Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Introduction To Islam

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 Qur’an 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 Qur’an 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 becaue the Qur’an 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 Qur’an

The Arabic world “Al-Qur’an” literally means “the recitation”.

When used in regards to Islam, the word Qur’an means God’s final message

to mankind that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The Qu’ran, sometimes

spelled Koran, is the literal the word of God – as it clearly says

time and time again. Unlike other sacred scriptures, the Qur’an 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 Qur’an, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years.

The Qur’an, 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 Qur’an was

also completely written down in lifetime of the Prophet, and numerous companions

of the Prophet memorized the entire Qur’an word-for-word as it was revealed.

So unlike other scriptures, the Qur’an 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 Qur’an – 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 Qur’an 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 Qur’an 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 Qur’anic

teachings offer solutions to the emptiness of our lives and the turmoil that

is gripping the world today. In short, the Qur’an 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 broght 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 Qur’an, 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 Qur’an, 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.