Definition
The word ISLAM has a two-fold meaning: peace, and submission to God. This submission requires a fully
conscious and willing effort to submit to the one Almighty God. One must consciously and conscientiously give
oneself to the service of Allah. This means to act on what Allah enjoins all of us to do (in the Qur'an) and what
His beloved Prophet, Muhammad (pbuh) encouraged us to do in his Sunnah (his lifestyle and sayings
personifying the Qur'an).
Once we humble ourselves, rid ourselves of our egoism and submit totally to Allah, and to Him exclusively, in
faith and in action, we will surely feel peace in our hearts. Establishing peace in our hearts will bring about
peace in our external conduct as well.
Islam is careful to remind us that it not a religion to be paid mere lip service; rather it is an all-encompassing
way of life that must be practiced continuously for it to be Islam. The Muslim must practice the five pillars of
the religion: the declaration of faith in the oneness of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh), prayer,
fasting the month of Ramadan, alms-tax, and the pilgrimage to Makkah; and believe in the six articles of faith:
belief in God, the Holy Books, the prophets, the angels, the Day of Judgment and God's decree, whether for
good or ill.
There are other injunctions and commandments which concern virtually all facets of one's personal, family and
civic life. These include such matters as diet, clothing, personal hygeine, interpersonal relations, business
ethics, responsibilities towards parents, spouse and children, marriage, divorce and inheritance, civil and
criminal law, fighting in defense of Islam, relations with non-Muslims, and so much more.
Who is a Muslim?
The word "Muslim" means one who submits to the will of God. This is done by declaring that "there is no god except
one God and Muhammad is the messenger of God." In a broader sense, anyone who willingly submits to the will of
God is a Muslim. Thus, all the prophets preceding the prophet Muhammad are considered Muslims. The Quran
specifically mentions Abraham who lived long before Moses and Christ that, "he was not a Jew or a Christian but a
Muslim," because, he had submitted to the will of God. Thus there are Muslims who are not submitting at all to the will of
God and there are Muslims who are doing their best to live an Islamic life. One cannot judge Islam by looking at those
individuals who have a Muslim name but in their actions, they are not living or behaving as Muslims. The extent of being a
Muslim can be according to the degree to which one is submitting to the will of God, in his beliefs and his actions.
How should Muslims live with Jews & Christians?
The Quran calls them "People of the Book", i.e., those who received Divine
scriptures before Muhammad (P). Muslims are told to treat them with respect
and justice and do not fight with them unless they initiate hostilities or ridicule
their faith. The Muslims ultimate hope is that they all will join them in
worshipping one God and submit to His will.
"Say (O Muhammad): O people of the Book (Jews and Christians) come to an
agreement between us and you, that we shall worship none but Allah, and that
we shall take no partners with Him, and none of us shall take others for Lords
beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are those
who have surrendered (unto Him)." (Quran 3:64)
What about Hindus, Bahai, Buddhists and members of other religions?
They should also be treated with love, respect, and understanding to make
them recipients of Invitations to Islam.
The Muslim's Beliefs
Unlike other beings, man has the tendency to think that any thing that is
organized much have an organizer. Islam simply applies the same natural
logic to the universe and the environment around us which has so many
amazing and well organized inter-related systems that witness of the
existence of a powerful creator.
It is in this direction that Muslims believe in an unseen Ultimate Creator,
source of all the physical and spiritual power that exist in the universe. We know
about this creator not only through the powerful evidence of how organized is
the universe, but also through a line of prophets, including but not limited
to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. They came to draw our attention
to him so that we may make the choice to believe by responding to an
inner instinct (that is confirmed daily) that all that is organized must have
an organizer and that this universe is the creation of the ultimate
organizer: God the one, the eternal, the creator, the fastest who calculates,
the light, the originator, to list only a view of the names and
attributes of the one God as outlined in the Koran (Qur'an).
The first five verses of the Koran represent the Islamic natural approach
to believe in the one God:
Read in the name of your Lord who created;
Created man from a clot that clings
Read and your Lord is the most generous;
He who taught by the pen;
Taught man that which he knew not.
Accordingly a Muslim faith is pronounced in the format of admitting the
existence and oneness of the Creator as follows:
I witness there there is no God, but one God
and that Mohammed is his prophet.
(or for that matter one of his prophets, since the Koran states that Mohammed
is no more than a prophet, a lot of prophets have passed before him).
Who was the Prophet Muhammad? (pbuh)
In brief, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was born in a noble tribe of Mecca in Arabia in the year 570 AD. His ancestry
goes back to Prophet Ishmael (P), son of Prophet Abraham (P). His father died before his birth and his mother died when
he was six. He did not attend a formal school since he was raised first by a nurse as it was the custom those days, and then
by his grandfather and uncle. As a young man, he was known as a righteous person who used to meditate in a cave. At
age 40, he was given the prophethood when the angel, Gabriel, appeared in the cave. Subsequently, the revelations came
over 23 years and were compiled in the form of a book called the Quran which Muslims consider as the final and the last
word of God. The Quran has been preserved, unchanged, in its original form and confirms the truth in the Torah, the
psalms and the Gospel.
What do Muslims think of Jesus?
It is sad that many Christians do not know that Jesus,
peace be upon him, holds a very high position within Islam. Unlike Orthodox Judaism, Islam considers
Jesus to be the promised Messiah, a word from God, born of the Virgin Mary to
bring a new covenant to the people of Israel.
Nevertheless, the Qur'an, the main book in Islam, leaves
no room to accept concepts developed by Church theologians after the departure
of Jesus, such as the sonship of Jesus (accepted at the Council of Nicaea on
May 20, 325) or the idea of adding the Holy Spirit as the "third
head" for God (developed as the concept of the Trinity in the
Constantinopolitan Creed of 381).
In fact both concepts (the sonship of Jesus and the
Trinity) tend to negate many clear verses in the old and New Testament. For
example:
Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God is one
Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:4)
...that ye may know and believe Me, and
understand that I
Am He: before Me there was no God, neither shall there
be
after Me. 1, even 1, am the Lord; and beside Me
there is no savior. (Isaiah 43: 1 0-1 I)
And Jesus answered him: The first of all the
commandments
is hear, 0 Israel:' Me Lord our God is one Lord.
(Mark 12:29)
... We know that an idol is nothing in the world,
and that there is none other God but one. (I Corinthians 8:4)
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Given
these verses, one should be careful not to take the verse in John 1: I
literally because it could easily have been mistranslated from the Aramaic into
the Greek and should read "and the word was God's."
It
should be noted here that in the Greek language
theos is God while
theou
means God's (see any Greek dictionary or see the book
Muhammad in the
Bible by Professor Abdul Ahad Dawud, former bishop of Uramiah, p. 16).
On
more logical grounds, insisting that Jesus is God or son of God as the main
article of faith reduces the 'natural' human instinct to believe in a Creator
(it is 'natural' because every human being feels that anything that is
organized must have an organizer) from believing in an absolute Creator of the
universe who is felt naturally into having to believe in a given historical
event that is limited in both time and space.
Do Muslims have many sects?
Muslims have no sects. In Islam, there are two major schools of thought, the
Shia and the Sunni. Both have many things in common. They follow the same
book - Quran. They follow the same prophet Muhammad (P). Both offer their
prayers five time a day. Both fast in the month of Ramadan. They both go for
hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca. Those who follow Prophet Muhammad (P), in
accordance with his sayings and actions, are called Sunni and those who in
addition follow the sayings and views of Ali (Muhammad's son-in- law), as the
rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad (P), are called Shia. Shia means a
partisan (party of Ali) and it started more as a political party to help Ali in his
conflict with his political adversaries. Most Shias live in Iran and Iraq while the
rest of the Muslim world is mostly Sunni. Shias comprise about 16-percent of
the Muslim population.
What are the pillars of Islam?
There are five major pillars of Islam which are the articles of faith. These pillars
are 1) the belief (Iman) in one God and that Muhammad (P) is His
messenger, 2) prayer (Salat) which are prescribed five times a day, 3) fasting
(Siyam) which is required in the month of Ramadan, 4) charity (Zakat) which
is the poor-due on the wealth of the rich and 5) hajj which is the pilgrimage to
Mecca once in a lifetime if one can afford it physically and financially. All the
pillars should be of equal height and strength in a building in order to give the
building its due shape and proportions. It is not possible that one would do hajj
without observing fasting or without practicing regular prayers. Now think of a
building which has pillars only. It would not be called a building. In order to
make it a building, it has to have a roof, it has to have walls, it has to have
doors and windows. These things in Islam are the moral codes of Islam such
as honesty, truthfulness, steadfastness and many other human moral qualities.
Thus in order to be a Muslim, one should not only be practicing the pillars of
Islam but should also have the highest possible attribute for being a good
human being. Only then the building is completed and looks beautiful.
Do Muslims worship Muhammad?
No. Muslims do not worship Muhammad (P) or any other prophets. Muslims
believe in all prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon,
Moses and Jesus. Muslims believe that Muhammad (P) was the last of the
prophets. They believe that God alone is to be worshiped, not any human
being.
Do Muslims believe in the hereafter?
God is Just and manifest His justice, He established the system of accountability. Those who do good will be rewarded and
those who do wrong will be punished accordingly. Thus, He created Heaven and Hell and there are admission criteria for
both. Muslims believe that the present life is a temporary one. It is a test and if we pass the test, we will be given a life of
permanent pleasure in the company of good people in Heaven.
Does Islam oppress women?
No. On the contrary, Islam elevated the status of women 1400 years ago by
giving them the right to divorce, the right to have financial independence and
support, and the right to be identified as dignified women (Hijab) when in the
rest of the world, including Europe, women had no such rights. Women are
equal to men in all acts of piety (Quran 33:32). Islam allows women to keep
their maiden name after marriage, their earned money, and spend it as they
wish, and ask men to be their protector. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) told Muslim
men, "the best among you is
the one who is best to his family." Not Islam, but some Muslim men, do
oppress women today. This is because of non-Islamic cultural habits or their ignorance
towards their religion.
What are the dietary prohibitions in Islam?
Muslims are told in the Quran not to eat pork or pork products, meat of the
animals who died before being slaughtered or the carnivorous animals (as they
eat dead animals), nor drink blood or intoxicants such as wine or use any illicit
drugs.
What is Jihad?
The word "Jihad" means struggle, or to be specific, striving in the cause of
God. Any struggle done in day-to-day life to please God can be considered
Jihad. One of the highest levels of Jihad is to stand up to a tyrant and speak a
word of truth. Control of the self from wrong doings is also a great Jihad. One
of the forms of Jihad is to take up arms in defense of Islam or a Muslim
country when Islam is attacked. This kind of Jihad has to be declared by the
religious leadership or by a Muslim head of state who is following the Quran
and Sunnah
What is the Islamic Year?
The Islamic year started from the migration (Hijra) of Prophet Muhammad (P)
from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. It is a lunar year of 354 days. The first
month is called Muharram. 1996 AD is in Islamic year 1416 AH.
What are the major Islamic festivals?
Idul Fitre, marks the end of fasting in the month of Ramadan and is celebrated
with public prayers, feasts and exchange of gifts. Idul Adha marks the end of
the Hajj or the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. After the public prayers, those
who can afford, sacrifice a lamb or a goat to signify Prophet Abraham's
obedience to God, shown by his readiness to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
What is Sharia?
Sharia is the comprehensive Muslim law derived form two sources, a) the
Quran b) the Sunnah or traditions of Prophet Muhammad (P). It covers
every aspect of daily individual and collective living. The purpose of Islamic
laws are protection of individuals' basic human rights to include right to life,
property, political and religious freedom and safeguarding the rights of women
and minorities. The low crime rate in Muslim societies is due to the application
of the Islamic laws.
Was Islam spread by the sword?
According to the Quran, "There is no compulsion in religion" (2:256), thus, no
one can be forced to become a Muslim. While it is true that in many places
where Muslim armies went to liberate people or the land, they did carry the
sword as that was the weapon used at that time. However, Islam did not
spread by the sword because in many places where there are Muslims now, in
the Far East like Indonesia, in China, and many parts of Africa, there are no
records of any Muslim armies going there. To say that Islam was spread by the
sword would be to say that Christianity was spread by guns, F-16's and
atomic bombs, etc., which is not true. Christianity spread by the missionary
works of Christians. Ten-percent of all Arabs are Christians. The "Sword of
Islam" could not convert all the non-Muslim minorities in Muslim countries. In
India, where Muslims ruled for 700 years, they are still a minority. In the
U.S.A., Islam is the fastest growing religion and has 6 million followers without
any sword around.
Does Islam promote violence and terrorism?
No. Islam is religion of peace and submission and stresses on the sanctity of
human life. A verse in the Quran says, [Chapter 5, verse 32], that "anyone who
saves one life, it is as if he has saved the whole of mankind and anyone who
has killed another person (except in lieu of murder or mischief on earth) it is as
if he has killed the whole of mankind." Islam condemns all the violence which
happened in the Crusades, in Spain, in WW II, or by acts of people like the
Rev. Jim Jones, David Koresh, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, or the atrocities
committed in Bosniaby the Christian Serbs. Anyone who is doing violence is
not practicing his religion at that time. However, sometimes violence is a human
response of oppressed people as it happens in Palestine. Although this is
wrong, they think of this as a way to get attention. There is a lot of terrorism
and violence in areas where there is no Muslim presence. For example, in
Ireland, South Africa, Latin America, and Sri Lanka. Sometimes the violence is
due to a struggle between those who have with those who do not have, or
between those who are oppressed with those who are oppressors. We need to
find out why people become terrorists. Unfortunately, the Palestinians who are
doing violence are called terrorists, but not the armed Israeli settlers when they
do the same sometimes even against their own people. As it turned out to be in
the Oklahoma City bombing, sometime Muslims are prematurely blamed even
if the terrorism is committed by non-Muslims. Sometimes those who want
Peace and those who oppose Peace can be of the same religion.
What is "Islamic Fundamentalism"?
There is no concept of "Fundamentalism" in Islam. The western media has
coined this term to brand those Muslims who wish to return to the basic
fundamental principles of Islam and mould their lives accordingly. Islam is a
religion of moderation and a practicing God fearing Muslim can neither be a
fanatic nor an extremist.
Is Islam intolerant of other religious minorities?
Islam recognizes the rights of the minority. To ensure their welfare and safety,
Muslim rulers initiated a tax (Jazia) on them. Prophet Muhammad (P) forbade
Muslim armies to destroy churches and synagogues. Caliph Umer did not even
allow them to pray inside a church. Jews were welcomed and flourished in
Muslim Spain even when they were persecuted in the rest of Europe. They
consider that part of their history as the Golden Era. In Muslim countries,
Christians live in prosperity, hold government positions and attend their church.
Christian missionaries are allowed to establish and operate their schools and
hospitals. However, the same religious tolerance is not always available to
Muslim minorities as seen in the past during Spanish inquisition and the
crusades, or as seen now by the events in Bosnia, Israel and India. Muslims do
recognize that sometimes the actions of a ruler does not reflect the teachings of
his religion.
What is the dress code for Muslims?
Islam emphasizes modesty. No person should be perceived as a sex object.
There are certain guidelines both for men and women that their dress should
neither be too thin nor too tight to reveal body forms. For men, they must at
least cover the area from the knee to navel ....and for women, their dress
should cover all areas to be
properly veiled Q 24:31. Some Islamic scholars grant license based on
Quran & Sunnah creating some latitude allowing believing women to
cover everything but the FACE and HANDS.
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