The sound creed

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The sound creed

Sheikh Sayyid Sabiq
Islam is the religion of Allah which He revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is composed of faith and actions; faith represents the creed and the fundamentals from which the codes of Islam are derived, whereas actions represent the Shari`ah, the branches of faith, and creed.

Faith and actions or creed and Shari`ah are correlated like fruits and trees or as conclusions and introductions. For this close connection, action becomes correlated with faith in more than one Ayah in the Glorious Qur'an. "And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous good deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise). Every time they will be provided with a fruit therefrom, they will say: "This is what we were provided with before," and they will be given things in resemblance (i.e. in the same form but different in taste) and they shall have therein Azwâjun Mutahharatun (purified mates or wives) and they will abide therein forever." [Surat Al Baqarah: 25]. "Whoever works righteousness (whether male or female) while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islâmic Monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter)." [Surat An-Nahl: 97]. "Verily, those who believe [in the Oneness of Allâh and in His Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him)] and work deeds of righteousness, the Most Gracious (Allâh) will bestow love for them (in the hearts of the believers)." [Surat Maryam: 96].

The concept of faith or creed is regulated by six matters:
First, acquaintance with Allah, His Beautiful Names, and His High Qualities, in addition to acquaintance with the proofs of His Existence and the features of His Glory in the universe and in the nature.

Second, acquaintance with the ****physics or the unseen world which contains angels and the powers of evil which contain Satan and its troops as well as acquaintance with jinn.

Third, acquaintance with the books of Allah which He revealed to identify the features of true and false, good and evil, lawful and unlawful, and goodness and ugliness.

Fourth, acquaintance with the messengers of Allah whom He chose to be the leaders of guidance and leaders of creation to the truth.

Fifth, acquaintance with the Last Day along with resurrection and reward, reward and punishment, Paradise and Hell.

Sixth, acquaintance with the fate which controls the system of the universe in regard to creation and management. This concept of faith is the creed for which Allah revealed His Books, sent His Messengers, and made it His Commandment to the former and the later.

So, it is one creed that cannot change by the change of time or place and do not change by the change of individuals or people. "He (Allâh) has ordained for you the same religion (Islâmic Monotheism) which He ordained for Nûh (Noah), and that which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad peace be upon him), and that which We ordained for Ibrâhîm (Abraham), Mûsâ (Moses) and 'Isâ (Jesus) saying you should establish religion (i.e. to do what it orders you to do practically), and make no divisions in it (religion) (i.e. various sects in religion)." [Surat Ash-Shura: 13].

The things which Allah ordained for us in regard of religion and commended us of as He commended the Previous Messengers are the fundamentals of religion and the bases of faith not the branches of religion nor its practical codes because for every nation there are practical codes fitting its circumstances, conditions, and its thoughtful and spiritual level. "To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way." [Surat Al Ma'idah: 48]. Allah made this creed general for all mankind and eternal forever because of the clear effect and the manifest benefit it has in the lives of individuals and groups. So, acquaintance with Allah generates noble feelings, wakes up the senses of goodness, increases the quality of surveillance, urges to pursuit high goals, and keeps a person away from things that annul actions.

Acquaintance with angels calls for imitating them and cooperating with them to achieve the truth and good, as it calls to complete awareness and full awakening, so nothing should come out of a person but good and does not behave except for an honorable end.

Acquaintance with divine books is just admission of the straightway which Allah depicted for man so that a person can reach his material and literary perfection by abiding by them.

Acquaintance with the messengers aims at depicting their steps, having their manners, and following their model as they represent good values and clean life which Allah willed for the people. Acquaintance with the Last Day is the strongest motive for doing good and abandoning evil.

Acquaintance with the fate provides a person with powers and energies that challenge all obstacles and difficulties and minimize great events. Here is becomes clear that creed is meant to cultivate behavior, purify the souls, and direct them towards the model example. It is one of the highest human knowledge if it is not the highest.

Cultivating individuals' behaviors through inculcating faith is one of the greatest educational methods because religion has a power over hearts and souls, and an impact on the feelings and sensations, and nothing can compare to it from the means that scientists, wise people, and men of education invented.

Inculcating faith in the souls is the best way to find good elements to fulfill their roles in full in this life, and contribute with a large share in providing what is useful. This color of education adds beauty and perfection to life and shade it by love and peace.

When love prevails, disputes end, reconciliation replaced discord, the people get along and love one another, an individual serves the group, and the group becomes keen to reform and make a person happy.

Here, the wisdom of Allah becomes clear in leaving no nation without a messenger to call to this faith and profound the roots of this faith. "Verily, We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them." [Surat Fatir: 24].

It is so often this call comes after the corruption of human conscience and after the crash of all the supreme values, and it seems that a person is in dire need to a miracle to return to the sound nature; to be ready to inhabit the earth and to bear the trust of religion.

This creed is the soul for every person, by which he leads a good life and by losing it, the soul dies. Moreover, it is the light which if a person loses, he will go astray in this life and shall be lost in the valleys of error. "Is he who was dead (without Faith by ignorance and disbelief) and We gave him life (by knowledge and Faith) and set for him a light (of Belief) whereby he can walk amongst men like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and hypocrisy) from which he can never come out? Thus it is made fair-seeming to the disbelievers that which they used to do." [Surat Al An`am: 122].

Creed is the source of noble emotions, good feelings, and the essence of honest sensations, so every virtue is issued by creed.

When the Glorious Qur'an talks about good actions, it mentions creed in the beginning of pious acts as a fundamental and a basis to stand on. "It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allâh, etc.) that you turn your faces towards the east and (or) the west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allâh, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masâkîn (the needy), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, and performs As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and gives the Zakât, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are patient in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al-Muttaqûn (the pious)." [Surat Al Baqarah: 177].

The messengers used to offer this creed to the people and draw their attentions to the kingdom of heavens and the earth, awaken their minds to think in the signs of Allah, and alert their natures to the feeling of religiousness and feeling of another world beyond this physical world.

Based on these bases, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) imprinted creed in the souls of the nation drawing the attention, directing the ideas, and awakening the minds and natures until these souls reached success and could transfer the nation from paganism and idolatry to monotheism, and to create a generation that boasts of faith and holds firm of the truth, therefore, that generation was as the sun to the world and good health to the people.

Allah has witnessed to that generation of excellence and superiority. He said: "You [true believers in Islâmic Monotheism, and real followers of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and his Sunnah] are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islâm has forbidden), and you believe in Allâh." [Surat Al `Imran: 110].

Faith reached its peak at some Companions to the extent they said: "If the unseen had been seen to me, my faith would not have increased (because I reached the peak of faith)." In the Hadith of Al Harith ibn Malik Al Ansary the proof which gives us the bright image for this faith. Al Harith passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Messenger said to him: "How are you today Harithah?" He said: I have become a true believer. He said: "Do you understand what you are talking about? Everything has a reality, so what is the reality of your faith?" He said: Myself abstains from the world, so I wake up at night for Salah and I fast the daytime, and as if I am looking at the Throne of my Lord which is quite apparent. It is as if I am looking at the Paradise dwellers visiting one another therein and as if I am looking at the denizens of the Hell-Fire are tortured therein. He said: "O Harithah, you have known the reality, so stick to that."

Since the emergence of the state of monotheism at the hand of the seal of prophets and messengers, the creed derives its sanctity from the revelation of Allah and the instructions of the sky. It depends first on the Qur'an and the Sunnah and heading in the first place to promote skills, promoting instincts, and cultivate behaviors in order to raise a human being to the highness suitable to his dignity and make him a positive force in life.

Political disputes, communicating with thoughtful doctrines and other religious doctrines, and accepting the arbitration of intellect in things beyond its capabilities were reasons to abandon the way of prophets as was a cause for turning Islam from its simplicity, positivity, and highness to philosophical issues, logical measurements, and theologian discussion close to be Byzantine discussions. Faith is no longer the faith which promotes oneself, fix the work, promotes an individual, or brings life to nations.

The impact of political disputes, abstaining from the way of natural disposition, getting affected by emergent thoughtful doctrines, and arbitrating the intellect caused the division of creed fighters into different schools; every school of it represents a different kind of thought and claims that it is the only school which owns the truth -as it claims- and whoever does not enter into the circle of its teachings will be a non-Muslim.

The school of the people of Hadith, the school of the Asha`rites, the school of Matridites, the school of Mu`tazilah, the school of shia, the school of Jahmiyyah, along to other schools of multiple doctrines.

The most famous disputes that have widen the gap between the people of the same nation was the dispute which took place between the Asha`rites and Mu`tazilah, and the most important disputes were around the following issues:
1- Is faith a mere belief or belief and actions?
2- Are the self attributes of Allah positive or negative?
3- Is human obliged or free to choose?
4- Is it obligatory on Allah to do what is righteous, or not?
5- Are beauty and ugliness are known by reason or by Shari`ah?
6- Is it obligatory on Allah to reward the obedient and torture the disobedient, or not?
7- Will Allah be seen in the Hereafter or that is impossible?
8- What is the ruling on the one who commits major sins and did not repent before his death?

In addition to these issues that were disputes among Muslims that led to the division of the nation into sects and parties.

From the results and impacts of these disputes is: Muslims have fallen into serious mistakes that have shaken the creed of people and faith became unstable in the hearts of the believers.

So, the creed was no longer dominant over individuals' behaviors and faith was no longer dominant on their behaviors.

The weakness of creed was followed by the general weakness of individuals, in the family, in the society, in the state, and in every aspects of life.

That weakness started to leak into every aspect of life until the nation became unable to undertake its responsibilities at the internal and external level. The nation was no longer able to lead the nations and guide the peoples.

If the reason of not fulfilling the great responsibilities of the nation is the weakness of creed, it is necessary, while we are working hard to restore the glory of our nation, to exert effort to inculcate the creed in our souls and to follow the plan which the Messenger (peace be upon him) depicted for education and development so as to reach power and certainty which push us forward to the glory of life and to the highest degrees of glory and honor.