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Islam at glance
ISLAM AND MUSLIMS
The Arabic word
"Islam" means peace, submission, and obedience. The religion of
Islam consists of the complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of
God as revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
A Muslim is one who
believes in God and strives for the total reorganization of one's life
according to the guidance revealed by God-the Qur'an-and sayings of the Prophet.
A Muslim also works to create a human society on the same basis.
"Muhammadanism" is a misnomer for Islam and offends its very
spirit, for it implies that Muslims have deified and worship Muhammad, as
the Christians did with Jesus Christ. This practice is condemned in the
Qur'an and is totally foreign to the Islamic belief structure. The word
"Allah" is the proper name of God in Arabic. It is a unique term
and has no plural or feminine forms.
CONTINUITY OF MESSAGE
Islam is not a new
religion, but a re-presentation of the same message and guidance that Allah
revealed to all of His prophets. In Qur'an (3:3), we read:
Say, we believe in
Allah and that which has been revealed to
us, and that which was
revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and
Isaac and Jacob and
the tribes and that which was given to
Moses and Jesus and to
other Prophets, from their Lord. We
make no distinction
between any of them, and to Him we submit.
The message revealed
to Prophet Muhammad is Islam in its comprehensive, complete, and final
form.
MAN: THE FREE AGENT
Man is the highest
creation of God. He has the most potential of any part of Gods creation and
is left relatively free in his will, actions, and choice. God has revealed
the right path, and the life of Prophet Muhammad provides a perfect example.
Man's success and salvation lie in following both. Islam teaches the
sanctity of the person and confers equal rights upon all regardless of
race, gender, color, or other external differences. The law of God, as
enunciated in the Qur'an and exemplified in the life of the Prophet is
supreme in all cases. It applies equally to the highest and the lowest, the
prince and the peasant, the ruler and the ruled .
THE QUR'AN AND HADITH
The Qur'an is the last
revealed word of God and the basic source of Islamic teachings and laws. It
deals with the foundations of creeds, morality, the history of humanity, worship,
knowledge, wisdom, the relationship of God to man and man to God, and all
aspects of interpersonal relationships. Its comprehensive teachings are
meant to be used to construct sound systems of social justice, economics, politics,
legislation, junsprudence, law, and international relations, and represent
important sections of the Qur'an.
Muhammad (PBUH) could
not read or write. This did not represent an obstacle, for the Qur'an was
committed to memory and writing by his followers during his lifetime and
under his supervision. The original and complete text of the Qur'an is available
to everybody in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed. Translations
of the meaning into many languages are widely used. The hadith, a term which
covers the literature dealing with the Prophet's teachings, sayings, and
actions, was reported and collected with great care by his devoted
companions. Its main function is to explain and elaborate
the Qur'anic verses.
CONCEPT OF WORSHIP
Islam does not teach
or accept mere ritualism, but rather emphasizes intention and action. To
worship God is to know and to love Him, to obey His law in every aspect of
life, to enjoin goodness and forbid wrong-doing and oppression, to practice
charity and justice, and to serve Him by serving mankind. The Qur'an
presents this concept in
the following sublime
manner:
It is not
righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or
the West, but
righteous is he who believes in God and the Last
Day and the Angels and
the Books and the Prophets; and gives
his wealth for love of
Him to kinsfolk and to orphans and the
needy and the wayfarer
and to those who ask; and to set slaves
free; and observes
proper worship and pays the Zakat. And
those who keep their
treaty when they make one, and the
patient in tribulation
and adversity and time of stress, such are
those who are sincere.
Such are the God fearing. (Qur'an 2:
177).
The ISLAMIC WAY OF
LIFE
Islam provides
specific guidelines for all people to follow in their daily lives. Its
guidance is comprehensive and includes the social, economic, political,
moral, and spiritual aspects of life. The Qur'an reminds man of the purpose
of his life, of his duties and obligations toward himself, his family and
relatives, his community, his fellow human beings, and his Creator. Man is
given fundamental guidelines about a purposeful life and then confronted
with the challenges of human existence so that he may put these high ideals
into practice. In Islam, a person's life is regarded as a holistic and
integrated unity and not a collection of fragmented and competitive parts.
There are no separate "sacred" and "secular" realms,
for all are united within the nature of the individual.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Muhammad (blessing and
peace be upon him) was born to a noble family in the year 570 AC in Makkah,
a trading center located in the Arabian peninsula. He received the first
revelation when he was forty years old. As soon as he started calling his
people to Islam, he and his followers were persecuted and forced to undergo
severe hardship. After a while, God commanded him to migrate to the nearby
city of Madinah. Over the next twenty-three years he completed his mission
of prophet hood. He died at the age of 63. He led a perfect life, as he was
the physical embodiment of all that the Qur'an teaches, and thus set an
example for all human beings.
ISLAM'S RATIONAL APPEAL
Islam, with its clear
and direct expression of truth, has a great appeal to anyone seeking
knowledge. It has a solution for all problems that arise during the course
of one's life. It is a guide toward a better and complete life.
ISLAM - THE SOLUTION
for MODERN PROBLEMS
The Brotherhood of
Man: A major problem facing mankind today is racism. The developed world
can send a man to the moon but cannot stop man from hating and fighting his
fellow man. Ever since the days of the Prophet Muhammad fourteen centuries
ago, Islam has given a vivid example of how racism can be ended: the annual
pilgrimage to Makkah reveals the Islamic miracle of the real brotherhood of
all races and nations. The Family: The family, which is the basic unit of
civilization, is disintegrating in all western countries. Islam's family
system brings the rights of the husband, wife, children, and relatives into
a fine equilibrium. It nourishes human unselfishness, generosity, and love in
the framework of a well-organized family system.
UN FRAGMENTED VIEW OF
LIFE
Human beings live
according to their view of life. The tragedy of secular societies is that
they fail to connect the different aspects of life. The secular and the
religious, as well as the scientific and the spiritual seem to be in
conduct. Islam puts an end to this conflict and brings harmony to mans
vision of life.
The Five Pillars of Islam
1. The Declaration of
Faith: to bear witness (hat there is none worthy of worship except Allah
and that Muhammad is His messenger to all
humanity until the Day
of Judgment. The prophet hood of
Muhammad obliges
Muslims to follow his exemplary life as a model.
2. Prayers: Daily
prayers are offered five times a day as a duty toward Allah. They
strengthen and enliven ones belief in Allah and inspire individuals to
develop a higher morality They purify the heart and help one to resist
giving into temptation.
3. Fasting the Month
of Ramadan: During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, drink, and all
sexual activity from dawn to sunset. In addition, they must strive to
abstain from evil intentions and desires.
This communal fast
seeks to instill within the individual feelings of love, sincerity,
devotion, patience, unselfishness, and will-power as well as to develop a
sound social conscience.
4. Zakat: An annual
payment of 2.5% of ones net savings that has been in ones possession for
one year. This is a religious duty and purifies ones money It must be given
to those who are poor and in need.
5. Pilgrimage to
Makkah: This must be performed once during one's lifetime, provided that
one can afford it financially and withstand it physically.
Besides these pillars,
every action done with the awareness that it fulfills the will of Allah is
also considered an act of worship. Islam enjoins faith in the oneness and
sovereignty of Allah, for this makes an individual aware of the
meaningfulness of the universe and of his or her place in it. This belief
frees one from all fears and superstitions by making him conscious of the
presence of Allah and of mans obligations toward Him. This faith must be
expressed and tested in action, faith alone is not enough. Belief in one
God requires that we look upon all human beings as one family under the universal
omnipotence of Aliah, who has created and nourishes all parts of His
creation. Islam rejects the idea of a chosen people by stating clearly that
one must have faith in God and do good works in good action in order to
gain entrance to heaven. Thus, a direct relationship between God and each
individual is established, a fact that also makes an intercessor
unnecessary.
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