O You Who Believe

26)

"O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray."

[An-Nisa 4:136]

Belief as used here has two meanings. First, belief denotes that a man has preferred to acknowledge the soundness of true guidance, to distance himself from the fold of those who disbelieve, and to join the camp of the believers.

Second, belief denotes faith, a man's believing in the truth with all his heart, with full earnestness and sincerity. It denotes man's sincere determination to mould his way of thinking, his taste and temperament, his likes and dislikes, his conduct and character, his friendship and enmity, and the direction of his efforts and striving, in conformity with the creed which he has resolved to embrace.

This verse is addressed to all those who are 'believers' in the first sense of the term, and they are asked to change themselves into true believers, i.e. believers in the second sense.

Allah commands His faithful servants to adhere to all the elements of faith, its branches, pillars and cornerstones. This is not stated as mere redundancy, but from the view of completing faith and the continual maintenance of it. For instance, the believer proclaims in every prayer,

﴿ ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ ﴾

(Guide us to the straight way) which means, make us aware of the straight path and increase us in guidance and strengthen us on it. In this vers, Allah commands the believers to believe in Him and in His Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasallam).

The Scriptures refer to the previously revealed divine Books. Allah then says that whoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers and the Last Day, he is astray. Meaning he will have deviated from the correct guidance and strayed far away from its path.

This verse compiles the set of fundamental beliefs of a Believer.

Believing in Allah means believing in Oneness and Authority of Allah, equating no one with Allah and obeying the commands of Allah sincerely.

Belief in His Messenger means the true belief a Believer should have in the Last Prophet of Allah, Hazrat Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) that he is the guidance sent down by Allah for the whole humanity and he is Allah's best creation. Believing in Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wsasallam) also means following the sunnah (way) of Rasul Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasallam) and his hadith (words of commands).

Believing in His Book means Allah's last Book; Qur'an which was betided in a period of 23 years on the blessed Messenger Mustafa (salAllahu alayhi wasallam). Qur'an is the ultimate guidance for humanity and is the true word of Allah. It contains solutions of all types of problems and guidance about life and hereafter.

Believing in the Scriptures means Torah; betided on Prophet Musa (AS), Zabur; betided on Prophet Daud (AS), Injeel; betided on Prophet Isa (AS). Even though these Scriptures have been changed by humans, we still believe that these Scriptures are truly from Allah and were betided on Allah's Messengers for the guidance of the people.

Believing in Allah's Angels means accepting the existence of Angels which are created by Nur (light) and are divine creations of Allah that praise Allah at all times. Allah betided His Scriptures to His Messengers through Angels.

Believing in Messengers means believing that Allah's guidance has been revealed to humankind through specially appointed messengers, or prophets, throughout history, beginning Prophet Adam (AS) who was the first prophet and ending with Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam) who was the Last Prophet.

Belief in the Last Day means belief in the Day of Accountability which will be held under the direct rule of Allah. It also means that the life on Earth is a test from Allah, to prepare us for eternal life. It is also our belief that Allah will not test us beyond our limits and each deed, big or small, revealed or concealed, hidden or exposed, will be accounted for by Allah and the person having heavy good deeds will enter Jannah (paradise) and will live united with The Creator and the person having heavy bad deeds will enter Jahannum (hell) and will bear it's unbearable torment.

These are the set of beliefs required to be a true Believer. Those who don't believe in them have gone far astray.

Things we learnt:

> Believe in Allah.

> Believe in Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam).

> Believe in Qur'an as the final word of Allah which was betided on Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasallam).

> Believe in the previous Scriptures i.e Torah, Zabur, Injeel.

> Disbelievers of Allah, Allah's Angels, Allah's Books, Allah's Messengers and the Day of accountability are on the wrong path.

May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.