Page 100 - Basic Tenets of Islam

BASIC TENETS OF ISLAM

So set your face firmly towards the religion, as a pure
natural believer, Allah's natural pattern on which He
made mankind. There is no changing Allah's creation.
That is the true religion - but most people do not know
it. (Surat ar-Rum: 30)

Unless people observe the limits set by Allah in the
Qur'an, they wrong their own souls. Because, by failing to
adopt the values that are in accordance with their creation,
they appropriate attitudes against their very nature; this
causes anxiety not only in themselves, but also makes them
troublesome to society. As here stated:

... Allah does not wrong people in any way; rather it is
people who wrong themselves. (Surah Yunus: 44)
We need to keep in mind that one can only live by the
values praised by the religion of Islam if he feels it sincerely,
with a heartfelt desire. A morality of religion that is imposed
by force is both unacceptable in Allah's Sight, as well as a
cause for the proliferation of insincere people, referred to as
hypocrites in the Qur'an. This leads to the formation of an
undesirable societal structure. Allah commands that people
must not be compelled in the name of religion:

There is no compulsion where the religion is concerned.
Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error.
Anyone who rejects false gods and has faith in Allah
has grasped the Firmest Handhold, which will never
give way. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-
Baqara: 256)

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