By Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
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THE RELIGION OF ISLAM
The first thing that one should know and clearly understand
about Islam is what the word "Islam" itself means. The religion
of Islam is not named after a person as in the case of
Christianity which was named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after
Gotama Buddha, Confucianism after Confucius, and Marxism after
Karl Marx. Nor was it named after a tribe like Judaism after
the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the Hindus. Islam is the
true religion of "Allah" and as such, its name represents the
central principle of Allah's "God's" religion; the total
submission to the will of Allah "God". The Arabic word "Islam"
means the submission or surrender of one's will to the only
true god worthy of worship "Allah" and anyone who does so is
termed a "Muslim", The word also implies "peace" which is the
natural consequence of total submission to the will of Allah.
Hence, it was not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) I in Arabia in the seventh century, but only the true
religion of Allah re-expressed in its final form.
Islam is the religion which was given to Adam, the first man
and the first prophet of Allah, and it was the religion of all
the prophets sent by Allah to mankind. The name of God's
religion lslam was not decided upon by later generations of
man. It was chosen by Allah Himself and clearly mentioned in
His final revelation to man. In the final book of divine
revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah states the following:
"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My
favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your
religion". (Soorah Al-Maa'idah 5:3)
"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to
Allah (God) never will It be accepted of Him" (Soorah
Aal'imraan 3:85)
"Abraham was not a Jew nor Christian; but an upright Muslim."
(Soorah Aal'imraan 3:67)
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allah saying to Prophet
Moses' people or their descendants that their religion is
Judaism, nor to the followers of Christ that their religion is
Christianity. In fact, Christ was not even his name, nor was it
Jesus! The name "Christ" comes from the Greek word Christos
which means the annointed. That is, Christ is a Greek
translation of the Hebrew title "Messiah". The name "Jesus" on
the other hand, is a latinized version of the Hebrew name Esau.
For simplicity's sake, I will however continue to refer to
Prophet Esau (PBUH) as Jesus. As for his religion, it was what
he called his followers to. Like the prophets before him, he
called the people to surrender their will to the will of Allah;
(which is Islam) and he warned them to stay away from the false
gods of human imagination.
According to the New Testament, he taught his followers to pray
as follows: "Yours will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM
Since the total submission of one's will to Allah represents
the essence of worship, the basic message of Allah's divine
religion, Islam is the worship of Allah alone and the avoidance
of worship directed to any person, place or thing other than
Allah.Since everything other than Allah, the Creator of all
things, is Allah's creation; it may be said that Islam, in
essence calls man away from the worship of creation and invites
him to worship only its Creator. He is the only one deserving
man's worship as it is only by His will that prayers are
answered. If man prays to a tree and his prayers are answered,
it was not the tree which answered his prayers but Allah who
allowed the circumstances prayed for to take place. One might
say, "That is obvious," however, to tree-worshippers it might
not be. Similarly, prayers to Jesus, Buddha, or Krishna, to
Saint Christopher, or Saint Jude or even to Muhammad, are not
answered by them but are answered by Allah. Jesus did nottell
his followers to worship him but to worship Allah. As the
Qur'aan states:
"And behold Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary Did you
say to men, Worship me and my mother as gods besides Allah He
will say-"Glory to you I could never say what I had no right
(to say')" (Soorah Al-Maa'idah- 5:116)
Nor did he worship himself when he worshipped but rather he
worshipped Allah. This basic principle is enshrined in the
opening chapter of the Qur'aan, known as Soorah Al-Faatihah,
verse 4:
"You alone do we worship and from you alone do we seek help".
Elsewhere, in the final book of revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah
also said:
"And your Lord says:"Call on Me and I will answer your
(prayer)."(Soorsh Mu'min 40:60)
it is worth noting that the basic message of Islam is that
Allah and His creation are distinctly different entities.
Neither is Allah His creation or a part of it, nor is His
creation Him or a part of Him.
This might seem obvious, but, man's worship of creation instead
of the Creator is to a large degree based on ignorance of this
concept. It is the belief that the essence of Allah is
everywhere in His creation or that His divine being is or was
present in some aspects of His creation, which has provided
justification for the worship of creation though such worship
maybecalled the worship of Allah through his creation. How
ever, the message of Islam as brought by the prophets of Allah
is to worship only Allah and to avoid the worship of his
creation either directly or indirectly. In the Our'aan Allah
clearlystates:
"For We assuredly sent amongst every people a prophet,(with the
command) worship meand avoid false gods " (Soorsh Al-Nahl 16:36)
When the idol worshipper is questioned as to why he or she bows
down to idols created by men, the invariable reply is that they
are not actually worshipping the stone image, but Allah who is
present within it. They claim that the stone idol is only a
focal point for Allah's essence and is not in itself Allah! One
who has accepted the concept of the presence of God's being
within His creation in any way will be obliged to accept this
argument of idolatry. Whereas, one who understands the basic
message of Islam and its implications would never concede to
idolatry no matter how it is rationalized. Those who have
claimed divinity for themselves down through the ages have
often based their claims on the mistaken belief that Allah is
present in man. They merely had to assert that although Allah
according to their false beliefs, is in all of us, He is more
present in them than in the rest of us. Hence, they claim, we
should submit our will to them and worship them as they are
either God in person or God concentrated within the person.
Similarly, those who have asserted the godhood of others after
their passing have found fertile ground among those who accept
the false belief of God's presence in man. One who has grasped
the basic message of Islam and its implications could never
agree to worship another human being under any circumstances.
God's religion in essence is a clear call to the worship of the
Creator and the rejection of creation-worship in any form. This
is the meaning of the motto of Islam:
"Laa Elaaha lllallaah" (There is no god but Allah)
Its repetition automatically brings one within the fold of
Islam and sincere belief in it guarantees one Paradise.
Thus, the final Prophet of Islam is reported to have said, "Any
one who says: There is no god but Allah and dies holding that
(belief) will enter paradise".(Reported by Abu Dharr and
collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim).
It consists in the submission to Allah as one God, yielding to
Him by obeying His commandments, and the denial of polytheism
and polytheists.
THE MESSAGE OF FALSE RELIGION
There are so many sects, cults, religions, philosophies, and
movements in the world, all of which claim to be the right way
or the only true path to Allah. How can one determine which one
is correct or if, in fact, all are correct? The method by which
the answer can be found is to clear away the superficial
differences in the teachings of the various claimants to the
ultimate truth, and identify the central object of worship to
which they call, directly or indirectly. False religions all
have in common one basic concept with regards to Allah. They
either claim that all men are gods or that specific men were
Allah or that nature is Allah or that Allah is a figment of
man's imagination.
Thus, it may be stated that the basic message of false religion
is that Allah may be worshipped in the form of His creation.
False religion invites man to the worship of creation by
calling the creation or some aspect of it God. For example,
prophet Jesus invited his followers to worship Allah but those
who claim to be his followers today call people to worship
Jesus, claiming that he was Allah!
Buddha was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic
principles to the religion of India. He did not claim to be God
nor did he suggest to his followers that he be an object of
worship. Yet, today most Buddhists who are to be found outside
of India have taken him to be God and prostrate to idols made
in their perception of his likeness.
By using the principle of identifying the object of worship,
false religion becomes very obvious and the contrived nature of
their origin clear. As God said in the Our'aan:
That which you worship besides Him are only names you and your
forefathers have invented for which Allah has sent down no
authority: The command belongs only to Allah:
He has commanded that you only worship Him; that is the right
religion, but most men do not understand ". (Soorah Yoosuf
12:40)
It may be argued that all religions teach good things so why
should it matter which one we follow. The reply is that all
false religions teach the greatest evil, the worship of
creation. Creation-worship is the greatest sin that man can
commit because it contradicts the very purpose of his creation.
Man was created to worship Allah alone as Allah has explicitly
stated in the Our'aan:
"I have only created Jlnns and men, that they may worship
me"(Soorah Zaareeyaat 51:56)
Consequently, the worship of creation, which is the essence of
idolatry, is the only unforgivable sin. One who dies in this
state of idolatry has sealed his fate in the next life. This is
not an opinion, but a revealed fact stated by Allah in his
final revelation to man:
"Verily Allah will not forgive the joining of partners with
Him, but He may forgive (sins) less than that for whom so ever
He wishes"(Soorah An- Nisaa 4:48 and 116)
THE UNIVERSALITY OF ISLAM
Since the consequences of false religion are so grave, the true
religion of Allah must be universally understandable and
attainable, not confined to any people, place or time. There
can not be conditions like baptism, belief in a man, as a
saviour etc., for a believer to enter paradise. Within the
central principle of Islam and in its definition, (the
surrender of one's will to God) lies the roots of lslam's
universality. Whenever man comes to the realization that Allah
is one and distinct from His creation, and submits himself to
Allah, he becomes a Muslim in body and spirit and is eligible
for paradise. Thus, anyone at anytime in the most remote region
of the world can become a Muslim, a follower of God's religion,
Islam, by merely rejecting the worship of creation and by
turning to Allah (God) alone-It should be noted however, that
the recognition of and submission to Allah requires that one
chooses between right and wrong and such a choice implies
accountability. Man will be held responsible for his choices,
and, as such, he should try his utmost to do good and avoid
evil. The ultimate good being the worship of Allah alone and
the ultimate evil being the worship of His creation along with
or instead of Allah. This fact is expressed in the final
revelation as follows:
"Verily those who believe, those who follow the Jewish
(Scriptures), the Christians and the Sabians any who believe In
Allah and the last day, and work righteousness *hall have their
reward with their Lord;They will not be overcome by fear nor
grief (Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:62).
If only they had stood by the law, the Gospel, and all the
revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would
have enjoyed happiness from every side. There Is from among
them a party on the right course; but many of them follow a
course that Is evil.". (Soorah Al-.Maa'idah 5:66)
RECOGNITION OF ALLAH
The question which arises here is, "How can all people be
expected to believe in Allah given their varying- backgrounds,
societies and cultures? For people to be responsible for
worshipping Allah they all have to have access to knowledge of
Allah. The final revelation teaches that all mankind have the
recognition of Allah imprinted on their souls, a part of their
very nature with which they are created.
In Soorah Al-A'raaf, Verses 172-173; Allah explained that when
He created Adam, He caused all of Adam's descendants to come
into existence and took a pledge from them saying, Am I not
your Lord? To which they all replied, " Yes, we testify to It:'
Allah then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness
that He is their creator and only true God worthy of worship.
He said, "That was In case you (mankind) should say on the day
of Resurrection, "Verily we were unaware of all this." That is
to say, we had no idea that You Allah, were our God. No one
told us that we were only supposed to worship You alone. Allah
went on to explain That it was also In case you should
say, "Certainly It was our ancestors who made partners (With
Allah) and we are only their descendants; will You then destroy
us for what those liars did?" Thus, every child is born with a
natural belief in Allah and an inborn inclination to worship
Him alone called in Arabic the "Fitrah".
If the child were left alone, he would worship Allah in his own
way, but all children are affected by those things around them,
seen or unseen.
The Prophet (PBUH) reported that Allah said, "I created my
servants in the right religion but devils made them go astray".
The Prophet (PBUH) also said, "Each child is born in a state
of "Fitrah", then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a
Zoroastrian, the way an animal gives birth to a normal
offspring. Have you noticed any that were born mutilated?"
(Collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim).
So, just as the child submits to the physical laws which Allah
has put in nature, his soul also submits naturally to the fact
that Allah is his Lord and Creator. But, his parents try to
make him follow their own way and the child is not strong
enough in the early stages of his life to resist or oppose the
will of his parents. The religion which the child follows at
this stage is one of custom and upbringing and Allah does not
hold him to account or punish him for this religion.
Throughout people's lives from childhood until the time they
die, signs are shown to them in all regions of the earth and in
their own souls, until it becomes clear that there is only one
true God (Allah). If the people are honest with themselves,
reject their false gods and seek Allah, the way will be made
easy for them but if they continually reject Allah's signs and
continue to worship creation, the more difficult it will be for
them to escape. For example, in the South Eastern region of the
Amazon jungle in Brazil, South America, a primitive tribe
erected a new hut to house their main idol Skwatch,
representing the supreme God of all creation. The homage to the
God, and while he was in prostration to what he had been taught
was his Creator and Sustainer, a mangy old flea-ridden dog
walked into the hut, The young man looked up in time to see the
dog lift its hind leg and pass urine on the idol. Outraged, the
youth chased the dog out of the temple, but when his rage died
down he realized that the idol could not be the Lordof the
universe. Allah must be elsewhere. he now had a choice to act
on his knowledge and seek Allah, or to dishonestly go along
with the false beliefs of his tribe. As strange as it may seem,
that was a sign from Allah for that young man. It contained
within it divine guidance that what he was worshipping was
false.
Prophets were sent, as was earlier mentioned, to every nation
and tribe to support man's natural belief in Allah and man's
inborn inclination to worship Him as well as to reinforce the
divine truth in the daily signs revealed by Allah. Although, in
most cases, much of the prophets' teachings became distorted,
portions remained which point out right and wrong. For example,
the ten commandments of the Torah, their confirmation in the
Gospels and the existence of laws against murder, stealing and
adultery in most societies. Consequently, every soul will be
held to account for its belief in Allah and its acceptance of
the religion of Islam; the total submission to the will of
Allah.
We pray to Allah, the exalted, to keep us on the right path to
which He has guided us, and to bestow on us a blessing from
Him, He is indeed the Most Merciful. Praise and gratitude be to
Allah,the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be on
prophet Muhammed, his Family, his companions, and those who
rightly follow them
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