Apparent Islam and inward Faith The reality of Islam and...

Apparent Islam and inward Faith The reality of Islam and Faith has become confusing for a number of people. The fact is that there is a lot of difference between Islam and Faith. The holy religion of Islam, due to expedience, has based its itineraries and planning on cleanliness, matrimony, inheritance etc on verbal utterance with regard to Oneness of God and the Prophethood of the last Prophet, Muhammad. But what is Faith?

It is to cling to this belief and also to believe that one is bound to obey the Commands of God and orders of the Holy Prophet. At several places in the Holy Qur’an, love of God and His fear and hope from and trust in Him has been considered the essentials of Faith. In this holy Surah also, a clear distinction between Islam and Faith has been shown.

It says that Faithful are those who are fully devoted to God and His Messenger, that is, they are solely connected with Allah and His Prophet and who are not inclined towards this material world. As a result, they have no kind of doubt or hesitation and so they offer sacrifices with their lives and their wealth in the path of Allah and in struggle in His cause. This is because they have found out the highest of aims and the best of ideologies.

They know that everything is transient and perishable except Only One God. So they sacrifice the transient for the eternal. Admonition regarding these matters forms the subject matter of the fifth part of this holy Surah. Faith is God’s Bounty Some unwise people during the initial days of Islam and also in other periods thought that they have earned some rights by adopting Islam. They thought that they have accomplished something extraordinary.

So they used to show to the Holy Prophet that they had done a favor to him by becoming Muslims. The Holy Qur’an wants to make them understand that verbal Islam has no spiritual value; that the real value is for the Faith in heart which becomes manifest through words and deeds. It keeps one away from sin and spurs towards every good; that this also is a grant from the Lord Who adds good to everyone who has inclined to it. In fact, by this kindness, God has favored the faithful.

God knows who is worthy of such a bounty. This matter also forms the subject of the sixth and the last part of this holy Surah. Thus, this chapter shows the path of the good in this world and in the Hereafter to Muslim as well as the Muslim society. We explain here under six titles.