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Al-Islam, Its Meaning and Legitimacy
By Imam Taha A. Tawil,
Mother Mosque of America
Introduction
Welcome to our faith,
heritage, and culture. Islam spread worldwide and encompasses many people
with different nationalities, color, race, gender, justice, compassion,
mercy, and above all, peace. You will notice that Islam, as a religion and a
way of life, does not consider itself a "new" religion but rather the
"re-affirmation of the ancient, yet living truth of the Abrahamic religion.
There are over one billion Muslims all over the world. They all give thanks
to Allah "God alone" for His Guidance, Blessings, Mercy and Peace that they
have attained through the message of Islam in which they find the real
tranquility, serenity, harmony, and purification.
The basic and central
foundation of the Islamic faith is the uniqueness of belief in the One and
Only Creator, Sustainer and Sovereign of the universe, life, and humans,
which the Arab Jews, Christians, or Muslims called Him: Allah in Arabic;
God, Father, and Lord in English; Yahweh or Elohim in Hebrew.
There is no doubt that
this vast, huge universe, with all that it contains, from stars, sun, moon,
humans, and all sorts of life in animals, planets, etc., cannot be without a
Creator, Mover, Organizer, and above all a Controller to keep everything
going in the right direction. Therefore, the Quran spoke in clear and vivid
language:
"0 you people, worship
your Guardian Lord, Who created you and those who came before you, that you
may learn righteousness. The One who made the earth as your living place,
and the heaven as canopy, and sent down rain from heavens, and produced for
you all kinds of food for your sustenance, so do not set up rivals unto God
when you know the truth." (2:21-22)
"And your God is One
God, there is no god but He, the Mercy Giving, the Merciful," (2:163)
This is the message
that God Almighty sent to all the prophets and messengers to call the people
to live according to, and Islam came to confirm it, through the final
revelation Al-Quran.
Islamic Effects on
Society
Islam as away of life and as a system was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
in order to establish Justice, equality and peace on earth. The Arabs before
Islam used to live in an ignorant time - (Jahiliya) like the so-called Dark
Ages, in the seventh century of Christian era. The individual would be
brought up in a tribe or a clan that protected his money, his life, and his
honor; therefore the individual became proud of his tribe. This pride would
remain with the individual, whether his tribe was doing right or wrong; this
will cause the individual to have his/her loyalty to the tribe, and it
became the norm for the society to be loyal primarily to one’s race, and
tribe. Consequently, it became the source of their vision, convictions and
the concepts about life that the society and its individuals carried and
adhered to.
The prophet of Islam,
Muhammad (PBUH), started teaching about the One and Only Creator, Who
created the universe, and all that it contains, about the life Giver and
Owner. The absolute Judge Who demanded justice and compassion as an
essential condition in life, and after death there will be another life in
which there will be reward or punishment. The message of Islam made the (Walla'a)
loyalty to the Islamic (Aqeedah) Faith and not to the tribe or clan. It
makes God Almighty the primary focus of the Individual in order to achieve
happiness, protection, and peace. Islam made the (Aqeedah) the basis from
which the convictions and concepts about life emanated. Before Muslims
engage in any serious project or any matter in general they asked these
questions. What Allah said about this matter? Or what the prophet taught
about it? Is this in the Quran? Or is it in the (Sunnah) the way of life of
the prophet Muhammad (PBUH)?
The message of Islam
completely revolutionized the concept of loyalty in the hearts and minds of
all who entered Islam; blood relations started to shift to faith relations,
brotherhood and sisterhood relationships as the Quran started teaching "0
you who believe do not take your fathers and brothers as allies if they
chose disbelief over (Eman) faith and whoever does this, they are
evildoers"(9:23). "You will never find any people who believe in Allah and
the last day loving those opposed to Allah and His messenger, even though
they be their fathers, sons, or their brothers, or their tribe". Islamic
Faith told us about Abraham and his disbelieving father, whom Abraham
dissociates himself from, and those who oppose the faith. We are also told
about Noah and his son: when the son disobeyed his father and did not
believe in the message that God Almighty gave to him, then the son was among
the victims of the Great flood with the rest of the disbelieving community.
When Muhammad brought this universal message of God Almighty he invited
everyone in the society to Islam. This invitation was extended to all people
of Mecca and outside Mecca without any restriction to any specific group,
tribe, or race. Those who responded to this call became Muslims, committing
themselves only to God and His Message through the teaching and leadership
of the Prophet of Islam, and they became a part of the Islamic faith and
forming a new Community called the Muslim Community. These initial groups,
who are affectionately, call the "Sahabah" companion of the Prophet,
included Bilal, a Black man from Ethiopia; Suhaib, a white man from Rome;
Salman, a Persian Slave; Ali, Hamza, Abu Bakr, and Uthman, all from the high
class or elite of Mecca; and Ammar bin Yassir and Ibn Mas'ud from the common
class of Mecca.
Before Islam, there
would have been tribal and racial barriers between the members of such a
group. Through Islam, these barriers were eliminated and the loyalty or "wallaa
"was only to Allah Almighty, his Messenger and to Islam.” This revolutionary
understanding of "Wallaa" gave the Muslims the true sense of freedom and
liberty. The Muslim community is liberated from their whims, wishes, color,
tribe, and social class, and will commit themselves only to Allah and His
Messenger. This way Islam caused them to shift their loyalties and alliances
away from the kings, races, philosophies, and lands, to the extent that
those newcomers started learning Islam even better than some of the Arabs
who carried it to them. People like Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim who collected
the saying, actions, stories, and all things about the Prophet of Islam
Muhammad (PBUH). They were non Arabs, but their contribution to Islam is
immeasurable.
The one who put the
Arabic Grammar and the poems styles and kinds are also non- Arabs. With the
adoption of Islamic "Aqeedah " faith, people no longer remained as Arabs,
whites, or blacks, they become a Muslim Family with brotherhood and
sisterhood ties. They become like one single body: caring, sharing concerns,
cooperating, and above all having kindness and compassion for one other.
The Our'an
This is the sacred,
divine noble book of Islam that God Almighty literally and directly revealed
to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the Angel Gabriel. It is a collection of
all the revelations that God Almighty revealed to all His prophets and
messengers throughout history. This divine miraculous revelation was
received by Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. It took almost 23 years to
be completed. Each time the angel Gabriel brought some verses they were
immediately declared, read and then written down, and later memorized by the
Muslim community. The Quran is considered to be the last testament from God
Almighty to all humanity.
Some of the central
themes in the Quran: "Al-tawheed" The belie/in the Oneness of God. The
affirmation that our Creator, sustainer, and life giver is One and Only. No
partners with Him, no wife, children, or anyone equal to Him. This concept
also found clearly in the Bible for example:
"Know
therefore this day and consider it in thine heart that the lord He is God In
heaven above and upon the earth below there is none else." (There is no
other God.) Deuteronomy (4:39)
o "Thou shall
have no other gods before Me". Exodus (20:3)
o "for thou
shalt worship (bow down) to no other god for the Lord whose name is Jealous
is jealous God"
o "Ye are my
witness saith the Lord and my servant whom I have chosen that ye may know
Me, believe Me and remain steadfast to Me and understand that I Am He and
before Me there was no God formed (fashioned) nor ever shall be after Me.
There never was and never will be. I even I am the lord and beside Me there
is no savior". Isaiah (43:10-11)
o "And Jesus
answered him," The first of all the commandments is this: hear, 0 Israel the
Lord our God is One Lord and thou shalt love thy Lord thy God with all thy
heart and with all thy soul and with all they mind and with all thy strength
this is the first commandment". (Mark 12:29-30)
Justice and Compassion
He stated "God
commands justice, the doing of good and kindness to your relative, and He
forbids all shameful deeds, injustice, and rebellion. He instructs you, that
you may receive admonition" (16:90) In another Chapter in the Quran God said
"You who believe stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even
as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be
(against) rich, or poor: For Allah can best protect both. Follow not the
lust of your hearts lest you Swerve, and if you distort justice or decline
to do justice, verily God is well acquainted with all that you do "(4:135).
In fact we are told that God Almighty will support those who are practicing
Justice and compassion, even if they are a non-believer... So if a community
is asking to live in peace then they have to practice the prerequisite of
peace and that is justice. Peace and Justice are twins, they are one coin
with two faces, one of them will not be good without the other.
Life after Death
The individual
accountability for all deeds and actions that is made with full awareness
and capacity of the mind will be investigated thoroughly; the records of all
creatures will be opened. God Almighty will reward and punish everyone with
absolute justice. The concept of life after death and its many names and
attributes in the Quran describes our next life in details, and all its
consequences cannot be ignored or overlooked. The Quran informed the
believers that after we die, from our graves we will be physically,
mentally, and spiritually resurrected again to life. Our resurrection will
be so exact that we are resurrected with our finger prints.
The rewards of
paradise and all that it contains, from the delight and pleasures that God
Almighty promised and prepared for His servants are Facts and Real. Also all
the description of Hell-fire and the many kinds of punishment that are
taking place there, will be also with our physical, mental, and spiritual
dimensions. Muslims take these warnings literally and seriously. Almost
every page in the Quran mentions life after death or the day of
accountability or the Day of Judgment and that is to emphasize the
importance of such a concept.
Prophets and
Messengers
The Quran mentions
many stories that deal with the prophets and messengers that had been sent
to their communities including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses,
Jesus and the final prophet and messenger, Muhammad (May God Almighty Accept
their prayers and grant them peace). This concept of the belief in all of
God’s prophets and messengers and all revelations that they received from
God is a major belief in the Muslim faith. It shows love and unity between
them, and the continuation of the same message.
The Quran demands from
Muslims not to make any distinctions between the prophets of Allah and we
should love them all and follow them to achieve salvation in the hereafter
and peace (salaam, shalom) in this life. They are regarded as the best human
beings, our pioneers, true leaders, and we must respect, love and obey their
commands and follow their footsteps because they are the way, the truth, and
the light. No one will enter heaven without obeying and listening to their
commands and following their example. Islam strongly rejects any slander of
their character or false accusation whether minor or major sins, such as
adultery, fornication; even the attempt to make an ill plot or planning to
commit a crime will not be accepted. These prophets and messengers are human
and they all have been selected by God Almighty and none of them consider
being divine or partially divine. Their personality and character reflects
our humanity and personality, and they are our role models; so if someone
strips their humanity, and claims them to be divine or partially divine,
then they will not be a good role model to be imitated and followed, because
they are not human anymore.
The concept of
worshiping none but God Almighty Alone is the core message of God that these
prophets came to show us and demonstrated to the people. None of them call
people to praise them or to take them as Lords beside God Almighty. They
never told anyone, nor there is any text explicitly in the scripture that
confirms this concept. The Quran is full of stories of these prophets and
messengers and their interaction with their communities and the messages
that they delivered to them that they should worship none but God Almighty
Alone. "Halal and Haram" lawful, and unlawful, rules and regulations.
The Quran came as
guidance between what is right and what is wrong: how to practice justice
and how to rule with justice. The Quran came with guidelines, a blue-print
of how to build the individual, family, community, and the society at large.
The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was like the chief engineer that led the
individual, family and community, to achieve the ultimate success in this
life and the next. He practiced the message and told the Muslims to follow
his instructions and to obey. He showed them in a clear way their
relationship with their Lord (Allah Almighty) through the (Aqeedah) creed,
faith and (Ebaddat) the worship; he informed them what they needed to
believe in, such as the six articles of faith: Believe in One God, His
Angels, Prophets, Books, Day of Judgment and the predestination. Also he
practiced the five pillars of Islam and showed them how to do it and
implemented it in their worship. These are: Shahadatan, which is an initial
declaration of faith where the believer bears witness that there is no god
to be worshipped except the One true God, and to bear witness that Muhammad
is the messenger and servant of God; Salah is to pray five times a day;
Zakat is a purification of wealth – it consists of the annual giving of a
fixed percentage of 2.5 from the saving of the past year; Sawm is fasting
the month of Ramadan every day during the month of Ramadan from dawn to
sunset; and Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime if circumstances
permit such as physical ability and finance.
Then the Quran spoke
about rules and regulations that pertained to our personal lives, such as
the morality and ethics that we should behave and act upon. The prophet of
Islam Muhammad (pbuh) declared in the Quran that he is the best model for
the believers those who put their trust in Allah Almighty and their hope in
the hereafter as a fact and reality. Beside the prophet's role as a leader
and a human with the best conduct and behaviors demonstrating the best
morality and ethics, he also demonstrates to the community what to eat and
what not to eat or drink. The Quran told us that pork and it's by product
are (haram) prohibited, unlawful. Also alcohol or any intoxicating
substances (such as drugs) that make the mind wander, exhausted and drowsy
also is (haram). Food that was sacrificed to idols, fornication, theft,
adultery, false testimony, lying killing, etc.
All that is haram is
prohibited and unlawful. The prophet with the message of al Quran worked
very hard to build up the individual with an Islamic character and
personality to be in line with the will of Allah and to obey the message and
then build the family which consists of individuals, parents, children,
grand parents, relatives uncles, aunts. Later comes the building of a
community which consists of many families, tribes, and then comes the
society at large. The standard of (halal and haram) what is lawful and what
is unlawful is the Islamic character and personality. It means that the
Muslims from all nationalities, races, and genders, they have to follow what
Allah Almighty declared what Halal, and Haram is, and when Muslim start
asking themselves this question of, Is this Halal or Haram? At that time
they are considered Muslim character and personalities.
The Legitimacy of
Islam
When Muhammad the
prophet of Islam was meditating at the cave of hiraa in the mountains of
Mecca where he would pray to God Almighty according to the religion of
Abraham his grand, grand forefather. And after many years of this habit and
at the age of forty (610 AD) the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared before him
and ordered him to Iqraa (read, recite, repeat, proclaim). Muhammad said I
am unlettered. The angel Gabriel again ordered him to Iqraa, and Muhammad
again replied I am unlettered. The angel Gabriel now took a firm hold of him
and commanded him "Iqraa in the name of Allah who created". Now Muhammad
began to understand that he was not being asked to read but to recite to
repeat. He began to repeat after him and Gabriel revealed to him the first
verses of the Quran those at chapter al-alak(96). "Read (Iqraa) in the name
of your lord who created, created human from clay. Read (Iqraa) and your
lord is the most bounteous who teaches by the pen. He teaches human which
they knew not".
What an amazing
coincidence that the book of Isaiah 29:11-18 speaks about this incident and
prophesies not only the character of prophet Muhammad as illiterate but also
the actual word in Hebrew which is translated into English as "read this I
pray thee" is the word Iqraa " kaw-raa" in Hebrew. This is amazing that the
Hebrew text used not only a word with the same meaning but the exact same
word itself as revealed in the Quran?!! It further demonstrates that the
final Book Al-Quran was (sealed) from other prophets because it was not
meant for them and also were reveled in Arabic. "A book whereof the verses
are explained in detail a Quran in Arabic for people who have knowledge
Quran. (41:3) Indeed the Quran was revealed to a man who could neither read
nor write so that it might be apparent to some people that he could not have
received it from the writings of other humans but only from God Almighty.
One more verse from
the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 18:18-19. God is talking to Moses saying: "I
(God) will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee
(Moses), and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him, and it shall come to pass that whosoever will
not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name I will require it
from him. "I will call him to account"
As we stated earlier
that Muslims must believe in all the previous prophets who came before
Muhammad, they make no distinction between them, nor do they place one above
others in piety. However, they are all human, and as human they differ from
one another in their characteristics. No doubt that Jesus was predicted in
the Old Testament in many verses and he was confirmed by the Quran as the
Messiah. And a word from God, he had a miraculous birth, he had no father
and he did so many miracles such as reviving people from death and healing
those who were born blind and the lepers by God's permission, and that he is
in heaven alive and he will come back.
This verse in the book
of Deuteronomy is not the verse in the Old Testament that supports the
characteristics of Jesus to be like Moses maybe because Moses and Muhammad
had natural births from Mother and Father, and both died and were buried in
the ground; but not Jesus. Both Moses and Muhammad married and had children
but not Jesus. Both Moses and Muhammad were accepted by their communities as
a nation, however the Bible stated "He, Jesus, came unto his own, but his
own received him not" (John 1:11) Both Moses and Muhammad came with a new
comprehensive set of laws for their people. In Matthew (5:17-18) we read
"Think not that I am (Jesus) come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am
not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled." Both Moses and Muhammad led secret mass exodus
Therefore Muhammad is like Moses, but Jesus is unlike Moses.
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