Spiritual Food

This principle applies to every tenet of Islam—the nafil (supererogatory) prayer before the farz (obligatory) prayer, some days of fasting in the month of Shahban before fasting in the month of Ramadan, infaq (voluntary charity and spending for the poor and needy) before the obligatory zakat, umrah (minor pilgrimage) before Hajj, and so on. This preparatory principle is important in all Islamic practices. It is like having a starter before taking a meal. It is this preliminary course that gives life to all Islamic practices.

This activates one’s consciousness before entering into any Islamic practice. It gives one a prepared mind and makes one a prepared personality: only a prepared mind or a prepared personality can practice Islam in its true spirit. One who does not have a prepared mind, or is not a prepared personality, will not be fully competent to perform Islamic duties.

When it is said that Mr. So and So is a practicing Muslim, this statement tells only part of the truth. Before becoming a practicing Muslim, one should be a realized person. It is realization of divine truth that makes one able to become a practicing Muslim in the true sense. Before realization, being a ‘practicing Muslim’ is a mere formality. A Muslim who is one only in form, is not a true Muslim. First of all, one should make oneself a realized person and only then can one truly be called a practicing Muslim.

Intellectual development on Quranic lines comes first, then comes the time when one can say that one is capable of adopting the Islamic way of life.

A preparatory course is a mind building process. First of all, we have to know what kind of mind the Quran tries to build. After understanding this, one should mould one’s thinking along Quranic lines. This is a process of intellectual development, after which one should proceed towards the goal set by Islam. In other words, intellectual development on Quranic lines comes first, then comes the time when one can say that one is capable of adopting the Islamic way of life.

It is the mind that governs the body and not vice versa. The same is true of the religion of Islam; Islamic practices are an external manifestation of internal realization. First comes the Islamization of the mind, then it becomes possible to Islamize the body or one’s physical existence. Islam begins from within and then finds its expression without.

Double Measurement

‘Double measurement’—giving less to others and taking more from them—applies not only to giving short measure or short weight in commercial terms, but also to all other social activities. Not only does it vitiate commercial dealings, but it also undermines social and moral relationships. All things considered, it is a reprehensible practice and those who stoop to it are evil in character.