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- "Islam" is an Arabic word which
means Submission (literally). It comes
from the root word "Salam" which means
peace. So Muslims would say that
submission to God will lead you to the
ultimate peace of mind and soul. Muslims
say that the complete religious meaning
of the word "Islam" would be Submission
under God's will.
- Islam as a religion emphasizes the
worship of the one, and only one, god
who created every thing in the universe.
- The essence of Islam is to enable
you to live your life according to the
orders and the will of God.
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Concept
of God in Islam:
- The God that Muslims worship is the
creator, sustainer, evolver,...etc of
the universe. He is the same God that is
Jesus, Moses and Ibrahim called for to
worship.
- God created every thing out of
nothing. He did so by his own will,
merely by saying to something "Be" and
it is.
- He is considered to be one in his
person. He is manifested in only one
personality, that is his own, and not in
two, three, four, or any number of
personalities.
- He is eternal (he doesn't die).
- He doesn't have and never had a wife
or children. That is to say that he was
never married and he doesn't have any
children neither biologically nor
spiritually.
- He controls every thing in the
universe by his own will and ability. He
does this alone and there is no other
Gods in the universe who share with him
his Kingdom.
- The oneness of God is clearly
explained in the Quran in chapter 112
which says " Say, He is Allah (God) the
one and only, Allah the eternal
absolute, he did not beget nor was he
begotten, and there is nothing like unto
him."
- As you can see that God's name in
Islam is Allah. The name is uniquely
used to him only which is different than
the word God which can be pleural (Gods)
or feminine (Goddess). This name is
found in the Quran, so Muslims didn't
invent it, as you can see in the above
verses of chapter 112.
- A Muslim's relationship with God is
a one to one (direct) relationship.
There is no agent or medium between
Muslims and God. Muslims pray directly
to God without any intervention between
the two. A Muslim who puts any medium
between himself and God is considered to
be a Non Muslim.
- Islam is based on five important
pillars which are the testimony of faith
(to say " I witness that there is no God
but Allah, and I witness that Mohammad
is the messenger of Allah"), five
prayers per day, paying charity money,
fasting the month of Ramadan, and making
pilgrimage to Mecca once in the life
time (if he/she can). Following is a
discussion of every one of the pillars
alone.
- The testimony of faith: This is
considered to be the main thing in Islam
and the most important pillar. By saying
this phrase "I witness that there is no
God but Allah, and I witness that
Mohammad is the messenger of Allah" a
person is directly considered to be a
Muslim. A Muslim who says this phrase is
considered to be a Muslim even though if
he didn't fulfill the other pillars (out
of laziness). But if the person didn't
fulfill the other pillars because he
believes that he is not required to do
them, then this takes him out of the
circle of Islam because he has denied
something that is very well known in
Islam under the authority of the Quran
and Prophet Mohammad's (peace be upon
him) teachings. The importance of this
pillar is that it summarizes the
Muslims' creed. It affirms the ones of
God and affirms that Mohammad is his
final messenger to humanity.
- The five daily prayers: A Muslim
should pray five times every day. The
word in Arabic which is roughly
translated as prayer is "SALAH" which
means connection (a close enough meaning
not an exact one). This means that by
these five prayers the Muslim get the
chance to be in contact with God in a
way that brings the Muslim closer and
closer to God as every prayer ends. By
this a Muslim gets his Islamic battery
charged at various times in the day.
Muslims pray at dawn, noon, afternoon,
sunset, and night. Having to pray at
these important day dividers the Muslim
becomes continuously waiting to meet
with God and stand before him. This in
turn helps increase the remembrance of
God in the Muslim's mind and by this he
will restrain himself from doing sins
between one prayer and another. Please
understand that this does not mean that
Muslims only remember God at prayer time
only, Muslims are in continuous
remembrance of God since they are always
thinking that after a while they are
going to be standing before him (not
physically of course).
- Paying charity money: Muslims are
required to pay, every year, a certain
amount of their total wealth to certain
persons who are mentioned in the Quran
at many places such as chapter 9 verse
60 "The charity money is for the poor ,
the extremely poor, the persons who are
employed to collect the money, the
persons who their hearts incline towards
Islam, and to free the captives, and for
the cause of Allah (God), and for the
wayfarer (a traveler who is cutoff every
thing); a duty imposed by Allah, and
Allah is all knowing all wise". By
paying charity money you get to share
with the poor and the needy. The more
you give for the people the more you
will get to know the true love and
compassion. Paying charity money is also
considered to be a thing that washes off
sins like water puts off fire.
- Fasting the month of Ramadan:
Muslims have to fast the month of
Ramadan (a month of the Loral calendar)
each year. They are not allowed to eat,
drink, have sex with their spouses, or
enjoying their desires from dawn to
sunset. The essence behind this is to
increase Muslim's piety. Fasting depends
on concentrating on God and on his
obedience especially from dawn to
sunset. By giving up his desires,
willingly, the Muslim get to learn
patience and discipline in a way that
can increase his spirituality and brings
him closer to God. Another essence of
fasting is for the Muslim to experience
the feelings of the needy and the poor.
Many Muslims fast from food and water
unwillingly simply because they cannot
afford them. So when an able Muslim will
experience thirst and hunger first hand,
he will feel the pain of his fellow poor
Muslims and will be more willing to help
them and share his wealth with them.
- The pilgrimage to Mecca: Muslims are
required to go to Mecca (a city in Saudi
Arabia) and make a pilgrimage in what is
considered to be the holiest place on
earth which is the Ka'aba. The ka'aba is
a building that prophet Abraham and his
son prophet Ishmael (peace be upon them)
built for the worshipers of the one God
to go pray and remember God. Muslims (as
being the followers of the true
religion) are commanded to go to this
holy place and make certain rituals
which increases their spirituality and
make them remember the day of the
resurrection.
- Every Muslim in order to be
considered a true Muslim should have
complete faith in six things. God, his
angels, his books (divine revelations),
his messengers, the day of judgment, and
divine fait whether good or bad.
Following is a brief discussion for
every one.
- God: Muslims should believe in God
as being the creator, cherisher,
sustainer, evolver,...etc of the whole
universe. They should also believe that
he is one and only one in his person and
his rights. So no one should be
worshiped with him, and no body or thing
stands between his creation and himself.
- Angels: Muslims should believe in
the angels as being another creation by
God whose one and only job is to serve
God and carry out his orders.
- Books (divine revelations): Muslims
should believe in all the revelations
that has been sent to mankind which are
mentioned in the Quran and the teachings
of prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).
Muslims believe in four revelations that
has been sent by God to his messengers.
These are the Torah (the revelation
given to Moses peace be upon him), the
Zaboor (the revelation given to David
peace be upon him), the Injeel (the
revelation given to Jesus peace be upon
him), and the Quran the final revelation
of God given to prophet Mohammad peace
be upon him.
- Messengers: Muslims should believe
in messengers that has been sent by God
in order to teach humanity about God.
Prophets such as Moses, Jesus, David,
Ishmael, Isaac, Jonah,.... (peace be
upon them all) and of course sealed by
Mohammad (peace be upon him) are
believed to be great men that God chose
for the great mission of bringing the
word of God and teachings of God to
humanity.
- The day of judgment: Muslims believe
that on one day every single creature
will die, even the angel of death. After
that, all people are going to be
resurrected and judged by God for what
they did in their life on this earth. As
a result of this judgment some will go
to paradise (which is a beautiful place
with things that no eye has seen or ear
has heard) and some will go to hell (and
I don't have to say how horrible this
place is).
- Divine fait: Muslims, knowing that
they are just a creation and that their
destinies are controlled by their
creator, get to submit to all what
happens in their lives from happiness
and tribulations as being from God.
Happy events are considered to be a
reward from God on earth. It is also
considered to be an exam from God; the
question will be whether you thanked God
for his bounty by preserving it and
doing the right thing with it. On the
other hand tribulations are considered
to be an exam from God to see whether
Muslims will be stead fast with God and
ask for his help or they will become
frustrated and loose their faith.
- The Quran is the revelation that has
been inspired to prophet Mohammad (peace
be upon him).
- Muslims believe that it is the final
revelation from God to man kind as it
contains all the truth and all the laws
that God planned for his creations to
live by; as the Quran says about that in
chapter 5 verse 3 "...... today I
completed for you your religion, and
perfected my bounty on you, and chosen
Islam as your religion.....".
- The Quran is considered to be a
proclamation from God to man kind. It is
full of incredible laws of nature,
economics, politics, science...etc. It
contains laws for how to live your life,
how to deal with others (Muslims or Non
Muslims), how to deal with women...etc.
- The most amazing thing about the
Quran is that it has been written from
1418 year ago. All these rules has been
made centuries ago when people were
living in their dark ages.
- The Quran has it own miracles and
challenges to prove to anyone that it is
a revelation from God and not just a
forgery made by Mohammed. From the
scientific miracles of the Quran its
discussion of embryology and the stages
that an embryo takes inside his mother's
womb in chapter 23 verses 12 through 14
"And We (God) created man from an
extract of clay, then We made him a
Nutffa (mixed drops of the male and
female discharge) and lodged it in a
safe lodge (the mother's womb), then We
made the Nutffa into a clot then We made
the clot into a little lump of flesh,
then We made of that lump of flesh
bones, then We closed the bone with the
flesh, and then We brought it forth as
another creation". (please note that the
word WE has been used when God addresses
himself because in the Arabic language
there are two kinds of pleural, the
pleural of numbers and the pleural of
respect, so "we" has been used as a
pleural of respect and not that God is
more than one person).
- The Quran made the first set of laws
that protects women and give them all
their rights and make them as an equal
partner in life together with men.
- There are many other things about
the Quran that will take forever to talk
about so I will just stop here. But
please note that although that these
things that I mentioned about the Quran
may seem normal nowadays that is because
we are now in 1999. But the Quran was
revealed 1418 years ago. Does this mean
anything to you?
- Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him)
is a decedent of prophet Abraham (peace
be upon him) through prophet Ishmael
(peace be upon him), the father of the
Arab race.
- He is just a man who God has chose
to be the seal of prophets. He is not
God, the son of God, or a medium between
Muslims and God.
- He was born in Mecca and was raised
by his uncle after his mother died. His
father died before he was born.
- On the day he was born the thrown of
Heracules was shaken and the fire of
Kisra (the leader of the Persian empire)
was put off (something which was
considered to be a bad omen for the
Persians).
- He received his revelation when he
was forty years old. His miracle as a
prophet was the Quran because he was
illiterate and he couldn't have possibly
authored a book that challenged the
kings of the Arabic language at that
time in a way that made them helpless.
- He fought with the pagan Arabs in
order to establish the religion of Islam
in the Arabian peninsula. After
establishing it there people from all
over the world started to enter in
Islam.
- He was a modest man. He was an
honest person to the extent that the
pagan Arabs (before his prophet hood)
used to call him the truthful honest.
- After his prophet hood his manners
even became more gentle and tolerant to
the extent that he asked God to forgive
people who were stoning him and said "My
lord forgive my people for that they
don't know".
- The Quran says about him "And We
(God) didn't send you (Mohammad) except
as mercy unto mankind".
- One of his famous sayings "Don't
praise me allot, but say the slave of
God and his messenger".
- Muslims believe that all Muslims who
say the testimony of faith "I witness
that there is no God but Allah, and I
witness that Mohammad is the messenger
of Allah" are saved and will enter
paradise. This means that the Muslim's
belief in only one God is the guarantee
for salvation. This is of course the
basic belief.
- Also a Muslim, if he has a correct
understanding of the oneness of God, he
should obey God and live his life
according to the laws in the Quran and
by this he might deserve God's mercy and
forgiveness which are the two most
important aspects of salvation.
- This is because all people will sin
but God had promised to forgive the sins
of humans as long as they affirm his
unity and continuously ask for
forgiveness for their sins. So if a
person thinks that his sin is so big to
the extent that God will not forgive it,
he will be leading himself into a big
loss because nothing is greater than God
and his mercy and forgiveness.
- In one verse in the Quran God says
"Verily God does not forgive to be
associated with anything (in worship),
and forgives sins other than that to
whom he wills".
- If a Muslim enters paradise he will
be rewarded with things that no one has
ever heard about or even see in all his
life. In one of prophet Mohammad's
(peace be upon him) sayings that the
person with the lowest level in paradise
will have wealth more than the wealth of
the earth (and this is just the poor
person among the people of paradise).
- Women in Islam has a very special
place.
- You might be surprised if you know
that in a Muslim's belief the woman is
the holiest person after God.
- Islam really recognizes the woman as
being an incredibly important element of
the human life.
- Women are viewed as being equal
partners to men in every thing, and they
share with the man the responsibility to
make this life a better one.
- When the Quran was first reviled,
1418 years ago, women was treated like
less than human. They didn't have the
right to do anything, they were
literally treated as body's without
brains.
- But of course God wouldn't have
created women to be humiliated, and so
when God revealed the Quran he
established in it the laws that will
give women all their rights that are
originally theirs and to end the
injustice shown to them. Following are
some of the rights that Islam gave to
women 1418 years ago:
- The right to go outside her
home.
- The right to education.
- The right to seek employment.
- The right to maintenance.
- The right to dowry.
- The right to good treatment.
- The right to have her honor
defended.
- The right to be safe from abuse.
- The right to adequate sexual
relations.
- The right to conduct independent
ownership and legal transactions.
- The right to inherit.
- The right to keep her own
identity after marriage.
- I know that nowadays these rights
doesn't mean much of a big deal to prove
anything about the Quran, but again I
remind you that all these rights were
given fully and completely to women 1418
years ago when women literally had
nothing. Even until now, and in the most
civilized societies, women are not yet
given their rights completely as they
should be according to the Quran.
- Islam emphasizes the freedom of
belief and religion to all people.
- The Quran says "There is no
compulsion in religion, the true path is
clear from the false one".
- So Muslims believe in the freedom of
believe. Every human being has the right
to worship God as he see fit without any
transgression from any other party. So
it is the duty of Muslims to defend and
protect people of other religions if
transgression has been shown towards
them.
- The Muslims are people of peace, and
peace is their major concern. They will
do what ever they can in order to
prevent war and corruption.
- The Quran says describing Muslims
"You are the best nation brought out to
the world because you order people to do
good deeds and restrain from doing bad
deeds".
- Islam is completely against
terrorism and killing innocent people.
These bombings and terrorist acts that
has been made by a few Muslims cannot
represent the whole religion. That is
why the media is very wrong when it says
the word "Islamic terrorism". It will be
just as taking the Mafia (which all of
its leaders are Christians) and saying
the "Christian Mafia". A small group of
Muslims cannot represent the whole
religion.
- Jihad (fighting in the cause of God)
has certain rules. And one of these
rules is not to fight a country because
I disagree with the way in governs its
people.
- The right of Muslim towards a Non
Muslim is to try to deliver to him the
message of Islam in order to give him
the chance to have a choice in this
delicate issue of religion.
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Since God is the absolute and the
sole master of men and the universe, He
is the sovereign Lord, the sustainer and
Nourisher, the Merciful, Whose mercy
enshrines all beings; and since He has
given each man human dignity and honor,
and breathed into him of His own spirit,
it follows that, united in Him and
through Him, and apart from their other
human attributes, men are substantially
the same and no tangible and actual
distinction can be made among them, on
account of their accidental differences
such as nationality, color or race.
Every human-being is thereby related to
all others and all become one community
of brotherhood in their honorable and
pleasant servitude to the most
compassionate Lord of the Universe. In
such a heavenly atmosphere the Islamic
confession of the oneness of God stands
dominant and central, and necessarily
entails the concept of the oneness of
humanity and the brotherhood of mankind.
Although an Islamic state may be set up
in any part of the earth, Islam does not
seek to restrict human rights or
privileges to the geographical limits of
its own state. Islam has laid down some
universal fundamental rights for
humanity as a whole, which are to be
observed and respected under all
circumstances whether such a person is
resident within the territory of the
Islamic state or outside it, whether he
is at peace with the state or at war.
The Qur'an very clearly states:
{ O ye who
believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as
witnesses to fair dealing, and let not
there be hatred of others to make you
swerve to wrong and depart from
Justice. Be just: that is next to
Piety: and Fear Allah. For Allah is
well -acquainted with all that you do } (Quran
5:80)
Human blood is sacred in any case and
cannot be spilled without
justification. And if anyone violates
this sanctity of human blood by killing
a soul without justification, the Qur'an
equates it to the killing of entire
mankind: { .....
Whoso slays a soul not to retaliate for
a soul slain, nor for corruption done in
the land, should be as if he had slain
mankind altogether }
It is not permissible to oppress women,
children, old people, the sick or the
wounded. Women's honor and chastity are
to be respected under all
circumstances. The hungry person must
be fed, the naked clothed and the
wounded or diseased treated medically
irrespective of whether they belong to
the Islamic community or are from
amongst its enemies.
When we speak of human rights in Islam
we really mean that these rights have
been granted by God; they have not been
granted by any king or by any
legislative assembly. The rights
granted by the kings or the legislative
assemblies, can also be withdrawn in the
same manner in which they are
conferred. The same is the case with
the rights accepted and recognized by
the dictators. They can confer them
when they please and withdraw them when
they wish; and they can openly violate
them when they like. But since in Islam
human rights have been conferred by God,
no legislative assembly in the world or
any government on earth has the right or
authority to make any amendment or
change in the rights conferred by God.
No one has the right to abrogate them or
withdraw them. Nor are they basic human
rights which are conferred on paper for
the sake of show and exhibition and
denied in actual life when the show is
over. Nor are they like philosophical
concepts which have no sanctions behind
them.
The charter and the proclamations and
the resolutions of the United Nations
cannot be compared with the rights
sanctioned by God; because the former is
not applicable on anybody while the
latter is applicable on every believer.
They are a part and parcel of the
Islamic Faith. Every Muslim or
administrator who claim themselves to be
Muslims, will have to accept, recognize
and enforce them. If they fail to
enforce them, and start denying the
rights that have been guaranteed by God
or make amendments and changes in them,
or practically violate them while paying
lip service to them, the verdict of the
Holy Qur'an for such government is clear
and unequivocal: {
Those who do not judge by what God has
sent down are the disbelievers } (5:44).
Human Rights in an Islamic State :
1. The Security of Life and Property:
In the address which the Prophet
delivered on the occasion of the
Farewell Hajj, he said: "Your lives and
properties are forbidden to one another
till you meet your Lord on the Day of
Resurrection". The Prophet has also
said about the dhimmis (the non-Muslim
citizens of the Muslim state): "One who
kills a man under covenant (i.e., Dhimmi)
will not even smell the fragrance of
Paradise".
2. The Protection of Honor: The Holy
Qur'an lays down-
1) {You who believe, do not let one
(set of) people make fun of another set}
2) {Do not defame one another}
3) {Do not insult by using nickname}
4) {Do not backbite or speak ill of
one another}
3. Sanctity and Security of Private
Life: The Qur'an has laid down the
injunction-
1) {Do not spy on one another}
2) {Do not enter any houses unless
you are sure of their occupant's
consent}
4. The Security of Personal Freedom:
Islam has laid down the principle that
no citizen can be imprisoned unless his
guilt has been proved in an open court.
To arrest a man only on the basis of
suspicion and to throw him into a prison
without proper court proceedings and
without providing him a reasonable
opportunity to produce his defense is
not permissible in Islam.
5. The Right to Protest Against
Tyranny: Amongst the rights that Islam
has conferred on human beings is the
right to protest against government's
tyranny. Referring to it the Qur'an
says. "God does not love evil talk in
public unless it is by some one who has
been injured thereby". In Islam, as has
been argued earlier, all power and
authority belongs to God, and with man
there is only delegated power which
becomes a trust; everyone who becomes a
recipient or a done of such a power has
to stand in awful reverence before his
people towards whom and for whose sake
he will be called upon to use these
powers. This was acknowledged by Abu
Bakr who said in his very first
address: "Cooperate with me when I am
right but correct me when I commit
error; obey me so long as I follow the
commandments of Allah and His prophet;
but turn away from me when I deviate".
6. Freedom of Expression: Islam gives
the right of freedom of thought and
expression to all citizens of the
Islamic state on the condition that it
should be used for the propagation of
virtue and truth and not for spreading
evil and wickedness.
The Islamic concept of freedom of
expression is much superior to the
concept prevalent in the West. Under no
circumstances would Islam allow evil and
wickedness to be propagated. It also
does not give anybody the right to use
abusive or offensive language in the
name of criticism. It was the practice
of the Muslims to enquire from the Holy
Prophet (P.B.U.H.) whether on a certain
matter a divine injunction had been
revealed to him. If he said that he had
received no divine injunction, the
Muslims freely expressed their opinion
on the matter.
7. Freedom of Association: Islam has
also given people the right to freedom
of association and formation of parties
or organizations. This right is also
subject to certain general rules.
8. Freedom of Conscience and Conviction:
Islam has laid down the injunction:
There should be no coercion in the
matter of faith.
On the contrary totalitarian societies
totally deprive the individuals of their
freedom. Indeed this undue exaltation
of the state authority curiously enough
postulates a sort of servitude, of
slavishness on the part of man. At one
time slavery meant total control of man
over man - now that type of slavery has
been legally abolished but in its place
totalitarian societies impose a similar
sort of control over individuals.
9. Protection of Religious Sentiments:
Along with freedom of conviction and
freedom of conscience Islam has given
the right to the individual that his
religious sentiments will be given due
respect and nothing will be said or done
which may encroach upon his right.
10. Protection from Arbitrary
Imprisonment: Islam also recognizes the
right of the individual that he will not
be arrested or imprisoned for the
offences of others. The Holy Qur'an has
laid down this principle clearly: {No
bearer of burdens shall be made to bear
the burden of another}
11. The Right to Basic Necessities of
Life: Islam has recognized the right of
the needy people that help and
assistance will be provided to them:
And in their wealth there is
acknowledged right for the needy and the
destitute.
12. Equality Before Law: Islam gives
its citizens the right to absolute and
complete equality in the eyes of the
law.
13. Rulers Not Above the Law: A woman
belonging to a high and noble family was
arrested in connection with theft. The
case was brought to the Prophet, and it
was recommended that she might be spared
the punishment of theft. The Prophet
replied, "The nations that lived before
you were destroyed by God because they
punished the common-man for their
offences and let their dignitaries go
unpunished
for their crimes; I swear by Him Who
holds my life in His hand that even if
Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, had
committed this crime, I would have
amputated her hand".
14. The Right to Participate in the
Affairs of State: {And their business is
(conducted) through consultation among
themselves} (42:38).
The shura or the legislative assembly
has no other meaning except that: The
executive head of the government and the
members of the assembly should be
elected by free and independent choice
of the people.
Lastly, it is to be made clear that
Islam tries to achieve the
above-mentioned human rights and many
others not only by providing certain
legal safeguards but mainly by inviting
mankind to transcend the lower level of
animal life to be able to go beyond the
mere ties fostered by the kinship of
blood, racial superiority, linguistic
arrogance, and economic privileges. It
invites mankind to move on to a plane of
existence where, by reason of his inner
excellence, man can realize the ideal of
the Brotherhood of man.
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