What is Islam?
The True Meaning of Islam
A chapter from The Islam & World Peace by M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.
I seek refuge in Allah from the evils of the accursed satan.
In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.
In the name of God, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate. May all praise be for God alone. May we give the entire responsibility for our lives to that one God who is limitless grace and incomparable love. May the peace of God and all His blessings fill the lives of all who may read this message.
To all who say they believe in God, please realize with your faith that God hears every word you say. God hears your every thought. Realizing this, speak only what is truth and act only with God's qualities of love, compassion, justice, patience, and the realization that each life is as important as your own. This is the true message within the Qur'an. The Qur'an does not cause divisions among God's children. It exists to bring about brotherhood and unity. The Qur'an soothes those who weep in sorrow and gives comfort to those who suffer. To those who may be poor, it explains the bounteous wealth of God. It inspires faith in those who may not have believed in God and helps them reach a state of reverence for God.
Do not wave the words of the Qur'an as though they were a banner you were going to carry into battle. Do not say, "The Qur'an says this and the Qur'an says that," without truly understanding the inner wisdom of God's qualities within your own life. If one has faith, certitude, and determination, he will see the seed of that purity that is Islam within everything. He will see the power of Allah in every creation. Therefore, he will not discriminate against another creation or discard him.
Anyone who has the purity of Islam and that true faith, certitude, and determination within his heart cannot hurt the heart of another in any manner. Instead, he will have the patience of God in dealing with others; he will use his gratitude to God as the strength with which to comfort others; his praise for God will be the wealth he will share with others; and his total trust in God will be his own wealth, contentment, and security. He will consider anything that does not exist as the quality of God (known in Islam as Allah's ninety-nine names or powers) as forbidden, or evil. Only that which exists within those divine qualities is permissible, or good. These attributes of the grace of God are the law of the Qur'an. These divine attributes are the law within the heart of one who has true faith, certitude, and determination and is truly Islam. The capture of other lives and attacks against other countries are not the law.
Muhammad, the Messenger of God, did not keep anything other than God. From the time of his appearance until the time he departed, the only wealth the Messenger of God displayed and the only power he showed was the wealth and the power of God's qualities of compassion and grace.
Children of any religion who have true faith must realize that God is the only One who knows all of everything. Therefore, only God can judge whether a person has faith, certitude, and determination or not and whether a person lives with that purity that can be called Islam or not. No one else can give that judgment. Do not wave your religion like a banner and go out to capture others. Only one kind of war is permissible in the eyes of God: the war you wage within yourself to defeat the demonic forces of lust, anger, jealousy, desire for revenge, and other evil feelings and attributes that may exist within your heart. God has sent each of the prophets as witnesses to the grace of God and as supports to help us in this inner war. This is the reason for the Qur'an. It is to help the true Muslim fight this inner battle and win victory over his own base desire's that God sent the Messenger with the Qur'an.
We must use the wisdom contained within the Qur'an to spank our own naughty minds and defeat our own compulsive desires. If we do that, what is called Islam will taste like honey. What we do now by battling in the world and calling it Islam tastes bitter and covers the light of the Qur'an in darkness. The light of Islam should reveal the essence of God in every life. If we see that essence, then we will live in unity; we will eat from the same plate; we will live as one family whether some are in a church, some are in a mosque, or some are in their homes. The beggar and the king will be able to pray together. We will discover our own faults, discard our own anger, and embrace one another with love. That is what the Qur'an says. That is why we cannot tell lies, indulge in treachery, or threaten to kill other lives and claim that it is being done in the name of Islam.
Islam teaches that we must recognize and praise the essence of God as it exists in each and every life. Consider this explanation of the truth that is in the Qur'an: If you take a tiny atom and split it into ten million particles and take one of these particles and examine it with that true wisdom found within Islam, you will see within that tiny particle ninety-nine particles revolving around one another without touching. (The ninety-nine are those qualities of God's grace that are known as the names, or powers, of God.) If you take one of those ninety-nine particles and split it into five million particles and examine one of those pieces with that wisdom, again you will see ninety-nine-ninety-nine revolving around one another without touching. And if you take any one of those particles and split it into one million pieces and examine one piece, again you will see the ninety-nine particles revolving around one another. If you take one of those and split it into five hundred thousand pieces and take one of those particles and split it into two hundred and fifty thousand pieces and take one of those and split it into one hundred thousand pieces and then one of those into ten thousand pieces and one of those into another thousand pieces and if you take one of those infinitesimal particles and look within it with that wisdom, you will see ninety-nine: His ninety-nine divine powers.
Every particle of every atom contains the power of Allah, the divine power of God. We who are Islam must realize this. If we reflect on this, anyone who calls himself Islam will never harm anyone. He will not wreak revenge. He will not be treacherous toward anyone. Islam must realize this. Everyone who has faith in God must realize this.
All children of God, leave behind all lustful desires and come to the plenitude of firm faith in God. Give up anger and come to the house of patience. Give up the tendency toward vengeance and treachery and come into the house of contentment with God's wealth of grace. Give up the hell caused by your attachment to the world and come into the love of God that is His grace.
Only when you incorporate His ninety-nine compassionate powers as the basis for your actions and as the law for your life can you discover even one atom-one tiny particle-of God's mercy and compassion. In the name of God, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate. May all praise and praising be to God alone, and may we have His peace in our hearts. Amen.
- M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen