Islam is not just a religion in the modern sense of the word. It does not just dictate personal beliefs and private acts of worship. Islam is a din which is more comprehensive. It is a comprehensive revealed way of life that gives Divine guidance on every aspect of human life. It governs our beliefs, our worship, our ethics, our relationships, our politics, and every other aspect of life. Part of the comprehensiveness of Islam is that it is a worldview that uniquely shapes the way we interact with and process the world.
A worldview refers to the core beliefs and assumptions through which a person or society interprets reality and forms values, meaning, and purpose. Everybody has a worldview but most people do not take the time to think about it. It is developed at an unconscious level through one’s education and upbringing. Many Muslims are growing up in modern environments, and attending secular schools, while consuming Western media and distracting themselves with social media. Unknowingly, each of these sources are shaping their worldviews. The result is a Muslim who does not view the world through the lens of Islam, but views Islam through the lens of modernity, secularism, or a variety of other worldviews they may have adapted.
To appreciate and understand Islam properly, we must deschool our minds from other worldviews, replacing them with a comprehensive Islamic worldview. Once our worldview is corrected, we are able to see the teachings of Islam in their proper light, while also being able to see the problems with modern man-made ideologies clearer as well. Imagine your worldview as a pair of glasses. If the lens are cracked or tinted, you get a distorted view of reality. Fix the lens, you begin to see clearly again. This is the advantage of adapting the Islamic worldview.
But what is the Islamic worldview? What are the fundamental beliefs and values that every Muslim must adapt in order to appreciate Islam better. Most discussions on this topic tend to use highly academic language. To keep things simple, I will avoid the academic terms in this article and instead I will articulate the Islamic worldview in eight key points.
1. A God-Centric Reality
The most important aspect of the Islamic Worldview is conviction in Allah (God). The Islamic worldview is built upon pure monotheism. Allah is the Creator of everything. He is eternal and perfect, and there is nothing similar to Him. Nothing happens without His Will. We belong to Him and to Him we will return. He created us, sent prophets to guide us, and decides what is good and what is evil. He is the ultimate judge and will deliver Divine Justice on the Last Day. Our lives are for Him, we worship Him alone, and we place our trust in Him.
2. Seen and Unseen Realms
Modern worldviews tend to adapt a “seeing is believing” model of reality. Islam makes us expand our horizons and acknowledge the existence of realms beyond our own. The Quran mentions the seen realm (shahada) and unseen realms (ghayb). Many realities exist outside the world we see. These include the realms of angels, jinn and the dead. These realities have an impact on us, as they can interact with us. Islam teaches us that we are not alone in the universe. The existence of angels and jinn make us more conscious of even inadvertent harms that we may cause to creatures in other realms. The existence of these realms are a fundamental part of the Islamic worldview that shape our we perceive and interact with everything around us.
3. The Multiplex Human
Humans are complex creatures comprised of body, mind and soul. It is the soul that is often neglected in modern worldviews, yet it is the most fundamental aspect of who we are. Humans, at our very essence, are souls, and our bodies are just temporary vessels for these souls. Islam teaches us to acknowledge the central importance of the soul. We must take care of our bodies and minds, but we must take even greater care of our souls. Souls are complex and can be corrupted or purified. The life of the believer is a constant struggle to purify the soul and reject the forces of corruption.
4. Revealed and Learned Knowledge
Knowledge is any information that is beneficial to humans. Islam teaches us that we should seek wisdom wherever we find it. But Islam places some knowledge higher in value than others. At the very top is revealed knowledge. God’s revelation, which reaches us through the Quran and Sunnah, is the most important source of knowledge, by which all other knowledge is judged. Human sources of knowledge are subject to error and can be wrong. We study various sciences understanding that the opinions we follow could be wrong, but we do not question clear revelation. That is the standard by which everything else is judged.
5. Purposeful Existence
Allah did not create anything without purpose. Everything in the universe exists to serve a purpose, even if we are unaware of it. Humans too have a purpose. We are not here simply to exist, eat, sleep, work, and die. Allah created us to worship Him, and created this realm to test us. He gave us limited free will to separate those who pass the test from those who fail. A purposeful life is a life devoted to the Creator. Worship is not limited to the physical acts of worship, but every good thing we do with correct intentions counts as worship. Islam teaches us to focus on purposeful living, to make this life count.
6. An Afterlife-centric Mindset
Our existence in this world is temporary. Allah created our souls long before He created our bodies. One day, we will die in the worldly sense, but our soul will move on to the next realm of existence, the world of the dead. From there, it will be raised on the Last Day in new bodies. On that day, souls will be sorted in the people of Paradise and the people of Hellfire based on how they handled the tests of life. Knowing this, we do not make this world our home or our primary focus. We live in this world as strangers and travelers passing by. We focus on doing good deeds, leaving behind deeds that outlast us, and investing the future of the ummah, and our own futures in the Afterlife. We live not for this world, but for the eternal garden that awaits the righteous servants of Allah.
7. Divine Command Theory
Allah created us, and He alone decides what is good and what is evil. He sent revelation so that we become aware of these moral principles. Allah’s Divine Law (Shariah) is built upon Divine Wisdom. He permits everything that is beneficial for humanity, while only prohibiting that which is harmful to humanity. He knows better what is good for us and what is bad for us. We hear and we obey. We submit, even when we do not understand. Our morality is not a man-made construct, it is Divinely-ordained and clear.
8. History is Human and cyclical
Contrary to popular belief, humans are not on a constant march towards progress. If anything, morally we are regressing. In other ways, we go through cycles. Nations rise and fall. Systems come and go. At times, Muslims are powerful and at times we are weak. Our history is full of human events, both great and tragic. We are not defined by history, but we learn from it and take hope from it. A modern idea is not necessarily superior to an ancient idea, as the ancient idea could be built on wisdom while the modern idea on pure desire. We view history as a human cycle of ups and downs, and take hope that the cycle will turn in our favor soon.
These are eight fundamentals that should shape the way you view Islam and the world. Each of these fundamentals are a field of study on their own. Currently, I are teaching these fundamentals in our latest online course. I also intend to write a book on this topic in the near future. I pray that you found this summary beneficial. Feel free to share your feedback below.
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