Sema (Ewe Muhammad): ‘Ikiwa una shaka yoyote kuhusu maelezo, au uhalali au mantiki ya dini yangu, basi ujue kwamba mimi sitoi ‘ibadah yangu kwa yeyote isipokuwa Allah, Yeye Ambaye (akiwa peke yake mwenye uwezo katika jambo hili)

Say (O Muhammad): ‘If you suffer from any doubts as to the details, or validity or rationality of my deen, then let it be known to you that I do not give me ’ibadah to anyone other than Allah He Who (having alone the power in this regard)

...inaweza kukufanya ufe, na nimeamriwa niwe miongoni mwa Waumini (kwake Yeye), na niweke mwenendo wangu na mwelekeo wangu kikamilifu na peke yake kulingana na Dini, wala nisiwe miongoni mwa wale wanaomshirikisha Allah.' (Yunus 10:104-105)

causes you to die, and I have been bidden to be of the believers (in Him), and to set my conduct and coarse wholly and solely according to the Deen and not to become one of those who associate others with Allah.’ (al-Yunus 10:104-105)

…mamlaka yote ni ya Allah peke yake. (Na) Yeye ameamuru kwamba tusimpe ibada yetu yeyote isipokuwa Yeye; hii ndiyo Dini, sahihi na yenye haki. (al-Yusuf 12:40)

…authority vests in Allah alone. (And) He has Commanded that we do not give our ’ibadah to any accept Him; this is the Deen, right and proper. (al-Yusuf 12:40)

Kwake ni wa Yeye wote waliomo mbinguni na ardhini. Wote wanamtii Yeye. Amekupigia mfano kutokana na nafsi zenu wenyewe: Je, kuna yeyote miongoni mwa watumwa wenu aliye mshirika wenu katika riziki tuliyokupeni? Je, mnawafanya sawa nao katika mali zenu mnazozimiliki?...

And to Him belong all who are in the heavens and the earth. All are subservient to Him He has propounded to you a similitude from your own (experience). Is any of your slaves a partner with you in the bounty We have conferred upon you? Do you make them equal partners in your ownership of your possessions?...

Kwa kweli, watu hawa waliopotea wanafuata dhana zao potofu na zisizo na msingi, mawazo yao na matamanio yao bila elimu sahihi...

... the truth is that these misguided people follow their own wrong and baseless notions, ideas and desires without proper knowledge...

Basi elekeza uso wako kwenye Dini kwa umakini, ukifuata maumbile ambayo Allah ameyakusudia kwa wanadamu. [Lengo ni kwamba ni Allah peke yake aliyemuumba mwanadamu, akamruzuku riziki yake na mahitaji yake mengine, kwamba hakuna mungu isipokuwa Yeye, na kwamba Yeye peke yake ndiye Bwana wa mwanadamu na mamlaka pekee yenye haki ya kuabudiwa. Kwa hiyo, kulingana na ukweli huu wa kimaumbile, inafaa mwanadamu aamini na kuenenda kama kiumbe na mja wa Allah peke yake, si wa mtu mwingine yeyote - Maududi] Hairuhusiwi kuingiliwa kwa mpango wa Allah. Hii ndiyo Dini iliyo sahihi na ya haki, lakini watu wengi hawajui hili. (ar-Rum 30:26-30)

So you (O Muhammad) set your face straight upon the Deen, and follow the natural course meant by Allah for men [What is meant is that it is Allah alone Who has created man, and provided for his sustenance and others of his needs, that there is no god but He, and that He alone is man’s Master and the only authority rightfully deserving of his worship. Therefore, it would be fitly in accordance with this natural fact that man should believe, and behave, as only Allah’s creature and servant and not anyone else’s at all - Maududi]. It is not right that Allah’s Design be interfered with. This is the right and proper Deen and yet many a people know this not. (ar-Rum 30:26-30)

Mzinifu mwanamume na mzinifu mwanamke, wapigwe kila mmoja viboko mia moja, wala usiwashike huruma katika jambo la Dini ya Allah….

The adulterer, and the adulteress, let them both be given a hundred stripes each, and let not pity overcome you in a matter of Allah’s Deen….

[Uzinzi, katika Uislamu, ni kitendo cha kujamiiana kati ya mwanamume na mwanamke ambao hawajafunga ndoa na mmoja wao. Ukweli kwamba kitendo hicho kimefanywa kwa ridhaa ya pande zote mbili hakupunguzi uzito wa kosa. Adhabu iliyowekwa hapa ni ile ya watu ambao hawajaoa wala kuolewa. Kwa mtu aliyeoa au aliyeolewa (ambaye angekuwa na sababu ndogo zaidi ya kufanya uzinzi), adhabu ni kupigwa mawe hadi kufa, na kuna amri thabiti kwamba hili lifanyike hadharani na lishuhudiwe na umati wa watu (ili liwe funzo kwa wengine). Kwa kweli, Shari'ah inaamuru kwamba adhabu zote za mwili zitekelezwe hadharani. Kuna hekima ya kisaikolojia katika hili zaidi ya kile kilichoandikwa na wale wanaolaani viboko au hukumu za kifo kwa jina la ubinadamu. Abu Asad]. (an-Nur 24:2)

[Adultery, in Islam, is the commission of the sexual act between a male and a female not married to each other. The fact that it has been committed through mutual consent is no mitigation of the offence. The punishment here prescribed is that in the case of persons who are unmarried. In the case of a married person (who would have less reason to commit adultery), the punishment is that he or she be stoned to death, and there are categorical orders that this be done in public and be witnessed by a crowd (so as to serve as a lesson to others). In fact all bodily punishments are required, by the Shari’ah to be inflicted in public. There is far more psychology in this than in all the writings of those who decry whipping or death sentences, in the name of humanness. Abu Asad]. (an-Nur 24:2)

Katika Kitabu cha Mwenyezi Mungu, idadi ya miezi imekuwa daima kumi na mbili kwa mwaka, tangu siku alipoumba mbingu na ardhi; kati ya hiyo (kumi na mbili) minne ni mitukufu; hii ndiyo dini iliyo sawa na thabiti (desturi)... (At-Tawbah 9:36)

In Allah’s Writ, the number of months has always been twelve to a year, from the day He erected the heavens and the earth; of which (twelve) four are sacred; this is the true and straight deen (usage).... (at-Tawbah 9:36)

Na hivyo ndivyo walivyowafanya kuonekana kuwa tendo jema machoni pa washirikina wale ambao walimshirikisha Allah nao [yaani, watu wenye shirki, kumshirikisha Mungu na wengine - Maududi] kuwaua watoto wao ili kuwapeleka kwenye maangamizi yao wenyewe, na kuleta mchanganyiko katika dini yao….

And thus did those whom they associated with Allah make it appear a commendable act in the eyes of the mushrikeen [that is, the people guilty of shirk, the association of others with God - Maududi]to slay their children in order to lead them to their own destruction, and cause confusion in their deen….

(Al-An'aam 6:137)

(al-An’aam 6:137)

Je, wao wamewachukulia washirika (pamoja na Allah) ambao wanawawekea njia katika dini ambazo Allah hakuwaruhusu? (Ash-Shooraa 42:21)

Have they taken some people to be partners (with Allah) who prescribe ways for them in the nature of deen, for which they have had no permission from Allāh جل جلاله…. (ash-Shooraa 42:21)

Kwenu nyinyi dini yenu, na kwangu mimi dini yangu. (al-Kaafirun 109:6)

For you, your deen, and for me mine own. (al-Kaafirun 109:6)

Katika aya zote hizi, neno *deen* limetumika kumaanisha sheria, kanuni au mwongozo wa maisha, au mfumo ule wa mawazo na vitendo ambao mtu anaukubali na kuishi nao. Ikiwa mamlaka ya mwisho ya sheria, kanuni n.k. inayofuatwa ni Mwenyezi Mungu mwenyewe, basi mtu huyo anamfuata Dini ya Allah; ikiwa inatokana na amri za mfalme, basi yuko katika Dini ya mfalme; ikiwa imewekwa na baadhi ya makasisi, mapandit au viongozi wengine wa kidini, basi anafuata dini yao; na ikiwa imewekwa na familia, ukoo au kabila, au chombo cha kitaifa cha kisiasa, basi anafuata dini yao. Kwa maneno mengine, jambo la msingi na muhimu katika kubainisha dini ambayo mtu anaifuata ni mamlaka ya mwisho inayohusika nayo.

In all these verses, the word deen has been used to mean the law, rules or regulations, shari’ah, or code of conduct, or that system of thought and action which a person subscribes to and lives by. If the ultimate authority for the law or code, etc., which is followed, is God Himself, then the person concerned in observing Allah’s deen; if it owes us itself to the commandments of a monarch, then he is in the monarch’s Deen; if it is prescribed by some priests or pundits or other religious leaders then he is observing their Deen; and if it has been laid down by the family, the clan or the tribe, or the national body-politic, then he is following their deen. In other words, the basic, critical factor as to the deen a person follows is the ultimate authority responsible for it.