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Anything that is in accordance with the Book of Allah (the Quran) is right; it is the truth; it is real. Anything that is against the Book of Allah is wrong; it is false; it is bogus - no matter how much sacredness is attached to it. One can do whatever one wants. One can flip-flop the words and call true as false and false as true, the reality is not going to change.
The Quran says:
وَكَم مِّن مَّلَكٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لَا تُغْنِي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئًا إِلَّا مِن بَعْدِ أَن يَأْذَنَ اللَّـهُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيَرْضَىٰ
(53:26) - For, however many angels there be in the heavens, their intercession can be of no least avail [to anyone] - except after God has given leave for whomever He wills and with whom He is well-pleased. [Asad]
These people have also made as their deities the various forces of nature in the universe such as air, water, fire, clouds, lightning or thunder. Making these forces deities will not bring them any success. Even if they imagine that such deities are with them, they will not obtain any benefit. The only way they can be of any use to them is if these forces are utilized according to the Law of Nature; and in unison with the overall program of the Divine Will.
When questioned, the Arabs of the day were making crooked arguments. They were saying that we don't believe that these are gods. These act as intermediaries between God and us. They carry our wishes and prayers to God - just as the Hindus say that we may have millions of avatars but the God is only Brahma. These different avatars carry our prayers and wishes to Brahma. This is the same thing we say when we visit the graves of our ancestors; that when we pray at their graves then we say that we really don't pray to them but we ask them to carry our prayers and wishes and convey to Allah; that they act as intermediaries between Allah and us. The bottle has the same thing (Shirk) but the label keeps changing depending on our religious and sectarian affiliations. The Quran explicitly says that creating sects in Deen is Shirk (30:31-32) and the Prophet (PBUH) has nothing to do with them (6:159). But our sectarians always twist the meaning of these verses and fabricate that we are not sects but schools of thought. Their crooked argument cannot change the reality of the Quran.
قُلْ إِنِّيَ أَخَافُ إِنْ عَصَيْتُ رَبِّي عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
(6:15) - Say: "Behold, I would dread, were I [thus] to rebel against my Sustainer, the suffering [which would befall me] on that awesome Day [of Judgment]." [Asad]
Islam has stressed that Muslims should acquire the knowledge of science, which means conquering the forces of nature. Where do we stand compared to the nations which are fast acquiring the scientific knowledge? The word "شَفَاعَتُ" (Shafa'at) (in verse (53:26) above) does not mean to plead in someone's favor. The root meaning of "شَفَاعَتُ" (Shafa'at) is to stand side-by-side with someone, to provide true witness for someone, to cooperate and help someone. That means you won't get help from forces of nature by praying and pleading to them but by conquering these forces and using them according to divine laws.
وَمَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ ۖ وَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا
(53:28) - And [since] they have no knowledge whatever thereof, they follow nothing but surmise: yet, behold, never can surmise take the place of truth. [Asad]
Our traditional creed is not based on Al-Haq (The Truth). It is based solely on guesswork. And it is clear that if we come to the court of knowledge then we will not find the authority for it. Guesswork is something which is not Al-Haq (The Truth). The Quran says that guesswork cannot stand before Al-Haq (The Truth); that it will not be of any benefit. Al-Haq (The Truth) is the Book of Allah, the Quran. Whatever is the craftwork of human mind, is guesswork. If it happens to be in accordance with Al-Haq (The Truth), then it could be accepted as truth. But if it is against Al-Haq (The Truth) then no matter how much credence and sacredness is attached to it, it will be dismissed by the divine court of knowledge, which renders its judgement according to constitution of Allah, the Quran. This is the absolute and universal standard for judgment in Islam. The standard for judgement in Deen is the Book of Allah, the Quran, and nothing else.
Whenever our religionists mention any hadith they start with the statement "that Prophet (PBUH) said this" and they end the hadith with the statement "or something like it the Prophet (PBUH) said." Therefore, it is clear from these statements attached to hadith that they themselves acknowledge the fact that hadith is not Al-Haq (The Truth). They never attach this qualifying statement for the Quran: "Allah said this or something like this Allah said." Allah has said that the Quran is 100% Al-Haq (The Truth). What is outside the Quran is not 100% Al-Haq (The Truth). So, the matter becomes absolutely clear. Every ideology or belief or creed must be tested on the touchstone of the Quran to reveal whether or not it is right. So, Muslims become duty bound (who believe that the Quran is 100% truth) to test their every ideology or belief or creed on the touchstone of the Quran. If it is in accord with the Quran then it is right; if it is not, then it is wrong.
The Quran then says:
فَأَعْرِضْ عَن مَّن تَوَلَّىٰ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَلَمْ يُرِدْ إِلَّا الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا
(53:29) - Avoid thou, therefore, those who turn away from all remembrance of Us and care for no more than the life of this world. [Asad]
So, O Prophet (PBUH), remain actively involved in the fulfillment of your program. How can those people - who are absorbed in the life of this world and who believe that by praying to their deities or their avatars or their dead sages, they will be able to get their sins forgiven - ever come to path of Al-Haq (The Truth)? They do not have a higher purpose in life. They have only the benefit of this world in front of them. They have no commitment to the permanent values of the Quran which transcend this material world. Allah does allow Muslims to strive for the benefit of this world but He commands that this should be achieved within the bounds of the permanent values of the Quran.
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اهْتَدَىٰ
(53:30) - which, to them, is the only thing worth knowing. Behold, thy Sustainer is fully aware as to who has strayed from His path, and fully aware is He as to who follows His guidance. [Asad]
What basically in reality is wrong for humanity and what basically in reality is right for humanity - this is a deep issue. Society's created laws keep changing all the time. A different political party comes to power and amends and changes the laws created by the previous party. A thing which was legal and allowed as right in the previous regime becomes illegal and criminal now. These human created laws are always relative. They always keep changing. But there are laws which do not depend on what humans declare. They are universal and permanent in their very essence.
Iman in Allah and the Quran is required to know good or evil. Human beings keep changing their minds. Standards decided by human intellect keep changing. Human intellect says one thing at one time and its totally opposite at another time. A government makes a law and even before the ink is dry amends that law. So, it requires Iman in Allah and the Quran to find out what is in reality good and what is in reality evil. We have to have Iman that whatever the Qurans says is good/evil is the absolute good/evil. What is the meaning of this Iman in real life? It means that we have to implement the system of life based on the Quran's permanent values. This will be the way to lead life which will produce the universal good for humanity; if we go against the Quran's divine code then we will suffer the consequences, and the humanity will also suffer the consequences.
وَلِلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا بِالْحُسْنَى
(53:31) - Indeed, unto God belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth: and so He will reward those who do evil in accordance with what they did, and will reward those who do good with ultimate good. [Asad]
The results would be compiled according to the course a person takes. This is because everything in the heavens and on earth is continuously compiling the consequences of one's deeds; producing negative results for those creating chaos and disorder; and producing positive and pleasant results for those who lead a righteous life (11:7; 45:22). The purpose of the universe and its function is that every human being is fully recompensed for what he has done; and no harm is done to anyone.
This fact what the Quran has mentioned here has not yet come under the grip of knowledge. But there are many other facts that scientific advancement has made it possible to find circumstantial evidence of crime such as finger print identification, blood and DNA analysis, lie detector, etc. And scientific research is continuing to reveal new aspects in this direction. But still the research is lacking about how the universe and its operating machinery produces results of human actions and that no human action remains without producing its result. All these will be recorded in the divine registry of deeds (36:12). Further research may reveal what the Quran has said that even fleeting thoughts in the heart produce results and will be recorded in divine registry of deeds. But this must be our Iman that whatever the Quran has said here is true. In fact, the entire superstructure of Islam is to be erected on the foundation of the Law of Requital - that every human action produces its result (6:70; 16:111; 52:21); that even every human thought produces its result (40:19; 17:36).
الَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ إِلَّا اللَّمَمَ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ ۚ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ ۖ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَىٰ
(53:32) - As for those who avoid the [truly] grave sins and shameful deeds - even though they may sometimes stumble behold, thy Sustainer is abounding in forgiveness. He is fully aware of you when He brings you into being out of dust, and when you are still hidden in your mothers' wombs: do not, then, consider yourselves pure - [for] He knows best as to who is conscious of Him. [Asad]
In another verse the Quran says that when some untoward thing happens then they immediately turn to their Sustainer and admit their mistake and seek protection of Allah:
رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِي
(7:23) - "O Our Sustainer! We have indeed wronged ourselves and unless you provide protection and Grace for us, we will be ruined."
This is called Taubah. It involves: (i) to admit that I have done something wrong; and then (ii) it further involves doing some good deeds which are heavier so that the scale of good deeds could compensate the scale of bad deeds by extra weight to the scale of good deeds. Reciting the word "Taubah" on the beads of rosary is not the way to do Taubah. It requires performing some good action. Life becomes better by doing good action not by moving the beads of rosary. Only doing Hasanaat would compensate the action of Sayyiaat.
إِنَّ ٱلْحَسَنَـٰتِ يُذْهِبْنَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ ذَٰلِكَ ذِكْرَىٰ لِلذَّٰكِرِينَ
(11:114) - verily, good deeds drive away evil deeds: this is a reminder to all who bear [God] in mind. [Asad]
The ancient library of Timbuktu
