hanifa_g

On Islam

Date: 18 Apr 2008, 1:51 am / Mood: Other/None

i would like to share here this beautiful, simple description of something of the nature of our Islam, written by Seyyed Hossein Nasr. he describes faith so beautifully, and i am thankful to God to have access to his works.

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when one thinks of the term "Islam" as used in the English language to denote the whole tradition, one must not think only of islam, but also of iman and ihsan. the teachings of Islam have levels of meaning, and the religion consists of a hierarchy that, destined to become the religion of a large portion of of humanity, had to accomodate the spiritual and intellectual needs of the simplest peasant and the most astute philosopher, the warrior and the lover, the jurist and the mystic.

Islam acheieved this goal by making the teachings of religion accessible on various levels from the most outward to the ost inward. but it preserved its unity by insisting that all of the members of its community share in the sacred law, and the central doctrine of al-tawhid summarized in "la ilaha ila Allah". their degree of penetration into the meaning of Unity depended and continues to depend on the intensity of their faith and the ihsan of their soul. but in submission to the One (al-islam), all Muslims stand in the same manner before God as a single community governed by the bonds of brother hood and sisterhood as well as amity. paradoxically, the multiple inner dimetions of the religion do not destroy this unity, but infact only strengthen it, beacause these inner and higher modes of participation in the religion bring worshipers ever closer to the One. unity is thereby strengthened, even in the more outward aspects of human life that all Muslims share, whatever their degree of participation might be in the understanding and pactice of Islam.

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alhamdulillah, beautifully said.