Why I chose this rather difficult subject for today's post is that while I was presenting the exegesis of Surah As Shura - the 42nd chapter of the Holy Qur'an, I got stuck up at the exegesis of verse 13, in which a complete explanation of the term Deen was given and a reader made to understand why Islam is a Deen and not a religion:
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"
شَرَعَ لَـكُمۡ مِّنَ الدِّيۡنِ مَا وَصّٰى بِهٖ نُوۡحًا وَّالَّذِىۡۤ اَوۡحَيۡنَاۤ اِلَيۡكَ وَمَا وَصَّيۡنَا بِهٖۤ اِبۡرٰهِيۡمَ وَمُوۡسٰى وَعِيۡسٰٓى اَنۡ اَقِيۡمُوا الدِّيۡنَ وَ لَا تَتَفَرَّقُوۡا فِيۡهِؕ كَبُـرَ عَلَى الۡمُشۡرِكِيۡنَ مَا تَدۡعُوۡهُمۡ اِلَيۡهِ ؕ اَللّٰهُ يَجۡتَبِىۡۤ اِلَيۡهِ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ وَيَهۡدِىۡۤ اِلَيۡهِ مَنۡ يُّنِيۡبُ
شَرَعَ لَـكُمۡ مِّنَ الدِّيۡنِ مَا وَصّٰى بِهٖ نُوۡحًا وَّالَّذِىۡۤ اَوۡحَيۡنَاۤ اِلَيۡكَ وَمَا وَصَّيۡنَا بِهٖۤ اِبۡرٰهِيۡمَ وَمُوۡسٰى وَعِيۡسٰٓى اَنۡ اَقِيۡمُوا الدِّيۡنَ وَ لَا تَتَفَرَّقُوۡا فِيۡهِؕ كَبُـرَ عَلَى الۡمُشۡرِكِيۡنَ مَا تَدۡعُوۡهُمۡ اِلَيۡهِ ؕ اَللّٰهُ يَجۡتَبِىۡۤ اِلَيۡهِ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ وَيَهۡدِىۡۤ اِلَيۡهِ مَنۡ يُّنِيۡبُ
(42:13) He has prescribed for you the "Deen" (religion) which He enjoined upon Noah and which We revealed to you (O Muhammad), and which We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus, commanding: “Establish this "Deen" and do not split up regarding it.” What you are calling to is very hard upon those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity. Allah chooses for Himself whomsoever He pleases and guides to Himself whoever penitently turns to Him.
Since its explanation is too lengthy, I skipped this explanation there for then the post on Surah As Shura would have become too lengthy and may have become too difficult to concentrate on this core issue which makes Islam stands out from rest of the religions, that is Jewish and Christianity.
Here too, I shall present first the ordinary explanations by various interpreters and would then return to the detailed exegesis of verse 13 by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, given in his book "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an."
A vast majority of the entire population of the world follows a particular Divine or man made religion or in some cases simply Atheists - not believing in any religion or even God or gods. People who follow certain belief as their religion are staunch followers of their belief and the rituals they follow are very much part and parcel of the their faith which is more emotional (in nature) then rational. And here lies in the difference between ‘Religion’ and ‘Deen’: Those who follow a religion are more emotionally attached to their religions or faith, but Muslims are attached to their Deen for logical reasons rather than mere emotional attachment, for Deen deals with logic and logic alone whereas religion is seated deep inside heart, which is the seat of emotions. Since people of other faiths are unable to see the logic in the concept of ‘Deen’ so instead of coining a separate word for ‘Deen’ have intermingled it with religion.Thus broadly speaking the difference between deen and religion lies in the very concept for the frame of reference of both is different. Religion is an individual matter, but deen is a collective matter. Religion is specifically focused on rights of Allah, the One God who has no partners are associates attached to Him. In fact, center of religion is ALLAH and its worship, but center of Islam as a Deen is HUMAN being. So, deen has a broader canvas then religion. What differentiates Islam from other religions is:
- Islam has its own unique economic system which in neither capitalistic nor communistic. Unlike modern interest based banking system, Islam promotes “ishteraak”. This thought can put an end to the on and off wars between the two ideologies and frequent economic recession.
- Similarly, Islam also provides complete guidelines on governance and administration. it provides a system of governance which is in mid of monarchy and democracy, eliminating flaws of both systems and adding some of unique Islamic concepts. Clear guidelines on public administration. It even teaches about rules of war ! how to treat non combatants, military strategies.
- Unlike system of west which is based on “Freedom”. Islam gives a social system based on “brother hood“. The social solidarity is a necessary component for health and evolution of a society and Islam emphasizes on social solidarity in form of concept of brother hood. Where individual actions can have a collective effect.
- Since, the epicenter of Deen is human, the Deen guides about existence of other religions under its dominance. And these guidelines are not hypothetical. In fact, there demonstration was shown by prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and the rightly guided caliphs in state of Madina. Concept of jizya tells a peaceful co-existence of multiple religions under a greater dominant system Islam as a deen.
- Islam is the only right way of life in the sight of Allah.
- And whosoever adopts any other way except Islam that shall not be accepted from him and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers.
Having given the meaning of Deen in a layman's language, let us now turn to its interpretation by the scholar. While interpreting the above mentioned verse 13 of the Surah Ash Shura, Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi explains. However due to difficulty understanding the trued concept of the meaning and explanation of Deen, you may have to read the explanation given below a number of times to fully grasp and comprehend the concept of Deen:
It clearly states that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not the founder of any new religion, nor was any of the Prophets a founder of a separate religion, but it has been one and the same religion which all the Prophets have been presenting from Allah from the very beginning, and the same is being presented by Muhammad (peace be upon him). In this regard, the first name mentioned is of the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him), who was the first Prophet after the Flood. After him the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has been mentioned, who is the last of the Prophets; then the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) has been mentioned, whom the Arabs acknowledged as their guide, and last of all, the Prophets Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them) have been mentioned to whom the Jews and the Christians attribute their religions. This does not mean that only these five Prophets had been enjoined this religion, but what is meant to be said is that all the Prophets who came to this world, brought one and the same religion and the names of the five illustrious Prophets have been mentioned only as examples through whom the world received the most well known codes of divine law.As this verse throws important light on Deen (religion) and its aim, it is necessary that we should study it to understand it well.
Lexically, the word sharaa in sharaa lakum (ordained for you) means to make the way. As a term it implies appointing a way, a code and a rule. Accordingly, in Arabic the words tashri and shariat and shari are understood as the synonyms of legislation and law and law giver respectively. This divine legislation, in fact, is the natural and logical result of the fundamental truths which have been stated in( verses l, 9 and 10) above: that Allah alone is the Owner of everything in the Universe, and He alone is man’s real Guardian and it is for Him to judge the disputes that arise between human beings. Now, when Allah alone is the Owner and Guardian and Ruler, inevitably He alone is entitled to make the code of law for man and it is His responsibility that He should give this code of law to man. So, He has carried out His responsibility like this.
Then the words min-ad-deen (of the nature of deen) denote that the way appointed by Allah is legislation pertaining to deen.
The Arabic word deen contains several meanings: (1) Domination and sovereignty, rule and political power and authority to enforce one’s decisions on others. (2) Obedience, compliance with commands and servitude. (3) The practice and the way that a man follows. In view of these three meanings, deen in this verse means: The way of life and attitude which a man adopts after acknowledging the supremacy and accepting the obedience of another; and to worship Allah making one’s religion exclusively His. This means that one should refrain from combining another’s worship with the worship of Allah, but should worship Allah alone, should follow His guidance alone, and should comply with His commands and injunctions only.
If the explanation of the word deen given above is kept in view, there can be no difficulty in understanding that deen means nothing but acknowledging the sovereignty and leadership of someone and obeying his commands. And when this word is used in the meaning of the way, it implies the way which man must regard as obligatory for himself to follow and the one appointing it as the one whom he ought to obey. On this basis, calling God-appointed Way as legislation pertaining to deen clearly means that it is not merely recommendatory in nature or a mere counsel, but it is a law enjoined by the Master, which must necessarily be obeyed by the servants and disobedience of which is tantamount to rebellion, and the one who does not obey it, in fact, denies Allah’s being the Sovereign and Ruler and his own position of a servant.Then, it has been said that this legislation which pertains to deen is the same as was enjoined on Noah. Abraham and Moses and the same now has been enjoined on Muhammad (peace be upon them all). This contains several points:
- (1) That Allah did not send this legislation of His directly to every man, but appointed whenever He deemed proper and necessary a person as His Messenger and consigned the legislation w him.
- (2) That this legislation has been the same from the beginning. It did not so happen that in one age one particular deen was appointed for a nation, and in another age another and contradictory deen was sent for another nation. Allah did not send many deens but on every occasion He sent one and the same deen.
- (3) That it is an essential part of this deen to acknowledge the apostleship of those men through whom the legislation has been sent and the revelation in which the legislation has been couched, besides acknowledging the Sovereignty of Allah; and it is the demand of reason and logic too, that it should be a necessary part of it, for a man cannot obey this legislation at all unless he is satisfied that it is authentically from Allah.
Here, two questions arise: First, what is the meaning of establishing the deen? Second, what is deen itself, which we have been enjoined to establish and then keep it established? Let us try to understand these questions well.
- The word iqamat (to establish) when used in respect of a material or physical object implies causing it to rise from the sitting or lying positions or assembling the scattered parts of a thing and raising it up high. But when iqamat is used in respect of a thing which is not material but spiritual in nature, it does not merely imply preaching it, but also acting according to it as best as one can, introducing it and enforcing it practically. For example, when we say that so and so established his rule, it does not mean that he invited others to his government but that he subdued the people of the land and organized the different departments of the government in a way that the administration of the country began to function according to his orders. Similarly, when we say that courts have been established in the country, it means that judges have been appointed to do justice and they ate hearing the cases and giving judgments, and not that hymns in praise of justice are being sung and the people being impressed. Likewise, when the Quran enjoins the establishment of the Prayer (Salat), it does not imply that one should merely preach and exhort others to the Prayer but that one should not only perform it himself, observing all its conditions, but should also strive to make arrangement so that it becomes a regular practice among the believers. There should be mosques, there should be arrangements for offering the Prayer collectively and for the Friday congregational Prayer, and for making calls to the Prayer punctually. There should be the Imams to lead the Prayers and the scholars to give sermons, and the people should visit the mosques regularly and punctually and make offering the Prayer an essential part of their daily routine. After this explanation, there should remain no difficulty in understanding that when the Prophets were enjoined to establish the deen and to keep it established, it did not simply mean that they should practice it themselves and not only that they should preach it to others so that the people may accept its truth, but also that when the people have accepted it, steps should be taken to introduce and enforce the entire deen practically among them so that they may start living according to it forever afterwards. No doubt preaching is the primary necessary stage of this work without which there can be no second stage, but every intelligent person can himself see that in this command preaching has not been made the object, but the real object is to establish the deen and keep it established. Preaching is certainly a means to the end but not the end in itself, but nobody can say that it was the only and foremost object of the mission of the Prophets.
- (1) And the only command they were given was to worship Allah, making their deen sincerely His, turning all their attention towards Him, and to establish the Salat and to pay the Zakat, this alone is the true and right deen. (Surah Al-Bayyinah, Ayat 5). This shows that the Salat and the Zakat are included in this deen, whereas the commandments pertaining to both have been different in the different shariahs. No one can say that in all the previous shariahs the Salat has had the same form, the same elements, the same number of the rakahs, the same direction of the qiblah, the same times and the same other commands concerning it. Likewise, no one can claim also about the Zakat that in all the shariahs the same has been the exemption limits, the same rates and the same injunctions concerning its collection and distribution. But in spite of the difference of the shariahs, Allah has regarded both these as part of deen.
- (2) You are forbidden carrion and blood, the flesh of swine and of that animal which has been slaughtered in any name other than of Allah, and of the strangled animal, and of that beaten to death or killed by a fall or gored to death or mangled by a beast of prey, save of that you duly slaughtered while it was still alive, and of that which is slaughtered at (ungodly) shrines. It is also unlawful for you to try to find your fortune by means of divining devices, for all these things are sinful acts. Today the disbelievers have despaired of (vanquishing) your religion; therefore do not fear them but fear Me. Today I have perfected your deen for you and completed My blessing on you and approved Islam as the deen (way of life) for you. (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 3). This shows that all these shariah commandments are also deen.
- (3) Fight with those from among the people of the Book, who do not believe in Allah nor in the Last Day; who do not make unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful, and do not adopt the right deen as their deen. (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 29). This shows that besides belief in Allah and the Hereafter it is also deen to accept and follow the commands about the lawful and the unlawful, which have been given by Allah and His Messenger.
- (4) The woman and the man guilty of fornication, flog each one of them with a hundred stripes, and let not any pity for them restrain you in regard to a matter prescribed in the deen of Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. (Surah An-Noor, Ayat 2). It did not behoove Joseph to seize his brother by the king’s deen. (Surah Yousuf, Ayat 76). This shows that the criminal law is also deen. If a man follows the criminal law prescribed by God, he is a follower of God’s deen and if he follows a king’s law, he is a follower of the king’s deen.
As a matter of fact, the misunderstanding was caused only because the verse: We appointed for each community among you a law and a way of life, has been misconstrued to mean that since the shariah appointed for every community was separate and the command given was only to establish the deen (way of life) which was common to all the Prophets, the establishment of the shariah was not included in the establishment of the deen, whereas the real meaning of this verse is just the opposite of it. If the context(verses 41-50)in which this verse has occurred in Surah Al- Maidah is studied carefully, it will be seen that the correct meaning of this verse is: Whatever shariah was given by Allah to the community of a Prophet, was the deen for that community, and the establishment of the same deen was the object during his Prophethood. And since now is the period of the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) Prophethood, the shariah which has been given to the Ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the deen of this time, and to establish the same is to establish the deen. As for the difference of the shariah, it does not mean that the shariahs sent by God were mutually contradictory, but it means that in their details there have been some differences owing to the different environments, take, for instance, the Prayer and the Fast. The Prayer has been obligatory in all the shariahs, but the qiblah of all the shariahs was not the same, and there was a difference in its times and rakahs and elements as well. Likewise, the Fast was obligatory in every shariah, but the month long fasting of Ramadan was not there in the other shariahs. From this it is not correct to conclude that the Prayer and the Fast as such are included in the establishment of deen but performing the Prayer in a particular way and observing the Fast at a particular time is excluded from it. However, the correct conclusion that one can draw is: To perform the Prayer and observe the Fast according to the rules and procedures that had been appointed for the people in the shariah of every Prophet amounted to establishment of deen in his time. In the present age the establishment of the deen is that these acts of worship be performed according to the procedures enjoined in the Shariah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The same is true about all other Shariah commandments as well.
Whoever studies the Quran carefully will see that this Book does not envisage that its adherents will live as subjects of the disbelievers and will pass a religious life under them, but it openly proclaims that it will have its own rule established; it demands from its followers that they should struggle with their lives for the intellectual, cultural, legal and political supremacy of the true faith; and it gives them a program for the reformation of human life, the major part of which can be acted upon only when political power and authority is in the believers’ hand. As stated by itself, the object of this Book’s being sent down is: We have sent down this Book to you with the truth so that you may judge between the people in accordance with the light that Allah has shown you. (Surah An-Nisa, Ayat 105). The Commandments given in this Book about the collection and distribution of the Zakat expressly envisage a government who should be responsible for collecting the Zakat and distributing it among the deserving people according to a laid down procedure. (Surah At-Taubah, Ayats 60,103). The prohibition of interest that has been enjoined in this Book and the declaration of war that has been made against those who do not abstain from taking interest (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayats 275-279) can be enforced only when the political and economic system of the country is entirely in the believers’ hand. The Law of Retribution for murder (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 178), cutting off of the hand for theft (Surah AI-Maidah, Ayat 38) and carrying out of the prescribed punishment for adultery and calumny (Surah An-Noor, Ayat 2-4) have not been enjoined on the assumption that the believers will remain subject to the police and courts of the disbelievers. The command to fight the disbelievers (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayats 190,216) has not been given with the idea that the followers of this deen will carry out this command by getting enlisted in the army of disbelief. The command to take Jizyah from the followers of the former Books (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 29) has not been given on the assumption that the Muslims will take Jizyah from them while being their subjects and will be responsible for their protection. And this thing is not true only about the Madinite Surahs; in the Makkan Surahs as well a discerning eye can clearly see that the scheme envisaged from the very beginning was of Islam’s supremacy and dominance and not of Islam’s and the Muslims’ subjugation under an un-Islamic rule. See, for instance, (Surah Bani Israil, Ayats 76-89); (Surah Al-Qasas, Ayats 85-86); (Surah Ar-Room, Ayats 1-6); (Surah As-Saaffat, Ayats 171-179); Surah Suad(Ayat 11).
Above all, this misinterpretation clashes with the great work that the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself accomplished during the 23 years of his Prophethood. Who can deny the fact that he subdued entire Arabia by means of both preaching and the sword and established in it a full fledged system of government with a detailed law, covering all aspects of life, from beliefs and rites of worship to personal conduct, collective morality, culture and civilization, economic and social life, politics and judiciary, peace and war. If this entire work of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is not accepted as a commentary of the command of iqamat deen (establishment of deen) which, according to this verse, he had been enjoined to undertake like all other Prophets, then it could have one of the two meanings: That earlier, God forbid, the Prophet (peace be upon him) should be blamed that he had been appointed only to preach and teach beliefs and a few important moral rules but he exceeded his mandate and established a government of his own whim and laid down a code of law, which was different from the common law of the Prophets as well as in excess of it; or that Allah should be blamed that after having made the above mentioned declaration in Surah Ash-Shura. He went back on His own word, and made His last Prophet do something which was not only much over and about and different from the objective of iqamat deen as stated in this Surah, but on the completion of this mission He also made this declaration, contrary to His first declaration: Today I have perfected your deen for you. (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 3). May Allah keep us safe from this! Apart from these two, if there is any third alternative, which makes this interpretation of iqamat deen plausible and also does not lay any blame on Allah or His Messenger, we would like to know it.
After giving the command for iqamat deen, the last thing that Allah has stated in this verse is this: La tatafarraqu fihi: Do not create schisms in the deen: Be not divided in it. Creating schisms in deen implies that one should introduce something new in religion for which there exists no sound basis, and then should insist that belief and unbelief depend on the acceptance of the innovation, and should separate along with those who have accepted it from those who have not accepted it. This new thing can be of several kinds:
- (1) To introduce something entirely new into deen.
- (2) To exclude from deen something which actually belonged to it.
- (3) To tamper with the fundamentals of deen by misinterpretations and introduce new beliefs and novel practices.
- (4) To distort the deen by making changes of fundamental nature in it, for example, by reducing what was important in it to un-important, by raising what was at most permissible to the position of imperative and obligatory, even to the position of the most fundamental pillar of Islam. Owing to such innovations, divisions first appeared in the communities of the Prophets; then gradually the creeds of the sects developed into wholly separate and mutually exclusive religious systems whose followers now do not have any idea that once they all belonged to one and the same origin. These divisions have nothing to do with the permissible and reasonable difference of opinion which naturally takes place among the scholars when they are engaged in understanding and studying the injunctions and fundamentals of the deen for the purpose of deriving and extracting points of law, and for which there is room in the words of the Book of Allah itself owing to the considerations of lexicon, idiom and rules of grammar. (For a detailed discussion of this subject, see( Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 213); (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayats 19, 50); (Surah An-Nisa, Ayat 171); (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 77); (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 159); (Surah An-Nahl, Ayats 118-124); (Surah Al- Anbiya, Ayats 92-93); (Surah Al-Hajj, Ayat 67); (Surah Al- Muminun, Ayats 53-54); (Surah Al-Qasas, Ayat 53); (Surah Ar Room, Ayat 32).
May Allah help us understand our Deen clearly and differentiate it from other religions.
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary / exegesis of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Part backwards for chapters in 30th Part are shorter and easier to understand).
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic souses and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. However, the exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran are basically based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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