In terms of faith, I am a fundamentalist in the sense that to me all Commandments and Rules of conduct and behaviour as given to us by Allah in His Book are fundamental to my description and identity as a Muslim. If I do not believe in a single one of such fundamental articles of faith and Divine Commands; I am not a Muslim. And if I believe in each one of them, but I do not practise them regularly, or practise them just casually (once in a while) I am a bad Muslim.
To be a good Muslim, I have to be a practising Muslim, and to be a practicing Muslim I simply have to be a fundamentalist. I cannot enjoy the luxury of choosing and picking only such matters for practice that are convenient to me.
In this context I want to cite the example of Prayers. Namaz. Salat.
Namaz or Salat is the basic identity of a Muslim. It is like a lawyer wearing a black coat, a doctor wearing a white coat, or a soldier wearing a uniform.
There is simply no avoidance Namaz or Salat for a Muslim. Off course Allah has been Kind in the sense that if we fail to offer our prayers at the prescribed time due to unavoidable reasons, we can offer Qaza. The important thing is we have to complete the count which is FIVE.
This sounds so simple.
But it is fundamental.
I don’t remember a day in the last three decades when I failed to fulfill the requirements of my identity as a Muslim in this particular context.
But I confess, before that I too was among those lost souls who thought Allah would not judge us by our prayers but by our deeds.
How forgiving can be Allah for an act of disobedience that can be avoided so easily and without any cost whatsoever?
