Islam

Islam

Introduction

Westerners frequently suppose that the Moslem faith rests just on the obedience of strict rules plus regulations but has no place for 'a living faith of the heart'. How do the Koran and the Islamic teachers describe 'faith in God'? Does the Moslem have declaration of his salvation?

In the Koran, the term 'faith' means 'to think something to be sure and dependable without doubting. Faith can just be given by God, and means above all, that a human being acknowledges Allah's greatness and advantage, his own place as God's servant, who owes Him gratitude for His mercy towards man.

"He has made the heavens and the earth with truth. . . He has made man from a sperm-drop. . . And cattle He has made for you (men): from them ye derive warmth, plus many benefits, and of their (meat) ye eat. And ye have a sense of pride plus beauty in them as ye drive them home in the evening and as ye guide them forth to meadow in the morning. And they carry your heavy guides to lands that ye could not (otherwise) arrive at except with souls distressed: for your Lord is indeed Most Kind, Most kind And (He has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride plus as an adornment; and He has created (other) things of which ye have no knowledge." (Surat 16:3+4,+5-8. Compare with the whole section, Surat 16:1-21). (Badran 2005)

In general, the Koran divides humankind into two groups, the Moslems (the believers-Arabbic-'al-mu'minûn') plus the non-Moslems (the unbelievers-Arabic-'al-kâfirûn). The unbeliever is unappreciative towards God and His goodness, above all towards His gift of revelation, the Koran. The believer, nevertheless, gives the thanks he be in debts Allah by honoring Him as source of all decency and by recognising His revelation as law. It is the faith of the person that decides his fate at the Day of Judgment; whether he will go into Paradise or Hell. That belief is necessary to salvation is accepted by all schools of Moslem theology'. (Al-Faruqi 2007) Opinions differ, though, on the constitution of faith. Possibilities include:

1. The inner confidence of the truth of the revelation of God without any public confession being essential.

2. The declaration of the Islamic confession of faith, combined with the inner confidence of the heart.

3. The completion of the prescribed Moslem duties.

4. The Moslem conviction of faith combined with the completion of the Moslem duties and good works. (Ahmed 2002)

5. The statement of the Moslem confession of faith, inner conviction plus good works. (Abu-Shaqua 2000)

Faith in Need

The Koran obviously condemns those who call upon God merely when in need and forget Him afterwards. Surat 39:8 says, for instance, "When some problem toucheth man he crieth unto his Lord, turning to Him in repentance: but when He bestowed a favor upon him as from Himself, (man) doth forget what he cried plus prayed for before, and he doth set up rivals unto Allah, thus misleading others from Allah's ...