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Everybody is at loss except those who understand the nature of man's capacity to fall into loss and thus act correctly. Correct action means for the sake of Allah, anything else is not correct action. Our mission is only to know the reality of Allah. If we aim for that, we will achieve everything else. If we merely try and explain aspects of Islam, we will always be at loss. If we aim for Allah, we will understand everything, but if we only go for bits and pieces, we will always have divided opinions.
In every so-called Muslim country there are factions and people at odds with one another because they are Muslims by name , but not Muslims by heart and action, and this is the situation everywhere in the world, not only in Muslim countries but in Christian countries, in Hindu countries, in Buddhist countries, and in countries where there is no religion. The reason for this is simple: they are not living this life for Allah and for the next life they do not remember death.
Allah in Arabic is the Majestic Name. It has no attribute, rather it indicates the essence. Attributes are all of the qualities we can witness: the Powerful, the Giver, the Taker, the One before us, the One after us, the One who gives life. All of these are attributes of Allah. Creation is Allah's action. In order to find out the meaning of good and bad, we must start with creation. We begin from the physical, and find that it is relative and not acceptable, because it is ever-changing. For example the child begins to experiment with his immediate environment because he wants to connect with everything around him , he wants to assimilate all that he encounters. This search at the existential level takes the form of searching for cause and effect relationships.
Islam, meaning submission, is complete understanding and unification with the reality of existence. We are actually already unified with that reality, but we do not know it because we see separation and boundaries. As a global community,we have different habits, different languages and different cultures, but in truth, we are all created from one self.The Quran says,
We have created you from one self. [ an-Nisa : 1 ]
Self (nafs) means all the different character manifestations and feelings each one of us have. Self means the attributes, feelings, and experience which all of us share. We all know the meaning of peace and love and hate and insecurity. We all know the meaning of fear and pain and hunger. We all experience heat and cold. In fact, everything we experienced is based on opposites. You cannot have life without death. God cannot be experienced without the knowledge of evil, nor friendship without enemies. Adulthood cannot be experienced without the experience of childhood. There is day and night, high and low, man and woman. All of these we experience in our lives. This is the meaning of one self.
Also we have a faculty in us, the faculty of reason. That faculty must be nourished as we grow. We are all programmed to want to know more, and if we do not continue to know more, we suffer. We all want to be in harmony in this life, which is a preparation for the next life. Ultimately, we will come to know that there is only One Reality behind all this. This is the meaning of "There is no god but Allah" .Anybody who contemplates, meditates or sits quietly, after a while sees one hand behind everything. What is difficult is "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah"….
To be continued
Copyright (C) Melayu Baru 2000
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