"This day
have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour unto
you, and have chosen for you as your religion Islam." (Quran, Surah
[5:3])
Introduction
Islam is a religion based upon the surrender to God who is One. The
very name of the religion, al-islam in Arabic, means at once
submission and peace, for it is in submitting to God's Will that
human beings gain peace in their lives in this world and in the
hereafter. The message of Islam concerns God, who in Arabic is
called Allah, and it addresses itself to humanity's most profound
nature. It concerns men and women as they were created by God--not
as fallen beings. Islam therefore considers itself to be not an
innovation but a reassertion of the universal truth of all
revelation which is God's Oneness.
Prophets
This truth was asserted by the prophets of old and especially by
Abraham, the father of monotheism. Islam reveres all of these
prophets including not only Abraham, who is the father of the Arabs
as well as of the Jews, but also Moses and Christ. The Prophet and
Messenger of God, Muhammad--may peace and blessings be upon him, his
family and his companions, was the last of this long line of
prophets and Islam is the last religion until the Day of Judgement.
It is the final expression of the Abrahamic tradition. One should in
fact properly speak of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, for
Islam shares with the other Abrahamic religions their sacred
history, the basic ethical teachings contained in the Ten
Commandments and above all, belief in the One God. And it renews and
repeats the true beliefs of Jews and Christians whose scriptures are
mentioned as divinely revealed books in Islam's own sacred book, the
Quran.
Quran
For Muslims, or followers of Islam, the Quran is the actual Word of
God revealed through the archangel Gabriel to the Prophet of Islam
during the twenty-three-year period of his prophetic mission. It was
revealed in the Arabic language as a sonoral revelation which the
Prophet repeated to his companions. Arabic became therefore the
language of Islam even for non-Arab Muslims. Under the direction of
the Prophet, the verses and chapters were organized in the order
known to Muslims to this day. There is only one text of the Quran
accepted by all schools of Islamic thought and there are no
variants. The Quran is the central sacred reality of Islam. The
sound of the Quran is the first and last sound that a Muslim hears
in this life. As the direct Word of God and the embodiment of God's
Will, the Quran is considered as the guide par excellence for the
life of Muslims. It is the source of all Islamic doctrines and
ethics. Both the intellectual aspects of Islam and Islamic Law have
their source in the Quran. Perhaps there is no book revered by any
human collectivity as much as the Quran is revered by Muslims.
Essentially a religion of the book, Islam sees all authentic
religions as being associated with a scripture. That is why Muslims
call Christians and Jews the "people of the book". Throughout all
its chapters and verses, the Quran emphasizes the significance of
knowledge and encourages Muslims to learn and to acquire knowledge
not only of God's laws and religious injunctions, but also of the
world of nature. The Quran refers, in a language rich in its varied
terminology, to the importance of seeing, contemplating, and
reasoning about the world of creation and its diverse phenomena. It
places the gaining of knowledge as the highest religious activity,
one that is most pleasing in God's eyes. That is why wherever the
message of the Quran was accepted and understood, the quest for
knowledge flourished.
Prophet of Islam
The Prophet of Islam is loved and revered by Muslims precisely
because he was chosen by God to reveal His Word to mankind. The
Prophet Muhammad is not considered to be divine but a human being.
However, he is seen as the most perfect of human beings, shining
like a jewel among stones. He was born in 570 A. D. in one of the
most powerful tribes in the Arabia of that time, for it had
guardianship over the Ka'bah in Makkah. An orphan brought up by his
grandfather and later by his uncle, the young Muhammad displayed
exceptional virtue as a trustworthy individual whom members of
various tribes would invite to act as arbitrator in their disputes.
Early Years
At that time the Arabs followed a form of idolatry, each tribe
keeping its own idols at the Ka'bah, the cubical structure built
originally by Abraham to celebrate the glory of the One God. But the
monotheistic message of Abraham had long become forgotten among the
general population of the Arabian peninsula. The young Muhammad,
however, was a believer in the One God all of his life and never
participated in the idolatrous practices of his tribe.
Angel Gabriel
When forty years old, during one of the retreats which he made
habitually in a cave on top of a mountain outside Makkah, Muhammad
first saw the archangel Gabriel who revealed God's Word to him, the
Quran, and announced that Muhammad is the messenger of God. For the
next thirteen years he preached the Word of God to the Makkans,
inviting them to abandon idolatry and accept the religion of
Oneness. A few accepted his call but most Makkans, especially those
of his own tribe, opposed him violently, seeing in the new religion
a grave danger to their economic as well as social domination based
upon their control of the Ka'bah. But the Prophet continued to call
the people to Islam and gradually a larger number of men and women
began to accept the faith and submit themselves to its teachings. As
a result, persecution of Muslims increased until the Prophet was
forced to send some of his companions to Abyssinia where they were
protected by the Christian king.
Early days of
Islam
The Makkan period was also one of intense spiritual experience
for the Prophet and the noble companions who formed the nucleus of
the new religious community which was soon to spread worldwide. It
was during this period that God ordered the direction of prayers to
be changed from Jerusalem to Makkah. To this day Jerusalem remains
along with Makkah and Madinah one of the holiest cities of Islam.
Migration
In 622 A. D. the Prophet was ordered by God to migrate to Yathrib, a
city north of Makkah. He followed the Divine Command and left with
his followers for that city which henceforth was known as "The City
of the Prophet" (Madinat al-nabi) or simply Madinah. This event was
so momentous that the Islamic calendar begins with this migration (hijrah).
In Madinah, the Prophet established the first Islamic society which
has served as the model for all later Islamic societies. Several
battles took place against the invading Makkans which the Muslims
won against great odds. Soon more tribes began to join Islam and
within a few years most of Arabia had embraced the religion of
Islam.
Victory at
Makkah
After many trials and eventually successive victories, the Prophet
returned triumphantly to Makkah where the people embraced Islam at
last. He forgave all his former enemies and marched to the Ka'bah,
where he ordered his companion and cousin 'Ali to join him in
destroying all the idols. The Prophet reconstituted the rite of
pilgrimage as founded by Abraham. The Prophet then returned to
Madinah and made another pilgrimage to Makkah. It was upon returning
from this last pilgrimage that he delivered his farewell address.
Soon he fell ill and after three days died in 632 A. D. in Madinah
where he was buried in the chamber of his house next to the first
mosque of Islam.
Sunnah
(practices) of the Prophet
The practices and traditions (Sunnah) of the Prophet which includes
his sayings (Hadith) became the guide for Muslims in the
understanding of the Quran and the practice of their religion. The
Quran itself asserts that God has chosen in the Prophet an example
for Muslims to follow. Besides this emulation of the Prophet in all
aspects of life and thought, his sayings were assembled by various
scholars. Finally they were codified in books of Hadith where the
authentic were separated from the spurious. The Sunnah has always
remained, after the Quran, the second source of everything Islamic.
What is the
Islamic Religion?
According to a famous saying of the Prophet Islam consists of five
pillars which are as follows: affirmation of the faith (shahadah),
that is, witnessing that La ilaha illa'Llah (There is no divinity
but Allah) and Muhammadun rasul Allah (Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah); the five daily prayers (al-salat) which Muslims perform
facing Makkah; fasting (al-sawm) from dawn to sunset during the
month of Ramadan; making the pilgrimage to Makkah (al-hajj) at least
once in a lifetime if one's financial and physical conditions permit
it; and paying a 2 1/2% tax (al-zakat) on one's capital which is
used for the needs of the community. Muslims are also commanded to
exhort others to perform good acts and to abstain from evil. Ethics
lies at the heart of Islamic teachings and all men and women are
expected to act ethically towards each other at all times. As the
Prophet has said,
"None of you is a believer until you love for your brother what you
love for yourself." (Hadith)
As for faith according to Islam (al-iman), it means having faith in
God, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Day of Judgment and
God's determination of human destiny. It is important to understand
that the definition of al-iman refers to books and prophets in the
plural thus pointing directly to the universality of revelation and
respect for other religions emphasized so much in the Quran. There
is also the important concept, al-ihsan or virtue, which means to
worship God as if one sees Him, knowing that even if one does not
see Him, He sees us. It means to remember God at all times and marks
the highest level of being a Muslim.
Islamic Law (al-Shari'ah)
Islam possesses a religious law called al-Shari'ah in Arabic which
governs the life of Muslims and which Muslims consider to be the
embodiment of the Will of God. The Shari'ah is contained in
principle in the Quran as elaborated and complemented by the Sunnah.
On the basis of these principles the schools of law which are
followed by all Muslims to this day were developed early in Islamic
history. This Law, while being rooted in the sources of the Islamic
revelation, is a living body of law which caters to the needs of
Islamic society. Islamic laws are essentially preventative and are
not based on harsh punishment except as a last measure. The faith of
the Muslim causes him to have respect for the rights of others and
Islamic Law is such that it prevents transgression from taking place
in most instances. That is why what people consider to be harsh
punishments are so rarely in need of being applied.
The Spread of
Islam
From the oasis cities of Makkah and Madinah in the Arabian
desert, the message of Islam went forth with electrifying speed.
Within half a century of the Prophet's death, Islam had spread to
three continents. Islam is not, as some imagine in the West, a
religion of the sword nor did it spread primarily by means of war.
It was only within Arabia, where a crude form of idolatry was
rampant, that Islam was propagated by warring against those tribes
which did not accept the message of God--whereas Christians and Jews
were not forced to convert. Outside of Arabia also the vast lands
conquered by the Arab armies in a short period became Muslim not by
force of the sword but by the appeal of the new religion. It was
faith in One God and emphasis upon His Mercy that brought vast
numbers of people into the fold of Islam. The new religion did not
coerce people to convert. Many continued to remain Jews and
Christians and to this day important communities of the followers of
these faiths are found in Muslim lands. Moreover, the spread of
Islam was not limited to its miraculous early expansion outside of
Arabia. During later centuries the Turks embraced Islam peacefully
as did a large number of the people of the Indian subcontinent and
the Malay-speaking world. In Africa also, Islam has spread during
the past two centuries even under the mighty power of European
colonial rulers. Today Islam continues to grow not only in Africa
but also in Europe and America where Muslims now comprise a notable
minority.
Courtesy of:
- Muslim Students' Association of University of Southern California
- Courtesy of ISL Software, makers of the WinAlim Islamic database.
Copyright 2004-07 Bosnian Islamic Center Gazi Husrev-Beg
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