Fundamentals

What God Means to Me

When God gave us this life, He also gave a world for us to dwell in. What is the purpose of the world to our existence?

For most of us, the world is a reservoir of supplies for our everyday uses. We need food and water for our body, and that is why God gave us the birds and beasts, oceans and rivers. We need oxygen to live, and that is why God gave us the air as well as the plants to give us fresh oxygen to breathe. We need places to shelter and to sleep, and that is why God gave us the trees and stones for us to build homes to live in. God, in this sense, is a God who provides, for, after bringing us into existence, He gave us a world through which we are able to construct a life.

Why did God give us a world and yet we have to construct a life out of it? Why didn’t God give us a world that is a furnished place to live, such as having trees to give out fruits without us having to plant the seeds, water the trees, get rid of the pest enemies, and knowing which soil to use and what weather to choose? That would be a wonderful God indeed!

FINISHING TOUCH

God gave us a world as an unfinished place to live so that we could put the finishing touches to it and turn it into a wonderful place to inhabit. God gave us a mind so that with it, we can look for the knowledge that helps us to build our life. If we do not use the mind and only hope for things to happen without our participation, we can hope all day long and nothing is going to happen.

Besides the mind, God also gave us a will, namely, that burning desire to push our hands and feet to get hold of the raw material of Nature and transform them into the goods for our use. God, in this sense, is a God who shares, for, without our participation in making life happens, we would be wondering what worth do we hold as human beings, for all we do is to watch God doing all the work for us and we, on our part, only wait to enjoy the fruits of God’s work. Therefore, in getting us involved in constructing life for ourselves, God wants us to see that we have self-worthiness, self-pride, and self-respect that define our nature as human beings.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN

For some of us, life is not only about enjoying the basic things of everyday living, about having to eat and drink, shelter and sleep. True, we need to do all these, but we also ask questions about what doing all these means to other things in life. So what if I have enough to eat? So what if I have a place to live? So what if I have enough of everything? Am I happy even if I have the world before me? Needless to say, in fulfilling the needs of our everyday living, we are confronted with questions about what they mean to our human meaning, about what it means to be human.

Are we just like the animals that eat and sleep, or, are we just a degree above them, having a mind and a will that animals do not have? Do we, as humans, in fulfilling our needs, live by the rule of the survival of the fittest and competing with one another to be able to have the things that fulfil our needs, or do we work together to get them? Do we need values and virtues to guide us in our conduct of life, about what we must and must not do in the way we fulfil our needs? There are many things that we desire. The question is: what among them can we have, how can we have them, and what purposes do they satisfy?

GUIDELINES TO MAKE US AWARE

God, in this sense, is a God who guides. God gives us a world, gives us a mind, gives us a will, but God also gives us guidelines about how the world, the mind, and the will can form a coherent relationship to make earth the best place for living. God lets us know that there are things we desire but we cannot have them because they are not beneficial to our body, and should we consume them, they could affect our behaviour that will cause grievances not only to ourselves, but also to others. God wants us to know that these guidelines are not meant to cause hardship to our life, but are intended to instil in us awareness, sensitivity, and responsibility regarding our wishes and actions, about what consequences they bring to us and others.

Irrespective of how much we try, we humans always fall short of being perfect. Perfection, it seems, is something we strive to achieve all the time, not a ready-made quality that we put on, like a nice-looking shirt or dress that makes us look beautiful and delightful the moment we put it on. Although perfection is something we strive to achieve, it is what we humans want because perfection is the crowning witness of our ability to overcome the deficiencies and insufficiencies that make us look incomplete, hence, unsatisfied.

PERFECT, BUT IMPERFECT

But why did God create us humans perfect in our physical appearance but from our human character, God puts up a little disappearance? Perhaps God wants us to know that imperfection is what makes us perfect! What a way to frame our human character. When we see what is lacking and less in ourselves, that invokes a sense of humility in us to be ready to admit that to bring perfection to fruition, we need to turn to others for us to learn and seek help from. No wonder God sends Messengers (Rasul) and Prophets (Nabi) to show us the way in becoming human being in the true sense of its meaning – Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself being the epitome of the perfect man, the insan kamil.

Perfection, it seems, is something we strive to achieve all the time, not a ready-made quality that we put on.

God, in this sense, is a God who perfects. Through our insufficiencies, God brings out humility from the depth of our soul and with it, shows how dependence upon others is an important trait that makes perfection a possible achievement.

NEEDING ONE ANOTHER

We need others, and others need us too. We need one another not only for the purpose of getting the pieces of Nature together and make them into things that we could live by, the food that we eat and the places that we live. We need one another for affection, for friendship, for trust, for security, for strength, for unity, and for identity. In this sense, God is a God who unites. Through making us bonded into a group, we get to understand how we are just one piece out of the many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that when each and every one of us are put together, we get a picture of how we all appear collectively, and from this collective appearance, we get to know how each and every one of us looks like individually.

So, what does God mean to me? For some of us, mention God and what comes to mind is a watchful deity looming over our activity, looking at what we are doing, and looking at whether we have sidestepped life’s destiny. God is a fearful sight to think. As such, worshipping God is a pain rather than a joy. It is about guilt rather than about intelligence and compassion.

For a Muslim, God is a joy to be with, not a sorrow to lament from. It is with God that he gets to enjoy all the pleasures of life, but through these pleasures of life, he is induced into discovering what is farther and deeper than what these pleasures of life hold for him. When God commands us to worship Him, it is because by Him, we get to enjoy the pleasures of life – from enjoying the thought about life, and eventually, to enjoying the discovery and realisation about the most fundamental questions about ourselves, about who we are, about why we are here on earth, about what we are supposed to do in this world, and about what happens to us after we die. Needless to say, with God, we move from the pleasure of the senses to the pleasure of the mind and finally to the pleasure of realising our origin and end in God, that essential answer about what God means for us.

6 Articles of Faith: The Overview

An Overview of the 6 Articles of Faith

You may have heard that Muslims believe in only one God, but there is something else that forms Muslim’s core beliefs. Ustazah Sri Nurayu introduces the six articles of faith in Islam.

When the archangel Jibril asked Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH) what is the definition of faith was, the Prophet replied, “[Faith is] to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the last day, and the divine decree—both good and bad.” This Prophetic saying/hadith informs us of the six articles of faith, which are also known as arkanul iman.

The six articles of faith affect how Muslims lead our lives. Since faith—more often than not—inspires actions, belief in the six articles of faith  motivates us to abide by the commandments of Allah and follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). 

The Fundamental Beliefs of a Muslim

1) Belief in Allah

Muslims believe in and worship only one God, Allah. Allah is the Creator of everything that is in the heavens and on earth. He is Perfect—He is free from any imperfections that are often associated with the created. Nothing is like Him, and nothing can overpower Him.

Declaring the oneness of Allah and associating nothing with Him is also known as tawhid. The essence of tawhid is clearly stated in the Quran surah Al-Ikhlaṣ, chapter 112, verse 1-4:

قُلْ هُوَ ٱلـلَّــهُ أَحَــدٌ (1) ٱلـلَّــهُ ٱلصَّــمَــدُ (2) لَــمْ يَــلِــدْ وَلَــمْ يُــولَــدْ (3) وَلَــمْ يَـكُـن لَّــهُۥ كُــفُــوًا أَحَــدٌۢ (4)

Translation: Say, [O Prophet,] ‘He is Allah—One [and Indivisible]; (1) Allah—the Sustainer [needed by all]. (2) He has never had offspring, nor was He born. (3) And there is none comparable to Him.’ (4) 

Belief in Allah also means having faith in His beautiful names and perfect attributes. Among these beautiful names and attributes are: Allah is the Most Merciful, the Most Forgiving; He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing, and All-Seeing.

2) Belief in His Angels

Muslims believe that Allah created angels so that they, too, will worship Him. Unlike humans, angels are created without any desire for food, rest, intimacy or unlawful acts. Because of this, angels do not commit any sins and thus, are the symbol of complete obedience to Allah. This important characteristic of the angels is highlighted in the Quran, surah Al-Nahl, chapter 16, verse 50:

يَــخَـافُــونَ رَبَّـــهُم مِّـن فَـوْقِــهِــمْ وَيَــفْــعَــلُــونَ مَا يُـــؤْمَــرُونَ

Transliteration: Yakhāfūna rabbahum min fawqihim wa yaf’alūna mā yu’marūnu

Translation: ‘They [the angels] fear their Lord above them and do whatever they are commanded.’

Muslims also believe that angels are neither male nor female, although some have appeared in the male form when meeting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). For example, the archangel Jibril sometimes appeared in front of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the form of a perfectly dressed man.

In most cases, angels cannot be seen with the naked eye. Nevertheless, Muslims believe that angels exist around us. Among these angels are those tasked to record our every action and speech, while some are assigned to protect us from harm that Allah does not ordain upon us.

3) Belief in His Books

Muslims believe that Allah has sent down books and scriptures to His prophets as guidance for humanity. The Quran mentions some of these revealed books: the Scrolls (given to Prophet Ibrahim), the Psalms (given to Prophet Daud), the Torah (given to Prophet Musa), the Gospel (given to Prophet Isa), and lastly, the Quran (given to Prophet Muhammad).

Muslims believe that the Quran contains the Word of Allah, and it is the only book that Allah has promised to preserve from any alteration or change until the end of time.

Allah’s prophets and messengers are like bridges and doors that link humankind to Him.

4) Belief in His Messengers

Allah’s prophets and messengers are like bridges and doors that link humankind to Him. Through them, human beings learn about their Lord and their responsibilities towards their Lord, themselves, and other creations. In addition, prophets and messengers teach humankind about the reality of this life and what will happen to them when they die.

Muslims believe that prophets and messengers were men chosen by Allah to carry out His divine messages. Therefore, they possessed the best moral traits and were protected by Allah from immorality. Muslims also believe that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the final prophet and messenger, and the master of all the messengers.

Allah mentioned in the Quran, surah Fuṣṣilat, chapter 41 verse 6:

قُــلْ إِنَّــمَــآ أَنَــا۠ بَــشَــرٌ مّــِثْــلُــكُــمْ يُــوحَــىٰٓ إِلَـىَّ أَنَّـــمَــآ إِلَـــٰهُــكُمْ إِلَـــٰهٌ وَٰحِــدٌ فَــٱسْــتَــقِــيــمُــوٓا۟ إِلَــيْــهِ وَٱسْــتَــغْــفِــرُوهُ ۗ وَوَيْــلٌ لِّــلْــمُــشْــرِكِــيــنَ

Transliteration: Qul innamā ana basharun mithlukum yūhā ilayya annamā ilāhukum ilāhun wāhidun fas taqīmū ilaihi was taghfirūhu wa wailul lil mushrikīn

Translation: ‘Say, [O Prophet,] I am only a man like you, [but] it has been revealed to me that your God is only One God. So take the Straight Way towards Him, and seek His forgiveness. And woe to the polytheists.’

6 Articles of Faith: The Belief in Allah (Monotheism)

Monotheism, the belief in One God, is a fundamental component of a Muslim’s faith. A person embraces Islam by proclaiming the testimony of faith known as Syahadah, a testimony made by himself that there is only one deity, and that this deity is worthy of worship.

The prophets and messengers throughout history had been sent by Allah to mankind to guide us to this belief and to enlighten us that the purpose of our lives is to establish this singular relationship with our Creator. Through this relationship, a person will not just attain happiness in this world but also in the next life after death. This mission is clearly stated in Quran, Surah An Nahl chapter 16 verse 36 as:

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولًا أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱجْتَنِبُوا۟ ٱلطَّـٰغُوت

''We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, “Worship Allah and shun false gods." Quran: 16:36

This belief in a singular deity and the relationship that we establish with Allah through this belief known as tawhid in Islam. The essential meaning of tawhid is to make Allah singular in all aspects. It is these aspects that we are going to expound in this short write-up.

If There Were Two Gods

Let’s start off by asserting the fact that there exists out there a creator, God, that is the cause of every existence. The belief in a creator is somewhat innate. Naturally, humans would reach this conclusion due to our predisposition that this universe must have some form of a beginning started by an intelligent and almighty creator.

Tawhid is a doctrine which Muslims believe that there is only ONE creator: God

Tawhid is a doctrine which Muslims believe that there is only ONE creator: God. This is the first aspect of tawhid that can be clearly understood from monotheism. The Quran in many places asserts Allah’s position as the only creator and that the inclusion of multiple creators will logically lead to chaos. Allah captures this meaning in the  Quran Surah Al Mukminin chapter 23 verse 19 as:

مَا ٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ مِن وَلَدٍ وَمَا كَانَ مَعَهُۥ مِنْ إِلَـٰهٍ ۚ إِذًا لَّذَهَبَ كُلُّ إِلَـٰهٍۭ بِمَا خَلَقَ وَلَعَلَا بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

"Allah has not taken any son, nor has there ever been with Him any deity. [If there had been], then each deity would have taken what it created, and some of them would have [sought to] overcome others. Exalted is Allah above what they describe [concerning Him]." Quran 23:91

Lordship and Perfection

After establishing that He is the only creator, the only God that exists, tawhid essentially fortifies this assertion by providing in depth elaboration on Allah’s divine lordship and His perfection as God. The often-read in the Quran, Surah Al Ikhlas Chapter 112, encapsulates this tawhid aspect perfectly in four verses:

قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ * ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ * لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ * وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَد

"Say, He is Allah, [who is] One,  Allah—the Sustainer ˹needed by all˺. He neither begets nor is born, And there is none comparable to Him."

Nothing is comparable nor equivalent to Him.

In such an eloquent way, the verse/surah in the Quran first proclaims Allah’s oneness before proceeding to inform that He is the giver of existence and the sustainer of every living being, asserting His role as the only source of providence and sustenance. Finally His independence from anything is established.

This is very important as the sole sustainer of the universe. He must not need anything nor be in need of a successor, hence the negation of having a progeny. The surah ends with another aspect of tawhid that beautifies this lordship by stating that nothing is comparable nor equivalent to Him. A similar point can be derived from the Quran, Surah As Syura chapter 42 verse 11:

لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِير

"There is nothing like Him, for He ˹alone˺ is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing." Quran 42:11

This verse touches on two main points of this third aspect of tawhid, which is to negate any form of imperfection and resemblance, and to assert divine attributes that complement His perfection. This is known as the tawhid of Allah’s names and attributes/Tawhid Asma Was Sifaat;

The first part of the verse informs us that no being is equal to Him and the second portion of the verse affirms two attributes of Allah: the attribute of hearing and sight. The Quran is filled with Allah’s attributes, often portrayed either through His actions or manifested through His beautiful names. The Beautiful Names (Asmaul Husna) as well as Allah’s other attributes portray Allah’s unique being of possessing divine qualities that prove the fact that nothing can resemble Allah due to their imperfection.

For The Sake of Allah

The previous three aspects of tawhid are necessary building blocks to fulfil the last and most important aspect of tawhid which is the act of worship. To worship is to submit wholeheartedly out of love and fear towards an object or being. When we profess our testimony of faith/syahadah, we are actually initiating ourselves in this binding relationship with our creator, that Allah alone is our purpose of life, and that we will live our lives in accordance to His commandments that He is pleased with. Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH) tells us in his Prophetic sayings/ hadith:

مَنْ أَحَبَّ لِلَّهِ وَأَبْغَضَ لِلَّهِ وَأَعْطَى لِلَّهِ وَمَنَعَ لِلَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَكْمَلَ الإِيمَان

"If anyone loves for Allah's sake, hates for Allah's sake, gives for Allah's sake and withholds for Allah's sake, he will have perfect faith."

(Sunan Abi Dawud 4681)

This relationship to please our creator is the purpose of our lives and the key to our happiness in both worlds, Allah says in the Quran surah Adh-Dhariyat  Chapter 51 verse 56:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُون

"I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me." Quran 51:56

It is clear that tawhid is not just professing that there is only One God, but also that He is the only being we worship and dedicate our lives to. We verbalize this motto in our prayer/ du’a istiftah that we recite in the beginning of our prayers:

إِنَّ صَلاَتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَاىَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَبِذَلِكَ أُمِرْتُ وَأَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِين

Indeed, my prayer (salah), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of all that exists. He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am one of the Muslims. Sunan an-Nasa'i 896

We live our lives in accordance to the teachings of Islam because we want to please our maker. This stems from the belief that we are in constant need of Allah in every aspect of our human selves. And we do believe that this is the route to achieve success in this world and the hereafter.

6 Articles of Faith: The Belief in Predestination

Complete trust in our decree allows Muslims to lead our lives peacefully, knowing that Allah has got it all sorted out for us.

One of the articles of faith that a Muslim should believe in is predestination. The term predestination is similar to the Arabic language as qadha’ and qadr. Qadha’ means making something happen and qadr means setting something to a certain amount.

[Pullquote]Even a leaf will not fall from the tree without Allah’s will

This means that nothing in this world happens except by the will of Allah. Everything is destined and determined by Allah.

Even a leaf will not fall from a tree without Allah’s will. Everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen is because Allah has willed it that way.

Why then do we need to struggle in this life if everything has been decided by Him?

Allah has honoured us human beings by giving us the mindful brain (‘aql) to think and make judgements with. This allows us to make our own decisions and our own choices. But the choices we make are within Allah’s knowledge as well.

Let me give you a scenario. Imagine graduating from a school and now you have choices to make. Your choices are based on the effort you have put in prior to the examinations. Now, it is your choice to choose which path you want to continue on from here. Behind every choice is a set of consequences that you will face, with the path you selected branching out to even more choices that you have to make later on. So, it’s your choice. But the consequences are all predestined based on what you choose.

[Pullquote:]Even in the difficult situations we are facing there are opportunities for us to reflect and bring us closer to Him

Hence, we cannot blame predestination/qadha’ and qadr when things go wrong in our life. We were given options and we ourselves made those choices.

Frequently, we hear people blaming the predestination/ qadha’ and qadr for what happened in their lives. People make remarks such as, ‘My life is miserable as this is what Allah has destined for me.’

This is a misconception that Muslims need to rectify. When things go wrong, we should not blame Allah. We should reflect on ourselves instead, and see where we might have  made the mistakes.

The analogy is not studying for an examination, spending the days before the examination sleeping and playing video games. When we fail the exam, how could we blame Allah’s predestination/qadha’ and qadr, when the fault was obviously ours? Sometimes, we do not make good choices in our lives and thus have to bear the consequences.

We have to remember that what Allah has decreed for us is always the best for us. It might not be what we wish for but it is still the best for us. Even the difficult situations we face are opportunities for us to reflect and bring us closer to Him. So it might be a calamity to us but it is actually a blessing in disguise.

Believing in predestination/qadha’ and qadr has the following positive impacts on a Muslim:

• Self-blaming or blaming others is avoided when something bad happens as he knows that since it happened with Allah’s will, it has to be the best for him
• Anxiety is fought as he knows that what is going to happen is with Allah’s will, allowing him to focus only on doing his best and leaving the rest to Allah
• Increased contentment in life as he knows that what he is going through is what Allah has chosen for him and he knows that Allah will not burden him beyond his capacity
• Confident levels increase as he knows that what is meant for him will reach him even if it is beneath two mountains and what is not meant for him will never reach him even if it is in between his own two lips

In a nutshell, Muslims who are always conscious of God and trust that Allah, the All-Knowing, has everything planned for him, are resilient, strong and confident in facing life’s challenges.

And whoever has taqwa (God-consciousness) in Allah — He will make for him a way out.

And will provide for him from where he does not expect.

And whoever relies upon Allah — then He is sufficient for him.

Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.

Quran, Surah Al-Talaq, chapter 65 verse 2-3.