Basic Concept of Islam
“God is more loving and kind than a mother to her own beloved child”.
— Sahih Hadith
“Islam” is an Arabic word, means peace, submission and obedience. The religion or faith in Islam is the complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of Allah, the Greatest, the Compassionate as revealed in His Qur’anul Kareem to His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The true definition of Allaah (SWT) is-
“Say, He is Allaah, the One. Allaah the eternally Besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem- Chapter no. 112 Al-Ikhlaas : Verses 1-7.)
It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not the case with Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful in Islam. In Islam Allah (Subahnuhu wa ta’la). is the Creator, Sustainer, Maintainer of the whole Universe and what is in it. There is no God; but Allah (SWT) i.e.; God, Gods, Goddess! Nothing else can be, would be or shall be called Allaah (SWT)! This shows Allah’s uniqueness when compared with the word “God,” which can be made plural, such as “Gods,” or made female zander, as “Goddess.” It is fascinating to notice that Allaah (SWT) is the unique name of God Allah (SWT)) in Arabic.
He and/or she is a Muslim who believes in the oneness of Allaah (SWT) and strives for a total reorganization of his/her life according to Allaah (SWT)’s revealed guidance and the ‘Hadiths’ (sayings) of His Prophet Mohammad(peace be upon him).
The One and only the true God in Islam called Allaah (SWT) is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam associates with the Creator. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is comparable to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him. The Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu aliahe wa sallam or Peace be upon him) was asked by his contemporaries about Allah; the answer came directly from God(Allah) Himself in the form of a short chapter of the Qur’an Kareem, which is considered to be the essence of the unity or the motto of monotheism. This is in the Qur’naul Kareem, which reads:
“In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate”.” Say (O Muhammad), He is God(Allah), the One; the Everlasting Refuge; who has not begetteth, nor has been begotten, and equal to Him is not anyone.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem – Chapter no. 112 Al-Ikhlaas : verses 1-4)
Some non-Muslims allege that God in Islam is a stern and cruel God who demands to be obeyed fully and is not loving and kind. Nothing could be farther from the truth than this allegation. It is enough to know that, with the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Qur’an Kareem begins with the verse-
“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate”. In one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), we are told that “God is more loving and kind than a mother to her own beloved child.”
(Sahih Hadith)
On the other hand, God is also Just. Hence, evildoers and sinners must have their share of punishment, and the virtuous must have God’s bounties and favours. Actually, God’s attribute of Mercy has full manifestation in His attribute of Justice. People suffering throughout their lives for His sake should not receive similar treatment from their Lord as people who oppress and exploit others their whole lives. Expecting similar treatment for them would amount to negating the very belief in the accountability of man in the Hereafter and thereby negate all the incentives for a moral and virtuous life in this world. The following Qur’anic verses are very clear and straightforward in this respect.
Verily, for the Righteous are gardens of Delight, in the Presence of their Lord. Shall we then treat the people of Faith like the people of Sin? What is the matter with you? How do you judge, you?
“Sinners may be forgiven on repentance.”
Islam rejects characterizing God with any human form or depicting Him as favouring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created that human beings are all equal. They may distinguish themselves and get His favour through virtue and piety only.
The concepts that God rested on the seventh day of creation, that God/Allah wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God/Allah is an envious plotter against mankind, and that God is incarnate in any human being are considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view.
The unique usage of Allah (SWT) as a unique name of God/Allah is a reflection of Islam’s emphasis on the purity of the belief in God that is the essence of the message of all God’s messengers. Because of this, Islam considers associating any deity or personality with God as a deadly sin that God will never forgive, despite the fact that He may forgive all other sins.
The Creator must be of a different nature from the things created because if He is of the same nature as they are, He will be temporal and will therefore need a maker. It follows that nothing is like Him. If the maker is not temporal, then he must be eternal. But if he is eternal, he cannot be caused, and if nothing caused Him to come into existence, nothing outside Him causes Him to continue to exist, which means that he must be self-sufficient. And if He does not depend on anything for the continuance of His own existence, then this existence can have no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and everlasting:
“He is the First and the Last.”
He is Self-sufficient or Self-subsistent, or, to use a Qur’anic term, Al-Qayyum The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing things into being, He. also preserves them and takes them out of existence and is the ultimate cause of whatever happens to them.
In Qur’an Kareen, Allah Sayes, “Allah is the Creator of everything. He is the guardian over everything. Unto Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth.”
[Qur’an Kareen – Chapter no. 39 Az-Zumar: verses 62-63)
God’s Attributes
If the Creator is Eternal and Everlasting, then His attributes must also be eternal and everlasting. He should not lose any of His attributes nor acquire new ones. If this is so, then his attributes are absolute. Can there be more than one Creator with such absolute attributes? Can there be, for example, two absolutely powerful Creators? A moment’s thought shows that this is not feasible.
The Qur’an Kareem summarizes as:
“If there were therein gods beside Allah, then verily both (the heaven and the earth) had been disordered. Glorified be Allah, the Lord of the Throne, from all that they ascribe (unto Him).”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem : Chapter no. 21 Al-Anbiyaa : verse 22)
The Oneness of God!
The Holy Qur’an reminds us of the falsity of all alleged gods. To the worshippers of man-made objects, it asks:
“Do you worship what you have carved yourself.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem – Chapter no. 37 As Saaffaat : verse 95)
“Or have you taken unto yourself others beside Him to be your protectors, even such as have no power either for good or for harm to themselves.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem – Chapter no. 13 Ar-Ra’d: verse 16)
To the worshippers of heavenly bodies it cites the story of Abraham: “When night outspread over him, he saw a star and said: This is my Lord. But when it set, he said: I love not the setters. When he saw the moon rising, he said: This is my Lord. But when it set, he said: If my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be of the people gone astray. When he saw the sun rising, he said: This is my Lord; this is greater. But when it set, he said:
“O my people, surely I quit that which you associate, I have turned my face to Him who originated the heavens and the earth; a man of pure faith, I am not one of the idolaters.”
The Believer’s Attitude
In order to be a Muslim, that is, to surrender oneself to the God/Allaah, it is necessary to believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc. But this belief, later called Tawhid, is not enough. Many of the idolaters knew and believed that only the Supreme God/Allaah could do all this. But this was not enough to make them Muslims. To Tawhid, one must add tawhid. That is, one acknowledges the fact that it is God alone who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstains from worshipping any other thing or being.
Having achieved this knowledge of the one true God, man should constantly have faith in Him and should allow nothing to induce him to deny the truth.
When faith enters a person’s heart, it causes certain mental states that result in certain actions. Taken together, these mental states and actions are the proof for true faith. The Prophet said:
“Faith is that which resides firmly in the heart and which is proved by deeds.”
Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards God, which could be said to be the essence of ibada (worship).
The feeling of gratitude is so important that a non-believer is called ‘Kafir’, which means ‘one who denies a truth’ and also ‘one who is ungrateful.
A believer loves and is grateful to God for the bounties He bestowed upon him, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favours, he is always anxious lest God should punish him, here or in the Hereafter. He, therefore, fears Him, surrenders himself to Him and serves Him with great humility. One cannot be in such a mental state without being almost all the time mindful of God. Remembering God is thus the life force of faith, without which it fades and withers away.
The Qur’an tries to promote this feeling of gratitude by repeating the attributes of God very frequently. We find most of these attributes mentioned together in the following verses of the Qur’an:
“He is God; there is no god but He. He is the Knower of the unseen and the visible; He is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. He is God; there is no god but He. He is the King, the All-Holy, the All-Peace, the Guardian of the Faith, the All-Preserver, the All-Mighty, the All-Compeller, the All-Sublime. Glory be to God, above that they associate! He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper. To Him belong the Names Most Beautiful. All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Him; He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem – Chapter no. 59 Al-Hashr: verses 22-24)
“There is no god but He(Allaah), the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, nor sleeps. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what lies before them, and what is after them, and they comprehend not anything of His knowledge save such as He wills. His throne comprises the heavens and earth. The preserving of them oppresses Him not; He is the All-High, the All-Glorious.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem – Chapter no. 2 Al-Baqarah : verse 255)
People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion and say not as to God but the truth.
“The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only the Messenger of God, and His Word that He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers, and say not “Three”. Refrain; better it is for you. God is only one God. Glory be to Him — (He is) above having a son.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem – Chapter no. 4 An-Nissa: verse 171)
It is false to call Islam Mohammedanism, as has been done so frequently in the West. We have already pointed out that Muslims believe that Islam is the eternal message which Allah sent to all prophets, peace be upon them, from the dawn of mankind, and not a new belief which began with the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Muslims call their religion Islam, and the Arabic word Islam implies the attainment of peace through submission to Allah. The word Muslim is an adjective derived from the noun Islam and implies one who has peace within himself from his submission to Allaah (subhanuhu wa ta’la).
Muslims believe in the One, Eternal God, Who created the heavens and the earth and all that exists. In Arabic, God is called Allah. There is absolutely no difference between Allah and the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them all. Muslims do not believe that Prophet Muhammad was the only Prophet; rather they believe that he was the last of the Prophets of the Old and New Testaments. The Holy Qur’an is the revealed and sacred scripture of Islam, and it teaches:
“Say: ‘We believe in Allah and the revelation was given to us, and to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: and we submit to Allah.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem – Chapter no. 2 Al-Baqarah : verse 136)
BASIC CONCEPT OF ISLAM
Islam whom Islam calls Allah (subhanuhu wa ta’la) who is the Lord and Sovereign of the universe, its Sustainer and Maintainer. Allaah (SWT) has created everything for humankind and created mankind to praise Allaah (SWT) by following Allaah (SWT)’s Guidance revealed for them. Allaah (SWT) chosen for each human being a fixed period, which is to spend upon this earth.
Allaah (SWT) has prescribed certain code of life in the revealed Guidance as to the precise one for the human beings, the creature Allaah (SWT) loveth most, assured rijq (consumable); at the same time convened on every individual absolute freedom of choice as to whether or not he/she adopts and follow Allaah (SWT)’s given the code of life.
This earthly life of each human being is temporary and there is a permanent life after the death of this earth. Every activity that we do in this world shall be judged in the ‘Day of Judgement’ and shall be rewarded eternal comfort and happiness in Heaven or untold painful punishment in Hell for the whole of the endless eternal life. Muslims, who adopted lives beyond the guidance of Allah (SWT) and earn sins too, shall have to suffer in the Hell to the extent of their sins and shall return to Heaven; but the unbelievers shall suffer endlessly in the hell and never be in the Heaven ever. They will have to spend the whole of their eternal life in the Hellfire. There is no way will be left open to reconcile or correct what sins they might have earned in this world!
What do Muslims believe about
The basic beliefs of Muslims fall into six main categories, which are known as the –
Articles of Faith:
■ Believing in the unity of God/Allaah (SWT)
■ Believing in the Angel’s God/Allaah (SWT)
■ Believing in the Prophets/Messengers of God/Allaah (SWT).
■ Believing in Books of revelations.
■ Believing in a life after death.
■ Believing in destiny/divine decrees
Allah (SWT) gives the good news and says:
“Those who follow the Apostle-the unlettered Prophet whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures); in the Law and the Gospel, for he commands them what is just, and forbid them what is evil; he allows them all awful what is good (and pure), and prohibits them what is bad (and impure). He releases them from their heavy burdens; and from the burdens that are upon them. So, it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him and follow the Light which is sent down with him; it is they who will prosper.”
(Al-Qur’an Kareem: Chapter no. 7 Al-Araaf: 157)
And further says:
“—so take whatever the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourself that which he withholds from you, and fear Allah; for Allah is strict in Punishment.”
(Al-Qura’an Kareem: Chapter no. 59 Al-Hashr: verse 7)
The “Five Pillars” of Islam:
In Islam, faith and good works go hand-in-hand. A mere verbal declaration of faith is not enough, for belief in Allaah (SWT) makes obedience to Allaah (SWT)’s given duty.
The Muslim concept of worship is very broad. Muslims consider everything they do in life to be an act of worship if it is done according to Allah’s guidance. There are also five formal acts of worship that help strengthen a Muslim’s faith and obedience. They are often called the “Five Pillars of Islam.”
Five Pillars:
■ Testimony of faith (Shahadah or Kalima)
■ Prayer (Salat)
■ Almsgiving (Zakat)
■ Fasting (Sawm)
■ Pilgrimage (Hajj)
One who chooses to follow the Code revealed by Allaah (SWT), proclaims a declaration of belief in Oneness of God and in His given code of life and may his/her past be forgiven and will become sinless, as fresh as a new-born child.
The prophet said,
“Know that him also forgiveth but on repentance”.
(Hadith)
If a ‘Mushriq’ (a non-Muslim) is not a ‘Kafir’ (a rejecter) if he dies, dies as a ‘Kafir’ (rejecters) and shall never be forgiven the sins what he/she earned and will have to suffer endless punishment in the Hellfire forever!