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Understanding the Nature of Submission
Samia
Huq
When
we ask around for a definition of religion, we are faced
with various kinds of simple as well as complex answers.
Underlying these answers are multiple notions of the divine,
as indeed of society and self. The different notions of
the divine range from polytheism and monotheism, with adherence
to different messengers/prophets, to purely sociological
explanations offered by social thinkers such as Marx and
Durkheim, which result in an ultimate relegation of the
divine to the social. These varied ways of understanding
a supernatural force bring two questions to mind: who/what
is the divine, and in conjunction, who am I, and what should
be the limits of the virtues and evils in the social and
cultural parameters within which my life is acted out? The
different ways in which individuals and groups answer these
questions not only influence the depths of our consciousness,
they also inform the ideologies of behaviour and attitudes,
practice and institution-- ranging from the family to the
state. What is important here is to examine the source of
these answers.
Much research and thinking, especially in the social sciences,
have carefully demonstrated that in the unfolding of history,
the placement of different actors in different temporal,
territorial and socio-economic locations has led to the
differences in the formation of different worldviews, which
include the conceptualisation of the supernatural, and in
relation to that, the self, society and the world. Thus,
for Muslims as well as followers of other creeds, the multiplicity
in understanding of the divine, is a product of personal,
national and international history. However, most believing
Muslims, whether or not practicing, religiously educated,
liberal or orthodox, find it difficult to refute the eminence
of the Qur'an as the central source of information on matters
pertaining to religion, and perhaps life on earth. Thus,
regardless of the multiplicity in expression and practice,
most believing Muslims do not refer to multiple sources,
but one source, i,e; the Qur'an, whether it be with a sense
of pride, joy and confidence, or fear and trepidation or
doubt and skepticism. There is then method to the madness,
or rather uniformity behind the multiplicity. My starting
point in the article was centred around understanding religion.
What does this singular source say about the normative in
the perception of religion? I will argue for three interconnected
frameworks which supplement each other in order to provide
us with a coherent understanding of the much debated, and
problematised concept-- religion.
The
first framework is "Tawheed"-- a concept
lying at the heart of Islamic monotheism. The noun Tawheed,
the literal translation of which is "unification"
stems from the Arabic verb "wahada",
which means to unite, unify or consolidate. What gives this
term pulse is its application in reference to the creator,
Allah for the Muslims. "Tawheedullah"
means the realisation and maintenance of Allah's oneness
in all of man's actions that directly or indirectly relate
to Him. While every few ayat(verse) of the Quran
pronounces Tawheed, I feel the best summary appears
in none other than the greatest verse in the Qur'an, the
"Ayatul Kursi", The ayat reads:
"None has the right to be worshipped but He
(maintaining His oneness in worship); The one Who sustains
and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep
overtakes Him (understanding that He is like nothing
in this world and the limitations of human attributes cannot
describe Him); To Him belongs whatever is in the Heavens
and whatever is on the Earth. Who is he that can intercede
with Him except by His permission? He knowns what is in
front of His creature, and what is hidden from them. And
they will never compass anything of His knowledge except
that which He wills. His Kursi (throne) extends over the
heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding
and preserving them. And He is the Most High and Most Great
(unlike anything in the universe, He does NOT share his
might and majesty with anyone else) (2:254).
How
does one come to have this understanding of the
Creator. Here, we find answers in the second framework that
furnishes our understanding of the term religion-- Risalat.
The importance of risalat or prophethood is stated
amply in the Qur'an. It is interesting that while the Qur'an
dictates the Muslims' belief that Muhammad (Pbuh) is the
last prophet, he is not the one who brought Islam. Islam,
which very simply means submission to the will of the Creator
is, according to the Quranic ideology, a state in which
all prophets were created, starting from the first man and
prophet, Adam. Regarding Abraham, who is also considered
to be the father of two other major religions, the Quran
says, "Abraham was not a Jew nor was he a Christian,
.but a true Muslim and not among those who joined partners
with Allah (3:67). All messengers and prophets came
at different phases in time to bring the message of Tawheed
and following from it submission, to their people. The Quran
continues, "We have sent among every nation a messenger
proclaiming, "worship Allah alone and avoid all false
deities"(16:36). While many prophets have come
at different stages of history, the significance of Muhammad
(Pbuh) in light of submission is that he is the last of
the very long chain of message bearers and guides to the
truth of the oneness of the Creator. He is, therefore, not
the initiator but rather the final restorer of the message
of Tawheed that the creator has been sending to humanity
since time immemorial. It is with what was revealed to him
that humanity receives the most complete and therefore final
word on the creator and the purpose of creation. The Qur'an
says, "O people of the scriptures, now has come
to you Our messenger, explaining to you much of that which
you used to hide from the scriptures. Indeed there has come
to you from Allah a light (Prophet Muhammad,Pbuh) and a
plain book (the Qur'an).This day, I have perfected your
religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have
chosen Islam as your religion. (5:15,5).
The
purpose of creation is encapsulated in the third framework,
which is akherat or afterlife. Let's take the Arabic
word for religion-- Deen. The root word of the word deen
is dayn, which means debt. The religion of Islam
or Deenul Islam therefore very simply means the debt of
submission. If a debt is owed, the debtors will have to
repay it. The failure in doing so is not only condemnable,
but also punishable. In the case of Islam, the debt is owed
to the One who creates, it is to be repaid in life and to
be accounted for after death. The Quran says, "every
person is a pledge for what he has earned" (74:38).
The first step and a prerequisite to repaying the debt is
knowing and acknowledging who it is owed to. Thus, imaan
or belief in Allah, the way He has revealed himself to mankind,
begins the process of relieving the self of the debt which
is owed .
However,
it does not end there. The remaining actions that are outlined
as ways of somewhat crediting the debt, and therefore attaining
the Creator's pleasure range from the personal to the communal.
The personal (not necessarily individual) include praying
and fasting, while the communal embrace many actions such
as performing the Hajj, and engaging in charitable work,
such as zakat or any other kind of giving. The
amazing connections between these seemingly disparate actions
are beyond the scope of the current article. However, I
would like to draw your attention to the two sets of dyadic
relationships these actions establish. One is that between
the creator and man and the other is that between man and
man. There is a common thread running through the two sets
of relationships, and that is service. Man's service towards
man and his service and worship towards his Creator are
required to occur simultaneously, without one being collapsed
into the other, without the equation of one with the other.
Thus, worship of the Creator is complete when it accompanies
the service to humanity, and the virtues resulting from
the service to humanity are left incomplete, and devoid
of direction without due deference to the Creator. The link
is logical given that the recipients of man's service and
all the rest of humanity was created by Him and to Him will
they all return. The Qur'an says, "Verily man is
in loss, except those who believe and do righteous good
deeds and recommend one another to the truth, and patience"(103:2-3).
Islam
or submission has a breadth of vision and a depth of meaning.
It is a religion based on the premise that creation entails
a sharp distinction between the One who creates and all
that is created. Its greatness lies in being inclusive of
all prophets from all times. Its beauty shines through the
rational philosophy-- the ideology that based on the repayment
of the debt. The guidelines for living a connected, directed
and purposeful life curb individual arrogance and intolerance
by fostering self-reflection and hope, responsibility and
sharing, learning and enlightenment. The notion of a debt
owed gives new meaning and direction to all likes and dislikes,
whims and impulses. The sense of direction focuses the individual's
attention to an afterlife, thereby making the concept of
life not finite, but moving through a continuum in different
spatial dimensions. The self is then an entity who is brought
into creation, amidst many avenues and opportunities, through
which he ponders over and realises the purpose of his creation.
He then finds grounding in the understanding that there
is always something better than him. The grounding brings
him peace and elation in the hope that there can always
be better for him. The Qur'an says, " It will be
said to such a self (the nafs-e-mutma'inna):"Oh you,
self at peace, return to your lord content in His pleasure,
thus enter amongst my bondsmen, and enter my paradise"(89:27-30).
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