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ISLAM AT A GLANCE
ISLAM AND MUSLIMS
The Arabic word Islam means peace,
submission and obedience. The religion of Islam is the complete
acceptance of the teachings and guidance of God as revealed to
His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). A Muslim is one who believes in God
and strives for total reorganisation of his life according to
His revealed guidance and the sayings of the Prophet. He also
works for building human society on the same basis. "Muhammadanism"
is a misnomer for Islam and offends its very spirit. The word
'Allah' is the proper name of God in Arabic. It is a unique term
because it has no plural or feminine gender.
CONTINUITY OF MESSAGE
Islam is not a new religion. It is,
in essence, the same message and guidance which Allah revealed
to all Prophets: Say, we believe
in Allah and that which has been revealed to us, and that which
was revealed to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and the
tribes and that which was given to Moses and Jesus and to other
Prophets, from their Lord. We make no distinction between any
of them, and to Him we submit. (Qur'an 3:83).
The Message which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
is Islam in its comprehensive, complete and final form.
THE
FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
There are five pillars of Islam
1.
The declaration of faith: To bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His messenger
to all human beings till the Day of Judgement. The Prophethood
of Muhammad obliges the Muslims to follow his exemplary life
as a model.
2.
Prayers: Daily prayers are offered five times a day as a duty
towards Allah. They strengthen and enliven the belief in
Allah and inspire man to a higher morality. They purify the heart
and prevent temptation towards wrongdoings and evils.
3.
Fasting in the month of Ramadhan: The Muslims during the month
of Ramadhan not only abstain from food, drink and sexual intercourse
from dawn to sunset, but also from evil intentions and desires.
It teaches love, sincerity and devotion. It develops a sound
social conscience, patience, unselfishness and willpower.
4.
Zakat: To pay annually 2.5% of one's net saving on which a year
has passed as a religious duty and purifying sum to
be spent on poorer sections of the community.
5.
Pilgrimage to Makkah: It is to be performed once in a lifetime,
if one can afford it financially and physically.
Besides these pillars every action
which is done with the awareness that it fulfils the will of Allah
is also considered an act of worship. Islam enjoins faith in the
Oneness and Sovereignty of Allah, which makes man aware of the
meaningfulness of the Universe and of his place in it. This belief
frees him from all fears and superstitions by making him conscious
of the presence of the Almighty Allah and of man's obligations
towards Him. This faith must be expressed and tested in action.
Faith alone is not enough. Belief in one God requires that we
look upon all humanity as one family under the universal Omnipotence
of God - the Creator and Nourisher of all. Islam rejects the idea
of a chosen people, making faith in God and good action the only
way to heaven. Thus, a direct relationship is established with
God, without any intercessor.
MAN:
THE FREE AGENT
Man is the highest creation of God. He is
equipped with the highest of potentialities. He is left relatively
free in his will, action and choice. God has shown him the right
path, and the life of Prophet Muhammad provides a perfect example.
Man's success and salvation lies in following both. Islam teaches
the sanctity of the human personality and confers equal rights
upon all without any distinction of race, sex or colour. The law
of God, enunciated in the Qur'an and exemplified in the life of
the Prophet, is supreme in all cases. It applies equally to the
highest and the lowest, the prince and the peasant, the ruler
and the ruled.
QUR’AN
AND HADITH
The Qur'an is the last revealed word of
God and the basic source of Islamic teachings and laws. The Qur'an
deals with the bases of creeds, morality, history of humanity,
worship, knowledge, wisdom, God-man relationship, and human relationship
in all aspects. Comprehensive teachings on which, can be built
sound systems of social justice, economics, politics, legislation,
jurisprudence, law and international relations, are important
contents of the Holy Qur'an. Muhammad (PBUH) himself was an unlettered
man who could not read or write. Yet, the Holy Qur'an was committed
to memory and writing by his followers, under his supervision,
during his lifetime. The original and complete text of the Qur'an
is available to everybody in Arabic, the language in which it
was revealed. Translations of the meaning into many languages
are widely used. HADITH, the teachings, sayings and actions of
Prophet Muhammad, meticulously reported and collected by his devoted
companions, explain and elaborate the Qur'anic verses.
CONCEPT
OF WORSHIP
Islam does not teach nor accept mere ritualism.
It emphasises intention and action. To worship God is to know
Him and love Him, to act upon His law in every aspect of life,
to enjoin goodness and forbid wrongdoing and oppression, to practise
charity and justice and to serve Him by serving mankind. The Qur'an
presents this concept in the following sublime manner:
"It is not righteousness that you turn your faces
to the East or the West, but righteous is he who believes in God
and the Last day and the Angels and the Book and the Prophets;
and gives his wealth for love of Him to kinsfolk and to orphans
and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set
slaves free; and observe proper worship and pays the Zakah. And
those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient
in tribulation and adversity and time of stress; such are those
who are sincere. Such are the God-fearing." (Qur'an 2: 177).
ISLAMIC
WAY OF LIFE
Islam provides definite guidelines
for all people to follow in all walks of life. The guidance it
gives is comprehensive and includes the social, economic, political,
moral and spiritual aspects of life. The Qur'an reminds man of
the purpose of his life on earth, of his duties and obligations
towards himself, his kith and kin, his community, his fellow human
beings and his Creator. Man is given fundamental guidelines about
a purposeful life and then he is left with the challenge of human
existence before him so that he might put these high ideals into
practice. In Islam, man's life is a wholesome, integrated unit
and not a collection of fragmented, competitive parts. The sacred
and secular are not separate parts of man: they are united in
the nature of being human.
HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE
Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was born in the year
570 A.C. in the city of Makkah in Arabia in a noble family. He
received the first revelation at the age of forty. As soon as
he started preaching Islam, he and his followers were persecuted
and had to face severe hardships. He was, therefore, commanded
by God to migrate to Madinah, another city in Arabia. During a
short span of 23 years, he completed his mission of prophethood
and died at the age of 63. He led a perfect life and set an example
for all human-beings as his life was the embodiment of the Qur'anic
teachings.
ISLAM'S
RATIONAL APPEAL
Islam in its clear and direct way of expressing
truth has a tremendous amount of appeal for any seeker of knowledge.
It is a solution for all the problems of life. It is a guide towards
a better and complete life glorifying, in all its phases, God,
the Almighty Creator and the Merciful Nourisher.
ISLAM
- THE SOLUTION OF MODERN PROBLEMS|
The Brotherhood of Man: A major problem
which modern man faces is that of racism. The materially advanced
nations can send man to the moon but they cannot stop man from
hating and fighting his fellow man. Islam, over the last 1400
years, has shown in practice how racism can be ended. Every year,
during Hajj, the Islamic miracle of real brotherhood of all races
and nations can be seen in action. The Family: The family which
is the basic unit of civilisation is disintegrating in all western
countries. Islam's family system brings into a fine equilibrium
the rights of man, wife, children and relatives. Islam nourishes
human unselfishness, generosity and love in a well-organised family
system.
UNFRAGMENTED
VIEW OF LIFE
Human beings live according to their view
of life. The tragedy of secular societies is that they fail to
connect the different aspects of life. The secular and the religious,
the scientific and the spiritual seem to be in conflict. Islam
puts an end to this conflict and brings harmony to man's vision
of life.
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