SHARED WISDOM

and his ultimate end. It enables man to lead his life in this world according to the Creation Plan of God so that he may be entitled to reward in this world and the Hereafter. A religious system generally includes beliefs, worship, ethics, social behaviour, etc. One of the important contributions of an authentic religious system is that it provides man with a lifelong centre around which his intellectual and emotional being may revolve. It offers man an ideology for living, a worldview in which he may believe with all his heart and soul, and an understanding of the purpose of life. It gives man the conviction that he is in communion with a power higher than him. Divine religion is the religion of nature. On finding it, man feels he has become a co-traveller with the rest of the universe, a member of the universal brotherhood. ESSENTIAL TEACHINGS OF ISLAM: ONENESS OF GOD AND PEACE Quranic teachings can be summarized under two broad headings: tawheed, or the Oneness of God, and salaam, or peace. The Quran (36:40) presents the universe as a model of harmony and peace. The teachings of the Quran (and Islam) can be summarized under two broad headings: firstly, tawheed, that is, the Oneness of God, and secondly, salaam, that is, peace. Tawheed gives us the Divine ideology of life, which covers man’s entire existence. However, Islamic teachings are not