50 Maxims of Islam: Understanding Islam

• Islam is not about equality. It’s about equity. Given human diversity, differences and variations both externally and internally, equality cannot be achieved but only equity and fairness!

• Islam is a religion of reason and rationality and even the unseen part of this great religion is established by transitive reasoning. Traditionally this has been embedded in Kalam and dialectics.

 

• Islam is neither left wing liberalism nor right wing fascism. In Islam freedom is rational unlike chaotic self-destructive liberalism. In Islam racism, tribalism and xenophobia are rejected unlike in fascism! Islam is the middle ground, the universal model.

 

• Islam is a systematic religion in contrast to conjectural religion due to its interpretation and analysis based on a coherent body of logical, legal and linguistic dialectics. 

 

• Why Islam had created the greatest empires of faith? Islam is a spirituality, morality, law, Ideology, world view, economic and financial systems and an inspiration towards research and pursuit of knowledge. These combined fuels the effort and zeal to build monotheistic civilization. This is why created and/or managed the greatest of empires. Now everything is about stomach and flesh and not mind and heart.

 

• Why Islam is the religion of humanity?

 
      Islam has given every human, irrespective of their faith and loyalty to Allah:

 
1. Right to life
2. Right to Justice
3. Right to sustenance and livelihood
4. Right to knowledge
5. Right to welfare and charity
6. Right to marriage and family
8. Right to self-defense against injustice
9. Right to property
10. Freedom from liability
11. Right to religious freedom
 
This is because Allah is Most Gracious (Ar-Rahman) and Most Merciful (Ar-Raheem). The Quranic exegetists explained Ar-Rahman to be that He has a general mercy for all creation and Ar-Raheem to be that He has a special mercy for only believers (Muslims). 

• Quran and Prophet with his Ahl Bayt have demonstrated Islam in a multifaceted model comprising of politics and governance, law and administration, economy and finance, military and war, personal spirituality and morality and international relations to name a few. Duty of Muslims is to implement this model collectively and individually in Muslim countries. Everything returns to analysis of holy texts and its implementation through creative models and protocols.

 

• In Islam there are two levels of political models. One is the imamate model which has been determined by the Prophet (PBUH) and another is the secondary subservient model to appoint any leader of a group and this can be translated to the highest level of governance in the absence of 12th imam. This model is the model of meritocracy. You test merit by test/exam/practical demonstration. In an Islamic model of governance, the people of merit will be only allowed to choose the leader of the state and other relevant offices. These potential voters will be required to pass tests on primary concerns of the state: Islamic faith and law, Islamic history both classic and contemporary, morality and ethics, economy, local and international security and leadership. These tests/exams must be modelled by Islamic law, Islamic history, famous Islamic biographies and contemporary developments in these fields. Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'He who knows [the workings of] his time is never overwhelmed by its obscurities.’[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 356] . Modern democratic and election systems are broken and impotent: Voters are unqualified, gullible, sentimental, ignorant, political parties are paid by the corporatocracy, electoral doesn't mean majority will, citizens submit themselves to few elite people who are themselves chosen by their inter party dirty politics, the party system which is divisive at the religious, national and social levels and most importantly democracy is baseless of morality and divine guidance. Democracy lacks any purpose except to divide people, win votes and empower capitalist-politician marriage.

 

• Islamic system, sharia law accommodates everyone Muslim or not. Only Muslims are obligated to perform and implement laws which require faith such as rituals and family law. Non-Muslims are required to follow laws which do not require Islamic faith and is in the interest of community such as jizya, Islamic economic laws, criminal laws, ethical moral laws and other state laws. Non-Muslims can follow their religious laws among themselves as long as it doesn't impede Islamic administration of law and governance or contradicts public interest determined by Islamic law, Usool and Qawaid. This is Islamic multiculturalism and inclusivity way more than what west allows to minorities. In west the legal system is monolithic. Such a multi legal system will have conflicts and all will be settled in Islamic court which also will consider the non-Islamic religious laws for non-Muslims. Think of it as Islamic law and minority law like federal law and state law. A reference to administer this multi legal system can be: Muslim to Muslim is Islamic law, Muslim to non-Muslim is Islamic law and non-Muslim to non-Muslim their law agreed by them and allowed by Islamic judiciary.

 

• Administration and implementation of Islamic law including the declaration of Jihad needs political authority (Sulta) and judgmental power (Qada) because prophet didn't act as a military leader or judge until He was the Head of state of Medina. The command of Jihad was also not revealed until political Islam was established in Medina. What ISIS has done is against process of Islamic law and also due to their nature of hiraba.

 

• Would Jesus drink alcohol and pork or blessed Mary throw away the hijab? Why have Christians abandoned their teachings and want us Muslims also to follow Islam in their way of redefined ungodly Christianity?

 

• Halal is an Islamic legal term that can be applied to everything related to human activities. When it comes to food it considers:

 
Hygiene behind the food
Age of animal
Health of animal
Type of animal (omnivorous vs carnivorous vs herbivores)
Nature of finance behind the food
Benefit vs harm of the food
Purity vs filth of the food
Manner of slaughter

• Islam should be at least the sovereign system of law, economy and politics for example, in Muslim countries where Muslims are majority and Islam was historical system as embraced by people. What does it mean multicultural when Muslims are majority and Islam was historical model of governance and culture with constitution religion in present times? Do Islamophobic minorities want to define multiculturalism by demolishing Islam's dominance from Muslim countries? Accept Islamic multiculturalism or don't ask the majority to accept your version of multiculturalism. Even if all non-Muslim minorities in Muslim countries become wiser and more knowledgeable than Muslims, still they will never be able to bring a system which can beat the efficacy and greatness of Islam.

 

• Battle for Islam is taking place. Malaysia reflects the state of the Muslim Ummah. Kelantan and Penang are two ideological blocks that are fighting for the soul of Malaysia, one based on historic Islamic Malay and other based on neocolonial Evangelism. This in fact is the battle that all Muslim countries are facing now. Will Muslims in this fight win or submit as neocolonial slaves? Islamic parties need more finance and flexibility to prove their success on Islam.

 

• Do we Muslims have psychological problems? I think so yes due to colonial legacy. Why we Muslims feel the need to abandon Islamic model of governance and law while substituting western atheistic philosophical by products such as laws, political system and culture when we are told to be inclusive? Islam had empires with multiple ethnicities and religions. Islam is inclusive.

 

• Forgiveness in Islam is conditional on avoiding harm of the religion, ummah and the oppressed. If forgiveness result in harm of Muslims or oppressed or empowerment of the enemies then such forgiveness is meekness and slavery. All verses of Jihad are to protect Muslim honor, Muslim wealth, the oppressed, Islam's sovereignty and for self-defense against tyrants and oppressors while as verses which are for forgiveness is for the weak and the lost. Then there are verses which command patience and avoidance, and neither jihad nor forgiveness, and these verses are when Muslims are weak and fragile unable to fight back oppression and tyranny

 

• Islam proposes theocracy. The primary cause or purpose of human existence on earth according to the general rule of Quran 2:30 is to establish khilafa (viceregency/representative) of God. This categorically implies theocracy and shuns secularism.
  

• Religious Muslims have been most targeted by the fascist ideology because a) fascism just does not have a model or plan like Islamic law to accommodate minorities b) Muslims just happened to be under fascist rule. It is both proven theoretically by fascist philosophy and historical practice. All fascists from Hindus, Jews, Christians and atheists have joined hands to counter this alleged Muslim threat (in reality Muslim presence) amidst their fascist agenda in Kashmir, East Turkistan, Europe, Palestine and Burma. In past it was the Jews who were the target. If Islam was fascists for example Muslims in Malaysia or Iran would evict all non-Muslims and seize their properties but non-Muslims are tolerated and allowed to flourish there. Islamic history has been a history of tolerant rule by Shariah.
  

• Racism, nationalism, aristocracy, tribalism etc. these secular constructs are based on a sense of belonging to a biological, geographical or material group, whereas Islamism is a construct based on adherence to (divine values, beliefs and actions). Islam thus is the most universal and welcoming system and ideology.  
  

• Shia Sunni hostility is a product of historical racist and tribalistic politics. Imam Ali, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman never fought each other irrespective of their differences, to preserve Muslim unity, but when Arab nationalism and tribalism took over Islam, lots of bloodshed occurred and unity was broken. Today still Islam is plagued by nationalism, racism and tribalism.

 

• Does Quran prohibit friendship with non-Muslims? Yes, it does however people do not understand friendship in Islam. Hadith says friends are one soul divided among bodies. Hadith also states a person imitates his friend. So, In Islam a friend is one whom you follow intimately, so a Muslim is not allowed to follow non-Muslim or even a sinful Muslim intimately because that would mean abandoning many of the aspects of Islam and in this sense Muslims are not allowed to make friends with non-Muslim and/or sinful people. It has nothing to do with prohibiting being nice, just and generous in relationship. In fact, a Muslim is obligated to be just and charitable even to his enemies. So modern concept of friendship is different from what Islam has defined friendship as. 
  

 

• Being Islamic is different from being Muslim. Islamic is anything in compliance with shariah law. A Muslim may be Islamic in something and un-Islamic in something else. A Muslim becomes Islamic if his existence is based and defined by shariah law and spirituality like a state which becomes Islamic if its constitution is defined by Shariah law and authority. All Islamic people are Muslims but not opposite.
  

• Muslim liberal people want to dismantle political aspects of Quran through their romantic slogan of "don't judge" instead of saying "judge when justice is needed".
  

•  Islam not only legislates punishments for crimes or wrongdoings but also models and prescribes protocols so that the probability of crime or wrongdoing occurring is greatly reduced. Hence the western notion that you need only more trained police to reduce crime is ridiculous. Imagine pubs and nightclubs, the more there are the higher is the probability of crimes, immorality and character degradation. Police can only intervene mostly after when crime has taken place. Islamic law prohibits bars and nightclubs thereby almost reducing to zero, crimes related to organized crimes, alcohol, nudity and drugs etc. People from these immoral places not only commit crime but also take the contagious evil with them to home and society.

 
 

•  God chose patriarchy over matriarchy as human social construct. Perhaps both man and woman are equal, or man is superior over woman. In either case God's choice is valid. But woman can't be superior or else God's choice would have been illogical.
  

 

• What is the meaning of Quran 2:286, 24:61. Lot of Muslim liberal governments give excuse that God does not burden us beyond our capacity and ability? By this excuse they abandon all efforts towards political Islam and thereby Islamic revival. God does not burden us beyond our ability and capacity- true. These two are rooted in our mental and physical capacity. All other conceptual models of capacity and ability such as economic, military political etc. come down to this mental and physical ability and capacity. Ability is the skills and knowledge required to do something whereas capacity is the maximum productivity of mind and body beyond which we break down mentally and/or physically. This is the limit that Quran 2:286, 24:61 talks of and not the hardship that the liberals will get if they work for Islam. Jihad is a hard work, but it is not always beyond ability and capacity. Even in battle of Badr the fight was militarily impossible to win but mentally and physically Muslims were able and capable, determined. In today’s age our ability needs to be earned and then we must give our maximum capacity for Islamic revival. We must not be scared for the hardships of enemies sanctions.
  

 

• Entertainment in #Islam follows guidelines to protect human spiritual, emotional, physical and social wellbeing in contrast to hedonism which is the pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence.
  

•  Saudis thought they could use Islam to empower their tribalism, but they have been exposed. Any human race, ethnicity or nationality who thinks they can exploit Islam to empower their group existence will be humiliated by God. Islam is about empowerment of divine beliefs, praxis and values. PERIOD.

 
 

• Just like secular finance and secular economy are not free from nationalistic purpose and constitution so too Islamic finance and economy are not free from divine purpose and Quranic constitution. It's not only contained within the domain specific legal literature.
  

 

• One who is owned by lusts, desires and whims will find his/her and collective social and spiritual productivity, humanity and ethical outlook weakened and gradually destroyed, so Islam has prohibited things by balance and precision many acts of lusts, whims and desires. Global spirituality, ethics and humanity already dyeing, and human productivity is being forcefully achieved by modern forms of corporate slavery.
  

 
 

• The existence of capitalist/corporatist monopoly is the proof capitalism doesn't work. Few entities owning most of the wealth generation just shows rest will be always struggling to make wealth and remain socio economically disadvantaged. The solution is Islamic economic system through mainly comprehensive Islamic taxation system.
  

 

• Some of the most important themes of Quran are prayer, tax, fight for justice. These three are essential ingredients for human collective existence. Prayer creates humility and sincerity; tax creates welfare and fight for justice creates justice and fairness. Islamic law details these. 
  

 

• If we dismantle all the divisive names or denominations still things exist which categorize and differentiate us: beliefs, actions, practice, customs, habits, laws, protocols and models. These collectively form an Ideology/culture which every country or group has a dominant one. Multiculturalism is thus a one-sided philosophy which many people fail to see. Muslim countries must be defined by Islamic multiculturism. 
  

• Today some Muslims say arrogantly but ignorantly we are Turks, Iranians, Arabs, etc. but when Imam Mahdi comes, he will teach us to say we are Muslims. Quran 3:52, 2:132-133, 10:72, 21:108. We Muslims are citizens of the heaven! 
  

• Perfection is when your values become one with Islamic values. Today Muslims have dualistic values: one emanating from their racist, nationalist, tribal conscience and other from ritualistic Islam. This is a contradiction and thus a disaster.

 

• Islamic ritualistic purifications are just a symbolic and practical ways of distancing yourself from human filth. Human mind consists of both spiritual and biological filth and the purification is just a reminder that inherent humanity is above this, which will be realized in paradise. 
  

 

• What does it mean to be Canadian for example? What ethical, cultural and philosophical world view are implied by being Canadian or any national? Of course, there will be solidarity when the mind gathers in something common or shared. If the humanity's mind gathered around Islam like once it was during the past caliphates everyone today would say the Islamic lands are so tolerant and welcoming. It’s when our differences are exposed and lived by, that causes the debate and conflict. The western world minimized this by forced westernization which has a dark bloody history.  
  

 

• The difference between Islam and nationalism is the former always return to divine values, beliefs and praxis while the later to race and ethnicity that is the people create their world view and not God. Islam is thus a powerful uniting force for humanity cutting across maps, races, ethnicities and nationalities. So, Islam does not care which race, class or tribe runs the land and so the rulers are Islamic and the ruled follow Islamic laws and legal system.
  

 

• Islam obligates pursuit of knowledge for Muslims. Every Medrasa student, educational curriculum of Muslim countries MUST include logic and dialectics, philosophy and Kalam. Muslims need tools of arguments and dialogue which none other than these can prepare. These were essentials of Medrasa curriculum in Islamic golden age.
  

 

• Islamic Jihad must not be done to empower a Muslim race, nationality, tribe against other but rather to empower and establish Islamic values, shariah law and spirit of Islam. 
  

 

• Islam is the best form of system humanity got but like colonialism it has neither a theology nor a practice to be imposive on anyone who does not embrace it voluntarily by faith or politically by jurisdiction.
  

 

• Islamic personality consists of spirituality, character and knowledge
  

 

•  Islamic defense is both ideological and demographic. Ideological defense is an argumentative approach to establish Islamic philosophy related to spirituality, politics, economics, finance, law, morality, socio culture etc. While demographic defense is defense of material and practical aspects of Islam and Muslims in their organizational and existential modes without which Islam and related issues cannot be effectively and efficiently practiced and developed. That is why Allah has called humanity khilafa on earth. 
  

 

• A functional capacity defines a role's scope and limit of action. In Islam the functional capacity of the role Muslim is defined by Shariah law. By deduction then a Muslim cannot perform an un-Islamic act by this functional capacity hence any Muslim who acts evil is actually acting in a non-functional capacity. But most people know not this precision. The Hadith in Bukhari touches on this technicality: "The adulterer is not a believer while he is committing adultery. The drinker of wine is not a believer while he is drinking wine. The thief is not a believer while he is stealing. The plunderer is not a believer while he is plundering, and the people are looking to him." Punishment is given due to his acting beyond the functional capacity and due to his acting in a state of being human and being non-functional doesn't mean ceasing of role. 
  

 
 

• Islam is not liberal like west, but it surely is blessing. When you have freedom to have free sex, alcohol and other material pleasures then your life and motivation in life seems easy to come by even though you are microscopically destroying society. For a Muslim these are prohibited and so Muslims need to give double effort in life to achieve what morally free people get easy but an Islamic lifestyle safeguards mind society humanity and environment in long term. Here in comes the role of political Islam and shariah law to help Muslims and society in general live morally and control the temptations of the evil.
  

 

• Islam is not only about actions, but also inherent purpose attached with these actions. So merely, wearing a hijab or covering your body do not make your dress Islamic but also abolition of public sexualization of looks and dress should come with it.
  

 

• Islamic Polygamy is the solution to many of the moral and social diseases:
  

It is solution to marital infidelity
It is a solution to unmarried infidelity
It creates social cohesion
It creates family values and lineage
It creates channels of distribution of wealth
It improves demographics
It enhances sexual experience through virginity and chastity
Islamic Polygamous marriage is and ought to be the best friend's club where every friend sacrifice for each other. What other than holy matrimony that can tie the best knot?
 

• The Message of Islam is Peace:
  

 
The political message of Islam is resistance against tyranny, persecution and exploitation
The legal message of Islam is justice and deterrence
The economic message of Islam is equity, wealth distribution and fair play
The social message of Islam is morality and charity
The military message of Islam is defense and fight for the oppressed
The spiritual message of Islam is humility and mercy
 

• Islamic economic system proposes a welfare system of exhaustive taxation models for both Muslims and non-Muslims. Such a system is designed to minimize the inequality gap by maintaining a quantified wealth flow between the rich and the poor. Welfare economy such as proposed by Islamic system is based on the idea that not everyone will become champions and not everyone will become successful in business and knowledge. An Islamic economic system does not allow taxable wealth (tangible or not) to be rotting in bank accounts and safe houses. It either needs to be invested or taxed. This ensures circulation of the wealth which makes the economy run balanced in the long term. There is no disproportionate wealth accumulation or expenditure like those of American capitalists whose billions of dollars are rotting in banks while the common people suffer. Growth without welfare and humanity is slavery. 
  

 

•  Islam proposes a life based on rules and measured consequences resulting from disciplined actions. In Islam there is no pleasure higher than seeking the pleasure of God. An example of such a life is the life of the Muslim woman, which is built on chastity, sympathy, intelligence and wisdom, piety, loyalty and devotion to husband and guidance to the children.