For Fast 13

Topic: (I) Islam

The word ‘Islam’ used in the Quran refers often to the principle of submitting to God’s commands, when your desires lead you in the opposite direction. In such places in the Quran, it does not mean ‘Islam’ as a label applied to the religion, but refers to the substance behind the name.

Chapter 3

83 Do they then seek other than Allah’s religion? And to Him submits whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him they will be returned. 1

84 Say: We believe in Allah and (in) what is revealed to us, and (in) what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and (in) what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord; we make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we submit. 2

85 And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers. 3

Notes:

1 This verse refers to the laws of nature. Everything in nature (sun, moon, earth, trees, animals, rivers, etc) submits to and follows the laws of nature “willingly” without reluctance or resistance. Man also has to submit to the laws of nature that govern the world around him, and his own body, even though he may not like it and be “unwilling”.

2 This verse mentions the guidance that man must follow in his behaviour and life in order to submit to God, as nature does willingly. That guidance comes through revelation. Muslims are here told to declare that they believe in God and in the revelation He has sent to them, as well as the revelation he sent to previous prophets. Muslims accept the common factors in the revelations

3 The cosmopolitan nature of the religion of Islam having been clearly set forth, it is now stated that anyone who refused to accept such principles would unfailingly lose in the end. A Muslim accepts the whole truth, the truth as revealed to any prophet anywhere in the world, the truth as revealed to all mankind. To whatever extent a person accepts and follows these principles, to that extent he benefits. As the Quran says: “Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve” (2:62)

“Surely the (true) religion with Allah is Islam.” — 3:19

The meaning is that the principle of submission to God, thereby entering into peace, has always been the true religion. According to the Holy Quran, Islām was the religion of all the prophets. The Israelite prophets who followed Moses are spoken of as the prophets who submitted themselves (to Allah) (5:44). It is also the natural religion of man, as in 30:30 it is described as being “the nature made by Allah in which He has created mankind”.

“This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favour to you and chosen for you Islam as a religion.” — 5:3

This verse was revealed towards the close of the Holy Prophet’s life, and it is held by all authorities that no precept was revealed after this. It is a clear testimony to the perfection of religion in Islam, no such claim being made by any other book or religion. Just before the Holy Prophet Muhammad, Jesus had said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John, 16:12–13). The Prophet Muhammad was thus the last of the prophets, because religion being perfected, no prophet was needed after him.

“They presume to lay you (O Prophet) under an obligation by becoming Muslims. Say: Do not lay me under an obligation by your Islam; rather Allah lays you under an obligation by guiding you to the faith, if you are truthful.”— 49:17

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