SPIRIT OF ISLAM NOVEMBER 2019

4 Spirit of Islam Issue 83 November 2019 by God. To live in accordance with reality, then, is to acknowledge the greatness of God and show appreciation of His favours. The emotions of love and fear are inherent in man. He wants something to rely upon, something to focus his efforts on. If he leads his life in accordance with reality, he will focus all his attention on God alone. For besides Him, all things are creatures; nothing besides Him has any real power. The entire human race, past and present, is progeny of Adam. A life in accordance with reality then will be one of kindness to others, as if one were dealing with one’s own brothers and sisters. Everyone has been endowed with a conscience which favours justice and despises injustice and cruelty. Life in accordance with reality, then, is one of kindness and justice. Death is bound to strike one day. It will deprive everyone of their worldly possessions. One who lives in accordance with reality will look at the ups and downs of life as transitory and insignificant. He will regard everybody as God’s servants, irrespective of worldly status. When one comes upon the truth, one might be disposed to reject it. But one should remember that one day everyone will have to accept truth and falsehood for what they are. One should willingly accept today what one will be forced to accept tomorrow. The position Islam occupies in relation to our lives should be an integral, not a supplementary one: “We take on God’s own dye. Who has a better dye than God’s? We worship Him alone.” (2: 138) Here is an example to illustrate this point. When a stone is dropped in water, it descends to the bottom and settles there. It is in the water but separate from it. On the other hand, if a dye is put into the same glass, the dye and water combine. The water is not separate from the dye. Both have intermingled in such a way that no one can detect any difference between the two. The relationship between Islam and a true believer should be like that of dye and water, not of stone and water. Islam should not be just an accessory to a Muslim’s life; it should merge with his whole being; as the Quran says, Islam should be entered into ‘in its totality’. (2: 208) When a person adopts Islam in this manner, it becomes the throb of his heart as it permeates his emotions. It enters his thoughts, moulding his intellect in its own fashion. It becomes the eye with which he sees,