A Brief Introduction to Islam
Islam and Muslims
The word “Islam” is an Arabic word
which means “submission to the will of God”. This word comes from the same
root as the Arabic word “salam”, which means “peace”. As such, the religion of
Islam teaches that in order to achieve true peace of mind and surety of heart,
one must submit to God and live according to His Divinely revealed Law. The
most important truth that God revealed to mankind is that there is nothing
divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God, thus all human
beings should submit to Him.
The word “Muslim” means one who submits
to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background.
Being a Muslim entails wilful submission and active obedience to God, and
living in accordance with His message. Some people mistakenly believe that
Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Not only are there converts to Islam in every corner of the world, especially
in England and America, but by taking a look at the Muslim World from Bosnia to
Nigeria, and from Indonesia to Morocco, one can clearly see that Muslims come
from many various races, ethnic groups and nationalities. It is also
interesting to note that in actuality, more than 80% of all Muslims are not
Arabs - there are more Muslims in Indonesia than in the whole Arab World! So,
though even though it is true that most Arabs are Muslims, the large majority
of Muslims are not Arabs. However, anyone who submits completely to God and worships
Him alone is a Muslim.
Continuity of the Message
Islam is not a new religion because “submission
to the will of God”, i.e. Islam, has always been the only acceptable religion
in the sight of God. For this reason, Islam is the true “natural religion”,
and it is the same eternal message revealed through the ages to all of God’s
prophets and messengers. Muslims believe that all of God’s prophets, which
include Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, brought the same message of
Pure Monotheism. For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad was not the founder of
a new religion, as many people mistakenly think, but he was the final Prophet
of Islam. By revealing His final message to Muhammad, which is an eternal and
universal message for all of mankind, God finally fulfilled the covenant that
He made with Abraham, who was one of the earliest and greatest prophets.
Sufficient is it to say that the way of
Islam is the same as the way of the prophet Abraham, because both the Bible and
the Quran portray Abraham as a towering example of someone who submitted
himself completely to God and worshipped Him without intermediaries. Once this
is realized, it should be clear that Islam has the most continuous and
universal message of any religion, because all prophets and messengers were “Muslims”,
i.e. those who submitted to God’s will, and they preached “Islam”, i.e. submission
to the will of Almighty God.
The Oneness of God
The foundation of the Islamic faith is
belief in the Oneness of Almighty God - the God of Abraham, Noah, Moses and
Jesus. Islam teaches that a pure belief in One God is intuitive in human
beings and thus fulfils the natural inclination of the soul. As such, Islam’s
concept of God is straightforward, unambiguous and easy to understand. Islam
teaches that the hearts, minds and souls of human beings are fitting
receptacles for clear divine revelation, and that God’s revelations to man are
not clouded by self-contradictory mysteries or irrational ideas. As such,
Islam teaches that even though God cannot be fully comprehended and grasped by
our finite human minds, He also does not expect us to accept absurd or
demonstrably false beliefs about Him.
According to the teachings of Islam,
Almighty God is absolutely One and His Oneness should never be compromised by
associating partners with Him - neither in worship nor in belief. Due to this,
Muslims are required to maintain a direct relationship with God, and therefore
all intermediaries are absolutely forbidden. From the Islamic standpoint,
believing in the Oneness of God means to realize that all prayer and worship
should be exclusively for God, and that He alone deserves such titles as “Lord”
and “Saviour”. Some religions, even though they believe in “One God”, do not
make all of their worship and prayers for Him alone. Also, they also give the
title of “Lord” to beings that are not All-Knowing, All-Powerful and
Un-Changing - even according to their own scriptures. Suffice it to say that
according to Islam, it is not enough that people believe that “God is One”, but
they must actualize this belief by proper conduct.
In short, in the Islamic
concept of
God, which is completely based on Divine Revelation, there is no
ambiguity in
divinity - God is God and man is man. Since God is the only Creator and
continual Sustainer of the Universe, He is transcendent above His
creation -
the Creator and the creature never mix. Islam teaches that God has a
unique
nature and that He is free from gender, human weaknesses and beyond
anything
which human beings can imagine. The Quran teaches that the signs and
proofs of
God’s wisdom, power and existence are evident in the world around us.
As such,
God calls on man to ponder over the creation in order to build a better
understanding of his Creator. Muslims believe that God is Loving,
Compassionate and Merciful, and that He is concerned with the daily
affairs of
human beings. In this, Islam strikes a unique balance between false
religious
and philosophical extremes. Some religions and philosophies portray God
as
just an impersonal “Higher Power” who is uninterested, or unaware, of
the life
of each individual human. Other religions tend to give God human
qualities and
teach that He is present in His creation, by being incarnate in someone,
something - or even everything. In Islam, however, Almighty God has
clarified the
truth by letting mankind know that He is “Compassionate”, “Merciful”,
“Loving”
and the “Answerer of Prayers”. But He has also emphasized strongly that
“there
is nothing like unto Him”, and that He is high above time, space and His
creation. Finally, it should be mentioned that the God that Muslims
worship is
the same God that Jews and Christians worship - because there is only
one God.
It is unfortunate that some people mistakenly believe that Muslims
worship a
different God than Jews and Christians, and that “Allah” is just the
“god of
the Arabs”. This myth, which has been propagated by the enemies of
Islam, is
completely false since the word “Allah” is simply the Arabic name for
Almighty
God. It is the same word for God which is used by Arabic-speaking Jews
and
Christians. However, it should be clarified that even though Muslims
worship
the same God as Jews and Christian, their concept of Him differs
somewhat from
the beliefs of other religions - mainly because it is based completely
on
Divine Revelation from God. For example, Muslims reject the Christian
belief
that God is a Trinity, not only because the Quran rejects it, but also
because
if this was God’s true nature, He would have clearly revealed it to
Abraham,
Noah, Jesus and all of the other prophets.
The Quran
The Arabic world “Al-Quran” literally
means “the recitation”. When used in regards to Islam, the word Quran means
God’s final message to mankind, which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
The Quran, sometimes spelled Koran, is the literal the word of God - as it
clearly says time and time again. Unlike other sacred scriptures, the Quran
has been perfectly preserved in both its words and meaning in a living
language. The Quran is a living miracle in the Arabic language; and is know to
be inimitable in its style, form and spiritual impact. God’s final revelation
to mankind, the Quran, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23
years.
The Quran, in contrast to many other
religious books, was always thought to be the Word of God by those who believed
in it, i.e. it wasn’t something decreed by a religious council many years after
being written. Also, the Quran was recited publicly in front of both the
Muslim and non-Muslim communities during the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The
entire Quran was also completely written down in lifetime of the Prophet, and
numerous companions of the Prophet memorized the entire Quran word-for-word as
it was revealed. So, unlike other scriptures, the Quran was always in the
hands of the common believers; it was always thought to be God’s word and, due
to wide-spread memorization, it was perfectly preserved.
In regards to the teachings of the Quran
- it is a universal scripture addressed to all of mankind, and not addressed
only to a particular tribe or “chosen people”. The message that it brings is
nothing new, but the same message of all of the prophets - submit to Almighty God
and worship Him alone. As such, God’s revelation in the Quran focuses on
teaching human beings the importance of believing in the Oneness of God and
framing their lives around the guidance which He has sent. Additionally, the
Quran contains the stories of the previous prophets, such as Abraham, Noah,
Moses and Jesus; as well as many commands and
prohibitions from God. In modern times where so many people are caught up in doubt, spiritual despair and “political correctness”, the Quranic teachings offer solutions to the emptiness of our lives and the turmoil that is gripping the world today. In short, the Quran is the book of guidance par excellence.
prohibitions from God. In modern times where so many people are caught up in doubt, spiritual despair and “political correctness”, the Quranic teachings offer solutions to the emptiness of our lives and the turmoil that is gripping the world today. In short, the Quran is the book of guidance par excellence.
The Prophet Muhammad
Unlike the founders of many religious,
the final prophet of Islam is a real documented and historical figure. He
lived in the full light of history, and the most minute details of his life are
known. Not only do Muslims have the complete text of God’s words that were
revealed to Muhammad, but they have also preserved his sayings and teachings in
what is called “hadeeth” literature. This having been said, it should be
understood that Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was only a man chosen
by God, and that he is not divine in any way. In order to avoid the misguided
wish to deify him, the Prophet Muhammad taught Muslims to refer to him as “God’s
Messenger and His Slave”. The mission of the last and final prophet of God was
to simply teach that “there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped
except for Almighty God”, as well as being a living example of God’s revelation.
In simple terms, God sent the revelation to Muhammad, who in turn taught it,
preached it, lived it and put it into practice.
In this way, Muhammad was more than
just a “prophet” in the sense of many of the Biblical prophets, since he was
also a statesman and ruler. He was a man who lived a humble life in the
service of God, and established an all-encompassing religion and way of life by
showing what it means to be an ideal friend, husband, teacher, ruler, warrior
and judge. For this reason, Muslims follow him not for his own sake, but in
obedience to God, because Muhammad not only showed us how to deal with our
fellow human beings, but more importantly, showed us how to relate to and
worship God; worship Him in the only way pleasing to Him.
Like other prophets, Muhammad faced a
great deal of opposition and persecution during his mission. However, he was
always patient and just, and he treated his enemies well. The results of his
mission were very successful, and even though his mission started in one of the
most backward and remotes places on earth, within a hundred years of the death
of Muhammad, Islam had spread from Spain to China. The Prophet Muhammad was
the greatest of all of God’s prophets, not because he had new doctrines or
greater miracles, but because it was him who was chosen to bear the last
revelation which would come to humanity from God, one suitable for all places,
times, and people, everlasting and unchanging until the Last Day.
The Islamic Way of Life
In the Holy Quran, God teaches human
beings that they were created in order to worship Him, and that the basis of
all true worship is God-consciousness. Since the teachings of Islam encompass
all aspects of life and ethics, God-consciousness is encouraged in all human
affairs. Islam makes it clear that all human acts are acts of worship if they
are done for God alone and in accordance to His Divine Law. As such, worship
in Islam is not limited to religious rituals.
The teachings of Islam act as a mercy
and a healing for the human soul, and such qualities as humility, sincerity,
patience and charity are strongly encouraged. Additionally, Islam condemns
pride and self-righteousness, since Almighty God is the only judge of human
righteousness.
The Islamic view of the nature of man
is also realistic and well-balanced. Human beings are not believed to be
inherently sinful, but are seen as equally capable of both good and evil.
Islam also teaches that faith and
action go hand-in-hand. God has given people free-will, and the measure of one’s
faith is one’s deeds and actions. However, human beings have also been created
weak and regularly fall into sin. This is the nature of the human being as
created by God in His Wisdom, and it is not inherently “corrupt” or in need of
repair. This is why the avenue of repentance is always open to all human
beings, and Almighty God loves the repentant sinner more than one who does not
sin at all.
The true balance of an Islamic life is
established by having a healthy fear of God as well as a sincere belief in His
infinite Mercy. A life without fear of God leads to sin and disobedience,
while believing that we have sinned so much that God will not possibly forgive
us only leads to despair. In light of this, Islam teaches that only the
misguided despair of the Mercy of their Lord.
Additionally, the Holy Quran, which was
revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, contains a great deal of teachings about the
life in the hereafter and the Day of Judgment. Due to this, Muslims believe
that all human beings will ultimately be judged by God for their beliefs and
actions in their earthly lives. In judging human beings, Almighty God will be
both Merciful and Just, and people will only be judged for what they were capable
of.
Sufficient is it to say that Islam
teaches that life is a test, and that all human beings will be accountable
before God. A sincere belief in the life of the hereafter is the key to
leading a well-balanced and moral life. Otherwise, life is viewed as an end in
itself, which causes human beings to become more selfish, materialistic and
immoral.
Islam for a Better Life
Islam teaches that true happiness can
only be obtained by living a life full of God-consciousness and being satisfied
with what God has given us. Additionally, true “freedom” is freedom from being
controlled by our base human desires and being ruled by man-made ideologies. This
stands in stark contrast to the view of many people in the modern world, who
consider “freedom” to be the ability to satisfy all of their desires without
inhibition. The clear and comprehensive guidance of Islam gives human-beings a
well-defined purpose and direction in life. In addition to being members of
the human-brotherhood of Islam, its well-balanced and practical teachings are a
source of spiritual comfort, guidance and morality. A direct and clear
relationship with Almighty God, as well as the sense of purpose and belonging
that ones feels as a Muslim, frees a person from the many worries of everyday
life.
In short, the Islamic way of life is
pure and wholesome. It builds self-discipline and self-control through regular
prayer and fasting, and frees human-beings from superstition and all sorts of
racial, ethnic and national prejudices. By accepting to live a God-conscious
life, and realizing that the only thing that distinguishes people in the sight
of God is their consciousness of Him, a person’s true human dignity is
realized.
Thanks to :
http://www.islam-guide.com/
Thanks to :
http://www.islam-guide.com/
Procured, Edited & Published By :
By: ROAD to Jannah
Published by :
Mr.Mohammed Hussain Assadi &
Mrs.Khadija Mohammed Hussain Altao
By: ROAD to Jannah
