Which one comes first, the chicken or the egg? Should we
label ourselves as submitters, believers, or both? Which one
comes first, belief or submission? and which one lasts
longer? Which one ranks us lower or higher? We can reach
some conclusions based on the Quran, our ultimate source of
all answers.
One of the verses that might have contributed to some of the
confusion about belief and submission and which one comes
first is this one:
Muslim vs Mu'men
[49:14] The Arabs said, "We
are Mu'mens (believers)." Say, "You have
not believed; what you should say is, `We are Muslims
(submitters),' until belief
is established in your hearts." If you obey GOD and
His messenger, He will not put any of your works to waste.
GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
A glimpse at the above verse might lead us to the thinking
that submission is a separate stage that comes before our
belief. The verse, however, doesn't acknowledge this
specific order or that distinction at all. Logically
speaking, there must be an initial, or introductory level of
belief in our hearts which makes us decide to submit. We
must first know, recognize, and develop a certain level of
trust in the entity that we decide to submit
to. 49:14 suggests that after we decide to submit to God,
this might motivate us to act upon this submission and
actively work for the advancement on the straight path of
God. This is when the establishment of our belief starts and
we only begin to achieve specific and/or higher levels of
that belief. 49:14 doesn't emphasize that belief exclusively
comes after submission as a submitter cannot be a submitter
without first attaining a preliminary level of belief in
the entity he/she decides to submit to.
Thus, there must be belief in order to decide to submit, and
when we submit we might end up working hard to establish the
higher levels of belief. Achieving different stages of
belief affects in return the level of our submission to God.
In other words, both submission and belief intertwine and
actually race together throughout our journey on God's
path. An initial belief ignites our submission, then we
might get that urge to strive and worship to establish our
belief, which in return maximizes our submission and that
new scale of submission gets us engaged with more challenges
and qualifies us to march steadily towards higher levels of
belief and so on. The process continues only for the favor
of our souls. This double effect of both belief and
submission and how we must have a level of belief and trust
before we submit, then we worship and validate our
submission, all this is clearly expressed in the following
verses:
[6:162] Say, "My Contact
Prayers (Salat), my worship practices, my life and my
death, are all devoted absolutely to GOD alone, the Lord
of the universe.
[6:163] "He has no
partner. This is what I am commanded
to believe, and I am the first to submit."
[42:10] If you dispute any part
of this message, the judgment for doing this rests with
GOD. Such is GOD my Lord. In Him I trust, and
to Him I submit.
Abraham: An Example
[60:4] ... "Our Lord,
we trust in You, and submit to You; to You
is the final destiny.
And this one verse that states what queen of Sheeba had
said after she recognized her true Lord, and repented to
Him ; I now submit :
[27:44] She was told, "Go inside
the palace." When she saw its interior, she thought it
was a pool of water, and she (pulled up her dress,)
exposing her legs. He said, "This interior is
now paved with crystal." She said,
"My Lord, I have
wronged my soul. I now submit
with Solomon to GOD, Lord of the universe."
49:14 (Muslim vs Mu'men) addresses a very limited
group of people, the Arabs, at a specific time. It seems
that they made the decision to submit after believing in
God, but yet they never pursued the righteous works that
will prove their convictions, build up their
belief, and consume the energy of their submission. One can
stay still in that stage for long, and at the end reach for
nothing as the soul stays shrunk with no progress. Others
will just keep igniting their souls with their submission to
act and become better believers everyday. This is why, in
the Quran, leading a righteous life is always linked with
believing in God and with submitting to Him alone in order
to attain salvation. No where in the Quran God grants
salvation to those who believe in Him, or submit to Him
without validating this belief, and submitting to His
commands by leading a righteous life:
[4:124] As for those who
lead a righteous life, male or female,
while believing, they enter Paradise;
without the slightest injustice.
Guaranteed Happiness
Now and Forever
[16:97] Anyone who works
righteousness, male or female, while
believing, we will surely grant them a happy
life in this world, and we will surely pay them their full
recompense (on the Day of Judgment) for their righteous
works.
Submission: The Only Religion
[2:112] Indeed, those who
submit themselves absolutely to GOD alone,
while leading a righteous life, will
receive their recompense from their Lord; they have nothing
to fear, nor will they grieve.*
The Strongest Bond
[31:22] Those who submit
completely to GOD, while leading a righteous life,
have gotten hold of the strongest bond. For GOD is in full
control of all things.
Minimum Requirements For Salvation
[5:69] Surely, those who believe,
those who are Jewish, the converts, and the Christians;
any of them who (1) believe in GOD
and (2) believe in the Last Day,
and (3) lead a righteous life,
have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.
Quran indicates how submission and belief are intricate and
closely related to each other. When God says that "the
believers" say "we hear and we obey"
when it comes to God and His commands delivered through His
messengers, He is highlighting their high level of
submission to God alone. Once the believers decide to act,
worship, and obey, they are truly submitters:
Believers Unhesitatingly Obey
God and His Messenger
[24:51] The only utterance of the
believers, whenever invited to GOD and His messenger to
judge in their affairs, is to say, "We hear and
we obey." These are the winners.
[4:172] The Messiah would never
disdain from being a servant of GOD, nor would the closest
angels. Those who disdain from worshiping Him,
and are too arrogant to submit, He will summon
them all before Him.
And when God invites us to do righteous works, He calls upon
us as believers ; Oh you who believe. We
must prove our convictions by overcoming our weaknesses and
choosing to do the righteous works we are invited to. This
is a manifestation of our true submission and our
initial belief. This is what "we hear and obey" is all about
and this is how both submission and belief interact with
each other. Thus, any time we work righteousness,
we validate our submission, establish our belief, and
become energized by a higher voltage of submission.
On the other hand, when God mentions some sins and how when
we commit them we slide back, turns into wicked people after
attaining "Iman" or faith, this only indicates that we are
believers who failed to uphold His commands. This takes away
from the level of our Iman/belief/faith and from the level
of our submission as well because we are failing to act:
Believers Set the Example
[49:11] O you who believe,
no people shall ridicule other people, for they may be
better than they. Nor shall any women ridicule other women,
for they may be better than they. Nor shall you mock one
another, or make fun of your names. Evil indeed
is the reversion to wickedness after attaining faith.
Anyone who does not repent after this, these are
the transgressors.
[33:70] O you who
believe, reverence GOD and utter
only the correct utterances.
[8:27] O you who
believe, do not betray GOD and the
messenger, and do not betray those who trust you, now
that you know.
Then, God asks the believers to repent when they regress and
commit sins. This is only because believers are apt to make
mistakes, and again this takes away from their level of
submission and belief, but when they repent they get back on
track. In fact it is a sign of true belief to repent for our
sins.
The Believers Repent
[66:8] O you who believe,
you shall repent to GOD a firm repentance. Your
Lord will then remit your sins and admit you into gardens
with flowing streams. On that day, GOD will not disappoint
the prophet and those who believed with him. Their light
will radiate in front of them and to their right. They will
say, "Our Lord, perfect our light for us, and forgive us;
You are Omnipotent."
The Believers
[9:112] They are the
repenters, the worshipers, the praisers, the
meditators, the bowing and prostrating, the advocators of
righteousness and forbidders of evil, and the keepers of
GOD's laws. Give good news to such believers.
Based on the above Quranic verses, we are believers. Yes. We
can call ourselves believers. We are also submitters. Yes.
We call ourselves submitters as well. What truly matters is
at what level or scale are we as far as our submission and
belief are concerned? Certainty is the ultimate goal. This
is when we are absolutely certain about our path, and our
destiny, and therefore we do what it takes to please our
Creator in a total, unwavering, and unconditional submission
to Him alone.
So which comes first, the chicken or the egg? At certain
point we must have had a pair of chicken that were
initially placed on earth just like Adam and his wife to lay
an egg and start the species of chicken, and there must be a
certain level of recognition, belief, and trust to give
birth to true submission, after that, our submission either
moves us up and gets upgraded itself, or stays still and
take us no where. The choice is always ours. Our Submission
might ignite us to move up to different levels of belief
through our actions and worship. These levels of belief only
enhance our submission and this upscale energy of submission
makes us steadfastly persevere in dealing with harder
challenges, and observing more commands, and thus be better
and stronger believers. It is a continuous spiral that goes
only in an upward direction by two major intricate, and
twisted components : belief and submission.
Muslim vs Mu'men
[49:14] The Arabs said, "We are
Mu'mens (believers)." Say, "You have not believed; what you
should say is, `We are Muslims (submitters),' until belief
is established in your hearts." If you obey GOD and His
messenger, He will not put any of your works to waste. GOD
is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
[49:15] Mu'mens
(believers) are those who
believe in GOD and His messenger,THEN
attain the status of having no doubt whatsoever, and strive
with their money and their lives in the cause of GOD. These
are the truthful ones.
Attaining the status of having no doubt whatsoever,
certainty, is the highest level of both belief and
submission. Until we reach it, and per 49:15, we are still
labeled by God almighty as Mu'mens, believers, but at
different stages, or levels. 49:15 doesn't set a time limit
for attaining that ultimate goal of absolute certainty. It
is our daily Jihad/struggle on this earth that moves us up
from stage to another. The process goes on, and the spiral
is moving us up as long as we choose to move up with it.
Peaceful Friday, salaam, and God bless you.
