Islam and Muslims:
The word "Islam" is an Arabic word which means "submission to the will
of God". This word comes from the same root as the Arabic word "salam",
which means "peace". As such, the religion of Islam teaches that in
order to achieve true peace of mind and surety of heart, one must submit
to God and live according to His Divinely revealed Law. The most
important truth that God revealed to mankind is that there is nothing
divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God, thus all
human beings should submit to Him. The word "Muslim" means one who
submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or
ethnic background. Being a Muslim entails willful submission and active
obedience to God, and living in accordance with His message. Some people
mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing
could be further from the truth. Not only are there converts to Islam in
every corner of the world, especially in England and America, but by
taking a look at the Muslim World from Bosnia to Nigeria, and from
Indonesia to Morocco, one can clearly see that Muslims come from many
various races, ethnic groups and nationalities. It is also interesting
to note that in actuality, more than 80% of all Muslims are not Arabs -
there are more Muslims in Indonesia than in the whole Arab World! So
though even though it is true that most Arabs are Muslims, the large
majority of Muslims are not Arabs. However, anyone who submits
completely to God and worships Him alone is a Muslim.
Continuity of the Message:
Islam is not a new religion because "submission to the will of God",
i.e. Islam, has always been the only acceptable religion in the sight of
God. For this reason, Islam is the true "natural religion", and it is
the same eternal message revealed through the ages to all of God's
prophets and messengers. Muslims believe that all of God's prophets,
which include Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, brought the same
message of Pure Monotheism. For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad was
not the founder of a new religion, as many people mistakenly think, but
he was 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, who was
one of the earliest and greatest prophets. Suffice 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 worshipped Him without
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.
The Oneness of God:
The foundation of the Islamic faith is belief in the Oneness of Almighty
God - the God of Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus. Islam teaches that a
pure belief in One God is intuitive in human beings and thus fulfills
the natural inclination of the soul. As such, Islam's concept of God is
straightforward, unambiguous and easy to understand. Islam teaches that
the hearts, minds and souls of human beings are fitting receptacles for
clear divine revelation, and that God's revelations to man are not
clouded by self-contradictory mysteries or irrational ideas. As such,
Islam teaches that even though God cannot be fully comprehended and
grasped by our finite human minds, He also does not expect us to accept
absurd or demonstrably false beliefs about Him. According to the
teachings of Islam, Almighty God is absolutely One and His Oneness
should never be compromised by associating partners with Him - neither
in worship nor in belief. Due to this, Muslims are required to maintain
a direct relationship with God, and therefore all intermediaries are
absolutely forbidden. From the Islamic standpoint, believing in the
Oneness of God means to realize that all prayer and worship should be
exclusively for God, and that He alone deserves such titles as "Lord"
and "Savior". Some religions, even though they believe on "One God", do
not make all of their worship and prayers for Him alone. Also, they also
give the title of "Lord" to beings that are not All-Knowing,
All-Powerful and Un-Changing - even according to their own scriptures.
Suffice it to say that according to Islam, it is not enough that people
believe that "God is One", but they must actualize this belief by proper
conduct. In short, in the Islamic concept of God, which is completely
based on Divine Revelation, there is no ambiguity in divinity - God is
God and man is man. Since God is the only Creator and continual
Sustainer of the Universe, He is transcendent above His creation - the
Creator and the creature never mix. Islam teaches that God has a unique
nature and that He is free from gender, human weaknesses and beyond
anything which human beings can imagine. The Quran teaches that the
signs and proofs of God's wisdom, power and existence are evident in the
world around us. As such, God calls on man to ponder over the creation
in order to build a better understanding of his Creator. Muslims believe
that God is Loving, Compassionate and Merciful, and that He is concerned
with the daily affairs of human beings. In this, Islam strikes a unique
balance between false religious and philosophical extremes. Some
religions and philosophies portray God as just an impersonal "Higher
Power" who is uninterested, or unaware, of the life of each individual
human. Other religions tend to give God human qualities and teach that
He is present in His creation, by being incarnate in someone, something
- or even everything. In Islam, however, Almighty God has clarified the
truth by letting mankind know that He is "Compassionate", "Merciful",
"Loving" and the "Answerer of Prayers". But He as also emphasized
strongly that "there is nothing like unto Him", and that He is high
above time, space and His creation. Finally, it should be mentioned that
the God that Muslims worship is the same God that Jews and Christians
worship - because there is only one God. It is unfortunate that some
people mistakenly believe that Muslims worship a different God than Jews
and Christians, and that "Allah" is just the "god of the Arabs". This
myth, which has been propagated by the enemies of Islam, is completely
false since the word "Allah" is simply the Arabic name for Almighty God.
It is the same word for God which is used by Arabic-speaking Jews and
Christians. However, it should be clarified that even though Muslims
worship the same God as Jews and Christian, their concept of Him differs
somewhat from the beliefs of other religions - mainly because it is
based completely on Divine Revelation from God. For example, Muslims
reject the Christian belief that God is a Trinity, not only because the
Quran rejects it, but also because if this was God's true nature, He
would have clearly revealed it to Abraham, Noah, Jesus and all of the
other prophets.
The Quran:
The Arabic world "Al-Quran" literally means "the recitation". When used
in regards to Islam, the word Quran means God's final message to mankind
that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The Qur'an, sometimes spelled
Koran, is the literal the word of God - as it clearly says time and time
again. Unlike other sacred scriptures, the Quran has been perfectly
preserved in both its words and meaning in a living language. The Qu'ran
is a living miracle in the Arabic language; and is know to be inimitable
in its style, form and spiritual impact. God's final revelation to
mankind, the Quran, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period
of 23 years. The Quran, in contrast to many other religious books, was
always thought to be the Word of God by those who believed in it, i.e.
it wasn't something decreed by a religious council many years after
being written. Also, the Qu'ran was recited publicly in front of both
the Muslim and non-Muslim communities during the life of the Prophet
Muhammad. The entire Quran was also completely written down in lifetime
of the Prophet, and numerous companions of the Prophet memorized the
entire Quran word-for-word as it was revealed. So unlike other
scriptures, the Quran was always in the hands of the common believers,
it was always thought to be God's word and, due to wide-spread
memorization, it was perfectly preserved. In regards to the teachings of
the Quran - it is a universal scripture, and it is addressed to all of
mankind, and not to a particular tribe or "chosen people". The message
that it brings is nothing new, but the same message of all of the
prophets - submit to Almighty God and worship Him alone. As such, God's
revelation in the Quran focuses on teaching human beings the importance
of believing in the Unity of God and framing their lives around the
guidance which He has sent. Additionally, the Quran contains the stories
of the previous prophets, such as Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus; as
well as many commands and prohibitions from God. In modern times in
which so many people are caught up in doubt, spiritual despair and
"political correctness", the Quranic teachings offer solutions to the
emptiness of our lives and the turmoil that is gripping the world today.
In short, the Quran is the book of guidance par excellence.
The Prophet Muhammad :
Unlike the founders of many religious, the final prophet of Islam is a
real documented and historical figure. He lived in the full light of
history, and the most minute details of his life are known. Not only do
Muslims have the complete text of God's words that were revealed to
Muhammad, but they have also preserved his saying and teachings in what
is called "Hadith" literature. This having been said, it should be
understood that Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was only a man
chosen by God, and that he is not divine in any way. In order to avoid
the misguided wish to deify him, the Prophet Muhammad taught Muslims to
refer to him as "God's Messenger and His Slave". The mission of the last
and final prophet of God was to simply teach that "there is nothing
divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God", as well
as being a living example of God's revelation. In simple terms, God sent
the revelation to Muhammad, who in turn taught it , preached it, lived
it and put it into practice. In this way, Muhammad was more that just a
"prophet" in the sense of many of the Biblical prophets, since he was
also a statesman and ruler. He was a man who lived a humble life in the
service of God, and established an all-encompassing religion and way of
life by showing what it means to be an ideal friend, husband, teacher,
ruler, warrior and judge. For this reason, Muslims follow him not for
his own sake, but in obedience to God, because Muhammad not only showed
us how to deal with our fellow human beings, but more importantly, he
showed us how to relate to and worship God, worship Him in the only way
pleasing to Him. Like other prophets, Muhammad faced a great deal of
opposition and persecution during his mission. However, he was always
patient and just, and he treated his enemies well. The results of his
mission were very successful, and even though his mission started in one
of the most backward and remotes places on earth, within a hundred years
of the death of Muhammad, Islam had spread from Spain to China. The
Prophet Muhammad was the greatest of all of God's prophets, not because
he had new doctrines or greater miracles, but because the results of his
mission have brought more human beings into the pure and proper belief
in the One True God than any other prophet.
The Islamic Way of Life:
In the Holy Quran, God teaches human beings that they were created in
order to worship Him, and that the basis of all true worship is
God-consciousness. Since the teachings of Islamic encompass all aspects
of life and ethics, God-consciousness is encouraged in all human
affairs. Islam makes it clear that all human acts are acts of worship if
they are done for God alone and in accordance to His Divine Law. As
such, worship in Islam is not limited to religious rituals. The
teachings of Islam act as a mercy and a healing for the human soul, and
such qualities as humility, sincerity, patience and charity are strongly
encouraged. Additionally, Islam condemns pride and self-righteousness,
since Almighty God is the only judge of human righteousness. The Islamic
view of the nature of man is also realistic and well-balanced. Human
beings are not believed to be inherently sinful, but are seen as equally
capable of both good and evil. Islam also teaches that faith and action
go hand-in-hand. God has given people free-will, and the measure of
one's faith is one's deeds and actions. However, human beings have also
been created weak and regularly fall into sin. This is the nature of the
human being as created by God in His Wisdom, and it is not inherently
"corrupt" or in need of repair. This is because the avenue of repentance
of always open to all human beings, and Almighty God loves the repentant
sinner more than one who does not sin at all. The true balance of an
Islamic life is established by having a healthy fear of God as well as a
sincere belief in His infinite Mercy. A life without fear of God leads
to sin and disobedience, while believing that we have sinned so much
that God will not possibly forgive us only leads to despair. In light of
this, Islam teaches that: only the misguided despair of the Mercy of
their Lord. Additionally, the Holy Quran, which was revealed to the
Prophet Muhammad, contains a great deal of teachings about the life
hereafter and the Day of Judgment. Due to this, Muslims believe that all
human beings will ultimately be judged by God for their beliefs and
actions in their earthly lives. In judging human beings, Almighty God
will be both Merciful and Just, and people will only be judged for what
they were capable of. Suffice it to say that Islam teaches that life is
a test, and that all human beings will be accountable before God. A
sincere belief in the life hereafter is key to leading a well-balanced
life and moral. Otherwise, life is viewed as an end in itself, which
causes human beings to become more selfish, materialistic and immoral.
Islam for a Better Life:
Islam teaches that true happiness can only being obtained by living a
life full of God-consciousness and being satisfied with what God has
given us. Additionally, true "freedom" is freedom from being controlled
by our base human desires and being ruled by man-made ideologies. This
stands in stark contrast to the view of many people in the modern world,
who consider "freedom" to be the ability to satisfy all of their desires
without inhibition. The clear and comprehensive guidance of Islam gives
human-beings a well-defined purpose and direction in life. In addition
to being members of the human-brotherhood of Islam, its well-balanced
and practical teachings are a source of spiritual comfort, guidance and
morality. A direct and clear relationship with Almighty God, as well as
the sense of purpose and belonging that ones feels as a Muslim, frees a
person from the many worries of everyday life. In short, the Islamic way
of life is pure and wholesome. It builds self-discipline and
self-control thought regular prayer and fasting, and frees human-beings
from superstition and all sorts of racial, ethnic and national
prejudices. By accepting to live a God-conscious life, and realizing
that the only thing that distinguishes people in the sight of God is
their consciousness of Him, a person's true human dignity is realized.
© 2013 MUSLIM-ANSWERS.ORG
