A Believer of Islam - Case Study Example

Islam is a monotheist religion which believes in one God, Allah, who is the superpower, “the all knowing”. The term Islam means ‘submission” of oneself to Allah (USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts), and a believer of Islam is a Muslim, one who submits to Allah, the Almighty (L. Gardet; J. Jomier). The Muslims believe that the holy book of Islam is the Koran, who is the final prophet of Allah (Esposito, 1996 & Ghamidi, 2001). The religion, Islam makes it obligatory for the believers to follow the major practices and most importantly to observe with great sincerity the five essential deeds, also known as the ‘Five Pillars of Islam’ (Esposito, 2002). The tradition of the Islamic religion outlines detailed actions regarding every aspect of life, which every Muslim must adhere to. These aspects include daily activities and rituals such as Namaaz, food etiquettes, respect for elders, marriage ceremonies, peaceful and friendly behavior towards neighbors, friends, relatives, and numerous aspects of daily life. thus we can say that the Koran is the code of conduct, a reference book for the Muslim community to lead a peaceful and content life while doing good deeds, for which they shall be rewarded in the life, hereafter, or after death. Thus we see that Islam is an ancient religion very old, and has many followers and believers, and in this aspect ranks second only to Christianity. Existentialism is not a religion; it is a movement which began in the early 18th century, by a group of scholars. The movement is atheistic as it does not believe in God as the supreme power governing the actions and occurrences of the world. Existentialism is a way of life which determines that the actions of a person are based on free will. It states that morals, value and ethics in the life of an individual necessitate form the individual’s experiences of the world, and as such are based on personal perceptions. The movement is known to have begun by scholars like Soren Kierkegaard, who emphasizes on the occurrence of truth, rejecting the system of Hegelianism. He states that each individual has to pass through three stages in life. The other prominent scholar of existentialism, Friedrich Nietzsche, believes in the concept of “nothingness”. His famous quote, “God is Dead”, stems from the fact that more and more people are becoming atheist and that Christianity cannot be a basis for values, ethics and morals. He criticizes Western culture stating that there is an absence of morals and values in the culture. he believes that the strong will for “freedom” is the most dominating emotion over all the other wills of religion, morals and ethical values. He firmly believes that there is no version of ultimate truth and that there will only be different perspectives of truth which will be based on different viewpoints of diverse individuals. This and several other theories are elucidated by different scholars of existentialism. The occurrence of the numerous and diverse theories is in itself a contrasting feature between the existence in Islam and existentialism. On the one hand Islam has a fixed Holy book, the Koran, a fixed code of conduct, a fixed value system irrespective of age, gender, nation, language or any other disparity, while on the other hand, existentialism is a movement defined differently by diverse scholars. There is no consensus even regarding the definition of the term, which is perceived differently by all the scholars. Islam firmly propagates the that the world will be destroyed on the last, final day which will be the day of judgment, and Allah will raise all the people, living or dead, in order to judge their deeds, good or bad. Individuals who have committed good deeds and die, waiting in their graves for the final day will experience peace in the grave, whereas individuals who have committed bad deeds will begin their punishments in the grave. On the final day of judgment the good deeds and the bad deeds will be measured and accordingly individuals will be sent to heaven or hell. Heaven is a place of peace, angels, flowing rivers and eternal youth. In contrast, hell is a place of incessant burning fire, which will continuously burn those who have conducted themselves badly, and have not worshipped or feared Allah (Qur'an 39:71; 15:43.) Thus life after death is the actual and true life for the Muslims and the current life in this world is only one stage of test (Muslim.org, an Ahmadiyya website). Islam is the religion of the Muslims and the holy book of the Muslims is The Koran. The Islamic religion is actually a code of conduct for the followers of Islam, the Muslims, elucidating in great detail, the way a Muslim should lead his/her life. The five basic pillars of Islam are as follows; 1. The acceptance of Islam by accepting that there is no God except Allah the Almighty and Muhammad is the prophet or messenger of Allah. This is done by testifying that that is no God except Allah the almighty, by reciting, “La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah.”  2. Performing the five daily prayers, Namaaz and offering Namaaz to the Almighty Allah. The prayers are required to be performed five times a day, before dawn, after-noon, early-evening, after-sunset, and at night.  It is important for the Muslim to not miss the daily prayers and must perform the prayers, no matter where he/she is (Saqib M. A. K.) 3. The observing of fasts in the holy month of Ramadan; a fast is observed from dawn to sunset. During this period, Muslims are required to abstain from food, water and sex. A fast has many scientific benefits for the human body and is primarily observed to gain the experience of those who are hungry due to paucity. It is also considered as a spiritual way of self purification. With the sighting of the new moon of the new lunar month, Ramadan Eid is celebrated by all the Muslims, the world over. 4. Giving charity or ‘Zakaat’ to the poor and the needy in the holy month of Ramadan is a must for those who have surplus assts (cash or kind), accounting to 2.5% of the total value. 5. Performing the religious pilgrimage to Mecca, ‘Hajj’, if one can afford to do so. Hajj is a religious pilgrimage in a prescribed manner, which cleanses the believers of their sins. According to Islam, the purpose of existence of a true believer, a Muslim is the worship of Allah the Almighty. The worship does not simply mean praying five times a day or observing fasts in the month of Ramadan. The term worship implies that the Muslim follows Islam in every aspect of his/ her life, at each step. The holy book of the Muslims, the Koran elucidates in great detail the code of conduct of a true Muslim believer. The basics of Islam are very straight forward wherein the Muslim has to follow a path of truth, honesty, fairness, peace and harmony. According to Islam, lie is only a test, which must be lead in accordance with the basic principles of the Koran. Islam clearly states that life is a short journey, during which time the deeds of each and every person, whether good or bad, are recorded. When a person dies, the deeds of the person would be weighed, and a person with maximum good deeds would go to heaven, and the one with maximum bad deeds would go into the never ending fire, hell. Thus, Islam greatly emphasizes the importance of after life, which must be remembered by each and every Muslim at every step of life, for this then prevents him/her from doing bad deeds and encourages good deeds. Islam clearly states that no person must be harmed either physically or sentimentally. Islam lays great importance on the power and virtue of silence, in happiness, anger and sorrow. The sole purpose of existence in Islam is the successful accomplishment of the test of life. The true followers of Islam are required to remember that all human beings are the children of Allah and that to harm them is to harm god According to Islam, obedience to Allah, by virtue of worship is the most important purpose in life. Islam does not exempt any one from religious compulsions, whether young or old, male or female. Every true believer has to remember at all times that the world is merely a short stage in life which one has to pass through and after this life or death there is another eternal life during which we shall the good deeds shall be rewarded and the bad deeds shall be punished and the Day of Judgment will finally bring the world to an end when. It is on this day that the judgment regarding the conduct of life shall be given by Allah. Thus, the role and purpose of life of a Muslim believer is clearly defined. The continuous perception that the current life is a test, for which the believer will be truly rewarded, enables the believer to do good deeds in life. The attainment of paradise after life is the motivation for believers. Paradise is the eternal dwelling place of all believers and it has been related by Prophet Muhammad that the residents of Paradise “will have ten times the like of this world” (Saheeh Muslim, No.186; and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, No. 6571). The prophet Muhammad has also said that there will be things id Paradise which nobody has heard, seen, or experienced (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, No.6568, and Mosnad Ahmad, No.13368). Paradise will be the abode of the rue believers and they will never experience pain, sickness, sorrow or death (Koran, 4:57). The purpose of life and the importance of after life have been elucidated in the Holy book of the Muslims, The Koran, which is a divine revelation from Allah to his messenger, Prophet Muhammad. It is a religious conception. The theory of Existentialism is not a religious conception; it is rather a philosophical movement, pioneered by the likes of scholars including Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. The philosophical movement postulates the theory that it is the sole responsibility of a human being or an individual to comprehend the purpose and meaning of life rather than deities or any other authority. Existentialism stresses on the sole individual to determine the purpose of existence in this life. The theory posits that the individual is free from any authority and as such does not believe in the occurrence of a higher Force, God. The theory emphasizes that the being is absolutely free. It is very difficult to define or validate the term, since most scholars have differences regarding the definition (Kaufmann W., 1956). There are several scholarly works of the existentialists which are fictional and famous for themes such as “commitment, boredom and ‘being and nothingness’” etc. (Crowell S.). Contrary to the fundamental teachings of Islam, existentialism focuses on the purpose of human existence or rather the lack of purpose. It states that a human or an individual has no prime purpose of existence in life and there is “nothing” in the basic purpose of existence. Existentialism seeks to counteract this nothingness by accepting the theory of existence. The theory differentiates between a ‘realist’ as someone who accepts reality and a ‘theist’ as someone who believes in the occurrence of god as being the superpower and the creator of the universe and all that is contained in it. It therefore states that an individual is an existentialist when he/she has a firm belief in the existence of individuals who seek to determine the true purpose of existence in life. The major point of difference between Islam and existentialism is the fact that Islam attaches and postulates utmost importance to God and the purpose of an individual’s life is the worship of God to attain his glory and mercy. On the contrary, existentialism according to Sartre is “precedes essence” meaning that there can be no formal explanation of what a human or an individual should be like since an individual shapes this meaning by way of his/her own existence. Fackenheim (1961) elaborates this concept of “self making in a situation” stating that a human being is not what she is from the beginning but becomes herself and assumes a distinct identity because of the choices she makes. This argument is very similar to the Islamic conception that a human has a free will to decide what path in life must be taken. Although God has shown the difference between right and wrong and is the utmost authority, it is up to the personal choice that the individual makes in every situation, choosing either the correct way or the wrong way. The “values” theories elucidated by Sartre (1992) in existentialism are also similar to those detailed in the Koran. Both existentialism and the Koran lay emphasis on the values of a person, essential in helping those that are needy and poor. Sartre explains that a person cannot merely see a needy person and ignore the individual. Rather having morals or values implies that when one sees a person in need, there is an inner voice which states that the individual has to be helped, very similar to the teachings of the Koran which stresses on the importance of ‘Zakaat’, a part of the earnings to be given to the needy and the poor, which is a compulsion for every Muslim believer who can afford to do so. Existentialism lays stress on the “pattern of behavior” in determining the respectability of the nature of an individual. Once again, in similarity with the Koran and its teachings, there is a comparison between the two. Whereas Islam determines that a person of good behavior will be rewarded by God after life, existentialists believe that the way a person behaves is by personal choice, although there are no rewards from God, since according to them, God does not exist. In contrast to Islam, existentialism is a philosophical and intellectual movement rather than a religious one. It implicitly stresses on the behavior of an individual as the being the complete responsibility of the person. The movement is based on the fictional though intellectual works of the scholars of existentialism and is a recent one. Islam and its teachings on the other hand are based on the actual phases of the life of the Prophet Muhammad and even the Koran is a revelation by God to the Prophet, as such there is no fictional element in Islam. A person may be a Muslim by virtue of birth in a Muslim family but existentialism is not attained by virtue of religion, rather it is a way of life by choice. Human beings “are what they are” by virtue of their choices (Sartre). There are several points of difference and comparisons in the existentialist theory and the purpose of existence in Islam. What humans and individuals must remember at all times, irrespective of which religion or school of thought they belong to, is that every religion in the world teaches peace harmony and unity, morality of ideas and actions is prophesized by all religious leaders, and to be a good human being, helpful and ethical should be the prime focus of all persons living in this world. Only then will the world truly become heaven to stay. References Esposito J., 2002, ‘What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam.’ Oxford University Press. Esposito (1996), Ghamidi (2001): Retrieved from website, ‘Sources of Islam’ L. Gardet; J. Jomier “Islam”. Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Kaufmann W., Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre, 1975, 12. Kaufmann W., Existentialism: From Dostoevsky to Sartre. (Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1956) ‘Koran’ Muslim.org, an Ahmadiyya website. Razavi, Mehdi Amin (1997), Suhrawardi and the School of Illumination, Routledge. Saheeh Muslim, No.186; and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, No. 6571. Saqib M.A.K., ‘A Guide to Salat (Prayer)’ University of Southern California Compendium of Muslim Texts -MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts Read More