SPIRIT OF ISLAM FEBRUARY 2018

15 Spirit of Islam Issue 62 February 2018 that men and women function in different spheres has no bearing whatsoever on the ultimate equality—equality in the eyes of God. Basic Attributes of Men and Women The characteristics of true believers, both men and women are depicted in the Quran in the following words: Men and women who have surrendered, believing men and believing women, obedient men and obedient women, truthful men and truthful women, enduring men and enduring women, humble men and humble women, men and women who give in charity, men who fast and women who fast, men and women who guard their chastity, men and women who remember God in abundance—for them God has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (33: 35) These then are the basic attributes which both men and women must cultivate if they are to endear themselves to God and become His favoured servants: ISLAM: Islam means one should willingly obey God, leading one’s life within the bounds of God’s commandments. IMAN (Faith): Islam really begins to take root with the conscious discovery of God, which is known as iman (faith). When iman is genuine, the men or women concerned cannot but surrender themselves to God and mould their thinking upon the truth. QUNUT (Sincere obedience to God): This entails the adoption of the path of piety as shown by God and His Prophet. It means the fullest concentration of the heart and mind on the will of the Almighty. SIDQ (Truthfulness) means living an honest, straightforward life in the sense of saying plainly what one is going to do, and then actually doing as one has said. In other words, it means leading a life of principle. SABR (Patience) is a quality which enables one never to deviate from the right path, even when faced with difficulties in following it. KHUSHU (Humility) is a powerful emotion which engenders an attitude of humility and submission. One comes to this state through a realization of God’s greatness and His absolute power in stark contrast to man’s total powerlessness. In consequence, he becomes kind and humble towards other human beings.