It's a Way of Life

Until the other day I didn't realise how difficult it is for a non-Muslim to comprehend the impact the teachings of Islam have on the way in which a Muslim leads their life. We Muslims constantly say that Islam is "a complete way of life;" but what does a non-Muslim actually understand by this?

Islam literally is a way of life. It guides EVERY single aspect of a Muslim's life. For example, whilst sitting in my room the other day talking to my housemate I tried to demonstrate the way in which Islam was playing an active role in everything I was doing:

"I look out of my door and I can see that the passage light is on. I'm thinking 'I have to switch that off otherwise electricity is being wasted and I will have to account to God for knowingly allowing that to happen.' When you came into the room you sat on the floor and I thought 'should I also sit on the floor because it might be rude that she's sitting there and I'm sitting above her? Or should I say to her to sit on my bed? Or should I just leave it because I know her well enough to know that she'll sit wherever she feels comfortable' I'm thinking, it's 2am, I need to stay up for the Fajr prayer now- I can't let myself fall asleep. Heck, with all this running in my mind, I can't even begin to think about those Muslims half way across the world suffering in Guantanamo, Israel, Afghanistan etc. It's all too much."

Islam touches upon the slightest social, political, economic and indeed spiritual aspects of a Muslim's life. The question that Muslims now face, that they have never faced on mass before, is how do we maintain the principles of each of these rulings whilst living in predominantly non-Muslim societies? For example, in regards to medicine, what should the so-called "Islamic" perspective be on cloning? Should we participate in the consumption of genetically modified foods, bearing in mind that in the Qur'an it says that we were sent as "vicegerents" to earth, meaning that we have an environmental responsibility too? (Refer to Surah 2, ayat 30 of the Holy Qur'an.) These are just two of the many questions we are now encountering.

In terms of Muslims residing in predominantly Muslim countries, they too face a whole new challenge. As my Islamic History lecturer once said, unlike before when Muslim empires used to collapse and rise up again like a phoenix from the ashes, the Ottoman Empire to our surprise did not. It was the last of the Muslim empires which the Muslims could not recover from... We weren't prepared for such a long-lasting demise. This left us vulnerable to foreign influences and deviation from the principles of Islam as we experienced great moral, social, political, spiritual and perhaps most importantly, economic decline.

This year I have learnt a lot about my fellow Muslims. Never before had I interacted with Muslims on such a scale as I have done more recently. At one point I started to experience bitterness towards some Muslims as they were deviating from my understanding of Islam. I had a choice of either allowing such bitterness to consume me, which indeed it momentarily did, or to step back and realise that their intentions were incredibly similar to mine.

Regardless of little difference that I may have with a fellow Muslim, I have begun to understand the importance of maintaining peaceful relations. In terms of Muslims, we are all united under one faith, under the set principles of belief in One God and His final revelation (The Holy Qur'an); His final messenger and his sunnah (Peaces be upon him;) and the five pillars of Islam: The declaration of faith; the five daily prayers; the giving of charity; fasting during the month entitled "Ramadhan" in the Muslim calendar, and performing the Hajj pilgrimage. In my opinion, one of the most important uniting factors for all Muslims is the shared fear and love of God that we experience every second of the day. It is such fear and love that make us strive towards pleasing our Creator. Heck, this can even be seen to unite all believers- Muslims, Christians and Jews.

The following hadith of Bukhari has been narrated to me numerously throughout my life:

Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab:

"I heard Allah's Apostle (Peace be upon him) saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended...""

If one steps back and truly comprehends the impact of this teaching, then we realise that the truth of every individual's intention can only be known by that individual and God. As far as we are concerned, we have to invest a bit of trust in what someone may claim their intention to be when committing a particular act.

In most of the scenarios that I faced this year I found that it was the intentions that united and the acts that divided us. The intentions were usually to please God, and not necessarily to strive for reward and avoid punishment. Sometimes, however, it is easier to judge a person by their acts, and to forget the intentions behind them. (Please bear in mind that this does not apply to so-called Muslims who hide behind the religion of Islam to justify some of the preposterous crimes that they commit, such as the murdering of innocent civilians. I'll leave that topic for a rainy day.)

Back to Islam being a way of life. As far as I have seen, even though I may not agree with the more minor acts of some Muslims that I have come across, there is no doubt that they are all simply putting into action their understanding of Islam. I had to bring myself to understand that they must sincerely believe what they were doing was for the pleasure of God, so that their intentions when acting are just like mine.

Personally when I choose to act in a particular way I neither bear in mind the punishment or the reward- Paradise and Hell rarely ever come into it. My only motivational factor is God. I can't bear to see the look of disappointment on His face if I do something wrong, and am eager to see His happiness if I do something right.

Hmm, then again despite my claims that these are my intentions, only God and I know the truth of what is in my heart... I guess you'll all have to invest a little trust in me...

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

I've agreed to do some holiday work again at my local CPS (Crown Prosecution Service.) I worked there last summer too, and let's just say some of the cases I saw have probably left me scarred for life. The only way I could deal with what I had to see was by observing those lawyers and caseworkers that strived to bring justice to society. They showed me that regardless of all the crap that's going on in the world, there are still people who are trying to do some good. It's pretty much because of those lawyers and caseworkers that I've agreed to go back... Oh, and the money ;-)

One thing is for sure: During my time at the CPS once again I will feel a huge amount of gratitude for how good I have it. Ironically, sometimes it takes the bad things in life to remind us how fortunate we are when experiencing the "good times." I've noticed that those who believe in God tend to remember Him more so when enduring any form of suffering, as opposed to remembering him during the happier times, when maybe our more materialistic desires are being met. It's easy, or even convenient to forget God when feeling fulfilled materialistically... well, for some of us anyway.

As soon as the more materialistic aspects of life are met, what then of our spiritual needs? What then of our relationship with The Creator? To forget our spiritual needs and to constantly feed our more emotional or physical desires is now the prevalent approach of many of the believers, whether Muslim, Christian or Jew. Some of us would rather watch television than pray, or socialise with humans rather than converse in prayer with our Creator etc. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that we should only concentrate on our relationship with God and neglect all other aspects of life. On the contrary, I believe it's important to maintain a harmonious relationship with both God and His creation.

In regards to Muslims, we are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to converse with The Creator five times a day when abiding by the five daily prayers. Our everyday vocabulary flourishes with the remembrance of God. We say "Alhamdulillah," "Praise be to God;" "Insha'Allah" "If God wills;" "Masha'Allah," "As God wills;" "Jazakallahu Khairan" "May God give you the best reward" and so forth throughout the day. All of these terms are used both during the good and bad times... Ideally anyway.

When it comes to feeding my material needs above my spiritual I too am guilty. My soul starves when I begin to forget about God, and I have no right to deny it of its nourishment. No one who believes in God has that right. To be more precise, faith and knowledge are not a burden- They're a gift. They're a gift that should be embraced during both the good and bad times.

So once again I will return to the CPS this Summer: I will try to enhance my knowledge further, Insha'Allah (God willing;) be thankful for what I have and to remember the One for whom all my actions should be devoted: God.