15. Believers

God says:

Be conscious of God with all the consciousness that is due to Him. Q.3: 102

And as for those who have attained to faith in God and hold fast unto Him -- He will enfold them within His grace and bounty, and guide them unto Himself by straight way. Q.4: 175
During each of the five times’ prayer, several times we supplicate for this precious guidance to the straight way in surah Fatihah. Supplication is if we pray consciously and know what is being said, aware of His all-presence.

Those who believe and work righteousness, -- their Lord will guide them because of their Faith: Q.10: 9

Indeed, those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds shall have garden of bliss, to abide therein in accordance with God’s true promise : for He alone is almighty and truly wise. Q.31: 8,9.

[O you who have attained to faith!] He it is who bestows His blessings upon you, with His angels [echoing Him], so that He might take you out of the depths of darkness into light. And, indeed, Ever Most Gracious is He unto the believers. Q.33: 43

Prophet said:

1. Whoever loves for God, dislikes for God, gives alm for God, and withholds for God (from whatever is forbidden) has indeed perfect faith – H: Abu Daud and Tirmizi. N: Abu Amamah.

2. Among believers the one most perfect in faith is the one best in manners – H: Abu Daud. N: Abu Hurairah.

14. Belief

God says

This divine writ – let there be no doubt about it – is [meant to be] a guidance for all the God-conscious, who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human perception, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance, and who believe in that which has been bestowed on high upon thee, (O Prophet), as well as in that which was bestowed before thy time : for it is they who in their innermost are certain of the life to come! It is they who follow the guidance [which comes] from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who shall attain to a happy state! Q2: 2-5
(The conventional translation of muttaqi as “God-fearing” does not adequately render the positive content of this expression – namely, the awareness of His all-presence and the desire to mould one’s existence in the light of this awareness; while the interpretation adopted by some translators, “one who guards himself against evil” or “one who is careful of his duty”, does not give more than one particular aspect of the concept of God-consciousness.)

In the very first chapter of the Qur’an, Fatiha, God is requested to provide guidance. Immediately comes the answer in second chapter, after alphabets Alif. Lam. Mim,. that the God-conscious can surely receive it from the Qur’an. Hence, for God’s representatives this is the key to success. It will be very helpful if you remember the verses 2-5 above because reference to the key factor, Belief, as well as to God-consciousness is made in the Qur’an again and again.

Verily, the Last Hour is sure to come: of this there is no doubt; yet most people will not believe it. Q.40: 59
(Due to their “overweening conceit” which makes many agnostic think that man is “self-sufficient” and that, therefore, there are no limits to what he may yet achieve, and no need to assume that he is responsible to a higher Power. Whereas belief in God and accountability to Him form vital part of faith, and lack of it leads one astray).



Prophet said

1. “None of you (truly) believes until his inclination is in accordance to what I have brought” – H: Kitab al-Hujja. N: Muhammad Abdullah.

2. “Nobody (truly) believes till he wishes for his brother (Muslim) what he wishes for himself’ – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Anas.

3. “He has tasted the sweetness of faith, he who is pleased with God as Sustainer (Rabb), with Islam as religion and Muhammad as the Apostle” --H: Muslim. N: Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib.

4. “God said: ‘Man slanders Me by cursing al Dahr (Time). For I am Time. I make night succeed the day and day succeed the night’ “ – H. Qudsi in the Sahih, narrated by Abu Hurairah.

13. Islam: Confession And Faith

God said

True piety does not consist in turning your faces [in prayer] towards the east or the west but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the angels, and the revelation, and prophets; and spends his substance- however much he himself may cherish it- upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage; and is constant in prayer, and renders zakat; and (truly pious are) they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God. Q 2: 177

(Thus, the Qur’an stresses the principle that mere compliance with outward forms does not fulfill the requirements of piety.)


The bedouin say: ”We have attained to faith. ”Say [unto them O Muhammad]: “you have not (yet) attained the faith; you should [rather] say ‘we have [outwardly] surrendered’ – for [true] faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you [truly] pay heed unto God and His Apostle, He will not let the least of your deeds go to waste: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, most gracious!” Q.49:14

(The above verse connects with the preceding condemnation of all tribal preferences and prejudices, and with the call for their abandonment as a prerequisite of true faith. Primarily, it relates to the bedouin contemporaries of the Prophet, but its import is general and timeless.)

Behold, as for those who say, “Our Sustainer is God, “ and then steadfastly pursue the right way – upon them do angels often descend, [saying:] “Fear not and grieve not, but receive the glad tiding of that paradise which has been promised to you! We are close unto you in the life of this world and [will be so] in the life to come; and in that [life to come] you shall have all that your souls may desire, and in it you shall have all that you ever prayed for, as a ready welcome from Him who is much-forgiving, most gracious!” Q.41: 30 - 32



Prophet said

1. “O congregation! Whoever [of you] has accepted Islam has accepted by his tongue. It has not yet rooted in his heart” – H: Tirmizi. N: Ibn-e-Omar.

2. “A Muslim is he from whose tongue and hands other Muslims are safe, and a Believer is he in whom mankind has an asylum for their lives and property.” – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abdullah-b-Amr.
“Muslims and also the non-Muslims”. This can be seen in the verses from the Qur’an and the Traditions in topic 24: “Duty Towards Everyone.” As the environment in which Muslims stayed their interaction was generally with other Muslims, hence the reference to Muslims in the Tradition.

3. “…Islam is to testify that there is no deity but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, to perform the prayers, to pay Zakat (the compulsory benefit tax); to hold fasts in Ramadan, to perform pilgrimage to the House (for Hajj), provided you have the means…. -- Part of a long Tradition quoted by Muslim on the authority of Umar bin Khattab.

12. Islam: The Religion Of The Prophets

God said

All mankind were once one single community; [then they began to differ –] whereupon God raised up the prophets as heralds of glad tidings and as warners, and through them bestowed revelation from on high, setting forth the truth, so that it might decide between people with regard all on which they had come to hold divergent views. Yet none other than these selfsame people who had been granted this [revelation] began, out of mutual jealously, to disagree about its meaning after all evidence of truth had come unto them…. Q.2: 213

Abraham was neither a “Jew” nor a “Christian”, but one who turned away from all that is false, having surrendered himself to God; and he was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him. Q3: 67

C.f 3: 19 – “Behold, the only [true] religion in the sight of God is man’s self-surrender unto Him ; .…

And indeed with every community have We raised up an apostle [entrusted with this message]: “Worship God and shun the powers of evil!”…. Q16: 36

It must be borne in mind that in Quranic terminology, “worship of God” invariably implies the concept of man’s sense of responsibility before Him: hence, the above commandment comprises in the most conscious formation imaginable, the sum-total of all ethical injunctions and prohibitions, and is the basis and source of all morality as well as the one unchanging message inherited in every true religion.

“Verily, [O you who believe in Me,] this community of yours is one single community, since I am the Sustainer of you all: worship, then, Me [alone]!”--Q 21:92

Most of the great commentators {e.g., Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Kasir} understood this as an unequivocal reference to the ecumenical unity of all religions based on belief in the One God, notwithstanding all the differences with regard to “ the [specific] statutes and practices enjoined for the benefit of the various communities in accordance with their [time-bound] conditions.

Prophet said

In a long Tradition, Bukhari and Muslim have quoted the Prophet on the authority of Abu Hurairah that all the prophets (of God) were brothers and their religion was one and the same.
C.f. Q 42 : 13 - In the matters of faith, He has ordained for you that which He had enjoined upon Noah – and into which We gave thee [O, Muhammad] insight through revelation – as well as that which We had enjoined upon Abraham, and Moses and Jesus: Steadfastly uphold the [true] faith, and do not break up your unity therein….