FAITH AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
True Faith Explained
ISLAM can be summed up very briefly: Fear of God (taqwa) and benevolence towards others. Taqwa means piety, which is, leading a life of caution and restraint in this world. The object of all the teachings of Islam is to produce the spirit of piety in every action.
Those imbued with taqwa always keep in view the will and pleasure of God in every task they perform. Their lives are based on truthfulness and honesty. No worldly loss diverts them from the path of truth. The Quran describes those whose lives are marked by taqwa in these words:
‘Virtue means believing in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book and the prophets; the virtuous are those who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and those who ask [for charity], and to set slaves free, and who attend to their prayers and pay the alms, and who keep their pledges when they make them, and show patience in hardship and adversity, and in times of distress. Such are the true believers; and such are the God-fearing.’ (2: 177)
Those who possess taqwa firmly believe that God sees everything. This inspires in them a strong desire to perform good deeds and a hatred for all things evil. Such thinking induces righteous conduct and taqwa thus becomes the foundation of all good deeds.
Once an individual becomes a God-fearing person, his life changes completely. He becomes careful to avoid that which will lead him to Hell, and is desirous of anything which will make him deserving of Paradise. He loves and fears God above all.
Faith in God Almighty transforms the believer completely. It shakes his human soul. His entire being is engulfed in the fear of God. This fear is manifested in all his dealings with others.
Fear of God and consciousness of the eternal destiny of humankind make one extremely cautious in dealing with fellow men. It is then clear that mistreating others would mean exposing oneself to the fire of Hell. Arrogance is never an option, for in human interaction every man is supported by the power of God and His angels. Neither is injustice an option, for he knows that eventually he will have to answer to God for his actions. One does not see others as mere people; for one realizes that Almighty God is also standing by their side.
Faith in God Almighty transforms the believer completely. It shakes his soul. His entire being is engulfed in the fear of God. This fear is manifested in all his dealings with others. He does not humiliate the weak, for he sees that God is standing by the side of His servants. He does not bow before the strong, because he sees that all are helpless before God.
A man of faith has been likened to a tree in the Quran (14: 24). As we all know, man receives shade, fruits and flowers from the tree. All such qualities are found in God’s worshippers in the true sense of the word. They give comfort to everyone. They have a soothing effect upon all.
There is a Hadith to this effect. The Prophet of Islam said: ‘The believer is like a gentle plant. When the winds blow, it does not become rigid, but rather sways to and fro with each gust, and when the winds are not blowing it stands still once again.’ This is exactly the case of the true believer.
He does not display arrogance. His way is that of adjustment and not of clash and confrontation. He follows the principle of persuasion and avoids the way of violence.
A True believer believes that every commitment made between two persons is actually made under the watchful eyes of God, and that he will be accountable for its fulfilment in the court of God.
A true believer is one who is always conscious of the presence of God. He feels that each time he gives his word to another, it is a divine promise. Therefore he is extremely circumspect about giving his word. He believes that every commitment is actually made under the watchful eyes of God, and that he will be accountable for its fulfilment in the court of God. This compels him to be highly responsible as regards his promises. Whenever he gives his word to anyone, he makes a point of keeping it.
Many other virtues come in the wake of the fulfilment of promises. One of these is mutual trust. In a society where mutual trust exists, there is an atmosphere of confidence, as there is no fear of promises being broken. It is therefore faith that makes man the possessor of this highest of human virtues.
Another impact of faith upon the behaviour of the believer is that he becomes a truth-loving person. He always speaks the truth. In all matters he says only what is in accordance with reality.
Truth is the highest virtue of a believer’s character. A man of faith is a man of principle. He finds it impossible to deny the truth. He thus becomes totally free of falsehood or double-standards. His whole existence is moulded by truth.
An important aspect of true God-worship is that the worshipper, instead of living within the confines of the self, begins to live in the world of reality. The truly pious person begins to look upon people with love and compassion. He does not expect anything from anyone. That is why, even if others do not behave well with him, he behaves well with them and he continues to be tolerant towards them.
Then the Quran and the Hadith lay great stress on compassion. The
Prophet of Islam said:
“O people, be compassionate to others,
so that you may be granted compassion by God.”
In this way Islam makes compassion a matter of self-interest for every man, as his own future depends on his compassionate behaviour to his fellow men.
Thus, the Islamic faith motivates the faithful to be compassionate in their dealings with one another. Those who want to receive God’s grace will have to show compassion to others.
Faith prepares a person to lead a worthy life in society by adopting an attitude of modesty, sympathy and goodwill in all his dealings.
Faith makes the believer a responsible person towards both God and man. His duty towards God means believing in Him, worshipping Him and carrying out all His commandments. Duty towards man means giving him such treatment as is in accordance with Islamic teachings. A true believer therefore gives proper respect to others, never humiliates them while giving them help, does not harm them, fulfils trusts, never breaks his word, never usurps the wealth and property of others and deals justly with others in all circumstances.
In short, when an individual adopts Islam, first of all it is his thinking, which comes under its sway, then his desires, his feelings, his interests, his relations, his likes and his dislikes—all are coloured by his obedience to God’s will. When man comes under God’s command, in his daily life his behaviour with others and his dealings, all are moulded by the demands of Islam.
Faith prepares him to lead a worthy life in society by adopting an attitude of modesty, sympathy and goodwill in all his dealings. In short, faith perfects man’s relationship with God as well as with other human beings.
Development of a Sense of Responsibility and Accountability Accountability is one of the basic teachings of Islam. A perfect divine arrangement preserves a complete record of every person’s words and deeds. On the Day of Judgement, every single human being will be faced with an entire and accurate record of his deeds on earth. The Quran says about this fact: ‘Each word he utters shall be noted down by a vigilant guardian.’ (50: 18)
A careful study of the present world shows that there is an unerring system of ‘recording’ in existence here on earth. The thinking of man is being impressed on the nerve cells of his brain. Every utterance of man is permanently preserved in the air in the shape of sound waves. Man’s actions are preserved in the external world by means of heat waves in such a way that they can be reproduced at any point in time.
All these are known facts today. It is these known facts that make the Quran’s claim totally credible, that man’s intentions, his utterances and his actions, are all in the knowledge of his Creator. Every single thought or act of a human being is being entered in the registers of the angels.
Man will be held accountable on the Day of Judgement for anything he does on earth. On the Day of Resurrection, an exhaustive record of an individual’s good and bad deeds in this world will come before him.
Man will be held accountable on the Day of Judgement for anything he does on earth. On the Day of Resurrection, an exhaustive record of an individual’s good and bad deeds in this world will come before him. On seeing this record, he will exclaim: ‘What can this book mean? It omits nothing small or great; everything is noted down.’ (18: 19)
Whatsoever a man does is put on record by God’s arrangement. Man’s intentions, his sayings and his deeds are all imprinted on the screen of the universe. Today this arrangement or system is not visible to us, but on the Day of Judgement the curtain hiding it will be raised. At that moment man will instantly be terrified to see that whatever he had been doing in this world, under the misconception that nobody knew about it, is so clearly recorded here that neither the smallest nor the greatest thing has been left out.
On the Day of Judgement, the treatment meted out to a man by God will be based on thoroughly established facts. For this reason, on that Day, when he receives his reward or punishment for his deeds, he will know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he is getting what he really deserves—nothing more and nothing less.
The Prophet enjoined the believers: ‘Reckon yourselves before being reckoned with.’ According to another teaching, on the Day of Judgement no one can move until he has been asked about five things: how he spent his life; how he spent his youth; how he earned his wealth; and how he spent his wealth. and did he practice on his acquired knowledge. (Tirmidhi)
A believer is always aware of the fact that all his dealings are related directly to God. So, he is always conscious of the presence of God between him and the other person.
Accountability is a basic and fundamental concept in Islam. It governs man’s life on earth and determines his fate in the Hereafter. That is because, according to the Islamic viewpoint, man is not born into this world only to make money and die after living here for a hundred years or so. The truth is that human life is eternal and we live in this world only for a small fraction of our real lives. The actual and eternal life is to be lived in the next world. The present mundane world has been created merely for human trial. The consequences of our deeds will be reaped in the life of the next, eternal world. It is to gather this harvest that we strive.
This way of understanding life makes it an extremely serious business. It produces a strong incentive in man to take even the smallest matters of life very seriously. An individual therefore should be alert at every moment of his life. He should lead his life in this world in a manner that, rather invite God’s wrath and the ensuing punishment, would bring down His blessings upon him in the world to come.
Social Behaviour of the God-conscious Person A pious person is one who is totally God-conscious. Such a person leads life in this world with the feeling that all his works and deeds are observed by the eyes of God. He is then accountable for all actions to God, for nothing lies hidden from the All-Knowing God. This type of conviction and feeling makes a man a responsible member of society. His behaviour is totally different. He is always aware of the fact, that all his dealings are related directly to God. So, he is always conscious of the presence of God between him and the other person. The other person may be rich or poor, weak or strong, but he will always treat him with justice, for he is conscious of the fact that God will take him to task for any shortcoming on his part. This consciousness will make him fully alert to the fact that he must take every step in this world with great forethought of its consequences.
According to Islamic belief, everything in this world is designed as a test for human beings. Even social dealings are meant to serve the purpose of divine trial. Any dealings, pleasant or unpleasant, favourable or unfavourable, are always a test paper for the participants. This situation has been created because God wants to test individuals on their behaviour towards others.
In Islam, relations in social life are based on total justice. According to Islamic teachings, man must—in all possible situations in life—adhere to justice, be the outcome favourable or unfavourable, beneficial or detrimental. Whatever the issue, he has to observe the principles of justice. This is the true basis of social ethics as far as Islam is concerned.
This belief is extremely important. It gives man the necessary courage to do good deeds. He then rises above the mere expectation of reward from his fellow human beings as the upshot of his dealings with them. He has the conviction that God is constantly watching him and that He will reward him for his virtuous deeds, whether or not society itself sets any value on his deeds. The just man leads a principled life without expecting any return from others.
Virtue does not consist in whether you face towards the East or the West; virtue means believing in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book and the prophets; the virtuous are those who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and those who ask (for charity), and to set slaves free, and who attend to their prayers and pay the alms, and who keep their pledges when they make them, and show patience in hardship and adversity, and in times of distress. Such are the true believers; and such are the God-fearing. (QURAN 2: 177)
Man needs to be clothed, but not just externally. He needs inner raiment too: that of piety, fear of God, acceptance of truth, setting the same standard for oneself as for others, regarding oneself as God’s servant, remaining modest and humble, concentrating on the thoughts of the Hereafter instead of being astray in the world. When an individual adopts all these values, it is like a splendid accoutrement of his inner existence, and when he adopts an attitude opposite to this, he divests his inner existence of its entire moral apparel.