Pillars of Faith pdf download

Pillars of Faith

PILLARS OF FAITH

Book’s Introduction

The pillars of Faith, Iman, enumerated in many verses of the Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, are belief in God, in God’s Angels, His Books, His Messengers, in the Hereafter and in Qadar (Destiny).

These are familiar terms; but the non-Muslim reader would be mistaken if he thought that the Islamic concepts designated by them are the same as those of other religions and philosophies.

It is hoped that the following exposition, which is itself made in the light of the Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet, will make this point clear.

 It will also make clear the fact that the Islamic concept of faith itself is, in many ways, different from the popular Western one.

 In the West faith is usually contrasted to reason and knowledge. But according to the Qur’an true faith is that which is based on knowledge and supported by argument. Any belief which is not so based and supported is considered by the Qur’an to be mere caprice and whim which a thinking person must avoid.

 True faith can therefore be gained through reflection and the acquisition of knowledge, and not by blind and irrational commitment.

 A person armed with such an enlightened faith can enter with great confidence into rational discussion with people who do not share his beliefs with the hope of showing them their mistakes and weaknesses and winning them over to truth.

If this paper helps to take the reader a step in that direction it will have achieved its purpose, and all praise is due to God.

GOD

Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent to invite people to God and to teach them how to perform the task for which they were created, namely to worship Him.

 Many of the people whom he addressed had a hazy idea of God. Some did believe in Him, though they associated other lesser gods with Him,

but a few of them were downright atheists, or materialists, whose creed was, ‘we live and we die and nothing causes our death except Time.’ [Jathiya, XLV: 24] Before inviting such atheists to God one must first convince them that there is such being. “What reason do you have for believing that there is a God?”

 This, logically, is the first question which a theistic view of life should address itself to. The Qur’anic answer to it is given in the

following words:

” … were they created out of nothing? Or were they the creations (of themselves) or did they create the heavens .and earth.”

The Qur’an is here saying that for everything like man that has a beginning in time, there are only three ways of explaining how it came to be.

a. Either it is created, or made, or caused by nothing at all

i.e. it came out of nothing.

• Or it is the creator of itse f.
• Or it has a creator, cause, or maker, outside itself. The third possibility is not mentioned in the quoted verse but it is understood because the verse is addressed to people who deny the existence of a creator and it is telling them that if there is no creator then only two possibilities