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ISLAM AND MUSLIMS:
The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm
and Salam which means peace. Salam may also mean greeting one another with
peace. One of the beautiful names of God is that He is the Peace. It means more
than that: submission to the One God, and to live in peace with the Creator,
within one's self, with other people and with the environment. Thus, Islam is a
total system of living. A Muslim is supposed to live in peace and harmony with
all these segments; hence, a Muslim is any person anywhere in the world whose
obedience, allegiance, and loyalty are to God, the Lord of the Universe.
MUSLIMS AND ARABS:
The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims are not to be
confused with Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks, Persians, Indians, Pakistanis,
Malaysians, Indonesians, Europeans, Africans, Americans, Chinese, or other
nationalities.
An Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an atheist. Any
person who adopts the Arabic language is called an Arab. However, the language
of the Qur'an (the Holy Book of Islam) is Arabic. Muslims all over the world try
to learn Arabic so that they may be able to read the Qur'an and understand its
meaning. They pray in the language of the Qur'an, namely Arabic. Supplications
to God could be in any language.
While there are one billion Muslims in the world there are about
200 million Arabs. Among them, approximately ten percent are not Muslims. Thus
Arab Muslims constitute only about twenty percent of the Muslim population of
the world.
ALLAH THE ONE AND THE ONLY GOD:
Allah is the name of the One and Only God. Allah has ninety-nine
beautiful names, such as: The Gracious, The Merciful, The Beneficent, The
Creator, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The Lord of the Universe, The First, The
Last, and others.
Allah is the Creator of all human beings. Allah is the God for
the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the atheists,
and others. Muslims worship God whose name is Allah. They put their trust in
Allah and they seek help from Allah. read
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PROPHET MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H) :
Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was chosen by God to deliver His Message of
Peace, namely Islam. He was born in 570 C.E. (Common Era) in Makkah, Arabia. He
was entrusted with the Message of Islam when he was at the age of forty years.
The revelation that he received is called the Qur'an, while the message is
called Islam.
Muhammad is the very last Prophet of God to mankind. He is the
final Messenger of God. His message was and is still to the Christians, the Jews
and the rest of mankind. He was sent to those religious people to inform them
about the true mission of Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.
Muhammad is considered to be the summation and the culmination
of all the prophets and messengers that came before him. He purified the
previous messages from adulteration and completed the Message of God for all
humanity. He was entrusted with the power of explaining, interpreting and living
the teaching of the Qur'an. read more...
SOURCE OF ISLAM:
The legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Hadith. The
Qur'an is the exact word of God; its authenticity, originality and totality are
intact. The Hadith is the report of the sayings, deeds and approvals of the
Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet's sayings and deeds are called Sunnah. The Seerah
is the writings of followers of Muhammad about the life of the Prophet. Hence,
it is the life history of the Prophet Muhammad which provides examples of daily
living for Muslims.
SOME ISLAMIC PRINCIPLES:
- Oneness of God: Allah is One and the Only One. Allah is not two
in one or three in one. This means that Islam rejects the idea of trinity or
such a unity of God which implies more than one God in one.
- Oneness of mankind: People are created equal in front of the Law
of God. There is no superiority for one race over another. God made us of
different colors, nationalities, languages and beliefs so as to test who is
going to be better than others. No one can claim that he is better than
others. It is only God Who knows who is better. It depends on piety and
righteousness.
- Oneness of Messengers and the Message: Muslims believe that God
sent different messengers throughout the history of mankind. All came with
the same message and the same teachings. It was the people who misunderstood
and misinterpreted them.
Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail, Jacob, Moses, David, Jesus,
and Muhammad. The Prophets of Christianity and Judaism are indeed the
Prophets of Islam.
- Angels and the Day of Judgment: Muslims believe that there are
unseen creatures such as angels created by God in the universe for special
missions.
Muslims believe that there is a Day of Judgment when all people of the world
throughout the history of mankind till the last day of life on earth, are to
be brought for accounting, reward and punishment.
- Innocence of Man at Birth: Muslim believe that people are born
free of sin. It is only after they reach the age of puberty and it is only
after they commit sins that they are to be charged for their mistakes. No
one is responsible for or can take the responsibility for the sins of
others. However, the door of forgiveness through true repentance is always
open.
- State and Religion: Muslims believe that Islam is a total and a
complete way of life. It encompasses all aspects of life. As such, the
teachings of Islam do not separate religion from politics. As a matter of
fact, state and religion are under the obedience of Allah through the
teachings of Islam. Hence, economic and social transactions, as well as
educational and political systems are also part of the teachings of Islam.
OTHER RELATED ASPECTS:
- Calendar: Islamic practices are based on the lunar calendar.
However, Muslims also use the Gregorian calendar in their daily religious
lives. Hence, the Islamic calendar includes both the common era and the
migration (Higra) year of the Prophet of Islam from Makkah to Madinah in the
year of 623 C.E.
- Celebrations (Eid): Muslims have two celebrations (Eid); namely,
Eid of Sacrifice and Eid of Fast-Breaking. The Eid of Sacrifice is in
remembrance of the sacrifice to be by Prophet Abraham of his son. The Eid of
Fast-Breaking comes at the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan.
- Diets: Islam allows Muslims to eat everything which is good for
the health. It restricts certain items such as pork and its by-products,
alcohol and any narcotic or addictive drugs.
- Place of Worship: The place of worship is called Mosque or Masjid.
There are three holy places of worship for the Muslims in the world. These
are: Mosque of Kaaba in Makkah, Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in Madinah,
and Masjid Aqsa, adjacent to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
A Muslim may pray any where in the world whether in a Mosque, a house, an
office, or outside. The whole world is a place of worship. It is preferable
that Muslims pray in a congregation, however, he/she may pray individually
anywhere.
- Holidays: The holy day of the Muslims is Friday. It is considered
to be sacred and the Day of Judgment will take place on Friday. Muslims join
together shortly after noon on Friday for the Friday congregational prayer
in a Mosque. A leader (Imam) gives a sermon (Khutba) and leads the
congregational prayer.
- Distribution of Muslims in North America: There are approximately
five million Muslims in North America and are distributed in its major
cities such as New York, Detroit, Boston, Toledo, Chicago, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Houston, Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa,
Edmonton, Vancouver, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary, and others.
- Contributions in North America: Muslims are not established in
North America. Sears Tower and the John Hancock buildings in Chicago were
designed by a Muslim chief architect, originally from Bangladesh. Muslims
have established academic institutions, community centers and organizations,
schools and places of worship. They live in peace and harmony among
themselves and among other groups of people in the society. The rate of
crime among Muslims is very minimal. Muslims in North America are highly
educated and they have added to the success of American scientific and
technological fields.
The Muslims of the early period of the Islamic era were pioneers in
medicine, chemistry, physics, geography, navigation, arts, poetry,
mathematics, algebra, logarithms, calculus, etc. They contributed to the
Renaissance of Europe and world civilization.
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