Jesus From The Point Of View Of The Holy Qur’an
Editor's Note
In The Name Of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
English
In The Name Of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
Islamic teachings cover the entire human life. On the whole, they are divided into two parts:
1. Man’s relation with Allah
2. Man’s relation with man
In acts of worship, man, by turning his mind to Allah and praying to Him with his heart, tries to make his soul transcend the material world. He tries to purge it of the impurities of sin and to cultivate high human qualities within himself.
It is obvious that traversing this path requires guides who with their extra-ordinary knowledge and piety may guide all and may set an example for them to follow.
Human knowledge and intelligence being limited, it is quite likely that we may make a mistake in determining what is in our interest and what way leads to our eternal happiness. Hence there must be some persons, who, because of their communion with the metaphysical world. are in position to find the right path and show that to others.
Death means separation of soul from the body; Islam tells us that man is not annihilated as the result of death. He is only transferred from one world to another, where he begins a new life. The Holy Prophet (S) has said: “You have not been created for annihilation. You have been created for everlasting life. The only thing is that you are moved from one world to another.” 1
It is worth emphasizing that among human thinkers there exists no difference of opinion on the point that this universe has a self-sustaining First Cause. At the most, materialists call it matter, while the religious philosophers call it Allah.
To understand what religion is and what is its role in the life of men, we should first of all know its definition.
Religion may briefly be defined as under:
Religion (din) is an all-round movement in the light of faith in Allah and a sense of responsibility for the formation of thought and belief, for the promotion of high principles of human morality for the establishment of good relations among members of the society and the elimination of every sort of undue discrimination.
In this short preface, we intend to draw the attention of the readers to a few important points:
1) We are Muslims, but is it enough for us to be Muslims and should we feel pride in it without knowing that Islam, more than anything else, stresses upon knowledge and action?
Islam means knowledge of a specific conception of the cosmos for the intellectual and moral reform of mankind, of a superbly calculated program put forth as a dynamic school of thought. It is knowledge of articles of belief and articles of action.
This book has been compiled and published in 1977 by the Islamic Seminary Publications, under the auspices of His Eminence Ayatullah Sayyid Abu’l Qasim al-Khu’i.
Extracts from the writings of the following revered scholars have been included in this book:
• Allama Shahid Murtadha Mutahhari
• Allama Muhammad Mahdi Al-Asifi
• Allama Makarem Shirazi
• Allama Ibrahim Amini
• Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir As-Sadr
Islamic Seminary Publications
Pakistan, 1977
