Two paths, toward God and away from God, frame the lead essay by Maria Abdin on submission, repentance, free will, idol worship, and the moral decay of families and societies. Lydia Kelley looks past the physical images of Paradise to the Quran's emotional promises: no worries, lies, jealousy, or boredom. A closing note states the aim of purging innovations by upholding the Quran alone.
“...Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in
God has grasped the strongest bond;
one that never breaks. God is Hearer, Omniscient.” (2:256)
Today’s Muslims are faced with a great
challenge—this is a time of turmoil, war, famine, and oppression.
We either choose to submit our inward beings to the laws and guidance
of the Creator, or we will sooner or later be compromised or crushed by
the tide of evil. At this point in history, we do not have the option
of comfortable, uninvolved neutrality.
During the past centuries, the world of Islam has seen some of its adherents
drift away from its inner soul, God, leaving the door open for materialism,
corruption, unquestioning adherence to tradition, blind nationalism, and
the path on the left. Islam is a path which calls on us to prostrate not
just our bodies, but our minds and souls to the Lord of the Universe.
“God Himself has witnessed that there is no god but He. And the
angels and those endowed with knowledge also bear witness that there is
no god but He, the absolute god, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise. In
the sight of God, Islam (submission to the
will of God) is the only right way of life...” (3:18-19) And for
the Muslim, the Holy Quran is God’s gift—His guidance and
instructions given through the prophet Muhammad.
People can lead lives which are a mixture between the ways of God and
the ways of the downward path for quite a while. But there are only two
directions—the path toward God, and the path away from God—and
we will eventually be forced ourselves to make a decision to go one way
or the other. One cannot go in both directions at the same time.
The Path Toward God
Islam in its pure form is a spiritual path—simple, challenging
and effective. Walking this path with commitment brings certain fruits,
including increasing compassion, self control, generosity of spirit, independent
thinking, moral courage, respect for others, honesty, and the right use
of
resources. Islam is not in itself a political
system, although political systems may proceed from it. It is not a set
of cultural traditions, although cultural traditions may reflect it. It
is not the possession of any social or ethnic group, or of any geographical
area. Its originator and protector is the Lord of the universe, and human
beings cannot own or control Him.
Faith in God and His guidance is not a matter of conformity with doctrine,
rules, human law, or cultural norms. Over periods of time, the understanding
of divine revelation, and practice derived from it, tend to accrue large
amounts of interpretation, speculation, and personal preferences, dimming
the pure light of God’s guidance. Belief is the internal acknowledgment
that we and everything else are created by the One and dependent upon
Him, and that obedience to God’s law is life.
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The Right Way
The path opens up before us as we strive to overcome sins, and
to practice righteousness—prayer, charity, compassion, fairness
to others, truth, honesty. The situations and events of our lives
are lessons which, if we ask God’s guidance and help, can
teach us and strengthen our characters. As we progress along the
straight path, we find that bad habits must be overcome and good
ones cultivated, mistakes must be corrected, challenges must be
undertaken, sins repented of, relationships built on a foundation
of respect and truth. Doing that which is right requires constant
effort — righteousness does not come automatically with the
recitation of Shahadah or by being born into a righteous family.
When we find we have done wrong, we repent—we acknowledge
our responsibility and remorse to God, make amends to anyone whom
we have wronged, and relying on the help of God make a consistent
and determined effort to avoid doing the wrong again. There is no
forgiveness and no help when we have no intention of avoiding the
wrong in the future, no matter how many religious acts we perform.
The path can be steep and difficult, and can have many surprises
and unexpected hazards. But it also has great rewards—the
ability to love and be loved, the deep and healing gratitude of
spirit when we behold the natural world; the mental, emotional and
spiritual strengths and abilities which can be placed at the service
of God in the world around us; the joy of learning. These things
last. The diversions and possessions of the material world do not
last—and when pursued as ends in themselves inevitably turn
sour.
Our understanding of God, of creation, and our place and purpose
in creation, may have many gaps and inaccuracies at the beginning
of our journey to God. But we can only start from where we are,
and our understanding grows as we progress along the path.
We have free will, and the fact that
God knows everything in no way diminishes our freedom or the consequences
which ensue from our use or misuse of it. Without freedom there
is no growth. Simply doing what we are told without thinking or
deciding for ourselves makes us robots at best. To the extent that
we willingly relinquish our free will to the control of others,
to that extent are we answerable to God for the misuse of His gift
of freedom.
The Path Away From God
Like the straight path of God, the path away from God is a direction
and not an instant condition. One “progresses” along
the evil path gradually and by degrees—by each decision to
do wrong or avoid doing good, by each willing action which violates
the law of the Creator. The downward path leads to ruin of individual
character, of family and social health, and ultimately to destruction
of community and nation. Rejecting God’s path confines one’s
soul in an ever-increasing cage of illusion, discord and degeneration—and
one no longer has the ability to see his or her condition clearly.
(6:122)
Moral corruption in a family breeds secrecy, distrust and betrayal,
with the manipulation and control tending to replace respect, cooperation
and mutual responsibility. Corrupt societies rot and die—problems
don’t get solved, they get shoved off onto others; the leaders
are not the wisest or most competent, but those who succeed politically
through alliances, force and intimidation, spies, self-serving cliques,
propaganda, and “image-building.” The efforts to preserve
privilege, status and power takes first priority, and collisions
with reality are either not perceived in time, or not handled in
a way which will avoid eventual disaster.
The absolute basic element of Islam is submission to God (41:6)
and there is good reason for that. Worship of anything or anybody
else cuts us off from the Source as surely as flipping the light
switch turns off the light. Our internal beings gradually wither
like
flowers deprived of water. Idol worship
includes worshiping statues, spirits of nature, other creatures,
material property, human beings (including prophets and saints),
mythical gods and goddesses. No sane creature would stand for being
worshiped—to be considered equal with its Creator in any way,
or independent of His life-giving sustenance. Creatures who want
to be worshiped and served tend to be weak, twisted and unsavory
characters underneath the charismatic exterior. When Satan masquerades
as an angel of light, there is lying, deceit, treachery, cruelty
and greed underneath.
The only effective way to reverse directions—to turn from
the path of darkness to the path of God, is by prayerfully seeking
the help of God, and making every effort to do what is right. Just
as the butterfly tangled in a spider web cannot extricate itself
without intervention of something stronger than itself, so we do
not have the power without God’s help to free ourselves from
the clutches of evil.
It is not easy to live a righteous life while the social fabric
deteriorates around us. We cannot force our way of thinking and
living on others (2:256-257). Let us, then, be a gentle reflection
of God’s compassion, a strong pillar of righteousness, and
a source of truth and help to all who seek to do what is right.
Maria Abdin
Did we not show him (the human being) the two paths?
He should choose the difficult path.
Which one is the difficult path?
The freeing of slaves.
Feeding, during the time of hardship.
Orphans who are related.
Or the poor who is in need.
And being one of those who believe, and exhorting
one another to be steadfast, and exhorting one another to be kind
Most of us are very familiar with the
physical descriptions of Heaven in the Quran.
“Gardens with flowing streams...” “Bracelets
of gold and pearls...” “Garments of silk...” “On
furnishings close to one another....With them will be wonderful
companions.” “Fragrant fruits, extended shade, abundant
water...”
The descriptions are lavish and very beautiful. We know they are
allegorical descriptions, yet God has used the things that He knows
please us in this world to help us understand minutely the Hereafter.
“You have no idea how much joy and happiness
are waiting for you as a reward for your (righteous) works.”
And to help us try to understand that joy and happiness, God goes
beyond describing Paradise in objective terms; He also gives us
subjective descriptions. Again, these are allegorical, but we are
familiar with the emotional roller coaster we are all on in this
world. And we can understand deep down inside ourselves what these
emotions are.
God makes Heaven very appealing simply with His promise in verse
35:34 that He will remove all our worries. Can you imagine going
through a whole week without worrying about something? Are the kids
okay? Can I make the mortgage payment? Will I get into college?
Did I remember to turn off the stove? Small or large, worries tend
to occupy a lot of our time. Even for Submitters who know that God
is in full control, our minds still get bogged down in day to day
concerns. Well, God is not just promising us a day or a week or
even a month without worries. For those who dwell in Paradise, it’s
eternity.
“They will say, “Praise
God for removing all our worries. Our Lord Is Forgiving, Appreciative.”
35:34
And based on our day to day lives in this world, can you imagine
a week without having to listen to lies and nonsense? At work, people
gossip and backstab and lie to get ahead. Go to buy a car, and you're
assaulted by unscrupulous sales people who will say anything to
make the sale. On TV, it’s a constant barrage of blather and
foolishness. So think of the peace and quiet when God promises that
those in Paradise will never hear any nonsense or lies. [19:62,
78:35, 88:11] In Sura 56, God says: “Rewards for their works.
They never hear any nonsense therein, nor sinful utterances. Only
the utterance: ‘Peace, peace.’” 56:24-26
One very strong human emotion that impacts negatively on our lives
with great regularity is jealousy. It's a tool that Satan frequently
uses in driving wedges between us. We are jealous of someone else’s
looks or wealth or success. We are jealous in our relationships—
husbands and wives, parents and children, even friends. We recognize
how horrible it is, but sometimes we seem powerless to stop those
jealous feelings. God tells us that He will stop them for those
who make it to Heaven.
“Enter therein, peaceful and secure. We remove
all jealousy from their hearts.” 15:46-7
After it’s repeated in verse 7:43 that God will remove all
jealousy, the response of those who are in Paradise is:
“God be praised for guiding us. We could not
possibly be guided, if it were not that God has guided us.”
God makes Heaven sound pretty terrific—no nonsense, no lies,
no
jealousy. In several places, the Quran
tells us that those in Paradise will relax. Sometimes in our busy
schedules, we can’t seem to find any time to just relax, and
it's very appealing. But too much relaxation can lead to boredom
and fatigue. God reassures us that
“The dwellers of Paradise will be, on that
day, happily busy.” 36:55
We will never get bored or tired therein—this is God’s
promise. Heaven, then, is the perfect balance of not doing too much
and not doing too little—“happily busy.”
To help us understand how truly wonderful Heaven will be, God appeals
to our hearts. When we think of a garden with a gentle waterfall
and bright colored flowers and trees, this is generally a more positive
image than a description of metropolitan Los Angeles. Equally stirring
are the positive emotional descriptions God provides.
“Some faces on that day will be happy. Laughing
and joyful.” 80:38-9 “God...rewards them with joy
and contentment.” 76:11 “You recognize in their faces
the joy of bliss.” 83:24 “If he is one of those close
to Me, then joy, flowers, and gardens of bliss. And if he is one
of the right, peace is the lot of those on the right.” 56:88-91
Contrast this with some of the emotional descriptions of Hell.
That the people of Hell will feud with one another for all eternity,
constantly blaming and arguing.
It is lovely to picture a quiet mountain stream through deep woods. That
is a place I like to go. It is even lovelier to imagine that stream and
those woods filled with people in joyful companionship—never angry,
never jealous, never bored.
“Those who reverence their Lord will be led to Paradise
in throngs. When they get to it, and its gates are opened, its guards
will say, “Peace be upon you; you have won. Therefore, you abide
herein forever. They will say, “Praise be to God who fulfilled His
promise to us, and made us inherit the earth, enjoying Paradise as we
please.” What a beautiful recompense for the workers! You will see
the angels floating around the throne, glorifying and praising their Lord.
After the equitable judgment is issued to all, it will be proclaimed:
“Praise be to God, Lord of the universe.” 39:73-75
The worshipers of the Most Gracious are those who tread
the earth gently, and when the ignorant speak to them, they only utter
peace.
In the privacy of the night, they meditate on their Lord,
and fall prostrate.
And they say, “Our Lord, spare us the agony of Hell;
its retribution is horrendous. It is the worst abode; the worst destiny.”
When they give, they are neither extravagant nor stingy;
they give in moderation.
They never implore beside God
any other god, nor do they kill anyone—for God has made life sacred—except
in the course of justice. Nor do they commit adultery. Those who commit
these offenses will have to pay.
Retribution is doubled for them on the Day of Resurrection,
and they abide therein humiliated.
Exempted are those who repent, believe, and lead a righteous
life. God transforms their sins into credits. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
Those who repent and lead a righteous life, God redeems
them; a complete redemption.
They do not bear false witness. When they encounter vain
talk, they ignore it.
When reminded of their Lord’s revelations, they never
react to them as if they were deaf and blind.
And they say, “Our Lord, let our spouses and children
be a source of joy for us, and keep us in the forefront of the righteous.”
These are the ones who attain Paradise in return for their
steadfastness; they are received therein with joyous greetings and peace.
Eternally they abide therein; what a beautiful destiny;
what a beautiful abode.
Say, “You attain value at my Lord only through your
worship. But if you disbelieve, you incur the inevitable consequences.”
25:63-77
Lydia Kelley
Who Are We?
During the past fourteen centuries, traditions, customs, and myths have
crept into the religion of Islam (Submission). Gradually, they have
become dogma or ritual, to such an extent that anyone who questions
them in the light of the Quran finds himself or herself regarded
as a dangerous innovator and heretic.
Islam (Submission) today is like a precious jewel that is buried
under piles upon piles of man made innovations. Our aim is to purge
these innovations by upholding the Quran and nothing but the Quran
alone, and present the jewel of true Submission to the world.
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International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson