Philanthropy means returning this share to the have-not group. Those who pay this share will be rewarded by God, and those who fail in this duty will be punished. The Quranic concept of philanthropy is based on

According to the Quranic account, God created Adam and his wife, Eve and settled the pair in Paradise. Where was this Paradise? The Bible is specific on this point: The Lord God planted a garden eastward in

had formed. (Genesis 2:8) This was the beginning of the social life of man. God gave both Adam and Eve a basic direction: God said, ‘O Adam! Settle, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat freely from it

greatest source of happiness for those found deserving of it by God Almighty. According to a tradition, the Prophet of Islam once said that God would thus address the inhabitants of Paradise: “O, dwellers

not be pleased, O Lord, when You have given us what You have not given to any of Your creatures?” God would say: “May I not give you something even more excellent than that?” And He will say: “I shall

have received, being a gift from God,—and they not being its creators, it might be taken away by God if He so desired.This tradition is an answer to this fear. When God Himself declares that His pleasure

absolutely valueless and insignificant! This experience will lead you to realize that there is a mighty God of this entire cosmos, who is its Creator as well as its Sustainer. If you try to visualize the vast

beings are actually utterly helpless and insignificant creatures and that God is an indispensable necessity for us, for without God, it is simply impossible for us to exist. This, undoubtedly, is the most

inhibitions to the wind and rushes towards God. He cries out with his whole being, “O God! Help me! Without Your help, I can do nothing.” In this vast universe, God is our support. He is the

MODESTY: THE PRICE OF PARADISERealizing God’s Lordship, man realizes his position of helplessness and servitude. Then one kneels down before God, saying: “O, God, Forgive me.” These words of humility are

No. 214) This tradition tells us what God requires from his servants. What is required is acknowledgement. When man realizes his position of servitude and God’s Lordship, an intense feeling of helplessness

Before God’s greatness and perfection, his own existence appears altogether trivial. This realization compels him to kneel down before God, pleading for mercy and forgiveness, saying: “O, God, Forgive

prepares a believer for God’s mission. Giving zakat and spending one’s wealth for the sake of God is a way to fulfil this high purpose, making one eligible for a high reward.Besides God’s rewards in the Hereafter

fasting person receives is that he is enlisted by angels as a grateful servant of God. According to a teaching of the Prophet God says: “O people, all of you are hungry except the one whom I feed.” (Sahih Muslim

any other means. That is why if a person keeps fasts in the month of Ramadan and is thankful for God’s blessings, he proves himself deserving of receiving the food grown in the soil for the rest of the

themselves unstintingly in the scheme of God. Such people are like small cogs which revolve strictly according to the motion of a larger wheel—in this case, the will of God. This is undoubtedly a trying task;

that carries a great reward. To perform this task is “to help God.” There can be no doubt about the excellence and superiority of those whom God chooses to enlist as His helpers. THE IDEAL LIFE COMPANION

his life was in danger. She hastened to reassure him, and comforted him by observing, “It cannot be. God will surely never forsake you. You are kind to your kin; you always help the weak; you solace the weary;

teaching of the Quran—meaning the oneness of God. There is no god but the one God. The following Quranic verse most aptly expresses this: Say, ‘He is God, the One, God, the Self-sufficient One. He does not give

it also has its secular aspect, that is, focused thinking. When a believer adopts the belief that God is only one, he develops the habit of concentration. Concentration is the ability to direct all your

Although worship’s real connotations are humility and fearfulness, when the word is used in relation to God, it also includes the concept of love. Ibn Kathir writes: “According to the dictionary, worship stands

before God. In the Quran, this is expressed by different Arabic words, such as Khashiyyah, Tadhurru, Ikhbat, Inabat, Khushu, Khudu and Qunut, etc. Enshrined in each of these words is the concept of God-consciousness

God-consciousness. To worship God means utter prostration of oneself before Him. The Being before whom the act of worship is performed is no tyrant or tormentor but an extremely kind and compassionate Being

sacrificing his life for a religious purpose. During the acts and rites of Hajj, it is as if the servant of God has given himself up to his Lord to the ultimate extent. The undertaking of the journey entails the

sacrifice is a pledge of self-sacrifice to God; staying out on the open plain of Arafat is symbolic of the assembly, on Doomsday, of all men in the presence of God. Thus the various practices of Hajj aim

aim at giving men the lesson of surrendering before God, fearing God, and awareness of the Day of Judgement. A strong love of God is thus developed, which leads the believer to fulfil like one possessed the