The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (744 page)

n, and although
ad
th is not in the same category of authority as the Qur’
n, nevertheless the example of
ins
n al-k
mil
(the perfect man) is of constant importance. Life as God desires it was eventually formulated more systematically in the schools of
shari‘a
(law), which detail the things which are lawful and prohibited (
al-halal w’al haram
) for a Muslim. However, by no means all things are specified, and the principle applies that whatever God has not forbidden is allowed (as a mark of his generosity), though always within the boundaries of ‘what God wills’ as revealed in more general terms in the Qur’
n. Lives are judged by God (
judgement
) on the basis of good and evil done, controlled always by intention (
niyya
).
Hinduism
Hinduism is a coalition of widely differing styles in religious life and belief, but shared in common is the belief that humans are bearers of souls (
tman
) which are reborn many millions of times (
sa
s
ra
)—so long, in fact, as they are entangled in bodies which desire transient appearances more than the truth. In each life,
karma
accumulates—for good and for ill—which is worked out in subsequent lives, until one orders one's life in the direction of release, which necessarily involves good actions. ‘Hinduism’ is a map of the many ways in which one may so live that the
tman attains its goal and obtains
mok
a
(release). In other words, Hinduism is a map of
dharma
(appropriateness), and its own name for itself is
san
tana dharma
, everlasting dharma: in the Hindu way, it is dharma that has primacy as ethics, because it corresponds to
ta