Islam Way of Life/Spirituality
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In the previous chapter, we learn about salvation. In this chapter we will learn something better. Just after explaining The Straight Path, in 6:153, God mention about the righteous. In 49:13, God mention that it is the highest honor a human can get.
In 2:177, God explains that being righteous requires much more than just moral and wisdom:
- Believe in God and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Scripture, and the prophets,
- Give money out of love to the near relatives, and the orphans, and the needy and the wayfarer, and those who ask, and to free the slaves, and
- Hold the contact-method, and
- Contribute towards betterment; and
- Keep their pledges when they make a pledge,
- Patient in the face of good and bad and when in despair.
First, God offered us with Ancient Islam Charter, where we need to believe only in God and the Last Day. We don't have to believe in Quran nor Muhammad as far as this charter is concerned. Now suddenly, we need to believe in the Angels, the Scripture and the Prophets. This is clearly a new charter offered by God.
These are not just physical rituals. To achieve righteousness, one should be focus and determined. And not like the people described by God as:
- Totally heedless of their contact-method in 107:5-7
- Clueless, turning towards the east and the west 2:177
These people, no matter how hard they practice their rituals, they will never achieve the righteousness. If they are in proverty, God will never help them. If they are in war, God will never grant them lasting peace. God will leave them.
- WARNING
- This chapter and all of the following chapters are only intended for those who believe in the Last Prophet and the Last God's Book. These chapters assume that God's Book contains no error. If you are not a believer, you may continue reading, but you might argue that some facts in these chapters that more like assumptions. These chapters is not intended to convince you or to sell something to you.
Contents |
[edit] The Believers
In 8:2-3, this new charter is not offered for the entire humankind, but only for the believers. In Modern Islam, believers is known as Moslem.
- When God is mentioned, their hearts reverence; and
- When His revelations are recited to them, it increases their faith; and
- They put their trust in their Lord.
- They hold the contact-method, and
- from Our provisions to them they spend.
The benefit of this charter is the believer will become a real believer that will recieve:
- Grades with their Lord and
- A forgiveness and
- A generous provision.
We will call it the Believer's charter. Another proof, that this charter is not for everybody is in 49:14-15. Here, God refuses one person to call himself a believer. Finally, God only allow him to call himself a law-abider. In other words, he pacts only the Ancient Islam charter with God, but not the Believer's charter yet.
In the Modern Islam, a person converts into Islam religion by uttering two confession. The first confession makes him an abider to God. The second one makes him a believer to God's Book and Prophet. With these two confessions, a person pacts both the Ancient Islam charter and the Believer's charter with God at the same time.
The diagram below ilustrates human grades, from the highest to the lowest:
| Real believer |
| Abider |
| Wicked |
| Criminal |
| Rejecter |
Please do not confuse the terms Real Believers and Believers. A true believer is a believer, while a believer is not always the true believer. In the Modern Islam, the term believer is synonim of the term Moslem, the follower of Muhammad. Real believer is the highest rank possible for Moslem, while rejecter, a false believer, is the lowest rank possible. A false believer are either hypocrite or sharer Moslem. Righteous and Criminal are a general classification mentioned in Koran 19:85
[edit] The Contact-Method
Holding the contact-method is part of Believer's Charter. The contact-method has specific goals:
There is a third goal that may be related. It is glorifying God.
The 11:84-87 is the proof that contact-method is a tool to prohibit evil and vice. Here the people of Median questioned whether the contact-method ordered Shu'ayb to prevent corruptions in business dealing.
Unfortunately, these two goals are not automatic. In 107:4-7, there are cases of people doing the contact-method but failing to reach its specific goals, because:
- His is totally heedless
- They only want to be seen
- And they deter from helping others
This book suggests that the secret to have an effective contact-prayer is to have an activity during or after the contact-method aimed to reach its goals. Such activities might include:
- Doing it together with family
- Reciting God's Message
- Evaluating its implementation
In the Modern Islam, the contact-method is the most important activity. But in 29:45, it is what you do after the contact method that is more and the most important. This activity is called remembering God. In 3:191 , it is important because it is done continuously during standing, sitting and resting, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
We learn from the previous chapter that remembering God, includes remembering His commandments during every single activities in our life. Remembering God is the last defense against the devil. In 5:91, we can witness that intoxicants and gambling is the most powerful weapons used by the devil to cause strife between people and repel them from remembering God.
[edit] The Development
Spending is part of Believer's charter. In various part of Koran, it is refered as the development. We cannot find any practical detail about it in Koran. But in 9:103, the development is detailed as either charity or spending. So, if we collects all details about both charity and spending, we conclude that it is to bring welfare benefit to the women, your family, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, the needy, those who work to collect them, those whose hearts have been united, to free slaves, those in debt, in the cause of God, and the wayfarer.
The targets of charity and gift are detailed in 2:215, 9:60, and 4:4.
But how much to spend? According to 2:219 it is the excess of wealth. It means, it wont put you in a great burden.
To be effective, according to 2:262-263 a gift should not be followed with either insult or harm.
[edit] The Self-Restraint
In 2:183, fasting is decreed for the believers. It also mentions that the purpose of fasting is to be righteous.
In 2:187, this purpose can be achieved by self-restraint ourselves from lower passions, such eating, drinking and sex and into higher aspiration of righteous.
In various verses such as 4:92, the fasting can be used as a tool to take control of ourselves after making a serious mistake.
[edit] The Visit
In 22:27, the visit to the Abraham's santuary is offered to the entire mankind. In 22:28, the purpose of this visit to witness the benefits for themselves.
In 22:31-33, to take the full benefit of the visit, you should be at least a monotheist, and preferable a believer.
The effective visit is the one that allow people to observe their benefits. Their benefits is detailed in 3:96-97. There also some details on how to reach the benefits in 2:197-200
[edit] Conclusion
This chapter tries to reveal the secret to take the full benefits of rituals in Islam. This chapter will not teach you how exactly to do it. You should learn it from your own parent who practice it or through other practicing Moslem in your own community.
If you do learn from a practicing Moslem, it is important to learn from who is actually practice it in your local region, speak the local languange, honor local custom and has a similar working schedules with you. If you follow a Moslem who has significantly different working schedule with you and does not know local language and customs, it will be a huge gap between theory and what actually can be implemented.
For example, if you are a student in a university, it is better to learn from a Moslem who is also a student of a university. If you are a manufacturing labor in a sub tropic region, and you learn from a merchant Moslem who live in the equator, you will find a huge gap in the schedule. They are easier to find, because we need them to teach only what they normally do. They do not need to be scholars who know everything and can solve every problem.
[edit] Further study
Please note that this book tries to refer to the Koran in its purest form and free from man-made innovation. But this section is an exception to this book. This section contains sociological study that tries to explain beliefs and rituals of Islam, the Religion, at work in various part of the world today. You have been warned.
Rituals and Beliefs has high spiritual values. You can learn more about spirituality from Sufi movement in Islam. Interesting enough, Sufi teaching and leaders are highly regarded by both Sunni and Shia Islam. But this does not mean they follow Sufi method of learning or the tarika.
After learning from those sources, you will appreciate that love of God above worldly comforts is the key to reach the higher level of spirituality. If you like this book, you may like our other book, Islam/Spirituality
[edit] Taking Apprentice
Similar to moral and wisdom, religious beliefs and rituals takes time to master, let alone to teach it. Teaching by example and persuation works best. But keep in mind, because of the personal and discreet nature of beliefs and rituals, there are cases where a parent is so religious but their child is not. Therefore, try to expose your target at least a little. For example, ask your target to help you in the preparation of the contact-method, such preparing the cloths or water. It may also as simple as helping taking the God's book from the bookshelves.
Teaching Islam as religion is actualy simpler than any other religion. First, a lot of people actually practice it daily. Therefore teaching by observation and sharing is possible when you cannot find a specialist. Second, division in Islam as religion is so minimal, so a person can pray in any Islamic temple he can find without any fear of incompatibility. This is not always true to other religion such as Catholics and Protestant who has different churches. We should thanks to the annual international gathering, the Visit.
[edit] Controversies
Some people in Modern Islam, believes that remembering God is a set of special arabic words that recited over and over. This special words is recited during special time, such as during after the contact-method. It is a valid understanding, but it is not a complete understanding as Remembering God also includes remembering His Commandments such as maintaining the moral codes continuously and not on a specific time.
