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 that 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) in Arabia in the seventh century, but only the true religion of Allah re-expressed in its final form.

Islam is the religion that 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 Islam 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 I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor 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 that means the anointed. 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.

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 that 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.

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 maybe called 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 clearly states:

"For We assuredly sent amongst every people a prophet, (with the command) worship me and avoid false gods ". (Soorah 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.

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 savior 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 Islam'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 well 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 shall 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 that 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". (Collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

So, just as the child submits to the physical laws that 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 that 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.

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.

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