Islamic Worldview: Principles and Assumptions

This article delves into the Islamic worldview, which is based on the Quran and the life of Prophet Muhammad. It covers the principles and assumptions of Islam, including the role of Allah, the importance of justice, and the significance of education. The article also highlights the similarities between Islam and other religions, and emphasizes the need for tolerance and understanding.

Running head- ISLAM WORLDVIEW
ISLAM WORLDVIEW
Name of student
Name of university
Author note

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Introduction
Islam is one of the most widely followed religions in the world. The religion believes
in a single God and is the second largest religion in the world with over 1.8 billion followers
known as Muslims who constitute approximately 24.1% of the world’s population. About 1/5
of the population of the world is Muslim (Schum 2017). Muslims constitute the primary
religion in 50 countries. The word worldview means a set of thoughts, principles and
assumptions about the reality of life and the role of men in the universe. The worldview of
Islam is a set of principles and assumptions about the birth of universe and man’s relation to
the universe from the perspective of Islam (Alam Choudhury and Nurul Alam 2013). The
worldview is based on two main sources first, the Quran and second, the Sunnah or the life
examples of Prophet Muhammad. The Islamic worldview guides the followers to the correct
path in life. Islamic worldview as often believe, is not really a cultural product of any region
as it is wrongly believed by many, but it is derived from the revealed words of Allah which is
passed on to mankind through Prophet Muhammad. The Quran is considered as the divinely
revealed scripture similar to the Bible. It is believed to be the actual words of Allah that were
given to prophet Muhammad who is known as the final prophet of Allah who passed it on to
mankind.
Body
The Islamic worldview is based on Allah the God, Mohammad the Prophet of Allah
and the Quran which contains the words of Allah that was delivered by Mohammad. Islam
believes in submission to God and Muslims are the ones that have submitted to Allah. Islam
covers every aspect of the life of its followers. Islam believes in one God which is Allah,
which is very similar to the Christian belief of a single God Jesus Christ. Muslims believe he
is the creator, and the only master of universe and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. The

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practices of Quran and Muhammad constitute the foundation of Islam. The worldview of
Islam started in 570 AD with the birth of Muhammad. By 650AD the Quran was formed and
thereby began the important conquests of Islam in mecca, Egypt, Persia and Jerusalem. Belief
and faith in God and submission and accountability to him is the fundamental principal of the
Islam (Al-Jayyousi 2016). Every action of a believer revolves around this faith that he is
answerable to Allah and he will be rewarded and punished for his actions by God. The
primary objective of Islam worldview is to enlighten the Muslims with the real knowledge of
the world as it is explained in Quran by Allah. The Islamic worldview is simple yet profound.
It teaches the followers the way to conduct themselves in the world. Constant check on
oneself by living on the righteous way by avoiding all corruptions and greed is important.
The Islam teachings are equal for all. There is no distinction between rich, poor, weak
and strong the teachings are equal for all. The Islamic worldview believes that man’s deeds
should be based on their success both in this world and the world after life. That success can
be achieved by following the words of God. It says that all the human problems are caused
due to man’s disobedience to God (Goplen and Plant 2015). The Quran mentions that God
created men as his Khalifa or representative on earth. The Islam worldview says that God
created men as their representative on Earth and He has endowed humans with intelligence so
that men can prosper and do well to mankind. They believe a man is accountable to Allah for
his every action that their every action in their worldly life is being recorded by God and it
will be presented to him on the Day of Judgment. If the person is judged well by God then he
will enjoy eternal happiness in paradise. However, if he fails, he will be condemned to hell
and be punished for his sins. .
Islamic worldview states that every human must be treated with respect and dignity
irrespective of their rank and status. The Islamic worldview therefore is a supporter of
democracy that ensures a place for everyone. Another important part of Islamic worldview is

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the sacredness of life and tolerance and kindness towards others. Knowledge, science and
reason is an important part of Islam worldview. The Quran invites the followers to look into
the two springs of knowledge which are the macrocosmic physical universe and the
microcosmic inner reality of humans. The Islamic worldview consists of three principles
which are tawhid (theism), Khilafah (vicegenrency) and adalah (justice) (Qutb 2015). The
worldview considers Allah as the omnipotent supreme creator and controller of universe.
Muslims hold this God is the same as Christians and jews.
Islamic worldview focuses on the term Khilafah or vicegerency instead of
sovereignty. It means that man cannot exercise any power except of the power that is
delegated to him. It further says there is no reservation for any class or family. No man is
inferior to others. Every believer is the caliph of Allah. The Khilafah is responsible to Allah
and is answerable to Him. The Quran states that man is a vicegerent of Allah on Earth and all
the resources of the world are provided to men with trust. Every living creation including
men owes their existence to Allah alone. The universe is created and maintained by Allah in
accordance to the law of nature (Hafez 2017). Life of man on Earth is a trial on which
depends his life after Earth. Islam worldview gives sovereignty to only Allah and not to any
man. This prohibits men’s superiority and puts every man on the same level. Every human
being is equal in the eyes of Islam. Every man enjoys equal rights and can ask for help
through the legal system. The honor, property and life of each man are protected by Islam.
The philosophy of Quran emphasizes on Wahi, which says that Muslims must have balance
between the requirement of their body and soul and work for the larger interest of mankind.
Justice is important according to every modern theory. In the Islam worldview it
means keeping things to their rightful place and give equal treatment to others. Islam
considers justice as a moral virtue and an important aspect of human personality (Rafiki and
Wahab 2014). The prophet had said a just leader who will always get shelter from God.

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Justice is considered as a supreme virtue. Justice is also referred to in the context of
polygamy. The Quran demands that all wives in case of polygamy must be treated with
equality and justice. The verse talks about polygamy in details referring to orphan poor girls
of marriageable age who should be married off even if that is a polygamous relationship.
Morality is another important aspect of Islam. It deals with the relationship between
man and Allah, man with other man, man with other elements of nature and man with his
inner self. It is moral duty of a Muslim to guard his inner behavior, thoughts, words,
intentions and feelings. A man’s duty is to understand the difference between right and
wrong, fight against the wrong, seek the truth and discard the wrong (Hanapi 2013). Virtue
and truth should be the ultimate goal. Humility, courtesy, simplicity and compassion should
be pursued. Arrogance, harshness, self-importance must be abandoned. Compassion as a
moral value would lead to reward in the afterlife. It is a source of achieving spirituality and of
maintaining socio economic harmony. Muslims are instructed to cooperate with one another.
Forgiveness is another moral aspect of Islam. Humans are bound to make mistakes and at the
same time, forgiveness is important. It is regarded as a high social value in Islam that leads to
harmony and peace. Hard work and labor is appreciated in Islam and the consequence of not
following it is mentioned in Quran and Sunnah (van der Kooij et al. 2013.). Modesty and
chastity are very high values in Islam which has relation with social, economic and religious
system. Any activity that disrupts the moral fiber in the society is avoided and discarded.
Reconciliation is an important moral value of Islam which means solving conflicts and
renewing friendly ties. Responsibility is another moral value. A Muslim is responsible and
accountable for his social, political and economic actions as well as to Allah on the Day of
Judgment.

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Second part
1) Being a teacher by profession, my most vital role is to spread the light of education
and knowledge among my students and shape not just their minds but their life. The
discussion about Islam worldview has been extremely enlightening and informative.
Being completely new to this topic, it has made me understand various beautiful
aspects of the Islamic philosophy and worldview which I was completely unaware of
before. As per my worldview and the Islam worldview the role and importance of a
teacher in the life of the students is vital. A teacher is a very influential person both in
school and in society according to Muslim and he plays one of the key roles in
developing child.
2) The Islamic philosophy and worldview is a wide all-encompassing set of principles
that the Quran asks its followers to abide by for attaining Allah’s mercy and love and
reward in the life after earth. After studying the worldview I came to understand
various aspects of the Quran which I found suitable and necessary to follow in today’s
world as well. The Quran teaches how to lead a just and fruitful life.. Islam gives
tremendous importance to teacher much like every other religion. A story goes that
Prophet Muhammad came across two groups, one praying another was learning from
a teacher and he joined the second group. This shows the importance of a teacher in
the Islam religion. However most religion only appreciates a teacher who is teaching
academics. Islam says we must appreciate every person who teaches us anything in
life. Be that our guide, be that our family or be that a friend. This is something my
own worldview needs to learn from Islam. In our everyday life we meet so many
people that some way or the other teaches us something about ourselves. We must be
thankful to every person who helps us in learning something.

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3) Every individual has thoughts and views of their own. If I follow Christian
worldview and my colleague does not there is no point in questioning his view or
trying to prove him wrong. It will only lead to further problems and conflict.
Therefore we should try to resolve it simply by trying to understand and analyze the
fact that both of us have different set of concepts in our mind thereby instead of trying
to prove the other one wrong we must be sound enough to avoid problems. We should
always hear the other side of the debate and try to analyze my own worldview and see
whether the person is speaking facts for not. There are several misconceptions
regarding various religions in the minds of lame man. Very few among us really know
what our scriptures say what our gods want. The Islamic notion of life after earth is
very much similar to Hindu concept of rebirth and their notion of Judgment day when
every soul will be judged as per his deeds on earth is similar to the Christian concept
of the day of Judgment when every man will be rewarded for their good deeds in
paradise and every evil deeds will be punished eternally. What I believe is that God is
one. He is Allah, he is Christ and he is Rama. The names are multiple but the
teachings and the gospels the religions preach are not starkly different from each
other. A lot of the preaching of the religions is similar. The clashes between the
religions are futile.
4) My worldview has taught me several things that are in my mind. They automatically
arise in mind whenever a situation like that arises. What I have always maintained in
life is that I never do anything which my conscience does not permit. Being a very
rational person I always analyze and judge everything around me. I do not follow my
worldviews blindly without understanding their real importance and at the same time
if I am convinced about a certain thing in my worldview that I would want to follow,
nothing can make me break it. There have been various moments when I have been in

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situations that are hostile to my worldviews, but I always found a way to avoid and
ignore them. I cannot expect every situation to be as per my views so when a
contradictory environment arises I simply avoid that situation. That helps to keep my
worldview as well as not get into any conflicts with the environment.
Conclusion
Islamic worldview is a very comprehensive and definite set of principles and
conceptions in the world of Islam. Muslims are asked to follow them to lead life on the path
of virtue and righteousness. Walking on the path of this virtue man can attain a good life not
only on earth but the life after earth. Islam worldview puts god in the center of creation and
man as worshipper of Allah. Allah is the creator and controller of every life on earth. The
worldview contains not just spirituality but every aspect of the life of man right from
economy to the society he lives in to the culture he follows (Valk, Albayrak and Selçuk
2017). Islam considers the entire universe as a tool for man to perform his duty that is
allocated to him by Allah. This world is just a temporary place for Muslims that puts them
into trials and tests to. The real life is the life after earth where man is rewarded or punished
as per their actions. Islam worldview covers every aspect of life like the political, social,
cultural and economic. It is not formed merely by historical connections or values. It is well
established framework which has been studied by scholars throughout centuries.

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References
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perspective. International journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern finance and
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1487.
Hafez, Z., 2017. The Islamic worldview, Islamic jurisprudence: An American Muslim
perspective, Vol. 1.
Hanapi, M.S., 2013. From Jahiliyyah to Islamic worldview: In a search of an Islamic
educational philosophy. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(2),
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JC van der Kooij, J.C., de Ruyter, D.J. and Miedema, S., 2013. “Worldview”: The meaning
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