Freedom to believe or disbelieve in God, and how God's foreknowledge of every soul's fate leaves each person fully responsible for choosing Him alone. A second article, from Mumbai, urges believers to feed the poor and to advocate feeding others, citing the Quran's warning in 107:1 to 3 and 74:40 to 41. Readers' comments praise the community's internet site.
This is a reminder; whoever wills, let him choose the path
to his Lord. 73:19
We are absolutely free to believe or disbelieve
in God. It is God’s will that we have freedom of choice (see 18:29,
25:57, 74:37, 76:29 etc.) God told us in the Quran that He knows the future
and He knows what everyone of us will do, what we will believe, how we
will behave and what acts we will commit in this life, because He is God
who knows the past, present and future. God fully knows what kind of decision
each one of us is destined to make; He knows which of us are going to
Heaven and which are going to Hell. Even before we were born into this
world, God knew which souls are good and which souls are evil.
As far as God’s omniscience is concerned,
we know that God already knows everybody’s fate in this world and
in the Hereafter. Yet as far as we are concerned, we are totally free
to side with God’s absolute authority, or Satan’s polytheistic
views. Predestination, therefore, is a fact as far as God is concerned,
not as far as we are concerned. An example of God’s guidance for
those who deserve guidance (based on their own decision to accept God
ALONE) is found in the following verse:
“...We granted Abraham his guidance and understanding,
for we were fully aware of him.” 21:51
In other words, God knew that Abraham was
a good soul who deserved to be guided, and God granted him his guidance
and understanding. But the first decision to seek God was that of Abraham
of his own free will. So, we are fully free to choose either God or someone
else. Because of this freedom we are responsible for our decision on the
Day of Judgment. We cannot blame our parents, friends, scholars, or anyone.
We can only blame ourselves. Therefore, we should take heed early on and
side with God and believe Him and His book.
Page 2
Food
Part 1: Feeding and Advocate Feeding of the Poor
Do you know who really rejects
the faith? That is the one who mistreats the orphans. And
does not advocate the feeding of the poor (107:1-3)
Besides our Zakat obligations,
God commands us to also be as charitable as we can throughout our
lives. Right at the beginning of the Quran we read that being charitable
is one of the ways we can be certain of the Hereafter.
This scripture is infallible; a beacon for the righteous;
who believe in the unseen, observe the Contact Prayers (Salat),
and from our provisions to them, they give to charity and with regard
to the Hereafter, they are absolutely certain These are guided by
their Lord; these are the winners (2:2-5).
There are many ways to give charity and God credits us for any
type of charity regardless. A particular type emphasized in Quran
is “Feeding of the poor.”
...They donate their favorite food to the poor,
the orphan, and the captive. “We feed you for the sake of
God; we expect no reward from you, nor
thanks. “We fear
from our Lord a day that is full of misery and trouble.” Consequently,
God protects them from the evils of that day, and rewards them with
joy and contentment (76:7-11).
To stay alive, a person must have two basic things—air and
food (and water). The air we breathe is abundantly provided by God
free of cost wherever we are and requires no effort to obtain. Our
lungs access it subconsciously. But food, on the other hand, does
require some effort to obtain. That means, whether it is a fruit
from a tree or game that must be hunted or a processed pack that
must be purchased, a person still has to earn or make some effort
to “obtain it” or “prepare it.” However,
there are many people who cannot afford even a basic meal a day
or grow their own food.
As believers, most of us are undoubtedly eating well, perhaps too
well, praise God. Almost always we have the luxurious choice of
clean food and cool pure drinks—a tiny sample of Heaven already!
The fact that we have choices is a sign alone that we don’t
sleep hungry. We look forward to meals that we assume will be available
on time. If delayed, we feel weak or lethargic and may even become
irritable. A hungry person finds it
difficult to sleep and continuous hunger
leads to all sorts of health problems. If our food provisions were
stopped, search for the next meal for ourselves and families would
override all other objectives for the day. This could be followed
by the greater risk of despondency, less practice of submission
or, for some, even reduced remembrance of God.
Do they not realize that we drive the water to barren
lands, and produce with it crops to feed their livestock, as well
as themselves? Do they not see? (32:27)
But for every day that we eat, we live another day within the
life span determined by God. By God’s system, every day alive
is another opportunity to develop our souls enough to be redeemed
into God’s Kingdom. God has set it up this way for us. Surely
we must then heed the verses which say:
Therefore, you shall eat from God’s provisions
everything that is lawful and good, and be appreciative of God’s
blessings, if you do worship Him alone (16:114).
O you who believe, eat from the good things we provided
for you, and be thankful to God, if you do worship Him alone (2:172).
Page 3
Food
Verbal thanking is quite easy. But a great way to show our real
appreciation would be to do in turn for others the way God has done
for us. If we don’t want to sleep hungry, we must help someone
else not to sleep hungry. If we want to be alive to develop our
souls, so must we help others to be alive to develop their souls.
God can easily feed whomever He wishes to feed, but as believers
the responsibility and test is upon us. Therefore, among the reasons
God gives for people ending up in hell, one of them is “not
Feeding and not Advocating Feeding.”
Do you know who really rejects the faith? That is
the one who mistreats the orphans. And does not advocate the feeding
of the poor (107:1-3).
While in Paradise, they will ask about the guilty.
“What brought you to this retribution?” They will say,
“We did not observe the contact prayers (Salat). “We
did not feed the poor (74:40-41).
Fortunately, the command to feed the poor is fervently obeyed by
the believers around the world. Everywhere many
brothers and sisters are spending their
time and money arranging to feed the poor individually or through
soup kitchens. God has promised to shower these believers with His
blessings and grace manifold. Many people from different faiths
and religions are also doing the same. Still there are millions
around the world hungry.
This article is not to remind the believers to do what they are
already doing well, praise God. It is to see if we can encourage
(advocate) more people, be they believers or not, to feed others
who are hungry. God willing we must increase our efforts to see
that more people are fed. When one person contributes to a feeding
project, it feeds many. So imagine if we were to just double the
contribution or the number of contributors, how many it would feed?
Just think. If everyone who could afford to give Zakat
and charity did their bit, maybe there would not be a single needy
or hungry person on earth! More of God’s land would be put
to harvest, jobs created, more people alive and healthy, less diseases,
less worries, less crime and what not! Simply because the people
have no hunger worries.
While we know that we must advocate feeding, people who are not
yet blessed to follow
God’s laws, have perhaps not realized
how important and necessary this act of charity is. Yet I have never
had an associate or friend refuse me support when I have asked for
a contribution to feed or help the poor. Maybe they are doing charity
to maintain their “social dignity” with me. But at least
someone benefits from it. In fact when you point out to people that
charity is mentioned in all scriptures, they react quite favorably.
Additionally, when you tell them it is a command from God and obligatory
on those who can afford it, they may respect your religion for its
advocating of charity and may even want to know more about Quran!
Who knows what God will make happen? You may get a lot of believers
on your hands. The more believers, the more the human race will
enjoy peace. And personally, you will end up with the best meal
of all. Food for your own soul multiplied manifold!
Surely, the charitable men and women have loaned
God a loan of goodness. They will receive their reward multiplied
manifold; they have deserved a generous recompense (57:18).
Kais Rahimtulla, Mumbai, India
Page 4
Freedom to Believe
Because of this kind of freedom, God never forces His religion on anybody.
“Had your Lord willed, all the people on earth would
have believed. Do you want to force the people to become believers?”
10:99
If God was to force people to believe or disbelieve,
He would not have asked them about their choices, and He would never have
punished some and rewarded others.
God is Most Merciful.
Proclaim: “This is the truth
from your Lord,” then whoever wills let him believe, and whoever wills
let him disbelieve. We have prepared for the transgressors a fire that will
completely surround them. When they scream for help, they will be given
a liquid like concentrated acid that scalds the faces. What a miserable
drink! What a miserable destiny! 18:29
COMMENTS ON THE INTERNET SITE:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I just want to let you know that I am very pleased with your home page.
I am reading, learning, and printing from this page almost every day and
spreading the message as much as I can to all my family and friends. I
am studying hard and most of my questions have been answered.
Thanks for all your efforts for making this page.
God bless you all,
F. N.
I was very happy when I found your web site, because of you now I’m
learning my own religion Islam, I thought I know the right way but I found
that I know nothing. That’s why my faith was weak and you know I’m
supposed to be from one of the Muslim country, but with the help of God
and your help I think I found the right way and I’ll try to give
my contribution as soon as I’ll be able.
I hope I’ll hear from you.
Thank you
K. M.
About this work
Kind
Document
Author
International Community of Submitters
Publisher
International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson