Key Principles of Islamic Belief: Faith in God, the Afterlife, and the Quranic Teachings

 "Key Principles of Islamic Belief: Faith in God, the Afterlife, and the Quranic Teachings"

.وَ مِمَّا رَزَقْنٰهُمْ یُنْفِقُوْنَ.

 "And from what We have provided for them, they spend."

The meaning of "وا" is "and," and the meaning of "مما" is "from what." In this context, "رزقنا" means "We have provided," "ھم" means "for them," and "ینفقون" means "they spend." "نفق" means "to spend." The full translation of the verse would be: "And from what We have provided for them, they spend."

The Quran sets out a fundamental principle for the establishment of a pious community: the first principle is that they believe in the unseen, and they live their lives considering the benefits of both the life before death and the life after death. The second principle is that they establish prayer, so that the piety of each person is complete, their souls are purified, and the national unity and system are established.

Now, the third condition is that they must accept that whatever Allah  has given them, they must necessarily spend a part of it in Allah 's way. Allah ’s provision includes everything: wealth, children, time, knowledge, intellect, health, and well-being. Allah  did not say that you should only give the zakat of your wealth; He said that whatever Allah  has given you, you must spend a portion of it in His way—meaning for the benefit of His creation. For example, if you spend time bathing your son, you should also bathe an orphan. If you spend money to build your house, you should also spend that money to spread the principles of the Quran. If you use your physical strength to do your office work, you should also use that strength to stop injustice. Spending a portion of God's blessings in His path is an essential principle.

Today, the great successes that the English, Germans, and Japanese are achieving are the result of the fact that they spend a part of their lives, wealth, and health for the development of their nation. But sadly, we Muslims, even though we acknowledge that our lives, wealth, and children will remain after our death, fail to spend these things in support of the truth.

O servants of Allah , you have been greatly deceived. You think that the money you spend on preaching true principles, helping the poor, assisting the oppressed, or preventing the tyrants, is going away from your hands. But where does it go? It brings you benefit not only in this world but also in the afterlife. Those who spend their lives and wealth on supporting good causes and people, they quickly become heirs of true peace, comfort, honor, and wealth. But those who do not spend, their lives are wasted, and their honor and wealth are lost. Remember that no one can truly be a servant of God until they learn to sacrifice their life, wealth, time, and comfort for the sake of God's command.

In this world, every nation is receiving its status according to its sacrifices. Look at the World Wars—each nation spent millions of young lives and billions of dollars for its own benefit and selfish interests. The Europeans thought they had ended the Turks, but Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha, may he rest in peace, shed the blood of Turkish youth and gained independence. Never forget this truth: as long as you do not learn to sacrifice in the way of God, you will never receive God's acceptance. O God, grant us the strength and courage to sacrifice our lives and wealth in accordance with Your command.

والذین یومنون بما انزل الیک وما انزل من قبلک

Translation: "And those who believe in what has been revealed to you, and what was revealed before you."

 The meaning of "والذین" is "those who," the meaning of "یومنون" is "believe," the meaning of "بما" is "in whatever," the meaning of "انزل" is "was revealed" or "came down," the meaning of "الیک" is "to you," the meaning of "علا" is "to," and the meaning of "ک" is "you." The meaning of "وما انزل" is "and whatever was revealed," the meaning of "من" is "from," the meaning of "قبلک" is "before you," and the meaning of "قبل" is "before."

The full translation of this verse is: The fourth principle for the pious nation that is created and made successful in front of the Qur'an will be that they believe in Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and in all the prophets and all the heavenly books that came before him. The first principle of the Qur'an's nation is that they believe in the unseen. The second principle is that they establish prayer. The third principle is that they sacrifice a portion of what God has provided them for the sake of God. Now, the fourth principle is that they believe in all the prophets and all the books of God.

The main point is that the Creator and Master of all humans is the one God, and His pleasure lies in the fact that all His servants live as brothers, in unity and love. To explain this path, God sent prophets and messengers to every nation and country, and revealed heavenly books for this very purpose. All of God’s prophets and all the heavenly books sent by God have always presented one truth to the people of the world: that all humans have one God, and all humans are brothers to one another, deserving of each other's compassion. Although God's prophets and books came at different times and to different nations and countries, their teachings were not different. They were all from the same God and brought the same message.

Whatever the prophets said to the servants of God, it was the truth and from God. Therefore, the Qur'an now commands all its believers to always keep this principle in mind in their lives: that all of God’s prophets are true, and their books are also true. By accepting this principle, you can bring unity and agreement among all the nations and countries of the world. O servants of God, the Qur'an has actually taught you this principle that just as the prophets were one and brothers to each other, so too should the community of their nations be one.

Quran reference:

Surah Al-Baqarah (2:285) – "The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. Each one believes in God and His angels and His books and His messengers, saying, 'We make no distinction between any of His messengers.' And they say, 'We hear and we obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord. To You is the final destination.'"

Hadith reference:

Sahih Muslim (Book 1, Hadith 347) – "The believers are like one body; if one part of the body hurts, the whole body feels the pain."

And this means that no nation should reject the prophet or heavenly book of another nation. Rather, all people and all nations should adopt the belief that from Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), all the prophets and all the books given to them are true. The divisions between people should be eliminated, and everyone should live as brothers, following the guidance of this final scripture. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) commanded belief in all of God's prophets and all of His books so that all the people of the world would understand that our God is one, His guidance is one, and those who bring His guidance are also one.

Therefore, all should accept the principle of one God, one law, one program, one guidance, and one human brotherhood, and live this worldly life in happiness and peace. O dear ones, how precious this teaching is! It is your duty now to present these principles to all the nations of the world so that national disputes and corruption may end, and an era of human unity may begin, where all humans become brothers to one another.

وبالآخرة هم یوقنون

Translation: "And they believe in the Hereafter."

 The meaning of "و" is "and," the meaning of "بالاخرة" is "in the Hereafter," the meaning of "ب" is "on" or "with," the meaning of "مثلا" is "for example" or "such as," the meaning of "کتاب" is "the Book," the meaning of "بالرسول" is "on the Messenger," the meaning of "ہم" is "they all," and the meaning of "یوقنون" is "they believe."

The full translation of this verse is: The fifth principle of the pious nation that will be created through the teachings of the Qur'an is that they believe in the life after death. The four principles mentioned earlier are: first, that they believe in the unseen; second, that they establish prayer; third, that they spend some of what God has provided them in the way of God; and fourth, that they accept Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Qur'an, and all the prophets and books that came before the Qur'an as true.

The final and fifth principle of the pious nation is that they believe that the life a person will receive after death will be in accordance with their actions in this world. The belief in the Hereafter is made a condition for entering the Qur'anic community so that no member of this community engages in actions that could cause disruption or harm to the Qur'anic community or humanity as a whole. The teachings of Islam emphasize two key beliefs: one is faith in the personal God, and the other is belief in the Day of Resurrection, i.e., life after death. If the belief in God is removed from the foundation of Islam, the entire structure of Islam would collapse. Similarly, if the belief in the Day of Resurrection is removed, the entire structure would also collapse, and this whole system would become lifeless.