Dogmatic Assertions Go Out The Window

[Dr. Shabbir]

11:117 Your Lord never destroys a community for wrong beliefs alone as long as its people are reformers, setting right their own, and one another’s condition.

[The Qur’an is consistent in its theme that people will be rewarded for what they do (Ya’maloon), and not for what they know (Ya’lamoon). The Book stresses on the right belief system, for, people are strongly influenced in their behavior by what they think and believe. Muslihoon = Reformers = Those who help their own and fellow humans’ condition = Those who set things right in their environment.

This is one of the most revolutionary verses in the Qur’an. It throws out all dogmatic assertions that are the hallmark of a ‘religion’. As we have seen, Islam is not a ‘religion’ consisting merely of a set of some dogmas, rites and rituals. It is Ad-Deen, the Divinely Prescribed Collective Way of Life. Fortunately, I am not alone in the understanding of 11]