Islam Details Essay Research Paper The word

Islam Details Essay, Research Paper

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

worshipped 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 willful

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. Continuity of the

Message 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. Suffice 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 Oneness of God The foundation of the Islamic faith is belief in the Oneness

of Almighty God – the God of Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus. Islam teaches that

a pure belief in One God is intuitive in human beings and thus fulfills the

natural inclination of the soul. As such, Islam’s concept of God is

straightforward, unambiguous and easy to understand. Islam teaches that the

hearts, minds and souls of human beings are fitting receptacles for clear divine

revelation, and that God’s revelations to man are not clouded by

self-contradictory mysteries or irrational ideas. As such, Islam teaches that

even though God cannot be fully comprehended and grasped by our finite human

minds, He also does not expect us to accept absurd or demonstrably false beliefs

about Him. According to the teachings of Islam, Almighty God is absolutely One

and His Oneness should never be compromised by associating partners with Him -

neither in worship nor in belief. Due to this, Muslims are required to maintain

a direct relationship with God, and therefore all intermediaries are absolutely

forbidden. From the Islamic standpoint, believing in the Oneness of God means to

realize that all prayer and worship should be exclusively for God, and that He

alone deserves such titles as "Lord" and "Savior". Some

religions, even though they believe on "One God", do not make all of

their worship and prayers for Him alone. Also, they also give the title of

"Lord" to beings that are not All-Knowing, All-Powerful and

Un-Changing – even according to their own scriptures. Suffice it to say that

according to Islam, it is not enough that people believe that "God is

One", but they must actualize this belief by proper conduct. In short, in

the Islamic concept of God, which is completely based on Divine Revelation,

there is no ambiguity in divinity – God is God and man is man. Since God is the

only Creator and continual Sustainer of the Universe, He is transcendent above

His creation – the Creator and the creature never mix. Islam teaches that God

has a unique nature and that He is free from gender, human weaknesses and beyond

anything which human beings can imagine. The Qur’an teaches that the signs and

proofs of God’s wisdom, power and existence are evident in the world around us.

As such, God calls on man to ponder over the creation in order to build a better

understanding of his Creator. Muslims believe that God is Loving, Compassionate

and Merciful, and that He is concerned with the daily affairs of human beings.

In this, Islam strikes a unique balance between false religious and

philosophical extremes. Some religions and philosophies portray God as just an

impersonal "Higher Power" who is uninterested, or unaware, of the life

of each individual human. Other religions tend to give God human qualities and

teach that He is present in His creation, by being incarnate in someone,

something – or even everything. In Islam, however, Almighty God has clarified

the truth by letting mankind know that He is "Compassionate",

"Merciful", "Loving" and the "Answerer of

Prayers". But He as also emphasized strongly that "there is nothing

like unto Him", and that He is high above time, space and His creation.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the God that Muslims worship is the same

God that Jews and Christians worship – because there is only one God. It is

unfortunate that some people mistakenly believe that Muslims worship a different

God than Jews and Christians, and that "Allah" is just the "god

of the Arabs". This myth, which has been propagated by the enemies of

Islam, is completely false since the word "Allah" is simply the Arabic

name for Almighty God. It is the same word for God which is used by

Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians. However, it should be clarified that even

though Muslims worship the same God as Jews and Christian, their concept of Him

differs somewhat from the beliefs of other religions – mainly because it is

based completely on Divine Revelation from God. For example, Muslims reject the

Christian belief that God is a Trinity, not only becaue the Qur’an rejects it,

but also because if this was God’s true nature, He would have clearly revealed

it to Abraham, Noah, Jesus and all of the other prophets. The Qur’an The Arabic

world "Al-Qur’an" literally means "the recitation". When

used in regards to Islam, the word Qur’an means God’s final message to mankind

that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The Qu’ran, sometimes spelled Koran,

is the literal the word of God – as it clearly says time and time again. Unlike

other sacred scriptures, the Qur’an has been perfectly preserved in both its

words and meaning in a living language. The Qu’ran is a living miracle in the

Arabic language; and is know to be inimitable in its style, form and spiritual

impact. God’s final revelation to mankind, the Qur’an, was revealed to the

Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years. The Qur’an, in contrast to many

other religious books, was always thought to be the Word of God by those who

believed in it, i.e. it wasn’t something decreed by a religious council many

years after being written. Also, the Qu’ran was recited publicly in front of

both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities during the life of the Prophet

Muhammad. The entire Qur’an was also completely written down in lifetime of the

Prophet, and numerous companions of the Prophet memorized the entire Qur’an

word-for-word as it was revealed. So unlike other scriptures, the Qur’an was

always in the hands of the common believers, it was always thought to be God’s

word and, due to wide-spread memorization, it was perfectly preserved. In

regards to the teachings of the Qur’an – it is a universal scripture, and it is

addressed to all of mankind, and not to a particular tribe or "chosen

people". The message that it brings is nothing new, but the same message of

all of the prophets – submit to Almighty God and worship Him alone. As such,

God’s revelation in the Qur’an focuses on teaching human beings the importance

of believing in the Unity of God and framing their lives around the guidance

which He has sent. Additionally, the Qur’an contains the stories of the previous

prophets, such as Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus; as well as many commands and

prohibitions from God. In modern times in which so many people are caught up in

doubt, spiritual despair and "political correctness", the Qur’anic

teachings offer solutions to the emptiness of our lives and the turmoil that is

gripping the world today. In short, the Qur’an is the book of guidance par

excellence. The Prophet Muhammad Unlike the founders of many religious, the

final prophet of Islam is a real documented and historical figure. He lived in

the full light of history, and the most minute details of his life are known.

Not only do Muslims have the complete text of God’s words that were revealed to

Muhammad, but they have also preserved his saying and teachings in what is

called "hadith" literature. This having been said, it should be

understood that Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was only a man chosen

by God, and that he is not divine in any way. In order to avoid the misguided

wish to deify him, the Prophet Muhammad taught Muslims to refer to him as

"God’s Messenger and His Slave". The mission of the last and final

prophet of God was to simply teach that "there is nothing divine or worthy

of being worshipped except for Almighty God", as well as being a living

example of God’s revelation. In simple terms, God sent the revelation to

Muhammad, who in turn taught it , preached it, lived it and put it into

practice. In this way, Muhammad was more that just a "prophet" in the

sense of many of the Biblical prophets, since he was also a statesman and ruler.

He was a man who lived a humble life in the service of God, and established an

all-encompassing religion and way of life by showing what it means to be an

ideal friend, husband, teacher, ruler, warrior and judge. For this reason,

Muslims follow him not for his own sake, but in obedience to God, because

Muhammad not only showed us how to deal with our fellow human beings, but more

importantly, he showed us how to relate to and worship God, worship Him in the

only way pleasing to Him. Like other prophets, Muhammad faced a great deal of

opposition and persecution during his mission. However, he was always patient

and just, and he treated his enemies well. The results of his mission were very

successful, and even though his mission started in one of the most backward and

remotes places on earth, within a hundred years of the death of Muhammad, Islam

had spread from Spain to China. The Prophet Muhammad was the greatest of all of

God’s prophets, not because he had new doctrines or greater miracles, but

because the results of his mission have broght more human beings into the pure

and proper belief in the One True God than any other prophet. The Islamic Way of

Life In the Holy Qur’an, God teaches human beings that they were created in

order to worship Him, and that the basis of all true worship is

God-consciousness. Since the teachings of Islamic encompass all aspects of life

and ethics, God-consciousness is encouraged in all human affairs. Islam makes it

clear that all human acts are acts of worship if they are done for God alone and

in accordance to His Divine Law. As such, worship in Islam is not limited to

religious rituals. The teachings of Islam act as a mercy and a healing for the

human soul, and such qualities as humility, sincerity, patience and charity are

strongly encouraged. Additionally, Islam condemns pride and self-righteousness,

since Almighty God is the only judge of human righteousness. The Islamic view of

the nature of man is also realistic and well-balanced. Human beings are not

believed to be inherently sinful, but are seen as equally capable of both good

and evil. Islam also teaches that faith and action go hand-in-hand. God has

given people free-will, and the measure of one’s faith is one’s deeds and

actions. However, human beings have also been created weak and regularly fall

into sin. This is the nature of the human being as created by God in His Wisdom,

and it is not inherently "corrupt" or in need of repair. This is

because the avenue of repentance of always open to all human beings, and

Almighty God loves the repentant sinner more than one who does not sin at all.

The true balance of an Islamic life is established by having a healthy fear of

God as well as a sincere belief in His infinite Mercy. A life without fear of

God leads to sin and disobedience, while believing that we have sinned so much

that God will not possibly forgive us only leads to despair. In light of this,

Islam teaches that: only the misguided despair of the Mercy of their Lord.

Additionally, the Holy Qur’an, which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad,

contains a great deal of teachings about the life hereafter and the Day of

Judgment. Due to this, Muslims believe that all human beings will ultimately be

judged by God for their beliefs and actions in their earthly lives. In judging

human beings, Almighty God will be both Merciful and Just, and people will only

be judged for what they were capable of. Suffice it to say that Islam teaches

that life is a test, and that all human beings will be accountable before God. A

sincere belief in the life hereafter is key to leading a well-balanced life and

moral. Otherwise, life is viewed as an end in itself, which causes human beings

to become more selfish, materialistic and immoral. Islam for a Better Life Islam

teaches that true happiness can only being obtained by living a life full of

God-consciousness and being satisfied with what God has given us. Additionally,

true "freedom" is freedom from being controlled by our base human

desires and being ruled by man-made ideologies. This stands in stark contrast to

the view of many people in the modern world, who consider "freedom" to

be the ability to satisfy all of their desires without inhibition. The clear and

comprehensive guidance of Islam gives human-beings a well-defined purpose and

direction in life. In addition to being members of the human-brotherhood of

Islam, its well-balanced and practical teachings are a source of spiritual

comfort, guidance and morality. A direct and clear relationship with Almighty

God, as well as the sense of purpose and belonging that ones feels as a Muslim,

frees a person from the many worries of everyday life. In short, the Islamic way

of life is pure and wholesome. It builds self-discipline and self-control

thought regular prayer and fasting, and frees human-beings from superstition and

all sorts of racial, ethnic and national prejudices. By accepting to live a

God-conscious life, and realizing that the only thing that distinguishes people

in the sight of God is their consciousness of Him, a person’s true human dignity

is realized.