How I View Islam

While struggling to answer the outpouring of existential questions that haunted my mind as a child and a teenager, I realized that belief in God is the answer to all questions, no matter how unanswerable they may seem. Although I was born in an Islamic country, it was hard for me to find someone to spiritually connect with and resort to in time of need. Therefore, I had to strive alone in the process of probing into myself and disclosing the many mysteries I encountered. I feel fortunate for being able to dispel the murkiness and see lucidly that humans were created for a reason, that they are so valuable, that their humanity cannot see light unless they realize their own value in this universe and strive to edify themselves.

Since I came to the U.S., I have witnessed many situations in which people do not seem to know their true value as human beings and act in a way that is self-demeaning. It is unfortunate that their low self-esteem emanates from their unawareness of their worth as honored creatures to whom God commanded the angels to bow down. Allah says in the Qur’an: “And behold, We said to the angels: Bow down to Adam; and they bowed.”

This Qur’anic verse is a milestone that has elucidated my vision about life and the entire notion of existence. When God gave His divine command to the angels to bow down for Adam, He, in effect, ordered them to bow down for every human being regardless of race, gender, faith or wealth. We are living in a world fraught with evil, where some have excelled in contriving unimaginable and unprecedented ways to perpetrate evil and see others suffer. It is heart-rending the way some people mistreat others and rejoice to see them suffer. I have always thought that if they had learned about and discerned in depth the previously mentioned verse of the Qur’an, they would not have despised others and degraded themselves. I believe that when we recognize our essence as honored creatures, we treasure ourselves and treat others with the respect and the love they deserve. The divine command declared that all people are equal, though it is mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’an that their only distinguishing factor is their level of piety and righteousness.

Since I am a female, I thought of bringing up the issue of the position of women in Islam as opposed to her position in the Western world to further illustrate the notion of the value of humankind from an Islamic perspective. While the West has made women the cheapest commodity on earth by creating escort agencies, massage parlors, lesbianism, illegal mistresses, and nudity, women in Islam are precious jewels. They are far too precious to be displayed and dehumanized.

Another crucial mission of Islam is to edify the human character and improve the morals of the individual. I believe that the real yardstick for measuring human exaltedness is not being able to reach the moon, create sophisticated weapons or use the Internet, but rather the impact of all these elements on the character and psychological structure. Muslims are required to pray five times a day because praying is a means of purification of our soul and expiation of our sins. However, the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) clearly stated that “prayers which do not dissuade a Muslim from committing evil are null.” Praying, along with the rest of religious rituals, such as fasting in Ramadan, is a means of rectifying the individual and purifying his soul.

By emphasizing the cultivation of the character, Islam aims at producing better individuals in society, individuals who are God-conscious, disciplined, and humane. The Prophet even specified that "the essence of religion (Islam) is how we treat others." In other words, our being religious should be manifest in the way we justly and respectfully deal with the rest of creation. I used the term "creation" in reference not only to human beings but also to animals and plants. When Islam demonizes stealing, killing, adultery, and wine, its aim is to elevate the human being to a special rank, glorify him and officially declare him as a successor and an agent of God on this planet earth.

Islam calls us to satisfy our desires but also emphasizes that we should establish control over them instead of letting them gain control over us. I have always been impressed by the way Islam urges us to "control" and not "repress" our desires. There is evidently a huge difference between control and repression: while control is a conscious, directed act engendered by our willpower, repression is an unconscious, harmful, and random act. Here again I will refer to the divine command of God to the angels. The main reason why we deserve such special treatment is due to the will that God bestowed on us and did not bestow on the angels. Having will means that we are utterly responsible for our actions and that we can choose to be either better or worse individuals. God stresses the edification of the soul, but He first made sure that He granted us the will by which we can achieve this goal, provided that our will is used correctly.

It is needless to mention that belief in the hereafter is a salient incentive for improving the self. It is hard to imagine that there is no hereafter and that we are doomed to perish in our graves as if we never existed. I have always expressed astonishment at those who believe that the notion of the hereafter is a risible belief or that, as Karl Marx put it, “religion is the opium of the people.” When he mentioned religion, he evidently included everything associated with it. Here is a verse from the Qur’an explaining that mankind are created for a purpose:

Does man think that he will be left suda [neglected] without being punished or rewarded for the obligatory duties enjoined by his Lord on him? Was he not a nutfah [mixed male and female discharge of semen] poured forth? Then he became an 'alaqa (a clot); then (Allah) shaped and fashioned (him) in due proportion. And made him in two sexes, male and female. Is not He (Allah) Who does that, able to give life to the dead? Yes! He is able to do all things.

If there is no life after death, then who is going to reward the righteous and punish the evildoers? It is true that many people who have committed an atrocity were punished in this life, but no one can deny that there are some who will not be punished because they have managed to conceal their crimes and thereby evade penalty. It would not be fair to assume that they are going to be treated equally as those who were struggling in this life to alienate themselves from sin and live a decent life. This life is characterized by imperfection and injustice; that is why God promised us another world of perfection and justice. I believe that when we recognize that this world is not the end of the story, our life becomes straight and we do not yearn for the fleeting pleasures of this life; neither do we feel desperate and uncontrollably miserable when we witness the many eccentricities and injustices of this world.

Islam is an integral component of my life. I know that I would have been miserable without it. It is unfortunate that many Islamic countries do not reflect a favorable image about Islam. This is mainly due to the fact that they have deviated from its path. People who suffer a spiritual void would certainly worship another god of their creation to fill in the void and satisfy their instinctive spiritual need, but I do not think they would ever reach the peace of mind that those who believe in the true God enjoy.

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