|
INTRODUCTION
Islam is one of the major world
religions. Every fifth person on the face of this earth is a Muslim.
Muslims are found in the Middle East, in north, west and east Africa, in
Asia and Eastern Europe. In modern times, Muslims are found in large
numbers in Western Europe, the Americas and Australia through immigration
as well as conversion. Recent statistics show that Islam is the fastest
growing religion in the USA. With the vast world turning into a “global
village,” such a wide-spread religion followed by over a billion people
indeed deserves a careful study.
WHAT IS ISLAM?
Islam is not just a religion in the
conventional sense of the word; it is a way of life—it guides it
followers in every aspect of their lives.
The name “Islăm” is an Arab
name. ("Islaam" is pronounced with "s" sound and not
with "z" as in "Izlaam".) It comes from the root word “as-silm”
which means “peace”. “Islăm” itself means “submission to the
will of God”. It means that real peace comes only after a person submits
himself to the will of God.
Although Islam started fourteen centuries
ago in Arabia, for Muslims it is not a new beginning—Islam, for Muslims,
is the culmination of the message of God for human society. Muslims
believe that God from day one of human creation sent prophets and
messengers to guide the human society. Many prophets were sent to various
regions of the world. Muslims are required to have faith in the
prophethood of all of them. The most famous of the past prophets were:
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
The essential message of all the prophets
was the same:
MUHAMMAD, THE LAST MESSENGER
After Prophet Jesus, God sent Muhammad as
the Final Prophet and Messenger of God. With his prophethood, the process
of guidance reached its peak and perfection.
Prophet Muhammad was born in the city of
Mecca in Arabia in the family which traced its lineage to Prophet Abraham
through his son Ishmael. At the age of forty, Prophet Muhammad recieved
the first revelation from God through the Arch-Angel Gabriel.
He called the people of Mecca who were
mostly idol-worshippers to the worship of One God, and to a life based on
laws of God which would guarantee peace and harmony in inter human
relationship. Majority of the people of Mecca refused to accept his
message. The small number of his followers did not deter the Prophet from
continuing his mission. Muhammad was fully supported in his mission by
close family members, in particular his wife, Khadīja, and cousin,
‘Ali.
The leaders of idol-worshippers of Mecca,
who did not want any change in the status-quo, started a campaign against
Prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam:
-
first they started propaganda against Prophet
Muhammad;
-
then they started social and economic embargo against
Muslims;
-
finally they planned to assassinate the Prophet
himself.
In the meanwhile, the Prophet’s message
found a very receptive audience among the people of Medina, a city in
northern Arabia. So after thirteen years of hard work in Mecca, the
Prophet Muhammad migrated to Medina where he lived for the last eleven
years of his life.
It was in Medina that the Prophet founded
the first Islamic community on the principles of monotheism of the
Almighty and brotherhood of the Muslims.
THE QUR’ĂN
The revelation which Prophet Muhammad
received from God during almost twenty three years of his mission was
compiled in a book form and is considered by all Muslims as the Holy
Scripture of Islam. This revelation is known as “The Qur’ăn”.
The Qur’ăn has been preserved by the
Muslims in its original form. Muslims have preserved it in writing as well
in memory in each generation for the last fourteen centuries. Even those
Muslims who are not familiar with the Arabic words learn how to recite the
holy Book in Arabic.
BELIEF IN ONE GOD
Islam is a monotheistic religion. It
teaches that there is only One God who is the origin and creator of the
universe. The concept of belief in One God is known as “Tawhid”. This
is the foundation stone of Islam, and is reflected in the famous creed
which a Muslim child learns at a very early age. The creed says: lă
ilaha il-lal Lăh — there is no god but Allăh.
“Allăh” is the Arabic name of God.
Since the Qur’ăn is in Arabic, Muslims like to use the Arabic name for
God. Even Christians in the Arab world use the name “Allăh” in their
prayers.
By teaching that there is only One God
for all humans, Islam promotes the sense of brotherhood and equality in
human society—all are equally related to God in the same way. The Qur’ăn
has very beautifully presented the concept of monotheism in a short
chapter. It says: Say: He, Allăh, is One. Allăh is Eternal. He
neither begets nor is He begotten. And there is no one equal to Him.
(The Qur’ăn, chapter # 112)
PURPOSE OF LIFE
Our life on this earth has a specific
purpose; it is not the result of nature’s accident, nor is it a
punishment for eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. We are here
according to God’s plan: to attain a blissful eternal life in the
hereafter. Prophet Muhammad said, “You have not been created to perish;
on the contrary, you have been created for eternal life.”
However, in order to attain the bliss and
grace in the eternal life, we have to go through test and trial in this
world. The test is to see how much willingly we do submit ourselves to the
commands of God. Everything that we do is a test and trial for us. If we
follow God’s commandment, then we succeed; otherwise, we will get the
eternal life but without any bliss or grace in it.
STATUS OF HUMAN BEINGS IN ISLAM
PRIME CREATION: Human being is
the prime creation of God. He says, “We have indeed honoured the
children of Adam; spread them in the land and the sea, provided them with
good things; and preferred them in esteem over many things that We have
created.” (17:70)
BORN SINLESS: Islam teaches that
every human being is born sinless; no child carries the burden of his or
her ancestor’s sins. God says, “No carrier shall carry the burden
of others.” (35:18) Each human being is born with a pure conscience
which can absorb and accept the true message of God. It is only the social
and familial influences which take a person away from God’s message.
ACCOUNTABILITY: Islam also
emphasizes on the issue of responsibility and accountability of human
beings—each person is responsible for his or her own actions. Although
Islam teaches that God has predetermined the span of our life and the time
of our death, but this does not mean that even our actions are
predetermined by Him. We surely are free in our actions and are,
therefore, accountable for them. God only provides guidance for us to know
what is good and what is bad. He says, “We created man of a
water-drop...Surely We guided them to the right way—now whether he
(follows it and) be grateful or (goes astray and) be ungrateful is up to
him.” (76:3)
RACE: Islam very categorically
rejects racial discrimination. It promotes the feeling of brotherhood and
equality among its followers. God clearly says, “O Mankind! We have
created you from one male and one female, and then We made you into
different races and tribes so that you may know (and easily recognize)
each other.” Therefore, no one can claim any superiority over
others based on racial or tribal differences. A person is to be judged by
his character, not by his colour or race. God continues, “Surely the
most honourable of you in God’s sight is the person who is most upright
in character among you.” (49:13)
GENDER: Even gender does not
count as a criterion of superiority. In Islam, women are as human as men.
They are not evaluated on basis of their gender, but on basis of their
faith and character. Fourteen hundred years ago, the Qur’ăn recorded
God’s clear statements on this issue. Out of four verses, I will just
quote one: “Whoever, be it a male or a female, does good deeds and
he or she is a believer, then they will enter the Paradise.”
(4:124) So there is no difference in the degree or level of woman’s
humanity or honour in Islam.
The only difference there exists is
concerning the role which Islam has envisioned for man and woman. This has
nothing to do with superiority or inferiority. In Islam, man and woman are
equal in rights; but equality is not synonymous to similarity.
Islam believes that man and woman are
equal but dissimilar. Islam looks at their different roles in society not
as superior or inferior but as complementary to each other.
ISLAM: THE RELIGION OF PEACE
As reflected in its name, Islam is a
religion of peace. Muslims are taught to greet each other by saying “salămun
‘alaykum — peace be upon you”. The daily prayers also end with
the same sentence. In Islam, one of the names by which God is known is “As-Salăm”
which means peace.
However, one must realize that peace, on
a social level, is inter-twined with justice. Peace can only exists if
justice is maintained in society.
Unfortunately, because of the Middle
Eastern events of last fifty years, Islam has been branded by the western
media as a religion of violence. In recent years, the word “Islamic”
has become one of the adjectives of “terrorism”.
In this backdrop, firstly, one must
realize that the events of the Middle East can be fairly and fully
understood only in the light of the post-World War One history of that
region, in particular the unfulfilled promises given by the British to the
Arabs in order to incite them to rebel against their own Muslim rulers.
Secondly, no fair-minded person would
allow himself to blame the religion of Islam for the wrong-doings of those
who call themselves as Muslims. It is just like saying that the Catholic
Church promotes violence and terrorism because of the Irish Republican
Army’s activities!
* * *
These were the teachings of Islam, the
religion sent by God to Prophet Muhammad. It has been preserved in its
originality by the leaders who came from the family of the Prophet. On
this note, I would like to end with one of the last important messages of
the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) where he says:
“I am leaving behind two important
things among you: one is the Book of Allăh (the Qur’ăn) and the other
is my family, the Ahlul Bayt. As long as you hold on fast to both of them,
you will not go astray.”
* * *
by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi
In the name of Allăh,
the Kind, Merciful.
All Praise is due to
Allăh, the Lord of the Universe.
May God shower His
blessings upon Prophet Muhammad & his progeny.
(BACK TO HOMEPAGE)
|