Muslims Come with Only One Label:
And It Is a Label Made in Heaven!
And It Is Called the Submitters and the Peacekeepers!
Dr. Pasha
(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)
Allah's Jannat is open to all who care. Those who bring even an iota of "Good Work" to the table, they shall receive due consideration.
Just as Allah says in the Qur'an. And how clear and how concise are his words in the Qur'an! And, of course, whose words could be better, or clearer, or more concise? Again, just as Allah says:
Wa Man Ahsanu Minallahi Qeela?
So Allah lays out the formula for human salvation in the Aayat Karimah below. Does anyone think they can get a better deal anywhere else? Hear Allah say it in his own words:
Fa-Man Ya'mal Mithqaala Dharratin Khayiran Yarahu.
Paraphrase:
"Whoever produces even an atom's worth of Good Work,
he will receive due reward and recognition for it."
All this is in the Next World -- The Aakhirah, as the Qur'an calls it.
Right here in This World, in this Duniyaa that is, human beings need labels to live. Labels serve the purpose of grouping things into convenient and manageable units. And they help to identify people in some useful ways.
The world needs labels to define people's identities. And, in a sense, these labels tell the world who people are, and what their backgrounds are. The Qur'an says people are categorized into nations and societies and groups so people will get to know one another and learn to deal with one another effectively.
Allah blesses that human condition -- human formations into societies and nations and "Tribes" -- by saying that Allah himself has placed people in "Nations and Societies and Tribes" so people would be able to identify and recognize each other.
Wa Kadhaalika
Ja'alnaakum Shu'ooban
Wa Qabaa-ila
Li-Ta'aarafoo.
But these labels and names and identities are worldly things. They are the products of worldly situations in which people happen to be located. They are the result of human locations in their Specific Space-Time Coordinates.
And they are mostly imposed on you by accidents of birth. Or in some cases they come to you through adoption of a certain land or country.
That means you are born in Afghanistan, you are likely to be labeled an Afghan, a Pashtoon or even a Tadjik. Or you are born in America and you acquire the label American.
But there is one label -- among all the labels in the world -- that is made in Heaven. And that is bestowed upon you by God Almighty himself.
And that label is most neutral and non-directional from one point of view. It does not say you are an Arab or a Scott or a Japanese or something else of that kind. That label is not foisted upon you by the accidents of your birth or parentage, without any say-so on your part.
But from another point of view, that label is as pointed, and as specific, and as directional, and as full of content as any label you can possibly have or imagine.
And that label -- that most unique and powerful and amazing label that I am talking about -- is Muslim.
No, your parents did not give you that label. Nor did your country. Nor did your tribe or nation or society confer that label and that title upon you.
The Qur'an says that most amazing label, that most incredible name of "Muslims," was given to you by God Almighty himself.
Allah's words are simple, clear and most precise: It was he who gave you the name Muslims!
That is Qur'an, Ladies & Gentlemen. And here are the exact words from Heaven above:
Huwa Sammaakumul Muslimeen!
Min Qablu Wa Fi Haadha!
Paraphrase:
"It was he who conferred that title, that name Muslims, upon you.
Then, now and forever!
So, folks, there you have it! Muslims: A Label Made in Heaven!
And to the extent I know, there is not one other label in the world, of any kind that could claim that kind of a pedigree: A group of people directly anointed by God and called by that name, Muslims, right in the heart of the Scripture, the Qur'an, to use a Christian-Jewish-Western theological expression.
Forget what kind of Scripture or whose Scripture it is. But it is Scripture that claims direct descent from the Heaven above. And that too 1400 years ago, when that Immortal Scripture first reached our mortal hands in this world.
And that name, that title, that label -- Muslims -- what a glorious, what an exalted, what an honored moniker it is! Again, no one, anywhere, has anything like it.
Others don't have a name or a label like it for one simple reason: Because they cannot. And they cannot because of one simple fact: This label, Muslims, came directly from God, in the Scripture. And every name, title, label people have, other than Muslims, is something that people made up themselves.
They are all human concoctions, no matter how ordinary or lofty they are.
This is another direct "proof" that this system of Islam is directly from Allah, God Almighty, and it is not of human making, like every other system of thought, belief and behavior in this world, whether it is so-called secular or so-called religious.
But the story does not end there. Consider the meaning of this title that Allah, God Almighty, designed for us: Muslims. It does not embody a tribal, ethnic, national or regional identity. It is not imposed on people by their accidents of birth.
It is, on the other hand, a most exalted title, with a most glorious meaning, that people acquire, of their own fullest volition and choice, by exercising their highest skills and faculties of reasoning, scientific analysis, research, logic and common sense.
People do all kinds of inquiry, research and investigation to decide which god to believe in. Or if to believe in a god at all. And when they finally settle on God Almighty, Allah, as their true and only maker and master, and as the maker and master of the world, they inherit the title Muslims that comes with that most noble and rational choice.
It is the title that these seekers and upholders of truth earn and acquire.
It is as non-sectarian as it gets. And it is as non-denominational as it gets. And it is as universal and as inclusive as it is possible for human beings to imagine or invent.
And this title, Muslims, though of divine origin, and totally enshrined in the pages of the Noble Scripture, is not an empty title either. It is not a shell without substance. Nor is it a cliche. But an expression most full of meaning and significance.
It means, I mean this name Muslims, those who submit to the authority and to the Law of God -- in their lives as well as in this world. And with regard to all affairs of This World as well as the Next World.
They are the Submitters in every single aspect of whose lives God Almighty's Law rules supreme. They are the Commandment Keepers of this world.
And then that same meaning morphs and emerges as something even more wonderful: The People of Peace.
And the Peace Keepers!
Historically, people have called themselves with all kinds of labels: Quakers, Shakers and what have you. But Muslims is a label that God himself chose for those who submit to his law and to his authority, and thus become the embodiment and epitome of peace in the world.
Yes, that is how the label Muslims came about. And that is what the label Muslims is all about: Those who submit to God and who thus become the repository and guardians of peace and prosperity for the entire world.
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