The Faith                                                                                                                               

It is believed that whosoever fulfills the commands of The Almighty Allaah, will get blessings from above, but he who keeps faith in this material world will surely destroy his good deeds.

Allaah is that (pure being) besides whom there is no other being worthy of worship. He is Ever-Living and the Giver of Life. He is the controller of the earth, the sky, the whole universe and its system. He is not overtaken by sleep, nor does He slumber. To Him alone belong all that is in the skies and all that is on the earth. Who is there to intercede on anyone's behalf in His Court without His consent? He knows all that is going to happen to people and all that is to happen after them (after death). And people cannot encompass anything of His Knowledge, except what He wishes them to be informed about. His Sovereignty extends all over the entire sky and earth. The protection of the sky and the earth is not at all difficult for Him. He is the Most High, the Most Lofty and the Most Great.

 “Allaah is He besides whom there is no The Almighty Allaah, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting, by Whom all subsist; slumber does not overtake Him nor sleep, whatever is in the Heavens and whatever is on the earth is His, who can intercede with Him but by His permission? He knows what is before men and what is behind them, and they cannot comprehend anything out of His knowledge except what He wills. His knowledge encompasses the Heavens and the Earth, and the preservation of them both does not tire Him, and He is the Most High, The Almighty Allaah. There is no compulsion in religion. Truly, the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves Satan and believes in The Almighty Allaah shall indeed lay hold of the firmest handle, which shall not break off. The Almighty Allaah is All-Hearing and All-Knowing. The Almighty Allaah is the guardian of those who believe. He leads them from darkness to light. As for those who disbelieve, their guardians are false The Almighty Allaah’s who lead them from light to darkness. They are the inmates of Hell fire and in it they shall abide forever. "(2:255-257).

An interesting parallel can be drawn between the developments in computer technology and the history of the prophets. There used to be MS DOS, then Windows 95 came along, which had some additional features. Then came Win Xp, which had some additional features, but which similarly covered Win 95. When Win Vista arrived, it covered all of the previous models, including MS DOS, Win 95, Win Xp. Likewise, when the second prophet came, he covered all that the first prophet had brought, similarly the third and fourth, and finally the last prophet Hazrat Muhammad covered everything that all the prophets had brought from The Almighty Allaah right from the beginning. As the hard disc of the computer records everything that we do and can be opened at any time for scrutiny, on the Day of Judgment, what we did in the past will be opened in front of The Almighty Allaah. All our activities have been written down for Him to judge. Just as we cannot deny MS DOS, because we now have Win Vista we cannot deny any one of the prophets. They were all important in their times, and whoever followed them are enjoying Heavenly peace in their graves. And those who disobeyed them are facing punishments in their respective graves.

A dead body is available at a hospital's mortuary at a price of Rs.1000, whereas a living body would cost millions. But even if we offer two millions for eyes, or hands, nobody would be ready to sell, because vital organs are indispensable. But this is not what gives a human being value. What gives him value is his soul. That is something absolutely priceless. It is the greatest gift from The Almighty Allaah. Therefore, when the soul departs, the value of the body drops to zero. Yet, we are unconcerned about the state of our souls and concentrate on pampering the body. How, intelligent as we may be, we allow the devil to make inroads into our morality. We fall a prey to the desires which he conjures up and commit sins in attempting to fulfill them. What we need to do then is to lead our souls away from unholy desires and out of Satan's traps, so that in the short period we spend in this world, our souls may be cleansed and purified before we die. This can happen only if we obey the commands of The Almighty Allaah. Failing this, the question of the soul's purification does not arise. The Almighty Allaah gave man a pure and unblemished soul in the mother's womb. If we all love newborn babies and find them beautiful, it is precisely because of their stainless souls. So, when we die, that same soul has to go back to The Almighty Allaah, cleansed and restored to its state of pristine purity.
 
Tell me why Allaah created mankind? If it is for earning and eating, it is the case of animals also. If eating is the testimony to nobility a bull eats much more than anybody else. Man’s nobility lies in recognizing his Creator and Lord and then being anxious to please Him. This is the humanity. Animals do all other works too. When a man behaves like an animal, he becomes even worst than the animals. This is something to ponder upon. When mankind refuses to recognize Allaah, obey Him, do not follow the commandments or keep Him happy, either the rains stops or floods come all this does not happen without a reason. Man’s circumstances are connected with his deeds. Today the material innovations are more than that in the past, but in spite of this the troubles are on the increased. I tell you the reason for it. Good food and buildings do not make a man good. The inner substance of a man makes him good. The goodness of the inner substance is mans goodness and badness is his badness. Now days the material things are improving but the man is deteriorating. The man will continue to be ruined and worried to the extent of increase in the material things. Any way if the man is rectified, his life will prosper irrespective of any scarcity of the material things.

Allaah has created everything in this world for mankind but the mankind is not meant for them. A man is the name given to the combination of two things: one is the body and other is the soul. Now if someone takes care of the body only, he would be negligent towards the soul. But without the soul the body is useless. In case the efforts is made only for the body, the soul becomes sluggish and weak, the efforts, like eating drinking and building a house etc; merely for the body are made by an animal also. Real humanism is to put in efforts on the soul so that it becomes pure and fragrant. The requirements of a soul are to know and recognize its Lord, Creator and Sustainer and to worship Him so that He is pleased, not the food clothes, or housing. The Scientists cannot fabricate a soul. It comes only from its Creator. With an effort  the soul can become pure and bright. The effort on the soul is made in two ways; firstly, by recognizing the Lord so that He may be worshipped in other words behaving as His servant to express servitude. Secondly by having good behaviour with his servants and creations in other words becoming beneficial to them and doing it selflessly, only for Allaah’s sake. With an involvement of self- interest as is done by employee also.   

Let us consider certain facts. Some people are rich. Others are poor. They may remain so for shorter or longer periods. But whatever their respective fates, the former, because of their preoccupation with wealth, and the latter because of their resentment at not having been richly endowed by The Almighty Allaah, forget that their Creator has given them such precious gifts, as eyes, ears, a mouth and all the other priceless vital organs. Yet would even the poorest man give his eyes in return for $ 100,000? Most probably not. It follows then, that we need to show our gratitude to The Almighty Allaah. Have we ever paused to give thought as to why we have come into this world? Is it for the sake of fun and entertainment? Animals have come into this world to eat and sleep and primarily follow their sensual instincts: but not human beings. We have come here to comply with The Almighty Allaah's decree, to obey Him in everything we do.      Human beings are only partially free and must be guided by The Almighty Allaah's decree; they are not at total liberty to follow their basic instincts or indulge in sensual pleasures. We must never forget that one day we will be resurrected by The Almighty Allaah to stand in front of Him and explain our deeds in this world. If we can satisfactorily do so, we shall, in the after life, enjoy complete liberty in Heaven, where we shall have bestowed upon us whatever we desire. Let the unbelievers do whatever they want now. But if we are set on the path to Heaven, the shadow of Heaven will surely reflect upon me, bringing happiness, peace and love. And if we are going to Hell, the shadow of Hell will definitely fall on us, bringing worry, distress and troubles.

The Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were calm and composed because of their sterling virtues of inner peace and purity of soul (like those of a new born baby). But there were many who, unlike them, were so restless and discontented that they tried to dominate this world. But all to no avail. For when they left this world, it was empty-handed, as is part of The Almighty Allaah's plan for mankind.. Similarly, one day all of us are going to leave this world divested of all our cherished possessions. We have to remember one thing: the only thing, which we can call our own on this earth, is the place where we shall sleep forever -- the grave. So we must furnish our final resting place with unwavering faith, (that is, Iman) and good deeds, (that is, Amaal.)

A hundred years ago, certain people were present here on this earth, but today they are no longer with us. Today, we are here, but in a few years' time, we too shall pass away. The fact of our being present here in this world at all is to prove that no one deserves our worship but The Almighty Allaah. And we shall worship no one but The Almighty Allaah. To no other shall we accord the same respect as we give to The Almighty Allaah.

Consider all the things, which have been created by our Maker. He created the sun without there being any previous entity from which to fashion it. Similarly, He created a moon without a moon, a man without a man, and a woman without a woman. He created a great diversity of fruits without having a single fruit to use as a model. The treasure houses of His creations are infinite. You have only to look at how children of the same parents all look quite distinct from one another, in spite of eyes, ears and nose all being in the same places, and in spite of mankind having been created out of absolutely nothing. If, while travelling through a jungle, we come across a house, wouldn't it be natural for us to suppose that someone had constructed it? By the same token, would it not bespeak the infinite creative abilities of the One True the Almighty Allaah? Having accepted that The Almighty Allaah has created our world, is it unimaginable that He has created Heaven and Hell in like manner? And what of the things which make up our world? All things, which come within our knowledge, come from our Creator-- life and death, fair weather or foul; good things and bad things, all come from The Almighty Allaah. All the beautiful and salubrious things are samples of Heaven, and all the evil and sordid things are samples of Hell. Every religion speaks of Hell and Heaven. Called Jannath and Jahannam in Islam, Swarg and Nark in Hinduism, Hell and Heaven in Christianity, these concepts have been mentioned by all of the prophets. But it is only after death that we shall see the truth. So if we have not prepared ourselves for it, nothing will fall to our lot on that day but eternal repentance.

He created the entire universe without help or intervention from any quarter. In the same way, He can destroy our world whenever He wishes by means of natural calamities, such as earthquakes, floods, fires or other disasters. He can even destroy the entire universe if He so wills it. It is entirely a matter of His will too, whether one helps or harms another. Even if the whole world were bent upon a particular course of action, all would come to naught, if that were not also the will of the Master of Creation. Everything, which happens in the world, is by the grace of The Almighty Allaah. To gain The Almighty Allaah's grace, one must have faith. It is the strength or weakness of our faith, which determines whether The Almighty Allaah will smile or frown upon us throughout our lives.

Today we have faith in The Almighty Allaah but it is too weak. It is not enough. It is like a spoonful of water, which can neither fulfill our thirst nor be used for taking a bath or washing clothes. We need a greater amount of Faith with which to solve our day-to-day problems. The more the world develops the more people will move far away from spirituality, darkness of the heart will increase and people will lose interest in religion and The Almighty Allaah. This will be the basis of destruction.

Before a baby has even come in to this world, The Almighty Allaah has arranged that milk should flow from its mother’s breast. But then how does the baby know how to suck the milk, which The Almighty Allaah has given it? Without lips how can the baby suck the milk? So The Almighty Allaah has given all. There are no facilities for the animals, hospitals in the forest, so how do the animals treat their illness? Who provides their food? They do not have means of producing food like us, but just the Almighty Allaah. Even in the depths of the sea, there are fishes which eat more than us, then who provides their food? The most important teaching of Islam is to re-direct faith from the material to the Almighty Allaah. Such faith will cleanse people. If a man thinks that his well-being depends by money and not on The Almighty Allaah, he will not do his work in a fair way. But those who think that the Almighty Allaah is looking them after, that their life leads their lives and earn their living will be faithful and truthful in all their dealings. Medicines do not cure, The Almighty Allaah cures illness, the same medicine will cure some people but not others. Nobody knows where when or how death will come, but it has to come. We have to prepare ourselves for it. After death faith and past deeds will only be considered, neither money nor knowledge. Once Allaah said to Prophet Muhammad; “O, Muhammad, live life to the full, but death will finally come, love who ever you want but one day you shall have to be separated, and for whatever deeds you do good or bad, one day you shall have to give an account.” Death will put an end to our addiction for the world. Because of worldly addiction we are unable to search for the truth of life.

Once some people came to Hazrat Ali (with whom Allaah is pleased) for his security, he asked them; “Why did you come?” They replied we have come for your security. Then he said; “Do you want to save me from the sky (Asman) or from the world? Remember nothing happens in this world other than the instruction of the Almighty Allaah.”  This is a word from his faith, which has penetrated in his heart. Today we have faith in money, power, wealth that speaks. Human become loyal to them what faith he is having in his heart, for that he sacrifices all. The day we will have faith in The Almighty Allaah, we will be loyal to Him and become His slave. One has to work hard for that. It is not a easy task. The Companion of Prophet (Peace be upon him) spend thirteen years to penetrate The Almighty Allaah’s faith in their heart, then do you know what happened? They all were always ready to sacrifice all for the cause of The Almighty Allaah. Now if we see ourselves are we ready to sacrifice anything for the cause of The Almighty Allaah?

 Throughout the ages it has been the task of the prophets to save mankind from adherence to the wrong faith and to lead them to the worship of the one The Almighty Allaah. Then those to whom The Almighty Allaah has shown mercy have spent their entire lives being good and pure and doing virtuous deeds. But those who have been ill fated enough to fail to receive enlightenment from The Almighty Allaah have remained unduly preoccupied with pursuing the vain and glorious things of this world.

Our soul has suffered because of our body, so now our body must suffer something for the cause of our soul, our mind gives Judgment the body accepts this decision which is the source of our many misfortunes. Due to this reason, we cannot trust our own minds too. We can only rely on  The Almighty Allaah.