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al-isl§m and al-Êm§n 57let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit noone as partner. ( Al-Kahf 18:110)And your Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills… ( Al-NaÈl16:68)The natural disposition of humans was created by God Himself.Nobody else interfered in this process of creation. That is the reasonwhy we read:Indeed We showed you favour before. We inspired your mother…(•§-H§" 20:37–38, AH)We also read that when the Arabs came to tell MuÈammad (ß) thatthey had embraced al-isl§m, God ordered MuÈammad (ß) to let themknow that their assent to God was not his (MuÈammad’s) doing butrather because of ‘God’s favour He conferred upon’ them:They think they have done you [Prophet] a favour by submitting. Say,‘Do not consider your submission [isl§makum] a favour to me; it is Godwho has done you a favour, by guiding you to faith, if you are trulysincere’. ( Al-\ujur§t 49:17, AH)In al-isl§m, human nature does not need instructions from heavenlyscriptures, but in contrast al-Êm§n, containing ritual performances,codes of human behaviour, and ethical rules, does require guidancefrom divine scriptures. By Allah’s grace, messengers were sent to thepeoples to bring them the light of the truth and instructions on howto worship God. Now we understand why God has said, in chastisingthose who disbelieved in MuÈammad’s messengerhood, that al-isl§mmust still be the minimum (the lowest limit) of belief that is requiredof them. He said:Again and again will those who disbelieve wish that they had bowed(to God’s will) in Islam [lau k§nå muslimÊn]. ( Al-\ijr 15:2)Piety in al-isl§m means ‘to fear God as He should be feared’, whilepiety in al-Êm§n is ‘to fear God as much as you can’. We read in theBook:O you who believe! Fear God as He should be feared, and die notexcept in a state of Islam. ($l #Imr§n 3:102)So fear God as much as you can; listen and obey and spend in charityfor the benefit of your own soul… ( Al-Tagh§bån 64:16)On no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear…( Al-Baqara 2:286)

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