This site is published by Lamia and Jim Roushey. It presents a positive and in the main, an American view of Islam that is void of foreign custom and tradition. Only Islamic presentations are made from the Holy Qur-an and the Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him). Too often Americans get a view of Islam tainted by Middle Eastern cultural exposure. We try (with the help of Allah the Almighty) to present Islam in a simple and straightforward manner in easy language. It is not confrontational and is always supported by the Word of God contained in His last revelation, the Holy Qur-an. We pray to Allah the Almighty that this is correct and that whomever visits this site will see it as truth.
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WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ISLAM continued
Responsibilities to God:
3. Charity:
Since all we have in this world is a loan for a short time, God wants us to share with others who are less fortunate. He has imposed on His believers a requirement to provide from our savings, a certain small percentage of wealth whith is then distributed among the needy. this giving refreshes the spirit as worship and acts to raise the feelings of brotherhood and empathy among the community.
4. Fasting:
The most private act of worship is what you only feel yourself, that feeling is a small sense of hunger. All the scriptures reported that God has required fasting. This fasting is not meant to give us pain or discomfort but to practice self-restraint. It becomes an act of worship when, to please God, we impose upon ourselves staying away from food and water. The Muslims fast during the daylight hours of one month. Certainly, if one's health does not permit fasting or it creates hardship, then God excuses us for that time. God does not wish us to hurt ourselves on His account.
5. Pilgrimage:
If possible, at least once in a lifetime, a Muslim should take a trip to the place where the Prophet Muhammad walked and preached, Mecca. An average of 4 million Muslims throughout the whole world travel there every year. You will meet Muslims of every possible race and nationality but they are all there for the purpose of praising and worshipping God.
Responsibilities to God's creation:
As the Muslim believes that his or her purpose for existence is to worhsip, he or she must also realize that every action, no matter how seemingly insignificant is an act of worship. The obvious acts of worship were mentioned in our responsibilities to God. Now we will discuss how every act can be made an act of worship.
1. Self:
the first obligation in one's responsibilities to God's creation are to oneself. Not from a selfish view but fron the view that if one does not care for ones' own spiritual and physical well-being he or she is of lesser value to family and community.
2. Famly:
A Muslim has a major obligation to family because it is the unity of family upon which the community is based. Each member of the family has their own rights and responsibilities that should be given and taken with absolute fairness.
3. Community:
Service and duty to community follows the natural progression from self and family.
4. The Universe;
We all hae the duty to protect and preserve the environment in which we all live. We do this through infinite ways from caring about and minimizing pollution of all kinds in our neighborhood to instilling a corporate responsibility for harmful discharges to the air, land and water. We care for animal and plant life; and we care for the land
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Basic Beliefs
WHAT IS ISLAM?
Islam is a word that comes from two words in the Arabic language. The first word is "submission" and the second word is "peace". Put the two together and it means peace through submission. The submission referred to is to the will of God.
Islam is known as a religion but it is more than that. Islam is a way of life that leads to harmony with nature. It is a pattern of behavior that leads to peace with the universe and peace with yourself..
To say that Islam is only a religion falls short of its true meaning. To believe in Islam and to do what God says to do is to be a Muslim. We don't choose to be Muslims but it was chosen for us by God. You will see how Islam can be described as the "natural religion"
WHO IS ALLAH?
The word "Allah" is the name of God in Arabic. God is to Muslims the sme as the name implies in English. to a Christian Arab who does not speak English, the word for God is "Allah".
In Islam, God is the Supreme Being, the Creator. He is unique and singular. He has nothing associated with Him and nothing shares His powers. God has made everything and continues to maintain all His creationl To refer to anything that God has made as shairing power with Him is an act of disbelief in His oneness and authority.
WHAT DO MUSLIMS BELIEVE IN?
One God:
Muslims are convinced and dedicated to belief in One God. They believe that at a point in eternity He created the universe and everything in it, but in continuous stages. Muslims believe that creation keeps going on and that God keeps on regenerating His universe and all matter in it. The Muslim concept of creation is that it was willed by God and simply by the power of His will it exists.
When God wills, His universe will terminate just like He willed its existence. All matters will then return to Him for the determination of justice.
God has no limitations of capacity. In contrast to human beings that can only learn so much or can only achieve so much, God knows and understands all things with no limitation. We humans have a beginning, a duration and an end; God always was and always will be without beginning and without end. God is.
Angels:
God created spiritual beings called Angels. These creations have no will of their own but serve as extensions of God's will and purpose for mankind. they only know what they ar willed to know by God. The serve to witness the actions of mankind and to perform God's commands related to man's actions
There are some angels whose names are known and some who have rank. Gabriel is the Archangel who is abvove all the others. It has been his duty to transmit God's recitation to mankind through His Prophets. there is an angel of death and there are two angels with us constantly who witness our actions. They do not encourages us to good or bad but simply observe our behavior and thoughts.
Scriptures:
Books or written documents exist that were revealed by God for mankind through His Prophets. There are four such religious writings that were revealed to man through God's Prophets:
1. The Torah through Moses
2. The Psalms through David
3. The Gospel through Jesus Christ
4. The Qur-an Through Muhammad
(Peace and blessings of God upon them all.)
The Muslim believes in all of these scriptures or books but he believes the only one that exists in its preserved original form as revealed by God is the Holy Qur-an. All the rest were added to or modified to suit conditions as perceived by man. Muslims believe that the Qur-an contains the essence of the others but in final form dictated to Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel.
The Holy Qur-an is the final decree by God. It explains how He wants man to behave and to think in order to live properly and to receive His blessing. It is an instruction book for life. It was not inspired but was revealed directly in God's own word. It exists today in the original and preserved languagae used for it's revelation.
Prophets:
God has selected certain people from time to time and from various nations and tribes. He gave information to these persons in order for them to transmit guidance to their followers. In four cases there was a book associated with this guidance, in other cases the mission of the Prophets was just to remind the followers of God's requirements. These Prophets were very special people. They were honest and respected among their people. They were very devout to God and never questioned their duties. They were, however, humans and as such required God's forgiveness just like any one else
Resurrection:
Muslims believe that God will bring everyone back to live consciousness. Even the dead will arise and face God. Death to a Muslim only means the stopping of life, not the stopping of eternity. There is no escape from this fact of man's existence; just as we were born, lifed a while, and will die, every person will arise and face the ultimatel judgment of God.
Fate:
A Muslim has no doubt that God's plan will be fulfilled. This idea of preordainment or fate is not easily understood. Certainly we live in the dimension of time. One of the patterns of God's universe is His creation of time. When our time is completed it will seem to us as though we were born, lived, and died all in the same instant. God exists in the beginning, the end and all that is in between, therefore, He exists for all eternity.
We, however, are mortal in the sense of our physical being, (that is we have a life cycle), and we are immortal in the sense of our spiritual being, (that is our sould is created and it exists for all eternity).
When God creates something, He creates it completely from beginning to end. Therefore, all its actions, phases, and cycles are included in the pattern of its creation. Man is given choices within the preordainment of God's creation.
HOW DO MUSLIMS WORSHIP?
A Muslim should take responsibility for his or her behavior. It is weel known that attitudes can be affected by behavior. God has set standards for our behavior and has included certain acts of worship so that our atituces will be positively affected
Muslims have responsibilities to God and responsibilities to His creation. Fulfilling these responsibilities results in man's betterment
1. Witnessing:
When we truly believe in God we become witnesses to our faith. What we say and how we act lets others know that we believe and reenforces it to ourselves. We say that we belive in God alone, Who needs no assistance and is One and Unique. We also say that we believe in His Prophet Muhammed who was His Messenger and through Whom we were given God's word, the Holy Qur-an.
2. Prayer:
In order to continuously renew our communication with God and stay on track with our good behavior, we must pause at various times throughout the day to pray. If it is whenever we want and wherever we want, it may be that it will become so haphazard as to be become meaningless. So God specifies for us (and He knows us better than we know ourselves) the time and the manner of our prayer. He even tells us to clean our selves in a manner that makes our thoughts focused and gives us the words He wants us to say.
Dear friend,
The words you printed on the paper for me to read are as far from God's word as East is from West. They are words that have been written by man and sanctioned by a king of this world. Placing my salvation in these words would be the most spiritually devastating thing I could do. They were generated through "vested interests" by well-intentioned but misguided zealots who truly thought they were evangelizing the gospel of Jesus Christ. They contain words that Jesus Christ never said. To believe that "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are co-equal and co-eternal" is to believe the word of man, for Jesus Christ NEVER uttered such words. The word "TRINITY" is not in the scripture. It is, however, in the KJV of the Bible because, again, of vested interests. When 32 scholars backed by 50 denominations diligently compared and revised the Bible (again tempering but trying in vain to correct the many mistakes in the KJV), they found no evidence for the word "TRINITY" nor even the "virgin birth of Jesus Christ. So they threw them both out as "fabrications" These are not supported by Greek and Hebrew scripture. However, they were put back in, by whom? Why, by man who wrote and revised the scriptures to suit his need. When you present me a Bible with the original language (words of God) juxtaposed next to the translation so I can compare for myself, like my Qur'an, then I will read it
Here is a surprise for you. Although the word "trinity" is not contained in the scripture of the Bible, it is in the Qur'an. In what context though? It says, . . .
"O people of the Book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of God aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an Apostle of God and His Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Sspirit proceeding from Him: so believe in God and His Apostles. And say not "trinity": It will be better for you: for God is One God: glory be to Him: (for exalted is He above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is God as a Disposer of affairs"
I can show you these words in five translations and the original words written down in the Arabic language as they were revealed 1,423 years ago and preserved. God said that He would preserve them because all prior relalations had been corrupted.
The Bible in its current form, is a text book of incest. Do you know there are eleven distinct cases recorded in your Bible of "incest" yet there is nowhere a word of reproach by God? Is this why there are recorded every year cases of incest that involved 13% of the fathers in America? Why do you claim to be a Christian yet reject to act Christ-like? Who abrogated the law that Jesus came into this world to fulfill. Was it man again putting words into God's mouth?
George Bernard shaw said, "The Bible is the most dangerous book ever written; it should be kept under lock and key." Why? Because he had suspicion of it? No. Because he read it and understood that, it is misleading. The problem is not with Christians, they are wonderful and kind people. The problem is with the book.
Why can't you show me a Bible like the Qur'an that has word for word translation of the meanings of Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic? How can you believe that words written and re-written and translated and re-translated all by man and then brought before a king for his authorization after 1,600 years - can be the word of God? I must question your logic my dear brother. Yet if you choose to take this as your word of God, then, so be it. There are those over whose eyes is placed a veil and they will not see.
Muslims do not claim to be perfect. There are good and bad in every religion and society. However, the answers to problems of society are not in the word of man. We have no authority to utter anything and claim it is God's word.
Read the Qur'an with me and we'll find truth together as brothers. However, please do not ask me to put faith in the word of man. Never will I accept your Bible in any version available as the word of God. Nor will you accept the Qur'an as God's word. You will not investigate because you are discouraged from investigation. You believe that God sacrificed Himself to atone for your mistakes without which you place the restriction on God that He could not grant you His mercy in forgivness. I say, He certainly can do whatever He wills. NO one can be forgiven without the mercy from God to span the chasm between man's faith and works and the Glory of God Almighty. He has given me instruction and He expects me to follow the formula to receive His mercy. Were I to follow the Bible, I would be accepting what man has said is God's word and never would I place my salvation in such words.
Maybe this web page had no affect on you at all. It was only intended to let you know a little of what Muslims believe and about the religion of Islam. But if what you have read has caused you to think about God and how to get closer to His will for your life then please contact Jim Roushey at his Email address [email protected] . No one will coerce you and no one will preach to you. It is your choice. If you decide to acknowledge one God in your life and acknowledge that Muhammad was His Prophet and His Messenger then you are already a Muslim and our brother. We invite you to worship with us.
Summary: We hope that you now know a little more about the religion of Islam. Often what you hear about something isn't what it really is at all. This religion has been misrepresented throughout history, especially now. It has been confused with ignorant custom and purposely maligned. Islam is the belief system of over 2 billion people throughout the world. There are more than two-million Muslims just in the United States alone (not naturalized but born here, white, black, yellow, brown, red). We are all races and all former nationalities too but profess the same creed:
There is one God, and Muhammad is His Messenger
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