Page 64 - Islam and Karma
P. 64
ISLAM AND KARMA
and earth, willingly or unwillingly, submits to Him and to Him
you will be returned? (Surah Al ‘Imran: 83)
Anyone who surrenders to Allah, the sole Lord of the whole uni-
verse, and who accepts Allah as their only Friend and Guardian, bow-
ing before Him in heartfelt love, obedience and awe, has found the
only way to salvation, for Allah is the Supreme Power. We are told of
Allah's greatness and His exaltedness in the following verse:
Allah, there is no god but Him, the Living, the Self-Sustaining. He
is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens
and the earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede with Him except
by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is be-
hind them but they cannot grasp any of His knowledge save what
He wills. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth and
their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the
Magnificent. (Surat al-Baqara: 255)
Following this verse of the Qur’an, in which we are told of Allah's
greatness and His exaltedness, we are told that if we turn away from
false gods and towards Him, we will have taken hold, as it were, of a
firm handhold to Him that cannot be removed as long as we cling to
it:
There is no compulsion where the religion is concerned. Right
guidance has become clearly distinct from error. Anyone who re-
jects false gods and believes in Allah has grasped the Firmest
Handhold, which will never give way. Allah is All-Hearing, All-
Knowing. Allah is the Protector of those who believe. He brings
them out of the darkness into the light. But those who disbelieve
have false gods as protectors. They take them from the light into
the darkness. Those are the Companions of the Fire remaining in
it timelessly, for ever. (Surat al-Baqara: 256-257)
Because they do not realise this, many people mistakenly seek the
support and the guardianship of beings who are in fact powerless to
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