The teaching contained in the Quran are summarized in the first chapter of the Quran called the Fatiha and known also as the 7 oft-repeated verses because they are recited as part of the Islamic prayer. But their significance is often not understood or realised.

One way of explaining this summary is as follows:-

The purpose of Creation was given in the formula:-

The purpose is to know and become conscious of the ultimate Reality. That is the direction of evolution. As for the ultimate purpose, why Allah wished to be known, Allah can only know that himself.

Man was created as a Vicegerent (2:30). He has the Spirit of Allah in him i.e. consciousness, conscience and will by means of which the Purpose of creation can be fulfilled.

As one's who have surrendered, we are required, therefore, to accept Allah, the Lord of the Universe, as our Lord, to be loyal exclusively to Him, to expand our horizons, become a citizen of the Universe and to behave in a thoroughly objective manner with Truth as our Ideal. This is the ultimate goal by which we can judge all other events.

But owing to sin, man Fell. That is, his spirit became entangled in coarse matter because of attachments, obsessions, fixations, habits, subjective likes and dislikes, prejudices, greed, lust, desires for pleasure, addictions, egotism, selfishness, and sensuality and various kinds of idolatries, superstitions and fears - These can be defined as the temptations of Satan and Satan is the deceiver, the producer of illusions and delusions. Human capacity for perception and thinking became mutilated because of rationalisations and fantasies based on these defects and his consciousness narrowed down. The spirit was suppressed into unconsciousness and becomes dormant, and human being become creatures of automatisms, habit and conditioning.

The method by which the regeneration or awakening is achieved is through "surrender", the sacrifice of the subjective ego and self-identification with Allah, the Absolute the ultimate, fundamental, all pervasive, self-existing Unity and Lord of the Universe. This liberates the individual from all other identifications and attachments which are also known as Idolatries. Allah, instead of self, becomes the centre of an all comprehensive framework of reference within which all experiences are interpreted and a centre of integration is formed within the person from which all thought, motives and actions may be controlled. Everything else recommended in Islam is designed to do just that.

There are three aspects to this:- (a) The establishment of an Ideal which is inner and outer Unity and harmony, (b) the striving to achieve it, (c) and asking for forgiveness, which is the removal of the errors, malfunctions or sins. These may be defined as anything that creates internal contradiction or conflict.

This will not get rid of the lower impulses. Indeed, they too have a purpose, and Islam is concerned with the proper functioning of each drive and faculty in its own proper place and with control and order, not with their suppression. This only produces further distortions of behaviour and malfunctions. We are required to behave intelligently.

We already have the Frontal Lobe that is mostly inactive and can be cut off to a large extent in most people without making any appreciable difference to their behaviour. According to some theories, the dormant part can be activated by activating the Pineal gland. This is regarded as a Third Eye because it is made of a material that resembles the eye and because the hormone it produces is said to have effects on consciousness and insight. There appears to be some inverse connection with the sexual glands at the other end of the body so that further development of consciousness could be regarded as a sublimation or transformation of sexual energy.

The particular characteristics of Sexuality are (a) creativity as in reproduction (b) the formation of attachments as in the love between spouses or between parent and children and this makes the society into a unity - a network of families (c) intensity.

It is, therefore, not difficult to see that it can function in four ways:-

(a) Normally in a socially useful manner as indicated above.

(b) Perversely when it is channelled into self-centered ways. This results in sensuality, pleasure seeking, wild fantasies, self-love, and fanaticism.

(c) It can be channelled into cultural activities where it produces creativity, self-identification with a cause, interest and enthusiasm. This may take a scientific or political form or the form of a hobby or career.

(d) It can take the psychologically or spiritually constructive form. A person actually constructs a "New Man" within himself by creating a centre into which all new knowledge and experiences are placed and from which his motives and actions flow. This centre is constantly reinforced and as it grows it absorbs or replaces all other centres. The link between sexuality and spiritual development can be found in most religions. Christian Nuns, for instance are "married" to Christ. Jesus taught that a person must be born again, but this time through the spirit. However, birth is only the beginning.

In ordinary life, we do construct ourselves through our experiences and thoughts, but this happens quite accidentally except in so far as we follow an educational system or discipline deliberately. We have to seek correct experiences, interpret them correctly and integrate and assimilate them as we do food. If we do not, then there is haphazard development, disintegration into several mutually exclusive and even mutually contradictory centres, and a great amount of inner conflict - we create our own hell. This can be understood in connection with the following verse:-

The purpose of Religion in general and Islam in particular has three inter-dependent aspects:- (a) Human psychological and spiritual development. (b) Social development - this could include all the economic, political, cultural, educational, health and social affairs which are usually the concern of political reformers in the West, but from the Islamic point of view these must ultimately have a spiritual goal else they are meaningless. (c) There is an ultimate Cosmic goal and this planet is part of it. Human beings, therefore, also have a function with respect to the environment.

In order to understand the religious view, it is necessary to understand certain fundamental ideas. This can be done through an analogy. The original creative force is the Command or Word of Allah ("When He decrees a matter He only says: BE! And it is" 3:47). This may refer to a fundamental force, an ordered vibration. The Spirit produced by the Command of Allah (17:85) carries the information or Truth ("His word is Truth" 6:74). So we may think of the Universe as being an idea in the Universal Consciousness, the Mind of God. Or we may say that there is a Universal Field in which all kinds of waves are criss-crossing, forming a network. All objects, from the Universe to the atom, may be regarded as Ideas, patterns, or states of order, within this Field. Energy refers to the interaction between these Ideas or things. Matter refers to the limitations things have or the inertia, resistance or constraints each thing or Idea exerts with respect to the others. All things arise by stages and there are levels of existence or order - the various heavens. Things arise like waves from, and sink back into, the ground state, the Universal Consciousness.

One way of understanding these levels is, in order of increasing density:-

(The series can be extended to communities, nations and so on or divided in other ways. It is given only as an illustration.)

Three things should be noted:- (a) The particles of each level are composed from the particles of the previous level (e.g. cells from molecules, molecules of atoms), (b) Each also forms an independent field - organisms lie in a field of cells (bacteria etc.), atoms in a field of sub-atomic particles and so on. (c) We can also see a person as being a whole organism, a structure of cells, a structure of molecules, or of atoms, or of sub-atomic particles, or of spirit.

The individual soul may be regarded as an organization of spirit or a bundle of information or Truth that describes that individual. It is the seat of consciousness, conscience and will. It exists in the Field and interacts with it. It can absorb, transform and emit like any other object or organism and is an instrument or organ. It can grow or atrophy or become diseased. It can pass up and down these levels by being trapped by the things existing at each level. The higher it goes the closer it is to God. Higher is not understood in space terms, nor in temporal terms though the lower heavens or coarser states of order come after the subtler ones.

The word "religion" is usually used to refer to institutions, people, cultures, historical movements, a set of rituals, a set of doctrines and so on. From the Islamic point of view religion means "binding back to one's source" and has the same significance as "Surrender" (Islam). It is a deliberately constructed and all comprehensive, fully unified way of living. Thus all genuine religion is Islam and no religion except Islam is acceptable (Islam in this technical sense).

According to the Prophet Muhammad (saw), this religion has three levels:- These are known as al-islam (the religious discipline), al-iman (the faith), al-ihsan (righteousness). These corresponds to:- (a) the Shariat or religious law, (b) the Tariqat or Method or Way also known as Tassawuf, and (c) Haqiqat, the Truth. These correspond to three forms of knowledge Ilm-ul-Yaqin, Ain-ul-Yaqin and Haq-ul-Yaqin (verbal knowledge, experiential knowledge and gnosis). The first should lead to the second and the second to the third.

We can see the difference between the levels in the following verses:-

A person does not originally enter Islam because of faith, but because of all kinds of other reasons. It may be the accident of being born in Muslim family or country. It may be because of subjective preferences, likes and dislikes, prejudices, fear, superstitions, some kind of personal, social or economic advantage, fantasy, delusions or a vague inkling of truth. He may accept it because he sees his own defects and wants to improve. It may be admiration for the Islamic teaching or the Islamic community. The unregenerate person has only a limited capacity for determining his motives or judging whether what he is following is true or not, though obviously he thinks it is true. The rejection of Islam, of course, has exactly the same causes. There has to be a submission to a discipline first before there can be the appropriate experiences on which faith can be based. Faith in its turn comes prior to righteousness, and leads to it. It allows him to develop certain insights. Faith alone does not ensure that a person knows what is right, nor gives him the power to act accordingly. It leads on to a path of development that will modify and transform him and establish the Truth of Certainty. It is only when a person reaches this higher stage then he will behave as an Agent of Allah.

At first a person hears about Islam from others, or he may have thought about it. His knowledge is purely verbal or intellectual. Later he begins to understand Islam. His knowledge is based on personal experiences and he has developed insight. Finally, he has been transformed by it and he has become a true Muslim. Accordingly, the word "muslim" (one who has surrendered), itself, can be understood at three levels according to whether a person accepts the teachings of Islam mentally, lives his life according to its principles, or has become a transformed person in his thinking, feeling, motivations, perceptions and actions. The individual identifies his will with that of Allah. All his actions are done on behalf of Allah, or rather Allah acts through him. He becomes the true Vicegerent.

Though works, effort is certainly required, it must be correct action and it must be based on correct faith - faith which does not lead to action is not true faith. Faith, in its turn must be based on perception and understanding. It does not refer to prejudices and delusions. It is, however, not the action itself that leads to salvation. The efforts modify a person in such a way that he becomes receptive to the spirit, or the spirit becomes active in him - he becomes a channel. This is like tuning a radio. It is the spirit that transforms him. This is what is known as the Gift or Grace of God. It is probable that the idea of "salvation by faith without works" is based on the misunderstanding of this.

The Islamic practices have been mentioned in the article on "Worship". These have several levels and are suitable for the simplest as well as the most sophisticated of minds. Islamic prayer outwardly appears to be merely a ritual, but there is much more to it than meets the eye. It is, or ought to be, a combination of (a) posture changes in a disciplined way at certain times which structures the day and affects everything else a person may do. This requires an exertion of will; (b) meditation which requires concentration of consciousness and thought (3) prayer which is a concentration and reinforcement of certain feeling, desire and motives. Each re-enforces the other and creates a complete man, coordinating intellect-emotion-action and body-mind-spirit.

Further reinforcement is obtained by creating a community of like motivated people who interact in certain ways and in coordination. Note that this activity is not the result of someone who has control over others, but the result of the fact that each person involved knows what is required and acts accordingly. It is, therefore, a training that produces what might be called inner organic and spiritual unity rather than outer mechanical unity or automatism.

The other practices have similar levels and aspects. They are all concerned with spiritual self-construction, to develop and strengthen the typically human characteristics that the spirit bestows, namely Consciousness, Conscience and Will, in short, the Vicegerency.

Islam is a unified system of living. It does not, therefore, consist only of spiritual practices, but integrates these in a social system. Though this produces a nation it is not the same thing as a State, which is, more like a machine and it is not based on territory.

The Islamic nation is based something as follows:-

(1) Islam requires Muslims to obey Allah and judge by the criteria He has provided in the Quran. This is so because unaided human beings have made a mess of their lives - i.e. Satan or illusion has misguided them. The faculties Allah has given man including those for perception, reason and receiving inspiration have become corrupted as explained above.

(2) There is a difference between the Quran itself and its interpretation or understanding by people. Obviously the Quran cannot have an effect unless it is read and understood by people. This understanding will depend on the knowledge, intelligence, sincerity and effort made by the person who interprets it.

(3) It is, therefore, necessary for the sake of all that the most knowledgeable, able and virtuous should interpret the Quran and convey their understanding to the people and the people should follow such persons.

(5) It is necessary, therefore :- (a) To undergo the religious discipline which removes these obstructions (b) Study the Quran constantly in order to understand it better and to remind and reinforce.(c) Apply the Quran, which including the use of the developed faculties. These three things interact and mutually reinforce.

(6) All affairs must be run by mutual consultation (3:159, 42:38). This means that discussions should take place privately and in public Conferences and in Assemblies. But in so far as Islam values Truth above all (Islam is the religion of Truth 9:33), subjective and ignorant opinion is not allowed (17:36, 5:48-49,77, 10:37). Those who partake in a discussion on any subject must be those who are concerned and have expertise in that subject. This means that scientists discuss scientific subjects, economists discuss economic matters, lawyers discuss legal matters, engineers discuss engineering matters and so on. It also means that because the implementation of policies affects the whole population then this must be a matter of consent for the whole population. The best way all this can be done is that there are Local General Assemblies to which all members of the local community have a right to attend. These send delegates or leaders, selected for their abilities, knowledge and virtue to Regional Assemblies and so on to several levels until we come to the Central Assembly. These Assemblies also have Committees dealing with all the different subjects and consisting of experts on these subjects. But all Committees are responsible to the General Assemblies. It is the task of leaders to listen, gather information, coordinate and educate not to compel. It is also necessary to realize that Allah has made variety and that no individual has the totality of knowledge, abilities or virtues. Therefore, many leaders can exist and they must work by mutual consultation without arrogance and come to a consensus.

(7) The Quran has a number of clear instructions but these are guidelines and are by themselves insufficient to run a modern state. All other required laws, procedures, policies, institutions ought to be created by the use of analogical reasoning, Qaiyas.

(8) The verses in the Quran have multiple and general meaning. Even where particular things are mentioned they are examples of what is a more general truth. This is why it is the experience of many people that in the course of their life they come across events which suddenly give them a better understanding of a verse than they had before. Or they meet a new problem and find a relevant solution in the Quran. The meaning of the Quran is not, therefore, static and rigid (though there are minds which form fixations) As circumstances change over the years and centuries it is perfectly possible for Islam to adapt. All events fall into classes so that though they are different there is something underlying them which is constant. There are constant laws behind changing events and we need to lift up consciousness from the superficial to the universal - to wake up. That is the over all message of the Quran.

Man is also responsible to Allah for the way he treats and administers this planet and all things in it. The Quran has instructions not to waste resources, upset the ecological system, create pollution or destroy order. Man is not the owner but is given property and control as a trust. He will be required to account for how he treats, uses and influences things in his environment. As human beings are not independent and interact with their environments, then whatever they do, consciously or unconsciously, will affect the environment directly or indirectly, no matter how secret. The things in it will react accordingly, and this will affect the person consciously or unconsciously. But human beings are conscious only of a very small fraction of the things that affect them, of what they do, their own states and their effects on the things in the environment. The greater their knowledge and awareness the better will they be able to deal with the environment and benefit themselves. But this also requires social co-operation and organisation.

Islam could, perhaps be summarized, in modern concepts, in three inter-related Principles:-