Inner Dimensions

To think that Islam emphasises submission to God merely in the outward conduct of man’s life would be a gross misunderstanding. As the name used for the totality of the man-God relationship, Islam grips man’s inner self in equal, or even more emphatic, terms. Significantly, the Qur’an prefers to address Muslims more as ‘those who believe’, and treats Iman, faith, and ‘amal-salih, good conduct, as an integrated whole.

Indeed, the Qur’an and the Prophet, at almost every step, stress the importance of the inner relationship to God as compared to mere outward conformity. The true heart of the Shari’ah is not at all formalistic. For example: although prayers cannot be performed without turning to Makkah, the Qur’an says,

it is no virtue merely to turn your face to the East or the West (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:177); charity is ardently desired, but an act of charity done for the benefit of the doer will bring no reward (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:264); it is not the ‘flesh and blood’ of a sacrificial animal that God desires, but ‘the taqwa (God-consciousness) inside you’ (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:37), says another verse of the Qur’an;

And, declared the Prophet, ‘there are many who fast during the day and pray all night but gain nothing except hunger and a sleepless night’ (Reported by Darimi);

And, finally, ‘only those who return to God with a pure and wholesome heart, Qalb Salim, will deserve to be saved’ (Surah Al-Shu’ara’, 26: 89).