Page:Maulana Muhammad Ali Quran.djvu/13

Rh existence, a belief in devils was an equal necessity. But it is not so. The reason is that whereas we are required to accept and follow the call of the inviter to good, we are not required to follow the call of the inviter to evil, and therefore, as the former gives us a basis for action which the latter does not, we believe in the angels but not in the devils. On the other hand, the Holy Qur-án requires us to disbelieve in the devils: "Therefore whoever disbelieves in the devils and believes in Allah, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle" (2:256).

It will thus be seen that the principles of belief enumerated above, as given in the Holy Qur-án, are really principles each of which serves as a basis for action, and no other belief is known to Islam. The Islamic beliefs are not formulæ for repetition, but formulæ for action. The word Allah—the Arabic word for God—indicates that Being who possesses all the perfect attributes, and when a Muslim is required to believe in Allah he is really required to make himself the possessor of all those attributes of perfection. He has to set before himself the highest and the purest ideal that the heart of man can conceive, and to make his conduct conform to that ideal. The belief in Divine revelation makes him accept and imitate all the good that is met with in the lives of righteous men, and the belief in the hereafter is equivalent to the recognition of that most important principle of the responsibility of man: his accountability for his actions. Thus the Islamic beliefs are really axiomatic truths upon which are based the moral and spiritual aspects of the life of man.

Principles of action.

Next we take the practical side of the faith of Islam. As I have already said, in Islam actions are as essentially a component part of religion as belief. In this respect Islam occupies a middle position between religions which have ignored the practical side altogether and those which bind their followers to a very minute ritual. It sees the necessity of developing the faculties of man by giving general directions, and then leaves ample scope for the individual to exercise his judiciousness. Without a strong practical character, any religion is likely to pass into mere idealism, and it will cease to exercise influence on the practical life of man. The precepts of Islam which inculcate duties towards God and duties towards man are based on that deep knowledge of human nature which cannot be possessed but by the Author of that nature. They cover the whole range of the different grades of the development of man, and are thus wonderfully adapted to the requirements of different peoples. In the Holy Qur-án are found guiding rules for the ordinary man of the world as well as for the philosopher, and for communities in the lowest grade of civilization as well as for the highly civilized nations of the world. Practicability is the key-note of its precepts, and thus the same universality which marks its principles of faith is to be met with in its practical ordinances, suiting as they do the requirements of all ages and nations.

The verses which give us the three fundamental principles of faith also contain two fundamental principles of action, viz. the keeping-up of prayer and spending benevolently out of what one has. These two, in fact, cover the whole sphere of man’s actions. Generally speaking, these two principles may be described as standing for man’s duties towards God and man’s duties towards man. But properly speaking, this distinction is superficial. In the true sense of the word, every duty of man is a duty towards God, and hence it is that the Holy Qur-án, when mentioning the most ordinary duties of man towards man, follows up its injunctions with the words be careful of your duty to Allah. To the same effect is the Holy Prophet’s saying: The person who