Introduction to Islam and Muslims. |
||
|
" This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." (Qur'an: 5:3) I. Islam
and Muslims. [TOP] 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. [TOP] 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
billions 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. [TOP] 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. Muhammad. [TOP] 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, David, 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 teachings of the
Qur'an. V. Source of Islam. [TOP] The legal sources of Islam are the
Qur'an and the Hadith. The Qur'an is the exact words 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. Vl. Some Islamic
Principles. [TOP] 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 Cod 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: Muslims 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 are to be charged for their mistakes. No
responsible for or can take the responsibility for the sins of others. However,
the do 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 aspect 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 we
educational and political systems are also of the teachings of Islam. VII. Practices of
Islam. [TOP] God instructed the Muslims to
practice 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 Creed of Islam. B. Prayers (Salat): The performance of the five daily
prayers 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 Month of Ramadan.
D. Purifying Tax
(Zakat): This is an annual payment of a 2-½
percentage of a Muslim's property that is distributed among the poor or other
rightful beneficiaries. E. Pilgrimage (Haul): The performance of pilgrimage to
Makkah is required once in a lifetime 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. [TOP] 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 that 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 Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. AMuslim may pray anywhere 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. Holiday: 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. C. Contributions in
North America: Muslims are now 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. [TOP] 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.
|