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Islam
The
word "Islam” is an Arabic word which means "submission to the will of
God”. This word comes from the same root as the Arabic word "salam”,
which means "peace”. As such, the religion of Islam teaches that in
order to achieve true peace of mind and surety of heart, one must submit
to God and live according to His Divinely revealed Law. The most
important truth that God revealed to mankind is that there is nothing
divine or worthy of being worshiped except for Almighty God, thus all
human beings should submit to Him.
The word "Muslim” means one
who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or
ethnic background. Being a Muslim entails wilful submission and active
obedience to God, and living in accordance with His message. Some people
mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing
could be further from the truth. Not only are there converts to Islam
in every corner of the world, especially in England and America, but by
taking a look at the Muslim World from Bosnia to Nigeria, and from
Indonesia to Morocco, one can clearly see that Muslims come from many
various races, ethnic groups and nationalities. It is also interesting
to note that in actuality, more than 80% of all Muslims are not Arabs -
there are more Muslims in Indonesia than in the whole Arab World! So,
though even though it is true that most Arabs are Muslims, the large
majority of Muslims are not Arabs. However, anyone who submits
completely to God and worships Him alone is a Muslim. Islam
is not a new religion because "submission to the will of God”, i.e.
Islam, has always been the only acceptable religion in the sight of God.
For this reason, Islam is the true "natural religion”, and it is the
same eternal message revealed through the ages to all of God’s prophets
and messengers. Muslims believe that all of God’s prophets, which
include Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, brought the same
message of Pure Monotheism. For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad was
not the founder of a new religion, as many people mistakenly think, but
he was the final Prophet of Islam. By revealing His final message to
Muhammad, which is an eternal and universal message for all of mankind,
God finally fulfilled the covenant that He made with Abraham, who was
one of the earliest and greatest prophets.
Sufficient is it to
say that the way of Islam is the same as the way of the prophet Abraham,
because both the Bible and the Qur'an portray Abraham as a towering
example of someone who submitted himself completely to God and
worshipped Him without intermediaries. Once this is realized, it should
be clear that Islam has the most continuous and universal message of any
religion, because all prophets and messengers were "Muslims”, i.e.
those who submitted to God’s will, and they preached "Islam”, i.e.
submission to the will of Almighty God. The Essential Beliefs of Islam
There are many aspects of belief in which
one who adheres to Islam must have firm conviction. From those aspects,
the most important are six, known as the "Six Articles of Belief”.
1) Belief in God
Islam upholds strict monotheism and belief in God forms the heart of
their faith. Islam teaches belief in one God who neither gives birth nor
was born Himself, and has no share in His caretaking of the world. He
alone gives life, causes death, brings good, causes affliction, and
provides sustenance for His creation. God in Islam is the sole Creator,
Lord, Sustainer, Ruler, Judge, and Savior of the universe. He has no
equal in His qualities and abilities, such as knowledge and power. All
worship, veneration and homage is to be directed to God and none else.
Any breach of these concepts negates the basis of Islam.
2) Belief in the Angels
Adherents to Islam must believe in the Unseen world as
mentioned in the Qur'an. From this world are the angels’ emissaries of
God, each assigned with a specific task. They have no free-will or
ability to disobey; it is their very nature to be God's faithful
servants. Angels are not to be taken as demigods or objects of praise or
veneration; they are mere servants of God obeying His every command.
3) Belief in the Prophets and Messengers
Islam is a universal and inclusive religion. Muslims believe in the
prophets, not just the Prophet Muhammad, may the blessing and mercy of
God be upon him, but the Hebrew prophets, including Abraham and Moses,
as well as the prophets of the New Testament, Jesus, and John the
Baptist. Islam teaches God did not send prophets to Jews and Christians
alone, rather He sent prophets to all nations in the world with one
central message: worship God alone. Muslim must believe in all prophets
sent by God mentioned in the Qur'an, without making any distinction
between them. Muhammad was sent with the final message, and there is no
prophet to come after him. His message is final and eternal, and through
him God completed His Message to humanity. 
4) Belief in the Sacred Texts
Muslims believe in certain books that God has sent down to
humanity through His prophets. These books include the Books of Abraham,
the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. These books all had the same source (God), the same message, and
all were revealed in truth. This does not mean that they have been
preserved in truth. Muslims (and many other Jewish and Christian
scholars and historians) find that the books in existence today are not
the original scriptures, which in fact have been lost, changed, and/or
translated over and over again, losing the original message.
As Christians view the New Testament to
fulfill and complete the Old Testament, Muslims believe that the Prophet
Muhammad received revelations from God through the angel Gabriel to
correct human error that had entered into the scriptures and doctrine of
Judaism, Christianity and all other religions. This revelation is the
Qur'an, revealed in the Arabic language, and found today in its pristine
form. It seeks to guide mankind in all walks of life; spiritual,
temporal, individual and collective. It contains directions for the
conduct of life, relates stories and parables, describes the attributes
of God, and speaks of the best rules to govern social life. It has
directions for everybody, every place, and for all time. Millions of
people today have memorized the Qur'an, and all copies of the Qur'an
found today and in the past are identical. God has promised that He will
guard the Qur'an from change until the end of times, so that Guidance
be clear to humanity and the message of all the prophets be available
for those who seek it.
5) Belief in Life after Death
Muslims believe that a day will come when all of creation will perish
and resurrected in order to be judged for their deeds: The Day of
Judgment. On this day, all will gather in the presence of God and each
individual will be questioned about their life in the world and how they
lived it. Those who held correct beliefs about God and life, and
followed their belief with righteous deeds will enter Paradise, even
though they may pay for some of their sins in Hell if God out of His
Infinite Justice chooses not to forgive them. As for those who fell into
polytheism in its many faces, they will enter Hellfire, never to leave
therefrom.
6) Belief in the Divine Decree
Islam asserts that God has full power and knowledge of all
things, and that nothing happens except by His Will and with His full
knowledge. What is known as divine decree, fate, or "destiny" is known
in Arabic as al-Qadr. The destiny of every creature is already known to
God.
This belief however does not contradict
with the idea of man's free will to choose his course of action. God
does not force us to do anything; we can choose whether to obey or
disobey Him. Our choice is known to God before we even do it. We do not
know what our destiny is; but God knows the fate of all things.
Therefore, we should have firm faith that
whatever befalls us, it is according to God's will and with His full
knowledge. There may be things that happen in this world that we do not
understand, but we should trust that God has wisdom in all things.  Islamic Worship
There are five simple but essential
observances that all practicing Muslims accept and follow. These
"Pillars of Islam” represent the core that unites all Muslims.
1)The ‘Declaration of Faith’
A Muslim is one who testifies that "none deserves worship but Allah, and
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” This declaration is known as the
"shahada” (witness, testimony). Allah is the Arabic name for God, just
as Yahweh is the Hebrew name for God. By making this simple proclamation
one becomes a Muslim. The proclamation affirms Islam’s absolute belief
in the oneness of God, His exclusive right to be worshipped, as well as
the doctrine that associating anything else with God is the one
unforgivable sin as we read in the Qur'an:
"God does not forgive anyone for
associating something with Him, while He does forgive whomever He wishes
to for anything else. Anyone who gives God partners has invented an
awful sin.” (Qur'an 4:48)
The second part of the testimony of faith
states that Muhammad, may God praise him, is a prophet of God like
Abraham, Moses and Jesus before him. Muhammad brought the last and final
revelation. In accepting Muhammad as the "seal of the prophets,”
Muslims believe that his prophecy confirms and fulfills all of the
revealed messages, beginning with Adam’s. In addition, Muhammad serves
as the role model through his exemplary life. A believer’s effort to
follow Muhammad’s example reflects the emphasis of Islam on practice and
action.
2) The Prayer (Salah)
Muslims worship five times a day: at daybreak, noon, mid
afternoon, sunset, and evening. It helps keep believers mindful of God
in the stress of work and family. It resets the spiritual focus,
reaffirms total dependence on God, and puts worldly concerns within the
perspective of the last judgment and the afterlife. The prayers consist
of standing, bowing, kneeling, putting the forehead on the ground, and
sitting. The Prayer is a means in which a relationship between God and
His creation is maintained. It includes recitations from the Qur'an,
praises of God, prayers for forgiveness and other various supplications.
The prayer is an expression of submission, humility, and adoration of
God. Prayers can be offered in any clean place, alone or together, in a
mosque or at home, at work or on the road, indoors or out. It is
preferable to pray with others as one body united in the worship of God,
demonstrating discipline, brotherhood, equality, and solidarity. As
they pray, Muslims face Mecca, the holy city centered around the Kaaba -
the house of God built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. 
3) The Compulsory Charity (Zakah)
In Islam, the true owner of everything is God, not man. People
are given wealth as a trust from God. Zakah is worship and thanksgiving
to God by supporting the poor, and through it one’s wealth is purified..
It requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an individual’s
wealth and assets. Therefore, Zakah is not mere "charity”, it is an
obligation on those who have received their wealth from God to meet the
needs of less fortunate members of the community. Zakah is used to
support the poor and the needy, help those in debt, and, in olden times,
to free slaves.
4) The Fast of Ramadan (Sawm)
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar which
is spent in fasting. Healthy Muslims abstain from dawn to sunset from
food, drink, and sexual activity. Fasting develops spirituality,
dependence upon God, and brings identification with the less fortunate. A
special evening prayer is also held mosques in which recitations of the
Qur'an are heard. Families rise before dawn to take their first meal of
the day to sustain them till sunset. The month of Ramadan ends with one
of the two major Islamic celebrations, the Feast of the Breaking of the
Fast, called Eid al-Fitr, which is marked by joyfulness, family visits,
and exchanging of gifts.
5) The fifth Pillar is the Pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca
At least once in a lifetime, every adult Muslim who is physically and
financially able is required to sacrifice time, wealth, status, and
ordinary comforts of life to make the Hajj pilgrimage, putting himself
totally at God’s service. Every year over two million believers from a
diversity of cultures and languages travel from all over the world to
the sacred city of Mecca to respond to God’s call.
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