ISLAM is a complete way of life. It is the guidance provided by Allah, the Creator of the Universe, for all mankind. It covers all the things people do in their lifetime. Islam tells us the purpose of our creation, our final destiny and our place among other creatures. It shows us the best way to conduct our private, social, political,economic, moral and spiritual affairs.

Islam is an Arabic word which means submission and obedience. Submission is acceptance of Allah's commands. Allah, another Arabic word, is the proper name of God. Muslims should therefore use the word Allah rather than the word God. Obedience means putting Allah's commands into practice. Submission and obedience to Allah bring peace. That is why Islam also means peace. A person who accepts the Islamic way of life and acts upon it is a Muslim.

Islam is the way of peace and harmony. If we look around, we see that everything - including the sun, the moon and the stars, the high hills and the mighty oceans - are obeying a Law - the Law of Allah. We find no disorder or chaos in them. Superb harmony and perfect order is evident in the system of Nature. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West and there has been no change to this rule. The moon and the stars shine at night. Day passes and night comes and so the process goes on. Flowers blossom and the trees have green leaves in the spring. Everything has a set course which nothing can violate. Have we ever noticed any violations of the Law of Allah by these objects of Nature? No, of course not. Why? Simply because they are made to obey Allah. They have no choice but to obey. This is why we find eternal peace in the system of Nature. But, human beings are different: Allah has given us the knowledge and will to choose between right and wrong. Not only this, He has also sent messengers and books for our guidance.

Yet, He does not force us to obey Him. He has given us the will to either obey or disobey Him. Why is this so? It is because He wants to test us. After this test there will be a day of reward and punishment. This is the Day of Judgement. Those of us who have passed the test will be rewarded with permanent happiness and peace in Paradise and those who have failed will suffer a terrible punishment in Hell. We can earn this reward and escape punishment by obeying and worshipping Allah.

We already know that there is peace and harmony among other objects of Nature, because those things never disobey Allah. So, if we follow the guidance given to us through prophets and messengers we are sure to have peace in the world we live in.

All human beings, by their very nature, like good things and dislike bad ones. For instance, we all approve of and like truthfulness and hate falsehood. Even a liar does not like to be called a liar. Why? Because telling lies is a bad thing. In the same way, helping others, showing kindness, politeness, respect for parents and teachers, honesty and all other forms of good conduct are always like and appreciated; but rudeness, cruelty, falsehood, hurting someone, disobedience to parents and teachers, using bad names and other bad conduct are despised and disliked by everyone. So, we can say that human nature likes the Right and dislikes the Wrong. Right is Ma'ruf and wrong is Munkar in the language of the Qur'an.

It is also human nature to love peace and hate disorder. Peace results from obedience to Allah's Law and disorder is the outcome of disobedience. Islam establishes this peace which is part of man's nature and hence, Islam is called the Religion of Nature; in Arabic this is Deen ul Fitrah.

This introduction of Islam is from the book titled
"ISLAM, BELIEFS AND TEACHINGS"
Author is Ghulam Sarwar
Published by The Muslim Educational Trust