The Religion of Islam The Message of Islam Team 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 which 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 God and as such, its name represents the central principle of Gods religion: the total submission to the will of God. The Arabic word Islam means the submission or surrender of ones 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 God. Hence, it was not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Arabia in the seventh century, but only the true religion of God re-expressed in its final form. Islam is the religion which was given to Adam, the first man and the first prophet of God, and it was the religion of all the prophets sent by God to mankind. The name of Gods religion Islam was not decided upon by later generations of man. It was chosen by God Himself and clearly mentioned in His final revelation to man. In the final book of divine revelation, the Qur’an, God states the following: This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (Quran 5:3) If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to God) never will it be accepted of Him. (Quran 3:85) Abraham was not a Jew nor Christian; but an upright Muslim. (Qur’an 3:67) The Message of Islam Since the total submission of ones will to God represents the essence of worship, the basic message of Gods divine religion, Islam, is the worship of God alone and the avoidance of worship directed to any person, place, or thing other than God. Since everything other than God (the Creator of all things) is Gods creation, it may be said that Islam, in essence, calls man away from the worship of creation and invites him to worship only his Creator. He is the only one deserving mans worship as it is only by His will that prayers are answered. You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help. (Qur’an 1:5) Elsewhere, in the final book of revelation, the Qur’an, God also said: And your Lord says: Call on Me and I will answer your (prayer). (Quran 40:60) It is worth noting that the basic message of Islam is that God and His creation are distinctly different entities. Neither is God His creation nor a part of it, nor is His creation Him or a part of Him. This might seem obvious, but mans 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 God 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 God through his creation. However, the message of Islam, as brought by the prophets of God, is to worship only God and to avoid the worship of His creation either directly or indirectly. In the Quran God clearly states: And verily, We have sent among every people a Messenger (proclaiming): Worship God (Alone), and avoid all false deities. (Quran 16:36) The Universality of Islam Within the central principle of Islam and in its definition (the surrender of ones will to God) lies the root of Islams universality. Whenever man comes to the realization that God is one and distinct from His creation, and submits himself to God, 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 Gods religion-Islam- by merely rejecting the worship of creation and by turning to God alone. It should be noted, however, that the recognition of, and submission to, God 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 good and avoid evil. The ultimate good being the worship of God alone and the ultimate evil being the worship of His creation along with, or instead of, God. This fact is expressed in the final revelation as follows: Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Quran 2:62) And if only they had acted according to the Torah, the Gospel, and what has (now) been sent down to them from their Lord (the Quran), they would surely have gotten provision from above them and from underneath their feet. There are from among them people who are on the right course, but many of them do evil deeds. (Quran 5:66) Recognition of God The question which arises here is, How can all people be expected to believe in God given their varying backgrounds, societies, and cultures? For people to be responsible for worshipping God, they all have to have access to knowledge of God. The final revelation teaches that all mankind have the recognition of God imprinted on their souls, a part of their very nature with which they are created. In the Quran (7:172-173), God explained that when He created Adam, He caused all of Adams 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. God 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 were our God. No one told us that we were only supposed to worship You alone. God went on to explain that it was also in case you should say, It was only our fathers aforetime who took others as partners in worship along with God, and we were merely their descendants after them; will You then destroy us because of the deeds of those sinful criminals? Thus, every child is born with a natural belief in God and an inborn inclination to worship Him alone called in Arabic the Fitrah. Prophets were sent, as was earlier mentioned, to every nation and tribe to support mans natural belief in God and mans inborn inclination to worship Him as well as to reinforce the divine truth in the daily signs revealed by God. Although, in most cases, much of the Prophets teachings became distorted and portions remained which point out right and wrong. Consequently, every soul will be held to account for its belief in God and its acceptance of the religion of Islam: the total submission to the will of God.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 15:21:46 +0000
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