In our first article on a Touchstones of a True Religion, we summarized its essential properties in a definition which says:

 “A Religion is a system and a way of life that God has chosen to lead humans to the ultimate goal of their creation by guiding them through a set of beliefs and a series of practical and moral instructions that were conveyed and demonstrated by his chosen prophets.”

According to this definitions, a religion is composed of three parts

Beliefs
Ethics and
Commandments

Beliefs provide principles and a rational base on which to establish a system of life. Such principles must be adopted with a free will and a free thought else it will lose its effectiveness. Under these principles it should be easier to answer the basic question of life: Where do we come from?

A true religion, as a system of life, must be able to adequately address all the aspects of human life. It must also be able to explain clearly about why we are created and what are our responsiblities accordingly.

A true religion must also explain about the ultimate end of this life and the details of life after death.

In other words, a true religion must explain clearly and vividly the concept of God, His attributes, the origin of life, the ultimate goal of our creation and God’s master plan.

We need a trustful and reliable line of communication with God. Therefore, a true religion must also clarifies about how God establishes a formal, reliable, pure, and trustworthy communication channel with humans

Further, we must know the details of God’s work plan for us including the knowledge of good and evil deeds, recommended and non-recommended acts, our rights and responsibilities and how to perform them.

Also, a true religion must discuss the solutions to the individual and social problems and the criteria of success and failure in performing our duties.

Lastly, a true religion must explain the details of what is going to happen after death and how to prepare ourselves according to that.

In other words, it must discuss about what mechanism is provided by the Creator in order to judge the individual and collective actions of human beings. Also, it must discuss how these judgments then translate into a new life in the form of Heaven and Hell.

Human beings are in desperate need of answers to these basic questions of life. Getting answers to these questions is the responsibility of every human being.

What we need is a framework that ties everything together and enables us to answer all the questions of life. In particular, such a framework would help us to understand, and therefore prepare us to cope with the complex problems of life.

Such a framework allows us to understand the meaning of life, society in which we live, the world and its purpose, and our place in it. Once this baseline is established, it will be far easier for us to make the critical decisions about our role and responsibilities in this world.

Such a conceptual and practical framework may be called an “ideology of true life” or “world view of reality”. In a nutshell, human beings need a worldview that fulfills both their material and spiritual needs.

There are many prevalent world views and ideologies that have tried to synthesize the wisdom gathered in the different scientific disciplines, philosophies and religions to answers these fundamental questions.

However, such ideologies short fall in providing complete end-to-end solutions. Instead, they focus on small sections of reality only, rather than providing us with a picture of the whole or a connection from start to the ultimate end.

Islam provides us the most comprehensive and the most meaningful understanding of life with complete satisfaction. Such an understanding helps us to solve the real life problems that lie within the domains of social, economical, judicial and political systems.

Islam provides us clear-cut guiding principles as well as minute details in breadth and depth about clarifying these issues that is not matched by any other religion on this earth.

In a nutshell, Islam covers all the dimensions and facets which a human as an individual and as a society need to pass a happy life in this world and the life after death.

Islam is the purest of all religions and a complete code of life. Such a Grand master plan, architecture, and deep details can only come from a Creator and not a creation.