Concept of Islam.

IN THE NAME OF ALMIGHTY ALLAH

THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE

ISLAM AT A GLANCE

ISLAM AND MUSLIMS

The Arabic word Islam means peace, submission and obedience.  The religion of Islam is the complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of God as revealed to His Prophet Muhammad SAW. A Muslim is one who believes in Allah SWT and strives for total reorganization of his life according to His revealed guidance and the sayings of the Prophet SAW. He also works for building human society on the same basis. 'Muhammadanism' is a misnomer for Islam and offends its very spirit. The word 'Allah' is the proper name of God in Arabic. It is a unique term because it has no plural or feminine gender.

CONTINUITY OF  MESSAGE

Islam is not a new religion. It is, in essence, the same message and guidance which Allah revealed to all Prophets:

Say, we believe in Allah and that which has been revealed to Abraham and

Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes and that which was given to Moses

and Jesus and to other Prophets, from their Lord. We make no distinction

between any of them, and to him we submit. (Qura'n 3:83).

The message which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is Islam in its comprehensive, complete and final form.

1.THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

There are five pillars of Islam

1. The declaration of faith: To bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger to all human beings till the Day of judgement. The Prophethood of Muhammad obliges the Muslims to follow his exemplary life as a model.

2. Prayer: Daily prayers are offered five times a day as a duty towards Allah. They strengthen and enliven the belief in Allah and inspire man to a higher morality. The purify the heart and prevent temptation towards wrong-doings and evils.

3. Fasting the month of Ramadan: The Muslims during the month of Ramadan not only abstain from food drink and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset, but also from evil intentions and desires. It teaches love, sincerity and devotion. It develops a sound social conscience, patience, unselfishness and willpower.

4. Zakat: To pay annually 2.5% of one's net saving on which a year has passed as a religious duty and purifying sum to be spent on poorer sections of  the community.

5. Pilgrimage to Makkah: It is to be performed once in a lifetime, if one can afford it financially and physically. Besides these pillars every action which is done with the awareness that it fulfills the will of Allah is also considered an act of worship.

Islam enjoins faith in the Oneness and Sovereignty of Allah, which makes man aware of the meaningfulness of the Universe and of his place in it. This belief frees him from all fears and superstitions by making him conscious of presence of the Almighty Allah and of man's options towards Him. This faith must be expressed and tested in action. Faith alone is not enough. Belief in one God requires that we look upon all humanity as one family under the universal Omnipotence of God - the Creator and Nourisher of all. Islam rejects the idea of a chosen people, making faith in God and good action'the only way to heaven. Thus, a direct relationship is established with God, without any intercessor.

2. MAN: THE FREE AGENT

Man is the highest creation of God. He is equipped with the highest of potentialities. He is left relatively free in his will, action and choice. God has shown him the right path, and the life of Prophet Muhammad SAW provides "a perfect example. Man's success and salvation lies in following both. Islam teaches the sanctity of the human personality and confers equal rights upon all without any distinction of race, sex or color. The law of God, enunciated in the Qura'n and exemplified in the life of the Prophet, is supreme in all cases. It applies equally to the highest and the lowest, the price and the peasant, the ruler and the ruled.

3.QURA'N AND HADITH

The Qura'n is the last revealed word of God and the basic source of Islamic teachings and laws. The Qura'n deals with the bases of creeds, morality, history of humanity, worship knowledge, wisdom, God-man relationship, and human relationship in all aspects. Comprehensive teachings on which, can be built sound systems of social justice, economics, politics, legislation, jurisprudence, law and international relations, are important contents of the Holy Qura'n.

Prophet Mohammad SAW himself was an unlettered man who could not read or write. Yet, the Holy Qura'n was committed to memory and writing by his followers, under his supervision, during his lifetime. The original and complete text of the Qura'n is available to everybody in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed. Translations of the meaning into many languages are widely used. HADITH, the teachings, sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad, meticulously reported and collected by his devoted companions, explain and elaborate the Qura'nic verses.

4.CONCEPT OF WORSHIP

Islam does not teach or accept mere ritualism. It emphasizes intention and action. To worship Allah SWT  is to know Him and love Him, to act upon His law in every aspect of life, to enjoin goodness and forbid wrong-doing and oppression, to practice charity and justice and to serve Him by serving mankind. The Qura'n presents this concept in the following sublime manner:

"It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or the West, but righteous is he who believes in Allah SWT  and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Prophets; and gives his wealth for love of him to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask and to set slaves free; and observes proper worship and pays the Zakah. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress; such are those who are sincere. Such are the God fearing."

(Qura'n 2:177).