In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful, the main topic in our present discussion is that, according to the undoubted culture of the Quran, faith is not merely a feeling in the heart. It’s true that faith means belief and belief concerns your hearts but the Quran does recognize certain kinds of belief as real faith. A subjective faith, a faith only in the heart and the sort of faith that is not reflected in the deeds and behavior of a believer is not of value in Islam. Well, the first believer in God was Satan (Iblees) himself. Satan had been worshiping God Almighty eons before the prideful sons and daughters of Adam come down to this earthly world and his heart was an abundant centre of God’s cognition. Yet when things came to a head and when the moment comes to decide and make a choice, his faith did not help him, it only remained in his heart. And I tell you that the kind of faith that merely resides in the heart, will dry up and wither away. That’s why I said that the sort of faith in the heart that is not reflected in one’s deeds and behaviour and in one’s power and energy, is not of value in Islam. In the copies we gave you, I have briefly called it productive faith. By this I mean the sort of faith that is like a flowing spring, a faith together with commitment, a faith that involves responsibilities to be fulfilled.
The Quran tells us: “…those who believe and perform virtuous, good deeds”; I began to count and I found out that this phrase in the Quran ‘Belief and good deeds’ have been repeated dozens of times. This means that a faith devoid of any responsibility or any commitment will be of no use in this world or in the next. What we shall recite from the Quran in tomorrow’s meeting, will include similar verses for us to ponder over their meanings with more deliberation. Those who think that Faith is something only for the heart and one’s sentiments without considering what faith requires, are wrong. Those who think that true faith is mere believing without any action and endeavour, without striving in the path of God, should not expect any good news promised to the believers to also include them. Those who suppose that Paradise will be enjoyed by people who have some actionless faith, should know that not acting on the basis of faith, would leave them with empty beliefs in empty hearts. In short, the faith valued in Islam is the one accompanied by practice, with responsibility and as duty and obligation.
If you don’t feel that you have to carry out certain commitments as a Muslim, you should doubt that you are a Muslim. Some people, who do not want to fulfill their responsibilities, resort to the Quranic verse: “Be not infirm and do not grieve, and you shall gain the upper hand if you believe.” Those Muslim who neglect their duties, ask themselves ‘why isn’t this promise realized’?! Because you have not properly performed the deeds the same Quran has laid upon you as Muslims. And some people, in order to justify their inaction, claim that the promise will be realized after the reappearance of the promised Mahdi (AS). We know that divine promises will be realized after Muslims fulfill their obligations according to the Quran itself.
If it were only the question of verbal acceptance, then I could claim that people such as Amr-bin-Aas or Valid-bin-Mughaira Makhzoomi could be counted among the very first people who had faith in the Prophet of Islam! These people among the Quraish were very smart, they well understood that the Prophet was not a liar, so they put their heads together how to besmear the Prophet. They used to listen to what the Prophet read and in the evening they got together to consult; they admitted among themselves that the verses read out by the Prophet were not ordinary, human speech. So you see that despite their enmity with the Prophet, they indeed confessed that the Prophet’s message must be a divine message. But we, after some fourteen centuries do not consider them as believers. Why is this? Because such people never acted upon their apparent beliefs and were not faithful to the Faith. This goes for us too; if we don’t act and behave according to the commitment of the Faith, could we call ourselves believers?
As I said, if some sort belief in the heart was enough, then Amr-bin-Aas should be considered as an early Muslim or even a Shi’ite! He was quite aware of what happened at Ghadir-Khom; he was the person who wrote poems in praise of Imam Ali (AS). Also it has been reported that he, on his death-bed, the moment when no worldly belonging matters, was deeply regretful of what he had down in his life; he’s reported to have said ‘I sold out my religion to the world of Muawia, and I fought Ali (AS) who I knew was the rightful person’. On the basis of such reports we must conclude that he was more aware of the wilayat of Ali (AS) than many of our contemporary Shi’ites. But why isn’t he really a believer or even a Shi’ite? Because his first commitment was to swear allegiance to Muawia-bin-Abi-Sufyaan. Therefore such a man who does not act upon his beliefs is neither a believer nor a Shi’ite.
On the basis of what was made clear so far, we may turn to ourselves and ask the question: ‘Are we true believers, could we be sure of being Shi’ites ourselves? Are we practically Shi’ites? The Quran is absolutely clear about this in the verses we recited today (and those we’ll recite tomorrow). The Quran categorically rejects the people who are not committed to their own faith and do not act upon their reliefs. Finally, the sort of faith creditable in Islam- the most fundamental principles of Islam and in Shi’ism- is the productive faith, the faith together with its commitments. So if you don’t act on the basis of your faith, do not wait for any good result, do not expect any victory in the world and do not hope for security in your worldly life. On this point the Quran is again most clear: “…those believers only who do not taint their faith with Wrong (idol-worships), shall attain real protection and security, for they are already on the right, guided path.” This means that those who believed and did not taint their faith with wrong-doing, cruelty and oppression will only enjoy safety and security, but the sort of faith that is mixed and polluted with wrong-doings or idol-worship will enjoy no security; the kind of faith not accompanied by commitments and obligations does not guarantee the faithful’s success and victory and it does not bring along God’s help and the help of all atoms in the created universe and, in one word, He will not grant believers any paradise on earth or the Paradise in the world to come.
The thoughts of easy-going, comfort-seeking people suggest otherwise. As a matter of fact, there is a characteristic in human-being to go after what is easy and easily available. If one is to choose between two choices, he would select the one which requires less endeavouring, less hardships and less expenses. In this case the religious faith tells us that we have lost our paradise, therefore, such lazy, uncaring people have to come up with some phony formula to facilitate their entering the paradise of God. Well, I say we have to make a revision and see whether the pretext, the excuse and the formula we have forged are really correct or not.
The Quran is the final, decisive and spotless text we have in our hands, and there are hundreds of Traditions uttered by the Prophet and by the Imams (AS) about what I am about to tell you. This is about intercession. All our religious texts and narrations inform us that you shall not gain intercession except through your own actions and behaviour. Now there are lazy, careless people who moan and wail about their past actions and fear of the future while engaged in useless deeds and behaviour without honour, but expect and hope for intercession by the Imams, whereas the Imams themselves tell us that we will not enjoy their intercession if we haven’t done anything to gain it. This is exactly the opposite of what is in our minds.
Imam Zein-al-Abedeen, was worshipping God in a mosque at midnights while weeping and moaning; he was a man who always tried, during the day, to work for the realization of a truthful, righteous government, but at midnights, proved his humility and servitude to God (his prayers seem strange to us and I haven’t got the time to explain about them).
Then a simple-minded Muslim goes to him and asks: ‘O You, great-grandson of the holy Prophet, the grandson of Ali and Fatima and the son of Husain, why do you weep at all? You should be weeping and moaning for us’. It’s reported that the Imam told him: ‘Throw away this story of parents and grandsons’, the simple-minded Muslim does not know that the thesis of humility, servitude, mournful prayers and tearful worshipping is meant to polish the soul, to make you more determined and deeper reliance on God. The Imam (AS) goes on: ‘paradise is for the most obedient,’ and this way he stresses on the Islamic, Shi’ite thesis that faith and practice must always accompany each other.
Why do I put so much emphasis on this issue? Because, for long years, no, for centuries, a lot of deceitful work was carried out to convince Muslims that practicing is not necessary for being Muslims and to make them believe that a pure heart was enough for a believer, not his pure deeds. Our easy-going, our negligence and our false, big claims have helped those treacherous, mercenary elements to convince us that the Paradise of God will be granted us for a small deed. These elements were evil, but others who followed them did it through their utter ignorance.
In fact, some of these distortions began shortly after the death of the Prophet. The most interesting case in this respect is Muawia himself. I don’t think there is a worse person than him, a most irreligious man in the early history of Islam. But it’s reported that Muawia, presumably stating his will before dying, tells his companions, ‘once the Prophet of God was shaving and clipping his nails, I collected some of those hairs and nails, please put these in my coffin, may God have mercy on me’!! What a ridiculous nonsense! He’s hoping for the intercession of the holy Prophet on his behalf! Well Muawia, used to listen to the Quran being recited and respected it and he performed his prayers, but for what purpose? He did them as such these gestures helped his interest and his rule.
Anyway, for many years certain elements have been influencing the minds and souls of the Muslims that faith devoid of practice, Islam without performing it in action, a heart-felt faith without any ensuing obligations, is real Islam. But the Quran itself is loudly and clearly declaring that “…such people aren’t truly faithful.” This means the believers are those who are with you, those are your brothers in faith who do, in the path of God, behave and act according to their commitments of faith and do their best to realize them; this is the logic of the Quran.
Let’s read further from the Quran; “O You believers! Bow down, prostrate yourselves and worship your Lord, and do every good deed in order to succeed. And strive in Allah’s cause, a striving worthy of your devotion; He’s chosen you and laid no burden upon you in religion…”. Let us discuss the verses a little more. You true believers, you must be humble in worshipping your God and do good deeds in order to succeed and gain salvation. Once you perform these commitments, you’ll embrace safety, success and salvation. You should feel these gains yourselves. Then ‘strive in Allah’s cause, a real striving’. How much do you try, all day-long, to make a living and how hard do you strive? On this basis how hard should you strive in the path of God? Look at your own lives and everything you do and consider how striving in God’s cause should be. Obviously, according to the unique greatness of God, how should the volume, the depth, the quality and perseverance of your striving be in this respect, in respect of God Almighty? So, the greatest efforts possible should go into the cause of God. Then we have “he has chosen you …” what is the meaning of this? Firstly we should know that God has chosen us not as some spoiled darlings of His, and He does not care if we commit sins and do all sorts of wrongs against God’s orders; and that we will pardoned and go to Paradise, as many Jews and Christians wrongly claimed. Any Muslim who thinks so is terribly mistaken. The Quran admonishes such people who thought of themselves as lovers, friends and even sons and daughters of God and tells them that all such feelings and emotions towards God, are conditional and dependent on carrying out God’s injunctions and fulfilling one’s obligations. It’s true that God had chosen the Sons of Israel for His divine purpose and later God chose the Islamic umma, both choices are the same; it’s like choosing the best person for a great job. The important point is, at any time, to fulfill our commitments to God, but if you fail in this, you will not be the chosen people of God any longer. Therefore, the choosing of the Islamic umma was just like the choosing of the Sons of Israel. They were, at their own time, the best people to carry out God’s injunctions, and if Muslims, like the Jews, fail to take this mission assigned to them, will also end up like them and be the object of the verse revealed about the Jews: “…to shame and squalor were they thus condemned and did incur the wrath of God…”, and their final abode will be Hell. The verse goes on to say that ‘…we have laid no burden on you in religion’. This means that if you are true believers in God, it would not be too hard, too burdensome to fulfill your commitments because, according to the Quran, Islam is the same religion that your ancestor Abraham promoted and that he was also called a Muslim, that is, a submitter to the will of God: “…Our Lord, make us submissive to Your Will, and from amongst our offspring, raise a nation of true submitters to Yourself…”. Now what is the purpose of this conception?
The Quranic answer is: “…that the Messenger be a witness to you, and you witness to all men…”. This means that the Prophet is directly responsible for you and you are responsible for all humanity, that is to say, the Prophet is your keeper, your witness and watchful of you, and you have the same responsibilities concerning the whole mankind; so you as administrators, as vanguards and the look-out men for all; should not ever fall asleep!
Well, now that such a great mission is laid upon you by God, you ought to fulfill certain duties: ‘keeping up salaat (prayers), paying zakaat (the legal alms) and do hold fast to God’, that means: take refuge in God, resort to God, rely on God only and do not fear any power other than God. When you find yourself in an impasse and when all doors are shut out on you, do not despair of God’s help and kindness; ‘it’s He who is your Patron’ (Huwa maulakoom). God is your keeper and guardian. (God willing, I shall explain the meaning of walee, maula and wilayat in another lecture in full). The Quran then says: “…oh, what a Gracious Parton, excellent Helper next to none.” What we said so far is about a believer’s commitments and responsibilities towards his God.
In the Sura Anfaal we find certain other obligations for the truly faithful and one of these is Hijra (miagration). The Quranic verse says: “those who believed and left their homes risking their property and lives, and those who gave them shelter and support, are certainly each other’s friends and allies”. What does migration mean? Is it only going, say, from Mash-had to Tehran? Is it travelling from one city to another? No, Hijra is not that simple. Hijra is purposeful, it means leaving everything and everyone behind you to join an Islamic community and to play a role, according to the obligations of your faith, in that community. It means leaving all your belonging behind in Mecca for the enemies to plunder. Imagine you were a Muslim but your wife, your father, your son or others of your kith and kin had not converted to Islam, you had to forget about them all who were now your potential enemies. This is Hijra, washing your hands off everything and everyone you loved and facing all sorts of deprivations courageously and whole-heartedly.
On the other hand, Hijra meant participation in building up a great fortress of the Islamic community, even if one could contribute a few bricks to set it up. Imagine, you want to lay down the foundation of a big building, well, if each individual could carry one brick, one stone or one piece of wood, it will certainly help. The community established in Medina was in need of faithful, powerful Muslims dedicated to Islam with a proven background of deeply understanding the new faith. The people who migrated from Mecca to Medina were such resolutely faithful individuals; each of those people had in fact taken a great step in setting up this Islamic community, no matter how small or big their contribution was.
That’s why the Quranic verse says: “Those who believed and left their homes risking their property and lives to fight in Allah’s cause, and those who gave them shelter and support, are certainly each other’s friends and allies…”. I repeat these glorious verses of the Quran so that you may deliberate on them more deeply. Yes, they are all friends, allies, comrades and brethren; they all were parts of the great effort to set up the first, Islamic community in Medina. As the verse says: they are bricks of one wall and one block, they hold one another, they support one another and establish an impenetrable fortress.
The Quranic verse goes on: “…however you do not owe such support and guardianship to those who have believed but did not leave their homes until they do so…”. This means that they believed in the Faith, but did not act upon it, and until they do so, they cannot enjoy your support and guardianship. In other words, an empty faith, a faith that does not end in action, will not be of any use to the Islamic community.
Well, I am a little tired now and so I ask Mr. Rouhani, our Quran reciter, to come here and recite the same verses we explained and discussed, in his pleasant voice, so that we could, God willing, muse more deeply over the verses to be able to tell the difference between true believers whose faith is followed by their actions and behaviour and those who have embraced the faith but fail to act upon it.
