The concept of ad din

1. THE CONCEPT OF (AL -DIN) RELIGION
 The word al din is derived from dana means “being
indebted”.
 The term being indebted could be reduced in four
significations:
-indebtedness
-submissiveness
-judicious power
-natural inclination
 All the four significations are interconnected in each
other.
From the religious point of view, we are being indebted
to Allah for bringing us into existence and maintaining
our existence.

2. We have to repay the debt to Allah by giving ourselves
up in service to Allah.
Service here means ‘ibadah.
The Islamic concept of ‘ibadah is very comprehensive.
‘Ibadah is very important in upholding our ‘aqidah.
Our iman to Allah must be implemented through
‘ibadah.
If we do have iman, but failed to give a complete
obedience in ‘ibadah we are not true mu’min because
we do not reflect our belief in our actions.
We need to worship Allah through ‘ibadah physically,
intellectually, and spiritually.
When we realize that we are being owned by Allah, and
we are Allah’s property, it comes naturally that we must
submit to Allah.

3. So, our natural tendency to serve and worship Allah is
also referred to as al din (din al ftrah).
Man has a capacity to become perfect through a process
of self- improvement.
Man has both soul and body.
The soul must govern the body
Pertaining the soul, man has three aspects of human
soul:
-the tranquil soul (al nafs al mutmainnah)
-the higher/ rational soul (al nafs al natiqah)
-the lower/ animal soul (al nafs al hayawaniyyah).
soul body

4. The higher/ rational soul of man (al nafs al natiqah)
should govern his lower/ animal soul (al nafs al
hayawaniyyah). It might use its power of ‘aql/ intellect
to control the body from evil deeds.
The lower/ animal soul of man (al nafs al
hayawaniyyah) which contains of his desires must
submit to the higher/ rational soul.
When man is continuously performed his service/
‘ibadah to Allah, he will transfer himself into a higher
stage that is the tranquil soul (al nafs al mutmainnah).
A central position of the concept of al din lies on our
iman/ belief in Allah and the nature of the relationship
to Him.
The same belief should also be the foundation of the
Islamic political and social organization.

5. By holding this belief, Muslim is not bound himself by
the social contract although he lives and works within
the bounds of social polity and authority.
The real object of his loyalty and obedience is not
primarily to the society or the state, but to Allah.
If a man affirms and fulfills his iman/ belief, he has a
power to do justice.
Justice in Islam does not only involve justice between
one person and another, or between ruler and the ruled,
or between society and the state; but most importantly it
refers to the justice existing between man and his own
self.

6. Al Attas’s Summarization of the Term Din
1. Indebtedness
•Technically (i.e. in the religious and spiritual
context), being indebted means
•“man is indebted to God, his Creator and Provider,
for bringing him into existence and maintaining him
in his existence. Man was once nothing and did not
exist, and now he is.” (Q 23:12-14).

7. 2. Submissiveness
•Din means “total submission to God”.
•Man is aware that “he owns absolutely nothing to
‘repay’ his debt, except his own consciousness of the
fact that he is himself the very substance of the debt,
so must he ‘repay’ with himself, so must he ‘return’
himself to Him Who owns him absolutely.”
•‘Returning the debt’ means to give himself up in
service, or khidmah, to his Lord and Master; to abase
himself before Him – and so the rightly guided man
sincerely and consciously enslaves himself for the
sake of God in order to fulfill His commands and
prohibitions and ordinances, and thus to live out the
dictates of His Law.

8. 3. Judicious Power
•Din means “God’s government of the realm of
creation”.
•Man must acknowledge God as their Lord (rabb, or
the Absolute King, Possessor and Owner, Rule,
Governor, Master, Creator, Cherishers, and Sustainer),
and as their ilah
•As their ilah man must give himself up in service
(khidmah) to God, i.e. performing all ‘ibadah only to
God.

9. 4. Natural Inclination/ Tendency
•Din also refers to as fitrah, that is to say “a reflection of
natural human tendency in man to serve God and
worship Him.
•Fitrah is the pattern according to which God has
created all things (Q 30:30).
•When man was created, he has sealed a covenant with
God by acknowledging the truth of God’s Lordship (Q
7:172).

10. Din According to al-Maududi
•For Maududi, the meanings of din are as follows:
•(1) Dominion on the part of someone in
authority,
•(2) Obedience, servitude or worship, on the part
of the one submitting to the authority,
•(3) Law, rules or regulation in the context of the
above relationship, and
•(4) Calling to account (for obedience or non-
obedience to the Authority), passing judgement,
and pronouncing reward or punishment.

11. Din stands for the entire way of life in the Qur’an
•The composite factors are:
•(1) Sovereignty and supreme authority,
•(2) Obedience and submission to such authority
(for both factors see Q 3:83; 16:52; 39:2-3, 11,14,
17; 40:64-65; 98:5),
•(3) The system of thought and action established
through the exercise of that authority (Q 10:104-
05; 24:2; 109:6), and
•(4) Retribution meted out by the authority in
consideration of the loyalty and obedience to it,
or rebellion and transgression against it (Q 51:5-
6; 82:17-19; 107:1-3)

12. •As a comprehensive term, din represents a “whole way of
life”.
•It does not stand only for “religion” but cover also the
whole politico-social and cultural set-up including man’s
belief, his moral principles and his behaviour in all walks of
life.
The Relationship between Din, Shari‘ah and ‘Ibadah
•Maududi is of the opinion that the din can be compared with
a state and government.
•Shari‘ah is the law of state, and ‘ibadah amount to follow
and complying with that law.

13. THE CONCEPT OF AL DIN ON THE BASIS OF
FITRAH
Every child is born with the potential of fair thinking
and fair doing, and the character of every human nature
is the right belief and the right conduct (al din al
qayyim).
From the Islamic point of view, human nature is
absolutely free from all bad potentials, wrong
tendencies, and wrong belief. Also no criminal
characteristic is inherent in human nature.
On the basis of fitrah, man has a potential to be a true
mu’min and to achieve the highest degree of excellence
and perfection because he is conferred with the best
nature.
Allah said “ we have created man with the best form”.

14. Man is purposive being. He is supposed to realize his status
as a servant to Allah by continuously struggle to worship
Him and to fulfill his obligations as a Muslim.
Allah says, “Do you think that We had created you in vain
without purpose and that you shall not be returned to Us”?
We can derive two points from this verse:
i) Man is not created in vain.
ii) Every man shall be returned to Allah; so man is
responsible and accountable to his worldly actions.
In another verse Allah says, “It is He who created the
heavens and the earth in six days and His dominion extends
on the water, so that He might test you which of you is the
best in action”.
Allah wants to test on how we conduct our life in this world.

15. Basically, man has two basic human nature:
i)Potential nature.
ii)Actual nature.
i) Potential nature
Signifies certain demands/ feelings which are
naturally exist in human soul to pursuit the noble/
virtuous ideas on the basis that man is made as the
best creature and born in a good nature (fitrah).
There are several examples of potential nature:
a)Distinction between vice and virtue, right and wrong.
b)Acknowledgment of the existence of God.
c)Self- consciousness
d)Sense of responsibility

16. ii) Actual nature
Actual nature corresponds to some materialistic instincts
and ambitious.
The actual nature represents the temptations of desire, and
the potential nature represents a sense of duty.
There is always a conflict between desire and duty in human
mind since man naturally hold these two natures.
In order to overcome this conflict, we have to develop and
to dominate the potential nature into life, and to control the
actual nature.
In this way, the noble ideas of potential nature become
stronger and more effective than desires of the actual nature.
The potential nature must supervise the actual nature; so the
conflict between a sense of duty and the temptation of
desire is resolved in a positive manner.