Assignment 1

Iman Bil Ghaib & Its Effect

2/7/2012 University of South Asia By : Meer Jawad Ghous B 13112

The root of the word Iman is a-m-n which means: to be calm and quiet or Peace (in one s heart); to be protected from fear; trustworthiness and truthfulness (Taj al-Urus). Iman means to accept truthfully, to be convinced, and to verify something, to rely upon or have confidence in something. Iman is usually translated in English as faith or belief, and faith in turn signifies acceptance without proof or argument, without reference to reason or thought, knowledge or insight. According to the Qur an, Iman is conviction which is based upon reason and knowledge; a conviction that results from full mental acceptance and intellectual satisfaction; the kind of conviction that gives one a feeling of inner contentment and peace. And a Mu min is one who accepts truth in such a way that it ensures his own peace and helps him to safeguard the peace and security of the rest of mankind. In fact, Al-Mu min is one of the attributes of God Himself (59:23).

Allah gives a comprehensive and an objective definition of Iman in the Qur an in Sura Al-Baqarah as:

"To believe in Allah, and in the hereafter, and in Malaika(angels or Allah s forces), and in the Book, and the Prophets." (2:177)

To deny any of the above leads one into the category of deviated ones (i.e., unbelievers):

"Anyone who denies Allah, His Malaika, His books, His messengers, and the Day of Judgment has gone far far astray." (4: 136)

Here again only five components have been mentioned. In the context of Iman, many use verse (2:62) and say that God has said that if Muslims, Jews, Christians, believe in God and the hereafter and do good deeds, then they will go to Heaven.

First of all, this verse does not say that they will go to Heaven; it only says that they will have their reward (ajr) with their Rabb (Nourisher) and they will have no fear or sadness. Second, one cannot isolate this verse and ignore the rest of the other verses related to this same topic. For example, verse (2:137) says:

"So if they (Christians and Jews) believe the way you (the Prophet (PBUH) and his companions) believe, then they are indeed on the right path."

Another verse (4:47) says that it is necessary for the people of the book to believe in the Book revealed to the Prophet (PBUH) i.e. The Holy Qur an. Therefore, it is clear from these verses that what verse (2:62) is implying is that anyone (without any exception) can be a Mu min no matter what his previous faith may be (including the born Muslims). But everyone has to believe in the entire Qur an as a revealed guidance. This is what is meant by belief in God. Saying that I believe in God and not accepting his Books (including the only preserved Book of God in the original form existing in the world now, the Qur an) as guidance for life, is in reality, not a belief in God. As a necessary corollary to this is the requirement of believing in all the Prophets and the means of message delivery, i.e., Malaika (Allah s forces or Angels). And since Allah wants to see how well we used His gifts (of life and His Book of guidance), hence requiring us to believe in the day of judgment and accountability. This explains why it is necessary to believe in all the five components of Iman where each component has its own objective reality. This means that each of these components of Iman exists and is real just as the sun exists and is real. So, there is nothing subjective about Iman.

Iman has to be individually acquired which requires that each of us consciously strive to acquire knowledge and understanding by using our own God-given gift of reason and intellect in the light of the revelation given in the Qur an, so that Iman can enter our hearts.

Faith in the unknown (Iman-bil-ghaib):

It is an everyday experience that when you do not know a thing, you look for someone who knows it and you repose faith in his word and follow him. If you get ill and you cannot treat and cure yourself, you look for the doctor and accept and follow his instruction without question. Why? Because he proper qualified to give medicine advice, possess experience, and treated and cured the number of patients. You therefore stick to his advice, do whatever he asks you to do and avoid whatever he forbids. Similarly, in matters of law you believe in whatever your legal adviser says and acts accordingly .In educational matters you have faith in your teacher or instructor and you accept his instructions as true. When you want to go someplace and do not happen to know the way to it, you ask somebody who knows it, and follow the way he points out. In short, the reasonable course that you adopt in the whole of your life about matters which you do not or cannot know is that you approach one who knows them, accept his advice, and at accordingly. As your own knowledge of that matter or problem is inadequate, you carefully search for one who knows that and then silently accept his word. You take every pain to select the proper person. But after selecting the right man, you accept his advice and unquestioningly. This kind of belief is called 'belief in the unknown '. For here you have relied upon one who knows, in matters you don't know this exactly is Iman-bil-ghaib. Thus believing or having faith in what was previously unknowing to you is called 'faith in the unknown'. ( Iman-bil-ghaib).

Iman-bil-ghaib therefore, signifies that you achieve the knowledge of what was not known to you from one who knows. You do not know God and his real attributes. You are not aware that His angles are directing the machinery of the whole universe according to His orders, and that day surround on all sites. You have not the proper knowledge of the way of life through which you can seek the pleasure of your Creator. And you are in the dark about the life that is to come. The Prophets, who had direct contact with the Divine Being and had being endowed with the correct knowledge, gives the knowledge of all this matters to you. And they are the persons whose sincerity, integrity trustworthiness, godliness and the absolute purity of whose lives stand as irrevocable witnesses to the truth of their claim to knowledge. And above all , the very wisdom and force of their message makes you admit that the speak the truth and their preaching deserve to be believed and followed. This conviction of yours is Iman-bil-ghaib. Such truth - discerning and truth - acknowledging attitude (i.e. Iman-bil-ghaib ) is essential for obedience to God and for acting in accordance with His pleasure, for you have no other medium than God's Messenger for the achievement of true knowledge and, without accurate and true knowledge you cannot proceed rightly on the path of Islam.

Unfortunately, this is what life has become today comprised of painful oppositions in our feelings and emotions, in our thoughts and actions because the foundation (i.e. faith) on which the life s superstructure is to be built as a coherent system is flawed.

In fact, we are all on a mission and a journey, continuously moving towards a final destination whether we realize it or not. The electrons and neurons in our bodies, the earth we inhabit, the solar system, the galaxy from the smallest to the biggest, everything and everyone and the life in general, are all on a journey towards their goal determined by Allah.

Allah says in the Qur an that if all the trees on the planet became pens and all its oceans became ink, the words of Allah (and the meanings contained in them) would not be exhausted (31:27, 18:109). That means we are limited by our finite capacity of knowledge and understanding. But still, Allah enjoins on every one of us (who call ourselves Muslims) to use our reason, intellect, and the up-to-date human knowledge and to directly try to understand and explore the meanings of His revelations (as noted earlier in many verses, especially verse 25:73). We will never be able to exhaust the meanings of Allah s words but we are asked, nevertheless, to keep striving continuously. That is why it is all the more important not to give up and stop this process by saying that our great scholars of the past have already explored all there was to be explored and they have understood all there was to be understood. And we simply have to refer to them in matters of Islam. This passive approach on our part will not absolve us from our duty to ponder directly in the Qur an as required by Allah. This requirement is for each and every generation and for all time to come. So, with this spirit as the driving force, we will consider another important aspect of Iman called Iman-bil-Ghaib in the Qur an (usually translated as belief in the unseen). The journey continues