The Preservation of Religion: Islam

 

“Allah Almighty has made clear by many of His laws that the purpose is to establish justice between his servants and for people to behave fairly. Whichever path leads to justice and fairness is part of the religion.”

Ibn Qayyim (RA)

 

Islam is the sum of beliefs, rituals and tenets commanded by Allah (SWT) to regulate people's relationship to Him and their relationships with each other.

Allah, the Majestic and Sublime acts with wisdom and purpose in everything He commands, including the Islamic Legal rulings that guide the actions of His slaves.

Thus, the principal objectives of Sharia are 5 and they are:

1} Preservation of Religion

2} Preservation of Lives

3} Preservation of Intellect

4} Preservation of Lineage

5} Preservation of Wealth.

The Islamic Law (Sharia) protects these fundamental five in two ways: first, by ensuring their establishment and second, by preserving them.

However, for today’s article we shall focus on the number one only: the preservation of religion.

This has to do with establishing goodness in the individuals as well as in the community by preaching and teaching the tenets of Islam, encouraging its practices and discouraging vices, infidelity and anything that may contradict its teachings.

 

Allah says in the Quran chapter 3 verse 85:

“Surely the religion in the Providence of Allah is Islam.

And in no way did the ones to whom the Book was brought differ (among themselves) except even after the knowledge came to them, being inequitable among themselves.

And whoever disbelieves in the signs of Allah, then surely Allah is swift at the reckoning.”

And He continues in verse 85 of the same chapter:

“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.”

 

To conclude my note on the number one objective of Sharia, let me be bring in the words of an Islamic scholar, Ibn al-Qayyim (RA), who said:

“Verily, the Sharia is founded upon wisdom and welfare for the servants in this life and the afterlife. In its entirety it is justice, mercy, benefit, and wisdom.

In essence, establishing and preserving the religion is not for the benefit of Allah (SWT) at all but for the sole benefit of His creations throughout eternity.