors
blindly. Each soul has given the declaration of God’s recognition on individual
basis, and hence worshiping idols by any means is simply unjustified. Now it
should be our utmost duty to follow and worship only the real God (the Allah
Almighty).
Moreover, when any software is designed, special consideration is made on all
possible moves by the user, and for each move there is a specific way to deal
it. This is to ensure smooth working of the system in the required environment.
For instance, lets take the example of an ATM machine software. If a user enters
the correct password, he/she can operate his/her account, but if the wrong pin
is entered three consecutive times, the ATM card will be blocked. The reason
behind is to safeguard user’s account from possible theft attempt. To reactivate
the blocked ATM card, user will have to follow a certain procedure as laid by
the respective service provider.
Now if you deliberately enter the wrong password three consecutive times, your
ATM card will be blocked for sure. You cannot blame the bank for blocking your
service, since you did not follow the proper procedure of using the ATM card.
Similarly, when it comes to Allah’s instructions/ commandments, there is a
wisdom associated with each and every act. It should be our firm belief that it
is solely in our betterment to obey them with respect. Disobeying any directive
will certainly lead us to a certain trouble, which is in fact a gentle
realization of self-correction.
Today we are not ashamed of leaving our prayers, fasts, zakat, hajj, worshiping
idols (wealth, fame, authority, wishful desires), getting interests/ riba from
banks, disobeying & disrespecting parents, speaking lies, listening music,
abusing & backbiting others, taunting & cheating others, being shameless, being
cruel & unjust, confiscating others’ rights, and so forth, in short
transgressing any limits as set by our creator. Consequently, we have to
confront strong retaliation from the nature in the form of uncountable
afflictions all around. Even then we don’t bother to correct our way of living,
as drafted by the creator of this universe, instead like to remain stick up with
our freewill. It is same as keep trying to use your ATM card with the wrong pin
and then accuse the service provider for blocking your banking services.
We must not forget while doing any act that,
{WHATSOEVER IS IN the heavens and the earth sings the praises of God. He is
all-mighty and all-wise. His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, He is
the giver of life and death, and He has power over everything. He is the first
and He the last, the transcendent and the immanent; and He has knowledge of
everything. (Chapter 57 Surah Al Hadid, Verses 1-3)}.
May Allah guides all of us onto the right path and gives us the wisdom to follow
right way of living, which is non-other, but Quran & Sunnah.. Ameen.
Jazak Allah khair..