internal strength to withstand an attack by forces detrimental to its
health. If, however, the attack proves too strong and the person falls
ill, his resistance must be strengthened so as to prevent the disease
from taking a fatal turn and to effect its cure. This preventive and
curative process would be called maghfirah.
Faithful compliance with the laws of God gives man sufficient
strength to resist the destructive forces in life. But if he should ever
fall into error and be guilty of infringing these laws, and his
personality should consequently be weakened, the remedy would lie
in good conduct calculated to recuperate and strengthen his
personality and save him from the harmful effect of his lapse. This
is called maghfirah.
- Mala’aikah or the latter being preferable): This is
usually translated in English as angels; but the common religious
notion of the word is very different from its Qur’anic conception.
The universe can be divided into two parts: the material world which
we can perceive through the senses, and the world beyond our
powers of perception. The Qur’an, in the first instance, uses the
word mala’aikah for the forces of nature at work in the world of
matter. For instance, when it says, in the allegorical story of Adam,
that all the mala’aikah prostrated themselves before Adam, it means
that man has been endowed with the capacity to subdue and
conquer the forces of nature. Moreover, the Qur’anic meaning of
mala’aikah includes, besides the physical forces of nature, the
psychological forces within the human individual himself. When
used with reference to the other part of the universe – the one
beyond our powers of perception – the mala’aikah stand for the
forces at work there to fulfil God’s purpose and shape in practice the
Divine Scheme of things. In this sense, the word also includes the
agencies through which the word of God has been revealed to
various Anbiya. So in this sense, mala’aikah may also be called
messengers.
Mala’aikah are not endowed with any will or independent power;
they are devoted to the performance of their respective duties, and
cannot act otherwise than they do. Man is the only being in the
whole universe endowed with a free will and independent power. - Mushrik one guilty of shirk (q.v.). Plural form:
mushrikeen.
Glossary 27