Taking On God’s Own Dye

Taking On God’s Own Dye

1989 1 January 4 Taking On God’s Own Dye (406) Are they seeking a religion other than God’s, when all creatures in heaven and on earth have submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion? To Him they shall all return,” (Quran, 3:83).

This is what Islam means: submission to God. The Quran makes it clear that submission to God is the only religion for man and the universe. That is the only way in which human beings will become good in the true sense of the word – to themselves, their family, their society and to all mankind.

When we look at the universe around us, we see that everything – from tiny atoms to enormous galaxies – behaves with such perfection as to be totally predictable. Likewise when man obeys God’s laws, as the universe obeys the laws of nature, he becomes not only predictable in his actions, but perfect in nature.

Islam, therefore, causes one to live in harmony with nature, with a proper appreciation of reality. To live in accordance with reality is to acknowledge the greatness of God and to show gratitude for the favours He bestows upon mankind, the greatest of which is the creation of man. Since all things and all beings are God’s creatures, man should focus his entire attention upon the Almighty. God is truly all powerful. None besides Him. has any real power.

A stone submerged in water does not dissolve in it. It stands apart and retains its identity. But a dye dropped into water dissolves, and shortly has no separate identity from the water. That is what man’s relationship with Islam should be like. He should be fully merged with his religion so that there is not a single particle of non-religious identity left. As the Quran puts it, Islam should be entered into ‘in its totality’,’ (2:208). When an individual adopts Islam in this way, it becomes the very throb of his heart, and permeates the entire fabric of his emotions. It colours each and every one of his thoughts, moulding his intellect in proper fashion. It becomes the eyes with which he sees, and the tongue with which he speaks. It takes complete possession of him to the exclusion of all else.

If Islam remains like the stone in water, it is not Islam at all, for its position in our lives should be integral and not just supplementary. The Quran exhorts us: “Take on God’s own dye. And who has better dye than God’s?” (2:138).