Man revives (yanhaDu) according to what he carries of thought (fikr) about man, life and the universe, and about their relationship, as a whole, with what preceded this life and what comes after it. Hence, in order for man to revive (yanhaD), it is necessary to radically and comprehensively change his current thought (fikr) and generate another thought (fikr) for him. This is because it is the thought (fikr) that generates the concepts about things and consolidates them. Man shapes his behaviour (sulook) in this life according to his concepts (mafaaheem) about it. So, man's concepts (mafaaheem) about a person he likes shapes his behaviour (sulook) towards him. This is in contrast with his behaviour towards a person he dislikes and holds concepts of hatred. Also he will exhibit different behaviour (sulook) towards a person he does not know or holds any concepts (mafaaheem) about. So, human behaviour (sulook) is linked to man's concepts (mafaaheem) and when we wish to change the behaviour (sulook) of the declined man and make it refined, it is imperative to change his concepts (mafaaheem) first. Allah (swt) says:
"Allah does not change the circumstances of any people until they have changed what is within themselves." [Ar-Ra’d: 11]
The only way to change man's concepts (mafaaheem) is by generating thought (fikr) about this life in order to set up the correct concepts (mafaaheem) about it. Thought about this life will not be productively consolidated unless the thought about man, life and the universe and about what preceded this life as well as what comes after this life, and its relationship with what is before and after it, is generated. This can be achieved by giving the comprehensive idea (al-fikrah al kulliyah) about man, life and the universe, because it is the intellectual basis (al-qa 'idah al-fikriyyah) upon which all ideas about this life are built. Giving this comprehensive thought (fikrah) about these matters is the solution to man's greatest problem. Once this problem is solved all other problems are solved, because they are either partial compared to the main problem or branch from it. This solution wouldn't lead to the correct revival (nahDah), unless it is a true solution which is compatible with man's innate nature (fitrah) and convinces the mind and thus fills the heart with tranquillity.
The true solution cannot be reached except through the enlightened thought (al-fikr ul-mustaneer) about the universe, man and life. Consequently, those who yearn for revival (nahDah) and pursue the path of elevation (ruqiy), must first solve this problem in a correct manner by utilising enlightened thought (fikr). This solution is none other than the ‘aqeedah which serves as the intellectual basis (al-qa 'idah al-fikriyyah) upon which every detailed thought about man's behaviour and the systems ofthis life are built.
Islam addressed the greatest problem and solved it in a manner that agrees with man's nature (fitrah), convinces his mind, and fills his heart with tranquillity. Islam made the rational acceptance of this solution a condition for embracing it. Therefore, Islam is built upon one basis, i.e. the ‘aqeedah, which states there is behind man, life and the universe a creator (khaaliq), who created all of them and created everything: He is AllahThis Creator created everything out of nothing ('adam). His existence is indispensable (wajib ul-wujood) and He is not created - otherwise, He wouldn't be a Creator. The fact that He is a Creator makes it necessary that He is not created and that His existence is indispensable, because all things depend for their existence on Him and He does not depend on anything.
The reason that things must have a creator, is because the things which are comprehensible by the mind that is man, life, and the universe, are limited, weak, imperfect, and are in need for something other than themselves. Man is limited, because he grows in every aspect to a certain limit that he cannot surpass, so he is limited. Life is limited, because it manifests itself only in individuals, and what is noticed by the senses is that it is concluded with the individual, thus it is limited. The universe is limited, because it is the sum of celestial bodies, and each body is limited; and the sum of limited things is self-evidently limited. Thus, man, life, and the universe are definitely limited. When we ponder on the limited (thing), we see that it is not azali (eternal - limitless), otherwise it would not have been limited, and therefore, it must be created by something else, which is the Creator of man, life and the universe. This Creator, is either created by someone else, creator of himself, or azali (eternal - limitless) whose existence is indispensable (wajib ul-wujood). It is absolutely false that he is created by someone else, because he would then be limited. It is also false that he is the creator of himself and could not be rationally considered as the Creator. As for being self-created, the ramification of which would be he is created by himself and creating himself simultaneously. This is simply absurd. Hence, the creator must be azali (eternal - limitless) whose existence is indispensable. He is Allah (swt).
Anyone who has the mental faculty can comprehend from things that can be sensed that they have a creator. This is because what is noticed in all of them is that they are imperfect, weak and dependent, so they are definitely created. Therefore, it is sufficient to draw one's attention to anything in the universe, life and man to conclude from that the existence of the Creator and Organiser. Hence, looking at any celestial body of the universe, contemplating upon any facet of life, or comprehending any aspect of man, indicates definitely of the existence of Allah (swt). Therefore, we see that the Qur’an draws attention to these things and instructs man to ponder upon them, their surroundings, and what is related to them, and to conclude from his pondering the existence of Allah (swt). Thus man looks at things how they are in need of other things, so he definitely concludes from this the existence of Allah (swt), the Creator. There are hundreds of Qur’anic ayat expressing this meaning. In surat Aali-Imran, Allah (swt) says:
"Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alteration of night and day, these are indeed signs for men of understanding." [Aali-Imran: 190]
and in surat ar-Rum,
"And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. Behold! herein indeed are signs for men of knowledge." [Ar-Rum: 22]
and in surat al-Ghashiya,
"Will they not look at the camels, how they are created! And the heaven, how it is raised! And the mountains, how they are set up! And the earth, how it is spread!" [Al-Ghashiya: 17-20] and in surat at-Tariq,
"So let man reflect, from what he is created. He is created from a gushing fluid, that is issued from between the loins and ribs." [At-Tariq: 5-7]
and in surat al-Baqarah,
" Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the difference of night and day, and the ships which run upon the sea with that which is of use to men, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky, thereby reviving the earth after its death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and in the ordinance of the winds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth are signs (of Allah's sovereignty) for people who have sense." [Al-Baqarah: 164]
In addition, there are so many ayat that call upon man to ponder deeply upon things and their surroundings and that which is related to them, thereby concluding from that the existence of the Creator, the Organiser. Thus belief in Allah is firmly established through reason and clear evidence.
Indeed, belief in the Creator, is natural in every human being. However such innate belief comes through his emotions, a path that neither leads to trustworthy results nor to stability if left alone. The emotions (wijdaan) often add mythical and unfounded ideas to the original belief. These unwarranted elements of belief cause one to further stray from the correct belief and catapults one into Kufr and infidelity. Idolatry, superstitions, and mythology are but a result of mistakes of using emotions. Therefore, Islam does not leave the emotions as the only way to belief, so as not to ascribe certain attributes contradictory to deity, or to consider Allah incarnated in material substances, or to perceive the possibility of drawing closer to Him through worshipping material objects thus, leading to Kufr or shirk, or to delusions and superstitions all of which are renounced by true iman. That is why Islam compels the use of the mind with the emotions and obliges the Muslim to use his mind to believe in Allah and forbids imitation in ‘aqeedah. Therefore, Islam assigned the mind as the arbitrator in iman in Allah and forbids imitation in ‘aqeedah. Allah, says:
"Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alteration of night and day, these are indeed signs for men of understanding." [Aali-Imran: 190]
Therefore it is obligatory (waajib) upon every Muslim to make his belief (Iman) result from, thinking, study and contemplation and to make his mind the absolute arbitrator in the belief (Iman) in Allah (swt). The call to look deeply in the universe so as to understand its laws and to be guided to the iman in its Creator is repeated in the Qur'an hundreds of times in its different surah, all of which are directed to man's intellectual faculty, inviting him to think deeply and to ponder so as his iman be based upon reason and clear evidence, and warning him not to adopt what he found his forefathers doing without investigating it, scrutinizing it, and being personally confident of its correctness. This is the iman which Islam called for, and not the so called faith of the old (people). It is the faith of the enlightened and absolutely assured person who searched and contemplated until he came through contemplation and thinking to the assured conviction in the existence of Allah (swt).
Despite the obligation to use the mind to arrive at the correct belief in Allah (swt), man is unable to comprehend things beyond the boundaries of his senses and mental faculty. This is because man's mind is limited within boundaries it cannot surpass regardless of how much it develops and grows, hence, its ability to comprehend is limited. Therefore, the mind will fall short of comprehending the essence of Allah (swt), because He is beyond man, life and the universe and the human mind cannot comprehend what is beyond man. Thus the human mind is unable to comprehend the essence of Allah (swt). It should not be said how does man believe in Allah with his mind while his mind cannot comprehend the essence of Allah (swt). This is because belief (iman) entails iman in the existence of Allah (swt), whose existence is comprehended through the existence of His creation, i.e. the universe, man and life. These creations are within the limits of what the mind can comprehend and thus, man comprehended them; and from comprehending them, man comprehended the existence of a creator (for these things) who is Allah (swt). Therefore, iman in the existence of Allah is rational and within the limits of man's mental capacity. This is in contrast to the essence of Allah (swt), which is impossible since He is beyond man, life and the universe and hence He is beyond the capability of any mind. The mind is unable to comprehend what is beyond its bounds because of its inherent limitation to do so. This limitation should be one of the factors which strengthen the iman and not a source of suspicion and doubt. Moreover, since our iman in Allah (swt) is reached through our mind, our comprehension of His existence is complete. Since our sensation of His existence is linked with the mind, then our sensation of His existence is absolutely sure. Thus, this initiates in us a complete comprehension and assured feeling of all the divine attributes associated with the Creator. All of this convinces us that we will be unable to comprehend the essence of Allah (swt), despite our firm iman in Him. Therefore, we have to submit to all that He has informed us about, of which the mind is incapable to comprehend or to arrive at its comprehension. This is due to the natural inability of the human mind, by its relative and limited standards, to comprehend what is beyond it; for this comprehension would need absolute and unlimited standards, matters which man neither possess nor can acquire. As for the proof of the need for Messenger (saw)s, it has been proven that man is created by Allah (swt) and that religiousness is innate (fiTri) in man, since it is one of his instincts. Thus, man, by his nature, sanctifies his Creator, and this sanctification means worship, which is the relationship between man and his Creator. Leaving this relationship without organisation will lead to turmoil and to worshipping other than the Creator. Therefore, it is necessary to organise this relationship with a correct system which cannot emanate from man, because he cannot comprehend the nature of the Creator in order to set up this relationship between himself and the Creator. Hence, this system must come from the Creator. Since the Creator has to convey this system to man, therefore there should be Messenger (saw)s to convey to the people the deen of Allah (swt).
Further evidence of the peoples need for Messenger (saw)s is that the satisfaction of man's instincts and organic needs is a necessity. If this satisfaction were left without a system it would lead to an erroneous and abnormal fulfilment and thus result in man's misery. Therefore, it is necessary to have a system to organise man's instincts and organic needs. This system does not come from man, because his understanding of the organisation of man's instincts and organic needs is liable to disparity, differences, contradiction and is influenced by the environment in which he lives. Thus if this organisation was left to man, the system would be liable to disparity, differences and contradiction and would lead to man's misery. Therefore, this system must come from Allah (swt).
As for the proof that the Qur'an is revealed by Allah (swt), it is well known that the Qur'an is an Arabic book conveyed by Muhammad (saw) . Thus, it is either from the Arabs, from Muhammad (saw), or from Allah (swt), and it is not possible that it be from any other except these three since it is Arabic in language and style.
It is false to say that the Qur'an comes from the Arabs because it challenged them to bring forth anything similar to it. "Say, bring ten surahs like unto it." [Hud: 13]
"Say, bring one surah like unto it." [Yunus: 38]
They tried to bring the like of it but they failed to do so. Hence, this book is not of their speech because they were unable to bring the like, of it, though it challenged them, and they tried to bring the like of it. It is also false to say that it is from Muhammad (saw) , since Muhammad (saw) is one of the Arabs, and whatever the height of his genius, he is a human being and a member of his community and nation. Since the Arabs themselves had failed to bring the like of it, this also applies to Muhammad (saw) , the Arab, that he could not bring the like of it. Thus, it is not from him. Moreover, Muhammad (saw) has left saheeh ahaadeeth and mutawaatir ahaadeeth, whose authenticity is beyond doubt. If any of these ahaadeeth were to be compared with any verse of the Qur'an, there would be no similarity between them in style. He (saw) used to utter the revealed verse and say the hadeeth at the same time and yet there is a difference between them in style. Whenever any man attempts to diversify his speech, it will remain similar in style, because it is a part of him. Since there is no similarity between the hadeeth and the verse in style, the Qur'an is absolutely not Muhammad (saw) speech. Besides this, none of the Arabs, who were the most versed with the styles of the Arabic speech, alleged that the Qur'an is Muhammad (saw) speech, or that it is similar to his speech. The only thing that they claimed was that Muhammad (saw) had brought it from a Christian youth called Jabr. Allah (swt) refuted what they claimed and said:
"We know indeed that they say it is a man that taught him. The tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is Arabic, pure and clear." [An-Nahl: 103]
Since it is proved that the Qur'an is neither the speech of the Arabs nor the speech of Muhammad (saw) , it is definitely the speech of Allah (swt), and consequently it is a miracle for the one who brought it.
Because Muhammad (saw) brought the Qur'an, and the Qur'an is the speech of Allah (swt) and His divine law, and because no one brings Allah's (swt) Shari’ah (law) except the Prophets and the Messenger (saw)s, then accordingly Muhammad (saw) must definitely be a prophet and Messenger (saw), by rational proof.
This is an intellectual proof for the iman in Allah (swt) and in the message of Muhammad (saw), and that the Qur'an is the speech of Allah (swt).
Consequently, the iman in Allah (swt) comes through the rational way and this iman must be by the rational way. Thus, as such, it becomes the basis upon which the iman in all matters beyond our senses and in all of that which Allah (swt) informed us is built. This is because we believe in Allah (swt), Who has the divine attributes, we must definitely believe in everything that He has informed us of, whether it is mentally comprehended or it is beyond the minds capability, simply because Allah (swt) informed us of it. We must believe in the Day of Resurrection (ba'ath), in paradise (jannah) and hell (naar), in reckoning (hisaab) and punishment ('adhaah), in angels (malaaikah), in jinn, in ShayaaTeen and all others that the Qur'an or a hadeeth mutawaatir have mentioned. This iman, though it is through narration and hearing (textual) it is originally rational, because its origin was proven by the mind (intellect). Therefore, the Muslim's ‘aqeedah must depend on the mind or on that whose origin is proven through the mind. Thus, Muslims must believe only in what is proven intellectually through the rational way or the definite and decisive texts, that is, what is proven by the Qur'an and the hadeeth mutawaatir. Anything not proven through these two methods: the mind and the text of the book and of the definite hadeeth is prohibited to believe in, because creeds (a'qaaid) should not be taken except with certainty (yaqeen).
Therefore, there must be iman in what is before this life, which is Allah (swt), and in what is after it, which is the Day of Resurrection. Since the commands of Allah (swt) constitute the relationship of the life of this world with what is before it, besides the relationship of creation; and the reckoning of ones deeds in this life is the relationship of what is after this life with this life, in addition to the relationship of the Day of Judgement, then there should be a relationship between this life with that which is before it and that which will be after it. Furthermore man's situation in this life must be restricted to this relationship. In other words, man must proceed in this life in accordance with Allah's (swt) systems, and must believe that He will account him on his deeds on the Day of Judgement.
By this discussion, the enlightened thought has been established concerning what is beyond man, life and the universe and about what is before this life and what is after it, and that it has a relationship with what is before it and what is after it. Thus, the greatest problem has been completely solved by the Islamic ‘aqeedah.
Once man has reached this solution, he can move to the thought about the life of this world and to establish sound and productive concepts about it. This solution becomes the basis upon which the ideology, which serves as the way of revival (nahDah) is built. It is also the basis upon which the civilisation (haDarah) of this ideology rests, the basis from which its systems emanate, and the basis upon which its state is established. Thus, the basis upon which Islam is established, both the idea (fikrah) and method (tareeqah), is the Islamic ‘aqeedah.
"O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger (saw), and the Book which He sent to His Messenger (saw) and the Book which He sent to those before (him). Any who denies Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messenger (saw)s, and the Day of Judgement, has gone far, far astray." [An-Nisa: 136]
After this has been proven and the Iman in it is an inevitable matter, every Muslim is obliged to believe in the Islamic Shari’ah as a whole, because it came in the glorious Qur'an, and the Messenger (saw) conveyed it, otherwise, he would be a Kafir. Therefore, it is Kufr to deny the AHkam Shari’ah as a whole, or any definite (qaT'ai) detailed hukm of them. This is the case whether these ahkam (rules) are connected with worships (ibadaat), transactions (mu'amalaat), punishments (uqoobaat), food, etc. So the rejection of the verse
"So establish regular prayer" [Al-Baraqah: 43]
is the same as rejecting the verse
"But Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury," [Al-Baraqah: 275]
and is the same as rejecting the following verses:
"As to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her hands," [Al-Ma’idah: 38]
"Forbidden to you (for food) are dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which has been invoked the name of any other than Allah." [Al-Ma’idah: 3]
The iman in the Shari’ah is not based on the mind. Rather, one must surrender completely to all that which was revealed from Allah (swt).
"But no, by your Lord, they can have no (real) faith, until they make you judge in all the disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions, but accept them with the fullest submission." [An-Nisa: 65]