Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Works alone, not faith?

There are many who hold to the belief that so long as one leads a life filled with good works, then it does not matter what faith, if any, one belongs to or believes in, and that God shall give value to one's good works and salvation shall await one.

This is in fact a modern twist to the Christian belief that faith alone is what matters and that one's works are immaterial as all one's sins have been paid for by the supposed crucifixion of Christ.

To those who hold to the view that works alone shall suffice,and sadly a number of so-called muslims intoxicated by Western notions of liberalism and inclusiveness subscribe to this view, the question needs be asked of them:

" By what Scriptural authority do you relate this?"

There is no scriptural authority for this view and all that they can proffer is the dictates of their mind.

What does the Qur'an have to say about those who lack faith or those who only perform good works without having faith?

In Surah Al Baqarah verses 6-7 it is mentioned:

"6. As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe.

7. Allah hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur)."

In Surah Ali Imran verse 3 it is said:

"Lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah, theirs will be a heavy doom. Allah is Mighty, Able to Requite (the wrong)."

How then can one reconcile a person who does good works but refuses to believe in all or some of the revelations of Allah swt? To these liberal so-called muslims will be posed the question: Do you know better or does Allah swt?

Allah swt has made it clear that there is no forgiveness for those who commit shirik and die unrepentant of that sin.

In Surah Az Zumar verse 65 (39:65)He tells us:

“If you associate others with God, (then) surely all your works will be rendered vain, and you will certainly be among the losers.”

Does He not make it plain enough that good works without proper faith in associating partners to him will come to nought? Which part of " all your works will be rendered vain" do they then not understand?

Do they not consider with care that Allah swt makes it manifestly clear in His Last Testament to Man that Allah swt requires both faith and works? How then do they consider the following verses?

Surah Al Baqarah verse 82 (2:82)
“And those who believed and did good works, they are the inhabitants of Paradise, abiding therein eternally.”

Surah Al Maeda verse 9 (5:9)
“God has promised those who believed and did good works that for them is a tremendous reward (in Paradise).”

Surah Al Araf verse 42 (7:42)
“And those who believed and did good works…they are the inhabitants of the Garden (of Paradise), abiding therein eternally.”

Surah Yunus verse 9 (10:9)“Those who believe and do good works, their Lord guides them by their faith. Rivers will flow beneath them in the Gardens of Delight.”

Surah Maryam verse 96 (19:96)
“Upon those who believed and did good works shall The Most Gracious [God] bestow [His] Love.”

The question then arises who are the believers? Does it encompass all who simply says "I believe in God", although their concept of God and God's revelations may vary?

In Surah An Nisa we are told:
" O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His messenger and the Scripture which He hath revealed unto His messenger, and the Scripture which He revealed aforetime. Whoso disbelieveth in Allah and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers and the Last Day, he verily hath wandered far astray."

Can we then term those who disbelieve in the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and disbelieve in the Holy Qur'an as believers contrary to what Allah swt has instructed us?

Allah swt indeed asks of them in Surah Al Hujraat verse 16(49:16)
"Say: What! Will ye instruct Allah about your religion? But Allah knows all that is in the heavens and on earth: He has full knowledge of all things."

Monday, May 4, 2009

Different worlds

Your world was so different
From mine dont you see?
We could never be close though we tried.
We both reached for heavens
Though ours werent the same
Thats what happens when two worlds collide.

Those lines of the song from Jim Reeves just about sums things up. The world of Islam and the world comprising the rest are so different that inevitably collisions will occur. I am not so much referring to physical collisions, though undoubtedly those do occur,but rather to the collision of ideas, of values and to the philoshy of life itself.