The Teachings of Islam

Islam and Infidelity Islam is acknowledgement and infidelity is denial. Man may seem to be free to do or say what he likes in the world, but, in reality, everything belongs to God. Whatever anybody has is His gift. Nobody, save God, has any power. God is always in a position to seize and punish man. Islam is acknowledgement of this fact and believers live in accordance with it. Infidelity is denial and unwillingness to base one’s life on a realistic foundation. A man can put his hand into a blazing fire if he wants to, but he refrains from doing so: he bows to reality. The freedom which man seems to enjoy in this world is only a test. Only if man is free, can it become clear who chooses to rebel against reality and who acknowledges it and submits to God. If one accepts God’s divinity and bases one’s life on reality, then one has truly embraced Islam and can enjoy God’s everlasting blessings. If one denies this reality and refuses to accept God as Master, and be His servant, then one’s action amounts to unbelief and one will be exposed to dreadful punishment on the Day of Judgement. To accept the Islamic way entails undergoing an immense change within oneself. It means that one’s thoughts, actions and treatment of others take on the most proper and most exemplary form imaginable, for one’s whole life will then be in harmony with reality. Unbelievers tend to contradict reality in everything that they do. Their actions can only lead them to their doom. The Relationship Between Man and God It is written in the Qur’an: “And when My servants question you concerning Me, tell them that I am close at hand. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he cries to Me. So let them hear My call and let them trust in Me, in order they may be led aright.” (2:186). This shows that the relationship between man and God is reciprocal: man offers God what he has, then God bestows His favours in return. Man offers his Lord a gift of realization,