Duties of Respect with reference to God

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

PART 1. DUTIES AS SPIRITUAL BEING

 Chapter 1.

Duties with reference to god

 

1.       Duties of Respect;  

2.       Duties of Love.

ENDS:

(a)   Objective:

Maintenance of a constant attitude of Respect  and Love towards God for acquiring the Blessings of Divine Pleasure (Ridwan Allah) and Divine Love (Hubb Allah), As it has been said in the Holy Qur’an:

“… seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure …” (48:29).

Also:

“… whom He will love, and they will love Him …” (5:57).

(b)  Subjective:

Creating in the moral agent:

1.       Purity of will, leading to possible ‘holiness’ in the measure it may relate to human personality, as it has been said:

“And whosoever believes in Allah, He guides his heart (aright).” (64:11).

2.       Stability in, and enthusiasm for, the pursuit of moral struggle, as we are told:

“… And he who rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower.” (2:256).

 

 

(l) DUTIES OF RESPECT 

(a) Duties of Commission

(1)          Cultivation of genuine and complete Faith in God and its inner realisation enjoined:

“O you who believe! Believe (with all the richness of belief) in Allah and His Messenger, and the Scripture which He has sent to His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denies Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers and the Day of Judgment, has gone far far astray.” (4:136).

(2)      Faith in the Unity of God—perfect monotheism—implying indivisible loyalty to Him, enjoined:

“That is Allah, your Lord! There is no God but He, the Creator of all things: then worship Him (alone).” (6:102).

“… and your God is One God, so unto Him submit (wholly and solely).” (22:34).

(3)          Maintenance of the attitude of respect for God enjoined:

“Verily those who believe and work righteousness, and humble themselves before their Lord, they will be Companions of the Garden, to dwell therein for ever.” (11:23).

(4)          Cultivation of the fear of Displeasure of God and of the Final Accountability by Him, enjoined:

“O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not save as those who have surrendered (unto Him).”(3:102). 

“It is only the devil that suggests to you the fear of his votaries: Be not afraid of them, but fear Me, if you have faith.” (3:175).

“… except those that are bent on wickedness; so fear them not, but fear Me…” (2:150).    

“And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord’s (tribunal) (on the Day of Judgment) and had restrained (their) souls from lower Desires, their Abode will be the Garden.” (79:40-41).

        (5)    Cultivation of Obedience to God enjoined:

“O you who believe! Obey Allah…” (4:59).

“O you who believe! Give your response to (i.e., obey) Allah and His Messenger, when He calls you to that which will give you life;… ” (8:24).

“… and stand before Allah in a devout (frame of mind).”  (2:238).                     

“Turn unto your Lord repentant, and surrender unto Him, before there comes unto you the torment, and then you shall not be helped.” (39:54).

“O mankind! worship your Lord, Who has created you and those before you, so that you may ward off (evil).” (2:21).

(6)     Cultivation of trust in God’s goodness, mercy and help enjoined:

“Is one who worships devoutly during the hours of night prostrating himself or standing (in adoration), who takes heed of the Hereafter, and who places his hope in the Mercy of his Lord—(like one who does not)? Say: ‘Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? It is those who are endued with understanding that receive admonition.” (39:9).

“Lo! those who believe and those who suffer exile (in defense of Truth) and strive and struggle in the path of Allah, they (i.e., such true Muslims) have hope of Allah’s mercy; and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (2:218).

Then there is the command:

“… and on Allah (i.e., in Allah’s goodness, mercy and help) put your trust if you are believers.” (5:26).

(7)     Affirmation of one’s dependence on God: Prayer to Him, enjoined:

“And your Lord has said: Call on Me, I will answer your prayer. Verily those who are stiff-necked against My worship (i.e., against acknowledging Me as their Lord and Benefactor), will enter hell in humiliation.” (40:60).

“Call on your Lord with humility and in secret: Lo! Allah loves not those who trespass beyond (rational and respectful) limits.” (7:55).

“… and call on Him with fear and longing (in your hearts): for the Mercy of Allah is (always) near to those who do good (to others).” (7:56).

(8) Seeking Help and Grace from God, the Possessor and the Source of all Power, enjoined:

Says the Holy Qur’an: “… seek help from Allah… ” (7:128).

Now, help should be sought basically from God alone. Muslims have been commanded to pray to God in these words:

“You (alone) do we worship, and of You (alone) do we seek help.” (1:4).

Again: “and ask Allah of His Grace … ” (4:32).

And this seeking of Grace from God is a constant attribute of the life of a Muslim:

“You will see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer) seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good pleasure…” (48:29).

(9)          Seeking Guidance from God, the Possessor and Source of all Knowledge, enjoined:

It is a duty of every Muslim to pray to God for guidance in the following words:

“Guide us (O Allah) unto the path straight…” (1:5). 

(10)      Following the Divine Guidance revealed in the Holy Qur’an, enjoined:

“Follow the Revelation given unto you (in the Holy Qur’an) from your Lord …” (7:3).

(11)      Showing respect to God by believing in all the Messengers and all the Scriptures sent by Him for the guidance of man, enjoined:

“So believe in Allah and (all) His Messengers,” (3:179).

“(Muslims are those) who believe in the Revelation sent to you (O Muhammad), and that which was sent before you…” (2:4). 

 

(b) Duties of Omission : 

(1)          Attributing any quality to God which is profane and blasphemous, prohibited:

“The most excellent Names belong to Allah: so call on Him by them; and shun the company (and the blasphemies) of those who use profanity in His names. They will be repaid for what they do.” (7:180). 

(2)          Associating any partner with God and limiting His uniqueness and supremacy in any manner, prohibited:

“And worship Allah and associate not anything with Him (either in His Person or in His Attributes).” (4:36).

“And call not, besides Allah, on another god. There is no god but He …” (28:88).

(3)          Saying anything concerning God without the authority of Revelation, prohibited:

“Say: The things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are: shameful deeds, whether open or secret; sins and trespasses against truth or reason; assigning of partners to Allah, for which you are given no authority; and saying about Allah of which you have no knowledge.” (7:33)

(4)          Disobedience to and arrogance in respect of God, prohibited:

“… and they (i.e., the Believers) are not arrogant (in respect of worshipping Allah).” (32:15).

“But he who is greedy miser and deems himself  free from need (of Allah), and gives the lie to the Best (i.e., dishonors Truth), We will indeed make for him smooth the Path to Misery.” (92:8-10).

Again:

“If anyone disobeys (the Commands of) Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path.” (33:36).

(5)          Despairing of the Mercy of God prohibited:

“…and never give up hope of Allah’s Soothing Mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah’s Soothing Mercy except those who have no Faith.” (12:87).

“Say: O My Servants who have transgressed against their souls! despair not of the Mercy of Allah, for Allah forgives all sins: verily He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.” (39:53).

(6)          Believing in superstitions and seeking help from superstitious objects, thereby indirectly insulting God, prohibited:  

“… so shun the abomination of idols (i.e., evils of  idolatrous practices).”  (22:30). 

“O you who believe! Intoxicants and games of chance (i.e., all forms of gambling), and stone altars and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,—of Satan’s handiwork: shun it therefore, that you may prosper.” (5:93).

“It is not Allah Who has instituted (superstitions like those of) a slit-ear she-camel, or a she-camel let loose for free pasture, or idol sacrifices for twin-births in animals, or stallion-camels freed from work. It was blasphemers who invented a lie against Allah, and most of them lack wisdom.” (5:103).

(7)  Magic, being evil practice and opposed to godliness, condemned: hence to abstain from it is duty:

Speaking of the practice of magic by the Jews, the Holy Qur’an says:

“… and they could harm none thereby (i.e., with their Magic) save by Allah’s Will (i.e., in accordance with His laws). And they (i.e., the Jews) have learnt that which harms them (spiritually and morally), and profits them not; and assuredly they knew (from their Scripture) that the buyers of Magic would have no share in the happiness of the Hereafter.” (2:102).

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

 

The Spirituo-Moral Duties

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

The Spirituo-Moral Duties —Some Vital Facts:

Among the Duties to Self, besides the duties based on the earthly environment of Man, the Holy Qur’an has explicitly prescribed certain duties which bear reference to the transcendental dimension of his personality and may, therefore, be termed as spirituo-moral, or, ethico-religious, duties. It says, for instance:

“Virtue does not consist in turning your faces towards the east and the west (in direction-worship, which has formed part of the practices of superstitious nations, including the Greeks, the Hindus and the Christians), but virtue is of him who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book (i.e., the Divine Scripture) and the Prophets; and gives of his wealth, for love of Him (i.e., from the purest self-less motive), unto kindred and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask and for the emancipation of slaves; and establishes Prayer; and pays the Poor-rate; and is of those who perform their covenants when they have covenanted; and is of the patient in adversity and affliction and time of violence. Such are those who have proved themselves true (in their Faith). Such are the God-fearing” (2:177).

Besides the essentially moral duties, this verse bears reference to the spirituo-moral duties also; which, though they appear to stand in the category of duties to others, are actually duties to Self—as we shall shortly observe.

The function of such duties is to nourish the faith that the world is a Moral Order, thereby continuously reinforcing the moral fibre of human beings and furnishing the ground for moral struggle—indeed, the sure ground; and they are to three types of personalities, viz., (1) God, (2) the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!) and, (3) the Angels. With them may also be mentioned the duties of belief in Divine Guidance and in the Life Hereafter.

Now, since the Holy Qur’an affirms the existence of the personal God, Who is the Possessor of all Perfection and Who undertakes to lead His creatures to perfection adequate to them, duties to Him become the foremost duties. However, those duties are, in the final analysis, duties to Self because God being al-samad (112:2), He does not stand in need of anything from anyone while the entire Creation depends on Him for everything. Moreover, God being the ultimate condition of the realisation of Man’s moral ideal, every duty to God is really duty to Self.

 

Duties to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (the Divinely-Blessed) originate, like the duties to God, in the Islamic Article of Faith itself; and they have been laid down by the Qur’an in the interest of the Muslims themselves, because :

Firstly, he alone is the Leader who is to be followed unconditionally. Thus the bond of loyalty to him is the bond of integrity of the Islamic world-community.

[In that connection, it is necessary to emphasize that the ‘bond of loyalty’ to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!) resides in absolute allegiance to him, which means that the association of anyone else in that allegiance as a condition of faith in Islam—in terms of conferring upon anyone, or accepting anyone’s claim to, divinely-bestowed Authority, on the basis of prophetic status or any status akin to it, in any sense whatsoever, is disbelief in the Prophet’s status, and is regarded as disbelief in Islam itself, and that inspite of otherwise absolute allegiance to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him!)—expels a person from the fold of Islam in the same way as when he associates anyone in any manner in the Godhood of Allah.]

Secondly, he is the Model of Perfection whom every Muslim is under obligation to imitate for advancement in his spiritual and moral life. But to imitate him consequentially is not possible without practicing love and respect for him, which has been prescribed as duty.

Thirdly, he is the Medium through whom Divine Grace  flows to his followers in respect of their spiritual and moral purification (62:3-4).

These facts necessitate the maintenance of a constant dutiful attitude in terms of love and respect for him.

However, just as duties to God are really duties to Self, because they involve the self-perfection of the moral agent, in the same manner duties to the Holy Prophet (Peace be on him!) are really duties to Self, because of the benefits that accrue to the person who fulfils them.

As regards the Angels, they are, according to the Holy Qur’an, possessors of the attribute of personality (3:39, etc.). Also, they are sinless (i.e., holy) beings and function as executors of Divine Will in the universe (66:6). Thus, duties towards them appear to stand under three categories, viz., (1) duty of belief in their existence; (2) duty of love for their sinless-ness; and (3) duty of respect for them as functionaries of the Divine Order.

The duty of belief in the existence of the Angels forms a part of the Islamic Creed, which means that it has a basic significance in the Islamic system. The question might arise here, however, that moral duty is duty of action and not of belief, and hence the duty of belief should not be included here. But the fact is that the duty of belief in the Angels is a duty of attitude and is actually a necessary prerequisite to the cultivation of purity in moral outlook on the basis of which alone moral life can be Islamically pursued. Thus it comes under the duty of the Moral Perfection of the Self. Also, this duty has a reference to Divine Control in the life of humanity, which highlights God’s function as the Moral Ruler of the world.

We learn from the Holy Qur’an about two functions of the Angels which bear a direct reference to our moral life, viz., bringing the Revelations to the Prophets from God for the guidance of man— Archangel Jibreel (Peace be on him!) being the chief functionary in this respect (22:75; 2:97); and recording the deeds of human beings for presentation to them on the Day of Judgment (82:10-12), when virtue and vice shall be finally and comprehensively recompensed by God.

It may be observed here in passing that belief in the Divine Messengers and the Divine Scriptures, mentioned in the above-quoted verse (2:177), and forming part of the Islamic Creed, bears reference to the existence of the Law concerning the Guidance of Man as a spiritual and moral being. Similarly, belief in the Life Hereafter has a bearing on the moral life of man, as also on his spiritual life, being the pre-requisite to the performance of the moral action with the purest motive wherein all earthly considerations are transcended.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times