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...