Al-Huda
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
the Message Continues ... 4/179
Newsletter for October 2016
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Taqwa (Piety) Advice of Ahlal-Bayt
(Kinds
Of Piety,
Piety And Faith
By Sayyed Tooyserkani
Kinds Of
Piety
Some people may have the impression that piety means to avoid
committing sins only. Therefore
in many cases, piety has come to
mean fear of God and abstinence
from committing sins, whereas it
means self-restraint and
safeguarding of oneself from
opposing the orders of God.
Hence, piety is not solely
restricted to self-restraint
against sins, rather it has
other kinds too. Taqwa is
sometimes related to ideology
(monotheism, prophet hood,
Imamate and the Day of Judgment)
and at other times it is not
related to ideology. The latter
includes piety in theory and in
practice. When piety is related
to practice, it is sometimes
religion-based and at other
times not based on religion.
When it is not based on
religion, piety is sometimes
related to individual and at
other times to society. In
society too, it is sometimes
moral and at other times
non-moral. Each of these will be
discussed separately.
Piety And Faith
One of the issues a human being has to take seriously and in the
words of some religious
authorities, the question of
following others is not
sufficient or as some others say
one must reach certainty, is the
question of principles of
religion and ideology. It is
incumbent on every Muslim and
non-Muslim to deeply think about
his religious principles, that
is to choose a right path, to
realize that there is a God who
is the Lord of the universe and
to know with certainty that
other gods are false and made by
the human imagination. One
should truly realize that all
beings are Allah’s creatures and
before Him, he should prostrate.
In this relation, God says: “And I am your Lord, therefore fear Me.”
One should know that human beings are in need of leaders ordained
by God as prophets and Imams. He
should firmly believe that he
has been created for the other
world and that this world is
transient. Perhaps, it is a
reference to piety when we read
in narrations that faith is
superior to Islam. Imam Baqir
(AS) has been reported by Hamran
as saying: “I heard the Imam
says: Truly God has made faith
superior to Islam in the same
way that He has made the Ka’aba
superior to the Inviolable
Mosque.”
The Imam (AS) then mentions different ranks of Islam and faith.
On Taqwa, the Imam says: Piety
is superior to faith and
certainty is superior to piety
in terms of rank. Therefore,
Taqwa here is an ideological
piety, for the Imam has
considered Islam as the lowest
and certainty as the highest
degree while piety is in
between.
Piety And Monotheism
Piety in relation to monotheism means that man has to know that
the All-seeing, the All-hearing,
the All-wise, the Maker, the
Creator, the Healer and the
Provider is the One and Only God
and that other beings are His
creatures. It is really not very
difficult to prove the existence
of God. Nevertheless, we would
like to mention certain reasons
to prove it.
1- Whenever man sees an object in this world, he will
automatically think about its
producer and inventor. Even if a
girl, who has a doll in her
hands, is told that this doll
has been made by itself, she
will laugh at that. How can this
universe with the earth, the
sky, plants, animals, human
beings, waters, mountains,
winds, rains, space, planets,
light and darkness, fruits,
grains and millions of other
things exist without a Maker who
is All-knowing and All-wise?
2- How can cosmos, the order of days and nights, the four
seasons, the function of eyes,
ears, heart, digestive tract,
and solar system not lead us to
the existence of God?
3- In dangers, our hearts are directed towards a Savior and
Helper even if we are not
Muslims.
4- The news brought by prophets, Imams and the messages of
scholars and scientists about an
Eternal Being and the Lord of
the universe is one of the
strongest reasons to prove God’s
existence.
When God’s oneness is proved for man, and when man realized that
there is no one in this universe
save God, who is All-hearing,
All-seeing, the King, the
Provider of human beings and
animals, One who brings forth
the living from the dead and
brings forth the dead from the
living and the Manager of the
world, he should exercise this
piety that he is not inclined to
anything but God. In this relation, God says: “Say: who gives you sustenance from the heavens and the earth? Or who controls the hearing and the sight? And who brings forth the living from the dead and brings the dead from the living? And who regulates the affairs? Then they will say: Allah. Say then: Will you not then guard (against evil)?”
That is to say, one should not take heed of false gods or idols,
rather he should safeguard
himself from vicious circle and
deviations which is the same as
inclination for idols and their
likes. Regarding this, God has said: “Take not two gods, He is only One God; so of Me alone should you be afraid. And whatever is in the heavens and the earth is His, and to Him should obedience be (rendered) constantly; will you then guard against other than (the punishment of) Allah?”
That is to say the One who deserves Taqwa is the One God and it
is He who punishes, takes us to
task and rewards us. As for those who do not believe, God says: “Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve, who will not believe; those with whom you make an agreement, then they break their agreement every time and they do not guard (against punishment).” |
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