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From: mmirza@grumpy.eng.ohio-state.edu (Muhammad Mirza)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Message of Islam (part4)
Keywords: Islam, Unity of ALLAH
Message-ID: <1990Dec12.081601.12545@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 12 Dec 90 08:16:01 GMT
Sender: bes@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
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Approved: bes@tybalt.caltech.edu


               THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ISLAM

1. Unity of ALMIGHTY ALLAH

Among the fundamentals of Islam, the most important is belief in one
ALLAH, --not just the conviction that He exists of that He is one--but
that He alone is THE CREATOR, THE MASTER, THE RULER, and THE
ADMINISTRATOR of all that exists.  The universe exists because ALLAH
wills it to exist, it functions because ALLAH wills it to function,
and ALLAH provides the sustenance and the energy which everything of
the universe requires for its existence and growth.  All the
attributes of Sovereignty reside in ALLAH alone, and no one else has a
share in them in the slightest degree.  He alone possesses all the
attributes of Divinity, and no one other than ALLAH possesses any of
those attributes.  He views the whole universe, and all that it
contains, in a single instantaneous glance.  He has direct knowledge
of the universe, and all that is there in the universe and beyond.  He
knows not only its present, but its past and its future as well.  This
omnipresence and omniscience is an attribute of ALLAH alone and of no
other.  There was no 'before' him and there is no 'after' him.  He has
been there always and will be there always--eternal and abiding.  All
else is transient.  He alone is eternally living and present.  He is
no one's progeny and He has no progeny.  Whatever exists, besides His
self, is His own creation, and no other can identify himself in any
manner with the Lord of the universe, or claim to be his son or
daughter.  He is man's single Deity.  To associate anyone in His
worship is as great a sin as it is an act of infidelity.  He responds
to man's prayers and He alone has the power to accept to reject them.
Not to ask of Him is senseless, arrogance, and to turn to others is
sheer ignorance.  To seek of Him and also of others, is to associate
equals with Him.

        THE CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGNTY OF ALLAH IN ISLAM

The sovereignty of ALLAH in Islam is not just a supernatural
phenomenon.  It covers all aspects of political and legal sovereignty
also and in these too no one other than ALLAH has any share.  In ALLAH
alone vests the rightful authority to exercise power on this earth,
and over those whom ALLAH has created in it.  No monarch, no royal
family, no elite class, no leader of any religious group, no democracy
established on the basis of the sovereignty of the people, can
participate in ALLAH's sovereignty.  Whoever claims such a position is
a rebel, as are those who leave ALLAH and turn to other people in
obedience.  Similarly, any institution or individual attempting to
assume political and legal sovereignty and restrict the jurisdiction
of ALLAH to spheres of personal law or religious duties, is really a
usurper and a rebel.  The truth is that no one can claim to be a
law-giver on ALLAH's earth, and no one can challenge the supreme
authority of ALLAH ALMIGHTY in any sphere.

Further natural consequences of the concept of SOVEREIGNTY OF ALLAH are:

a.  ALLAH alone is the real Deity and no one other than ALLAH has any
     right to be worshiped by man.

b.  ALLAH alone has authority over the forces of the universe, and He
    alone can fulfill or frustrate man's hopes.  Man should turn to Him 
    alone in prayer.  He should never imagine that prayers can be
    addressed to anyone but ALLAH.  
c.  ALLAH is the Master of man's destiny and no one else can interfere
    with the fate of others or with his own fate.  Man's hope and fears
    must, therefore, be directed only to ALLAH.  No one else can
    interfere with the fate of others or with his own fate.  Man's
    hopes and fears must, therefore, be directed only to ALLAH.  No
    one else should be an object of fear or source of favor. 
d.  ALLAH is the Creator of the world and He alone ahs complete and 
    direct knowledge of the reality of man and and of the world. Only
    He can guide man through the complicated course of life and
    instruct him regarding good and evil.  Since ALLAH alone is the
    Creator and the Master, He has exclusive authority over the universe
    and man.  It is an act of blasphemy for man to become independent or
    claim authority over other men.  For man to become his own lawgiver
    to accept the authority of any other individual or institution as 
    such is equally blasphemous.  The ultimate Law-giver and the Master
    of His creation on this earth is no other than ALLAH, and His law 
    has the status of the supreme law.  Man can legislate subject to his
    Supreme law.  Beyond that he has no legislative authority.


    ( to be continued .......)

Muhammad Javed Mirza









-- 
Me
The Ohio State University 
Electrical Engineering Dept.
Room 204 Dreese Labs