“And they were
not enjoined aught but
that they
should worship God, sincere
in their
(commitment to) Religion to
Him, turning
away from all that is false,
And that they
should be constant in
prayer,
and that they should pay the
purifying alms (zakat), for this is the
upright Religion”
(Qur’an, 98:5)
“Deen” in Arabic can
mean “Religion” or “Creed”, but it can also mean “the commitment of a person to
a religion”.
God asks mankind to
perform their duty (the terminology used in the Qur’an says “ibadah”, which
means “devotion”) (2:21; 51:56).
Every creation of
God has its duty or obligation which cannot be denied, except Mankind and Jinn who
have the option to obey or disobey, for which they get their due reward in the
hereafter, good or bad:
“Have you not seen that to
God prostrate (= perform its duty) all whoever is in the heavens and whoever in
the earth, and the sun and the moon, and the stars and the mountains, and the
trees and the animals, as well as many of mankind? And for many (of human
beings) the chastisement has become due. And he whom God abases, there is none
to give him honor. Indeed God does whatever He will” (22:18).
For these two
kinds of creation, Mankind and Jinn, which have the option to obey or disobey
God, there is guidance, a criterion to measure their deeds. And this is the “Deen” (= the Religion), which was
revealed to all Messengers of God. Each human being has a commitment with God
to do the best possible in performing his/her duty. A part of mankind’s devotion
to God is to stimulate and motivate this commitment, by using his/her intellect,
reason and insight to be able to discover some “mysteries” and subdue forces of
nature, which are given to him/her by God: “Are you not aware that God has made
subservient to you all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, and has
lavished upon you His blessings, both outward and inward? “ (31:20).
If we dig deeper into
that guidance of God for Mankind, we will find out that most of those
ordinances are moral codes to guide people on how to manage their interactions
in personal, familial, social, economic and political matters:
“We have verily sent our
messengers with clear signs, and We revealed with them the Scripture and the
Balance, so that mankind may uphold justice..” (57:25).
Beside many
indications on how God is favoring them with the most important material
sources, which enable them to increase their skills to make tools and anything that
can enrich their mode of life, God has mentioned specifically the iron: “.. And We sent down Iron,
wherein is great might and (many) uses for mankind, and so that God might mark
out those who would stand up for Him and His messengers, even though He
(Himself) is beyond the reach of human perception. Verily, God is Powerful,
Almighty” (57:25).
“Iron is
biologically significant, because it is a component of hemoglobin, a red
oxygen-carrying pigment of the red blood cells of vertebrates; iron compounds
are important in nutrition; one cause of anemia is iron deficiency. Iron is an
abundant element in the universe; it is found in many stars, including the sun.
Iron is the fourth most abundant element in the earth’s crust, which it
constitutes about 5% by weight. Iron forms such compounds as oxides,
hydroxides, halides, acetates, carbonates, sulfides, nitrates, sulfates, and a
number of complex ions” (www.encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com).
This indicates
that for a Muslim, to be devout to God by only performing prescribed ritual
activities is not enough, he/she should rather also be active in different
domains, which can be profitable for the society and help develop human civilization:
“All
shall have degrees according to what they have done. Your Lord is not heedless
of what they do” (6:132).
All good
initiatives and words, provided they are used within the lawful sphere and done
by the believers for God’s sake, could bring them glory in this worldly life
and in the life to come: “Whoever desires glory (should know that)
all
glory belongs to God. To Him ascends good words; and as for righteous action,
He exalts it; but those who plot evil, their plotting shall come to nothing” (35:10).
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