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Islam |
Introducing Islam
I.
Islam and Muslims
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.
II. Muslims
and Arabs
The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims are not to be
confused with Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks, Persians,
Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Europeans,
Africans, Americans, Chinese, or other nationalities. An Arab
could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an atheist. Any person
who adopts the Arabic language is called an Arab. However, the
language of the Qur'an (the Holy Book of Islam) is Arabic.
Muslims all over the world try to learn Arabic so that they may
be able to read the Qur'an and understand its meaning. They pray
in the language of the Qur'an, namely Arabic. Supplications to
God could be in any language. While there are one billion Muslims
in the world there are about 200 million Arabs. Among them,
approximately ten percent are not Muslims. Thus Arab Muslims
constitute only about twenty percent of the Muslim population of
the world.
III.
Allah: the One and the Only God
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.
IV.
Muhammmad
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.
V.
Source of Islam
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.
VI.
Some Islamic Principles
A.
Oneness of God:
He is One and the Only One. He is not two in one or three in one.
This means that Islam rejects the idea of trinity or such a unity
of God which implies more than one God in one.
B.
Oneness of mankind:
People are created equal in front of the Law of God. There is no
superiority for one race over another. God made us of different
colors, nationalities, languages and beliefs so as to test who is
going to be better than others. No one can claim that he is
better than others. It is only God Who knows who is better. It
depends on piety and righteousness.
C. Oneness of Messengers
and the Message:
Muslims believe that God sent different messengers throughout the
history of mankind. All came with the same message and the same
teachings. It was the people who misunderstood and misinterpreted
them.
Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail, Jacob, Moses,
David, Jesus, and Muhammad. The Prophets of Christianity and
Judaism are indeed the Prophets of Islam.
D.
Angels and the Day of Judgment:
Muslims believe that there are unseen creatures such as angels
created by God in the universe for special missions.
Muslims believe that there is a Day of Judgment when all people
of the world throughout the history of mankind till the last day
of life on earth, are to be brought for accounting, reward and
punishment.
E.
Innocence of Man at Birth:
Muslim believe that people are born free of sin. It is only after
they reach the age of puberty and it is only after they commit
sins that they are to be charged for their mistakes. No one is
responsible for or can take the responsibility for the sins of
others. However, the door of forgiveness through true repentance
is always open.
F.
State and Religion:
Muslims believe that Islam is a total and a complete way of life.
It encompasses all aspects of life. As such, the teachings of
Islam do not separate religion from politics. As a matter of
fact, state and religion are under the obedience of Allah through
the teachings of Islam. Hence, economic and social transactions,
as well as educational and political systems are also part of the
teachings of Islam.
VII.
PRACTICES OF ISLAM
God instructed the Muslims to practice what they believe in. In
Islam there are five pillars, namely:
A.
Creed (Shahada):
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.
B.
Prayers (Salat):
The performance of the five daily prayers is required of Muslims.
C.
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.
D.
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.
E.
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.
VIII.
OTHER RELATED ASPECTS:
A.
Calendar:
Islamic practices are based on the lunar calendar. However,
Muslims also use the Gregorian calendar in their daily religious
lives. Hence, the Islamic calendar includes both the common era
and the migration (Higra) year of the Prophet of Islam from
Makkah to Madinah in the year of 623 C.E.
B.
Celebrations (Eid):
Muslims have two celebrations (Eid); namely, Eid of Sacrifice and
Eid of Fast-Breaking. The Eid of Sacrifice is in remembrance of
the sacrifice to be by Prophet Abraham of his son. The Eid of
Fast-Breaking comes at the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan.
C.
Diets:
Islam allows Muslims to eat everything which is good for the
health. It restricts certain items such as pork and its
by-products, alcohol and any narcotic or addictive drugs.
D.
Place of Worship:
The place of worship is called Mosque or Masjid. There are three
holy places of worship for the Muslims in the world. These are:
Mosque of Kaaba in Makkah, Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in
Madinah, and Masjid Aqsa, adjacent to the Dome of the Rock in
Jerusalem.
A Muslim may pray any where in the world whether in a Mosque, a
house, an office, or outside. The whole world is a place of
worship. It is preferable that Muslims pray in a congregation,
however, he/she may pray individually anywhere.
E.
Holidays:
The holy day of the Muslims is Friday. It is considered to be
sacred and the Day of Judgment will take place on Friday. Muslims
join together shortly after noon on Friday for the Friday
congregational prayer in a Mosque. A leader (Imam) gives a sermon
(Khutba) and leads the congregational prayer.
F.
Distribution of Muslims in North America:
There are approximately five million Muslims in North America and
are distributed in its major cities such as New York, Detroit,
Boston, Toledo, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston,
Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton,
Vancouver, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary, and others.
G.
Contributions in North America:
Muslims are not established in North America. Sears Tower and the
John Hancock buildings in Chicago were designed by a Muslim chief
architect, originally from Bangladesh. Muslims have established
academic institutions, community centers and organizations,
schools and places of worship. They live in peace and harmony
among themselves and among other groups of people in the society.
The rate of crime among Muslims is very minimal. Muslims in North
America are highly educated and they have added to the success of
American scientific and technological fields.
The Muslims of the early period of the Islamic era were pioneers
in medicine, chemistry, physics, geography, navigation, arts,
poetry, mathematics, algebra, logarithms, calculus, etc. They
contributed to the Renaissance of Europe and world civilization.
IX.
NON-MUSLIMS:
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.