Page 21 - Islam In Focus

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effect on the spiritual and material lot of man, and also on his personal and social
behavior as well as his political conduct and financial life. To show how the Qur’ an
describes the true believers, here are some examples. The Qur'an contains numerous
references like these:
They only are the true believers whose hearts feel submissive (and humble) when God
is mentioned; and when the revelations of God are recited unto them, they (the
revelations) increase and strengthen their Faith; and who trust in their Lord, establish
the prayer (as enjoined on them) and spend of what We have bestowed on them (in
the cause of God). Those are they who are in truth believers. For them are (high)
grades (of honor) with their Lord, and a bountiful provision (Qur’ an, 8:2-4).
And the believers, men and women, are protecting (and allied) friends of one another;
they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and they establish worship and they pay
the poor-due, and they obey God and His Messenger. As for these, God will have
mercy on them; verily God is Mighty, and Wise. God promises the believers, men and
women, Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in
Gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the Good Pleasure of God. That
is the supreme felicity (Qur’ an, 9:71-72).
The true believers are those only who believe in God and His Messenger
(Muhammad) and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for
the cause of God. Such are the sincere (Qur’ an, 49:15).
Besides these Qur’ anic references, there are many relevant Traditions of Muhammad.
For example, he says:
None of you can be a true believer unless, he loves for his fellow believer what he
loves for himself.
Three qualities are the sign of sound faith, and he who acquires them can really feel
the sweet taste of Faith. They are (1) to love God and his Messenger most of all, (2) to
love his fellow man for the sake of God alone, and (3) to resent and resist returning to
disbelief as much as he does being cast into fire.
He who believe in God and Last Day of Judgement is forbidden to cause any harm to
his neighbor, is to be kind to his guests – especially the strangers, and is to say the
truth or else abstain.
There are many verses and traditions like the ones cited above. But it should be borne
in mind, however, that the given quotations are not and cannot be the exact words of
the Qur’ an and Muhammad as they sound in the Arabic Text. The reason for that is
simple. No interpreter, however learned and masterful he may be, can ever convey the
spiritual power and charming appeal of the Qur’ an through any language. The Qur’ an
is – and so God made it – inimitable, and it is beyond human imagination and power
to produce anything like it. What is true of the Qur’ an in this respect is also true of the
Traditions of Muhammad to a certain extent, because, after the Qur’ an, his words are
the most conclusive and eloquent.
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