I
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.
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 billion 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.
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.
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, 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
teaching of the Qur'an.
The
legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Hadith. The Qur'an is the
exact word 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.
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 God 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: Muslim 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 they are to be charged for their mistakes. No one is responsible for
or can take the responsibility for the sins of others. However, the door
of forgiveness through true repentance is always open. . State and Religion:
Muslims believe that Islam is a total and a complete way of life. It encompasses
all aspects 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 well as educational and political systems are also part of the teachings
of Islam.
God
instructed the Muslims to practice what 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 the Creed of Islam. B. Prayers (Salat): The performance
of the five daily prayers is 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 entire month of Ramadan.
D. Purifying Tax (Zakat): This is an annual payment of a certain percentage
of a Muslim's property which is distributed among the poor or other rightful
beneficiaries. E. Pilgrimage (Hajj): The performance of pilgrimage to Makkah
is required once in a life time 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.
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 which 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 the Dome
of the Rock in Jerusalem. A Muslim may pray any where 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. Holidays: 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. F. A leader (Imam)
gives a sermon (Khutba) and leads the congregational prayer. 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. G. Contributions in North America: Muslims
are not 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.
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.