ABSTRACT
Apart from the moral values and ethical norms which, one assumes, are expected to go hand-in-glove with belief in God, and to which believers are encouraged to aspire, the Koran also talks of the need for ‘righteous deeds’, presumably as an external expression of belief in God and, more importantly, submission to God’s will. Indeed, the ‘key to salvation’ in Koranic terms lies not in belief alone, but in belief which is complemented by righteous action: there are numerous verses in the Koran where the two things – ‘faith and works’, for want of a better term – are mentioned in the same breath:
The kind of ‘righteous deeds’ that spring immediately to mind in the case of Islam are prayers and fasting, or the pilgrimage to Mecca – specific rites and rituals of worship that many would list under the term ‘religious acts’. However, while the Koran does mention specific practices such as these, it focuses much more on the development in each individual of an attitude of submission in all that he or she does. The goal, as far as the Koran sees it, is not to ‘do Islamic acts’, but rather to make all of the acts one does Islamic.
