Description: The main message of Islam is the same basic message in all revealed
religions, as they are all are from the same source, and the reasons for
disparity found between religions.
Among the
blessings and favors that God has bestowed upon humanity is that He endowed
them with an innate ability to recognize and acknowledge His existence.
He placed this awareness deep in their hearts as a natural disposition that has
not changed since human beings were first created. Furthermore, He
reinforced this natural disposition with the signs that he placed in creation
that testify to His existence. However, since it is not possible for
human beings to have a detailed knowledge of God except through revelation from
Himself, God sent His Messengers to teach the people about their Creator Who
they must worship. These Messengers also brought with them the details of
how to worship God, because such details cannot be known except by way of
revelation. These two fundamentals were the most important things that
the Messengers of all the divine revelations brought with them from God.
On this basis, all the divine revelations have had the same lofty objectives, which
are:
1. To affirm the Oneness of
God - the praised and glorified Creator – in His essence and His attributes.
2. To affirm that God alone
should be worshipped and that no other being should be worshipped along with
Him or instead of Him.
3. To safeguard human
welfare and oppose corruption and evil. Thus, everything that safeguards
faith, life, reason, wealth and lineage are part of this human welfare that
religion protects. On the other hand, anything that endangers these five
universal needs is a form of corruption that religion opposes and prohibits.
4. To invite the people to
the highest level of virtue, moral values, and noble customs.
The ultimate goal of every Divine Message has
always been the same: to guide the people to God, to make them aware of Him,
and to have them worship Him alone. Each Divine Message came to
strengthen this meaning, and the following words were repeated on the tongues
of all the Messengers: “Worship God, you have no god other than Him.” This
message was conveyed to humanity by prophets and messengers which God sent to
every nation. All of these messengers came with this same message, the
message of Islam.
All the Divine Messages came to bring the
life of the people into willing submission to God. For this reason, they
all share the name of “Islam”, or “submission” derived from the same word as
“Salam”, or “peace”, in Arabic. Islam, in this sense, was the religion of
all the prophets, but why does one see different variations of the religion of
God if they all emanated from the same source? The answer is
twofold.
The first reason is that as a result of the
passage of time, and due to the fact that previous religions were not under the
Divine protection of God, they underwent much change and variation. As a
result, we see that the fundamental truths which were brought by all messengers
now differ from one religion to another, the most apparent being the strict
tenet of the belief and worship of God and God alone.
The second reason for this variation is that
God, in His infinite Wisdom and eternal Will, decreed that all the divine
missions prior to the final message of Islam brought by Muhammad, may the mercy
and blessings of God be upon him, be limited to a specific time frame. As
a result, their laws and methodologies dealt with the specific conditions of
the people whom they had been sent to address.
Humanity has passed through numerous periods
of guidance, misguidance, integrity, and deviation, from the most primitive age
to the heights of civilization. Divine guidance accompanied humanity
through all of this, always providing the appropriate solutions and remedies.
This was the essence of the disparity that
existed between the different religions. This disagreement never went
beyond the particulars of the Divine Law. Each manifestation of the Law
addressed the particular problems of the people it was meant for.
However, the areas of agreement were significant and many, such as fundamentals
of faith; the basic principles and objectives of the Divine Law, such as
protecting faith, life, reason, wealth, and lineage and establishing justice in
the land; and certain fundamental prohibitions, some of the most important of
these being idolatry, fornication, murder, theft, and giving false
witness. Moreover, they also agreed upon moral virtues like honesty,
justice, charity, kindness, chastity, righteousness, and mercy. These
principles as well as others are permanent and lasting; they are the essence of
all the Divine Messages and bind them all together.
The role of
Islam among other world religions, specifically in relation to the
Judeo-Christian tradition.
But where does the
message of Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, fit in
with the previous messages revealed by God? A brief history of the
prophets might clear this point.
The first human, Adam, followed Islam, in
that he directed worship to God alone and none else and abided by His
commandments. But through the passage of time and the dispersal of
humanity throughout the earth, people strayed from this message and began
directing worship to others instead of or along with God. Some took to
worshipping the pious who passed away amongst them, while others took to
worshipping spirits and forces of nature. It was then that God started to
send messengers to humanity steering them back to the worship of God Alone,
which accorded to their true nature, and warning them of the grave consequences
of directing any type of worship to others besides Him.
The first of these messengers was Noah, who
was sent to preach this message of Islam to his people, after they had started
to direct worship to their pious forefathers along with God. Noah called
his people to leave the worship of their idols, and ordered them to return to
the worship of God Alone. Some of them followed the teachings of Noah,
while the majority disbelieved in him. Those who followed Noah were
followers of Islam, or Muslims, while those that did not, remained in their disbelief
and were seized with a punishment for doing so.
After Noah, God sent messengers to every
nation who had strayed from the Truth, to steer them back to it. This
Truth was the same throughout time: to reject all objects of worship and to
direct all worship without exception to God and none else, the Creator and Lord
of all, and to abide by His commandments. But as we mentioned before,
because each nation differed in regards to their way of life, language, and
culture, specific messengers were sent to specific nations for a specific time
period.
God sent messengers to all nations, and to
the Kingdom of Babylon He sent Abraham – one of the earliest and greatest
prophets – who called his people to reject the worship of the idols to
which they were devoted. He called them to Islam, but they rejected him
and even tried to kill him. God put Abraham through many tests, and he
proved true to all of them. For his many sacrifices, God proclaimed that
he would raise from amongst his progeny a great nation and choose prophets from
amongst them. Whenever people from his progeny started to stray away from
the Truth, which was to worship none but God alone and to obey His
commandments, God sent them another messenger steering them back to it.
Consequently, we see that many prophets were
sent amongst the progeny of Abraham, such as his two sons Isaac and Ishmael,
along with Jacob (Israel), Joseph, David, Solomon, Moses, and of course, Jesus,
to mention a few, may the peace and blessings of God be upon them all.
Each prophet was sent to the Children of Israel (the Jews) when they went
astray from the true religion of God, and it became obligatory upon them to
follow the messenger which was sent to them and obey their commandments.
All of the messengers came with the same message, to reject worship of all
other beings except God Alone and to obey His commandments. Some
disbelieved in the prophets, while others believed. Those that believed
were followers of Islam, or Muslims.
From amongst the messengers was Muhammad, may
the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, from the progeny of Ishmael, the
son of Abraham, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, who was sent as
a messenger in succession to Jesus. Muhammad preached the same message of
Islam as the previous prophets and messengers – to direct all worship to God
Alone and none else and to obey His commandments – in which the followers of
the previous prophets went astray.
So as we see, the Prophet Muhammad was not
the founder of a new religion, as many people mistakenly think, but he was sent
as 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.
Just as it was incumbent upon the those who
were alive to follow the message of the last of the succession of prophets
which was sent to them, it becomes incumbent upon all of humanity to follow the
message of Muhammad. God promised that this message would remain
unchanged and fit for all times and places. Suffice 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 directed worship to Him alone and none
else, and without any 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 by worshipping Him Alone and obeying His commandments.
So we see that those who call themselves
Muslims today do not follow a new religion; rather they follow the religion and
message of all prophets and messengers which were sent to humanity by God’s
command, also known as Islam. The word “Islam” is an Arabic word which
literally means “submission to God”, and Muslims are those who willfully submit
to and actively obey God, living in accordance with His message.
A look at
some of the beliefs of Islam.
There are many
aspects of belief in which one who adheres to Islam must have firm
conviction. From those aspects, the most important are six, known as the
“Six Articles of Belief”.
1)
Belief in God
Islam upholds strict monotheism and belief in
God forms the heart of their faith. Islam teaches belief in one God who
neither gives birth nor was born Himself, and has no share in His caretaking of
the world. He alone gives life, causes death, brings good, causes
affliction, and provides sustenance for His creation. God in Islam is the
sole Creator, Lord, Sustainer, Ruler, Judge, and Savior of the universe.
He has no equal in His qualities and abilities, such as knowledge and
power. All worship, veneration and homage is to be directed to God and
none else. Any breach of these concepts negates the basis of Islam.
2)
Belief in the Angels
Adherents to Islam must believe in the Unseen
world as mentioned in the Quran. From this world are the angels’
emissaries of God, each assigned with a specific task. They have no free-will
or ability to disobey; it is their very nature to be God's faithful servants.
Angels are not to be taken as demigods or objects of praise or veneration; they
are mere servants of God obeying His every command.
3)
Belief in the Prophets and Messengers
Islam is a universal and inclusive
religion. Muslims believe in the prophets, not just the Prophet Muhammad,
may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, but the Hebrew prophets,
including Abraham and Moses, as well as the prophets of the New Testament,
Jesus, and John the Baptist. Islam teaches God did not send prophets to
Jews and Christians alone, rather He sent prophets to all nations in the world
with one central message: worship God alone. Muslims must believe in all
prophets sent by God mentioned in the Quran, without making any distinction
between them. Muhammad was sent with the final message, and there is no
prophet to come after him. His message is final and eternal, and through
him God completed His Message to humanity.
4)
Belief in the Sacred Texts
Muslims believe in all books that God has
sent down to humanity through His prophets. These books include the Books
of Abraham, the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. These books all had the same source (God), the same message, and
all were revealed in truth. This does not mean that they have been
preserved in truth. Muslims (and many other Jewish and Christian scholars
and historians) find that the books in existence today are not the original
scriptures, which in fact have been lost, changed, and/or translated over and
over again, losing the original message.
As Christians view the New Testament to
fulfill and complete the Old Testament, Muslims believe that the Prophet
Muhammad received revelations from God through the angel Gabriel to correct
human error that had entered into the scriptures and doctrine of Judaism,
Christianity and all other religions. This revelation is the Quran,
revealed in the Arabic language, and found today in its pristine form. It
seeks to guide mankind in all walks of life; spiritual, temporal, individual
and collective. It contains directions for the conduct of life, relates
stories and parables, describes the attributes of God, and speaks of the best
rules to govern social life. It has directions for everybody, every
place, and for all time. Millions of people today have memorized the
Quran, and all copies of the Quran found today and in the past are
identical. God has promised that He will guard the Quran from change
until the end of times, so that Guidance be clear to humanity and the message
of all the prophets be available for those who seek it.
5)
Belief in Life after Death
Muslims believe that a day will come when all
of creation will perish and resurrected in order to be judged for their deeds:
The Day of Judgment. On this day, all will gather in the presence of God
and each individual will be questioned about their life in the world and how
they lived it. Those who held correct beliefs about God and life, and
followed their belief with righteous deeds will enter Paradise, even though
they may pay for some of their sins in Hell if God out of His Infinite Justice
chooses not to forgive them. As for those who fell into polytheism in its
many faces, they will enter Hellfire, never to leave therefrom.
6)
Belief in the Divine Decree
Islam asserts that God has full power and
knowledge of all things, and that nothing happens except by His Will and with
His full knowledge. What is known as divine decree, fate, or
"destiny" is known in Arabic as al-Qadr. The destiny of every
creature is already known to God.
This belief however does not contradict with
the idea of man's free will to choose his course of action. God does not
force us to do anything; we can choose whether to obey or disobey Him.
Our choice is known to God before we even do it. We do not know what our
destiny is; but God knows the fate of all things.
Therefore, we should have firm faith that
whatever befalls us, it is according to God's will and with His full
knowledge. There may be things that happen in this world that we do not
understand, but we should trust that God has wisdom in all things.
A look at
some of the essential practices of Islam, with a brief explanation of who are
Muslims.
There are five
simple but essential observances that all practicing Muslims accept and
follow. These “Pillars of Islam” represent the core that unites all
Muslims.
1)
The ‘Declaration of Faith’
A Muslim is one who testifies that “none
deserves worship but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” This
declaration is known as the “shahada”
(witness, testimony). Allah is the Arabic name for God, just as Yahweh is
the Hebrew name for God. By making this simple proclamation one becomes a
Muslim. The proclamation affirms Islam’s absolute belief in the oneness
of God, His exclusive right to be worshipped, as well as the doctrine that
associating anything else with God is the one unforgivable sin as we read in
the Koran:
“God does not
forgive anyone for associating something with Him, while He does forgive
whomever He wishes to for anything else. Anyone who gives God partners
has invented an awful sin.” (Quran 4:48)
The second part of the testimony of faith
states that Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, is a
prophet of God like Abraham, Moses and Jesus before him. Muhammad brought
the last and final revelation. In accepting Muhammad as the “seal of the
prophets,” Muslims believe that his prophecy confirms and fulfills all of the
revealed messages, beginning with Adam’s. In addition, Muhammad serves as
the role model through his exemplary life. A believer’s effort to follow Muhammad’s
example reflects the emphasis of Islam on practice and action.
2)
The Prayer (Salah)
Muslims worship five times a day: at
daybreak, noon, mid afternoon, sunset, and evening. It helps keep
believers mindful of God in the stress of work and family. It resets the
spiritual focus, reaffirms total dependence on God, and puts worldly concerns
within the perspective of the last judgment and the afterlife. The
prayers consist of standing, bowing, kneeling, putting the forehead on the
ground, and sitting. The Prayer is a means in which a relationship
between God and His creation is maintained. It includes recitations from
the Quran, praises of God, prayers for forgiveness and other various
supplications. The prayer is an expression of submission, humility, and
adoration of God. Prayers can be offered in any clean place, alone or
together, in a mosque or at home, at work or on the road, indoors or out.
It is preferable to pray with others as one body united in the worship of God,
demonstrating discipline, brotherhood, equality, and solidarity. As they
pray, Muslims face Mecca, the holy city centered around the Kaaba - the house
of God built by Abraham and his son Ishmael.
3)
The Compulsory Charity (Zakah)
In Islam, the true owner of everything is
God, not man. People are given wealth as a trust from God. Zakah is worship and thanksgiving to
God by supporting the poor, and through it one’s wealth is purified. It
requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an individual’s wealth and
assets. Therefore, Zakah is
not mere “charity”, it is an obligation on those who have received their wealth
from God to meet the needs of less fortunate members of the community. Zakah is used to support the poor and
the needy, help those in debt, and, in olden times, to free slaves.
4)
The Fast of Ramadan (Sawm)
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic
lunar calendar which is spent in fasting. Healthy Muslims abstain from
dawn to sunset from food, drink, and sexual activity. Fasting develops
spirituality, dependence upon God, and brings identification with the less
fortunate. A special evening prayer is also held in mosques in which
recitations of the Quran are heard. Families rise before dawn to take
their first meal of the day to sustain them till sunset. The month of
Ramadan ends with one of the two major Islamic celebrations, the Feast of the
Breaking of the Fast, called Eid al-Fitr, which is marked by joyfulness, family
visits, and exchanging of gifts.
5)
The fifth Pillar is the Pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca
At least once in a lifetime, every adult
Muslim who is physically and financially able is required to sacrifice time,
wealth, status, and ordinary comforts of life to make the Hajj pilgrimage,
putting himself totally at God’s service. Every year over two million
believers from a diversity of cultures and languages travel from all over the
world to the sacred city of Mecca[1] to
respond to God’s call.
Who
are Muslims?
The Arabic word “Muslim” literally means
“someone who is in a state of Islam (submission to the will and law of
God)”. The message of Islam is meant for the entire world, and anyone who
accepts this message becomes a Muslim. There are over a billion Muslims
worldwide. Muslims represent the majority population in fifty-six
countries. Many people are surprised to know that the majority of Muslims
are not Arab. Even though most Arabs are Muslims, there are Arabs who are
Christians, Jews and atheists. Only 20 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion
Muslims come from Arab countries. There are significant Muslim
populations in India, China, Central Asian Republics, Russia, Europe, and
America. If one just takes a look at the various peoples who live in the
Muslim World - from Nigeria to Bosnia and from Morocco to Indonesia - it is
easy enough to see that Muslims come from all different races, ethnic groups,
cultures and nationalities. Islam has always been a universal message for
all people. Islam is the second largest religion in the world and will
soon be the second largest religion in America. Yet, few people know what
Islam is.
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