Islam, which means peace, surrender, and submission to the will of Allah (God), is just not a religion but is also a way of life. When heard the word Islam people usually think about Terrorism and cruel punishments for the mistakes that people do but that is not the basic belief of Islam. Islam is based upon the basic belief and the principles of Islam, which when understood with faith and open heart would clear up all the misunderstandings.
Mohammed (Peace be upon him) was our prophet who guided the Muslims towards Islam. His life may reveal some of the reasons why he was the chosen one for the prophet. The prophet was born in a very dark age in Mecca. His parents died at his early age and his grandfather too died when he was very young. He worked and lived under the guardianship of the Psedouin boys (Mawdudi,45). Mohammed (PBUH) had searched for the true God who deserved the worship of his own creation. There is a verse given in the Quran about the Prophet which says ".....in order that thou mightest lead mankind out of the depths of the darkness into light ......." (Al-Quran XIV-1).
One of the many things that the prophet was admired and is known for was his characters that lead to his becoming of the prophet. He was very different from the people he was born and grown up with. He never used obscene abusive language. His characteristics were so charming that he won the heart of everyone that he met with. In his dealings and trade with people he always followed justice and fair play. Even though he was a trader for years he never cheated or enter into dishonest transactions. Even he was born and fed by the people who regarded drinking and gambling as virtues, he never touched alcohol or gambled (Mawdudi,45-46).
Mohammed (PBUH) became prophet at the age of forty. He went into a cave on a mountain in Arabia where he was given the title of the prophet. Although he possessed an excellent character and charming manners, and was highly cultured, there was nothing so striking about him which could make men expect something great and revolutionary from him in the future. He was known among his acquaintances as a sober, calm, gentle, law-abiding citizen of good nature. But when he came out of the cave with his Message he was transformed (Mawdudi,49).
When he started preaching the whole Arabia was against him but still he did not quit. He once told his uncle who under pressure of the other leaders of Arabia tried to persuade him to abandon his mission "O Uncle! Should they place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left in order to make me renounce this mission, it would not be so" (Mawdudi, 48).
Had the prophet been a political leader, the ideal thing for him would have been to weld Arabia into one country and the Arab tribes into one nation, with himself at their head. Abu Jahl, Utba and all the rest of his relentless opponents would have readily accepted his leadership all over the country. They had already demonstrated their confidence in him by appointing them to arbitrate in Mecca's most dangerous dispute. Utba had definitely stated that if he so desired, the Quraish were willing to make him their king. After he had rise to power in Arabia, he could have led his splendid horsemen into Persia and Rome and brought these Empires under his heel. What a magnificent vista lay open to him! In case it was strategically unwise to fight with the Romans and the Iranians simultaneously, what was there to stop him from overrunning the neighboring countries of Abyssinia and the Yemen? But he had not been raised up to substitute on evil for another, to condemn an injustice at one place and condone it elsewhere. He had not been sent to erect the mansion of Arab glory upon the ruins of the hopes and yearnings of other nations, to emancipate men from the thraldom of the Romans and Iranians and to place them under subjugation to the descendants of Adnan and Qahtan. He was not political leader. He was a preacher of the Divine World (Nadwi,48).
During his brief prophethood of only 23 years Mohammed (PBUH) showed Muslims the basic pillars of Islam which are the shahadah, salaat, soum, zakaat, hajj. Shahadah is the first pillar of Islam which means to recite "I witness that there is no God but Allah and prophet Mohammed is his Messenger" with full faith and belief in what is being said. The importance of this Kalimah is so much that without the recitation of this a person is not a Muslim.
The second pillar of Islam is salaat which is obligated on a Muslim without any exceptions at all. Salaat is praying to Allah while facing the Kabaa located in Saudi Arabia. It is a form of prayer by which a Muslim can pray and ask for what he needs directly from Allah without needing any priest or any one at all on between.
The third pillar of Islam is soum which is fasting during the month of Ramadan. In order for a Muslim's fast to be acceptable he should make intension at the eve of the day of fasting. During the day no food or any kind of drink is permissible. Any intensional bleeding or vomiting is prohibited. Sexual intercourse is also prohibited during fasting (Qutb,67).
The fourth pillar of Islam is zakaat which is to give alms to the poor. This is mandatory on every Muslim if they have enough to feed himself and his family and support his family and then if he has any savings he should give 2.5% of it.
The last but not the least pillar of Islam is Hajj which also depends on the income and the resources a Muslim has to travel. If he has the necessary requirements for the pilgrimage it is mandatory on him to do so.
There are seven basic beliefs of a Muslim which are the belief in One Allah, All the angels, all the prophets, all the holy books, destiny, day of judgement, and life after death.
The belief in one Allah means that to believe that he is the only one and he does not have siblings, parents, or offsprings. A verse from Quran says "Say he is Allah the one and Only; Allah is self sufficient (independent); He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none comparable to him" (Al-Quran, XXX-112).
The Muslims also believe in all the angels and all the prophets and the holy books sent to some the prophets. One of the angels we believe in are Jibrael who is the messenger of Allah. The names of the prophets held in higher regards than the others are Ibrahim, Moses, Isa (Jesus),Noah, and Mohammed (Peace be upon them).
Islam overall is just a way of life that if followed correctly by the Muslims today would be the best society but the terrorism and many unwanted acts that are taking place by the Muslims in the name of Islam is just to protect themselves. Just because a teacher is boring does not mean that the subject is, in the same way if a Muslim does not follow the religion by its rules does not mean there is a defect in ISLAM.
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Malik, Muhammed. Al-Quran: The guidance for Mankind. Houston: Institute of Islamic knowledge,1997.
Mawdudi, Abdul. Towards Understanding Islam. Saudi Arabia: Islamic Foundations, 1985.
Nadwi, Abdul. Islam and the World. Lebanan: The holy Koran,1973.
The QURAN
Qutb, Muhammed. Islam: The misunderstood religion. Delhi,India : The Board of Islamic publications,1964.
Rauf, Muhammed. "Pilgrimage to Mecca." National Geographic. November,1967:581-607.
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