Posted :
Author : Eddie
Description: Some of the most common questions asked about
Islam. Part 1: What is Islam? What are Muslims? Who is Allah? Who is Muhammad?
Islam is the name of the religion, or more properly the ‘way
of life’, which God (Allah) has revealed and which was practiced by all of the
Prophets and Messengers of God that He sent to mankind. Even the name stands
out unique among other religions in that it means a state of being; it does not
refer to any particular person, such as Christianity, Buddhism or
Zoroastrianism; a tribe like Judaism; or a nation like Hinduism. The root
Arabic word from which Islam is derived implies peace, safety, salutation,
protection, blamelessness, wholesomeness, submission, acceptance, surrender,
and salvation. Islam specifically means being in the state of submission to
God, worshipping Him Alone, and reverently accepting and obeying His Law.
Through this submission, the peace, security, and wholesome well-being implied
in its literal meaning is achieved. Hence, a Muslim or Muslimah is a person
(male or female) in that state of submission. A person’s Islam weakens through
sins, ignorance, and wrong-doing, and becomes nullified in totality by
associating partners with God or disbelieving in Him.
2. What are Muslims?
The Arabic word “Muslim” literally means “someone who is in
a state of Islam (submission to the will and law of God)”. The message of Islam
is meant for the entire world, and anyone who accepts this message becomes a
Muslim. Some people mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs,
but nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, over 80% of the
world's Muslims are not Arabs! Even though most Arabs are Muslims, there are
Arabs who are Christians, Jews and atheists. If one just takes a look at the
various peoples who live in the Muslim World - from Nigeria
to Bosnia and from Morocco to Indonesia - it is easy enough to
see that Muslims come from all different races, ethnic groups, cultures and
nationalities. Islam has always been a universal message for all people. This
can be seen in the fact that some of the early companions of the Prophet
Muhammad were not only Arabs, but also Persians, Africans and Byzantine Romans.
Being a Muslim entails complete acceptance and active obedience to the revealed
teachings and laws of God the Exalted. A Muslim is a person who freely accepts
basing his beliefs, values and faith on the will of Almighty God. In the past,
even though you do not see it as much today, the word “Mohammedans” was often
used as a label for Muslims. This label is a misnomer, and is the result of either
willful distortion or sheer ignorance. One of the reasons for the misconception
is that Europeans were taught for centuries that Muslims worshipped the Prophet
Muhammad in the same way that Christians worship Jesus. This is absolutely not
true, since one is not considered a Muslim if he worships anyone or anything
besides God the Exalted.
3. Who is Allah?
Often one hears the Arabic word “Allah” being used in
discussions regarding Islam. The word “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for
Almighty God, and is the same word used by Arabic speaking Christians and Jews.
As a matter of fact, the word Allah was in use far before the word God ever
came into existence, since English is a relatively new language. If one were to
pick up an Arabic translation of the Bible, one would see the word “Allah”
being use where the word “God” is used in English. For instance, Arabic
speaking Christians say that Jesus is, according to their canon belief, the Son
of Allah. In addition, the Arabic word for Almighty God, “Allah”, is quite
similar to the word for God in other Semitic languages. For example, the Hebrew
word for God is “Elah”. For various reasons, some non-Muslims mistakenly
believe that Muslims worship a different God than the God of Moses and Abraham
and Jesus. This is certainly not the case, since the Pure Monotheism of Islam
calls all people to the worship of the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and
all the other prophets, peace be upon them.
4. Who is Muhammad?
The last and final prophet whom God sent to humanity was the
Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. At the age of
forty, he received the revelation from God. He then spent the remaining portion
of his life explaining, and living the teachings of Islam, the religion that
God revealed to him. The Prophet Muhammad is the greatest of all prophets for
many reasons, but primarily because he was chosen by God to be the last prophet
- whose mission to guide humanity would continue until the Last Day - and
because he has been sent as a mercy to all of mankind. The result of his
mission has brought more people into the pure belief in One God than any other
prophet. Since the beginning of time, God sent prophets to the earth, each one
to his own specific nation. The Prophet Muhammad, however, was sent as the
final Messenger to all of humanity.
Even though other religious communities have claimed to
believe in One God, over time, some corrupted ideas entered into their beliefs
and practices leading them away from the pure sincere monotheism of the
prophets. Some took their prophets and saints as intercessors with Almighty
God. Some even believed that their prophets were the manifestations of God, or
“God Incarnate” or the “Son of God”. All of these misconceptions lead to the
worship of created beings instead of the Creator, and contributed to the
idolatrous practice of believing that Almighty God may be approached through
intermediaries. In order to guard against these falsehoods, the Prophet Muhammad
always emphasized that he was only a human-being with the mission of preaching
and obeying God's message. He taught Muslims to refer to him as “the Messenger
of God and His Slave”. Through his life and teachings, God made Muhammad the
perfect example for all people - he was the exemplary prophet, statesman,
military leader, ruler, teacher, neighbor, husband, father and friend. Unlike
other prophets and messengers, the Prophet Muhammad lived in the full light of
history, and all his sayings and acts were meticulously recorded and collected.
Muslims don't need to have mere ‘faith’ that he existed, or that his teachings
are preserved - they know it to be a fact. God took it upon Himself to protect
the message revealed to Muhammad from distortion or from being forgotten or
lost. This was necessary because God promised that Muhammad was to be the final
Messenger to mankind. All of God's Messengers preached the message of Islam -
i.e. submission to the law of God and the worship of God alone – but Muhammad is
the last prophet of Islam who brought the final and complete message which was
never to be changed until the Last Day.
(Don't forget Part 2 - coming soon)
~Blog Admin~
No comments:
Post a Comment