By Abdool Kader Sayed
Abraham’s Faith
13 February 2021
The Old Testament
of the Bible states that “Only through Abraham all the families of the earth
shall be blessed”, (Genesis 12:3). Likewise, the Qur’an states that Religion
and Secularism are man-made ideologies based on conjecture and insist that we
“follow the Creeds of Abraham” (a set of arguments Abraham used to eliminate the
dichotomy of the secular and religious, and uncover the Truth and Reality of
Human life in the context of all life which existed in our universe)”.
From this point of
view, the Qur’an explains that Abraham was an ordinary person like you and I.
He was the son of an idol maker. God chose him as a Messenger of God (Qur’an
16:121) after He saw that Abraham was not afraid to question what he, his
father and his community leaders believed (6:74, 26:75, 37:83-87). This is
because God thought highly of those who used their intellect, vision, etc.,
which He had given them to determine the Truth (Qur’an 38:45-46, 39:9).
Therefore, before
God chose Abraham as His Messenger, Abraham did the following:
1. He refused to
worship the idols of his father because he reasoned that the idols did not have
God-like attributes of God. (Qur’an 6:74, 21:52, 26:72-73).
2. When he wanted to
know from his father why he worshipped idols which could not hear or benefit
him, his father said he saw his ancestors do so. (21:53, 26:74).
3. To Abraham such a
belief system based on tradition, which did not make sense, was not worth
following. (21:54).
4. And when he began
to study the worship of the celestial bodies, he noticed that they too did also
not have God-like attributes of God because they functioned according to the
Laws of the One Who had created them. (Qur’an 6:75-83, 37:88-89)
5. From this
knowledge of the celestial bodies, Abraham deduced that the Creator of our
entire universe was God and that he (Abraham), as the vicegerent of God, had to
follow the secular and scientific path of all God’s creations, which reflected
the “Deen of Allah” (God’s Way of Life), (Qur’an 3:83, 3:19).
6. Unlike the
Atheists of our time, Abraham was able to deduce from “the laws of Nature and
the wider universe” that the Creator of our universe was God, because he
(Abraham) was “haneef (a person of pure natural belief)”, (Qur’an 3:95, 4:125,
6:161, 16:120, 16:123).
7. In other words,
he did not establish any knowledge of his Faith by following the “blind faith”
methodology of Religion or the “science-based, evidence-based” methodology of
Modern Science, which denied the existence of God.
8. He established
“certainty of knowledge” according to the methodology of ilm-ul-yaqin (certainty
of knowledge by inference or reasoning), ayn-ul-yaqin (certainty of knowledge
by seeing and observing) and haqq-ul-yaqin (absolute knowledge, like this is
laptop, etc), like plants and animals do.
Therefore, in view
of the above, when God asked Abraham to “Become Muslim (ie submit his will to
the Will of God), Abraham said, “I am Muslim (ie I have submitted to the Lord
of the worlds”, (Qur’an 2:131, 2:127-130, 2:132, 3:84).
During the time of
Abraham, the most basic form of Revealed Knowledge was God’s Work in “Nature
and the wider universe”, (Qur’an 6:75-79). Since “the laws of Nature and the
wider universe” did not change with space and time, all Messengers of God used
it with the Guidance of God (Word of God) to establish one Standard way of life
(AdDeeni Haneefan) for all humans, both secular and religious.
For example, the
sun, moon, stars, mountains, trees, etc, do not “worship” God. They “serve” Him
for the purpose He created them. Therefore, all Messengers of God and their
immediate followers did not “worship” God. They “served” Him as “vicegerents”.
Likewise, they established “certainty of knowledge” like plants and animals do
according to the methodology of ilm-ul-yaqin, ayn-ul-yaqin and haqq-ul-yaqin.
If it was otherwise, the Bible and the Qur’an would say so. For example,
animals commit incest. In Qur’an (4:23-24) God gives us a long list of people
whom we can marry and whom we cannot.
Therefore, in order
to establish one Standard way of life (AdDeeni Haneefan) for all humans, both secular
and religious, we should strictly apply the #LawsOfNature unless the #WordOfGod
states otherwise. For example, the #WordOfGod in the Qur’an does not command
male and female circumcision or the stunning of an animal pre-slaughter. Those
who do not obey such commandments act against #DivineLaw according to the
Qur’an. They follow authority other than God. The Qur’an states that “nothing
was said to Muhammad (s) which was not revealed to all the other Messengers of
God who came before him”, (Qur’an 41:43).
Some of their
reasons for using the Word of God in the context of God’s Work in Nature were
as follows:
1. It was to
establish one Standard way of life (AdDeeni Haneefan) for all humans, both
secular and religious, over all time and place.
2. It was to
establish the Truth and Reality of human life outside the man-made knowledge of
Religion and Secularism.
3. It was to remain
in touch, as vicegerents of God, with the Deen of Allah (Qur’an 3:83), which
was reflected in “the laws of Nature and the wider universe”.
4. It was to remind
them that they belonged to the animal kingdom and that they had to establish a
higher level of human civilization based on “the laws of Nature and the wider
universe” with the Guidance of God.
In addition to the
above, the Qur’an states, “God created different nations and tribes (of
different sights and sounds) from a single male and female”, (Qur’an 49:13).
Here we are told not to despise the people of different sights and sounds
because their sights and sounds are their God-given Diversities in their pure
form just like those of ours and that we must help them preserve their national
identity within their national borders by integrating and assimilating with
them according to the injunctions of the Qur’an.
Abraham was a
perfect example of a Revert to Islam (an Arabic word for Submission, which is
derived from the root-word S’LM, pronounced “salm” meaning “peace”). After
rejecting the idols of his father, he did not take to the worship of the
celestial bodies as an alternative. He investigated them thoroughly to deduce
that they also did not have God-like attributes of God and it was their
Creator, and of the universe, Who was God.
We do not do that.
We just plunge from one man-made religion to another or from religion to
secularism and vice versa, without establishing Truth and Reality of Human life
outside man-made religions and secularism, which do not follow the Creeds of
Abraham and the worldview teachings of Tawhid (unity and universality), which
are cardinal teachings and essence of Islam (Submission to the Will of
God).
For example, when
one recites the Shahada and Converts to the Religion of Islam, one is not doing
anything good but plunging from one Religion to another, which has more
religious sects than Judaism and Christianity and which does not tolerate the
ethnic diversities of other nation as a Convert. This is because it asks the
Convert to change his or her name to a so-called Muslim name, keep a beard and
wear a kurtha as a Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (s) if he is a male, and don the
headscarf, hijab, niqab, etc, if she is a female, which is totally against the
knowledge of the Qur’an.
Therefore, the best
way to Revert to Islam (submit your will to the Lord of the worlds), like did
Abraham and all the Messengers of God in all the nations of the world, would be
to take your Book of God, which was Revealed to your Messenger of God, and use
it in the context of God’s Work in Nature to establish one Standard way of life
for all humans, both secular and religious. In this way you will not break your
relationship with your family, community and Church, Temple, fear Islam, etc,
to create a world which will be completely free of Religion, Secularism and
ethnic division or racism.
God Bless,
Original Headline: Divine Law demands Humans develop a
higher level of Human Civilization based on Laws of Nature and the Guidance of
God
Source: The Post Modern Way
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/quran-states-that-religion-secularism/d/124295
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