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   From: bv8bv8bv8@gmail.com   
      
   How Does Islam Differ from other Faiths? (part 1 of 2)   
      
      
   Description: Some of the Unique Features of Islam not found in other   
   belief systems and ways of life.   
   B   
   Simplicity, Rationality and Practicality   
      
   Islam is a religion without any mythology.  Its teachings are simple   
   and intelligible.  It is free from superstitions and irrational   
   beliefs.  The oneness of God, the prophethood of Muhammad, and the   
   concept of life after death are the basic articles of its faith.  They   
   are based on reason and sound logic.  All of the teachings of Islam   
   flow from those basic beliefs and are simple and straightforward.   
   There is no hierarchy of priests, no farfetched abstractions, no   
   complicated rites or rituals.   
      
   Everybody may approach the Quran directly and translate its dictates   
   into practice.  Islam awakens in man the faculty of reason and exhorts   
   him to use his intellect.  It enjoins him to see things in the light   
   of reality.  The Quran advises him to seek knowledge and invoke God to   
   expand his awareness:   
      
   Say ‘O, my Lord!  Advance me in knowledge.  (Quran 20: 114)   
      
   God also says:   
      
   “Are those who know equal with those who know not?  But only men of   
   understanding will pay heed.” (Quran 39: 9)   
      
   It is reported that the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be   
   upon him, said that:   
      
   “He who leaves his home in search of knowledge (walks) in the path of   
   God.” (At-Tirmidhi)   
      
   and that,   
      
   “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.” (Ibn Majah and al-   
   Bayhaqi)   
      
   This is how Islam brings man out of the world of superstition and   
   darkness and initiates him into the world of knowledge and light.   
      
   Again, Islam is a practical religion and does not allow indulgence in   
   empty and futile theorizing.  It says that faith is not a mere   
   profession of beliefs, but rather that it is the very mainspring of   
   life.  Righteous conduct must follow belief in God.  Religion is   
   something to be practiced and not an object of mere lip service.  The   
   Quran says:   
      
   “Those who believe and act righteously, joy is for them, and a   
   blissful home to return to.” (Quran 13: 29)   
      
   The Prophet is also reported to have said:   
      
   “God does not accept belief if it is not expressed in deeds, and does   
   not accept deeds if they do not conform to belief.” (At-Tabarani)   
      
      
   Thus Islam’s simplicity, rationality and practicality are what   
   characterize Islam as a unique and true religion.   
      
   Unity of Matter and Spirit   
      
   A unique feature of Islam is that it does not divide life into   
   watertight compartments of matter and spirit.  It stands not for   
   denial of life but for the fulfillment of life.  Islam does not   
   believe in asceticism.  It does not ask man to avoid material things.   
   It holds that spiritual elevation is to be achieved by living piously   
   in the rough and tumble of life, not by renouncing the world.  The   
   Quran advises us to pray as follows:   
      
   “Our Lord!  Give us something fine in this world as well as something   
   fine in the Hereafter.” (Quran 2:201)   
      
   But in making use of life luxuries, Islam advises man to be moderate   
   and keep away from extravagance, God says:   
      
   “…and eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely He does not love   
   the extravagant.” (Quran 7:31)   
      
   On this aspect of moderation, the Prophet said:   
      
   “Observe fasting and break it (at the proper time) and stand in prayer   
   and devotion (in the night) and have sleep, for your body has its   
   right over you, and your eyes have rights over you, and your wife has   
   a claim upon you, and the person who pays a visit to you has a claim   
   upon you.”   
      
   Thus, Islam does not admit any separation between “material” and   
   “moral,” “mundane” and “spiritual” life, and enjoins man to devote all   
   of his energies to the reconstruction of life on healthy moral   
   foundations.  It teaches him that moral and material powers must be   
   welded together and that spiritual salvation can be achieved by using   
   material resources for the good of man in the service of just ends and   
   not by living a life of asceticism or by running away from the   
   challenges of life.   
      
   The world has suffered at the hands of the one-sidedness of many other   
   religions and ideologies.  Some have laid emphasis on the spiritual   
   side of life but have ignored its material and mundane aspects.  They   
   have looked upon the world as an illusion, a deception, and a trap.   
   On the other hand, materialistic ideologies have totally ignored the   
   spiritual and moral side of life and have dismissed it as fictitious   
   and imaginary.  Both of these attitudes have resulted in disaster, for   
   they have robbed mankind of peace, contentment, and tranquility.   
      
   Even today, the imbalance is manifested in one or the other   
   direction.  The French scientist Dr.  De Brogbi rightly says:   
      
   “The danger inherent in too intense a material civilization is to that   
   civilization itself; it is the disequilibria which would result if a   
   parallel development of the spiritual life were to fail to provide the   
   needed balance.”   
      
   Christianity erred on one extreme, whereas modern western   
   civilization, in both of its variants of secular capitalistic   
   democracy and Marxist socialism has erred on the other.  According to   
   Lord Snell:   
      
   “We have built a nobly-proportioned outer structure, but we have   
   neglected the essential requirement of an inner order; we have   
   carefully designed, decorated and made clean the outside of the cup;   
   but the inside was full of extortion and excess; we used our increased   
   knowledge and power to administer to the comforts of the body, but we   
   left the spirit impoverished.”   
      
   Islam seeks to establish equilibrium between these two aspects of life   
   - the material and the spiritual.  It says that everything in the   
   world is for man, but man was created to serve a higher purpose: the   
   establishment of a moral and just order that will fulfill the will of   
   God.  Its teachings cater for the spiritual as well as the temporal   
   needs of man.  Islam enjoins man to purify his soul and to reform his   
   daily life - both individual and collective - and to establish the   
   supremacy of right over might and of virtue over vice.  Thus Islam   
   stands for the middle path and the goal of producing a moral man in   
   the service of a just society.   
      
   Islam, a Complete Way of Life   
      
   Islam is not a religion in the common and distorted sense, for it does   
   not confine its scope to one’s private life.  It is a complete way of   
   life and is present in every field of human existence.  Islam provides   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)