Islam requires of us to believe in God and His Apostle and to observe
Namaz, Roza, Zakat and Hajj, and to lead a life of piety and honest
and goodness and gentility and moral and social rectitude and self-discipline.
In the same way, it is also one of its fundamental teachings that we
should hold God, the Prophet and the holy Faith dearer to our hearts
than everything else, may it be our parents, children, life, honour,
or property. In plain words what it means is that should a time come
when it may involve the risk of life, honour or property or of any other
worldly thing or interest to abide by the faith of Islam and to remain
loyal to the injunctions of God and the Prophet then we must not break
away from God and the Prophet and the holy Faith irrespective of what
the consequences may be.
It has been stressed repeatedly in the Quran and the Tradition that
those who may claim to be Muslims but do not possess as strong a devotion
for God, the Prophet and the Faith as these are, in fact, not true Muslims.
What is more, they are deserving of Divine chastisement. Reads Sura-i-Tauba:
Say: “If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your
mates, or your kindred: the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce
in which ye fear a decline; or the dwellings in which ye delight are
dearer to you than God, and His Apostle, or the striving in His cause;
then wait until God brings about His decision; and God guides not the
rebellious.” (IX: 24)
Those who love their parents or children or life or honour or property
more than they love God and care more for their protection or well-being
than for His pleasure and the defence and progress of His faith are
unquestionably disloyal to God and worthy of His punishment. A Tradition
says:
“He alone will taste the sweetness of the faith who possesses
these three qualities: the love of God and the Prophet comes to him
before everything else; he loves whom he loves solely for the sake of
God; the idea of going back to apostasy after he has embraced Islam
is as repugnant to him as being thrown into the fire.”
In the sight of God and the Prophet a true and genuine Muslim is a person
whose devotion to God and His Apostle and the Faith is stronger than
to any other person or thing in the world so much so that when he loves
another human being he loves him for the sake of God, and who is so
sincerely and powerfully attached to the Islamic faith that the very
thought of leaving it and reverting back to apostasy may be as painful
to him as being cast into fire.
Says the Prophet: “None of you can be an honest Muslim and a true
believer unless his love for me exceeds the love he has for his parents,
children or any other human being in the world.”
Brothers, Islam, really is nothing besides surrender and submission
to God and the Prophet with all one’s heart and soul and the readiness
to sacrifice every attachment, longing or interest for the sake of the
Faith as the holy Companions had done and as the state is of the true
and devoted servants of God even today, however small may their number
be. May we also be one of them!
