❞ كتاب Pillars of Faith ❝ ⏤ جعفر شيخ إدريس

lntroduction ,
God
The Hereafter
Angels
Books
N4essengers '.
Qadar
Conclusion

The pillars of Faith, 'lman, enumerated in many verses
of the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad,
peace be upon him, are belief in Cod, in Cod's Angels, His
Books, His Messengers, in the Hereafter and in Qadar
(Destiny). These are familiar terms; but the non-Muslim
reader would be mistaken if he thought that the lslamic
concepts designated by them are the same as those of
other religions and philosophies. lt is hoped that the
following exposition, which is itself made in the light of the
Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet, will make this point
clear. lt will also make clear the fact that the lslamic
concept of faith itself is, in many ways, different from the
popular Western one. In the West faith is usually
contrasted to reason and knowledge. But according to the
Qur'an true faith is that which is based on knowledge and
supported by argument, Any belief which is not so based
and supported is considered by the Qur'an to be mere
caprice and whim which a thinking pierson must avoid.
True faith can therefore be gained through reflection and
the acquisition of knowledge, and not by blind and
irrational committment. A person armed with such an
enlightened faith can enter with great confidence into
rational discussion with people who do not share his
beliefs with the hope of showing them their mistakes and
weaknesses and winning them over to truth. lf this paper
helps to take the reader a step in that direction it will have
achieved its purpose, and all praise is due to God.

-l

GOD

Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent to invite
people to Cod and to teach them how to perform the task
for which they were created, namely to worship Him. Many
of the people whom he addressed had a hazy idea of Cod.
$ome did believe in Him, though they associated other
lesser gods with Him, but a few of them were downright
atheists, or materialists, whose creed was, 'we lirne and we
die and nothing causes our death except Time.' [fathiya,
XLV: 241 Before inviting such atheists to Cod one must first
convince them that there is such being. "What reason do
you have for believing that there is a Cod ?" This, logically,
is the first question which a theistic view of life should
address itself to. The Qur'anic answer to it is given in the
foflowing words:
". . . were they created out of nothing? Or were they the
creations (of themselves)ordid they create the heavens rnd
earth."

[Tur, Lll: 36J
The Qur'an is here saying that for everything like man
that has a beginning in time, there are only three ways of
explaining how it came to be.
a. Either it is created, or made, or caused by nothing at all
i.e. it came out of nothing.
b. Or it is the creator of itself.
c. Or it has a creator, cause, or maker, outside itself.
The third possibility is not mentioned in the quoted verse
but it is understood because the verse is addressed to
people who deny the existence of a creator and it is telling
them that if there is no creator then only two possibilities

remain. But the Qur'an does not go into the details of
showing why the first two positions are untenable. Clarity
of expression often convinces peopfe of the truth or
untruth of a statement. Mental seeing here, more than
physical seeing, is believing (or rejecting). This is borne out
in the case of these Qur'anic words by a historical event.
fubayr lbn Mut'im, until then, a non-Muslim was sent by
Quraysh on a mission to the Muslims at Madina. He says
that when he arrived he heard the Prophet, who was
leading the evening prayer, reading Surat al-tur and when
he reached the foregoing verses "my heart was almost rent
asunder."t Shortly after that fubayr embraced lslam.

 : discusses the fundamentals of faith, by outlining and detailing the objectives of the Islamic ’Aqeedah. Numerous references are made to the Qur’an and authentic Ahadith, for establishing the sincere intention and worship to Allah, liberating the mind and thought from the irrational and chaotic losses, establishing peace of mind and sound thinking, safeguarding the intentions, learning to establish a strong Ummah community , achieving happiness in this life and the hereafter, and more.