Haki mbali mbali katika Uislamu

Misingi ya haki

Ili wanaadamu waweze kuendesha maisha ya amani, utulivu, ustawi na maendeleo, hawana budi kufuata misingi sahihi ya haki. Misingi hiyo ni ile iliyowekwa na Muumba ambayo Uislamu unaitaja kuwa ni:

(a) Tawhiid

(b) Utume(risala)

(c) Siku ya mwisho

(a) Tawhiid

Wanadamu wote ni viumbe wa Mungu Mmoja asiye na mshirika. Mwenye mamlaka juu ya viumbe wote. Hivyo ni Yeye pekee mwenye uwezo wa kujua zuri na baya, uovu na wema, kujua ya sasa na yajayo na ameepukana na upungufu walionao viumbe. Kwa hiyo msingi mkuu wa kupatikana Haki ni kumpwekesha Yeye Mwenyezi Mungu (Tawhiid) katika vipengele vyote vya maisha. Kumpwekesha Mwenyezi Mungu ni kuishi kwa kufuata maamrisho yake na kuacha makatazo yake katika kuendesha maisha ya kila siku.

(b) Utume

Kumpwekesha Mwenyezi Mungu (s.w.) katika utendaji wa kila siku ni kufuata maongozi yake ambayo yameletwa kwa Wanaadamu kupitia wateule maalumu miongoni mwa Wanaadamu (Mitume). Wateule hao (Mitume) sambamba na ujumbe huo wa Mwenyezi Mungu ulianza kuletwa kwa Wanaadamu tangu kuanza maisha ya hapa duniani:

"Tukasema: "Shukeni humo nyote; na kama ukikufikieni uwongozi utokao kwangu, basi watakaofuata uwongozi wangu huo haitakuwa khofu juu yao wala hawatahuzunika (2:38).

Inafahamka kwambaWanadamu wa mwanzo kuishi hapa duniani ni Adamu na mkewe Hawa. Akiwa baba na muasisi wa kizazi cha mwanadamu, Adamu alipewa utume na Mwenyezi Mungu ili akiongoze kizazi chake katika haki na uadilifu.

(c) Siku ya Mwisho

Ujumbe wa Mitume (risala) kuhusu kumpwekesha Mwenyezi Mungu umeandamana na taarifa ya hisabu ya matendo ya mja katika maisha haya ambayo itatolewa siku ya mwisho wa kila kitu.

Kila mwanadamu tumemfungia (jaza ya) vitendo vyake shingoni mwake; na tutamtolea siku ya Kiyama daftari (iliyoandikwa ndani yake kila alilolifanya) atakayoikuta imekunjuliwa (aambiwe) (17:13)

Falsafa ya misingi hiyo mitatu ya Haki ni kwamba, ili Mwanadamu aweze kutenda haki hanabudi kuzingatia ujumbe wa mitume ambao msisitizo wake ni kumpwekesha Mwenyezi Mungu katika maisha haya, na ama kila tendo la mja linadhibitiwa kwa ajili ya hisabu siku ya mwisho. Kwa namna maumbile ya mwanadamu yalivyo, kuwepo siku ya mwisho ni motisha ambayo humsukuma mja kutenda mema kwa kuchelea hisabu mbaya ya matendo yake itakayotolewa na Muumba wake ambaye ni mjuzi na mdhibiti wa kila tendo liwe la siri au la dhahiri.

Islamic Knowledge for "A" Level

Tawhiid Form V

ISLAM: A way of life that man needs - Broad definition

BRIEFLY Islam can be defined as an ideology (system of thought and actions) that has been taught by the Prophets from the earliest known times.

Innumerable Prophets have appeared from time to time in all parts of the World to teach this ideology to all sections of the human race, consistently with the conditions of the times, the circumstances of their existence and the stage of their mental and moral evolution.

"And there is not a people but a Warner has come among them (35:24).

We sent messengers before thee of them are those we have mentioned to thee (40:78).

The number of these Prophets is estimated to be more than a hundred thousands. Since the message of all Prophets is fundamentally the same, every Prophets has testified to the truth of his predecessors and prophesied the advent of his successor. How ever, since the message of the Prophets acquired its theoretical completeness and practical application to all the important aspects (including the social, economic, political and military aspects) of human life in the precept and the life example of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) he has become the last of the Prophets and the term "Islam" has come to be applied exclusively to his teachings embodied in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. It is on account of the fundamental unity and the uniform source - the Divine source of the teachings of all the Prophets that the Qur'an declares that no one who disbelieves in any of the Prophets of the past can be a true Muslim.

"And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee and sent before thy time. (2:4)

Say ye: We believe in God and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes and that given to Moses and Jesus and that given all Prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them and we bow to Him (God) (2:136).

The Essence of Islam

If the essence of the Prophet's teaching were required to be stated in one word then that word is love. Islam calls upon all human beings to love and to see to it that their love is as pure, sincere and whole hearted as possible and that it goes on developing towards an ever greater and greater perfection purity and sincerity without dwindling or suffering frustration for a single moment.

The Need of Islam

The question arises: Does the Phenomenon of Prophethood really fulfil a purpose in Nature? Does man really need to be taught the art of a perfect and permanent love such as the Prophets have been preaching? The answer to this question is that a perfect and permanent love. Which takes the form of an urge for an ideas - is the most powerful and the most dominant desire of all the inborn desires of man, nay, it is virtually the sole desire of his nature and Prophet hood in the only agency that provides for its proper satisfaction. Prophethood, therefore, has not only a purpose in nature but is also indispensable to the order of things in nature.

"So set thy face steadily and truly to the faith. This is God's handiwork, the partten on which He has made mankind. No change can there be in the work brought by God: That is the standard religioun but most among mankind understand not (30:30)

The analysis of human Nature

The nature of man reveals that there are two levels of the natural human desire.

The Lower Desires of Man

Firstly, those desires (known as instincts) which result from man's nature as an animal. e.g. Feeding, sex, pugnality, etc. Their characteristics are follows:

(a) They are common to man and the animals below him in the seal of evolution.

(b) They have an internal biological compulsion of their own account of which the animal is compelled to seek their satisfaction.

(c) Their satisfaction enables the animal to maintain the health and growth of its body and to preserve its life and race.

The Higher Desire of Man

Secondly, those desires which result from man's nature as a human being. These are as follows:

(a) The desire for an Ideal

(b) The desire for moral action

(c) The desire for Knowledge

(d) The desire for artistic creation or art

Their characteristics are as follows:

(1) They are the special previlege of man which is not shared by other animals.

A fundamental difference between an animal and a human being is that, while an animal only knows, feels and thinks, a man not only knows, feels and thinks, but, while feels and thinks. In other words, while an animal is only conscious, man is self-conscious. It is this fact that creates a difference between the natures of the animal and the human being. The desires that are peculiar to man are the desires of his self consciousness or self.

(2) There is no biological compulsion attached to them. They are free desires belonging exclusively to the psychological plane, as the course of their satisfaction is not biologically or instinctively fixed.

(3) The satisfaction of each of them yealds a special kind of pleasure which at its best and highest is far superior in quality and intensity to the pleasure derived from the satisfaction of any of the instictive desires.

(4) They are pursued and satisfied and their best and highest for their own sake and not for any ulterior motive.

(5) Their objects is the search for beauty. For what is an ideal but an idea to which a person ascribes the highest beauty or perfection known to him? And what is moral action or goodness but the expression of beauty in one's deeds and what is the desire for knowledge if not a desive for truth which we love and admire and which is, therefore, an aspect of beauty? And what is art but the expression of beauty through a medium?

Suggested reading:

-The Manifesto of Islam, by Dr. Rafiudiin

-Towards understanding Islam, Abul A'la Maududi

-Qur'anic concept of History, by Mizharuddin Siddiq.

Fiqh Form V

THE CONCEPT OF IBADA

WORSHIP, according to Islam, is a means for the purification of man's soul and his practical life.The basis of `badah (worship) is the fact that human beings are creatures and thus bond-servants of God, their Creator and their Lord, to Whom they are destined to return. Thus Man's turning towards God, in intimate communion, reverence,and in the spirit of evotion and humble submission, is termed `ibadah.

Worship is an indispensable part of all religions, including the idolatrous ones. It is motivated, however, in each religion by different objectives, assumes different forms and is performed under a different set of rules.

In some religions worship is a means to develop in man the atitude of asceticism ans isolation from life.l In these religions it seeks to develop a mentality which anathematizes the enjoyment of the pleasures of this world.

Then, there are other religions which consecrate certain places for the sake of worship and prohibit its performance at any other place. There are also religions which are of the view that worship can be perormed only under the leadership of a particlular class of people the ordained priests and only at the places consecrated for it Thus the nature as well as the forms of worship differ from one religion to the other.

As for Islam, its conception of worship is related to its fundamental view that the true foundations of a good life are soundess of belief and thinking, purity of soul, and righteousnes of action.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

The characteristic features of worship as propounded by Islam may be stated as the following:

(a) Freedom from Intermediaries.

First of all, Islam has liberated `worship' from the bondage of intermediaries between amn and his Createor. Islam seeks to create a direct link between man and his Lord, thus rendering the intercession of intermediaries unnecessary.

Religious scholars in Islam, it may be ponted out, are neither intermediaries between man and God noir are they considered to be entitled to accept or reject acts of worship on behalf of God. Instead, they are equal to ordinary human beings in the sight of God. Rather, they have been burdened with the additional duty of imparting knowledge to those who lack knowledge.

They will be deemed guilty if they hold it back from the seekers after knowledge. In other words, the Islamic Shari-'ah does not impose the domination of religious scholars on the rest of the people.

The function of these scholars is merely to guide people in the right direction This is amply borne out by what Allah said to the Holy Prophet:

`Remind them, to you are but a remembrancer; you are not at all a warder over them.' (al-Qur'an, 88:21-22).

The Prophet (peace be on him) also addressed the follwing words to his own daughter Fatimah, which show that all human beings stand on a footing of complete equality before God: `O Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad:

I shall be of no help to you before Allah

(b) Not Confined to Specific Places.

Secondly, Islam has not only liberated man's `ibadah fromn the bondage of intemediaries; it has also liberated it form confinement to specific places. Islam regareds every placed whether it is one's dwelling place, the back of an animal, the board of vessel on the surface of sea, or a mosque specifically built for worship-as pure enough for the performance of worhip. Wherever a man might hecan can turn towards his Lord and enter into communion with Him.l The Holy Prophet has expressed this idea beautifully:

`The (whole of the) eartth has been rendered for me a mosque: pure and clean.

(c) Thirdly, Islam has also considreably windened the scope of worship. In Islam, worsip is not confined to specified prayers and litanies which are to be performed on particular occasions. Rather, Islam considers every virtuous action which has been sincerely peformed and with the view to carry out he commandaments of God and in order to seek His Pleasure, and act of worship for which man will be rewarded.

The fact is that even eating, drinking, sleeping and enjoyemnt of innocent recreation, even those worldly actions which satisfy man's physical needs and even yield sensures plesures, become acts of worship provided they are performed with true religious motives. Yes, even those acts become acts of worswhip if the intention underlying them is to comply with the will of God: that is, if one tries to satisfy one's needs within legitimate means so as to keep oneself in check against indulging in things which are prohibited.

It is also an act of worship to try to strengthen one's body by providing it with its due of nourishment and sleep; by making it undetake exertion as well as giving it rest and recreation so as to enable to shoulder ther responsiblilites which have been placed on man by God.

In fact, if one does all that with the above-mentioned intention, one's action would be in harmony with the following sayng of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him): `A believer who is possesed of strength is better and dearer to God than a believer who is weak. `In short, it is simply by purification of motives that the actions which are part of worldly life become acts of devotion and worship.

Suggested reading:

- Islamic way of life, by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi.

- Islam its meaning and message, edited by Prof. Kurshid Ahmad.

-The Mission of Jesus, by Prof. Malik.

Barua za wasomaji 

Masomo ya dini ya Kiislam 

Chakula na Lishe 
Haja ya maji ya kunywa