Islam for Non-Muslims

• RELIGIOUS FAITHS VS IRRELIGIOUS IDEAS
• 1 The Present State of the World Religions
• 2 Religious System as a Historical Reality
• 3 The Evidences of God across the Universe
• 4 The Absolute Oneness of God
• 5 The Reality of the Afterlife
• 6 The Growth of Irreligious Ideas
• 7 Worshipping Natural Elements
• 8 Worshipping Imaginary Idols
• 9 Worshipping Human Beings
• 10 Inventing Relationship to God
• 11 Inventing the Idea of Reincarnation
• 12 Inventing the Theory of Evolution (Darwinism)
• 13 Inventing ‘Nature’ as the Creator of the Universe
• 14 Importance of Religion in this Secular World
• ISLAM AS A RELIGION
• 15 Addressing the Criticisms of Islam
• 16 Islam as a Magnet for the Non-Muslims
• 17 The Quran as the Original Divine Book
• 18 The Quranic Reality in Archeological Findings
• 19 Muhammad (pbuh) as the Great Prophet
• 20 Islam as the True Religion
• 21 Islam as the Universal Religion
• 22 Islam as the Eternal Religion
• 23 Islam as a Practicable Religion
• 24 Islam as an Enjoyable Religion
• 25 Islam as the Peaceful & Savior Religion
• 26 Islam as the Progressive & Rational Religion
• 27 Islam in Health & Hygiene
• 28 Islam in Promotion of Science
• 29 Muslims in Practices of Science
• 30 Islam & Other Monotheisms: Similarities & Differences
• 31 Islamic Tolerance for Other Religions
• 32 Islamic Rights for Non-Muslim Citizens
• ISLAM AS A WAY OF LIFE
• 33 Islamic System vs. Human Ideologies
• 34 Moral & Social Impacts of Islamic Rituals
• 35 Moral Discipline in Islam
• 36 Sinning of 3 W’s: Women, Wine and Wealth
• 37 Dignity & Equality of Man in Islam
• 38 Human Rights in Islam
• 39 Social Duties in Islam
• 40 Dignity & Rights of Labor in Islam
• 41 Dignity of Women in Islam
• 42 Rights of Women in Islam
• 43 Marriage & Family Life in Islam
• 44 Political Philosophy in Islam
• 45 Economic Principles in Islam
• 46 Islamic Economy vs. Capitalism & Communism
• 47 Patriotism & Internationalism in Islam
• 48 Understanding Controversial Issues in Islam
• 49 Conversion to Islam: Problems & Prospects
• 50 Conclusive Message to the Non-Muslims

26:  ISLAM AS A PROGRESSIVE & RATIONAL RELIGION

Introduction: Islam is the latest in the series of religions and therefore it happens to embody many progressive and rational elements that are not natural with older religions. There is hardly any provision in Islam that blocks or sets back the progress of humanity.  Instead, it has been a vehicle for advancing the cause of prosperity, as appears from below.

(A): Progressive Elements: The Quran clears the field for progressive outlook and constructive thinking by setting an ax to many regressive ideas and superstitious beliefs as exampled below.
(1) No Place for Unauthorized Ideas & Actions: Examples now follow:

(i) Islam knocked down many Arabian superstitions surrounding the new moons which could eventually lead up to its worship, saying “These are nothing but the signs to measure time in (the affairs of) men, and for pilgrimage” (2:189).
(ii) The Quran condemned the then Arabian practice of “entering house through back door, on return from pilgrimage.” (2:189).
(iii) The Quran also attacked a prejudiced idea popular with some ancient tribal Arabs by revealing: “There is no blame on you if you eat in a company or separately, in the house of a sincere friend of yours” (24:61).
(iv) The same scripture also voiced against your self-imposed prohibitions or reservations like saying “these are prohibited cattle and crops; none should eat them except” some designated people (6:138). Likewise, you cannot invent an opportunist ruling like “Whatever is in the wombs of these cattle is specially reserved (as food) for our males and forbidden for our females but if it is still-born, all have shares therein” (6:139).  God warned of punishment for such false “attribution (of superstitions to God)” (6:139).
(v) Similarly, some Arabians spread the idea that the solar eclipse simultaneous with the death of the Prophet’s son Ibrahim was a matter of nature’s mourning.  He however bluntly dismissed it by arguing that it was a matter of coincidence with no causal link between the two events.  
(vi) Female genital mutilation (female circumcision) involves cutting of female external genital organs for controlling their sexuality. This inhuman practice now exists among millions of girls mostly in African and Asian nations.  This is more of cultural than religious matter as it cuts across religious boundaries of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Animism etc., and it predates Islam and Christianity. Around 500 B.C. Greek historian Herodotus found this practice among some ancient peoples. This inhuman culture was neither documented in the Quran nor was it promoted by the Prophet for practice by his kin and family members including wives and daughters. Differently from male circumcision, there is no medical benefit for female circumcision; it only causes needless but painful bleeding often leading to infection related deaths. It also violates Islamic norms by interfering with “beautiful shape” in which God created mankind (40:64) and violating women’s rights to sexual pleasure designed by God and so on.

(2) Islam Denounces Unscientific/Superstitious Beliefs:  Islam does not endorse tying omens (good or bad signs) to any unrelated origin. For example, the people of Pharaoh ascribed their calamity to “evil omens connected with Moses” and when anything good came, they said “This is due to us” (7:131). This type of fanciful imagination without scientific basis amounts to “nothing other than lying” in Islam (6:116). Labeling something or someone as holy or unholy is not only unscientific but is also considered a partnership sin since anything good or bad comes only from God and not without a purpose.

Accordingly, you cannot look at any number (e.g. 13), any day (e.g. Tuesday) or any events (e.g. cawing of a crow, emptiness of a pitcher, looking through  a broken glass, cutting trees by night, first sale on credit, calling someone back at the outset of a journey etc.) as a bad sign for what comes next.  Likewise, you cannot consider something else like male birth, date of 11/11/11etc. as a decisive sign for future goodness. Similarly, you cannot link the bright star ‘Sirius’ to your fortune because it is God (the “Lord of Sirius” and not Sirius) Who is the source of your “wealth and satisfaction” (53:49/48). Such immunity from superstitious beliefs leaves you free to go ahead with your programs of journey, marriage, celebration etc. at any time of your choice, without being held back by any superstitious belief in bad or good omens. 

In this way, Islam relieves humanity of any negative thinking and regressive mentality. Instead it introduces progressive vision and optimistic outlook whereby the process of human goodness and progress can take off.

 (3) Value of Work & Effort in Earthly Life: In Islam, belief in the Hereafter does not take away importance from the earthly life. It therefore puts emphasis on both stages of life, as mirrored in the counsel of God for your asking for “goodness both in this world and the Hereafter” (2:201). The earthly life is considered as an important complement to the Afterlife, as you can set stage for a prosperous Afterlife by cultivating virtues in this life. To be specific, if you can gain purse and power through hard work and effort, you can spend money in charity and use power against injustice and thereby score high points in your quest for “Afterlife home (Paradise)” (28:77). 

Stress on Work & Effort: Islam therefore replaces idle fatalism with utmost work efforts. God said to have “created man into toil and struggle” (90:4). Then comes the warning that He does “not change the condition of people until they themselves try to change it (through hard work).  Man cannot have anything except what he strives for” (13:11; 53:39). In order for you to be better able to exercise positive influence on the face of this earth, you are advised to “disperse through the land in quest of God’s bounty after the prayer is finished (62:10). In this manner, Islam clears your way for launching efforts (e.g. work, production, learning, research, innovation, exploration etc.) necessary for success in this life. The Prophet also did a great job in promoting the culture of actions by busying himself for every moment of his life. Needless to say, his actions were remarkably rich in both quantity and quality.

Virtuous Worldly Actions: Islam extends the definition of good deeds to any petty earthly actions if you perform with divine pleasure in mind. For example, if you work for honest income, pursue education for better job or begin any daily routine jobs like sleeping, eating, using bathroom or even making love with wife etc. in the name or pleasure of God, then these daily actions will upgrade to prayer in status. The Prophet argued if illegal sex (adultery) can be a sin, why legal sex with wife will not count as a good deed. Once his one companion complained to him against another who was passing by the mosque during prayer time. He nicely moderated by explaining that the person might be going on an urgent mission after duly praying at home. In this way, Islam strikes a rational balance between the importance of both stages of life and does not anyway hamper the cause of human progress through work efforts on this planet.

(B) Rational Provisions: Islamic provisions are predominantly not only progressive but are also geared to reason and rationality. Some examples will make the point clear. As an optional provision for introducing discipline in your habit, you are expected to use right hand for touching good things and left hand for handling impure things like cleaning after using bathroom. Similarly, you are encouraged to wear white so you can easily detect any obvious dirt and clean it off. Audible recitation is emphasized during night-time prayer so you do not feel sleepy.  Sitting is preferred to standing for urination to keep your clothes clean from urine sprinkles. During Eid celebration, you are recommended to take different routes for tripping to and from the mosque so you can get chance to give alms to different groups of the poor without repetition. 
 
Likewise, drinking of alcohol is a total prohibition for its roles in numerous physical, social and economic problems. You are not even expected to drink water from an empty wine bottle so people are not badly inspired to drink alcohol under cloud of confusion. It is optional for you to offer greeting (salam) to others while it is emphasized to respond to others’ greetings so their feeling is not hurt from your apparent indifference. Woman inherits property at the rate of half of the man because (i) he has greater burden to support the family including wife and (ii) she inherits properties from more relatives than him. In judicial witness, one male equates 2 females as the latter generally tend to be more emotional. If the wives of the Prophet were “guilty of evident unseemly conduct, the punishment would be doubled” (33:30) as they have the least reason to sin for living in the best religious environment.

The Prophet advised the Imams to pray with relatively shorter verses for bigger congregation which is likely to include more of vulnerable population like the old, the weak etc. In a plague-stricken locality, the outsiders are asked not to get in for safety reason and the insiders not to get out for foiling Satanic intimidation.  Islam wants you to be ruled by commonsense which suggests that in case you contract any communicative diseases like COVID or flu virus, you should pray at home for social distancing in preference to attending the mosque and infecting your fellow Muslim brothers. In another example, Islam prohibits wasting of resources like food, drinks etc. (7:31) so you can save them for donating to the needy. This ruling is however not absolute as your rejection of rotten food for protection of your stomach will never be a waste. In this way numerous examples may illustrate the rational sides of Islamic rituals and provisions. 

Conclusion:  It appears from above that Islam is very strong in progressive elements and rational provisions which are quite favorably comparable with those of other religions.