Article
published by Mr. Abdul Jalil, Chairman of Al-Huda Islamic Center,
P. O. Box 962, Elberton, GA 30635, USA; in consultation with Dr. David Kerr,
Professor of Islamic Studies, Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
ALLAH — for Muslims the greatest and
most inclusive of the Names of God, an Arabic word of rich and varied meaning, denoting
the one who is adored in worship, who creates all that exists, who has priority over all
creation, who is lofty and hidden, who confounds all human understanding. It is exactly
the same word as, in Hebrew, the Jews use for God (eloh), the word which Jesus
Christ used in Aramaic when he prayed to God. God has an identical name in Judaism,
Christianity and Islam; Allah is the same God worshipped by Muslims, Christians and Jews.
"He is God, the One God,
Independent and Sought by all;
He begets not, nor is He begotten,
and there is none like unto Him.
(The Holy Qur'an Chapter of Sincerity of Faith)
Islam teaches that all faiths have, in
essence, one common message:
the existence of a Supreme Being, the one and only
God, whose sovereignty is to be acknowledged in worship and in the pledge to obey His
teaching and commandments, conveyed through His messengers and prophets who were sent at
various times and in many places throughout history.
Islam, An Arabic word, is rich in meaning.
One important dimension is the "commitment to submit and surrender to God so that one
could live in peace" peace (salam) is achieved through active obedience to the
revealed Commandments of God for God is the Source of all Peace. Commitment to Islam
entails striving for peace through a struggle for justice, equality of opportunity, mutual
caring and consideration for others' rights, and continuous research and acquisition of
knowledge for the better protection and utilization of the resources of the universe.
Islam teaches that the objective of the
Commandments of God is that peace should be established in the human societies of this
world, in preparation for a further dimension of human existence in the world to come, the
Afterlife. Islam's vision of peace is therefore truly universal; it
transcends time and belongs to the order of God's eternity.
Islam does not regard itself to be a new
teaching, different or separate from that of other world religions. It is the
re-affirmation of the ancient yet living truth of all religions which can be expressed in
the following beliefs:
- the Uniqueness of the one and only God who is
Sovereign of the universe;
- the Revelation of the teaching and commandments of
God through Angels in heaven to Prophets on earth, and written in sacred writings which
all have the same transcendent source; these contain the will of God which marks the way
of peace for the whole universe and all of humankind;
- the Day of Judgment which inaugurates the Afterlife
in which God rewards and punishes with respect to human obedience to His will.
Islam affirms these simple beliefs as the
basis of the decent, civilized society for which it strives. Its vision of society is, in
essence, no different from that upheld by all monotheistic religions. This is particularly
true of Judaism and Christianity which share with Islam the direct spiritual
lineage of the Prophet Abraham. Islam affirms the divinely-ordained missions of the
Prophet Moses, through whom God revealed the sacred scripture called the Torah, and of the
Prophet Jesus, through whom God revealed the scripture known as the Gospel. The message of
Islam is in essence the same as that which God revealed to all his prophets and
messengers. The Prophet Muhammad (the peace and blessing of God be upon him) was commanded
to recite in the Holy Qur'an:
"Say: we believe in God, and that which was
revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and
Jacob, and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto Moses and Jesus and the prophets
from their Lord; We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have
surrendered. "
(The Holy Qur'an 3:84)
The success of civilizations and cultures is
directly related to the extent of their practice of the righteous way of life revealed in
the teaching and commandments of God, and set forth in the monotheistic religions which
are confirmed by Islam God's revelation enshrines the highest values of humankind,
and the divine commandments are essentially no different from the values which human
beings have cherished and striven to maintain throughout history, irrespective of
cultural, racial, linguistic and socio-economic differences. Success in this life is
directly related to the practice of these values.
Islam teaches that human diversity is a sign of the
richness of God's mercy, and that God wills human bangs to compete with each other
in goodness in order to test who is the finest in action: this is, according to Islam, the
reason for the creation of the universe. To strive for peace in the societies of
this world is to compete in the fulfillment of human destiny in preparation for the
ultimate Abode of Peace in a further, renewed dimension of human existence in the
Afterlife. The irreducible minimum of faith is to believe in God as the sole sovereign
Lord of this world and of the next, and to believe in the reality of the Afterlife for
which human beings are to prepare by living righteously in this world. God alone is the
Judge of human righteousness, and it is God alone who rewards and punishes in this life
and in the life hereafter.
Righteousness does not mean for you
to turn your faces towards the East and West, but righteousness means one should believe
in God (Alone), the Last Day, angels, the Book and prophets; and no matter how he loves
it, to give his wealth away to near relatives, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer and
beggars, and towards freeing captives; and to keep up prayer and pay the welfare tax; and
those who keep their word whenever they promise anything; and are patient under suffering
and hardship and in time of peril (stress). Those are the ones who act loyal and perform
their duty.
(The Holy Qur'an 2:177)
A Muslim is one who is
committed to peace by continuously striving to follow the way of righteousness and justice
revealed by God; the Arabic word Muslim refers to a man, Muslima
to a woman. In either case the literal meaning is "one who submits to God's
teachings and commandments which leads to peace".
Muslims have three distinct
advantages to help them in the practice of Islam as their way of
life:
1) The Sacred Scripture, called the Qur'an, which
was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the 7th. century of the common
era, and which, after 1,400 years, remains authentic in its original Arabic text, in the
language which is still used and understood by millions of people in the world today; it
contains God's guidance in teachings and commandments which are valid for all times and
places, and which encompass all spheres of human life;
2) The Prophet Muhammad, whom the Qur'an names as
"the Seal (last) of the Prophets", and of whose life and mission there is a
complete and authentic record in the Sira and the Hadith (Sunna);
these show how he exemplified the teachings and commandments of God in practice, and
elaborated the principles laid down in the Qur'an in order to provide a sure guidance for
their interpretation and application for all later times and societies;
3) The Sacred Law, called the Shari'ah,
which sets out the way of worship prescribed in the Qur'an and the Prophet's practice;
it goes beyond the common understanding of worship as the performance of religious
rituals, and encompasses the whole of human life, individual and social; thus all
so-called secular activities become acts of worship, provided they are performed with pure
and righteous intention, seeking God's pleasure.
Muslims are enjoined to
organize their lives on the basis of a series of ritual acts of worship which are ordained
in the Qur'an as ways which discipline human beings to remember God constantly, accepting
His Sovereignty and pledging to obey His commandments:
1) Declaration of belief(Shahada):
this is the initial act of faith, expressed in a simple creedal statement which
testifies one's commitment to following the straight path of God's guidance upon which
Muslims seek to live their lives;
"I bear Witness that there is no god but
God;
"I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant
and His prophet"
Prayer (salat), offered five
times a day, has the '7 effect of reminding the faithful that "remembrance of God is
indeed the greatest virtue," and helps them adhere to the path of righteousness, and
to restrain themselves from indecency and evil.
3) Fasting (sawm), observed
through the daylight hours of the 29/30 days of the Islamic month of Ramadan, involves
abstinence from eating,
drinking, smoking and marital intercourse; this
reminds the believers of their dependence upon
God, as well as their kinship with, and
responsibility for the millions of human beings in the
world who experience involuntary fasting because of
the lack of provisions, or their unjust distribution.
4) Purification of wealth (Zakat):
this requires the annual giving of a fixed amount of excess personal assets for the
benefit of the poor, the
incapacitated, the deprived, and the welfare of the
community; it serves to remind Muslims that all beneficence comes from the bounty of God,
and is enjoyed only by His mercy; sharing becomes an act of purification both of the
wealth itself, and of the giver whose soul is disciplined against greed by the virtue of
selflessness.
5) Pilgrimage (hajj), which
all Muslims should perform at least once in a lifetime if personal circumstances permit,
gathers the believers as members of the diverse human family into a single community; they
perform prescribed acts of worship at the Holy House of the Ka'ba in
Mecca which, according to the Qur'an, was originally built by the Prophet Abraham and his
son Ishmael; and at Mount Arafat where they remember the pure and original way of life of
Adam, the progenitor of all human beings, reaffirmed by the Patriarch of the entire human
family, the Prophet Abraham, and finally perfected and completed by God for all
humanity through the mission of the Prophet Muhammad - the way of life known as Islam which
has at its heart the doctrine of the unity and uniqueness of the One God.
Each of these prescribed acts of worship bring
Muslims daily and repeatedly before God Almighty as the Creator, Sustainer and Judge of
all humanity.
Through these acts of worship God helps Muslims to
fulfill the obligation of striving which He has ordained for this life: the striving
actively and freely to surrender one's own will in obedience to the Will of God, inwardly
in intention and outwardly in word and deed, individually in personal conduct and
collectively in the improvement of society; the striving for peace in the world through
the announcement of true faith, and its defense against all that threatens it.
Islam presents human beings
with a simple twofold invitation:
- to witness that there is no god but God Almighty;
- to witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
This declaration is the door to a
life of service, and to participation in a community of believers whose highest duty is to
call humanity to embrace what is righteous and good, and to reject what is evil and
degrading. Muslims are sisters and brothers of all people of true faith, and wish
to strive with them for peace in this world.
The intention in producing this pamphlet
has been to explain clearly the fundamental principles of Islam.
Many current references to Islamic
fundamentalism, particularly as they appear in public media, seem to ignore these
principles and treat Islam as nothing more than a political phenomenon.
It is hoped that this pamphlet will serve
- by the Grace of God - to remedy this imbalance.
Credits:
Article published by Mr. Abdul Jalil, Chairman of Al-Huda Islamic Center, P. O. Box 962,
Elberton, GA 30635, USA; in consultation with Dr. David Kerr, Professor of Islamic
Studies, Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
For additional information and
literature on Islam contact may be made with:
The Islamic Teaching Center Post
Office Box 38
Plainfield, IN 46168, USA
Tel: (317) 839 8157
The Islamic Circle of North America
Post Office Box 3174
Jamaica, NY 11432, USA
Tel: (718) 658 1199
The Institute of Islamic Information
and Education
Post Office Box 41129
Chicago, IL 60641-0129, USA
Tel: (312) 777 7443
The Islamic Foundation
233 London Road
Leicester LE2 1ZE, UK
Tel: (0533) 700 725
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