Islam is the religion, the way of life of Muslims of the world. There are over one billion
Muslims spread across the globe in all nationalities, languages and ethnic
backgrounds. Islam was the religion of the first couple, Adam and Eve. It was also
the religion of messengers of God like Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The
essence of their message was the same: Believe and obey the One true God and obey His messengers. Jesus (peace be on him) was the second-last prophet of God. He foretold the coming of the last Prophet Muhammad ..While the message of the earlier messengers, including Jesus was limited, prophet Muhammad's message and mission is universal and will remain so till the end of this world. Belief in Islam means 1.Belief in One God 2.Belief in all of God's messengers 3.Belief in all the books sent down to His prophets. These books include Torah and Gospel (not the Bible) 4.Belief in the existence of angels 5.Belief in the Day of Judgement and Life after Death, heaven and hell Muslims are those who declare that there is no deity except Allah (arabic for God) and that Muhammad is His messenger. They submit fully in obedience to Allah and mould their lives according to the teachings of the Holy Quran and prophet Muhammad . The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm and Salam which means peace. Salam may also mean greeting one another with peace. One of the beautiful names of God is that He is the Peace. It means more than that: submission to the One God, and to live in peace with the Creator, within one's self, with other people and with the environment. Thus, Islam is a total system of living. A Muslim is supposed to live in peace and harmony with all these segments; hence, a Muslim is any person anywhere in the world whose obedience, allegiance, and loyalty are to God, the Lord of the Universe. � Allah is the name of the One and Only God. Allah has ninety-nine beautiful names, such as: The Gracious, The Merciful, The Beneficent, The Creator, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The Lord of the Universe, The First, The Last, and others. He is the Creator of all human beings. He is the God for the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the atheists, and others. Muslims worship God whose name is Allah. They put their trust in Him and they seek His help and His guidance. � Muhammad was chosen by God to deliver His Message of Peace, namely Islam. He was born in 570 C.E. (Common Era) in Makkah, Arabia. He was entrusted with the Message of Islam when he was at the age of forty years. The revelation that he received is called the Qur'an, while the message is called Islam. Muhammad is the very last Prophet of God to mankind. He is the final Messenger of God. His message was and is still to the Christians, the Jews and the rest of mankind. He was sent to those religious people to inform them about the true mission of Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. Muhammad is considered to be the summation and the culmination of all the prophets and messengers that came before him. He purified the previous messages from adulteration and completed the Message of God for all humanity. He was entrusted with the power of explaining, interpreting and living the teaching of the Qur'an. � The legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Hadith. The Qur'an is the exact word of God; its authenticity, originality and totality are intact. The Hadith is the report of the sayings, deeds and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad . The Prophet's sayings and deeds are called Sunnah. The Seerah is the writings of followers of Muhammad about the life of the Prophet . Hence, it is the life history of the Prophet Muhammad which provides examples of daily living for Muslims. � God instructed the Muslims to practice what they believe in. In Islam there are five pillars, namely: � FAITH(SHAHADAH): The verbal commitment and pledge that there is only One God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, is considered to be the Creed of Islam. � PRAYERS(SALAT): The performance of the five daily prayers is required of Muslims. �FASTING(SAUM): Fasting is total abstinence from food, liquids and intimate intercourse (between married couples) from dawn to sunset during the entire month of Ramadan. � PURIFYING TAX(ZAKAT): This is an annual payment of a certain percentage of a Muslim's property which is distributed among the poor or other rightful beneficiaries. � PILGRIMAGE(HAJJ): The performance of pilgrimage to Makkah is required once in a life time if means are available. Hajj is in part in memory of the trials and tribulations of Prophet Abraham, his wife Hagar and his eldest son Prophet Ishmael. � Muslims are required to respect all those who are faithful and God conscious people, namely those who received messages. Christians and Jews are called People of the Book. Muslims are asked to call upon the People of the Book for common terms, namely, to worship One God, and to work together for the solutions of the many problems in the society. Christians and Jews lived peacefully with Muslims throughout centuries in the Middle East and other Asian and African countries. The second Caliph Umar, did not pray in the church in Jerusalem so as not to give the Muslims an excuse to take it over. Christians entrusted the Muslims, and as such the key of the Church in Jerusalem is still in the hands of the Muslims. Jews fled from Spain during the Inquisition, and they were welcomed by the Muslims. They settled in the heart of the Islamic Caliphate. They enjoyed positions of power and authority. Throughout the Muslim world, churches, synagogues and missionary schools were built within the Muslim neighborhoods. These places were protected by Muslims even during the contemporary crises in the Middle East. |
WHAT IS ISLAM? |
