Introduction:

Islam is not only a religion but also a deen which means complete code of life. Religion deals with man's relationship with God, while religion deals with both man's God and his fellow creatures. Religion deals with private matters of life while religion covers all aspects of life, individual and collective. In other words, religion is an accepted term that includes religious, social, political, economic systems. It touches on the material and spiritual aspects of human existence and insists that all our thoughts and actions be carried out by the will of God.

What is Religion?

The word religion is commonly used in a narrow sense, its scope limited to a set of dogmas, some rituals for worship, and a number of social customs to celebrate important life events. Religion deals with individual life only.

What is Deen?

Contrary to religion Deen covers all aspects of human life. It covers both spiritual/scared World affairs and secular / secular affairs. In short, religion is about man's relationship with God. While deen deals with man's God as well as his fellow creatures. Deen  provides guidance in individual and collective matters. It offers a belief system, the concept of worship, to meet the spiritual and metaphysical needs of the individual, and provides social, political, economic, legal and cultural principles for the betterment of society. When the term deen is used for Islam, it obviously means a system of life where worship and obedience to Allah is performed, not only in a narrow religious sense, but also in the way in which human life Include all aspects. "Today I have perfected your deen for you, completed My blessing upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your deen."

Therefore, an impartial critic like Dr. Michael Hart is forced to admit that "my choice of Muhammad to be at the top of the list of influential people in the world may surprise some readers and may be a question mark for others." But he was the only man in history. Which was very successful on both religious and secular levels.

 

 

Meaning of Deen

·       There is several meaning of Deen.
One meaning is honour, government, empire, monarchy and ruleship.

·       The second meaning is quite opposite to it i.e. subordination, obedience, slavery, servitude and subjection.

·       Third meaning is to account, to give judgment, and dispense reward and punishment of actions.
The word Deen has been Used in the Quran in all these three meanings.
Allah says ―Deen with Allah is al Islam.‖ (3:19)
―And whosoever seeks a Deen other than Islam, it will not be accepted from Him.‖ (3:85)
―And fight them until persecution is no more and Deen is all for Allah.‖ (8:39)

Total Implementation of Islam: Requirement of Islam as Deen

The essence of true and authentic Islamic thought consists of the idea that it is not enough to practice in the personal life only, but that the teaching of the Quran and those Sunnah need also be implemented in their totality in the social, economic, and political fields. In other words, it implies the establishment of the sovereignty of Allah in the ―religious‘ as well as ―Mundane‖ domains, or the removal of the dichotomy between collective life and state authority on the one hand and Divine guidance on the other. The underlying and pervasive ideas in this context, which is also an integral part of the Islamic evolutionary thought, is that the struggle to establish unqualified and unconditional ascendancy of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is obligatory upon all members of the Muslim Ummah. The goal of this is to achieve the domination of the true way of life (Deen al Haq), so that the Islamic system of social justice which is the most balanced synthesis of human freedom, fraternity, and equality, and which embodies the Divine attributes of Benevolence, Providence, and Justice- can be established on earth.

Difference between Deen and Shariah:

The meaning of Shariah is mode and path. When one has acknowledged God as one‘s sovereign and accepted His servitude and has also admitted that the Messenger is the tangible ruler holding authority on His and that Book has been sent by Him, it will mean one has entered Deen. After this, the mode in which Muslim to serve God and the path he has traverse in order to obey him is called Shariah. This mode and path has been indicated by God through his messenger who alon teaches the method of worshiping the Master the way to become pure and clean. The Messenger shows us the path of righteousness and piety, tha manner in which rights are discharged, the method of carrying on transactions and dealings with fellow-beings and the mode of leading one‘s life. But the difference is this that while Deen always was, has been, and is still one and the same, numberous Shariah came, many were cancelled, several were changed but these alternations did not change the Deen. The Deen of Noah was the same as that of Abrahim, Moses, Jesus, Shuaib Saleh, Hud and Mohammad (PBUH) but the same Shariahs of these prophets varied from each other to some extent. The modes of saying prayer and observing fast were of one kind with one prophet and of another kind with the other. Injunction about Halal and Haram, rules of cleanliness and codes of marriage, divorce and inheritance somewhat differed from one Sharrah to another. In spite of this, all were Muslims the followers of Noah, the followers of Abraham, the followers of Jesus and those Moses, and we are too Muslims because Deen is one and the same for all. This shows that Deen is unaffected by differences in the rules of Shariah. Deen remains one though modes of following it differ.