Part 2 (1/2)

I. What do I mean by religion?

II. What is true Islam?

III. Why is it the best religion?

I.--_Religion, G.o.d and Nature._

_Religion._--No thinking man can help asking himself the questions: ”Whence has this world come? Whither is it bound to go?” in other words, ”What was the _origin_ ([Arabic: mabda]) and what will be the _end_ ([Arabic: ma'ad]) of the world of men, animals, plants and things that I perceive?” The answers which each man gives to these questions const.i.tute his _religion_. A few earnest persons (poets, philosophers and theologians) try to answer these questions for themselves by patient study and earnest thought[13]. But a large majority of men and women merely take the answers taught them by their parents, teachers or priests. There may possibly be a small number of men who do not trouble themselves about these questions. These are not ”thinking men” and may therefore be left out of account.

Religion is a silent and subtle power that works in the heart of man and makes for righteousness. It is generated by his conviction as to the beginning and end of himself and the world in which he lives and moves[14].

_G.o.d._--No intelligent and intelligible answers can be given to questions as to the origin and the end or the government of _Nature_[15]

without a.s.suming the existence of the _One and only one G.o.d_ who is _Infinite_ and _Absolute_, _i.e._, One who hath neither beginning nor end and who is not conditioned or limited by anything whatever[16]. The Infinite and Absolute One has been called by different names by different people at different times[17]. Yezdan, Ishwara, Jehovah, G.o.d, and Allah are the names, in different languages, of the same _Infinite and Absolute G.o.d_.

G.o.d of the Granite and the Rose Soul of the Sparrow and the Bee!

The mighty tide of being flows Through countless channels, Lord, from Thee.

*_Conceptions of G.o.d, His attributes, and His relation to Nature._--These have been and will ever be many and various. But I summarise three princ.i.p.al conceptions under each head, for I believe that other ideas, notions or conceptions are but combinations of two or more of these:--

I. Conceptions of G.o.d:--

1. G.o.d as the Ultimate _Law_.

2. G.o.d as the Omnipotent Energy or _Power_.

3. G.o.d as the Supreme Being or _Person[18]_.

II. Notions of G.o.d's princ.i.p.al attributes:--

1. G.o.d as Creator or Nourisher.

2. G.o.d as Preserver or Protector.

3. G.o.d as Adjuster or Judge[18].

[*] _Paragraphs marked with asterisks and their footnotes may be omitted at the first reading._

III. Ideas of G.o.d's relation with Nature[20] (_i.e._, with the world of men, animals, plants and other objects, and their inter-relations, of which men are aware):--

1. All is _from_ G.o.d = G.o.d is _above_ Nature which He created and governs (Theism).

2. G.o.d is _in_ All = G.o.d is _in_ Nature although Nature is not G.o.d (Panentheism).

3. G.o.d _is_ All = G.o.d _is_ Nature and Nature is G.o.d (Pantheism)[21].

* The above is but a rough summary. I have neither time nor s.p.a.ce to explain and ill.u.s.trate it. I have ventured to give some hints--imperfect hints, I fear--in the footnotes. I may however state here that, of the above three conceptions, notions or ideas Islam accepts the medium or the middle one which, as a little thought will show, includes the other two conceptions also. You need not at present try to understand the summary or the words given in brackets. My subsequent Notes will explain it to some extent. Please remember that there are many men and many minds, and that there are likely to be as many religions, as many conceptions of G.o.d, as many notions of His attributes, and as many ideas of the beginning or end of things, ([Arabic: mabda' wa ma'ad]) as there are _thinking_ minds[22].