The Profession of the Faith (2)
From time to time throughout history, Allah has revealed his power, his oneness, and his commands to men through various prophets and books. The last of these prophets was Muhammad of Mecca, whom God used as a conduit for the last revelation, the Koran, the written records of the words spoken by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. The succession of prophecies ends with Muhammad, because the Koran reveals all that need be known and synthesizes all that went before.
Islam teaches that Muhammad’s mission was twofold: to bring knowledge of the one God and His book of truth to the Arabians, a pagan people who had no scripture and hence no knowledge of divine truth, and to correct the errors and falsehoods into which earlier “people of the book”—Jews and Christians—had fallen.
The God who revealed Himself to Muhammad is described at the beginning of each chapter of the Koran as “the Compassionate, the Merciful.” But the text makes clear that beyond mercy and compassion lies justice, in the form of inexorable, eternal damnation for sinners, unbelievers, backsliders, and those who fail to follow God’s commands. On the inevitable, terrible Day of Judgment, there will be no second chance for those who waited too long to repent. While the believers are admitted to Paradise, “a garden watered by running streams,” the sinners will be cast into the torment of fire, their anguish compounded by their knowledge of their guilt and the justice of their fate. They will not be able to say they were not warned.
The most arresting language of the Koran is in those sections describing the Day of Judgment, “the event which will overwhelm mankind,” when the earth will be destroyed, human society will end, every soul will stand before God, and the bodies of the dead will be resurrected to dwell forever in Paradise or in Hell.
“when the sun ceases to shine; when the stars fall down and the mountain are blown away; when camels big with young are left untended and the wild beasts are brought together; when the seas are set alight and men’s souls are reunited; when the infant girl, buried alive, is asked for what crime she was slain; when the records of men’s deeds are laid open and the heaven is stripped bare; when Hell burns fiercely and Paradise is brought near; then each soul shall know what it has done.” (81:1)
This is the God of Islam: Jehovah reexamined, one, omnipotent, the generous Creator who bestowed upon mankind all the blessings of earth and who demands obedience in return, the vengeful One who will extract a terrible price from those who spurn Him.
Throughout the Koran, the principal motivation for accepting God and believing in His revelation appears to be fear: fear of the last judgment and fear of eternal damnation. Though God is described as generous and beneficent, He is always the God who punishes unbelievers and destroys corrupt societies. Islam places less stress upon love of the Deity as a motivation for piety than does Christianity. So while there is a rich tradition in Islam of spirituality and love of God, it is rooted in mysticism and must be considered separately from the traditional faith.
Believe in the one God and acceptance of His word as revealed to Muhammad requires acceptance of the body of duties and obligations recorded in that message. These duties are both spiritual and legal, both societal and devotional, regulating each individual’s relationship with God and with his fellow men. The first duty is the profession of faith. The second is prayer, the second of the five pillars of the faith.
Islam teaches that Muhammad’s mission was twofold: to bring knowledge of the one God and His book of truth to the Arabians, a pagan people who had no scripture and hence no knowledge of divine truth, and to correct the errors and falsehoods into which earlier “people of the book”—Jews and Christians—had fallen.
The God who revealed Himself to Muhammad is described at the beginning of each chapter of the Koran as “the Compassionate, the Merciful.” But the text makes clear that beyond mercy and compassion lies justice, in the form of inexorable, eternal damnation for sinners, unbelievers, backsliders, and those who fail to follow God’s commands. On the inevitable, terrible Day of Judgment, there will be no second chance for those who waited too long to repent. While the believers are admitted to Paradise, “a garden watered by running streams,” the sinners will be cast into the torment of fire, their anguish compounded by their knowledge of their guilt and the justice of their fate. They will not be able to say they were not warned.
The most arresting language of the Koran is in those sections describing the Day of Judgment, “the event which will overwhelm mankind,” when the earth will be destroyed, human society will end, every soul will stand before God, and the bodies of the dead will be resurrected to dwell forever in Paradise or in Hell.
“when the sun ceases to shine; when the stars fall down and the mountain are blown away; when camels big with young are left untended and the wild beasts are brought together; when the seas are set alight and men’s souls are reunited; when the infant girl, buried alive, is asked for what crime she was slain; when the records of men’s deeds are laid open and the heaven is stripped bare; when Hell burns fiercely and Paradise is brought near; then each soul shall know what it has done.” (81:1)
This is the God of Islam: Jehovah reexamined, one, omnipotent, the generous Creator who bestowed upon mankind all the blessings of earth and who demands obedience in return, the vengeful One who will extract a terrible price from those who spurn Him.
Throughout the Koran, the principal motivation for accepting God and believing in His revelation appears to be fear: fear of the last judgment and fear of eternal damnation. Though God is described as generous and beneficent, He is always the God who punishes unbelievers and destroys corrupt societies. Islam places less stress upon love of the Deity as a motivation for piety than does Christianity. So while there is a rich tradition in Islam of spirituality and love of God, it is rooted in mysticism and must be considered separately from the traditional faith.
Believe in the one God and acceptance of His word as revealed to Muhammad requires acceptance of the body of duties and obligations recorded in that message. These duties are both spiritual and legal, both societal and devotional, regulating each individual’s relationship with God and with his fellow men. The first duty is the profession of faith. The second is prayer, the second of the five pillars of the faith.
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