Al-Wala' Wal-Bara' in Islam
Part3
By: Dr. Muhammad Saeed Al-Qahtaani
Translated by: Omar Johnstone
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THE EFFECTS OF THE DECLARATION OF FAITH ON THE HEART

Abu A'la al-Mawdudi mentions in his book,
Fundamentals of Islam, nine effects of
the declaration of faith upon the heart.
First, as a believer you are not narrow minded
like those who believe in many gods or
who dispute the existence of God altogether.
Second, as a believer you feel a sense of your
own worth and dignity,
since it is Allah alone who brings benefit and harm,
and He alone who brings life and death. Wisdom,
power and authority are His.
Because of this the heart feels no fear
of anything other than Him.
No head bows to another,
no one is humbled before anyone else.
No one may fear another or be intimidated
by human power or majesty,
since Allah is the Majestic and the
Omnipotent over all things.
In contrast to this we see the subjugation
of the disbelievers,
the Christians and the Jews,
and the pagans and the atheists,
to one another.
Third, as a believer your sense of honour
and self esteem are inspired by faith.
The Muslim knows humility without humiliation,
and pride without vainglory.
Shaytan can not affect his pride or inspire
conceit in him since he is well aware that
it is Allah Who has given him all that he has and
Who is capable of stripping him of
everything at any time.
Yet you see the atheist bursting with pride
whenever some worldly benefit comes his way.
Fourth, as a believer you have the knowledge
and the certainty that it is only through purification
of the self and the performance of good works
that success may be had. As for the disbelievers
they have only the false hope that the
'son' of God will wash away the sins of the world,
or that since they are themselves
the 'sons' of God
and His high priests they will not be
punished for their sins, or that they will benefit
from the intervention of the noble and pious,
or that their offerings and sacrifices
to their gods will give them licence to do as they please.
As for the atheist who supposes that
his existence in this world is without purpose
and unguided by any higher plan,
his gods are his own passions and desires.
To these things he has dedicated his life.
Fifth, the believer in this Aqeedah will not know
hopelessness or despair,
because he believes that Allah is Master of all
that the heavens and earth contain.
So his heart is reassured in peace and in hope.
Even when weak in himself and defeated,
when life closes in around him, he knows
that those whom Allah takes into His protection
will not be neglected or abandoned so long as
they depend upon Allah and trust in Him.
The disbelievers prefer to depend upon
their own feeble resources,
yet how quickly despair overtakes them,
plunging them into desperation,
and even driving them to suicide.
Sixth, belief in this Aqeedah develops in the
individual great determination,
fortitude, patience, confidence and trust,
since you are engaged in the greatest of enterprise,
the quest for the pleasure of Allah.
Indeed you feel that what supports you is
the power of He Who possesses the heavens
and the earth.
In this way the strength and determination
of the believer,
with his resolute will inspired by this confidence,
becomes like a mountain that no human force
may move.
Could there ever be such a strength and
confidence as this to inspire a person's disbelief?
Seventh, the believer derives both strength
and support from the declaration of faith,
since it puts you out of reach of the two things
that can undermine your strength,
love of the world and fear of it.
Love of the world is to place love of yourself,
your spouse or your money before love of Allah.
Fear of the world is fear of an unknown force,
not under the power of God, waiting to destroy you.
The believer knows that there is no god but Allah,
and so neither of these things can gain any power
over the heart, because it is reassured by
the fact that Allah is the Sole Possessor
of both life and property.
Once you dedicate yourself to the pleasure of
your Lord regardless of the cost,
you suddenly realise that no one can deprive
you of your life, neither man nor beast: the gun,
the sword and the stone do not kill;
it is God alone Who brings death.
There is no stronger determination than that
of someone who believes in Allah.
No man can intimidate him and no army frighten him,
neither flashing swords nor bullets falling like rain. Whenever a believer presents himself for battle
in the path of Allah,
his strength is multiplied tenfold.
So where does this leave the Christians and the Jews,
the disbelievers and the atheists.
Eighth, by believing in the declaration of faith
you can take command over your own life,
take pride in yourself, in your confidence and
determination, and in this way purify your
heart from the influence ofavarice, jealousy,
cowardice, spite, and all other vices. Ninth,
and by far the most important of these
effects on the heart, is the knowledge that
the declaration of faith guides you to understand
the law of Allah, and helps you to keep carefully to it.
Thus you are awakened to the fact that
Allah is totally aware of every thing,
and that He is nearer to you than your jugular vein;
and although you may be able to escape from
most kinds of danger, there is no escaping from Allah.
The degree to which faith pervades
the human mind determines in turn the
extent of the believer's obedience to the laws of Allah,
his keeping to Allah's limits and not coming near
to what Allah has forbidden,
and his hastening to do good works and to
fulfill Allah's commands.
The declaration of faith is the first of the
five essential pillars of Islam.
It is also the most important of these
when it comes to ascertaining the extent
of a person's faith.
The Muslim is the obedient servant who
keeps near to Allah.
We can not do this until we believe from the
depths of our hearts that there is no god but Allah.
The declaration of faith is the source of Islam
and the basis of its strength.
Regardless of the details of our belief or
the different shades of legal opinion,
everything ultimately rests upon
this one statement:
the power of Islam relies upon nothing else.
If this should ever be lost, then nothing at all
would be left of our Deen.
(1) Ibn Rajab,
when commenting on the
declaration of faith,
quotes Sufyian ibn Uyaynah:
"Allah did not bestow upon His servants
a greater blessing than the knowledge
that there is no god but Allah.
For the people of Paradise these words
are the same as fresh water is to a people
who live on the parched Earth.
By it the scales of Heaven and Hell are set.
Because of it the Messengers
were sent into battle.
Whoever declares it to be so,
his wealth and his life are protected,
but whoever denies it shall find himself destroyed.
It is the key to paradise,
and the single call of all the Messengers."

NOTES:
Abu A'la al-Mawdudi, Mabadi' al-Islam, p.87.
Ibn Rajab, Kalimat al-Ikhlas, p.53