Your belief is your responsibility

Knowledge and action are fundamental elements comprising the conceptual structure of Islam. The first obligation of every Muslim is to seek knowledge.

By MD ASHAM AHMAD, Fellow, Centre for Syar'iah, Law and Political Science, The Star

THOSE who can make you believe, says Voltaire, can make you commit atrocities. It is true that ideas do have consequences. Hence, we have the duty to believe carefully.

The sincerity of conviction alone is in no way beneficial. Many people have acquired belief not by sincere patient investigation, but by stifling their doubts.

This, as far as Islam is concerned, is not acceptable, because the religion of Islam must be founded upon knowledge and certainty.

In emphasising this, a certain Muslim theologian went to the extent of declaring that one who holds to a belief without proof supporting that belief is actually not a believer!

Even though this tough stance has been criticised by other scholars, they all agree that everyone is responsible for his or her belief, i.e., one has a responsibility to seek the truth of one’s belief.

Hence, according to the well known tradition of the Prophet, the first and foremost obligation of every Muslim, man and woman alike, is to seek knowledge.

Indeed, knowledge and action are the fundamental elements comprising the conceptual structure of Islam. “Islam” is the verbal noun of the verb aslama, meaning “to submit”. It refers to one’s submission to God, the submission that is made consciously and willingly.

“Consciously” means “knowingly”, and “willingly” means “freely”, without compulsion.

Defined as such, the submission as demanded by Islam is not possible without knowledge.

The term “Islam” also describes an act, i.e. what one does, namely, the act of submission. As such, Islam does not simply happen to someone; it comes into being dependant upon one’s volition. And again, volition does not arise without knowledge.

But “Islam” is also the name of a particular religion, which means the above-mentioned submission is not subjective or formless; it is the submission which is made willingly and consciously according to the way prescribed by the religion.

Hence, the action of every Muslim is subject to the rules of the syari’ah correctly understood as the path to salvation prescribed by God through His Messenger.

The message of Islam is meant for all mankind, that they submit to the will of God, in the form of submission (religion) that He accepts, namely Islam.

For various reasons, not everybody accepts the message of Islam. This is the fact that the Quran itself acknowledges from the very beginning; hence, we observe abundant references to those who do not believe.

In an increasingly pluralistic contemporary world, what Islam says about other religions is misunderstood as problematic, out of place, antithetical to unity, intolerant, insulting, and unbecoming. In short, it is considered incongruent with the spirit of pluralism.

In order to abide by that spirit, Muslims are not supposed to hold that Islam is the only true religion.

Other religions, it is argued, are also true and valid, or, at the very least, Muslims are also asked to concede that nobody can really know the truth.

But no true Muslim can accept this. It is contrary to his belief, and his belief is not make-belief, but a consequence of knowledge and certainty.

A true Muslim holds that the reality of things are objectively established, and that knowledge of it is possible and verifiable. This cardinal principle is applicable to every object of knowledge, including the message of Islam itself.

So, what Islam claims about itself as well as about other religions, are also subject to investigation and verification.

For Islam, it is the truth that matters, hence, it calls upon mankind to verify its claim to truth and compare it with the claims of other religions. It is for those who believe that truth does matter that Islam offers its message for their consideration.

It is true that nobody may be forced to accept what Islam says; but the cardinal principle of a rational discourse remains: to reject a proposition is itself a proposition, and like any other proposition it is also subject to true or false judgement.

So, to reject the proposition “Islam is the true religion”, means to maintain the opposite, “Islam is not the true religion”.

It assumes that the proposer knows the difference between a religion which is true and one which is false.

In order to judge whether a religion is true or otherwise one needs knowledge. Islam desires itself to be known by everybody so that all may judge it.

In this regard, one’s choice of religion is actually one’s decision with regard to one’s own happiness.

A rational choice is a choice that may contribute towards the attainment of happiness, and not the converse.

A rational human being would not do anything that is detrimental to his happiness. To make the right decision one has to be free, i.e. free from ignorance, because to make a choice in a state of ignorance is contrary to being rational.

Knowledge is thus the key to human freedom. Hence, knowledge and education are paramount in Islam.

A Muslim does not automatically inherit Islam from his parents. Ultimately he has to choose Islam by himself, and in order to do that he must have knowledge, the knowledge that gives him the reason to choose Islam from among the other choices.

So, a proper education is that which enables one to make correct moral and practical decisions in life, not the wrong ones.