Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 144
Islam as the Ultimate Goal of Religious Teachings 143 Say, 'As for me, my Lord had guided me unto a straight path—a right religion, the religion of Abraham, the upright. And he was not of those who join gods with God. ' (S u rah al-An ‘a m; Ch. 6: V. 162) This verse throws new light on the meaning of S ir at i Mustaq i m or the straight path. Apart from being the middle path, it has the quality of steadfastness and perseverance. Istaq a ma Zaidun , for example, means 'Zaid stood firm against all efforts to dislodge him and to throw him off balance', while Q a ma merely means to stand upright. The infinitive of Q a ma and Istaq a ma are the same, but when 'ist' is added in the beginning as a prefix a new connotation is added to its central meaning. The new connotation is one of perseverance in the face of all outside efforts to uproot, dislodge and throw off balance. In the case of human beings, it means perseverance, steadfastness and resolution to hold fast to one’s beliefs—despite the odds being against it. Hence, Muslims are required to pray for the strength to stay on the S ir at i Mustaq i m, despite enemy attacks which are designed to deflect them from the same. So S ir at i Mustaq i m is a straight path which others seek to twist and bend out of shape. In spite of such