any constructive use also fall within the definition of sharr.
This exposition of the notions of khair and sharr also provides an
answer to the question why God, Who is Himself khair, has created
sharr. In fact, sharr is not an independent quality or force created by
God: man has been created with a free will, and when he, by his own
choice, uses his potentialities for destructive purposes, the result is
sharr.
- Khalq; see Amr.
- Kufr This is the antonym, or negation, of eiman (q.v).
It means to deny the truth, to prevent, to defy the laws of God.
Basically, the word means to cover or conceal. One who denies the
truth in fact seeks to conceal it; he is, therefore, called a kafir. Kufr
means open denial, not hypocrisy. The hypocrite professes to
believe in a thing that he does not accept at heart; the kafir, on the
other hand, has at least the forthrightness to proclaim his belief.
That is why the Qur’an condemns and consigns the hypocrite to the
lowest depths of hell.
The definition of kufr, however, is not confined to denial of the
truth; it includes the concealment, or withholding of the means of
subsistence, which God has created for the good of all mankind and
which He wants to be freely available to all. - Madhhab literally means way or course. This word does
not occur in the Qur’an and in the Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) it
stands for “school of thought”. The English word “religion” is
usually translated as madhhab, and since Islam is generally described
in English as religion, the word madhhab has come to be used for it in
Urdu also. This is a fundamental fallacy; it might be stressed once
again that Islam is a deen, not a madhhab. Today, the only Divine deen is
Islam, whose principles and precepts are enshrined in the Qur’an. - Maghfirah usually translated as forgiveness. The
Qur’anic law of requital, however, entirely negates the very
conception of forgiveness. Every human action, according to this
law, has a natural and logical outcome for which there can be no
forgiveness. The correct meaning of the word maghfirah is to
protect: for instance, mighfar means the helmet or piece of mail with
which a soldier protects his skull and neck.
The first prerequisite for the prevention of disease is one’s
internal resistance: that is to say, his body should have sufficient
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 26