Islam and Modern Life — Page 26
26 Islam as a Comprehensive Way of Life But as I just pointed out, Islam’s definition of religion is not that. Islam is a way of life, and the Quran claims that it contains guidance universal and comprehensive, which will be adequate in each stage of human life. Whatever changes the pattern of h uman life might undergo, the Quran will yield guidance adequate to it. And before the changes set in, it will be visible in the Quran, because the Quran is preserved in the very word of God in which it was revealed to the Prophet. That is in itself a large subject, but anyway, that is the position. And if the Muslims were to accept this advice, to say the regulation of worship in the mosque upstairs here, and carrying out of the services, and the performing of marriages, and the funeral services, well that is the sphere of religion, and the rest science and technology, philosophy and learning are not, well it will not be Islam that the Muslims will be following, and they know it is the repudiation of Islam, therefore that doesn’t help. Therefore what? Theref ore again, if you choose the testing of the claim of the Quran, so far as we are concerned, we know it is not a testing, because it has been tested so often, and it has been proved adequate, that we shall find that guidance in the Quran, provided we approa ch it in the proper manner, and seek it, both with the intellect, and also with the soul, that is a true prayer, and understanding of the operation of divine attributes.