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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS of ISLAM

Contents

  1. WHAT IS ISLAM?
  2. WHO IS ALLAH?
  3. WHO IS A MUSLIM?
  4. WHO WAS MUHAMMAD?
  5. DO MUSLIMS WORSHIP MUHAMMAD (PBUH)?
  6. WHAT DO MUSLIMS THINK OF JESUS?
  7. DO MUSLIMS HAVE SECTS?
  8. WHAT ARE THE PILLARS OF ISLAM?
  9. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WORSHIP IN ISLAM?
  10. DO MUSLIMS BELIEVE IN THE HEREAFTER?
  11. WILL THE GOOD ACTIONS OF NON-BELIEVERS BE WASTED?
  12. WHAT IS THE DRESS CODE FOR MUSLIMS?
  13. WHAT ARE THE DIETARY REQUIREMENTS IN ISLAM?
  14. WHAT IS "ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM"?
  15. WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC YEAR?
  16. WHAT ARE THE MAJOR ISLAMIC FESTIVALS?
  17. WHAT IS SHARI'AH?
  18. WAS ISLAM SPREAD BY THE SWORD?
  19. DOES ISLAM PROMOTE VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM?
  20. WHAT IS JIHAAD?
  21. DOES ISLAM PROMOTE POLYGAMY?
  22. DOES ISLAM OPPRESS WOMEN?
  23. IS ISLAM INTOLERANT OF OTHER RELIGIOUS MINORITIES?
  24. WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC VIEW ON:-
    1. Dating and Premarital Sex:
    2. Abortion:
    3. Homosexuality and Aids:
    4. Euthanasia and Suicide:
    5. Organ Transplantation:
  25. HOW SHOULD MUSLIMS TREAT JEWS AND CHRISTIANS?

WHAT IS ISLAM?

The word "Islam" means peace attained through submission; to be at peace with yourself and your surroundings by submitting to God and obeying his commandments. This is a unique religion with a name which signifies a moral attitude and away of life. Judasim takes its name from the tribe Juda, Christianity from Jesus Christ, Buddasim from Goutam Budda, and Hinduism from Indus River. However, those who accept Islaam and submit to God are not called "Muhammadans" after Muhammad ( Peace and Blessings of God be upon him) the last prophet of God; they are called Muslims.
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WHO IS ALLAH?

Allah is the Arabic word for "one God", the same as Eloh in Armaic. Allah is not God of Muslims only. He is God of all creations, because he is their Creator and Sustainer.
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WHO IS A MUSLIM?

The word "Muslim" means one who submits to the will of God. This is done by declaring that "There is no God but one God and Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of God be upon him) is the messenger of God." In a broader sense, anyone who willingly submits to the will of God is a Muslim, thus all Prophets preceding the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) were Muslims. The Quraan specifically mentions Abraham who lived long before Moses and Christ that, "He was not a Jew or a Christian but a Muslim." because he had submitted to the will of God.
Thus there are Muslims who are not submitting at all to the will of God and there are Muslims who are doing their best to live an islamic life. One can not judge Islam by looking at those Muslims who have a Muslim name but they are not living or behaving as Muslims in their actions. The state of being a Muslim depends upon the degree to which one is submitting to the will of God in his beliefs and actions.
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WHO WAS MUHAMMAD? (Peace and blessings of God be upon him)

In brief, Muhammad (PBUH) was born in a noble tribe of Mekkah in Arabia in the year 570 CE. His ancestry goes back to Prophet Ishmael (PBUH), son of prophet Abraham (PBUH). His father died before his birth and his mother died when he was six years old. He did not attend any formal school. He was raised first by a nurse as it was a custom in those days, then by his grandfather and then by his uncle. As a young man, he was known as a righteous person who used to meditate in a cave. At age 40, he was given the Prophethood by God through angel, Gabriel, who appeard to him in the cave of Hira, in Mekkah. Subsequently, relevations were received by prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for a period of 23 years. This book of revelations is called the Quraan. The Quraan has been preserved, unchanged, in its original Arabic text. All the earlier devine Scriptures were entrusted by God to his messengers, to guard them and after the physical death of the messengers, their followers were entrusted to guard them. However the followers failed in their duties therfore each subsequent Divine Scripture corrected the previous one.
God has confirmed in the Holy Quraan that this is his last and final revelation to mankind and He Himself will guard it till the Day of Judgement.
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DO MUSLIMS WORSHIP MUHAMMAD (PBUH)?

NO. Muslims do not worship Muhammad(PBUH) or anyother prophets.Muslims believe in all Prophets including Aadam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims believe that muhammad (PBUH) was the last of the prophets. They believe that only God is to be worshipped, not human beings or anything else.
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WHAT DO MUSLIMS THINK OF JESUS?

Muslims think highly of Jesus (PBUH) and his worthy mother, Mary. The Quraan tells us that Jesus was born of a miraculous birth without a father. "Lo! The likeliness of Jesus with Allah is the likeliness of Adam. He created him of dust, and then he said to him: Be and he is" (Quraan 3,59). He was given many miracles as a Prophet. these include speaking soon after birth in defense of his mother's piety. God's other gifts to him incuded healing the blind and the sic, reviving the dead, making a live bird out of clay and most importantly, the message he was carrying. These miracles were given to himby God to establish him as a Prophet. According to the Quraan, he was not crucified but raised bodily into Heaven. (Quraan, Chapter Maryam)
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DO MUSLIMS HAVE SECTS?

Yes. However Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has stated clearly that only those who follow the injunctions of the Holy Quraan and his practices called Sunnah will be considered to be Muslims: They are know as Sunni.
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WHAT ARE THE PILLARS OF ISLAM?

These pillars are:
1- the Belief (Eemaan) that there is no God worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad (PBUH) is his messenger.
2- Prescribed prayers (SALAAT) which are five times a day.
3- Fasting (SIYAAM) once a year, during the whole month of Ramadaan.
4- Charity (ZAKAAT) which is paid to the poor and needy once every year.
5- HAJJ which is the pilgrimage to Mekkah once in a lifetime if one can afford it physically and financialy.
Pilllars are part of a building. The building in this case is the perfect human being who cares and protects the rights of all creations and follow humans thus establishing a society in which justice and peace is supreme.
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WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WORSHIP IN ISLAM?

The purpose of worship in islam is to make the person God conscious. Thus the worship, whatever it is prayer, fasting, or charity, is a mean to an end and the end is to seek the pleasure of God by becoming God Conscious in thought and in actions. Thus the Godconscious is better placed to receive his bounties both in this world and in the Hereafter.
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DO MUSLIMS BELIEVE IN THE HEREAFTER?

God is justand therefore, in order to exercise His justice, He has created a system of accountability. Those who do good are rewarded in Paradise and those who do wrong are punished in Hell. Therefore, Muslims believ that the present life is a temporary one. It is a test and if we pass the test, we will be given a life of permanent pleasure in the company of god people in Paradise.
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WILL THE GOOD ACTIONS OF NON-BELIEVERS BE WASTED?

No. The Quraan clearly states that, "Anyone who has an atom's worth of goodness will also see it." By that it is meant that those who do not believe but have done good, they will be rewardedin this world for their good deeds. On the other hand, those who do good and have correct beliefs like Muslims, will be rewarded not only in this world but also in the world Hereafter. However, the final judgement is up to God himself. (Quraan 2:62)
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WHAT IS THE DRESS CODE FOR MUSLIMS?

Islam emphesizes modesty. No person is allowed to be perceived as sex object. Guidelines both for men and women are that their dress should not either be too thin not too tight to reveal body forms. Men must cover the area from the knee to the naval and women should cover all areas except hands and the face.
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WHAT ARE THE DIETARY REQUIREMENTS IN ISLAM?

Muslims are told in the Quraan not to eat pork or pork products, dead animals or the meat of the carnivorous animals (as they eat dead animals), or drink intoxicants such as wine or use any drug products.
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WHAT IS "ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM"?

As opposed to Christianity, there is no concept of "Fundamentalism" in Islam. The western media has coined this term to brand those Muslims whi wish to return to the basic fundamental principles if Islam and mold their lives accoridingly. Islam is a religion of moderation and a practicing Muslim can neither be a fanatic not an extremist.
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WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC YEAR?

The Islamic year started with the migration (HIJRAH) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from Mekkah to Medinah in 622 CE. It is a lunar year of 354 days. 1997 CE is the Islamic year 1417 Hijra.
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WHAT ARE THE MAJOR ISLAMIC FESTIVALS?

Eed-ul-Fitr marks the end of fasting in the month of Ramadan and is celebrated with public prayers, feasts and exchange of gifts. Eed-ul-Adhaa marks the end of the Hajj, the annual piligrimage to Mekkah. After the public prayer, those who can afford, sacrifice a lab, goat, cow, or camel to signify Prophet Abraham's obedience to God, shown by his readiness to sacrifice his own son Ishmael.
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WHAT IS SHARI'AH?

Shari'ah is the comprehensive Muslim law derived from two sources:
1- The Quraan.
2- The Sunnah or practices of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
It covers every aspect of daily individual and collective living. The purpose of Islamic laws is to protect individual's basic human rights to include right to life, property, political and religious freedom, and safeguarding the rights of women and minority. The low crime rates in Muslim socities is due to the application of the Islamic penal law. These however can be applied in a society which has established all other Islamic laws to ensure justice and protection of each other's rights.
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WAS ISLAM SPREAD BY THE SWORD?

According to the Quraan, "There is no compulsion in religion"(2:256), thus, no one can be forced to become a Muslim. While it is true to many places where Muslim armies went to liberate people or the land, they did carry the sword as that it was the weapon used at that time. However, Islam did not spread by the sword. In many places where there are Muslims now, in the Far East like Indonesia, in China, and many parts of Africa, there are no records of any Muslim armies having gone there. To say that Islam was spread by the sword would be to say that Christianity was spread by guns. F-16's and atomic bombs, etc., which is not true. Christianity was spread by thr missionary work of Christians. Ten percent of all Arabs are Christians. The "Sword of Islam" could not covert all the non'Muslim minorities in Muslim countries. In India, where Muslims ruled 700 years, they are still minority. In the USA, Islam is the fastest growing religion and has 6 million followers and no sword around.
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DOES ISLAM PROMOTE VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM?

No. Islam is a religion of peace and submission and stresses the sanctity of human life. A verse in the Quran says (Chapter 5, verse 32), that anyone who saves one life, it is as if he saved the whole of mankind and anyone who has killed another person except ( in lieu of murder or mischief on earth), it is as if he killed the whole mankind." Islam condemns all violence which happened in the Crusades, in Spain, in the 2nd worl war, or by acts of people like the Rev. Jim Jones, David Koresh, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, or the atrocities committed in Bosnia by the Christian Serbs. anyone who resorts to violence is not practicing his religion at that time. However, sometimes violence is a human response of oppressed people as in Palastine. There is alot of terrorism and violence in areas where there is no Muslim presence. For example, in Ireland, South Africa, latin America, and Sri Lanka. Sometimes violence is due to a struggle between those who have and those who do not have, or between those who are oppressed with those who are oppressors. Unfortunately, the Palestinians who are struggling against oppression are called terrorists but not armed Israeli settlers when they do the same. As it turned around in the Oklahoma city bombing, sometimes Muslims are prematurely blamed even if the terrorism committed by non-Muslims. God does not permit defensive wars against organized oppression. Sometimes some misguided Muslims turn to violence as happens with all religions and countries of the world. To call all Muslims terrorists is completely false. Islam is a religion of peace, harmony and submission to the laws of God Almighty.
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20- WHAT IS JIHAAD?

The word Jihaad means "Struggle", or to be specific, sriving in the cause of God. Any struggle done in day-to-day life to please God is considered Jihaad. One of the highest levels of Jihaad is to stand up to a tyrant and speak a word of truth. Control of the self from wrong doings is the greatest Jihaad. One of the forms of Jihaad is to take arms in defense of Islam or a Muslim country when Islam is attacked. This kind of Jihaad has to be declared byt the religious leadership or by a Muslim head of state who is following Quraan and Sunnah.
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DOES ISLAM PROMOTE POLYGAMY?

For Muslim men to have more than one wife is a permission which is given to them in the Quraan provided it is not done to satisfy lust but to meet social solutions and needs. This permission is given provided the person is capable of treating the wives equally. It is not an injunction. In the pre-Islamic period, men used to have many wives. One person had 11 wives and when he became Muslim, he asked the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) "What should I do with so many wives?" and he said, "Divorse all except four." The Quraan says, "you can only mary 2 or 3 and up to 4 women if u can be equally just with each of them." Since it is very difficult to be equally just with all wives, in practice, most of the Muslim men do not have more than one wife. prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself from age 24 to 50 was married to only one woman, Khadeejah ( May Allah be pleased with her).In the western society, some men who have one wife have many extra marital affairs. A survey was published in "U.S.A Today" (April 4, 1988, Section D) which asked 4700 mistresses what they would like their status to be. They said that "they preferred being the second wife rather than the "other woman" because they do not have the legal rights, nor did they have the financial equality of the legally married wives, and it appeared that they were being used by these men." Historically, all the prophets except Jesus, who was not married, had more than one wife. So this is not something which Islam has started; in fact, Islam regulated it.
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DOES ISLAM OPPRESS WOMEN?

No. On the contrary, Islam elevated the status of women 1,400 years ago by giving them the right to divorse, the right to have financial independence and support the right to be identified as dignified women (Hijab) when in the rest of the world, including Europe, women had no such rights. Women are equal to men in all acts of piety (Quraan 33:32). Islam allows women to keep their maiden name even after marriage, their earned money and spend it as they wish, and instructs men to be their protectors as women on the street can be molested. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told Muslim men, "The best among you is the one who is best to his family". Some Muslim men, do oppress women today. This is because of their cultural habits or their ignorance about their religion. Female Genital Mutilations has nothing to do with Islam. It is pre Islamic African Custom, practiced by non Muslims including Coptic Christians as wel.
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IS ISLAM INTOLERANT OF OTHER RELIGIOUS MINORITIES?

Islam recognizes the rights of minorities. They are not required to do army service. To ensure their welfare and safety, Muslim rulers initiated a tax (JEZIAH) on them. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) forbade Muslim armies to destroy churches and synagogues. Caliph' Omar did not even allow to pray inside a church. Jews were welcomed and flourished in Muslim Spain when they were persecuted in the rest of Europe. They consider that part of theitr history as the Golden era. In Muslim countries, Chritians live in proserity, hold goverment postions and attend their church. Christians missionaries are allowed to establish and operate their schools and hospitals. However, the same religious tolerance is not always available to Muslim minorities as seen in the past during the Spanish inquisition and the Crusades, or as seen now by the eventsin the former Yugoslavia, Israel and India. Muslims do recognize that sometimes the actions of a ruler does not reflect the teachings of his religion.
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WHAT IS THE ISLAMIC VIEW ON:-

Dating and Premarital Sex:

Islam does not approve of intimate mixing or informality between the sexes, and forbids premarital or extramerital sex. Islam encourages marriage as a shield to such temptations and as means of having mutual love, mercy and peace.

Abortion:

Islam considers abortion as murder and does not permit it except to save the mother's life.

Homosexuality and Aids:

Islam categorically opposes homosexuality and considers it a sin. However, Muslim physicians are advised to care for AIDS patients with compassion just as they would for other patients.

Euthanasia and Suicide:

Islam is opposed to both suicide and euthanasia. Muslims do not believe in heroicmeasures to artificially prolong the life of terminally ill patient.

Organ Transplantation:

Islam stresses upon saving lives (QURAAN 5:32), thus transplantation in general would be considered permissible provided a donor consent is available. The sale of the organ is not allowed.
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HOW SHOULD MUSLIMS TREAT JEWS AND CHRISTIANS?

The Quraan calls the "People of the Book",i.e. those who received Divine scriptures before the advent of Muhammad (PBUH) muslims are told to treat them with respect and justice and not to fight with them unless they initiate hostilities or ridiculus their faith. Muslim's ultimate hope is that they all will join them in worshipping One God and submit to his will. "Say (O Muhammad) (PBUH) O people of the Book ( Jews and Christians) come to an agreement between us and you that we will worship none but Allah, and that we shall take no parteners unto Him, and none of us shall take others for Lords beside Allah, and if they turn away, then say:Bear witness that we are those who have surrendered (unto Him)."(Quraan 3:64)
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