Assignment - 3 Islam and the world

The Islamic View of Life

Islam alone, of all religions, embraces life in all its aspects. It does not stand as a barrier between man his legitimate desire for a full life. It does not regard man's earthly existence as a collection of gloomy sorrows or a punishment for some original or inherited sin. At the same time, it does not look upon this life as a fleeting opportunity for material satisfaction or a place for sensuous delight. Islam proclaims life to be a Divine gift so that man may attain nearness to God and attain perfection by making full use of the possibilities of his body and spirit. 

It is an opportunity for action to make the best of oneself, there is not going to be another opportunity after it. Says the Holy Qur'an:

He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed. Al-Mulk 67:2

That which is on earth We have made but as a glittering show for it in order that We may test them - as to which of them are best in conduct. al-Kahf 18:7

The Companions of the Prophet considered this universe as the domain of God in which He had raised them in the first instance as human beings and then as Muslims to serve as His Vicegerents and the guardians of those who dwelt in it. The Holy Qur'an says:

I will create a Vicegerent on earth. al-Baqarah 2:30

It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on the earth. al-Baqarah 2:29

We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of Our Creation. al-Isra' 17:70

God has promised to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion- the one - which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived). to one of security and peace; they will worship Me (alone) and associate none with Me. al-Nür 24:55

God had granted mankind the right to enjoy the resources of the earth without being foolish, vain or wasteful:

Eat and drink but waste not by excess, for God loveth not the wasters. al-A'raf 7:31

Say: who hath forbidden the beautiful gifts of God, which He hath produced for His servants, and the things, clean and pure, which He hath provided for sustenance? Say: they are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Judgement. al-A'raf 7:32

The Muslims have been appointed the shepherds of mankind. It is their religious duty to keep humanity on the straight path, to remove imperfections from human society, to defend the weak and to establish justice and peace on the earth. Says the Holy Qur'an:

Ye are the best people raised up for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God. Had the People of the Book believed, it would have been better for them. Some of them are faithful, but most are rebellious.

Al 'Imran 3:110

O ye who believe, stand out firmly for justice and be the witnesses of God to fair dealing even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives. Be they rich or poor, Allah is best to ensure their interests. So do not let your desires cause you to deviate ˹from justice˺. If you distort the testimony or refuse to give it, then ˹know that˺ Allah is certainly All-Aware of what you do.

. al-Nisa' 4:135

MuhammadAsad admirably summed up the Islamic concept of life as a well-balanced harmonious totality, which cannot be divided nor separated into the physical and spiritual: "...If Islam does not share the gloomy aspect of life as expressed by Christianity, it teaches us, nonetheless, not to attribute an exaggerated value to the earthly life as the modern Western civilization does. The Christian outlook is: The earthly life is a bad business. The modern West as distinct from Christianity - adores life in exactly the same way as the glutton adores his food; he devours it, but has no respect for it. Islam, on the other hand, looks upon the earthly life with calmness and respect.

It does not worship life, but regards it as a passing stage on our way to a higher existence. But just because it is a stage, and a necessary stage, too, man has no right to despise or even to underrate the value of his earthly life. Our travel through this world is a necessary, positive part in God's Plan. 

Human life, therefore, is of tremendous value; but we must never forget that it is a purely instrumental value. In Islam, there is no room for the materialistic optimism of the modern West which says: "My kingdom is of this world alone" - nor for the life contempt of the Christian: "My kingdom is not of this world." Islam goes the middle way. The Holy Qur'an teaches us to pray:

Our Lord, give us the good in this world and the good in the Hereafter. al-Baqarah 2:201

"Thus, the full appreciation of this world and its goods is in no way a handicap for our spiritual endeavours. Material prosperity is desirable, though it is not a goal in itself. The goal of all our practical activities always ought to be the creation and maintenance of such personal and social conditions as might be helpful for the development of moral stamina in men. In accordance with this principle, Islam leads man towards a consciousness of moral responsibility in everything he does, whether great or small. The well-known injunction of the gospel: 'Give Caesar that which belongs to Caesar, and give God that which belongs to God'

"seeing the face of God in every human being and respecting the dignity of each person and defending his or her right to life"

has no room in the theological structure of Islam, because Islam does not allow of a differentiation between the moral and the practical requirements of our existence. In everything there can be: only one choice: the choice between Right and Wrong - and nothing in-between. Hence, the intense insistence on action as an indispensable element of morality. Every individual Muslim has to regard himself as personally responsible for all happenings around him, and to strive for the establishment of Right and the abolition of Wrong at every time and in every direction.

"The sanction for this attitude is to be found in the verse of the Holy Qur'an:

Ye are the best people raised up for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in God.  Al 'Imran 3:110

"This is the moral justification of the aggressive activism of Islam, the justification of the early Islamic conquests and its so-called 'Imperialism'. For Islam is 'Imperialist', if we must use this term; but this kind of Imperialism is not prompted by love of domination; it has nothing [to do] with economic or national selfishness, nothing [to do] with the greed to increase our own comforts at other people's cost, nor has it ever meant the coercion of non-believers into the belief of Islam. It has only meant, as it means today, the construction of a worldly frame for the best possible spiritual development of man. Moral knowledge, according to the teachings of Islam, automatically forces a moral responsibility upon man.

A mere Platonic discernment between Right and Wrong, without the urge to promote the Right and to destroy the Wrong, is a gross immorality in itself.

In Islam, morality lives and dies with the human endeavor to establish its victory upon earth."