IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL
WHAT IS ISLAAM AND MUSLIM?
The religion of ISLAAM is not just a Holy religion, but Islaam is the true religion of all the righteous people all over the face of the earth. It is also the true religion of the Bible.
Our religion is Islaam and we are Muslims. The word Muslim means one who has become peaceful because he has accepted the rule of life that has been given to him from Divine Source.
In accepting the religion of Peace, which contains rules of natural life that bring peace, he is rewarded with peace. He is a peaceful person he has accepted that which established peace, so he is called "Muslim."
The Holy Quar'aan says that God named the righteous people "Muslim" in this revelation [The Holy Qur'aan] and before the Holy Qur'aan. So "Muslim" is not a new name for people who worship the True and Living God, it is the original name.
We are Muslim because we have the nature to recognize and to accept a body of truth [Islaam] that has rules that establish peace. A Muslim enjoys peace, spreads peace, and invites others to peace.
ISLAAM: FIVE PILLARS
Islaam is the eternal religion - there is no beginning nor end to it. It is the religion of every true Book [religious scripture]. We have Five Pillars that we stand upon which serve as the foundation upon which our whole life is structured.
PILLAR NUMBER ONE:
BELIEF IN ONE GOD [TAWHIYD]
The First Pillar of Islaam is belief in one God. There is no God but Allah. The belief in one God is first in the life of the Muslims. We say that there is nothing worthy or equivalent of worship but Allah who is One and One alone. The first job of the Biblical Prophets was to establish that there is but one God.
This first Pillar shows that we have accepted the one Universal Truth [Allah] and that we bear witness that the Creator exists independent of everything else.
PILLAR NUMBER TWO:
WORSHIP [SALAAT]
The Second Pillar is Salaat (Worship). We have prayer (at least five times per day) as a second commandment which tells us to give spiritual recognition, verbal recognition and also bodily recognition to the truth that there is no God but one God.
Once you recognize that there is one Single Being that is Divine that everything else recognize respect, and obey, you should do something to show that you have recognize this truth.
Man is superior to anything that his mind suggest for him to worship other than God. The worship of Allah dignifies you, but the worship of anything else shames you.
PILLAR NUMBER THREE:
FASTING [SAUM]
The Fourth Pillar of Islaam is to fast, especially in the month of Ramadaan. Fasting is not new. All of the Prophets of God fasted. "Ramadaan" is an Arabic word which means (heat or burning). It takes its name from the kind of wrapping or protection given to man and animals in the hot desert heat.
When a person is fasting he is under the burning heat of appetite for physical food. But while he is under this burning heat, a resistance to heat is building up in him. The muscles of his will power build up under the test of the desire to satisfy his want for food and drink.
PILLAR NUMBER FOUR:
CHARITY [ZAKAAT]
The Third Pillar or commandment of Islaam is "Obligatory Charity" or "Zakaat". You should sacrifice a part of Allah's wealth which He has blessed you to hold in the way of charity to help those who are less fortunate.
Zakaat is also a universal institution. It not only means going into your pocket to get money for those who need it. It means going into your heart and into your mind to get something to give to those that need it.
PILLAR NUMBER FIVE:
PILGRIMAGE [HAJJ]
The Fifth Pillar of Islaam is pilgrimage [Hajj] to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime if he or she is able to afford the journey.
The Qiblah, the center for Muslim pilgrims is, in Mecca. The Ka'aba, called "The First House" was restored by Abraham and his son Ishmael and it contains the Black Stone.
WHAT SCRIPTURES DOES ISLAAM RECOGNIZE?
The Book of Islaam is the Holy Qur'aan and it is a pure, a perfect, and Holy Book. It is preserved today, just as Allah revealed it to Prophet Muhammad without a letter changed. It represents a perfected religion; it represents a Book in the pattern of creation; and it removed all deviation error, and false interpretations from previous Scriptures.
WHO WAS PROPHET MUHAMMAD OF ARABIA?
He was a man, who because of his moral excellence was blessed to receive the rational understanding or truth of the Holy Qur'aan. He was an example for us today, for he demonstrated the proper worship of Almighty God, Allah. The revelation he received in the Holy Qur'aan represents a way of life (religion) or worship that has been completed and perfected by Allah, that he delivered intact, and lived. In him is reflected the role of Christ in that he exemplified the moral excellence and total submission in Peace to God. He is the Last Prophet of God, in that the revelation he received the Holy Qur'aan, is for all times and all peoples. God's work in the earth, after him will merely be fulfillments of his mission.
WHAT IS ISLAAM'S POSITION ON OTHER RELIGIONS SUCH AS CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM?
Christianity and Judaism are religions that were created by man, they were never a revealed religion from the Sustainer Himself. The Hebrews, Jews, Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites, etc. in the Qur'aan as well as the Bible were all Muslims [Ones of Peace]. They all submitted to Allah in Peace.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?
Our purpose is the revival and the restoration of Pure Islaam. When we speak of reviving, we are referring to the kind of teachings or the kind of preaching that were done by many, many Muslims since the days of Prophet Muhammad of Arabia to bring the Muslim community back to the everyday practical teachings of Islaam.
HOW DOES ONE ACCEPT ISLAAM?
By making a personal or open testimony, a declaration that there is no god, but Allah. This is the first and most important principle or Pillar of Islaam. |
