ISLAM IS GUIDANCE
Islamic is concept of life is derived from the teaching of Al-Quran and the Sunnah. The word Islam literally means “peaceful submission to the will of god without resistance. Guidance is also means to guide, to show the way. In the Al-Quran, it is made clear that from most ancient times the word Islam has been used by all divine messengers and their followers as the name for their religion. Islam is thus the generic term applicable to every revealed religion so long as that religion is not altered by men. Guidance means direction, leadership ,supervision. In Islam, it calls Hidayah which mean to show the way, to guide, to lead on the right thing and right faith. Hidayah is noun, means guidance, direction, showing a way to someone else. Normally, it refers to the good life and well being. In technical it means the quality which leads man to perceptions (of good or bad) and the implementation of Allah’s rules and regulations.
The straight path of Islam requires submission to the will of God as revealed in the Quran and recognition of Muhammad as the Messenger of God. The believers who follow that straight path are a Muslim. The Quran makes it clear that Islam is the only religion acceptable to God when it says, “Lo, religion with God is Islam” Surah III, 19. That is, religion is submission God’s will and guidance. A humble obedience to the divine commandments is a part of Islam, completing the act of faith – which is belief in God’s revelation – by obeying God’s commandments in practical affairs. “The Muslim”, said Muhammad,” is he who spares others all his bad words and evil deeds”. Thus, Islam is external peace and internal peace, peace with God and peace with all creatures, the peace which comes through submission to God.[1]
The Quran repeatedly draws attention to this fact of life. There are diverse means by which an object grows, develop and reaches perfection; and among these the highest rank is assigned to HIDAYAT or GUIDANCE. The stages indicated in this verse are those of Takhliq, Taswiya, Taqdir and Hidayat. Takhliq means to create or to bring into existence that which was in a state of non-existence. Taswiya is to give to this created object a proper form. Taqdir, which has been explained at great length already, is to assign to this object a role appropriate to it; and Hidayat.
The Quran is the only Book in the World that offers the most comprehensive and universal guidance to all of humanity. It guides us to develop our total personality: to be physically and mentally fit, economically self-sufficient, politically stable, legally righteous, socially desirable and above all morally and spiritual upright. In the other words, the Quran guides us to have a well-balanced personality for us to attain peace and happiness both in this world and in the life here after. In Ayat of the Quran, Allah tells us: “…He it is who has sent unto you the Book, explained in detail. They know full well, to whom we have given the Book, that is has been sent down from your Rabb in truth. Never be then of those who doubt”.(6:114) “For we had certainly sent unto them a Book based on knowledge, which we explained in detail-a guide and a mercy to all who believe”. (7:52)[2]
Islam is a comprehensive system that do not distinguish between word life and the life to come in a sense that both are related to each other. Man, according to Islam is created to accomplish certain duties in this life in order to be rewarded or punished in here after for what he or she have done in this life. The Holy Quran says: “ I have only created Jinn and men, that they may serve me”. (Al-Dhariyat,51:56)
For man to perform his duties on earth, he has been equipped with the necessary courses led by his intellect. Besides that, he has been given the guidance from Allah (s.w.t) through His prophets and messengers since Adam until the last Prophet Muhammad.[3]
Finally, the Quran is a book of guidance. The fact that there is no verse whose meaning is totally obscure since the Quran describes itself as a light, as a guidance and as an explanation. It addresses itself to the totally of the human situation, internal as well as external. Allah gives hidayah to all His creation but we must work hard to get it.
1 Islam Birth and Origin, Masoud Ali Khan Shaikh Azhar Iqbal, Ajar Verma For Commonwealth Publishers, 2006, Pages 1&2
[2] The Divine Message for All Mankind, Dr.Norlain Dindang Mababaya, Darussalam Publishers and Distributors Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,1998, page 51
[3] Major Personalities in the Quran, Ahmad.M.Raba, A.S, NourDeen, 2001, Pages 20&21
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