The Believer's Attitude

The Believer's Attitude

In order to be a Muslim, that is, to surrender oneself to God, it is necessary to believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc. But this belief, later called Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah, is not enough. Many of the idolators knew and believed that only the Supreme God could do all this. But this was not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid ar-rububiyyah, one must add tawhid al-'uluhiyyah. That is, one acknowledges the fact that it is God alone who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstains from worshipping any other thing or being.

Having achieved this knowledge of the one true God, man should constantly have faith in Him, and should allow nothing to induce him to deny truth. When faith enters a person's heart, itcauses certain mental states that result incertain actions. Taken together, thesemental states and actions are the proof forthe true faith. The Prophet said:“ Faith isthat which resides firmly in the heart andwhich is proved by deeds”.

Foremost among those mentalstated is the feeling of gratitude towardsGod, which could be said to be the essenceof ibada (worship).The feeling of gratitude is soimportant that a non-believer is called'kafir', which means 'one who denies atruth' and also 'one who is ungrateful'.A believer loves, and is grateful toGod for the bounties He bestowed uponhim, but being aware of the fact that hisgood deeds, whether mental or physical,are far from being commensurate withDivine favors, he is always anxious lestGod should punish him, here or in theHereafter. He, therefore, fears Him,surrenders himself to Him and serves Himwith great humility. One cannot be in sucha mental state without being almost all thetime mindful of God. Remembering God isthus the life force of faith, without which itfades and withers away.The Qur'an tries to promote thisfeeling of gratitude by repeating theattributes of God very frequently. We findmost of these attributes mentioned togetherin the following verses of the Qur'an:“ Heis God; there is no god but He. He is theKnower of the unseen and the visible; Heis the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.He is God; there is no god but He. He isthe King, the All-Holy, the All-Peace, theGuardian of the Faith, the All-Preserver,the All-Mighty, the All-Compeller, the All-Sublime. Glory be to God, above that theyassociate! He is God, the Creator, theMaker, the Shaper. To Him belong theNames Most Beautiful. All that is in theheavens and the earth magnifies Him; Heis the Almighty, the All-Wise” (59:22-24).

“ There is no god but He, theLiving, the Everlasting. Slumber seizesHim not, nor sleep. To Him belongs allthat is in the heavens and the earth. Who isthere that shall intercede with Him save byHis leave? He knows what lies beforethem, and what is after them, and theycomprehend not anything of Hisknowledge save such as He wills. Histhrone comprises the heavens and earth.The preserving of them oppresses Him not;He is the All-High, the All-Glorious”(2:255).

People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion, and say not as

to God but the truth.“ The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary,was only the Messenger of God, and HisWord that He committed to Mary, and aSpirit from Him. So believe in God and HisMessengers, and say not "Three". Refrain;better it is for you. God is only one God.Glory be to Him -- (He is) above having ason” (4:171).