Episode 23 - A Verse and Hadith That Summarize Islam for Those Who Ask About It - The Ten Commandments / 1
Renew your heart's life with the Quran, so that the soul may find peace in faith, and recite it at all times, and seek with it the bounty of contentment and the clouds of forgiveness.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. My brother, my sister, if a non-Muslim asks you the following question: "What does your religion call for?" You can answer him with a complete, concise, and comprehensive answer. How? Read to him two texts that represent Islam.
Answer to the Question: "What does your religion call for?"
From the Sunnah
As for the Sunnah, read to him the sermon that the Prophet, peace be upon him, delivered during the Farewell Pilgrimage, which is found in the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim. They see in it beauties that we, who were born Muslims, cannot appreciate. So, this was from the Sunnah.
From the Quran
And as for the Quran, and we have postponed speaking about it because we will stop at it for a long time, read to the inquirer about Islam three great verses from Surah Al-An'am, verses 151 to 153. Ponder them as we read them now to see how they have gathered the teachings of Islam in the most beautiful expression.
The Ten Commandments from Surah Al-An'am
Allah the Almighty said: {Say, "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited for you: Do not associate anything with Him, and do good to your parents, and do not kill your children out of poverty - We provide for you and for them. And do not approach shameful deeds, whether open or secret, and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by right. This He has instructed you that you may use reason. And when you speak, be just, even if it concerns a relative, and fulfill the covenant of Allah. This He has instructed you that you may remember. And that this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow other paths, lest they divert you from His path. This He has instructed you that you may be righteous."}
Great verses that stop me every time I read the Surah. Imagine yourself reading them to someone who does not truly know Islam. Imagine how proud you will be of the words of your Lord, glorified and exalted be He, which agree with the natural disposition, call to all good, and forbid all evil.
Contemplate the First Commandment
{Say, "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited for you."} And look at the kindness in the word "your Lord." Your Lord who takes care of you, raises you, and loves good for you, is the One who instructs you with these ten commandments.
{Say, "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited for you: Do not associate anything with Him."} In the verse, it is as if He, the Almighty, says: Say, "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited for you," He instructs you not to associate anything with Him. As if in the verse there is a condensation of a longer expression: Your Lord instructs you with the following, and He has prohibited you from doing the opposite of what He has instructed you with.
In the upcoming episodes, we will stop, with God's permission, for brief moments with the ten commandments in these great verses. Moments we ask Allah to increase our love for Him, glorified and exalted be He, and for His words, our trust in His legislation, and our pride in our great religion. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.